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WASHINGTON

West of the Cascades

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME II

CHICAGO SEATTLE TACOMA

THE S. J. CLAEKE PUBLISHING COMPANY

1917

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VviTOR, LENOX ^'ILDEN FOUNDATION

JOHN J. DONOVAN

BIOGRAPHICAL

JOHN JOSEPH DONOVAN.

There are times when human effort and enterprise seem to have no limit, when the door of opportunity continuously opens to the insistent demands of the individual and when ability finds its justification and reaps its reward in notable success. Such has been the record of John Joseph Donovan, whose work has been a vital force in the development and upbuilding of the northwest. He has directed and controlled affairs of great magnitude, in many of which the public has been a large indirect beneficiary, while at the same time his fortunes have enjoyed a just increase. Mr. Donovan seems to think there is nothing unusual in his life record, but when judged by what the great majority of men accomplish his history stands out as a notable example of the force of perse- verance, determination, clear vision and sound judgment.

Mr. Donovan was born at Rumney, New Hampshire, September 8, 1858, his parents being Patrick and Julia ( O'Sullivan) Donovan, the former a native of County Cork, Ireland, and the latter of County Kerry. The educational op- portunities of the father were limited, but laudable ambition prompted him to try his fortune in the new world and in 1852 he arrived in the United States, after which he secured a position in connection with the building of the Boston, Concord & ^Montreal Railroad in New Hampshire. His ability soon won him promotion to foreman and with his savings he afterward purchased a farm near Plymouth, New Hampshire, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until he permanently put aside business cares and took up his abode in the town of Plymouth, where he passed away. It was in July, 1856, in Concord, New Hampshire, that he wedded Miss Julia O'Sullivan, and to them were born seven children: John Joseph: Katharine, who is now living in Plymouth; Dennis, who died in infancy; Mary Agnes, who became the wife of George Lynch, of Lan- caster, New Hampshire, but both are now deceased; Julia Teresa, the wife of Hon. F. F. Blake, of Plymouth, New Hampshire, who served in the legislature of his state; Daniel P., who was general agent for the Northwestern Life Insur- ance Company of Milwaukee at Boston and died in 191 1; and Margaret, the wife of A. N. Gilbert, of Berlin, New Hampshire, who was formerly mayor of his city and is now an architect and building contractor doing business in Massa- chusetts and New Hampshire.

The boyhood and youth of John J. Donovan passed without any unusual incident, his attention being given to farm work, to the acquirement of an edu-

5

6 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

cation and to the enjoyment of such sports as occupied the attention of the youths of his locality. He supplemented his public school course by study in the New Hampshire State Normal School, from which he was graduated, and then devoted three years to teaching in the schools of New Hampshire and Massa- chusetts. The funds thus secured enabled him to carry out his well defined pur- pose, that of pursuing a course in engineering in the Polytechnic School at Worcester, Massachusetts, and in 1880 he entered that institution, from which he was graduated with valedictorian honors in a class of thirty-one in 1882. The ambition which prompted him to take high rank in his class foreshadowed the spirit which has actuated him in all of his undertakings. He has never been content with the second best but has striven for the attainment of perfection in all that he has attempted. About the time of his graduation the Northern Pacific Railway Company was completing its transcontinental system and applied to the engineering school at Worcester, Massachusetts, to engage two members of the graduating class for engineering work along its line. The two chosen were John J. Donovan and J. Q. Barlow, the latter having also risen to eminence in railway and engineering circles, being assistant chief engineer of the Southern Pacific Railway. Going at once to Montana, they were given employment in adjacent fields, Mr. Donovan's first duties being those of rodman of a surveying crew far in advance of the western terminus. After a month he was made lev- eler, while six months' service brought to him the position of assistant engineer of construction. He celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday by attending the impos- ing and impressive ceremonies which were arranged by Henry Villard, presi- dent of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, in honor of the completion of the road by connection of the eastern and western divisions at Gold Creek, Montana, on which occasion Mr. Villard's guests were taken to Gold Creek in five Pullman trains and included such distinguished personages as President Ulysses S. Grant, William M. Evarts, English and German noblemen who were financially interested in the Northern Pacific, eminent engineers and railway officials, a number of Crow Indian chieftains, cattlemen of the neighboring ranches, several companies of United States soldiers and the usual corps of newspaper correspondents. All night long Mr. Donovan rode over lonely trails to reach Gold Creek and he remembers the ceremonies on that occasion as among the most impressive he has ever witnessed. He then returned to camp and when he had completed some important truss bridge work was transferred to Wash- ington, where his duties connected him with the construction of the Cascade division of the Northern Pacific as engineer of track and bridges, locating engineer and engineer in charge. His first work was about fifteen miles east of the present town of Prosser and later as one of the engineers on the Cascade tunnel project he ran surveys for that great bore, crossing the mountains almost daily throughout the winter when twenty feet of snow lay upon their summits. He rode in the saddle on the trails but had to cross the summit on snowshoes. On the ist of June, 1887, the zigzag track of the switchback, which invariably precedes the tunnel on large projects, was completed, so that the Northern Pa- cific could take people to the coast over its own lines. At that time Mr. Donovan was engineer in charge of the Cascade division west. A month later when granted a vacation he visited Alaska and also his old New England home, but

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 7

in September, 1887, returned to the west to take charge of the construction of a number of Hnes then being built by the Northern Pacific to connect important mining camps with the main line in Montana. Upon the completion of that work in 1888 he again went to New England and when he returned to Helena, Montana, in the same year he was accompanied by his bride.

Mr. Donovan's value in professional connections was recognized by others aside from the Northern Pacific officials and various business propositions were made him, so that he finally resigned his position with the railroad company to accept the office of chief engineer for important enterprises then being estab- lished on Bellingham bay. From Helena he went to Tacoma and in December, 1888, arrived at Fairhaven, which later became a part of Bellingham. There were no stores in the town, merely a little cluster of dwellings in the midst of dense forests, and the total population of Bellingham bay was not more than five hundred, including men, women and children. One traveled from Fair- haven to Whatcom by the water route, using a rowboat, for the road between the two places was impassable. Under the direction of Mr. Donovan as chief engineer the companies with which he was associated soon wrought marked changes, his being the directing force in all of this important work. As chief engineer of the Fairhaven Land Company, the Skagit Coal & Transportation Company and the Fairhaven & Southern Railway Company he directed the building of a railroad, the opening of coal mines on the Skagit river, the plat- ting of the town site of Fairhaven and the construction of its wharves. Fair- haven was organized as a city and public improvements of importance were inaugurated and carried to completion. At this time he served on the city coun- cil for two terms, being chairman of the street and sewer committee. Another important progressive step was made in 1890, when the Fairhaven & Southern Railway Company projected a line from Vancouver, British Columbia, south to Portland, Oregon, and east to Spokane. The surveys were completed and eighty miles of the road had been constructed and was under operation when the com- pany sold out to the Great Northern system and Mr. Donovan retired as chief engineer. Once more he visited the Atlantic coast and upon his return to the west became engineer for the tide land appraisers and afterward chief engineer of the Blue Canyon Coal Mining Company and the Bellingham Bay & Eastern Railway Company, formed by Montana capital in 1891. The railway company gradually extended its lines from Fairhaven to Wickersham on the Northern Pacific by way of Lake Whatcom and in 1902 the Northern Pacific took over the road. In 1898 Mr. Donovan was made general superintendent and chief engi- neer of the Bellingham Bay & British Columbia Railway and immediately began the survey work for the extension of the line to Spokane. The companies under Mr. Donovan's direction devoted much time and capital to prospecting for coal and other minerals and to developing valuable water power on the Nooksack at Nooksack Falls. The water power was later sold to Stone & Webster, of Boston, Mr. Donovan making a special trip to the east to negotiate the deal. The Blue Canyon coal mines were leased to another company and the property is now being gradually developed.

In 1898 Peter Larson, Julius H. Bloedel and Mr. Donovan organized the Lake Whatcom Logging Company, of which Mr. Larson became president, Mr.

8 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

Donovan vice president and Mr. Bloedel manager. In 1900 they also organized the Larson Lumber Company and built a mill at the town of Larson on Lake Whatcom, the latter company having the same officers as the former. At the time of the organization Mr. Donovan became president of the Lake Whatcom Logging Company and on the ist of April, 1913, that company and the Larson Lumber Company reorganized and Mr. Bloedel became president with Mr. Donovan as vice president. This company now owns three sawmills, one in Bellingham and two at Larson, and they also have two shingle mills at Larson and one at Blanchard, Washington. Their properties also include logging camps with five units or sides at Alger and Delvan respectively. They operate thirty miles of railroad, own six locomotives and complete rolling stock. The company has acquired timber lands in Skagit and Whatcom counties which include twelve hundred million feet of timber all at moderate elevation, while all is in solid blocks. This timber has all been acquired through purchase from one hundred different owners and none of it from the government, railroad companies or by filing scrip. They employ directly one thousand people. Aside from his extensive interests along that line i\Ir. Donovan is vice president of the First National Bank of Bellingham.

In Somerville, Massachusetts, April 29, 1888, Mr. Donovan was united in marriage to Miss Clara Isabel Nichols and they have become the parents of three children. Helen Elizabeth, the eldest, is a graduate of Dana Hall, Welles- ley, Massachusetts, and also of Smith College and was studying music in Ber- lin, Germany, at the time of the outbreak of the present war. John Nichols, twenty-five years of age, graduated in civil engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1913 and was a civil engineer with the Northern Pacific Railroad Company for a year. He is now efficiency engineer for the Bloedel Donovan Lumber Mills at Bellingham, Washington. He was married in Belling- ham in September, 1914, to Miss Geraldine Goodheart, and John N. Jr., born May 12, 1916, is the pride of the family. Philip, twenty-three years of age, completed a course in mechanical engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 191 5 and is now active as his father's secretary and purchasing agent. In July, 1916, he married Miss Hazel Hart Prigmore, daughter of the late Judge Prigmore of Seattle and on May 23, 1917, Philip Hart entered their home.

Mr. Donovan is a member of the Catholic church and is now president of the Catholic Federation of Washington. He has also taken the fourth degree in the Knights of Columbus and has held high offices in the order. He is prom- inently identified with many club and trade societies and organizations for the benefit of the public. His standing in business circles is indicated by the fact that he was honored with the presidency of the Pacific Logging Congress from 191 3 until 1915. Several times he has been president of the Chamber of Com- merce of Bellingham and he belongs to the Commercial Club of Tacoma, the American Historical Society and the American Irish Historical Society. That he casts his influence in support of cultural forces is indicated by his member- ship in the Washington State Art Association. He is likewise a life member of the Navy League and he has membership in the Bellingham Country Club, the Cougar Club of Bellingham and the Rainier Club of Seattle. He is a mem-

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 9

ber of the American Society of Civil Engineers and was one of the organizers of the Montana Society of Engineers, with which he is still connected. He has long been an ardent advocate of the good roads movement and was a leader in the fight for fortifications for Bellingham bay. He is a forceful writer and a frequent contributor of timely articles on vital subjects to the press. Belling- ham has no citizen who has been more keenly alive to the city's needs and possi- bilities or who has persisted with greater energy and success in attaining them.

In politics Mr. Donovan is a stanch republican and has been a recognized leader in political circles in his part of the state. He would never consent to become an ofiice holder, yet it would have been possible for him to secure almost any position that he might desire, so great is the confidence reposed in his ability and public spirit. He was chairman of the state commission of forest legisla- tion under Governor Hay, which commission was characterized as "twelve of the strong men of the state." Under appointment of Governor McGraw in 1894 he was a member of the first state highway commission, for which he has since been a worker, striving earnestly to promote good roads. He was also on the state board of charities and corrections for some years. He has given most lib- erally of his time and money to hospital work and he served in an advisory capacity in connection with St. Joseph's Hospital of Bellingham for years. He instituted progressive and humanitarian ideas in connection with his mills and camps which have been generally adopted by other big companies. Small reduc- tions in the men's pay guaranteed them medical attention and hospital service when needed and gave them a choice of hospitals — St. Joseph's or St. Luke's — and any surgeon or physician they might select. For eight years he was a trustee of the State Normal School and he was a member of the charter com- mission of fifteen which framed the charter of the city of Bellingham when Fairhaven and Whatcom united. This charter proved so satisfactory that later the people rejected the idea of a commission form of government, deeming the old charter to be more efficient and up-to-date. Mr. Donovan was also a mem- ber of the Municipal League for Civic Reforms and he has always been on the side of temperance, serving on the executive committee in the fight for prohibi- tion. Bellingham was one of the first cities of the state to go dry by men's votes and it remained consistently dry through all reactions and was dry for six years before the state prohibition law was passed. Bellingham therefore had no trouble in applying the statewide law.

In a summary of his life it is noticeable that Mr. Donovan as a man is far- seeing, honest and public-spirited and throughout his life has operated boldly and continuously in the business field and by the stimulus of his efforts has aroused the enterprise of others, through which means he has added to his own great labors and furnished hundreds of workmen with remunerative em- ployment. He has never been a public man in the ordinary sense but during all his business life he has held many important relations to the public interest through the business concerns he has conducted, for in all of them the public has been a large indirect beneficiary. He has never sought to figure promi- nently before the public in any light or any relation, yet his influence has been felt as a strong, steady moving force in the social, moral and industrial move- ments of the community rather than seen. There is one point in his career to

10 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

which his many friends refer with pride and that is, whether as a prominent lumberman or financier, he has always been the same genial, courteous gentle- man whose ways are those of refinement and whose word no man can question.

HARRY CLAY HEERMANS.

Among the builders of a great empire in the Pacific northwest is Harry Clay Heermans, who has been a potent factor in the development of Hoquiam, Olympia, Raymond and other sections of western Washington. Forceful and resourceful, he accomplishes what he undertakes and at all times the public has been a direct beneficiary because his activities have been of a character that have had to do with the general improvement of this section of the country. He was born in Fellowsville, Preston county, West Virginia, June 3, 1852, a son of John and Nancy Heermans, who were natives of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. The name of Heer- mans is of Dutch origin and the ancestors, leaving their native Holland, eriiigrated in 1657 to New Amsterdam, now New York city. The family records are found in the books of the old Dutch church. In the maternal line H. C Heermans comes of English ancestry. Liberally educated, he was graduated at the Wesleyan Uni- versity at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1875 with the Bachelor of Arts degree, and the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him in 1878. Thinking to make the practice of law his life work, he began reading in the office of Brown & Hadden of Corning, New York, but after a time turned to the engineering profession and for thirteen years acceptably filled the responsible position of city engineer in Corning. He next purchased the waterworks system of that city and managed the same as its owner for thirty years prior to 1908. During that period he also engaged extensively in real estate dealing at Corning and in 1886 formed the Ontario Land Company, with headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1889 he arrived in Hoquiam and made large investments for the Ontario Land Company and eastern capitalists, and at once allying his interests with those of the city and its future development, he constructed in 1889 an electric light plant in Hoquiam. From that point forward he has been one of the most active factors in the develop- ment of business interests which have had marked effect upon the welfare and progress of the community. In 1898 he was the active agent in securing the exten- sion of the Northern Pacific Railway into Hoquiam and constructed the Hoquiam waterworks as well as secured the establishment of several new industries in the city. Something of the breadth, scope and importance of his activities through the intervening years is indicated in the fact that at the present time, 1916, he is presi- dent and manager of the Hoquiam Water Company, president of the East Hoquiam Company, president of the Grays Harbor Company, president of the Ontario Land Company and vice president of the Harbor Land Company. With the exception of the first named, all these companies are operating in real estate. In 1905 he purchased the controlling interest in the Olympia Waterworks at Olympia, Wash- ington, and remained at the head of the system until 191 6, when he sold out to the city. He also has been president of the Raymond Land & Improvement Company since 1905. promoting the town site of Raymond, W^ashington, and he is a director of the First National Bank of Hoquiam. It was in 1908 that he removed from

HARRY C. HEERMANS

•HE NEW YORK PUBLIC UBRAHY

ASTOii, LENOX _l^ffEN FOUNDATION

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 13

Corning, New York, to Hoqtiiam and in 1909 he established his home in Olympia but has devoted most of the time to the development of Hoquiam since 1898.

On the 17th of March, 1886, at Painted Post, New York, Mr. Heermans was united in marriage to Miss Annie L. Townsend, a daughter of E. E. Townsend, of Erwin, Steuben county. New York, and a great-granddaughter of Colonel E. E. Erwin of Revolutionary war fame, who was the original pioneer and owner of the town of Erwin. Mr. and Mrs. Heermans have become parents of four children: Ruth, the wife of Milton J. Beaty, now residing in Warren, Pennsylvania; Joseph F., who was graduated with the class of 1916 from the University of Washington and Jerome T. and Donald, students in that school.

The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Heermans belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Hoquiam. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and with the vital questions and issues of the day he is thoroughly familiar, but he does not seek nor desire ofifice, pre- ferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs, which have been care- fully managed and wisely planned. He readily discriminates between the essential and the nonessential in business matters and Hoquiam and other sections of the state have profited largely by his cooperation in the work of promoting public progress.

GEORGE FREDERICK FRYE.

George Frederick Frye was one of the leading business men of Seattle and erected many buildings of iriiportance, including the Hotel Frye, which is con- ceded to be the finest hostelry in .the city. A native of Germany, he was born near Hanover, on the 15th of June, 1833. and his parents, Otto and Sophia (Pranga) Frye, were also natives of the fatherland. Their religious faith was that of the Lutheran church.

In 1849, when sixteen years of age, George F. Frye emigrated to the United States and first located in Lafayette, Missouri, where he worked as a farm hand. In 1852 he worked his way across the plains to the Pacific coast with the Hays Company, which made the trip with ox teams. Fie spent one winter at Portland and was for some time in the employ of Hillory Butler, for whom the Hotel Butler was named. In 1853 he came to Seattle, which was then a small settle- ment on the Sound. In connection with Arthur A. Denny and H. L. Yesler, Mr. Frye built the first sawmill and the first grist mill in Seattle and for about ten years he was connected with milling interests. He established the first meat market in the city and also started a bakery. Later he turned his attention to steamboating and for four years was master of the J. B. Libby, one of the early Sound steamers. He was also mail agent, carrying the mail from Seattle to Whatcom on the Sameyami, making one trip a week. In 1884 he erected the Frye Opera House, which was the first place of the kind erected in Seattle, and as manager of the same secured good theatrical attractions for the city. In the fire of 1889 the building was destroyed and Mr. Frye later erected the Stevens Hotel on the site of the opera house. In connection with A. A. Denny he also owned the Northern Hotel, and he likewise erected the Barker Hotel. He also

14 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

built the Hotel Frye, in which the city takes justifiable pride. He personally supervised the construction of this eleven-story building and spared no expense nor effort in making it one of the best equipped and most complete hostelries of the northwest. In addition to his other activities he dealt extensively in real estate and was one of the wealthy men of Seattle.

On the 25th of October, i860, Mr. Frye was married in Seattle to Miss Louisa C. Denny, a daughter of A. A. Denny, previously mentioned, who was one of the first settlers of Seattle and a man of great influence and high reputation. He was rightfully given the title of "father of the town." To Mr. and Mrs. Frye were bom six children : James ^Marion, who died in 1905 ; Mary Louisa, the widow of Captain George H. Fortson; Sophia S., now Mrs. Daniel W. Bass; George Arthur, who died in 1892; Roberta G., now Mrs. P. H. Watt; and Eliza- beth, the wife of Virgil N. Bogue.

Mr. Frye cast his ballot in support of the republican party and served accept- ably as a member of the city council. His religious allegiance was given to the Lutheran church and its teachings formed the guiding principles of his life. He was a man of great vigor and energy and was very active in business affairs. He aided in the development of many enterprises and among the other things he founded the first brass band in the city. He was one of the leaders among the early residents of the city and as Seattle developed his grasp of affairs seemed to grow accordingly, and he continued to occupy a position of importance in the life of his community. He almost reached the age of seventy-nine years, passing away on the 2d of May, 1912.

HON. ALLEN WEIR.

Hon. Allen Weir, of Olympia, was thoroughly western in spirit and inter- ests, his entire life having been passed on the Pacific coast, where through his business ability and public spirit he contributed in substantial measure to the wonderful development and progress of this section of the country. He was born in El Monte. Los Angeles county. California, April 24, 1854, and when six years of age was brought to Washington by his parents, who reached Port Townsend on the 28th of May, i860. He was a son of John and Saluda J. (Buchanan) Weir. The father, a native of Missouri, was at dift'erent times, a pioneer of that state, of Texas, of California and of the Puget Sound country. Removing to the Lone Star state, he there married Miss Buchanan and their three oldest children were born in Texas. In 1853 they started by wagon across the plains for southern California and were about a year in making the trip. The father engaged in blacksmithing and farming at Lexington, Los Angeles county, California, and in 1858 he made his way northward to Port Townsend and then to Dungeness, where two years later he was joined by his family. He settled two miles from the straits, where he took up government land and developed a farm, residing thereon until his demise. He cleared all his land, made all his own roads and also made the first plow in the county. He likewise built the first wagon in the county and he continued to engage in blacksmithing .as w^U as in general farming. He possessed expert mechanical ingenuity and

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 15

could make anything out of wood and iron. He lived to be sixty-three years of age and his wife, who survived him for about twelve years, had reached the age of seventy at the time of her demise. In their family were the following named: Marion, deceased; Mrs. Laura B. Troy, of Olympia; Mrs. Susan L. Evans, of Dungeness, Washington; Allen, of this review; Mrs. Martha J. Whit- tier, who has passed away ; and Julia, the widow of Charles Kennard, of Tacoma.

Allen Weir attended school in Olympia but is largely a self-educated man and has gained many of his most valuable lessons in the school of experience. In 'his boyhood he was thrown in close relations with the Clallam Indians, who were numerous and often worked on his father's farm. Taking an interest in their language, he soon mastered it, and this ability to speak the Chinook language was of great value to him later in his legal practice as it enabled him to be his own interpreter. When nineteen years of age he started in business on his own account by renting land of his father, on which he engaged in the cultivation of crops and in raising hogs. He afterward spent two years in driving ox teams in logging camps but, desirous of improving his education, he then went to Olympia and spent two years in the Olympia Collegiate Institute, where Pro- fessor Royal took a great interest in him and assisted him as far as possible. While pursuing his studies Mr. Weir did his own cooking and worked as janitor of the building in order to pay his tuition. He kept ahead of his class, and left some time before his class was graduated, he having completed the course. It is a well known fact that it is under the stimulus of necessity and the pressure of adversity that the best and strongest in man are brought out and developed and Mr. Weir thus early displayed the elemental strength and force of his char- acter.

Returning to Port Townsend, he purchased the Puget Sound Argus, a small weekly newspaper, which also did job work. About six months later, or in No- vember, 1877, he was married and his wife became his active assistant in the business. Together they built up the paper, largely increasing its circulation and its advertising patronage, and after twelve years they sold the business at a good profit. Not long after they began the publication of the paper a daily edi- tion was started. Mr. Weir had had no practical experience as a newspaper man but he applied himself thoroughly to learning the business and soon proved his capability therein. After disposing of the Argus the Commercial Club of Port Townsend ofiPered him ten thousand dollars if he would return and again enter the newspaper business there. He had served as secretary of the cham- ber of commerce and in both connections had much to do with the upbuilding of the town, the development of its interests and the exploitation of its resources. In fact he took an active part in shaping the history of the state in consider- able measure and in the spring of i88g was elected a member of the constitutional convention which met at Olympia. He took part in various debates of the convention and did much toward framing the organic law of the state. The same year he was nommated for secretary of state and was the first to hold that office after the admission of Washington to the Union. He proved a capable official but did not become a candidate for reelection. He had previously served as clerk in the upper house of the territorial legislature in 1887 ^"d i'^ many ways he aided in forming public policy. He was a great friend of Governor Terry and many other distinguished statesmen of Washington and in their coun-

16 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

cils his opinions many times carried great weight. He was well fitted for leadership by reason of his keen mind and his natural oratorical powers, which had been developed while he was a member of a literary society in school. He became a pronounced advocate of the temperance cause and in this, as in every other public question, he studied every phase of the problem and his utterances were based upon thorough knowledge. For three terms he held the office of president of the Olympia Chamber of Commerce. After retiring from the ofiice of secretary of state he entered upon the practice of law in Olympia. having been admitted to the bar in 1892 upon examination before the United States supreme court, having the distinction of being the first one thus admitted. He was always alone in his law practice, which became extensive and of a very important character. He made a specialty of handling tide land litigation and is a recognized authority on tide land law. Years before when he was filling the office of justice of the peace at Port Townsend he rendered decisions in tide land cases which were accepted by the state courts and are still quoted in the trial of such cases. He continued actively in practice until Sep- tember, IQ15, when ill health forced his retirement.

On the I2th of November, 1877, in Dungeness, Mr. Weir was married to Aliss Ellen Davis, a daughter of Hall Davis, who came from Ontario, Canada, in 1873 and was one of the leading dairymen of Washington. He developed a fine farm as well as a splendid dairy herd and his business afifairs were most wisely, carefully and successfully managed. While he made his home at Dun- geness his death occurred in Seattle. The surviving children of Mr. and Mrs. Weir are two sons and a daughter: Eva, who wedded \\'. R. ^^'hite. of Olympia, and has three children. Allen C, Elizabeth and ^lary-Ellen ; Frank A., who mar- ried Minnie Huwald and is now county engineer of Thurston county; and Royal F.. a lumberman of Hoquiam. Two other children died when young.

Mr. Weir was long a devoted and faithful member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, in which he held every lay office. 'Sirs. Weir is also a member of that church. From 1877 until his death he was identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. The breadth of his interests is further indicated in the fact that he served as regent of the Territorial University. His political alle- giance was always unfalteringly given to the republican party. Before he was twenty-one years of age he was nominated by a democratic committee for a seat in the territorial legislature, but when the committee waited upon him to tell him of their choice he replied that he could not accept as he was a republican. He did much campaign work and in 1896 delivered campaign addresses throughout Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho. There is something stimulating in the life history of such a man. One responds to the story with a thrill, recognizing how successfully he battled with untoward circumstances and wrested fortune and prominence from the hands of fate. His expanding powers brought him prominently before the public and his history proves that merit and ability will come to the front. Prompted by a laudable ambition to be something more than a common laborer and realiz- ing that the fundamental step toward this end was the acquirement of an edu- cation, he developed the studious habits which remained his through life and which made him the peer of the ablest men of the northwest.

In September, 191 5. he suffered a stroke of paralysis, from which, however

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 17

he almost completely recovered. On the 17th of August, 1916, while he and his wife were visiting at Port Townsend they took a drive with S. Troy and from some unknown cause the car ran off the dock into the strait. Mr. Troy was killed instantly, Mrs. Weir was thrown clear of the car and escaped with bruises and Mr. Weir received such a severe shock and was so bruised that he began to fail rapidly in health and passed away on the 31st of October, 1916, at the hospital in Port Townsend. Mrs. Weir has since lived in Olympia at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W^hite.

JONATHAN JAMES BISHOP.

Prominent among Jefferson county's native sons is Jonathan James Bishop, now serving as county clerk. He was born in Chimacum, May 9, 1870, and is a son of William and Hannah (Hutchinson) Bishop, natives of England and Scotland respectively. In early life the father joined the English navy and served in the Crimean war. On one of his trips to America he resigned on reaching Victoria and in 1855 became a resident of Washington, where he fol- lowed farming to 1890, when he retired. Here he died in 1906, at the age of seventy-two years. The mother of our subject was reared and educated in Scotland and Ireland and she, too, became an early settler of Washington, being married in Chimacum, January 14, 1868. She passed away in 1902, at the age of sixty-five years. In the family were seven children, namely: Thomas G. ; William; Mrs. Elizabeth A'an Trojen, deceased; A. A.; Jonathan James; Anna M. Hinde; and Amelia Bugge.

During his boyhood Jonathan James Bishop attended the public schools of Chimacum, pursuing his studied under one teacher for ten years. He then worked on a ranch for several years and afterward pursued a normal course at Coupeville, Washington, graduating in 1892. The following year was de- voted to teaching in Chimacum and at the end of that time he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the LL.B. degree in 1895. Returning to Washington, he located at Port Town- send, where he was engaged in practice for a short time but in 1914 was elected county clerk and has since filled that office with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents.

On the 2ist of September, 1896, near Ladner, British Columbia, Mr. Bishop was united in marriage to Miss Pauline J. Chase, a daughter of John and Mary E. (Haskins) Chase, who at one time were well known citzens of Coupeville, Washington. The father is now deceased, but the mother is still living and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Bishop. Our subject and his wife have six children, namely: Florence, born in Port Townsend, June 8, 1897; Maizie, who was born September 15, 1899, and is now attending the State School for Defective Youth at Medical Lake; Prentiss C, who was born January 13, 1902, and is attending high school in Port Townsend; Myron J., born August 2, 1905, and Wilbert R., born July 30, 1910, both in school at Port Townsend; and Vinton Chase, born November 3, 1916.

Mr. Bishop is probably one of the best known county ofiicials in Jefferson

18 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

county and he enjoys the confidence and respect of the entire community. He has filled the office of notary public and by his ballot always supports the men and measures of the rejniblican party. He is a member of the Native Sons of Washington, the Woodmen of the World and the Women of Woodcraft.

FRANCIS W. BROOKS.

Francis W. Brooks was born in Burlington, Iowa, March 27, 1862, the son of Francis W. Brooks, a native of New York, who went to Iowa in 1840, established the first bank in that state at Burlington and there continued in the banking business up to the time of his death in 1869. Francis W. Brooks, Sr., was married to Harriet C. Beach, a native of New York. She died in Burlington in her seventy-sixth year in 1910.

Francis W. Brooks, the son, was educated at Lawrenceville and in 1879 entered the employ of the Union National Bank of Chicago. He later removed to Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he was associated with J. Q. A. Braden and John T. McChesney in the Brown County Bank and later was cashier of the Aberdeen National Bank.

In 1900 Mr. Brooks removed to Everett where, in connection with Messrs. Tenant and Bickelhaupt, he built the Everett Flour Mill and was actively identi- fied in the management and operation of this plant for two years, until its sale to other interests. He then entered the American National Bank, and later the Everett Trust & Savings Bank, in which he held the position of Cashier from its inception up to the time of his death. August 2'j, 1916. He was a courteous and obliging official and his comprehensive knowledge of the banking business and his marked ability in this direction contributed in a large measure to the success of the institution.

In 1887 in Burlington, Iowa. Mr. Brooks was married to Miss Jessie L. Hay- Jen, daughter of William F. and Susan Hayden, who were early settlers in Bur- lington. He was treasurer of the Everett Golf and Countr}^ Club and president of the Cascade Club. He is survived by his widow and one daughter, Mrs. Don- ald C. Barnes.

OLAF CARLSON.

Olaf Carlson, president of the C-B Lumber & Shingle Company and a director of the Citizens Bank & Trust Company of Everett, was born in Gottenburg. Sweden, on the 30th of November, i860. His father. Carl Elis Anderson, also a native of that country, was a sea captain throughout his entire life and passed away in Sweden in 1870, at the age of forty-eight years. The mother, Mrs. Justina Anderson, died in Sweden about 1880. Of the six children of the family one passed away in infancy, while three are yet living.

Olaf Carlson, who was the fourth in order of birth, pursued his education in the schools of his native country to the age of eighteen years and in 1881

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 19

came to the new world, making his way at once to Portland, Oregon, where he arrived with a cash capital of eighty dollars, but this was stolen from him in a hotel during his first week's stay there. He secured employment at gardening for C. A. Prescott at a wage of twenty-five dollars per month and board. His residence in Washington dates from the spring of 1887, at which time he located in Tacoma, where with his two brothers, August and David Carlson, and his two cousins, Andrew Johnson and Carl Johnson, he entered the sawmill busi- ness, which they successfully conducted for ten years and at the same time engaged in the manufacture of shingles. Later Olaf Carlson purchased a half interest in the Young Lumber Company, shingle manufacturers of Tacoma, at which time the name was changed to Carlson Brothers. After the destruction of the plant by fire they erected the first upright shingle mill on the coast and they were obliged to send to California to secure men experienced in the opera- tion of such a mill. Theirs was also the first mill to operate without a knee bolter, cutting the raw timber, which method is now universal. In Tacoma they built a large lumber mill, cutting eighty thousand feet per day. After conduct- ing that mill for four years they sold out and the Carlson Brothers became connected with E. G. McNeely & Company of Tacoma in the operation of their plant at Everett. After two years the business was burned down, at the end of which time Mr. Carlson purchased the interest of Mr. McNeely in the business and established an upright shingle mill on the old property. This he continued to operate until 191 2, when he sold the plant to the Shull Lumber Company. He then took a trip to Europe, visiting his old home and the principal countries on the continent.

Upon his return to the new world he became associated with lumber inter- ests as the head of the C-B Lumber & Shingle Company, Incorporated, at Everett, of which he is the president, with W. R. Cunningham, Jr., as vice president and George A. Bergstrom as secretary and treasurer. The business was originally established in 1909 south of Monroe, on the Snocjualmie river, by his two part- ners, who engaged in the manufacture of shingles under the name of the C-B Shingle Company, Incorporated. The plant embraced a six-machine mill and employment was originally given to thirty people, while the average output was two hundred and twenty-five thousand feet per day. The business was con- ducted at Monroe until 1914, when the company was reorganized and a removal was made to Everett, a location being secured on the tide flats at Ninth and Bayside. The capacity was increased to a ten-machine mill, with an output of four hundred thousand feet, and Mr. Carlson became identified with the new organization, of which he was elected president. This was the first completely electrically driven shingle mill in the world. The present plant covers twenty acres and employment is furnished to forty-five men, while the manufactured product is being shipped to all parts of the world. Another important feature of the plant and one which is the company's own design is a blower system, resulting in the separation of the fine and coarse dust and thereby increasing the efficiency of the men. In fact theirs is the most modern mill equipment of the kind in the world. The machinery is of the very latest design, embracing all of the most modern improvements, their business largely setting the standard of progressiveness in their field. Mr. Bergstrom, who is the secretary and treas- urer, is also president of the Mukilteo Shingle Company, located at Mukilteo,

20 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

Washington, having a six-machine plant, and he is the secretary and treasurer of the Pacific Timber Company of Everett, Washington. It will thus be seen that the partners are men of broad experience and extensive business connec- tions. In addition to his lumber interests Mr. Carlson is a director of the Citizens Bank & Trust Company of Everett.

On the 13th of June, 1891, in Tacoma, Mr. Carlson was married to Miss Ellen Caroline Nelson, a native of Sweden and a daughter of Gust Nelson. Their five children are: Edward W., who is associated with the C-B Lumber & Shin- gle Company as stenographer ; Nettie E. ; Esther Alma ; Evelyn, and Julia C. The family residence at No. 1722 Rucker avenue is one of the finest homes in :he city and stands on the best improved block in Everett.

Politically ]\Ir. Carlson is a republican where national issues are involved but casts an independent local ballot. In 191 1 he was elected a member of the city council, but six months later the commission form of government w^as voted in and thus his term was brought to a close. He belongs to the Commercial Club and is at all times in sympathy with its progressive movements for the upbuilding of the city, the extension of its trade relations and the establishment of higher civic standards. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and his religious faith is that of the Lutheran church. He has justly won the proud American title of a self- made man. for his success is attributable entirely to his own efiforts, perseverance and capability. A thoughtful review of his life record will clearly indicate the fact that he has always been foremost in the adoption of methods to improve his business, taking an initiative step along many lines. In fact he has ever been a leader, not a follower, and his orderly progression has brought him to a place of distinction and of success.

CHARLES XAVIER LARRABEE.

The specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave a per- petual record establishing his character by the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellowmen. Throughout r>ellingham and throughout Washington Charles Xavier Larrabee is spoken of in terms of admiration and respect. His life was so varied in its activity, so honorable in its purposes, so far-reaching and bene- ficial in its effects that it became an integral part of the history of his city and left its impress upon the annals of the state. He was in no sense a man in public life, in fact he shunned notoriety and publicity, but nevertheless he exerted an immeasurable influence on the city of his residence in relation to its material, intellectual and moral progress, and Bellingham's history without his life record would be as the story of Hamlet with the leading character omitted.

Born in Portville, Cattaraugus county. New York, on the 19th of November, 1843, ^le was the son of a merchant, who about 1850 removed with his family to Wisconsin, where his death occurred when his two sons, S. E. and C. X. Larrabee, were but young lads. They inherited from their father no patrimony but an honorable name. They had been students in the village school at Amro,

CHARLES X. LARRABEE

.;. TH-E NEW YORK PUBLIC UBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX Tfl-DEN FOUNDATION

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 23

and had mastered little more than the rudiments of a common school educa- tion when the necessity of providing for their own support and that of their widowed mother devolved upon them. The mother, however, encouraged the boys to make every possible advance along educational lines, so that when still in his teens, or in 1862, at the age of nineteen, Charles X. Larrabee had quali- fied for teaching and secured a school, devoting four winter terms to that pro- fession. He felt that he owed a duty to his country, then engaged in civil war, but a still greater duty to his widowed mother. All of his hard-earned savings he gave to a substitute, who represented him at the front, and he started anew to earn a living. Throughout the years of his early manhood he faced hard- ships and difficulties but they seemed only to call forth greater courage and determination on his part. He used his opportunities wisely and well, recog- nizing at the outset that he must depend entirely upon his own resources and that he must take advantage of every chance. He left Wisconsin for Montana in 1875 and in that state turned his attention to ranching and mining, his close application and clarity of vision in business matters soon gaining for him a sub- stantial measure of success that placed him in a position of leadership in the lines of business in which he was engaged. He sank the shaft of the famous Anaconda mine forty feet for a half interest in the mine and after selling that property he located and developed the St. Lawrence mine, which he later sold. His greatest achievement in mining was the discovery and development of the Mountain View copper mine at Butte City.

In 1887, after a residence of twelve years in Montana, he disposed of the greater part of his mining interests in that' feta'te -bui retained the ownership of his extensive cattle and horse ranch. At that da:te he removed to Portland, Oregon, where in connection with his brother he purchased the HoUaday estate, a part of which lay within the corporation limits, of Portland, on the east bank of the Willamette river. About the same time he became the owner of a large interest in the Fairhaven Land Company. His residence on Bellingham bay dated from 1890 and from that time forward until his death almost a quarter of a century later he was closely associated with many of the business interests which have led to the substantial development and progress of the city. He was one of the builders of the Fairhaven & Southern Railroad and became vice president of the company, while later he was elected president. He owned a majority of the stock but eventually sold the road to the Great Northern Com- pany. He continued his business connections through investments in Montana, Oregon and Washington. He was at one time part owner of the Bellingham Herald and was ever one of its stanchest supporters when financial aid was needed. He became the possessor of valuable mining and ranch property, tim- ber lands and city and suburban realty in the three states mentioned and the wisdom of his judgment in business affairs and the keenness of his vision were indicated in many of his transactions, particularly in his purchase of the Holla- day estate, which became the very center of the east side residence district of Portland and increased rapidly in value with the substantial growth of the city. He became the president of the Oregon Real Estate Company, president of the Pacific Realty Company, vice president of the Northwestern National Bank and of the Northwestern State Bank, and he was the owner of stock in many other important corporations, in which he would accept no office.

Vol. II— 2

24 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

In 1892, in St. Louis, Missouri, Air. Larrabee was united in marriage to Miss Frances Payne and to them were born three sons and a daughter : Charles Francis, whose advanced studies were pursued in Reed College at Portland; Edward Payne; Mary Adele; and Benjamin Howard.

While the business interests of Mr. Larrabee made him a most valued factor in various communities, he did not feel that this comprised his duty to his home city and to an extent far greater than that of the majority of men he aided in the upbuilding of Bellingham and its interests. A local paper said : "He had been most lavish in his liberal provisions and donations, actuated by keen- sighted benevolence. The children and youth especially were beneficiaries in the plans of his past philanthropies and those which he was contemplating for the future." Just a few weeks before his death, which occurred September 16, 1914, he gave in the name of his wife to the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation a building costing forty thousand dollars and he was a most generous supporter of the Young Men's Christian Association. He contributed liberally for campaign purposes to the republican party and was regarded as one of its wise counselors, but the honors and emoluments of office had no attraction for him. He endorsed all those purifying and wholesome measures and reforms which have been growing up in the political life of the country and which today are common to both parties. In a word, while never seeking to occupy a posi- tion before the public and in fact shunning publicity, he nevertheless did so great a work for Bellingham and the state that his name has become an integral part of its history. Because of the innate refinement of his nature he opposed everything common and the universality of his friendships interprets for us his intellectual hospitality and the breadth of his sympathy, for nothing was foreign to him that concerned his fellowmen.

REV. DANIEL BAGLEY.

Rev. Daniel Bagley was born September 7, 1818, in Crawford county, Penn- sylvania, and died in Seattle April 26, 1905. His wife, Susannah Rogers Whipple, was born in Massachusetts, May 8, 1819. While she was a small child her parents moved into western Pennsylvania, near Meadville, Crawford county. This was then a rough and thinly settled region and they grew up amid the privations and hardships of pioneer life. Daniel helped his father clear the original forest off their farm and shared in the toil that was incident to cutting a home out of lands covered with a dense growth of hickory, chestnut, birch, maple, etc.

The young people met while they were yet in their teens and acquaintance soon ripened into love, and August 15, 1840, they were made husband and wife. A few days later they started for the prairies of Illinois, and there settled on a claim near Somanauk. The husband farmed and taught school for two years, while the wife performed the household duties of their small and primitive cabin.

In 1842 Mr. Bagley was admitted into the ministry of the Methodist Protes- tant church, and for ten years was engaged in active work, nominally being

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 25

stationed at one place each year, but in reality traveling summer and winter from the south, near Springfield, to the northern boundaries of the state. Buffalo and Indian trails then gridironed the broad and thinly settled prairies, and were not succeeded by the iron rails of the early railroads of the state until 1850 and the decade succeeding. At Princeton, Bureau county, the first home of the still young couple was established, and here Mr. Bagley was an active worker in the anti-slavery agitation then beginning to arouse the attention and con- science of here and there a few of the earnest thinkers of the day. Owen Lovejoy's and Mr. Bagley 's churches stood within a few yards of each other, and their pastors united in religious and philanthropical work, and time and again were their anti-slavery meetings broken up by the pro-slavery roughs of the day.

During the closing years of the '40s and early in the '50s California and Oregon attracted a great deal of attention, and the more enterprising of the younger generation began the westward movement that has for sixty years gone on in an ever swelling tide. In 1852 Rev. Daniel Bagley was chosen by the board of missions of his church as missionary to Oregon, which then in- cluded the present states of Washington and Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming.

Their wagon train left Princeton, Illinois, April 20, 1852, and in it were Mr. Bagley and family. Dexter Horton and family, Thomas Mercer and family, William H. Shoudy, John Pike and Aaron Mercer and wife. The wives of Thomas and Aaron Mercer never reached here, but the others all came to Seattle at some period to make their home.

Those moving to the Pacific coast that year were an army in numbers, so that the danger from Indians was not great, but the hardships and sufferings of the emigrants were increased. The difficulties of securing water and feed for the stock were great and cholera became epidemic. However, the fifteen or twenty families of this particular train, after nearly five months of almost constant travel, arrived at The Dalles, on the Columbia river, without the loss of one of their number and with practically all their wagons and stock. Here they separated, only two or three families accompanying Mr. and Mrs. Bagley to Salem, Oregon, where they ended their journey September 21, 1852.

Mr. Bagley at once began active ministerial and missionary work, and labored unremittingly in all parts of the Willamette valley the next eight years. He established about a score of churches and probably half that number of church edifices were built mainly through his instrumentality. This was long prior to the advent of telegraphs and railroads and the conveniences and com- forts of modern travel. His labors extended from the Umpqua on the south to the Columbia river on the north, and it was rare indeed that he remained at home twenty days in succession and, in fact, a large part of these eight years was employed in itinerant work, traveling through heat and dust, rain, snow, mud and floods by day and night, nearly entirely on horseback, so that at forty years of age his constitution was greatly impaired by exposure and overwork.

During all their married life Mrs. Bagley had been an invalid, and in October, i860, the family removed from near Salem to this place, hoping the change of climate would prove beneficial to both of them. The trip was made entirely overland in a buggy — exccDt from Portland to Monticello — and the trip that

26 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

can now be made in as many hours required ten days to accomplish. They made the list of families in the village up to an even twenty,

The unbroken forest began where the Colonial building on Columbia street now stands, and at no point was it more than 250 yards from the waters of the bay.

Mr. Bagley was the pioneer minister of his church on Puget Sound and for years, covering almost the entire period of the Civil war, was the only clergyman stationed in Seattle.

Rev. David E. Blaine, of the Methodist Episcopal church, had been instru- mental in the erection of a church building about 1854 on the present site of the Boston block, which remained unplastered or unceiled for ten years or more. Here Mr. Bagley and a -small band of worshipers gathered weekly.

Early in 1865 the historic "Brown church" was built at the corner of Second and Madison streets and Mr. Bagley's manual labor and private purse con- tributed largely to that work.

Besides his ministerial duties Mr. Bagley became an active and prominent worker in the advancement of the material growth and prosperity of Seattle and King county. Largely through the efforts of Hon. Arthur A. Denny, who was a member of the legislature of 1860-61, the university was located here, and Messrs. Daniel Bagley, John Webster and Edmund Carr were named com- missioners. Selling of lands began at once, and in March, 1861, clearing of the site and work on the university buildings began. As president of the board of commissioners most of the care and responsibility of the sale of lands, erection of the buildings, and establishing of scholastic work fell upon ]\Ir. Bagley, and during the succeeding three years much of his time was devoted to the university interests, and those labors have borne abundant fruits for Seattle and her citizens. Just prior to and following the year 1870, the development of what are now known as the Newcastle coal mines began. Daniel Bagley, George F. Whitworth, Josiah Settle and C. B. Bagley took up the burden of this work, which was the first to become commercially successful in the territory. Mr. Bagley was the responsible leader and superintendent, and although the com- pany then formed was succeeded by a number of others, the credit of the opening of this great source of wealth to this county belongs to him and his associates.

Until 1885 he continued as pastor of the church here and after the twentieth year in charge of the "Brown church" he resigned that position. After that time he did a large amount of ministerial work at Ballard, Columbia, Yesler, South Park, etc., continuing down to within a few years of his death.

Forty-five years he was prominent, active and efficient as a clergyman and private citizen.

Daniel Bagley was a life-long member of the Masonic fraternity, and he was the honored chaplain of St. John's Lodge, No. 9, in Seattle, many years. He was made a Master Mason in Princeton, Illinois, in 1851. He at once affiliated with the lodge in Salem, Oregon, on his arrival there in 1852, and between that time and 1856 became a Royal Arch Mason. On making his home in Seattle he affiliated with St. John's Lodge and remained a member of that lodge during life. He first appeared in Grand Lodge in 1861, and his merits as a Mason are attested by the fact that his brethren of the Grand Lodge of Washington elected

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 27

him their most worshipful grand master at the annual communication of that year.

During their later years Mr. Bagley and his wife made their home with their son Clarence in Seattle and there Mrs. Bagley died October ii, 1913.

They repose side by side in Mount Pleasant on Queen Anne Hill.

C. A. COULTER.

C. A. Coulter, South Bend's efficient mayor, actuated in all of his public service by an vmquestioned fidelity to the general good, is well known in business circles as the president of the Coulter Towboat Company. Since xApril, 1890, he has made his home in the city where he now resides and that he is one of its most honored and popular residents is indicated in the fact that he is now serv- ing for the fourth term as chief executive. A native of Illinois, he was born at Shawneetown, December 25, 1858, and when only seven years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Cairo, Illinois, where he attended school. He afterward took up the blacksmith's and machinist's trades and later was for seven years steamship engineer on the Mississippi river. He was also an engin- eer for three years on the Ohio river, making trips from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, and in April, 1890, he arrived in South Bend. Here he built the tug- boats Laurel and Myrtle and also the boilers for his boats. Developing his business, he organized the Coulter Towboat Company, of which he became pres- ident, with A. J. Burnham. now deceased, as vice president and C. A. Werley secretary and treasurer. Mr. Burnham was at one time captain of the Laurel. Operating his tugboats, Mr. Coulter has developed a large and important business, and while successfully controlling his private interests in that connection he has also made investments in several buildings in South Bend, from which he derives a handsome annual income.

In 1890 Mr. Coulter was married to Miss Sallie F. Dyer, of Evansville, Indiana, but a native of Kentucky. The children of this marriage are : Dan F., now of South Bend; Mary L., the wife of Earle Floyd, of South Bend; C. A., Jr., who is a clerk in Drissler & Albright's hardware store; and Laura Isabelle, in school.

His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called Mr. Coulter to fill public offices. He served as a member of the city council for nine years and while on the council served as mayor. He headed the movement to replace the planked streets with cement paving and also was active in instituting the movement resulting in the building of new sidewalks and the installation of a new sewer system. To accomplish this public improvement work the city was bonded for seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, all of which is now practically paid off and the city is on a cash basis. His fourth election to the office of mayor indicates most clearly Mr. Coulter's standing in public regard. He is held in the highest esteem by all who know him and even those opposed to him politically recognize the value and worth of his service as an official and his marked devotion to the public good; He was one of the stock- holders and organizers of the Commercial Club, which is today out of debt and

28 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

which makes its club house the headquarters for all conventions. He has always been a stalwart democrat but never sacrifices the public good to partisanship nor places the aggrandizement of self before the general welfare. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, while his religious faith is evidenced by his membership in the Presby- terian church. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, entertain for him the highest regard and his fellow townsmen are proud to be numbered among his friends.

PHILIP J. MOURANT.

In an enumeration of the specific forces which have contributed to the up- building of Hoquiam and southwestern Washington mention must be made of the Grays Harbor Construction Company, of which Philip J. Mourant was one of the founders and is the president. Their operations along building lines have been extensive, making theirs one of the leading features in the substantial up- building of the Grays Harbor district. His associates in business and those who have watched his career speak of Mr. Mourant as a most resourceful and enterprising man who seems to discriminate readily between the essential and the nonessential and utilizes each force within his control to the best possible advantage.

He was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1867, and was but four years of age when taken by his parents to Wisconsin, where he resided from 1871 until 1887. Dur- ing the period of his youth there passed he learned the carpenter's trade and when twenty years of age responded to the call of the west, making his way to Vancouver, Washington, where he engaged in carpentering until 1889. In that year he went to Hoquiam, where he was engaged in the erection of the mill of the Hoquiam Sash & Door Company. At that time the only industry in the city was the small mill of the North Western Lumber Company and in providing a site for the sash and door factory Mr. Mourant tore down the old James residence, which was the first schoolhouse in Hoquiam. So excellent was his work in the erection of the factory that he was accorded the contract for the building of the Bay \'iew Hotel, also the Pomona Hotel and the Acteson home. In 1893 he took up contract work as a member of the firm of Mourant & Brisco, which firm erected many of the early residences, most of which were frame buildings. When Mr. Brisco went to Mexico in 1898 he was succeeded in the partnership by Milton L. Watson, who has since been identified with the com- pany. At that point in its histor>^ the company broadened its scope, taking on several large contracts, including that for the construction of the plant of the Grays Harbor Lumber Company and for the National Lumber & Box Company. In 1904 Messrs. Mourant and Watson were joined by James T. Quigg and in 1907 the Grays Harbor Construction Company was incorporated.

Again the scope of its activities was broadened and the paving business was included in 1914, and some of the finest pavements in the northwest have been laid by this company, including paving in Aberdeen and Everett. The plant of the company is large and splendidly equipped. They are engaged in the build-

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 29

ing of mills and bridges and also take contracts for pile driving, dredging and similar work. Aside from the structures already mentioned as erected by this company, they are well known as the builders of the Woodlawn Mill & Boom Company plant, the mill of the Bridal Veil Lumber Company at Bridal Veil, Oregon, the Lytle block at Hoquiam, the Emerson building, the Hicks building, the Foster block, the Washington and Lincoln schools and the Stearns and Lytle residences. They built the county bridge over the Chehalis river and built the government wharf and trestle for the government jetty in the harbor and are handling all the rock which is being used by the government there. The company owns large bunkers at Hoquiam, together with a fleet of scows and two tugs, the Manette and Hunter. In fact the equipment of the Grays Harbor Construction Company is the best and most complete in this part of the country and represents an expenditure of many thousands of dollars — an expenditure which indicates their faith in the future of the city and in the development of western Washington. In addition to his other interests Mr. Mourant has been vice president of the Rychard Grocery Company and was also a stockholder in the Hoquiam Trust Company.

In 1 891 Mr. Mourant was married in Hopetown, Canada, to Miss Lydia A. Ross, a native of Canada, and they have one child, Ethel. Fraternally Mr. Mourant is an Elk, and at this writing, in 1916, is exalted ruler of his lodge. He is also connected with the Eagles and the United Workmen. In politics he is an independent democrat and served as mayor of the city in 1910 and previous to that time as a member of the city council, giving active aid in office and out of it to every measure or movement which he deems of value in the public life of the community. He is a man of resolute purpose who never falls short of the accomplishment of a task to which he sets himself and his developing powers are indicated in the constant growth of his business, which is now of an extensive and important character.

FRANK CARLETON TECK.

Frank Carleton Teck, newspaper and magazine writer, poet and literary critic, living at Port Angeles, was born in Northfield, Minnesota, November 12, 1869, and the public schools of Shieldsville and of Minneapolis, Minnesota, afiforded him his educational opportunities. The broad field of reading, however, is ever open to the individual if he has the taste and inclination to delve therein and Mr. Teck has never failed to embrace his opportunities in that direction. His initial step in the business world was made as a newspaper reporter and the years have brought him through successive stages to his present high standing as a newspaper and magazine writer, to which work he has devoted the greater part of his attention since January, 1889, or during the entire period of his residence in western Washington. He was a writer of verse and literary criticism for magazines for fifteen years prior to 1907, while living in Bellingham. He has brought forth one brochure of verses, "Under Western Skies," and he has been poet of the Washington State Press Association two or three times. He has been city editor and editor of several Bellingham newspapers at different times,

30 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

also editor of the Seattle Town Crier, the Anacortes American, the Pacific Motor Boat and the Pacific Fisherman and has been staff writer on the Pacific Monthly and Sunset.

The scope of Mr. Teck's activities is further indicated in the fact that he was secretary of the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce from 1904 until 1907 inclusive and since the ist of August, 1914, has been secretary of the Port Angeles Commercial Club. On the organization of the Washington Federation of Commercial Organizations in Everett, May 6, 191 5, he was chosen secretary- treasurer and so continued until October 6, 191 6, when, he was elected vice president.

On the 3d of November, 1895, at Bellingham, Air. Teck was married to Miss Daisy Bell, a daughter of Captain and Mrs. J. J. Bell, of that city. Her father was formerly sheriff of Whatcom county and .her brother, Raymond R. Bell, is a well known northwest theatrical manager.

Mr. Teck has joined but one lodge, the Elks, having membership at Belling- ham for many years, while at present he is connected with Naval Lodge, No. 353, of Port Angeles. His military experience covers eight years with Company F of the First Infantry Regiment of the National Guard of Washington at Bell- ingham, of which he was successively private, first sergeant and second and first lieutenant. He was also a trustee of the Bellingham State Normal School from March, 1899, until June, 1905, when he was retired at his own request.

WILLIAM L. ADAMS.

William L. Adams, since 1903 president of the First National Bank of Hoquiam, w-as born in Berwick, Pennsylvania, May 27, i860, a son of Enos L. and Margaret (Kisner) Adams. The genealogy of the family is complete back in direct line to John Adams, of East Friesland, who was born prior to the year 1400. The ancestors of all four grandparents of William L. Adams were early settlers of eastern Pennsylvania or New Jersey and four of his ancestors served in the Revolutionary war.

Provided with liberal educational advantages, William L. Adams was grad- uated from Mount Union College at Alliance, Ohio, with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in i88t. The following year he engaged in sheep ranching in western Texas, he being one of the first to sink wells and run sheep on the staked plains of Texas. In 1882 he was called to the position of county commissioner of Mitchell county, Texas, which offtce he filled for three years, and from 1885 to 1888 he was county assessor of Alidland county, Texas.

In the latter year Mr. Adams was married at Fort Worth. Texas, to Miss Elizabeth A. Davis, who was born at Colon. Michigan, a daughter of Willis G. and Adelia (Anderson) Davis, and was graduated from the Michigan Seminary at . Kalamazoo. They became residents of Washington in 1888 while it was still under territorial rule, settling at Hoquiam on the 12th of March, 1890. There they reared their family but their first born, a son, Ralph, died at Ellensburg in infancy. The others are : Gaylord, who married Leal Stevenson and is assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Hoquiam; Gwenivere, a graduate of Vassar

WILLIAM L. ADAMS

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College, class of 191 5 ; Elizabeth, a graduate of Mount Vernon Seminary at Wash- ington, D. C, class of 1917; and William L., Jr., who was born in 1907, on his father's birthday.

Throughout the period of his residence in Hoquiam Air. Adams has been actively and prominently connected with its interests and its development. He organized the Hoquiam high school in 1890 and graduated its first class in 1892. His identification with the banking business dates from February i, 1893, when he became cashier of the Hoquiam National Bank. A few months later he took the init'ative in the project to consolidate the business of the Hoquiam National Bank with that of the First National. The consolidation was consummated on July i8th in the very teeth of the panic of 1893. The title and charter of the First National Bank were retained and for ten years he was cashier of the First National Bank, at the end of which time he was elected to the presidency, in wdiich position of executive control he has now^ continued for fourteen years. His position in banking circles is indicated in the fact that he was honored with the presidency of the Washington State Bankers Association in 1908-9. He is also interested finan- cially in timber and lumbering, being at this time president of the Keystone Tim- ber Company and vice president of the Grays Harbor Lumber Company.

Mr. Adams was the organizer and is the president of the Hoquiam Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. He is prominent in Masonry as a mem- ber of the Scottish Rite and the Mystic Shrine ; he belongs to the Elks lodge and is a member of the Grays Harbor Country Club and the Delta Tau Delta frater- nity. His religious faith is that of the Episcopal church, while his political views are indicated in his endorsement of the principles and measures of the republican party. He makes his home at the corner of Hill avenue and Center street in Hoquiam and for a quarter of a century has been regarded as one of its most valuable and distinguished citizens.

JOHN LEARY

John Leary was one of the early mayors of Seattle and a pioneer lawyer but retired from his profession to enter upon business pursuits and became an active factor in the upbuilding of the city. He was closely associated with ever in- creasing activities of larger scope and far-reaching effect and Seattle has had no more enterprising citizen, so that no history of the city would be complete without extended reference to him.

Mr. Leary was a native of New Brunswick, his birth having occurred at St. John, November i, 1837. Early in life he started in the business world on his own account and soon developed unusual aptitude for business and a genius for the successful creation and management of large enterprises. His initial efforts were along the line of the lumber trade and "he became an extensive man- ufacturer and shipper of lumber, to which business he devoted his energies between the years 1854 and 1867. He also conducted an extensive general mercantile establishment in his native town and also at Woodstock, New Bruns- wick. Prosperity had attended his efforts, enabling him to win a modest fortune.

34 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

but the repeal of the reciprocity treaty between the United States and Canada resulted in losses for him. Crossing the border into Maine, he conducted a lum- ber business at Houlton, that state, for some time, but the Puget Sound country was fast coming to the front as a great lumber center and he resolved to become one of the operators in the new field.

Mr. Leary reached Seattle in 1869, finding a little frontier village with a population of about one thousand. Keen sagacity enabled him to recognize the prospect for future business conditions and from that time forward until his death he was a cooperant factor in measures and movements resulting largely to the benefit and upbuilding of the city as well as proving a source of substantial profit for himself. In 1871 he was admitted to the bar and entered upon active practice as junior partner in the law firm of McNaught & Leary, which associa- tion was maintained until 1878, when he became a member of the firm of Struve, Haines & Leary. Four years later, however, he retired from active law practice and became a factor in the management of gigantic commercial and public enter- prises which have led not only to the improvement of the city but also to the development of the surrounding country. In the meantime, however, he had served for several terms as a member of the city council of Seattle and in 1884 was elected mayor. His was a notable administration during the formative period in the city's history and he exercised his official prerogatives in such a manner that the public welfare was greatly promoted and in all that he did he looked beyond the exigencies of the present to the opportunities and possibilities of the future. The position of mayor was not a salaried one at that time, but he gave much time and thought to the direction of municipal affairs and while serving was instrumental in having First avenue, then a mud hole, improved and planked. He was the first mayor to keep regular office hours and thoroughly systematized municipal interests. Through the conduct and direction of important business enterprises his work was perhaps of even greater value to Seattle. A contempo- rary historian said in this connection :

"When he came to Seattle none of the important enterprises which have made possible its present greatness had been inaugurated. The most vital period of the city's history had just begun. Only men of the keenest foresight anticipated and prepared for a struggle, the issue of which meant the very existence of the city itself. No city so richly endowed by nature ever stood in such need of strong, brave- and sagacious men. Mr. Leary was among the first to outline a course of action such as would preserve the supremacy of Seattle, and with characteristic energy and foresight he threw himself into the work. A natural leader, he was soon at the head of all that was going on. A pioneer among pioneers, it fell to his lot to blaze the way for what time has proven to have been a wise and well directed move. When the Northern Pacific Railroad Company sought to ignore and possibly to commercially destroy Seattle, Mr. Leary became a leader of resolute men who heroically undertook to build up the city independently of the opposition of this powerful corporation. To this end the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad was built, an enterprise which at that time served a most useful purpose in restor- ing confidence in the business future of the city, and which has ever since been a source of large revenue to the place. Throughout the entire struggle, which involved the very existence of Seattle, Mr. Leary was most actively engaged, and to his labors, his counsel and his means the city is indeed greatly indebted."

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 35

In 1872 Mr. Leary turned his attention to the development of the coal fields of this locality, opening and operating the Talbot mine in connection with John Collins. He was instrumental in organizing a company for supplying the city with gas and served as its president until 1878, thus being closely identified with the early material development of his community. His enterprise also resulted in the establishment of the waterworks system and along these and many other lines his efforts were so directed that splendid benefits resulted to the city. In fact, he was one of the men who laid the foundations for the future growth and importance of Seattle. It was he who made known to the world the resources of the city in iron and coal. Between the years 1878 and 1880 he had exploring parties out all along the west coast to Cape Flattery and on the Skagit and Similki- meen rivers, also through the Mount Baker district and several counties in eastern Washington. His explorations proved conclusively that western Washington was rich in coal and iron, while here and there valuable deposits of precious metals were to be found. The value of Mr. Leary's work to the state in this connection cannot be overestimated, as he performed a work the expense of which is usually borne by the commonwealths themselves. Another phase of his activity reached into the field of journalism. In 1882 he became principal owner of the Seattle Post, now consolidated with the Intelligencer under the style of the Post-Intelligencer. He brought about the amalgamation of the morning papers and erected what was known as the Post building, one of the best of the early business blocks of the city. In 1883 he was associated with Mr. Yesler in the erection of the Yesler- Leary block at a cost of more than one hundred thousand dollars, but this build- ing, which was then the finest in the city, was destroyed by the great fire of Tune, 1889. One can never measure the full extent of Mr. Leary's efforts, for his activity touched almost every line leading to public progress. He was active in the establishment of the Alaska Mail service, resulting in the development of important trade connections between that country and Seattle. He was elected to the presidency of the Chamber of Commerce, which he had aided in organiz- ing, and he also became president of the Seattle Land & Improvement Company and of the West Coast Improvement Company and the Seattle Warehouse & Elevator Company. He was on the directorate of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway Company, was one of the directors of the West Street & North End Electric Railway Company, which he aided in organizing, and was likewise a promoter and director of the James Street & Broadway Cable & Electric line. In financial circles he figured prominently as president of the Seattle National Bank but was compelled to resign that position on account of the demands of other business interests. In February, 1891, he organized the Columbia River & Puget Sound Navigation Company, capitalized for five hundred thousand dollars, in which he held one-fifth of the stock. That company owned the steam- ers Telephone, Fleetwood, Bailey Gatzert, Floyd and other vessels operating be- tween Puget Sound and Victoria. Ere his death a biographer wrote of him:

"It is a characteristic' of Mr. Leary's make-up that he moves on large lines and is never so happy as when at the head of some great business enterprise. His very presence is stimulating. Bouyant and hopeful by nature, he imparts his own enthusiasm to those around him. Pie has not overlooked the importance of manufacturing interests to a city like Seattle, and over and over again has encouraged and aided, often at a personal loss, in the establishment of manufac-

36 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

turing enterprises, having in this regard probably done more than any other citizen of Seattle. He has ever recognized and acted on the principle that property has its duties as well as rights, and that one of its prime duties is to aid and build up the community where the possessor has made his wealth. There are few men in the city, therefore, who, in the course of the last twenty years, have aided in giving employment to a larger number of men than ]\Ir. Leary, or whose indi- vidual eft'orts have contributed more of good to the general prosperity of Seattle."

On the 2ist of April. 1892, Mr. Leary wedded Eliza P. Ferry, a daughter of the late Governor Elisha P. Ferry. Their happy married life was terminated in his death on the 9th of February, 1905, at which time he left an estate valued at about two million dollars. He practically retired from active business about 1893. After his death the estate built upon the site of his old home the Leary- Ferry building.

Mr. Leary was a man of most generous spirit, giving freely in charity to worthy individuals and to important ptiblic enterprises. He built the finest resi- dence in Seattle just before his death and took great pleasure in planning and erecting the home, but did not live to occupy it. He might be termed a man of large efficiency, of large purpose and larger action. He looked at no question from a narrow or contracted standpoint, but had a broad vision of conditions, opportunities and advantages. His life was never self-centered but reached out along all those lines which lead to municipal progress and public benefit. His work has not yet reached its full fruition but, like the constantly broadening ripple on the surface of the water, its efi'ect is still felt in the upbuilding and improvement of the city. ]\Irs. Leary still makes her home in Seattle and is very active in charitable w'ork and in club circles, being identified with many women's clubs. Mr. Leary was also president of the Rainier Club, the leading social organization of Seattle, and those who came in contact with him entertained for him the warmest friendship, the highest admiration and the greatest esteem. His was a life in which merit brought him to the front and made him a leader of men.

EDWARD C. MOXY.

A spirit of energy and enterprise has actuated Edward C. Mony at every point in his business career and gained for him prominence as the secretary and treasurer of the Everett Improvement Company. He was born in Mackford, Green Lake county, Wisconsin, August 19, 1864, a son of Alexander Mony, who was a native of Pennsylvania but of Irish lineage and in the year 1848 removed to Wisconsin, becoming one of the pioneer farmers of that state. His wife was a native of Canada and was of Scotch descent.

Edward C. Mony attended the public schools of his native town and after- wards attended a business college at St. Paul, Minnesota. His early life was spent upon the home farm and in early manhood he taught school. He next entered a law office but after a brief period accepted a position in the general offices of the Chicago, ^Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. He was also

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 37

employed for a short time by the Wisconsin Central. He became interested in the west and made his way to Washington, settHng at Hoquiam in the spring of 1890. He worked there for the real estate firm of Heermans, Congdon & Company for two years, during which period he gained comprehensive knowl- edge of the real estate business. In March, 1892, he removed to Everett when the city had a population of but a few thousand people. He immediately secured a position with the Everett Land Company and continued with that organization and its successor, the Everett Improvement Company, becoming secretary and treasurer of the latter company. In this field he has operated extensively and successfully and is regarded as one of the foremost real estate men of Everett, thoroughly conversant with values and with the property that is upon the mar- ket. This company has negotiated many important realty transfers and his opinions upon any question are largely accepted as authority. Extending his business efl^orts into other connections, Mr. Mony is now secretary and treas- urer of the Everett Railway, Light & Water Company and secretary of the Everett Dock & Warehouse Company and also of the Everett Theatre Company.

On the 2d of June. 1897. in Everett, Mr. Mony was united in marriage to Miss Stella Cougill, a native of San Jose, California. They have two children, namely, Robert C, and ^Mary Louise. The family residence is at No. 2326 Rucker avenue.

Mr. and Airs. Alony are members of the Everett Golf and Country Club. He is also identified with Everett Lodge, No. 479, B. P. O. E., with the Everett Commercial Club and the Cascade Club, and his political allegiance is given to the republican party, which finds in him a stalwart champion because of his earnest belief in its principles. He had no financial assistance on starting out in life for himself and has won whatever success he has achieved at the price of earnest, self-denying efi^ort, his record proving what may be accomplished through close application, persistent energy and indefatigable industry.

PRESTON M. TROY.

Preston AI. Troy is now dividing his energies between the aft'airs of the Olympia National Bank, of which he is president, and the practice of law. For a number of years he has been a member of the bar at Olympia and has gained a place of leadership in his profession. He has also long been prominent in the councils of the democratic party of the state and served as a delegate to the national convention at Baltimore in 19 12. He was born in Dungeness, Wash- ington, January 22, 1867, and is a son of Smith and Laura B. Troy. His father was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, June 4, 1833, and after attending the public schools was a student in the Washington and Jeft'erson College. On beginning his independent career he engaged in the coal business on the Missis- sippi river but in 1849 went to the gold fields of California, going from Texas through Mexico to the coast. From San Francisco he i)roceeded to the Placer- ville mines, where he prospected and also took an active part in politics. In 1852 he drifted north to the Rogue River valley of Oregon, where he engaged in mining for a number of years. There he also participated in political affairs and

38 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

was a member of the first state democratic convention held in Oregon. In i860 he joined the rush to the Cariboo mines in British Columbia, where he remained until 1863, when he returned to the States and settled on land which is now- included in the town of Dungeness. There he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, but his fellow citizens, recognizing his ability and faithfulness, time and algain called him to public office. For twelve years he was superintendent of schools of Clallam county, for a long period was a member of the board of county commissioners, in 1889 was elected county auditor and for two terms was a member of the legislature, representing Clallam and San Juan counties in the lower house for one term in the territorial period, and representing Clallam county in the second state legislature. His advice was often sought on political questions and he did much to secure the success of his party at the polls. Fra- ternally he was a Alason and his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church. He was married in Dungeness, June 4, 1865, to Miss Laura Bass Weir, who died there May 11, 1894. She was born in Bowie county, Texas, and was a daughter of John and Saluda J. (Buchanan) Weir, who removed with their family to the Pacific coast in the '50s, making the long journey across the plains in a prairie schooner. They settled upon land near Los Angeles but soon afterward left as they were seriously annoyed by the Mex- icans, who broke down the fences and allowed their cattle to pasture on the growing crops. It was in i860 that the Weir family removed to Washington by boat and they took up their home in Dungeness, where Mr. Weir for some time engaged in hunting, selling the game which he killed to the settlers in that locality. Later he farmed and was following agricultural pursuits at the time of his death in 1885. To Mr. and Airs. Troy were born five children: Preston M., of this review; John Weir, editor and owner of the Alaska Empire, a paper published at Juneau, Alaska ; David Smith, who was killed in an automobile accident at Port Townsend, August 17, 1916, and who had served as state rep- resentative and at time of his death was state senator; Mrs. I. Callow, who is principal of a public school in Dungeness; and Mrs. Laura I. Stone, principal of the high school in Phoenix, Arizona.

Preston M. Troy divided his time between attending the public schools and working in the logging camps until he was eighteen years old, when he began farming in partnership with his uncle and so continued until he attained his ma- jority. He then became a student in the Olympia Collegiate Institute, from which he was graduated in 1890, and subsequently he entered the law school of the University of Michigan, which conferred upon him the LL.B. degree in 1893. He then returned to Olympia and has since followed his profession, although of late years he has given the greater part of his attention to the dis- charge of his duties as president of the Olympia National Bank. From 1896 to 1899 and again from 1902 to 1906 he held the office of city attorney and from 1904 until 1908 he was prosecuting attorney of Thurston county. In 1904 he was the democratic candidate for superior judge and was defeated by only seventy-five votes, and in 1910 he was nominated by the non-partisan judiciary league convention as one of five candidates for justice of the supreme court of the state. For seven years he was chairman of the state board of law exam- iners and thus had an important part in determining the requirements for ad- mission to the bar. In 1913 he was elected vice president of the Olympia National

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 39

Bank and in September, 1914, following the death of Leopold F. Schmidt, presi- dent of the institution, Mr. Troy was elected its chief executive ofificer. He has since held that position and has manifested sound judgment, a thorough under- standing of the principles underlying the banking business and keen insight into present day conditions. He is also a director of the Building & Loan Associa- tion and recognition of his executive ability and highly developed business sense was accorded him when he was elected trustee of the Chamber of Commerce and later, in March, 1916, and again in March, 1917, was chosen president of that organization, which is recognized as perhaps the most efficient agency for promoting the all-round development of the city.

Mr. Troy was married in Dayton, Washington, October 28, 1896, to Miss Eva Sturdevant, by whom he has three children : Marion Lucile, who is a high school graduate and is now attending the State University ; Harold Preston, who is sixteen years old and is attending high school; and Smith, ten years of age, in the public schools.

Mr. Troy is one of the best known democrats in the state of Washington, having served as a member of the executive committee of the democratic state central committee for four years and having been a delegate in 1912 to the national convention at Baltimore which nominated Woodrow Wilson for presi- dent. From the first he has been a stanch W'ilson man and was one of the organizers of the Woodrow Wilson League of Washington. He is a past master of Olympia Lodge, No. i, F. & A. M., belongs to the various Scottish Rite Ma- sonic bodies, is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Woodmen of the World, the Native Sons of W'ashington. the University Club of Tacoma, the Olympia Golf Club and the Commercial Club of Tacoma. He is likewise a trustee of the Thurston County Pioneer and Historic Associa- tion and chairman of the Simcrtis monument committee. It is but natural that he should take a keen interest in the preservation of local history, for his entire life has been passed in this state and he has vivid memories of pioneer days when the white man had only begun to gain a footing in the Puget Sound coun- try and when it was impossible to foretell the development which a half cen- tury was to bring about. He believes that the next fifty years will also be a period of rapid progress and no project for the advancement of city or state fails to receive his enthusiastic support.

MISS L. C. NICHOLSON.

Miss L. C. Nicholson needs no introduction to the readers of this volume, for she became widely known as the proprietor of the Snohomish General Hos- pital, an institution of which the city of Snohomish has every reason to be proud, for it is conducted along the most progressive lines. It was established about ten years ago and two years ago Miss Nicholson purchased the hospital. It is modern in every department and furnishes accommodations to eighteen patients. There is also a large, well lighted operating room and the five physicians of Snohomish practice here independently or collectively as the situation demands. Miss Nicholson is a graduate nurse and after purchasing the institution contin-

40 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

ually worked for its betterment, for the adoption of higher sanitary ideals and for improvement along every possible line.

Miss Nicholson comes from Revolutionary stock, her forefathers on both sides serving with distinction in the war for independence. She was born at Pomeroy, Ohio, May 4, 1890, and is a daughter of H. M. and N. Jane (Ander- son) Nicholson, w^ho were natives of A'irginia and Ohio respectively. Her maternal grandfather was Hiram Anderson, an early settler of Ohio, emigrating to that state when it was largely an unbroken wilderness. He bought land for six dollars per acre and lived thereon throughout his remaining days. Miss Nicholson's father became a well known stationary engineer and followed that business in Ohio for many years but in 1900 removed with his family to Wash- ington, establishing his residence in Everett, where he still makes his home. He is now fifty-seven years of age and is yet active in his profession. His wife is living at the age of fifty years. In their family were three daughters : Mrs, Mabel C. Hennessy, now a resident of Seattle; Miss L. C. Nicholson of this review ; and Mrs. Otto Schultz, residing in Portland, Oregon.

Miss Nicholson attended school in Ohio and in Everett and when her general education was completed entered a hospital at Vancouver, British Columbia, there pursuing her studies and training until she received her certificate as a graduate nurse. Two years ago she purchased the Snohomish General Hospital.

EDWARD ELDRIDGE.

Macaulay has said that the history of a country is best told in the lives of its people and an important chapter in the hi^ory of western Washington is that constituted in the life record of Edward Eldridge, who established one of the pioneer homes on Bellingham bay and from that period forward to the time of his death, which occurred in 1892, was closely associated with many events which marked the progress and upbuilding of the district. Moreover, he also left the. impress of his ability and individuality upon the legislative records of the state and was a member of two of its constitutional conventions. His purpose was ever as honorable as it was strong, his ideals were high and never were his interests so self-centered that he could not reach out a helping hand to assist another who was struggling to gain a financial foothold.

Mr. Eldridge was born at St. Andrews, Scotland, December 7, 1829, and at an early age was left an orphan, so that little is known concerning the fam- ily, but the Scotch characteristics of thrift and integrity seemed inherent in him. There was a large family of brothers and sisters but they became scattered. Following the death of his parents Edward Eldridge went to live with his grand- parents, but when eleven years of age, stimulated by a desire to see something of the world, he ran away from home and went to sea. His educational oppor- tunities were necessarily limited but throughout his life he remained a close student of books and a keen observer of men and measures, to which he added a retentive memory that gave him in the course of years a mind well stored with much valuable information, gleaned here and there in the school of experi-

EDWAED ELDRIDGE

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ence. It has been said that: "The ocean is a master of mathematics," and Edward Eldridge mastered that science in the course of his experience as a nav- igator. He shipped before the mast on merchant vessels and also served with the English navy and thus he visited many countries, where he became familiar with strange lands and peoples.

He paid his first visit to America in 1846, when a youth of seventeen, being one of the crew of a small vessel that took on a cargo of mahogany at Hon- duras. While the vessel was loading a timber struck him on the head, rendering him unconscious, and the captain, supposing him to be dead, had him laid out for burial at sea, but the captain of another ship heard of the accident and requested permission to have the injury examined. The result was that it was found that life was not extinct and the little vessel therefore did not lose a member of its crew. For a time Mr. Eldridge was a sailor on the Great Lakes and again upon the broad seas and at different periods he engaged in mining! In October, 1849, following the discovery of gold in California, he disembarked from the Tonquin at San Francisco and made his way to the gold fields at Yuba, California, spending twelve months as a miner on Feather river. He then became second mate on the Pacific Mail Steamship Tennessee, which sailed from San Francisco to Panama. While on one of those trips he formed the acquaintance of a most attractive little Irish lady, Teresa Lappin, and this acquaintance turned the current of his life. Resigning his position on the Ten- nessee, he wedded the lady and they made their way to the mining district of Yreka, California, in the spring of 1852. As Mr. Eldridge was not successful in the mines he resolved to go to Australia, accompanied by his wife and the baby daughter who was then a member of the household, but a seemingly trivial incident directed his labors elsewhere. While waiting for a ship to take them • to Australia Mr. Eldridge chanced to meet Captain Henry Roeder, a former Great Lakes captain, whom he had known and who was then purchasing saw- mill machinery in San Francisco with the object of installing it in a mill on Bellingham bay. At that time western Washington was largely peopled by the Indians, there being few white men, so that labor was very scarce. After tell- ing Mr. Eldridge of the beauties of the Puget Sound country and its splendid natural resources he induced him to abandon his idea of raising cattle in Aus- tralia and accept a position in the Roeder mill. They made their way to Bellingham bay and Mrs. Eldridge was the first white woman to locate in the district. While Mr. Eldridge worked in the sawmill Mrs. Eldridge provided the meals for the men who were employed with her husband and continued to board his business associates after he took up work in the coal mines. Later Mr. Eldridge taught school and in the meantime the little boarding house was converted into a hotel, thus meeting the demands of the district, which was steadily developing. On coming to Washington Mr. Eldridge secured a dona- tion claim of three hundred and twenty acres adjoining the claim of Captain Roeder and fronting on the bay. It was covered with a dense growth of timber and underbrush, so that much arduous labor was required to clear and develop it, but his unremitting industry and diligence at length resulted in the develop- ment of one of the best farms on the Sound. As the towns on the bay grew in population he at different periods platted considerable portions of the farm for residential districts and realized a handsome fortune from the sale of the lots.

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44 WASHINGTOX, WEST OF THE CASCADES

He built upon that place in later years one of the finest homes in the city, cost- ing about fifty thousand dollars.

Mr. Eldridge, possessing characteristic Scotch thrift, neglected no business opportunity that he believed would contribute to his own fortunes or to the development of the community. As the population increased and the interests became more complex he saw and utilized opportunities for the establishment of business enterprises which later-day conditions demanded, and something of the extent, volume and importance of his business is indicated in the fact that at the time of his demise he was president of the Bellingham Bay National Bank; president of the Bellingham Bay Gas Company; president of the Belling- ham Bay Land Company ; president of the Bellingham Bay & Eastern Railroad Company ; a director of the Fairhaven & New Whatcom Street Railway Com- pany; and a director of the Puget Sound Loan, Trust & Banking Company. With the establishment and growth of other large business and industrial en- terprises he was also connected and he figured prominently in the development of the lumber industry as one of the partners in the Bartlett & Eldridge sawmill, which was sold to the E. K. Wood Lumber Company in 1900.

Another phase of his activity had to do with the civic organization of the district consequent upon the growth in population. The county was established and in time the city was incorporated and so long and prominently had Mr. Eldridge been connected with public affairs that he was naturally called upon to serve in positions of public trust. He filled the office of county commissioner, county auditor, county treasurer, deputy collector of customs and several times represented his district in the Washington legislature during the territorial regime. He presided over the deliberations of the house in 1866-67 as its speaker and the fairness and impartiality w^hich characterized him in every relation w^ere manifest in his parliamentary rulings. In 1878 he was one of the three delegates at large in the territorial constitutional convention at Walla Walla, and in 1889 was a member of the state constitutional convention at Olympia. He was chair- man of the convention that nominated Denny, Flanders and Garfielde for con- gress and in 1892 he represented Washington in the republican national convention, which met in Minneapolis. Speaking of his public service, a contemporary writer said : "He never wooed public ofiice, and responded to the call of his fellow citizens in the spirit of duty. Indeed he might have made a brilliant political career but for his manifold business interests and love of literature. It is said that he had been a lifelong democrat up to the time news came verifying the report that Fort Sumter had been fired upon. Then he repudiated the party as the author of rebellion and never returned to its ranks. As a republican he was not a bitter partisan, but a conscientious worker and a broad-minded citizen."

Although his ])ublic and business interests constantly made greater and greater demands upon his time and attention Mr. Eldridge always felt that his interests centered in his own household. His family numbered two sons and two daughters: Isabella M., who was born in Yreka, California, and was the wife of Senator J. J. Edens, of Skagit county, Washington, both of whom are now deceased; Edward, who was born in Bellingham and died in August, 1868; Alice, who was born in Bellingham, became the wife of James Gilligan, of Skagit county, and died February 3, 1886; and Hugh, who is today the sole representa-

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 45

tive of the family in Bellingham. The death of the husband and father occurred October 12, 1892. In his Hfetime his studious habits had grown and he had surrounded himself with a magnificent library, with the contents of which he was largely familiar. It constituted one of the chief attractions of his beau- tiful home and it seemed most deplorable when, a short time after the death of Mr. Eldridge, his home with its thousands of volumes was destroyed by fire. When he passed away the press of the state commented widely upon his life in its great usefulness and its worth to the commonwealth. It was said that: "Every changing condition found him ready and in the forefront of progress. Whether it was a matter of personal enterprise or of public weal he was active, wide-awake, constructive all of the time." The extent of his influence and work is almost immeasurable. There is practically no phase of the development of the Bellingham bay district with which he was not closely associated and his labors were even of greater extent, for his business connections reached out into other quarters and his activities touched the general interests of society, leaving their impress not only upon the development of the hour but upon future growth and greatness. To realize what were his early surroundings and his almost utter lack of advantages and opportunities is to come to some under- standing of the splendid work which he accomplished, building a fortune, but building even better than that — a character that would bear the closest investi- gation and scrutiny and shone most resplendent in the clear light of day.

FREDERICK HARRISON WHITWORTH.

Frederick Harrison Whitworth, a civil and mining engineer, now a resident of Washington, his professional operations having largely been confined to this state and to Alaska, was born March 25, 1846, in New Albany, Indiana. His father, the Rev. George F. Whitworth, D. D., was a native of Boston, England, born in 1816, and in 1832 he came to the new world. He wedded Mary Eliza- beth Thomson, who was born in Kentucky in 1818 and was of Scotch-Irish parentage. After living in the middle west for some years the parents came with their family to Washington, crossing the plains in 1853 and settling first at Olympia, where they resided until 1865, and later at Seattle.

Liberal educational advantages were accorded Frederick H. Whitworth, who attended the University of California, from which he was graduated in 1871 with the Bachelor of Arts degree, while in 1872 the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him. Having qualified by a thorough college training for the profession of civil and mining engineering, he entered actively upon his chosen life work and has been connected with various important engineering projects both in Washington and Alaska leading to the development of the natural re- sources of the country. He has been particularly active as an engineer in con- nection with coal-mining and railroad interests and the importance of the work which he has executed places him in a conspicuous and honored position among the representatives of the profession in the northwest.

In 1881, in Seattle, Mr. Whitworth was married to Miss Ada Jane Storey and they have a son, Frederick Harrison Whitworth, Jr., who wedded Laura

46 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

Jane Matthews. ]\Ir. and ]\Irs. Whitworth hold membership in the First Presby- terian church of Seattle. Flis political faith is that of the republican party, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him, his energies and interests being concentrated upon his profession. He is not remiss in the duties of citizenship, however, finding time and opportunity to aid in furthering many plans for the public good which have had a direct and important bearing upon the welfare and upbuilding of city and state along material, political and moral lines.

JOHN SHERMAN BAKER.

A prominent figure in financial circles of Tacoma is John Sherman Baker of the Fidelity Trust Company, and his influence is one of broadening activity and strength in the field in which he operates. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, November 21, 1861, and in the paternal line comes of English ancestrv', the founder of the American branch of the family being Edward Baker, who came to this country from London, England, with George Winthrop and settled at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1628.

Asahel M. Baker, father of John S. Baker, was born in Ohio and became a wholesale flour dealer of Chicago, while during the early '50s he was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, well known in that connection for a considerable period. In fact he was among the very successful merchants of Chicago, where he resided for a long period, removing to Tacoma in 1889, since which time he has here lived retired. He married >\Iartha P. Sprague, a native of Troy, New York, and a daughter of Otis Sprague, who was also of English descent. The family were early settlers of Massachusetts, arriving in this country in the decade of 1660 or 1670. Mrs. Asahel Baker also survives and is living in Tacoma. In the family are three children : Asahel Sprague, a resident of Chicago ; John Sherman, of this review ; and Mattie, the wife of Arthur G. Prichard, likewise a resident of Tacoma.

John Sherman Baker was educated in the public schools of Chicago and started out in the business world when sixteen years of age, making his initial step as settling clerk of the Chicago Board of Trade, in which connection he was retained for four years. In 1881 he came to Tacoma and was employed in a clerical capacity at the freight office of the Northern Pacific Railroad Com- pany. He was associated with the railroad for only a short period and next engaged in survey work in eastern Washington until September, 1882, when he became connected with a general merchandise enterprise at Carbonado, Wash- ington, as a member of the firm of Barlow & Baker. He continued successfully in that line until 1883 and in August of that year purchased the established grocery store of Relmrd iH: Campbell, after which he conducted the business under the firm name of John S. Baker & Company. He continued actively in that field until 1889, after which he organized the Tacoma Grocery Company, Inc., for the conduct of a wholesale business. Mr. Baker became treasurer of the new company and continued in that connection for two years. During that period he also had important realty and other business interests and thus

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 47

through the steps of an orderly progression he was led to a prominent place in , financial circles. In 1889 he organized the Fidelity Trust Company and became its first vice president, in which connection he continued until 1904, when he was elected to the presidency and has since remained at the head of the business, wisely and carefully directing its policies and managing its business interests. He is likewise a director in other banks of the state and is a very prominent and well known figure in financial circles. He is seldom in error in matters of judgment when passing upon the value of any business opportunity, and his keen insight into business situations has materially increased the success of the company of which he is now the head.

On the I2th of May. 1887, at Oakland, California, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Laura Ainsworth, a native of Portland, Oregon, and a daughter of the late Captain John C. Ainsworth. who was organizer and president of the old Oregon Steam Navigation Company and one of the prominent pioneer settlers and business men of Portland. He built the first steamboat on the Willamette river and was actively identified with navigation interests in that section of the country. Mrs. Baker died, leaving one daughter, Bernice Ainsworth, whose activities in charitable work are well known. Mr. Baker was married March 22, 1916. to Miss Florence Mackey, a native of Tacoma and a daughter of Rev. W. A. Mackey, one of the early pastors of the First Presbyterian church of this city.

Politically Mr. Baker is a supporter of the republican party and has taken a great interest in politics. He served as state senator from 1889 until 1903, being the first to represent Pierce county in the upper house after the admission of Washington into the Union. He is a life member of Tacoma Lodge, No. 2t,, F. & A. M., and he belongs also to the Commercial Club, the Union Club, and the Country and Golf Clubs of Tacoma. He also has membership in the State and National Bankers Associations and is regarded as a strong and resourceful figure in banking circles on the coast.

FRANK GROUNDWATER.

Frank Groundwater occupies a position of leadership in financial circles in Elma and his public spirit as well as his business success marks him as one of the most prominent and influential residents of that place. He was born in F.au Claire. Wisconsin, March 2, 1874, and continued his education in the public schools there until he was graduated from the high school. He afterward attended the Lampher Business College of Eau Claire and for a number of years was employed as a stenographer in a law office. While still residing in his native city he was elected alderman from the seventh ward and resigned that ]:)osition to remove to the west. In 1900 he was a student in the law school of the Uni- versity of Washington, from which he was gradviated with the LL. B. degree in 1901, having previously entered upon his law studies while in liis native city. He is the only one who has ever completed the law course in the Uni\'ersity of Washington in a year and he was a member of its first law class.

On the 27th of May, 1903, Mr. Groundwater removed to Elma, wliere he

48 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

opened an office and has since engaged in active practice, his ability being man- ifest in his resourcefuhiess and in the strength and abiHty with which he presents his argument and defines the points in his case. He was the first town attorney of Oakville, Washington, which position he filled for two years, and he is now- serving for the seventh year as town attorney of Elma. In addition to his law practice he engages in the real estate business, handling big timber deals in Wash- ington and Oregon, and he also owns one of the finest farms in Thurston county, upon which is still seen an old blockhouse built there for protection against the Indians.

On the 17th of July, 1910, Mr. Groundwater was married to Miss Fannie Wellman, who was born October 5, 1884, in Tumwater, Washington, the daugh- ter of Charles K. and Lillie Wellman. The Wellmans crossed the plains witli ox teams in early pioneer times and the family home was established at Tum- water. It was there that the parents of Mrs. Groundwater were married. Her maternal grandfather was Dr. Joseph Brown, one of the earliest physicians of Washington territory. To ]\Ir. and Mrs. Groundwater has been born a son. Lyle Frank, born May 12, 1916. Their home is most attractive by reason of its warm-hearted hospitality and they are very popular in social circles.

Fraternally Mr. Groundwater is connected with the Odd Fellows and his political allegiance is given to the republican party, but the only offices which he has filled have been in the strict path of his profession. It is well known that his influence on behalf of public progress and improvement is most marked and that his efforts in that direction are untiring. He is now secretary of the Elma Business Men's Association, which is the successor of the Elma Merchants Asso- ciation, of which he was the secretary for ten years. He looks at vital prob- lems from no narrow or contracted standpoint but is a broad-minded man of clear vision and of strong and honorable purpose who realizes the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship, who holds to high profes- sional ideals and who is most loyal to the ties of home and friendship.

FRANK R. PENDLETON.

Frank R. Pendleton, of Everett, is prominently associated with an industry which has been one of W^ashington's chief sources of wealth, for he is now extensively and successfully engaged in dealing in timber lands and in lumber. His plans have ever been carefully formed and promptly executed and he has ever recognized the fact that when one avenue of opportunity has seemed closed, it is possible to carve out another path whereby to reach the desired goal.

Mr. Pendleton was born in Oconto. W'isconsin, July 29, 1864, a son of Charles T. Pendleton, a native of Maine, who removed to Wisconsin in the early '50s, becoming a pioneer settler of that state, where he operated successfully as a lumberman. He was of English descent, tracing his ancestry from Bryan Pen- dleton, who was the founder of the American branch of the family. In the year 1895 Charles T. Pendleton removed westward to Washington, settling in Everett, where he lived retired, there passing away in 1908, at the age of seventy-seven years. In early manhood he wedded Almeda Lindsey, a native of Maine and

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 49

a representative of an old family of that state of English lineage. She died in Everett in 1915, and though she had reached the advanced age of eighty years, she met an accidental death in an automobile wreck. In the familv were five sons and three daughters.

Frank R. Pendleton, the fourth in order of birth, obtained his education in the public schools of Wisconsin and in a business college at Oshkosh, that state. When twenty years of age he started out in life on his own account, being em- ployed by his father to take contracts in connection with the lumber business. He had previously worked in the lumber woods of Wisconsin from the age of eighteen years and his broad experience has made him thoroughly acquainted with every phase of the business and he has become an expert lumberman, his opinions being the result of long training and broad experience. He became a resident of Everett in the fall of 1899. Several years before, however, he had come to the northwest as a timber cruiser and had secured timber lands in this section of the country. In the year mentioned he began operations in the busi- ness of logging and handling timber lands in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Mexico. He is today one of the largest operators in his line in this section of the country, and in addition to his activities in the northwest, the firm with which he is connected owns large tracts in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The business is carried on under the name of Pendleton & Gilkey and also under the name of the Pendleton Lumber Company, with headquarters at Everett, Mr. Pendleton being president and manager of the company. He is likewise president and general manager of the Straits Lumber Company, presi- dent and general manager of the Union Timber Company and president and general manager of the Coquille Timber Company, all of which indicates the extensiveness of his -operations in connection with the lumber industry. He is among those who have most comprehensive knowledge of the business in the northwest and his work has been fruitful of splendid results. He has not con- fined his attention alone to this line, for he is a director of the First National Bank of Everett, a director of the Pacific Grocery Company and of the Pacific Importing Company, making imports from the Orient. His judgment is at all times sound and his discrimination keen and he seems to accomplish at any one point in his career the possibility for successful accomplishment at that point.

In 1888, at Gillett, Wisconsin, Mr. Pendleton was united in marriage to Miss Ella G. Runkel, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Louis and Christina Runkel. They now have seven children, namely : Ross, Verna, Wayne, Brooks, Norma, Francis and Crosby.

Politically Mr. Pendleton has become progressive and is very active in the councils of the party. He has served as alderman in Everett and as a member of the school board and his aid and cooperation can always be counted upon to further any well defined plan or movement for the benefit and upbuilding of his city. He was made a Mason in Wisconsin and he has taken the fourteenth degree in the Lodge of Perfection in the Scottish Rite. His religious belief is that of the Christian Science church. He belongs to the Everett Commercial Club, to the Cascade Club, the Everett Country and Golf Club and the Seattle Country and Golf Club. His influence is always on the side of progress and improvement in every relation. He received no financial aid at the outset of his career but had the thorough preliminary training that gave him a solid founda-

50 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

tion upon which to build his later success. Opportunity called forth his latent powers and ambition and prompted him to so exercise his talents that he is today one of the most prominent and prosperous representatives of the timber interests of the northwest.

FRED R. BROWN.

Fred R. Brown, for forty-six years a resident of Washington, is now president of the Case Shingle & Lumber Company of Raymond, in which connection he has become a prominent and well known representative of an industry which has constituted a most important contributing factor to the prosperity and business upbuilding of the state. He has lived in Raymond since 1904 and has long been honored as one of its most prominent and valued citizens. He comes from a state which was a center of the lumber trade long before settlement was made on the Pacific coast, for his birth occurred in Bucksport, Maine, May 10, 1849. His boyhood was passed in that state, where he attended the common schools and he also spent one year as a student in the East Maine Conference. Seminary. He afterward went to Boston, where he was employed for two years. He reached the age of twenty when in 1869 he made his way to the Pacific coast with California as his destination. After a brief period spent at farm labor in that state he removed to Portland, Oregon, where he remained through the winter. The following year he went to Kalama, where he engaged in cutting cord wood and he also worked in a store and assisted in road building and other work until 1871, when he came to Washington, making his way to Tenino. For a time he was employed as a clerk in a store but later was persuaded to purchase the business by his employer, who desired to retire. He secured the stock of goods and business largely on credit but made good in the undertaking, winning a liberal patronage and expanding his interests to meet the growing demands of the trade. He became recognized as a leading citizen of the commu- nity not only by reason of his success in the store but also in other lines. He filled the position of postmaster there for a few years, was notary public and in many other ways participated in activities leading to the upbuilding and development of his section of the state. He also became one of the owners and manager of the Olympia & Tenino Railway and in 1880 removed to Olympia, where he resided until he became identified with the interests of Raymond in 1904.

Mr. Brown was active in organizing the Sash & Door Company at Bucoda and there with others built two sawmills and operated one of the largest sash and door factories on the coast at that time. Doors and sash were then made exclu- sively of cedar, as it was believed that fir could not be utilized for that purpose. At Bucoda the company also operated a coal mine, which they continued to work for several years. Mr. Brown likewise developed a fine farm near Tenino and it is still known as the Brown farm, although he sold it some time ago. He became associated with Elmer E. Case, in the building of the Case shingle and lumber mills Nos. i, 2 and 3 at Raymond. He is also secretary of the Southwest Manufacturing Company in all of these plants, the most modern and highly improved machinery has been installed, the work being thus facilitated. Those

FRED R. BROWN

'^mi^mmt^m

THE NEW YORkT' PUBLIC LIBRARTi

TILDEN Fou.MD ' TroNJ

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 53

at all familiar with the lumber industry in Washington recognize that the Case Company has taken an active part in the development of the state in that line, and Mr. Brown is president of the company. He is also the president of the Lebam Mill & Timber Company at Lebam, Washington, and he has been very active in promoting building interests, thus contributing in large measure to the develop- ment of different districts. He is now engaged in developing an eleven hundred acre cattle ranch near Tokeland, upon which he has a iine herd of roan Durhams which he is raising for beef cattle. He has diked and ditched the land and has thus greatly enhanced its value.

Mr. Brown has been married twice. At Tenino, in 1875, he wedded Miss Elizabeth Case and death terminated a happy married life for them in 1891. Ten years later, or on the 2d of March, 1901. Mr. Brown wedded Mrs. Chloe Jones, a widow. He makes his home a part of the time in Seattle, while the remainder of the time he spends in Raymond, and in both places he is held in the highest esteem.

Mr. Brown is connected with no fraternal organizations and has never held nor desired pubHc office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs, which he has most successfully and capably managed. His life record proves that activity does not tire but brings power and the force of resistance. All through his business career his interests have constantly expanded by reason of his close appHcation and intelligent direction of his efforts. He seems to possess in notable measure the power to unify and coordinate seemingly diverse interests and bring- them into a harmonious and resultant whole. Whatever he undertakes he accomplishes, and each passing year has marked with him a larger achievement and farther reaching interests and business connectionls.

WILLIAM T. HOWARD.

William T. Howard, proprietor of the Island County Times, published at Coupeville, was born at South Haven, Michigan, October 24, 1858, a son of John and Mary (Fisher) Howard, who were natives of England. The father came to America in 1851 and settled first in Canada but afterward removed to Michigan. He was a seafaring man and spent a number of years as a sailor on the Great Lakes but afterward removed to Nebraska, where he took up a home- stead on which he lived for five years, passing away in 1878, when forty-seven years of age. His wife came to the United States. with her parents and they were married in Michigan. She passed away in Stanton. Nebraska, in 1904, at the age of sixty-one years.

In their family were eight children, of whom William T. Howard was the first born. He attended the country schools of Michigan and then took up the profession of teaching in the rural schools. In 1873 he removed to Nebraska and while filling the position of county superintendent of schools in Colfax county he purchased and edited the Schuyler Sun. continuing the successful con- duct of that paper for thirteen years. He was also part owner and editor of the Nebraska School Journal from June, 1889. until 1891. In 1899 he was elected mayor of Schuyler and afterward was elected city treasurer, which position he filled for three terms or until he resigned preparatory to coming to Washington.

54 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

He made an excellent official in both positions, being actuated by the utmost fidelity to duty, with a practical recognition of the obligations, the needs and the opportunities of the office.

It was in the year 1906 that Mr. Howard came to Washington, making his way to Whidbey Island, after which he purchased the Island County Times, of which he has since been proprietor and publisher. This is a weekly paper with a circulation of five hundred and sixty, and his newspaper plant is thoroughly modern in its equipment, while his method of publication is such as is familiar to the public through the leading journals of larger cities. In a word, he is most progressive in his work and his labors have brought substantial returns.

On the 2ist of December. 1879, in Colfax county, Nebraska, Mr. Howard was united in marriage to Miss Esther Edmonds, her parents being James and Jane Edmonds, natives of Michigan. The mother still survives and makes her home at Hastings, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Howard have eight children, as follows: Arthur, who was born at Schuyler, Nebraska, and who is now mar- ried and is part owner of the Herald, published at Mount V^ernon, Washington; Mrs. Mabel Beach, who was also born at Schuvler. Nebraska, and now resides in Lynden, W^ashington ; James, who is a native of Schuyler, Nebraska, and now makes his home at Langley on ^^llidbey Island; Mrs. Mar)' English, who was born at Schuyler and is now the wife of an officer stationed at Fort Casey, on Whidbey Island ; William, who is a native of Schuyler. Nebraska, and a high school graduate and at the age of nineteen is now attending the University of \\'ashington.; Bernice, a young lady of seventeen who was born in Schuyler and is now attending school at Coupeville, this state ; Chester, whose birth occurred in Schuyler and who at the age of fifteen years is now attending school at Coupe- ville, Washington ; and Marvel, who was born in Coupeville and is now seven years old and a school student.

In politics ]\Ir. Howard is an independent republican. He has serv^ed as president of the school board and as town clerk but has preferred to hold his political activity only to local service. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Tribe of Ben Hur. His is a notable example of what may be accomplished through energy, determination and laudable ambition. He was given the opportunity of attending school for only six months after the age of twelve, and the balance of his education has been acquired by lamplight after the day's work was over. He has, however, always been an earnest and discriminating student, a broad reader and deep thinker and is always well informed on the vital questions and issues of the day.

THOMAS MERCER.

Thomas Mercer was born in Harrison county, Ohio, March 11, 1813, the eldest of a large family of children. He remained with his father until he was twenty-one, gaining a common school education and a thorough knowledge of the manufacture of woolen goods. His father was the owner of a well ap- pointed woolen mill. The father, Aaron Mercer, was born in \^irginia and was

WASHINGTON/WEST OF THE CASCADES 55

of the same family as General Mercer of Revolutionary fame. His mother, Jane Dickerson Mercer, was born in Pennsylvania of an old family of that state.

The family moved to Princeton, Illinois, in 1834, a period when buffalo were still occasionally found east of the Mississippi river, and savage Indians annoyed and harassed outlying settlements in that region. A remarkable co- incidence is a matter of family tradition. Nancy Brigham, who later became Mr. Mercer's wife, and her family, were compelled to flee by night from their home near Dixon at the time of the Black Hawk war, and narrowly escaped massacre. In 1856, about twenty years later, her daughters, the youngest only eight years old, also made a midnight escape in Seattle, two thousand miles away from the scene of their mother's adventure, and they endured the terrors of the attack upon the village a few days later when the shots and shouts of hundreds of painted devils rang out in the forest on the hillside from a point near the present Union depots to another near where Madison street ends at First avenue.

In April, 1852, a train of about twenty wagons, drawn by horses, was or- ganized at Princeton to cross the plains to Oregon. In this train were Thomas Mercer, Aaron Mercer, Dexter Horton, Daniel Bagley, William H. Shoudy, and their families. Mr. Mercer was chosen captain of the train and discharged the arduous duties of that position fearlessly and successfully. Danger and disease were on both sides of the long, dreary way, and hundreds of new made graves were often counted along the roadside in a day. But this train seemed to bear a charmed existence. Not a member of the original party died on the way, although many were seriously ill. Only one animal was lost.

As the journey was fairly at an end and western civilization had been reached at The Dalles, Oregon, Mrs. Mercer was taken ill, but managed to keep up until the Cascades were reached. There she grew rapidly worse and soon died. Several members of the expedition went to Salem and wintered there and in the early spring of 1853 Thomas Mercer and Dexter Horton came to Seattle and decided to make it their home. Mr. Horton entered immediately upon a business career, the success of which is known in California, Oregon and Washington, and Mr. Mercer settled upon a donation claim whose eastern end was the meander line of Lake Union and the western end, half way across to the bay. Mercer street is the dividing line between his and D. T. Denny's claims, and all of these tracts were included within the city limits about 1885.

Mr. Mercer brought to Seattle one span of horses and a wagon from the outfit with which he crossed the plains and for some time all the hauling of wood and merchandise was done by him. The wagon was the first one in King county. In 1859 he went to Oregon for the summer and while there married Hester L. Ward, who lived with him nearly forty years, dying in November, 1897. During the twenty years succeeding his settlement here he worked hard in clearing the farm and carrying on dairying and farming in a small way and doing much work with his team. In 1873 portions of the farm came into demand for homes and his sales soon put him in easy circumstances and in later years made him independent, though the few years of hard times prior to his death left but a small part of the estate.

The old home on the farm that the Indians spared when other buildings in the county not protected by soldiers were burned, stood until 1900 and was

56 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

then the oldest building in the county. Mr. D. T. Denny had a log cabin on his place which was not destroyed — these two alone escaped. The Indians were asked, after the war, why they did not burn Mercer's house, to which they replied, "Oh, old Mercer might want it again." Denny and Mercer had always been particularly kind to the natives and just in their dealings and the savages seem to have felt some little gratitude toward them.

In the early '40s Mr. Mercer and Rev. Daniel Bagley were co-workers in the anti-slavery cause with Owen Lovejoy, of Princeton, who was known to all men of that period in the great middle west. Later Mr. Mercer joined the republican party and was ever an ardent supporter of its men and measures. He served for ten years as probate judge of King county, and at the end of that period declined a renomination.

In early life he joined the Methodist Protestant church and ever continued a consistent member of that body. Rev. Daniel Bagley, who participated in the funeral services, was his pastor fifty-two years earlier at Princeton, Illinois, and continued to hold that relation to him in Seattle from i860 until 1885, when he resigned his Seattle pastorate.

To Mr. Mercer belongs the honor of naming the lakes adjacent to and almost surrounding the city. At a social gathering or picnic in 1855 he made a short address and proposed the adoption of "Union" for the small lake be- tween the bay and the large lake, and "Washington" for the other body of water. This proposition was received with favor and at once adopted. In the early days of the county and city he was always active in all public enterprises, ready alike with individual effort and with his purse, according to his ability, and no one of the city's thousands took a keener interest or greater pride than he in the development of the city's greatness, although latterly he could no longer share actively in its accomplishment. He was exceedingly anxious to see the Lake Washington canal completed between salt water and the lakes.

Thomas Mercer was born March 11, 1813; married to Nancy Brigham, Janu- ary 25, 1838 ; died in Seattle, May 25, 1898.

Nancy Brigham was born June 6, 1816, and died at the Cascades of the Columbia, September 21, 1852.

The children of this marriage were :

Mary Jane, born January 7, 1839, <^i^d September 8, 1910; Eliza Ann, born March 30, 1841, died October 24, 1862; Susannah Mercer, born September 30, 1843 ; Alice, born October 26, 1848.

Thomas Mercer was married to Hester L. Ward in Oregon in 1859. No children.

Mary Jane was married to Henry G. Parsons, March 11, 1857.

Their children were: Flora A., born December 21, 1857; Ella, born February 15, i860, died January 23, 1899; William M., born October 27, 1862, died August 4, 1897; Alice E., born April 4, 1865; Annie V., born May 21, 1867; Lela M., born February 4, 1870.

Ella Parsons married David Fleetwood, December 25, 1880.

Their children were: David Lee, born October 13, 1881 ; Carrie E., born September 17, 1883; Lyman G., born April 25, 1887; Olive P., born October 18, 1891 ; Edith E., born December i, 1893.

Alice Parsons married Thomas T. Parker, August 4, 1897.

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 57

Their children were: Lester L., born May 23, 1900 ; Lawrence L, born July 8, 1902.

Lela Parsons married Del M. Kagy, June 30, 1893.

Their children are: Lloyd Parsons, born July 3, 1894; Orville L., born June 15, 1896; Howard R., born March 14, 1904.

Eliza Ann Mercer married Walter Graham in Seattle in 1857.

Their children were: William T., born February i, 1858; George R., born September 20, i860.

Susannah Mercer married David Graham in Seattle, May 23, 1861. No children.

Alice Mercer married Clarence B. Bagley, December 24, 1865.

Their children were Rena, Myrta, Ethel W., Alice Claire and Cecil Clarence.

GEORGE CASSELS.

George Cassels, proprietor of Hotel Cassels at South Bend, has conducted this hostelry continuously and successfully since 1909. He dates his residence in .South Bend, however, from 1890 and throughout the intervening period has been actively and helpfully associated with business interests here. Many tangi- ble evidences of his public spirit may be cited and at all times his cooperation has been counted upon as a factor in the work of general improvement.

Mr. Cassels was born at London, Ontario, Canada, July 8, 1857, and pursued his education in the schools of Stratford, Ontario. He first became connected with the bakery business at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, in 1882, and there remained for four years, after which he removed to Brandon, Manitoba, and in 1890 arrived in South Bend. There he established a confectionery and bakery business and gradually developed a large restaurant, but in 1906 he disposed of his bakery and embarked in the hotel business in a building purchased from the Peters estate and now occupied by the Willapa Power Company. This he con- ducted in connection with his restaurant for three years. He then leased the Stevens Hotel building across the street and closed out his restaurant, renting the lower part of the original hotel for a furniture store and reserving the upstairs rooms for a hotel annex. For the past seven years he has conducted a very successful business as proprietor of Hotel Cassels and he is the present manager. He has made this a popular hostelry by reason of the excellent service and prompt attention accorded patrons and he has made the Cassels Hotel an establishment which draws to the city many traveling men.

On the 25th of October, 1885, Mr. Cassels was united in marriage to Miss Josephine E. Fish, a native of South Oxford, Canada, and they have become the parents of three daughters. Myrtle May, who has occupied an official position in the courthouse for eight years and is now in the treasurer's office, has traveled quite extensively and spent some time as stenographer in a big hotel in 1 lono- lulu. Florence is a trained nurse who was graduated from the Good Samaritan Hospital of Portland, Oregon. She is now in the government service and is in

58 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

Honolulu as a nurse in the department hospital at Fort Shafter. Ada, the youngest daughter, is at home.

For ten years Mr. Cassels has been a member of the school board of South Bend and while so serving he with two others advocated the erection of a high school building. Their plans were carried out, resulting in the erection of a thoroughly modern school building at a cost of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. For three terms Mr. Cassels was a member of the city council, during which period he was chairman of the committee on streets. He was appointed by the fire department to submit plans to the city council for a new fire department building and city hall and was made a committee of one to carry out the plans and specifications as submitted. By getting donations, a very sub- stantial building was completed on city dock property. Mr. Cassels belongs to the Commercial Club and is interested in all those forces which work for the development and progress of the community. He is secretary of the Pacific County Improvement Company, of which Judge H. W. B. Hewen is president. This organization and the committee of the Commercial Club were instrumental in securing the shipyard for South Bend and donated two blocks or six acres of the site. He belongs to the Presbyterian church and fraternally is connected with the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern W^oodmen of America. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. His activity has made him a leading citizen of South Bend, where the intelligent direction of his labors has wrought good results in both the attainment of individual success and the advancement of public welfare.

JOHN L. BOYLE.

John L. Boyle, of Everett, filling the office of county treasurer of Snohomish county, was born in Perth, Scotland, November 22, 1861, a son of David and Margaret (Evitt) Boyle, both of whom were natives of the land of hills and heather. The father was a cloth weaver in that country and in the year 1868 he came to the new world, settling first in Ontario, Canada, where he continued to reside until 1870 and then removed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he continued in the same line of business until called to his final rest, his death occurring in 1906, when he had reached the age of seventy years. His widow, who was born in Edinburgh, is still living and now resides in the city of Sno- homish, Washington. In their family were three children : John L., of this review; David, a resident of Everett; and Margaret, the wife of William Gorie, living in Ontario, Canada.

John L. Boyle was a little lad of seven summers when the family crossed the Atlantic and his education was acquired in the schools of Ontario, Canada, to the age of sixteen years, when his textbooks were put aside and he became a sailor on the Great Lakes. He followed a seafaring life for four years and, going upon the ocean, visited all parts of the world. In fact he went around the world four times before attaining the age of twenty years. At length, however, he determined to settle down and it 1882 became a resident of Snohomish, whither he made his way an entire stranger. There he became connected with

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 59

the logging business and was thus employed for a year, after which he began business in the same line on his own account, devoting eight years thereto. In 1 891 he was married and entered the hardware business, which he conducted for two years. Between 1893 and 1907 he was variously employed and in the latter year was called to public office, being made city marshal of Snohomish, in wh^ch capacity he served for a year. For seven years following he was water super- intendent of Snohomish and still higher political honors came to him in his election to the state legislature, of which he w^as a member from 191 1 until 1913. At the same time he retained his position as superintendent of the water department. In 1912 he was elected to the office of county treasurer and en- tered upon the duties of that position on the ist of January, 19 13, being still the incumbent in the office, the duties of which he is discharging in a manner most creditable to himself and satisfactory to his constituents.

On the 9th of March, 1891, in Snohomish, Mr. Boyle was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Proctor, a native of Iowa and a daughter of Alexander and Tirza (Smith) Proctor. The latter still survives at the age of eighty-three years and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Boyle. The Proctors are an old Iowa family and were prominently connected with many leading families of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Boyle are the parents of four children, as follows : Helen, who was born in Snohomish, Washington, on the 17th of January, 1892; Phimester Proc- tor, who was born June 17, 1895, and is employed in his father's office; Gordon, whose birth occurred in Snohomish, Washington, on the 7th of September, 1902, and John L., Jr., born in January, 1905.

In his political views Mr. Boyle is a progressive and has long been active in politics, recognizing the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and with the Maccabees and he fs also a member of the Commercial Club of Everett. He belongs to the First Congregational church, of which he is a trustee, and his life is guided by its teachings, which find manifestation in honorable manhood in every relation. He is recognized as a man of sterling character and a most efficient officer and during his incumbency in his present position he has instituted many improvements resulting in considerable saving to the taxpayers. He is beloved by his employes and is honored and respected wherever known, for he possesses those sterling traits of character which in every land and clime awaken confidence and regard.

THOMAS GEISNESS.

Thomas Geisness, county superintendent of schools of Clallam county and a representative of the bar at Port Angeles, where he makes his home, was born in St. Croix county, Wisconsin, October 25, 1874, a son of Alexander and Anna (Lund) Geisness, who were natives of Norway and in childhood came to the new world, settling in Wisconsin, where they were married. The father there en- gaged in farming to the tijne of his death, which occurred in 1878, when he was forty-seven years of age. His wife long survived and passed away in 1913 at the age of seventy-eight years.

60 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

Thomas Geisness was the fifth in order of birth in a family of six children and in his boyhood days he pursued the branches of study taught in the public schools of his native state, entering the University of Minnesota after completing a course in the high school of Hudson, Wisconsin. He took academic and post graduate work in the university and prepared for the bar, after which he came to Washington in 1907 and passed the required examination. He then located for practice in Port Angeles, where he has since remained, enjoying a liberal clientage that has connected him with much important litigation. For six years he was interested in school work as city superintendent in Port Angeles. This was not, however, his initial experience in the educational field, for prior to his removal to Washington he had been city superintendent of schools at Blue Earth and at Lakefield, Minnesota. After five years devoted to teaching in Port Angeles he was elected county superintendent of schools of Clallam county in 1912 and is now acceptably filling that position for the second term. He closely studies every question in any way bearing upon the educational situation and has intro- duced reforms and improvements of practical benefit and value to the community. He has ever been a man of studious habits and post graduate work covering three years brought him the degrees of Master of Arts and Ph. D., the former being conferred in 1899, and the latter in 1901.

In August, 1902, Mr. Geisness was married to Miss Mae Martin, of Indian- apolis, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Martin and a native of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Geisness have become the parents of four children : Evelyn, who was born in Blue Earth, Minnesota, in 1904; John, born in Farmington, Minnesota, in 1907; Katherine, in Port Angeles in 1910; and Robert, in 1913.

Mr. Geisness is a member of both the county and state Bar Associations and enjoys the confidence and high regard of his professional colleagues and con- temporaries as well as his associates and coworkers in the educational field. In Masonry he has taken the Royal Arch degree and he is also connected with the Loyal Order of Moose and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is interested in all those questions and projects which have to do with the uplift of the in- dividual and the progress of the race and he is regarded as a valuable addition to the citizenship of Port Angeles.

GEORGE H. EMERSON.

In the period of pioneer development George H. Emerson arrived in Hoquiam, and taking up his abode at the Campbell Hotel, spent a few weeks in thoroughly exploring the surrounding territory in order to become familiar with its natural resources and the advantages here ofit'ered. He made his way to Hoquiam from Gardiner, Oregon, but New England claimed him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Chester, New Hampshire, January 18, 1846. His father, Nathaniel F. Emerson, was born in Chester, New Hampshire, in 1804 and in 1831 wedded Clarissa Goodhue, by whom he had four children: John, Elizabeth, Stephen and George H.

George H. Emerson removed with his parents to Massachusetts and when the Civil war broke out enlisted for active service in defense of the Union. Following

GEORGE H. EMERSON

THE NEW YOP.K PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, .LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 63

his return home with a most creditable military record he attended Harvard College and in 1866 he made his way to Kansas City, whence with ox teams he traveled across the plains to San Francisco. Entering the employ of Asa M. Simpson, he was sent to work in a lumber mill on Coos Bay in Oregon. Life on the western coast made strong appeal to him and he determined to permanently identify his interests with those of the northwest.

Accordingly in 1868 he returned to the east, where he wedded Miss Lizzie Damon and then took his bride to the San Joaquin valley in California, where he began farming, but was obliged to leave there because of drought. He then re- entered the employ of Captain Simpson and in 1881 was sent to investigate the resources of the Grays Harbor country. Before returning to San Francisco he purchased three hundred acres of land, including the present mill site of the Northwestern Lurnber Company and a large part of the first plat of the town of Hoquiam. He then went south with Captain Simpson and purchased a sawmill which was in operation at Albion, California. The machinery was loaded on the brig Orient and arrived in Hoquiam in April, 1882, in charge of Mr. Emerson. A pile driver for putting in the foundation was purchased at Willapa Harbor, Shoalwater Bay, but while being brought around by ocean was overturned and lost. Progress on the new mill was rapid and in August, 1882, the first whistle indicated that an advanced step was taken toward changing pioneer conditions into those of the present day. The mill was opened with a capacity of fifty thousand feet daily and now has a capacity of one hundred and fifty thousand feet. On the 15th of June, 1896, the entire milling plant was destroyed by fire but was immediately rebuilt, up-to-date machinery and equipment being installed. In 1884 Mr. Emerson brought to the county the first logging engine, which he operated in the Whishkah camp with , a six. inch Manila rope cable. His activities proved a most potent element in the pioneer development of the lumber interests in the city.

Furthermore, Mr. Emerson was connected with every movement for the development of city and county. For many years he was a prominent leader of the republican party in the Grays Harbor district but never held nor would he accept public office, and he declined the request of party leaders to become a candidate for governor at the time Mead was nominated, notwithstanding the fact that a nomination at that time meant an election.

Fie constantly broadened his business interests and all of his undertakings were of a character that contributed to the progress and prosperity of the comnumity as well as to individual success. He was president of the Harbor Land Company, president of the Frank H. Lamb Timber Company, president of the Grays Harbor Tugboat Company, vice president of the Grays Harbor Com- pany, vice president of the Northwestern Lumber Company and vice president of the First National Bank. He was also interested in the Lumbermen's Indemnity Insurance Company, was a stockholder in the Metropolitan Bank and a director of the Metropolitan Building Company of Seattle. He was also proprietor of the Hoquiam Theatre, president and principal owner of the North Shore Electric Company and president of the Whishkah Boom Company. Gradually he ad- vanced, working his way upward step by step and constantly increasing the extent and importance of his interests until he became one of the foremost business

men of this section of the state. He proved his grasp of financial affairs by Vol. n— 4

64 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

organizing several land, real estate and commercial concerns apart from the lumber industry and until the last four or five years of his life retained his con- nection with active business interests. After retiring he made several trips abroad, but Hoquiam v^as always his home and the summer seasons were spent at Pacific Beach, where he had a beautiful residence. He was a famous swimmer and was exceedingly fond of outdoor life.

To Mr. and Mrs. Emerson were born four children, two of whom are deceased. A sketch of Ralph D. appears below\ Alice is the wife of Frank H. Lamb, of Hoquiam. George D., who is deceased, was married but left no children. Florence E. became the wife of Charles Miller, of Aberdeen, and is deceased. She was the mother of a son, Charles Emerson.

Mr. Emerson found his greatest happiness in providing for the welfare and comfort of his family. He belonged to the Rainier Club and was a charter member of the Elks lodge of Hoquiam. Death called him August 2, 1914, and all who knew him and were acquainted with his splendid career feel that his place will never be filled. He was continually reaching out along lines that have proved of great public benefit. No one ever questioned his integrity in personal matters, in business or in his relations to city, county and state. Much of his time was given to promote the progress and upbuilding of Hoquiam and he was actuated by a notably strong sense of justice and endeavored to secure fair and impartial conditions. He was particularly interested that the tax should be justly levied and that all should pay their due proportion and no more. When he passed away the deepest regret was felt on every hand, for he had endeared himself to all with whom he had come in contact, while his life work had made his history an integral part in the annals of his adopted city.

RALPH D. EMERSON.

Ralph D. Emerson needs no introduction to the readers of this volume who are residents of the Grays Harbor country, for practically his entire life has been here passed. He was born in 1880, a son of George H. Emerson, one of Hoquiam's most distinguished and honored citizens, and he has followed in the footsteps of his father, not only becoming a most progressive, alert and enter- prising business man but also one whose interest in public afifairs is actuated by an earnest desire to promote the public welfare.

In 1910 Ralph D. Emerson was married to Miss Frances Soule, of Hoquiam, also a representative of a pioneer family, and they have two children, Elizabeth and George H.

In the acquirement of his education Ralph D. Emerson attended the Leland Stanford University of California, from which he was graduated in 1903 after having made a special study of chemistry. Soon after returning from college he started the Aloha Lumber Company at Aloha, Washington, of which he is now president. He became the active assistant of his father in business and upon the father's death succeeded him in the management and control of the important interests which he left. He is now at the head of all the concerns of which his father was chief officer and is bending his energies toward

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 65

administrative direction and executive control, finding ready solution for intricate business problems and readily discriminating- between the essential and the nonessential in the management of all his affairs. He is now building for the George H. Emerson estate a fifty thousand dollar office building in Hoquiam.

In his political views Mr. Emerson is an earnest republican and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks and along more strictly social lines is identified with the Country Club. He is a man of broad mind and generous spirit and is in hearty sympathy with all those progressive forces which are accomplishing much in the develop- ment and upbuilding of city and state.

NELSON BENNETT.

The world instinctively pays deference to the man whose honors have been worthily won as the result of his wise utilization of the opportunities which have come to him and of the talents with which nature has endowed him. It was the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellowmen that Nelson Bennett was one of the most conspicuous and honored figures in the northwest. To him life was purposeful. He regarded home, citizenship and business opportunity as something to be carefully cultivated and cherished. He felt that in all of these connections there was a work to be done and he never neglected the duty that came to him. He was identified with some of the greatest railroad engineer- ing projects which have led to the development of the northwest, and when his business connections brought him to Tacoma, he was so pleased with the city and its opportunities, its geographical situation and its beauty that he decided to remain.

Mr. Bennett was born in Sutton, Canada, October 14, 1843, and his life spanned the intervening years to the 20th of July, 1913. His parents were Nicholas and Diana (Sprague) Bennett but in early youth he left his mother's home. His father had died when the son was but seven years of age, leaving the widowed mother with six children to support, and at the age of fourteen Nelson Bennett was doing a man's work on a farm. He attended the country schools for six months in a year, receiving such primitive instruction as the district schools of that time afforded. When seventeen years of age he went to Orleans county. New York, and at the age of twenty years was employed by the United States government on the construction of government barracks. Later he made his way to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, and although the youngest contractor in the field, did a profitable business, receiving a liberal patronage. He sank twenty-five successful wells in that region. In 1867 he went to Missouri and became identified with the west as school teacher, Indian fighter and miner. Before the advent of railroads into the Rocky Mountain regions he was engaged in extensive transportation operations through the west in company with Senator William A. Clark of Montana. It was in 1875 that he established mule freight trains in that state and it was while thus engaged that he met Washington Dunn, representative of Jay Gould, whose acquaintance he formed, resulting in Mr. Bennett's ultimately becoming interested in railroad

66 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

building. During his freighting days he took into Butte, Montana, the first mining machinery conveyed into that camp and he built the first street railway system in Butte.

It was perhaps Mr. Bennett's operations as a railroad builder and the pro- moter of engineering projects of great magnitude and importance that made him most widely known. He was considered one of the most sagacious of all the western railroad builders and within ten years had risen from an obscure position as a comparatively penniless young man to a place among the million- aires of the northwest. He began by taking sub-contracts for railroad building under Washington Dunn and following the sudden death of Mr. Dunn took up and completed the work and became his successor as a railroad builder.

Mr. Bennett commenced the construction of the big tunnel through the summit of the Bitter Root mountains between Montana and Idaho for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, but as weather conditions were un- favorable, he was unable to get his machinery and supplies located as soon as he desired, and, realizing that it would be impossible to complete the task within the specified time of two years and that he would thus be compelled to pay a large forfeit, he sold his contract to the railroad, which completed the tunnel according to his plans. While engaged in that work he had direct supervision and lived with his men in the camps not only when the work was being carried on through the summer but also through the winter when deep snows cut them off from all the outside world and stopped his work.

Mr. Bennett was also the builder of the big irrigation ditch thirty-five miles in length, furnishing water to two hundred and seventy thousand acres of land. This was constructed for the Twin Falls Land & Water Company on the Snake, river in Idaho and the work required about six hundred men and twelve hun- dred horses, together with steam railroads, steam shovels, graders, pumps and drills, as much of the work had to be done in the solid rock. This is said to be the finest piece of engineering of its kind in the United States. Mr. Bennett had a remarkable sense of direction and could with a compass and the stars for his guide reach any given point for which he set out. He built much of the Northern Pacific Railroad through Montana and when his work there was com- pleted he was awarded the contract for boring the tunnel under the Stampede Pass for the Northern Pacific Railway — a gigantic undertaking for that day, as was evidenced by the army of men and horses and the amount of machinery which he had to assemble for the purpose. The gigantic task was completed in two years, long before the specified time and he received one hundred thou- sand dollars for so doing. At the end of that time Mr. Bennett removed with his family to Tacoma, bringing with him a fortune of a million dollars which he had accumulated. From that time forward he was closely associated with the interests, development and progress of the city and promoted a number of those utilities which have featured largely in the city's upbuilding. He was associated with Allen Mason in the establishment of the street railway system of Tacoma, beginning on Pacific avenue, just north of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and crossing at Seventeenth street, extending from Seventeenth to Seventh street. This was a horse car line. Mr. Bennett afterward built another line on C street from Ninth to Tacoma avenue and extending out Tacoma avenue and on North G street to the top of the hill above the old town. He enlarged

WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES 67

the system to meet the demands occasioned by Tacoma's rapid growth until he sold out to the syndicate headed by Henry Villard, who continued the work that Mr. Bennett had begun and carried out his ideas, developing the present street railway system under the name of the Tacoma Railway & Power Company.

When Mr. Bennett had closed out his street railway interests he founded the town of Fairhaven, now a part of Bellingham, and there established mills and factories, also built a fine hotel, founded a daily newspaper and put on the steamers Fairhaven and State of Washington, built especially for trade between Fairhaven and Tacoma. He also began building railroads out of Fairhaven to the east and south — lines which have since become a part of a great railway system. In 1891 he purchased the Tacoma Hotel from C. B. Wright of Phila- delphia, who was one of the founders of the city and a former president of the Northern Pacific Railway Company. He likewise purchased the Tacoma Ledger, the leading newspaper of the city, for which he paid one hundred and twenty thousand dollars cash.

In the panic following Baring Brothers' failure Mr. Bennett's fortune was swept away, after which he again turned his attention to construction work, building the Palmer cut-off for the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Pacific ocean extension to the beach at Moclips. When he started the Cascade tunne! in 1886 he had to haul his machinery a distance of ninety miles before he could begin operations on the tunnel, which is nine thousand eight hundred and fifty feet long, sixteen feet wide and twenty-two feet high and which was put through in shorter time than any other of similar character in this country. He built the Cascade division of the Northern Pacific from Pasco to Puget Sound, built a large part of the line of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and also executed important railroad building projects in Utah. When the Northern Pacific planned the construction of the Point Defiance line Mr. Bennett, al- though he had retired, felt the call again and took the work, while younger men sat back and looked on in amazement. That he was capable for the task was evidenced in the dispatch with which he undertook the completion of the Poin: Defiance tunnel, a work second in importance to none save his earlier achieve- ment in the Cascade mountains. These two tunnels are a monument to the business ability and enterprise of Mr. Bennett, who had almost completed this last tunnel when death called him, but it was finished by his widow and the Northern Pacific Railway Company fittingly named it in his honor the Nelson Bennett tunnel. Mr. Bennett was also a director of the Merchants National Bank and when the panic came he turned over eighty thousand dollars of his own private fortune to save the bank, but it was swept away with other securi- ties. Another notable work which he accomplished was the spanning of the Chilkoot Pass in Alaska with a tramway that was constructed in the winter.

At Dillon. Montana, Mr. Bennett was married to Mrs. Lottie H. Wells, of New York, and they became the parents of five cliildren. of whom four are living: Mrs. Stephen Appleby; Mrs. Ceta Munsey ; Nelsie, who married Minot Davis ; and Charlotte C.

Mr. Bennett was a prominent Mason and attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. In politics he was a republican and served as one of the first delegates to the national convention of his party after Washington became a state and was a leading candidate for the United States senate. At one time

68 WASHINGTON, WEST OF THE CASCADES

he was president of the Chamber of Commerce of Tacoma, and he spent a con- siderable period as the president of the park board, doing much to better the condition of the animals and birds in the zoo, for he was a great lover of these. He was a most earnest advocate of a well developed park and boulevard system and he favored every well defined plan and project for the upbuilding, improve- ment and adornment of his adopted city. He was not only a great railroad builder but was also the builder and architect of his own fortunes and more than that, of a reputation and of a character which in every relation and under trying circumstances remained unsullied. His work was great but not greater than the man who promoted it. The value and importance of his life cannot be measured by tangible standards but all recognize the fact that it constituted one of the most potent forces in the development, upbuilding and promotion of the north- west.

WINSLOW M. McCURDY.

Winslow M. McCurdy, actively identified with newspaper publication at Port Tcwnsend as owner and editor of the Leader, was born October lo, 1877, in the city in which he still makes his home, his parents being William A. and Hannah (Ebinger) McCurdy, the father a native of Maine and the mother of Wisconsin. The latter passed away in Portland, Oregon, in 1880, when but thirty-five years of age. The father became a well known ship joiner and in 1857 removed to Port Townsend, where his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1890, when he was about fifty-eight years of age.

In their family were four children, of whom Winslow M. was the youngest. In his boyhood he attended the public schools of Port Townsend to the age of twelve years, when he began learning the printer's trade, entering the employ of the Leader Company, with which he remained for about five years. For ten years he worked on various newspapers and in print shops and for some years was engaged in mining. Returning to Port Towsend in 1905, he purchased an in- terest in the Leader Publishing Company and later in the Call Publishing Company and since that time has conducted business on his own account, publishing the Fort Townsend Leader, which is a four-page, six-column paper — a folio sheet which has a large circulation through Jefferson county. He issues both a daily and weekly edition and the paper finds a ready sale. The large circulation list renders the paper also an excellent advertising medium.

At Port Townsend, on the 9th of July. 1908, Mr. McCurdy was united in marriage to Miss Johanna Iffland, a daughter of John and Lisette Ift'land. The father died November 30, 1914, but the mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. McCurdy have become parents of three children : Winslow I., who was born at Port Townsend, July 2, 1909; Richard F., whose birth occurred at Port Town- send on the 31st of December, 1910; and Jean Lisette. born at Port Townsend. April 22, 1914.

Fraternally Mr. McCurdy is an Elk and a Woodman of the World. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is a stalwart champion of its principles because of his firm belief in the party platform. His career is

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69

that of a self-made man, for from the early age of twelve years he has worked his way upward unaided and he stands high as one of the leading and popular newspaper publishers of the state.

HUGH ELDRIDGE.

Hugh Eldridge, who has recently retired from the position of postmaster of Bellingham after many years' service in that office, has been identified with the city and its interests for a longer period than almost any other of its residents. In fact, he was born in Bellingham, December 14, i860, a son of Edward and Teresa (Lappin) Eldridge, who were among the first white settlers on the bay and of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this work. He attended the public schools until he reached the age of eighteen years, after which he concentrated his energies upon the cultivation of his father's farm until 1886, when, at the age of twenty-six years, he was elected county auditor. So excellent a record did he make in office that he was reelected in 1888 and served until January, 1891. He then joined Edward Cosgrove, J. E. Baker, Morris McCarty and C. J. Cook in organizing and promoting what was then the Fairhaven & New Whatcom Street Railway Company, building a line between Bellingham and Fairhaven, also another line to Lake Whatcom and a portion of the line on Eldridge avenue, in the city of Bellingham. Of that company he was president until 1895, when he resigned and concentrated his energies upon the real estate business, controlling property which had been secured by his father as a donation claim in 1853 ^^d which, sub- divided into city lots, has proven a source of substantial revenue. On the ist of July, 1898, Mr. Eldridge was appointed postmaster by President McKinley and served throughout all the intervening years until 19 16. when, after eighteen years' connection with the office, he retired under the Wilson administration.

On the 23d of February, 1893, in Bellingham, Mr. Eldridge was married to Miss Dellisca J. Bowers, who passed away in March, 1910. He has membership in the Elks lodge, also in the Cougar Club, and his political indorsement is given to the republican party, the principles of which he stanchly advocates, doing all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of the party. For fifty- six years he has been a resident of Bellingham, witnessing its development and <"aking an active part in all that has pertained to its progress and improvement. His substantial traits and kindly qualities have gained for him the warm and enduring regard of all with whom he has been associated from his boyhood to the present.

WILLIAM J. PATTERSON.

In an analyzation of the life record of William J. Patterson the power of organization stands out as one of his most clearly defined characteristics. It is this ability to coordinate and develop forces that has made him one of the lead- ing and prominent residents of Aberdeen, where he has made his home since

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1890, coming to the northwest from Canada. He was born near Montreal, Can- ada, in 1872 and was therefore a young man of but eighteen years when he arrived in the city in which he still resides, entering its business circles as clerk in the bank of Hayes & Hayes. That firm erected a building at the corner of H and Heron streets and was engaged in the banking business there for many years or until the death of H. A. Hayes in 1903. The bank was capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars and became one of the strong and thoroughly relia- ble financial institutions of that part of the state. Mr. Patterson worked his way up to the position of cashier, in which capacity he continued for a number of years, and following the death of Mr. Hayes he served both as cashier and man- ager, while Mrs. Patterson became president of the company. Something of the continuous, steady and healthful growth of the business is indicated in the fact that the capital stock was first increased to fifty thousand dollars and now stands at three hundred thousand dollars. Imporant and extensive as have been his activities in that connection, Mr. Patterson has not confined his attention alone to the management and control of the bank but has also figured prominently in other ways, being now president of the United States Trust Company of Aber- deen, president of the State Bank of Centralia, president of the Electric Light Company and president of the G. H. Street Railway Company. He readily rec- ognizes opportunities and utilizes them to the fullest extent and whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful completion.

Mr. Patterson was the founder and promoter of the Aberdeen Country and Golf Club and has been the moving spirit in promoting its interests. He stands for advancement along all lines that have to do with the material, intellectual, social and moral progress of his community. He is alert and watchful of oppor- tunities to advance the city's interests along any of these lines and his labors have been far-reaching, resultant and beneficial.

ROBERT F. LYTLE.

When flags were unfurled at half-mast on the 20th of May, 1916, it was known that Robert F. Lytle had passed from life's activities, with which he had been so closely and prominently associated as a leading business man of Hoquiam for many years. From the period of the city's early development he took a most active part in promoting its lumber interests and such was his ability that he rose to distinctive prominence, becoming one of the foremost lumbermen on the Pacific coast. His discrimination was keen, his judgment sound and he readily recognized and utilized opportunities that others passed heedlessly by.

He was born in Ogdensburg, New York, September 14, 1854, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Foster) Lytle. The Lytle family is of Irish- American parentage, the ancestry in America being traced back to the Revolutionary war period. During the early boyhood of Robert F. Lytle the family removed from New York to Wisconsin, where his father engaged in farming. The son's educa- tion was acquired in the public schools of Portage and later he completed a com- mercial course in the University of Wisconsin. On leaving that state he removed to Minnesota and thence went to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he engaged in business

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for himself. There he was married on June 2y, 1886, to Ida McDonald, who with one daughter, Doris Elizabeth, now survives him. From Nebraska Mr. Lytle came to Washington in 1889 and settled in Fairhaven, where he formed a partnership with his brother, Joseph Lytle, in the grocery business. The following year, rec- ognizing the possibilities of Hoquiam, the brothers moved to that place and again entered the grocery business, establishing a pioneer grocery house which became one of the profitable commercial enterprises of the city. After a few years they were, much against their will, to accept in payment of a debt a small logging outfit which had been operated on the East Hoquiam river, just above the present site of the various Lytle mill industries. Oxen formed part of the outfit and these were used for a short time but were soon replaced by engines. It was this circum- stance that forced the Lytle brothers into the logging and eventually into the lumber business. Mr. Lytle employed John D. Sparling to act as foreman of the newly acquired plant and began logging operations. Mr. Sparling has remained with the company continuously since and is still superintendent of their extensive camps, their success being largely due to his faithfulness and untiring energy. The business having been forced upon Mr. Lytle, he made of it a close study, for it was his custom to do thoroughly anything that he undertook. Soon it began to show profits and gradually the operations were extended. The Lytle brothers began to buy timber, which at that time sold* at a very low figure in the Grays Harbor country. They continued to buy and at the same time increased their logging oper- ations and within a few years theirs became one of the largest logging and timber holding concerns of the Grays Harbor district. Ever studying the situation rela- tive to the business, Robert F. Lyljle recognized that there was a good demand for cedar shingles and also realized that cedar logs were cheap, and he had himself acquired considerable cedar land. He decided to build a shingle mill and in time his plant was producing the largest cut of any shingle mill on the Pacific coast and constituted the nucleus of the Lytle mill interests. A few years after the building of the shingle mill he erected a sawmill and organized the company since known as the Hoquiam Lumber & Shingle Company. The boom in the lumber market preceding 1907 gave the company an impetus and the mill became one of the largest in their part of the state, working ten hours per day with a capacity of four hundred thousand feet of lumber.

It was about 191 1 that Mr. Lytle opened offices in Portland and removed to that city, where he erected a magnificent residence and invested extensively in property, but he continued to spend much of his time in Hoquiam. actively directing his manufacturing and logging operations. In 1913 he platted extensive land holdings along the East Hoquiam river, just north of the city, and ofifered it as free factory sites, seeking by that means to promote the growth of the city by bringing to it new industries. Optimistic concerning the future of the lumber trade, he began the promotion of several new companies and in 191 5 organized the Panama-Eastern Lumber Company, of which he was the largest stockholder and which erected a large sawmill on the East Hoquiam river, almost directly across the main river from the plant of the Hoquiam Lumber & Shingle Com- pany. He was also largely instrumental in organizing and establishing the Wood- lawn Mill & Boom Company, which dredged and built a public log dump and boom and also erected an electric shingle mill— the largest on the harbor — with a capacity of five hundred thousand shingles per day. Thus the business interests

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of Robert F. Lytle grew and developed until the extent and importance of his operations placed him among the foremost lumbermen of the northwest.

Mr. Lytle found his greatest pleasure in his success in that it afforded him the means of providing most liberally for his family and his beautiful home in Portland was an evidence of his devotion to their interests. He was a prominent member of the Elks lodge and when death called him on the 20th of May, 1916, when he was about sixty-two years of age, thus terminating the only illness from which he had ever suffered, funeral services were conducted in the Elks' Home in Hoquiam according to the ritual of the order, after which his remains were taken to Tacoma for interment. Sincere sorrow at his passing was felt not only by his family and personal friends but by his colleagues and contemporaries in business and by his large force of workmen, who ever found in him a just and considerate employer, one who recognized the rights of those in his service and marked his appreciation of their faithfulness and ability by promotion when opportunity offered. It is said that a person may best be judged by his conduct toward inferiors and by this standard Mr. Lytle stood as a man among men, for in him there was nothing of the taskmaster with arbitrary ironclad rules. His employes were his fellowmen and were treated as such. His was a splendid record and constitutes an important chapter in the history of Hoquiam's develop- ment.

LAURENCE STEPHEN BOOTH.

Ability is much like that "city which is set upon the hill and cannot be hid," for ability will come to the front everywhere and must eventually win the rewards of success. This fact finds deinonstration in the career of Laurence Stephen Booth, who is now vice president and treasurer of the Washington Title Insurance Company of Seattle, the largest and most progressive title company in the north- west. He has spent practically his entire life in this state, although he is a native of Battle Creek, Michigan, where his birth occurred March 26, 1861. His father, Manville S. Booth, came to the territory of Washington in 1861 and engaged in business in Port Townsend and Seattle. He was auditor of King county from 1875 until 1 88 1 and was otherwise active in public affairs and in promoting the early progress of the territory. Manville S. Booth married Mary Roe, who was born in England, of English and Irish parentage.

Reared in this state, Laurence S. Booth attended the University of Washington from 1873 until 1875 inclusive and in the latter year entered the office of the county auditor, there remaining until 1887. In the latter year he became engaged in the abstract and title business and has made steady progress in that connection until he is now an officer of the largest and most progressive title company in the northwest, being the vice president and treasurer of the Washington Title Insur- ance Company of Seattle. The business conducted by this corporation is now extensive and its returns are substantial. His standing among men similarly engaged is indicated in the fact that he has been honored with the presidency of the Washington Association of Title Men and is now the president of the American Association of Title Men, a national organization.

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On the I2th of April, 1893, in Seattle, Mr. Booth was united in marriage to Miss Nelle M. Crawford, a daughter of Ronald C. and Elizabeth Crawford, who crossed the plains to Oregon in 1847 and are now both living in Seattle. Mr. and Mrs. Booth now have five children, namely : Edwin S., Madeleine, Elizabeth, Laurence S., Jr., and Evelyn Beatrice,

In politics Mr. Booth is a republican, but the only office he has ever filled was that of deputy auditor of King county from 1879 until 1886. He was a member of the first amateur baseball organization of Seattle, the first athletic association, the first association for the protection of game, and the volunteer fire department. Moreover, he belonged to the National Guard of Washington from 1884 until 1896 and was commander of Company B of the First Regiment at the time he resigned and severed his connection with the organization. His religious belief is that of the Catholic church and he is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He is also well known in club circles, holding membership with the Seattle Athletic Club, the Arctic Club, the Earlington Golf and Country Club and the Seattle Golf Club.

VICTOR A. ROEDER.

The work instituted by his father, Captain Henry Roeder, of beloved pioneer memory, has been continued by the son, Victor A. Roeder, who for many years has conducted an extensive general real estate, loan and mortgage business, largely handling his own properties, and who since 1904 has been president of the Belling- ham National Bank. His father secured as a donation claim three hundred and twenty acress of land, constituting a part of the present site of the city, and it was upon that property, now the corner of Elm and Monroe streets, that Victor A. Roeder was born August 13, 1861. He attended the public schools of Belling- ham to the age of fifteen years and then went to Vermilion, Ohio, where he con- tinued his studies in the public and high schools until he reached the age of twenty- two years. He afterward spent a year as a student in Heald's Business College of San Francisco and upon his return to Bellingham became the active assistant of his father, with whom he was engaged in the real estate business for ten years. Victor A. Roeder then went to the Nooksak river and established a postoffice and gen- eral mercantile store at Nooksak Ferry, where now stands the town of Everson. After remaining there for four years he disposed of his business and returned to Bellingham owing to the fact that his father was then well advanced in years and needed his assistance in the management and control of his business. \ ictor A. Roeder then took over the management of his father's real estate interests and of the Chuckanut stone quarry, which he thus controlled until his father's death in 1902, when the estate was divided between himself and his sister, Mrs. Charles Roth, who were the only heirs.

From that date until the present Victor A. Roeder has been engaged in the general real estate, loan and mortgage business and has gained a large clientage. He has negotiated many important realty transfers and the natural rise in property values owing to the rapid growth of the city, as well as his enterprising business methods, have brought to him constantly increasing success. In addition to his

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activities in that field Mr. Roeder became associated with twelve others in 1904 in organizing the Bellingham National Bank, of which he has since been the presi- dent, with William AlcCnsh as vice president and F. F. Handschy as cashier. The bank was first capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars and entered upon an era of profitable existence as indicated by the fact that the capital stock has been increased to two hundred thousand dollars and there is now a surplus of two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. As its directing head Mr. Roeder is bending his energies to executive control and the policy which he pursues measures up to the highest financial standards and ethics.

In Lynden, Washington, on the 6th of October, 1886, Mr. Roeder was mar- ried to Miss Effie B. Ebey and they have become the parents of a daughter and a son: Ayreness, now the wife of J. R. Bolster, a contractor of Bellingham; and Henry Victor, twenty-six years of age, who is a graduate of the Bellingham high school and is now statement clerk at the Bellingham National Bank.

In 1896 Mr. Roeder was elected to the office of county treasurer and filled that position until 1900. He has always preferred, however, that his public duties should be done as a private citizen and in that connection has lent his aid and cooperation to many well defined plans and measures for the general good. In a review of his life one is led to the reflection that to accumulate a fortune requires one kind of genius ; to retain a fortune already acquired, to add to its legitimate increment and to make such use of it that its possessor may derive therefrom the greatest enjoyment and the public the greatest benefit requires quite another kind of genius. Mr. Roeder belongs to that younger generation of business men of Bellingham who are called upon to shoulder responsibilities differing materially from those resting upon their predecessors. In a broader field of enterprise they find themselves obliged to deal with affairs of greater magnitude and to solve more difficult and complicated financial and economic problems. In this connec- tion Mr. Roeder has proved adequate to all the demands made upon him and by reason of the mature judgment which characterizes his efforts at all times he stands today as a splendid representative of a prominent banker and real estate man to whom business is but one phase of life and does not exclude his active participation in and support of the other vital interests which go to make up human existence.

FRANK G. JONES.

No history of the banking business in Aberdeen and southwest Washington would be complete without extended reference to Frank G. Jones, a prominent, well known and honored man whose efforts have constituted an element in the business development of the district in which he resides.

A native of Tennessee, he was born in McMinnville, November 20, i860, son of James L. and Fannie (Goodbar) Jones, both natives of Tennessee and both members of families prominent in the social and commercial history of that state.

Frank G. Jones pursued his education at Cumberland University of Lebanon, Tennessee, and at the Southwestern University of Clarksville, the same state. After completing his education he entered the employ of his uncle, James M.

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Goodbar, of Memphis, Tennessee, whose concern, Goodbar & Company, was one of the largest shoe wholesalers and manufacturers in the south. He worked up from stock boy to buyer and assistant general manager, was with this house twenty years, sold out his interest and established on his own account The Frank G. Jones Shoe Company, which he built up to a large business. He continued in Memphis until 1901, when he moved his concern to Boston, where he was at the head of a large wholesale shoe business until 1905, when he sold out his interest there.

Frank G. Jones came to the northwest in January, 1906, and to Aberdeen in June of the same year. On September i, 1906, he opened the Chehalis County Bank, a private institution with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars, the first savings bank established in Chehalis county. In 1907 he incorporated his bank and organized the Union Bank & Trust Company as a commercial bank operated jointly with the Chehalis County Bank, with capital of fifty thousand dollars, Mr. Jones being president of both. The banks prospered under his management, weathering the financial panic of 1907. In 1909 he increased the capital stock of the Union Bank & Trust Company to one hundred thousand dollars and con- verted it into a national bank under the name of the United States National Bank. In 1910 the Aberdeen State Bank was taken over by Mr. Jones and his associates and both banks were operated under his presidency and management until June, 191 1, when they had deposits of six hundred and forty-two thousand dollars.

Mr. Jones at about this time sold his interest in the United States National Bank to the Hayes & Hayes Bank, Aberdeen, intending to continue the Chehalis County Bank as a savings institution. A short while later there was a run on his bank which proved disastrous, but, while Mr. Jones lost his fortune, be it said to his credit he elected the honorable course and not one of his three thousand eight hundred depositors lost a penny. A few months later, with no capital save the confidence and esteem of the people he had served, he estab- lished himself in the general insurance and safe deposit business. Together with his eldest son, J. M. G. Jones, he has built this up to one of the largest of its kind in southwest Washington. He has also organized and is secretary and general manager of the Security Savings and Loan Society of Aberdeen, a growing institution.

Mr. Jones was one of the organizers of the Farmers & Lumberman's Bank of Elma, Washington, and was one of its principal stockholders. He also erected the building and organized the bank at Oakville, Washington, which he shortly afterwards sold out.

Mr. Jones was married in December, 1889, in Birmingham, Alabama, to Miss Mary Rogan. Three children were bom to them : J. M. Goodbar, twenty- six years old, a business partner with his father; L. Rogan, twenty-one years of age ; and Ellen Jane Netherland, fifteen years old. Both sons have enlisted in the United States navy in defense of their country, following the example of their forebears who fought for the cause of liberty in the Revolution and in the Civil war.

Fraternally Mr. Jones is a Mason, including the degrees of Royal Arch and' the Commandery. In matters of citizenhip he has displayed devotion to the general good and no plan or movement has sought his support in vain. He has

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established and maintained a reputation for scrupulous honesty, high moral character and business integrity. There have been few men who have done more to further progress and improvement in the community during the period he made Aberdeen his home than he through his operations in financial fields and otherwise.

JAMES T. QUIGG.

James T. Quigg, vice president of the Grays Harbor Construction Company, was born at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1864, and has b^en identified with the Pacific coast country for more than three decades. In 1885 he left New Bruns- wick and removed to Humboldt county, California, and there resided until 1897, when he made his way to the Grays Harbor district, where he has since remained. In 1904 he entered into his present partnership relation with Philip J. Mourant and Milton L. Watson, under the style of the Grays Harbor Construction Com- pany, and through the interim has concentrated his efiforts upon the development of the business, his specific work being that of foreman of the ship carpentering and pile driving. He thoroughly understands this branch of the work, so that he is able to direct the efforts of the men who serve under him and produce the best possible results.

In 1914 ]\Ir. Quigg was married to Miss Ellen Miller, a native of Michigan, and to them have been born two children, James T. and Charles O. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He and his wife have a wide acquaintance in this locality and sterling traits of character have won them high regard. Mr. Quigg has always made good use of his time and oppor- tunities and his well defined plans and purposes have led to the attainment of substantial success.

FREDERICK ORNES.

Frederick Ornes, of Mount Vernon, one of the best known newspaper men of Washington, w^ho has been president of the Washington State Press Association, was bom in iManitowoc, Wisconsin, March 30, 1871, his parents being Mads and Marie (Magnus) Ornes, both natives of Norway. He pursued his education in the public schools of his native city and after working for a time in a store went upon the road as a traveling salesman. His first experience in the news- paper field came to him as cub reporter on the now extinct St. Paul Daily Globe. In 1898 he removed westward and for a time engaged in newspaper work in Butte, Montana. The year 1901 witnessed his arrival in Skagit county, Wash- ington, and in May 1902, he purchased the Anacortes American. In 1903 he also bought a half interest in the Anacortesan and established in Stanwood a paper known as the Stanwood Tidings. In May of the same year he purchased the Argus, so that he became closely associated with newspaper interests in his part of the state. Eventually he sold his interest in the Tidings and disposed of the

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American, but in September, 1914, he established the East Stanwood Bulletin, which was printed on the Argus press and was suspended in 1916.

On the 30th of October, 1902, Mr. Ornes was married to Miss Susan Lord Currier, a daughter of Airs. Augusta M. Currier, of La Conner. She died June 4, 1906. On the 29th of April, 1909, Mr. Ornes wedded Miss Mabel Hannay, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J- K. Hannay, of Edison, Washington. She, too, passed away April 27, 1914.

In politics Mr. Ornes has always been a stalwart republican and has done efifective work along political lines. He was the organizer of the direct primary campaign in Skagit county and his activities have had marked influence in mold- ing public thought and opinion. He is an honorary member of the Sigma Delta Chi, a journalistic fraternity, and he belongs to the Mount Vernon Commer- cial Club.

MITCHEL HARRIS.

Mitchel Harris, president of the Harris Dry Goods Company of Olympia, is a prominent figure in the business circles of the capital city. His entire life has been passed in the Pacific northwest as he was born in Salem, Oregon, September 18, 1862. His father, Isaac Harris, was born in Russia but in 1854 settled in California, where he engaged in business until 1858, in which year he removed to Oregon City, Oregon. Subsequently he resided in Walla Walla, Washington, and in Helena, Montana, but in 1869 estabHshed his home in Olympia, where he founded the business now conducted under the name of the Harris Dry Goods Company. He passed away in 1894, when sixty years of age. He was married in New York City to Miss Annie Marcus, a native of that city and of German descent. To them were born three sons : Henry, who is a practicing physician of San Francisco ; and Gus and Mitchel, who are partners in business.

Mitchel Harris received his education in the public schools of Olympia, as he was but seven years of age when his parents removed there, and gained his early training in merchandising under the guidance of his father, whom he as- sisted in the store. As time passed he assumed more and more responsibility for the management of the business and following his father's death he and his brother Gus became proprietors of the store. It is housed in a fine structure ninety by one hundred and twenty feet in dimensions and the stock carried is extensive and well selected. The business is now carried on under the name of the Harris Dry Goods Company with Mitchel Harris as the president and the high standards established by the father have been maintained throughout the years. The store is systematically organized and much of the success of the business has been due to the cooperation of the various departments. Mr. Harris is also a stockholder and director of the Capital National Bank of Olympia.

In Portland, Oregon, March 13, 1892, occurred the marriage of Mr. Harris and Miss Toba Lichtenstein. of San Francisco, by whom he has two children : Mrs. William Taylor, of Seattle; and Selwyn L., who is twenty-two years old and is now engaged in business with his father.

Mr. Harris belongs to the Knights of Pythias and has held the office of grand

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treasurer of the state. He is likewise a member of the Thurston Pioneer and His- toric Association. For three terms he served as mayor of Olympia and during that time many projects for the good of the city were brought to successful completion. Through the exercise of enterprise and through strict adherence to ethical standards he has gained for himself an enviable place in business circles and has won the esteem and good will of all who have come in contact with him.

JAMES A. KARR.

The history of Hoquiam and of the Grays Harbor country cannot be better told than by detailing many of the incidents of the life of James A. Karr, who lived until November, 1914, to tell the tale of the wonderful development of this section of the country, his memory forming a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. Fifty-seven years have come and gone since he filed upon a claim in Chehalis, now Grays Harbor, county, in i860, being then a young man of twenty-six years. Until that district emerged from pioneer con- ditions much of his life had been spent upon the frontier, for Indiana had taken on statehood only eighteen years before he was born on Little Indian creek, not far from Martinsville, Indiana, on the i8th of September, 1834. His earliest recollections are of playing on the sand on the bank of that creek with his little sister, who died after he left home. He has^ no memory of his father save as he saw him in death, the grief of his mptlfer impressing this sight indelibly upon the mind of the three-year-old boy. However, he remembers his grandfather Karr, a fine type of the Irish gentleman, dressed like a squire in leggings and hunting coat. After the death of the father, the mother took her children to a place near the home of her brother, Reuben Stepp, and there she became ac- quainted with a German of the name of Evilsizer, who was a widower with several children. She became his wife and they removed to Washington County, Illinois, Mr. Evilsizer having there purchased a farm on which was a comfortable brick residence. He expected to pay for this place by the sale of his property in Indiana, but not getting the money for this, he was compelled to leave that land and settled on an eighty-acre tract of raw land for which his son had contracted. Before he secured title to that place, however, he became ill and passed away.

James A. Karr and his brother Henry had worked with their stepfather in clearing and developing the land, but the family had no claim to it and were compelled to move again. They went to live in a little house beside the road and such was now the financial condition of the family that the mother was obliged to hire out in order to support her children. At length, however, they rented land and the two boys, who had a yoke of oxen, again began farming. Later the mother married a Mr. Storick and again the family moved, settling on a good farm in St. Clair county, Illinois, not far from St. Louis. There was much hard work to be done in the further clearing and cultivating of the land and the Karr brothers did their full share. Mr. Karr, however, recognized that his step- brothers had little chance in life because of. a lack of education and^ that they would always have to depend upon severe manual labor. He often expressed

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a desire to attend school but received no assistance from Air. Storick, althouo-h his mother encouraged the idea. At length, feeling that if he obtained an educa- tion it must be through his own efforts, he left home at the age of fourteen years and hired out for the summer at a wage of live dollars per month. At harvest time a man who could swing a cradle or could bind after the cradle was paid a much better wage than the regular farm hand, and Mr. Karr proved that he could bind as well as men of twice or thrice his years. Accordingly he did work of that character, earning at first a dollar and afterward a dollar and a quarter per day, and the money thus gained was used in buying books and clothing, while by working on Saturdays and morning and night to pay for his board, he was able to attend school for several months that winter. He afterward enterea upon an apprenticeship to the brickmaker's trade and the money which he earned through the summer months in that way enabled him to again attend school in the winter. One of his teachers, John Leeper, a graduate of McKendree College of Illinois, proved an inspiration to him and assisted him in every possible way in his studies. For six years Mr. Karr continued working in the summer and attending school in the winter, and finally, with a partner, he established and operated a brickyard, in which he won a measure of success that enabled him to pay his board and devote an entire year to study, in which time he acquired a knowledge of algebra, natural philosophy and astronomy. He was particularly interested in the first named and his fellow students often called upon him to assist in solving their problems. After that year he taught school for a term and then, inclined to the study of medicine, he spent some time in a drug store. All these experiences not only proved to him a means of earning a living at that period but gave him a fund of knowledge upon which he called in his later pioneer experiences in the northwest. He became one of the first school teachers and one of the first brickmakers of Chehalis county when some years later he estab- lished his home in the Grays Harbor country.

In 1855 following the discovery of gold in California, Mr. Karr and his brother decided to go to the mines, as this would enable them also to see some- thing of the world. Returning to Indiana, Mr. Karr, who was then twenty-one years of age, settled his father's estate, his share thereof being about five hundred dollars, which furnished the brothers the capital for their trip. Proceeding to New York, they took passage on a steamer bound for Panama, crossed the Isthmus and thence proceeded northward to California, where they spent three years in the mines. They made Nevada City their headquarters but they did not find the expected fortune and in 1858, attracted by the Eraser river excitement, started north as passengers on the Anne Perry from San Francisco to Whatcom. There they purchased a small boat to go from Bellingham Bay to the Gulf of Georgia and thence up the Eraser river. Point Roberts extended into the gulf in a southeasterly direction for quite a distance. South of this point the water was quiet but on the river side there was a strong surf driven on by northwest wind. However, they decided to land on the north side in order to be ready to make the start up the river, but while so doing their boat filled with water and their provisions received a soaking, although little damage resulted. Proceeding up the river, they stopped at Fort Yale for a week or more in September, 1858, and there purchased Sockeye salmon from the Indians, which furnished them many an appetizing meal when the fish was fried in butter.

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As the winter was coming on and there seemed no prospect of getting gold, the brothers returned southward, accompanied by their partner, John C. Gove, who became one of the pioneer settlers near Seattle. Purchasing their partner's interest, they started back to the Sound and at Olympia sold their boat proceeding on the trail with their packs. They spent the night on Mound Prairie at the home of a Mr. Goodell, whose son Ed had just been helping to make a survey of the land at Grays Harbor. He told of the country and of the river called Hoquiam, Mr. Karr and his brother retaining a distinct remembrance of this. However, the brothers proceeded to Portland to spend the winter and there entered the employ of Colonel Frush, who was building streets, for wdiich purpose he hauled gravel from the Willamette river bars. In securing the gravel the brothers were able to earn three dollars per day and later they cut cordwood, for which they were paid a dollar and a half per cord and by working steadily they could earn three dollars per day in that way. In the spring James A. Karr ran the steam ferry across the Columbia, while his brother drove a team, but they never abandoned the idea of returning to Grays Harbor and in August made prepara- tions for a trip into the new country. Returning to Olympia, they purchased cloth from which they made a tent and also laid in supplies for the trip. Pro- ceeding on their way, they stopped for a time at the ranch of "Blockhouse" Smith at Cedarville and there proceeded to make a canoe. The cedar tree which they selected for the purpose split, so they secured a green cottonwood growing beside the river. They hewed this out and, wishing to hasten the work, they piled the canoe full of branches of vine maple, to w'hich they set fire but found that they had burned a hole in the cottonw^ood. A thin board, oakum and pitch repaired the damage, and packing their supplies in the canoe, they started down the river, after two days reaching Cosmopolis, which was the metropolis of this country. The district was largely an unsettled and undeveloped region, the Metcalfs living at Montesano and the Scammons at Wynoochee, which was the county seat. From that point they proceeded to Hoquiam, rounding Cow Point and so coming into the mouth of the river. They landed where the first schoolhouse was after- ward built, near the present site of the Hoquiam sash and door factory, and proceeding at once