James Monroe Fulkerson and the Slavery Question in Oregon

 

    1. Introduction

We have followed the Fulkerson family and its relationship with slavery since the earliest record of the family in New Amsterdam, New York in the early 1500s up to the family’s move to Oregon in 1847. Now, it is time to follow them during their early years in Oregon, 1847 to James’ death in 1884. Ironically, James’ death at age 81 coincides with the current age of the author of this paper.

     Most of the work of the family genealogist is with uncovering the life stories of relatively average ancestors. Our people were born, raised in families, married, had their own families and in most cases farmed land in the early years of our country. From our viewpoint, they lived honorable, but unremarkable lives. Occasionally, the genealogist finds a truly remarkable individual, who stands out from his family, neighbors and peers. James Monroe Fulkerson is such a person. Even his early photograph, taken just before or after his journey on the Oregon Trail, is that of a remarkable person. I vividly remember when I first saw this photo, it made a great impression on me. I was busy with another genealogy project and was unable to begin my research on him until several years later.

     His early years in Missouri as chronicled in the previous section of this paper were relatively commonplace. He traveled with his family from Virginia to Tennessee to Missouri as a child and young unmarried man. He was married at age 20 and owned his first piece of farm property at age 23. His wife, Mary Ramsey Miller, and he had seven children all of whom were born in Missouri. In the later part of the family’s time in Missouri, he began to distinguish himself with his work as a deacon in several community churches, political activities in the Democratic Party and a judgeship in Nodaway County, Mo. He was a member of Missouri’s state legislature and a member of the Missouri Constitutional Convention in 1845-46.

     Then came his decision to uproot his family and make the long and dangerous journey on the Oregon Trail in 1847. It is hard to understand how any of the thousands of settlers sold their lands and most of their personal property, leave extended family, familiar surroundings and neighbors to do this.

     No one better describes the puzzlement experienced by others for the decision to do this than Samuel McKean who:

 

 “recalled his aging father hearing ‘rumors of a wonderful country called Oregon, where anyone could get all the land he wanted for the taking.’ Reports trickling east from missionaries and recent immigrants described a perfect climate and absence of disease. The elder McKean soon sold everything he owned, abandoned a prosperous family farm near Peoria, Illinois, and took his wife and children on a hazardous six-month overland trek in 1847. Forty years after his family arrived in Oregon, the younger McKean remained mystified by his father’s seemingly rash decision: ‘To see a man comfortably fixed, over fifty, deliberately pull up stakes and starting for an almost unknown country two thousand miles distant over an unknown road, to encounter unknown difficulties, traverse trackless and arid plains, over almost impassable mountain ranges through nations of savages, who though peaceable at times, are like a keg of powder . . . is a question that I have never been able to answer satisfactorily to myself.’” [Page 74, Dangerous Subjects: The Rise of Black Exclusion in Oregon by Kenneth Coleman]

 

     And the Fulkerson family did suffer grievous hardships and tragedy on the trip. James’s oldest son, Frederick, and James’ wife, Mary, both died after considerable suffering at a midway point in western Wyoming. At the end of the five-month ordeal, everyone in the family was exhausted and in poor health. Family historians state that James actually carried one of his daughters over the most hazardous part of the journey known as Laurel Hill in the Cascade Mountains.

 

   2. Early Years in Oregon

     We now take up the story of the family’s early life in Oregon. As soon as the Fulkerson family reached the bottom of Laurel Hill in the Cascade Mountains, they were met by a rescue wagon team of the son of Rev. Vincent Snelling who was sent to support and guide families to the Willamette Valley. Vincent Snelling immigrated to Oregon three years earlier and settled in Polk County. He was a well-known and respected Baptist minister homesteading at that time about two miles below where McMinnville now stands in Yamhill County. This was but ten miles from where James Monroe Fulkerson eventually settled.

     Rev. Snelling must have lived in Missouri prior to coming to Oregon Territory, as he married his wife, Adelia Tandy, in 1829 in Lafayette County, Missouri. Lafayette is just 40 miles from Platte County, where the Millers (Richard Miller, brother-in-law to James) and Fulkersons lived in 1834-1840. Four of Vincent and Adelia’s children are shown as being born in Missouri in the 1850 U.S. Census; their last three children were born in Oregon Territory. It is entirely possible that James Fulkerson and Richard Miller became acquainted with Snelling at some point in the late 1830s. All three men were active in the Baptist Church both in Missouri and Oregon Territory. Vincent Snelling was known as the first Baptist minister in the Oregon Territory when he arrived in 1844.

      How could Rev. Snelling have known to send his oldest son (also named Vincent Snelling) to meet the Fulkerson/Miller wagon train at the bottom of Laurel Hill? A likely scenario would be that a whole Baptist church community organized a number of rescue wagons filled with provisions, clothing and repair tools and parts to meet the Curl/Fulkerson/Miller wagon train as it entered its final push to reach the Willamette Valley. They still had 60 miles left in the journey over rugged terrain in the western portion of the Cascade Mountains. Especially arduous would be the ten-mile section known as the “Devil’s Backbone.” Snelling was a traveling preacher who knew many Baptist congregations in his part of the Valley. He would likely be the person who served as the information network and organizer of the rescue.

     The next obvious part of the rescue would be how to shelter the families that were rescued. Again, a whole community would have to participate by the “putting up” of the various families for the coming winter until they could be established on land of their own. Sometime shortly after their arrival in the Valley, James Fulkerson met Catherine Linville Crowley, who had just arrived in Oregon the previous year. On the Oregon Trail she buried her oldest son and his wife, leaving a young child on her hands to care for; afterwards, two grown daughters and her husband also died before she reached the settlements. From one of her daughters, Graves’ Creek (now called Leland Creek) was named, she being buried there. Catherine did not arrive until late December, and another son died the next spring. She would have been 45 years old at that time and would have had six children (ages 2-13 years of age) in her care.

     At the time James and Catherine were married on May 9, 1848, Catherine may have been still living with the families that took her family in after coming off the Oregon Trail. Certainly, she needed help with her five children (Margaret, 13, John, 11, Nancy, 8, Sarah, 7, Thomas, 2).  Catherine’s first husband, Thomas Crowley was known to be a wealthy farmer before the family immigrated to Oregon, but still Catherine had to be involved full-time in the care of her young family. She could not have embarked on homesteading, until she found a new partner. James had four young and teenage children who were still in his care: Virginia Ann, 19, Margaret, 16, Hannah, 9 and William Holt Fulkerson, 8. As was commonly done in frontier families, the older two girls took care of the younger children, family meals and the care of the home, while James worked the farm.

      James likely acquired his property shortly after arriving in Oregon as the Oregon land records show him as owning a “Provisional Land Grant” as early as November 11, 1847. “Provisional” meant that the land was granted through the Willamette Valley constitution of 1843 which allowed land claims of 640 acres at no charge. However, these grants were nullified by the official formation of the Oregon Territory on August 14, 1848. The Donation Land Claim Act of September 27, 1850 recognized past claims granted under the provisional government. James perfected his land claim as an official donation land claim on March 22, 1852.

     James and Catherine must have met through their Baptist Church community. The Lacreole Church which they attended at the time was organized by the Rev. Vincent Snelling in 1846. At that time, the church services were held at the homes of the members. An actual church building was not erected until after the end of the Civil War in 1866. The coming together of James and Catherine made perfect sense given the circumstances of the two families. He was 45 years of age and she 46. Between them, they had nine children living with them. Both adults suffered the tragic loss of their first partners, and the children the tragic loss of fathers, mothers and siblings on the Oregon Trail. James had land and Catherine presumably had some money that came to her after the death of her first husband. Both were devoutly religious and put considerable energy into their church community. They lived as husband and wife for the next 36 years until his death in 1884 (she died a few months later.)

     What were the early experiences of the settlers in this new land? Considerable time and effort went into clearing forests for new farmland. James was likely to have brought a significant amount of money with him from Missouri as he was a successful farmer there. His granddaughter, Mary Allen, wrote that, "Grandfather came to Oregon with his family. He was well equipped with wagons and riding horses and oxen for the wagons.” The money generated by the sale of his farm in Missouri was probably used in the early years in Oregon for hiring workers to help him clear the land. While the climate and soil in Oregon was most advantageous for farming, there were inherent disadvantages as well. The rainy season in the winter was long and unpleasant. C.H. Mattoon writes in The Baptist Annals of Oregon:

 

“The poor immigrant often landed in Oregon with a few half-starved cattle, a broken-down wagon and a care-worn family. Completely discouraged and disheartened, with no possible chance to get back, he found himself in the midst of the rainy season (and those who have wintered here know what that means,) with the necessities of life exceedingly difficult to obtain. Of the comparative merits of the two routes, the boy's description of the two roads to town will be a pretty accurate one. 'There arn't much difference; they're both bad enough; and if you take either one. before you get halfway there, you'll wish you had taken the other!' But hardships and privations did not end with the journey. For a long time the only flour mill was in Oregon City. The streams were unbridged, and in winter, the roads were impassable. Hence, unless supplies were obtained before the rains set in, flour could not be had, and bread was unknown. Wheat, husked and boiled, or peas were the substitutes. Tea, coffee, sugar and salt could be had by few. Sometimes vegetables could be had of those who had arrived a year or two before; and usu­ally deer or other wild game abounded. Stoves had not reached the Coast. The frying pan and the camp kettle were often the only cooking utensils. A tin cup. a tin pail, an iron spoon or two and a few tin plates supplied the table. Their hunting knives did the carving, and fingers took the place of forks. A woman who was one of the first here. (in 1842), once said ‘1 remember one time when the deer had run off into the mountains, and we were six weeks with nothing to eat but boiled peas without salt.’”

 

Samuel McKean, an early immigrant to Oregon, wrote:

 

“The winter proved to be a very severe one for this country, the snow covering the ground some two feet deep for six or eight weeks. Altogether it was rather a gloomy time. There was considerable sickness, and one or two deaths, though not in our family. We did not fare very sumptuously either, although we managed to get enough to eat, game and potatoes being the main articles of diet.”

 

McKean also spoke of life in the warmer months:

 

“The principal industry, so far as I can remember, was fighting mosquitoes. In fact, there seemed to be an irrepressible conflict going on between them and the few unhappy inhabitants of that otherwise peaceful little village. The mosquitoes, being the most numerous, energetic and persistent, and also better armed and equipped and thoroughly organized, usually came off victorious. The victory on their side was so complete that the human inhabitants, men, women, and children, would retreat at nightfall to large open crafts, called flatboats, which they would anchor in the middle of the stream, and pass the night. In that way, they would be enabled to get a little rest and recruit their strength for the next day's conflict. Thus, we passed the better part of the summer without accomplishing anything worthy of note.” (Samuel T. McKean, “Memoirs,” Cumtux: Clatsop County Historical Society Quarterly 13, No. 1, Winter 1992)

 

My favorite quote about the early pioneer days in Oregon is:

 

     "I never knew so fine a population as a whole community as I knew in Oregon, the most of the time I was there. They were all honest because there was nothing to steal. They were all sober, because there was no liquor to drink. There were no misers, because there was nothing to hoard, and they were all industrious because it was work or starve." HON. PETER H. BURNETT. (C.H. Mattoon, The Baptist Annuals of Oregon)

 

     Early on, James began to involve himself more in the Baptist community and along with Rev. Vincent Snelling, was instrumental in the organization of the Willamette Valley Baptist Association beginning in 1848. He would later become a traveling preacher who visited congregations without a pastor. As his farm began to flourish and the cares of survival in a new and at times dangerous environment began to subside, James looked to expand his interests to the politics of the region. In 1852 he was elected to the Oregon Territory House of Representatives. He was 49 years old at the time, In the three years following this (1853-55), he was elected to the Oregon Territory Council. Most pressing of the issues facing this governing body were all of the necessary steps needed to address the needs of a newly formed and relatively primitive society. Land claims, Indian uprisings, roads & bridges, and the beginnings of a bureaucracy needed to administer new justice and educational systems were among the many demands facing the young legislature.

 

   3. James Fulkerson, Oregon Legislator- 1852-53

     During this time there were many major national controversies leading up to the American Civil War which had an impact on Oregon politics. An overwhelming majority of the populace and elected officials were Democrats and had emigrated from the South. As a result, many of them were “pro-South” and later “pro-secessionist.” While the war did not come to Oregon, the populace followed the events of the times in “the States” with much interest and political fervor. The sentiment of the majority of the population was anti-slavery, but at the same time anti-emigration of free blacks during the 1840s and 1850s. This was reflected in the laws enacted by the provisional government in the early 1840s and by the Territorial government in the 1850s. It was also heavily influential in the creation of the State constitution when the State was admitted to the Union in 1859, when Oregon was the only “free” state with a “black exclusion clause” in its constitution.

     The legislature met for only two months in the middle of each winter (December & January) in Salem which was about 15 miles from James’ home in Polk County. Prior to 1851, the legislature met in Oregon City. Fortunately, for the present-day historian and family genealogist, the minutes each meeting were reported by the newspaper, the Weekly Oregon Statesman. The Statesman was located in Oregon City until 1853 when it moved to Salem.

     At first glance, it would appear that James’ tenure in the legislature was relatively unremarkable, being that most of the Statesman’s reporting of his activities related to fairly mundane concerns such as roads, county boundaries, laws regarding stray livestock, etc. But as this researcher began to read all of the Statesman’s accounts regarding James’ legislative activities, James’ special character and legislative skills emerged.  In his last two years in the Council, he often served as the President Pro Tem in the absence of the President of the Council. Especially revealing were the Statesman’s reporting of his participation in several major and controversial issues of his time.

     Of special interest to this researcher were the “black exclusionary laws” of the Oregon Territory and later Oregon State. From the very beginnings of the Oregon Territory, slavery was outlawed. While this seems laudable by today’s standards, on the other hand free Black Americans were also banned from immigrating there. The settlers of that country wanted to be free of the evils of slavery, but at the same time wanted it to only be for the white man. The many prejudices against the black man at that time came from the large majority of the settlers having come from the South.

     In James Fulkerson’s first year in the Oregon Territory House, considerable attention was given by that body to a bill for the relief of a Black American, George Washington. Washington came west with his previous owner, a James Cochran in 1850. He had been freed by Cochran prior to their journey west. Washington and the Cochrans first settled in Oregon City and later they decided to cross the Columbia River to the Northern Oregon Territory. A petition was mounted by the citizens in the area to allow George Washington to remain in the territory. Presumably, it was this petition that was being considered on the floor of the Oregon House in 1852. Later, Washington became a prominent member of the community and was known to have founded the town of Centerville (now named Centralia WA). At that time the future State of Washington was a part of the Oregon Territory. The debate on the floor of the House was heated and many of the speeches filled with prejudice against Black Americans. Some of the debate reported by the Weekly Oregon Statesman of December 25, 1852 follows:

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     Mr. Simpson [Benjamin Simpson, Marion County, Democrat] said he was willing to go for this bill because the evidence satisfied him that the negro, George Washington, was a meritorious person. But he would go against the repeal of the law prohibiting negroes from coming here. He believed that was a wise law.

     Mr. Gibbs [Addison Crandall Gibbs, Whig, Umpqua County, Democrat; second governor of Oregon, 1862-66] was opposed to the amendment. It opened Oregon to the immigration of a class of persons who were not desirable citizens. Let us go to the Eastern States and see what is the condition of persons of color there. Go within the gloomy walls of their prisons and you will find them liberally represented. As a general rule they were degraded and depraved. Was it desirable to encourage such persons to emigrate here? 

      Mr. Holmes [H.N.V. Holmes, Polk County, Democrat] said he hoped this bill would pass; the proof showed that George Washington merited relief. But he hoped the law prohibiting negroes from coming here would not be repealed; he wanted that law to stand as a warning to negroes not to come here. If a few were here without knowing what the law was, he was in favor of letting them remain if they behaved themselves. But they were a vicious race and we did not want them.

    Mr. Whitcomb [Lot Whitcomb, Clackamas County, Free Soil Party] said he had known this negro, George Washington, for a number of years, and he knew him to be a worthy man, and he should vote for the bill granting him relief.

     Mr. Matlock [W.T. Matlock, Clackamas, Free Soil Party] said it was his opinion that the general law was already repealed.  That the clause in the last crime and misdemeanor law repealing all other laws upon these subjects, repealed this. He had voted against this law excluding negroes when it passed, and he considered it a scandal upon the country.

 

(Note: The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party active from 1848-1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into the western territories of the United States.)

 

     The bill for the relief of George Washington passed, yeas 17, nays 6. While James Fulkerson is not reported by the Statesman to have spoken during the debate, he apparently did vote for the bill giving relief to George Washington. From this piece of legislative history, we cannot discern James’ view on the issue of race. He may have supported the bill simply on a humanitarian basis. He also probably refrained from giving public opinions on controversial issues as a freshman legislator. It is well known by historians that the Oregon Territory was overwhelmingly Democratic at the time and most of them were “Dixie Democrats,” pro-south and many pro-secessionists. If he had opinions on race that were not mainstream, he would have wisely kept them to himself until he had a better sense of the political climate in the legislature.

     Interestingly, James and his family lived in an area of Oregon known as “Little Dixie.” Rickreall, the small town three miles south of where the Fulkersons lived, was particularly known for its anti-abolitionist and pro-south sentiments. I like to believe that James had a more humane view of people of color and chose out of necessity to keep his opinions on this subject to himself. We also know that as the nation moved closer to the American Civil War, the extreme views of those on both sides became stronger and more dangerous. Oregon Territory was far removed from the “States” and the beginnings of actual armed conflict, such as in Missouri and Kansas, and yet, passions there were quite high. During the war, many southern sympathizers organized themselves as the “Knights of the Golden Circle” a national movement that sought to create a separate slave territory, called the “Pacific Republic”, extending into Mexico.

 

“Oregon counted as many as twenty-three hundred members, organized into ten so-called “circles,” including two in Portland and two in Salem. The Oregon Statesman reported on May 12, 1866, that a “treasonable secret society” called the “Jones Family” had stockpiled weapons, brought into Oregon from Canada “preparatory to aggressive operations . . . and which were distributed in Polk County.” (Page 168, Breaking Chains by Gregory Nokes)

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   4.  James Fulkerson, Oregon Legislator- 1853-54

     James ran again for the Oregon Territory Legislature in 1853; this time for the more prestigious upper house known as the Council. His opponent was a well-known figure in Territorial politics, Nathaniel Ford.  The results of the 1853 election were Fulkerson with two hundred and forty-two votes to Ford’s one hundred and eighty-three. With his second successful election to the territory legislature, James became more active in debates and is mentioned more in newspaper reports of the minutes. In the December 20, 1853 Council session, James spoke a number of times on the highly controversial issue of an amendment to a bill “relating to excluding negroes, mulattoes and half-breed Indians from testifying against white persons.” The amendment passed with no apparent debate. Another amendment was put forward, to which:

 

“Mr. Fulkerson moved to strike out the provision requiring belief in a supreme being, and making persons witnesses who did not believe in such being, or in future rewards and punishments. Mr. Fulkerson said he wished not to be misunderstood; he believed in a supreme being, and in future rewards and punishments. But he had known honest, upright and truthful men who did not; men he would as soon believe as any other. He would not disqualify a man on account of his religious beliefs.” In another comment on this debate, James stated, “Mr. Fulkerson said he was not certain that the amendment went too far. It could not be denied that many honest and worthy men disbelieved in a God. In Indians were found distinguished and able statesmen who disbelieved. The amendment was lost.” (Oregon Statesman, December 27, 1853 edition)

 

     Also, during the 1853-54 session, the highly significant bill to deny African Americans, as well as Native Americans, the right to testify against whites in Oregon courts was evidently passed unanimously in the Council on January 5, 1854 and apparently without objection in the House two days later (Page 96, Breaking Chains by Gregory Nokes). Strangely, I have not been able to find any reference to this event in any of the Weekly Oregon Statesman newspapers. The Statesman does report on that date James’ motion in the Council to rename Graves Creek to Leland Creek after Leland Crowley was adopted. Leland, the daughter of James’ wife, Katherine Crowley, was buried there during the Crowley’s tragic journey to Oregon in 1846.

     On January 11, 1854, James “introduced a bill to prevent sabbath breaking.” This bill easily passed and the new law stated:

 

 “That no person shall keep open his or her store, shop, grocery, ball alley, billiard saloon, tippling house, or any place of gaming or amusement, or do any secular business other than works of necessity and mercy, on the first day of the week commonly called the Lord’s day or Sunday; provided, however, that this act shall not be so construed as to have effect where the circumstances of the case render it necessary that the above provision be not observed. Any person offending against the provision of this act, shall upon conviction before any justice of the peace of the proper county, be fined in any sum not exceeding ten dollars, and such fine when collected shall be paid into the county treasury for the common school fund.” (Oregon Statesman, January 24, 1854 edition)

 

     On January 16, 1854, James “introduced a bill to prevent the sale of liquor to Indians.” The bill was amended and passed on January 17,1854. (Oregon Statesman, January 24, 1854 edition)

 

(Note: I looked in “The Laws of Oregon” sections of the January 17-March 28, 1854 editions and could not find a record of the law that was passed on January 17th regarding the sale of liquor to Indians.

 

      On January 31, 1854, Mr. Peebles introduced a bill in the House to prevent negroes and mulattoes from coming in or residing in the Territory; rules suspended and the bill passed; yeas, 19, nays, 3. [Without debate? H.M.] On February 1, 1854, “Mr. Fulkerson moved to take from the table the bill to prevent negroes and mulattoes from coming to or residing in the Territory. Mr. Kelly opposed the motion, and Mr. Fulkerson supported it; lost. Yeas, 4, nays, 4.” (Oregon Statesman, February 7, 1854 edition)

     After some thought and after scouring the reports of the Council minutes in January & February, 1854, I was forced to the conclusion that James’ motion to open the tabled motion above and his reported support of its review tells us something important about his views on the subject. Why is this important? Before and after this point in time, James appears to avoid making public gestures or comments that give away his views on race. This time we have a glimpse at his possible private stance. This was the last time in the 1853-54 legislative assembly that he is reported by the Oregon Statesman.

 

   5. James Fulkerson, Oregon Legislator- 1854-56

     In the 1854-55 Council, James is given more status and authority by serving as the President Pro Tem of the January 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10th Council sessions. Probably, because of his frequent role of chairperson, he is seldom mentioned by the Statesman as being the initiator of legislation in this session or the next.

     During his last year in the Council (1855-56), James took a remarkable stance in the Council’s deliberations as to the location of the Oregon capital. The bill to move the capital to Salem was passed by the House and sent to the Council for deliberation and confirmation. Not only was James outspoken and eloquent, but he also used an unconventional approach to forcing the Council to properly consider the issue. See the Weekly Oregon Statesman, December 18, 1855 reporting on the December 7th and 10th council meetings for the full account.

     In my opinion the following speech by James Fulkerson on December 10th demonstrates his capacity for wisdom and eloquence. As reported in the Statesman December 18th edition:

 

 “Mr. Fulkerson offered an amendment to strike out all after the enacting clause and insert—submitting the location to the people, meanwhile allowing the seat of government to remain at Corvalis, until an expression of the popular will could be so had.

     Mr. Fulkerson—I deem it my duty to offer at least some reason why I advocate the amendment. As there has been a popular sentiment through the country generally, that there has been bargaining and sale of those public buildings. Be that as it may, I have nothing to say to it. I have not been a party to any such.

      The amendment sets at rest the vexed question which has occupied so much of the time of former legislatures, and promises to be still more troublesome in the future, if we do not submit it to the people. When this question goes out as we have it here in the amendment, before the people, then they will have the log rolling to do, and if there is any bargaining and sale done, they do it themselves. I want to say nothing here that the people who sent me here would not say if they were here themselves in person. I do not say that any other gentlemen wishes to misrepresent their constituents—it is for me to put myself right and I suppose they will do the same. If we move this capital by our action, we will be accused of legislating for town and for individual interests. I believe the people would locate the seat of government perhaps, where there are no towns. I do not legislate for towns but for the people of Oregon.

     The friends of the bill say that it is on the score of economy that it should go back to Salem. Well, if we go back to Salem, the appropriation will be expended there and will be lost to the territory, if the people decide to remove it from there. If we remain here the appropriation will be squandered—it will be saved to build where the people decide to build. I did not come here to oppose Salem. As a citizen of Oregon Territory, I am nearer to that point than any other member on the floor. But I did not come here to obey my own wish but the wishes of my constituents, four-fifths of whom are against Salem and in favor of this place. What does this amendment propose? It does not propose to spend a dollar of the money appropriated until the people shall have decided where the seat of government will be. Thus, it is that whatever money we shall have will be expended at that point. There are other points that I had intended to allude to, and I will perhaps at another time.

     I do not intend to plague the Council with a speech at this time. I will only make one more remark. I believe the gentlemen elected to this Council have a principle that they want to speak the wishes of their constituents. Now there are seven members in this Council—properly there should be nine if they were all here. Now let one other member arrive here, either from the north or the south (I do not care whether he is for or against this place,) and I am willing to abide by any action that the Council shall adopt after. But I would rather resign my seat in this body than go into action upon it now.

     Last session the representatives of the people did not act hastily upon it. They deferred it over till almost the close of the session, and why shall we be in such a hurry now. It is said that some men—some of the federal officers—have taken sides that they ought not to have done. I do not pretend to say—it’s for them to settle that in their own breast. But that we are in the same predicament that the territory was, in relation to the location question a few years ago, is plain enough. I do not prefer any charge of corruption against any man until it is proved. But, I think the history of Oregon will place the responsibility where it belongs.

     The question being on the amendment, Messrs. Drain, O’Bryant, Peebles and Mr. President voted against—Haber, Smith and Fulkerson—for the amendment.”

 

     As can be seen above, James’ eloquence did not lead to the amendment’s adoption by the Council. Perhaps, his daring parliamentary move of boycotting the morning session of the Council caused one or more of the opposition to vote against the amendment. The final outcome of legislature’s deliberation on the question was the approval of Salem as the Oregon capital.

     The last session of the 1855-1856 Council ended James’ legislative career. He served one year in the Oregon House and three years in the Council and, in my opinion, with distinction.

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   6. James Fulkerson- 1856-65

     At the beginning of James’ tenure with the Oregon legislature, there were six children in the Fulkerson household, five Crowley children, ages 6-16, and one Fulkerson, William Holt Fulkerson, age 12. By the 1860 census only James, Catherine and William Holt Fulkerson were left. At that time James was 56 years old and Catherine, 58. Catherine was known as “Aunt Katy” by her family and the community.

     After leaving public office in 1856, James turned much of his organizational and community service energies to his religious activities. James and Catherine’s home was known as a "Free Baptist Hotel" to travelling Baptists. From the Salem newspaper:

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"Revival - We learn from Captain Barber that an extensive revival of religion is in progress in the Cincinnati district, Polk County among the Baptist denomination.  Twelve were baptized last week (9 on Friday) and near the same number were to have been immersed on Sunday. The meetings have been in progress a little more than a week and are attended by Revs. Messer Riley, Fisher, Hubbard, Snelling and Carwood. The meetings are held at the residence of Judge Fulkerson, and the immersions take place at Blevins' in the Rickreal (River).  The meetings are to be longer continued." (The Oregon Statesman, 5 September 1854).

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     He was also an ordained minister; ordained in 1852. James’ daughter, Hannah Crowley, is quoted many years after the death of her father as saying that James “acted as host to all the families who came to attend church” at LaCreole. She said that "there might be as many as thirty families to provide for as well as seeing to their teams of horses. She also remembered that "her father, along with his son-in-law, Joshua McDaniel, and son-in-law, Solomon Crowley, as three of the men working to build the church in 1866. When finished, the church was said to seat about 100 people." (Capital Journal interview, June 6, 1929, “Mrs. Crowley Tells Story of Early Days.”)

     In April, 1854 he was elected chairman of a group of Polk County farmers who were forming the Agricultural Society of Polk County.  He received a warrant from the treasury from the Cayuse war in November, 1854.  This was from an act "to settle and adjust the expenses of the people of Oregon, in defending themselves from the attacks and hostilities of the Cayuse Indians, in the years 1847 and 1848." For this  James was paid $234.05.  He was named the President of a dinner given to the volunteers who served in the Indian War by the citizens of Polk County on July 4, 1856.

      James was also the chairman of a committee formed to investigate the conduct of the editor of the Religious Expositor, which was published at Polk County. The committee concluded that the editor, C.H. Mattoon, was guilty of several infractions and "the undersigned further find that the secret arrangements made by Mattoon to remove the press without the knowledge or consent of the stockholders, was not characterized by that candor and frankness which should mark the conduct of a Christian or a gentleman." Ironically, this is the same C.H. Mattoon who wrote the book, Baptist Annals of Oregon, 1844-1900, published in 1905. In the book, Mattoon wrote glowingly of James Fulkerson, "He was without pride or ostentation, and always introduced religion into his conversation; this was his most delightful theme.  He never had an unkind word about anyone; his mild, gentle, godly manner won the love of all.... He acted consistently; popularity had very little weight with him.  Was it right?  Did it accord with God's Word?  Those were the questions."

     James was the chairman of the first state fair held west of the Mississippi River whtch was held at Lafayette, Oregon in 1857. He was also one of the incorporators of McMinnville College (Chartered as a Baptist college by the Oregon Territorial Legislature in 1858) and a trustee of the board of directors for many years afterwards. The college in now known as Linfield University with 1300 students at its McMinnville campus. “

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McMinnville College

 

     Finally, after years of holding church services in the homes of the membership, The Lacreole church was built in 1866 on land owned by Solomon Crowely, formerly of the James Fulkerson DLC. The church building was razed sometime in the 1930s and its exact location cannot now be determined.

 

   7. James Fulkerson- The Final Years, 1865-1882

     We can assume that James, Catherine and William Holt Fulkerson were still living together in the Fulkerson home. In 1865, James would be 62, Catherine, 64 and William would be 25. William was married to Sarah Jane Craven (1845-1900) in 1867. James would still be working the farm alongside his son, but his health was beginning to fade. Shortly after the end of the Civil War, William was arrested by the Fort Vancouver Military District for “rejoicing over the assassination of President Lincoln”, which took place on April 15, 1865. Fortunately for the family historian, this event and its aftermath was reported by the Salem newspaper, The Weekly Oregon Statesman, in June 5 and 19, 1865 editorials:

 

June 5, 1865 Weekly Oregon Statesman

The Fulkerson Arrest

A Polk County democrat has been arrested! And now Ruble, “off comes your head,” The Arena makes an immense splurge over the man Fulkerson. If the facts had been stated as they existed we should not have noticed the natter save as an item of news. Fulkerson was arrested for rejoicing over the assassination of President Lincoln, upon sufficient testimony. We have the facts in the case and he was arrested for what he is reported to have written in the letter to the soldier alone, which was, “If Jeff Davis and Abe have gone in, I am glad of,” but for other declarations at Fort Vancover. But according to his own words, he was glad that President Lincoln was assassinated—Jeff had not then, nor even yet, “gone in.”

     It is not true, as we are informed that Fulkerson was enticed to Fort Vancover. There was nothing secret or clandestine about the arrest. The United States is not so weak and powerless as to be compelled to resort to such strategy. Neither is it true that the arrest was the work of Captain Lafollett. Captain Lafollett merely obeyed the orders of the commander of the District. In consideration of Fulkerson having a blind father, helpless mother and sick sister, he was paroled, but may be arrested again. The Arena makes a great noise about it, and the Polk County Coppers have got up an indignation meeting to pow-wow over the matter; —and in order to give their meeting an appearance of loyalty, they without authority have put Judge Boise’s name on as one of the speakers. Judge Boise won’t be there—wouldn’t have anything to do with it. That was but another “weak invention of the enemy,” to get a few unwary Union men to their meeting, which like all their other tactics, will fail.

(Note: Reuben P. Boise, 1819-1907, was an attorney, judge and politician in Salem, Oregon. He first served as a representative to the Territorial House at the same time as James Monroe Fulkerson [1853-54].)

(Note: Arena was a short-lived pro-South weekly newspaper in Salem, Oregon from 1864-1865)

 

June 19, 1865 Weekly Oregon Statesman

Agency of the Statesman

"To show how utterly ignorant of this matter the Statesman really is, it is only necessary to state that Fulkerson was released at Senator Nesmith’s request, and upon that gentleman agreeing to become personally responsible for Fulkerson’s appearance, should he be wanted for trial. Not withstanding that his request upon the Senator was impudent and disgraceful in those making it, and a very good joke at the expense of the Senator, yet it is the fact nevertheless"—Arena

The above statement has just enough truth in it to make its falsehoods more glaring. Senator Nesmith was never requested to become responsible for Fulkerson’s appearance and therefore there was nothing “disgraceful” or “impudent” committed. Mr. Nesmith wrote from Portland to Col. Maury, that he was uninformed as to the cause of Fulkerson’s arrest, but that if he was released, he (the senator) would become bail for his reappearance. This offer was purely voluntary and unsolicited, and made by Nesmith out of kindly sympathy for an ignorant son of an old neighbor and friend, who had probably been more thoughtless than criminal.

 

(Note: Arena was a short-lived pro-South weekly newspaper in Salem, Oregon from 1864-1865)

(Note: James W. Nesmith [1820-1885] immigrated via the Oregon Trail in 1843 and in 1847 was elected to the Provisional Legislature from Polk County. In 1849, he purchased a flour mill on Rickreall Creek near Dallas. Upon Oregon’s statehood in 1859, he was elected as the state’s first senator to Congress. A Democrat, he served from 1861 to 1867. While in the Senate, he and Reverdy Johnson were the only Democrats in that chamber to vote for the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to abolish slavery. Senator Nesmith was said to be a friend of James Fulkerson by Mary Earleen Saunders, 1915-1993, a granddaughter of William Holt Fulkerson.)

 

The apparent facts in the William Fulkerson case based on the above news articles are:

 

1. William was arrested by the U.S. Army of the Fort Vancouver Military District and detained there sometime between Lincoln’s assassination on April 15th and the date of the first Oregon Statesman article on June 5th.

2. The only hard evidence was a statement in a letter signed by William, “If Jeff Davis and Abe have gone in, I am glad of.” Also, according to his own words after his arrest and detention at Fort Vancouver, he “was glad that President Lincoln was assassinated—Jeff had not then, nor even yet, ‘gone in.’”

3. Senator Nesmith wrote from Portland to Col. Maury, that he was uninformed as to the cause of Fulkerson’s arrest, but that if he was released, he (the senator) would become bail for his reappearance. This offer was purely voluntary and unsolicited, and made by Nesmith out of kindly sympathy for "an ignorant son of an old neighbor and friend, who had probably been more thoughtless than criminal."

 

     Based on other news articles from that time, we know that there was concern over the incidence of celebration by sections of the Oregon population over the assassination. One person was sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for his conviction. There were even unofficial organizations that were supportive of those who were arrested (“The Tribe of Benjamin” and the “Old Guard” were two reported by the Statesman.)

 

     In spite of his declining health, James and Catherine continued living on the Fulkerson family farm until their deaths in the 1880s. They are shown as living alone in the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Census. In 1861 and 1867, James sold portions of the original Fulkerson DLC to his son-in-law, Solomon Kimsey Crowley, (married to Hannah Rebecca Fulkerson) leading to Solomon and Hannah owning the southern half of the original Fulkerson DLC. Solomon, Hannah and their seven children, ages 2-21 are shown in the 1880 census as living next to the Fulkersons. Also, joining the family at that time were James’ daughter, Sarah Amanda Fulkerson, her husband James Ambrose Cain, and their four adult and teenage children. They may have lived with James and Catherine for some time. We can safely assume that James and Catherine in their last years were in the care of Solomon and Hannah and/or Sarah and James Cain.

     According to the Baptist Annals of Oregon, “In June, 1882, James was stricken with paralysis, but lingered with much suffering until May 31, 1884. He bore his sufferings patiently, his faith remaining firm to the last. Aunt Katy followed a few short months afterwards, declaring that she saw the shining ones and her beloved husband awaiting her ‘across the River.’ They laid side by side in the cemetery near the church that they adorned with their presence and encouraged and cheered with their words of love and strength. May the Lacreole church long stand as a monument of their zeal and love.”

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   8.  The Slavery Issue in Oregon Territory- 1843-61

     We know that there were many momentous historical events related to slavery during the ten years leading up to the beginning of the American Civil War. Even though most of these events occurred “back in the States,” they were intensely followed by the populace in Oregon. As stated earlier in this paper, most of the people living in Oregon just prior to the war were immigrants from the southern states and had strong opinions on the subject of race and slavery. Just a few years after the Fulkersons came to Oregon, Congress passed what became known as “the Compromise of 1850”. This national legislation, which also cleared the way for California statehood, was a consequence of the war with Mexico, from 1846 to 1848, which gained the United States an additional five hundred thousand square miles of territory in the West and Southwest. The enormous new territory embroiled Congress in yet another divisive debate over how and where to extend, or not extend, slavery.

     Next would come the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and potentially opening more of the West to slavery, bringing near-civil war to Kansas. That act would be followed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision of 1857—denying constitutional protections and citizenship to all African Americans, both free and enslaved, and holding that Congress lacked the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. All of these events directly involved the state of Missouri. As Missourians were the most represented among those who immigrated to Oregon, they would have had an extensive history and experience with slavery and would have been the most outspoken of the populace on the issue.

     Oregon’s own history of legislation on the subject of slavery was in large part an expression of this element of its population. Since the first black exclusion act of the Territorial legislature in 1843, numerous similar acts were put into law: 1844- The region’s first exclusion law against blacks with a “lash law” punishment; 1848- Congress establishes the Oregon Territory with the provisional government’s anti-slavery law intact; 1849- The new Oregon Territorial Legislature enacts a second exclusion law against blacks; 1850- The Donation Land Act for Oregon is enacted allowing only white settlers to apply for land grants; 1854- The Oregon Council and House votes to deny African Americans, as well as Native Americans, the right to testify against whites in Oregon courts; 1857- Voters approve Oregon’s constitution with both a prohibition against slavery and an exclusion clause barring African Americans; 1859- Oregon gains statehood, the only "free state" (free of slavery, but not free to all) admitted into the union with an exclusion clause in its constitution.

    The following excerpt from chief justice, Roger Taney’s, written opinion of the 1857 Dred Scott Supreme Court decision shows the remarkable level of racial prejudice even to the highest levels of the federal government at the time:

 

Negros are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word “citizens” in the constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the Government might choose to grant them.

 

Taney went on to write: “The Constitution of the United States recognizes slaves as property and pledges the Federal Government to protect it.” Of the court’s six to three ruling, five of the six justices were from the South. It is an amazing piece of American history as viewed from the perspective of the 21st Century. Also, consider that it came from the highest court in the U.S. and that a bust of Taney was displayed in the U.S. capitol for almost 160 years (It was only in 2023 that it was taken down.) In my opinion, this event contributed more than any other to the huge divide between North and South prior to the Civil War. As the Dred Scott litigation took place in Missouri, it was probably closely followed by the many Missourians residing in Oregon at the time.

     How did all of this impact Oregonians on the local level at the time? It must have been a time of considerable political polarization on this issue. We know that on a national level, this deepening polarization led to the American Civil War. During the war, no battles were fought in Oregon, and no regiments were raised there, but the strife in the East must have been closely followed in the news by Oregonians. During James Fulkerson’s time in the Oregon Legislature, he was very careful to not speak out on bills relating to race. At no time does the Weekly Oregon Statesman report a racist statement or position taken by him. Many other Oregon legislators during this time were quoted by the newspaper making virulent racist statements. The Fulkerson family was surrounded by those sympathetic to the Southern cause, as Rickreall, five miles to the south, was known as "Dixie" during the war for this very reason, 

     Several times during his legislative tenure, he does vote with the Democratic majority on matters related to race. An example of this is the bill for the relief of a Black American, George Washington during James’ first year in the legislature. (See Part IV, Section C. above). During the 1853-54 session, the highly significant bill to deny African Americans, as well as Native Americans, the right to testify against whites in Oregon courts was evidently passed unanimously in the Council on January 5, 1854 and apparently without objection in the House two days later.

According to the historian, Gregory Nokes:

 

     The 1853-1854 territorial legislature voted to deny to African Americans, as well as Native Americans, the right to testify against whites in Oregon courts. It was approved unanimously in the Council on January 5,1854, and apparently without objection in the House two days later. The law, as written into the revised statutes of the territory of Oregon for 1855, provided, “The following persons shall not be competent to testify: Negroes, mulattoes and Indians, or persons having one-half or more of Indian blood, in an action or proceeding in which a white person is a party.

 

(Note: I looked carefully at all of the Weekly Oregon Statesman newspapers following the January 5th Council and House deliberations and strangely could not find any mention of a passage of such a bill. If Nokes is correct, then James Fulkerson in this instance voted for a highly prejudicial act of the Oregon Assembly.)

 

      On January 31, 1854 a bill was introduced in the House to prevent negroes and mulattoes from coming in or residing in the Territory; rules suspended and the bill passed; yeas, 19, nays, 3. [Without debate? H.M.] On February 1, 1854, “Mr. Fulkerson moved to take from the table the bill to prevent negroes and mulattoes from coming to or residing in the Territory. Mr. Kelly opposed the motion, and Mr. Fulkerson supported it; lost. Yeas, 4, nays, 4.” (Oregon Statesman, February 7, 1854 edition). (See Part IV, Section E. above).

 

   9. James Fulkerson- The Man

     How does one speculate about a person that lived and died 220 years before? It seems to me almost impossible to draw a sketch of another without superimposing one’s own image on the other. The person making the sketch surely wants to believe in the more admirable qualities of the other, especially if the other is a direct ancestor. He was my great, great, great grandfather. Also, to make the identification with the other even more pervasive, James Fulkerson died at the age that I am now.

     James must have been an imposing person who fostered respect and admiration. He was clearly a leader and a person of strong character. He was also a person of daring (selling his property in Missouri and undertaking a dangerous, 2,000-mile journey to a strange and newly developing country); a trip that took the lives of his wife and oldest son). I often wonder how he felt about how he himself may have caused their early and painful deaths by his insistence on the relocation to Oregon. I feel certain that this must have haunted him for the rest of his life.

     We also know that he was a deeply religious person. All of his adult life, he was a member of the Baptist church, often serving as a deacon or ordained minister. Even though, the churches that he and his family attended appear to be “Southern Baptist” and “Primitive Baptist” (not "Hardshell") indicating a more conservative point of view, his service to others and the description of him by fellow church members indicate that he was more inclined to be loving, positive and kind to others than one might expect.

     How he came to never owning slaves in spite of the history of slavery in his family and the very strong culture of slave ownership of his Missouri community (7-8 counties in the central part of the state known as “Little Dixie” because of the predominance of large plantations) is a central question to his life story. His father and grandfather both owned slaves; so as a child, he was intimately familiar to the practice and culture of slavery. In his time in the Oregon Territorial legislature, fellow legislators often displayed strong prejudicial convictions about African Americans; never has he been cited for such. A careful study of his political activities in the Oregon legislature does not reveal strong evidence of racial prejudice.

     By other’s report, he was very approachable and not at all ostentatious. A number of his reported political activities (by the Weekly Oregon Statesman) reveal a wise and eloquent public speaker who was popular with many of his fellow law makers (He was appointed or elected the President Pro Tem on many occasions in his last two terms on the Oregon Council.) He also demonstrated throughout his time in office his capability as a legislator.

    Several biographers of James refer to him as having limited opportunities for education in his youth. If this is so, he is, I think, an excellent example of the “self-made man.” I can visualize him studying court cases during his time as a judge and numerous legislative materials as a legislator well into the evening with only whale oil or kerosene lanterns providing light. This may well have contributed to his failing eyesight early in his sixties.

     He may have been an outlier on the question of slavery both in Missouri and Oregon. He lived at those times in the midst of proslavery extremists (“Little Dixie” in Missouri and “Dixie” in Polk County). He apparently eschewed slavery by not owning any in Missouri and was very careful not to voice his views on race and slavery in Oregon, possibly to not alienate his extremist neighbors. I like to think that because of his early experiences with slavery in Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri, he opposed slavery in his adult years. I think that he may have learned to live in the highly polarized cultures of the border state of Missouri and later in Oregon without making unnecessary enemies on the race and slavery issue.

     In his beloved religious community (Sardis & Bear Creek Baptist churches in Missouri and the Lacreole Baptist Church in Polk County), he was clearly in his element. His involvement in church gave him a spirituality that carried him through the tragedies of his middle years and through the turbulence of his years in the legislature and public service. C.H. Mattoon in the Baptist Annals talks of the dissension in the Oregon Baptist churches over the slavery question:

 

 “The slavery question and Civil War issues assumed very threatening aspects. Extremists caused alarm by signs portending a terrible conflict between Baptist brothers which would certainly render asunder the denomination in Oregon. The Willamette Association, one of the three splinters, accepted most of the anti-slavery element and by resolution gave full expression to their sentiments.”

 

     That the Lacreole Church constructed its first church building in 1866 following the end of the American Civil War was evidence that not only the country, but James’ beloved church had survived a stupendous and prolonged conflict. I suspect that the steadfast wisdom and leadership of James had something to do with that survival. How do men and women become good and decent human beings? Good and decent parents help; the belief in a loving and forgiving God is also a great and important help in this. I suspect that James had both.

     That he also was a generous person who was committed to service to others is clear throughout his life. It is said that he traveled throughout the Williamette Valley to preach to Baptist churches without a pastor, traveled back and forth to McMinnville as a trustee to the new college there, traveled each winter for four years to Oregon City and Salem to serve in the Oregon legislature and traveled extensively to dispense funds to veterans of the Indian wars. In a 1929 Capital Journal newspaper article regarding an interview with James’ daughter, Hanna Fulkerson Crowley, she “remarked that when he was through serving the government, all he received as pay for his services was an Indian pony.”