USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 26
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
200
HISTORY OF OREGON
and Victory bond campaigns Mr. Wooster was a power, while Mrs. Wooster's activity in War Stamps and Red Cross work placed her in the ranks as one bundred per cent American. To be good, useful and progressive citizens has always been the aim of the Wooster family and in the realization of their aim they rest secure in the high regard and esteem of their fellow citizens.
TILLMAN D. TAYLOR.
The death of Tillman D. Taylor, ex-sheriff of Umatilla county, occurred as the result of bullet wounds received on July 25, 1920, when he was shot by Emmett Ban- croft, a bandit. He was a prominent and progressive citizen of Umatilla county and his death came as a severe blow to his many friends throughout the community.
Tillman D. Taylor was born near Silverton, Marion county, Oregon, on the 19th of September, 1866, a son of David and Sarah Ann (Gerking) Taylor, further mention of whom is made on another page of this work. Sheriff Taylor's boyhood was spent on the old homestead, three miles west of Athena and he received his edu- cation in the schools of the county and later attended the A. P. Armstrong Business College of Portland. After completing his course in this college he returned to Athena and accepted a clerkship in the Holter & Cleve dry goods store there. He then engaged with C. A. Barrett in the hardware business, in which connection he remained for a number of years, later selling his interest to Mr. Barrett and accept- ing a position with the Handford Hardware Company. In 1898 he was appointed to the position of deputy sheriff under William Blakley, and for four years he served in this capacity, then being elected sheriff, which latter office be was holding at the time he was shot. During the years in which he was sheriff he made it a point never to shoot a man. Bancroft, the bandit whose bullet snuffed out the life of Sheriff Taylor, had been saved by the sheriff only a few days before, while being captured. At that time Bancroft fired at Sheriff Taylor and tried to kill him. A jail break was planned for Sunday morning, July 25, 1920, when Bancroft, with four others, attempted to escape. Sheriff Taylor was sitting in his office at the courthouse in Pendleton when the bullet came crashing through the window. Bancroft was executed in punishment for his crime, two others have been sentenced to be hung, while the other two are serving life sentences. In the activities of Umatilla county Sheriff Taylor has always taken an active part and he was one of the organizers of the Pendleton Round-up, and its president for eleven years. He was a fine horseman and sportsman and was always leader of the parades.
Mr. Taylor was twice married. In 1889 he wedded Miss Sadie Smith and her death occurred at Athena five years later. One son, Sheldon, was born to this union. In 1898 he was married to Miss Claire Moussu, a daughter of H. O. Moussu. Mrs. Taylor'is living and makes her home in Pendleton, where she has many friends.
In politics Mr. Taylor was a stanch supporter of the democratic party and was a firm believer in its principles as factors in good government. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Elks and the Woodmen of the World. Sheriff Tay- lor was a familiar and well beloved figure in the community and a void has been left which it will not be easy to fill. He was honorable and upright in every way and any town, county, or state would have been proud of him as a citizen.
HUGH MONTGOMERY.
Hugh Montgomery, actively engaged in the practice of law at Portland, with a large clientage that indicates his capability in handling intricate and complex legal problems, was born in Greenville, Connecticut, January 5, 1882, a son of Hugh Montgom- ery. The father, who was a native of Enniskillen, Ireland, emigrated to Canada with his parents about 1850, the family home being established near Montreal. About ten years later Hugh Montgomery, Sr., crossed the border into the United States, becoming a resident of New Hampshire. Subsequently he removed to Connecticut, where he re- mained for five years and then went to Worcester, Massachusetts, and subsequently to Boston and to Marblehead, his demise occurring in the latter city in 1898.
In the schools of Lowell, Massachusetts, Hugh Montgomery, Jr., pursued his educa-
1
TILLMAN D. TAYLOR
20
HISTORY OF OREGON
tion, subsequently spending two years as a student in Wesleyan University, at Middle- town, Connecticut, after which he read law for two years in the office of John S. Wil- liams, a prominent attorney of Guilford, Maine. He then made his way to Portland, where an older brother was residing, and for one year attended the Oregon Law School in this city. In 1906 he was admitted to the bar, following which he spent two years as an instructor in the Hill Military College of Portland and in 1908 opened an office in this city. In 1913 he became junior member of the law firm of Platt & Platt, Montgomery & Fales, which connection he still retains. Possessing highly de- veloped intellectual powers, good oratorical ability and a keen, analytical mind, he has been notably successful as a trial lawyer. He always prepares his cases with thoroughness and care and is strong in argument, sound in his reasoning and logical in his deductions.
In his political views Mr. Montgomery is a republican and an earnest member of the Chamber of Commerce. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias and his social nature finds expression in his membership in the University and Port- land Golf Clubs. During the World war he was active in promoting several of the local bond drives and his record is a most commendable one, characterized by strict integrity and honor, courage, ability and hard work. He is extremely fond of good literature and also finds much enjoyment in fishing and in playing golf. He has won success by industry, ability and common sense and these qualities unite to make him an upright man and useful citizen.
JUDGE THOMAS J. CLEETON.
The name of Judge Thomas J. Cleeton figures prominently upon the pages of the history of the Portland bar. His law practice has long been of an extensive and im- portant character and he has filled many public offices in the direct path of his pro- fession, serving for a number of years as judge of the county court. He was born on a farm in Schuyler county, Missouri, October 7, 1861, and is descended in the paternal line from Scotch ancestors, although the family' has been represented in this country through several generations. His grandfather, Enoch Cleeton, was born in Kentucky and was the father of three sons who rendered active service in the Civil war. This number included Thornton Yancy Cleeton, the father of Judge Cleeton, who was born in Howard county, Missouri, in 1832 and during the progress of hostilities between the north and the south was a member of the Missouri State Militia and did active work in military connections in the southwest. He was married in his native state to Miss Lucy Reeves and passed away at Lancaster, Missouri, in 1918, having for many years survived his wife, who died in 1862.
Thomas J. Cleeton was reared on a farm, dividing his time between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields through the period of his boyhood and early youth. After mastering the branches of learning taught in the country schools he pursued a course in the State Normal School at Kirksville, Missouri, and also attended a business college at that place. When nine- teen years of age he took up the profession of teaching and proved a capable edu- cator, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge he had acquired. When but twenty-one years of age he was appointed superintendent of schools in Schuyler county, Missouri, and also taught in the high school at Lancaster, that state. He served for two years in office and in the meantime began reading law in Lancaster in preparation for the practice of the profession. In 1886 he removed to Winfield, Kansas, and soon afterward took up his abode at Dexter, Kansas, where he filled the position of principal of the high school. He next went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he continued his law reading for a year, and in 1891 arrived in Portland, Oregon.
Not long afterward Mr. Cleeton went to Columbia county, Oregon, where he was engaged in teaching for two years and then in 1893 was elected to the superin- tendency of schools in that county. He filled the position for two years and in 1895 was elected to the state legislature, so that he became identified with the lawmaking hody of the commonwealth, while at the same time he engaged in the practice of law, thus aiding in the interpretation of legal problems in the courts. In 1894 he had been admitted to the bar. He served for a term in the legislature and in 1896 was elected prosecuting attorney of the fifth judicial district of Oregon, then comprising four
204
HISTORY OF OREGON
counties. His term's service was characterized by capability and efficiency that led to his reelection in 1898. In 1900 he came to Portland, where he formed a partner- ship with R. P. Graham as junior member of the firm of Graham & Cleeton. They were joined by W. M. Davis in 1908, thus organizing the firm of Graham, Cleeton & Davis, and Judge Cleeton thus continued in practice until 1910, when he was appointed county judge of Multnomah county to fill a vacancy. In the fall of that year he was elected to the office and so served until 1912, when he was appointed by the legislature to the position of circuit judge of Multnomah county, the office of county judge hav- ing been abolished. In 1914 the supreme court of Oregon declared unconstitutional the act of the legislature in abolishing the office of county judge and Mr. Cleeton then returned to the county bench and was also made judge of the juvenile court. Thus he continued to serve in his judicial capacity until January 1, 1917, when he resumed the private practice of law, forming a partnership with James H. McMenamin under the firm style of Cleeton & McMenamin. His clientage is now extensive and of an important character. His reasoning is always clear, his deductions sound, his argu- ments logical and his oratory convincing. He never seeks to enshrend his cause in any sentimental garb or illusion but presents with clearness and force the points which he wishes to prove and seldom, if ever, fails to impress court or jury with the wisdom and correctness of his position.
On the 24th of December, 1893, at Vernonia, Oregon, Judge Cleeton was married to Miss Maud Esta Shanahan, a daughter of Alfred A. Shanahan, a native of Indiana, who served for four years in the Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry' in the Civil war.
Judge Cleeton has always voted with the republican party and is a strong believer in its principles. He is a Master Mason, also a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Elks, the Moose and the Woodmen of the World. He likewise has membership connections with the Chamber of Commerce of Portland, with the Progressive Busi- ness Men's Club, the Civic League and the Press Club. These associations are indic- ative of the nature, spirit and breadth of his interests. He stands for all those forces which have to do with public progress and upbuilding and his cooperation at all times can be counted upon to aid in any work for the general good. He attends the Christian church and his life is ever actuated by worthy purposes and high ideals.
LESTER GARFIELD ICE, D. D. S.
Among the successful and well known dentists of Oregon City, is Lester Garfield Ice, who has been a resident of Oregon since the Lewis and Clarke Expedition. He is a native of West Virginia having been born in that state in 1882, a son of Dr. C. H. and Rena (Hildreth) Ice. Over two hundred years ago the Ice family received a grant of land in the state of Virginia and since that time they have been recorded as one of the first families of Virginia, a thing of which to be proud, for from these first families many of our presidents, statesmen and historians have sprung, as well as some of our military leaders. His father, Dr. C. H. Ice, was a physician who practiced for many years in West Virginia, and was held in high esteem in his com- munity, not because of the standing of the family, but by virtue of his ewn attain- ments.
Lester G. Ice was reared among beautiful southern home surroundings and re- ceived his education in the schools of his native state and at the Ohio State Univer- sity, from which he was graduated in 1904. Being of an ambitious nature and eager to advance he was quick to see the opportunities which were being opened up in the northwest and during the Lewis and Clarke Expedition he visited Oregon, and becom- ing decidedly impressed with the country he elected to become a citizen. He selected Oregon City for his new home, opened an office there, and has remained. He is now recognized as one of Oregon City's best dentists and is enjoying a large and lucrative practice.
In 1909, Dr. Ice was united in marriage te Miss Bernice Kelly, a daughter of Charles W. Kelly, who is a native son of Oregon City. The grandfather of Mrs. Ice, E. D. Kelly, was a pioneer of Oregon, having come to this state in 1853. He was a highly respected citizen and was honored with many offices by his fellow citizens. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ice: William H. and Jane, both of whom are pupils of the grade schools of Oregon City.
As an interested and active member of his profession Dr. Ice is a member of the
205
HISTORY OF OREGON
Oregon Dental Society and the American Dental Association, and fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, an Elk and a Modern Woodman. To each organization, whether professional or fraternal, he gives his stanch support, and this same support and eagerness to serve is reflected in his daily life, whether it be as a private citizen or as a professional man, with the result that his friends are legion.
GEORGE FRANKLIN HOPKINS, JR.
George Franklin Hopkins, Jr., who since 1918 has been manager of the claim de- partment of the Portland branch of R. G. Dun & Company, is a rising young attorney of this city, specializing in the field of business adjustment. He has also shown unusual ability in preparing law briefs, and actuated at all times by the spirit of firm deter- mination, he carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. Mr. Hopkins was born' in Greenville, British Columbia, June 3, 1889, a son of George F. Hopkins. The father's birth occurred in Chicago, Illinois, in 1853 and he engages in preaching the gospel as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. In British Columbia he wedded Mary Ann Green and they now reside in Raymond, Washington.
In the public schools George F. Hopkins, Jr., pursued his education and subse- quently he became a student in the Willamette University at Salem, Oregon, from which he was graduated in 1912 with the LL. B. degree. In that year he was admitted to the bar, and opening an office in Portland, he continued in private practice for a period of four years, or until 1916, when he hecame manager of the claim department of R. G. Dun & Company in this city, which position he retains.
On the 4th of March, 1915, in this city, Mr. Hopkins was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Fay Lindley, a daughter of William F. Lindley, now living retired. In his political views Mr. Hopkins is a republican and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a Master Mason, exemplifying in his daily life the beneficent teachings of that organization. He is also identified with the Rotary Club and devotes considerable time to promoting the welfare of civic organizations. On the 1st of August, 1918, he enlisted for service in the World war, becoming a member of the First Company of the Coast Artillery Corps. He was sent to Fort Stevens, Oregon, where he remained until honorably discharged on the 17th of December, 1918. He also was active in promoting several local bond drives, including the Victory loan, doing all in his power to aid the government in its hour of need.
CHARLES HARVEY STOCKWELL.
In every community there is one man always who stands out above his fellows in the business life of the town, and as a civic leader. In Clatskanie that man is C. H. Stockwell, president of the State Bank. Mr. Stockwell is a native of Quincy, Illinois, where he was born in 1875. He comes from pre-Revolutionary stock on both sides. His father was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, where his ancestors had settled before the days of George Washington. He was engaged in the railroad business for fifty years, his first railroad experience being on the old Boston and Maine Railroad. After com- ing west he built the Union Pacific Railroad through the state of Wyoming under the protection of the United States troops. He also built the Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- road through Iowa and South Dakota and was one of the pioneer railroad builders in the days of the expansion of railways in America.
Charles H. Stockwell was educated in the schools of Coon Rapids, Iowa, and first entered the railroad service as a telegrapher for the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad and he soon rose to the position of train dispatcher of that division., Then deciding that the railroad business was not his life work, he resigned and took up banking. He became cashier of the Coon Rapids National Bank, and while serving in that capacity was elected vice president of the Elkhart State Bank. He served in both capacities until 1904, when he visited Oregon, and was so impressed with the climatic and business conditions in the Columbia river country that he sold all of his property in the east and located at St. Helens, where he established the first bank in Columbia county, the Columbia County Bank, of which institution he became cashier. His
206
HISTORY OF OREGON
father, whom he induced to come west in 1906, became the president of the Clatskanie State Bank. The same year Charles H. Stockwell sold out his interests in the bank at St. Helens and moved to Clatskanie, where he established the Clatskanie State Bank and became its cashier, his father holding the office of president until his demise in 1917. In that year Charles Stockwell became the president, in which office he has continued. It is not only as president of the bank that he has been of value to the town, but he is foremost in every enterprise that means the upbuilding of Clatskanie, as will be seen by the mere mention of the enterprises in which he has invested his time, talent and money. He is largely interested in the Clatskanie Mercantile Com- pany, the Summit Lumber Company, the Henry Kratz Shingle Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer, and he is a partner in the Clatskanie Land Company, which owns some five hundred acres of fine dairy farm land and in another company which owns nineteen hundred acres of tide lands. Fraternally Mr. Stockwell is a Mason.
Mr. Stockwell was married in 1904 to Alice Lillian Johnson of Coon Rapids, the daughter of V. M. Johnson, one of the leading builders and contractors of the middle west. They are the parents of two children: Bethima, and Genevieve Alice, who are students in the Clatskanie schools. Mr. and Mrs. Stockwell are members of the Presbyterian church, where Mrs. Stockwell is the organist. In war work, in every activity, both social and in the business world, the Stockwell family has always been in the foreground.
ELBERT BELVIN CASTEEL.
Elbert Belvin Casteel of the firm of Casteel & Stanley, general merchants of Pilot Rock, Umatilla county, was born in Laurel county, Kentucky, on the 28th of April, 1887, a son of Robert and Polly (Riggs) Casteel.
Elbert B. Casteel remained in his native state until 1899, when he removed with his parents to Mercer county, Missouri. There he received his education and resided on his father's ranch until in the spring of 1906 he moved to Pilot Rock and entered into the employment of his brother, H. G., who was successfully conducting a con- fectionery store there but he is now a resident of Umatilla county near Pilot Rock. For one year Elbert B. worked for his brother and in 1907 became a clerk in the Carnes Brothers Mercantile Company where he remained for four years, buying a fourth interest in this concern in 1909. In 1915 he sold his interest to W. N. Royer and with W. C. Stanley started the mercantile business which they are now so ably conducting. The business has grown to extensive proportions and Mr. Casteel is widely recognized as a man of keen business discrimination and unusual ability. He has made many close friends, both business and personal, who greatly value their acquaintance with him. His popularity throughout the community was manifest when he was elected to the office of mayor, which position he filled for two terms.
In 1913 Mr. Casteel was married to Miss Anna Boylen, daughter of Herbert and Maggie (Bird) Boylen, and a native of Umatilla county. Her father was for many years a prominent sheepman of Umatilla county and he is now living retired in Pilot Rock. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Casteel: Blaine and Maxine.
The political faith of Mr. Casteel is that of the republican party, in the interests of which he takes an active part. Fraternally he holds membership in the Masons, in which order he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, the Odd Fellows and the Elks. The religious faith of the family is that of the Presbyterian church. Among all his friends and acquaintances Mr. Casteel is known to be a man of business integrity and in all transactions and intercourse he is reliable and just.
DR. SAMUEL TOWERS LINKLATER.
Dr. Samuel Towers Linklater was born in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland in 1853. His parents were William and Margaret (Stockand) Linklater. For generations the family had been one of note on the Orkney Islands. Asa Linklater, the great-great-grandfather of Dr. Linklater, was a commanding figure in social, church and civic life as was his son Hugh and his grandson Peter.
!
207
HISTORY OF OREGON
Samuel Towers Linklater receiving his education in the schools of Stromness, became a clerk and then a school teacher, and it was not until his twenty-fifth year that he took up the study of medicine. He graduated from the University of Edin- burgh in 1882 with the degree of M. B. C. M. He practiced first in the city of Leith, but in 1883 he determined to make his residence in Australia. While traveling across the United States he visited Oregon and was so impressed with the scenic beauty and the climatic advantages of Washington county that he decided to give up his trip to Australia and settle in Hillsboro. Although he had graduated from the University of Edinburgh with highest honors, Dr. Linklater never considered his education finished and he was always an ardent student of his profession. During the years 1891-2 he visited Europe and took graduate courses under the most eminent scientists of Edin- burgh, Berlin, Vienna and other European centers of learning. He was soon recog- nized as one of the most competent physicians in Oregon, and was frequently urged to establish himself in Portland, where he would find a wider field. Dr. Linklater refused all such suggestions, however, on the ground that the people of Washington county were as much entitled to expert medical knowledge as those of a large city.
Dr. Linklater was a man of strong public spirit and deep benevolence. His repu- tation did not rest solely upon his medical proficiency, but also upon his general kindli- ness and his progressive enthusiasm. In 1886 he established the Delta Drug Com- pany in Hillsboro, which is still the leading pharmacy of the city and with the same civic pride he edited and published the Hillsboro Independent. Neither of these enterprises was entered upon for the lucrative gain accruing to them but rather to lend a helping hand to the growth of his adopted home.
At the height of his usefulness he was called one night to attend a patient in an adjoining town. Returning he attempted to hoard the midnight train to Hillsboro. The next morning his unconscious body was found beside the track and his death resulted within a few days. All Oregon mourned him as one of its most able and distinguished physicians and its best loved and most unselfish citizens.
Dr. Linklater was married in 1886 to Eliza M. Sinclair, who died in 1889. In 1898 he married Zula Harriett Warren, a native of Oregon and a daughter of a highly esteemed family of Washington county. They became the parents of six chil- dren: Francis W. Linklater, who served in the navy during eighteen months of the World war and was overseas after the armistice and made five trips on a transport. He took his freshman year at Reed College of Portland and his sophomore year at Pacific University; Margaret Ruth, a student of the University of Washington; Doro- thy, a student of Pacific University; Samuel Edward, who will enter college this autumn; Kenneth Ashwell, a student in the Hillsboro high school at the present time; and Ethel, a grade pupil. Mrs. Linklater is a musician of merit, and is the organist of the local Congregational church. She is active in church circles, but her chief claim to distinction is as a devoted mother. Since Dr. Linklater's decease she has lived for her children, who, a happy combination of their mother's aesthetic and musi- cal temperament and the sturdy Scotch integrity of their father, have amply repaid her devotion.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.