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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1931)
PAGE TEN The OREGON STATESMAN, Salem; Oregon, Wednesday Horning-. September 30, 1S3T ADDRESS PAYS HOnOR TQ COX First Merchant's Life is Described, Memorial to; Him Unveiled : 'AiumI it rd fit ejLHaa for 12.87 and a shawl for $7: for his wife. Presumably lie' was satisfied wim the Uew'store because t daysla - m nn mt ti. h rttaraed and purchased a bill ot rood amount ing to 63S.15, ana paia disband gave Mir. Cox a cow val- nad at 150 on account of tie bal anced 1 is In teres tint in Tannine over J the. Items ot this pnrchsw to observe that he must hare been ! aMyl nf t-ntw anli i asr 'he 'bought J. yards of. black broad- ctota for 1J; 1H rwas llntnr. 4 cents; .1 ,ea. dihotv.m Miiti- c buttons. 11 A cents: 1-3 yardlpaddinr, 50 cents.- Bot the ' ifam m not til for himself as ' there were three, yards ; of caah- saere, f 10.50; 5 yards ' aipaca. J4.95, and one yard bonnet silk, 1.I0. So I imagine that soon after this purchase David Leslie was preacninr m nis new disck. tim&riHnth unit, and his wife was going to - the ladies' i aid society lather, new casnmere aress, sua bonnet and shawl. If tne Irenes had done no shopping siaeo they left" Boston- ten- years" before, r-I can. well . understand why .; they thus early became customers of - Mr. Cox. ,V . - ; : , 1 -t Lindsay Applegate, the brother of Jesse, the pioneer. of 1843, on October 26,1847, came to buy 16 yards -of llnseyfor $4.8 and 2 yards of - flannel, for' $2.25; 1 yards of calico, SS.50; 10 yards cotton drill, $5.00; 4 yards Ken Uacky Jean, $4.00. ; Total bill, 118.58. On the same day, name ly, Oct. 26, 1847, Jesse Xooney, "another pioneer of 1843, ontdid .the ApplegaWsa for he , purchased calico, alpaca, thimbles, shawls, lace and ribbons to the amount of $29.82. Ton can see that Mr. Cox had the Instinct of a mer chant In that he had lace, ribbons and shawls for the women even though.be had to cart them 2500 miles over, mountains and prairies and across ; rivers in wagons ' drawn by oxen yet he would ca ter to the ladies. But Mr. Cox was not himself going unadorned for we find that n Dec. 5, 1847, he charged him ielt with a watch at '$0 and a chain at $30. " t '!: The missionaries " seemed to .' bave been good customers. David j Leslie merely, started them. On , Oct. $0. 1847, Rev. Goodhue, not o be outdone by Rer; Leslie, also bought himself some broadcloth i for a new auit, and calico, alpaca, j tad cashmere -for-Mrs. .Goodhue at aeost of $31.26. i Father Par rtah could not be . thus outdone . and so three days later, or. Not. I, he was found in the store buy- . tar calico, velvetnd cotton flan nel, afl for $.03Xpparently U - for Mrs. Parrlsh who probably had pressed his old suit and told him that it looked -better now. than the home made ones of Rer. Leslie and; Rev. Goodhue. 1 Even the missionary women had, their way -and -their-ways.' I . I notice . that my own grand-m-mT was n earlv customer for a Oct." 27, 1847 Sheindnlged her self la 18 yards Of print tor $4.50, r which she later paid for. by mak ing rests for the store. - . One observes another ; instinct at the .true merchant. In looking aver these books one sees that Mr. Cox was very careful to charge - , himself and erery member of his family for whatever each got from the store. .-?'- You will be interested to learn that he sold molasses at ?& cents a gallon,-children's shoes at $1 a pair; boots at $4. $7. and $8 a pair; - a black cravat . ( probably ''tor the missionaries) at $1.75; plow at: $18.50 each; 7 lbs. crushed sugar for $1.75; flour at X cents a pound.' During the year 1812 prices seem - to hare risen for we notice that on Feb. 2, 1852. Mr. W. . Grlswold bought - the following: 25 do, eggs .......... $,,25.00 H bus. onions V . ; 19.50 ($8 per bushel). 1 barrel containing: , 114 do. eggs......i. 104.00 bus. oats .. .... . l-t2 J "" v . ' $160.60 There are many entries of pay awnts by. gold : . dust especially daring 1849when It was receir ed almost every day. The en tries Indicated j that they took 4n gdld dust at $11 and $12 per oz. and credited iheir cash at $1$ an os. ':"-' -i -7 ' - I haye in my possession also the original account books .Of : Thomas Cox kept in his store in WUmington, Will County. Illinois, before coming to Oregon. From them I team that there he sold sugar. at 5c a pound; butter at 25c a .pound; "corn 50c ' bushel; - . pork at 6c a pound; pears,. $2 a bushel; tea. $1.00 per .pound; coffee 20c per pound; vinegar. S quarts tor 25c; tobacco, 5 0c per pound. That common labor was - paid $1 per day while $4 was all a asan got for cradling wheat tar j days. . - -::--! The first can to - public daty touad Mr. Cox ready. When the Cayase war broke out in a short time after his arrival in ' Salem, ' , the first need was ' ammunition , far the militia. The suply of pow der and caps, which he had man- , afactured in Ohio ' and probably also In Illinois and brought along with his other effects, he gave freely and gladly to the govern ment making no charge therefor. The location of the store In the . Jadaos honse was unsatisfactory. Mr. Cox very .soon found himself confronted with the need for a building tor his family and store. The town had just been laid out It was tery important that the store be on a main street. : Hence, when Mr Cox began to cast about for a new location he had to con aider well where the new Tillage center might be. He finally de cided on the spot where we now stand, the northeast . corner of Commercial and Ferry streets, and here, in the winter of 1847 48. ha built the- first store build lag, and probably the first puild- Ing after 'the new streets 'were laid out." It was a two story frame structure with the store on the first floor and living quarters for, his family above... About this time, Mr, Turner 1 Crump,, with whom he haC lived In the-Judson house, was apv Mnted postmaster and he chose the new store build ing as the place for the new post office. jUd thus the building be came the site ot the first postof f ice as well as that of the first store.. ' v ,, . ; . ; When the gold feTer of Califor nia spread to Oregon, Mr. Wil liam Cor, -the son - of Thomas, went to- California. His efforts were rewarded with real gold. But he was anxious to return to Ore gon. . By this time the gold rush was on in full.. San Francisco was filled with merchants.: So William Cox purchased new goods and re turned to Salem In 1849, Ou his return he married lb,' stepdaugh ter of Turner Crump. Soon after this; Martha, too wife ot. Thomas Cox; died and he retired from tie store and his son,'' William, went into partnership with his father-in-law; - Turner , Crump, and the store continued ' under the name of "William Cox Co." On retiring from the store Thomas Cox went on to his farm about 9 miles south of - Salem. Here he devoted ; himself to de veloping fruit trees from seeds which he ' had brought across the plains with him. s Among other fruits he developed a peach called tho "Cox Golden Cling', a peach still to be found! in certain or chards In the Willamette Valley. They, sold for $1.50 a peck or $6 a bushel. . - s Just as his TnriABM a a mer chant in- Indiana and Illinois had 2:00 Road hacks : ..CIass 49 .2H& Harness ponies singleClass 17 225 Five gaited ; i i . . 3 year bldsJ....... Class 34 1 2:35 Polo . ponies teams..- Class -73 2:45 Shetlands -tandems Class 64 2:55 Draft horses - .1 six-in-hand Class 58 2:30 p. m. 5:00 pj m. 7:00 p. ni. ! 8:00 p. ni. ! 8 :00 Hunters 8:20 Harness ponies tandems i over 13.2 . . Class 21 8:30 Five gaited horses I ? junior J. : Class 38 8:45 Harness horses single . ' 1 , , over-15.2 -.....Class 10 8:55 Three gaited horses '! ! . 152 j. ... Class 27 1 0:30 p. m. ! Morris Optical Company Irish's Cash Store Deneflicial Loan . Atlas Book Store, George E. Allen Hardware I ; Ladd & Bush Bank f ' ' .. r. - - j First National Banlc ; A. C.Haag & Co. 1 U. S. National Bank ! . ' Commercial Cigar Store ! caused him to be a merchant In Salem, so his experience ' as " a builder, of grist and woolen mills there caused 1 him to associate himself L in : 18 5 1 I with I Joseph Watt, Wm. H. Rector, John M in to, Joseph O. - Wilson, i John i D. Boon, and others in the erection of the Willamette Woolen Mills on Boon's Island, later - called North Salem. This was; the pio neer woolen mill of the coast.- He was appointed. to superintend the building ot the dam across Mill Creek to provide a head tot water for the -mill. So well i was this done that it resisted tho floods tor over 20 years. He retained ; his interest till 1860 when he sold o Joseph Smith. -,; -.vj. i I .M -In the same year he ; moved from his ' farm' to the ".home of his son-in-law, Benjamin F. Hard ing, who had married -his" daugh ter, Eliza. - He Hred to seel hit eldest son -.Joseph,- a member of the, convention . which f'trew the constitution for the, state' of Ore gon. ; He also saw his soa-ln-law, Benjimin F. Harding, grow to be one of the first eitlxens of Ore gon."' He saw him appointed U. S. District Attorney : by r President Pierce when George H., Williams, Cyrus Olney and . . Matthew ; P. Deadywere the U. 8. Judgesfor Oregon. He saw him become Se cretary of State for the j Territory of Oregon under President Pierce, from Jan. 27, 1855 to March $, 1859. When the Civil War broke out he saw , Harding , appointed Quartermaster in 1861, being as Judge Carey in his History of Ore gon, Page 862 says among the "first appointees for volunteer service In an Oregon regiment In the; Clril . War, of . whose loyalty to the Union cause there-was no at Today o 0 o and Spend theDdy . . JO to 12: Judging of. boots. and displays. 2 ; 1,0:30 a. m Program in art department. i!.l:00 a. mViFree acts jbh Monkey Isle. 1... il 1 :30 a. m. Special music program. 1 :00 p. m. Music progpram sponsored by Club Federation. : 1:30 p. m. Horse races featuring Governor's Derby. j 2:00 p. m. Matinee horse show. Program in art department." Free circus acts on Monkey Isle. ! Evening musical Horse show. lightweight ....Class : 43 Horse show supper dance, Marion hotel. The Following Have Assisted the Oregon State Fair in Making This Space ; Possible Mr-" Society of Oregon Question" and i less than one month before, his "death Mr. Cox saw Mr. - Harding elected vby, the Legislature of Oregon to ba the United States Senator to till the unexpired term of Senator Ed ward D. Baker after his untimely death. His term of office was from Sept. 11, 1862 to March J, 1845. " j Thomas Cox died at the home of his son-in-law, Benjamin F. Harding, on October 8, 1862, 14 days before his f 2nd birthday and IB years after bis arrival in Ore gon. He died probably from in juries received! from a fall when his horse and buggy backed off a bridge over Pudding river and fell 15 feet. y . - : ' ! He was "small of staturo prob ably never ..weighed ' over - 150 pounds.' He was .wiry and ener getic, a clos and keen observer, of a mechanical turn o? mind, and most skilful in the use of ; his hands, i . In his dealings he -was strictly honest and exacted hones ty of all who dealt with him. He was cautious in jils business deal ings and- successful In his undertakings.-: He had more than or dinary musical ability and to his dying day his Tiolin was his con stant companion.' He lies burled ; in! the Col cemetery on ? one of j the old Cox homesteads nine miles south of Salem. . Such Is the record and achieve ments of Thomas Cox, "the first j merchant of Salem. He began life as a farm - boy in . Virginia where his father pioneered. His first venture and his last was on a i farm, but between .these ' two ventures' he developed - Into. ?.'a builder, owner and operator of grist and woolen, mills, a- manur facturer of guns and gunpowder; the if Airs WM. 3:10 Harness ponies pairs under 135 ' - 3 :20 Five ; gaited combination.Class 3 :35 Shetland ladies .Class 3:45 Three gaited amateur..Class 4:00 Hunters, ladies . Class program. 9:i0 Polo ponies ihghtweight 9 :25 , Shetland ponies . ' high stepping 9:35 Roadsters, single, with ; : appointments ...Class 9 i50 Harness j ponies single- Class 10:00 Three gaited horses 4 I ladies .J Class 10 :10 Hunt teams Class Midget Market .Gray Belle 1 The Spa Marion Hotel 1 '"'''. , ' BBMesiBiisssssseBBissssBM '" - ( " Valley Motor Company Salem Hardware Company i Oscar D. "Frosty" Olson; Florist ' .'t-'Ui4'- -i4- J- '- : t J'';".- j : t)ouglas McKay Chevrolet Co. ' . Halik Electric Shop - : -h Charles R. Archerd Implement Co. and finally, a merchant. ""It was thus as a man In the full strength ot a - successful business , career that he came to Salem and be came its first merchant, i ' : (The writer hereof, being "a great grandson of the said Thom as Cox, has In his possession his original account book of his store and mills in Wilmington, Illinois, going back to Jan. 1888, while Chester Cox, also a great grand son, has the account books of the first store In Salem. ; Thus we hare in the family the original re cords of his business career con cerning which there can . be; no doubt.)... , ; ,rt : - SCHOOL DAYS Dont . rob your child of the ben efit of keen vis ion at risk of permanent visual . impairment. Our glasses aje insured', against " breakage. ' IS v 1 Class 20 39 67 32 45 ' r; Class 71 66 5 18 26 48 ..Class t.' ''wi 1 ' ! w - -. - - - - 1 A. Half j; Day Sale -iAt MILLER'S! HoleDroof - JL .... --Come down town early "today;, and shop. Miller's! HALF. . ! DAT SALE! This sale of i j quality Holeproof today at Floor.1 Half Day! n "Cled" Rayon: Undies IS Regular $1.00 quality Cleo r bloomers, stepins, chemise and regular and out sizes. Main Half Day! Imported Imported Gloria fancy. top autumn in this sale. Sixteen novelty handles. Main floor.. Half Day! I Silk Umbrellas, New! ; ) Fine quality -silk umbrellas in black and white, red, gren. We, i ' and black. Fancy silk tops ". . . bakollte reinforced tips and a r- great variety of new handles. 'Mala floor.! , $3.95 . Goodrich New! First quality Goodrich and U, S. rubber galoshes Jtn! black, tan and brown. Talon and snap fasteners. These aell regularly at S2.98 pair. $1.95 Half Day! Sale of New Hats .... ' ." . ' ': j ; j : -"--':: . ' ilmt-1' t . - Sale of Sample Costume Jewelry I 39c j; A salesman's sample line of necklaces at 39o and not a string sold regularly for leas than $1jM to 12.00. Bere youH fmd the ! color scheme ' for that new coat or frock J New greens, browns, tans, reds, black and white. white and pastel shades. . , Boy's Broadcloth Shirts- 59c I. A sale of boys fast color broadcloth shirts in plain tan, green, blue, well tailored to fit and a thoroughly satisfactory shirt for dress or school wear. Sizes 12U, 13. :- liy .4v :tLk 5- iLJ SUA L.LJ i-L i l ; : Today Is ' At the Fair , 1 f ; This Store 1 4 4 - i i i. 1 r 5 e pures Silk ! full fashioned first .i r much less than 'half! , Mala I ' fine rayon undies. French panties vesta la flesh and peach. Botn floor. Hosiery section. 2 for 98c if I e; .?i;r Umbrellas umbrellas In newest novelties for? rib ; bakellte tips ; ierook ahd j Galoshes Main floor today. S-4 j 1- Hose 59c l-i h i I ' ,, - '-r.'i'i i i f J t ? I - f i;ifl.rii i - -: Tricornegj Turbans, Eugenie Robin Hood Effects $2.89 However perplexing; your hat problem niay seem . . . you'll find the answer here today La these new trlcotlne, turban,' Eugenie, ij etc.,' at special sale price $2.95. Good quality felt with fashion's new? trims of feathers, braids, ate 2nd floor, ' i Complete ; Use of boys' leatherette $ rain coats arrived in time for today's 5 sale. ' These are U. S. Rubber -first quality. Black and brown. Sixes 2 to IS years. In : sizes 2 to 1$ a helmet to match la lnclud- ed at this price. Tbeso are exceptionally t durable. Boys' department. Main floor. WW 1 1 : - '- '-I n mm-.-0 .sst .rriT'TrTy'ri Salem Bay Closes ct Uocn It i i 13 .-. . .... ':.. . ..... i' i ." : '- ' - . "I' r: t . i 'fi : ' ; :.i :- - -.-' " - t ' I. .-. i.."4 - : - j -. li - - r L ' t' f - S'i ... i. - - 1: - ' -I J- i... - St.- r i : it : !! vj- : . it n i T W '.-'-'!: '-.'' :1 ... ... I . j V !J - ,17 : M if1 m -A- -A .- If I- .- :; s - 'u " t . H Sale of Boys' U. S. ! J Leatherette i Rain Coats $2.95 ' L a "I?