History of Oregon, Vol. II, Part 50

Author: Carey, Charles Henry
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 780

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Dr. Morse has been a member of the state board of health for ten years and is now president of that body. He is an honorary member of the Rotary Club and fraternally identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Pacific Lodge, No. 50, F. & A. M., Multnomah Chapter, No. 1, R. A. M., De Molay Commandery, No. 5, K. T., of Salem, and Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Portland. He is rated in his community as a public-spirited, successful doctor and business man.

PETER HUME.

For many years the name of Peter Hume, now deceased, was identified with the commercial and political development of Brownsville and Linn county, and for thirty- five years he was a prominent and familiar figure at republican conventions. His early life was spent in Nova Scotia, where he was born on the Isle of Cape Breton, August 16, 1840, and where his family name was associated with large lumbering and shipbuilding interests. His paternal grandfather, Peter Hume, was the founder of the family in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Reaching the latter country about 1815, he engaged in lumbering and shipbuilding and in his day was a veritable lumber king, owning much timber land and many ships. In an unfortunate hour he built a ship and loaded it with lumber for the English market, but after setting sail nothing was ever heard of ship, or crew, or owner. The lumber king had left his business in good hands, however, for while yet a youth his son George, the father of Peter Hume, had been trained in the various departments of the trade, and for several years before the departure upon the sea of the old shipbuilder, George Hume had practically man- aged the enterprise. He was born either in Maine or New Hampshire and was en- gaged in lumbering and shipbuilding almost up to the time of his death at the age of sixty. He had married Christy Mckay, who was born in Scotland, a daughter of Donald McKay, and who bore him the following children: Maria, deceased; John, living in Australia; Mary, residing at Reading, near Boston, Massachusetts; Peter; George, a resident of New York city; Annie, living in British Columbia; Donald, a seafaring man; David, living in San Diego, California; Cassie, deceased; Joseph, a resident of Brownsville, Oregon; Sarah, who resides in Oakland, California; and Maggie, a resident of Olympia, Washington.

In Nova Scotia, Peter Hume had small opportunity for acquiring an education, for as early as fourteen years of age he was apprenticed to a carriage maker for a term of four years and in 1858 he began a similar apprenticeship to a house painter. In 1862 he came to Oregon via New York, the Isthmus of Panama and San Fran- cisco, and the following year he went to British Columbia, locating at Nanaimo, where he worked at house painting and paper hanging. The year 1863 found him seeking for gold in the great Cariboo mines in northern British Columbia, and in 1867 he came to Oregon, locating at Brownsville. For some time he worked at his trade and became much interested in the political agitation then rife throughout the northwest, little realizing at the time the prominence he was to attain in the community. In 1872 he engaged in the general merchandise business with the late W. R. Kirk, but sold his interest in 1876 and engaged in farming on a farm of three hundred and sixty acres near Brownsville. In the meantime, in 1873, with Thomas Kay and others, he es- tablished the Brownsville Woolen Mills and was elected president of the company, an enterprise in which he was interested for many years and which he was largely in- strumental in keeping in Brownsville, for in 1887 parties in Albany offered a bonus of twenty-five thousand dollars if the mills would move to that city, but Mr. Hume stepped in, organized a new company and purchased the mills and they have since

PETER HUME

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been a means of employing labor and stimulating the business life of the town. In 1887, with J. M. Moyer and W. R. Kirk, he organized the Bank of Brownsville, and in 1892 he removed to Roseburg, where he became cashier of the Douglas County Bank, remaining in that capacity for five years. During that time the bank passed through the financial panic that wrecked many institutions throughout the country, and during this panic the bank's deposits diminished over eighty-five per cent. Returning to Brownsville directly after the presidential election of 1896, he resumed his former association with the Bank of Brownsville, retiring from the presidency two years later, in 1898. In 1899 he resumed farming operations, but in 1902 he took charge of the planing mill, which he managed and put on a good paying basis, but finding the duties too heavy, he retired from the business in 1903.

On the 9th of September, 1869, Mr. Hume was united in marriage to Miss Mary Walter, a daughter of Elias and Naomi J. Walter. Her father was one of the early settlers of the Willamette valley and located near Brownsville about the same time as Hon. H. L. Brown, Alexander Kirk and James Blakely, all of whom are now deceased. Mr. Walter took a prominent part in the early politics of his neighborhood, was justice of the peace in his precinct for many years and was elected county treasurer in 1861. He was also a member of the territorial legislature which sat in Oregon City in 1849. His death occurred in 1867. In early manhood he married Naomi Williams, whose mother was born in Ontario county, New York, in 1825, and who moved to Michigan with her parents when four years of age, six years later going to Illinois, her father having died in the meantime. Eleven years later the Williams family settled in Scott county, Iowa, and in 1845 the daughter Naomi crossed the plains to Oregon with her brothers, Charles, Austin and Enos C. Williams, Mr. Walter being also one of the party, which was under command of Captain Holliday. Arriving at the south fork of the Platte river, they were surrounded by about five hundred Pawnee Indians, who tried to stampede their stock and who held the party there during one whole day and part of another night. Knowing that the United States troops were within a day's march from them, they managed to hold off the Indians with threats and the promise of a cow or two and were thus allowed to proceed with their stock. Nevertheless, the red men raided their camp and plundered their wagons of considerable provisions, but further than that they had no trouble up to the time of their arrival in Oregon on the 1st of November, 1845. Miss Williams was married at the home of her brother, Enos Williams, in Amity, Oregon, October 10, 1846, to Elias L. Walter, and thus the courtship begun on the plains had a happy termination. The young couple went to their claim on the Calapooya, fording the Willamette with their ox team and improving the property, which is still in possession of Mrs. Walter's heirs. This pioneer woman became well known among the early settlers, and because of her courageous and fearless life in the midst of danger and adversity, the local cabin of the Native Daugh- ters of Oregon was named in her honor. Two daughters survive her, Mrs. Hume and Mrs. Ellen McHargue, of Jennings Lodge, Oregon. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hume: Maude, Clair Austin, Stella, Percy E., Cristy J., Dott, Rex, Anna I. and Alice L.

In January, 1907, Mr. Hume removed to the Sellwood district of Portland and in association with other citizens of the locality established the Bank of Sellwood, in which he held a controlling interest and of which he served as president to the time of his demise. He has been succeeded by his son-in-law, L. H. Alexander, who is the husband of his daughter Alice.

Like a sentinel Mr. Hume stood by the republican party in this state, backing it financially and with his personal efforts during the trying days of its rising supremacy in the west. He was president of the first city council of Brownsville, and served his first term as postmaster in 1873, being appointed to the same office again in 1881. He was the first recorder of this city, serving two terms, and for three or four terms was school clerk. His fraternal connections were with Brownsville Lodge, No. 36, A. F. & A. M., and Lynn Chapter, No. 19, R. A. M. He founded Sellwood Lodge, No. 131, A. F. & A. M., of Portland, Oregon, and served as its first master. At his demise, which occurred September 12, 1915, this lodge passed a resolution, including a history of the organization, which was beautifully written by hand and presented to his widow. He was also a devoted member of the Methodist church and an earnest Sunday school worker. The life record of Mr. Hume was marked by constant progress until he at- tained a position of prominence in the commercial, financial and political circles of Brownsville and Linn county. Coming to this section in pioneer times, he improved the opportunities, here offered and at length reached a place of affluence. At the same

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time he contributed in substantial measure to the upbuilding and development of the district in which he lived and his worth as a man and citizen was widely acknowledged. The community in which he made his home misses his leadership and will never forget the kindly life and impulse which prompted his public-spirited actions nor his devotion to the highest ideals.

COLONEL PERCY WILLIS.

Colonel Percy Willis, who for many years was a notable figure in military circles of the country, rendering distinguished service in both the Spanish-American and World wars, is now on the retired list and has recently taken up his residence in Portland. He comes of a family noted for military prowess, his father, Leo Willis, being a lieuten- ant colonel in the Confederate army, serving under Lieutenant General N. B. Forrest, while his uncle, John T. Morgan, was a brigadier general in the Army of the Confed- eracy and after the close of hostilities was elected United States senator from Alabama, in which capacity he served continuously for thirty years, passing away while occupy- ing that office.

Colonel Willis is a native of Texas. He was born in Gonzales, February 15, 1865, and in early youth came to Oregon with his parents. His mother survives and is a resident of Portland. His sister, Leona, also makes her home in that city, her husband, E. B. Piper, being the editor of the Oregonian. A brother, Eugene, is well known as deputy sheriff of Multnomah county, and he likewise resides in Portland. Another brother, Horace A., is living at The Dalles, Oregon, where he is in the employ of the Oregon- Washington Railroad & Navigation Company. During the World war he served as a member of the American Red Cross, going first to Rome, Italy, and later to Vladivostok, Russia. A sister, Caroline, is the wife of D. C. Bogart of Portland, a traveling salesman for Zan Brothers, a large manufacturing firm of this city.

At an early age Colonel Willis entered Willamette University at Salem, one of the oldest educational institutions on the coast, and was graduated therefrom in 1885, winning the degrees of A. B. and A. M. He then took up the profession of teaching, becoming an instructor in the public schools of Salem, where he continued for three years, prior to which period he taught for a year in the county schools of Marion county. He then entered mercantile circles of Salem and continued therein until the outbreak of the Spanish-American war. He displayed sound judgment and keen sagacity in the conduct of his interests and his investments were most judiciously made. He recently erected a fine modern office building, known as the Willis block, thus contribut- ing to the substantial upbuilding and improvement of the city.

In the meantime Colonel Willis had identified himself with the Oregon National Guard, joining Company B, of the Second Infantry Regiment, at Salem, which was at that time commanded by Captain Samuel L. Lovell, who was also employed in the office of the secretary of state. His ability and loyalty won him rapid advancement and he was promoted from private to sergeant, then to first lieutenant, to captain, and at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he was commissioned a major in the Second Oregon Volunteer Infantry, by Governor William P. Lord. With this regiment he served throughout the war, being stationed at the Philippine Islands, and he also did duty during the subsequent insurrection on the islands, being recommended for a brevet lieutenant colonelcy of volunteers by Major General Henry W. Lawton of the United States Volunteers, because of his meritorious service. After his regiment was mustered out Colonel Willis again volunteered for service in the Philippines and was commissioned a captain in the Forty-fifth Regiment, United States Volunteers, with which he served for nearly two years, doing most arduous work in hunting down the Philippine insurgents in southern Luzon. Following the muster out of the Forty-fifth Infantry, Captain Willis was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Artillery Corps of the regular army in the fall of 1901. The next year he attended the Coast Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Virginia, for a short time and was promoted to captain of the Coast Artillery Corps. In 1906 he was graduated from the Coast Artillery School and in 1915 was commissioned a major in the Coast Artillery, Corps, serving for about a year on the Mexican border. He also did court martial duty in Alaska. He was present at the capture of Guam and the surrender of Manila and was with the first detachment of United States troops which visited Honolulu in 1898, following the annexation of the islands by the United States government. The troops received a great ovation from

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the residents, who turned out en masse to welcome them, the freedom of the city being extended the American soldiers and sailors.

Colonel Willis rendered equally noteworthy service during the World war. At the opening of hostilities he was made commander of trains of the Sixth Division and super- intended the organization, training and disciplining of that command, and much to his regret was not permitted to accompany his command to France, being transferred at the time of their embarkation to Jackson Barracks, New Orleans, Louisiana, where he remained throughout the war, training and disciplining troops and forwarding them to points overseas. He was a strict disciplinarian and was most successful in training the men under his charge, who also found him kindly, considerate and helpful. He re- ceived the highest commendation from the mayor of New Orleans for the assistance which he rendered the citizens of that city throughout this most trying period and his highly efficient work in the training of recruits was a potent factor in the victorious conquests of the United States troops overseas. Colonel Willis has served at various posts in the United States, notably, Vancouver Barracks, Fort Casey and Fort Columbia, Washington; Fort Stevens, Oregon; Fort Banks, Fort Strong and Fort Andrews, Massa- chusetts; Key West Barracks, Florida; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Fort Monroe, Vir- ginia, and also at Fort Mills, in the Philippine Islands. Since 1920 he has been on the retired list, owing to physical disability incident to his service in the campaign against Germany and is now looking after his business interests, having recently taken up his residence in Portland.

Colonel Willis was united in marriage to Miss Ida Purvine of Polk county, Oregon, a daughter of A. J. Purvine, a prominent pioneer of this state. Emma Purvine, a sister of Mrs. Willis, is the wife of E. T. Prescott of Salem, who is extensively en- gaged in the raising of prunes and fancy poultry. Another sister, Gertrude, is the wife of J. A. Remington, who is connected with the United States postal service. Two brothers, Albert and Monroe, are employed at the State Hospital for the Insane, at Salem, Oregon, and another brother, Fred, is engaged in farming near Zena, Polk county, Oregon. Mrs. Willis also has three half-brothers: Jordan, who is part owner and manager of the Eggert-Young Shoe Company of Portland, one of the best known boot and shoe houses in the northwest; Cyrus, a farmer at Dallas, Oregon; and Charles, who is engineer on a boat running out of Portland.

Colonel Willis is prominent in Masonic circles, having attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite Consistory and also belonging to the Knights Templar Com- mandery and the Mystic Shrine. He is a man of fine military bearing, whose record is one of unstained honor, commanding for him the admiration and regard of all. Merit won him his title, and honor is associated with his name wherever his deeds have been recorded. He stands as a high type of American manhood and chivalry and Oregon is proud to claim him as a citizen.

IDA MAXWELL CUMMINGS.

Ida Maxwell Cummings, formerly county superintendent of schools of Linn county, is a native of this section of the state, born on the 4th of June, 1867, near Halsey, Linn county. She is a daughter of Antony P. and Nancy (Powell) Maxwell, natives of Illinois. Her maternal grandfather devoted his life to preaching the gospel as a minister of the Christian church. He was one of the honored pioneers of the state, taking up a donation land claim seven miles from Albany, which he operated for many years, greatly improving the property. He was a republican in his political views and was a highly respected citizen of his community. Antony P. Maxwell, the father of Mrs. Cummings, was a farmer by occupation, and in 1860 he came west to Oregon, making the journey by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He first located in Linn county and subsequently went to Idaho, where he met with success in the mines. He then returned to Linn county and purchased land near Halsey, which he carefully and systematically cultivated and improved, bringing the farm to a high state of develop- ment. He employed the most progressive methods in operating his farm and greatly improved his property by the erection of a fine home and substantial outbulldings. To his original tract he added from time to time until he became the owner of four hundred and thirty-four acres of rich and valuable land. He also specialized in the raising of pure bred Jersey cattle and Clydesdale and Hambletonian horses and was equally successful in this line of activity. He continued to operate his land until

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his wife's death, which occurred in April, 1902, when she was fifty-six years of age. He then retired and took up his abode with his daughter, Mrs. Cummings, with whom he resided until his death in 1910, at the age of seventy-six years.

Ida Maxwell Cummings attended the district schools of Linn county and subse- quently was a student at Albany College, the Oregon Agricultural College and the Oregon State Normal School, from which she graduated in 1889. In 1898 she won a scholarship which enabled her to attend the School of Domestic Science at Boston, from which she was graduated in 1899, at the end of six months' study. She then engaged in teaching, spending one year as an instructor in the Industrial School at Seattle, Washington, and later she taught in the public schools of Oregon, her con- nection therewith covering a period of twenty-three years. She was very successful as a teacher, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge which she had acquired and thus arousing interest and enthusiasm in her pupils. Her excellent work as a teacher led to her election in 1917 to the position of county superintendent of schools of Linn county from which she resigned April 1, 1921, to engage in the real estate business, opening an office in Albany, Oregon. She has constantly sought out new methods to render her work of greater value to the young as a preparation for life's practical and responsible duties and she has ever held to high professional standards. Aside from her professional work Mrs. Cummings has also been successful in other lines and is the owner of considerable property in Linn county.

On the 3d of July, 1910, Miss Maxwell was united in marriage to W. A. Cummings, from whom she secured a legal separation in June, 1914. During the World war Mrs. Cummings rendered valuable aid to the government through the sale of Thrift Stamps. Linn county at one time ranking second in the amount of sales. Her political alleg- iance is given to the republican party, while fraternally she is identified with the Rebekalı lodge. She is also connected with the Grange and her religious faith is in- dicated hy her membership in the Christian church, to whose teachings she loyally adheres. She resides at No. 227 West Fourth street, in Albany, and is the owner of this property. A lifelong resident of this state, Mrs. Cummings has been an interested witness of its development and upbuilding and at all times has lent her aid and co- operation to plans and projects for the public good. She has attained a position of distinction in educational circles of the state and is a woman of innate culture and refinement, with whom association means expansion and elevation.

EDWARD WINSLOW RUMBLE.

"Death loves a shining mark." So felt the many friends of Edward W. Rumble when the news was received of his sudden death at Portland, Oregon, March 17, 1919. A man of winning personality, warm-hearted friendliness, unselfishness and generosity, his loss was a severe blow to his family, friends and business associates. He was con- nected with many husiness enterprises throughout the state and wherever he went the integrity of his business methods, his enterprise, his progressive citizenship and sterling personal worth gained for him the warm regard of all who knew him.

Edward W. Rumble was born in Washington county, Iowa, in 1867. In his early life he knew all the hardships of a pioneer boyhood on a farm in Wallowa county, Oregon, where his parents settled when they crossed the plains from Iowa in 1880. His education was secured under difficulties, for it was eight miles to the nearest school -a long ride on horseback through all kinds of weather and with his share of the farm work before and after school. Yet at sixteen years of age he was teaching school and afterwards attended the old Blue Mountain University at La Grande, Oregon, and the Portland Business College. His parents are the fine type of pioneer people and their home has always been noted for its hospitality. His father, John A. Rumble, was a member of Company D, Fourth Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, and served throughout the Civil war. He is a progressive citizen and has held a number of public offices with capability and fidelity.

E. W. Rumble was interested in many lines of business in eastern Oregon-mer- chandising, warehousing, and was manager of the Elgin-Joseph stage line until the railroad was built into Wallowa county. In the spring of 1915 he removed to Portland, where he organized the Columbia Basin Wool Warehouse Company, which developed into a magnificent thing for the wool growers, constituting a most important element in the development of the wool industry in the northwest. It became the biggest under-

EDWARD W. RUMBLE

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taking of the kind west of Boston and Mr. Rumble, in addition to being general manager, was among the heaviest stockholders of the company, which has two main warehouses, one in Boston and one in Portland. Mr. Rumble was a man of keen business insight and of broad vision and his activities were always of a character that contributed to public progress and prosperity as well as to individual success.

Mr. Rumble was married twice. His first wife was Miss Clara McCully, who passed away in 1904. Five years later he married Miss Daisy Starr, whose parents were pio- neers of Oregon, her father crossing the plains in 1849. Mrs. Rumble is a graduate of the State Normal School at Monmouth, Oregon, class of 1899, and engaged in teaching up to the time of her marriage.

Mr. Rumble was a thirty-second degree Mason and a life member of the Mystic Shrine and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He was a loyal follower of the teachings of these fraternities and believed firmly in the principles of universal brother- hood upon which the Masonic order rests. His political allegiance was always given to the republican party. His sudden death, in the prime of life and at the height of his usefulness, was the occasion of widespread regret, for he had made for himself a prominent place in the community. He was interested in the Chamber of Commerce and other civic and commercial activities and throughout the period of his residence in the northwest he contributed in substantial measure to the business development of the state. One of the papers of La Grande, Oregon, said of him: "In the death of Ed Rumble at Portland today passes one of the finest men in Union and Wallowa counties, his friends and business associates agree." The same opinion was shared wherever he was known, for his fine character and personal qualities won for him affection, honor and esteem.

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History of Oregon, Vol. II, Part 50

Author: Carey, Charles Henry Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company Number of Pages: 780

Author: Carey, Charles Henry
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 780