Harbert Family Stories
John
Thomas Harbert was born in Putnam County, Missouri on 1859. His parents
were Josiah and Martha Jane (Goul) Harbert. His father
was stirred, along with most other young men in America, by the news of the discovery of
gold in California and Colorado. Shortly after John Thomas was born,
Josiah moved his family from Missouri to a prairie town called Denver in the Colorado
region and again three years later to Virginia City in the Rocky Mountains. In 1876, when John
Thomas was 17 years old, the family made the formidable move by mule team from
Montana to Los Angeles County, situated in Southern California on the Pacific Ocean. They
settled in the new development called Alhambra. John Thomas Harbert and Beulah
Benton Stroud met in Downey, California, and were married on February 24, 1884. James
Roy, the first child of the family, was born in December 1884. Richard
Ray (Dick) was born fourteen months later. Roy and Dick
grew to be very close friends. Roy was dark complected and Dick
was fair with blonde hair.
John Thomas (pictured above in Los Angeles about age 21 [circa 1880]) moved his family to follow his parents to the Arizona Territory. He established a farm and grew grain and alfalfa seven miles northwest of the city of Phoenix. By 1890, John Thomas's farm had a mower, wagons, a buggy, a bull, nine cows, three calves, fifteen horses, and the boys had a dog. Beulah owned and played an organ. The Harbert family grew giving Roy and Dick two sisters: Jennie Belle (Genevieve), born in 1889; Mary Etta (Mae), born in 1891.
John Thomas's sister, Lizzie, was suffering from an illness and had been an invalid for several years. In 1893, her mother and sister, Emma, took Lizzie to live in San Diego, believing that the change in climate would be beneficial. However, her health did not improve and on July 6, 1893
The month after Martha Elizabeth (Lizzie) Harbert died, John Thomas and Beulah gave birth to a daughter and in memory of the new little girl's aunt she was named Ruby Elizabeth (Elizabeth). There were no air conditioning machines during this time and to work outside in the sun was brutal. It was difficult work to raise a family in these conditions. A special treat was to sit next to a block of ice from the ice company. During the hot summer months, the Harberts moved their beds outside for cooler sleep. Daughter Genevieve was terrified of the many spiders, snakes, and scorpions that were around the ranch.
John Thomas's mother, Martha Jane, suffered from heart trouble in February 1897 for five difficult weeks. The family gathered as her health deteriorated and became complicated with pneumonia. At age 67, Martha died on Sunday evening, March 16, 1897.
The next Harbert child was named after her mother; Beulah Stroud (Beulah) was born in 1898. John Thomas and Beulah had two more children: John Charles (Jack) was born in 1901; and Jessie Helen (Helen) was born in 1903.
In 1904, John Thomas and Beulah decided to move from Arizona to Oregon . They first traveled with their belongings to California by train. Then they bought several wagons, loaded up all their possessions, including the organ, and traveled north to Oregon. The trip was more than 1,200 miles, and is estimated to have taken 10 to 12 weeks. The children consisted of three brothers and five sisters whose ages ranged from 10 months to 20 years.
The Harberts bought a 316-acre ranch on the McKenzie River from Andrew and Elizabeth McKenney for $4,500. Naming it the Deadmond ranch because it was on the Deadmond ferry crossing. The upper fields were for growing wheat and oats and the lower field by the river was covered with high green-hung hop trellises. In January 1906, Harry Earl (Harry) was born on the Deadmond ranch. At that time, there were four automobiles in Eugene . During this busiest time for hop farmers, grandfather Josiah suffered from a short illness and died of heart failure on August 27, 1906.
Two days before Christmas, 1907, the men were cutting a tree for firewood on the hill at the Deadmond ranch. While felling the tree, Roy spotted an axe that was left behind and ran to retrieve it. The tree fell, striking and killing him. Mother Beulah , who was five months pregnant, heard the screams and ran all the way up the hill. Roy was 23 years old when he died and was buried next to his grandfather in the Coburg I.O.O.F. cemetery. Dick had grown to six feet tall, was even-tempered, hard working, happy, and often whistled or sang. The whistling was noticeably absent for a long time after Roy's death. Cecil Lloyd (Cecil) was born in the Spring of 1908. Mother Beulah gave birth to five sons and five daughters to complete this Harbert family.
Mother Beulah was the manager of this family and John Thomas was the stabilizing force. John Thomas's health began to decline, and it was getting difficult to manage the large ranch. In 1914, the Harberts sold the Deadmond ranch to the Trapp family and moved to a 20-acre ranch one mile east of Thurston, Oregon. John Thomas was 55 years old. John Thomas chewed tobacco and smoked a pipe. He developed cancer of the mouth which progressed over several years, and he eventually had to have a portion his jaw removed. Eating and breathing later became difficult before he died on February 13, 1923 at the age of 64 years old. All of the Harbert children lived the rest of their lives in the Oregon Willamette Valley.
