William Barlow, son of Samuel K. Barlow

What has came down in our family as the "Earring Story", should probably be called a Twin Story. My grandmother, whose maiden name in full was Martha Ann Partlow, had a twin sister, Mary. They were born in Virginia, and they were so exactly alike that, for identification purposes great-grandmother put earrings of a different design on them at a very early age. Here, tied in the scrapbook, is one of the earrings that grandmother wore from the time she became a young lady.

It is one of the earrings too, that took part in the incident I am relating. You see, she had this pair on in this daguerreotype. Eventually great-aunt Mary married a Colonel White, and moved with her husband to Fort Worth, Texas, after which, it is said, grandmother pined and grew so puny that great-aunt Mary sent for her to join her in her new home. Now, this isn't a part of the story, but, in case you are ever bitten by a Black Widow spider, you may find it interesting. Grandmother had barely reached Fort Worth when she was bitten by a spider, and she swelled and suffered so they despaired of her life. Then the niggers took her in hand; they buried her in mud up to her neck, and it cured her, or at least she recovered. While grandmother was at Fort Worth she met and married a young lieutenant, named Tull. They were transferred to Missouri, where they heard much about, and became interested in Oregon, but within seven months grandmother's husband died, and her first child was born fatherless. Sometime later she met a Doctor William Allen, from Kentucky. He was a widower, with three young children. He, too, it seems, wanted to come to Oregon, and eventually they arrived here, but it appears nobody was sick in the Oregon country, and, to make a living, he turned to teaching dancing. Then, very suddenly, he died from a heart attack. Grandmother had two children by him, so his death left her practically penniless with six children to support. There was one thing grandmother knew about, and that was good food. I forgot to mention that two of the old family darkies, Peter and Ol' Rose, had joined her. So they were on her hands too.

Canemah, at that time, was a point where all the Willamette River boats discharged both supplies and passengers. It was a fairly lively little place, and here my grandmother, with the help of her two darkies, put on big suppers for dances and other gala affairs. Meantime grandmother's twin, great-aunt Mary and her husband had come to Oregon. Great-aunt Mary was much concerned about her twin.

While grandmother was doing very well for herself, her six children and her two darkies, great-aunt Mary looked on the enterprise with little favor. Grandmother was still a young and comely woman and great-aunt Mary thought she should be picking out a husband from the many prosperous and otherwise eligible men about. Among these was a young man by the name of William Barlow. Great-aunt Mary selected him as her future brother-in-law. He was not only personable, but he was a money-maker. He owned a lot of land, for all of which he paid cash; never, strange as it may seem, filing on government land. But grandmother was shy, despite the fact that she was twice a widow, and no widow is supposed to be bashful. Nevertheless, grandmother was unequal to the plan suggested by her twin; she declared she couldn't "make up" to any man, and that was that. Great-aunt Mary went into action. There was to be a big dance at Canemah one night, and grandmother was going to give the usual supper. She had been in Oregon City where great-aunt Mary lived. William Barlow, it was learned, was going to Canemah also. This was a Providence-sent opportunity, in great-aunt Mary's opinion. If grandmother wouldn't make the best of it, she would. She prevailed on grandmother to exchange earrings with her, and off she went on the same boat with the handsome young farmer. She contrived an introduction, and flirted with him to such effect that she won his interest and affection on the spot -- a combination that she shortly turned over, with a second exchange of earrings, to the widowed sister and her six orphans. And all of them, with the children that came along later, lived happily ever after.

This story is from: WPA Life Histories -- Home Page

I came to Oregon in 1845 and supposed we would find similar nut-bearing trees to those found all over the Atlantic and Middle West States. But when I arrived here, I found there was no nut-bearing trees of any kind, except some small hazel nuts, which were of a very different kind from those which grew wild in Indiana.

So I made up my mind that I would send back, the first good opportunity, and have a bushel of black and white walnuts sent out.

In 1858, Mr. John Dement, a good friend of mine, was going back by way of the Isthmus and he said he would send me a bushel by Adams Express. But remarked that it would cost considerable.

I said "Never mind the cost. I want to get them here by Winter, so I can prepare them for planting the next Spring."

He did just as I told him but had to pay in advance to San Francisco for expressage. But he had plenty of money of his own, beside he had some Indian war claims to collect for me.

These he did not collect till later on. However, he hurried the walnuts on, so I would get them in time for Fall planting. They were forwarded to me at Oregon City and when all the charges came in, I was out just sixty-five dollars. I went down to town, brought the sack up and told my wife what they cost.

She said, "Well, I declare, I could have got that many walnuts in Missouri for fifty cents."

I said, "Well, we will crack a few of them anyway to see if they are good. If they grow, I will get my money back and several hundred per cent."

She said, "One is enough to tell that and one is enough to lose."

"No," I said, "We will have one apiece."

They were both good and brought old Missouri and Illinois and Indiana right home to us.

So I made a box, put sand and dirt in it, planted the nuts in the box and buried them all in the ground. I kept them moist, all Winter and by Spring, they were all beginning to open. I then prepared the ground in fine shape and planted the nuts in rows.

There were 765 nuts of both kinds, but there were not over 100 butternuts out of that number. About 760 came up and such a growth I never saw before. I kept the ground well watered and well worked and the roots were larger and longer than the tops. A large portion of the roots went down three feet deep. Later in the Fall, I took them all up, set out about 100, gave away a great many to my particular friends and put the balance on the market at $1.50 each. I allowed a big commission to the nursery man who handled them, and the whole venture left me a net profit of $500.00. Besides I had my walnut avenues, 400 feet long with a row of walnuts on each side. There is one tree that is over three and one half feet in diameter six feet from the ground, and its branches spread out 80 feet in diameter or 240 feet in circumference.

From the WPA Life Histories ....
Written by a third generation descendant of Samuel Kimbrough Barlow

Now, as to that avenue of great walnut trees that runs from the front gate to the entrance of the big house up at Barlow Station. That was planted by my grandfather, William Barlow, following the erection of his first house, which was built in the style of an old southern plantation mansion. Southern Colonial houses I think they were called. It had sixteen or eighteen rooms, a low sloping roof, and a wide, double gallery, with large pillars, in the true southern manner, I can remember it faintly. The grounds were beautiful in my recollection with a fountain in front of the entrance, and flower beds stretching in every direction, set off by brick parterres. Grandfather had the pleasant habit of presenting grandmother with a handsome present every time she presented him with a new son or daughter. Aunt Mollie, if I am correct, was the cause for a very grand new carriage. Back in my memory are the highlights of one Christmas in that lovely old home, of bells and horses, candles and a huge Christmas tree that we children peeked at through always-closing doors and all the excitement attending a big house full of people, big and little. And no little glamour was added to all this by the presence of the two darkies grandmother had brought with her from the south--old Rose and Peter, who stayed with her to the end. I was always horror stricken at the sight of mother kissing Ol' Rose, who had nursed her from babyhood, but whose black skin was too alien to me for such affectionate demonstration.

This southern house was burned in '82 or '83, after which the house which still stands was built. With the exception of the big front verandah, added a few years ago, it looks very much as it did originally. But it was when the first house was talked about that grandmother, having in mind the magnolia and other avenues of the southern plantations, insisted that there should be an avenue to her house in Oregon, and grandfather said, all right, as soon as someone went east that he could entrust with the mission, he would send for the seeds. Grandfather's only stipulation was that the trees of the avenue should be walnut-black walnuts from his native State of Indiana. You see he had his memories too. Finally the seed nuts were sent for -- to Bridgeport, Indiana, where the nut trees grew wild. A Mr. Dement was going to Washington, D.C., and the plan was to send the nuts to him there, but for some reason he did not return to Oregon, and it resulted in the nuts being entrusted to Senator Thurston. Senator Thurston, you will remember, died at Acapulco, Panama, on his way back home in 1851. He actually died at sea, where the superstitious sailors wanted to bury him, but the ship put in to port, and he was buried ashore.

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