Fifty Emigrants for Oregon

Submitted by Ethel Haines
Ironton Register – March 15, 1883

Last December, Mr. T. R. Worthington came to this county to drum up laborers for the Oswego Iron Works, Oregon. Mr. Worthington is himself a collier, and in that capacity, has been employed at the Oswego Furnace for seven years past. The lack of labor has been his chief obstacle, so he concluded to come East for a supply. He is the son of Charles Worthington and was raised in this region.

He mustered up about forty active men whose names we give below. They left on the Fleetwood, last Thursday evening, bound for Oregon under Mr. Worthington’s conduct. About twenty got on at Ironton, the same number at Hanging Rock, some at Union Landing, and two at Portsmouth.

Among the number, we noticed some of the farmer boys, from the bottom below the Rock. The married men were accompanied by their wives and children. At the Rock, the departure was signaled by the blasts of artillery. A great crowd gathered which cheered lustily, and were decidedly noisy with their affectionate farewells.

The emigrants went to Cincinnati, then by the O. & M. to St. Louis, then to Texarkana and by the South Pacific via El Paso to San Francisco; then by the ocean to Portland, from which place Oswego is eight miles distant. It will take two weeks to make the trip; through tickets, $70. At El Paso, the emigrants take an emigrant train. A railroad agent goes through with them from Cincinnati to San Francisco and sees them safe aboard a steamer at the latter place.

The following is a full list of the persons who were at the party:

James H. Fits, David Duncan, wife and 3 children, Andy Hodge, W. H. Swartz, Geo Smith, Lewis Sutton, C. E. Backus, Wilson Nida, wife and 3 children, John Carter, A Worthington, Mrs. Dyer and 4 children, Fred Tulga, Dan’l Lykins and wife, P. Bisco, John Lambert, Mrs. Thacker, John Fox, Martin Loder, John Loder, Wm. Worthington, wife and five children, Thomas Worthington, John Shope, Frank Ross, Charles Ross, Mary Ross, Vick Ross, Sam Ross, Wm. Rodgers, Louisa Hoffman, Isaac Austin, wife and child, Ed. Shaber, J. P. Smith, wife and 7 children, P. Nagel, Geo. Wallace, wife and child, James Kiser, wife and child, John Davidson, Sherman Ross.

Last Monday, the following persons also started for Oswego: John Bolles and his wife, Jas. Hosey and his wife and Henry Sowers.

• Austin, Isaac, wife Mary E. (Gill), and daughter Grace
• Backus, C. E.
• Bisco, P.
• Bolles, John and his wife
• Carter, John
• Duncan, David, wife, and 3 children
• Dyer, William, wife and 4 children
• Davidson, John
• Fits, James H.
• Fox, John
• Hodge, Andy
• Hosey, Jas. and his wife
• Huffman, Louisa
• Kiser, James, wife, and child
• Lambert, John
• Loder, Martin
• Loder, John
• Lykins, Daniel, and his wife
• Nage,l (or Nail) P.
• Nida, Wilgon [Wilson?], wife and 3 children
• Rodgers, William
• Ross, Charles, Frank, Mary, Vick, Sam, and Sherman
• Shaber, Ed
• Shope, John
• Sowers, Henry
• Swartz, W. H.
• Smith, George
• Smith, J. P., wife and 7 children
• Sutton, Lewis
• Tulga, Fred
• Thacker, Mrs.
• Wallace, George, wife, and child
• Worthington, A. (Alexander)
• William, wife Alice Alameda (Cutright), and children Elizabeth A., John Wesley, Louis J., Cora, Eugene, Eva, and George
• Worthington, Thomas
• Worthington, Theodore R.

“Oregon’s Iron Dream” by Mary Goodall, Copyright, 1958, by Oswego Friends of the Library, indicates that the following individual was also on the emigrant train:

• Perry, William

A handwritten account of a trip taken by John C. Haines and his family was found in a Haines/Worthington family bible:

Removed from Hanging Rock, Ohio to Irondale, Alabama, Oct. 1872. They returned to H. Rock O in April 1874. Immigrated to Oregon in January 1881. Left Portsmouth, Ohio, on Jan. 17th and arrived at Portland, Ore., on Feb. 5th, 1881.

• Haines, John C., wife Mary Jane (Worthington), and children Charles Nelson, John Cole, Evelyn, Rose Etta, Theodore Royer, and Elizabeth (Lizzie).

Others who came to Oregon and Washington:

• Clinefelter, Albert, wife Sarah Ann (Worthington), and children Thomas Reed, Rosa, and Norma.
• Worthington, James K. Polk, wife Ella Belle (Julier), and children Rolla, Gaylord, and Grace Belle.
• Fox, Thomas, wife, and child Norma Inez (Haines) + others. They arrived in Oregon in 1890.

Names of people to Oswego, Oregon, who may have come from Lawrence County, OH, or surrounding areas. A quote from “In Their Own Words” is given to support the following listing: “Founders of the foundry came from Ohio. A great many of the people in Oswego came from Ohio….”

• Darling
• Davisson, John
• Fox, John
• Shipley, Adam Randolph
• Albert Sidney Clinefelter was born on 31 August 1842 in Huntsville, Madison, AR, the son of Thomas R. Clinefelter and Mary M. Hoskinson. He married Sarah Ann Worthington on 4 July 1867 in Lawrence Co. OH.
• Sarah Ann was born on 4 March 1842 in Lawrence County. Albert’s father, Thomas R., died on 1 May 1910 in Ironton and was buried at Hanging Rock. Children: Thomas Reed b 12 May 1868 in Hanging Rock; Rosa b 5 Jan 1870 m Alphonzo Shipley; Norma F. b 26 Apr 1874 m Eugene Zimmerman; Charles Lester b 25 Feb 1889 m Mary Younker
• Military: Albert S. served in Civil War from 4-19-1861 to 8-28-1861 in Co. A – 18th Reg OH V.I. as a private. He was a carpenter at enlistment. Pension #1175623.