Susan Downing

Proclamation of Salem History Week
City Council, Salem, OR

April 23, 2001

Written and presented by Joan Lockwood, based on letters of Susan Downing

Thank you, kind sirs, for calling us from our ethereal realms to attend this event. Since I am now an old woman and have earned my reward in Heaven, I can risk unseemly vanity and let you know I am always pleased to have an occasion for which my sealskin can be worn, although I am afraid it has not aged as well as I.

I am Susan Downing, and I came to Oregon to assist the missionaries with their efforts, at the request of Cyrus Shepard, to whom I was betrothed. I did not have the fine schooling and advanced training of the missionaries.

My efforts were limited to the practical details of keeping a large household. The washing and sewing and mending and tending of children were my duties and I found my joy in these tasks. Later, I kept my family by use of these skills, such as they were.

As I look back on my life and the brave efforts and strivings of the Methodist family and ponder what I might possibly have to say to this auspicious gathering, I recall most vividly the trip from the Sandwich Islands, the final leg of our very long journey from New York by sea.

The boat was quite small and thus subject to the whims of the wind and the ocean waves. We experienced many storms, which the sailors said were merely squalls. The result was that I was put in charge of the children as nurse while the adults were under the care of another. And there I sat on the deck, a child on either hand, one or both vomiting with the upheavals of the boat, our chairs often knocked from under us by the action of the waves.

We were accompanied by the livestock which we had acquired in the Islands. A certain cow, who seemed to indicate she was dying, and her calf, provided music, as did two dogs. And then there were the pigs, and the sheep, and the chickens….

There were also two very large terrapins. The children would climb on their backs and ride, shrieking with joy, as the creatures lumbered in the tiny area they held.

It was a veritable barnyard on that tiny deck and I am still confounded that we all survived that trip.

No doubt you are seeking the lesson from this tale. It is simply this – while we came to Chemeketa driven by a zeal and with many lofty and righteous goals, we were often overwhelmed with the raw forces of life – be they the wind and rain and the cold and the heat and the dust and the mud and the insects and wild animals, be they the need for shelter, be they great numbers of children who needed care and education, be they disease and death, or be they the ambitions of our neighbors. And Life had its way with us; our cause of necessity modified and changed over and over. We felt like children leading a charge while mounted on tortoises.

It is with particular gratitude that we find shreds and remnants of our work existing today, and we find that even some of our lofty goals were achieved. We dedicated our passions and our lives and our very selves to what became the beginnings of Salem and the State of Oregon. And by this gathering and the proclamation of Salem History Week we are honored.

© D. Joan Lockwood 2009