During the first year of the Civil War, Reuben and Mary Jane Shipley donated land to establish a cemetery for the burial of both black and white people. The Shipleys were former enslaved laborers who arrived by wagon with their owners. Mary Jane arrived in 1844, and Reuben followed in 1853. Reuben gained his freedom in exchange for helping his owner, Robert Shipley, move to Oregon. Mary Jane's freedom was won by her parents, Robin and Polly Holmes, in Oregon's only slave trial. The Shipleys married in 1857, raised a family, and farmed acreage southeast of Mount Union Cemetery, which has remained in use for more than 150 years. Reuben and Mary Jane Shipley's son, Reuben Edward, changed his surname to Ficklin and erected the adjacent monument in that name to honor his family.