WPA Interviews

Swank, Lydia May (Snyder)

INTERVIEW, with Lydia May (Snyder) Swank. At her farm home near Tallman, Linn Co., Apr 17, 194_

My name is Lydia May Swank. My maiden name was Snyder. I was born in Linn County May 22, 1871. My father was Milton Snyder. He was born in Indiana August 25, 1845. He came to Oregon in 1864 when he was nineteen years of age. The Indians were not bothersome on that trip. Father drove a four-horse team as his part of the task of reaching Oregon. He came alone, that is, without any relatives or particular friends with him. After reaching Oregon he stopped first near Lebanon but later spent considerable time near Sweet Home.

Father and mother met while father was living near Sweet Home. They were married on McDowell Creek, Linn Co., in the year 1863 and they lived to celebrate their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary in 1928. Their wedding date was May 27th. Their children were:

Ida E. Snyder. Born January 20, 1868. She married my husband's brother Jess Swank. She lives a mile or two north of my home. Her middle name was Eldora and she is usually known as "Dora".

Saretha (Spelling uncertain) Jane Snyder. Born Apr. 11, 1869. Her husband is S. W. Wood. She lives near Sand Ridge.

Lydia May Snyder. (Informant). Born May 22, 1871. Lives west of Tallman. Married Joseph Swank.

Frank Edward Snyder. Born Feb. 28, 1873. Died at 11 months.

Salina Bell Snyder. Born Jan. 28, 1876. Married Elmer Anderson and lives near Sand Ridge, Linn County.

There was also an adopted son, Herbert Cowan Clark who lives near Shedd. He married Anna Gorman.

My father came to Oregon with a horse drawn train. My mother whose name was Fidelia Simons came to Oregon with an ox train in 1849, when she was less than a year old. The start of the trip was from Illinois. Father came from Iowa. The Simons claim where mother was raised was on the Santiam River between Lebanon and Waterloo. Grandfather's name was Alonzo Simons. He never took up a claim but lived with my father and mother. The Simons claim near Waterloo was taken up by mother's uncle, Dan Simons. Grandfather Alonzo Simons had, besides my mother, two sons. They were Charles W. Simons, Born Oct. 17, 1849, and William Simons Born Jan. 11, 1852.

Dan Simons had a son who lived at Sodaville for many years. His name was Allen Simons. (Dan was a brother of Alonzo Simons.)

Another uncle of my mother's and an emigrant to Oregon by the same train was Nelson Simons. He was a country doctor and druggist. In the very early days he had a drug store on Sand Ridge and later he had a small shop at Lebanon. Many people never learned his name for he was universally known merely as "Doc" Simons. A peculiar incident concerning "Uncle Doc" Simons used often to be told me when I was small. One of mother's brothers, a very small child, was sleeping in the back of a wagon while they traveled. By the jolting of the wagon he was bounced from his bed and fell to the road. No one notice this when it happened and the child might have been left far behind and perhaps picked up by Indians or by wild animals except that "Uncle Doc" was walking behind and found the child lying in the road. He picked him up and brought him on, much to the surprise of the parents.

The train had a great deal of trouble in coming through. A number of times the Indians stopped them and demanded the best of their oxen. They would take the animal out and kill it at once and have a feast. Their method of signaling a stop was to stretch a buffalo hide rope across the way with a blanket laid on top of it.

Sometimes the train was forced to travel whole days and nights without stops on account of lack of water. The oxen became weak and loads were lightened by throwing out furniture, bedding and everything not absolutely essential. Sometimes whole wagon loads of goods were burned to keep them from falling into the savages' hands.

One night the train had been traveling long hours and did not camp until after dark. Nevertheless they got together that night and held a dance. All seemed well except that during the night they were annoyed by a terrible stench from somewhere nearby. In the morning they investigated and found that there had recently been an Indian fight nearby and the banks of the creek where they were camping was strewed with dead Indians.

On the way to Oregon a young couple were married. They were very young. After a time the wife became sick and died. She was buried and brush piled on the grave and burned. Then the train drove over the grave to destroy any trace. The train drove on all day but at night the young husband walked all the way back to the grave and spent the night there. The following day he again overtook the train.

The above was concerning the Simons train. My father had an easier journey but they crossed the Columbia near The Dalles by ferry and at that crossing all the cattle stampeded and jumped off the ferry into the river.

My Grandfather, Alonzo Simons was on a party to the California gold rush in 1849. He returned to Oregon but became sick on the way home and died at Scio before he had quite completed his journey.

My mother's grandmother was Margaret Simons. She crossed the plains twice from Illinois. Her maiden name was Wolf. She died at Lebanon at the age of one hundred and six years.

My husband, Joseph Swank, and I, are the parents of seven children. They are:

Leighton Merrill Swank. Born Jan. 29, 1894. He is now in the Oregon Tuberculosis Hospital but his home is in Washington County.

Eldon Philip Swank. Born Oct. 27, 1895. He died on Dec. 4, 1918 while in service in France.

Lola Marie Swank Tate. Born December 14, 1897. Lives at Portland.

Ross Hugh Swank. Born Feb. 6, 1900. Lives at Albany.

Myrtle Swank Munger. Born Feb. 22, 1902. She lives at Sherwood, Oregon.

Irene Verna Swank Foster. Born Apr. 7, 1904. Lives at Portland, Oregon.

Imogene Evelyn Swank Winstead. Born Oct. 14, 1908. She lives on the home farm in Linn County.

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.