WPA Interviews for Linn County Oregon

Cooley, W. C.

INTERVIEW, 3 Oct. 1938

W. C. Cooley

Mr. W. C. Cooley, commonly know as "Curran" Cooley was interviewed at his store on 5 Sept 1938. The interview was somewhat broken due to interruptions while Mr. Cooley was waiting on customers.

I was born at Brownsville, Oregon, in 1859. My parents were Mr. and Mrs. George C. Cooley. My father came to Oregon about the year 1852 or perhaps a little before that year. I am not quite certain of the date. He first came to Lane County but later came here to Brownsville about 1854. Again I do not know the exact date but the first positive record of his being in Brownsville is in the old Brown and Blakeley store records under the date of 3 March 1854. My father came to Brownsville to work for Brown and Blakeley in their store which was one of the first stores opened in the region south of Oregon City. The founders of this store were Hugh Leeper Brown, for whom Brownsville was named, and Captain James Blakeley, a nephew of Brown. Blakeley was my grandfather, for after working in the store for a few years my father married a daughter of the junior partner, Harriet Blakeley. I am, therefore, of the third generation of my family who have operated this store. If Hugh L. Brown, who was a brother of my great grandfather, is counted, I am the fourth generation to be a partner, and my grandson, William Dedman (Billy) who sometimes helps in this store is the sixth generation to work here.

Hugh L. Brown and my grandfather, Captain James Blakeley came from Missouri and settled in the Calapooia in 1846. They came over the Cascades by way of the Barlow road and were heading south when they met a horseman. Captain Blakeley was busy directing the train and Hugh L. Brown rode forward to intercept him. Brown asked the man about conditions on the Calapooia and then returned to the train. "What did he have to say for himself?" my Grandfather asked. He says, "Nothing but Indians down there" answered Brown. "Well, if Indians can live there we can," was the answer. "Drive on".

The Browns and Blakeleys reached the ford on the upper Calapooia where Brownsville now stands on the 30th day of Oct 1846. They made camp and on the following morning the women of the party resolved to do some long delayed washing. They took their soiled clothes down to the river and went to work. The men, in the meantime, resolved to do a little exploring of the surrounding region. They rode out into the valley to what is now known as "Haumans" Butte and then went up the valley for six or eight miles. On this trip they discovered the water falls on the Calapooia where Richard C. Finley later built his mill. This mill or the second building erected is still in operation. The present building was erected some time in the early fifties. The first building was erected some time in the early fifties. The first building put up by Finley about 1848 was washed away in the floods of 1861-1862.

However, to continue the story of the first day on the Calapooia. The men liked the land very much. There was plenty of water and timber available and the land seemed rich and easily cleared. The grass was tall all over the valley, so that there was plenty of grazing for the stock. When they returned to their camp my grandfather said, "Girls, we have found the place. We are going to stay.

The members of the emigrant train which came to the Calapooia were Hugh L. Brown, wife and children. Captain James Blakeley, wife and family, Jonathan Keeney and family, Alexander Kirk and family, W.R. (Riley) Kirk (who was the married son of Alexander Kirk) with his wife and family, and R. C. Finley whose wife was "Polly" Kirk, a daughter of Alexander Kirk. There were others also in the train but I cannot name them.

When they reached the Calapooia there were many Indians here, but there were a few white persons besides. Among these were John Courtney who had settled on Courtney Creek, and Elias Walters, wife and brother-in-law (named Williams) who had settled on the banks of the Calapooia about one mile west of the ford. Alexander Kirk and Finley stopped and spent their first winter somewhere in Polk County, but Riley Kirk came on and took up a claim on the north side of the river just east of present North Brownsville. At that time the Indians had their village in the riverbank near Riley Kirk's cabin.

My grandfather, James Blakeley, took up a claim covering the land now contained in South Brownsville. At first his claim was about 1/2 mile east of the town, and Hugh L. Brown'' claim was next adjoining it. However, after the Whitman Massacre, Rev. H. H. Spalding came to the valley to settle. Both Brown and Blakeley were very anxious to have Spalding stay that he might become the schoolteacher for their children. Spalding complained that he could not stay since all of the best land was taken. In reply to this Brown and Blakely moved their claim lines apart and let Spalding have the land between them. This carried Blakeley's lines westward as far as the present south Main Street in South Brownsville.

Next, west of the Blakeley claim was that of Alexander Kirk. Kirk bought out the squatter rights of Isaac Hutchins on the north side of the Calapooia. Besides this he took up additional land on the south side of the river so that his claim as finally bounded was 1/2 mile wide and 2 miles long. It extended southward as far south as the highway corner 1 mile south of Brownsville where the "lower Halsey" road turns westward at the corner of the Jack Kettiwell place. The reason why Kirk took up such a long, narrow strip was that he might want to control both banks of the river near the old ford. At that place he established a ferry. This community was for a long time known as "Kirk's Ferry".

Isaac Hutchins who sold Kirk his squatter rights became the first sheriff of Linn County. There seems to be no official records of elections under the old provisional government for Linn County. They have been lost. Some of the older settlers claim that Jason Wheeler was elected before Hutchins was. That he was an officer under Provisional Government, but Hutchins was certainly the first Territorial Sheriff here.

Concerning the Spalding family. Eliza Spalding who married Andrew J. Warren, was Spalding's oldest daughter. She was the first white female child to be born west of the Rocky Mountains. Her sister, Martha Spalding, married William (Bill) Wigle. The youngest daughter, Amelia (Milly) married John Brown, oldest son of Hugh Brown.

Incidentally, not concerning settlers but Indians. There was an Indian burial ground on the Spalding claim about a mile or a mile and a half east of Brownsville. This burying ground was situated in a little "prairie" north of the Spalding cabin. It is all cleared out there now, but the place seems to have been just east of the present George Pugh line fence and to the north of the Brownsville, Crawfordsville highway. The Indians buried their people there and placed gifts of dishes, guns, utensils and beads on the ground over the grave.

The old store of which I am now the senior partner was founded by Brown and Blakeley about 1851. I have never been able to learn the exact date. I have books dating back to 1852 and there are entries in these oldest books that show that they are not the first, but that there were other books which have been lost. Brown and Blakeley were at first sole owners of the store but in the early days they took in one or two partners. Among these were Jonathan Keeney and Hugh Fields. About 1854 my father, George Cooley, came to work in the store as a clerk. He worked for the partners a number of years and then married my mother, Harriet Blakeley, daughter of James Blakeley. Sometime before the year 1863 my father formed a partnership with W. L. Linnville and bought the store. Linnville was an older man than my father and invested the greater part of the principal in the business. Linnville had an almost three-fourths interest.

I cannot tell much about the life history of my father's partner, Linnville. He came to Brownsville from somewhere on the Luckimute. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church here at Brownsville, and about 1867 he retired from the store and removed to Napa, California.

After W. L. Linnville left the store his interests were purchased by J. H. Washburn (1868). J. H. Washburn was a pioneer who had come to Oregon by way of California gold fields. For a time he had run a pack train between Yreka, California to Portland, Oregon. He settled in Brownsville some time in the fifties.

About January 1889 J. H. Washburn retired from the firm and my father took over the entire business. It then became known as "G. C. Cooley and Company".

My father and mother had often urged me to take some interest in the store and buy an interest in it, but I had no desire to do so. To me it was too confining a business to be of interest. I had plans for a more free and active life. However, I had worked as a clerk enough to be an experienced storekeeper. On a certain day in July, 1885, at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon I was working in a field a few miles out of Brownsville. A man was sent out to find me and tell me that my father had broken his hip and to request me to come in and help out in the store for a few days. I got on my pony and rode in. On that day I began to work for Cooley and Washburn, thinking that it was to be only for a short time. Now fifty three years have past and I am still working here, never having left the store for more than a few weeks at a time in all these years.

The accident which first called me into the store was caused when father was leading a horse to the blacksmith shop of N. B. Standish to be shod. On the way he had to pass over a high sidewalk and the horse became unruly and fell on him, breaking his hip. That was the third time that father had his hip broken. The first time was in Missouri before he came to Oregon. The second he was injured in an accident while playing. This third break by the fall of horse, was most serious. Father recovered but never again was able to carry on heavy work. He never again assumed full management of the store.

In 1889 my father purchased the interest of J. H. Washburn and I continued to work for him. Soon after that I purchased a small share in the business.

In 1908 my father died and I took over complete control. For about a year I remained sole owner and then sold an interest in the business to George Hume, my present partner.

(During this interview Mr. Cooley was observing some activities across the street where a large house was being razed.)

That old house was built in the early 1880's he said. Hugh Fields, who was once known as "Oregon's Sheep King," built it. I stood here and watched it go up. That was over 50 years ago. Now that old house is condemned and about to disappear, and I still stand in this store and work. It has been a long time that this store has held my entire interest. I am now 79 years old-I shan't be working here forever. Hugh Fields who built that house was one of the richest men who ever lived in Brownsville. Besides owning at least 15 thousand sheep he was a large owner of stock in the Brownsville Woolen Mills. Besides that made considerable fortune in the gold fields. In his later life he had serious reverses and when he died his heirs did not pay more than 10 cents per dollar of indebtedness. It was this same Hugh Fields who was at one time a partner in the old Brown and Blakeley store.

That old house was one of the finest ever built in Brownsville. Its stairs were of solid walnut and mahogany and railings ornamenting the comb of the roof were of hand wrought iron.

My grandfather, Captain James Blakeley, was born in Knox County, Tennessee in 1812. He died here in Brownsville in 1913, being almost 101 years of age. His wife was Sarah Dick, born at the same place in Tennessee in 1815. She died at Brownsville in 1888.

The first building of the old store was just down the street-about two blocks from the present store and at the corner of what is now South Main Street and Blakeley Avenue. The site is now occupied by the Blakeley Memorial Monument and park given to the city by descendants of Captain Blakeley. The store building now in use was first occupied by a firm of Jews by the name of Senders and Sternberg. I do not know when they quit business in Brownsville and this firm took over the building. I can remember the time, but I have no way of fixing the date. (Note. Some time after 1870) This building, or part of it at least, is very old. Written on the walls of the back room I have found the following note-John Fleece, painter. 25 Oct 1868.

The firm of Senders and Sternberg who formerly occupied this place removed to the larger town of Albany. Some members of the same family are still in business there. The Senders have a seed, feed and milling business there.

The Sternbergs own a tannery, a saddle factory, and a woman's furnishing store.

Besides running this store the various members of our firm have been interested in a number of outside business interests. One of these was a water system for South Brownsville. This was established in 1905. The heavy square tower at the back of the store which we now use as a woodshed was once much taller and was used as a water tower. We dug a large well there and furnished water to a number of the residents hereabout. When the city of Brownsville took over the Moyer water system on the north side we sold our franchise to them.

Another industry in which we were interested was the Linn County Churn Company. Churns were manufactured by this company for a number of years and distributed through out the country. This company finally went broke in 1891. My father, George C. Cooley was also largely interested in the local woolen mill, and was its secretary for a time.

I can remember many things about old time Brownsville but I cannot always recite them off at will. A thing which I know well will escape me for days and then, perhaps, after talking for a few minutes with some other old citizen it will all come back to me plainly. I remember the first man that I ever saw in handcuffs. It was Sidney Smith who had been arrested for the murder of his brother and his brother's wife. They took him through the streets of Brownsville for his preliminary trial which was held in the Presbyterian Church. I and another boy followed the crowd and climbed up on the fence of the church to see him taken in. It made a great impression on me. The Presbyterian church at that time was located on Blakeley Avenue and almost opposite from the present South Side Public School.

Z. F. Moody who later became Governor of Oregon was one of the early customers of this store. The Moody house was here in South Brownsville and a little ways east of this store building. I think that if I went out there I could show you the bricks from the old chimney laying out in the field.

One of my teachers whom I remember extremely well was Rev. W. R. Bishop. He established a private school or academy here in south Brownsville. He was a cultured man and well liked, a great singer and a preacher for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. One day I was sitting on the high walk leading to his academy when he came along and noticed that I was smoking a cigar. He reproved me for it and tried to influence me by having me estimate the amount of money that could be saved by not using tobacco. He showed me that in a few years it would amount to enough to pay for a fine brick building. I was so rude as to ask him, "Where is your brick Building?" Then I was sorry and apologized, for Mr. Bishop never had prospered financially. He was always hard up and in financial need.

Mr. Bishop's Academy Building still stands. It is situated at the back of the lot about one block south of the Calapooia Bridge. (Old Bridge, 1938) It now serves as a barn on the Clayton Howell property. When it was new it was considered a very fine school building and was commonly called among the patron of the school as "Principal Hall". I understand that among other improvements to his property Mr. Howell plans to tear the old building down soon.

In the early day there used to be a great deal of antagonism between this part of town (South Brownsville) and the settlement growing up to the north of the river. There were two separate villages incorporated and at times there was real war between the two towns. Boys from the south-side town had to go over the river did so at great risk of being chased home with sticks and stones. Some of the south-side boys would cross the river far up where there were log drifts and sneak back to the post office by alleys and side streets. Even then there were many fights.

At one time while I was in San Francisco purchasing goods for this store, I chanced to be loafing about the warehouses and stores of Allen and Lewis, wholesalers. One of the young men remarked that their firm had been selling goods to Cooley and Company for a great many years, and wanted to know how long. I said that I did not know, and the question was finally taken to an older member of the firm. We asked whether he had any books that would show how long Cooley and Company had been doing business with them. He said, "Certainly. Go down in the basement and dig to the bottom of the pile of books-not nearly to the bottom, but to the very bottom book-you will find the name of Cooley there." Allen and Lewis were among the very oldest wholesalers on the Pacific Coast. They had houses both in San Francisco and at Portland. Finally they got out a little pamphlet which told the story of their years of dealing with our store. They called the book "Pals". In it was a picture of the very old first store, of the partners, and all about their dealings with us. I once had a dozen or more of these little books but some how all of them have been lost."

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.