Marriage in the 1850s

“First” Jackson County marriages?

By BILL MILLER

For the Mail Tribune

No History Snoop with a semblance of sanity will ever say that someone or something is the first to do something or be something without certified, ironclad, definitive proof. Instead, we prevaricate—hedge our bets, so to speak—beat around the bush.

Now, if I said that John Ingleman and Elizabeth Winkel [later Engleman] were the first couple to marry in Jackson County, my nose might not reach Pinocchio proportions; however, it probably should. You see, John and Elizabeth, in fact, were actually the first officially “recorded” marriage in Jackson County, and that ceremony was on January 17, 1854.

OK, here’s the problem. The Oregon Territorial Legislature formed Jackson County on January 12, 1852, and it wasn’t the county we know today. Jackson County’s western boundary

extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Even though the population in that large area was small, it seems very likely that during those two years at least a few other couples would have gotten married. See how we “hedged” that one?

Interestingly, when they married, neither of the first two couples whose marriages were recorded here actually lived in today’s Jackson County.

John and Elizabeth Ingleman were residents of Sunny Valley, near Leland, in today’s Josephine County. Our second couple, James Vannoy and Martha Dimick, lived along the Rogue River, also in today’s Josephine County. One of these marriages stood the test of time, the other met early tragedy.

Before she died in 1898, John and Elizabeth Ingleman had eight children in 44 years together. John had served 8 years in the Navy and was navigator on the USS Ohio during the Mexican War. He came to the Northern California gold fields in 1850. Although they married inland, John seemed always to be drawn back to the sea. The couple spent a few years in Crescent City before finally settling north of Port Orford. Once widowed, John never remarried and passed away in 1913.

James Vannoy had already married long before he settled in Southern Oregon. His first marriage, to Clarissa Miller, was in his home state of Delaware in 1844. He and Clarissa are believed to have had two children before James left them in 1851. He settled along the Rogue River, one of the earliest residents of Josephine County. On February 12, 1854, he married Margaret Dimick, a

marriage that would end with her death, perhaps in childbirth, almost exactly two years later. The couple already had a son. Margaret was previously married to Thomas Dimick, but he had died on the Oregon Trail in 1852, after drinking contaminated water. She brought her son from that marriage into her marriage with James.

James then married Margaret’s sister-in-law, Eleanor Dimick. She was Thomas Dimick’s sister. Apparently, Eleanor had lived with, or married a man, known only as Peters. With him, she had a son who also became part of the Vannoy household. Adding the two children he hadn’t fathered and his son from his marriage to Margaret, James and Eleanor added three children of their own to the family. They were married 22 years before James died. Eleanor, who never remarried, passed on 21 years later, in 1902.

Now that you’re totally confused, let’s bring in one of those “believe it or not” moments.

James Vannoy’s first wife, Clarissa, the one he left in Delaware, remarried; and not only did

she, her husband, and children make it to Oregon decades later—of all places—they settled in Josephine County.

Well, any History Snoop’ worth his curiosity knows there’s a story there. Did wife number three ever meet wife two, and if so, what did they talk about? Sadly, there’s rarely an answer to those sorts of questions. Not even enough to hedge a bet or beat around a bush. Boy.—I hate when that happens.

Writer Bill Miller is the author of “History Snoopin’,”a collection of his previous history columns and stories. Reach him at newsmiller@live.com or WilliamMMiller.com.