Salem in 1874

World Events

• France and Viet Nam sign a second treaty giving France full severity over Viet Nam including the city of Saigon.
• Germans evacuate French land gained in 1871 Franco-Prussian War, however enmity between the two nations persisted.
• Hawaii signs a treaty with the U.S. granting exclusive trading rights.
• Harper's Weekly publishes a cartoon by Thomas Nast in which the elephant is first used for a symbol of the Republican political party.
• Matthew Evans and Henry Woodward patent the first incandescent lamp with an electric bulb
• Patrick Francis Healy, the first black man to receive a PHD becomes the president of Georgetown University.
• Gold is discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota leading to a rush of prospectors, led by George Armstrong Custer, although the land was owned by the Sioux.

In Salem
On the southeast corner of Commercial and Court streets, Werner and Eugene Breyman, immigrant brothers from Germany, paint white their new brick commercial establishment. The light color gives it the distinction of being the "White Corner." Their numerous retail and wholesale businesses became the largest in Oregon outside Portland. Retiring from merchandising in 1880, they turned to real estate development and loan business. Their Bush-Breyman Block, across the street, was built in 1889. The homes of the Breyman brothers were one block apart, facing Court and State Streets at Cottage Street, and were centers of social life in Salem.

Werner Breyman (1829-1916) married Isabella Watt (1833-1909) in 1853. Their only son, Carl, died at the age of ten in 1878. Their three daughters were Mrs. William (Ada) Eldridge, Mrs.William (Elva) Brown and Mrs. R. F. (Anna) Prael. Eugene Breyman (1834-1903) married Margaret E. Skaife (1839-1918) in 1864. They also had three daughters: Mrs. F.F. (Lena) Snedecor, Mrs. Reuben (Minnie) Boise, and Mrs. Charles (Jessie) McNary.

Descendants continued their involvement in Salem’s business community for over a century and a half. The Breyman brothers had an older sister, Louisa, who was married to one of the most popular gentlemen in the city, E. M. Waite. In 1897, he died suddenly of a heart attack while participating in a parade of local baseball teams. The newspaper extolled his many civic achievements and his personal qualities. His childless widow had the Waite Fountain built in Willson Park, dedicated to his memory. The three Breyman sisters-in-law are featured in an article found in the Salem Lifelines blog.

When you visit
A post card of the early 1900s shows the Commercial and Court Street intersection, looking east with the dignified "White Corner" just as you see it above. At one of our busiest downtown corners, you pass this building today without recognizing its age and past Victorian charm. The lifting of the Depression by the prosperity of the World War II caused Americans to want everything to be "modern". This commercial building was among many in Salem to be renovated in the late 1940s, removing all Victorian decorations.

Other Events

• John G. Wright is elected mayor and serves two years. Mr. Wright of Illinois was an 1853 immigrant to Oregon with his wife Caroline. Their two children, Ella and George were born in this state. He was a merchant, part owner of a hotel, school director and member of the City Council before election as mayor. He died in a local hospital in 1923 at the age of 86.
• William Griswold installed a water wheel creating a new water system that served several blocks east of High Street. From "Bits for Breakfast" by R. J. Hendricks, "Griswold also put in a water system for South Salem. He got the water from a well which he dug just south of the millpond. The tower was erected at the west end of the "agricultural works". The water was nothing but seepage from the mill pond. There was some sort of a strainer put in but it was of little value. That was over 50 years ago. Many who drank the water are still alive, so it could not have been very deadly. The system was afterward taken over by the city."
• This was not Mr. Griswold's only downtown enterprise. Salem’s first regular theater was located in the Griswold Block at the southwest corner of State and Commercial Streets. This brick structure (perhaps the first of consequence in Salem) was built by William Griswold in the mid-1850s. Griswold’s Theater was located on the second and third floors. The celebrated Julia Dean Hayes appeared here in Shakespearian roles as early as 1864. On May 20, 1868, the Irwin's presented "Uncle Tom’s Cabin", " The Drunkard," and "Angel at Midnight." In the same year, Salem’s dramatic society offered "Kill or Love" and "The Toodles" at Griswold’s Theater. Admission to the dress circle was four bits (50 cents); six bits (75 cents) reserved a seat, and two bits (25 cents) allowed one to enter the orchestra pit. According to Pioneer Cemetery records, Mr. Griswold "died in the asylum for the insane (present state hospital) here in the early ‘80's, [1900] his mind having become unbalanced on account of the loss of his property."
• To reduce public drunkenness, at least one day week, a previous city ordinance proscribed Sunday opening of any "store, shop, boll alley, billiard room, tippling house, or any place of amusement . . ." An exception to this law were grocery stores. When this was not effective, a voluntary Sunday closing law, enacted this year, gained the support of a goodly proportion of Salem's businessmen, although only a handful of the town's tavern keepers.
• Chloe Clark Willson died this year in Portland. Associated with her husband William in the founding of the city, she was also a gifted teacher in the formative years of Willamette University. Profiles are found on Salemhistory and in Salem Lifelines.

Salem in 1868

World Events

• The 14th Amendment is passed guaranteeing citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.
• President Johnson is impeached by the House, but acquitted by the Senate.
• The game of badminton is introduced.
• Louisa May Allcott writes Little Women.

In SalemThe disastrous earthquake along the Pacific this year affected world populations in their most basic need, clean water. The property seen above along Pringle Creek is typical of the beautiful streams that have flowed through Salem since its founding. Although you would not want to drink this water, it is certainly cleaner now than it was in 1868 when there was no city water or sewer system and all human and industrial waste was emptied into local streams and into the Willamette River. The best source of household water then was a shallow well on your own property. For those without wells, an enterprising Chinese citizen, Lee Tong, collected water in discarded oil tins and sold it to his customers. The health of residents was affected by all local sources of water: typhoid was a common cause of death. The few doctors in Salem were most often self-educated, and remedies for illness came from general stores selling drugs of uncertain origin.

When you visit: Pringle Creek
The Willamette River has not recovered from the years of human and industrial waster. However, Riverfront Park offers panoramic views of that important historic waterway. Scenes like the one photographed above can be enjoyed along Pringle Creek in Bush's Pasture Park. Entering on Mission Street at the parking lot near University Street, walk into the wooded park over trail nearest the creek, on your left. Several byways, useful in summer, take you to the creek itself. The trail extends to Leffelle Street at the south end of Bush's Pasture Park in the SCAN neighborhood. Both of these self-guided walking tours are available for viewing on SHINE.

Other Events

• Salem has a lively theatrical community at this time: the dramatic society offers "Kill or Love" and "The Toodles" at Griswold’s Theater at the southwest corner of State and Commercial Streets. Admission ranges from 25 to 75 cents.
• In January, African-Americans from Salem and Albany gathered to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. In a rare display of racial harmony, the celebration was attended by whites of both political parties. The Salem Daily Record reported that six of the blacks at the celebration had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.
• The Hall's ferry began operating this year, but did not acquire the name until 1882 when B. F. Hall, its operator, purchased the enterprise in 1882. Hall's Ferry Road, crossing South River Road in south Salem now marks the approximate location of this early transportation across the Willamette River. 
• John G. West, father of Oswald West, later a governor of Oregon, built a home on Oak Street. It was moved to D Street in the late 1990s.

Knight Memorial Church

• Rev. Plutarch S. Knight becomes pastor of the First Congregational Church where he gains fame as the "Marrying Preacher", performing at least 1,332 marriages. He was a founder and leader in both civic and business institutions of the new city as attested by his 1914 obituary: "P. S. Knight ... came to Salem in December of 1857. He attended Willamette University from 1857 to 1860. He was married to Eleanor Smith April 21st, 1861 in the old Methodist church building in Salem that now serves as a laundry. [They celebrated a 50th anniversary of their marriage.] He was reporter and editor of the Statesman from 1862 to 1864, being engaged in this work when the daily issue was commenced. He was also state librarian for 1862 to 1864 and was city recorder in 1863, when the fees of the office amounted to not more than $100 a year. He also read law, and was admitted to the bar in 1864. He was ordained a Congregational minister at Oregon City in 1866, and was pastor of the Congregational church of Salem from 1867 to 1883 sixteen years. He was superintendent of schools for Marion County from 1870 to 1872. He had charge of the Oregon School for Deaf Mutes from 1871 to 1892. His salary part of the time was nominal, part of the time nil. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred upon him by Willamette University in 1890, on account of actual work, illustrated by a course of lectures.
  "He platted Knight's addition to Salem in 1888; bought Capital Park addition in 1889; Central addition and part of Capital Home addition in 1890; Simpson addition in 1891. Substantial improvements have been made in all of these and more than 500 lots in all sold. Mr. Knight has built about thirty houses in the two years past, which have been sold mostly on the "installment plan" to working people. Mr. Knight was the moving spirit and the largest original stockholder in the Capital City electric railway, started in 1890, which has grown into such an extensive and valuable property. As a minister, a writer, a public speaker, a public spirited and useful citizen, as a business man--Mr. Knight has kept the esteem, respect and confidence of the people among whom he has led such a busy, active and useful life." A monument marks his grave in Pioneer Cemetery and the Knight Memorial Church, named in his honor in 1926 was the second Congregational Church in Salem. It now houses a Korean religious community.