USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 63
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John M. Culbertson has sold more valuable land and has been the means of bring- ing more settlers to Hood River than any other man in the county, and in the matter of making loans, the funds at his disposal have more than once saved many a farmer and orchardist who might have gone under had it not been for the financial assistance rendered by Mr. Culbertson. His own land holdings in the Hood River valley comprise
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some six hundred and ten acres of fine land, laid out to orchard, hay and strawberries, the produce procuring a ready market at all times.
In civic matters Mr. Culbertson is as prominent and practical as in business life. He is a director of the Hood River Commercial Club, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest. He was an excellent worker in all the bond and Red Cross drives during the World war, and in other directions gave of his time and ability to further the public welfare. He is an earnest member of the Congregational church and fra- ternally is identified with the Elks, the Masonic order and the Sons of the American Revolution, being entitled to the last named honor through one of his ancestors being an officer in the war of the Revolution.
In 1910 Mr. Culbertson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Rothrock, a native daughter of Oregon and a graduate of the University of Oregon. They are the parents of one child, Mary Alene, not yet of school age. Mr. and Mrs. Culbertson are promi- nent in the social life of Hood River and give their practical support to all movements having the welfare of the community at heart.
VICTOR B. HARRIS.
A prominent farmer of Athena, Umatilla county, is Victor B. Harris who has arrived at his present position of prominence in the community solely through his own efforts. He was born near Nashville, Tennessee, in 1871, a son of Bradley Harris.
Victor B. Harris left Tennessee when just a small boy with his father, his mother having died, and they settled in Alabama. Victor B. Harris remained there for some time and then went to Texas, making his home with his brothers, Walter and Lee. There he operated a small tract of land and when eighteen years of age removed to Portland, Oregon, making the journey by way of boat from Los Angeles. He worked in a cannery for some time and then drove an ox-team, hauling coal. In the spring of 1889 he came to Centerville, now Athena, and obtained work on the ranches of Jerry and Zerk Stone. He also worked for a harvesting outfit and later came to Athena, where he purchased some building lots and worked in a brick yard both at Athena and Adams. When he first came to Athena his worldly possessions consisted of fifty cents and a shabby suit of clothes. Sometime later Mr. Harris bought a team and drove to the Big Ben country in Washington where he preempted some timber land and proved up on same. He subsequently returned to Athena and two years later he sold his Washington property and bought a quarter section of land eight miles northwest of Athena. Two years later he bought another quarter section and in 1913 bought his present place of ten acres in Athena, upon which he has erected fine build- ings. Mr. Harris started out in life as a poor boy but had the courage and grim determination that would not allow any obstacle long to remain in his path, and his success is due entirely to his own unaided efforts. He owes no man a penny and is indeed entitled to the title of a self-made man. His success and ability as an agri- culturist are readily acknowledged. He is now in possession of three hundred and twenty acres of land worth easily two hundred and fifty dollars per acre and has a fine residence in Athena.
ISAM WHITE.
In a history of Portland's commercial development the name of Isam White stands prominently forth. He became identified with the city when it was a primitive western town, arriving here in 1858. In the years that followed he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, first as a retail and afterward as a wholesale dealer, his business keeping pace with the growth of the city. Nor did he ever allow his commercial interests fully to monopolize his time and attention, for throughout the period of his residence here he was deeply interested in everything that pertained to Portland's development and actively cooperated in many projects for the public good.
Mr. White was born in Bavaria in 1836 and was but eight years of age when in 1844 he crossed the Atlantic with his mother and his eldest brother, Levi. The family home was established in Montgomery, Alabama, and while the boys were still very young they started for Oregon by way of Cape Horn. This was during the Fraser Vol. III-32
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river gold excitement. Even prior to this time the brothers had had some business experience. While in Alabama a friend gave the two boys a couple of dozen pistols which they sold to a good advantage on the Fraser river and thus obtained their initial experience in salesmanship. They were for a brief period in San Francisco and thus by various stages proceeded to Portland, gaining knowledge of the western country and conditions as they advanced. Reports had reached them concerning Port- land and its opportunities and they decided to establish their home here, arriving in the embryo city in 1855. They opened a dry goods store of a primitive character at the corner of Washington and Front streets. In fact Portland was a town of but few thoroughfares, its business centering along the river, and in those days the boats left for The Dalles at five o'clock each morning. Knowing the advantage of getting the early morning trade, the brothers were always at their store some time before the boat started and their courtesy, obligingness and honorable dealings were features that brought them a constantly increasing patronage. It was largely this boat trade that constituted the beginning of their successful career and with Portland's develop- ment their own business grew and prospered and eventually the retail store was con- verted into a wholesale establishment under the firm name of L. White and Company. After a time they merged their interests with those of the Goldsmith Company under the name of the White-Goldsmith Company and eventually sold out, Mr. White retiring from business about 1880. His brother passed away in 1895. They had made for themselves an enviable position in the business circles of Portland, so that their name is inseparably associated with the commercial growth of the city during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
On November 13, 1873, Mr. White was united in marriage to Miss Rose Rosenfeld, who still survives him. She is a well educated lady of natural refinement and culture, who has traveled extensively in every country on the globe, having recently returned from a visit to the Orient. She has long been prominently known in the social circles of the city and has many friends here, including a large number with whom she has been associated since early pioneer times.
The death of Mr. White occurred on October 29, 1909. He had been a recognized leader in democratic circles, was a prominent Mason and the builder of the Concordia Club. He was most actively and helpfully identified with all the projects for the city's upbuilding and improvement, being found at all times a cooperant factor in every plan for the promotion of civic interests. He was likewise a most charitable man, constantly extending a helping hand. He had the true spirit of western friend- ship and cordiality and there are none who do not speak of Mr. White in terms of the highest respect and honor.
HENRY THIELE.
Henry Thiele, chief steward of the Benson Hotel, was born in Hanover, Germany, April 5, 1882. His father, Henry Thiele, was born in Germany and was the house master for the Count of Luxemburg, while later he became a hotel proprietor and continued in that business until his death in 1885. His wife was in her maidenhood Caroline Speecht, a native of southern Germany. She passed away in 1898.
Mr. Thiele of this review was educated in the schools of Germany and France and speaks French and English with the fluency of his native tongue. After leaving school he learned the business of manufacturing all kinds of wine in southern Germany and likewise mastered the business of a confectioner, working at that trade in Switzer- land for two years. He then served as apprentice to chefs in the Kaiserhoff, the Zoologischergarten and the Palace Hotel in Berlin, and in 1898 he was awarded the third prize for cooking exhibits, at which time he had completed but a year and a half of his apprenticeship, while other competitors had had forty years' experience. The piece of confectionery which won for him the third prize, was Arabian scenery made of sugar and gelatin.
In 1893 Mr. Thiele came to America and, arriving at New York, engaged with the Waldorf Astoria and later was employed at the Holland House. At the opening of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, he became connected with that hostelry and later went to Nome, Alaska, for a trip. Upon returning to Seattle, he became the chief steward in the Rathskeller restaurant, where one hundred and sixty men were em- ployed. He also owned the Frye Coffee Grill in Seattle, which he sold and later went
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HENRY THIELE
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to Canada, where he remained for but a short time. He then came to Portland and accepted the position of chief steward at the Benson Hotel in 1914. Here he intro- duced a novel feature, that of delivering addresses to his guests upon how their food is prepared and cooked, while the meals are being served. He also explained to them how many of the articles of their diet are grown. One particularly interesting lecture is on the fattening of the buttermilk-fed chicken. The innovation which he has intro- duced seems to be greatly appreciated by the guests. Mr. Thiele is now building a hotel of his own on the Columbia highway. He has selected the most beautiful spot on the drive as a site for his hotel, it being situated about a mile and a half from the town of Hood River. It is being built in Colonial design, and every room has a private bath. The grounds in which the building is located cover about twenty-four acres. The hotel is being built at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars and will be completed by the 1st of May, 1921. There are fifty-five rooms, fifty of which will have baths in connection. This is to be a strictly tourist hotel. Mr. Thiele is greatly interested in the enterprise, and it is his determination to give the very finest service on the coast, and he holds to the highest ideals, as to "best service." In establishing this hotel he is performing a work that will be greatly appreciated by the traveling public and especially by the tourists who are seen in such great numbers upon the Columbia highway.
In 1911 Mr. Thiele was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Anderson, a native of Minnesota, and to them have been born four children: Henry, Margaret, Carl and Elizabeth, aged respectively, eleven, seven, two and one years.
Mr. Thiele is a man of high ideals and his great aim in life is to live up to the advice in the following quotations: "Lose no chance of giving pleasure, for this is the ceaseless and anonymous triumph of a truly loving spirit. I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again."
CLIFFORD CURTIS ANDERSON.
Clifford C. Anderson, engaged in the undertaking and embalming business in Hood River and also serving as county coroner, having been elected to that office in 1918, is a native of the Hoosier state, born in Newcastle, Indiana, April 30, 1885. He is a son of John Calvin and Huldah (Swain) Anderson, who are descendants of good old American stock. The father was a native of North Carolina, from which state the grandfather moved with his family to Indiana when the latter state was young. The Swains also were early pioneers of Indiana. Mr. Anderson's mother still lives on the farm in the Hoosier state which she and her husband created out of the wilderness, and it was on this place that Clifford C. Anderson was reared. He was educated at the grade and high schools of Newcastle, Indiana, and later took his professional course at the Barnes College of Embalming, graduating from that college in 1909. He took a postgraduate course in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in October, 1909, he was licensed by that state. His first work was at Yakima, Washington, after being licensed to practice in that state. For four years he practiced his profession at Spokane, but in 1914 came to Oregon, standing the third examination and receiving his license to work in this state. In the same year, Mr. Anderson moved to Hood River, where he has since remained and where he conducts an embalming and undertaking estab- lishment with a patronage covering all of Hood River county and a part of Wasco county, Oregon, and a portion of Klickitat county, Washington.
His ability and skill as an embalmer and his efficiency as a funeral director have made many friends for Mr. Anderson, and in 1918 they had him elected coroner of Hood River county by a large majority. Mr. Anderson is a member of the Masonic order; has filled most of the chairs in the blue lodge and has progressed to the commandery, from which he entered the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Woodmen of the World and of the Odd Fellows and takes a warm and practical interest in the affairs of these several fraternal organizations.
In April, 1912, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Meany, a daughter of Patrick Meany, a well known mining operative and political leader of Butte, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are the parents of one son, Clifford Patrick. Mrs. Anderson is as popular as her husband and devotes a large share of her time
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and ability to the advancement of the social and cultural conditions of Hood River. She is a member of the Daughters of the Nile, of the Eastern Star, of the Women of Woodcraft, and of the Woman's Relief Corps, holding official rank in the two last named organizations. Mr. Anderson is a member of the Oregon Funeral Directors Association and is a member of the legislative board of the Oregon board of health, to the affairs of which he brings practical experience and sound judgment to bear.
JOHN ALEXANDER REUTER, M. D.
Dr. John A. Reuter, a well known medical practitioner and surgeon, who owns and conducts The Dalles Hospital, was born in Wisconsin in 1876, a son of A. L. and Christina (Haas) Reuter. The father was one of the very early settlers of that state, where he operated a large spoke and hub manufactory and where he was also engaged in banking for some years.
Dr. John A. Reuter began his education in the graded schools of his home town, later entering Oakland College. He received his medical education at Rush Medical College, Chicago, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1897. Later in that year, he went to Europe and took postgraduate courses at the Vienna General Hospital in the city of Vienna, at the St. Thomas Hospital, London, and at Guy's Hospital, London. On leaving the last named he returned to America and took additional work at Bellevue Hospital, New York, and at the Northwestern, Chicago, and in 1901 he removed to Portland, Oregon, where he commenced the prac- tice of his profession. His health demanding a removal from the coast, he came to The Dalles in 1902 and renewed his practice, which has steadily grown until the Doctor now enjoys a prominent place in his profession.
In addition to his office practice, Dr. Reuter owns and conducts The Dalles Hos- pital, which he established in association with others. At the time the hospital was opened for the reception of patients, its capacity was limited to fifteen, but under his capable management it has been gradually enlarged, and in the spring of 1920 the accommodation was equal to handling eighty-five patients, and further extensions were in contemplation at the time this sketch was written.
Dr. Reuter, while a specialist in surgery, also gives his attention to the demands of a general practice, and he is equally expert in the medical as in the surgical depart- ment of his profession. His hospital is equipped with the latest modern appliances and is not surpassed by any similar institution in the West, his skill in the treat- ment of the cases entrusted to his care being at all times in keeping with his reputation.
Dr. Reuter has numerous fraternal affiliations, among them being membership in the Elks, while in the Masonic order he is a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Oregon State Medical Society; president of the Mid-Columbia Medical Society, and a member of the American Medical Associa- tion, in the affairs of all of which he takes a warm and practical interest. He is a member of The Dalles Chamber of Commerce, and in other directions he gives of his time and ability to the advancement of all movements pertaining to the welfare of the community in which he resides.
EPHRAIM MILLER.
Dr. Ephraim Miller, a well known chiropractor of Hood River, where he has been practicing his profession for the past twelve years, was horn in Iowa in 1871, a son of John and Phoebe Ann (Friend) Miller, both of whom were descendants from old pio- neer families of that state. His grandfather died on the homestead on which the Doctor was born. During the latter's boyhood the family moved from Iowa to Missouri, in which state he attended school.
For some years Dr. Miller assisted his father in the work of the home farm which the latter operated. On starting out for himself, he removed to the state of Washington and some time later to Oregon. While residing in Portland his wife's health gave him much concern. Having heard of the many cures effected by the then . new science of chiropractic, he entered the Peerless College of Chiropractic in that
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city, largely with the object of alleviating his wife's condition if the representations made on behalf of the new science should prove correct. He was not long a student at the college when he arrived at the conclusion that chiropractic was one of the simplest and most curative of all schools of healing. Thus inspired, he continued his studies and was graduated in 1906, just about the time of the consolidation of the Peerless with the Pacific College.
In 1908 Dr. Miller removed to Hood River, where he opened an office and where he has since continuously practiced his profession. It may not he amiss to state that Mrs. Miller, who in 1906 was given but a short time to live, is today a strong and healthy woman, her husband's work being responsible for the transformation.
During the seven years of his professional work in Hood River, the Doctor has built up a large and influential practice, and his treatment is credited with many satisfactory results. In 1919 his practice had reached such large proportions as to require the services of an assistant, and in March, 1920, he became associated with Dr. N. Phyler, of Portland, the firm name being Miller & Phyler, but on July 1, 1920, the partnership was dissolved and Dr. Miller has since been alone in practice.
In 1905 Dr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Jennie A. Lind, of Chehalis, Washington, whose parents were natives of Minnesota, Governor John Lind being of the same family. The Doctor and his wife are the parents of one child, Sidney Raymond, who is a student in the grade schools of Hood River.
Dr. Miller owns a spacious and beautifully located home, with fine grounds, within a short distance of the business section of Hood River. He contemplates having it refurnished as a modern and up-to-date hospital and sanitarium, the need for which is becoming more evident in Hood River every day.
EDWARD JOSEPH SHINNERS.
Edward Joseph Shinners, a rising young attorney of the Portland har, was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 1888. His father, James Shinners, was a native of County Clare, Ireland, born in 1849, but in his boyhood came with his parents to the United States, the family home being established in Pennsylvania. There the father enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining a regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of hostilities. At Lookout mountain he sustained an injury which caused the loss of his right eye. After the war he was married in Pennsylvania to Miss Elizabeth Powell, who still resides in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where her husband passed away in 1905.
It was in the public schools of his native city that Edward J. Shinners began his education, which he continued in night schools in New York city. Leaving home in February, 1907, he turned his attention to various lines of work, being for a time con- nected with the electrical business. He remained in New York for seven months and then went to the Isthmus of Panama, where he obtained a government position, con- tinuing there for fourteen months. He then proceeded to San Francisco and after two weeks spent in that city came to Portland, where he arrived in January, 1909. Here he began working for the Oregon Electric Railway but after occupying a position with that company for six months entered the, employ of the Portland Gas & Coke Company as solicitor and was with them for a half year, during which period he began to read law. Later he took up automobile sales and was so employed for two years, during which period he read law and attended the night sessions of the Oregon Law School of Portland. In 1914 he entered the law office of Long, Mathews & Christopher- son and was admitted to the bar on the 25th of April, 1918.
Immediately afterward Mr. Shinners entered the United States army as a private of the Eleventh Company of the Third Battalion, U. S. A., and was sent to Camp Lewis near Tacoma, Washington, where he remained until September 2, 1919, when he was selected to attend the U. S. Army School at Rockford, Illinois. There he remained for three months, after which he received an honorable discharge. Returning to Port- land Mr. Shinners opened a law office and has since engaged in practice, having already made a most creditable start in the legal profession. He is actuated by laudable ambition and the qualities which he has displayed argue well for a successful future.
On the 23d of October, 1919, in Portland, Mr. Shinners was married to Kathleen Cecilia Charnig, née Kiely, a daughter of Bartholomew Kiely, who was born in Ire- land and for many years made his home in eastern Oregon but is now living retired
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in San Francisco. Mrs. Shinners passed away November 27, 1920, of heart failure. She was well known in Portland, and left many friends to mourn her departure.
Mr. Shinners belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He is prominent socially in Portland and has hosts of friends. His course has been marked by steady progress and the success he has achieved is entirely attributable to his ability and labor, which indicates that his further record will be one of continuous advancement.
WILLIAM DALTON.
When Portland was emerging from villagehood William Dalton became a resident of the city. He arrived in Oregon in May, 1860, and through the intervening period to the time of his death was a valued and respected resident of Portland. His birth occurred in Coventry, England, in 1835. He was a son of Absalom and Amelia Dalton, the former a hotel proprietor and also painter and plumber. The father came with his son, William, to America in 1857, making his way to Oregon where his son, Edwin Dalton, had already located.
William was at that time a young man of twenty-two years. He joined his brother at Portland but in December, 1859, returned to England to wed Miss Edna Linnett, the youngest daughter of John and Elizabeth Linnett. In March, 1860, William Dalton and his young wife left Liverpool to make the long journey to Oregon, arriving in May of the same year. He at once became identified with the commercial interests of the young city of Portland, purchasing a store on First and Yamhill streets. The young couple lived at the store and conducted the business for several years but in 1868 they bought property at the corner of 8th and Oak streets where Mrs. Dalton has since made her home. In 1890 they erected a fine residence on this property. On first coming to Portland William Dalton entered into partnership with his elder brother, Edwin, and the association was maintained until the latter's death, or until August, 1857, after which William Dalton continued the business alone and for many years remained an active factor in the commercial circles of the city. Those who knew him recog- nized in him a thorough and reliable business man, one who well merited the con- fidence reposed in him by the public. After a number of years spent at the original location he removed his store to Union avenue where he carried on business for an extended period.
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