WPA Interviews

Glass, John

INTERVIEW WITH MR. JOHN GLASS, CRAWFORDSVILLE, OREGON

My name is John Glass. I will first give you a sketch of my ancestry so far as I am definitely acquainted with it.

My Grandfather, for whom I was named, was also John Glass. He was born in Ireland, (but of Scotch descent), in the year 1782. He came to America in 1816 or 1817 and located first at Philadelphia. By profession he was a schoolteacher. He died at Crawfordsville, Oregon, in 1870.

My father's name was Robert Glass. He was born in Ohio in 1823. He died at Crawfordsville, Oregon.

My mother's name was Jane Gray.

My father first moved from Ohio to Warren County, Ill. From that place he joined the gold rush to California in 1849. There were one hundred and forty men in his party, and no women. They came with wagons, and although the parties next before them, and those next after them had much trouble with the Indians, they were not molested at all. Father worked in the mines for only a short time and then took up the business of teaming at which he did very well. His object was to get a sizable stake and then move on to Oregon where he hoped to take up land and carry on in the stock business.

This he did, for when he came to Oregon, he had between three and four thousand dollars with which to begin his operations. He came to Crawfordsville because there was abundant grass and timber here, as well as because it was a well-watered region where stock could be ranged profitably.

His claim extended from the present highway through Crawfordsville, southward across Brush Creek. Since he was a young, unmarried man his claim consisted of only 320 acres-half of the size of that allotted to a man and wife. He came to Oregon in 1850-that is, little over a year after he reached California which shows that he had done remarkable well to have accumulated so much in so short a time.

My mother, Jane Gray, came to Oregon in the migration of 1852. My father and mother were married in 1853. They settled in a cabin on the south side of Brush Creek, just south of here. The exact place where the cabin was situated is directly south of the present house on that place (Where my sister, Mrs. Ivy Glass Smith now lives), out towards the hill. There was a nice spring there, and an ash swale. The ash trees still stand on, or near that spot, and there are some stones collected there that formerly were a part of the foundation.

I was born in that old original cabin. I was the only one of my father's family born there, for I am the oldest. The rest were born in a newer, better house.

My father and mother, Robert Glass and his wife Jan Gray Glass had five children. In age and dates of birth they run as follows:

"John Glass (Myself), born in the old cabin in 1855.

Wilson B. Glass (Wilson Blain, named after the pioneer preacher of the same name), born 1858.

David Henry Glass, born 1860.

Joseph W. Glass, born 1863.

Ivy Glass, the only sister, now Mrs. Ivy Smith, born in 1869. (Still living, 1937).

All were born on the old home place here at Crawfordsville.

When my father, Robert Glass, settled in Oregon it was not his intention to remain here permanently. He was the youngest of his family, and the undertaking was that when his father, John Glass became aged and needed him, (Robert) he was to return east and care for him. However, after my parents were settled and established here in Oregon they wrote such favorable letters about the country and its pleasant climate that my grandfather, instead of calling for his son Robert to return, decided instead that he would like to emigrate to Oregon also. This he did, reaching Crawfordsville later (exact date not learned but evidently at a rather early date).

The first winter which my father spent in Oregon he had two or three other men with him in his bachelor cabin. The cabin was situated at the base of the hill and at that time there were a number of rather large fir trees standing near by. The winter winds made these big firs sway and bend, and one of father's cabin mates, a Scotchman by the name of McEllray (spelling uncertain) was much concerned lest they fall upon the cabin. Whenever the storm was especially severe McEllery would awaken his companions with the call that the trees were going to fall and that they must run to escape. Forty or fifty years later my father would point out those big trees, still standing, and laugh as he told of McEllery's panic.

In those early days neighbors were few and scattered. Some of the following had settled before my father came, and some arrived later. Of these neighbors the most prominent were: Wm. McCaw, Timothy Riggs, William Robinett, Thomas Woodfin, and R. C. Finley, the miller.

The old flour mill erected by R. C. Finley was already in operation before my father arrived. It was built in 1848. This was the original building, not the present one. I can remember when that old first mill was still standing, although the present building had already been erected. The old mill was no longer used for its original purpose, but was utilized for a hog-pen. It stood slightly down the river from the present mill, and further out on the rocks in the stream channel. Before the building of that first mill flour was hauled all the way up the valley from Oregon City.

No one seems to know exactly when the present "Finley" Mill, (Now owned by John McKercher) was erected, but my father helped to raise the timbers, so it was sometime after 1850. I have heard my father tell the following incident concerning the raising of the frame of the present mill building.

A crew of men, of which I was one, were raising the frame. We had got it partly up, but at such a point that we had no strength to push it no further, neither could we let it down without great danger of its falling upon us. At just that time, when we were desperate, Rev. Henry Harmon Spaulding, came riding past and saw our difficulty. He seized a pike-pole and added his strength to the push. We could feel the effect at once. The heavy frame began to rise, and in a few minutes we had it safely in place. Had he not arrived there is no telling what might have happened. (Henry Harmon Spaulding was the missionary to the Nez Perce Indians, and friend of Marcus Whitman, who, after the Whitman Massacre settled on the Calapooia).

Because of the great floods of 1862-63 the Finley mill could not be operated. The flood came very early in the winter, took the dam out and washed away the first small building, but spared the second, present structure. In a short time the settlers were out of flour. I can remember that winter well although I was still quite small. The older people were much troubled by the lack of flour, but to me it was only an adventure. I remember that we lived almost entirely on corn. My father rigged up a sort of homemade grater on which he rubbed the ears of corn and reduced them to meal.

Concerning the raising of the mill, previously mentioned, I will say that very little hiring of men took place in those days. Neighbor helped neighbor, as occasion required. When a man was building a house his neighbors would organize a "raising" and all work would be done without any pay except the pay of freely offered work in return whenever occasion required it.

Concerning early schools, the first teacher of which I have any knowledge was a Mr. Hull. After him a Miss Johnson took over the school. She taught in 1860. Rev. H. H. Spaulding taught the first school down the river near Brownsville. The building was located somewhere near the road (Crawfordsville-Brownsville highway), and near the present line between the Samuelson and Geo. Pugh farms. I cannot remember that old schoolhouse, and I presume there is no man living who can rightly describe it, but I do remember when there were still foundation logs remaining which were pointed out to me as belonging to the original Spaulding home. They were several rods west of the schoolhouse site, and a little west of the lower Samuelson house, that is, the one north of the road.

My own schooling began in 1861 with W. R. Bishop as my teacher. He was a well-known Cumberland Presbyterian preacher and educator, and the father of Charles Bishop, the woolen-mill man of Salem. The school at or near the present town of Crawfordsville was the third district organized in Linn County, district No. 3. Mr. Bishop taught this school for six or seven years. His old pupils still gather annually for an all-day reunion and picnic in honor of this pioneer teacher.

In my boyhood schools were not supported by taxation, but by popular subscription. Each pupil was supposed to contribute a certain estimated sum, but prosperous citizens subscribe liberally, and more than their family apportionment, in order that poorer children might receive the benefits of the school.

Religious services were first conducted at the schoolhouse here. The first preacher whom I ever remember to have heard at Crawfordsville was a Methodist by the name of Miller. That must have been when I was only four or five years old.

My parents attended the United Presbyterian Church at Union Point, now a ghost town, which was situated about three miles south of Brownsville. Rev. Wilson Blain was the pastor. I can still remember that old church there. It was a rather large building but had neither belfry, bell, or steeple. The church building was not then entirely completed, and perhaps never did get finished. It was boarded up on the outside, but not on the inside, and the studding was all exposed to view. The thing that I remember most distinctly was sitting during the long services and looking at those thin-board walls. Wherever there was much pitch in the lumber the sun would shine through redly. Watching those glowing red pitch-seams interested me greatly. At that time, of course, I was only a baby.

That old Union Point church was the founding point for all the United Presbyterian Churches in the world and the first congregation to bear that name. The building faced the north, and the pulpit was in the south end.

There was a small entrance hall, and one door leading from this to the main room. One end of the entrance hall was partitioned off and used as a sort of a storeroom. In this room was stored lumber, tools, paint, and such building materials as were on hand, for the church was being constructed slowly, long after it was used for worship. Whenever the members had a slack time in their own work, or whenever someone contributed cash or materials for the purpose, the men would bet together and work on the church.

The pews in the church were all homemade and were private property. Each member family built its own pew at home, and of a size to suit their needs, and took it to the church. Thus a big family had a long pew, and a small family a short one. However, settlers were few and widely scattered-so few that a stranger coming in never lacked a welcome and a seat to sit on. My father, Robert Glass, and my Grandfather, John Glass each furnished one of these pews.

The old Union Point Church stood on a country of rolling hills and was itself built on a slope. Besides the school, within my memory, there was at Union Point a school, a store, a gunsmith's shop, and a few residences.

(Here Mr. Glass drew a rough sketch of the town as he remembers it. A copy appears on the following page:) Map was not included.

Union Point began to decline when the town of Brownsville was laid off, but at the time which I remember there was still the Church, a school, a gun shop owned by a bachelor named Wilson. He always went by the title of "Gunder" Wilson. There was also a small store, the residence of Rev. Wilson Blain, and the residence and workshop of Rev. James Wirth. Mr. Wirth was a wagonmaker. The "Big Gap Road" leading through a gap in the hills southward from Brownsville ran west of the church, and a lane lead from the road up to the church front.

After the Union Point United Presbyterian church lapsed at that place its successor carried on at Brownsville for a time. The building which they then occupied was in South Brownsville and was the same that was built by "Father" John McKinney, Methodist Circuit rider-the first Methodist Church in the Brownsville neighborhood. While the United Presbyterians occupied that building Mr. W. C. Baird presented them with a bell. That bell now hangs in the belfry of the old Presbyterian church here at Crawfordsville.

Later my father transferred his membership from the United Presbyterian Church at Brownsville. At that point he served as elder for ten years.

The Presbyterian Church was organized here at Crawfordsville about 1880.

Rev. Robert Robe was the first pastor, and my father was an elder here for twenty-three years.

When I first remember there was nothing here at Crawfordsville save farms and stock range. About 1867 or 1869 P. V. Crawford built a carding mill here. It was run by water power, the race starting from a dam in Brush Creek and running through what is now the town into the Calapooia River at the mill. A little later Bob Fuller opened up a small store; this store my father acquired later and ran for a number of years. In 1878 my father took C. P. (Charles) Bishop into partnership. This building used by Crawford both for store and residence purposes is still standing. It is now used as a residence by Mr. Duncan McKercher.

J. V. Crawford was the first postmaster here. He was commonly known as "Jap" Crawford. Which of these two men the town was named after I cannot tell.

The first sawmill here was on the Calapooia River a little below town where the Rodeo grounds are now situated. Mr. A. C. Finley was one of its promoters. When I first remember it, it was run by Kendall and Barter. It was an old style "sash mill" run by water power from an overshot wheel. In a sash mill the saw blade is straight and to give it strength and rigidity for its heavy work it is mounted in a frame or sash. In the simple old form the bottom of this sash is coupled direct to a crank extending out from the main bearing of the water wheel. As the water wheel revolves this "crank" causes the sash to move up and down. The log, on a carriage, is propelled against this reciprocating saw blade. The cutting is done merely on the downstroke. It is all very slow and primitive, but with time a great amount of lumber may be sawed. The movement of the carriage forward to meet the saw if arranged by a gearing known as the "rag wheel". In sawing scantlings as, for instance, 2 x 4's, a cant was first out four inches thick and as wide as the log allowed. This cant was then cut into 2 inch segments, but the saw was never allowed to quite sever the piece. Before the cut was complete the carriage was reversed and a new cut commenced, again four inches deeper into the cant. This was continued until the cant was quite used up, leaving a group of 2 x 4 inch pieces all still joined by a short un-sawed section at one end. This short connecting segment was known in those days as the "stub-shot", and when the timbers were delivered to the workman had to be finished by hand.

Diagram:

The second mill built on the Calapooia (sawmill) was five miles up the river. This was a sash mill but they also had a circular saw for finishing work.

The first steam sawmill was built by a Mr. Linville and was situated on the head of Brush Creek.

In speaking of sash-saws I must describe a kind which was used at a somewhat later date and was known as a "muley". In these mills the saw blade was not mounted in a sash, but the blade was given rigidity by a heavy spring at the upper end which also served to return the blade to its upper position after the down, or cutting stroke. These springs were often in the form of a long flexible pole mounted overhead, the base rigidly fixed, the tapering point bending and retreating with the motions of the saw.

Diagram of "Muley" saw:

In speaking of mills I might say that Mr. R. C. Finley who built the first flour mill south of Oregon City, and who promoted the first sawmill on the Calapooia, was handicapped all his life by lameness. However, he was a very active and ambitious man and besides his mill near Crawfordsville he built a much larger one in the open valley near the present town of Shedd. This mill is still commonly called the "Boston Mill", but is now owned by a Mr. Thompson. Although he could not walk with ease Mr. Finley used to go out and grub to clear his own fields, working on his knees because he could not stand properly. His lameness was caused by an accident in the pioneer lead mines in southern Wisconsin, where his legs were broken.

The old Finley mill was standing (present building) as far back as my memory goes, but in my earliest memory the first building, built in 1848, was still standing. That old building was a small one, not over a story and a half high-just high enough so that it was possible to elevate the ground wheat above the bolting machines.

Another memory of my very early childhood was the trains of Indians who came through the valley. They were always peaceable, but I was very much afraid of them. Whenever they came to our house they would enter without formality and sit down about the fire to warm, if it was cold, or to beg for food at all times. About the year 1863-or 1864-they were all taken away to the reservations. The civil war "home guard" did this work, rounding them up and forcing them to go. Many of them hid out, or returned against orders, and for some time there was a regular patrol which came through whenever the settlers made complaints of Indian returns; they would come through asking everyone whether they had seen any Indians around.

I have been married twice. First in June 1883 to Bessie Trig from Kentucky. She died within a year. We had one boy who died at the age of 21.

My second marriage was December 1887 to Althea Chance. By this second marriage I have two daughters, Ava, (Mr. Loyd Templeton) of Albany, Oregon, and Hazel, now Mrs. Duguay of Eugene, Ore.

My occupation was, first, farming. Then I entered into the woodworking business here at Crawfordsville (1884-1900) running a sash and door factory and general wood-finishing establishment for a number of years. In this business I had as a partner my brother W. B. Glass. Later we dissolved partnership and the business was moved to Cottage Grove. (This business was originally founded here at Crawfordsville by Crawford and Fuller). The Crawford of the firm was a son of the pioneer P. V. Crawford. After 1900 I engaged in the banking business at Brownsville, Oregon.

Our social life in the pioneer days was very simple and uneventful. All the people of this region were of a very religious temperament, and there were few dances, horse-races, or other recreations which staunch Presbyterians might deem questionable. We sometimes met for "spelling schools", and singing school was extremely popular, especially when it was conducted by Mr. Bishop, my first teacher. He was a cultured man and well educated, and was very talented as a teacher of music.

Our clothes were of the simplest style, and often home-spun, but in looking back over my life I do not see that people now are one bit happier than we were then. We expected less, and were just as happy with simple things as people are now with so-called greater advantages. A trip from Crawfordsville to Brownsville took a long days travel then, but was just as exciting to a small boy as a trip to Portland now is." (

Note:--Mr. Glass, now in his 82 year is very deaf, but otherwise is in possession of his full faculties, and is an intelligent and capable man. His personality is most pleasing and he may be described as being a gentleman in the finest sense of the word. He extended the utmost courtesy to the worker, and willingly answered all questions. Altogether it was an unusual pleasure to converse with him. - Leslie L. Haskin).

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.