USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 45
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Major Hotchkiss is an energetic and progressive republican and an active worker in the ranks of the party. He has served as precinct committeeman, as a member of the republican central committee and in 1916 was a delegate to the national conven- tion of his party, while he is now serving as secretary of the republican state central committee. For more than ten years he has been active in the United Spanish War Veterans, of which he is now serving as department commander. He is a member of the Realty Board, the Chamber of Commerce and the Progressive Business Men's Club and fraternally is identified with the Woodmen of the World, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is also a prominent Mason, belonging to the Scottish Rite Consistory and Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine. For recreation he turns to horseback riding and rifle shooting and is regarded as an expert marksman, winning state honors in 1906-7-10-14. Although but forty-one years of age Major Hotchkiss has had a most eventful and interesting life, playing an important part in events which have shaped the world's history.
Vol. III-23
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Major Hotchkiss was married July 3, 1908, to Grace E. North of Kingston, New York, and their pleasant and hospitable home is at 834 East Harrison street in Portland. He is a self-educated and self-made man, before whom the door of opportunity has swung open because of his persistency and determination and in him is embodied the highest type of American manhood and citizenship.
MAURICE EDGAR CRUMPACKER.
Maurice Edgar Crumpacker, member of the Portland bar since 1912, was born in Valparaiso, Indiana, December 19, 1886, a son of Edgar Dean Crumpacker, whose birth occurred on a farm in Laporte county, Indiana, in 1851, his parents being Theophilus and Henrietta (Emmons) Crumpacker. The grandparents were natives of Virginia. The father has long been a prominent figure in political circles in Indiana and was for sixteen years representative in congress from the tenth Indiana district. He mar- ried Charlotte Lucas, a native of Illinois, and they are now residents of Valparaiso, Indiana.
In the schools of his native city Maurice E. Crumpacker began his education, which he continued in the public schools of the national capital while his father was serving in congress. The son afterward entered the Culver Military Academy of Indiana, and was there graduated in 1905. In preparation for a professional career he entered the University of Michigan, in which he completed his course in 1909. He afterward spent three years as a student in the Harvard Law School and following the conclusion of this course came to Portland, Oregon, in 1912, and has since been engaged in practice in this city. He has made steady progress in his chosen field. His preparation of cases has always been thorough and complete and the strength of his argument has been based upon comprehensive knowledge of the law, with ability accurately to apply his knowledge to the points in litigation.
On the 8th of October, 1913, in Portland, Mr. Crumpacker was married to Miss Cully Anna Cook, a daughter of the late James W. Cook, a pioneer of 1853, and of Ianthe Jackson (Miller) Cook, who was a daughter of General John S. Miller, one of the earliest settlers of this state. To Mr. and Mrs. Crumpacker have been born two sons : James Cook, who was born July 13, 1914; and Edgar Dean, born August 29, 1916.
Mr. Crumpacker is a member of the University Club, also of the Multnomah Ama- teur Athletic Club and the Chamber of Commerce. His political endorsement is given to the republican party. During the World war he was a member of the Air Service Aircraft Production from September, 1917, until December, 1918. He became the organizer of the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, which during the war had a membership of one hundred thousand. He has ever strongly grasped a vital situation, studying closely all those problems which are of importance to the public life of the community and the commonwealth, and his endorsement of a measure is sure to secure for it a large following.
CLARENCE HEDGES.
Clarence Hedges, for years one of the best known newspaper publishers and printers in this part of the state of Oregon, having been the owner of the Daily Chronicle at The Dalles, which he began conducting in 1916, is a native of the great Empire state, born in Long Island, New York, in 1857. He sold the Chronicle to W. P. Merry, the present owner, in June, 1920, and Mr. Merry incorporated it, with Ben R. Litfin as manager.
Mr. Hedges is a son of Captain Hiram B. and Mary A. (Nicholson) Hedges, both of whom were descended from old New England stock. Hiram B. Hedges was a ship's captain, who in 1857 brought his family to the Pacific coast, coming by way of the Isthmus, and after a short stay in California he moved to Oregon and took up farming near Oswego, on what is known as the Dickinson place. His wife, Mary A. (Nichol- son) Hedges, died in 1858 and two years later, in 1860, Captain Hedges was drowned, leaving his son, Clarence, an orphan.
Clarence Hedges, thus orphaned while a mere child, was cared for by an uncle, with
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whom he lived until he was seven years old, when he was taken by Sam Miller of Oregon City. He was educated in the public schools and when quite a youth he took up the trade of a compositor on the Forest Grove Independent, then under the control of A. L. Loose. Mr. Hedges next moved to Salem and for several years worked at his trade on all the Salem papers, laying the foundations for the work which was the goal of his ambition, for he wished to become an editor and publisher. From 1874 to 1876 he worked on the Portland papers and in the latter part of 1876 he moved to California, where he found employment in the state printing office.
It was in 1877 that Mr. Hedges made the first move toward becoming an editor on his own account, and in that year he held an interest in the Fresno Republican, which he conducted for some time. The Bakersfield Californian, The Watsonville Transcript and Monterey Argus came into his hands, and these also he edited and published for a considerable period. In 1906 Mr. Hedges established a job printing plant at Santa Cruz; in 1908 he purchased the Salinas Daily Journal, moving his job office to Salinas, and proceeded to put life into the Journal, with a view to making it a worth-while publication. How well he succeeded is evidenced by the fact that after running the Journal for seven years he disposed of the plant for fifteen times the amount he paid for it.
In 1916 Mr. Hedges came to The Dalles and bought the Daily Chronicle, and such is Mr. Hedges' practical knowledge of newspaper values that he took over the Chronicle after an examination of about two hours. During the four years he conducted the Chronicle he succeeded in increasing the circulation by about two hundred per cent, and having given wider publicity by that means to advertisers he also reaped the reward of his enterprise in the form of enhanced revenue from advertising. Today the Daily Chronicle is recognized as one of the leading papers of the state published outside of Portland, and in the matter of political influence it is not surpassed by any of the dailies of eastern Oregon. The Daily Chronicle is a member of the American Audit Bureau, and its circulation is guaranteed and placed on record by that organ- ization.
Although a stanch republican, Mr. Hedges has refused all public offices tendered to him, stating that he prefers to make office holders rather than have them make him; the only office he has ever held was that of assistant postmaster at Fresno, California, when President Garfield was in office. Mr. Hedges is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all the chairs in that order; he is also an Elk; he still feels pride in having been a member of the Typographical Union, the card of which he retains.
In 1882 Mr. Hedges was united in marriage to Miss Eva Forman of Modesto, California, and to this union four children have been horn: C. G. Hedges, a building contractor of The Dalles; Mrs. J. F. Kerns; F. A. Hedges, of San Francisco; and Hiram Hedges, a lintoype operator on the Fresno Republican of California.
DAVID CREIGHTON.
David Creighton is now living retired, having passed the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey, his home being in Portland. He was born January 8, 1835, in Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, a son of James and Maria (Hart) Creighton, the former a native of Ireland, while the latter was born in Delaware. The father, when fifteen years of age, crossed the Atlantic to the United States with his parents. He became a marine engineer and followed steamboating for many years. When David Creighton was four years of age he was taken by his parents to Ohio, then a frontier district, and there Mrs. Maria Creighton passed away in 1858. In 1855 the father and older brother of David Creighton made their way to the Pacific coast, going to California by the Isthmus route.
David Creighton acquired his education in the public schools of Ohio and was a lad of studious habits, so that he became qualified for teaching. He devoted a year to school teaching and remained at home until his mother's death. In the same year he came to Oregon by way of the Isthmus route, arriving in 1859. He went first to Clackamas county, where he took up a donation claim and for a year he taught in the Union school of that county. In 1862 he made his way to the Salmon river gold mines and in 1863 returned to The Dalles, where he engaged in chopping wood for a time. He afterward purchased a claim but later took it as a homestead, finding that it could
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not be secured as a preemption claim. He paid one thousand dollars for the preemption rights, after which he cut down the timber and cleared the land until he developed a well improved farm of one hundred and forty acres. As the years passed he continued the cultivation of his fields, making the place an excellent property, which he culti- vated to such an extent that it brought to him splendid crops.
On the 27th of May, 1876, Mr. Creighton was married to Miss Ida Kraus, a native of Portland, while her parents were natives of Germany, having come to America about 1849, while in 1851 they arrived in Oregon. To Mr. and Mrs. Creighton have been born six children: Elva M., who is now the wife of Richard Rankin, a farmer living near The Dalles, on the old homestead claim; James G., a druggist of Oakland, California; Emma L., the wife of Leonard Sundhon, a jeweler of Portland; Lola I., a teacher for the past six years, living at home; Leland, who is a graduate of the Oregon Agricultural College and is now employed in a large steel plant at Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and Vera, a stenographer, at home.
Mr. Creighton is a republican and voted for John C. Fremont, the first presidential candidate of the party, and for each of its nominees since that time. Casting his first vote in 1856 he saw a man who, then one hundred and eight years of age, had voted for Washington and who in that year supported Buchanan for the presidency. Mr. Creighton has now reached the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey and is one of the most highly esteemed as well as the most venerable citizens of Portland. His memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. He has seen the entire development and upbuilding of the state and has borne his part in the work of progress, particularly along the line of agricultural improvement.
JOHN MARVIN THRONE.
No young man in southern Oregon has shown more business ability than has John Marvin Throne, cashier of the Umpqua Valley Bank of Roseburg. He was born in McElhattan, Pennsylvania, in 1883, a descendant of Holland ancestors, his great- grandfather having been the progenitor of the family in this country. His grand- father was a miller and his father, James R. Throne, was a farmer of prominence. The mother of John Marvin Throne was Arabella Diese, a daughter of a minister of the Methodist denomination.
In the acquirement of an education John Marvin Throne attended the common schools of his native state and in early life accepted a position with the well known glass manufacturing firm, the Macbeth-Evans Company, with which concern he re- mained for two years. At the termination of that time he removed to Oregon, his parents having removed to this state in 1900, and settled near Roseburg. He secured a position as hookkeeper at the Douglas National Bank and was soon afterward pro- moted to the position of assistant cashier. In 1908 he severed his connection with that bank to become secretary and manager of the Douglas County Abstract Company and remained with this company until 1910, when he sold out his interest and became chief clerk of the Oregon Insurance Commission, an office created that year. He was active in that connection but a short time, however, when he returned to Roseburg and organized the Umpqua Valley Bank. In May, 1911, he was made cashier of that institution, and has since held that office to the complete satisfaction of the many patrons and the other officers of the bank. He has concentrated all of his energy and attention on his banking interests and under his guidance the bank has grown rapidly. A report of the bank in November, 1920, showed a capital of fifty thousand dollars and a surplus of twenty-five thousand. Its resources are close to the million mark and its commercial deposits amount to more than six hundred thousand dollars, while its savings deposits are more than two hundred thousand dollars. The success of that insti- tution is largely due to the business ability and energy of Mr. Throne and is a ten year record of which any young man might well be proud, especially when run in competi- tion with two well managed and reliable banks which had been doing business for a number of years in Roseburg. Mr. Throne at one time seriously contemplated entering the legal profession and went so far as to take a law course in the Willamette Uni- versity at Salem.
In 1905 occurred the marriage of Mr. Throne and Miss Susan A. Ollivant, a daugh- ter of William H. ond Lucy O. Ollivant, her family being well known throughout
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Douglas county. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Throne, Jack Frederick, and he is a student in the Roseburg public schools.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Throne the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party, in the interests of which he has always taken an active part, although he has never desired nor sought office as a reward for party fealty. He is fraternally identified with the Elks, belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose and likewise holds membership in the Woodmen of the World, in which order he has held all the chairs. As a prominent member of the community and one greatly interested in the development and improvement of the general welfare, he is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce.
CHARLES B. SEAMAN.
Charles B. Seaman, who for many years was engaged in the grocery business in Portland, was born in Ohio and passed away November 12, 1900. He was a son of Milton and Rebecca (Baldwin) Seaman and continued a resident of the east until 1862, when he determined to try his fortune on the Pacific coast and by way of the Isthmus of Panama made his way to Oregon. Portland was then a comparatively small town which had been in existence only about twelve years. He took up his abode within its borders and turned his attention to general merchandising for a time and then con- centrated his efforts upon the grocery business, in which he engaged for many years. With the settlement and development of the city his patronage grew, his enterprise and reliability securing for him a large trade. As the years went by his business reached profitable proportions, enabling him to leave his family in comfortable financial circumstances.
It was in 1862, the year of his removal to the west, that Mr. Seaman was united in marriage to Miss Samantha J. Waldron, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Sleppy) Waldron, who were natives of Pennsylvania. Her grandfather was John Waldron and the ancestral line could be traced back to 1652, when the first Waldron came to the United States from Holland. It was in 1852 that Samuel Waldron and his family crossed the plains with ox teams, and Mrs. Waldron died while on the trip, leaving four children, Mrs. Seaman being at the time but eight years of age. Mr. Waldron settled near Oregon City, where he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres and spent his remaining days on that place.
To Mr. and Mrs. Seaman were born six children: Mabel F., the widow of George York; Capitola G., the widow of Charles Forney; Lavella, the widow of John W. Marshall of Portland; Milton W., of Portland; Norma G .; and Arlie. Mrs. Marshall's eldest son, Louis, was with a replacement regiment of engineers from Washington in the World war. After serving in that connection for a time he was taken out of that command and sent to an officers' training camp, being on duty at Camp Humphreys. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon. Mrs. Marshall's youngest son, Earl A., also attempted to enter the service hut was rejected, much to his disappointment. For fifty-eight years the Seaman family has been well known in Portland, ever occupying a position of social prominence, while Charles B. Seaman also made valuable con- tribution to the business activity of the city for many years.
LEE WARNICK.
Lee Warnick, who has been serving as sheriff of Union county since 1917, is a native of Oregon, born in old La Grande, September 27, 1876, a son of Arthur and Hattie (McDowell) Warnick, the former a native of Fort Jackson, New York, while the latter was born in Ohio. When a young man Arthur Warnick went to Texas, where he had charge of two hundred miles of stage line. During the period he spent in this line of work he participated in several Indian skirmishes with the Apaches and other tribes, and had many exciting experiences. Tiring of this work, he returned to his native state, where his father was conducting a mercantile establishment at Amsterdam, and entering this line of business he remained until he became a partner with his brother George in the same enterprise. In 1862, however, he determined to come west and after the journey by way of Cape Horn, he arrived in San Francisco.
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He did not long remain there but removed to Portland, thence to The Dalles, and located in the Grand Ronde valley. Arthur Warnick was an expert accountant and here he followed this line of work, also operating some farm land. His popularity as a citizen was manifest in his election to the office of sheriff in 1872 and he later served as county clerk. He was employed in the land office for some time and in every line of work which he undertook he achieved a substantial amount of success. He was a great lover of fine horses and a competent judge of thoroughbreds. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party and he was a member of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Warnick was instrumental in securing the charter for the organization of the Masonic lodge in this section of the country. His death occurred in the fall of 1915, at the age of seventy-eight years, and left a void in the community which it will be hard to fill. The demise of Mrs. Warnick occurred in 1908. She came across the plains with her parents in 1862, making the journey overland by ox-team and they located in the Grand Ronde valley, where her father followed his trade as a millwright.
The boyhood of Lee Warnick was spent in La Grande, where he received his com- mon school education and took a business course. After putting his textbooks aside he rode the range for some time and engaged in mining in Florence, Idaho. Finding these occupations not to his liking he went to Utah, settling in Sunnyside, where he became a clerk in a dry goods store and remained in this work for a number of years. He then removed to La Grande, Oregon, and in 1913 was elected to the office of city recorder, in which office he served for four years. At the termination of that . time, 1917, he was elected sheriff of Union county, a position which he is still holding.
In 1907 Mr. Warnick was united in marriage to Miss Ola J. Tuttle, a daughter of John and Anna Tuttle, and a native of Willamette valley, Oregon. To them three children have been born: Marjorie A., Dorothy Ann, and Virginia Lee.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Warnick the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the democratic party and the principles for which it stands. Fraternally he is known as an Elk and a Knight of Pythias. In the office in which Mr. Warnick is now serving he has become widely known and respected. He has since the be- ginning of his career shown those traits of energy, industry and perseverance which mark him as a strong factor in the development of the welfare of the community in which he resides.
FREDERICK KNECHT.
Frederick Knecht, proprietor of the Oregon Creamery of Portland and the owner of one of the valuable ranch properties on the Mckenzie river in Lane county, was born in Bern, Switzerland, January 7, 1871. His father, Henry Knecht, was a cele- brated manufacturer of Swiss cheese, following that business in his native country until 1889, when he came to the United States, settling in Canton, Ohio. There he resumed the business which was interrupted by his removal to the new world and in which he continued until his death in 1892. In early manhood he wedded Mary Gfeller, a daughter of a prominent Swiss family. She came to the United States with her husband and passed away in 1889.
Frederick Knecht crossed the Atlantic two years before the emigration of his parents, or in 1887. He, too, had acquainted himself with the business of cheese manufacturing in his native country and he followed the same business in Canton, Ohio, and in New Philadelphia for two years. On the expiration of that period he crossed the continent to the Pacific northwest, becoming a resident of Portland in 1890. Here he engaged in the dairy business in connection with J. L. Hoffman for two years, after which he went to Washington county and entered the employ of Colonel Cornelius, founder of the town of Cornelius. In 1896 he established a creamery at Centerville, which he operated for four years, and later he returned to Portland, where he was in the employ of F. C. Barnes, a dairyman, for two years. He next pur- chased the interests of Mr. Barnes in the creamery and conducted the business under the old name of the Oregon Creamery. He now employs nine people and utilizes two trucks in the collection and delivery of creamery products. He carries on both a wholesale and retail business in milk, cream, butter, eggs and cheese and the volume of his annual trade totals two hundred thousand dollars. His business has been developed along most substantial and gratifying lines and today, in addition' to his
FREDERICK KNECHT AND FAMILY
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creamery business in Portland, he owns a beautiful ranch of seven hundred and twenty acres on the Mckenzie river in Lane county, where he raises fancy Shrop- shire sheep, of which he has five hundred head. He also has seven head of thorough- bred shorthorns and other high-grade cattle and is most keenly interested in the raising of thoroughbreds.
On the 7th of March, 1895, Mr. Knecht was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Richen, a native of Switzerland and a daughter of Peter and Susan Richen, who came to America in 1890. Her mother has now passed away, but her father is still living at the advanced age of eighty-four years. To Mr. and Mrs. Knecht have been born six children: Claire M., who is acting as bookkeeper with the father; Frederick, twenty-two years of age, who is employed by the City Dairy; Catherine, who is in the employ of Dr. Rand; Hilda, attending school; and Elmer and Dorothy, who com- plete the family.
Mr. Knecht is keenly interested in politics and gives his support to the republi- can party. His aid is freely given to all plans and measures for the public good and his labors have been far-reaching and resultant in connection with the develop- ment of the dairy trade throughout the northwest, thus contributing to the com- mercial upbuilding of Portland.
GLENN FORD BELL.
Glenn Ford Bell was born in New York state in 1884, the son of John M. and Sarah A. (Hibbard) Bell. His father came from Scotland in 1849, settling in New York where until his death he was a practicing physician. The Hibbard family were also of Scotch ancestry and came to America in 1862.
Mr. Bell was educated in the common schools of New York, at Penn Yan and at Keuka College, Keuka Park, New York. He first engaged in the drug business but the close confinement so affected his health that he determined to take up his father's profession. With this in view he took a course at the Medical School at Buffalo, New York. His continued illness forced him to abandon his medical studies, however, and he started on a tour that brought him to the Pacific coast in 1912. Believing that his health would be benefited he decided to make his home on the coast and there took up the study of embalming. After completing his course he began his practice in Santa Rosa, California, and later in Seattle, Washington. McMinnville, Oregon, became his home for eight years until he purchased the business of W. O. Donelson of Hills- boro, which he is now conducting under the firm name of Donelson and Bell. He has installed an ambulance service in connection with his business, known as the Bell Ambulance Service of Washington county. He is the pioneer in this line, it being the first ambulance service of the county. Mr. Bell is thoroughly equipped for the pro- fession of funeral director and embalmer. His education and his careful breeding have made his services peculiarly acceptable at times when delicacy, tact, and discrimi- nation are invaluable. As an embalmer he probably has few or no superiors in the United States. His knowledge of chemistry obtained in his practice as a pharmacist, together with that derived from his training in the Buffalo Medical College and the experience of his nine years study of embalming have invested him with a practical knowledge of his profession which few of his compatriots possess.
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