Digging for Friends

August 6, 2008 This research project was begun to study more on the Friends (Quaker) migration to a little known town in Oregon (Scotts Mills) and, specifically on the establishment of a “Friends Oregon Colony” there. I am a second-generation graduate of George Fox College (University) in Newberg, Oregon, a school intimately connected with the Society of Friends (Orthodox Quakers). I have been teaching eighth grade Language Arts and Social Studies at an Oregon public school since the 2001/02 school year. The region and historical period covered in the SS curriculum for eighth grade begins with the early explorations of North America and concludes with the United States following the Civil War. Because of my education at George Fox and the experience in Quaker meetings, I have been keenly interested in the story of William Penn and the “religious experiment” of Philadelphia. So, when I began to think about possible topics for my Master’s in Geography Education project, I thought I would like to study more about the Pennsylvania Friends. I’ve always been curious about the historical percentage of Quakers in the city of Philadelphia and the rest of the Pennsylvania colony, from colonization to present day. I also wanted to measure, track, and graphically represent the historical dispersal of their cultural influence throughout the U.S., using GIS technology. These ideas were not pursued, however; possibly, the reason I didn’t follow them was due to an assumption that the work had already been done. Last summer, as I was visiting my wife’s family (Thomas) up in Newberg, I was asked if I had heard about their history in connection with a small town called Scotts Mills. I was teased by stories of Lauren Lewis Thomas, patriarch of the family, settling a donation land claim there in 1847 (one of the earliest settlers in the Scotts Mills area), fighting against local Molalla natives in the “Battle of the Abiqua” of 1848, sending four sons off to serve in the First Oregon Infantry during the Civil War, donating a portion of his land for a school in 1866 (a building named “Thomas School” – no longer extant), and fathering fourteen children, one of which continued the line that my wife belongs to. Another intriguing story involved the recruitment of Friends (Quakers) from other states to immigrate to Oregon and establish a community at Scotts Mills, raising fruit on lots specially platted for this purpose and sold at attractive prices. I was allowed to borrow a 1985 edition of Scotts Mills, Oregon: A Continuing History from 1846-1919 by Edward Couey, researched by Barbara LeDoux. As I read through this publication, I began to ponder the thought of composing a project more akin to a Master’s thesis, unlike the traditional geography unit plan approach. I read about a Friends meeting that was started in 1892 (Prune Ridge) and more-or-less abandoned by 1900. I wanted to know more about the people: Who were they? Where were they from? Why did they quit? Where did they go? Did they grow prunes? I also read about the Oregon Land Company and the platting of the town of Scotts Mills in 1893, along with the Friends Oregon Colony. What was the connection between the Prune Ridge Friends Church and the Friends Oregon Colony? Were there still “Friends” in these areas today? Are there any descendants of the original settlers, enticed West, still on the lands of their forebears? And how about the prunes... would I find a prune tree in the Scotts Mills vicinity today? These guiding questions were just a start, and as any researcher knows, more questions presented themselves naturally through the process of collecting and coordinating information.
As I began to “dig for Friends” and piece together stories and facts, it became apparent that the ideal way to organize this project would be as a collection of web pages, able to be constantly modified, improved, and added to. This would allow me to present text, photos, charts, maps, and videos in an interactive environment which encourages the reader to navigate much more freely than a static paper document does.
So, please dismiss any presumptions you might have about me being an expert on Friends history or even the history of the Scotts Mills area. I have merely drawn together many different peoples’ work (standing on the shoulders of giants, as it were), combined their work with some of my own, and presented it all in a more accessible format for today.

RESOURCES:
- Couey, E., & LeDoux, B. -r. (2006). Scotts Mills, Oregon: A Continuing History from 1846. Scotts Mills, OR: Scotts Mills Area Historical Society.
- Haskins, Frank (1989). Scott's Mills to Scotts Mills: The Great Transition. Salem, OR: Scotts Mills Area Historical Society.
- Magee, Harold (2008, June 7). (J. Gault, Interviewer)
- Scotts Mills Story. (n.d.). The Bulletin, Molalla , p. 3.
Thomas, William (2008, July 26). (J. Gault, Interviewer)

***Site is UNDER CONSTRUCTION (UPDATED July 2011)***
There will be many additions and modifications as I find time to update.
Please email questions or make correction requests to: jokrgault@gmail.com

Jonathan M. Gault, M.S. UO Geography
Oregon Public School Teacher
- link to classroom website

- A Research Project in Geography Education, University of Oregon

Scotts Mills, Oregon, early 1900s

Prune Ridge, 2010