History of Oregon, Vol. III, Part 34

Author: Carey, Charles Henry
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 766

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H. Oliver T. Dickenson, whose name initiates this review, was one of the children born to this union and he received his education in the county where he is now re- siding. In early life he started upon his farming career, renting some land, which he operated with a substantial measure of success. Subsequently, in partnership with his brother, Sim, Mr. Dickenson purchased the Hugh McArthur farm of eleven hun- dred and twenty acres and from 1899 until 1915 they operated this farm. In the lat- ter year Mr. Dickenson sold his interest and bought his present farm of one hundred and twenty-eight acres near Athena. The farm is well improved and he has built new and substantial outbuildings, which are an added improvement to the appearance of the place. Dairy farming and stock raising are his specialties and there is no phase of these lines of work with which he is not thoroughly familiar. In addition to this fine land near Athena, he owns well improved land in Comer and Peoria.

In 1907 Mr Dickenson was united in marriage to Miss Altha Achiller, a daughter of Eugene and Mary (Harvey) Achiller, and a native of Blaine, Washington. Her father was born in Montreal, Canada, and her mother in Ontario. After their mar- riage they settled in North Dakota, and later in Washington, where Mrs. Dickenson was born. Mr. and Mrs. Dickenson have become the parents of four children: M. M., Beatrice, John, and Oliver.

Politically Mr. Dickenson is a stanch supporter of the democratic party, in the activities of which he takes a prominent part. His religious faith is that of the Free Methodist church. He maintains a great interest in civic and public affairs and has ever kept in touch with progress along agricultural lines.

JOHN WESLEY CONNELL,

For his years John Wesley Connell has done as much for the building up of the state of Oregon as any man within its borders. His sense of business acumen amount- ing almost to genius, his integrity, his perfect reliability, have justly earned for him the high regard in which he is held throughout the countryside.

Mr. Connell was born in Hillsboro in 1875. His parents, Joseph and Grace (Reed) Connell, coming from Ireland, first settled in the Province of Ontario, Canada, and engaged in farming. In 1874 they came to Oregon and purchased a farm of four hundred and eighty acres in Washington county, which the sons continued to operate after the accidental death of Joseph Connell in 1881.

John Wesley Connell received preparatory education in the public schools of Hillsboro and in the Tualatin Academy and completed his course at Pacific University. After his graduation he undertook the management of the home farm which had been

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incorporated under the firm name of Connell Brothers. Later he also managed his own farm of two hundred and ninety acres adjoining the original homestead. In 1911 he organized the Hillsboro Mercantile Company which he operated for five years and then sold out in order to establish the Hillsboro Trading Company, a produce business which has since developed into the largest concern handling wheat, hay, potatoes, onions, etc., in northern Oregon. The plant comprises a warehouse forty by one hundred and eighty feet, with a storage capacity of seven hundred tons; two warehouses of four hundred tons each and a granary one hundred hy one hundred feet, all of which are equipped with side tracks, both steam and electric and are modern in every other respect. Mr. Connell has served his community in many ways, but in none so effectually as through the establishment of the Trading Com- pany, which provides the farmers with a reliable output for their products. Public offices have a way of seeking out popular men and Mr. Connell has been twice sheriff of Washington county, a member of the city council and mayor of Hillsboro.

In 1901 Mr. Connell married Emily E. Essner, daughter of Joseph Essner, one of the well-known farmers of Washington county. Their children, Helen Catherine and John Wesley, Jr., are both in the grade schools of Hillsboro. Mrs. Connell is quite as progressive and active as her popular husband and is prominent in public affairs as president of the Coffee Club, one of the most active women's clubs of the county.

THEODORE J. MENDENHALL.

Theodore J. Mendenhall of Portland is now manager in Oregon for the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia. He has been a representative of this corporation for seventeen years and within this period has made successful progress, gaining a creditable place in insurance circles in the northwest. He was born at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, November 29, 1861, and is a son of John Menden- hall, whose birth occurred at Rising Sun, Indiana, in 1833. He entered the West Point Military Academy, from which he was graduated in 1858 and afterward served in the Civil war, coming out with the rank of brigadier general. Following the close of hositlities between the north and the south he returned to the regular army with the rank of captain and participated in the Modoc Indian wars in 1876, when the notorious Captain Jack was captured. He was married at West Point on the Hudson to Miss Sophie Mix, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and he devoted his entire life to military service, holding the rank of colonel of the First Artillery, U. S. A., at the time of his death, which occurred at Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island, in 1894. His widow survived him for about two years, passing away February 2, 1896.

Theodore J. Mendenhall acquired his education in the schools of the various places in which his father was temporarily stationed in connection with his army duties. Much of his youth was passed in San Francisco, where he became a high school grad- uate. In 1877 he was appointed a naval cadet at Annapolis by President Grant, but not being sure of his desire to join the navy he took a trip before the mast to Calcutta, and by that time had become satisfied that he did not care to become a sailor. Accord- ingly he returned to the United States and went to New York, where he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a locomotive fireman. Later he was given an engine and remained with the railroad until 1900. On leaving the Pennsyl- vania he entered the employ of the Kansas City Southern Railroad as traveling engi- neer and thus continued for a year. On the expiration of that period he went to Wichita, Kansas, as traveling engineer for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, thus spend- ing a year, and in 1903 resigned his position to become special agent for the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two years later he was transferred to San Francisco, and in May, 1906, following the earth- quake and fire there, left that city and came to Portland as manager of the Fidelity company in Oregon. Here he has since remained and has built up an excellent organi- zation for the corporation which he represents, having thoroughly systematized the work and established agencies at various points, which have led to the substantial growth and development of the business.

On the 27th of June, 1894, in Manasquan, New Jersey, Mr. Mendenhall was married to Miss Lena Curtis, and they are well known socially in Portland, where they have an extensive circle of warm friends. They hold membership in the Presbyterian church. Mr. Mendenhall's political endorsement is given to the republican party,

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but he has never been ambitious to seek or hold office. He is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to the consistory and to the Mystic Shrine. Something of the nature of his recreation is indicated in his connection with the Oregon Yacht Club and the Portland Rowing Club, of which he is a life member. During the years of his resi- dence in this city he has gained a wide acquaintance, the sterling worth of his char- acter being recognized by all and his business capactiy is indicated in the responsible position which he now fills.

JAMES ALVIN WALKER.

James Alvin Walker is a native of East Tennessee, where he was born in 1874, a son of J. S. H. and Sarah M. (Bellamy) Walker. The Walkers belonged to an old Tennessee family whose American founder, Charles Walker, was a soldier in the Revo- lutionary war. The members of the family were for generations farmers, merchants and prominent citizens of the communities in which they made their homes.

James Alvin Walker received his education in Franklin county, Illinois, to which state the family had migrated when he was a youth. He remained on his father's farm until he was twenty-three years of age, when he went to Oklahoma and obtain- ed a half section of land, which he still owns, and started farming on his own account. Jn 1905 he came to Oregon and located in Marion county, where he farmed until 1907. In 1910 he went to Roseburg and entered the real estate business, first as a member of the firm of Perrin & Walker, which later became Walker & Kilbourn, and is now conducted alone by Mr. Walker as the J. A. Walker & Company. He deals in small ranches and city property, and represents several fire insurance companies, the leaders of which are the American Alliance and the Oregon Underwriters. By his business ability and strict integrity he has in the past decade built up a large clientele and an excellent reputation.

In 1896 occurred the marriage of Mr. Walker and Miss Lulu Belle Downing, a daughter of the Rev. P. H. Downing, a well known minister of the Baptist church in Illinois. Nine children have been born to their union: Gladys E .; Leroy H., now president of the student body of the Roseburg high school, who intends to become a minister of the gospel, and is conceded to be the best speaker for his years in the high school; Neva M., also a high school pupil; Raymond T .; Wilbur A .; Ruby A .; Carl E .; Daniel H. D .; and James A.

Mr. Walker is an active and prominent member of the Chamber of Commerce and has no fraternal affiliations. His time is wholly occupied with his family, his business and his church duties. For the past three years he has very satisfactorily filled the office of superintendent of the Sunday school of the Methodist church. He takes great interest in all measures beneficial to his community and has established an envi- able reputation as one of the most reliable business men of southern Oregon.

BARTLETT COLE.

Portland's bar has a personnel of which the city has every reason to be proud and among the active and successful representatives of the legal profession here is numbered Bartlett Cole, who for fifteen years has practiced in Portland, being for a long time a partner in the firm of Cole Brothers, but since 1915, alone. He was born in Osseo, Wisconsin, November 10, 1883. His father, George E. Cole, a native of Ver- mont, was born in 1847, and in his boyhood removed with his parents to Wisconsin. In that state he was married to Miss Nellie Bryan, whose birth occurred in the north of Ireland. His father was George Cole, a native of England, so that in the veins of Bartlett Cole are mingled the strains of English and Irish blood. George E. Cole, father of Bartlett Cole, died in 1902, after devoting his life to the occupation of farm- ing, in Wisconsin. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in 1895.

Bartlett Cole spent his youthful days in his native city to the age of seventeen years and during that period attended the public schools. He afterward went to Madison, South Dakota, where he taught school for two years. He then entered upon the study of law in the University of South Dakota at Vermilion and thus thoroughly qualified for the bar. In 1905 he came to Portland and in October of the same year

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was admitted to practice in the courts of this state. He then entered into partner- ship with nis brother, James Cole, and the association between them was maintained until 1915, since which time Bartlett Cole has practiced alone. His ability is widely recognized and contemporaries and colleagues in the profession speak of him in terms of high regard because of his fidelity to the ethical standards of the profession and by reason of the uniform courtesy which he always displays toward witnesses and the deference which he pays to the court.

On the 14th of October, 1914, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mr. Cole was mar- ried to Miss Elinor Field, a daughter of the late Horace Field, a native of Wisconsin. They became parents of a son, Bartlett Cole, Jr., who was born March 31, 1916. The wife and mother passed away on the 26th of July, 1918.

During the World war Mr. Cole served on the legal advisory board at Portland and also assisted in the bond drives. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and manifests a deep interest in local progress, cooperating heartily in well devised plans and purposes for the public good. He belongs to the Multnomah Club and in politics is a republican. He has become interested in various corporations which prove his business ability, while his law practice has long been of an extensive and important character.

HON. CLIFTON NESMITH MCARTHUR.

Hon. Clifton Nesmith McArthur, elected to congress for four successive terms from the third Oregon district and ably representing his state and country at the national capital, was born at The Dalles, Oregon, June 10, 1879. He is the oldest son of the late Judge Lewis Linn and Harriet (Nesmith) McArthur. His father was a Virginian and one of the pioneer justices of the supreme court in Oregon and a lawyer of great learning and ability. His mother, who resides in Portland, is a daughter of the late Senator James W. Nesmith, one of Oregon's representatives in the upper branch of congress during the Civil war.

Clifton N. McArthur, after pursuing his preliminary education in the public schools, attended the Bishop Scott Academy at Portland, and afterward the University of Oregon at Eugene, where he was graduated with honors and with the A. B. degree in 1901. Later in that year he became a reporter on the Morning Oregonian and was also employed in the Portland office of the Associated Press, resigning his position there in 1903 to devote his attention to his live stock and farming interests at Rick- reall, Oregon, where he remained until 1906. During his spare time on the farm he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1906, and in the fall of that year entered the practice in Portland.

By reason of his recognized ability and his patriotic devotion to the public welfare, Mr. McArthur was called to represent Multnomah county in the lower house of the Oregon legislature at the sessions of 1909 and 1913, and, on each occasion, was elected speaker of the house, the latter time by acclamation. The fairness and impartiality with which he presided is attested by the fact that not once during either session was an appeal made from his decision. From 1909 until 1911 he served as secretary to the governor of Oregon, during the administration of the late Frank W. Benson.

In 1914 Mr. McArthur was nominated for representative in congress by the repub- licans of the third congressional district (Multnomah county) and was elected in November of that year after a spirited and bitter contest. He was reelected in 1916, 1918 and 1920-each time by an increased majority. His first work in congress was on the committee on insular affairs. When the United States entered the World war, he became a member of the committee on naval affairs-one of the great war time committees. He has uniformly stood for a strong and effective navy and has worked incessantly for better naval facilities on the Pacific coast. His record on prepared- ness and war legislation is 100 per cent good on the chart of the National Security League. In 1920 he was appointed hy Speaker Gillett as a member of the Pilgrim Tercentenary Commission, which was presided over by the then Senator Warren G. Harding. In 1921 the speaker further honored him by appointment on the board of visitors of the United States Naval Academy. He has frequently been called to preside over the house of representatives and has demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the rules and of parliamentary procedure.

Mr. McArthur has devoted much of his time to the management of his large farm

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at Rickreall, Oregon, where he has been a leader in the progressive agriculture of the state and has developed one of the finest herds of Jersey cattle in the west. He is at present a member of the board of directors of the American Jersey Cattle Club, and his cattle have won frequent honors at the pail and in the show ring.

On the 25th of June, 1913, Mr. McArthur was married to Miss Lucile Smith, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Smith, of Portland, and in social circles of the city their position is a most enviable one. They belong to the Trinity Episcopal church at Portland, and fraternally Mr. McArthur is connected with Portland Lodge, No. 55, A. F. & A. M .; Oregon Consistory No. 1, Scottish Rite; Al Kader Temple Mystic Shrine; Portland Lodge, No. 142, B. P. O. E .; and other fraternal organizations. He has membership in the Portland Chamber of Commerce and is a prominent figure in club circles, belonging to the University and Multnomah Clubs of Portland, also to the Portland Chapter of the Sons of American Revolution and to the Army and Navy Club of Washington, D. C. His life has been characterized by strong and definite pur- pose and high ideals, and he has been of great service to his state and country by supporting all that makes for sane progress and by opposing all forms of demogogy and hypocrisy.

WILLIAM F. MATLOCK.

The death of William F. Matlock, which occurred on the 31st of August, 1914, was an occasion of deep grief to his many friends in Pendleton and throughout Umatilla county. For many years he had been a representative citizen of that place and he was one of the most successful and progressive business men in the community.

William F. Matlock was born in Dane county, Missouri, April 20, 1847, a son of Lane and Mary Susan (Frie) Matlock. In 1853 he came across the plains with his parents, making the journey with ox teams, and settled in the Willamette valley, where his father took up a homestead. This homestead, located a few miles from Eugene, was successfully operated by his father for a number of years and on this place thoroughbred race horses were raised. He went to Boise, and engaged in mining, at which place his death occurred. The mother of William F. Matlock passed away at Heppner, Oregon, at her son's home.

The boyhood of William F. Matlock was spent in Eugene, Oregon, where he was married and later moved to Umatilla county, settling near Athena. He had a large sheep ranch, always keeping about fifteen thousand sheep, which he later drove to Montana, and sold at Butte. For nine years he was actively engaged in the sheep business. When his children became of school age he rented out his sheep ranch and moved into Pendleton, so as to give his children the benefit of the town schools, and he purchased the property on which his widow now resides. He immediately became interested in the development and improvement of Pendleton and was soon a leading figure in business circles. He was one of the organizers of the old American National Bank and was also a stockholder and vice president of the First National Bank. Dur- ing the mining boom in Alaska Mr. Matlock became interested and established supply stores in Skagway, Dawson, and Juneau. He was one of the largest shippers from Seattle, Washington, to these ports. He built breweries at Juneau and Skagway, and owned considerable mining property at Nome, which property is still in possession of the estate. The first hotel in Pendleton was built as the result of the cooperation of Mr. Matlock and other leading citizens, and he later bought out the stockholders and became sole proprietor of the hotel. He acquired much valuable business property, being in possession of the opera house block, La Dow block, hotel block and the block adjoining the Bowman hotel. He was the principal owner of Association block and owned his large residence and garage. A man so successful in the business world as Mr. Matlock would naturally become widely known and he was chosen mayor of Pendle- ton five different times. He was elected the first time in 1888, reelected in 1903, again in 1905, 1911, and 1913. For two terms he represented Umatilla county in the lower house of the state legislature, and for twenty years he served on the state board of agriculture and was president of the board throughout that period. At one time he was compelled to resign from service on the board because of ill health, but he was reappointed by Governor Pennoyer. Like his father he was fond of thoroughbred race horses and was for many years a familiar figure on the Pacific coast turf. It was in 1909, while acting as president of the State Fair Board, that he was taken ill with

WILLIAM F. MATLOCK

WESLEY N. MATLOCK

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typhoid fever, the disease leaving him in a crippled condition. His death, which oc- curred on the 31st of August, 1914, came as a severe shock to his many friends.

In 1867, in Eugene, occurred the marriage of Mr. Matlock and Miss Ann Swaggert, daughter of Nels and Adaline (Harper) Swaggert. She was born in Carroll county, Illinois, and crossed the plains with her parents in 1853, making the journey with Ox teams. Her mother drove the family carriage in which she and her three children slept. Mrs. Matlock's parents settled seven miles out of Eugene, her father acquiring a home- stead of three hundred and twenty acres. For some years they resided there but later removed to Umatilla county, where Nels Swaggert purchased a fine farm of two hundred and sixty acres. Her parents both died in Pendleton. Mr. and Mrs. Matlock were the parents of two children: Nellie, now the wife of Mr. F. A. Latz of Pendleton; and Wesley N., whose death occurred June 7, 1920, at the age of forty-eight years. Wesley N. Matlock was prominent in the business and financial circles of Pendleton, being a director of the First National Bank, president of the Pendleton Hotel Company, presi- dent of the Building and Loan Association and president of the Pendleton Rubber and Supply Company. He was a member of the firm of Matlock and Latz, and in club circles was affiliated with the Rod and Gun Club. The education of Wesley Matlock was obtained in the Santa Rosa College in California, and he also took a course in Hills Business College at San Francisco. He was married and became the father of two children: Hazel, now Mrs. Wade Privett of Pendleton; and Lula, now Mrs. Em- mett Easton, residing in Walla Walla, Washington.

Mr. Matlock always gave his political allegiance to the democratic party. He was appointed by Governor Moody general of the Third Oregon Regiment of Infantry and reappointed by Governor Pennoyer. His widow is making her home in Pendleton and she is a highly respected citizen of the community.

JACOB ALLEN GULLIFORD.

During his long residence of over forty-two years in Wasco county, Jacob A. Gulliford has become widely known as farmer and stock raiser, owning at one time eight hundred and forty acres. He was born in Sangamon county, near the city of Springfield, Illinois, in September, 1834, and is a son of William and Eliza (Shoup) Gulliford, who crossed the plains in 1852 and settled in Lane county, Oregon, there securing a tract of land, which the father continued to operate for the remainder of his life.

Jacob Allen Gulliford was educated in the common schools of his native county. In 1859 he became connected with stock raising in Klickitat county, Washington, where he remained for five years. In 1867 he located near Prineville, Oregon, and there engaged in farming and stock raising until 1878, when he settled on the place where Dufur, Wasco county, now stands, the town at that time not having been established. Here he resumed his farming operations, and in time he added to his holdings, finally accumulating eight hundred and forty acres. He built a home for his family in Dufur.

Mr. Gulliford has devoted all of his active life to farming and stock raising, except a period of a few years given over to the operation of a flour mill which he purchased at Boyd. Later he disposed of much of his land and retired to enjoy a well earned rest, to which his long years of activity justly entitled him. Five hun- dred acres of the great apple orchard operated by the Dufur Fruit Company, are a part of his holdings. Mr. Gulliford was an Indian fighter and served gallantly in the Rogue River war under Captain Blakeley, who visited him at Dufur when the Captain had passed the century mark. One of Mr. Gulliford's proudest memories is that he voted for Abraham Lincoln for president.

In 1872 Mr. Gulliford was married to Miss Martha Evanderpool, who was brought to Oregon from Missouri in 1852, being then a mere infant, her parents making the journey across the plains by ox teams. Mr. and Mrs. Gulliford became the parents of two children, namely: William C. Gulliford became a progressive business man of Portland, and died in January, 1919, at that time being president of the Western Supply Company of that city. His wife had died two days before his death, leaving one child, Veona Constance, who has been legally adopted by her grandparents. Their only daughter died at the age of eight years.

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History of Oregon, Vol. III, Part 34

Author: Carey, Charles Henry Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company Number of Pages: 766

Author: Carey, Charles Henry
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 766