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to live with other relatives living elsewhere because we found only two of Sarah's children living in the Davis household. These two were William and Sarah. They were about the ages of Torn and Elizabeth.

Sarah was David's wife for the remaining eight years from 1852 - 1860. These were very important years - in this interval, they had two daughters born - one in 1853 and another in 1856. Their first daughter was given the name Hannah while the second was named Mary Jane. And so, David, after a daughter was born to his second wife, gave the infant the name of his first wife. By 1856, David had become a father for the tenth time.

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*        SOAP CREEK POST OFFICE      *
*    DAVID D.. DAVIS - POSTMASTER    *
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Meanwhile, this Soap Creek settlement which was geographically excellent for economic growth and development, got a post office, a stage way station and a store. The structure to house these was erected by David D. Davis and he became the first postmaster in 1853. It was on the old Portland and Umpqua Valley Road and at regular intervals during the week, Thomas Morgan drove a stagecoach along this route bringing people, goods and mail to the Soap Creek area. He was one of the proudest men as he drove his six horses, handling the lines and sounding the bugle to announce to the community the arrival of the stage.

In a few short years, this Soap Creek Community grew considerably and took on the shape of a town. The name Tampico was applied to the town but there is a question of who named it. Some say that David D. Davis had a hand in that also. It is not certain when the name Tampico was first used but it probably was in the middle 1850s. The first official use of this name that we have found was for the date of November 10, 1857 when the Plot of the Town of Tampico was recorded by Thomas B. Ordeneal, Recorder of Benton County, Oregon Territory.

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*   ELIZABETH DAVIS   *
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During the middle 1850s, Elizabeth Davis was married to Frank M. Baxter and so another one of David's daughters left the home place and Tampico.

Elizabeth and Frank Baxter had two children, both daughters and one was named Mary Josephine Baxter and commonly called "Josie" while the other one went by the name of Minnie. This name may have been a derivative of Amanda; one Census reported the Frank M. Baxter house having four people - Frank, Elizabeth, Amanda and Mary J. Baxter.

Here's more info on Elizabeth: Elizabeth Baxter

Our records are not too clear concerning this Baxter Family. It appears that Frank M. Baxter left his wife and children when the children were quite young and then the wife and daughters lived in several places, the last being Sweet Home, OR. They lived in or around Harrisburg also.

About March 15, 1875 "Josie" Baxter married Marcus Ford Howard. At that time Mark Howard was twenty-five and Josie was fourteen. We learned from the book "Our Howard Heritage" by Mildred Burcham that Mark and Josie had quite a sizeable family. There were nine children, eleven grandchildren, sixteen great grandchildren, seven great great grandchildren and even three of the great great great grandchildren born by 1968.

Here's more info on Josie (Baxter) Howard: Josie (Baxter) Howard

Minnie Baxter was married to Moses Dripps on August 13, 1882 according to the marriage records of Wasco County. We believe that they resided in Central Oregon in and around Mitchell and Prineville.

Here's more info on Minnie (Baxter) Dripps: Minnie (Baxter) Dripps

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