Ann Davenport Vasconi, Corvallis
2008 Sesquicentennial Award
Family
“When Henry became a sheep
shearer out of necessity, no shearers could be found in
the area, so Henry taught himself to shear the family’s
flock of Lincoln-Rambouillet crossbreeds with hand
shearing blades.”
Dr Benjamin and Sarah Davenport
took up a donation land claim in the Waldo Hills of
Marion County in the 1851. The DLC consisted of 320
acres. A home and out buildings were built and the land
cleared and prepared for crops. It was developed into a
profitable farm while Dr. Ben practiced medicine in the
area. The sons of Dr. Ben took over the farm after his
death in July 1857, with Benjamin Jr. becoming the owner
of the farm as the other brothers went off to develop
other careers. After his death in 1913, the original 320
acres were divided among their children, with their
youngest son, receiving 63.31 acres. The farm then
passed to John and Mollie’s only son, Henry Davenport
and his wife Eloise.
Henry Davenport became a sheep
shearer out of necessity at the age of sixteen in 1927.
Henry started raising orphan
Shropshire lambs at the age of five. He built a small
flock of Shrops that became his 4-H project. Dogs
destroyed the flock in 1925. He then developed a flock
of Lincoln-Rambouillet cross-breeds with his father John
Davenport. Cheviots became his breed of choice when he
and Bill Kloft chose to use a Cheviot ram on their flock
of crossbred ewes. Both Bill and Henry were butchers
and they saw the high dressing weights of the Border
Cheviot lambs.
Few Border Cheviots could be found
on the West Coast of the United States in 1941. Henry
and his wife, Eloise, imported their first registered
Border Cheviots from Oliver Wells and Dave Blacklock of
British Columbia in 1941. This was the foundation of
Alder Glad Farms Cheviots. Rams were purchased in the
Midwest from Don Pullin and Alvin Helms. Imported
Morning Star ram was purchased via Canada from Scotland,
as was a ram from Australia. Many other rams and ewes
were added to the flock over the past 64 years.
When Henry became a sheep shearer
out of necessity, no shearers could be found in the
area, so Henry taught himself to shear the family’s
flock of Lincoln-Rambouillet crossbreeds with hand
shearing blades. Henry was paid three to five cents per
head in those early years to shear other farmer’s
sheep. Today a good shearer can do twenty head or more
in an hour and is paid $2.50 per head or more depending
on the condition the shearer must shear in. Henry
continued to shear sheep and Angora goats for himself
and commercially into his later life. The hand shearers
gave way to gas shearing machines and then to electric
shearing machines.
Henry taught his three sons, John,
Ken, and Earl, to shear sheep. They all participated in
4-H and FFA shearing contests with many championships.
John represented the state of Oregon at the national
Shearing Contest in Indianapolis in 1962. John and Ken
sheared commercially for many years.
The Border Cheviot flock of Alder
Glad Farms is still going strong under the direction of
Henry’s son Earl. Earl carries on the family tradition
of sheep shearing for himself and commercially for
others. Sheep can’t be raised with sheep shearers.
They are an important entity of raising sheep that grow
wool.
Note: Portions of this story
are from an article written by Ann Davenport Vasconi and
published in the book: SHEEP n DOGS presented in all
their wonderful character (check book title), by
Myron & Jane Harper. Permission was given by Jane
Harper to use the article. |
