USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 14
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JOSEPH F. McNAUGHT.
Joseph F. McNaught, the subject of this sketch, engaged in alfalfa farming, mak- ing investments and lending money at Hermiston, Umatilla county, Oregon, is one of the public-spirited men of that place, whose lahors have been of substantial and mate- rial value to the community in the line of general progress. He is a native of the state of Illinois and was born near the village of Lexington, McLean county in 1854, a son of George and Nancy (Franklin) McNaught, pioneers and prominent residents of that community.
After acquiring a grade and high school education in his own town, Joseph F. McNaught was graduated at the Illinois Wesleyan University with the degree of B. S. This was followed with a law course at Ann Arbor, Michigan. At the age of twenty- two he was united in marriage to Virginia E. Hodge, daughter of Shelby and Mary C. (Clark) Hodge, also prominent residents of McLean county. To Mr. and Mrs. McNaught were born two children: Helen Fairfax, now the wife of Edward H. Geary of Portland, Oregon, vice president and manager of the Security Trust Savings Com- pany, and Carl Shelby, who is a resident and prominent business man of Hermiston, Oregon. In the year 1877 Mr. McNaught took his young bride to the far west, locat- ing at Seattle, Washington territory, where he formed a law partnership with his brother James, who had preceded him to that promising little city. This partnership continued under the name and style of McNaught Brothers until in 1881, when Ex- Governor E. P. Ferry, whose term as governor of the territory of Washington had just expired, was taken into the firm, whose name and style was changed to McNaught, Ferry & McNaught. Later, in the year 1884, John H. Mitchell, son of the late Senator Mitchell of Oregon, was given a place in the firm, which then became McNaught, Ferry, McNaught & Mitchell. These several firms enjoyed the largest and most lucrative law practice of any firm in the territory and state of Washington up to the time when James McNaught was made chief counsel for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company,
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and moved to New York city in 1888. At the same time Mr. Ferry accepted a position with the Puget Sound National Bank, from which position he was elected the first governor of the state of Washington, and Mr. Mitchell accepted the post of local attor- ney for the Northern Pacific, located at Tacoma, Washington. At this juncture Joseph F. McNaught organized a new firm, composed of Roger S. Greene, ex-chief justice of the territory of Washington; C. H. Hanford, later made judge of the federal court; John H. McGraw, afterward elected governor of the state of Washington, and him- self. The name and style of this firm was Greene, Hanford, McNaught & McGraw.
While thus engaged in the practice of law Mr. McNaught was most prominent in the upbuilding of the aspiring young city of Seattle and was always found in the fore- front in all efforts to advance public interests. Through his great activities and un- tiring energies he had, prior to the nation-wide panic of 1893, accumulated much wealth. He was regarded as a successful operator and most reliable in all of his dealings. One of his outstanding achievements was the founding and fostering of the city of Anacortes, on the Guaymas Channel, near the east entrance to Puget Sound, where he had secured five thousand acres of land with a water front of five miles. One half of this he gave outright to the Oregon Improvement Company, to secure the construc- tion of twenty-five miles of railroad from the channel up the Skagit river, and to name it the Spokane & Eastern Railroad. This enterprise proved a tremendous suc- cess. Another of Mr. McNaught's marked achievements was the purchase and develop- ment of a large area of prairie lands in the Palouse section of eastern Washington state, for the growing of wheat. These lands were divided into farms of one hundred and sixty acres each. A house and barn were erected, a well was dug on each farm, and the whole properly fenced. This was pioneering in the now celebrated Palouse country.
During the winter of 1891-2, while he and Mrs. McNaught were spending a few weeks in New York city, Mr. McNaught suffered a temporary loss and a permanent impairment of his sight. For more than four years he was unable to read. This mis- fortune cost him his profession, changed his whole course of life and materially slowed him up. This serious trouble, aided and abetted by the panic, cut deeply into his fortune and made financial recuperation doubly difficult. In the early spring of 1898 he was prevailed upon by the Boston & Alaska Steamship Company to supervise the construction of some half dozen river-boats for the Yukon, at Dutch Harbor, in the Aleutian Islands. It was on good Friday that Mr. McNaught sailed out of the Seattle harhor on the bark Harry Morse, with a working crew of one hundred and sixty men and a full cargo of building materials (lumber, hardware and machinery) for the construction of the boats. On July 2nd, following, two of the company's ocean steamers- the Brixam and South Portland-each with three river-boats in tow, headed out of the harbor for the open Behring Sea, their destination being St. Michael and the Yukon. The writer can readily believe it was an inspiring sight.
This commission having been accomplished, Mr. McNaught, with his family, spent a year on the shores of Lake Slocan, in the Selkirk mountains, recuperating. After a short period of residence in the city of Spokane, he turned his attention to the reclamation of arid lands and centered his energies in the district in which he now resides, namely the Umatilla River Reclamation Project. In 1904 he organized the Maxwell Land & Irrigation Company and was made president and manager, a dual position he held during the existence of the company, which was disorganized after it had served its purpose. This company purchased some ten thousand acres of the semiarid lands lying contiguous to the Columbia and Umatilla rivers, and filed rights on sufficient water of the Umatilla to irrigate more than twenty thousand acres. The town, now the thriving little city of Hermiston, was founded and the sale and develop- ment of the lands and water rights were prosecuted by the company till late in the year 1905, when all the water rights and all completed irrigation works were sold to the United States government. The project was thereafter known as the Umatilla River Irrigation Project. Mr. McNaught continued as representative of the company until all of its interests were sold or otherwise disposed of, and then disorganized the company. He is now actively engaged in growing alfalfa hay; is the owner of a num- ber of irrigated farms and is the possessor of one of the largest and best equipped hay farms in the state. Mr. McNaught has taken a deep interest in the general welfare of the irrigation project; has been repeatedly elected to the board of directors of hoth the Water Users Association and the Hermiston Irrigation District, and is at present president of each.
Mr. McNaught always votes with the republican party and in all matters of public
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moment he displays a spirit of marked devotion to the general good. He holds mem- bership with the Masons and the Odd Fellows. Quick to grasp the possibility of mak- ing the arid lands of Oregon fertile by irrigation, Mr. McNaught never stopped until his plans were realized. His labors are proving resultant and having taken the initial step in utilizing this region for agricultural purposes has added greatly to the value of the property and the appearance of the district. Thus he ranks among the valued and progressive business men of the county and state.
EDWARD R. LESTER.
Edward R. Lester, manager of the Pilot Rock Lumber Company of Pilot Rock, Umatilla county, was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on the 26th of January, 1862, a son of Samuel and Harriett (Hale) Lester, the former a native of Oswego, New York, and the latter of Rutland, Vermont. Samuel Lester went to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, when a young man and there engaged in the mercantile business, which he conducted with gratifying success until September, 1867, when his death occurred at the age of forty-five years. He was a republican, a Mason and a member of the Congregational church and both he and his wife sang in the choir for a great many years. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lester took place in Wisconsin.
Edward R. Lester spent his boyhood in Wisconsin and there received his educa- tion. He later worked as clerk in the post office at Prairie du Chien, and then removing to Minneapolis, Minnesota, accepted a like position in the post office there. In 1883 he came west to Portland, where he remained for a short time and then went to Glencoe, clerking in the store of J. J. Fowler. Mr. Lester returned to his old Wisconsin home for a time but subsequently went west again and worked in the post offices at Mitchell and Aberdeen, South Dakota, for an extended period. For twenty-five years he drove race horses for various owners throughout the United States and Canada and in this connection became a prominent figure. In October, 1913, he went to Tacoma, Wash- ington, and soon afterwards removed to Pilot Rock, where he accepted a position as manager of the Pilot Rock Lumber Company. Under his able management this busi- ness has grown to extensive proportions and his keen discrimination, energy, and hon- orable methods have brought him to the fore as one of Pilot Rock's most successful business men.
In 1909 Mr. Lester was married to Miss Blanch Chittenden, a daughter of Charles A. and Ellen (Barber) Chittenden, and a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan. To their union two children have been born: Mildred and Ruth.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Lester the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party, in the interests of which he has taken an active part, although he has neither desired nor sought public office. His fraternal connec- tion is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and as an active worker in the civic affairs of the community he holds membership in the Pilot Rock Commercial Club.
ROSCOE RUSH GILTNER.
Roscoe Rush Giltner, who about the close of the nineteenth century was reputed to be the most able trial lawyer in Portland and who maintained his position of lead- ership at the bar of the city to the time of his demise, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 25, 1857, his parents being Dr. Jacob S. and Martha M. (Hause) Giltner. The father was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1824, and passed away in Portland, May 18, 1910. His parents were Conrad and Rebecca (Snyder) Giltner and his ancestral line was traced directly back to the Prince of Orange. Conrad Giltner was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and he became a prominent and highly respected farmer of Pennsylvania where he owned a large tract of land. His son, Dr. Giltner, had but limited educational opportunities but his desire for knowledge is shown in the fact that when plowing in the fields he often had his book with him and his evenings were devoted to study. His mother, sympathizing with his ambition to secure an education, sent him to college upon inheriting a little money and thus gave to him the wished for opportunity that con- stituted a step toward his later success. He was graduated from the medical depart-
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EDWARD R. LESTER
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ment of the University of Pennsylvania when twenty-one years of age and in 1846 he wedded Miss Martha M. Hause, of Germantown, Pennsylvania. They began their domestic life near Harrisburg, that state, and afterward returned to his home county, where he engaged in the practice of medicine until the outbreak of the Civil war. He then took a competitive examination and thereby won the appointment of comman- der and medical director of the hospital of the Army of the Cumberland at Nashville, Tennessee, with the rank of major. He enlisted at Milton, Pennsylvania, and was mustered in at Washington, D. C., doing splendid service for the cause, both in field and hospital work. The valuable experience which he gained during his military career made him later a specialist in the field of surgery in his private practice. When the war was over he went to Pithole, Pennsylvania, and in June, 1866, started for Oregon, remaining a prominent member of the medical profession in Portland until about seventy-eight years of age. About 1875 he returned to Pennsylvania for post- graduate work. For several years he was county physician of Multnomah county, was also city physician and visiting physician to the insane asylum before his removal to Salem. His contributions to the literature of the profession were many and valuable. It was on the 9th of March, 1846, that he wedded Martha M. Hause, a daughter of Abraham and Mary Hause, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Giltner. was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, December 25, 1826, and by her marriage became the mother of ten chil- dren, four of whom died in infancy.
Politically Dr. Giltner was a stanch republican and while never an office seeker he was appointed a member of the school board about 1872 and served for several years, being instrumental in the establishment of the Portland high school and instru- mental in securing the passage of a bill allowing colored children to attend the public schools. In early life he became a Mason and while reared in the Society of Friends, to which belief he always adhered, he afterward became a member of St. James' Luth- eran church in Portland. He died May 18, 1910, while his wife passed away March 2, 1905. He was a man of scholarly attainments, of most kindly nature and generous spirit, giving a tenth of his income to the support of the Gospel for the benefit of local hospitals and the poorer classes. His life was largely hlameless and it is said that there was no one who could be found in Portland to say aught against him.
His son, Roscoe Rush Giltner, obtained his early education in the schools of Portland, for he was a lad of only about nine years when the family home was estab- lished in this city. He was prepared for Yale by Professor Johnson, completing his course within the classic walls of the old New Haven institution in 1881. He had also pursued a preparatory course in the Hopkins grammar school in New Haven before entering Yale. He prepared for the bar as a law student with Richard Williams and the late Governor W. W. Thayer and was admitted to practice in the courts of Oregon in 1884. Ten years afterward, or in 1894, he was elected city attorney and was the first incumbent in that position to occupy the offices in the new City Hall building. During that year he formed a partnership with Russell E. Sewald, an association that was continued until his death. Mr. Giltner was the chief deputy prosecuting attorney from 1898 until 1900, during which time he conducted some of the most important criminal trials in the history of the county. He convicted the famous outlaw, Harry Tracy, and caused him to' be sent to the Oregon penitentiary. He also handled the famous McDaniel murder case and was the prosecutor in various other cases of note, in all of which he displayed marked ability in handling the evidence and in presenting the points in law to the court. In connection with his partner, Mr. Giltner equipped and operated a logging road for five years, the line extending to a large timber tract which he owned. The road was sold for three hundred and twelve thousand dollars: The land, thirty-one miles from Portland, is still owned by the family and yet has upon it a large body of timber. Mrs. Giltner is likewise the owner of all of Manhattan beach, a section of the Tillamook beach. The lumber tract comprises three thousand acres of land and the family is also interested in farm lands.
In 1892 Mr. Giltner was united in marriage to Miss Fronia Wallace, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, a daughter of John Calvin and Harriet (Veach) Wallace, the former a native of Kentucky, while the latter was born in Iowa. Her parents came to Oregon in 1865, settling at Cottage Grove where the father was engaged in the brick and stone contract business. Mr. and Mrs. Giltner had no children of their own, but the kindness of their hearts prompted them to rear and educate six children, all receiving college training.
Mr. Giltner was particularly liberal in helping young boys through college and
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in other ways preparing them for life's practical and responsible duties. He was promi- nent in the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, also in the Knights of Pythias and was a life member of the Multnomalı Amateur Athletic Club. He passed away Decem- ber 14, 1918, being then sixty-one years of age. He was not only a representative of one of the prominent pioneer families, but his personal worth had given him high position in professional and social circles. Throughout his entire career he was never content to choose the second best. His ideals of life were high and he at all times attempted to live up to them. He recognized his duties and his opportunities in relation to the public just as fully as he recognized his professional opportunities and he utilized the former as earnestly and effectively as the latter. Of him it might well be said, when one considers the good that he accomplished in assisting the young to prepare for life:
"His life was noble and the elements so mixed in him That nature might stand up and say to all the world This was a man."
ARTHUR MARTIN SILVA, D. D.
Dr. Arthur Martin Silva who practices his profession in Clatskanie, is one of the most successful and prominent of the professional men in that place. He is a native of Columbia county, born at Rainier, in 1892, the son of Joseph and Katherine (Wilson) Silva. His grandfather was a member of the diplomatic corps in Portugal and a man of large affairs. Joseph Silva came to America when but thirteen years of age, with the determination to build his own future. For a short time he remained in Boston, Massachusetts, and then sought the Pacific coast, settling at Rainier in the early pioneer days. The Doctor's mother was also of a pioneer family, whose forbears had lived for many generations in the Southern States. Joseph Silva went to work at the lumber business at Rainier, and built and operated for many years one of the largest sawmills in that section. He also engaged in the mercantile business and at the time of his demise a few years ago he left a very large estate, mostly in valuable land holdings that are increasing in value year by year.
Dr. Silva was educated in the grade and high schools of Rainier, and after taking up other avocations, decided to take up dentistry as his life work. He matriculated at the North Pacific Dental College of Portland and was graduated therefrom upon the completion of his course in 1919, with the degree of D. M. D. He then entered the office of Dr. F. R. Davis, the leading dentist of Portland. After a short term of service here he moved to Clatskanie, where he established an office and soon built up a fine practice.
In 1917 Dr. Silva served in the navy at Bremerton navy yard, but was sent back to finish his professional course, and the signing of the armistice prevented his recall. Fraternally Dr. Silva is a member of the Odd Fellows, the Moose and the Red Men. He has not yet married but it will not be surprising if this popular young man should enter the ranks of the Benedicts before the publication of this brief story. His acknowledged ability, wide acquaintance and family connections assure him success in his profession.
SAMUEL ELLIS WISHARD.
The name of Samuel Ellis Wishard figures on the pages of pioneer history in Oregon, for he became a resident of the state in 1852 and was for many years one of its substantial citizens, passing away in Portland at the age of seventy-eight. Mr. Wishard was a great-grandson of William Wishard, a native of Scotland, who was born between the years 1720 and 1725. He was a man of excellent constitution and of good habits, who enjoyed educational opportunities that gave him considerable standing in the community. By trade he was a weaver. He was driven from his home by religious persecution and took refuge in County Tyrven in the north of Ireland, a Protestant section of the Emerald isle. There he obtained a position as coachman with Lord Lytle, who had married Lady Jane Stuart. The following account of the romantic
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marriage of William Wishard to Susanah Lytle was written by their great-grandson, Samuel E. Wishard: "Wishard, now acting as coachman, became interested in Susanah Lytle. His affection was reciprocated by the young lady, who finally left her home and was clandestinely married to Wishard, in opposition to the wishes of her parents. Miss Lytle's brothers pursued them with the purpose of taking the life of Wishard and recovering their sister. Wishard made his escape, but the sister was secured and brought back to her home, while it was supposed that her husband had taken a vessel for America. Mrs. Wishard was kept in close confinement, lest she should again escape and follow her husband. During this period her first child was born, and named Wil- liam, after the name of the child's father. After the expiration of two years the Lytle family heard that the vessel on which Wishard had sailed had been wrecked. It hap- pened, however, that he had taken another vessel and about the time that they heard of his destruction he returned in disguise. He came to the old Lytle estate, where he was recognized and befriended by one of the tenant families. Susanah's health becom- ing somewhat impaired by close confinement, her family was obliged to allow her some liberty in the open air. On one of these occasions while walking out for her health, Wishard secretly secured an interview with her after their long separation. A second arrangement was made for their escape. Interviews were frequently secured and the matter was kept secret until a vessel was found coming directly to America. When the time arrived for the departure of the vessel, Mrs. Wishard went out with her child for her usual walk and never returned to her father's house, for Wishard took her. With her husband she came directly to America, a short time before the Revolu- tionary war, probably about 1773. They landed at Philadelphia and settled near the city, on what was then called 'The waters of Brandywine.'"
While there residing, the son Samuel was born, December 18, 1775, to Mr. and Mrs. William Wishard and it was exactly a half century later that the birth of Samuel E. Wishard occurred. It was also at the Brandywine home that the first daughter, Annis, was born in the September which preceded the battle of Brandywine, one of the momentous engagements of the Revolutionary war. In the meantime the father, Wil- liam Wishard, had enlisted in the American army and was made a sergeant, serving throughout the period of hostilities and receiving his discharge at the close of the war. The birth of his fourth child, Jane, occurred June 25, 1777, and it was subsequent to this time that the family removed to Redstone Fort. As the years passed eight other children were added to the family while they were still residents of Pennsylvania. In the autumn of 1794 William Wishard started by boat down the Brandywine river, thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Licking river, after which he proceeded up the latter stream to the point where Fleming creek empties into the Licking. There he settled in what is now known as Nicholas county, Kentucky, and there another child, James, was born. It was in that county that the mother, Mrs. Susanah (Lytle) Wishard, passed away. Ahout 1798 William Wishard married again, his second wife being a widow, Mrs. Betsy Rhoades, and by this marriage there were two sons, Andrew and Robert, making the family fifteen children in all.
Of the eight children born at Redstone Fort, John Wishard was the seventh in order of birth He was born Jure 3. 1792. He and three of his brothers-Abram, Samuel and James-removed to Indiana between 1825 and 1830, John Wishard becoming a resident of Johnson county, ten miles south of Indianapolis. He married and had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. Two of the sons died in infancy and six of the number reached adult age. Of these Andrew died at the age of twenty-one and James when twenty-seven years of age. A sister, Jane, died at the age of eighteen. Others of the family lived to advanced years, some passing beyond the seventieth mile- stone on life's journey, others reaching more than their eightieth year, while still another, Dr. William Wishard, was ninety-three when he passed away.
It seems that the call of the west was always felt by the Wishard family. It brought the great-grandparents of Samuel E. Wishard to the new world and took them from Pennsylvania into Kentucky. It took the second generation into Indiana and the third and fourth generations were well represented in Oregon.
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