THE YODERS IN MISSOURI

The first years in Southwest Missouri were spent in working for a bachelor neighbor who was breaking prairie and planting crops on new sod.

About 1871 his brother L. D, Yoder came to visit in Missouri and soon planned to join forces with 4. S. and rent land and work together at whatever came their way.

About this time they both worked for Joe Winters the bachelor above mentioned. Here they drove ox teams. hitched to breaking plows and broke up more of the new prairie ground.

Late in 1871 L. D. Yoder went back to Illinois and was married to Jacobine Fry on January 1872. In a few weeks L. D. Yoder was back in Missouri with his bride who was a sister of Barbara Fry Yoder, the wife of J.S, Yoder. These two couples lived and worked together for about ten years and during this time they lived on a rented farm of about 120 acres.

In 1874 A. J. YUoder came to Dade County with a large family.

Along about 1882 J. S. Yoder bought 80 acres of land near the rented land and built a small house and moved to the new home. About 1991 the Joseph Swartz family consisting of a father, mother and two daughters arrived from Illinois to make their home here in Dade County. With the Swartz's arrival, the moving of the Yoder relatives to Missouri came to an end.

The Swartzes rented a while then bought land in 'Dade County, Mo. and started to build a home. All during this time the crops were poor and drought conditions seemed to get worse as the land was put into cultivation. It was said there was only one big wheat year in those 18 years from 1870 to 1888. The other years were only part crop and some years were a total failure in such crops as Corn and wheat.

In 1886 Will Yoder and Joseph Schwartz decided to make .a trip into Nebraska and South Dakota to see if the farming conditions might not be better in those states, but their report was discouraging and all hands stayed with the Missouri farms for another year or two and tried again to raise corn, wheat, hogs, sorghum and anything else that might make them a living, such as castor beans and seed flax.

Early in 1887 Mrs. Mary Swartz wrote-to' her aunt, Katherine Yoder Lantz, who with her husband Gideon Lantz and family came to Clackamas County, Oregon in about 1873 and these letters from Oregon gave the Yoder tribe in Missouri the "Oregon fever". More letters were exchanged and in the summer of 1887 Joe Swartz and Dave Yoder came to Oregon and visited with the Lantzes who were located near the present Yoder store. Joe Swartz sent such glowing reports of the wonderful Oregon back to his wife and family in Mo, and told them to pack up and come to Oregon for he had already found a farm of 80 acres for them to move onto and that he would stay in Oregon and wait for them to come by train as soon as they could arrange things.

Early in November 1887 Mary Swartz, having sold, and 4 daughters boarded the train and made the trip. Since she was starting alone on the long train trip, it was decided that Ed H. Yoder her cousin, would accompany her to Oregon and be with the family on their trip. The train trip lasted a short week and the happy family were soon united in Oregon and busy in their new home of 80 acres, nearly all big trees and heavy brush.

Here during the winter of 1887 and 1888 Mary Swartz wrote glowing letters of the wonderful Oregon country to her brothers J. S., L. D., and Uncle A. J. Yoder, so that by June of 1888 J. S, Yoder decided he must see this wonderful Oregon that had so many good features over the arid, barren, wastes of Southwest Missouri.

In June of 1888 J. S. Yoder borrowed $80.00 on a lot of hogs he was feeding and left wife and family to run the farm while he made a trip to spy out the land and lay plans for moving to this wonderful country of big trees and heavy rains. J. S. Yoder spent about four weeks in Oregon visiting with his sister Mrs. Mary Swartz and with his Uncle Gideon Lantz and really examined the land and crops and with Will Yoder, his cousin, who had arrived at the Swartzes in February 1888 with his bride, Jennie Reagan Yoder, J. S. Yoder planned on a certain 80 acres on Cedar Creek that was for sale and gave Will Yoder instructions to purchase the same when and if J. S. Yoder sold his farm in Missouri.

By July 5, 1888, J. S. Yoder was back home and enthused about selling out and moving to Oregon. Now the first thing was to sell the Missouri farm which at that time consisted of an 80 acres, the home place on which was a small house and a small farm and a nice bearing apple orchard. Also a young apple orchard of about 6 acres that was just one year old. Besides the home 80 acres there was a 40 acre tract 1/2 mile north of the place, also about four miles away he had title to a six acre tract of hard wood timber along a branch where he got his supply of firewood to burn during the summer months as the coal that he used in winter made too much heat for summer cooking.

Now he offered the whole 126 acres for $2,500 and by September of 1888 he made the sale and had his 432,500 with which to buy in Oregon, He gave 'Till Yoder the word to go ahead and close the deal for the 80 acres they planned on during the visit to Oregon. The big thing now was to get organized and decide on what all should be taken along to this new land and new way of life.

J. S. Yoder had a family of six boys and two girls with the baby girl just three years old. He asked his family if they wanted to make the move to Oregon? Yes, Yes, they sure wanted to go.

During the winter of 1888 and 1889 he was busy making plans to build a house in Oregon. First he would charter a freight car and load it with things needed in a new country. Public sale was made February 1889. When time came to load the car he decided on livestock and farm machinery and wagons and household goods and on top of that he decided to take the irons and circle saw for a sawmill to be erected on Cedar Creek. The sawmill irons were castings for the husk, with mandrel and feed rack irons, carriage wheels and tracks and necessary pulleys, head blocks, etc.

The livestock that was taken along consisted of a Shorthorn bull calf, a Poland China boar and two gilts of same breed and White Pekin ducks about a dozen and brown Leghorn hens and rooster, about a doz. The car containing the 1ivestock required attention for feed and water on the long freight trip so Louis Yodcr, the oldest son of J. S. Yoder was chosen to make the trip which lasted about two weeks. The Emigrant train that brought the Yoders from Missouri to Oregon was boarded by the following persons at Kansas City, Missouri about February 27, 1889, Asa J. Yoder, Mr Asa J. Yoder, Thomas M.. Yoder, Hattie H. Yoder, J. Wesley Yoder, Nettie (Nellie??) Yoder, Della Reagan, Randolph Henley and wife, Susan Yoder Henley and baby daughter, Maude Henley,

Jonathan S. Yoder and wife Barbara and family as follows: John J. Yoder, Aaron L. Yoder, O. Perry Yoder, Rosa B. Yoder, Ralph E. Yoder, Albert G. Yoder and Nellie B, Yoder.

There were the following neighbor boys who came in the same car hoping to find, work in Oregon. Edward Garber, Roscoe Peebles and his brother Harry Peebles.

These families did not quite fill one Emigrant car so there were a few strangers in the car who were also on their way to Oregon.

On the 3d of March, 1889, these tra;e1ers arrived in Portland, Oregon and after a wait of about eight hours they boarded a train for Aurora, Oregon which was their nearest station to the Yoder community, At Aurora they were met by four teams and wagons which took all hands as far as L. I. Bower's farm just one mile north of Needy, Oregon, It was late at night when the travelers arrived at the Bower's home. The Bower's house was a large log house with the big living room containing a huge fire place. The travelers had plenty of bedding that was carried along in the emigrant train. Here at the Bower home the bedding was spread on the floor of the big room and thus the first night in Oregon near their new home was spent.

During the winter of 1888 and 1889, Will Yoder and other carpenters were busy building a house for J. S. Yoder on the newly purchased 80 acres so by the time the travelers arrived the shell of the house was up and J. S. and family moved in.

A. J. Yoder, uncle of J. S., L. D. and J.. P. Yoder, and family moved in with his son Will who had built a house on his small farm. L. D. Yoder and family came to Oregon in September of 1888 and was located on a rented farm that was close to the Yoder community. Here were located three of Elias Yoder's children, close together, the farms joined, and the Yoder Community came into being.