WPA Interviews

Gormley, Bell (Gray)

INTERVIEW, July 8, 1940

Interview with Mrs. Bell (Gray) Gormley of Halsey, Oregon. This interview gives information on the Gray, Morgan, Osborn, Courtney and Gormley families.

My name is Bell Gormley. I was born on Lake Creek, on the Lake Creek, on the Morgan claim northwest of Halsey in 1873. This makes me now 67 years old so that perhaps I am not a pioneer but I belong to a number of pioneer families by descent, so perhaps I can tell something of their history.

My father was Francis Marion Gray. He was born in Illinois, in Peoria County on October 6, 1849. His father was George B. Gray, born 1821 in Iowa (Ohio?) and his mother was Eliza Vancil Gray, born in Ohio. Father's mother died when he was but six months old and he was raised by his grandmother, Mrs. Martha Gray. That is getting rather far back and does not concern Oregon history to any great extent.

My grandfather, George Gray started for Oregon in the spring of 1855. He brought with him his mother and my father who was then only four years old.

They settled first at Mount Tabor which is now a part of the city of Portland. It was then nothing but forest and brush and far from being the built up city which it now is. Father first went to school at Mount Tabor. His first teacher was John Newell. Later he went to the Portland Academy under Professor Frambes.

When father was nineteen years old the family move to a place called Judson's Ferry near Salem. Then, a year or so later they moved to Buena Vista in Polk County and there, father went to work for the potters, Freeman Smith and Sons. That was in 1869 and the Smiths had been running their pottery there for about three years. Father became very expert at the potter's trade and was always very proud of his skill. He continued to work as a potter at Buena Vista until about 1876 when a change in management and the removal of the pottery to Portland put an end to that employment. That, I think, was father's happiest time of life for he often spoke longingly of these potter days. I remember especially one incident which he used to relate. There was a bothersome man about the pottery who was always making trouble. One day he was pestering a fellow workman who finally reached the limits of his patience. Seizing a half-finished jug from his wheel he threw it full into his tormentor's face and the soft, wet clay simply smothered him and put an end to his pestering.

When father quite the pottery he next took up occupation as a bridge carpenter.

In 1870 my father and mother were married in Linn County, at the Morgan Homestead, north of Halsey.

My mother's name was Mary Ann Morgan. She was the daughter of Thomas Morgan. He was born in 1822 and came to Oregon in 1845. With him came one brother, William Morgan, and one sister, Margaret Morgan. Margaret Morgan, my great aunt married William Gore who was one of the very early settlers in the Lebanon region. Grandfather Morgan first settled near the foothills above Brownsville. One of his near neighbors there was a widow, Agnes Courtney. The Courtneys were settlers of the year 1846 in that region but had come to the west in 1845. A daughter of that family was Lydia Courtney. She was born in Clark County Indiana on January 12, 1824. My grandfather, Thomas Morgan, married Lydia Courtney. I will tell more of the Courtney family further on.

After my grandfather, Thomas Morgan had lived in the foot-hills above Brownsville for a time he sold his claim and purchased 370 acres north-west of present Halsey and on the banks of Muddy Creek. He paid $1700 for the new place.

My mother was the oldest of Thomas Morgan's ten children. She was born on Courtney Creek, (named after my grandmother, Lydia Courtney Morgan's people), on October 2, 1848. While I am telling of the Morgan family I might as well tell of all of her brother's and sisters. The next to be born was Joseph Morgan. He also was born on Courtney Creek. He died at the age of two years and was one of the very early burials in the old McHargue cemetery near the old claim. His death date is Dec. 4, 1853 which would make his birth about 1851. The next was Elizabeth Morgan, born Feb. 16, 1850. She married John T. McNeil. Then there was Joseph Morgan whose birth date I cannot give, William Gore Morgan, named for the brother-in-law of his father, William Gore of Lebanon, James Worth Morgan, named for the Rev. James Worth who was a prominent Presbyterian preacher at the old church at Union Point. James Worth Morgan was born Feb. 25, 1859 and is still living at Albany. Jane Morgan was another of mother's sisters. She married Owen Bond and died a few years ago but her husband is still living here at Halsey. Isabell Cordelia Morgan was next. She was born March 3, 1852 and died Sept. 22, 1863. John Newton Morgan, born Dec. 12, 1854. Died in March of 1939. Dorlene Jane Morgan, born Mar. 4, 1865. Still living at Portland.

Edwin Alvin Morgan, born June 15, 1867. He was named by his older sisters Elizabeth Agnes and my mother, Mary Ann Morgan. He still lives here at Halsey. The first two or three of the above children were born on Courtney Creek above Brownsville and the rest were born west of Halsey.

After my father and mother were married, which was Nov. 3, 1870, they continued to live for a time on the old Morgan farm west of Halsey. At that place I was born. My grandfather not only had a large farm there but worked as a cooper, carrying on his trade on a shop near the present Muddy Creek Bridge a mile or two west of here. My grandfather Gray also moved to Linn County and purchased a farm south of Brownsville. The farm where he lived is still commonly known as the "Saltsman Place."

I will give a printed account of my father's life which will cover the data better than I can from Memory. (Account attached hereto L. H.).

I will now give you an account of the Courtney family, my grandmother's people, as well as I can remember it. My grandmother, Agnes Courtney was very fond of telling us their history but I have forgotten so much of what she related. I can only give a bare outline. My grandmother's maiden name was Agnes Ritchey. She first married a man named Findley. To that marriage there were born some children but I know only the name of one. She was Margaret Findley and she married Josiah Osborn. In 1845 a party of Findley' s came to Oregon. In that party were Mr. & Mrs. Findley, Mr. & Mrs. Osborn, Mr. & Mrs. John Dunlap and a Mr. & Mrs. Pierce. Also, with them was my grandmother who had married a second time to John Courtney.

The Osborns first stopped at the Whitman Mission and later came on and settled east of Brownsville in Linn County. Still later they went back to the Whitman Mission where Josiah Osborn was engaged in building a mill when the Whitman Massacre took place. Mr. Osborn hid his wife and family under the puncheon floor of a cabin while the first killing was going on. That night, while the Indians were eating their night meal he crept out. Seeing that the Indians were occupied he went back for his family. There were many Indian dogs about the camp but fortunately not a dog barked. They succeeded in getting out into the bushes and from there started to make their way to the nearest Fort. Almost all of the family were sick at the time, just recovering from the measles. Mrs. Osborn, also, was not yet fully recovered from a miscarriage. The family were therefore in a bad condition. They had to ford flooded streams of ice-cold water. After traveling for a day or so Mrs. Osborn could go no further. Mr. Osborn hid the family in the brush, cutting a stick to which he tied a cup so that they could get water from a nearby stream. He reached the Fort and returned in two days with a friendly Indian. During all that time his sick family lay out in storm and rain and cold without protection. Aunt Margaret was so weak that she could not sit erect, so they tied her on the back of a horse like a sack of flour and thus took her in. She never entirely recovered from those terrible days. For years she was troubled with terrible boils and finally one of her arms became so crippled that she could not raise it to her head. The youngest child of the family survived for only a few weeks and died soon after they reached Oregon City. The family came back to their claim on Courtney Creek and both of the parents remained there until the time of their deaths.

Josiah Osborn was a carpenter, millwright and wagon maker. He had a wagon shop on his claim above Brownsville. He also made some furniture and my Uncle, (Owen Bond) my Aunt Jane Morgan's husband, still had a stand that Josiah Osborn made. The family are now all gone but one of the daughters, Mrs. Jacobs, was for many years employed at Lipman and Wolf's in Portland as a skilled needlewoman.

Speaking about old time furniture, I still have the white oak chair on which my grandmother, Mrs. Osborn's mother, sat while crossing the plains in 1845.

Now to return to the history of my own immediate ancestors. My grandmother, as I have said, married my grandfather, John Courtney, before coming to Oregon. This second marriage was also rather short lived. After the family had located their claim on the creek which was to bear their name, grandfather had to go to Oregon City to secure fresh supplies. When he reached Oregon City, for some reason he could not immediately secure the things which he wished. While waiting for the next shipment to arrive he secured employment cutting wood. While so employed he was struck by a falling tree and killed. His widow, Agnes Courtney, continued to reside on the claim until she could prove it up and gain title. At a later date she again married. (Note-unfortunately, the third husband's name was not learned. L.H.)

I cannot tell you the names of all the Courtney children but I will do my best.

There was a J. B. Courtney, I believe. He ran a sawmill on Courtney Creek at an early date.

Mary Jane Courtney. Born October 24, 1819. Came to Oregon with her parents. First married Caleb Rodgers, Jan. 5, 1848. Was soon widowed. Again married Elmer Kees on Nov. 6, 1851. Kees ran a mill at Waterloo at a very early date. After Kees death she married Rev. S. D. Gager on Dec. 18, 1872. They lived together at Waterloo and died within a day or two of each other. They were both buried in the same grave.

Isabell Courtney. Born in Clark County, Mo. Came to Linn County in 1846. Married John McNeil July 11, 1850. Died at Halsey Oct. 11, 1897.

Lydia Courtney, my mother has often told me that it was on the night of the Whitman massacre that she was married. Thus she was safe at home and a bride in Linn County on the same night that her half-sister Margaret was sick and hiding in fear under the floor of a cabin in the "upper country".

(Note-Mrs. Gormley made this statement very definitely yet dates and times given do not agree with it. Just which is right this writer cannot tell. L. H.) I should say that when they fled from the Indians they had no food except a few crusts of bread and some cold mush which Mr. Osborn had time to seize from the table.

Now for just a few scattered facts which I have failed to get in their proper place. I gave the names of the Findleys, the Dunlaps, the Osborns and the Pierces who were all related and came to Oregon at a very early date. There was another family, also related, who came. They were Mr. & Mrs. J. W. McCoy. He came to Oregon in 1845 and settled in the Oakville region in 1846. He was one of Linn County's first County Commissioners.

My father had a half-brother who also came to Oregon. His name was D. G. (Dexter) Gray. This half-brother also had a half-brother named Gordon.

Mother had six brother and sisters. Their names were:

John Morgan. Long Beach, California.

William Morgan. Lebanon, Oregon.

J. W. Morgan. Lake Creek, Linn County.

Edd Morgan. Still lives at Halsey.

Margaret Morgan. Now Margaret Dunlap. Portland.

--------(?) Morgan. Mrs. L. W. Bond, Halsey.

My father was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery, Linn County. Father and mother had but two children, myself and my sister Margaret who is now Mrs. Margaret McClellan of San Francisco, California.

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.