The Story of Sarah Doherty Cunningham
By Dennis D.
Doherty
July, 2016
Sarah Doherty was
the oldest of four children born to Francis and Catherine Grant Doherty in
County Donegal. When she came of age,
Sarah left her family behind and immigrated to Oregon. Her destination? Big Butter Creek in south Umatilla County,
near the edge of the Blue Mountains—rugged country—even today, an area of big
ranches, few people, and a far piece to Pilot Rock, the nearest town.
Leaving Ireland
Why was this young
Irish woman departing a homeland to come that far to this place, which would be
considered a lonely place by many people, and probably a desolate place to
some? The answer lies in the remarkable
story of a relative who preceded Sarah.
We need to start there, with Catherine Doherty Nelson. Unfortunately, I have very little source
material available to tell the full story of Catherine Doherty Nelson; or for
that matter, the full story of Sarah herself.
In both cases, the basic story emerges by inference from source material
available about others, plus “oral history.”
Catherine Doherty Nelson
was a relative of Sarah’s parents. She
left Ireland, chaperoned by an uncle, as early as 1849, and traveled to the
California gold fields. The uncle died
in a mining accident. Following that,
Catherine married a Swedish immigrant named Ebner B. Nelson.
Reliable source
material about Mr. Nelson is found in an undated 579-page book, History of
Umatilla and Morrow Counties. Inside the cover of the book there is a
handwritten inscription dated 1903. So,
the book was published then or earlier.
Mr. Nelson was orphaned at a young age; went “to sea” at age 14; served
what sounds like “hard time” as a merchant marine and on a warship; came in
1849 to the California gold fields (Eagle Gulch, Nelson Hill, Yreka…); moved on
in 1863 to Grant County, Oregon (Canyonville and Granite Creek, where there had
been a lesser gold strike); settled near Vinson on Big Butter Creek in 1869; raised
cattle; and was killed by hostiles on July 6, 1878, during the Bannock-Paiute
Indian uprising.
As disappointing as
it is, this source acknowledges, but does not name Mr. Nelson’s wife. It simply states that she is “still living
with the son, who owns the old place.”
There is also a
short biography of the son, James Nelson:
born in 1860 in Yreka; came to Grant County six years later, and Butter
Creek in 1869. So, the benchmarks for
Catherine Doherty Nelson seem pretty well connected. Clearly, though, women of that time often did
not receive the recognitions and attributions that were accorded to the male
“heads of family.”
Settling on Big
Butter Creek
Catherine
Doherty Nelson and that “old place” on Big Butter Creek served as a magnet for
family still in Ireland, and Sarah Doherty was the first that I know of to
answer the call. Sarah, then, became the
magnet for other Dohertys.
Sarah’s
Marriage
Like Catherine
Doherty Nelson, Sarah’s story emerges indirectly, for the most part -- meaning,
by inference from what we know of others.
Obviously, Sarah reached her destination. Ebner Nelson was deceased, but his wife and
son were still on the “old place.” Sarah
endured. What costs and what
hardships—we don’t know. She logs into
the historical record by virtue of the fact that she married Charles Cunningham
in Pendleton on May 20, 1883. Mr.
Cunningham’s name is renowned in Umatilla County to this day. He, too, was Irish, orphaned, came to America
penniless, eventually settled on Big Butter Creek in 1876, and built a sheep
and wool-based business. Here’s some of
what the same undated source book says about Mr. Cunningham:
“Here he commenced operations, devoting his whole
attention to the raising of sheep, and bringing to bear all his native ability
and wisdom and his acquired knowledge through experience. This soon began to tell and it became evident
that Umatilla had acquired no ordinary stockman in the person of Mr.
Cunningham. He has constantly increased
until now he is the proprietor of a princely domain of eighteen thousand acres
of land on Butter and Birch creeks, while he owns twenty-one thousand head of
sheep, giving him an annual wool clip of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds,
while his annual income from this immense establishment is over seventy
thousand dollars. …
His first marriage
was celebrated in Pendleton, when Miss Sarah Dougherty (sic) became his
wife. To this union were born two
children, one, Sarah, living at the present time and one son dying in infancy. … (Italics
added for emphasis)
Thus from the Irish lad landing in New York a
stranger, whose only capital was plenty of pluck and two good hands, and who at
once offered his blood for the honor of the flag under which he had come to
dwell, we have passed briefly to the leading stockman of the northwest, a noted
financier and commendable and loyal citizen. ….”
Sarah’s Children
Again, there is only a brief passing reference to
Mr. Cunningham’s first wife (our Sarah Doherty). The marriage was not a long one. There was the son who died at birth, March
27, 1884; and the daughter, also named Sarah.
Sadly, mother Sarah died giving birth to daughter Sarah, February 27,
1885.
Sarah’s Legacy
I am pretty certain
that Mr. Cunningham had not achieved fame or fortune during the time of his
marriage to our Sarah. Sarah’s story,
though, isn’t about that or what might have been. It is about what she did in her short life;
and, for the Blackhorse Dohertys, about her legacy. Just as Catherine Doherty Nelson had been the
magnet that drew Sarah, Sarah was the magnet that drew her mother, sister and
brothers to Big Butter Creek. For, after
Sarah’s father (Francis) died, her mother, Catherine Grant Doherty, immigrated
also, bringing Sarah’s sister (Mary) and two brothers (Bernard F. and James G.)
with her.
They, too, reached
their destination, arriving in New York, October 8, 1883, and at Big Butter
Creek sometime thereafter. Following
Sarah’s death, Catherine Grant Doherty was there to help care for Sarah’s
namesake daughter; was there while her two sons worked for a period of time for
Mr. Cunningham; was still there in 1891 when she and her two sons settled in
Blackhorse Canyon, near Lexington and Heppner, in Morrow County.
Blackhorse Canyon
In Blackhorse
Canyon, Catherine Grant Doherty and sons established what has come to be known
as the "Blackhorse Doherty" family line.
Catherine came to be known as “Blackhorse Kate.” She was nobody’s “passing reference”; she was
the matriarch! No doubt about that. Blackhorse Kate died in 1913 and is buried in
the Heppner Cemetery. Relevant materials
about Catherine Grant Doherty appear in The History of Morrow County,
published in 1983.
In the meantime,
Sarah’s sister, Mary, became a matriarch in her own right. By virtue of her marriage to Michael Kenny on
December 16, 1884, the “Kenny” line of descendants was started. It later came to include the “Healy”
line. A fine accounting of Mary’s legacy
is available in A Bit of Irish Stew, published in 1984.
Sarah’s brother,
Bernard F., never married. The oral
history is that he and James G. had agreed that the Blackhorse Canyon farm
could support only one family. As it
turned out, that was James G. So, James
Grant Doherty eventually became the sole owner.
Three Lineages
I have already
written about Catherine Doherty Nelson and Catherine Grant Doherty. On July 6, 1893, James G. married the “next
Catherine”—meaning Catherine Doherty, who was born March 7, 1872, also in
County Donegal, and who had emigrated at age 16. James Grant Doherty and Catherine Doherty
Doherty then proceeded to populate Blackhorse Canyon, not stopping until they
had 13 children to expand the Blackhorse Doherty family line (Mary, Sarah,
Nora, Ann, Margaret, Tina, Francis, Eugene, Bernard, Gertrude, Helen, Paul, and
Betty). The 11 who married then had
children of their own—plus or minus, 44 of them. From there, you’re on your own to keep
track.
If only “keeping
track” were that simple. Not so, because
to really keep track, we would have to trace two additional lineages. First, the lives and descendants of daughter
Sarah Cunningham (who married Matt Mooney).
Second, the lives and descendants of the 11 brothers and sisters of
Catherine Doherty Doherty. Seven of them
also came over from Ireland and stayed (Philip, Anne, John “Dutchy”, Eugene,
Nora, Rose and Margaret). Fortunately, Rose’s
granddaughter, Eva Gremmert, has laid down a lot of that history in her 2011
book, A Cottage in Donegal – well done, very readable, and excellent
backgrounding.
Saving the
Blackhorse Farm
Ironically, James
G., ironically, saved the Blackhorse farm by dying unexpectedly, per oral
history. It was the Great
Depression. The family was struggling to
keep the farm intact, but a mortgage foreclosure seemed imminent. On February 11, 1933, as James G. was
waiting for a ride into town to meet with the banker, he died of a heart
attack. The heart attack that took him
triggered the insurance policy that saved the farm. His wife Catherine Doherty Doherty stayed on
the farm and with the help of the children kept the Blackhorse farm going.
Sarah Doherty
Cunningham was pivotal in our family histories. Her story, however sparse the
historical documentation, is the lead-up to each of our stories? And that our history is her legacy? The same can be said about all three
Catherines: Catherine Doherty Nelson;
Catherine Grant Doherty; and Catherine Doherty Doherty
Sarah Doherty Cunningham, her grave, fence and memorial plaque. July, 2016.
On February 27,
1885, Sarah Doherty Cunningham was laid to rest in the tiny cemetery at Vinson,
Oregon (population 2), on Highway 74 which connects Heppner and Pilot
Rock. This cemetery lies between the
Catherine Doherty Nelson and Charles Cunningham places. Sarah has rested there for 131 years
now. God bless Sarah Doherty
Cunningham! May she rest in peace forever!
EPILOGUE
Sarah’s Vinson
gravesite is a place to be revered for all that it represents. For many years, perhaps from the time of her
death, the grave was enclosed with a wooden picket fence, built with square
nails. The fence withstood the forces of
nature well, but has now had to be replaced.
In Sarah’s honor, the Blackhorse Dohertys dedicated a new steel
fence on July 3, 2016. It is capped with
shamrocks. The fence was built and
placed by relatives Patrick “Packy” Doherty and his son Kelly, both of Pilot Rock. On the fence is a bronze plaque commemorating
Sarah’s memory, her story, and her importance to us. Indeed, she paved the way for all of us.
Author's Note:
For the record, Anne and I now have our own Catherine—our granddaughter,
Catherine Susan Doherty, daughter of our son, Ben, and his wife, Melissa Hobson
Doherty. This Catherine was born May 6,
2008, and she is known as “Cate.”
