NOTES:
Name of father Samuel H. Barker
Maiden name of mother Hannah Phillips.
1900 OR CENSUS - Roy E. Barker (b Dec 1896, Oregon) enumerated with parents Samuel H. (b Nov 1868, Kansas, married 4y) and Hannah (b Aug 1862, Oregon, mother of 1 child); family was living with Hannah's mother Elizabeth Phillips (b July 1820, England, immigrated 1845, widowed)
MARRIAGE - Roy E. Barker md Ethel M. Gould 11 Feb 1920 in Multnomah Co., Oregon.
1930 OR CENSUS - Roy E. Barker (33y, b Oregon, married at age 23y, occupation farmer) enumerated with wife Ethel M. (33y, b Oregon, married at age 23y), son Samuel J. (2y, b Oregon) and father Samuel H. (61y, b Kansas, married at age 27y, widowed, occupation farmer)
WWII Draft Registration card - Roy Edlin Barker, 45y, residence Rt 1, Box 366, Salem, Polk Co, Oregon; born 16 Dec 1896, Polk Co, Oregon; contact person Ethel M. Barker, Rt 1, Box 366, Salem, Oregon
BIOGRAPHICAL:
Valley Home Holds Rich Heritage of Old Oregon Territorial Days
By Josephine Sommer
A heritage rich with memory of the Oregon Territory is that of Roy E. Barker and his wife Ethel. They line in the house built in 1852 by his grandparents, John and Elizabeth Phillips, some seven miles northwest of Salem in the fertile Willamette Valley.
Nestled at the foot of a high hill near Zena, a few miles west of Lincoln and the Willamette River in Polk County, this white, colonial house, with its wide lawn and two huge spreading oak trees, makes an attractive picture. The stability that can time can create emanates from the scene. Even after the spring on the hillside, which supplies all their water, is the same one used by the Phillips in the 1800’s.
The industry and skill of this early pioneer are displayed on every hand, from the floors of oak boards, two inches thick, to the three fireplaces, and the handmade furniture. The Barkers are still using tables, chests, and huge four poster beds made by his grandfather. Most of these are solid maple, with all the tongue and groove work painstakingly done by hand. The way John Phillips split the wood, in these beautiful chests, showed a keen appreciation of beauty.
Trunk Historic
The oldest article in the house is a trunk made of camphor wood, which Phillips brought with him from England, where he served a seven year apprenticeship under a cabinet maker. He had just completed his training when his mother died. At her request, he made her coffin and soon after her funeral, left for America. It was while working in Quincy, Fla., he met tiny, blue-eyed Elizabeth Hibbard, who later became his wife.
After six years in St. Louis, where he followed his trade of cabinet maker, the young couple began to listen to the talk of the “great West.” Elizabeth’s love for her home and the beautiful furniture John had made for her, did not deter her from the “big adventure.” On April 11, 1845, the little family, for they had two children by then, started out, full of faith and courage, with the covered wagon train led by Joe Meek.
Several narrow escapes marred the long journey over the Oregon Trail, but the Phillips family finally reached Oregon City in October of 1845. The Barkers still have the old melodeon his grandmother brought with her from Missouri as well as tow guns of the grandfather’s. One is an old flint lock rifle with a very long barrel. “This is the one my grandfather used to shoot buffalo,” Barker said. The other is an old muzzle loading shotgun.
Man Builds Altar
The Phillips spent their first winter in the Oregon country at Oregon City, then in the spring of 1846 they went on to the Catholic Mission in Marion County now known as St. Paul. Here Phillips and his friend, Thomas Roberts, got the job of finishing the Sister’s School and building the altar and pews for the first church erected in Oregon.
In July of 1847, Phillips and his family followed the Willamette River to the beautiful Spring Valley in Polk County. A Mr. Turner, whose Indian wife had died, wanted to go to California, so he sold them his squatters rights to a 640-acre claim for $100. They lived in his log cabin until it burned down, then another small cabin served them while the big house was being built.
The Zena Church which celebrated its centennial in November of 1958, is near their land. The Grange Hall and the early day store were built on the Phillips land. Barker recalls hearing his grandmother tell about taking a blue glass pitcher and glasses that pleased her fancy, in payment for the land the store was on. “I drank milk from those glasses many times,” he said.
13 Children Born
The stork made frequent trips to the Phillips home, in those days, In all, there were 13 children. In spite of her busy life, Elizabeth, only 4 feet, 8 inches tall, had time for horseback riding, which she loved. John had Nathan Eaton, a pioneer of the McMinnville area, make a fine saddle for her. It was a familiar sight to see her on her horse, galloping down the road, with a child on either side of her, in saddle bags, and one on her lap, her curls bobbing in the breeze. This saddle was first used in 1847, and the last time was in 1897. Elizabeth gave it to the Oregon Historical Society in 1900.
Except for the year of 1849, when he, too, got the “gold fever” and went to California, John Phillips spend the rest of his life farming his land and making himself useful to the other settlers by manufacturing doors, sashes, blinds, coffins and household furniture with his hand tools. He died on July 1, 1892, at the age of 78 years.
His widow, and Hannah, the only child still at home, managed the farm along until Hannah’s marriage to Samuel Barker in February of 1895.
The Barker’s only child, Roy, who was born in December of 1896, was a great comfort to his grandmother during her remaining years. He says, “If I had realized the, the great privilege that was mine in being able to listen to her stories, I would be able to tell many more now.
Many times the family came home to honor Grandma Phillips on special occasions, and the old house would ring with laughter again. It was with tear, though, that they returned to lay her beside her husband in the little Spring Valley churchyard, on May 18, 1902, after 82 years of a rich, full life. Her memory lingers on in the home she loved.
Baker still farms 225 acres of the original claim. He has never lived anyplace else, for his roots are deeply embedded in the soil of his ancestors.
[there is a photograph which accompanies this article, of Roy and Ethel holding portraits of John and Elizabeth Phillips. The caption reads: "Roy E. Barker and his wife Ethel live in an amazing and handsome old house built near Salem in 1852 by Mr. Barker's grandfather, John Phillips. Portraits are of the 1845 Oregon pioneer cabinetmaker and his wife, Elizabeth, who was mother of 13 children".]
Oregonian, The (Portland, Oregon) 1 Feb 1959, 31:3-7
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