Alfred M. Witham

 

This  muzzle-loading, double-barreled shotgun is on display in the Benton County Historical Society's Corvallis Museum  It was a made sometime between 1830 and 1847 but its maker cannot be traced as the original stock has been replaced and the information engraved does not correspond to any known gun-maker.

Alfred M. Witham's shotgun

The gun belonged to Alfred M. Witham (1822-1908).  In 1846, when he and wife Drucilla Allen Witham left Indiana for Oregon, he carried the gun along.  It would have been useful as they traveled the plains. Their son Edward told of how “a group of Indians followed them for two or three days and finally succeeded in running off the only two horses they had.  Two of the men pursued the thieves, wounded one of the, and recovered the horses.”  He also said that “the train was divided one time by a herd of stampeding buffalo.  Father said there must have been at least a thousand of them.  Their coming was indicated by the cloud of dust while they were miles away, and their course was evident in time to divide the train and let them pass.  Several of the animals were killed for meat.”

Alfred M. Witham

Drucilla Allen Witham

The Withams followed the Applegate trail to Oregon and after a brief stop in Roseburg, arrived  in Benton county in 1847.  After claiming land south of Philomath, Witham went off to California to search for gold.  He reportedly returned in 1849 with $1000 which is equivalent to about $30,000 today. He decided to abandon his former claim and instead claimed 640 acres which extended from what is now the OSU dairy farm along Harrison to 53 street and from Oak Creek north to the IOOF cemetery-- an area now known as Witham Hill. He used the money earned in California to buy additional land east to 36th Street. Eventually he owned over 1100 acres.  Edward explained that his father chose this land because he wanted to raise cattle and the hills offered better grazing. “He has often told me that in those days the hills were all covered with fine grass. Many times the grass would grow shoulder high to a man. He estimated that he used to see as many as a hundred deer on the place at one time.” The property also contained a stone quarry (located off what is now Fernwood Circle) which provided material for the Benton County Courthouse.

The farm was quite successful and Witham began to spend more time in civic activities. He served as Justice of the Peace and inspector of sheep. He donated land for the I.O. O. F Cemetery and contributed toward building the railroad to the coast. He was one of the original trustees of Philomath College and served as president of its board for many years.

Philomath College Articles of Incorporation, 1865

 In 1862, he was elected as to the Oregon state legislature. His photograph is on the left of the fourth row.  In 1874 he was elected to the state senate.

Alfred Witham lived in Benton County until his death in 1908. He is buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery on Witham Hill. At that time, five of the Witham's 8 children who survived to adulthood were living in Benton County.  Two of the sons built houses on the Witham Hill land, much of which remained in family hands until the 1950s. The Witham name lives on in the name of its prominent hill and of two nearby streets (Witham Drive and Witham Hill Drive).  

 By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon