Brookside Cemetery

Rich in pioneer history, Dayton was founded in 1850 by General Joel Palmer and Andrew Smith. Incorporated in 1880, the history of Dayton dates back to Oregon's beginning. Pioneers who had headed west with “Oregon fever” in the 1840s and 50s discovered Dayton’s attractive location on the Yamhill River, a tributary of the Willamette River in the fertile agricultural Willamette Valley. Dayton was a major grain shipping center for this area of the valley, before there were passable roads and railroads. Steamboats stopped regularly here, picking up wheat and carrying it down the rivers to Portland. Farmers in Yamhill County in the late 1800s and early 1900s grew grain, hay and seed, hops, apples, cherries, prunes, and a variety of other fruits and vegetables.

The cemetery rests on land first used in 1846 for the burial of Riley Smith (Marker 4.16), the son of Andrew D. and Polly Porter Smith (pictured). In 1849, Riley’s brother, Almond, was also buried here (Marker 4.15).

It is surmised that prior to Palmer’s acquisition of a portion of Andrew Smith's Donation Land Claim (DLC) in 1850, the Smith family had used the area as a family burial ground. Andrew Smith, on whose original land claim the cemetery is located, was the older brother of Riley and Almond. In 1874, Palmer officially deeded the cemetery to the Dayton School District, the only governmental body in the community at the time, as the City of Dayton wasn’t incorporated until 1880. The deed specified that anyone in the community could be buried in the cemetery for free.

The City of Dayton was founded in 1850 by General Joel Palmer with Andrew Smith, who married Palmer’s daughter, Sarah, in 1848. Palmer donated and laid out much of the land for the town of Dayton, having purchased it from Andrew Smith’s Donation Land Claim. The town was founded first and then developed rather than the other way around as is usual in the growth of villages. ¹ 

Joel Palmer was born in Canada to American parents in 1810 and grew up in the Black River Valley in upstate New York. By 1836, his first wife has died and he had married Sarah Ann Derbyshire and moved to Laurel, Indiana. He worked as a contractor building a canal, and also served two terms in the Indiana legislature before traveling the Oregon Trail in 1845. He traveled to Oregon to determine “whether its advantages were sufficient to warrant me in in the effort to make it my future home”, as he described in Journal of Travels, published in Cincinnati in 1847. His ascent of Mount Hood stood out as one of the most remarkable experiences of his adventure. When he reached an elevation of 9,500 feet, he was able to scout out a wagon route around the mountain that became the Barlow Road, a new route on the Oregon Trail that was passable by large wagon trains and significantly increased emigration to Oregon. He returned to Indiana in 1846 and moved his family back to Oregon via a large wagon train. The family settled in the Yamhill Valley in 1847. ² 

Palmer became a political leader during several years of conflict between Indian tribes and settlers and miners, serving as commissary general of volunteer militia in a campaign against Cayuse Indians in 1848 and gaining the nickname “General”. He was Oregon Provisional government peace commissioner to the Cayuse, Territorial Superintendent of Indian Affairs in 1848, and federal Superintendent for Indian Affairs for Oregon Territory from 1853 to 1856. He came in contact with many Native people and negotiated nine treaties between 1853 and 1855 and two others with Isaac Stevens in 1855. Unfortunately, his characterization of whites as provocateurs in many conflicts with Native people angered citizens and resulted in his resignation in 1856. ² 

Palmer came to Oregon a Democrat but became an active Unionist at the outbreak of the Civil War and was a Republican by 1862. He was elected to the Oregon Senate for four years in 1864. Republicans endorsed him for Oregon governor in 1870, an election he lost to Democrat Lafayette Grover by 671 votes. He returned to government service briefly in 1871 when he was appointed as Indian Agent at the Siletz Reservation, but resigned his post after less than two years due to his frustration with bureaucracy and the inability to aid the Siletz people. ² 

Joel Palmer lived the rest of his life in his home in Dayton. He died in 1881, leaving eight children and his wife Sarah, who died in 1891. ²  They are both interred in Brookside Cemetery, Marker 8.14.

State Senator Stephen Coffin (1807-1882), an early promoter of Portland (Marker 13.10)

Andrew D. Smith (1792-1852), a Dayton Land Claim settler southwest of Dayton and father of Andrew Smith, the co-founder of the City of Dayton with Joel Palmer (Marker 4.20)

Jackson Lippincott lived in Laurel, Indiana in the 1840s, the same town where Joel Palmer lived. Jackson had a mercantile business. He married Harriet Williams in 1846, had son Benjamin in 1847, and in 1849 Jackson set off to California alone to mine for gold. He made a small fortune, returned to Laurel and moved his family to Oregon in 1853.

They settled in Dayton because Harriet's sister, Sarah, lived there with her husband, Chris Taylor, a well-known figure in Dayton history. Taylor was an associate of Joel Palmer, with whom he came to Oregon on the wagon train in 1847. Taylor married Sarah Williams in 1850. Harriet and Sarah's brother Thomas K. Williams also lived in Dayton. Jackson and Thomas ran a mercantile business, Williams & Lippincott, with food and goods purchased from Chris Taylor. They also served as agents of Fort Yamhill and Fort Hoskins and through them, all government supplies were transmitted. Jackson Lippincott also acquired real estate in the area during this time.

Harriet Lippincott passed away in 1860 and was buried in Brookside Cemetery. Thomas Williams passed away in 1866 while visiting family in Indiana, and Jackson Lippincott died in 1867, leaving his son Benjamin as his sole heir. Chris Taylor was appointed executor of Jackson's estate, which was valued at what would be today around $425,000. Benjamin was appointed a guardian and finished his schooling at Willamette University in Salem.

As a young man, Benjamin ("BE") visited family in Indiana and on this trip, married Frances ("Frank") L. Manley. BE worked in the mercantile business with his uncle Chris Taylor, and also worked as a clerk in the Siletz Reservation. After moving to Portland, BE was Chief Deputy Customs House Inspector and later started a real estate and custom home brokerage business with Frank as his business partner.

Lippincott's Addition was mapped out in 1889. This added 58 large lots to Dayton, extending and creating streets and lots from 5th Street to 8th Street and Ferry Street to Ash Street. In October 1890, Lippincott's Second Addition was mapped, adding 66 lots from 8th Street to Flower Lane, Ferry Street to Ash Street, and out Fletcher Road.

Lillie Ann LaPort

Lillie ⁴  was the daughter of Samuel Kennedy and Susan George, who married in 1852 in Jackson County, Iowa. They farmed in Washington Township until 1861 when they went to California via ox train, of which Samuel was captain. They settled in Sacramento County where they had six children and lived until Susan died in 1867. Samuel and family relocated to southern California with several of his siblings and their families. Samuel married Mary B. Marine in the late 1860s, gaining three step-children and moved to Oregon.

Lillie's and first husband Harry Aune's son, Fred Aune, left Oregon with the first detachment of WWI draftees, joining the US Army. He was killed in action in 1918 at the age of 25 on the Western Front and buried in France. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart in 1920. Lillie participated in the WWI Pilgrimage of Gold Star Mothers. She is interred in Brookside Cemetery, Marker 12.01.