Lewis Southworth, also identified as Louis Southworth (1830–1917), was an American

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

in Oregon who settled a

donation land claim The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

in 1880 near

Waldport Waldport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,033 at the 2010 census. The city is located on the Alsea River and Alsea Bay, south of Newport and north of Yachats. History Settlement of Waldport began in 1 ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Southworth was born into

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and brought to the Oregon Territory by his enslaver, from whom he bought his freedom with cash, earned chiefly from his expertise with the

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

or violin. Southworth lived or worked near Monroe, Jacksonville, and

Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan *Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...

before settling along a small tributary of the Alsea River, where he farmed and engaged in other enterprises and civic undertakings. After his first wife died in 1901, Southworth bought a house in Corvallis, where he lived for the rest of his life and married his second wife. Southworth was the first Black member of the Oregon militia.

Southworth Creek Southworth Creek is a stream, about long, in Lincoln County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is a tributary of the Alsea River, which it enters upstream of Waldport and the Pacific Ocean. It flows north from the slopes of Burnt Timber Mountain to ...

, a small tributary of the Alsea River, is named in his honor.

Move to the West

In 1853, James Southworth, a

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

enslaver, brought Southworth to the Oregon Territory as an enslaved man. Slavery was not legal in the territory, and Black people were prohibited from settling in the area. Efforts to discourage Black people and their descendants from moving to Oregon continued through at least 1926, when the

Oregon Black exclusion laws The Oregon black exclusion laws were attempts to prevent black people from settling within the borders of the settlement and eventual U.S. state of Oregon. The first such law took effect in 1844, when the Provisional Government of Oregon voted to e ...

were repealed. In 1854 Lewis Southworth settled on an abandoned

near Monroe, in Lane County. According to an article in ''The Old Time Herald'', James Southworth, thought to be cash-poor, lived with Lewis on the Richardson claim. Shortly thereafter, Lewis traveled to the gold fields near Jacksonville, where he earned $300 that he remitted to James in partial payment for his freedom. While returning from Jacksonville to Monroe, Lewis encountered soldiers fighting in the

Rogue River Wars The Rogue River Wars were an armed conflict in 1855–1856 between the U.S. Army, local militias and volunteers, and the Native American tribes commonly grouped under the designation of Rogue River Indians, in the Rogue River Valley area o ...

who threatened to confiscate his rifle. To avoid proceeding unarmed, Southworth joined the militia, fought against the Native American tribes commonly grouped under the designation of

Rogue River Indians Rogue River Indians are a conglomeration of many tribal groups in the Rogue River Valley area, belonging to three language families: Athabascan, Takelma and Shastan. Groups The principal tribes grouped under the name Rogue River Indians were: * ...

, and was subsequently wounded in a skirmish in 1856. He was the first Black member of the Oregon militia. Soon the James Southworth family moved again, this time to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to try gold mining, taking Lewis with them. While mining in

Yreka Yreka ( ) is the county seat of Siskiyou County, California, United States, near the Shasta River; the city has an area of about , most of it land. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,807, reflecting a meager increase fro ...

, Lewis found fiddle playing was more lucrative than looking for gold, and he subsequently taught violin and played for dance schools in Yreka and in

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

. In this way, Lewis earned enough to pay James Southworth another $700 to be

manumitted Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...

in 1858 or 1859. After manumitting Lewis Southworth, James Southworth circulated a petition in Lane Country, Oregon, to protect "slave property." The petition made its way to the state legislature, but was not adopted.

Later life

Lewis Southworth returned to Oregon, and by 1870 he was running a

livery stable A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

and working as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

. He married Mary Cooper in 1873 and helped raise her adopted son, Alvin McCleary. Under provisions of the

Homestead Act of 1862 The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of th ...

, Southworth acquired a land grant near the Alsea River upstream of

, where he farmed, fished, hunted, built a sawmill, became active in community affairs, and played the fiddle for dances. He donated land for a school near Waldport and served as a chairman of the school board. After Cooper died in 1901, Southworth moved to Corvallis, where he bought and lived in a house at the corner of Southwest Fourth Street and Adams Avenue. In 1913 he married his second wife, Josephine Jackson. He died in 1917 and is buried in Corvallis' Crystal Springs Cemetery next to his first wife.

Legacy

Southworth lived beside a tributary near Waldport which was officially named ''Darkey Creek''. On the recommendation of the

Oregon Geographic Names Board The Oregon Geographic Names Board (originally known as the Oregon Geographic Board) is responsible for recommending names for geographic features in the state of Oregon. The board submits its recommendations to the United States Board on Geograph ...

, it was changed by the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

to ''

'' in 2000. In 2021 it was announced that a 12-acre park in Waldport would be named in Southworth's honor. A bronze sculpture of Southworth will be at the entrance of the park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southworth, Lewis 1829 births 1917 deaths Musicians from Oregon Musicians from Tennessee Oregon pioneers People from Corvallis, Oregon Farmers from Oregon People from Yreka, California People from Monroe, Oregon People from Lincoln County, Oregon American fiddlers African-American history of Oregon