WPA Interviews for Linn County Oregon

INTERVIEW with Mrs. Olga (Post) Willett and Miss Ada Post, both of the Oakville community, Linn County. This interview concerns the pioneer family history of the William McIlree family of the same community. These women were interviewed separately but since they are sisters and both spoke of the same family I have written it as an indirect interview from both. L.H.

Our grandfather was William McIlree. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1810 and died Nov. 24, 1864 at his home claim near Oakville, Oregon. OC #2678.

Our grandmother was Martha McFadden who was born in County Cabin, Ireland, in 1816, on the 27th day of October. Grandmother and grandfather were married in Ireland but came to America as a young couple without children. We cannot tell the year when they reached America but they were a fruitful couple and since their first child was born in Peoria County, Illinois, in 1839, it is reasonable to suppose that they arrived in America only a short time before that date. The children of our grandfather's family, according to ages, were:

Walter McIlree. Born in Peoria County, Illinois, on April 11, 1839. Died March 28, 1840.

Jane McIlree. Born Aug. 28, 1840, in Illinois. She married a man named Barton. She died on October of the year 1909 or 1910.

Samuel McIlree. Born July 28, 1847. Died on April 9, 1892.

Laura B. Ann McIlree. Born February 15, 1840 (?). She died on March 2, 1872. Never married.

Emeline Coon McIlree. (The mother of the informants.) She was born February 18, 1851. Died August 11, 1903. She married our father, Walter Post.

Alice May McIlree. Born May 19, 1854. Died May, 1932. Her married name was Bell.

Sarah Virginia McIlree. Born December 25, 1857. She married Campbell. Died June 3, 1930.

Mary Irvine McIlree. Born June 26, 1859. Died 1939. Her married name was Yantis.

All of the McIlree children were born in America and probably all except Mary Irvine, Sarah Virginia, and Alice May in Illinois. The last three were born in Oregon. Grandfather came to Oregon in 1852. Our mother was just a baby, less than a year old, when they crossed the plains. The family settled in a donation claim in Linn County, situated directly on the bank of the Willamette River and a mile or two southwest of the pioneer Oakville church. Our people were members of that church at an early date.

The nearest neighbors when grandfather settled at Oakville were Washington L. Coon on the south and John Smith on the north. Further northeast, about Oakville, there were Joseph Hamilton who was also an Irishman, and the McCoys, Maleys, and Stocktons.

We have never heard our people tell of any particular adventures of the pioneer days of the trip across the plains. Evidently they did not have any serious trouble. Grandfather was a brick layer by trade. He helped to build the Linn County courthouse, the one now being torn down. That building was first erected in the years from 1862 to 1865, there being considerable delay in its completion. It was while grandfather was working on the courthouse that he suffered injuries from a fall which resulted in his death. He died November 24, 1864.

Besides being a mason and bricklayer by trade, Grandfather was an experienced nurseryman. Upon taking up his claim he immediately began to lay out the grounds and he secured fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs in order to build up a nursery trade. He had a great many varieties of fruit, many of them new to this country. Among these were figs and mulberries. Among his ornamental stock he introduced chestnuts, horse chestnuts, catalpas, osage orange, and many grapes, cherries and plums.

The old house which my grandfather built is still standing on the place. It is one of the oldest houses in this section. There are still many of the ornamental trees there which grandfather first planted.

I might say here that when grandfather came to America he still retained the old country habits of thought so that when he died his oldest son, Walter McIlree, became heir to all his property. The rest of the family continued to live on the claim although Walter owned it. Walter never married and so died with direct heirs. That was on March 28, 1910. When Walter died the estate was divided among the remaining heirs of William McIlree.

The McIlrees attended school at the Oakville schoolhouse. Mother first went to the Maley Schoolhouse which was burned down shortly. The favorite recreation at social gatherings was the spelling-bee. It was the ambition of every active-minded child to be able to spell every word in the Webster's Spelling Book. Among the teachers which mother studied under was Rev. S. G. Irvine. He was also one of the early pastors of the Oakville church. This, of course, was a United Presbyterian Church, the first of its name ever organized in America.

(Jane Coon)

Most of the settlers were quite poor for a number of years after reaching Oregon. Economy was practiced in every possible way. I have often heard my people tell how, on Sunday morning, the children would start for church carrying their shoes and stockings in their hands. When they reached the churchyard they would sit down and put them on, but before starting home after the services they would again removed their footgear and carry them home in their hands. Our people were very religious and the children all had to learn the catechism and preserve careful decorum in church.

(A note, overlooked in the proper place, gave all of the names of those whom the McIlrees married. It is inserted here. L.H.)

Sam. Never married.

Jane. Married John Barton.

Elizabeth. Married J. K. Irvine.

Sarah. Married Jack Campbell.

Laura. Died young.

Emeline. Married Walter Post.

May. Married William Yantis.

Alice. Married John Bell. Lived all her life on the home claim. Died in the same room where she was born. (Note: Since Alice May McIlree was born on May 19, 1854 the above statement proves that the McIlree home, still standing, was built before that date. L.H.)

William Yantis, the husband of May McIlree, was a brother to the mother of our next neighbors, the McCune sisters. The Yantis family ran a sawmill near Corvallis at a very early date. It was washed away by the great floods of 1861-62.

Now concerning the Post side of our family, our father's people. Grandfather Post (First name not learned) came to the mines in California, probably in 1849. His trips to the California mines occupied a number of different years for he actually crossed the plains three times, each time coming west. The return trips were made by boat by way of the Isthmus of Panama.

Our father was Walter Post. He was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania on February 13, 1844. He first came to California with his father and in 1859 he came north to Oregon, settling near Salem on the westside of the river. He died May 28, 1921.

Father and mother were married on March 31, 1876. To that marriage the following children were born:

Olga Post, (One of the informants), Born Aug. 9, 1879. Her married name is Willett. She resides about one mile southwest of Oakville Church, Linn County.

Otha Post. Born Dec. 17, 1880. Died Dec. 11, 1883.

Adah Post. Born March 5, 1882. (One of the informants.) Never married. Resides in the Oakville community.

Stephen Raymond Post. Born January 15, 1884. He died on March 20, 1917.

Lester Post. Born September 12, 1888. Died same day. He was born in Crook County, Oregon.

Blanche Post. Born November 17, 1889. Her married name is White and she lives in Linn County.

There are but few family traditions concerning the Post family and its arrival in Oregon. The train in which they arrived when coming to California barely missed the Mountain Meadow Massacre. Father was proud of the fact that, though only a boy, he once caught a train guard asleep and took his gun away from him. It was the custom of that train that the guard found asleep and whose gun was swiped from his hands whole on guard duty must forget the gun to the person taking it. That was an especial temptation to a small boy and a good lesson to the guard.

Grandmother Post's name was Ursula.

Grandmother McIlree died on October 17, 1891.

June 18, 2001

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.