Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 105

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 946

USA > Oregon > Multnomah County > Portland > Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present > Part 105

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ATWATER S. HATCH. Typical of the present and prospective prosperity of Cornelius is the busy blacksmithing and wagon-making es- tablishment of Atwater S. Hatch, a very enter- prising and successful member of the community. Mr. Hatch comes originally from Columbiana county, Ohio, where he was born February 19,

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1854, and where he spent a portion of his youth. His father, Atwater H. Hatch, a carpenter by trade, left his little home three weeks after the birth of his namesake, and started across the plains to find a more comfortable home for him- self and family. What became of this ambitious father no one knows, for he was never more heard of by those who waited for years for some word of him. Undoubtedly he was the victim of some Indian arrow, or died of cholera or other illness.

Whatever the fate of the head of the family. there was a wife and four children dependent upon the little he had left them, and their own in- dividual efforts. In 1857 the mother took her children to DeKalb county, Ill., where she lived for some time, and where she was united in mar- riage with Jacob Faust. At present she is over ninety years of age. The beginning of the in- dependence of her son Atwater was during his fourteenth year, and from then on he lived in different parts of the country, engaging in such occupations as came his way. Tired at last of roaming, he went to Jo Daviess county, Ill., at the age of seventeen, and there learned the black- smith's trade, which he followed in the same place until 1876. In Norton county, Kans., he homesteaded a one hundred and sixty acre claim and combined the management of the same with the application of his trade. In 1880 he started a blacksmithing shop in Vesta, Neb., and at the end of two years removed his business to Crab Orchard, the same state. In 1886 Mr. Hatch took up his residence in Walla Walla county, Wash., and at Prescott started a shop which he ran for two years. His next location proved to be Cornelius, with the growth of which he has since been identified.

In 1881 Mr. Hatch was united in marriage with Mary E. Miller, of which union there have been born four children: Jessie, Frank, Pearl, and Charles. Mr. Hatch has attained to con- siderable prominence as a promoter of Republican principles, and has served the community most satisfactorily as village councilman. He is ener- getic and thoroughly reliable, and his friends and associates have the greatest confidence in his business ability and personal honor.

FRED HOWITT. A typical English-Ameri- can who has succeeded in realizing many of his expectations in Multnomah county, and who has to his credit an exemplary record as a soldier during the Civil war, is Fred Howitt, extensively engaged in market garden- ing and fruit raising near Russellville. He was born in Yorkshire, England, May 23, 1839. and is one of the six children of Richard and Eliza

(Ray) Howitt, natives also of England. The family fortunes were shifted to America in 1851, in which year the parents and children embarked in a vessel belonging to the Blackstone line, and were five weeks and four days upon the deep. After landing in New York harbor the elder Howitt, who was a stone cutter by trade, found employment in New York and Brooklyn for a couple of months, after which he worked at his trade in Buffalo, N. Y., for nine months. In Car- roll county, Ill., he lived for a time, and after residing for three years in Lisbon, Iowa, removed to Benton county, the same state, where he farmed for ten years. Mr. Howitt was a moderately successful man, and endeared himself to many by his fine and satisfying personal characteristics. His death occurred in Mount Tabor, after years of industrious application to trade and farming interests.

From his father Fred Howitt learned the stone mason's trade, and while living in Iowa attended the public schools. The first interruption in an otherwise uneventful existence was inaugurated by the Civil war, when he left his work and fam- ily August 15, 1862, and enlisted as a private in Company D, Thirty-first Iowa Volunteer Infan- try, for three years. The first engagement of the regiment at Vicksburg was followed by many others of equal moment, and Mr. Howitt served under Grant and Sherman through their mem- orable siege. From Tennessee the regiment was sent into Georgia after Hood, and then joined the throng who marched seven hundred miles to Atlanta, Ga. With Sherman he marched to Savannah, Ga., and from there boarded a gunboat for Beaufort Island. S. C., from which place they marched to Raleigh, N. C., the last en- gagement of the regiment. From Richmond the noble soldiers were sent to Washington, D. C., where they were among the weary and travel stained band who marched up Pennsylvania avenue in the Grand Review.

After returning to civilian life Mr. Howitt worked at his trade in Iowa until 1871, in which year he came to Oregon and settled near Mount Tabor, upon land leased from Plympton Kelly. During the eight years thus spent he not only made great headway from a financial standpoint, but was able to meet an indebtedness of $500 contracted in order to come west. The fifth year of his residence on this farm he made $2,000, and the same year bought the thirty acres of land upon which he now lives, and the following year bought ten acres more. In 1880 lie built a house upon his property, and moved thereon in 1882. The property was originally dense timber. which, under the industrious ap- plication of Mr. Howitt, has been converted into fine farm and fruit land. especially adapted to market gardening. All kinds of fruits develop

R. E. WILEY.

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under the watchful care of the present owner, and his venture has long since passed the experi- mental stage.

The marriage of Mr. Howitt and Mary Carter occurred in the fall of 1867, and of this union there have been born three children, Thomas, who lives at Gresham; George; and Myrtie, the latter the wife of Lucien Lewis. In political affiliation Mr. Howitt is a Republican, but has never entered actively into office seeking. He is one of the representative men of his county, and is entitled to the consideration due his hon- orable efforts and unquestioned public spirited- ness.

WILLIAM V. WILEY. Before time and space were practically annihilated by railroad travel, when rivers were unbridged, when for- ests were difficult to penetrate and mountains hard to climb, the Wiley family was established in Oregon amid pioneer surroundings which de- manded courage and perseverance from the early settlers. John Wiley, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Ireland, June 22, 1781, and after crossing the Atlantic he became a resident of Carthage, Ohio. He married Ann Ricketts, who was born in Maryland, December 20, 1787, and his death occurred August 2, 1834. While they were living at Carthage, Capt. Richard Evett Wiley, the father of our subject, was born, his natal day being September 23, 1823. In the year 1845 he emigrated to Oregon, traveling with ox-train which was six months upon the way. In the meantime, however, he had removed to Burlington, Iowa, settling there in 1839. after which he served an apprenticeship to the printer's trade under James G. Edwards, editor of the Burlington Hawkeye. He served for five years and was then given a letter of recommendation by Mr. Edwards. On coming to Oregon he located in Washington county and became a com- positor on the Oregon and American Evangelical Unionist, published by the Rev. Mr. Griffin, on a farm three miles north of Hillsboro, the first edi- tion of the paper appearing in June, 1848. It was the first journal published in Hillsboro and is said to have been the first paper published in the state. If this is so Mr. Wiley set the first type on the first journal of Oregon. He was also employed as a compositor in the office of the Oregonian in an early day and later he engaged in the livery business in Portland and carried the mail during the Yakima Indian war, in 1855- 56, between Portland and Cascade. He was ap- pointed an aid-de-camp with the rank of captain on the staff of Brigadier-General Stephen Cof- fin. by Governor Gibbs, and for eight years he served either as deputy sheriff or sheriff of Washington county, which then embraced not

only the Washington county of the present day but also Multnomah, Clackamas, Columbia and Yamhill counties. His headquarters were then in Hillsboro and while he was acting as deputy under W. H. Bennett, the first hanging in the county occurred.

After his retirement from office Captain Wiley engaged in the grocery business on Main street, in Hillsboro, and later in the liquor business. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias and Masonic fraternity and in politics was a pro- nounced Republican. One incident in his life worthy of note and showing the courageous spirit and strength of character of Captain Wiley was his arrest of General Grant. He was then serv- ing as sheriff and arrested the general at Van- couver for non-payment of a draft, bringing him to Hillsboro, where the general agreed to dis- charge his indebtedness. The captain died May 27, 1889, and thus passed away a historic figure of the early pioneer history of Oregon. His wife. who bore the maiden name of Mary J. Baldra. was born on Sauvie's Island, in 1840, a daughter of William Baldra, who was born in Norfolk, England, and in September. 1839, came to Ore- gon with the Hudson Bay Company, with which he was connected for five years. He left England in 1836, landing at Fort York, on Hudson Bay. From there he traveled up the Red river to Fort Garry, now Winnipeg, mostly on snow shoes. Two years later he started for Vancouver, and finally, in 1839, reached Oregon. He secured a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres of land in Washington county, and made many im- provements thereon. His death occurred in Hillsboro. Mrs. Wiley still survives the captain and is living in Newberg. Yamhill county. She was married a second time and is now Mrs. Wiley Edwards. By the first marriage there were six children : W. D., a resident of Lewis- ton, Idaho; Mrs. Anna M. McDonald, of New- berg, Ore .; William V., of this review; Mrs. Ella Meade, of Grant's Pass, Ore .; Dora, the wife of Judge Waters, of Corvallis, Benton county, this state ; and Benemma, of Newberg.

William V. Wiley was born in Hillsboro, August 7, 1861, and was here reared and edu- cated. When seventeen years of age he entered the employ of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, at Portland, as trainman, serving as brakeman for a year, and at the age of nineteen promoted to the position of conductor. When twenty years of age he entered the service of the Northern Pacific Railroad in Washington, was afterward with the Southern Pacific Railroad and then with the Oregon Pacific Company, his rail- road service covering ten years.

In 1888 Mr. Wiley left the road and was mar- ried in Portland August 21, 1890, to Miss Kate M. Mckinney, a native of Walla Walla, Wash.,

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and a daughter of Charles Mckinney, who was born in Wayne county. Ind., February 1, 1830, and a granddaughter of William McKinney. The last named, after residing for a time in the Hoosier state, removed to Des Moines, Iowa, and in 1845 started with his family for Oregon. The father of Mrs. Wiley, then a boy of about fifteen years, drove an ox-team across the coun- try. The party he accompanied was on the fam- ous "Meeks cut-off." His shoes wearing out long before he reached his destination, he completed the journey through the Cascade mountains bare- footed, and after six months of traveling reached the Sunset state. He was an excellent shoe- maker, however, and was thus enabled to provide himself with shoes when he could obtain leather from which to make them. In Washington county, however, he followed farming principally and to some extent he engaged in shoemaking. He died at the home of his son in Baker county, Ore., June 11, 1902, and was laid to rest in the Hillsboro cemetery. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Brattain. was born Octo- ber 20, 1840, in Van Buren county, Iowa, and with her parents came to the northwest, where she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Mckinney, January 15, 1857. Her death occurred in 1867. In their family were three children: Edward, who is a stockman of Gilliam county, Ore .; Charles V., a farmer of Baker county, Ore .; and Mrs. Wiley. On the paternal side she was re- lated to General Montgomery, the noted military leader of the war of 1812. By her marriage she became the mother of one son, Richard Evett.

After retiring from railroad work Mr. Wiley engaged in the retail liquor business and was afterward interested in the livery business for seven years, from 1886, as a member of the firm of Wiley & Dennis. They built the large barn at the corner of Second and Washington streets. Mr. Wiley' is also connected with the board of trade, of which he is treasurer. He belongs to the Elks lodge at Portland, the Knights of Pythias frater- nity and is connected with its Uniform Rank, of which he is the treasurer. He also has membership relations with the Ancient Order of United Work- men and the Degree of Honor, and his wife be- longs to the Rathbone Sisters, of which she has been an officer, and of the Degree of Honor. In politics he is a Republican, has served as a mem- ber of the county committee and has been the vice president of the Republican club. He has been a delegate to the congressional and state conventions and is a man of considerable influ- ence in the party ranks. His interest in the party is manifest in his helpful support, which arises from his firm belief in the organization as containing the best elements of good gov- ernment.

HON. SAMUEL R. HUGHES. Among the eminent men of the northwest whose life record forms an integral part of the history of Oregon, was numbered Hon. Samuel R. Hughes. In his death the state lost one of its most distinguished citizens. As the day, with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity, its even- ing of completed and successful efforts ending in the grateful rest and quiet of the night, so was the life of this honored man. His career was a long, busy and useful one marked by the utmost fidelity to the duties of public and private life and crowned with honors conferred upon him in recognition of superior merit. His name is inseparably interwoven with the annals of the Pacific coast, with its development and its stable progress, and his memory is cherished as that of one who made the world better for his having lived.

A native of Missouri, Samuel R. Hughes was born in Cooper county July 5, 1835. His father, John W. Hughes, was born in Tennessee in 1809, and the ancestry can be traced back to Ireland, whence representatives of the name came to America prior to the war which brought independence to the nation. It was Satawhite Hughes, the great-grandfather of our subject, who founded the family in this country. His father also bore the name of Satawhite and the son having come to the new world espoused the cause of liberty at the time when the colonists threw off the yoke of British oppression. His son, the grandfather, also bore the name of Sata- white Hughes and was the father of John W. Hughes. The last named was married in Mis- souri in 1833, to Miss Susan Williams, a native of Tennessee, and they became the parents of seven children, of whom Samuel R. Hughes was the second in order of birth. Three of the num- ber are yet living.

In the state of his nativity Samuel R. Hughes spent the days of his childhood and youth, gain- ing a practical education in the common schools and afterward working upon the home farm, so that he became thoroughly familiar with the labors of field and meadow. When he had at- tained his majority he left Missouri for Texas and in that state followed blacksmithing, a trade he had learned in St. Louis, and was also em- ployed as an engineer on many of the boats which plied up and down the Mississippi river. He resided at Galveston, Tex., for a short time, being employed in a foundry, while later he was engaged in the construction of sugar mills and in their operation carried on business from 1852 until 1856. Attracted by the discovery of gold in California he then made his way to the Pa- cific coast, following the Panama route, and when he had reached the Golden Gate proceeded into the interior of California and engaged in mining

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in several counties. Finding that rather an un- profitable venture, however, he returned to San Francisco, where for some time he was employed in a foundry. Later he was engaged in the coast survey under Colonel Fairfield. When that work was completed he became a resident of Oregon, arriving in Portland on the 14th of November, 1857, the day on which the state constitution was adopted. Beginning work at his trade in Portland, Mr. Hughes was there employed until the succeeding March, when lic came to Forest Grove and at once became an active factor in the development of this place, establishing a blacksmith shop here. He contin- ued to carry on business in that line with a fair degree of success until 1864, when, attracted by gold discoveries in Idaho, he made his way to that state and for two years operated engines in quartz mills.

After his return to Oregon Mr. Hughes pur- chased one hundred and sixteen acres of land adjoining Forest Grove and built thereon a home which he occupied up to the time of his death. In his farming operations he prospered and his place became a valuable tract of two hundred and eighty-six acres. A man of resourceful busi- ness ability, he also extended his efforts into other lines. In 1872 he opened a hardware store in Forest Grove, where he prospered so much in his business that four years later he was en- abled to erect a business block of his own, 26x 100 feet. This he supplied with a large stock of shelf and heavy hardware, stoves and farm implements, and secured an excellent trade, which increased as the years passed by. This was the first hardware establishment in Forest Grove, and at the time of his death Mr. Hughes was the oldest merchant in years of continuous con- nection with business interests here. He became one of the organizers of the Electric Light Com- pany and Cannery Company and whatever he undertook lie carried forward to successful com- pletion. His interests, too, were of such a na- ture that they not only contributed to his indi- vidual success, but likewise promoted general prosperity.

February 17, 1859, Mr. Hughes was united in marriage to Miss Georgia A. Reid, a native of Lincoln county, Mo., and a daughter of James H. Reid, who was born in Kentucky. Her grandfather, George Reid, removed from Ken- tucky to Lincoln county, Mo., there becoming a farmer. James H. Reid also carried on agricul- tural pursuits in Missouri until 1850, when he determined to seek a home in the far north- west, and accompanied by his wife and three children he made his way to Oregon, the jour- ney being accomplished with a wagon drawn by oxen. For seven months they were upon the plains and amid the mountainous districts which

separated their destination from their old home, but they finally reached Milwaukee, Ore., where they passed the winter. In the spring Mr. Reid secured a donation claim nine miles from Port- land, in Washington county, now known as the Perkins place, and for many years he was en- gaged in its cultivation and improvement, but at length sold his farming property and took up his abode in Portland, where he spent his re- maining days. He married Sarah J. Kelly, a native of Maryland and of Scotch-Irish descent. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Reid was a Republican in his politics. He died in the city of Portland, while his wife passed away in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Hughes, when about sixty-six years of age. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Reid were born ten children, six sons and four daughters, of whom two daughters and one son are yet living, the brother and sister of Mrs. Hughes being residents of Montana. She was the third oldest of her fam- ily and came with her parents across the plains in 1850, living in Washington county under the parental roof until the time of her marriage, which was celebrated upon the old home farm. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hughes has been blessed with nine children, six of whom are yet living. The family record is as follows: Ada B., deceased, became the wife of A. B. Todd; Eugene is a resident of London, England; Sam- uel G. was formerly in partnership with his father, but is now manager of a hardware store, and in addition owns the local telephone ex- change of Forest Grove; George R. is connected with the Wiley B. Allen Company of San Fran- cisco, Cal .; John Wilbur follows farming near Forest Grove; Elva S., deceased, became the wife of William W. Gordon; Grace is the wife of Eugene E. Larimore of Seattle: Georgia May is the wife of D. Rufus Cheney, and Alice died in infancy.

In his political views Mr. Hughes was a stal- wart Republican, having firm faith in the prin- ciples of his party and doing everything in his power for its advancement and success. He filled a number of local offices in a most capable manner and while serving upon the school board the present fine school house of Forest Grove was erected. About 1895 he was appointed re- gent of the State College at Corvallis, by Gov- ernor Lord, and was filling that position at the time of his demise. In 1896, on the Republican ticket, he was elected to represent his district in the state senate and became an active and hon- ored member of the upper house of the general assembly, leaving the impress of his individual- ity on much of the legislation enacted during his incumbency. For three terms he served as mayor of Forest Grove and was also a member of the city council. No public trust reposed in

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him was ever betrayed in the slightest degree, for he labored industriously and effectively for the general good, placing the welfare of his country before partisanship and the good of his community before personal aggrandizement. Long a devoted member of the Masonic frater- nity, his life exemplified its helpful teachings and brotherly spirit, and when he was called to his final rest upon the 5th day of April, 1898, he was buried with Masonic honors. For about a month prior to his demise he was in ill health. His death was deeply regretted throughout the entire community, for all who knew him re- spected and honored him. He had prospered in business and had won an untarnished reputation by honorable methods, while in matters of citizen- ship, whether in office or out of it, he had la- bored indefatigably and effectively for the gen- eral good. Since her husband's death, Mrs. Hughes has continued the business in Forest Grove and rents the farm property adjoining the city. She belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star, in which she served for three years as worthy matron, and formerly she was connected with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She holds membership in the Congregational Church and her life is in consistent harmony with her Christian professions.

IV. F. YOUNG, for many years one of the well known and highly respected farmers of Clackamas county, was born in Harrison county, Mo., September 28, 1862, and is a son of W. S. and Isabel ( Bailey ) Young. W. S. Young was born in Indiana, January 12, 1831, and when quite young removed with his parents to Mis- souri. For many years the various heads of the family had been farmers, and they were invari- ably creditable and even developing acquisitions of their time and place. While still in Missouri Mr. Young married, and thereafter engaged in farming and mining with considerable success. He was ambitious of larger chances than pre- sented themselves in the middle west, and in 1865 crossed the plains with ox-teams and wagons, settling first near Tualatin. Washington county, Ore. After a year Mr. Young purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land in Clacka- inas county, where his widow and two sons now live, and which at the time was thoroughly wild and uncultivated. As he cleared the ground various crops were put in and developed in the fertile soil, and in 1884 he inaugurated hop rais- ing on an extensive scale, an occupation in which he was much interested at the time of his death in 1898. Mr. Young was a Democrat in political affiliation, and among the offices to which he de- voted much time and interest were those of road supervisor and school director. Four sons were

born to himself and wife: M. C., living on a farm near Wilsonville; J. P., living on a farm three miles south of Sherwood; W. F. and G. S. who are living on the home place.

Since the death of their father, W. F. and G. S. Young have had charge of the paternal farin, which is three miles south of Sherwood, and of which seventy-five acres are now cleared. Mr. Young lived at home until his marriage with Jennie Todd, a native of Missouri, who came to Oregon with her parents, A. P. and Lucy Todd, of Scotch and French descent respectively. After their marriage the young people went to house- keeping on the home farm, which now consists of one hundred and sixty acres, and which is devoted principally to hop culture, mixed farm- ing and the raising of Guernsey cattle and stand- ard bred trotting horses. Mr. Young is a prac- tical, scientific farmer, and the property improved by himself and father bears many evidences of admirable and business sagacity. He is one of the intelligent and well informed men of this sec- tion, having received his education in the pub- lic schools and at the normal school at Mon- mouth, thereafter engaging in educational work for six winters, his summers being devoted to work on the farm.

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Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 105

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 946

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 946