WPA Interviews for Linn County Oregon

Callaway, A. Burl

INTERVIEW - 2 Apr 1940

Burt Callaway

My name is A. B. Callaway. I am the son of William B. Callaway who was born in Sussex County, Delaware, on 3 Dec 1826. He moved with his parents to Illinois in 1831. In 1845 when he was just 19 years old he married Miss Abigail Cecil.

When father was 21 years old father and mother moved to Missouri, to Scotland County, where he took charge of a farm given him by his father.

In 1848 he left his wife and family in Missouri and joined in the gold rush to California. He was captain of the train in which he traveled. After he reached California he worked in the gold mines for a time but in 1851 he returned to his family in the East having done well in his mining adventure.

Father stayed in Missouri until 1864 and then, with his family accompanying him this time he again started for the Pacific Coast. This time his destination was Oregon. He first bought a place in Linn County, between Albany and Corvallis, but in 1866 he again moved, this time to Benton County where he bought a farm consisting of 1285 acres a few miles north of Corvallis. There he lived until about 1896 when he retired to a home in Corvallis. He died at Corvallis 6 Jan 1897.

Father owned considerable interests in Eastern Oregon at various times and worked there himself but he never could take his family there. For one thing, there were no schools and the country was full of bad Indians. The Indians killed his horses, burned his house and destroyed his property generally. The only thing that they did not destroy was the juniper corral which would not burn. They killed all the horses in corral, however, and drove father out of the country a couple of times. There was no easy of getting from the country then but to ride out.

My mother was Abigail Cecil. She was born in Tennessee on 5 Dec 1838 or near that date. She was 47 years old when she died about 1885. Her birthplace was Tenures, Tenn. (spelling uncertain) "Father and mother had 14 children. All except the three or four youngest of us were born in Missouri and came to Oregon with our parents. I cannot give you the exact birth dates but the following are their names: (Names are copied from obituaries and are not complete) L. H.

Mrs. Fred Hammel, Davisville, Cal.
Mrs. William Childs, Davisville, Cal.
Mrs. William Hogan, Harney County, Ore.
James Callaway. Brownsville Oregon
Mrs. John Smith Mrs. J. R. Ripley
Mrs. Rickard
Mrs. J. D. Taylor
Burl Callaway (Informant)
Mrs. Ann Smith Carroll Callaway

All were born in the East except the last three.

My father was acquainted with the James family in Missouri of whom Jesse James was one. During the Civil War father and his neighbors suffered a great deal of loss from the Federal Soldiers who came through or were stationed near. One man, our neighbor, happened to see Jesse James and complained of his losses and Jesse James said to him, "Give the Federal Soldiers this message. We will call on you tomorrow."He did come the next day but the soldiers had already left.

After the family came to Oregon we had for a distant neighbor, north of us in Polk County, a man named Jim James. He was a brother of Jesse and Frank James' father. When I was about 8 years old Jesse and Frank James came to Oregon. I believe that they were lying low between their raids. They stayed with their uncle, Jim James in Polk County. During that summer they worked for their uncle and built a brick house on his place. It was situated on the James farm on the banks of Polk Creek. It stood there until last year when it was torn down.

The James boys had made plans to rob a bank in Portland while they are here but after looking over the ground carefully they decided that the get-away would be too difficult and so finally gave up that plan.

My brother, James G. Callaway, also came to Oregon in 1864. He was much older than I am and was born in Memphis, Scotland Co., Missouri on 17 March 1848. He remained with our parents on the first Linn County farm but finally located permanently at Brownsville, in Linn County. He spent a few years in California and three years in Crook County. He became acquainted with the Andrew Warren family of Brownsville. Warren's wife was Eliza Spaulding, the daughter of Henry Hart Spalding, the pioneer missionary to the Nez Perce Indians. In August 1874, brother James married Martha E. Warren in Crook County. His wife died on 9 Nov 1882. They had three children as follows:

Daughter, died 1894

Maud Callaway, married name Childs.

Logan Callaway, born 7 Nov 1877. Died 19 June 1926. Logan Callaway married Miss Minnie Shea who survives him, now living in Salem. Their two sons, James and Warren also live in Salem.

There was a third James Callaway of whom mention should be made. He was a brother of my father. Uncle James was a Methodist preacher and a school teacher. He preached in the Methodist Church here at Brownsville and at Lebanon.

My father was a South Methodist and a Mason.

Logan Cecil, my mother's brother was a race-horse man in early Linn County. Way back in the days when the town of Boston, on the Calapooia, east of present Shedd, was an active town they used to have race meets there every year. At that place my Uncle Logan Cecil bought a horse from a Mr. Hughes for which he paid $3000. It proved to be a very good investment for it won at many meets, especially at a matched race in Dawsonville, California against a horse owner by Fred Warner. The winnings in that race were $10,000.

My name is A. B. Callaway. The "B" stands for "Burl". That is a contraction of Burlin, an old family name. As I have already stated my mother's name was Abigail Cecil. The Cecil family came from England where they were closely related to Lord Cecil and Lord Burleigh from whence comes my name.

I was born in Linn County in 1867. When I was about six months we moved from Linn to Benton County as already stated. My home from that time on until maturity was north of Corvallis near the pioneer town of Tampico now long gone. "Tampico" was about three miles west of what is now known as Wells Station in Benton County, and about nine miles north-west of Corvallis. It was about one and one fourth miles west from the present highway. Jean Beagles now owns the land there but at one time it was owned by my sisters husband, John Smith, son of the large owner, Greenbury Smith.

Greenberry at one time owned 36 sections in the valley, the most of it near the place called Greenbury, south of Corvallis. He had, by the way, only two sons and both of them married sisters. John Smith married my sister Anna Callaway.

But to return to the Ghost Town of Tampico. That was where both my wife and myself attended school. Tampico was certainly one hot town in its day. It had, when I remember it, a store, a Post Office, a saloon, a hotel, a blacksmith shop and, at one time, a newspaper.

The town of Tampico and the saloon there was a favorite gathering place for the soldiers stationed at Fort Hoskins in Kings Valley to the west. There they would come to drink and to fight and to race horses. The fort was situated close to what is known as the Kings Valley Store. It was established there in 1846 when Capt. Auger came with one company of soldiers.

I was married to Ada Hunter on 30 May 1898. She was born in Benton County, near what is known as Granger Station in 3 Sept 1866. We were married by Rev. S. G. Irvine D.D. of Albany.

We first lived near my old home in Benton County but in 1900, we purchased a farm about two miles north of Brownsville in Linn County. There we lived until I retired from active farming a few years ago. I still own that farm which is now worked by our son Ned Callaway.

We have had only three children. They are:

Ned Callaway. Born 3 July 1890 in Benton County. He now lives on, and works my farm north of Brownsville.

Bea Callaway. Born-----------. Married William K. Johnson who died in 1927. She now makes her home with her parents here in Brownsville.

Ione Callaway. Born 11 Feb 1906. She is a teacher in Eastern Oregon.

Copyright © 2000 Patricia Dunn. All rights reserved. This transcription may not be reproduced in any media without the express written permission by the author. Permission has been given by the Transcriber to publish on the LGS web site.