john aaron lambert

Early Life

 John Aaron Lambert was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to parents John Hill Lambert and Olivey Catherine Wilson Lambert. He was one of six children.

In 1864, when John was 19, his parents both died. It is believed that John’s father served and died as a Union infantryman in the 88th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War. His mother’s date or cause of death is unknown. After their deaths, John and his elder brother crossed the plains to Oregon in 1869. 

Life in Oregon

John and his brother settled in Pleasantdale, a community which was located approximately three miles south of Dayton near the intersection of modern-day Highway 211 and Palmer Creek Road. While it is difficult to discern precisely where the Lamberts lived in the Pleasantdale area, their property was likely on the eastern side of Highway 211 and bordered the Willamette River.

Marriage and Family

On March 13, 1870, John married Mary Ellen Coovert at the home of her parents, Abram and Martha Ann Odell Coovert. They welcomed their first child the following year. The couple had a total of four children—three sons and a daughter. The family lived on their farm where all of their children were born in Pleasantdale for 30 years, after which they retired to a home in McMinnville. The couple lived the remainder of John’s life at their home on Adams Street, next door to their daughter and grandchildren.

Community Involvement

 John was a prominent figure and well-respected citizen of early Dayton and was active in the community. In 1889, John and Mary conveyed ¾ of an acre of their land on which the Pleasantdale Church was built. In 1901, John was elected as a director of the Dayton School Board for a year.

In 1900, an article in the Dayton Herald detailed the events of a school excursion party traveling on the Willamette River when their steamer ran aground on a gravel bar at the Lamberts’ property. The Lamberts, along with several other families in the Pleasantdale and Webfoot area, provided provisions to the 160 people on board while they waited for another steamer to take them back to Salem.

As noted in his obituary:

“He was a man of generous impulses, and never forgot the hospitable ways of the pioneer. He was always lined up in the cause and good ways of the church, and among the good things accomplished by him, he donated the ground on which the Pleasantdale church stands.”

(Dayton Tribune, 1917)

Military Service of His Sons

Two of John’s sons served in the military during wartime.

• Arthur Lambert was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, serving in Company A of the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
• His youngest son, Chester Lambert, was a cook in the 42nd Company of the 166th Depot Brigade during World War I. In June of 1918, Chester was sent to Europe as part of a replacement detachment.

Extended Family

 John’s youngest brother, William Lambert, also emigrated to Oregon, though it is unknown precisely when. William married Sarah Hampton in Yamhill County in November of 1872. In June of 1877, William died as a result of being crushed by a pile of lumber. While there is no record of William being buried in the Odell Cemetery, it is possible, given the family ties and close proximity to the cemetery.

Recollections of Mary Ellen Lambert

In 1932, John Lambert’s wife, Mary Ellen Coovert Lambert, was interviewed by Fred Lockley for the Oregon Journal. She reminisced:

“I used to go to the Redfoot church. I met there John A. Lambert, who was 24 years old at the time. I was 19. We were married at Dayton on March 13, 1869. My husband was born in Tennessee. We moved to a farm on the Willamette river about midway between Wheatland and Dayton. We farmed there for 30 years. All four of my children were born on that farm. My oldest boy, Charles Quincy Lambert, is a machinist and lives in Rose City Park. My next son, Arthur Eugene Lambert, was in the water bureau for some years. He served under Captain Heath in the 2nd Oregon and put in a year in the Philippines during the Spanish-American war. He died two years ago. My daughter, Mary Lambert, married John Palmer, who was a railroad switchman. My youngest child, Chester, was a company cook in the A.E.F. and spent about a year in France during the World war. Until recently he worked for the railroad at Umatilla.

After putting in 30 years on our farm my husband and I moved to McMinnville. He died there 15 years ago.”

(Lockley, 1932)

 

Death and Legacy

John Lambert died on July 28, 1917. He is buried in the Odell Pioneer Cemetery near the grave of his granddaughter, Naomi Arline Palmer. His wife, Mary Ellen Coovert Lambert, died in 1949 and is buried at the Rose City Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.

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