Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/14

 boy or girl. The admiration and high regard in which Mr. Wilbur was uniformly held by all who came under his benediction, mellowed into an affection that compelled the title "Father Wilbur" and ever afterward it clung to him. He seemed an essential part of the early growth and development of the Umpqua country, as he formerly had been in each western community, where his lot had been cast. It was but natural that the seat of the Umpqua Academy should be named for him and thus the village that grew about the school that he established, took its name from his. Formerly the locality had been known as Bunton's Gap.

Rev. Thomas Fletcher Royal, one of the early fathers of Southern Oregon, a man of liberal learning and for years principal of Umpqua Academy, left valuable manuscripts concerning the early history of Southern Oregon. From them it is intensely interesting to learn that "Two Sunday Schools and two public schools were organized in Douglas County as early as 1851. The first Sunday School was opened by A. R. Flint, in his own home on the site where Winchester was built ; the second was organized about the same time at Bunton's Gap, afterward known as Wilbur. This Sunday School was organized by B. J. Grubbe and Dr. Calvin Reed. In the same year one of the first public schools was conducted under a temporary shed made by leaning long planks against a pole that rested on pins driven into oak trees, near where the Wilbur Methodist Parsonage now stands. Mr. Eason was the first teacher." The other school he says was located on a "mound on Thomas Smith's land claim, in a log cabin, conducted by James Walton, known familiarly in Douglas County and Salem as 'Judge Walton'."

The academy came into history in 1854. The first building occupied was a rough log structure located just east of the residence built by Father Wilbur on his land claim, upon which he settled September 8, 1853. This residence stood long in a well known location, as a pioneer land mark. It was known as the first Methodist Parsonage of Southern Oregon. It will serve as an additional help in locating the first school building