Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1915-09-03
WAGON. MADE CRADLE.
BORN WHILE PARENTS WERE
ENROUTE TO OREGON.
Interesting "reminiscences of Pioneer
Days As Told By Well-Known
Resident of Dallas.

Wiiblch ny IHeu IOchley lOI III
Portland Journal is brief biographi
cal sketch of the pioneer life of Mrs
Alice Dempsey, than whom few wo
men in Polk county are more widely
known. The story follows:
Alice Dempsey lives in Dallas
"No, | wasn't born back east where
my folks came from, nor | wasn't
born after they reached Oregon.
was born by the side of the road OF
the way to Oregon" she said to me
when | visited her recently. 81 was
months old before | ever slept in a
house. All my life l have loved tc
camp out. / guess | got the love fol
it with my mothers milk. | was born
in the spring of 1914, on the Little
Blue river, in what was then the In
dian country now part of Kansas.
l was born along about daylight, and
by noon the wagons were creaking
and lurching on their westward way.
That old wagon was my cradle, and
as long as it was in motion | would
sleep serenely, but ] made up for it
by keeping awake pretty much all
night and keeping mother awake also.
DR.. Henry Saffron was with mother
when / was born. Mrs. Packwood,
whose wagon was near ours in the
line Of march, had baby born about
the same time | arrived. The Pack
wood baby kept awake all day and
slept all night, just the opposite to
what did, so my little brother want
ed mother to trade me for the Pack
wood baby, even if mother had to
throw in something to boot.
"My people were southerners. My
father, Carey D. Embree, was born in
1906, in Kentucky. My mother, Lu-
cinda Fowler Embree, was born in
1907, and was also native of Ken
lucky. They were married on Decem-
ber 81, 1884, in Missouri. They had
six children, and the first of the chill
dren to die lived to be more than 60
years old
"Polk county is a great place for
pioneers. My brother. John B. En-
bree, who is the town bill poster, was
born here on October II, 1S47. John
T. Ford was also born in Polk coun-
ty on November II, 1S47. William
Shelton was born here in July, 1916,
and Ellen Allen Holman also in 1916.
Oh, yes, pioneers and native sons and
daughters are as thick in Polk county
as persimmons and pawpaws in Mis-
souri,. Nathaniel Ford was the cap
tain of our train, and most of the
emigrants in his train settled here in
Polk county or in Yamhill county.
"The emigrants of 1874 had pret-
ty hard. time. Ny people came down
the Columbia from The Dalles on a
fiat-boat. Father was carrying load
around the Cascades and mother was
carrying me. A cold rain was fall
ing. Mother was worn clear out, so
she gave out and had to quit. Father
went on with the promise of coming
back to get me when he had taken his
own load to the Lower Cascades.
After father had been gone for an
hour or SO, two men on horseback
came by. One of them put mother on
his horse and | rode in her lap.
"We reached Oregon City the day
before Christmas. DR.. Mclaughlin
gave father the use of house with
out charge and furnished him $50
worth of provisions and goods on
credit. 1t was three years before faith
er was able to pay this 500 debt. He
wanted to pay interest, but the Hud
son Bay clerk would accept on ly the
principal. He showed father their
books, and scores of emigrants who
had gotten goods on credit had never
paid. The clerk told father that DR..
Mclaughlin had lost several thousand
dollars by extending credit to desti-
tute emigrants.
"Father took up a donation land
claim of $40 acres, three miles east
of Dallas, on the main road to Sa-
lem.
"The first school | went to was
taught in Nat Ford's log house, in
the fall of 184S. Lorinda Bewley was
the teacher. She had escaped from
the Whitman massacre the preceding
winter, that is, in November, 1S47.
Later she married a man named
Chapman. and lived for many years
near Sheridan.
"My brother, DIR. Thomas Van
Buren, Embree, hung ont his shingle
at Lafayette in 1862. | went to live
with him so | could go TO school at
the Lafayette seminary run by Pro
fessors Nichols and Cartwright. At
ter a years schooling at the semi
nary / came back home to Polk eOun-
ty. We used to attend church at the
Whitaker sehooi-house. was Is
wears old when | met James a. Demp-
sew. We met at church. He was Just
a wear older than | was. Pretty near
everybody who was anybody went to
church when | was a girl. Churches
in those DAYS were not social clubs, as
they are today. They preached about
heaven and hell and your duty to God
and YOUR fellowman. Nowadays the
preachers don't have much to say
about duty and religion; it isn't pop
ular.
"Mr. Dempsey and were engaged
three months. We were married b.
Rev. James Kelsey. a brother of
Judge Kelsey. The only thing | still
have from my wedding outfit is my
sugar bowl. Ny nine girls helped
-. - -. ! A.. i'll S