Page 26 - Corvallis, OR Historic Preservation Plan

Historic Preservation Plan

:4 Major John Thorp wagon train in 1844, possibly as slaves or newly
freed slaves. They initially settled on the Thorp Donation Land Claim
■
in present day Polk County and relocated to Corvallis by 1857. In spite
3$ of the Oregon’s exclusion laws, they purchased several lots within the
m Dixon’s 2nd Addition. Their house, located at 641 NW 4th Street, was
ir- ! listed on the National Register in 2015.

Other black persons who lived in Corvallis or the surrounding areas
Gorman House include:

• Ame (or Aim) was brought to the area from Missouri as a slave
in 1847 by the Mulkey family, with whom she remained. She
later lived with the daughter Mary and her husband John Porter.
Ame is buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery on Witham Hill with
a headstone that reads “Ame. Slave of Mary and John Porter.”
• Louis Southworth was brought to Corvallis as a slave in 1851
and later bought his freedom. He homesteaded on Alsea Bay,
opened a blacksmith shop in Buena Vista, and later moved to
Corvallis. He is buried in Crystal Lake Cemetery.
• Leticia Carson was a former slave who lived with David Carson, a
white man, in the area north of Corvallis. The couple had a son
in 1849 who is believed to be the first African American born in
the county.
• Reuben Shipley purchased his freedom by assisting his owner in
his overland travels. He then purchased 80 acres near Philomath,
which included what became Mount Union Cemetery, where he
and his wife, Mary Jane, also a former slave, are buried.

Chinese in Corvallis

The late 1800s saw an influx of Chinese into Oregon, including Benton
County and Corvallis. A significant number of them worked on the
construction of railroad lines, including the Oregon and Pacific Railroad
that ran from Yaquina City to Corvallis and later Albany. Others
worked in domestic service, as hotel workers, as farm laborers, in
the brickyards, and ran laundries. Chinese laundries were located at
both the north and south ends of downtown with a more substantial
“Chinatown” located near 2nd Street and Jefferson Avenue. However,
none of these buildings remain standing. The late 1800s saw a series of
Chinese exclusion acts passed by the Federal government and several
conflicts between white populations and Chinese throughout the
Pacific Northwest. Locally, there was controversy over the presence of
opium dens, including their purported use by whites, and a general
animosity toward Chinese populations.

20 City of Corvallis