Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory

Who Was Reuben Ficklin?

Reuben and Mary Jane d D 157 d D As for Ford, it should be noted that his descendants dispute the notion that Shipley paid Ford for Mary Jane’s hand, or that Ford had given her to his daughter. Wrote Pauline Burch: Nathaniel Ford had no contact . . . with Mary Jane or her husband before or after they were married. In fact he had no desire to, and made no attempt to get control of any one of the negro children after they had gone from his home in June 1953 [1853].13 However, Reuben Boise, the prosecuting attorney who represented Robin Holmes in his suit against Ford, said in a letter to Timothy Davenport, dated June 4, 1906, that Ford had given Mary Jane to Josephine Boyle some time prior to 1853.14 Reviewing the case, Boise said Ford had claimed the Holmeses’ “children as slaves and continued to claim them until 1853.’’ He went on to say, “One of these children—a girl [Mary Jane]—had prior to that time, been given by Ford to Mrs. (Dr.) Boyle, a daughter of Ford.” The letter to Davenport was one of his few public comments Boise made about the case. Boise said that Judge Williams ruled “these children being then (by the voluntary act of Ford) in Oregon, where slavery could not legally exist, were free from the bonds of slavery, and awarded their custody to their father.” Who Was Reuben Ficklin? The name Reuben Shipley is not found on any headstone in the Mt. Union Cemetery, although Mary Jane is buried there with four of their children. The cemetery is on land once belonging to the former slaves. Reuben and Mary Jane Holmes Shipley donated three acres from their hillside farm in 1861, persuaded by friends that the land high on the southeastern slope of Neabaeck Hill was an ideal location for a cemetery. According to historical accounts, the Reuben Shipleys agreed to donate the land with the understanding that African Americans could be buried there along with whites.1 This represented a significant breakthrough in racial relations in the region, as another nearby cemetery barred non-white burials. It wasn’t unusual for minorities to be denied burials in Caucasian cemeteries. The deed 158 d D Breaking Chains for the cemetery land, dated May 1, 1861, doesn’t mention the understanding, which must have been implied. The deed does specify “the tract of land be used only as a cemetery’’ and transferred the property from the Shipleys to the care of three trustees: E. Hartless, William Wyatt, and A. Newton. Hartless was Eldridge Hartless, who gave Shipley a job after he gained his freedom. In the space on the deed for their signatures, both Shipleys signed their name with X’s. One reason the Shipleys were encouraged to set aside the land for a cemetery might have been that Hartless buried three of his young children there in 1854, three years before Shipley bought the property. While no cause of death is given, the children quite possibly died during one of the epidemics of diphtheria or typhoid fever that periodically devastated pioneer families. Above the cemetery, near the top of the hill, once stood the Union School, built about 1850, and attended by the children of the Reuben Shipleys and other families in the area. According to historical accounts, the school was named Union “to denote the strong patriotic sentiments’’ of the region. A new school was built in 1870, a half mile to the east.2 The Reverend Conner, who owned property near the Shipleys, held services in the first Union School until the Beulah Chapel was built in 1857. The black Shipleys, and possibly the white Shipleys, were members. Mt. Union Cemetery has served both whites and blacks in the Philomath area for nearly a hundred and fifty years. It has expanded from its original The Mt. Union Cemetery near Philomath. Former slaves Reuben and Mary Jane Shipley donated land for the cemetery with the understanding it would be open to burials of both blacks and whites. Large granite marker in foreground was installed in 1981 to recognize the Shipleys for their donation. (Photo by author) Who Was Reuben Ficklin? d D 159 three acres to seven acres, and counts nearly two thousand graves. On an early summer morning, standing amidst the headstones—many worn smooth with age—one may look down the gentle...