FORWARD "To the early pioneers, who braved the dangers and hardships of the Great West, we owe much. That their memory may not be soon forgotten, and with the thought that it will be of interest to their many descendants, the following account of the lives of William Henry McCormick and Lavina Ann Hodson is written." - 1919 -

"Joseph D. And Fannie Coy McCormick were the parents of eight children, Mathew, Jane, Phoebe, Fannie, Nathan, Joseph, William and James.

William Henry McCormick was born April 29, 1840 in Clark Co., Indiana. At the age of two years, he moved with his parents to Iowa. When he was about ten years of age his mother dies and two years later his father married again. About three years later William's father dies and William, or "Billy" as he was more familiarly known, went to live with his sister, Fannie Snow, in Lee County, Iowa. Billy lived one year with the Snows in Iowa and then went with them to Kansas. He drove an ox team on this trip.

At Columbus, Kansas, on the Cottonwood river, Reece Snow put up a blacksmith shop. For three years Billy worked at Columbus. He broke prairie with his ox team and also hauled goods from Kansas City to Emporia. It was at this time that Billy became very much interested in a winsome, dark eyed, dark haired slip of a girl, Lavina Ann Hodson.

Lavina Ann Hodson was born in Jefferson, Co., Iowa, June 13, 1841. Her parents were Enos and Catherine (Rose) Hodson. The other children of the family were Wesley, Abraham, James, Howard and Sarah Jane.

When Lavina was seventeen years old and the family moved to Stanton, Lion Co., Kansas it was here that she met a tall handsome lad, the Billy of our story.

After a brief courtship, Billy and Lavina were married on the evening of April 16, 1859 by Nels King, a Methodist minister.

Included in the menu of the wedding supper, was a dried apple pie made by the bride and baked in a Dutch oven. The newly married couple spent the night at the home of Lavina's uncle.

Stories of the "Far West" had reached the people of Kansas. Howard Parrish, who had married Cynthia Hodson, an aunt of Lavina, had taken his family to Oregon five years before and had returned for his mother, Aunt Polly Parrish. He had left his wife and six children at Roseburg, in the state of Oregon. The children were Mary, Lucy, Rachel, Emma, Alice and Johnathan.

Upon hearing of the wonderful new country in the West, where the people were free from the dreaded malaria, a party of people decided to make up an immigrant train and travel to the "Land of Promise." All of these people were related to one another.

Preparations for the long journey were begun immediately. Great stacks of bacon, sacks of flour and sugar were gathered together and supplies to last through the entire journey, about six months were provided for each family. One wagon was provided for the food and one wagon for the family to ride in.

This train, which consisted of sixteen wagons, drawn by both horses and oxen and several extra cattle, left Kansas April 20, in the year 1859.

It is probable that there was never another immigrant train made up of people who were all related to one another in some way, as this train was.

Among the number were Billy and Lavina, who were starting on their honeymoon; a honeymoon that was so different from the modern honeymoon of the present day.

The names of the members of the train are as follows: Howard Parrish and his mother, Polly Parrish; James and Jane McCormick Hodson and their children, Rachel, Jode, Enos, Cynthia Ann, Jane and Howard. Enos and Catherine Rose Hodson and their children, Lavina Ann, Wesley, Abraham, James, Howard and Sarah Jane, and William Henry McCormick. Johnathan and Lou Ross Hodson and their Children, John Marvin, Martha Jane and Byron. Solomon and Mary Hodson Way and their children, Rebecca Ann, Johnathan Hodson, Lavina Jane and Jess. David and Rachel Hodson Long and their daughter, Lavina Jane. John and Elizabeth Hodson Roten and their children, John Howard, Mary Lavina, Cynthia Ann, Enos and Louisa Jane. Nels King, his wife and their two children. George, Jim and Rachel Beaver were with them also.

Howard Parrish was chosen captain of the train because of his previous experience in crossing the plains.

At last the preparations were completed and the heavily laden wagons were drawn into a long line. The women took their places in the wagons and the long journey began. There was fear and foreboding, no doubt, in the hearts of the brave men and women who were setting out to face hardships, dangers and perhaps death.

At the end of the first days travel the only mishap of trip occurred. One of the wheels of a wagon, belonging to Enos Hodson, broke and the family had to stop at Leavenworth while the rest of the party continued on their way for a mile or more before setting up their camp for the night.

Then followed many, many weary days of riding over the dry, dusty prairie. They finally arrived at Fort Carney, which was on the Platte River.

It was necessary to ford the river at this place, and it was a hazardous undertaking as the river was one mile in width at the ford, and the bottom of it was composed almost entirely of quicksand. It took all of one day and a part of another to take the entire train across the river. When a team started across they were not allowed to stop an instant for fear that both team and wagon would be drawn down into the treacherous quicksand.

When night fell all of the people were across with the exception of Aunt Betty Roten and several of the men. She was very badly frightened and was sure she would be captured by the Indians before the morning came. The last thing Lavina saw, as she started across, was the tear stained face of Aunt Betty as she watched the wagon disappearing in the dusk of the approaching night.

Parrish had taken his family this same route five years before. It was called the Southern Route. By converting his wagon bed into a boat he had taken his family and provisions safely across, but this time the wagon beds were raised high on the standards and were left on the wagons.

When morning came the remaining wagons and the rest of the party joined those who had crossed the evening before and the weary march began again.

Tales of the Indians attacking immigrant trains and the terrible massacres that followed had reached this band of travelers and they were in constant fear of an attack. No trace of the Indians had been seen thus far and they were beginning to lose some of their fear.

At another time they found the body of an Indian lying at the side of the road. He had been scalped, his heart had been cut out and a blanket had been spread over his face.

They arrived at Fort Laramie, which was also on the Platte River. At this place they were joined by five young men whose names were Abe Job, John McGarvin, George Munson, Pete Kimball and Hank Harris. These men had started West with a train but had become discouraged and turned back. One of them swam across the Platte River to mail some letters. The letters were placed in his hat and by keeping his head well above the water the letters were not damaged.

After following along the Sweetwater river for some time, they came to a large stone that was called Independence Rock. Many of the party carved their initials upon the rock.

It was mid-summer when the train crossed the Rocky Mountains, in places the snow was a foot or more in depth. After passing though what was known as "Devil's Gap" the descent of the Rockies began.

After leaving the mountains, many hot springs were found along the road. One time the oxen seemed to know that water was near and started toward it as fast as they could go. The spring contained hot water and, in their eagerness to get a drink, the oxen burned their mouths. At another place the water was hot enough to make coffee with.

The cattle made considerable trouble when stops were made to spend the night. They often stampeded and for this reason the camp was never used the second night. Fear of being attacked by the Indians was another reason for having a new camp each night.

Then one day a great dust was seen far in the distance. Instantly their fears returned, and when they could very plainly see that a band of horsemen were approaching them, all of the stories they had heard of Indian attacks came to them.

The train was halted and preparations for resisting the attack were made. The provisions were taken from the wagons and stacked up so as to make a breastwork. The women and children were placed behind the quickly constructed barricade and the men stood ready with their firearms. There were but a few good guns in the party, most of them being old ones.

The horsemen came nearer and nearer. When they came near enough to be seen through the clouds of dust, the supposed Indians were only a number of them who were driving a great herd of Mexican horses and cattle. What a relief it must have been to the frightened people when they saw that the men were of their own color.

Not once were they attacked by the Indians in the days that followed, but they were very much afraid of an attack while passing though the Black Hills in what is now known as the State of South Dakota. For a week they traveled through these mountains.

At one time during this week an old Indian came to them and wanted to travel with them. His tribe had been at war with another tribe of Indians and he was on his way back to his people. Captain Parrish agreed to let the Indian go with them but insisted that he should stay in the same wagon with himself and even went so far as to make the Indian sleep with him. After staying with them several days, the Indian left the train and was never seen again.

One of the duties of the young girls of the party was that of gathering buffalo chips as that was the only available material for fuel that was to be found on the prairie. After they came to the wooded portions of the country, this difficulty was overcome. When the first forest of large trees came into view it caused a great deal of comment among the immigrants as most of them had never seen a large forest such as we have in the West.

Of course there were many amusing incidents on the trip that helped to break the monotony.

One of Captain Parrish's rules was that some one of the men should stand guard until midnight when he was to be relieved by another man. At midnight Billy went to take his place guarding the cattle and found Parrish fast asleep. When any of the guards slept at his post he was severely reprimanded and punished by Parrish, so Billy thought he had a great joke on his Captain.

Parrish had taken off his belt which held his revolver and laid it on the ground near by. It was an easy matter for Billy to get the revolver in his possession. Then stepping close to Parrish he cried, "hands up". Parrish was very greatly surprised and begged Billy not to tell the rest of the party. Billy's promise was given and well kept. The story of how he caught the Captain napping was not told until the end of the journey was reached.

At another time George Beaver and John McGarvin became angry and "fought like roosters". Billy wanted to separate them but others insisted that they should be allowed to fight it out. Finally Beaver got McGarvin's finger in his mouth and nearly chewed it off before McGarvin would say he had had enough. Never again were they as good friends as they had been before the fight.

The immigrants never had to worry about their butter supply. They had several cows that they milked and the milk was put in churns. At the end of the day when the stop for the night was made a piece of butter of good size was found in each churn. The motion of the wagon had churned the cream in the milk.

When the train arrived at Soda Springs in Utah, they stayed there long enough for the women to wash the clothes.

They followed along the Humboldt river in what is now the state of Nevada. It was about this time that David Long found rich gold quartz. He picked up some of it and cut it with his knife but didn't know what it was.

Many years later he learned that his find was gold and decided to go back and look for it. He was gone for a long time and his relatives were beginning to worry about him. He did not return and long afterwards his body was found, though it was nothing more than a skeleton by that time and the only marks of identification were the gold fillings in his teeth. It was never known if he found the gold, for the desert had kept its secret well.

When the train arrived in the Shasta valley in California the people bought fresh vegetables and were very glad to get them.

One night after arriving in the valley, Hank Harris was to stand guard. Thinking that there was but very little danger, he fell asleep. The Captain found him and reprimanded him for his negligence and told him to leave the party. Hank left the train and was not seen again by the other members of the party.

Shortly afterwards the other four men who had joined the train left and went in to the southern part of California.

The rest of the party went on to Fall River, Clear Kane and Klamath Lake. At Klamath Lake there were many Indians who wanted to trade fish for biscuits. The immigrants thought they were the finest fish they had ever seen. The Captain told them there were plenty of such fish in Oregon.

The Indians were quite saucy and the people were afraid to make them angry. Several of the Indian men went among the girls and women of the party and began to pick out their choice for a wife. When one of the Indians came up to the wagon in which Vina was riding and said "this is my wife", she spat at him through the hole of the canvas wagon cover. Vina was severely scolded for this act by the rest of the party. They were afraid it would make the Indian angry and would cause the train to be attacked.

After going down Bear Creek for some time, the train crossed Rogue River, went through Canyonville and crossed Myrtle Creek. After crossing the creek, they turned East and after traveling about ten miles they came to Parrish's place, which was about eight miles from Roseburg.

They were very glad to reach the end of their long journey and were thankful that their mishaps and troubles had been few. There were no deaths or births on the trip and but very little sickness.

They arrived on the seventh of September, the trip being made in five months and eighteen days. They were called the "Lightening Train" by the trains that had been passed on the way.

The various families bought homes and settled down here and there in the state.

Other children were born to the various families. Two children, William and Mary Ellen, were born to Enos and Catherine Hodson.

David and Rachel Long had but the one child, Lavina Jane, who later married Joseph Lockwood. Three children, two girls and a boy, were born to the Lockwoods. The boy, C.M. Lockwood, who now lives at Salem, Oregon is the sole survivor of the family.

William and Lavina McCormick bought forty acres of land and took up a homestead of forty acres in Douglas County.

The following spring on the 4th of May, a baby girl was born, whom they named Fannie Jane, and two years later on the 6th of March, Viola Catherine was born.

Soon afterwards the farm was traded for a yoke of cattle and a wagon and the little family started for Jackson County.

William rented a piece of land and farmed it for about a year. The beautiful city of Medford is built on that same land.

From Jackson County the McCormicks moved to The Dalles. They traded their ox team for horses to make the trip. During the summer of 1864 William drove a freight wagon from The Dalles to the John Day mines for Joseph Lockwood.

In the fall they moved to Eola in Polk County, going via Portland. During the winter, the baby, Viola, became very ill with the dreaded diphtheria and died in February.

While at Eola, the eldest son, Enos Lincoln, was born on April 6th, 1865. The following year the family moved to Salem. During the six years that followed William had charge of the ferry boat near the point where the large steel bridge now spans the Willamette river at Salem.

Another daughter, Laura Belle, was born on February 20th, 1867 and a son, Chauncey Marvin on February 12, 1869.

In the fall of 1871 they moved to Umatilla County in Eastern Oregon. They lived near a small stream called Birch Creek. It was here that Christina Estelle was born on February 1, 1872. For two years William drove a freight wagon between Pendleton and Baker City. Becoming dissatisfied, William and Vina decided to return to the Willamette valley with their family.

While on the trip a sad accident befell the oldest son, who was then a lad of eight years. He was always called Link by the rest of the family. He rode a pony on the trip and one day, while riding along he came to a small stream of water. The pony stopped to drink and when through drinking, leaped across the stream, throwing Link to the ground. His right arm was broken at the wrist. The nearest doctor was in Portland, many miles away, so Vina bound up the arm and they hurried on.

When they arrived in Portland, Link was taken to a doctor. The arm had been bandaged too tightly and it was necessary to amputate it just above the elbow.

As it was impossible for them to travel, they decided to stay in Portland until Link was able to make the trip. They were in Portland two months and then went to Salem, settling on what was known as the "Old Roberts Place".

William took charge of the ferry boat again. Maud Rachel was born April 28, 1874. The following year in June they decided to take up a homestead and quit moving from one place to another.

They decided on a homestead in Washington County, on Chehalem Mountain and contained eighty acres. Only one acre of the eighty was cleared, the rest being covered with brush and timber.

AT that time Chehalem Mountain was a vast wilderness, infested with wild animals; deer, wildcats and bear were quite numerous and there were many small wild animals.

The neighborhood was called "Buck Heaven" by the people who lived there, because of the deer being so plentiful. The roads were merely narrow trails, hardly wide enough for a wagon to pass. The cleared ground was in small patches of three or four acres. At the present time large, fertile fields may be seen on the many slopes of the mountain.

The homestead, which the McCormicks wanted, was held by a man by the name of Fred Eisley. William traded a cow for the man's right to the place.

The house was a one room log house, chinked and daubed with mud. A ladder led to the attic, which was used as a sleeping room by the children. A large fireplace was in one end of the house. It was a clumsy affair made of stones and sticks and held together with mud.

The family had two horses, named John and Mace, and seven cows. The cows disappeard one day and were gone several days. William decided they had gone back to Salem and started after them. He found them about four miles from home on the other slope of the mountain.

William set out an orchard and planted several small maple trees. The maples of which have grown to an immense size. He also planted an acre of potatoes. As a living could not be made on the place, it was necessary for William to work away from home.

The McCormicks lost their team soon after moving to their new home and for three years they had to carry their provisions in packs on their backs over the steep mountain trails. It was necessary for them to borrow their neighbor's team to plow the garden.

A number of families had taken up homesteads on the mountain and lived within a few miles of the McCormicks.

Joseph McCormick, who was William's brother, was their nearest neighbor. The Haynes family lived just across a small canyon. Other neighbors were Finigans, Grandpa Shuck and McFees, also Mulloys.

On September 8, 1877 another son was born, they named him Joseph Wesley. On December 4, 1877, the eldest daughter, Fannie Jane and Joseph S. Robinson were married by James Campbell. Their home was about four miles northeast of the McCormick place near the Tualatin river. They have never left their farm and are still living there.

Jacob and Anna Messinger and their family took up a homestead at the foot of the mountains, a distance of two miles from McCormicks in January, 1876 and the children of the two families became close friends, and were together much of the time.

Two years later Mulloys, who lived one half mile from Messinger's took charge of a post office which they called Laurel. Up until that time the settlers went to Hillsboro, a distance of ten miles, for their mail. The mail came but once a week to the post office. Later a small store was put up by the Mulloys. Mr. Mulloy also had a blacksmith shop.

David Lynch, a Baptist minister, came into the neighborhood to hold a revival meeting and organized the Mount Olive church.

The McCormick children were fortunate in having a school near their home. The school house was made of logs and daubed with mud. The first teacher was Elva Fernside. School was held three months of each year and nearly always in the spring months.

February 19, 1881 a baby girl was born to the McCormicks but lived only a few hours.

During the summer of the year 1882, William and his second eldest son, Chauncey, went up the Willamette valley near Salem to work in the harvest fields. William and a man by the name of John Fleming bought a threshing machine. Chauncey, who was thirteen years of age, was paid a man's wages, which was $1.50 a day.

After harvest they went back to the mountain taking a team of horses with them. The horses were Dave and Baldy. Dave would start for Salem whenever he got a chance.

Chauncy helped his father in clearing the farm and cutting down the brush and trees. As Link was unable to do any of the heavy work on the place he was sent to school at every opportunity. He stayed with his grandparents, the Hodsons, at Turner, near Salem, two years so that he might attend school.

William McCormick brought the first evergreen blackberries to Chehalem mountain. He got the plants from Jim Rowell at Eola, and planted three rows on the farm. When the vines became large enough to bear, people came from miles around to buy the berries which were sold for twenty cents per gallon. The berries are growing wild all over the mountain at the present time and are called wild blackberries by many people, and are sold for eight cents per pound.

July 3, 1883, another boy, Ira George, was born.

The following year a man by the name of Hoskins, from Newberg, persuaded the McCormicks to move on his farm near Newberg so the children could go to school. They lived on the Hoskins place about a year and a half. Link went to college at Newberg and then secured the mountain school, so Laura went with him and they stayed on the homestead, while Link taught the school.

On February 8, 1886, Laura was married to Duncan M. McInnis at the home of her sister, Fannie. They were married by Rev. Elcraney Craven of Newberg. They lived several years in Portland, later moving to Port Townsend in Washington but came back to the Valley after being in Washington for a number of years.

Soon after Laura's marriage the rest of the McCormick family moved back to the mountain. Duncan McInnis helped them out in many ways.

As there was plenty of grazing land, cattle raising was the way most of the people made a living. Uncle Jim McCormick brought eleven head of cattle from Salem. Pa McCormick kept them on the shares. During the winter of 1887 there was but very little for the cattle to eat and the men would fall the large fir trees so that the cattle could eat the moss that grew upon them.

The trees were felled by boring two holes in the trunk of a tree. One hole was bored at an angle and the other was bored horizontally. Then live coals of fire were dropped in the top hole. The tree would burn almost through at the bottom and a few strokes of an axe would cause the tree to fall. The cattle soon learned to run toward the tree when they heard it fall.

The snow was three feet deep that winter and the McCormick children had to wade through it to the school house.

The next year the school house burned down and a new school building was built near the line between the counties of Yamhill and Washington.

During part of the next few years Maud worked for her uncle, James McCormick, near Salem. She worked in Portland also and attended college in Newberg for several months.

She became very ill with typhoid fever and could not be taken home for some time. Christina, or Tean, as she was called by the rest of the family, worked also. Maud and Tean stayed in Portland with Laura and did house work for Mr. Henderson and Tean worked for Mrs. Barton.

Link and Chauncey worked during the summer and went to the college in Newberg in the winter. Link had taught several terms of school.

The McCormicks were beginning to prosper by this time as they were making money raising cattle.

The older children went to Laurel to church nearly every Sunday and often spent Sunday afternoon at the Messinger home.

April 11, 1893, Maud Rachel McCormick and James Augustus Messinger were married by Rev. Beauchamp, in Hillsboro, Oregon. A few months later they put up a general merchandise store at Laurel. They spent ten years at Laurel in the store.

Link, who had been teaching school for several years was elected County Recorder of Washington County in 1894. He married Geneva Helen Birsell on Nov. 13, 1895 at her home in Portland, by Rev. Young. Link served as Recorder for two terms and then a bicycle and furniture store and later a music and jewelry store.

William and Lavina had a new house built on their farm and were living quite comfortably. Although they had had a hard time to clothe and feed their family and felt the pinch of poverty in the early days of their life on the mountain yet never at any time in their life did they have a mortgage on their property.

Chauncey McCormick and Anna Jones were married April 24, 1899 in McMinnville, Oregon by Rev. George W. Grannis, a Methodist minister. They bought a home in Newberg, Oregon where they have lived since their marriage.

Many new neighbors had moved into the community and had cleared farms. Telephones, 1905, Rural mail routes, 1906, and better roads connected the farmers on the mountain with the cities nearby and the hardships which the McCormicks had endured were but memories of the past.

Christina McCormick became acquainted with William R. Davis and they were married at the McCormick home September 1st, 1907 by Rev. Hugelet. They moved to Willamina, Oregon where they lived for several years.

Two winters before Tena's marriage in 1905, Bird Olga Peterson taught the school on the mountain and met Ira McCormick. They were married at the Peterson home near Portland in August on the 23rd, 1908 by Rev. James Campbell. They settled on Ira's farm, which is about a mile from the home place and nearer the summit of the mountain.

The following spring William and Lavina McCormick celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on April 16, 1909. Six of their children were present and nearly all of the grandchildren were there also, making a total of twenty-seven.

Joseph Wesley McCormick and Ethel Pearl Bierly were married at the Bierly home in Kinton in June, 1912. Joe died January 10, 1922. Ethel had taught at the mountain school also. They lived with Joe's parents for a while and then moved to Link's place nearby, where they are now living. They bought this place in 1920.

William and Lavina are living alone on their farm. A flock of chickens, several cows and the proceeds from the crops of the farm make a comfortable living for them.

There are but six survivors fo the "Lightening Train" that cross the plains of which William and Lavina are two. The others are Lavina Way Russell of Roseburg; Aunt Betty Roten of Medford; Byron Hodson; and Sarah June Hodson Billington of Lind, Washington.

The sixtieth wedding anniversary of William and Lavina was celebrated in April 1919 and a silver loving cup was given to them by their children. It was decided that a family reunion would be held each year as long as either William or Lavina should live, an event that is looked forward to by each of the children when they can meet together and visit with their parents and talk over the many interesting incidents of their childhood."