Restless Ancestors

Ethel Henrietta Ralston’s great grandparents, Daniel and Rachel Fiester,* were among the early arrivals to Oregon Territory. They came across the Oregon Trail in 1847, most likely leaving from Illinois, to what would later become Barlow, Oregon.

Ethel, in a family history narrative, described her great grandparents as “Pennsylvania Dutch.” Their name is variously spelled as Feaster, Feister (Ethel’s spelling), or Fiester (the spelling used in Daniel Fiester’s will).

Daniel and Rachel, like so many of our ancestors who came to Oregon, seemed to be a restless bunch. Daniel was born in Pennsylvania, Rachel in Ohio. Their first child was born in Ohio, their next two in Illinois, and Ethel’s grandmother, Henrietta, was born in Oregon Territory.

Daniel and Rachel, like most who came over the trail, first settled in the Willamette Valley. Henrietta was born in Gervais. (Gervais is located in the French Prairie area.) Four more children were born in Oregon.

At some point, Daniel and Rachel left the Willamette Valley for southern Oregon. (They are in Josephine County for the 1870 and 1880 census.) They settled near Kerbyville and farmed there. (After Daniel died, his son leased the property to another farmer and took as rent 1/3 of all the grain grown and ½ of all the hay grown on the land.)

Daniel and Rachel came back to the Salem area before they died in the early 1890s, though I have no information on where they are buried.

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*The family tree a couple of postings back has the Fiesters at the bottom . . . hope that helps.