WPA Interviews

Standish, Ruby (Hayes)

INTERVIEW, with Mrs. Ruby (Hayes) Standish, of Halsey, Oregon, July 8, 1940

My name is Ruby Hayes Standish. I am a daughter of Daniel Hayes and a granddaughter of Seth Whipple Hayes; my great-grandfather was also a Seth Hayes, a soldier in the War of 1812. His father, in turn, was Plimm Hayes.

Perhaps I had better begin with this Plimm Hayes, my great-great grandfather. About all that I can say of him is that he had a brother, Daniel Ebenezer Hayes, a brother Ezra Hayes, and a sister Sibyl Hayes.

My great-grandfather, Seth Hayes was born in New York. From there he moved to Ohio in the year 1801 or 1802. He married Pracilla (Priscilla) Whipple. As I have said, he was a soldier in the War of 1812. Great Grandmother, Pracilla Whipple was born in New Hampshire. They were married in 1818. Later they moved to Ohio.

My grandfather, Seth Whipple Hayes, was born January 16, 1825. He died November 1, 1876. His name was given from his father and his mother's maiden name. He married my grandmother, Lydia Jewett in the east, probably in Ohio. Together they came to Oregon. The start was made on April 17, 1853. Nelson Davis was the captain of the train. That train was to some extent a family affair for besides my grandfather and grandmother there was grandfather's brothers and sisters as listed below:

Ebenezer Hayes. He married Lucinda Hill. She died in 1871 after giving birth to a son, Ernest Freeman Hayes. After that he married again, Laura Ellen Hill on April 28, 1872 (Linn Co. Marriages, 25 Apr 1872). Ebenezer Hayes was born Feb 26, 1829. He was a soldier in Battery D, 2d Reg. Ore. Volunteers under Captain James Blakely and was discharged at Eugene City July 3, 1856.

Lydia Louisa Hayes. She was married to Reuben Jewett, my grandmother's brother.

Pracilla Hayes. She married Douglas Windom.

Hulda Hayes. She married William Bond.

Hannah Hayes. She married Soloman Bond. The Bond brothers were also members of the train as was their father, John Bond and wife. Another member of the party was grandfather's aunt, Sibyl Hayes.

The Hayes party arrived at Portland and stayed there for at least one winter. Grandfather took up land near what is now Ladd's Addition in Portland. However, in the spring he traded his land claim for a span of horses and came on to Linn County. There he took up another claim which included what is now a part of the village of Halsey. He soon built a house on his claim which is still standing there. It is situated just east of the Southern Pacific tracks in the extreme southern end of town. (A well-preserved frame house painted green. L.H.). The land that my grandfather took up here is still held in the Hayes name, having, however, been deeded away for about one year and then purchased again. Thus it has been owned by three Hayes generations.

When the railroad was built through this region my grandfather deeded a considerable portion of his land for town purposes. The Railroad was built to the immediate locality of his home and then construction was suspended for a time before it was extended on to Roseburg.

When grandfather signed the deed for land for a town site he also, in a manner, signed his own death warrant. Grandfather was a very staunch temperance advocate. In the deeds for a town site he stipulated that none of the land was ever to be used for the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors. Later, when a considerable town had grown up a certain K. Neil wished to open a saloon here and grandfather prevented it. This made Neil angry. One day, grandfather was at work digging a well just east of the railroad tracks near the depot. Neil, in a drunken state, came to talk to him. He was angry and had a grievance. He spoke to grandfather something like this, "I hear that you said the saloon business was a dirty rotten business and that no one but a dirty rotten man would run one."

Grandfather answered, "I don't remember ever saying that but I presume it is true." At that Neil drew a dagger and stabbed him twice. Grandfather did not die at once but lingered on for a few days. Neil was hanged at Albany. Grandfather's death took place on Nov. 1, 1876.

Among the other very early settlers in the Halsey region were my great-uncle, Ebenezer Hayes and Reuben Jewett, whose wife was my grandfather's sister. Reuben Jewett was a butcher. He had a son Oliver and a daughter Lucille. The latter still lives at Lebanon, on Sherman Street. Her present name is Mrs. Howell. In the surrounding country the early settlers were the Pearls and Van Winkles to the east. These were both strong Methodist families and helped to build and worshipped at Wesley Chapel a mile or two northeast of present Halsey. There were also the Bramwells, Bonds and Micau families. Micau was a pioneer schoolteacher in this region.

My father, Daniel James Hayes was born in Jefferson County, Iowa, March 27, 1850. He was therefore about two years old when his people started for Oregon. My mother was Mary Ellen Van Laningham. She was born at Salem, Ore., July 8, 1857. Mother died November 15, 1927 and father died March 22, 1933.

My mother's mother was Almena Presley Van Landingham, a daughter of David Presley who was born July 5, 1803 and was an early settler near Salem. David Presley died July 17, 1877. Mother had one brother, Charles Van Landingham who died about 1890.

My father's first schooling was at Crawfordsville. He started to school first on the same day that Mrs. Eliza Brandon, daughter of R. C. Finley, started. Mrs. Brandon is still living here at Halsey and is about 96 years old. She is now the elected queen of the Linn County Pioneer Association, believed to be the oldest native daughter of Linn County. But to return to that first day at school-- The teacher was a man named Hull, a cruel man who flogged his pupils unmercifully. Mrs. Brandon has often told me of that day. She had heard of this teacher and feared him greatly. Only a few days before, it was reported, he had thrown an open knife at one of his pupils. Mrs. Brandon entered the school grounds that morning clinging timidly to her older sister's skirts. The very first thing that she saw was my father leaning against the corner of the schoolhouse and crying at the top of his voice. Although it was his first day, and school had not yet been called to order, father had already received a thrashing. That scared Mrs. Brandon still more so that when the teacher began to question her she was afraid to answer. This was taken for stubbornness and so Mrs. Brandon, too, was soon crying against the schoolhouse wall, she also having received a whipping. (Note: Mrs. Brandon also repeated this incident to the writer. She also added the remark that when the teacher's children became seriously sick with scarlet fever and school was closed, she hoped they would die so that school would be adjourned for a long time. L.H.)

My father had one brother named Seth Stephen Hayes. He lives at Portland. He also had a sister, Gertrude Hayes Pentland who lived at Berkley and who died the same year that father did. Besides this there was a half-brother, Frank Hayes who died two years ago at Sandiago, and tow infant half-sisters.

My mother was a descendent of the very early Presley family of the Salem, Marion County Presleys. David Presley of that family was my great-grandfather. A daughter of David Presley, Barbara Presley by name, married Sidney Smith of this Halsey neighborhood. The death of Sidney Smith and his wife Barbara was one of the very early murders in this region. Tom Smith, in his defense at the trial claimed that Disney had killed his wife and then committed suicide. Tom might have been cleared except that one of Sidney's children, almost a baby, chanced to remark, "How could pappa kill mamma when pappa was already dead?" Tom Smith was hanged for his crime. Barbara Smith was my mother's aunt. The murder took place on March 9, 1866. Thus you can see that there have been two murders in my ancestry, both of perfectly innocent persons. The Presleys lived first near Salem but later moved to Jefferson.

My father and mother raised a family of five children, four girls and one boy. Their names are:

Dora Hayes. Born March 16, 1877. Married Dan Standish.

Ruby Hayes Standish. Born Dec. 30, 1878. (The informant).

Emma Gertrude Hayes. (Infant)

Grace Hayes. Born July 16, 1883. Died 1937. Married name Nash.

George Hayes. Born October 16, 1887. Lives at Albany.

When my people came to this country there were of course no roads or even trails except a few made by game, deer or bears and elk. All travel was done on horseback through the waving grass which was so tall that a rider could draw the grass heads from each side and bind them over the horses back.

(Note: A discrepancy appears in this interview. The writer cannot at this date correct it. He was informed first that "My father's mother was Polly Stillwell Hayes, born Mar. 25, 1832. Died Aug. 15, 1863. Later the writer was informed that her grandfather married Lydia Jewett. It is probably that these were two different wives of the grandfather but which was the actual "grandmother" cannot be stated. L.H.)

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.