USA > Oregon > Oregon, pictorial and biographical > Part 14
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Casper Zorn and John Hoefer purchased a farm in Champoeg but the former sold out and removed to Idaho, where he opened and operated a hotel at the Orafine mines in partnership with C. W. King, of Olds, Worthman & King, of Portland. They continued in this business until the mining excitement subsided. They had made considerable money and after selling out Casper Zorn returned to Champoeg, where in 1862 he purchased a mill in partnership with his brother-in-law, John Hoefer, on Mission creek, near Champoeg. For
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eighteen years they were engaged in operating this mill and during that time Mr. Zorn also engaged in the real-estate and loan business. Afterward they became interested in farming and until their deaths they shared equally in the profits of their various enterprises. The house which they built upon their farm was at that time the finest in this part of the country and is still considered one of the most sub- stantial and best built residences in Marion county. Mr. Hoefer's death occurred in 1909 and his property was left to thirty-three heirs, and Casper Zorn's death occurred in March of the following year, his property being left to four heirs.
Henry Zorn received one thousand acres from his uncle, upon which he is now residing, and the value of his holdings amounts to nearly one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Four hun- dred of the six hundred and thirty acres upon which he resides is in a high state of cultivation, being devoted to grain and hop raising, and he also raises cattle, specializing in Jersey cows and fine hogs. He has at times given special attention to breeding fine horses. The place is fully equipped with waterworks and a lighting system, and has modern and commodious barns and a comfortable dwelling house.
On the 28th of November, 1898, in Oregon City, Mr. Zorn was married to Miss Alfrieda Meyer, a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Frederick) Meyer, of Oregon City, both of whom were natives of Hamburg, Germany. Upon their arrival in New York they left im- mediately for Oregon, where Mr. Meyer was employed in the woolen mills in Oregon City. He retired from active business in 1899 and his death occurred in 1911, the mother having died one year previously. Mrs. Zorn, whose birth occurred in 1880, was one of four children, the others being: Martha, who is residing in Oregon City; one who died in infancy; and Augusta, also residing in Oregon City. To Mr. and Mrs. Zorn three children have been born: Alfrieda Marie, who passed away in infancy; Marie, whose birth occurred July 5, 1908; and Catherine, who was born February 8, 1910.
In politics Mr. Zorn has always been very active and gives his support to the republican party, but since holding the office of jus- tice of the peace for one term has not sought further offices. He holds membership in the Roman Catholic church. He is public-spir- ited and takes an interest in all that pertains to the welfare of his community and does what he can to further the progress of those movements which he thinks will do most to raise the social, moral and intellectual standards of the district.
Mr and Mrs Cocar J. Thomson
Oscar F. Thomson
PON the roll of Umatilla county's honored dead U appears the name of Oscar F. Thomson, who at the time of his demise was one of the most substantial agriculturists and largest land-owners of Echo. Although he was born in Howard county, Missouri, almost his entire active career was spent in the west, coming here in 1864. His birth occurred on November 25, 1830, a son of Asa Q. and Margaret M. (Wallace) Thomson. The Thomsons were of Scotch descent, and Mr. and Mrs. Asa Q. Thomson were both born in Kentucky, where they were also reared and married. Soon after their marriage, however, they removed to Howard county, Missouri, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They engaged in agricultural pursuits and were among the active and successful farmers of their community. To their union twelve children were born, of whom Oscar F. was the sixth in order of birth.
Oscar F. Thomson spent his boyhood and youth under the par- ental roof, receiving his education in the district schools and assist- ing in the work of the home farm. In 1849 he heard many tales of the gold finds in California. His spirit of adventure was so aroused that he set out for California the following year, crossing the plains with ox teams. He first engaged in mining in the Sierra Nevadas, but after he heard that the Sacramento valley offered great induce- ments in agricultural lines he took up farming there. He also en- gaged in stock-raising, which proved very successful, and he remained there until 1858, when the cry of gold on the Fraser again aroused his adventurous spirit. Accordingly, he disposed of his property in- terests in California and went to the newer fields. Instead of engag- ing in mining, however, he brought supplies from the Lower to the Upper Fraser river region and found that occupation was quite as lucrative as mining would have been. He also engaged in the meat market business and later went to the Cariboo mines. During his five years' residence in these places he engaged in mining from time to time but his chief interests were along commercial lines. At a later period he also went to Idaho at the height of the gold excitement in
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that territory before crossing into Oregon. He left The Dalles in March, 1864. He returned shortly afterward and set out from Umatilla to the Oregon and Idaho mines in the Owyhee and other regions. In 1864-65 he operated two trains of sixty-four packs. The next year he sold his trains, desiring to give up the transportation business, and early in 1866 he entered into a partnership with R. N. Stanfield and opened a livery and dray business in Umatilla. He was thus engaged until the spring of 1868, when he was elected sheriff of this county. For four years he occupied that office but at the ex- piration of his second term in 1872 located upon the ranch about twelve miles southwest of Echo where he resided until his death, which occurred June 4, 1909. For over thirty-five years he followed agri- cultural pursuits and stock-raising in that locality and his property was one of the most successfully irrigated and highly cultivated tracts in Echo. At one time he owned six hundred and eighty acres in Umatilla county and nine hundred and sixty acres adjoining in Mor- row county. The appearance of this land proved that Mr. Thomson was a stanch follower of modern agricultural methods and that in him progress found an advocate. The remarkable success which he achieved was due wholly to his own energetic labor and the constant application which he gave to his work. Shortly before his death he sold a one-half section of his Morrow county property, but at present three hundred acres of the farm are planted to alfalfa and over four hundred acres are under irrigation. The crop of alfalfa annually raised is about twelve hundred tons. The stock now consists of forty head of good work horses. The sixteen acres which he formerly de- voted to fruit is not being cultivated at present. In 1902 Mr. Thom- son erected a substantial home, which is equipped with all the modern conveniences which provide for a life of comfort and ease.
Mr. Thomson was married on the 21st of May, 1867, to Miss Susan Almira Atwood, a daughter of Colonel Buel and Lucy (Tyler) Atwood. The father's birth occurred in Vermont, on the 4th of July, 1812. He resided in his native state until he was about forty years of age, when he removed to Illinois. After remaining there for three years he went to Iowa and for seven years was a resident of Lucas county. In 1863 he crossed the plains to Oregon and located on But- ter creek on a farm just below that on which the Thomsons were resid- ing. At that time there were only three or four families living on Butter creek. His death occurred January 2, 1879. Politically he was a republican and in religious faith was a member of the Method- ist church. His marriage to Miss Lucy Tyler occured December 12, 1849. She was born June 9, 1833, at Gouverneur, St. Lawrence
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county, New York, and died June 27, 1906. To their union two children were born: Phoebe N., the elder, was born November 1, 1850, in St. Lawrence county, New York, and was married January 31, 1865, to Robert N. Stanfield. Her death occurred on the 3d of November, 1871. Mrs. Thomson the younger, was born in St. Law- rence county, August 13, 1852, and resided with her parents until she was married after removing to Oregon. To Mr. and Mrs. Thom- son ten children were born, two dying in infancy; Asa Buel; Lucy Margaret, who is the wife of E. P. Jarmon, of Butter creek; Phoebe Ann, who became the wife of Charles Bartholomew; Henry Shirley, who was born October 29, 1876, and engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death on the 25th of October, 1903; James Fitzalen, at home, who managed the home farm for about seven years; Wallace At- wood, whose birth occurred October 12, 1884, and who engaged in farming independently until his death on the 21st of January, 1910; Ora Amarillas, the wife of R. W. Allen, of Hermiston, who is man- ager of the United States Experiment station at that place; and David Sloan, who is at present operating the home place.
Mr. Thomson was a member of Umatilla Lodge, No. 40, A. F. & A. M., having joined the lodge in 1867 and thus being one of the first Masons in the lodge. Politically he was a democrat. Mr. Thom- son was honored wherever he was known because of his many sterling traits of character and his fidelity to the best interests of citizenship. He stood for progress along all lines and there was in his life history not a single esoteric phase. Throughout his residence in Umatilla county he exemplified in his life those sterling traits of character which in every land and clime awaken confidence and regard.
HO Gorham
Henry Oscar Gorham
H ENRY OSCAR GORHAM, one of the most pros- perous and prominent citizens of Union county, is engaged in general mercantile business at North Powder in association with Herman Rothschild and owns over one thousand acres of land, four hundred and eighty acres of which comprise his home farm. His birth occurred in Logan county, Kentucky, on the 29th of De- cember, 1836, his parents being Henry S. and Mary (Cooper) Gor- ham, who were natives of Kentucky and Virginia respectively. His paternal grandfather, Joshua Gorham, was also born in this country, representatives of the name having come from England in the May- flower and having figured prominently in the annals of New Eng- land. Henry S. Gorham, the father of our subject, followed farm- ing in Kentucky and served in the capacity of justice of the peace for forty years, enjoying an enviable reputation as a leading and in- fluential citizen. His demise occurred in Jefferson county, Illinois, when he had attained the age of sixty-eight years. Unto him and his wife were born seven children.
Henry O. Gorham, who was the second in order of birth in his father's family, attended the private schools of his native state in the acquirement of an education, there being no public institutions of learning. He remained under the parental roof until 1859 and then began farming on his own account. In December, 1861, he joined Captain Colwell's company of the First Kentucky Cavalry and was mustered in at Russellville, Kentucky, remaining in the vicinity of. Bowling Green during the winter. He then accompanied his com- mand to Fort Donelson and took part in the battle, doing detached service under Colonel Forrest. Subsequently he went down to Mis- sissippi, Alabama and Tennessee and participated in the battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded so seriously that he was detained in the hospital for a long time. After leaving the hospital he was hon- orably discharged and later served the Confederate government in the capacity of wagon master. In the spring of 1864 he went to Illi- nois, residing in that state for one year. There he was employed by the maternal grandfather of W. J. Bryan, who often visited the farm with his mother, so that Henry Gorham and the Nebraska statesman
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became great friends. Mr. Bryan still remembers "Aunt Henry," whom as a child he so named, for he had a number of aunts but no uncles and was familiar only with the former relationship. In 1896, when William J. Bryan met Mr. Gorham at Pendleton, Oregon, he insisted that the latter accompany him to Walla Walla, where they chanced to meet the lady who was Mr. Bryan's godmother.
In 1865 Mr. Gorham became one of a party who had planned and had begun journeying toward the west with ox-teams. The party steadily increased in numbers while en route but was detained at Fort Kearney until the train numbered one hundred and twenty teams, when the journey was continued. The emigrants reached their destina- tion with comparatively little trouble, and Mr. Gorham took up his abode in Baker City, Oregon, where he engaged in the business of freighting, hauling goods between Umatilla and Boise City, Idaho, until 1867. In that year he purchased a tract of land near Baker City and followed both farming and freighting until the fall of 1870, when he abandoned the latter business. Disposing of his farm, he took up some hay land near North Powder and was engaged in the cattle business for about four years. On the expiration of that period he purchased farm land on Wolf Creek, Union county, and has here since devoted his attention to farming and to the raising of sheep and horses. His home place comprises four hundred and eighty acres and is devoted to wheat, oats, barley and hay, of which he raises large quantities. In the stock business he has won enviable success as a breeder of registered Percheron horses and also of sheep. Mr. Gor- ham owns other land in the Powder River valley and has one hun- dred and sixty acres on Wolf Creek in Baker county. His holdings embrace altogether over one thousand acres of land, a large per cent of which is irrigated, including practically his entire home farm of four hundred and eighty acres. There are three artesian wells on the home ranch, one being only sixty-five feet deep and another reach- ing a depth of one hundred and ninety-eight feet. The family or- chard has always borne well but Mr. Gorham has not devoted any at- tention to the fruit business. In connection with his agricultural in- terests he carries on a general merchandising establishment at North Powder and in the conduct of this enterprise has won a well merited measure of prosperity.
In 1870 Mr. Gorham was united in wedlock to Miss Mary Ann Nation, who was born in Nebraska and who lost her father in in- fancy. Unto our subject and his wife were born the following chil- dren: William H., who is a resident of North Powder; Mary Lucy, now Mrs. John W. Haines, of North Powder; Charles Edward, who
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is deceased; Mrs. Virginia Poland, who resides on Wolf Creek; Al- bert Franklyn, who is still living on the homestead; Carrie Ann, who is now Mrs. Robert Stockweather and makes her home on Wolf Creek; Arthur and Oscar A., both at home; Harvey E., living on Willow Creek; and Bryan Jennings, and Vermont, who are also yet under the parental roof.
In politics Mr. Gorham is a stanch democrat. He has served his district as a member of the school board and has also been a member of the North Powder council. It was against his wishes that he was elected county surveyor, for he is an extremely busy man and has not felt that he should accept public office. For twenty-five years he has been a member in good standing of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is the happy possessor of a veteran's emblem. He also belongs to the Farmers Union. He is now in the seventy-sixth year of his age and has spent the greater part of his life in the north- west, with the annals of which he is largely familiar and with the de- velopment of which he has been prominently identified.
War abernethy
William Abernethy
ILLIAM ABERNETHY is one of the venerable W citizens of Forest Grove, having attained the age of eighty years. Much of this period has been spent in Oregon and in the improvement of his business opportunities here he has won success that now en- ables him to live retired. His birth occurred in New York city, September 16, 1831. His father, George Abernethy, was also a native of the American metropolis, born October 7, 1807, and there he acquired his education. In early manhood he wedded Anne Pope, who was born in Plymouth, England, September 10, 1811. Their wedding was celebrated in New York, January 21, 1830, and the remains of both now rest in Riverview cemetery of Portland, Oregon, the father having died in that city May 2, 1877. The mother, however, passed away in New York city, April 30, 1884, but her re- mains were brought back to this state for interment. In the family were two children, the younger being Annie Abernethy, who became the wife of General H. C. Hodges, of the United States army who is now retired and lives in Buffalo, New York. His wife passed away in Washington, D. C., April 31, 1911. General Hodges is a grad- uate of the West Point Military Academy and was stationed first in the Indian Territory and later in Vancouver, Washington, where he served as adjutant of the Fourth Infantry. Subsequently he was transferred to California and afterward to Philadelphia.
Few residents of Oregon have resided within the borders of this state for a longer period than William Abernethy, who came to the northwest in 1840 when but nine years of age, landing at Vancouver, Washington, on the 1st of June, 1840, after having made the long voyage around Cape Horn on the ship Lausanne. His father came to the Pacific coast as secular agent of Methodist missions and was stationed first at Salem and afterward at Oregon City, assisting in building the Methodist church at the latter place. He also erected the first brick store in Oregon City, it being the second brick build- ing in the entire state. He was very prominent as a factor in the early progress and upbuilding of this section of the country and was chosen the first provisional governor of Oregon Territory for two terms of four years. That he filled the office most capably is in-
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dicated by the fact that he was reelected while on a trip to the Sand- wich islands. Following the expiration of his second term and his retirement from office, he owned and operated the Linn City (Oregon) Works, a flourmill and sawmill, and when that business was burned out he turned his attention to the commission business in Portland, where he resided up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was sixty-six years of age.
Brought to the northwest in his early boyhood. William Aber- nethy largely acquired his education in Willamette University. Later he went to California, in 1849, attracted by the discovery of gold in that state. He next made his way to New York city, where he spent three years as a student in the James McEllicott School. He next became a student in the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massa- chusetts in which he spent three years and later matriculated for a three years' course in the scientific department of Yale Univer- sity, completing his studies within the classical walls of that old institution in 1853. In the same year he returned to the Pacific coast, making his way to Oregon City, after which he began farm- ing at Green Point. He next went to Portland, where he en- gaged in assaying for George Collier Robbins, of that city. . He sub- sequently spent a year at The Dalles and another year at Boise, after which he returned to Portland, where he established a packing busi- ness and bag factory. Here he suffered losses through fire, the fac- tory being totally destroyed, after which he removed to Abernethy Heights, near Oswego, Oregon, where he lived for about a quarter of a century, and then sold his property there, comprising one hun- dred and sixty and a third acres, to a syndicate. This is now one of the most beautiful residence districts in the vicinity of Portland. For a year thereafter he resided in Rose city, and in August, 1891, re- moved to Coos county, where he continued until 1904. In that year he came to Forest Grove, where he still resides, resting now in the en- joyment of the fruits of his former toil and the handsome competence which he has gained through his investments.
On the 25th of June, 1863, Mr. 'Abernethy was married to Miss Sarah F. Gray, who was born November 25, 1843, at the mission near Salem, Oregon. Her father, William H. Gray, was born in New York state in December, 1810, and came to Oregon in 1836, with Dr. Marcus Whitman, engaging in missionary work. In early life he had been apprenticed to the cabinet makers' trade and later had studied medicine for three years, but ill health forced him to abandon his studies and go to the mountains. It was at this time that he associated himself with the American Board of Missions and this led to his re-
Sarah 7. themethy.
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moval to the Pacific coast. When he severed his connection with the missions he went to Clatsop Plains where he rendered medical aid to those in need of such service. At length he went east to buy sheep for himself and farmers in that locality. He brought the sheep across the plains to Portland, where he put them on flat boats to be taken to their destination, but a storm came up and wrecked the boats, so that all of the sheep were drowned, Mr. Gray thus losing everything that he had for he invested his entire fortune in the sheep. He at once sought employment in other ways, accepting anything that he could find to do in order that he might properly care for his family and re- trieve his fortune. Going to Astoria he built a house and kept board- ers. Later he removed to Fort Hope, on the Frazier river in Brit- ish Columbia and built a sloop, after which he engaged in freighting between Fort Hope and Fort Yale, remaining at that point for two years, or in 1859 and 1860. He afterward built a sloop called the Sarah F. Gray, which he brought down the Columbia river. In July, 1861, he went to Portland and afterward to The Dalles and engaged in freighting on the Columbia and Snake rivers. Again he turned to Astoria and took up his abode upon a farm where his wife died, while he passed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. J. Kamm, in Port- land.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Abernethy were born thirteen children of whom three died in early life: George Henry, who passed away at the age of ten years; Mary, who died at the age of one year; and Priscilla, at the age of three years. The others are: Anna May, the wife of B. W. Starr, of Tacoma, Washington, in the office of the Shasta Limited; Caroline A., the wife of the Rev. H. F. Burgess, of Sunnyside, Washington; William Gray, who was in Alaska for eleven years and is now a mining engineer living in Tacoma, Wash- ington; Edwin P. S. A., who is running a mill in Coos county ; Violet O. G., the wife of Bennett Swanton, a lawyer of Marshfield, Oregon; Daisy S. F., who is the twin sister of Violet and the wife of Archie Hahn, of Whitman College, of Walla Walla, Washington; Pearl Dunning, the wife of M. C. Miller, of Dora, Oregon; Frances Mary, the wife of A. T. Hahn, a mining engineer with the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company of Portland; Camilla D., at home; and Mizpah I., the wife of Virgil E. Waterman, of Welches, Oregon.
Such in brief is the history of William Abernethy, yet it tells lit- tle of his real experiences for he lived in this state long before its admission to the Union. At the time of his arrival here the major part of the great forests were uncut, the natural resources of the state were unimproved and the Indians far outnumbered the white settlers.
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Here and there a little settlement was to be seen and the seeds of civilization planted by the early residents have born rich fruit. Mr. Abernethy has not only been an interested witness of all the changes which have occurred as the years have gone by, but has ever borne his part in the work of public improvement and upbuilding.
W.r. wright
William Thomas Jalright
ILLIAM THOMAS WRIGHT, known to the W pioneers of eastern Oregon as Tom Wright, has lived in Union continuously since 1865 and with the passing years his activity and his usefulness have increased, placing him among the most prominent and valued residents of this part of the state. He has at different times been connected with merchandise and milling, and since 1883 has been continuously connected with the First Na- tional Bank as cashier and president.
Mr. Wright was born in Mount Carmel, Illinois, July 28, 1845, a son of George and Naomi (Ulm) Wright, the former a native of Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, and the latter of Ohio. The paternal grandfather, Thomas Wright, always remained a resident of England and there passed away when his son George was twelve years of age. In the maternal line W. T. Wright comes of German ancestry. His great-grandfather was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and came to America with the Hessian soldiers who were hired by King George III to do battle with the colonists in the Revo- lutionary war. Learning much of conditions which here existed he deserted the English army and joined the American forces, allying his interests forever afterward with the people of the new world. The war over he settled in Pennsylvania, where he remained until his death. His son, Edward Ulm, the grandfather of W. T. Wright, removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio and later to Illinois, taking up his abode near Mount Carmel. He there engaged in farming and also devoted part of his time to preaching the gospel.
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