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Salem Pioneer Cemetery ~ Luelling Scovill
~ part of the Marion County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
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Luelling "Cal" Scovill
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| LAST NAME: Scovill
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FIRST NAME: Luelling
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MIDDLE NAME:
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NICKNAME: Cal
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| MAIDEN NAME:
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AKA 1:
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AKA 2:
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AKA 3:
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| TITLE: Mr.
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GENDER: M
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MILITARY:
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| BORN: Abt 1835
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DIED: 30 Jul 1905
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BURIED: 1 Aug 1905
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| ETHNICITY:
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OCCUPATION: Stage driver, mail carrier
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| BIRTH PLACE: Iowa
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| DEATH PLACE: Salem, Marion Co., Oregon
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NOTES:
1880 OR CENSUS - Cal Scoville, age 44, b. Iowa, occupation mail carrier, is enumerated with wife Ann, age 40, b. Illinois, along with children, Charles, age 16, Minni, age 14, Almond, male, age 8, b. Oregon, and Lolo, age 5, all born in Oregon; 1900 Census - L. C. Scovell, age 65, b. Iowa, is enumerated with wife Elizabeth, age 61, b. Nov 1838 in Iowa, along with daughter Alda F., age 13, b. Nov. 1876, Elizabeth is the mother of 6 children, 4 of whom are still living, and they have been married 27 years; Funeral ordered by Al. Nye.
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DEATH CERTIFICATE:
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OBITUARY:
"OLD CAL" DEAD --
L. C. Scovell, Veteran Stage Driver and Mail Carrier, Passes Last Mile Post.-
He Came to the Pacific Coast in the Fifties and Settled in Benton County-
Drove the First Stage Out of Portland in 1860
DIED, SCOVELL--In Salem, Oregon, Sunday, July 30, 1905, at 11:30 p.m., of heart failure, L. C. Scovell, aged 70 years, 2 months and 17 days. The above notice conveys the sad intelligence that "Old Cal,"the veteran stage driver and mail carrier, has passed from this life--has cracked the whip over a four-in-hand on Oregon roads for the last time. Deceased came to Oregon from Iowa, his native state, in 1853 and located on a ranch in Benton county, near the city of Corvallis. He had been a stage driver in Iowa for several years and shortly after arriving in this state he became acquainted with D. P. Thompson (Dave Thompson) of Oregon City and Portland. The latter was then arranging for the establishment of a stage line between Oregon City and Corvallis and in due course he secured Mr. Scovell to take charge of the details of operation. The stage line between Oregon City and Corvallis was started in 1854, the service being very irregular, and the route sometimes indirect. The stage ran where business called, and made as good time as was convenient. As compared with the present, there were practically no wagon roads and in some places the stage was driven through the almost trackless woods. Yet this was an improvement over previous facilities, and the stage was appreciated by the early inhabitants of the territory covered by the stage service. In 1860 the government provided for the carrying of mails from Portland to Sacramento, and the contract for this service was secured by a company formed for the purpose. Scovell was one of their first drivers and it was he who drove the first stage out of Portland on the new line. The stages were of the old-fashioned type, known to the present generation only by the pictures that may be found in pioneer newspapers or early books. The horses were large and powerful, and, according to Scovell made to run at the crack of the whip. "You bet everybody stood clear when the stage drove into town in those days," he said some time ago when talking about the events of his more exciting labors. "You don’t see any such horses nowadays because there is no use for them. The horses were wild. They had to be held until everything was ready, and when they were turned loose they started off at a gallop. When we came into town on a dead run, the stage horn blowing, everybody turned out to see who had come on the stage. We dashed up to the stage ofice and stopped quicker than an air-brake express. It took mighty fine horses to stand that kind of work and those that couldn’t stand it didn’t last long." The stage under this new system made regular trips and had a time table that was closely followed. The company, known as the California Stage Company, had a contract by which it received $90,000 per year from the government, and made a good profit besides from carrying passengers and small freight. The stage left Portland at 6 o’clock in the morning and reached Salem at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Horses were changed at Oregon City, Dutch Town (now Aurora) and Waconda, near the present site of Gervais. The stage left Salem for Eugene at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and reached the latter place at 3 o’clock next morning. The fare from Portland to Salem was $5, and this included the transportation of 150 pounds of baggage. The Portland-Sacramento stage line was operated by the California company until 1865, when H. W. Corbett bought the line for $100,000 and conducted it until he was elected United States senator in 1866. Scovell was a witness to the transfer and saw the money counted out in gold He continued with the stage until 1870, when the northern terminus of the route was Salem. In 1868 the railroad had been completed to Lake Labish, and regular train service to that point was commenced. Under the federal law the railroad then had the right to carry the mails, and the stage ran only to Labish. Two years later the train and stage met at Salem, and in 1872 Eugene became the connecting point. Scovell was not much given to talking about himself, and but for the stories told by other pioneers few would know anything of his interesting history. It was only by questioning that he could be led to tell of his early experiences, but his reminiscences are well worth listening to. Long night rides he considered not worth mentioning, though made under important circumstances. In 1856, while driving the stage on the Oregon City-Corvallis line, he had a thrilling adventure with highwaymen. He was driving from Jefferson to Salem at night, and had number of passengers, who as was the custom, carried considerable sums of money. The robbers had planned to hold up the stage at the top of Jackson’s hill, the summit of the range of hills south of Salem, on the Jefferson road. From the top of the hill there is a long, steep grade toward Salem. Just as the horses turned around a curve in the road at the crest of the hill, two masked men sprang into the road on either side of the stage. "Hold up!" was the command, but taking in the situation at a glance, Scovell swung his great whip back, cutting one robber across the face, and the next instant had cracked the lash over his leaders. The four horses dashed at a breakneck speed down that mile of heavy grade and did not stop their gallop until they neared the city. The passengers guessed the cause of the mad race and patiently endured such a shaking up and they never had before or since. But for Scovell’s prompt and daring action all would have been relieved of their money. Had the robbers chosen a spot at the beginning of the ascent the stage could not have escaped. Scovell related two stories of hard drives made at the request of men who were of no small importance in Oregon affairs at the time. In 1868, as before stated, trains ran only as far as Lake Labish, five miles north of Salem. Ben Holladay was the owner of the road. He had important interests awaiting the action of the legislative assembly of that year, and came up to Salem to see that the members of that august body were fully advised upon questions of public moment. It happened that a number of his opponents came up on the same train with Holladay and his friends, and the opposing faction had each a desire to be the first to reach Salem. As soon as the train stopped at Labish both parties alighted and Old Ben sought out Scovell with the request that his party be driven to Salem in time to beat the other crowd. Scovell undertook the task, and started on the drive with Holladay on the seat beside him. Scovell said: "Holladay patted me on the back and told me to put the horses through if every one of them dropped in his tracks. He said we must beat the other fellows, and he would pay for any injury to the horses. When we got nearly up to Salem he kept urging me on, and said if I beat the other fellows I should have a free pass over that railroad as long as there should be a rail left of it. My horses came in ahead, and it didn’t kill them either. Ben gave me the pass as he agreed, but I never got a chance to use it until the road got down as far as Salem in 1870. After I had been driving here in Salem about six months I took a day off and went down to Portland. When the conductor came around I gave him the pass. He looked at it pretty closely, punched it and gave it back. On the trip back the conductor took my pass and said that it had expired and that he would keep it. I told him: ‘No, you don’t! That is my pass, and you give it back.’ He would not, and I made for him in a hurry. I would have killed that conductor if some of the passengers hadn’t held me. He kept the pass and the next time I saw Ben Holladay I told him I wanted him to keep his promise. He laughed and said he would fix it after the next legislature, but he never did. That’s the kind of man he was." Scovell’s eyes fairly snapped when he told of that of his efficient services, and though the conductor probably obeyed his instructions he may be thankful he did not have his battle to fight alone on that eventful day thirty-one years ago. Scovell did not like the treatment he sent to the metropolis with a request that Mr. Corbett come to Salem immediately. The message was delivered late in the evening. Mr. Corbett, then a storekeeper, hunted up Scovell and inquired whether the drive to Salem could be made that night. Scovell related the following concerning the matter: "I told him if he wanted to go to Salem I would take him there. It was a dark, stormy night, but we started and drove into Salem before the legislature met next morning. Corbett told me during our ride that if I got him through all right he would pay me $15 a month extra as long as I drove on the state. And he did it. I drew my salary every pay day with the rest of the boys, and then I went down to the store and got my $15 extra. Corbett treated me white, he did, just as he always did everybody." After the railroad reached Salem and the stage line between Portland and here was discontinued Scovell was given the government contract as mail messenger between the depot and the postoffice. For awhile he made four trips a day between these two points--the first being at 5 a.m. and the last at 9:30 p.m. Later two extra trips were necessary on account of the "Albany local" and the job kept Scovell quite busy. He held this contract for several years and afterwards became stage driver and mail carrier on a subcontract between Salem and McMinnville. This route he covered for some time, when he was given the mail route between Salem and Macleay and Whiteaker in the Waldo hills, east of Salem. This he did with his faithful old buckskin colored horse, "Pedro," and a buggy until a few months ago. Deceased was married in Monmouth about forty-one years ago, Elizabeth Anna Scovell, his sister-in-law, being the bride. To them four children were born and two of these survive him, Mrs. Lola Gray of Cottage Grove, and Miss Alda Scovell of Salem. Mrs. Minnie Nye of Salem, and A. D. Davidson of Independence, are stepchildren of the deceased. His wife died about a year ago. The funeral will be conducted at 2:30 today by Rev. W. S. Gordon, pastor of the Leslie M.E. Church, at the Nye residence on South Commercial street, and interment will be in the family lot in Rural cemetery.
Oregon Statesman 1 Aug 1905 3:3-5.
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INSCRIPTION:
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SOURCES:
Rigdon Records Bk 3.
1880 OR CENSUS (Marion Co., Salem, pg 13A)
1900 OR CENSUS (Marion Co., S. Salem Pct., ED 144, Sheet 3A)
OS 1 Aug 1905 3:3-5
See also MCH, vol. 8, pg 17
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CONTACTS:
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| LOT: 165
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SPACE: 2 NE
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