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Salem Pioneer Cemetery ~ David McCully ~ part of the Marion County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
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David McCully
LAST NAME: McCully FIRST NAME: David MIDDLE NAME:  NICKNAME: 
MAIDEN NAME:  AKA 1:  AKA 2:  AKA 3: 
TITLE:  GENDER: M MILITARY: 
BORN: 15 Sep 1814 DIED: 6 Dec 1906 BURIED: 8 Dec 1906
ETHNICITY:   OCCUPATION:  Businessman
BIRTH PLACE:  Sussex Vale, Kings Co., New Brunswick, Canada
DEATH PLACE: Salem, Marion Co., Oregon
NOTES: 
Name of father John McCully

BIOGRAPHICAL:
David McCully (25) and Mary Ann Scott (18) were married May 7, 1840 at Hendrysburg, Belmont Co., Ohio. Immigrated in 1852. Lot record indicates that he was buried on 16 Nov. 1906. 
BIOGRAPHICAL: 
"Of the many honorable pioneer families of Marion county, Oregon, none were more highly respected than those by the name of McCully. David McCully, the subject of this sketch, was one of this pioneer family. 
He was born in New Brunswick, Canada, and during young manhood found his way southward to Ohio and at Hendersonburg, Belmont county, on May 7, 1840, he was united in marriage to Mary Ann Scott. Mary Ann was born at Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio, on October 16, 1821. 
A few years after their marriage, they moved to Burlington, Iowa. It was at this place that the news of gold being discovered on the Pacific Coast caused a lot of excitement, and David McCully was one of the first to go west to try his luck. This was in 1849. 
In company with William Scott and J. L.. Starkey he started for California. At first they grubstaked a man to locate claims for them, but becoming tired of his methods, they set out for themselves and were very lucky in the choice of claims. Mr. McCully took out about $10,000 in gold as his share. In 1850 Mr. McCully, again having J. L. Starkey as traveling companion, returned to his Iowa home, via the Panama canal. Mr. McCully said the food on the boat was vile and they had almost to fight for what eatables they did get. The man, William Scott, who went to California with them, remained in the mines, later on expecting to return to Iowa for his family but for some reason all trace of him was lost. He was a blacksmith by trade and had married a sister of Mrs. David McCully, Jane Scott. 
After returning to Iowa, Mr. McCully fitted up in good shape for the trip across the plains with his family. His previous journey across the western wilds had taught him much and he knew better what were the necessities for such a trip. His own family enjoyed the luxury of traveling in a light wagon drawn by horses, as they brought both oxen and horses with them. It was early in 1852 that David McCully, in company with J. J. O'Donald, a Mr. Dickey, John Schaner, James Esslinger, James Hendershott, E. M. Plamondon, S. Angel, John McDonald, Mrs. J. L. Starkey and family, E. and Homer Linn, J. and A. Tully, Ben and Mart Roberts, A. A. McCully and family, Hamilton McCully and family, started out on the long trail to Oregon, with David McCully chosen as captain. 
For all this company was well equipped for the journey and did not fare badly at the harlds of the Indians nor did cholera stalk their camp, yet they had their trials and heartaches as well as others. They found numerous graves along the way. In many places where the bodies had only been wrapped in blankets for interment, wolves had dug into the graves and the bodies were scattered all about, a very grewsome sight. 
One of the little McCully sons, John Henry, aged 11 years, was one of the most anxious of all the party to get to the Oregon country, but it was willed otherwise. One day, on the plains, he was taking some mules to water when they became unmanageable, and the lad was so badly hurt that he died in a few days. Mr. and Mrs. McCully, with an infant in arms, accompanied by a man by the name of Bewsey, hastened on ahead with the injured boy, trying to reach the nearest fort, so as to get medical aid. After they were on their way, gangrene set in, and they returned to the train, and the night the lad died there was a terrible thunderstorm and the wind blew so hard that the man had to hold the tent down. After the little boy's death some men took a wagon bed and from this fashioned a rude coffin. Kind women of the train lined this with white muslin from their stores in their covered wagons and they buried little John Henry by the side of the road. 
The McCully family finally arrived at Salem, Oregon, on August 17, 1852, where all the families by the name of McCully, in this train, later on took up adjoining donation land claims. After reaching Salem, Oregon, David McCully and family camped for several weeks on the south side of Mill creek, in what is now east Salem, near the J. L. Parrish place. 
Hearing that most all of the claims around this place had been taken by earlier pioneers, David McCully and family went in September of the same year further south to a location where now the town of Harrisburg, Linn county, is located. Here he started a store and became the first postmaster of the town of Harrisburg, literally founding that little city on the banks of the upper Willamette river. 
In 1859 the McCullys moved back to Salem, Oregon, where they continued to reside, and David McCully became interested in many business enterprises. He was one of the organizers of the P. T. Co. and its president for some time. He entered into partnership with his old friend, J. L. Starkey, in general merchandise. They had their store in the old Headquarters building on the corner where in later years Bush's bank was built and still occupies this location. 
David McCully built the brick business block that bears his name and was interested in steamboating on the Willamette river. He was also in partnership with Mr. E. N. Cook at Salem. Mr. McCully was a republican as to politics and a member Methodist church and altogether a very fine man. The children of David and Mary Ann McCully were: John Henry, who died on the plains, aged 11 years. Mary Jane, who married a Mr. Creighton. John William. Estella Ann, who married A. N. Gilbert. Alfred, Frank David and Carrie, who died, aged 2 years." 
From: Steeves, Sarah Hunt, BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE OF MARION COUNTY, OREGON, PIONEERS 1840 - 1860, Portland, Oregon, The Berncliff Press, 1927, pp. 227-229 (Source: Mrs. A. N. Gilbert, Salem, Oregon, 1927).

CROSSING the PLAINS as told by Mrs. D. F. Hendershott (Delilah Frances McCully to her daughter, Mrs. Frank Walton).  Copy supplied by Mrs. Kenneth Moores (Alice Madison Dabney) in February of 1971.
The first trip of our kin across the plains was made in 1849.  David and Asa McCully, John Love and three Starkey boys, with a party, came from New London, Iowa.  David and Asa were well-to-do merchants.  They were partners from boyhood -- always together.  They came to the Russian River California, made money in the mines and stayed until the early part of the winter of 1850.  They then returned by water.  Their families had remained in New London.  John Love was ill of Panama fever and did not get home until the Spring of 1852.  When he arrived, the big team was just ready to start West.  He and Mary Jane McCully had long been engaged.  They were married, but stayed behind to her great disappointment as all her relatives were leaving Iowa in that train.  They came on, however, in 1853.
March 21, 1852, a train of 30 covered wagons (four yoke of oxen and three men for each wagon) three carriages, less than a dozen women and about fifteen children, started from New London.  There was one doctor, but no minister in the train.  They brought 200 or 300 cows and some horses.  The wagon boxes were deep and long, -- two storied.  Provisions were packe in the understory, and bedding on top of boards and over provisions.  Each family had two wagons.  On the back of one was an extension leaf and on the other a mess chest, the lid of which made a table.  One wagon carried a sheet iron stove.  Uncle Asa was the captain of this train.
The first day they traveled 18 miles to Burlington and crossed the Des Moines River after dark.  The Missouri River was muddy and wide with full banks.  Here cousin Joseph got his leg broken.  In watering his mule, his leg caught in a lariat on a saddle and he was thrown.  His leg was not properly set and he died in a few days.  They started to Fort Kearney for medical aid, but he died before they reached there, and he was buried near there.  He was about ten years old.  Aunt Jennie McCully's father (McDonald) read the burial service.
They were all day ferrying the river at "St. Joe."  Had three ferries on which to put wagons, and swam the cattle, putting them in a quarter of a mile above where they were to land.  Only their noses and horns could be seen.  They were thin, and one mired down and died.  It was eagerly seized by the Indians, the first painted and feathered ones we had seen.  They had a big dance around the fire while they cooked it.  We camped there one night, and did not see another house, except forts, until we got to Oregon.
It was a long uneventful trip.  There was no road and the wagons traveled along a space a mile wide.  Had to carry wood and water across the desert places which we crossed at night on account of the heat.
Captain Asa went ahead on horseback to select the camping place for each night.  The wagons were placed to form a corral, with tongues outside.  Tents were pitched in the circle, and all slept on the ground or in the wagons.  Some had feather beds and blankets.  (We have some sofa pillows stuffed with Iowa goose feathers brought across the plains.)  After grazing till dark, the horses and oxen were driven in close in a circle around the wagons.  Outside of all were the sentinels to watch the cattle -- the first watch until midnight, the second until morning.  At daybreak everyone was up to milk the cows, get breakfast, etc.  Surplus milk was strined into cans on the backs of the wagons.  The motion churned it into nutmeg-sized lumps of butter.  At night the butter was saved and the milk thrown away.
They brought some potatoes.  After these were eaten, they had rice, beans, bacon, ham, dried apples and peaches, and all lived well.  Bread was mixed at night, and baked before starting in the morning.  Sometimes they camped for half a day.
Justice was meted out quickly.  A man belonging to another train killed his hired man.  A jury was chosen, he was convicted and strung up to a gallows formed of wagon tongues, before his wife.
One day, when campingon the River Platt for cooking, washing and grazing, two Indians came up pretending to be very friendly, and wanting to look at the guns.  They were very dirty Pawnees, then at war with the Sioux.  A cloud of dust appeared and they affected a panic, wanting to hide inthe wagons from the coming Sioux.  Uncle Asa would not allow it.  When the Indians arrived, they turned out to be 50 of their own tribe with whom they had a joyous pow-wow.  Their arrow pouches were crowded full and they demanded a cow.  Uncle Asa knew that if he gave them one, they would follow the train and demand more, so he decided to have it out with them then.  According to previous instructions the men of the train, in hiding, would pop off a gun at random.  The Indians being unable to see either the men or the guns, were scared and started off both sullenly and reluctantly.  As they left, they met some of the young men of the train out by the river hunting.  One Indian rode up to Sam Reed, grandfather's hired man and cut his necktie off with a long knife.  These Indians were the only mean ones encountered and they never came back.
Uncle Asa had hundreds of red shirts calico shirts which he sold to Indians for a dollar, or traded for moccasins, beads or arrows.  We saw a few Cheyennes.  They were clean.  Traded beads or mocassins for blankets.
Someone in another train shot into a herd of buffalo, causing a stampede.  They headed toward our train.  As they neared it, the herd parted, going on either side, except one old fellow which jumped between the tails of the oxen and the wagon and went on.  Undle Asa in getting out of the wagon, over the tongue, fell and two wheels went over him.  He was not hurt much.  Grandmother saw it happen.
There was continual quarreling among the men.  Many single men got their board for working until they found work in Oregon.  Grandfather was ill for weeks with mountain fever and lazy Sam Reed let grandmother and uncle John, a lad of 14 set tents, etc.  After grandfather was thought to be about well, he ate a few dried peaches which gave him colic and he nearly died.  About this time, Lila stepped into a pit of hot buffalo chips and severely burned her right foot till it was blistered all over.  Afterwards white-swelling came in and left her lame for life.
When the train came to the Sweetwater the banks were full.  Two wagon beds were pitched to carry freight and the women and children.  The wagons and cattle were swum accross.  They camped on the bank, after crossing on the rather dangerous ferry.
When crossing the John Day River in Idaho, they saw their first salmon.  The Cascade Mountains were very steep and they held the wagons back with ropes.  
Reached Salem, Oregon on September 21, 1852.  They camped near there in a beautiful valley and by climbing tall trees could see the city.
The Starkey brothers were there.  Two of them had the brand "T" on their cheeks for stealing cattle.  John Starkey's family stopped there. 
Others in the train were: Four McCully families - Samuel, wife and 4 children, David, wife and 3 children, Asa, wife and little Alice, Hamilton; Dave Bussey, about 20 years old then, Uncle James Hendershott, Sidney Hendershott, Mr. and Mrs. McDonough and 1 child, Mr. and Mrs. McDonald and three children, one of whom was Aunt Jennie.
Each of the McCully brothers staked out a half section right on the Willamette, except uncle Ham who was not married, and so could take only a quarter section.  They got red fir from Clark's saw mill to put up houses.  They were one-room box houses, floor, roof, siding and one window.  All the furniture was home-made.  They dug wells for water.  They were thirty miles from the nearest store.  One or two wagons went to Portland and filled orders for stores, etc.
The country was advertised as a garden of Eden, with sunshine and no snow.  In February there came the first storm which lasted two weeks.  Supplies got low and they were without flour for 3 days.  Had only boiled wheat, ground in a coffee mill, and no meat.  The wagons brought back from Portland, Chili flour, which is said to be made of a very good wheat but is yellow.  Also they brought a barrel of spoiled fat pork.
All planted fine gardens in the spring.  They gathered wild hay for straw ticks and used ropes for bed springs.  All were happy to have a home.  Our men borrowed rails, then later on went on an island in the Willamette and made rails of Balm of Gilead wood.  Grandmother went with them to cook for them.
Aunt Mart married Abner Waters in about 3 years.  Abner wanted to go back to Russian River, California where he had been in 1851.  Even though he too had built a house, he and Grandfather sold out, put their money and started for the Russian River.  They stopped in Josephine County for the winter.  The party consisted of Grandfather's family, with Mary and Abner and Uncle Billy Waters, Abner's father.  They built a cabin on the bank of Louse Creek.  They also built a milk house and made butter which they sold at Galiceburg, but lost $1,100 on the venture.  Galiceburg is 12 miles down the Rogue River.  The Fraser River boom took many of the people away, many of them not paying their debts, before they left.
Abner moved to Kerbyville and grandfather settled 3 miles from there.  He fixed up a stage-road house and kept travelers.  He stayed there 3 years, then followed Abner up Deer Creek and stayed there 3 years.  When Abner went back to the Willamette, Grandfather followed.  Had he stayed by his half-section for 6 years he would have been wealthy.  He was easily persuaded to do things and rambled around.  As a result, he was always a poor man.
The Hendershotts and the McCullys were neighbors in Iowa.  Both families went to the same church in New London. 
In 1854, Father (Sidney Hendershott) came to Waldo to mine.  Father and Mother were married October 25, 1860 at Grandfather's home on Deer Creek, near Draper Creek, 6 miles from Kerby, Josephine County, Oregon.
Footnote: I don't know when this was written.  Delilah McCully Hendershott was born in 1841 so was a child of 10 in the Spring of 1852.  She died in 1925.  She married in 1860, so the person speaking in the last paragraph was her daughter, Mrs. Frank Walton, who is apparently the writer.
DEATH CERTIFICATE: 
OBITUARY: 
ONE of EARLIEST PIONEERS.
DAVID McCULLY WILL BE BURIED TODAY
Reached Advanced Age of 92 
Was Honored by All. 
The funeral of David McCully who died Thursday afternoon, will be held today, Saturday at 2 p.m., from his late residence on North Front street. Burial will be in the Odd Fellows cemetery in the family plot. The services will be conducted by Rev. P. S. Knight. Death was caused by old age. David McCully was one of the oldest and best known pioneer residents of this part of the state. Though 92 years of age, he retained his strength remarkably well, until last Sunday, when he was taken ill. He sank rapidly until death came as a peaceful slumber. He was a native of New Brunswick and in his young manhood went to Iowa to make his home. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California and in 1852 came to Oregon. He lived a short time at Harrisburg and then came to Salem, where he resided continuously until his death. He engaged in merchandising and was for many years one of the most active and substantial business men of this city. In association with E. N. Cooke, T. McF. Patton and Stephen Church, he organized the People’s Transportation Company, which operated boats on the Willamette river between Portland and Harrisburg--a service of great value to the producers of the valley. In all his varied business and personal relations he was known as a man of highest sense of honor and unswerving integrity. He leaves three sons and two daughters: J. W. and F. D. McCully, of Joseph, Wallowa county; Albert McCully of Butteville; Mrs. M. J. Creighton and Mrs. A. N. Gilbert of Salem. Mrs. McCully died about thirteen years ago. 
Daily Oregon Statesman, Dec. 8, 1906, 4:6-7.
INSCRIPTION: 
David McCully 
Born 
Sept. 1814 
Died 
Dec. 6, 1906
SOURCES: 
DAR pg 25 
S&H pg 27 
Steeves, BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE, pp 227 - 229 
OS 8 Dec 1906 4:6-7
CONTACTS: 
LOT: 086 SPACE: 2 SW LONGITUDE:  LATITUDE: 
 
 

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