Eleanor and William were the parents of:
James K/1843 - Jun 1852 (died of Cholera)
Samuel Return/1845 m. Sarah Homesley
Sarah Frances/1847 - Jun 1852 (died of Cholera)
Frederick/1850 - Jun 1852 (died of Cholera)
THE GIBSON FAMILY by Edith Starbuck - (Polk County Oregon Pioneers):
"Many of their relations and neighbors planned to join them in crossing the plains in 1852. Daviess Gibson was made Captain of the train of forty wagons which crossed the Mississippi river on April 1, 1852, landing at Louisiana Missouri. So accurate was his memory of the trip of '49 that he said there was never but one night in all their journey when he did not have a definite mental picture of the place they were to make camp, with some idea of its natural advantages.
Fourteen of the wagons belonged to his own or his wife's people. These were his father, Samuel Gibson and an orphan granddaughter, Zerelda, who was married to Ben Hayden before the train left the settlements in Missouri; his brother George Gibson and family; William Taylor and family, (his sister Eleanor's husband); Joseph Ingalls and family; and Mrs. Mary (Lord) Ingalls, his mother-in-law, with her two youngest sons, Lyman and Theodore. Lyman was 19 and Theodore 17 at this time.
This was a much more difficult trip than that of '49. Increased emigration had multiplied the perils in many ways. It had depleted the natural supply of feed for the animals, reduced the wild game on which they had counted to supplement their food supply, greatly excited the suspicions and fears of the Indians and driven them to war- like demonstrations, and worst of all polluted the water supply.
Cholera smote the train while in the Platte, for this was the season which went down in history as the dread "Cholera year". Samuel Gibson was the first of their company to be smitten on *June 8, 1852*. Lyman Ingalls also fell a victim, and *Eleanor Taylor saw all of her family but one son, Sam, cut down by it within the space of 24 hours*: her husband, two sons, daughter, and brother-in-law, Newton Taylor. By press of circumstances, she was compelled next day to take up the lines and drive a team the rest of the way. They were now so short of men that there was none to do it for her. Daviess Gibson maintained that the Cholera infection was in the water and begged the people to boil all used for drinking purposes.
Arrived at the trying forty-mile desert between the Big Sandy and Green River, they planned to cover as much of the distance as possible by a forced night march, and then try to reach the first water supply the next day. Good fortune awaited them, for in the night a thunder storm brought a heavy rain, and they covered the desert without discomfort to their oxen.
Soon afterward their cattle were stampeded one night and the best of their stock driven off by Mormons disguised as Indians. Daviess Gibson had invested his ready money in fine stock before leaving Illinois, believing it was as safely transported in that form as any and could be relied upon to bring good returns as soon as he arrived in Oregon. His best mare and best cow were now stolen, and this greatly reduced the family means. Death had claimed too many of their men to permit the risk of pitched battle for recovery of their property, even had they been able to track and overtake the thieves. On Snake River the draft oxen began dying from exhaustion and starvation.
Provisions were running low, and some families lost all their draft animals and had to abandon their wagons and proceed on foot, carrying only what they could pack on their backs. Some tried to float down the river in the wagon boxes but soon came to grief in the rapids and some were even drowned. Those who still had oxen, abandoned everything they could spare - tents, bedding, furniture, cooking utensils, and even bacon and flour. They tried to help the women and children, but were obliged to leave the men to shift for themselves. Everybody walked as much as possible, to spare the weakened oxen. Shoes wore out and the hot sands and sharp rocks cut their feet until the travelers actually left a trail of blood behind them. They resorted to the expedient of walking close behind the wagons in the fresh wagon tracks, where the sand was cooler. Scarcity and poor quality of food induced a terrible dysentery and some were near death from it. After nursing her son, George, through an attack, Sophronia almost lost her own life from this plague. In the Blue Mountains, the mountain fever attacked them. It was here that Mrs. Wylie was taken away from her family and her husband almost followed her. He was saved by the cold packs which Daviess Gibson administered to him.
As friends in Oregon were aware that the wagon train was coming in '52, and as the time for arrival drew near, they sent out a relief train to meet them. Arthur Ingalls and Ben Duniway, with pack horses and provisions, met them in extreme Eastern Oregon. Now they had food enough, the pack horses could relieve the weakened oxen and the grass for the animals was now more plentiful. On Tygh Creek they found Guyon Gibson awaiting them with fresh yokes of oxen to help them over the Cascade Mountains. All three of the men, in the relief train, found loved ones had fallen to the plague of Cholera. Guyon's father, brother-in-law, nephews, and niece were no longer of the company; Arthur's brother Lyman was missing, and Ben Duniway's step-mother was gone. Notwithstanding the steepest and most dangerous roads of the whole trip were still ahead of them, this timely help from their friends and relations brought them safely through. They came to Oregon City on the first of October, and were regaled upon a new dish, the royal salmon, for which the Indians were at that time fishing at the falls of the Willamette.
In Clackamas County, a few miles from Woodburn, they stopped a few days to rest with their people who had taken homesteads there - William and Roxcia Keiser, Henry and Sarah Ingalls, and Albert and Mary Gibson. Then they proceeded to Cincinnati (now known as Eola) on the banks of the Willamette. Here they found the Butlers had established a general merchandise store; and here the family made their home the first winter. All the Ingalls and Gibson families found homes within a day's journey of Salem. Daviess bought a section of land near the summit of Eola Hills. Here three more children were added to the family - Mary, Dorr and Sarah".
~~~~~~~~~~
After she reached Oregon, Eleanor married Arthur Ingalls in September 1853 in Polk Co, Oregon. (Arthur was the son of Israel Ingalls and Mary Lord).
Eleanor and William were the parents of:
James K/1843 - Jun 1852 (died of Cholera)
Samuel Return/1845 m. Sarah Homesley
Sarah Frances/1847 - Jun 1852 (died of Cholera)
Frederick/1850 - Jun 1852 (died of Cholera)
THE GIBSON FAMILY by Edith Starbuck - (Polk County Oregon Pioneers):
"Many of their relations and neighbors planned to join them in crossing the plains in 1852. Daviess Gibson was made Captain of the train of forty wagons which crossed the Mississippi river on April 1, 1852, landing at Louisiana Missouri. So accurate was his memory of the trip of '49 that he said there was never but one night in all their journey when he did not have a definite mental picture of the place they were to make camp, with some idea of its natural advantages.
Fourteen of the wagons belonged to his own or his wife's people. These were his father, Samuel Gibson and an orphan granddaughter, Zerelda, who was married to Ben Hayden before the train left the settlements in Missouri; his brother George Gibson and family; William Taylor and family, (his sister Eleanor's husband); Joseph Ingalls and family; and Mrs. Mary (Lord) Ingalls, his mother-in-law, with her two youngest sons, Lyman and Theodore. Lyman was 19 and Theodore 17 at this time.
This was a much more difficult trip than that of '49. Increased emigration had multiplied the perils in many ways. It had depleted the natural supply of feed for the animals, reduced the wild game on which they had counted to supplement their food supply, greatly excited the suspicions and fears of the Indians and driven them to war- like demonstrations, and worst of all polluted the water supply.
Cholera smote the train while in the Platte, for this was the season which went down in history as the dread "Cholera year". Samuel Gibson was the first of their company to be smitten on *June 8, 1852*. Lyman Ingalls also fell a victim, and *Eleanor Taylor saw all of her family but one son, Sam, cut down by it within the space of 24 hours*: her husband, two sons, daughter, and brother-in-law, Newton Taylor. By press of circumstances, she was compelled next day to take up the lines and drive a team the rest of the way. They were now so short of men that there was none to do it for her. Daviess Gibson maintained that the Cholera infection was in the water and begged the people to boil all used for drinking purposes.
Arrived at the trying forty-mile desert between the Big Sandy and Green River, they planned to cover as much of the distance as possible by a forced night march, and then try to reach the first water supply the next day. Good fortune awaited them, for in the night a thunder storm brought a heavy rain, and they covered the desert without discomfort to their oxen.
Soon afterward their cattle were stampeded one night and the best of their stock driven off by Mormons disguised as Indians. Daviess Gibson had invested his ready money in fine stock before leaving Illinois, believing it was as safely transported in that form as any and could be relied upon to bring good returns as soon as he arrived in Oregon. His best mare and best cow were now stolen, and this greatly reduced the family means. Death had claimed too many of their men to permit the risk of pitched battle for recovery of their property, even had they been able to track and overtake the thieves. On Snake River the draft oxen began dying from exhaustion and starvation.
Provisions were running low, and some families lost all their draft animals and had to abandon their wagons and proceed on foot, carrying only what they could pack on their backs. Some tried to float down the river in the wagon boxes but soon came to grief in the rapids and some were even drowned. Those who still had oxen, abandoned everything they could spare - tents, bedding, furniture, cooking utensils, and even bacon and flour. They tried to help the women and children, but were obliged to leave the men to shift for themselves. Everybody walked as much as possible, to spare the weakened oxen. Shoes wore out and the hot sands and sharp rocks cut their feet until the travelers actually left a trail of blood behind them. They resorted to the expedient of walking close behind the wagons in the fresh wagon tracks, where the sand was cooler. Scarcity and poor quality of food induced a terrible dysentery and some were near death from it. After nursing her son, George, through an attack, Sophronia almost lost her own life from this plague. In the Blue Mountains, the mountain fever attacked them. It was here that Mrs. Wylie was taken away from her family and her husband almost followed her. He was saved by the cold packs which Daviess Gibson administered to him.
As friends in Oregon were aware that the wagon train was coming in '52, and as the time for arrival drew near, they sent out a relief train to meet them. Arthur Ingalls and Ben Duniway, with pack horses and provisions, met them in extreme Eastern Oregon. Now they had food enough, the pack horses could relieve the weakened oxen and the grass for the animals was now more plentiful. On Tygh Creek they found Guyon Gibson awaiting them with fresh yokes of oxen to help them over the Cascade Mountains. All three of the men, in the relief train, found loved ones had fallen to the plague of Cholera. Guyon's father, brother-in-law, nephews, and niece were no longer of the company; Arthur's brother Lyman was missing, and Ben Duniway's step-mother was gone. Notwithstanding the steepest and most dangerous roads of the whole trip were still ahead of them, this timely help from their friends and relations brought them safely through. They came to Oregon City on the first of October, and were regaled upon a new dish, the royal salmon, for which the Indians were at that time fishing at the falls of the Willamette.
In Clackamas County, a few miles from Woodburn, they stopped a few days to rest with their people who had taken homesteads there - William and Roxcia Keiser, Henry and Sarah Ingalls, and Albert and Mary Gibson. Then they proceeded to Cincinnati (now known as Eola) on the banks of the Willamette. Here they found the Butlers had established a general merchandise store; and here the family made their home the first winter. All the Ingalls and Gibson families found homes within a day's journey of Salem. Daviess bought a section of land near the summit of Eola Hills. Here three more children were added to the family - Mary, Dorr and Sarah".
~~~~~~~~~~
After she reached Oregon, Eleanor married Arthur Ingalls in September 1853 in Polk Co, Oregon. (Arthur was the son of Israel Ingalls and Mary Lord).
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