USA > Oregon > Oregon, pictorial and biographical > Part 22
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In 1901 Mr. Laughlin was called upon to mourn the death of his first wife, who died February 11 at the age of sixty-three years. In 1904 he married Miss Ama Brown and by this union has one child, Lee Laughlin, Jr., born October 23, 1905. The family now reside in a very fine home, which is one of the most beautiful residences of Yamhill and adds much to the attractiveness of the city.
Mr. Laughlin's influence has been felt throughout the state of Oregon. As an agriculturist, a merchant, a banker, a politician, a legislator, and as a citizen he has held the confidence of all with whom he came in contact, and this confidence has never been mis- placed. To such men as Mr. Laughlin a community and a state owe a lasting debt which can be partially eradicated by grateful appreciation and by a continuance of the valuable and broad lines of work their activities have established.
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Samuel JU. Jones
AMUEL W. JONES, who resides two miles south S of Gervais on the old Stage road, is the owner of two thousand acres of valuable land. His birth occurred in Indiana, on the 17th of November, 1850, his parents being Silas W. R. and Elizabeth (Allen) Jones, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Indiana. The parents were married in the Hoosier state, where they resided until 1853, when they started across the plains. After they arrived in Oregon they settled in Marion county, on the Michael Dougherty donation claim. Afterward Mr. Jones purchased a squatter's right of a donation land claim of three hundred and twenty acres situated four miles southeast of Gervais. This was their home until 1862, when he purchased another claim of six hundred and forty acres two miles south of Gervais, where he resided until 1890, when he returned to Indiana. He passed away, in November, 1911, at Kokomo, at the age of ninety-seven years, his wife having died in 1890, when seventy-two years of age. They were the parents of a very large family, eight of whom survive, namely: Mrs. H. K. Hunsaker, of Portland, Oregon; Silas A., a resident of Brooks, Oregon; M. L., who is also living in Brooks; Samuel W., the subject of this review; Mrs. Emma Simmons, of Gervais; Mrs. Sarah Clark, a resident of Portland; and Harrison and Scott, twins, who are both residing in Gervais.
After finishing school Samuel W. Jones started in life for him- self at the age of eighteen years. His first farming enterprise was on rented land and he continued thereon for five years, at the end of which time he purchased a six hundred acre farm at Waldo Hills. For three years he was engaged in the cultivation and management of this farm before disposing of it and purchasing seven hundred acres on French prairie, which he occupied for seven years. At that time he purchased his present home of four hundred and fifty-six acres and has since added to it until he is at present the owner of two thousand acres, all located in Marion county, more than fifteen hundred of which is under cultivation. Mr. Jones is one of the most able and industrious farmers of Marion county. He has given his personal attention to all details of the development of his property
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and by careful study and management has made it one of the most profitable tracts in this district, so rich in agricultural resources.
On February 27, 1876, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Sarah E. Darland, whose birth occurred on the 18th of May, 1856, and who is a daughter of Samuel R. and Susanna (Hutton) Darland, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Kentucky. They were married in Indiana, where they resided for several years before removing to Iowa, where they lived until 1865, when they came overland to Oregon and settled in Waldo Hills, Marion county. This was their home until 1876, when they removed to the state of Washington, where their deaths occurred in 1903 and 1901 re- spectively. To them sixteen children were born, eleven of whom survive: Mrs. Mary A. Baker, of Forest Grove, Oregon; I. C., who resides in Goldendale, Oregon, and passed away March 18, 1912; Levi, who makes his home in San Francisco, California; Mrs. Harriett Bryson, of Garfield, Washington; Mrs. Amanda Alber- son, who is living in Alberson, Oregon; Mrs. Jones; Mrs. Alsey Gillmore, of North Yakima; Mrs. Loretta L. Stice, also a resident of North Yakima; James, who makes his home in Pullman, Wash- ington; George, who resides at Goldendale, Oregon; and Charles, of Arlington, Oregon. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones seven children have been born: Mrs. Bertha S. Hoover, born in 1876, who received a musical education and engaged in teaching for many years; Mrs. Jennie M. Collard, who was born in 1878 and now makes her home in Gervais; Mrs. Altha Naftzger, who was born in 1880 and also re- sides in Gervais; Sylva W., who was born in 1883 and is at home, a graduate of Willamette University, having taught school for three years; Mrs. Edna S. Ramp, of Brooks, Oregon' who also re- ceived a musical education; Samuel Paul, who was born in 1888 and makes his home with his parents; and Areta V., who was born in 1896 and is also at home. They have all been given more than ordinary advantages in education.
Mr. Jones gives his political support to the republican party and is thoroughly alive to the leading issues of the day. He is a member of the Masonic lodge of Gervais, in which he has filled all of the chairs, and he also holds membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Both he and his wife are affiliated with the Christian church, in whose circles they are both active and influen- tial. He is one of the largest landowners of Marion county and has proved his worth as an agriculturist by his close study of modern methods, by his careful attention to details and by his progressive- ness.
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Thomas 'f . Brattain
Thomas Jefferson Brattain
T HE specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave the per- petual record establishing his position by the con- sensus of public opinion. Judged in this light, Thomas Jefferson Brattain was one of the most prominent, influential and valued citizens who have lived in southern Oregon. He was very successful in his business undertakings and his life was fraught with many good deeds-the expression of his generosity and his deep interests in his fellowmen. He was born January 2, 1829, in Illinois, and was the second child of the Hon. Paul Brattain, who was a native of North Carolina. At an early day the latter removed to Tennessee when that state was a wilder- ness, became a resident of Illinois when it was a territory and went to Iowa when it was the "far west," settling on the broad prairie east of Keosauqua. Still he felt the lure of pioneer life, and in 1852 came to Oregon, taking up his abode upon a farm in Lane county, which he occupied to the time of his death. He became known throughout that section of the state as "Uncle Paul," a term expres- sive of his kindly nature and of the affectionate regard entertained for him by all who knew him. He was a man of much more than ordinary ability, as manifest in his business affairs and in his active connection with public life. He filled many positions of promi- nence, leaving the impress of his individuality upon the history of Illinois, Iowa and Oregon as a member of the constitutional con- ventions of those states. He served as county auditor of Lane county under the territorial government and for many years held the position of county agent. His plans were well formulated and carefully executed in office and in business life, and he carried for- ward to successful completion whatever he undertook. His family numbered ten children: John, who died in Baker, Oregon; Thomas J .; Alfred, who formerly lived near Springfield, Oregon, but who died in 1909; William, a resident of the Columbia River country; Marion, who died in Lane county, this state; Cyrus, who formerly lived on the old homestead in Lane county and died in September, 1912; Elizabeth, the deceased wife of James Ebert; Mary, who
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died in her father's home; Martha, the deceased wife of Robert Hadley; and Emillie, the wife of Frank Smith, of Jasper, Oregon.
Thomas J. Brattain accompanied his parents on their various removals and was a young man of twenty-one years when he came to the west. He had already become familiar with the various ex- periences of pioneer life in the different states where they had lived, his boyhood being largely passed in Van Buren county, Iowa, when it was a frontier district. It was in the spring of 1830, when twenty- one years of age, that he joined a wagon train proceeding westward. He walked most of the way, driving an ox team, and in the fall arrived in the placer fields of California, where he remained until the spring of 1851. Removing to western Oregon, he first settled in Linn county, but soon afterward went to Lane county, taking up his abode near Springfield. He purchased a tract of land there and at the time of his death was the owner of three hundred acres adjoining Springfield on the east, which is now the property of his widow. In 1869 he removed to Langells valley, in Klamath county, and in 1873 took up his abode in the Chewaucan valley, in Lake county, locating on the place where his remaining days were passed and where his widow now resides. He engaged in the cattle business, which he followed on the ranges of Lake and Klamath counties for more than forty years. He was still actively engaged in business with his sons at the time of his death. His en- terprise, determination and energy were ever strong features in his career and he moreover, displayed sound judgment, keen insight and unfaltering purpose. As the years went by his business affairs prospered, bringing him a very substantial and gratifying measure of success, and his dealings were ever characterized by the strictest principles of integrity and honor.
On the 30th of June, 1859, in Lane county, Oregon, Mr. Brat- tain was married to Miss Permelia Jane Gillespie, who was born in Lafayette county, Missouri, June 4, 1838, and in 1852 crossed the plains to Lane county with her parents, Jacob and Elmira (Hanna) Gillespie. She was married in the house which her father built on first coming to the west. He was a native of Sumner county, Tennessee, and died in Lane county, Oregon, at the vener- able age of eighty-seven years. Her mother had passed away in Missouri, in 1845, and the father afterward married Mrs. Amelia Wood Martin, whose death also occurred in Lane county, Oregon. There were seven children by the first marriage, of whom Mrs. Brat- tain was the fourth in order of birth. By her marriage she became the mother of four children, as follows: Celesta Maude, the wife of
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James Small, of Summer Lake, Lake county; Judge Elden Marcellus Brattain, a practicing attorney of Lakeview, who at one time was county judge and who is married and has two sons; and Hazen Adel- bert and Paul Jacob, who are partners in stock-raising interests in Lake county. The former resides on the ranch with his mother. He is a graduate of the State University of Oregon and is one of the most extensive stockmen of Lake county. He is also well known as the vice president of the First National Bank, of Lake- view, and as a leading and active republican who for one term has represented his district in the state legislature.
Thomas J. Brattain was also a prominent factor in political circles and earnestly advocated republican principles, believing that in the platform of the party were contained the best elements of good government. During the Civil war he served as sheriff of Lane county and afterward became the first sheriff of Lake county, filling that position when Lake and Klamath counties were one. In early life he took an active and helpful interest in educational affairs, gave to his children good opportunities in that direction and served on the school boards of both Lakeview and Paisley. He also assisted his neighbors in building a schoolhouse at the south end of the Chewaucan valley, it being at the time the only one between Prineville, Crook county, on the north and the Pine Creek district on the south. At that time the town of Lakeview had not sprung into existence and there were only a few hundred people in Lake county. The district as petitioned for included Chewaucan, Sum- mer Lake and Silver Lake.
Early in October, 1909, Mr. Brattain, while out on the hills gathering plums, suffered a slight stroke of paralysis from which he seemed never to fully recover. Later he incurred a cold which developed into pneumonia, and he passed away on his ranch, four miles south of Paisley, on the 3d of December, 1909, when almost eighty-one years of age. His was a well spent and honorable life which gained for him the high regard and respect of all who knew him. He was very generous to those in distress, having never been known to refuse assistance to anyone in need. His home was a hospitable one, displaying the spirit of old-time hospitality when "the latch- string was always out." He gave more money to the San Fran- cisco sufferers at the time of the earthquake than any other man in Lake county. He did not profess to be a religious man but the true spirit of Christian helpfulness and ministry was exemplified in his life. He ever made wise use of his time and opportunities, not only for the benefit of himself but for friends and neighbors and for the
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Thomas Jefferson Brattain
community at large. The world is better for his having lived and his life record constitutes an example well worthy of emulation. He established in Lake county one of her oldest, wealthiest and most prominent families and at his death he was able to leave to his widow and children a most handsome competence as the visible evidence of a well spent life, his acres and his cattle being numbered by the thousands.
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Henry .Spero
Henry Spores
ENRY SPORES is a representative of one of the H old and honored pioneer families of the Sunset state and is still the owner of five hundred acres of the original donation claim which was entered from the government by his father on coming to the Pacific coast. The greater part of his life has been passed in Oregon, for he was only about a year old when he came to the north- west. He was born in Illinois, February 6, 1846, and the following year the family made the long trip across the plains with a Flathead Indian as their guide, while the father, Jacob C. Spores, acted as captain of the wagon train with which they traveled. Amid pioneer conditions and surroundings Henry Spores was reared and his edu- cation was obtained in one of the old-time log schoolhouses of the frontier. When not busy with his text books he was assisting his father in the development of the donation land claim and continued at home until his marriage when he started out in life for himself. He built the house which he now occupies but still continued upon his father's ranch, devoting his energies to farming and stock-raising. He handled both cattle and horses and still raises stock. He has a well developed property, comprising five hundred acres of the original donation claim and one hundred and sixty acres adjoining, which he purchased. He also owns land in other localities, for he has made judicious investments in real estate, from which he derives a good income.
In February, 1868, in Coburg, Mr. Spores was united in marriage to Philena Monroe, a daughter of William and Margaret (Mann) Monroe, who came to Oregon in 1865. Her father was prominent in political circles here and was filling the office of state senator at the time of his death in 1872. The mother survived him for many years, reaching the advanced age of one hundred and two years ere she was called to her final rest on the 19th of February, 1911. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Spores seven are living: Edgar, Jacob, Carson, Walter, Elmer, Melvin and Ethel. Of these Elmer is now in Alaska. Those who have passed away are: Mrs. Leona Howard, of Pendleton, Oregon, who died at the age of thirty-five years; and
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Denry Spores
Harry and Bertha, both of whom were three years of age at the time of their demise.
Henry Spores votes with the republican party but has never sought nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs, which he directs with substantial success.
O.O. Cashow
hon. Oliver Perry Coshow
ON. OLIVER PERRY COSHOW, one of the H foremost members of the Douglas county bar, is also a leading factor in financial circles as the president of the Umpqua Valley Bank of Roseburg and has other connections which indicate his prominence and splendid ability. His birth occurred in Brownsville, Linn county, Oregon, on the 14th of August, 1863, his parents being Oliver P. and Sarah E. (Cochran) Coshow, who were natives of Indiana and Missouri respectively and both of whom were pioneer settlers of this state. It was in 1851 that the father crossed the plains with ox teams in company with R. B. Cochran, who later represented Lane county in the state senate and became president of that body. The mother crossed the plains with her parents in 1847. Oliver P. Coshow, Sr. located near Brownsville, Linn county, where he took up a claim which he sold a few years later to his father-in-law and then purchased a farm of Riley Duncan near Harrisburg, Linn county, a part of which he still owns. In 1869 he removed to Brownsville to engage in merchandising and subsequently became identified with the woolen mill industry. Abandoning his milling interests after a time, he again embarked in the merchandising business and was prominently connected therewith for several years. During the past ten years he has lived retired, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in well earned ease. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a worthy exemplar of the fraternity. He has resided in this state for more than six decades and during his active business career was numbered among the fore- most citizens of Brownsville. His wife's parents, on coming to Ore- gon, located a donation claim near Brownsville, which is still in posses- sion of the family, being now owned by William T. Cochran, a brother of Mrs. Sarah E. Coshow. The latter passed away on the 6th of March, 1903, when sixty-six years of age.
Oliver Perry Coshow was reared under the parental roof and sup- plemented his early education by a course of study in the University of Oregon. Before the completion of his college course, however, he was called home to look after the interests of his father, who had become ill. One year later he was made secretary of the Brownsville Woolen Mills Company, in which capacity he served for three years.
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Don. Oliver Perry Coshow
During that period he took up the study of law and in August 1889, went to Albany to complete his studies, entering the law offices of J. K. Weatherford, under whom he read until admitted to the bar in 1890. He remained with Mr. Weatherford for another year and in March, 1892, went to McMinnville, forming a partnership with O. H. Irvine for the practice of law under the firm style of Irvine & Coshow. This partnership was dissolved when, at the end of about five years, Mr. Coshow was appointed deputy district attorney, in which capacity he served for some ten months. On the 1st of April, 1897, he came to Roseburg, Oregon, where he has since been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession. As a lawyer he is sound, clear- minded and well trained. The limitations which are imposed by the constitution on federal powers are well understood by him. With the long line of decisions from Marshall down by which the constitution has been expounded, he is familiar, as are all thoroughly skilled lawyers. He is at home in all departments of the law, from the minutiæ in practice to the greater topics wherein is involved the con- sideration of the ethics and the philosophy of jurisprudence and the higher concerns of public policy. But he is not learned in the law alone, for he has studied long and carefully the subjects that are to the statesman and the man of affairs of the greatest import,-the questions of finance, political economy, sociology,-and has kept abreast of the best thinking men of the age. He is felicitous and clear in argument, thoroughly in earnest, full of the vigor of conviction, never abusive of his adversaries, imbued with highest courtesy, and yet a foe worthy of the steel of the most able opponent. His atten- tion, however, has not been confined altogether to his law practice. He was one of the organizers of the Umpqua Valley Bank and is now the president of that institution, and he is likewise a stockholder and director of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill Company, of Salem, Oregon.
On Christmas day of 1896 Mr.Coshow was united in marriage to Miss Libby Kay, a daughter of Thomas Kay, known as the pioneer woolen-mill man of the Pacific coast. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Coshow have been born five children, three of whom are still living, as follows: Minnie Hazel, who is the wife of K. H. Pickens, an agriculturist residing in Roseburg, Oregon; Leonore Dale and Bertha Leone, both of whom are yet at home. Elizabeth Kay, another daughter, passed away July 14, 1912. She was the wife of Dr. E. B. Stewart, a prominent physician of Roseburg, this state.
In politics Mr. Coshow is a stanch democrat. In 1904 he was elected to the state senate and after serving through two sessions or
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four years was tendered the nomination for reelection but declined to accept. In Masonry he has attained high rank, belonging to the following organizations: Laurel Lodge, No. 13, F. & A. M .; Rose- burg Chapter, No. 8, O. E. S., of which he was grand patron during the Lewis and Clark fair; Laurel Chapter, No. 31, R. A. M .; Ascalon Commandery, No. 14, K. T., of Roseburg; the Council, R. & S. M., of Eugene, Oregon; and Al Kader Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Portland. He is also a member of Rising Star Lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Roseburg and belongs to the United Artisans and the Woodmen of the World. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church and he has served as Sunday school superintendent for fifteen consecutive years and is president of the Baptist state convention. At this point it would be almost tautological to enter into any series of statements as showing Mr. Coshow to be a man of broad intelligence and genuine public spirit for these have been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. Strong in his individuality, he never lacks the courage of his convic- tions but there are as dominating elements in this individuality a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity, which, as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his character, have naturally gained for him the respect and confidence of men.
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I D. B. Lee and Marilla Les
oseph Dunn Bradford Lee
D URING the seventy-two years which made up the span of his life J. D. B. Lee attained a great degree of prominence in farming circles of Coos county and his death deprived that district of a valued and rep- resentative citizen. He was born in Iowa, December 11, 1830, and was the only surviving member of a family of nine children born to his parents. He resided in the state of his nativity until he came to Oregon. His history is intimately connected with the early development of that state and he was among the many pioneers who crossed the plains with ox teams and were influential factors in the upbuilding of the American northwest. Mr. Lee located first in Polk county, Oregon, where he made his home with his brother for one year. At the expiration of that time he removed to Douglas county and later to Jackson county. He finally located in Coos county, Oregon, and made this section his home from 1874 until his death, which occured December 24, 1902. He took up a homestead claim and was prominent in agricultural circles during his entire active life, with the exception of a short period when he operated a harness business. Even then he made this enterprise subservient to his farming. He was constantly adding to his hold- ings during his life and finally became the owner of four hundred acres of fine ranch land near Myrtle Point. His harness shop was still in operation at the time of his death but has since been sold by his widow. The agricultural interests of Coos county are the principal source of its wealth and prosperity and the life of Mr. Lee was a contributing factor in farm development. He was an expert agriculturist, keenly interested in modern ideas along this line and thoroughly versed in the details connected with his activities. His early days were spent among pioneer conditions but his later life was crowned with a degree of success which his labors justified. He served in the Indian war of 1855 and 1856 and his services merited the pension which his widow now receives.
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