Stevens, William M.
From Lane Co Oregon
Stevens, William (1805-1860)
Born in North Carolina, he was a farmer and builder of log cabins and hand-hewn houses.
According to donation land claim records, the first settler to stake a claim in the Springfield locale was William M. Stevens, who filed on a 640-acre tract in 1848 (Genealogical Forum of Portland 1962).
In 1847, he journeyed over the Oregon Trail and the Barlow Road, arriving in December of that year. Together with his three eldest sons, Stevens commenced the erection of a dwelling. The felling of the trees and sawing of lumber was entirely done by these four pioneers, and by Christmas day, 1847, they had a roof to shelter the rest of the family; the house was built of logs, sixteen by eighteen feet in dimensions, its bed being what is known as a puncheon floor. On that auspicious anniversary they entered into full possession, and, humble though the home, it bade definance to the winter winds and rains, and lent a cheering impress to the solitary wilds around. Mr. Stevens and his family, however, did not permit time to hang heavily upon their hands; indeed there was plenty of work for them in occupations peculiar to the life of a frontiersman. In the fall of 1848 they broke forty acres of ground directly to the back of the homestead, using wooden plow with an iron share and six yoke of oxen attached thereto, which was sowed with wheat; in the spring of 1849 they planted corn and vegetables to fifteen acres, where they raised turnips that year…(Walling 1884:451).
Walling (1884:451) claims that Stevens kept the “Briggs Ferry” on the “South Fork” of the Willamette with his brother-in-law, George H. Armitage in 1849. He lashed together two canoes to ferry passengers. Wagons and freight were taken in pieces, while stock was forced to swim to the opposite bank of the stream.
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WILLIAM M. STEVENS
(Deceased) The subject of this sketch was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, June 27, 1805, where he grew to man's estate and married Hixey V. Jones, with whom, in 1828, he moved to what was then known as Ray county, East Tennessee. Here his eldest son, Harrison Andrew, was born, January 1, 1829. In 1836 he transferred his location to Polk county, Missouri, and there resided until determining to cross the plains to the "ultima thule" of Oregon, for he had heard of the large donation claims being given there to men of families by the government. May 7, 1847, found Mr. Stevens crossing the Missouri line alone with his family, but falling in with other trains on the route, they together made the journey and endured the hardships attending such an expedition, eventually arriving at Barlow's Gate, near the Cascade mountains, on the twenty-fifth of September. From that point he moved onto and rented a piece of land near Salem from Charley Matt, where a crop was raised, but being dissatisfied with the location, Mr. Stevens sought elsewhere for property more suited to his requirements. In the month of October he came to the dwelling of Jacob. C. Spores, accompanied by Mr. Ware, where they were ferried across the McKenzie river by Indians, their horses swimming the stream, and proceeding but a short distance found a tract of land that accorded with his taste, "located" it and then returned to Salem, brought his three eldest sons with him and commenced the erection of a house in December, 1847, the rest of his family joining him on Christmas Day of that year. This was the first house erected in what is known as the Forks of the Willamette, the timber used in its construction being the first cut by a white man in that vicinity. At first they had frequent visits from bands of Indians, who, beyond evincing an obtrusive curiosity, scarcely ever molested them, yet their presence was not re-assuring, and caused much anxiety to the female members of the family. In the fall of 1848 Mr. Stevens and his sons broke forty acres of ground directly back of the homestead with a wooden plow and iron share and six yoke of oxen, which was afterwards sown to wheat; in the spring of 1849, they planted corn and garden produce on fifteen acres of land, the balance of the six hundred and forty acres taken up affording pasturage for the sixteen yoke of oxen and seventy-five head of cattle Mr. Stevens had brought with him. The return of vegetables was enormous. Our subject now erected a cabin for Captain Felix Scott in the summer of 1849, the second dwelling in that section of the county, while during that year he conducted what was afterwards called Briggs' Ferry on the South Fork of the Willamette. Further particulars of the life of this pioneer will be found in the special history of the settlement of the Forks of the Willamette. He resided on his farm, leading a useful life, but on May 25, 1860, it was cut short by accident, the immediate cause being a horse, an animal the he looked upon with almost human affection. He left a large family, consisting of the following sons and daughters:
ASHLAND ORLANDO, the second son of the above pioneer was born in Ray county, Tennessee, August 22, 1830, and came to Oregon with his parents and now occupies the old homestead. He married Mary Margaret Steward, who came to Lane county in 1852, on August 15, 1855, she being a native of Missouri, and has a surviving family of three daughters, viz: Mary Elon, Marth Elizabeth, and Rowena Belle.
ALVIN BURT, the third child, was born in Tennessee, March 14, 1832, and is now a resident of California.
SARAH JANE, now Mrs. George H. Armitage, was born in Tennessee, October 4, 1833, and resides with her husband near Eugene city.
ISAAC E. was born in Tennessee, March 1, 1835, and is now a resident of Lane county.
MARY ANN was born in Hickory county, Missouri.
JAMES ANDERSON was born in Polk county, Missouri, January 26, 1839, and now resides on the farm adjoining the old homestead. He accompanied his parents to this State and county and, November 22, 1868, married Emily F. Greenwood, who was born November 23, 1848, and crossed the plains in 1852. Their family consists of Charles Lenn, Welby and Maggie.
EMMALINE MATILDA, the third daughter of Mr. Stevens, was born in Polk county, Missouri March 16, 1841, and is now Mrs. Linville.
WILLIAM HENRY was born in Polk county, Missouri, March 7, 1843, and died on the farm adjoining the old homestead on the north, October 11, 1883.
CHARLES JEFFERSON was born in Polk county, Missouri, January 28, 1845, and died December 20, 1864.
MANDELY CAROLINE, the youngest child of the old pioneer, was born under the family roof-tree in Lane county, February 18, 1849, and died, February 5, 1854.
"Illustrated History of Lane County, Oregon." Portland, Oregon: A. G. Walling, publisher, 1884. pg. 488.
