ida elizabeth coovert harris

Headstone of Ida Coovert Harris, interred at the Odell Pioneer Cemetery in Dayton, Oregon.
  • Born: 28 January 1858 | Dayton, Oregon
  • Died: 13 May 1906 | Dayton, Oregon
  • Parents: Abram Coovert & Martha Ann Odell Coovert
  • Spouse: Newton A. Harris
  • Married: 24 January 1887 | Yamhill County, Oregon
  • Children:
    • Gladys LaVerne Harris Dorsey (1889 – 1981)
    • Winona May Harris May (1894 – 1973)
    • Wanda Leone Harris Versterg (1899 – 1977)

Early Life

Ida Elizabeth Coovert was born on January 28, 1858, to Abram and Martha Ann (Odell) Coovert. She was raised on the family’s 241-acre homestead in the Webfoot area southeast of Dayton, Oregon. Her father operated a successful grist mill known for its high-quality “Webfoot Flour,” and the Coovert family was deeply involved in the local community.

(Doud, 1958)

Marriage and Family

In 1887, Ida married her neighbor Newton A. Harris. Newton had emigrated with his family from Kansas to Oregon in 1863, settling in the Webfoot area in 1875. He was the grandson of Hiram W. and Maria Peery and the nephew of Hiram Wilson Peery—all three of whom are also buried in the Odell Pioneer Cemetery.

Ida and Newton had three daughters: Gladys, Wanda, and Winona.

Work and Community Life

Through probate records from Ida’s brother, Wilbur Coovert, it appears that Wilbur and Newton operated a joint business known as Coovert & Harris. In addition to managing their individual farms, they ran what appears to have been a small-scale lumber or milling operation prior to Wilbur’s death in 1882.

Newton also owned a grist mill, where he ground buckwheat and other grains for local residents and merchants in McMinnville. According to their daughter Gladys, he was among the first in the area to successfully raise clover at a time when grains had been the primary crop. (Doud, 1958).

Death and Legacy

Ida died of chronic pulmonary tuberculosis on May 13, 1906, at the age of 48. She was buried two days later in the Odell Pioneer Cemetery, beside the grave of her father, Abram Coovert.

After Ida’s death, Newton remarried. He died in 1917 following a fall from the loft in his barn and is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in nearby Dayton.

Obituary for Ida Harris.
(Dayton Herald, 1906)

REFERENCE

Ancestry.com. (2000). Oregon, U.S., Death Index, 1898-2008 [Database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Original data: State of Oregon. Oregon Death Index, 1903-1998. Oregon State Library. Certificate 1023 (Ida C. Harris). Retrieved April 6, 2025, from Ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com. (2014). Oregon, U.S., Select Births and Christenings, 1868-1929 [Database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Original data: Oregon, Births and Christenings, 1868-1929. FamilySearch, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2025, from Ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com. (2016). Oregon, U.S., County Marriage Index, 1851–1975 [Database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Original data: Marriage records. Oregon marriages. Various county courthouses, Oregon. Film number 004474575 (Ida Coovert). Retrieved April 6, 2025, from Ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com. (2018). Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1923 [Database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Original data: Oregon State Archives. Oregon, Birth Records, 1842-1923. Salem, Oregon. Retrieved April 6, 2025 from Ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com. (2021). Oregon, U.S., State Deaths, 1864-1971 [Database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Original data: Oregon Death Records, 1864-1971. Oregon State Archives, Salem, Oregon. Retrieved April 6, 2025 Ancestry.com.

Coovert, Ida Elizabeth. Early Oregonians Database Index. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved March 22, 2025 from https://secure.sos.state.or.us/prs/profile.do?ancRecordNumber=56015

Dayton Herald. (1906, May 18). Page 1, Column 5. Retrieved 23 March 2025 from https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2024240272/1906-05-18/ed-1/seq-1.pdf

Doud, Ruth. (1958, September 29). Mr. and Mrs. Russell May operate Century Farm at Webfoot. McMinnville News-Register.

Find A Grave. Ida Elizabeth Coovert Harris. Findagrave.com. Retrieved from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11919475/ida-elizabeth-harris

Oregon County Court (Yamhill County). (n.d.). Probate case files, 367–398: Wilbur Coovert. In Oregon, U.S., wills and probate records, 1849–1963 [Database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Retrieved March 23, 2025, from Ancestry.com.

U.S. Census Bureau. (1860). 1860 United States Federal Census. Dayton, Oregon, 664, Abram Coovert household. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M653, Roll 1056. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from Ancestry.com.

U.S. Census Bureau. (1870). 1870 United States Federal Census. Dayton, Oregon, 570A, Abram Coovert household. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M593, Roll 1288. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from Ancestry.com.

U.S. Census Bureau. (1880). 1880 United States Federal Census. Dayton, OR, E.D. 135, 434B, Abram Coovert household. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication T9, Roll 1084. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from Ancestry.com.

U.S. Census Bureau. (1900). 1900 United States Federal Census. Dayton, OR, E.D. 0166, 13, Newton Harris household. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication T623, Roll 1353. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from Ancestry.com.