The Jasper Train - 1864 on the Oregon Trail

Profile manager: April Dauenhauer [send private message]

In 1864, fourteen wagons started out from Jasper County, Iowa on the Oregon Trail. Most of the pioneers were related to each other. During the journey, they merged into a larger wagon train for safety, and eventually separated again. Some of the families paused for a few weeks at Boise, Idaho. Some of them stayed there. This page is to help us study the members of the wagon train, and polish or create their profiles. Also to collect the best narratives of the journey and learn what it was really, truly like on the Oregon Trail.

1864 - From Jasper County Iowa, to Oregon

The Reuben Daniels, Sr. Family:

Reuben Daniels, Sr., 1801 - 1883;

Sarah (Bacon) Barchus Daniels, 1816 - 1898

Caroline Barchus, 1848 - 1926

Reuben's sons and daughters are on this trip, with their wives and husbands and children. A widower, Reuben Daniels, Sr. married the widow Sarah Barchus. Her daughters and son and grandchildren are on this trip.

Caroline Barchus, age 15, is traveling with her mother Sarah, and Reuben, Sr.

The Reuben Daniels, Jr. Family:

Reuben Daniels, Jr., 1829 - 1911

Hannah (Barchus) Colson Daniels, 1838 - 1916

John Dudley Colson, 1856 - 1884

Sarah Elizabeth (Colson) Jones, 1859 - 1942

Reuben Daniels, Jr., a thirty-one year old bachelor, married Hannah (Barchus) Colson, the widow of Thomas Colson, and daughter of Sarah Barchus. Thomas Colson died age 22 in March 1859. Their 2nd child, Sarah E Colson, was born post obit, 23 September 1859.

The Campbell Family:

W. J. Campbell, 1834 - 1922

Julia (Barchus) Campbell, 1836 - 1914

Salem Sylvester Campbell, 1858 - 1921

Sarah Isabelle (Campbell) Grantham, 1860 - 1939

Alexander VanBuren Campbell, 1863 - 1942

William Jefferson Campbell married Sarah Barchus' eldest daughter, Julia, in 1857, and they had three children with another on the way when their loaded wagon pulled onto the Oregon Trail.

The Bachelor: Constant Barchus

Constant Barchus, 1845 - 1921

Constant Barchus is Sarah's only son, he is eighteen and is driving his own wagon. With a pistol on his hip, he is ready for anything.

The Uriah Daniels Family

Uriah Daniels, 1827 - 1903

Ferrisseva (Webber) Daniels, 1832 - 1864

Uriah and Ferriseva Webber married 21 Mar 1862 in Iowa. She was alive as of Jan 25, 1864, when she signed a deed of sale for Real Estate. She didn't survive the journey.

The William C Ridgeway Family:

William C. Ridgway, 1810 - 1895 "In 1864, William crossed the plains to Oregon settling in Lebanon, Linn Co.,in 1865 and living there until his death in 1895.^[1]

children of Wm Ridgway and his first wife, Elizabeth Lucas 1814 - 1843

Thomas E Ridgeway, born about 1835, Illinois

Abraham Ridgeway, born about 1837, Illinois

Sarah J Ridgeway, born about 1839, Illinois

John H Ridgeway, born about 1842, Illinois

children of Wm Ridgeway and second wife, Sarah Ann (Daniels) Ridgway, 1822 - 1890

Lucinda Anna (Ridgway) Harnet, 1847 - 1927

Rebecca (Ridgway) Lindsay, 1848 - 1910

Daniel Tucker Ridgeway, 1851 - 1932 (twin to Enoch)

Enoch Rucker Ridgeway, 1851 - 1930 (twin to Daniel)

Mahala Adeline (Ridgway) Davis, 1853 - 1896

Reuben Ridgeway, 1855 - 1916

Uriah Perry Ridgeway, 1858 - 1935

David Gourley Ridgway, 1860 - 1917

Washington Owen Ridgeway, 1862 - 1891

Sophia Luella (Ridgway) Tharp 1864 - 1933

William Ridgeway married Reuben Daniels Sr.'s daughter Sarah Ann Daniels in 1845.

Sarah Ann Daniels youngest child is only two, but she is pregnant with one more child *(Sophia Luella, b. 30 Mar 1864); born a month before the wagons left for Oregon.

The Bennett Family

James Bennett, 1826 - 1905 see great bio with image at FindaGrave

Mahala (Daniels) Bennett, 1832 - 1904 see picture of Mahala and family at FindaGrave

Samantha Jane (Bennett) Davis, 1856 - 1911

Mary E Bennett, 1857 - aft 1880

Sarah Alice (Bennett) Capps, 1858 - 1912

Reuben O Bennett, 1863 - 1864

John Wesley Bennett, 1864 - 1945

James Bennett is a business partner with Reuben Daniels, Jr. James' wife Mahala Daniels, a sister of Reuben, has four girls under eight, and a son will be born at Boise, Idaho.

The Willmorth Family (Spelled with one 'L' in some records)

Frederick Marion Willmorth, 1834 - 1890

Hannah (Bacon) Brannan Willmorth, 1825 - 1891

John Homer Willmorth, 1860 - 1937

Hannah is sister to Sarah (Bacon) Barchus Daniels.

The Runyan Family

Charles Franklin Runyan, 1844 - 1925

Margaret Ellen Brannan, 1844 - 1892

Sarah Frances Elmina Lida Runyan, 1863 - 1889

Hannah (Bacon) Brannan Willmorth, 1825 - 1891, who was Margaret's mother, was also on the wagon train, see wife of Frederick Willmorth, above.

Sources

NOTE: Oregon Statehood was on 14 Feb 1859. Only people in Oregon before that date are found in the Early Oregonian database at the Oregon State Archives. We'll use other sources: census, wills, birth, death and marriage, newspapers, diaries, land and tax records, etc.

They Sold their Farms Before Going on the Oregon Trail

Grantor: Reuben Dannals and Hannah, his wife, and Uriah Dannals of Jasper Co. and his wife Terrissa

Grantee: Michael Brown of Marion Co., Iowa

Date Signed: Dec 21, 1863

Date Filed: Dec 22, 1863

Warranty Deed. Book 21, Page 575

Description: 6 acres parcel in Sec 26, T-78 R-1S, (Elk Creek Township)

Price: $99.

(Both wives signed with their marks)

Grantors: Reuben Dannals Sr and wife Sarah;

Uriah Dannals and wife Terissa;

Reuben Dannals Jr and wife Hannah;

All of Jasper Co. Iowa

Grantee: E Stanley Smith of Jasper Co., Iowa

Date Signed: Jan 25 1864

Date Filed: March 1, 1864

Warranty Deed: Book 25. Page 135.

Description: 209 acres in Sec 25 T-78 R-18 (Elk Creek Township)

Price: $2000.

How We Get From Here to There

Here we will collect the best gems of wisdom we can find on the pioneer experience: cookery, blacksmithing, animal husbandry, cabin building, whatever they had to learn and master, we want to know about it. For starters, here is a 28 page distillation of the difference between untrained cattle and a trained oxen. What an eye-opener.

• Ford, Dixon and Kreutzer, Lee, Oxen, Engines of the Overland Emigration, Overland Journal, vol 33, No.1, Spring 2015,

Sources

1. ↑ William Ridgeway (18 Jan 1810–1895), Find a Grave Memorial ID 58006379, citing Lebanon Pioneer Cemetery, Lebanon

• Montgomery, Donna M. Wojcik, The Brazen Overlanders of 1845, 1976, Donna M Wojcik, publisher, Portland, Oregon. Free at Internet Archive

• Nemec, Bethany, c. 2019, Oregon Trail Mileposts, End of the Oregon Trail museum, Oregon City. This five page summary of mileposts on the Oregon Trail is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to get a pioneer's perspective on the Oregon Trail.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58006379/william-ridgeway: accessed 20 November 2022), memorial page for William Ridgeway (18 Jan 1810–1895), Find a Grave Memorial ID 58006379, citing Lebanon Pioneer Cemetery, Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon, USA; Maintained by Hillary A. Nelson (contributor 47169728) .

• 1856, Lynn Grove, Jasper County, Iowa: Ancestry.com. Iowa, U.S., State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.