Adams, Oscar
Oscar P. Adams, a well-known resident of Cottage Grove, was
born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, in 1828, a son of Isaac
and Sophronia (Lydda) Adams, natives of New York and Vermont
respectively. His parents removed to Pennsylvania
about 1826 and remained there until 1834, when they went to
Tecumseh, Michigan. There were thirteen children in
the family, Oscar P. being the eldest. He attended the
district school during the winter and in the summer he
assisted his father on the farm. In 1854 he left his
home and friends and started across the plains to Oregon,
paying $50 to John H. Stevens to be taken, and doing service
in addition. They went via the Barlow route and
arrived at Foster's September 12. Mr. Adams then went to
southern Oregon in the fall of 1854. In the spring of
1855 he was engaged by the United States Government as head
packer during the Indian war, as he had no gun. He
carried flour from Bear creek mills to the quartermaster
wherever located. He first commenced mining in the fall of
1854 at Althouse, and mined there until the Indian war broke
out in 1855. After the Indian war was closed he came
back to Althouse in 1856 and mined there until 1858.
He then returned to the Willamette valley, and in
partnership with A. H. Spare he purchased 640 acres, a
portion of which became the town site of Cottage Grove.
Mr. Adams was married in 1861, to Miss Mary Elizabeth
Saylor, daughter of Sydney Saylor, a pioneer of 1853.
Settling upon a ranch, his chief interests have been in
agriculture. He has made frequent trips to the
mountains to pass a summer in prospecting, never having lost
his old love for mining. In 1876 he discovered the
cinnabar mines in the Calipoosa mountains, and in 1890 he
located the Ophir and summit gold quartz claims in the
Bohemia mining district, which show rich prospects and which
are now being developed. The partnership with Mr.
Spare was dissolved in 1864 and the land divided, Mr. Adams
retaining 120 acres. The death of Mrs. Adams occurred June
30, 1870. She left a family of six children:
Levica H., wife of Charles Viles; Mary A., wife of George
Hollay; Lucy M.; Lydia S., wife of Charles Van Buren;
Theodocia, wife of Frank Cathcart; Hattie, wife of Wilbur
McFarland. Mr. Adams was married again November 23,
1873, to Miss Minerva Cromwell.
He is a member of Cottage Grove Lodge, No. 51, A.F. &
A.M. He has been actively interested in Republican
politics, but has avoided all connection with public office,
preferring the duties of his farm and other private
enterprises.
An Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893 |
Ankeny, Henry
HON. HENRY E. ANKENY
Each community has its substantial citizens, representative
of the spirit of enterprise that has been the dominant
factor in the upbuilding of this great state. Actively
associated with the mining interests of southern Oregon was
Henry E. Ankeny, deceased, who was the owner of the Sterling
gold mine and was numbered among the most successful mining
operators of this section of the state.
Mr. Ankeny was born in West Virginia, April 29, 1844, a son
of Alexander P. and Anna Ankeny, natives of Pennsylvania.
They came to Oregon in the late '40s and located in
Portland. The father became interested in the Wells Fargo
Express Company and also engaged in the real estate
business, in gold mining and in the lumber business and
through the successful conduct of these various lines of
activity he became the possessor of a substantial fortune,
being classed with the men of wealth and prominence of his
community. Whatever he undertook he carried forward to
successful completion, and he knew no such word as fail.
Long a resident of the state, he was an interested witness
of its development and upbuilding and at all times lent his
aid and cooperation to plans and projects for the general
good. He passed away about 1890, having long survived his
wife, who died about 1846.
Coming to this state in his early boyhood, Henry E. Ankeny
acquired his education in the schools of Portland and when
his textbooks were put aside he assisted his father in the
conduct of the latter's extensive business interests. He was
the possessor of large farm holdings at Klamath Falls,
Oregon, and also owned and cultivated a farm of four
thousand five hundred acres near Salem, to which he devoted
his efforts and energy for a period of nineteen years, and
he also operated a dairy and cheese factory. Upon the death
of his father he took over the management of the Sterling
gold mine in southern Oregon and for seven years he resided
in the vicinity of the mine, bending every energy to its
further development and winning substantial success in its
conduct. In September, 1896, he removed with his family to
Eugene, where he erected a fine modern dwelling at No. 212
North Pearl street, which is still the family home. About a
year prior to his death Mr. Ankeny retired from active
business, owing to failing health, and he passed away on the
21st of December, 1906, at the age of sixty-three years. He
had led a busy, useful and active life and in the conduct of
his extensive and varied interests he not only won
individual success but also contributed in marked measure to
the upbuilding, development and prosperity of his section of
the state. Being a man of resourceful business ability, he
extended his efforts into various lines and in all business
affairs readily discriminated between the essential and the
non-essential and discarding the latter utilized the former
to the best possible advantage.
On the 10th of June, 1866, Mr. Ankeny was united in marriage
to Miss Cordelia L. Stryker, a daughter of Henry F. and Mary
A. (Hart) Stryker. The father was born in Auburn, New York,
April 20, 1821, while the mother's birth occurred in
Montgomery county, Wisconsin, July 3, 1827. The father was a
physician and practiced at Kenosha, Wisconsin, until 1852,
when ill health compelled him to seek a change of
occupation. Thinking the milder climate of Oregon might
prove beneficial, he crossed the plains to this state and
located in Portland, where he engaged in the mercantile
business for a time and then went to Vancouver, Washington,
where he engaged in general merchandising the remainder of
his life. He passed away December 31, 1861, while the
mother's death occurred on the 2d of December in the
preceding year. Mr. and Mrs. Ankeny became the parents of
nine children, of whom three are deceased: Alexander, Ruby
and Rolin. Those who survive are: Cordelia R., the wife of
John S. Orth of Medford, Oregon; Cora B., who Is the widow
of Frank Crump and resides in Medford; Nanie M., the widow
of Roscoe E. Cantrell and a resident of Klamath Falls,
Oregon; Frank E., also residing at Klamath Falls; Dollie A.,
who married Alfred H. Miller and resides at Medford; and
Gladys, at home.
Mr. Ankeny was a Mason of high rank, having attained the
thirty-second degree, and at the time of his death the
honorary thirty-third degree was about to be conferred upon
him. He was likewise a member of the Mystic Shrine and in
the work of the order took an active part, his life being an
exemplification of its beneficent principles. In politics he
was a republican and in religious faith a Christian
Scientist. He came to this state during the period of its
early development and reclamation and as the years passed
his contribution to the work of progress and improvement
became a valuable one. A patriotic and public-spirited
citizen, he took a deep interest in everything relating to
the welfare of the district in which he lived and was most
earnest in his support of those projects which are a matter
of civic virtue and civic pride. In his death Eugene lost
one of its most honored and valued residents, one whose life
history should prove of inspirational value to all who read
it. Mrs. Ankeny still occupies the family home in Eugene and
is one of the highly esteemed residents of the city. Like
her husband, she is a Christian Scientist, and in her work
as a practitioner of that faith she has been very
successful.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Bean, Robert
JUDGE ROBERT SHARP BEAN
Judge Robert Sharp Bean, who for eleven years has sat on the
bench of the United States district court in Oregon, has
since 1882 been continuously connected with the Judicial
history of this state and has carved his name high on the
keystone of the legal arch. He was born on a farm in Yamhill
county, Oregon. November 28, 1854, representing one of the
old pioneer families of the state. His father, Obediah R.
Bean, was a native of Clay county, Missouri, born in 1832,
and when a young man of twenty years left the Mississippi
valley en route for Oregon. After the long journey was
completed he took up his abode in Yamhill county and
throughout his active life followed the occupation of
farming, becoming one of the representative agriculturists
of that section. In Yamhill county he married Julia Ann
Sharp and both have now passed away, the death of the father
occurring in 1890 and that of the mother in 1908. In
political belief he was a republican and his position as a
citizen was always on the side of progress and improvement.
Judge Bean spent his youthful days in the usual manner of a
farm bred boy, living with his parents in Lane county, the
family having there removed in 1855. He was a pupil in the
district schools and afterward attended the Christian
College at Monmouth, Oregon, from which he was graduated
with the class of 1873. In further preparation for the
active and responsible duties of life, he entered the
University of Oregon and completed his course with the first
graduating class - that of 1878. It was in the same decade
that Judge Bean was admitted to the bar prior to the
conclusion of his university course. He located for practice
in Eugene, where he remained an active member of the
profession until 1882, when recognition of the skill and
ability which he had displayed as a lawyer came to him in
his election as circuit judge of the second judicial
district and he served on the bench in that capacity until
1890. In the latter year he was elected to the supreme court
of the state, of which he remained a member for nineteen
years, and then in 1909 was appointed by President Taft
United States district judge of the district of Oregon and
has since occupied that position. His is indeed a notable
record, covering thirty-eight years of judicial service. It
would be tautological in this connection to enter into any
series of statements as showing him to be an eminent judge,
strictly fair and impartial in his rulings, for this has
been shadowed forth between the lines of this review, his
long service on the bench being unmistakable proof of his
superior judicial qualities.
On the 7th of September, 1880, in Eugene, Oregon. Judge Bean
was united in marriage to Miss Ina E. Condon, a daughter of
the late Professor Thomas Condon of the University of
Oregon. Their children are five in number: Condon Roy, who
was born in 1881 and is now in Los Angeles; Ormond R.,
Harold Cedric and Robert Douglas, all of whom except Robert
are graduates of the Oregon State University, while Harold
was also graduated from the Medical Department of Johns
Hopkins University of Baltimore, Maryland; and Ernest
Gerald, who was born in 1882 and has passed away.
Judge Bean is a member of the Arlington Club and in Masonry
has attained the Knight Templar degree. His political
endorsement is given to the republican party but he has
never allowed political opinion to interfere in any way with
the faithful performance of his judicial duties. That he is
a warm friend of the cause of education has been manifest in
many tangible ways and since 1882 he has been a member of
the board of regents of the University of Oregon and for the
past twenty years has been president of the board. His
activities have constituted resultant factors in promoting
good citizenship and upholding the best interests of city
and state in many connections and Oregon is proud to number
him among her native sons.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Bede, B. Elbert
B. ELBERT BEDE
B. Elbert Bede, publisher of the Cottage Grove Sentinel, has
attained a prominent position in journalistic circles of
Oregon, and in 1914 was president of the State Editorial
Association and for five years secretary of the Willamette
Valley Editorial Association. Mr. Bede is a native of Iowa,
his birth having occurred in Randolph, June 28, 1881. His
parents, J. Adam and Flora (Tibbetts) Bede, were natives of
Ohio, the father being a well known newspaper man. He
engaged in journalistic work in Iowa and in an early day
went to Minnesota, becoming identified with the conduct of
newspapers in various parts of that state. He also became
prominent in political circles of Minnesota and for three
terms represented the district of Duluth in the United
States congress, where he rendered important and valuable
service, his record being a most creditable one. He is now
engaged in Lyceum and Chautauqua work, being connected with
the Redpath bureau. He has continued a resident of
Minnesota, his home being at Pine City. The mother of B.
Elbert Bede passed away in 1884.
B. Elbert Bede attended the schools of Duluth, St. Paul and
Pine City, Minnesota. At the early age of seven years he
started to learn the printer's trade and when sixteen was
editor of the Pine Poker, issued at Pine City, while later
he became editor of the Sandstone Courier, published at
Sandstone, Minnesota. He was engaged in editorial work in
various parts of the state until 1911, when he came to
Oregon and purchased the Cottage Grove Sentinel, which he
has since owned and edited. He has greatly improved the
plant, installing the latest presses and linotype machines
until its equipment is now classed with the best in Oregon.
The Sentinel is not only representative of first-class
typography, in which Mr. Bede is expert through his long
years of experience, but also excels on account of its
trenchant style in setting forth the news events of the
section in which it circulates. Its local columns are always
full of interest, while the general news of the world is
clearly and completely given. The principal policy of the
paper has been to serve the public promptly and that Mr.
Bede has succeeded is evident from the large circulation
which his publication enjoys. In 1915 he admitted Elbert
Smith as a partner and this association has been continued.
It was on the 5th of November, 1903, that Mr. Bede was
united in marriage to Miss Olive L. Smith of Sunrise,
Minnesota, and they have become the parents of three
children, namely: Ruth C, whose birth occurred on the 8th of
March, 1905; Harold E., born November 20, 1909; and Beth A.,
born January 14, 1913.
That Mr. Bede occupies a position of distinction in
journalistic circles of Oregon is indicated in the fact that
in 1914 he was president of the State Editorial Association
and for five years served as secretary of the Willamette
Valley Editorial Association. He is likewise prominent in
the public life of the state, having filled the position of
reading clerk in the legislature during the last two
sessions. His interest in the welfare and progress of his
city is shown in his membership in the Cottage Grove
Commercial Club, which he has served as president and
secretary and in this connection he has aided materially in
promoting the substantial growth and upbuilding of his
section. He is likewise a prominent Mason, being a past
master of the lodge and a member of the Scottish Rite
Consistory and the Shrine. His political allegiance Is given
to the republican party and in religious faith he is an
Episcopalian. Following in the professional footsteps of his
distinguished father, he has attained a high position in
newspaper circles of the state, and in promoting his own
prosperity he has furthered the general development of his
community, his influence being ever on the side of moral
uplift and intellectual growth.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Bristow, Darwin
Darwin Bristow, a progressive and
energetic merchant and banker at Cottage Grove, was born
at Pleasant Hill, Lane county, Oregon, December 21, 1862. His father, William Wilshire
Bristow, was a native of Cumberland county, Kentucky, born
July 18, 1826, but was reared in McDonough county,
Illinois, whither his parents removed in his infancy. In 1848 he crossed the plains to
Oregon, and located at Pleasant Hill, Lane county. In the spring of 1849 he started
to California, but returned in the fall of the same year,
and began improving his claim. In
the spring of 1850 or 1851 he taught the first school in
the county. He was married in
Marion county, October 17, 1850, to Miss E. Coffey, a
native of Pike county, Illinois. During
1852-'53
he was Justice of the Peace of Pleasant Hill precinct, and
for a number of years was Postmaster.
He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
of 1857, and in June, 1858, he was elected one of the
first State Senators from Lane county; he was one of the
prominent actors in setting the machinery of the State
Government in motion.
Mrs. Bristow died in November, 1863;
she was the mother of four children, only one of whom
survives, a son named Darwin. Mr.
Bristow was married again at Pleasant Hill, April 27,
1865, to Miss Martha A. McCall, who died August 18, 1868,
leaving one child, Lizzie, now the widow of C. F.
McCormac. September 16, 1869,
Mr. Bristow was married in Portland to Mrs. Mary J. Wells,
who still survives.
He was again elected State Senator in
1872, and served with great credit to himself and his
constituency through the sessions of 1872 and 1874. He sold his farm in 1865, and went
to Eugene, where he purchased a one-third interest in the
mercantile business of Bristow & Co., the firm being
composed of his brother Elijah L. Bristow and T. G.
Hendricks; he continued an active member of the firm until
his death, December 8, 1874. He
was stricken down in the prime of manhood and in the midst
of his usefulness, leaving an untarnished reputation. He was for many years a member
of the Masonic fraternity.
Darwin Bristow removed with his parents
to Eugene city, and after the death of his father, was
taken into the family of T. G. Hendricks, administrator of
the estate and guardian of the children.
At the age of fourteen years our subject began
clerking in the store of Mr. Hendricks, thus securing a
business education, and at the same time pursuing his
studies in the University of Oregon; he was graduated from
the normal department of this institution in 1884. The autumn following he came to
Cottage Grove, and in partnership with Herbert Eakin, he
purchased the bankrupt stock of Luckey & Noland; they
increased their stock, and by close attention to the
details of the business, have built up a good trade and
later have further advanced their business by the addition
of a baking department and are now carrying on a
successful mercantile and banking establishment.
Mr. Bristow was married at
Cottage Grove, March 16, 1885, to Miss Mary L, Medley, a
native of Linn county, Iowa, and a daughter of James M.
Medley, who emigrated to Oregon in 1874.
Of this union have been born three children: Greta
Elizabeth, William Wilshire and Darwin Darrel. Mr. Bristow has valuable
business and residence property at Cottage Grove and
Eugene. He is Master of
Cottage Grove Lodge, No. 51, A. F. & A. M., and a
member of Juventus Lodge, No. 48, of K. and P. He has served two terms as Mayor
of Cottage Grove, and is one of the most active and
enterprising men of the city.
An Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893 |
Bushnell, James
James A. Bushnell, one of the
representative citizens of Junction City, was born in
Cattaraugus county, New York, in 1826, a son of Daniel and
Ursula (Pratt) Bushnell, native of Connecticut; the
parents emigrated to the State of New York about the year
1810, and there Mr. Bushnell followed farming until 1830,
removing that year to Ohio, where he passed the closing
days of his life. James A.,
the subject of this notice, remained with his parents in
Ohio until after the death of the father; then he and his
mother joined the tide of Western emigration, and
journeyed westward to Adair county, Missouri. He was married in 1850, to Miss
Elizabeth C. Akins, and two years later he started across
the plains to the Pacific coast. In
partnership with two other men, Mr. Bushnell titted up a
prairie wagon with four yokes of oxen, and made the trip
in five months; arriving at Salem, they continued
southward to the mines in Shasta county; they mined until
the summer of 1853, with satisfactory results. Mr. Bushnell then went to San
Francisco, and thence by steamer and the Nicaragua route,
returned to Missouri for his family: upon his arrival he
found a cold hearthstone and empty home, as his family had
already started across the plains to Oregon.
Retracing his steps, he came by steamer and the
Isthmus of Panama, arriving in due course at Portland. Proceeding up the valley he
search for his loved ones, and at Springfield there was a
joyous meeting.
In the fall of 1853 he located a
donation claim of 320 acres, six miles south of Junction
City, and engaged in general agricultural pursuits; he
lived upon this place until 1865, when he sold it, and
bought 800 acres bordering the Willamette river, four
miles southeast of Junction City. There
he pursued the same occupation until 1875, when he removed
to Junction City, where he has since resided, although he
still retains his farm, and owns other agricultural lands. Mrs. Bushnell died in 1868,
leaving four children, two of whom survive: Lucy J., wife
of William M. Pitney; and Helen V., wife of C. J. Ehrman. Mr. Bushnell was married a
second time in 1870, to Mrs. Sarah E. (Farrell) Powell,
and they have had born to them five children, only two
living, Henry C. and Myrtie G.
It was in 1874 that Mr. Bushnell built
a warehouse at Junction City, and afterward bought the
grain elevator, which he continues to operate. He established the water-works
in 1879, supplying the town and railroad companies. He has taken a deep interest in
the city and in developing he resources.
For four terms he has served as a member of the
Council, and during two term has been Mayor.
Politically, he adheres to the principle of the
Prohibition party, and in his religious faith, is a devout
supporter of the doctrines of the Christian Church. In 1892 he superintended the
erection of the new church edifice.
He was one of the organizers of the Junction City Hotel
Company, and is always ready and willing to join any
enterprise that will tend to the best interests of the
place. Having lived a life of honor and integrity, he has
the respect and confidence of his fellow-men.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Campbell, Prince
PRINCE LUCIAN CAMPBELL
Prince Lucian Campbell, president of the University of
Oregon since 1902, was born in Newmarket, Missouri, October
6, 1861, his parents being Thomas Franklin and Jane Eliza
Campbell. The father, too, was a well known educator who was
president of the Christian College at Monmouth, Oregon, from
1869 until 1882.
Dr. Campbell of this review won his Bachelor of Arts degree
upon graduation from Christian College in 1879. He afterward
became a Harvard student and the university at Cambridge
conferred upon him the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1886. From
Pacific University he received the LL.D. degree, as he did
also from the University of Colorado. He entered the
teaching profession in 1879 in connection with Christian
College, where he remained for three years or until 1882. In
1890 he was called to the presidency of the Oregon State
Normal School and there remained for twelve years or until
1902, when he was elected to the presidency of the
University of Oregon and has continued at the head of the
institution, covering a period of nineteen years. It would
be tautological in this connection to enter into any series
of statements showing him to be a man of broad scholarly
attainment and one of the eminent educators of the
northwest, for this has been shadowed forth between the
lines of this review. Those who know aught of his
professional career recognize the high standards that he has
always maintained and the advanced ideals which he has ever
followed.
Aside from his professional activities Dr. Campbell was
president of the Polk County Bank from 1892 until 1905,
since which time he has concentrated his attention upon the
profession which he chose as a life work. He is a
representative of the National Association of State
Universities on the American Council on Education. His
religious faith is that of the Christian church.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Carroll, Richard
RICHARD E. CARROLL
Among the enterprising and progressive young business men of
Junction City is numbered Richard E. Carroll, proprietor of
one of the high class drug stores of the locality. He is a
native son of Oregon, his birth having occurred at Union,
Union county, October 19, 1896. He is a son of Joel Marion
and Mary F. (Lenhart) Carroll, the former a native of Iowa
and the latter of Missouri. The father was but three years
of age when his parents crossed the plains to Oregon,
casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers of this
state. They were the third family to locate in Union county
and there the grandfather took up a claim of government
land, which by arduous and unremitting toil he at length
brought to a high state of development, continuing to
operate his ranch throughout his remaining years. He passed
away in 1910 at the very advanced age of ninety-five years,
and his wife's demise occurred in 1895, when she had reached
the age of seventy-five years. They were highly esteemed and
respected in their community as pioneer settlers who shared
in the hardships and privations of frontier life and aided
in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has been
built the present progress and prosperity of the
commonwealth. Their son, Joel M. Carroll, the youngest in a
family of fourteen children, was reared and educated in
Union, Oregon, later completing a law course in the Oregon
State University at Eugene. Following his admission to the
bar he opened an office in Union and there engaged in
practice the remainder of his life, being accorded an
extensive clientage which his high professional attainments
well merited. He was a distinguished lawyer and a man of
prominence in his community, serving as mayor of Union and
also holding other public offices of trust, the duties of
which he discharged most efficiently. He passed away in 1900
at the comparatively early age of forty-two years, and his
demise was deeply regretted by a large circle of friends,
for he was a man of sterling worth whose ideals of life were
high and who utilized every opportunity that enabled him to
climb to their level. The mother survived him for eleven
years, her demise occurring in 1911.
Richard E. Carroll was reared and educated at Union, Oregon,
also pursuing his studies at Corvallis from 1906 until 1909,
and then entered the high school at Junction City, from
which he was graduated in 1915. He subsequently became a
student in the Oregon Agricultural College, where he pursued
a course in pharmacy, and was graduated from that
institution of learning in 1918. He then enlisted for
service in the World war, becoming cook in Machine Gun
Company, Twelfth Infantry, Eighth Division, and was
stationed successively at Camp Fremont, California, and Camp
Mills, New York, from which point his command was
transferred by boat to Camp Stewart, Virginia, and later to
Camp Alexander, that state. Subsequently he was sent to Camp
Lewis, Washington, where he was discharged in February,
1919. In the following April Mr. Carroll engaged in the drug
business at Junction City, where he is now located. His
establishment is first-class in every particular and his
courteous treatment of patrons, reliability and progressive
business methods have won for him a large trade.
Mr. Carroll gives his political allegiance to the republican
party and his religious faith is indicated by his membership
in the Christian church. He is much interested in the
welfare and progress of his community and is serving as city
recorder and as school clerk, and is rendering valuable
service in both connections, his duties being discharged
with faithfulness, promptness and efficiency. He is a member
of the American Legion and fraternally is identified with
the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Woodmen of the World. Mr. Carroll is an energetic and
progressive young business man who well deserves the success
that has come to him, for he started out in life
empty-handed and working his way through college he secured
a good education, which has been of inestimable benefit to
him in the attainment of success. He is always loyal to any
cause which he espouses and faithful to every duty and is a
representative of the best type of American manhood and
chivalry.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Collier, Andrew
ANDREW McCORNACK COLLIER
As president of the First National Bank at Merrill and vice
president of the First National Bank at Klamath Falls,
Andrew McCornack Collier occupies a leading position in the
financial circles of the state. He is a native son of
Oregon, having been born in Eugene on the 15th of November,
1890, and since 1913 he has made his home in Klamath Falls.
His parents are Charles M. and Janet (McCornack) Collier and
his grandfather Professor George H. Collier. The history of
Oregon's educational system would not be complete without
mention of Professor Collier, who devoted a large part of
his life to the work. Professor Collier came to Oregon from
Ohio, in which state his family were pioneers, and having
been professor of science in Oberlin College, Ohio, he
immediately stepped into a responsible position at the
Pacific University, at Forest Grove, and subsequently became
professor of chemistry and physics at the University of
Oregon and Collier Hall on the campus of that great
institution was named in his honor. The maternal ancestors
of Andrew McCornack Collier are of Scotch descent and the
family is an old and honored one in America. The Oregon
branch of the family crossed the plains by ox teams,
arriving in Oregon in the early '50s. They were among the
earliest pioneers of this state and of Lane county in
particular. Charles M. Collier devoted his talents to civil
engineering, serving as engineer and surveyor of Lane county
for twenty-seven years, and as an alert, energetic and
enterprising man he carried every undertaking forward to
successful completion. He is now practically retired from
active work in his profession but occasionally assists the
government of the United States in the survey of public
lands.
In the public schools of his native city Andrew M. Collier
acquired his education, later pursuing a course in the
University of Oregon, from which institution he was
graduated with the degree of B. A. in 1913. He majored in
political economy and the year of his graduation accepted a
position as bookkeeper in the First National Bank at Klamath
Falls. His rise in that connection was rapid and in 1915 he
was promoted to assistant cashier and became a director of
the institution. Five years later he was made vice president
of the bank. Mr. Collier attributes his marked success to
luck but those who know him attribute it to his own
determined efforts, intelligently directed. Mr. Collier is
also prominently identified with the financial interests of
Merrill as president of the First National Bank there. As
president of the Klamath Ice and Storage Company and
secretary of the Lakeside Land Company he is active in the
conduct of two of the most important commercial enterprises
of Klamath Falls. The latter company has played an important
part in the development and improvement of Klamath county,
for it put under cultivation six thousand acres of land on
the lake near Malin. This land was divided into forty-acre
tracts and sold to farmers under whose care it developed
into valuable farm property, and to the success of this
project is attributed the added increase in population and
industrial progress. Mr. Collier is likewise associated with
the Swan Lake Lumber Company, of which he is a director, the
Associated Lumber and Box Company and numerous other
business organizations.
In 1916 occurred the marriage of Mr. Collier and Miss
Georgia L. Porter, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of G. F.
Porter. Her father recently located in Klamath Falls, coming
from Afton, Iowa, where he was postmaster for several years.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Collier: Marie
Genevieve and Carolyn. In the social circles of Klamath
Falls Mrs. Collier takes a prominent part. She is a member
of most of the clubs in the city and takes particular
Interest in the activities of the P. E. 0. sisterhood. Her
home is a social center and she is readily conceded to be a
gracious hostess and model mother.
The political allegiance of Mr. Collier is given to the
republican party and fraternally he is identified with the
Elks, being treasurer of the local order. He is treasurer
and director of the Chamber of Commerce, in the interests of
which he is particularly active and during the World war he
took an active part in all drives, was chairman of the
Victory Loan and county director for sale of War Savings
Stamps drives, and in addition gave generously of his money.
The family are consistent members of the Presbyterian church
and Mr. Collier is chairman of its board of trustees.
Although the many business interests of Mr. Collier leave
him but little spare time, he is a great lover of outdoor
sports and whenever possible finds enjoyment in shooting
ducks and fishing. Since early childhood he has been an
earnest and industrious worker and even during his college
days took a prominent part in campus activities, at the same
time keeping well ahead in his studies. He had the
distinction of being elected manager of the Emerald, the
daily paper of the student body, and of the Oregona, the
University year book. Since leaving college his business
ability has continued to develop and as president of the
First National Bank of Merrill he very probably enjoys the
distinction of being the youngest bank president in Oregon.
Mr. Collier and his associates have recently planned and
erected in Klamath Falls one of the most modern store
buildings on the coast. In his public-spirited manner Mr.
Collier is playing a prominent part in the growth and
progress of Klamath county.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Dillard, Luther
LUTHER M. DILLARD
Luther M. Dillard, who passed away in August, 1889, was for
many years prominently identified with the agricultural and
stock raising interests of Lane county and at the time of
his death was the owner of a valuable farm comprising over
three hundred and seventy acres, located about five miles
south of Eugene. He was essentially a member of the class of
doers, gifted with initiative and quick resolve, and he
never under stress of action' faltered, hesitated nor
reconsidered.
Mr. Dillard was born in Missouri, January 18, 1846, a son of
Stephen M. and Julia (Renshaw) Dillard, natives of
Tennessee. For a time the father followed farming in
Missouri and then made his way across the country to
California. In 1853 he came to Oregon, locating in Lane
county, where he purchased land, which he improved and
operated for many years, but his wife's health became
impaired and they again took up their residence in
California, where the father passed away March 30, 1867. The
mother subsequently returned to Lane county and her death
occurred on the 18th of February, 1896.
Luther M. Dillard was reared and educated in Lane county,
Oregon, and remained under the parental roof until he
attained his majority. Going to the state of Washington, he
took up a soldier's claim. For some time he was busily
engaged in the improvement and cultivation of that property
and then came to eastern Oregon, where for three years he
was engaged in the cattle business. At the end of that
period he returned to Lane county and purchased land five
miles south of Eugene. To his original possessions he added
by purchase from time to time until at the time of his death
he was the owner of over three hundred and seventy acres of
valuable land, which he greatly improved by the addition of
substantial barns and outbuildings and all the necessary
farm machinery and equipment, everything about the place
being indicative of the progressive spirit and enterprising
methods of the owner. In connection with his farming
operations he also engaged in the cattle business and in the
conduct of a dairy, meeting with success in each line of
activity. He never stopped short of the successful
accomplishment of his purpose, and his purpose was always an
honorable one. He was actuated in all that he did by a
laudable ambition that prompted him to take a forward step
when the way was open, and his ability and even-paced energy
carried him forward to the goal of success.
It was on the 4th of August, 1875, that Mr. Dillard was
united in marriage to Miss Samantha J. Emmons, who was born
in Mercer county, Illinois, October 6, 1852, her parents
being James W. and Caroline D. (Shortridge) Emmons, the
latter a grandniece of Daniel Boone, the noted Indian
fighter. The father was born in Indiana, January 19, 1838,
and the mother's birth occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas,
May 24, 1833. James W. Emmons followed farming in Illinois
until 1866, when he crossed the plains to Oregon, settling
in Lane county, but was permitted to enjoy his new home only
for a short time, his death occurring on the 14th of
February, 1868, when he was forty-one years of age. The
mother survived him for many years, passing away July 2,
1919, at the advanced age of eighty-six years.
Mr. and Mrs. Dillard became the parents of four children:
Earl N., the eldest of the family, was born July 23, 1876,
and is now a resident of Springfield, Oregon; Walter B.,
born February 6, 1878, is a graduate of the University of
Oregon and is an attorney by profession. He successfully
engaged in teaching at Wilsoncreek, Washington, while
previously he was for two years superintendent of schools of
Lane county, rendering such valuable and efficient service
in that connection that he was subsequently appointed
assistant state superintendent of schools. He discharged the
duties of that important position in a most capable and
satisfactory manner and his work) in behalf of public
education has been far-reaching and effective. He has also
taken a prominent part in public affairs, representing his
district for one term in the state legislature. He gave
thoughtful and earnest consideration to all vital questions
which came up for settlement and earnestly fought for the
support of bills which he believed to be of benefit to the
public at large; Frank C, the third in order of birth, was
born December 28, 1880. He is a graduate of the University
of Oregon and is a civil engineer by profession. John L.,
born January 14, 1884, is engaged in the abstract business
at Eugene. During the recent World war he served as ensign
in the navy, his period of service covering twenty-seven
months.
Mr. Dillard gave his political allegiance to the republican
party and in religious faith was a Presbyterian. Coming to
this state in pioneer times, he was an interested witness of
its development and upbuilding and at all times lent his aid
and cooperation to plans and projects for the general good.
Lane county was fortunate in gaining him as a citizen, for
at all times he was loyal to her best Interests, and his
progressiveness placed him in a prominent position among the
farmers and stockmen of the district.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Dorris, George
HON. GEORGE B. DORRIS
Hon. George B. Dorris, who for over half a century engaged
in the practice of law in Eugene, has lived retired since
1918 in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. His birth
occurred in Nashville, Tennessee, on the 7th of March, 1832,
and he is a son of Samuel F. and Susanna (Pitt) Dorris,
natives of North Carolina. Following his marriage the father
went to Nashville, Tennessee, and there followed the
carpenter's trade, residing in that city until his death.
The mother is also deceased.
George B. Dorris, the youngest of their family of twelve
children, consisting of eight sons and four daughters, was
reared and educated in his native city and there learned the
tinner's trade, being apprenticed when about ten years of
age to Snow, Treppard and Payne, of Nashville, Tennessee,
where he was engaged in the business for a number of years.
In 1861, when twenty-nine years of age, he sought the
opportunities offered in the west and made his way to
Crescent City, California, where he worked at the tinner's
trade with his brother Ben, for a few years following that
trade in Crescent City and during his leisure hours he
studied law, for it was his desire to become a member of the
bar. November 29, 1865, he came to Oregon and in the same
year was admitted to practice at Eugene, passing his bar
examination before Judge Riley E. Stratton, then a member of
the supreme court of Oregon, and at whose request he had
come to Oregon. Mr. Dorris continued in practice until the
time of his retirement in 1918. He had practiced his
profession continuously in Eugene for a period of fifty-four
years and had the distinction of being the oldest practicing
lawyer in the city. He was connected with a number of
important law cases and the list of his clients was an
extensive and representative one. He was always careful to
conform his practice to a high standard of professional
ethics, never seeking to lead the court astray in a matter
of fact or law nor withholding from it the knowledge of any
fact appearing in the records. His preparation of a case was
always most thorough and comprehensive and he seemed not to
lose sight of the smallest detail bearing upon his cause.
On the 15th of May, 1866, Mr. Dorris was united in marriage
to Miss Emma A. Hoffman, at Jacksonville, Oregon, and they
became the parents of three children: Emma C, who is now the
wife of C. A. Hardy, a prominent attorney of Eugene; May,
who married J. E. Bronaugh of Portland, Oregon; and Stella,
the wife of Dr. C. A. Macrum, a resident of Mosier, Oregon.
In politics Mr. Dorris is a democrat and he has taken a
prominent part in public affairs of his community and state.
For one term he served as mayor of Eugene, giving to the
city a most businesslike and progressive administration,
characterized by many needed reforms and improvements, and
for twelve years he was a member of the city council. In
1870 he was elected to the office of representative to the
state legislature and as a member of that body gave
thoughtful and earnest consideration to all the vital and
important questions which came up for settlement, fighting
earnestly for the support of bills which he believed to be
of great benefit to the public at large. His fraternal
connections are with the Masonic order and the Ancient Order
of United Workmen and his religious faith is that of the
Baptist church. Mr. Dorris is numbered among the oldest
residents of Eugene, having taken up his abode here in 1865,
and during the period that has since intervened he has
watched with interest the city's growth and progress, with
which he has been closely identified, doing everything in
his power to promote its advancement along material,
intellectual, social, political and moral lines. His life
has been an honorable and upright one and" his example may
well be followed by those who have regard for the things
which are most worth while in life.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Douglass, Matthew
MATTHEW HALE DOUGLASS
Matthew Hale Douglass, librarian of the University of Oregon
at Eugene, is a native of Iowa, his birth having occurred in
Osage, Mitchell county, on the 16th of September, 1874. He
is a son of the Rev. T. O. and Maria (Greene) Douglass, the
former a Congregational minister. Mr. Douglass received the
Bachelor of Arts degree from Grinnell College in 1895, while
in 1898 that institution conferred upon him the degree of
Master of Arts. His educational training well qualified him
for the duties of librarian of Grinnell College, which
position he filled from 1899 until 1908. In the latter year
he was appointed librarian of the University of Oregon, and
in this responsible position he is still serving. He is
thoroughly efficient and capable in the discharge of the
duties which devolve upon him in this connection and is a
man of high intellectual attainments.
At Lexington, Nebraska, on the 25th of June, 1905, Mr.
Douglass was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Griswold, a
daughter of Ira P. and Lucy M. Griswold and a graduate of
the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Mrs. Douglass is a member
of the faculty of the Oregon School of Music, having charge
of the children's work in Piano. Mr. Douglass is independent
in his political views and his religious faith is
indicated by his membership in the Congregational
church.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Driver, Isaac
REV. ISAAC D. DRIVER.
A life of great usefulness and of far-reaching influence
ended when on the 30th of October, 1907, Rev. Isaac D.
Driver was called to his final home, at the age of
eighty-three years. For over fifty years he devoted his
attention to the study of the Bible and he became known as
one of the most eminent theologians in the country as well
as a debater of nation-wide prominence, frequently engaging
in theological debate with Robert G. Ingersoll and other
noted agnostics. He also gained prominence as a writer and
lecturer and his work in behalf of the church was of untold
benefit.
Dr. Driver was born on the Maumee river, near Fort Defiance,
Ohio, August 17, 1824, a son of Thomas and Thankful (Travis)
Driver, natives of Pennsylvania, and of Puritan ancestry.
Emigrating to Ohio, the father became one of the pioneers of
that state. He was a loyal and patriotic citizen and during
the War of 1812 he served as a lieutenant under General
William Henry Harrison, being stationed at Port Meigs. In
1828 he was commissioned to conduct the Indians across the
Mississippi river when the fort guarded a trading post on
the site of the present city of Chicago. In days of peace he
worked at his trade of silversmith and also engaged in the
practice of law. In 1827 he removed to Fort Wayne. Indiana,
and in the following year, in company with his son, Isaac
D., he explored the country near South Bend and also camped
on the low-lying marsh land and open prairie which was
destined to become the site of the metropolitan center of
the west. At Fort Wayne Mr. Driver and his brother were
largely engaged in trading with the Indians and In buying
and selling land. In 1834 they removed to Goshen, Elkhart
county, Indiana, where they engaged in farming and trading
for a decade, and in 1844 they went to Noble county. They
engaged in farming in that section of the country until
1852, when they sold their holdings and started across the
plains to Oregon. They reached Iowa in the fall of that year
and spent the winter in that state, continuing their journey
in the spring and reaching their destination in the fall of
1853. Taking up his abode in what is now Douglas county, the
father there engaged in farming and was thus active until
his death in 1861, at the age of eighty-seven years. The
mother however, had died in 1853, while en route to Oregon,
and she was buried on the Bear river.
Dr. Driver was the seventh in order of birth in their family
of twelve children and he attended school in Indiana to the
age of thirteen years, when he began the work of carrying
the mails on horseback between Fort Wayne and South Bend,
Indiana. This was a very hazardous undertaking for a boy of
his years, as the country was then wild and unsettled,
harboring many hostile Indians and highwaymen, and for his
bravery, regularity and sate discharge of duty he was
allowed double wages. He worked at this task for three years
and having saved a sufficient sum of money he reentered
school, continuing his studies until he reached the age of
twenty-two years and acquiring the best education obtainable
at that period. After completing his schooling he engaged in
farming and stock raising.
In 1848 he married Rebecca Crumley, who passed away at the
end of a year, leaving a son, Samuel M., now deceased. In
1849. in company with about four hundred others. Dr. Driver
crossed the plains to California, several of the company
dying of cholera en route, the remainder arriving at Steep
Hollow on the 1st of October of that year. In that section
of the state he successfully followed mining until the
spring of 1850, when he went to San Francisco, where he
sailed for home, going by way of the Isthmus of Panama. On
arriving in Indiana he resumed his farming operations and in
1852 was united in marriage to Mary Hardenbrook. In the fall
of that year he joined his father and brothers in the trip
across the plains to Oregon, the party consisting of fifteen
people, four ox teams and two wagons drawn by horses. They
arrived in the Willamette valley on the 14th of September,
1853, and on the 4th of October filed on their claims in the
Umpqua valley, in what is now Douglas county. There Dr.
Driver followed farming and stock raising until his health
became impaired and then began studying for the ministry,
entering upon the work of preaching the gospel in the Umpqua
valley in 1857, conducting services in his home. In 1858 he
united with the Oregon conference of the Methodist Episcopal
church and was first assigned to Jacksonville and later to
Eugene, Corvallis, The Dalles and Oregon City. In 1867 he
was appointed agent of the American Bible Society for
Oregon, Washington, Montana and Idaho, in which connection
he traveled throughout the northwest for the purpose of
locating preachers for the distribution of the Bible, and in
accomplishing his work he met with many dangers and
difficulties but never suffered serious injury. In 1867 he
was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed
away leaving five children, of whom three survive, one
residing in Oregon, another in Washington and the third in
California. In 1871, in Eugene, Dr. Driver was united in
marriage to Leanna Iles, whose demise occurred seven months
later. He became a presiding elder over the Oregon
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church and after
serving for a period of seven years as agent for the
American Bible Society he resigned and made a trip to the
east, where he wedded Anna Northrup. He returned with his
bride to Oregon and was appointed presiding elder of the
Salem district, which office he filled for two years. In
1875 death again entered his household, removing therefrom
his wife, who had become the mother of a daughter, Anna, who
is now Mrs. Hemphill, living near Stockton, California.
In 1876 he was assigned to Monroe, Oregon, and in the
following year he was wedded Mary E. Williams, who was born
in Illinois, February 18, 1851, a daughter of Smith and
Irenia (Jones) Williams, the former a native of Indiana and
the latter of Illinois. The father was a farmer by
occupation and in 1852 he crossed the plains from Illinois
to Oregon, locating in Linn county, where he took up land
east of the present site of Lebanon. This property he later
sold and purchased land near Halsey, which he continued to
operate throughout his remaining years. He passed away in
1870 at the age of forty-two years and the mother survived
him for many years, her demise occurring in January. 1899.
when she was sixty-nine years of age. To Dr. and Mrs. Driver
were born eight children, namely: Grace Irene, Royal D.,
Livingston, Lena, Wiley A.. Paul S., Ralph A. and Frances E.
After his fifth marriage Dr. Driver preached the gospel at
Brownsville and Eugene and for four years was presiding
elder of the latter district. In 1883 he purchased a farm of
one hundred and thirty-five acres near Eugene but did not
engage in its active operation, the work being conducted by
his sons, who also engaged very successfully in raising pure
bred Clydesdale horses. Jersey cattle and Berkshire hogs.
They continued to cultivate that farm for a period of
twenty-five years, transforming it into a valuable and well
improved property.
In 1886 Dr. Driver was assigned to the Centenary church at
Portland, Oregon, where he accomplished much good. For over
fifty years he was an earnest and faithful student of divine
truths and was greatly assisted in his research work by his
large library, which includes the original translation of
the anti-Nicene library from Christ down through all the
Apostolic Epistles. He became known as one of the most noted
authorities on the Bible in the country, and in 1889 when
the Secular Union in session in Chicago issued a challenge
to Protestant denominations to meet them in open discussion,
comparing Christianity with secularism, the Rev. Dwight L.
Moody induced Dr. Driver to accept the challenge. As Dr.
Moody's representative he met Charles Watts, Esq., of
Toronto, Canada, the champion of free thought, in a four
nights' discussion at the Princess theater in Chicago. Dr.
Driver devoted over fifty years to research work in order
that he might meet the arguments of infidels and agnostics
and he gained recognition as an eminent theologian. Charles
Watts was the editor of Secular Thought and the associate of
Charles Bradlaugh and George J. Holyoke, and he was known as
the foremost debater in the "free field". For three months
Dr. Driver remained in Chicago, attending Dr. Moody's School
of Churches, and his work in connection with Bible teaching
was of great worth and lasting benefit.
On returning to Oregon he was appointed general agent to
build the Portland Hospital, which he accomplished at an
expense of one hundred thousand dollars, soliciting the
subscriptions and purchasing the land. In 1906 he purchased
a farm of three hundred and fifty-three acres one and a half
miles south of Tangent, upon which he spent his remaining
years. He passed away at the advanced age of eighty-three
years but for two years prior to his demise had been in
failing health as the result of his untiring and zealous
labors in behalf of the Christian religion. He was a noted
lecturer and writer and a strong and eloquent speaker,
imbued with a firm belief in the doctrines which he taught,
and as a debater he attained nation-wide prominence, having
as his opponents Robert G. Ingersoll and other well known
agnostics. In his political views Dr. Driver was a
republican and fraternally he was a Mason, holding
membership in the Royal Arch Chapter, of which for many
years he served as chaplain, and in his life he exemplified
the beneficent teachings of the order. He influenced many
into choosing the better path of life and his good work goes
on in the lives of those who came under his ministry. His
name will ever be an honored one in the annals of the state
and nation, and of him it may well be said: "The world is
better for his having lived in it."
Mrs. Driver and her sons are still residing upon the home
farm, and in connection with its operation they also conduct
a dairy, their interests being most successfully managed.
Paul S. and Ralph A., the younger sons in the family,
rendered valuable aid to the country during the World war,
the former serving in the navy and the latter in the army,
and they are proving worthy sons of their distinguished
father.
History of Oregon:
Volume III
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Fergueson, John
John B. Fergueson, an Oregon pioneer of
1847, was born in Richland county, Ohio, in 1825. His father, Samuel Fergueson,
was a native of Pennsylvania, and passed his boyhood upon
a farm; in early manhood he moved to Ohio, and was married
in 1812 to Miss Jane Bouser. In
1826 they moved to Illinois, settling near Quincy, where
they lived until 1842; they then moved to Andrew county,
Missouri, and Mr. Fergueson reclaimed a farm from the
natives wilds, passing the remainder of his life there. John B. Fergueson was married
April 13, 1846, to Miss May Waldroup, and they lived with
the parents during the lifetime of the latter. In the spring of 1847 they
started to Oregon with one wagon, six yoke of oxen and
four cows; they arrived at the Dalles, after a comfortable
trip, "without loosing a hoof." They
were met by Samuel and Jesse Fergueson, pioneers of 1844,
and continued by river to Portland, the cattle being
driven by the trail. At
Portland they again yoked up the oxen, and traveling
overland to Tualatin plains, where they passed the winter. In the summer of 1848 they went
up the Willamette valley, and in the fall Mr. Fergueson
located a claim of 640 acres, five miles west of Junction
City. He engaged in general
farming and stock-raising, and has one of the best
improved ranches in that section. He
also
owns 480 acres in adjoining localities; 200 acres are
cultivated to grain, and the rest of the land is well
stocked with sheep and cattle. In
1854 he drove cattle to eastern Oregon, and for twelve
years followed the live-stock trade in that locality,
making frequent trips to the Willamette valley, crossing
the Cascade mountains by several trails, and fully as many
trips by the Columbia river.
Mrs. Fergueson died in April, 1879,
leaving a family of six children: John S., Sarah J., wife
of Martin Trivet; Joseph H.; Mary a., wife of Joel Pitney;
Martha E., wife of Morris Allen; and Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Fergueson was married again
in 1880, to Miss Elizabeth Hinton, a native of Oregon and
a daughter of Thompson Hinton, a pioneer of 1846; they
have one child, a daughter, named Josephine.
Mr. Fergueson is a member of Monroe Lodge, No. 49,
A F. & A. M. He has
served one term as Commissioner of Lane county, but has
given little attention to politics. He
has been devoted to the interest of the farm and of
stock-raising; and has met with more than ordinary
success; he is now living in the enjoyment of the fruits
of his labors.
An
Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893
|
Fisher, Charles
CHARLES H. FISHER
Charles H. Fisher has devoted his entire life to the
newspaper business and in this field of endeavor has won
success. He is now one of the proprietors of the Eugene
Daily Guard, which ranks among the oldest newspapers of the
state, having been founded as a weekly in 1866. Mr. Fisher
was born in Clay county, South Dakota, August 28, 1865, a
son of Jesse L. and Mary L. (Turner) Fisher. The father was
an honored veteran of the Civil war. He enlisted in a
Michigan regiment and after serving for some time was
discharged on account of disability. He afterward went to
North Dakota and in 1877 came to Oregon, taking up his abode
in Roseburg, where he was engaged in various enterprises
during the balance of his life, following farming,
merchandising and milling. He resided in Roseburg until his
death, which occurred in 1905. The mother survived him for
five years, passing away in 1910.
Charles H. Fisher was twelve years of age at the time of the
removal of his parents to this state and he attended the
public schools of Roseburg, completing his education in the
State University of Oregon. It was while attending that
institution that he entered upon his journalisic career,
being elected editor of the old Laurean Literary Society.
After leaving the university Mr. Fisher taught school for a
brief time and then with his meager savings purchased
control of a little paper at Oakland, which he called the
Umpqua Herald. After conducting this paper for a year or two
he sought other fields of operation and went to Roseburg,
Oregon, where he formed a partnership with Fred Flood for
the publication of the Herald, which is said to have been
the first semi-weekly published in the state. This was about
1887. Some time later the Herald was consolidated with the
Review, at which time Mr. Fisher disposed of his interest
therein, but later repurchased the journal. It was in the
early days of the consolidated Review, when they were
building it up first into a semi-weekly and then into a
daily, that Mr. Fisher says he did his best journalistic
work, and it was here that he gained confidence in his own
ability to go into any town and publish a paper that the
people would have to read. It is to this quality that he
attributes his constant success. In 1896 the Review became a
daily and soon afterward Mr. Fisher, retaining his interest,
went to Boise, Idaho, for his health. There he organized a
stock company and started the Evening Capital News, of which
he became editor. Like all the other Fisher papers, this
soon took hold and is today one of the leading dailies of
Idaho. Upon regaining his health Mr. Fisher disposed of his
Roseburg and Boise interests and purchased the Eugene Guard,
which he conducted for a few years and then sold. He
subsequently purchased the Salem Capital Journal, which he
conducted very successfully, greatly increasing its
circulation and installing modern equipment. While still at
Salem Mr. Fisher, in association with J. E. Shelton,
purchased the Eugene Guard, of which Mr. Shelton took
charge, Mr. Fisher remaining in Salem until he disposed of
the Journal, since which time he has devoted his attention
to the conduct of the Guard in association with his partner,
Mr. Fisher acting as editor of the paper, while Mr. Shelton
has charge of the business details. The partners are men of
broad experience in the newspaper field and the Guard is
conceded to be one of the best papers in this section of the
state. Its plant is thoroughly modern, equipped with all the
latest presses and machinery, including three linotype
machines, and it Is a most interesting and valuable journal
to the community in which it is published. Its news is
always accurate and reliable and it has therefore gained a
large circulation, which makes it a valuable advertising
medium.
Mr. Fisher married Miss Effie Owens and they have many
friends in Eugene and vicinity. He is one of the regents of
the State University of Oregon and his fraternal connections
are with the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. His political
allegiance is given to the democratic party and in religious
faith he is a Baptist. He has won success in the
journalistic field through the wise utilization of time and
opportunity and he has ever held to the highest standards of
newspaper publication, his aid and influence being always on
the side of advancement and improvement.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Frazer, George
George N. Frazer, proprietor of the
Eugene Iron Works, was born in Brockport, Monroe county,
New York, in 1851, a son of James Scott and Sarah Ann
(Kenworthy) Frazier. The
parents were natives of Oldham, England, and the father
was a molder by trade. Emigrating
to America they located in Monroe county, New York, where
Mr. Frazer built a foundry; he also operated a stove store
and butcher shop, which enterprises were the beginning of
the town of Brockport. He
continued in business there until 1858, when on account of
reverses, he sold out and removed to San Francisco. In this city he followed his
trade, with some mining speculations until 1870, and then
moved to Portland, Oregon; he was accidentally drowned in
the fall of 1872.
The education of George N. Frazer was
very limited, as at the age of twelve years he began
learning the trade of his father had followed through
life. He served his
apprenticeship in the old San Francisco Iron Works and in
the old Oregon Iron Works. In
1871 he and his father rented the Eagle Iron Works at
Portland, and their first contract was for the iron work
for the Clackamas river railroad bridge below Oregon City. Our subject afterward
established the Pioneer Brass Foundry in Portland, which
was destroyed in the great fire. After
this calamity he formed a partnership with W. J.
Zimmerman, and they put in operation the iron works, and
in 1875, removed to Ashland; here they operated a foundry
until 1879, removing in that year to Roseburg. In 1886 Mr. Frazer disposed of
his interests in the business, and went to Eugene where in
partnership with J. C. Long he started the Eugene Iron
Works; at the end of the first year Mr. Long retired, and
Mr. Frazer has since conducted the business alone. The factory is well equipped
with all the modern machinery necessary for the most
delicate casting to those of six thousands pounds in
weight. There are no
foundries south of Eugene, consequently the patronage is
drawn from a wide territory.
Mr. Frazer was married in Ashland in
1877, to Miss Ella E. Jackson, a native of California. Two children have been born to
them: George N. Jr., and Arthur L. J.
The family reside on Fifth street, between Olive
and Charnelton streets, where they have a pleasant home. Mr. Frazer owns other valuable
town property. He is a member
of the I. O. O. F., and has a host of friends in both
business and social circles.
An
Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893
|
Freeland, Howard
HOWARD B. FREELAND
Howard B. Freeland, one of the proprietors of the
Springfield News, published at Springfield, Lane county, was
born in Norfolk, Nebraska, May 17, 1894. He is a son of
Henry P. and Helen M. (Buffington) Freeland, the former a
native of Greene county, Indiana, while the latter was born
in Le Mars, Iowa. The father went west to Nebraska and in
that state worked at his trade of harness-making until 1905,
when he went to Colorado and there resided until the spring
of 1907, at which time he came to Oregon, locating at Salem,
where he still resides. The mother also survives.
Howard B. Freeland was eleven years of age when he
accompanied his parents on their removal westward to
Greeley, Colorado, and his education was acquired in the
schools of that city, in Nebraska and in Salem, Oregon.
After his textbooks were laid aside he learned the printer's
trade in the office of the Statesman and he continued to
follow that trade in various parts of the state until
September S, 1919, when he purchased an interest in the
Springfield News. In November of that year he admitted
Samuel H. Taylor as a partner in the enterprise and they
have since conducted the News. They have built up a fine
newspaper, and they are owners of a thoroughly modern
printing plant, equipped with all the latest presses and
machinery, including a linotype machine. They do a large job
business, including considerable work for the county, and in
the conduct of their business have ever followed the most
progressive and enterprising methods.
On the 15th of June, 1919, Mr. Freeland was united in
marriage to Miss Leda Mae Henderson, a daughter of James and
Myrtle (Barnes) Henderson, residents of Salem, Oregon. Mr.
Freeland enlisted for service in the World war on the 28th
of April, 1917, and was stationed at Vancouver Barracks with
the Fourth Engineers, but owing to sickness was discharged
on the 28th of November of the same year. He is a member of
the American Legion and his political allegiance is given to
the republican party. He was reared in the faith of the
Methodist Episcopal church. He is patriotic and
public-spirited and is greatly interested in the development
of his community, to which he has largely contributed
through the medium of his paper, and his worth as a man and
citizen is widely acknowledged.
History of
Oregon: Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Gates, Daniel
JUDGE DANIEL L. GATES.
The life of Daniel L. Gates is a story of one well spent in
the upbuilding of his native state and in the advancement of
the interests of his fellow citizens. He was born in Lane
county, Oregon, May 7, 1857, a son of John and Sarah E.
(Grice) Gates. The father was born in the blue grass section
of Kentucky, coming of a family of early pioneers of that
state. The mother was a native of Maryland and a member of
the Grice family, whose names are frequently met on the
pages of Maryland's history.
John Gates first came to Oregon in 1849, the journey being
made by ox team across the plains. After a stay of two years
he returned to the east by way of the Isthmus, but in a
short time he again drove his team across the plains to
Oregon and settled in Lane county. In 1859, shortly after
the creation of Wasco county, he located there and for the
succeeding thirteen years he was engaged in the stock
business, at which he was quite a success. It was in 1872
that Mr. Gates moved his family to The Dalles. His wife died
in 1860.
Daniel L. Gates was educated in schools of The Dalles and
entered the sawmill business early in life, continuing in
that line until 1886, when he became deputy sheriff of Wasco
county. In 1890 he received the democratic nomination for
sheriff, and although the county was strongly republican he
was elected by a substantial majority, an evidence of the
esteem in which he was held. His term of office is on record
as being one of the most efficient the county has ever had.
In 1894 Mr. Gates purchased a large tract of timber land
near Cascade Locks and went into the lumber trade. He also
became interested in salmon business, operating two wheels
on the Columbia river, and for a period conducted a
mercantile business at Cascade Locks. During his stay in the
latter place he was interested in the Cascade Locks Water
Company, serving as secretary for a time. In 1910 he
returned to The Dalles, where he had continuously maintained
his residence, and for a period rested from business
activities, but a man like Judge Gates is never permitted to
fully retire, so in 1917 he was prevailed on to emerge from
his retirement and accept the office of city recorder and he
is now serving the people in that office with the same
efficiency that has marked every movement of his business
career.
In October, 1889, Judge Gates was married to Miss Alice
DeHuff, of Portland, whose parents were also pioneers
o£ this state. Three children have been born to Judge
and Mrs. Gates, namely: Harold DeHuff and Albert L., of The
Dalles, who are connected with the Motor Service Company, in
which they are stockholders; and a daughter, Ruth, who died
in 1914.
Judge Gates is a member of the Knights of Pythias and has
filled all the chairs in that order. He is also a member of
the Woodmen of the World; the Elks; and the Masonic order,
being a Knight Templar and he will encase his feet in ice
and cross the hot sands of the desert with the Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine. He is popular with all classes of citizens
and has ever taken a prominent part in all movements
intended to promote the welfare of the people among whom he
has spent his entire life.
History of Oregon:
Volume III
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Handsaker, Samuel
SAMUEL HANDSAKER
In the death of Samuel Handsaker at his home in Eugene on
the 5th of October, 1909, Oregon lost one of her honored
pioneers, for he had come to this state in 1853. He was a
native of England, his birth having occurred in Derbyshire
on the 19th of November, 1831. His parents, Thomas and Mary
(Faulkner) Handsaker, were also natives of England and the
father, who was a carpenter by trade, passed his entire life
in that country. After his demise the mother, In company
with other members of the family, crossed the Atlantic to
the United States in 1843. They settled near Alton,
Illinois, and there the mother passed away in 1854.
Samuel Handsaker was but twelve years of age when the family
emigrated to America, and in 1853, when a young man of
twenty-two years, he decided to try his fortune in the west
and crossed the plains with ox teams to Oregon, experiencing
all of the dangers, privations and hardships endured by the
early pioneers. He located in Douglas county and there took
up a donation claim, which he improved and cultivated for
about seven years. He then turned his attention to the
butchering business, which he followed at Oakland, Oregon,
for about five years. In 1871 he removed to Lane county and
purchased a ferryboat and a stock of general merchandise at
Lowell, conducting both enterprises until about 1880, when
he disposed of his interests in that locality and purchased
a farm of about two hundred acres near Dexter. He greatly
improved the property and continued to cultivate his land
until ill health compelled him to seek a change of
occupation. Going to Pleasant Hill, Lane county, he there
operated a store for a few years and subsequently spent some
time on the coast. Upon his return to Pleasant Hill he again
engaged in the general merchandise business for a few years,
but ill health once more compelled him to give up active
business life and he sold his store and took up his
residence in Eugene, where he lived retired until his death,
which occurred at his home at No. 630 Twelfth avenue, East,
on the 5th of October, 1909, when he was seventy-eight years
of age. He had served in the Indian war of 1856-7 and there
was no phase of Indian fighting with which he was not
familiar.
On the 27th of November, 1856, Mr. Handsaker was united in
marriage to Miss Sarah J. Cannon, who was born in Lake
county, Indiana, December 15, 1837, her parents being Samuel
and Susanna (Eyler) Cannon, natives of Ohio. Her father was
a farmer by occupation and in 1854 he crossed the plains
with ox teams to Oregon, becoming one of the early pioneers
of this state. His first location was in Douglas county,
where he operated a farm for a short time and then removed
to Lane county, taking up land which he improved and
operated until the time of his death, which occurred in May,
1884, when he had reached the age of eighty years. He had
long survived the mother, who passed away in 1854. To Mr.
and Mrs. Handsaker were born nine children: Julia E., who
died in January, 1871; George W., a resident of Portland.
Oregon; Mary S., the widow of H. D. Edwards, who died in
1917; Edward B., whose home is in Veneta, Oregon; Martha,
the wife of John Guiley, a resident of Dexter, Oregon;
Luella, who married W. L. Bristow and resides at Pleasant
Hill, Oregon; Henrietta, the wife of P. N. Laird, a resident
of Jasper, Oregon; Thomas S., who is a minister of the
Christian church and is now residing at San Diego,
California; and John J., whose home is in Portland, Oregon.
Mr. Handsaker gave his political allegiance to the
republican party and his religious faith was indicated by
his attendance upon the services of the Christian church.
Coming to Oregon in 1853, when the country was wild and
undeveloped and the Indians far outnumbered the white
settlers, he lived to see many changes and bore his full
share in the work of general improvement and development.
His life was one of diligence and determination and these
qualities enabled him to overcome all obstacles and
difficulties in his path and advance steadily toward the
goal of success. He ever stood for progress and improvement
along the lines of material, intellectual and moral
development and his demise was the occasion of deep regret
not only to his immediate family but to many friends, for he
was a man whose sterling worth and excellent traits of
character had gained for him the goodwill and friendship of
all with whom he came into contact. Mrs. Handsaker still
owns the home farm but resides with her daughter. Mrs.
Edwards, at No. 690 Fourteenth avenue. East, in Eugene and
is one of the honored pioneer residents of this part of the
state.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Harris, John
JOHN W. HARRIS, M. D.
Dr. John W. Harris, whose scientific skill combined with his
ready sympathy, endeared him to the hearts of his fellowmen
and made him the loved family physician In many a household
in Eugene and throughout the surrounding country, passed
away June 6, 1918, at the age of sixty-four years. His life
was actuated by high and honorable principles, and his
course was ever directed along lines which commanded the
respect and confidence of his fellowmen, including his
colleagues and contemporaries in the profession.
Dr. Harris was born in Russellville, Indiana, March 2, 1854,
a son of Rev. John M. and Jane (Wilson) Harris, both natives
of Kentucky. The father was born April 1, 1803, and was a
minister of the Christian church and in an early day he
crossed the plains, preaching the gospel for a time in
California. During the later period of his life he was for
the greater part of the time a resident of the state of
Oregon and his death occurred in Eugene, November 3, 1881,
while the mother passed away near Cottage Grove, Lane
county, about 1880.
Dr. Harris was reared and received his early education in
Monmouth, Oregon. He followed farming for a time and also
engaged in teaching school and subsequently took up the
study of dentistry and also that of medicine, but was
obliged to discontinue his studies, owing to ill health, and
to resume the occupation of farming. In 1880 he became a
student in a medical school at San Francisco, California,
and completed his professional studies in the medical school
of the State University of Oregon at Portland, from which he
was graduated about 1883 with the M. D. degree. He first
engaged in practice at Cottage Grove, Oregon, but later
temporarily abandoned that pursuit, owing to ill health, and
for four years was connected with the drug business at
Eugene. At the end of that period he resumed the practice of
medicine, opening an office in Eugene, where he continued in
practice to the time of his death, which occurred on the 6th
of June, 1918, when, he was sixty-four years of age. For
four years he served as county coroner, ably and
conscientiously discharging the duties of that office. A
broad student and a deep thinker, his efforts were of the
greatest value to his patients, for he was seldom, if ever,
at fault in the diagnosis of a case and his sound judgment
and careful study enabled him to do most excellent
professional work.
On the 6th of June, 1875, Dr. Harris wedded Miss Mary R.
Shortridge, a daughter of James H. and Amelia S. (Adams)
Shortridge, both natives of Indiana. In 1852 her parents
crossed the plains to Oregon and took up land about six
miles from Cottage Grove, the mother being the first white
woman in that part of the country. They continued to improve
and operate their farm until 1908, when, having acquired a
competence sufficient for their needs, they moved to Cottage
Grove, and there passed their remaining days in the
enjoyment of a well earned rest. The father whose birth
occurred July I8, 1831, passed away October 26, 1916, at the
venerable age of eighty-five years, while the mother died
July 31, 1919, when in her eighty-fourth year. She was born
February 12, 1835. Their daughter, Mrs. Harris, was born
near Cottage Grove, November 22, 1857, and by her marriage
she became the mother of four children: Dr. M. C, the
eldest, is a well known dentist of Eugene; Edith M. is the
widow of Louis C. Martin, and a resident of Portland; Edna
O. is the wife of R. Claude Gray. who is connected with the
First National Bank of Eugene; and George W., the youngest
member of the family, is a senior in the State University at
Eugene. On the 15th of July, 191S, he enlisted in the
medical department of the navy and is still in the service.
Dr. Harris was a member of the Oregon State and Lane County
Medical Societies and for some time served as secretary of
the latter organization. His fraternal connections were with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order
of United Workmen. His political allegiance was given to the
republican party and his religious faith was indicated by
his membership in the Christian church. Dr. Harris was a
broad-minded man whose opinions were sound and who placed no
fictitious value upon the things of life. He stood firmly
for what he believed to be the best interests of the
community at large, while he was ever most careful to
conform his practice to the highest ethical standards of the
medical profession. His life was ever guided by high ideals,
making him a man among men - strong in his ability to plan
and perform and honored for his good work and his good name.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Henderson, John
JOHN LELAND HENDERSON
John Leland Henderson, attorney at law at Tillamook city, is
descended from distinguished American ancestry in both
paternal and maternal lines, the names of his ancestors
appearing in the history of this country from the earliest
colonial days. His birth occurred in Boston, Massachusetts,
in 1851, and he is a son of John and Catherine (Leland)
Henderson, the former a native of Indiana. The grandfather,
also named John, was one of the most distinguished lawyers
of the south and was a contemporary of Clay, Calhoun and
Webster. For many years he served his state in the United
States senate and Daniel Webster is said to have remarked of
him that Senator Henderson was without doubt the best land
lawyer in America. His son John, the father of John Leland
Henderson, was associated with him in connection with the
legal profession. Like his father he was a man of
strong convictions and had numerous friends and enemies.
During one of the political riots at the time of
reconstruction in the south, he was shot while in the
streets of New Orleans in February, 1866, and passed away
soon afterward. The American founder of the Leland family
was Henry Leland, an English gentleman, who came to this
country in 1652, and our subject is a direct descendant
through his son Ebenezer of Sherburne and his son Phineas
Eleazer of Grafton. A grand aunt of Mr. Henderson's was
Abigail Leland, who married Millard Fillmore, later
president of the United States. A great aunt, Elvira Leland,
married Charles Coolidge and became the great-grandmother of
Calvin Coolidge, now serving as vice president of the United
States. The mother of Mr. Henderson was a daughter of Judge
Sherman Leland, who was for many years probate judge of
Norfolk county, Massachusetts, and a member of both house
and senate of the state. He was widely recognized as a
representative member of the legal profession and as a
citizen was always interested in any movement for the
development and improvement of the general welfare. Mrs.
Henderson was a woman of superior education and for many
years, both before and after her marriage, was a teacher of
several languages, being able to speak and write them
fluently.
Until 1865 John Leland Henderson received his education by
use of a fine library, together with instruction from his
mother, who was his sole tutor till he entered the Jesuit
College of New Orleans, Louisiana. Later he was a student in
a military school at Brattleboro, Vermont, and was also for
some time enrolled in Cornell University, but upon the
completion of his freshman year there took up the profession
of teaching on the Pacific coast. In 1870 he came to Oregon,
locating in Portland, where he engaged in surveying. In 1871
he taught his first school in Eugene and afterward taught in
other places in the Willamette valley. In 1879 he moved to
Olympia, Washington, teaching in the Collegiate Institution.
In 1891 he went to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where his
ancestors had lived and there he studied law, being admitted
to the bar in 1893. He engaged in the practice of his
profession there and also conducted an abstract business
until 1898, when he returned to Oregon and was admitted to
practice before the bar of this state. He located in Hood
River, where he resumed his practice, remaining there for
eleven years, when he returned to Portland. In 1911 he
located in Tillamook, where he has since resided and has
gained recognition as a representative member of the legal
profession throughout the state. The zeal with which he has
devoted his energies to his profession, the careful regard
evinced tor the interests of his clients and an assiduous
and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases
have brought him a large business and made him very
successful in its conduct. In addition to his professional
interests he is secretary and treasurer of the Tillamook
Title & Abstract Company, one of the most complete
plants of its kind in the state.
In 1873 occurred the marriage of Mr. Henderson and Miss
Harriet E. Humphrey, a member of one of Oregon's
representative pioneer families, and they became the parents
of the following living children: Leland J., a successful
engineer of Columbus, Georgia, and the father of the famous
Dixie Highway, of which he is president; Louis A., who is a
graduate of the University of Oregon and served for fourteen
months as captain of engineers in France during the World
war; Edwin A., a journalist of Seattle, Washington; Sidney
E., a mining engineer, whose home is in Oklahoma and who
married Lucia, the only daughter of President P. L. Campbell
of the University of Oregon; and Faith, the wife of E. H.
Rueppell of Portland. In 1897 Mr. Henderson married Marian
I. Grimes of Rapids Parish, Louisiana, and two children have
been born to this union: Robert Lynn and William E. The
elder son served with the marines during the World war and
William joined the navy, making a fine record in the naval
school. He is now associated with his father in the
operation of a one hundred and sixty acre ranch, located at
Sugar Loaf Peak in Tillamook county. Mr. Henderson takes
particular pride in his six grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren and expects to live to see his
great-great-grandchildren.
Fraternally Mr. Henderson is an Odd Fellow and Knight of
Pythias, and he has filled all the chairs in both
organizations. He is likewise a Mason, having attained the
degrees in the chapter and council, and he is an exemplary
member of that order. He has always been a great athlete and
although he is now nearing the seventy mark, every Sunday he
walks to his ranch, a distance of seven miles, where he
works all day returning home on foot in the evening. He
holds many records as a swimmer and while living in Hood
River in 1908 swam the Columbia river from Hood River to
Cascade locks, a distance of twenty-two miles. Mr.
Henderson's life has been one of continuous activity and he
has attained success in every undertaking whether along the
line of his profession or in business circles. During the
ten years of his residence in Tillamook he has made many
friends who appreciate his sterling characteristics and
genuine personal worth, and he is readily conceded to be a
representative citizen of Oregon.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Hicks, William
WILLIAM WOLF HICKS, M. D.
Dr. William Wolf Hicks, a man of advanced scientific
attainments, who since April, 1909, has been engaged in the
practice of medicine and surgery at Junction City, was born
at Ligonier, Indiana, July 21, 1872, a son of William R. and
Barbara E. (Wolf) Hicks, the former a native of Yorkshire,
England, while the latter was born in Ohio. The father was
brought to America by his parents when but eight years of
age and in the schools of this country he pursued his
education. During the Civil war he proved his loyalty and
devotion to his adopted country by enlisting as a member of
the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio Infantry, with which
he served for over four years, participating in many hotly
contested battles and enduring many hardships and
privations. After the close of the war he went to Indiana
and there followed his trade of carpenter, builder and
cabinet-maker for several years, subsequently purchasing
land which he cleared and developed, erecting thereon
substantial barns and outbuildings and converting it into a
valuable property, which he operated the remainder of his
life. He became a man of prominence in his community and was
several times called to public office. He passed away in
March, 1913, at the age of seventy years, while the mother's
demise occurred in September, 1902, when she was fifty-nine
years of age.
William W. Hicks attended the district schools in Indiana
and later pursued a preparatory course in Wittenberg College
at Springfield, Ohio, after which he entered the College of
Physicians and Surgeons at Cincinnati, where he was a
student for three years, completing his fourth year in the
study of medicine at the State University of California at
Los Angeles. Actuated by the laudable desire to obtain a
good education, Dr. Hicks worked his way through college and
when he arrived in Oregon on the 8th day of July, 1902, his
cash capital consisted of but twenty dollars, of which
amount ten dollars was required for the state examination.
After his admission to practice he went to La Fayette,
Yamhill county, Oregon, and there he opened an office, but
remained only for a period of four months and then went to
Ashland, Oregon, where he practiced until 1905. For the next
two years he followed his profession at St. Johns, Oregon,
and then went to Silverton, there maintaining an office
until 1909. In that year he went to San Francisco and
completed a postgraduate course of six months in the College
of Physicians & Surgeons, thus promoting his proficiency
in his profession. In April, 1909, he located for practice
in Junction City, where he has remained. His long practice
and his close study have developed a high degree of
efficiency that places him in the front rank among the able
physicians and surgeons of his section of the state and his
practice is now extensive and of a most important character.
He is local surgeon for the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company and has ever kept in touch with the trend of modern
professional thought, research and investigation through
wide reading and study. Dr. Hicks has not limited his
attention to his professional activities, but is a man of
excellent business qualifications, identified with many of
the leading mercantile interests of his section of the
state, being a stockholder in the Lane County Fruit Growers
Association, the Pacific States Fire Insurance Company and
the Junction City Warehouse Company. He also has extensive
property holdings, being the owner of a valuable ranch of
one hundred and eighty-four acres and another comprising one
hundred and eighty-six acres, both in Lane county. They are
well improved farms and he is now leasing them and he is
likewise the owner of city property, which he leases. He
owns the building in which his office is situated and also
his residence, which consists of eight rooms and is one of
the finest and most modern homes in Junction City. He has
great faith in the future of this state, which he has
clearly demonstrated by his extensive investments in real
estate, in which he has met with an unusual degree of
success and has been instrumental in inducing several
families from his home state to locate in this region. He is
thoroughly familiar with the topography of the state and the
countless opportunities here offered to the man of energy,
ability and determination, and has made several trips over
the state, traversing the country with teams before the era
of the automobile, greatly appreciating the wonderful scenic
beauty of Oregon.
On the 28th of January, 1917, Dr. Hicks was united in
marriage to Miss Katherine E. Swank and they have a large
circle of friends in the city where they reside. The Doctor
is a republican in his political views and has ever been
interested in the welfare and progress of his community,
serving as a member of the town council. His religious faith
is indicated by his membership in the Christian church, and
his professional connections are with the Oregon State and
Central Willamette Medical Societies and the American
Medical Association. He is a patriotic and loyal American
and while a resident of Indiana was a member of Company C,
Indiana State Guard, with which he served for three years.
During the recent war with Germany he became a member of the
Volunteer Medical Corps, in which connection he rendered
most important and valuable service to the country, and he
was also active in promoting all local drives. Dr. Hicks is
numbered among the self-made men who owe their advancement
and prosperity directly to their own efforts, for he started
out in life empty-handed and by his perseverance has gained
the place which he now occupies as a distinguished member of
the medical profession, a progressive and enterprising
business man and a patriotic, public-spirited citizen.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Hovey, A. G.
Hon. A.G. Hovey
Eugene, Oregon
A.G. Hovey, son of Captain John and Abigail (Dusten) Hovey,
was born at Londonderry, New Hampshire, on the 11th of July,
1830. On his father's side he is connected with a family
long known and honored in the New England history, and his
mother was a descendant of Mrs. Hannah Dusten, who having
seen her husband and child murdered by their Indian captors,
made her escape after slaying several of the Indians with
their own tomahawks. The mother of the subject of this
sketch was a well educated and refined woman, justly
celebrated for her kindness of heart and wide charity. The
son was one of eight children, and received his education in
the historic town of Marietta, Ohio, to which place his
father moved when our subject was but a lad.
In 1849 he joined a company of twenty men to cross the
plains, and work the gold mines of California. They reached
St. Joseph, Mo., safely, but while there four of their
number succumbed to the cholera which raged so fiercely
among the emigrants at that time. They left St. Joseph in
April, and arrived in Sacramento city, Cal., in the
following October. They fitted themselves for the mines, and
located at Rhodis' Bar on the Cossumnie river during the
fall, and later went to the diggings at Longs' Hollow in the
Weaver district, where they spent the winter. Young Hovey
was not particularly lucky in his mining ventures, and not
being attracted by the class of men who made up the
community, he embarked for Oregon by steamer from San
Francisco, and landed at Portland in October, 1850. He went
up the Willamette valley, and after visiting the various
towns, located at Corvallis, where he taught the first
school, the term commencing in December. He worked for a
time for Hon. Wayman St. Clair, the pioneer merchant of the
town, and early in 1851 was appointed clerk of the United
States District Court for Benton county, by Judge O.C.
Pratt, and later was elected county clerk. During his
service in the courts Mr. Hovey studies law, and was
admitted to the bar in 1853, and later to practice before
the Supreme court of the State.
He never entered into the active practice of his profession,
however, but moved to his claim near Corvallis, where, from
1853 to 1862, he engaged in farming with considerable
success. in 1862 he was elected to the State Senate from
Benton county, and served in that capacity until 1867. In
1866 to moved to Portland, Ore., but remained there only one
year, and then went to Springfield, in Lane county, where he
engaged in milling and mercantile business until 1879. He
then removed to Eugene, in the same State, where, two years
later, he, with two associates, organized and established
the Lane County Bank, the firm being known as Hovey,
Humphrey & Co. Mr. Hovey was elected president of the
bank at the time of organization, and has held the office up
to the present time. He has always taken a deep interest in
all enterprises pertaining to the material welfare of the
section in which he resides, and has spent considerable time
and money in aiding public works, and is now taking a
leading part in the construction of a railroad between
Eugene and Suislan Coast.
Mr. Hovey was united in marriage in 1853 to Miss Mary Ellen
Mulkey, who died in 1861, and three years later he married
Miss Emily Humphery. They have three children, two sons and
one daughter.
An ardent Republican, Mr. Hovey has always taken a leading
part in politics, and has held many offices of honor and
trust, among which may be mentioned that of State Senator
and mayor of Eugene. He has been selected as a delegate of
the National Republican Convention a number of times, and
was appointed by President Harrison a member of the board of
visitors to the annual examinations at the U.S. Military
Academy at West Point in 1892. He has taken a great interest
in educational institutions, and was recently appointed a
member of the board of regents of the Oregon State
University, of which he has been treasurer for many years. A
man of strong convictions, he is positive in his character
and incorruptible integrity. He is an intelligent, useful
citizen, and justly takes rank as one of Oregon's leading
and representative men.
A Biographical
History with Portraits of Prominent Men of the Great
West
Manhattan Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1894
Contributed by Shauna Williams |
Jones, Walter
HON. WALTER B. JONES.
Hon. Walter B. Jones, a prominent attorney of Eugene and
representative from Lane county to the upper house of the
general assembly, was born in Waupaca county, Wisconsin,
November 5, 1879, a son of George G. and Adeline (Rogers)
Jones, also natives of the Badger state. The father followed
farming in Wisconsin until about 1891, when he came west and
is now living retired near Portland, Oregon. The mother
passed away in July, 1918.
Walter B. Jones acquired his preliminary education in the
schools of his native state and after completing the work of
the grades engaged in teaching school during the winter
months, while through the summer season he pursued the study
of law, thus continuing for three years. He then became a
student in the University of Wisconsin at Madison, working
his way through that institution, and later pursued a night
course in law at the University of Minnesota. In 1907 he was
admitted to the bar in Minnesota and subsequently went to
Spokane, Washington, where he became connected with the
Diamond Ice & Fuel Company, remaining with that firm for
a period of three years. In September, 1910, he came to
Oregon, opening a law office in Eugene, where he has since
followed his profession, and has won a place among the
leading attorneys of his part of the state. He is a strong
and able advocate, presenting his cause clearly and
forcefully and applying legal principles with accuracy. He
has built up a good clientele during his ten years'
residence in Eugene and is the possessor of a valuable law
library. In addition to his law practice Mr. Jones has
important business interests, being secretary and treasurer
of the John-Jones Coal Company of Coos county and one of the
directors of the American Universal Implement Company of
Portland.
On the 26th of December, 1903, Mr. Jones was united in
marriage to Miss Susie B. Seaver and they have become the
parents of six children, four of whom are deceased: Walter
B., Jr., died in Spokane, Washington, in 1907; Rodman died
in September, 1920; while two died in infancy. Those who
survive are Marjorie and George.
In politics Mr. Jones is a republican and in 1917 his fellow
townsmen, appreciative of his worth and ability, called him
to public office as representative from Lane county to the
lower house of the general assembly. That his services in
this connection were entirely satisfactory to his
constitutents is indicated in the fact that in 1919 he
elected to represent his county in the state senate, of
which he is proving an able member, giving earnest and
thoughtful consideration to all the vital questions which
come up for settlement. He likewise received the appointment
of juvenile officer and served in that capacity for four
years. Mr. Jones is also prominent in fraternal circles,
holding membership in the Masonic order, the Indepedent
Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the
Knights of Pythias, and he attends the Methodist Episcopal
church. For six years he served as secretary of the Lane
County Fair Association and thus in many ways has
substantially contributed to the development and upbuilding
of his city, county and state. Mr. Jones deserves great
credit for what he has accomplished in life, for he is a
self-made man who through his own efforts secured a college
education, and wisely utilizing each opportunity for
advancement is now entitled to classification with the
leading attorneys and representative citizens of his section
of the state.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922
|
Johnston, Clyde
Clyde N. Johnston, district attorney for Lane county, to
which office he was elected in the November, 1920, election,
is justly classed with the able lawyers of Oregon. He was
born in Logan, Hocking county, Ohio, September 19, 1886, a
son of Thomas and Josephine (Iles) Johnston, also natives of
the Buckeye state. The father was likewise an attorney, who
in the early days became a resident of Fostoria, Ohio, where
he engaged in the practice of his profession during the
remainder of his life, winning a place of distinction at the
bar of the state. He passed away in November, 1913, but the
mother survives.
Clyde N. Johnston was reared and educated at Fostoria, Ohio,
and subsequently entered the law school of the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he was graduated with the
class of 1908 with the LL. B. degree. He then became
associated with his father in practice at Fostoria, thus
continuing for one year, and in 1909 came west to Oregon.
For a year he taught school at Cove, Union county, and in
1910 and 1911 was in the employ of the Union Meat Company at
Portland. He was assistant principal of the high school at
Eugene from 1911 until 1915 and in the latter year removed
to Junction City, where he opened a law office. He has since
practiced his profession in this city and has built up a
good clientage, for he has displayed marked ability in the
conduct of intricate cases. In November, 1920, he was
elected to the office of district attorney for Lane county,
for which he was the nominee on both tickets. He is making
an excellent record in office, carefully safeguarding the
legal interests of his district and at all times proving
worthy of the trust reposed in him by his constituents.
Since 1915 he has also served in the office of city attorney
and is giving excellent satisfaction in that connection, his
ability in the line of his profession being widely
recognized. He prepares his cases with great earnestness,
thoroughness and care, presents his cause clearly and
cogently, and by reason of the unmistakable logic of his
deductions wins many cases.
On the 9th of September, 1908, Mr. Johnston was united in
marriage to Miss Grace Hollopeter, a daughter of Dr. Charles
and Eva (Hatfield) Hollopeter. the former a native of Ohio
and the latter of Kentucky. The father, who was a physician,
followed his profession in Fostoria for a number of years
and in 1903 came west to Oregon, opening an office in
Portland, where he successfully practiced his profession
during his remaining years. He passed away in 1917 and the
mother survived him for but a year, her death occurring in
1918. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have become the parents of two
children: Janet, who was born June 7, 1915; and Helen, born
April 10, 1918.
Mr. Johnston gives his political allegiance to the
republican party and has taken a most active and prominent
part in public affairs of his locality, serving for one term
as mayor of Junction City, and while a resident of Fostoria,
Ohio, he served for eight months as chief executive of the
city and also filled the office of justice of the peace.
Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks and along the line of his
profession he is identified with the Oregon State Bar
Association. His religious faith is indicated by his
membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. While residing
in Eugene Mr. Johnston devoted his summer vacation periods
to work as a member of the Fire Patrol in the interests of
the timber association and the government and during his
connection with the high school of that city he also acted
as athletic director. While the World war was in progress he
served as chairman of his committee for several local drives
and thus rendered valuable assistance in promoting the work
of the government. The activity of Mr. Johnston in relation
to the public welfare has thus been of wide scope. He has
ever been loyal to any public trust reposed in him and at
all times his record has been such as would bear the closest
investigation and scrutiny. He has ever conformed his
practice to the highest ethical standards of the profession
and Lane county numbers him among her most able attorneys
and valued citizens.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Kincaid, Harrison
HARRISON RITTENHOUSE KINCAID
The west has produced some of the nation's most virile
citizens. Few men of Oregon have been so widely known and
highly honored as Harrison Rittenhouse Kincaid, who for
sixty-seven years made his home within the borders of the
state, and as a journalist exerted a most marked influence
upon the development of the commonwealth, aiding in shaping
its policy and directing its destiny from an early period.
From the driver's seat of an old wagon, directing the course
of a team of oxen, he first viewed Oregon, having thus
journeyed across the plains with his parents when a youth of
seventeen years. For an extended period in his later life he
was connected with journalism as the editor and owner of the
Oregon State Journal and at various periods was called upon
to fill public office, at one time filling the position of
secretary of state.
Mr. Kincaid was born at Fall Creek, Indiana, January 3,
1836, and came of Scotch-Irish ancestry in the paternal
line. His father was a native of Virginia but removed to
Indiana in 1817, the year of the admission of that state
into the Union. It was still a frontier district and in the
midst of the forest he hewed out a farm and engaged in the
development of the fields for many years. His son, Harrison
R. Kincaid, was reared on the old homestead there and
pursued his early education in the country schools, dividing
his time between attendance at school and the work of the
fields. In 1853 the family severed the ties that bound them
to their Indiana home and started by ox teams across the
country to the Willamette valley of Oregon. The difficulties
and hardships of the trip were many. They had to carry
provisions for the entire way, as there was not a settlement
between the Missouri and Oregon City. By slow stages the
oxen plodded on over the long stretches of hot sand and
across the mountain ranges, H. R. Kincaid driving one of the
teams the entire distance. The family settled in Eugene and
from that time until his demise Mr. Kincaid made that city
his home. He was employed in the mines of southern Oregon in
1855, but the hostility of the Indians caused a
discontinuance of operations there and he then walked the
entire distance to Crescent City, California, where he cut
timber and made rails. Pioneer conditions necessitate much
hard labor, but Mr. Kincaid did not falter in his efforts to
gain a start in the business world. He worked for a time in
the mines and on ranches in the Sierra Nevada mountains and
also in the Sacramento valley and following his return to
Eugene in 1858 again gave his attention to farm labor for a
time.
Prompted by a laudable ambition Mr. Kincaid then entered
Columbia College and during the two years of his student
life there he was a classmate of Joaquin Miller, Judge J. F.
Watson, W. H. Byars, later surveyor general, and others who
became leaders in the political and public life of the
state. His initial step in the direction of the profession
to which he devoted the greater part of his life was made
when he entered the office of the People's Press in Eugene,
then the leading republican paper of the state. He learned
to set type and wrote nearly all of the editorials during
the Lincoln and Hamlin campaign and also canvassed the
country in support of the republican candidates. Prom that
time forward his progress as a newspaper man was continuous.
In 1862 he was on the editorial staff of the State
Republican and later was thus connected with the Union
Crusader. He had gained a wide reputation as an editorial
writer even before he issued the first number of the Oregon
State Journal, which came from the press on the 12th of
March, 1864. A contemporary writer said of him while he was
still an active factor in the world's work, in relation to
the Journal: "The course pursued by Mr. Kincaid in the
conduct of his paper has been one of candor, independence,
and consistency. Questions have been considered upon their
merits alone, and all personalities and attacks upon the
motives and private characters of individuals have been
discountenanced." He made the Journal a potent influence for
progress in the state along the lines of material,
intellectual, social, political and moral progress, and as a
private citizen and as an official as well as in his
editorial capacity did he seek to promote the public good.
Mr. Kincaid filled various public offices. He was for four
years county judge of Lane county and in 1868 became clerk
of the United States senate, filling the position for eleven
years and at the same time writing a weekly letter and most
of the editorials for his paper, besides acting as
Washington correspondent for the Oregonian, the Portland
Bulletin and other papers of the state. He advocated the
remonetization of silver in vigorous editorials in 1877,
when no other paper in Oregon was the champion of the cause,
and he continued to support the measure throughout his
remaining days. He was one of Oregon's six delegates to the
republican national convention in Chicago in 1868, when
Grant was nominated for his first term, and he was also a
delegate from Oregon to the national convention in
Philadelphia in 1872, when President Grant was renominated.
In 1870 Mr. Kincaid was made the candidate of the republican
party for state printer of Oregon and received the largest
vote of any man on the ticket, being defeated by his
democratic opponent by only four hundred and ninety-three
votes. He afterward received the unanimous support of the
one hundred and sixty-three delegates in the Lane county
republican convention for secretary of state of Oregon, and
at the state convention, which met in Portland in April,
1894, he was also the choice of a majority of the delegates
and at the succeeding election was chosen for the office,
which carried with it the duties of state auditor, state
insurance commissioner and member of all the state boards.
He entered upon the duties of the position January 14, 1895,
for a four years' term and his course fully justified the
faith that had been reposed in him by his fellow citizens
and members of the party throughout the state. He always
opposed class legislation and every scheme to confiscate
lands, property or money, whereby any person or. corporation
may live upon the savings of others.
On the 29th of September, 1873, Mr. Kincaid was married to
Miss Augusta A. Lockwood, a daughter of Stephen and Diana
Lockwood, of Macomb county, Michigan, and they became the
parents of a son, Webster L., who was born in Eugene,
Oregon, September 16, 1883. He was married January 22, 1909,
to Dorothy Catherine Hills, a daughter of J. A. Hills, and
they have two sons, Harrison R. and Webster L., Jr. Her
paternal grandfather was a pioneer of Oregon, having arrived
in the state in 1849. Webster L. Kincaid makes his home in
Laurelhurst and has his offices in the Henry building in
Portland.
Harrison R. Kincaid had become connected with large business
interests in both Eugene and Portland and was one of the
extensive taxpayers of Lane county. In all business affairs
and investments he manifested the same sound judgment that
made his opinions upon public questions those of wisdom.
Throughout his life he was keenly interested in everything
that had to do with the welfare of his city and state. He
gave to the University of Oregon its first printing plant
and was ever a stalwart champion of the institution. He
passed on to a ripe and honorable old age, his death
occurring when he was in his eighty-fourth year. His demise
was the passing of one whose life constituted a connecting
link between the primitive past and the progressive present,
and there was no man in all Oregon who contributed in more
substantial and effective measure to the progress of the
state. Recognizing that the newspaper publisher has a
greater scope of influence than most individuals, he was
extremely conscientious in expressing his opinions and at
all times attempted to follow a constructive policy with
regard to the individual and to the commonwealth.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Knox, O. F.
O. F. Knox, a hardware merchant of Cottage Grove, was born
in Schuyler county, Missouri, in 1845. His parents,
Samuel B. and Cynthia (Stockton) Knox, were natives of
Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively. Emigrating to
Missouri in 1843, Mr. Knox followed farming until 1853, when
with his wife and ten children he started for Oregon.
His outfit consisted of four wagons, sixteen yoke of oxen,
100 head of loose cattle and several fine mares. The
trip was successfully accomplished, losing very few cattle,
and landing in the Willamette valley, by the Barlow route,
in September. Spending the first winter at Lebanon, in
the spring of 1854 he came to Lane county and bought a claim
of 160 acres, two miles east of Cottage Grove, to which he
afterward added more than a thousand acres. He engaged
in the live-stock trade, and made a specialty of raising
fine horses. In 1876 Mrs. Knox died and he divided his
property among his children, with whom he is passing the
closing years of his life. O. F. Knox was educated in
the common schools, at Willamette University and at Monmouth
College, Polk county, where he graduated in 1871. He
lived with his parents until 1873, when he was married in
Polk county to Miss Sarah L. Churchill, who was also a
graduate of Monmouth College and a daughter of William
Churchill, pioneer of 1851. After marriage Mr. Knox
settled upon his farm of 370 acres, one mile east of Cottage
Grove and engaged in farming and the raising of live-stock,
keeping Cotswold sheep, graded Holstein cattle and a fine
breed of horses. Of his farm twelve acres are in hops,
100 acres in grain and the balance is in pasture land.
In 1881 he rented his farm and embarked in the butchering
business at Cottage Grove, which he followed for five
years. He then retired until 1890, when he formed a
co-partnership with I. M. White and opened a store for the
sale of stoves, tin and hardware, which he still conducts.
Mr. and Mrs. Knox are the parents of six children: Mamie,
Lottie, Roy, Duke, Lizzie and Frank. Mr. Knox is a
member of the Knights of Pythias, is the present Mayor of
cottage Grove and is a representative citizen of the
commonwealth.
An Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893 |
Lockwood, Charles
Charles E. Lockwood, assistant United States Attorney, is a
native of the State of Pennsylvania, born at Pittsfield,
Warren county, June 14, 1866. His father, Olvin A.
Lockwood, was a prominent business man and a leading
merchant of that city. His mother, Barbara (Dalrymple)
Lockwood, was descended from one of the old and
distinguished families of the Keystone State. Mrs.
Lockwood died in 1871, and the following year Mr. Lockwood
removed to Northfield, Rice county, Minnesota, where he was
engaged in mercantile pursuits for two years. At the
end of that time he removed to California and after living a
short time in that State, he settled in Roseburg, Oregon, in
1876. In 1878 he located at Eugene, where he still
resides.
Charles E. Lockwood is the youngest of three children, he
having two sisters, Minnie L. Washburne and Mrs. W. T.
Eakin, residing at Eugene. His primary education was
received in the district schools of Minnesota, and later he
attended the common schools of California and Oregon; he
graduated from the public schools at Eugene in 1881, and
then entered the Oregon State University; his studies were
carried on there, with some interruptions, until 1886, when
he took up the study of law in the office of this
brother-in-law, Judge George S. Washburne, a prominent
member of the bar; he studied law and continued the studies
of which he was making a specialty at the university, until
January, 1889, when he was appointed Clerk of the Public
Land Committee of the Oregon Senate. In March 1889, he
resumed his law studies in the office of Dolph, Bellinger,
Mallory & Simon, at Portland and with A. C. Woodcock, at
Eugene, and also took a course in the law department of the
Oregon State University, and later was graduated
therein. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1889,
before the Supreme Court at Salem, after which he located at
Portland and engaged in the practice of his profession.
Upon the recommendation of the United States Attorney, F. P.
Mays, and the Oregon delegation in Congress, in September
1890, Mr. Lockwood was appointed by the Attorney General of
United States , Assistant United States Attorney, for the
District of Oregon, and is now engaged in the discharge of
the duties of that office. He has made a most
efficient officer, and is rapidly winning a position among
the prominent members of the bar of the State. He
belongs to Willamette Lodge, No. 2, A. F. & A. M., and
for several years has been an active member of the Oregon
National Guard. He is a young man of superior ability,
and has every prospect of gaining prominence in his
profession.
An Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893 |
Martin, Nathaniel
Nathaniel Martin, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits at
Royal, Lane County, Oregon, was born in Martin County,
Indiana, May 2, 1828. His father, Jesse Martin, a Virginian
by birth, removed to Indiana in his boyhood, and there grew
to mature years. He married Miss Catherine Harris, and they
continued to reside there until 1832, then moved to
Illinois, during which time he followed farming. In the year
1843 they moved to Missouri, then a wild country, with few
settlers, but many Indians. Nathaniel Martin remained with
his parents until 1847, when he was united in marriage with
Miss Nellie Allen. After this event he settled on a farm of
160 acres in Gentry county, Missouri. In 1857, with his wife
and four children, he crossed the plains to California; they
experienced many difficulties on the way, and much sickness
prevailed among the company. It was, however, their good
fortune to be just ahead of the terrible Mountain Meadow
massacre. They landed in Red Bluff, Tehama county, on the
15th day of November; in the fall of 1857 they pushed on to
the Rogue river valley, where Mr. martin resumed work at his
old trade of blacksmithing. In 1860 he went to Eugene, which
was then a small village, and followed his trade there for
four years; at the end of this period he moved to his
homestead north of Cottage Grove; in the spring of the
following year, he abandoned this claim and went to Cottage
Grove, where he went to work at his trade.
The name Cottage Grove originated with the post office first
established at Fern Ridge, twelve miles distant; as it was
moved from one ranch to another, the name always went with
it. Mr. Martin became Postmaster upon his homestead; in the
spring of 1865, with his private effects, he moved the
office to the present site of Cottage Grove, where he kept
the office in his blacksmith shop. He built the first
business house in the place, and was the first Justice of
the Peace, retaining the office ten years. In 1868 he bought
160 acres of land, five miles west of Cottage Grove, and
divided his time between his ranch and shop. In 1874 he
located permanently upon the ranch, which he was since
increased to 215 acres.
Mr. Martin was elected to the State Legislature by the
Republican party in 1872, and served on term, discharging
his duties with marked ability. The summer of 1873 was spent
on a Government survey in Lake county. In 1884 he was
instrumental in having a post office located at his ranch,
called Royal, and he continued his charge as postmaster.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin are the parents of seven children:
Willard H., Jesse, Eleanor C., wife of A.J. Barlow; John S.,
Joel R., Ulysses S., Nathaniel H., all of whom are married
and settled in life. These worthy parents were born the same
year, in the same county, cared for by the same nurse, and
lived in the same community to the date of their marriage.
They are still in the enjoyment of excellent health, and are
surrounded by all the comforts of the Nineteenth century
civilization.
An Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893
Contributed by Shauna Williams |
Mays, Franklin
Franklin P. Mays, United States
Attorney for the District of Oregon, is a native of the
State, born in Lane county, May 12, 1855.
His father, Hon. Robert Mays, now Mayor of Dalles
city, was a native of Tennessee, but went to Illinois when
a boy, and there attained mature years, being reared on
his father's farm. In 1849 he
was married to Miss Lodemma Fowler, and in 1852 they
joined the tide of Western emigration, and after a
wearisome journey of six months arrived at the Dalles;
they went down the Columbia river to Portland, and in the
spring of 1853, took up a donation claim in Lane county. In 1858, Mr. Mays removed to
Wasco county and engaged in stock-farming.
He is still in that business although since 1873 he
has resided in the Dalles. Franklin
P.
Mays
is the third of a family of eight children.
His education was secured under the difficulties
that strongly characterize every pioneer community; the
school session seldom lasted as much as three months
during the year, and the rest of the time he devoted to
farm labor. Until he was
seventeen years of age his opportunities were limited to
the log schoolhouse, but he then entered Willamette
University, as was graduated at the institution June 1,
1876. In the fall of 1877, he
entered the office of Judge William Lair Hill, a
distinguished jurist then at the Dalles; each summer he
attended to his usual duties at the stock-ranch, but
diligently continued his studies, and was admitted to the
bar before the Supreme Court, January 9, 1880. He then formed a partnership
with Judge Hill at the Dalles, which existed until 1886;
in July of that year it was dissolved on account of the
removal of Judge Hill to Oakland. The
firm
of May, Huntington & Wilson was soon after formed, and
still exists at the Dalles.
In February, 1890, Mr. Mays received
the appointment of United States Attorney, and since that
date has temporarily resided at Portland.
He was married at the Dalles, January
31, 1884, to Miss Genevieve G. Wilson, also a native of
Oregon, and a daughter of the late Judge Joseph F. Wilson,
a pioneer of 1852, Judge Wilson became prominent upon the
bench as Circuit and Supreme Judge, and also represented
the State in Congress. Mr.
and Mrs. Mays are the parents of two children: Wilson P.
and Genevieve G.
Politically, Mr. Mays has been a staunch Republican from his
boyhood, ever ready to advance his party's interests, but
not an office-seeker. He was a
delegate at large to the convention at Chicago, which
nominated Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and was the State
Delegate on the committee selected to notify Mr. Harrison of
his nomination for President of the United States. He was the first native-born
citizen of the State of Oregon elected as a delegate to
attend a National convention, and the first native son to
fill the position of the United States Attorney.
An Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893 |
Millican, Ada
ADA BRADLEY MILLICAN
Ada Bradley Millican, widow of George Millican and daughter
of Kennon Wittand Elizabeth (Pierce) Bradley, was born in a
log cabin on a dairy ranch, between Petaluma and Tamallis
Bay, Marin county, California, March 14, 1858. Her father
was a native of Tennessee, receiving his education in the
south. He crossed the plains by ox team from Missouri to
Oregon in 1851 and was the first settler on a government
donation land claim in Coles valley, Douglas county, Oregon.
Besides being a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal
church for a number of years, Mr. Bradley taught the first
school in Coles valley. Among his pupils was Elizabeth
Pierce, whose parents crossed the plains from Illinois in
1852. En route the oxen gave out and Elizabeth walked part
of this great distance. In the little log schoolhouse with
its dirt floor, Elizabeth occupied the seat of honor, a huge
flat-topped rock. Their associations as teacher and pupil
developed a romance and a few years later they were married
and moved to California.
When Mrs. Millican was an infant her parents came back into
Oregon, locating this time near Albany in Linn county, where
Ella (Mrs. Busey), now living with Mrs. Millican, was born.
In the spring of '65 the Bradley family moved to Walla
Walla, Washington, returning a few years later to Coles
valley, Oregon, at which place Mr. Bradley died in 1874.
Ada Bradley received her education in the district schools
of Coles valley, with the exception of one term at Wilbur
Academy, which was spent in the preparatory department. At
the age of sixteen years she began teaching in the country
schools of Oregon, teaching in Douglas, Linn, and Lane
counties for some years. At that time the average school
term was three months and the salary twenty-five dollars per
month and "boarding 'round." Ada spent part of her vacations
in clerking and keeping books in a country store. She was a
pioneer along that line, as teaching school, housework at
two dollars to two dollars and fifty cents per week, and
marriage, were the only avenues open to women at that time.
On September 23d, 1881, Ada Bradley was married to George
Millican at Eugene, Oregon. Several years were spent at
Salem, Eugene, and at the farm on the McKenzie. A son, Scott
Bradley, was born May 18th, 1890, in Eugene. This son died
in 1892. After losing their home on the McKenzie she began
teaching again in the rural schools of Linn and Lane
counties. In October, 1899, she entered the Government
Indian school department, where she taught in training
schools and on Indian reservations, in the activities of
academic, economic, and industrial occupations for six
years. During that time she was at the following places:
Whiterock, Utah, Yuma, Arizona, and Sacoton, Arizona, also
Cushman (Tacoma), Washington.
During her associations with the Indians Mrs. Millican made
what is possibly the best individual collection of Indian
curios, along historical lines, in the northwest. Among
these are several pieces of pre-historic pottery, implements
and jewelry secured from the Pima Indians, on whose
reservation are some of the oldest pre-historic ruins in the
United States. This collection, which is comprised of
specimens from eighty-seven different tribes was secured
mostly from the Indians direct, except her Alaskan
collection.
A source of great interest and pleasure to Mrs. Millican is
working for the advancement and social welfare of the Red
man. She is also a strong advocate for the preservation of
the Indian names given our towns and natural locations in
the west. "Preservation of Indian nomenclatures is," she
says, "my hobby."
Mrs. Millican has had time among her other activities for
the study of art and literature. A large collection of her
paintings and sketches adorn the walls of her Wigwam in
Prineville. She has been a contributor to many newspapers
and periodicals. One of her best literary works is the
"Heart of Oregon or Legend of the Wascos," which was
published in 1914. She is considered an authority on
questions dealing with Indians on the Pacific coast and for
years was the only woman member of the Indian Rights
Association from Oregon. Mrs. Millican has also been a
member of the American Folk Lore Society and the
International Society of Archaeologists, and she took active
part in woman's club work, both local and state. She was a
charter member of the Woman's Republican Patriotic League at
Eugene. Oregon, organized at the time of President
McKinley's election. She is a charter member of the Shu-mi-a
Club, which she had the honor of naming, and also a member
of the Ladies Annex, both Prineville organizations. At
Millican she organized among the women homesteaders and
named. The Sku-Ke-Leek Club and in Prineville she organized
the Civic Improvement Brigade among the children, this
organization being the first to clean up the town.
Mrs. Millican was the first woman in clubdom to put Central
Oregon on the map. being the first delegate to the State
Federation of Women's Clubs, which she represented for seven
years. In 1916 she represented Oregon at the National
Federation of Women's Clubs, which was held in New York. She
has served as chairman of the literature committee, also on
the art and legislative committees of the State Federated
Clubs, for a number of years, and at present is chairman of
the Indian Welfare department.
A lifelong worker for equal suffrage, Mrs. Millican was
president of the Crook County Association when the bill was
passed. Crook county at that time comprised Deschutes,
Jefferson and Crook counties. While interested in working
for the political interests of the country both local and
national, Mrs. Millican never ran for office, but was
elected justice of the peace in Millican precinct and served
numerous times on election boards.
For many years Mrs. Millican has been an active church
member, joining the Methodist Episcopal church at Eugene In
1885. She is a member and has held all of the offices in the
fraternal order of the Women of Woodcraft. In 1920, she
entered the University of Oregon at Eugene and took up
special studies for a time.
With these many activities along social and civic lines, and
the constant working for the betterment of conditions
surrounding those less fortunate than herself. Mrs. Millican
has been an outdoor woman, enjoying nothing better than
mountain climbing, hunting and shooting game, and riding the
range — the all-around typical western woman.
History of Oregon:
Volume III
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company; Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Millican, George
GEORGE MILLICAN
George Millican, one of the outstanding pioneers of Oregon,
was born near Otsego, New York, November 22, 1834, of
Scotch-English parentage. His mother was born in Edinburg,
Scotland, and her maiden name was Scott, a descendant of the
Scott clan of Scotland. His father, Robert, was born in
England. After their marriage they immigrated to the United
States and settled in New York. Their family consisted of
three children the eldest of whom was George. Robert, three
years younger, came to Oregon when a young man, by way of
the Isthmus of Panama, and settled on the McKenzie river,
where he married, and continued to live until his death a
few years ago. The third child, a daughter, married a man by
the name of Smock in Indiana, where she lived and spent most
of her life. At an early age their father was killed by a
falling tree, after which, the widow moved to Madison,
Indiana, where she educated her children. Being a woman of
strong religious convictions, she had her children reared in
the faith of her fathers.
Madison was the seat of Hanover College, a Scotch
Presbyterian Institution. The only education George ever
received was a few years attendance at this college, where
preparatory instruction was given at an early age. His
adventurous spirit tiring of the prosy, staid surroundings
of his home, he sought the west, and engaging with emigrants
going west, he was paid to assist in driving a band of
cattle across the plains to Sacramento valley, California.
Accompanying him on the journey was a faithful shepherd dog,
Nellie, whom he took boyish delight in training, and she was
able to perform feats almost unbelievable. Upon arrival at
the Yuba River Gold Mines, he learned that his was the only
shepherd dog in northern California, but that a male
shepherd dog had been shipped around the Horn and was in the
southern part of the state. Nellie’s ability to handle sheep
was the admiration and cause of much gambling among the
miners. Nellie, however, was but one of the many dogs
trained by Mr. Millican. Throughout Mr. Millican's
experience in northern California, and eastern Oregon, he
was widely known for his ability to train and handle dogs.
He spent a great deal of time and money in the selection and
the breeding of his dogs, and showed great skill and ability
in the training of them.
Mr. Millican began working in the mines, and said: "I worked
first with a rocker, and later with a long Tom. I struck
rich ground on Rabbit creek. I averaged nearly twenty
dollars per day. Of course this average was brought up by
the fact that I struck a pocket of coarse gold and nuggets,
from which I took out eighteen hundred dollars in a few
hours. From there I went to the Yreka country, in 1854,
mining on Deadwood, Indian creek. Green Bug, Humbug, Scotts
Bar, Trinity, and Happy camp. I stayed in the the mines
there until 1861, when I went to the Nez Perce country,
Idaho, coming by way of Jacksonville, thence up through the
Umpqua and Williamette valleys to Portland, and from
Portland to Walla Walla, thence across the Snake river, at
the mouth of Clearwater. I went first to Oro Fino, then to
Pierce City, and later with a party of seven men, shared in
the discovery of Florence." Among the miners was Dr. Furbur
of Yreka, who was very popular with the boys. He had a
daughter, eighteen years old, and they voted to name the
mines Florence, in honor of his daughter.
In 1862 he went to San Francisco, taking out his gold dust
and selling it at the United States mint for about fifteen
thousand dollars. That fall he came to Eugene, settled on
the McKenzie river, sixteen miles east of Eugene, and next
year he was married to Susan Ritchey. Of this union, three
children were born. Madella and Margaret were born on the
McKenzie farm. In 1863 he made his initial trip to central
Oregon in the Ochoco valley, making a trail and accompanying
Captain Crouch of Douglas county, who was making a trip
across the Cascades, on a military expedition to Boise,
Idaho. He later returned to Lane county, and helped lay out
the wagon road across the McKenzie, which was subsequently
made a toll road, known as the Willamette valley. Salt
Spring, and Cascade Wagon road. He was identified with the
building and upkeep of this road until later it was turned
over to Lane county.
In 1868 he crossed the mountains with a band of cattle,
which was the first taken into the Crooked River country,
and settled on McKay creek, two and one-half miles from the
present site of Prineville, Oregon. He established the heart
brand for his cattle and horses, which brand he run until he
sold out five years before his death. Coming into this
central Oregon country the same year, were seven other men
who spent the winter together. They had some trouble with
roaming tribes of Indians, who infested this country. He
later moved his family out where his son Walter was born in
1870. He was the first white male child born in central
Oregon. After returning to Lane county, a post office was
established, of which he was the postmaster for a number of
years. He named the place Walterville, in honor of his son.
The country where Prineville now stands, the Ochoco and
Crooked River bottoms were waving fields of bunch and rye
grass, and said he, "Where I established my stock ranch at
this place, it was a stock man's paradise, and I was, like
Crusoe, monarch of all I surveyed! There were no fences nor
need of them at that time, other than corrals. I raised
cattle and horses out here, and made semi-annual trips,
driving them to my place on the McKenzie, from which place I
marketed them. In the hard winter following the bones of my
stock were bleaching on the lands about Prineville. We used
to have lively times in that country in later days, when the
Vigilantees and moonshiners operated."
"In those early days the nearest trading point was The
Dalles, one hundred and twenty miles away, where we got our
mail." He used to go to Eugene for his mail and supplies. It
usually took about two weeks to make the trip. Civilization
increasing, and the town getting too close, in 1886 he
relocated on the old river bed near Pine mountain, some
thirty-five miles south of Prineville, and twenty-seven
miles east of Bend, where the post office of Millican is
located. His wife died on the McKenzie, in 1875. In 1879 he
bought in with a leading meat market on Slate street in
Salem, Oregon, where he continued in business, later selling
out to the late Ed. Cross. This was not a paying investment.
On September 23, 1881, George Millican was married to Miss
Ada Bradley, at Eugene. Oregon. To this union a son, Scott
Bradley, was born at Eugene, Oregon, in 1890. Mr. Millican
devoted all his time to the raising of cattle and horses,
and development of his ranch at this place. In 1873 he left
the farm on the McKenzie, now owned by his nephew, Oscar
Millican, and, taking his full blooded Herefords, the first
to be brought to Oregon (England's Sovereign and Countess of
Bedford imported from England and Augusta), shipped from
Indiana some good graded Durhams
and graded Clyde horses, devoting his time to the raising of
cattle and horses. He bought "Wedmore," a full blooded Clyde
stallion, a prize winner, from the Ladd farm in Portland.
This horse headed his horses and was the veteran of the
range for over seventeen years. During this time he added
several imported full blooded Shire stallions to his herd. A
two thousand dollar stallion was stolen off the range during
the time of trouble with cattle and horse rustlers, which
raged for over six years. Mr. Millican arrested and
convicted a number of both cattle and horse rustlers, who
were sent to and served time at the state penitentiary. He
bred and raised the largest range horses in the state. He
continued in the stock industry, operating ranches at
Millican and Bear creek, some twenty-five miles distant, up
to and during the time when the homesteaders, taking up the
three hundred and twenty acres under the dry homestead laws
settled on the High Desert. The Millicans, on account of
having the only water available, were obliged to keep the
travel for about five years.
The Millican valley was settled by homesteaders, whom he
furnished with water until a short time before disposing of
his holdings. When prospective settlers would come into the
country and questioned Mr. Millican as to the prospect of
the development of this country from a stock range to an
agriculture country, he always replied that owing to
scarcity of water and high altitude it was unadvisable.
Locaters, reaping a rich harvest, continued to ply their
trade, settling up the Millican valley, Hampton valley.
Glass Butte valley, Fort Rock and the whole High Desert
country. Many settlers, who were unable to convert "the
desert to blossom as the rose" would stop on their way out
and say, "Mr. Millican, you are the only one here who told
us the truth, as to conditions out here in this homesteading
country. We thought and were told by locaters that you and
such men as the Loganes and Bill Brown wanted this country
for your stock ranges." The deserted shacks of most of this
country have verified Mr. Millican's predictions.
With the advent of homesteaders the Millican post office,
Millican School district and Millican voting precinct were
established. The first sermon ever preached on the High
Desert was at the Millican Inn, by a Baptist colporter,
traveling through the country.
The Millicans continued in the stock business until 1916,
when he sold out his ranch holdings of about eighteen
hundred acres, and stock to Frank Sloan of Stanfield,
Oregon. Afterward he thought of locating in Portland, buying
a home there, but a residence of over fifty years in central
Oregon, where most of his life was spent, and amidst the
friends and early pioneers of Prineville, he preferred to
live until over-taken by the illness which uncomplainingly
he endured for over six months, until his death on November
25, 1919. He was buried in the Odd Fellows’ cemetery, near
the campus of the University of Oregon, at Eugene, Oregon.
Leaving the ranks of the earliest pioneers of central
Oregon, it might be fittingly said of him, "He had abiding
faith in the honesty of his fellowman, and pioneering, as
was his preference, he unafraid laid down his life, among
his friends and surrounded by the evidences of a work well
done."
History of Oregon:
Volume III
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company; Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Milliorn, T. A.
T. A. Milliorn, one of the representative citizens of
Junction City, was born in Campbell county, Virginia, in
August, 1828, a son of John and Mary W. (Lee)
Milliorn, who were also Virginians by birth. The father was
a wagon-maker by trade, and also paid some attention to
agriculture; in 1833 he removed to Monroe county, Tennessee
where he lived until 1843, removing then to Jackson county,
Missouri. He crossed the plains in 1852, and arriving
in Oregon he located a donation claim one mile west of
Junction City, and engaged in farming.
Our subject remained with his parents until he had attained
his majority; he had learned the wagon-maker's trade, and
manufactured the vehicle, in which he and three companions
crossed the plains to California, in the summer of
1849. The trip was fraught with the usual hardships
and dangers; on Feather river they were caught in a
snowstorm, and preserved the lives of their oxen by feeding
them bread and bacon cooked together. They pushed ahead, and
reaching Lawson's they sold their cattle, and digging out
canoes, went down the river to Sacramento City. Here
they built a skiff, and went up the Sacramento river to
Marysville, where Mr. Milliorn went to work at carpentering
at $12 per day; for three months he followed this
occupation, and then went to the mines on Trinity river,
where he passed the summer, making from $15 to $18 per day.
In the fall of 1850, he bought a pack-train of sixteen
animals, and until 1852 packed from Colusa to Trinity and
Yreka mines. July 12, 1852, he arrived in the Willamette
valley, and took up a claim west, of Junction, on which his
father settled later in the year; he then made another claim
of 160 acres, which became the site of Junction City, and
later added 140 acres by purchase. In 1870 he sold ninety
acres to Ben Holladay for railroad purposes, and afterward
laid out several additions to the town, until the original
claim and purchase are reduced to forty acres. He owns
136 acres, three miles southeast of the town, where he has
been engaged in agriculture; he has also followed his trade
at Junction City. In 1888 he rented his land, and retired
from the arduous labors, which had for so many years
consumed his time and energies.
Mr. Milliorn was married in Lane county in 1863, to Miss
Eliza K. Aubrey, a daughter of T. N. Aubrey, a pioneer of
1850. Mrs. Milliorn died in 1877, leaving four children:
Nina A., wife of D. C. Gore; Cora Lee, wife of William Burt;
Frank B., an extensive stock-dealer in eastern Oregon; and
James B., who died when nearly seven years old. In 1878, Mr.
Milliorn married Miss Mary L. Hill, a native of Iowa, and
the result of this union is two children: Effie Gertrude and
Merle. Politically, Mr. Milliorn affiliates with the
Democratic party, but he has always confined his energies to
private affairs. He is a member of the Masonic order, and in
both business and social circles he is highly respected by
the entire community.
An Illustrated
History of The State of Oregon
Rev. H. K. Hines, D. D.
The Lewis Publishing Company; 1893 |
Morse, Percy
PERCY M. MORSE
Percy M. Morse, county surveyor of Lane county, was born in
Rochelle, Illinois, October 30, 1876, his parents being Amos
A. and Ellen (Keeney) Morse, natives, respectively, of New
Jersey and of Michigan. It was while residing in his native
state that the father volunteered for service in the Civil
war, but as he had not yet attained his majority and his
mother was dependent upon him for support, his offer was not
accepted by the government. Going to Illinois he there
became connected with railroading, thus continuing until
1889, when he was appointed general freight agent for the
Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company at Portland,
Oregon, discharging the duties of that position in a most
capable and efficient manner until 1914, or for a period of
twenty-five years. He then retired, but not being content to
lead a life of inactivity. he is now with the Northwestern
National Bank of Portland, having charge of the safety
deposit vaults. Although seventy-six years of age he is
still possessed of both mental and physical vigor and his
life has been one of activity and usefulness. The mother
also survives and is now seventy-two years of age.
Percy M. Morse was reared and educated in Rochelle and
Rockford, Illinois, and later became a student in the high
school at Portland, Oregon, from which he was graduated with
the class of 1897. The following year he enlisted for
service in the Spanish-American war, becoming a member of
the Second Oregon Volunteer Regiment, with which he went to
the Philippines. In March. 1899, he received his discharge
and subsequently became connected with the Oregon Railroad
& Navigation Company, remaining in the service of that
corporation for a period of seven years. Subsequently he
entered the employ of the Pacific Railroad & Navigation
Company, having charge of construction work at Tillamook,
Oregon, for one and a half years. From 1909 until 1916 he
was city engineer at Hood River, Oregon, and then became
connected with the Eugene Ice & Storage Company at
Eugene, with which company he remained tor a year. Later he
acted as deputy surveyor of Lane county for a period of two
years, while for the past year he has filled the office of
county surveyor, ably discharging the responsible duties
which devolve upon him in this connection.
Mr. Morse was married in June, 1903, to Miss Margaret
Godfrey and they have become the parents of four daughters,
namely: Elizabeth, Katherine, Marion and Maggie Lee.
In politics Mr. Morse is a republican and he has labored
earnestly for the success of the party. He is a member of
the American Association of Civil Engineers and his
religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. His
labors have ever been of a constructive nature, contributing
in large measure to the work of improvement and upbuilding
in various sections of the state, and his sterling worth of
character is recognized by all with whom he has been
associated.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company; Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Murphy, John
JOHN E. MURPHY
John E. Murphy, a veterinarian of Junction City, where he is
also operating in real estate, in which connection he is
contributing in substantial measure to the upbuilding and
improvement of his community, is a native son of Wisconsin,
his birth having occurred in Pleasant Valley, St. Croix
county, January S, 1864. He is a son of Edward J. and Mary
Ann (McCue) Murphy, both of whom were born in Ireland. The
paternal grandfather passed his entire life in his native
country and following his demise the grandmother emigrated
with her family to the new world, Edward J. Murphy being at
that time but eight years of age. On leaving the eastern
metropolis she made her way westward, establishing their
home in Wisconsin. With courageous spirit she undertook the
task of rearing her family in a strange country and was
privileged to see her children attain to manhood and
womanhood, passing away at St. Paul, Minnesota, at the very
venerable age of ninety-seven years. Edward J. Murphy
attended school in Wisconsin and on reaching mature years
engaged in the occupation of farming, which he continued to
follow in that state the remainder of his life, meeting
death in a runaway accident in 1897. The mother, who had
been brought to this country by her parents when but six
years of age, survived him for nearly two decades, her
demise occurring in 1917.
John E. Murphy was reared and educated in St. Croix county,
Wisconsin, and resided at home until he reached the age of
twenty-eight years. After a year's absence he returned and
rented the home farm, which he operated for five years. On
the expiration of that period he went to North Dakota,
taking up land near Bowbells, which he developed and
improved, continuing to reside on his farm for nine years.
He then came to Oregon and turned his attention to the
practice of veterinary surgery at Junction City, having
previously purchased land near the town. In April, 1920, he
became identified with business interests of his community,
opening a real estate office, in which connection he is
building up a good patronage. He is a firm believer in the
future of this section of the country and through extensive
advertising is endeavoring to induce residents of the east
to locate here, thus greatly promoting the upbuilding and
advancement of his community. He still engages to some
extent in the practice of veterinary surgery, which,
however, owing to the extensive use of the automobile, has
become a somewhat limited field, and he is also the owner of
two valuable farms which he leases, having retained
possession of his North Dakota land. He is a progressive,
wide-awake and energetic business man, whose plans are well
formulated and promptly executed and in his vocabulary there
is no such word as fail.
On the 28th of January, 1901, Mr. Murphy was united in
marriage to Miss Rose C. Movius and they have become the
parents of six children: Edward Lee, Mary L., Bernadetta I.,
James V., Willard J. and Rose Elizabeth.
In his political views Mr. Murphy is a democrat and he has
taken an active and prominent part in the public affairs of
his community, serving as mayor of Junction City in 1912 and
1913. His administration was a most progressive and
businesslike one and during his incumbency in the office of
chief executive of the city many needed improvements were
made, including the paving of all streets and the
establishment of a new lighting system by granting a
franchise to the Oregon Power Company. His fraternal
connections are with the Modern Woodmen of America and the
Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, and his religious faith is
indicated by his membership in the Catholic church. Mr.
Murphy ever stands for all that is progressive in
citizenship and has contributed in marked measure to the
upbuilding, development and prosperity of the community in
which he resides. He is a man of high personal standing, of
marked business integrity and ability, and the sterling
worth of his character is recognized by all with whom he has
been associated.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company; Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
Nelson, Thomas
THOMAS NELSON
To many people in smaller communities and country districts
the local newspaper is not only a cheerful companion and
interesting entertainer, but often friend and adviser.
A paper which posses all of these qualifications is the
Junction City Times, which under the able direction of
Thomas Nelson has developed into one of the best and most
influential newspapers in this section of the state, its
editorial policy being consistent and to the point.
Mr. Nelson was born in Young America, Illinois, April 16,
1870, a son of James H. and Caroline (Snodgrass) Nelson, the
former a native of Kentucky and the later of Illinois.
In Illinois the father worked at his trade of plasterer, but
attracted to the west, he went to Colorado at an early
period in the settlement of that state and there followed
his trade for many years. He was greatly interested in
mining and prospecting and devoted a large portion of his
life to that pursuit. He was an honored veteran of the
Civil War, enlisting as a member of the Tenth Illinois
Infantry, with which command he served for a year and a
half, when he was discharged on account of illness.
The last years of his life were spent with his son Thomas
and he passed away at Cambridge, Idaho, May 8, 1915.
The mother, however, survives and is now residing in
California.
Thomas Nelson pursued his education in the schools of
Boulder, Colorado, later attending the State University and
also a business college. While a student at the
university he learned the printer's trade and after
completing his course he went to California, where he worked
at his trade for about a year. In 1888 he came to
Oregon, accepting a position of foreman on the Daily
Reveille, published at Baker City, with which he was
connected for four years. On the expiration of that
period he went to Portland, Oregon, and for about eight
months he was employed on the Oregonian and then went to
John Day, in the eastern part of the state, where he
established a paper of his own. After two years he
sold out, going to Heppner, Oregon, for a time working at
his trade, but subsequently leased a plant, which he
operated for a year. From there he went to Pendleton,
Oregon, and there conducted a job office until 1896, when he
purchased a paper at Cambridge, Idaho, continuing its
operation until 1919. His next removal took him to
Eugene, where he ran a job office until October 1919, at
which time he came to Junction City and purchased the
Junction City Times, which he is now managing. He has
greatly improved the plant, which at the time of his
purchase was located in a small building. Moving into
a large modern building, he thoroughly revolutionized the
plant, installing all the latest presses and linotype
machines and in fact every appliance to be found in the most
modern plants in the country. He has greatly increased
the size of his paper, changing it from four to an
eight-page publication, which is not only representative of
first-class typography but also excels on account of its
terse style in setting forth the news events of the section
in which it circulates. Its local columns are full of
interest and the general news of the world is clearly and
completely given. The principal policy of the Times
has been to serve the public promptly and well and that Mr.
Nelson has succeeded is evident from the large circulation
which his publication enjoys. All those who advertise
in its columns find it worth their while and consider the
investment for an advertisement in this paper a
comparatively small outlay which is many time redeemed by
the assured returns.
On the 28th of May, 1916, Mr. Nelson was united in marriage
to Miss Bertha Watrous and the have become the parents of
two children: Thomas Vardell, whose birth occurred in
February 1917; and Eugene Henry, born May, 1919.
In his political views, Mr. Nelson is a republican and his
religious faith is indicated by his attendance at and
support of the Methodist Episcopal church. His
fraternal connections are with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the United Artisans and the Woodmen of the World
and along the line of his profession he is identified with
the Typofraphical Union. Mr. Nelson's long connection
with journalistic interests has made him thoroughly familiar
with every phase of newspaper publication and in the
management of the Times he is proving very successful.
He is also the owner of one of the best homes in the city
and is classed with the substantial and representative
citizens of his community. Mr. Nelson secured his
education entirely through his own efforts and is deserving
of much credit for what he has accomplished in life.
He is interested in all that has to do with public progress
in the community or the uplift of the individual and his aid
and influence are always on the side of advancement and
improvement. He is a man of substantial worth, a
splendid representative of American manhood and citizenship.
History of Oregon:
Volume II
The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company; Chicago
Portland; 1922 |
