Historical Marker
Shipley Family Homestead
Benton County · Oregon
The board says Mary Jane's parents sued for her freedom; it leaves out that winning did not end the matter. Robin and Polly Holmes, enslaved by Nathaniel Ford of Rickreall, won their children in the Territorial Supreme Court in 1853. Mary Jane stayed on in Ford's household as a free servant, and when she married Reuben Shipley in 1857, Ford refused to let her leave his property until he was paid. Against the advice of friends, Reuben paid him $700 that day for a freedom the court had already given her.
Where it stands
44.54200, -123.34233 · Directions
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