IOWA HISTORY PROJECT |
Iowa Journal of History
THE LEWELLING FAMILY—PIONEERS
The pioneers of Iowa were possessed of
unusual courage and self reliance. There was no place among them for the weak and timid. Among the pioneers who
gathered their belongings into covered wagons and traveled for hundreds of miles into an
unknown land was Henderson Lewelling and family who came from Indiana to Iowa in 1837, and
in the southern part of the town of Salem in Henry County a large substantial two-story
stone dwelling still stands as a monument to the energy and enterprise of this man. O.A. GARRETSON
Henderson Lewelling, a skilled nurseryman,
was soon supplying southeastern Iowa with the choicest of trees and vines. After ten busy years in Iowa, he
again assumed the role of an adventurous pioneer and moved to Oregon where in his zeal as a
nurseryman he helped lay the foundations for the great fruit industry of the Pacific
northwest.
The Lewelling family originated in Wales and
early history speaks of the members of this family as noted and powerful lords of the kingdom. They were a
sturdy, independent clan who successfully resisted the progress of the Roman legions at the
time of the Roman invasion, and in later days fought against the tyranny of the English kings.
At just what date the Lewelling family
emigrated to America is not known, but there are traditions of the family in America for several generations
prior to any recorded history of their activities. When the record of the Lewellings begins in North
Carolina they were not like the chivalrous and warlike clans of Wales. Although they possessed
many of the characteristics of noblemen, like William Penn, they had been converted to the
peaceful ways of the Society of Friends or Quakers, and were living according to the tenets of
that benevolent society. The grandfather of Henderson Lewelling was said to have been a
pious, God-fearing man, well versed in Biblical literature. He named his three sons
Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego. Meshack was the father of Henderson Lewelling, the Salem
pioneer.
Meshack Lewelling was a practicing physician
and a professional nurseryman; at the same time he also engaged in general farming. He rode on horseback to
visit his patients and carried his remedies in his saddle bags as was the custom in those days.
What the occupation of Meshack's ancestors was is not recorded, but it is believed that
they were nurserymen for several generations. The Lewellings were located in Randolph County,
North Carolina, which is in the southwestern part of the State. Many of the finest apples in the
world are now being shipped to various markets from this locality, and doubtless the foundation
stock of these orchards came from the Lewelling nurseries.
In 1825, Meshack Lewelling and a number of
his neighbors, attracted by the glowing reports of the country in Indiana, disposed of their holdings in North
Carolina and started on the long and dangerous trail over the mountains and through the
Cumberland gap to the promised land of Indiana. Contrary to the general rule among the Quakers, Meshack
Lewelling was a holder of slaves. When he sold the rest of his property in North Carolina,
instead of selling his human chattels, he took them with him to Indiana and set them free.
Another member of the family inherited two slave children in Louisiana. He went to that
State, obtained possession of his human property, took them with him to Indiana, and gave them
their liberty. These acts were consistent with the traditions and spirit of the
Lewellings.
When Meshack Lewelling arrived in Indiana, he
purchased land, started in the nursery business, and resumed the practice of medicine, which he
followed to the end of his career. Henderson Lewelling was sixteen years of age when he arrived in
Indiana with his family. He assisted on his father's farm and in the nursery for several
years. On December 30,1830, at the age of 22, he married Miss Elizabeth Presnell, who came from
North Carolina and was also a Quaker. He established a home of his own and in 1835 he and his
brother John, who owned adjoining land, went into the nursery business together. Shortly
after this the brothers heard glowing accounts of the Black Hawk Purchase in Iowa. Ever alert
for something better, Henderson Lewelling determined to move to Iowa. This change was
made in 1837 and he and his brother John secured land near the new town of Salem and
opened up a nursery there. John continued the business in Indiana, while Henderson operated
the Salem enterprise. The joint enterprise thus continued until 1841 when John disposed of
their interests in Indiana and joined his brother at Salem. Here the business prospered. The
country was rapidly being settled by the home building Quakers, and other citizens of like
character who planted large orchards of apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and fruit shrubs.
Almost every homestead in the southern part of Henry County and the northern part of Lee County was
bountifully supplied with fruit trees from the Lewelling nurseries.
The Lewellings were conscientious men, who
took pride in their business, and during the ten years that Henderson Lewelling operated a nursery in Salem, he
made fourteen trips to Indiana and the nurseries of the East to secure the finest fruit trees
and plants then-known to the science of horticulture.
As the result of the work of the Lewellings,
almost every homestead within a radius of many miles of Salem had in a few years an orchard filled with the
choicest varieties of apples and other fruits. So abundant was the apple crop of this section, that the
local market could not absorb the yield. Fortunately other markets were not too far away to be
reached by ordinary wagon traffic. The hauling of apples became a regular business for teamsters
from August to the freezing weather of winter. As soon as the summer apples began to ripen,
the roads would be lined with covered wagons hauling the fruit to Ottumwa, Oskaloosa, Newton,
Marshalltown, Cedar Rapids, and intermediate points. Thus the fruit grower had a good market
for his product, and the teamster an opportunity to engage in a profitable business.
After the coming of Henderson and John
Lewelling to Iowa, other members of the family followed. An older brother, William, settled in Salem and
engaged in teaching. He was a preacher among the Quakers and a public speaker of great merit.
A nephew, Jehu Lewelling, and a niece, Jane Lewelling Votaw, also came to Salem. Jehu was a
Baptist minister, and Jane Votaw was a preacher for the Quakers.
The Lewellings became opponents of the
institution of slavery, as were many members of the Society of Friends. The controlling body of the church was too
indifferent to the demands of the anti-slavery element, and a separation in the church took place,
caused by the difference of views on the attitude which the church should adopt on the slavery
question. The new branch of the church was called the Anti-slavery Friends. The Lewellings were
prominent leaders of this group. A branch of the new church was established in Salem, and
Henderson Lewelling sat as head of the meeting.
William Lewelling, the older brother, was
also a powerful advocate of the abolition of slavery. While in Indiana, engaged in lecturing on his constant
theme, he was taken ill. He arose from a sick bed to fill an engagement. It is alleged that he
addressed the audience with great power and energy, after which he immediately took to his bed
from which he never arose. William Lewelling left a family of small children who were
reared by the widow and relatives. The youngest son, Lorenzo Dow Lewelling, became one
of the most illustrious members of the family. After a severe struggle for an education,
and a short career in the army, he became a teacher in Whittier College at Salem. He was a
reader of great ability. His powers of elocution and impersonation were unusual, and he was in great
demand at all literary entertainments. His friends believed that if he had gone upon
the stage he would have become a great actor; but having been reared in the Society of Friends, a
career upon the stage was unthinkable.
The writer was a friend of Lorenzo Lewelling,
and assisted him in many of his endeavors. Like most men of distinction, he met with many amusing incidents
in his career. On one occasion we were giving an entertainment at a country church in
the vicinity of Salem. The audience was large and appreciative. Lewelling was reciting a
pathetic poem entitled "The Wounded Soldier" in which the attitude of the wounded
during the battle was vividly portrayed. He was rendering this with wonderful skill and had produced a
profound impression on the audience. When he reached the stanza which reads, "Raise me
up, comrades, we have conquered I know, up, up, on my feet with my face to the foe",
Lewelling unwittingly transposed a sentence, and rendered it thus, "Raise me up, comrades, we
have conquered I know, up—up on my face with feet to the foe". No one saw the error quicker
than he, but it was too late. The ridiculous attitude of the wounded was too much for the
audience, and all the pathetic effect of the speaker was lost in a gale of laughter.
Later he was appointed superintendent of the
girls' department of the State reform school. He held this position for several years, and then moved to Wichita,
Kansas. During the Populist uprising in 1892, he was elected Governor of the State, and
served in this capacity with great distinction. L. D. Lewelling would doubtless have had a
brilliant career, but in the height of his triumphs, he died.
During the time that Henderson Lewelling
engaged in the nursery business at Salem, he prospered, and acquired an adequate competence. He built the
stone dwelling, already mentioned, and was a leading and influential citizen of the
community. But this was not enough. He had read with deep interest accounts of the travels of Lewis
and Clark in the Oregon country and of the later expeditions of John C. Fremont, and emigrants'
reports of the wonders of the Willamette Valley. As early as 1845 he determined to go to
Oregon. He began to dispose of his property with the thought of starting the following year, but
not being able to close out his business until the season was-too far advanced, the starting was
postponed until the following spring.
The writer's father, Joel C. Garretson, was a
warm personal friend of Henderson Lewelling. They had worked together in the anti-slavery cause, and both had
suffered the abuse heaped upon the abolitionists of that period. When Garretson learned of
Lewelling's intention of going on the Oregon trip, he went to him and told him, in the way of mild
reproach, that he thought that a man who had prospered as he had, and surrounded himself with so many
of the comforts and luxuries of life, should be content to remain in his present situation.
Lewelling replied in that plain deliberate fashion, peculiar to the Quaker, "Well, Joel, it
makes no difference how much a man has around him if he is not satisfied he will go off and leave
it." His face was set toward the West, and no argument or persuasion would avail. The time of
starting was delayed by circumstances, but his mind was firmly fixed. It was during this
period of delay that Lewelling conceived the idea of carrying living grafted fruit trees to the
Willamette Valley, and the Pacific coast. The following account of the preparation for this
enterprise has been related by his son, Alfred Lewelling.
"When the next spring came, he
(Henderson Lewelling) had secured the cooperation of a neighbor John Fisher for the prosecution of his plans to take
the fruit trees. They had procured a stout wagon and made two boxes twelve inches deep and of
sufficient length and breadth, that set in the wagon box side by side they filled it full. These
boxes were filled with a compost consisting principally of charcoal and earth, into which about
700 trees and shrubs, embracing most, if not all of the best varieties in cultivation in that
section of the country were planted. The trees were from twenty inches to four feet high and protected
from stock by light stripe of hickory bolted to posts set in staples on the wagon box. Three
yoke of good cattle drew that wagon, and all other arrangements being completed we started on
the 17th day of April, and traveled about fifteen miles a day through the southwestern part
of Iowa and northwestern Missouri, reaching the Missouri river ten miles above St. Joseph
on the 17th day of May. Our train thus far consisted of three wagons for our family and
goods, one for Mr. Fisher's family, two for the Nathan Hocket family, and the nursery making seven
wagons in all." Soon after crossing the Missouri River, the Salem expedition
joined a train commanded by a Captain Whitcomb, and traveled with it for several days, but
this organization soon dissolved, and the Lewellings joined Captain John Bonser's part of the
train, and traveled with it to the Platte River, where Mr. Fisher died. His death was a severe blow
to the enterprise as Mr. Fisher had agreed to assist in caring for the nursery. Mr. Lewelling
now had charge of the nursery wagon, and decided to carry it through in his own way and time,
as he had already been criticized by some of his friends for attempting to haul that
heavy load across the plains and over the Rocky Mountains. The trees had to be watered every day if
possible, and thus the maximum weight of the load remained the same throughout the entire
journey.
To all who sought to persuade him to abandon
his "traveling nursery" Lewelling invariably replied that as long as it did not endanger the health and life
of his family he would stick to his fruit trees. The following note from Alfred Lewelling will
illustrate the firm and determined character of the man who was promoting this enterprise:
"The last time I recollect any one trying to discourage him about the nursery wagon was on North Platte.
The Rev. Mr. White suggested that it would be better for him to leave it as the cattle were
becoming weary and foot sore, and that the continued weight of that load would kill all of his
cattle and prevent him from getting through. Father's answer was such an emphatic 'No' that he was
allowed to follow his own course after that without much remonstrance".
After this Lewelling decided it was best for
the Salem group to travel alone or nearly so rather than in large companies. Subsequent events proved the
wisdom of this decision. The story of the trip across the mountains has been related by
his son as follows: "Instead of standing guard at night, we put bells on the cattle and watched
them evenings until they had fed and would lie down, and father would invariably hear the first
tinkle of the bell in the morning. "I have no doubt that father devoted himself to the
enterprise with as much watchfulness as any man that crossed the plains that year.
"After losing two oxen on the Sweetwater
River, one by poison and the other by inflammation caused by sore feet, we traveled pretty much alone;
and our cattle began to improve, as two of the loads, being largely provisions and feed,
were becoming perceptibly lighter.
"After passing over the great back bone
of the continent at Pacific Springs, we crossed the desert to Green River, thence via Hams Fork to Bear River,
passing Soda Springs and crossing the lava beds or volcanic district, we passed Hot Springs and
over the Portneuf Mountains to Fort Hall. Then down through the sandy sage brush plains, crossing
the Snake River twice, and through the Malheur and Powder River valleys, then through the
Grande Ronde valley and over the Blue Mountains to the Umatilla River.
"Here we met Dr. Marcus Whitman who
piloted us over by way of Birch and Butter Creeks and Well Springs to Rock Creek.
"There we changed the fruit trees to a
lighter and better running wagon, by removing the two small boxes, and left the heavy wagon, doubling the teams in
such a way that enabled us to get along quite comfortably, and thus to continue our journey,
reaching the Dalles about the first of October. I do not remember the exact date.
"There father joined with others and
constructed two boats to bring the wagons and other goods, as well as their several families, down to the Willamette
Valley.
"The boats were completed, loaded and
started down the Columbia River, about the first of November. They went down as far as Wind River, where they were
unloaded and used to ferry our cattle and horses across to the north side of the Columbia
River, then reloaded and taken to the Upper Cascades, again the boats were unloaded and the wagons
set up and hauled to the Lower Cascades. The boats having been turned adrift at the Upper
Cascades went bumping and tossing down the scathing current and were captured below. (As
the Salem expedition carried no row boats, it has been suggested by later writers that Indians
with their canoes were employed to capture the heavy barges.)
"At the Lower Cascades the boats were
reloaded and worked down the Columbia River to a point opposite Fort Vancouver, reaching there the 17th day of
November, just seven months from the day of starting. Those of us who drove the cattle down
the trail did not get there until the 20th of November.
"The fruit trees were taken out of the
boxes when the boats were ready to start from the Dalles, and carefully wrapped in cloth to protect them in the
various handlings, and from the frosty nights."
Lewelling had now reached the goal of his
expedition. He had arrived in the long cherished Willamette Valley with his cargo of precious trees. The story of
his journey shows with what matchless energy he persevered in his enterprise, and what
infinite care he bestowed upon his trees.
He next had to find a home for his family and
a permanent lodgment for his traveling nursery. He spent several days exploring the country and on the
10th of December moved his family into a cabin opposite Portland, now East Portland. From
here he made another survey of the valley, and finally purchased a tract of land where some
clearing had been done adjoining the town site at Milwaukee.
On February 5th, he moved his family to this
place and began the making of a permanent home. The land was densely covered with heavy fir trees, but by
a vigorous application of the ax and torch, a clearing was soon made sufficiently large to plant
the orchard and nursery. Lewelling's ambition was now fully realized. He had brought his
cargo of living trees across the plains and over the Rocky Mountains to the Willamette
Valley, the first cultivated, or grafted fruit to reach the Pacific Northwest.
About half the trees he loaded at Salem, Iowa, survived the
arduous transportation, and were now securely planted in the soil of Oregon. Lewelling's fame and
fortune were assured. Emigrants were rapidly pouring into the Willamette Valley and
around the Puget Sound, and the demand for fruit trees was unlimited. He was in a position to
supply this demand with the choicest fruit trees America could furnish. He had taken the
pains to transfer to Oregon the same variety of apples that had proven so popular in Iowa. There can
be but little doubt that the superior quality of the apples supplied by his nurseries
established the reputation of the Oregon fruits, and helped lay the foundation of the great apple
industry of Oregon and Washington. A few years ago, when the writer was touring Oregon, he was
shown the locality of the original Lewelling nursery, and he found growing in that
vicinity the same varieties of apples he had known when a child in his father's orchard near Salem, Iowa.
Prior to his emigration to Oregon, Henderson
Lewelling had watched with great interest the controversy between the United States and Great Britain over the
Oregon question. It will be remembered that the boundary line between the British
possessions and this country was in dispute for many years. It was greatly feared that the
controversy might result in war. The Hudson Bay Company, which was a British organization, had
established forts and trapping and trading stations throughout the country, and Britain claimed
possession on that ground. The claim of the United States was founded in part upon the
discovery of the Columbia River by Robert Gray, an American navigator, who had sailed up the stream
for many miles and had taken possession of the country in the name of the United States. A
very strong element in the United States claimed that 54 degrees 40 minutes was the rightful
northern boundary and raised the uncompromising slogan, "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight".
Lewelling, who like his friend, Dr. Marcus
Whitman, the missionary, knew the value of the region, was a strong advocate of securing as much of the Oregon
country as was possible to obtain by fair and honorable means. He was not, however, one of
those who raised the cry "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight". His Quaker training led
him to believe there was a better way. He was greatly pleased when the final settlement secured to our
country the Puget Sound, for he believed that these waters would some day be a powerful factor
in the commerce of the world. Soon after he established himself in Oregon, Lewelling formed a
partnership with William Meek, a man from Bonaparte, Iowa, who had crossed the plains the
same year, but not in the same train. This firm not only engaged extensively in the
nursery business, but organized the Milwaukee Milling Company, and operated several saw and grist
mills. At the same time they carried on several other enterprises.
When Lewelling and Meek were selling trees in
all parts of Oregon and Washington, John Lewelling left Salem, Iowa, in 1850, and located in California,
buying property at San Lorenzo, Alameda County. Here he started in the nursery business,
obtaining his foundation stock from the Henderson Lewelling nursery, at Milwaukee, Oregon. The
enterprise was successful. He reared his family here, and his descendants are occupying
prominent positions throughout the State to-day.
In 1853, Henderson Lewelling sold all of his
interests in Oregon to his partner William Meek, and he and his son Alfred moved to California, purchased
land in Alameda County, and engaged in the fruit and nursery business. Alfred named the
locality Fruitvale. Soon a large population gathered in that locality, and Fruitvale became a
beautiful little city adjoining Oakland.
Henderson and Alfred Lewelling sent out from
this place not only thousands, but hundreds of thousands of fruit trees all over California. Again Henderson
Lewelling was in no small measure responsible for the beginning of the great fruit industry of
another Pacific Coast State—an industry which has brought more wealth to California than all
the gold the State has produced. Henderson Lewelling built a fine residence in Fruitvale which in
later years was occupied by a Governor of the State.
After these achievements, and having acquired
for himself both wealth and an enviable reputation, he seemed to have reached the limitations of his
work on the Pacific Coast. But he could not be content to stand still, and look back upon past
achievements. He must still press forward, and be a leader among men.
About 1858, he conceived the idea of founding
a colony in Central America. He had crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1851 in his travels back and forth to
the eastern States. He was much impressed by the mild climate, the cheap land, and the luxuriant
growth of vegetation in that semi-tropical climate. He enlisted several others in the
project, and in 1859 sold his valuable property in Fruitvale, purchased a ship and all necessary
supplies, and he and his two younger sons together with his partners and their families, embarked for
Honduras.
Prior to this, Lewelling had been successful
in his every undertaking, but in this project he met defeat. The enterprise was a disastrous failure. He was the
principal capitalist in the scheme and he lost heavily. Returning to California, he engaged in the
fruit business again; but by this time he had lost his former vigor, and he never regained his
former financial standing. A part of the Lewelling estate in Fruitvale was sold to a man by the name
of Diamond. This tract was later donated to the city, and is now known as Diamond Park.
On February 23, 1924, a memorial meeting,
sponsored by the Women's Clubs of California, was held in Diamond Park in commemoration of the great work of
Luther Burbank, the plant wizard then living, and Henderson Lewelling, the nurseryman long
since passed away. Appropriate speeches were made to the assembled throng, and a
Sequoia or Redwood tree was planted for each of the two men and suitable tablets erected to
commemorate their tinselfish work.
Prominent among the pictures hanging on the
walls of the rooms of the State Historical Society of Oregon will be found the portraits of Henderson,
Seth, and Alfred Lewelling, all pioneers of Iowa, who moved on to wider fields of usefulness in
the undeveloped West. Other members of the family in later years followed the pioneers
to the western coast. Asa Lewelling, a nephew of Henderson and a brother of L. D.
Lewelling, the Governor of Kansas, was superintendent for a number of years of the boys' department
of the Oregon State Reformatory. Jonathan and Jane Lewelling Votaw moved to
Washington. A son, Henry L.Votaw, became postmaster of Tacoma. Another son, Moses, entered
the banking business, and became a prominent citizen of the State.
How many of the original trees carried by
Henderson Lewelling from Salem over the plains and mountains to Oregon still survive is difficult to ascertain.
There is one tree, however, whose history has been accurately recorded and is worthy of mention
here. In 1845, Lewelling planted a cherry pit which sprouted and grew. In 1846, he grafted this
seedling with a Black Tartarion Scion. In 1847, he carried this tree on his seven months journey
to the Willamette Valley. In the spring of 1848 this tree was planted in the soil of Oregon at
Milwaukee. In 1849 the tree was sold to David Chamberlain for five dollars. Mr. Chamberlain
carried the tree by canoe, down the Willamette River to the Columbia River, then down the Columbia
to the mouth of the Cowlitz, thence to Cowlitz landing where Toledo now stands, thence by
horseback, seventy miles to Chambers Prairie, four miles from Olympia, Washington. Here the
tree was planted and it is still bearing fruit. It is an immense tree now, and three feet from
the ground it measures nine feet in circumference. Its limbs have a spread of sixty feet.
George R. Haines, Curator of the Oregon State
Historical Society, in speaking of this tree said: "I stood under its branches in 1853. In 1854 I ate
cherries from the tree, and for many years thereafter. In 1895 it bore a crop of forty bushels of cherries.
In 1920, the crop was 1200 pounds."
Moses Votaw, a great nephew of Henderson
Lewelling, visited this tree in July, 1928. It was after the cherry season, but he found many dried cherries still
hanging to the branches, and many dried cherries on the ground. One of the lower limbs had been
removed by the saw. A measurement across the saw kerf showed that the limb had a
diameter of sixteen inches. That this little cherry sprout, originating at Salem, should
withstand the risks of transportation across the continent and the hazards of frequent
transplanting, and still live, a towering monument to commemorate the energy and enterprise of a
Salem pioneer, is to the writer a fact stranger than fiction.
SALEM IOWA