USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 80
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James Henry Connarn was born in Vermont in September, 1880, a son of Patrick and Bedelia (Graeney) Connarn. The father passed away in 1917 but Mrs. Connarn survives and is still residing in Vermont. In the acquirement of his early education James Henry Connarn attended the schools of his native state and in due time entered Deerfield Academy at Old Deerfield, Massachusetts. He was graduated from that institution in 1897 and the following year engaged in teaching school. Then for five years the brokerage business claimed his entire attention. In 1904 he went to St. Louis, Missouri, but was there only a short time when he came to the coast, arriving here in the fall of the same year. Purchasing a ranch in Skagit county, Washington, he tried farming for three years but at the termination of that period determined upon'a professional career. In 1907 he became a student at the North Pacific Dental College at Portland and in 1911 received his D. M. D. degree. Dr. Cannarn at once took up practice in Tillamook, where for two years he achieved more than substantial success, and in 1913 he came to Bend and has here since resided, building up a practice of extensive and lucrative proportions. In fact, he has one of the largest individual practices in the state. While his work is general he would like to specialize in removable bridge work or extraction, but the demands made upon his time by his patrons makes that impossible. Dr. Connarn has not lost interest in farm life and spends a great deal of his time on his ranch of eighty acres in Deschutes county. Twenty-five acres of this land he has put in to potatoes. the rest in alfalfa. He is especially interested in stock raising and dairying and breeds only pure Jerseys. The leader of the stock is as yet an unnamed son of Oregon Lad, the famous Jersey sire. Dr. Connarn also owns one hundred and sixty acres of yellow pine timber land in Klamath county.
In 1904 occurred the marriage of Dr. Connarn to Miss Lillian M. Brown, a native of Foxcroft, Maine, and to them two children have been born: Leora B. and Richard J., who are respectively in the junior and freshman classes of the Bend high school.
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Mrs. Connarn is a woman of much personal charm and is prominent in the club and social circles of the community.
Dr. Connarn's only fraternal affiliation is with the M. W. A., and in the line of his profession he is identified with the National Dental Association and the State Dental Society. He became a first lieutenant in the Dental section of the Officers Reserve Corps of the U. S. army, July 13, 1917, but was not called upon, so saw no actual service except at home. He is well known in Bend, where professional activity and ability and attractive social qualities have gained for him high regard and warm friendships. His friends-and they are many-find him a most genial com- panion and his popularity increases as the circle of his acquaintance widens.
THOMAS CLAYTON QUEEN.
Thomas C. Queen, a member of the fourth estate, for years engaged in the news- paper business and for several years past publisher of the Dufur Dispatch, is a Hoosier by birth, born at Loogootee, Indiana, in 1870. He is the son of Benedict J. and Jane (Burch) Queen, who were both members of early Indiana families. The father, during his early life, had been a Mississippi river flatboat pilot and had piloted several boatloads of merchandise to New Orleans in the days before the rail- roads and when the rivers were the principal arteries of travel. The father also served in the Federal army during the Civil war, enlisting at the beginning of that struggle and remaining in the service to its end.
Thomas C. Queen was educated in the primary and high schools of his native town and in the normals and universities of Indiana. He taught school for a few' years. He also studied law but gave it np for newspaper work, which he has followed ever since, his work embracing all lines from sticking type on the small weeklies of Southern Indiana to special work for the large dailies.
In 1903 Mr. Queen started west-following Horace Greeley's injunction-nd stopped at Arlington, Oregon. After a few years there he purchased a local paper at Bickleton, Washington, which he conducted for three years, at the end of which time he disposed of it and purchased the Dufur Dispatch at Dufur, Oregon. He has been editor and publisher of the Dispatch for almost thirteen years and under his direction it has become one of the leading weeklies of the state, credited with having the largest advertising patronage of any paper in the county.
For several years past Mr. Queen has taken considerable interest in politics, having served as a member of the county republican central committee for the past eight years, and last year was a member of the state central committee, and is credited with having aided much in the enormous republican majority in the state. In fact so highly were his services considered by the republican leaders that Senators McNary and Stanfield tendered him the position of Receiver at the United States Land Office in The Dalles, which he accepted. This is the first political position of any consequence he has ever held.
In 1911 Mr. Queen was united in marriage to Miss Edith M. Rigg. He is a member of the Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the United Artisans and the Woodmen of the World. He has always taken a leading part in all public affairs and during the World war was active in all local drives, giving also of his time and ability to other features of war work.
The only relative he has is a sister, Miss Jennie Queen, who is a graduate nurse, residing at Portland, Oregon.
CLYDE GIBSON HUNTLEY.
No name in Clackamas county carries with it more weight than does that of Clyde Huntley of Oregon City, who as a citizen, business man, and legislator has never failed to fill creditably every position to which he has been called. He is like many other of Oregon's prominent men, a native of another state, born in Indiana in 1867. His father, S. Huntley, was engaged in the manufacturing business, being a prominent man of his community, and died when Clyde Huntley was a small lad. His mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Gibson, was, like his father, of pioneer
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stock, and she gave her boys such education as could be obtained in the common schools of Indiana and a wealth of careful training and the example of nobility of character.
After receiving the best education afforded him in early life Mr. Huntley engaged in the drug business in his native state and was rewarded with a substantial measure of success. But in 1890 he decided to follow the advice of Horace Greeley to "go west", and so in that same year he removed to Portland, where he soon obtained a position in the commissary department of the O. R. & N. Company, where he remained for some time. But soon his liking for the drug business again asserted itself, and he removed to Oregon City and E. G. Caufield, who was then president of the Oregon City Bank, became associated with him in the drug business under the firm name of Caufield & Huntley. Subsequently Mr. Huntley purchased Mr. Caufield's interest in the firm and in 1901 he took his brother, William A. Huntley, into the firm, the style thus becoming Huntley Brothers. Mr. Huntley's success as a business man was not to pass unnoticed and as he was ever interested in the affairs of his community he was elected a member of the Oregon City council, where he served three terms. From 1903 to 1907 he served in the state legislature and while a member of that body introduced much progressive legislation, notable among which was the corrupt practices act, which has since become a part of the law of the state. Being also a prominent man in the drug business he was soon appointed on the State Board of Pharmacy, where he served with ability for ten years. He then took a brief vacation from his duties on the board but was later reappointed and is now its very efficient secretary.
The Huntley Drug Company, as the firm is now called, has one of the finest pharmacies in the state. In size of stock carried, in floor space, and in prominence of location, it has no superior outside of Portland and few, if any, of the stores in th t metropolis can compare with it in popularity and size. The Huntley, Drug Company is known as the Rexall store and carries a complete line of the Rexall goods.
In the year 1898 Mr. Huntley was united in marriage to Miss Lura Allen Miller, a daughter of Thomas Miller, who is a member of one of the pioneer families of the state and for half a century has been a county official of Clackamas county. One daughter, Mildred S., has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Huntley, and she is a student at the University of Oregon.
Politically Mr. Huntley is a member of the republican party and is the Clackamas county member of the Republican State Central Committee. He devotes much of his time and energy to working for his party, his city and his state, and in 1908 was elected as a delegate to the National Republican Convention which nominated Judge Taft. In 1921 Mr. Huntley was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Dis- trict of Oregon. Due to his pleasing personality in his business and political life and his devotion to the general good, as well as his comprehensive understanding of questions affecting state and national welfare, he has exerted an immeasurable influence on the city of his residence and fortunate is the state in having him as a citizen.
JOHN WILLIAM BIGGS.
An eminent writer has said: "The inheritance of a distinguished and noble name is a proud inheritance to him who lives worthily of it." John William Biggs has not relied upon the reputation attained by his ancestors, but has won success on his own account, becoming one of the leading lawyers of Harney county and a representative member of the har of the state. The Biggs family is one of the representative families of Oregon. Of old North Carolina stock, members of the family were dominant factors in making the history of Kentucky and Missouri long before the younger generation had added new lustre to the name on the Pacific coast. Among the prominent repre- sentatives of this family in Oregon are Judge Dalton Biggs, who is occupying a place on the circuit bench of the ninth judicial circuit; and M. R. Biggs, a leading stock- man and former lawyer of Deschutes county. The father of our subject, Rev. James D. Biggs, was a minister of the Baptist church and served faithfully many charges in Kentucky and Missouri. The mother was Miss Lucv C. Hatch before her marriage. and her family is equally prominent. Grandfather Hatch was a well known banker of Georgetown, Kentucky, and an uncle, George F. Hatch, was a leading attorney of
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St. Louis, Missouri. Another uncle, William H. Hatch, represented his district in congress for more than twenty years and won widespread recognition as a legislator.
John William Biggs was born in Georgetown, Kentucky, in May, 1870. He re- ceived his education in the schools of Springfield, Missouri, and later enrolled in the McCune College and the William Jewell College. After leaving the latter institution he took up the profession of teaching and for nearly two years was professor of mathematics at Pike College, Bowling Green, Missouri. During that time he entered the office of Hon. Champ Clark, a close friend of the family, and there began the study of law. In 1893, however, that study was interrupted when, being tendered the post of principal of schools at Burns, Oregon, he left the south and has remained a citizen of the west. After having served as principal of schools at Burns and Canyon City he was admitted to the bar in 1894 and took up the practice of law in Burns. For some time he practiced alone, but in 1920 formed a partnership with his brother, Matthew A., practicing under the style of Biggs & Biggs.
In 1896 Mr. Biggs was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Haseltine, a native of Canyon City, this state, and a daughter of the county judge of Grant county. She passed away in 1904, leaving besides her husband, a daughter Helen, who is now winning fame as an accomplished vocalist. In 1907 Mr. Biggs was again married, Mary E. Bryan, a daughter of John Bryan of New York, becoming his wife. Two children have been born to the second union: John Bryan and Edith Lucy.
Since attaining his majority Mr. Biggs has given his support to the democratic party, having firm belief in the principles of that party as factors in good govern- ment. He is master and past master of Masonic Lodge, No. 97, of Burns, and he endeavors in every way to live up to the teachings of the craft. Quick to take advan- tage of every opportunity offered him, he was one of the organizers of the second bank established in central Oregon, the firm being known as Jones & Biggs, Bankers. This pioneer banking house later became the Citizens Bank of Burns and was a repre- sentative financial institution. Upon the organization of the First National Bank of Burns, Mr. Jones and Mr. Biggs sold their interests to that institution and Mr. Biggs withdrew from financial circles. He is now interested in ranching and has an interest in a cattle ranch of nine thousand acres, upon which he has nearly one thousand head of cattle. Mr. Biggs represents many large corporations and is con- nected with much important litigation. The success which he has attained is due to his own efforts and merits and is the result of integrity, ability and industry. Well versed in the learning of his profession and with a deep knowledge of human nature and the springs of human conduct, with great shrewdness and sagacity and extra- ordinary tact, he is an advocate of great power and influence in the courts. Both judges and jurors always hear him with attention and deep interest.
HON. DENTON GRAVES BURDICK.
Among the prominent members of the Oregon legislature is Hon. Denton Graves Burdick, of whom the Oregon Voter in commenting on the various members of the legislature says: "He is especially interested in good roads and irrigation legislation; a powerful factor in promoting enactment of constructive measures and in defeating freak bills; acts and votes independently of popular prejudice. He is a forceful speaker and a resourceful leader."
A native of Michigan, Denton Graves Burdick was born in that state on the 25th of March, 1891, a son of Nelson A. and Minerva (Hicks) Burdick. He received his education in the schools of his native state and at the age of sixteen years graduated from the high school. He then attended college for a year and worked his way through the law department of the University of lowa. In 1912 he came to Oregon with his father who was extensively interested in irrigated land development in the Deschutes valley and he located in Redmond, Deschutes county, where he opened offices for the practice of his profession and soon won recognition as the result of his ability. The zeal with which he devoted his energies to his profession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and an assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases, brought him a large clientage and made him successful in its conduct. In 1913 he became police judge, a position in which he was active until 1917, when he was elected to the Oregon legislature from the twenty-first district embracing Cook, Deschutes, Grant, Jefferson, Klamath and Lake counties, and though but twenty-
DENTON G. BURDICK
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five years of age he soon won a prominent place in that body. In 1919 he was re- elected and the popularity he had achieved as a member of the legislature was evinced by his becoming minority candidate for the speakership. In 1921 he was again elected and he is now active in that capacity. He has not given his entire attention to politics, however, for in 1919 with his father, he organized the Redmond National Bank, be- coming vice president, while his father was made cashier. He is likewise treasurer and manager of the Burdick Mortgage Company and he took an active part in the Central Oregon Development League and in the Oregon Irrigation Congress. He is especially interested in land interests and irrigation projects and has handled much important litigation along that line.
In 1913 occurred the marriage of Hon. Mr. Burdick to Miss Zoa Mae Bronson, a daughter of Earl Bronson of Spencer, Iowa. Mr. Bronson is one of the best known citizens of that state and for years has been proprietor of the Spencer Herald and post- master of Spencer. To Mr. and Mrs. Burdick two children have heen born: Denton G. (II), and Bronson. Mrs. Burdick is prominent in the social circles of the community and is regarded as a model mother and housewife. Both she and her husband are members of the Episcopal church and are active in all church affairs.
Hon. Denton Graves Burdick is practically a self-made man and one any community would be proud to have as a citizen. He is thoroughly versed in the principles of jurisprudence and as a member of the governing body of Oregon is courageously true to the interests of the people he represents. The path of his success has been the path of common sense and what he has achieved has not come by accident. Longfellow says: "The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without a thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after."
BENJAMIN F. SMITH, M. D.
Since 1917 Dr. Benjamin F. Smith has heen practicing in Burns and throughout Harney county and fortunate, indeed, is this section of the country in having him for a citizen. He was born in Sherman, Texas, in 1884, a son of Robert D. and Julia H. ( Dulin ) Smith, who were natives of Kentucky and of fine old pre-Revolutionary stock. His father was a direct descendant of the Chiltons of the Old Dominion.
After having received a grammar and high school education, Benjamin F. Smith left his home town to enter Tulane University at New Orleans. He had decided upon a professional career and as a result was graduated from that institution with the degree of M. D. in 1908. Subsequently he took up the practice of his profession at Mi?mi, Oklahoma, but soon came west, realizing the opportunities offered in a grow- ing country. For three years he was a resident of Coalinga, California, and then removed to Seward, Alaska, where he built a hospital and became surgeon for several large canneries. After some time spent in that connection he returned to the United States and for a short period made his home in Clatskanie, Oregon. In 1916, however, he purchased the home of Dr. Griffiths in Burns, where he has since resided. Dr. Griffiths sold his home because of his declining health. He passed away in 1920. Dr. Smith brought to the profession excellent training and innate ability and together with his personal charm, that of a refined southern gentleman, has built up a practice of extensive proportions. For three terms he was health officer of Harney county and the efficient manner in which he handled the influenza epidemic won him wide- spread recognition. He was of the opinion that plenty of warm ventilation was essential to obtain the best results, while many other physicians were stanch advocates of cold ventilation. However, his method of treatment for such cases has become the popular one. Dr. Smith's practice is a general one, but he leans toward specialization and at some future date hopes to devote his entire time to surgery and the discases of children.
In 1911 occurred the marriage of Dr. Smith to Miss Laura Minkler, a native of Nebraska and one of the most popular and most attractive young women in the state. Like her husband, Mrs. Smith has a charming and magnetic personality, and hy her willingness to help nurse the poor as well as the rich in times of emergency, and her constant assistance to her husband in the surgery, she has helped to gain for him the position which he now holds. She is active in the club and social circles of the
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community, taking a prominent part in the affairs of the Mothers Club and various organizations. She is likewise identified with the Eastern Star.
The fraternal affiliations of Dr. Smith are with the Masons, in which order he is a Knights Templar and an Odd Fellow. He remains a deep student of his profession and is a member of the Eastern Oregon Medical Society and the State Medical So- ciety. For recreation Dr. Smith turns to the great outdoors and spends the short vacations from his arduous duties in hunting and fishing. With Dr. Smith success in life has been reached because he has made good use of his time, has improved the talents with which nature endowed him and has faithfully and conscientiously performed every duty that has devolved upon him. The consensus of public opinion regarding his position in the medical profession places him in the foremost rank.
HARRY EVERETT CHIPMAN.
Harry Everett Chipman, who for many years was connected with railroad build- ing and construction work in the northwest, making his home in Portland, was born at Welland, Canada, December 7, 1858. The ancestry of the family can be traced back to John Chipman, who was born in Barnstable, England, and who emigrated to America in the early part of the seventeenth century. In the year 1630 he married a daughter of John Howland, who was then governor of the colony of Massachusetts Bay and who was one of the Pilgrims that landed from the Mayflower on Plymouth Rock in 1620. John Chipman settled on a farm at Barnstable, Connecticut, and there reared his family of seven sons and six daughters. He passed away there, as did most of his family. His second son, Samuel Chipman, was born in Barnstable, August 15, 1661, and was married in 1682 to Sarah Cobb, by whom he had ten children. He, too, died in Barnstable. Thomas Chipman, the eldest son of Samuel Chipman, was born in Barnstable, Connecticut, November 17, 1687, and was married and settled in Groton, Connecticut, in 1710. In 1740 he removed to Salisbury, Connecticut, and the following year was appointed magistrate, and with the organization of Litchfield county he became judge of the county court. Of his family of five sons and three daughters, the third son was Amos Chipman, who was born in Groton, Connecticut, in 1727 and in 1740 removed to Salisbury. He married and had nine children, the second son being Barnabas Lothrop Chipman, whose birth occurred in Salisbury, July 18, 1763, and who in 1784 removed to Westmoreland, Massachusetts. He was married in 1786 to Beulah Everett and they had eight children. In 1790 he removed to Burlington, Vermont, and in 1833 crossed the border, taking up his abode in Leeds county, Canada, where he died March 17, 1847, at the age of eighty-four years. Abner Everett Chipman, second son of Barnabas L. Chipman, was born in Burlington, Ver- mont, August 16, 1800, and in 1833 removed to Leeds county, Canada. He was mar- ried in 1827 to Elizabeth Mattice, of Sprakers Basin, Schoharie county, New York, and they had eight children, the eldest son being Jonathan Saxton Chipman, who was born in Burlington, Vermont, May 17, 1831, and who married Eliza Jane Burgar, daughter of Thomas Burgar, owner of the farm on which the town of Welland, Welland county, Canada, now stands.
From the marriage of Jonathan Saxton Chipman and Eliza Jane Burgar came eight children, the youngest being Harry Everett Chipman of this review. It was in the schools of Buffalo, New York, that Harry E. Chipman obtained most of his education, his parents having moved to Buffalo from Welland when he was fifteen years of age. In early life he was associated with the Grand Trunk and Canadian Pacific Railroads. He later became superintendent of construction for a company that engaged in bridge building, constructing a number of bridges across the Mississippi river.
In 1888 Mr. Chipman removed to the northwest, coming to Oregon. For several years he was the master mechanic of the Oregon Central & Eastern Railroad, now a part of the Southern Pacific system. In 1902 he built and became part owner of the Columbia & Nehalem Valley Railroad. The building of this railroad was a project considered most difficult to accomplish, but Mr. Chipman's knowledge of engineering, his broad experience and his practical judgment enabled him to carry the work for- ward to successful completion. Later he was superintendent of construction of the United Railways Company, a part of the Hill system in Oregon.
Mr. Chipman entered the employ of the Warren Construction Company in 1905, and in that year was superintendent on large street paving contracts in Salem, aggre-
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gating a quarter of a million dollars' worth of work. In 1906 he had charge of similar work in Eugene, where the main streets of the city were paved. From 1907 to 1918, inclusive, Mr. Chipman was resident engineer and inspector for Warren Brothers Company on many important paving contracts throughout the northwest, including the Columbia River Highway and Camp Lewis, Washington. On the latter work he was commended by the United States government officials for the services rendered in connection with the paving of the Camp Lewis streets.
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