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 64
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until the time of the Mexican war. By trade he was a carpenter and about 1846 he accom- panied his parents on their removal to New Or- leans, where all of the family died of cholera with the exception of Samuel Galbreath. He then enlisted in that city for service in the American army in the war against Mexico and as a private he went to the front and took part in a number of skirmishes. After the cessation of hostilities he became a resident of Iowa, where he followed farming until his marriage. It was in that state that he wedded Sarah Spen- cer, a native of Iowa, and there they lived until 1852, when they started for Oregon, traveling in the primitive manner of the times with an ox-team. They had six or ten yoke of oxen and also brought with them six or eight cows. It required six months to complete the trip, which was attended with many discomforts and some dangers, but eventually they reached their destination in safety. On arriving at The Dalles the father there left his cattle and other goods, as it was too late then to bring them across the mountains, and with his family he continued the journey to Portland on an old scow. Mr. Gal- breath remained in Oswego through the succeed- ing winter and in the spring returned for his cat- tle and wagons, but found that they had been stolen by the man in whose charge he had left them, so that he was forced to begin life anew in the far west without a cent and with no in- fluential friends to aid him. Bravely, however, he faced the situation and in course of time re- trieved his lost possessions. In 1853 he secured a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres of land in Washington county and to the development and improvement of his farm he gave his time and labor until his death. He took an active part in politics and in educational and church work and was a prominent and influential citizen of his day. His co-operation for the gen- eral good proved an effective and helpful fac- tor in the early development and later progress of his community and as one of the honored pio- neer settlers he deserves prominent mention. In the family were eight children who lived to mature years, while two died in infancy. The father passed away at the age of sixty-four years and the mother departed this life at the age of fifty-five years.
George Galbreath remained with his parents until he had attained the age of sixteen, when he started out to earn his own living. He gave the greater part of his wages to his parents until he was twenty years of age, thus assisting in the support of the younger members of the family. At the time he left home he made his way to Idaho, where he was engaged in mining and pros- pecting for about twelve years, and in 1877, fol- lowing his marriage, he took up his abode upon
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a farm near Tualatin, where he has since resided, establishing his home in the midst of the dense forest. He had one hundred and eight acres of land, all of which was covered with timber, and at once he began to clear away the trees and plow and plant the fields. As the years have passed this farm has been transformed into one ot the best equipped places of the neighborhood and Mr. Galbreath has very successfully carried on general farming and stockraising. He makes a specialty of the production of onions and this vegetable brings to him a good financial return.
In 1877 occurred the marriage of George Gal- breath and Miss Emma Walker, who came to this state in 1852. This marriage has been blessed with seven children : Bertha, now the wife of Ben Carpenter ; Nettie, Lottie, Effie, Martha, Olive, and Edna, all at home. For more than twenty years George Galbreath has served as a school director and has largely promoted the cause of education in this locality by advancing the standard of the schools. For four terms he served as road supervisor. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, to the United Artisans and to the Grange and is the in- surance representative of the last named. His study of the political questions and issues of the day has led him to ally himself with the Repub- lican party.
JOHN E. HEDGES was born October 22, 1857, on the farm which is still his home. His father, John E. Hedges, Sr., was a native of Virginia, born May 26, 1814, and with his par- ents he removed to Ohio when a small boy, the parents being farming people. In his early youth
of improvement assisted by his sons. He took a very active part in opening up the territory for civilization, was one of the leading promoters of educational interests here, and his labors were effective in advancing progress and improvement along other lines. He lived to be eighty-five years of age and his wife reached the age of seventy-five years.
John E. Hedges, whose name introduces this record, spent his youth under the parental roof, acquiring a common school education and early becoming familiar with all the duties that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. Throughout the greater part of his life he has carried on farming and is now largely engaged in raising onions, his large crops of that vegetable returning to him a good financial income.
Mr. Hedges was united in marriage in 1887 to Miss Mary I. Ford, who was born in Clacka- mas county, Ore., a daughter of Robert Ford, who came to the Sunset state in the year 1852 and settled near Oregon City. Here he wedded Rachel Bird, who had accompanied her parents on their emigration to the northwest in the year 1847, the family having also been established in Oregon City. Mr. and Mrs. Hedges took up their abode upon the old home farm at the time of their marriage and their home has been blessed with the presence of two children, Ralph and Clyde. Mr. Hedges belongs to the Woodmen of the World and he gives his political support to the Republican party, believing firmly in its prin- ciples. The neat and attractive appearance of Mr. Hedges' farm indicates his careful super- vision and his progressive methods of farming. His home is pleasantly located about three miles west of Tualatin and both he and his wife, being here a wide acquaintance.
he learned the blacksmith's trade and at the age . native citizens of this portion of the state, have of fourteen years he started out upon an inde- pendent business career and from that time for- ward earned his own living, receiving no assist- ance from his parents. After reaching mature SETH E. JOHNSON. Oregon has no stancher appreciator of its vast possibility than Seth E. Johnson, a resident of the state since 1874, and for many years a prominent builder, contractor and farmer. He was born in Oneida county, N. Y., December 14, 1831, and comes of a family long represented in the state of Con- necticut, where was born the paternal great- grandfather, Jonathan, as well as the paternal grandfather, another Jonathan, the latter of whom became one of the first settlers of Her- kimer county, N. Y. Simeon R. Johnson, the father of Seth E., was born in Fairfield, Her- kimer county, N. Y., and by occupation was a farmer and brick-mason. He latterly removed to Oneida county, N. Y., in 1828, where he pursued his combined interests of farming and masonry, and where he died at the age of seventy-three years. Louisa (Comstock) Johnson, the mother vears he married Catherine Fulton, who was born in Chio and was of English, German and Scotch lineage. In 1851 they left the Buckeye state and with ox-teams started for the Pacific coast, being upon the road for more than six months. They traveled across the hot, sandy plains and through the mountain passes, fording rivers and encounter- ing many hardships and dangers, but ultimately reaching Oregon, and took up their abode in Ore- gon City, where for a short time they conducted a hotel. The father then secured a donation claim upon a part of which our subject still re- sides. The original tract comprised three hun- dred and twenty acres, but has since been divided among the heirs. It was all covered with a dense forest growth when it came into the possession of Mr. Hedges, but with characteristic energy he began its development and continued the work
CHARLES MOEHNKE.
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of Seth E., was born in Oneida county, N. Y., a daughter of Levi Comstock, a native of Rhode Island, and a carpenter and builder in Oneida county during the greater part of his active life.
The oldest of the two children in his father's family. Seth E. Johnson attended the public schools and worked on the home farm, at the age of twenty-one apprentieing to a carpenter and builder, who was none other than his brother-in- law. In 1868 he removed to lowa, where he lived in Poweshiek and Linn counties until 1874, dur- ing which year he came to Portland, and engaged at his trade of contractor and builder for six years. At Sunnyside, Ore., in 1880, he purchased fifty acres of land in the bush, improved the same and built a residence, and has combined farming and building with great success. His farm is well equipped and housed, and in addition to gen- eral farming he raises fruit in a small orchard five years old.
In New York Mr. Johnson was united in mar- riage with Lydia Comstock, a native of New York state, and daughter of William Comstock, a farmer by occupation, who came to Oregon in 1875, being now deceased. Six of the children born of this union are living, while four are de- ceased : Lillian is the wife of Alexander Hunter ; Susette is now Mrs. J. H. Reed, of Douglas ; Elva is the wife of Alonzo Hunter ; Berton is de- ceased; Bertha is the wife of Joseph Deardorff ; George resides on a farm near Sunnyside; Le Roy lives at home ; Elmira and Elvira are twins : and Nellie is deceased. Mr. Johnson is inde- pendent in politics and for three years served as postmaster at Sunnyside. Since the death of his wife he has lived in his comfortable little home in Sunnyside. He is one of the popular and sub- stantial men of the community, and enjoys the respect of all who know him.
CHARLES MOEHNKE. The first settler of Willamette Falls was none other than Charles Moelinke, who came from the city of Portland with a sawmill, and has since operated the same with distinct advantage to the community. This busy mill, located on the banks of the Willam- ette, has a present capacity of twenty thousand feet of lumber per day, and is equipped with the latest machinery known in milling circles. The two acres of land occupied by the mill are also the home place of the owner, who, in ad- dition to his own property, rents two hundred acres of land for cattle pasture.
In forging his way to the front Mr. Moehnke has had the advantage of certain ancestral traits usually connected with typical Germans. He was born in Prussia, Germany, March 31, 1840, his father, Godfred, and his mother, Dora ( Mollof-
skie) Moelinke, being also natives of Prussia. The father emigrated to Canada in 1858, and with his family located at Welf, later removing to Owen Sound, where he engaged in farming. In 1877 he removed to the United States, set- tling ten miles east of Oregon City, where he bought one hundred acres of land in the woods, which he improved, and upon which he died at the age of seventy-seven years. This fine property was willed to Frederick, his third youngest son, who at present owns and occupies the land. Of the ten children in the famn- ily, all attained maturity, but two are now deceased. After Charles, the eldest, came Michael, a farmer of Beaver Creek, Ore .; God- fred, also a farmer of Beaver Creek; Frederick, a farmer at Beaver Creek: Christ, in business with his brother Frederick; Louise, now Mrs. Michael Schwartz, of Portland; Christina, the wife of Fred Bingham of Beaver Creek; and Flora, now Mrs. Christ Fisher, of Beaver Creek.
Charles Moehnke received his preliminary edu- cation in the public schools of Canada, where also he learned the carpenter's trade, for which he had a natural aptitude. Upon coming to San Francisco in 1875 he followed his trade, and also contracted and engaged in building for a year, and in 1876 settled in Beaver Creek, where he improved one hundred and sixty acres of land from the brush. At a later period he disposed of eighty acres of his land, and still later sold the remainder, at the same time settling in Willam- ette Falls, the possibilities of which he was first to recognize and utilize. In this community Mr. Moehnke exerts an influence for industry and morality, and is esteemed one of the most pro- gressive and high-minded citizens. Various po- sitions of trust and responsibility have been be- stowed upon him, all of which he has discharged in a manner highly creditable to himself and satisfactory to those who placed their trust in him. A stanch Republican, he filled the office of postmaster of Beaver Creek for eight years, at the same time conducting a general store in con- nection with his farming enterprises. He was elected commissioner of Clackamas county in 1888, serving four years, and two years pre- viously was elected justice of the peace of Beaver Creek. In that town also he was a member and clerk of the school board. Mr. Moehnke is iden- tified with the Christian Science Chureli, and is among the most faithful and enthusiastic of the members in this part of the state.
While living in Canada Mr. Moehnke was united in marriage with Justina Hettmann, who was born in Prussia, as were also her parents. To Mr. and Mrs. Moehnke were born ten chil- dren, of whom two sons and three daughters are living: John is a farmer of Polk county. Ore .; August lives at home; Louise is the wife
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of Lynn Laboo, of Seattle, Wash .; Mary lives in Willamette Falls; and Flora, the wife of Arthur Dickey, lives in Seattle.
J. N. FISHER, who is extensively and snc- cessfully engaged in the conduct of a meat market in Beaverton, was born in Ashland county, Ohio, February 6, 1839. His father, J. N. Fisher, Sr., was a native of Wettenburg, Germany, and by occupation was a farmer. When a young man he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, attracted by the better business op- portunities in America, and took up his abode in Pennsylvania, where he was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Fast, a native of that state. For a short time they remained in Pennsylvania and then removed to Ashland county, Ohio, where Mr. Fisher devoted his energies to farm- ing. They became the parents of three chil- dren: J. N., of this review; William, of whom no news has been heard since the war, and Clar- issa, now deceased. When only eight years of age J. N. Fisher was left an orphan and almost from that time to the present he has been de- pendent entirely upon his own resources and labors for a living, so that whatever success he has achieved is the direct result of his efforts and capability. He remained in the vicinity of Ashland, Ohio, until after the inauguration of the Civil war, when his patriotic spirit prompted his enlistment and he became a member of Com- pany C, Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under the command of Col. James A. Garfield. The regiment was mustered in at Camp Chase and was sent into Kentucky, where Mr. Fisher participated in a number of important engage- ments. For several days the regiment was busy with military service in the vicinity of Cumber- land Gap and later was in the battle of Vicks- burg, whence Mr. Fisher was sent to take charge of a post dispensary at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained until mustered out at the close of his three years' term of service. He was twice wounded in the battle of Vicksburg and spent about a month in the field hospital. After hav- ing heen mustered out he returned to Ashland, Ohio, and thence went to Vineland, N. J., where he engaged in merchandising until 1873.
In that year Mr. Fisher became a resident of the west, locating first in Omaha, Neb., where he was engaged in the real estate business for about eighteen months, at the end of which time he continued to follow the star of empire, and eventually reached San Francisco. After spend- ing three months in that city he came to Oregon, settling in Portland and was one of the founders of the Portland Daily Bec, in 1875. The same year he became a resident of Beaverton, Wash- ington county, where he was engaged in general
farming and in the raising of vegetables. At the present time, however, he is conducting a meat market in Beaverton and is also agent for the Home Fire Insurance Company. He has a well equipped market, in which he carries a large stock and a liberal patronage has been ac- corded him in recognition of his business abil- ity, his energy and his fair business methods, which neither seek nor require disguise.
In 1878 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Fisher and Miss Della C. Allen, a native of New York. They began their domestic life in Beav- erton and seven children have come to bless their home: Mary, Earl, May, Lloyd, Effie, Dora and Esther. Of this number Earl is engaged in teaching school in Washington county. Mr. Fisher is quite prominent in civic societies and at the present time is the Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge in Beaverton. He has sev- eral times filled all of the offices in the organiza- tion and is the oldest Mason in this place. His entire life has been an exemplification of the be- nificent spirit of the craft. He is also a devoted member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has served as commander, while of the Washington County Veteran Home he has been president. In his political views a stalwart Republican, he has served as justice of the peace, and whether in office or out of it, he is ever a loval citizen, as true to duty as he was when he followed the stars and stripes upon southern bat- tlefields.
JOHN WISE. The name of John Wise is as- sociated with all that is substantial in Clackamas county, whether viewed from the standpoint of personal characteristics, or from that of superior- ity as an agriculturist. To Mr. Wise this county has a twofold significance, for it not only repre- sents the field of his mature activity, but is as well the place of his birth, which occurred on the farm of his father, December 31, 1863.
George Wise, the father of John, and who es- tablished the family at a very early day in Ore- gon, was born in the state of Pennsylvania, De- cember 6, 1820, in which state he engaged in farming for many years. The prospects of gold on the coast enlisted his interest in '49, and he crossed the plains to California, in the mines of which state he worked with varied success until 1852. After a trip to southern Oregon he re- moved to Missouri, and upon returning to Ore- gon lived in the southern part of the state for a couple of years. 1857 witnessed his departure for Clackamas county, where he bought three hundred and twenty acres of land which he ini- proved and managed with considerable success. In 1886, while picking pears, he fell out of the tree and was killed, his age at the time being
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sixty-four years. Sarah E. Elizabeth (Tong) Wise, the mother of John, was born in the east and came with her family to Oregon about 1850, locating on the site of Mount Scott. Mrs. Wise, who was the mother of ten children, five sons and five daughters, died at the home of her son, John, at the age of seventy.
The third oldest in his father's family, John Wise worked hard on the paternal farm, and attended the public schools during the leisure of the winter months. After the death of his sire he carried out the duties as administrator to the satisfaction of all concerned, and at the present time the various members have come into their respective heritages. The share falling to John consisted of fifty-five acres of wild land, but this has since been improved. A convenient and com- modious residence has been erected, as well as substantial barns and outhouses. Mr. Wise has been active in promoting the interests of the Re- publican party in his neighborhood, and among the offices conferred on him may be mentioned that of school director, held for six years ; school clerk for two years; and justice of the peace, of which he is now serving his first term. Mr. WVise married Jennie Byers, who was born in the east, and came to Oregon when a young girl. Mr. Wise is popular and influential in the com- munity of Clackamas county, and is regarded as one of its thoroughly reliable and public spirited citizens.
JOHN SAGER. A transported Austrian who has made the most of his chances in Oregon is John Sager, owner of a finely improved farm of thirty-six acres, which he has improved from the bushes, and devotes to the raising of potatoes, grass and grain. Mr. Sager was born in Aus- tria, December 17, 1837, and is a son of Christian and Lizzie Sager, natives of Austria, and the former a successful miller, farmer and business man, who died in his native land in 1899, at the advanced age of ninety years. Of the three sons and three daughters born into the family, John is the third oldest, and one of the most enter- prising and industrious.
After completing his education in the district schools of his neighborhood in Austria, John Sager continued to farm with his father until his twenty-third year, when he apprenticed to the tanner trade, having completed which he engaged in business for himself for ten or twelve years. At the end of that time he disposed of his tannery and bought a farm, and in 1885 immi- grated to the United States, settling in Mil- waukee, Wis. He here engaged in the tannery business as an employe for Mr. Galonson, and in 1887 began to work in a tannery in Portland. After four years of this occupation he bought
thirty-six acres of land at Stafford, upon which he has since lived and prospered.
While still a resident of his native land Mr. Sager was united in marriage with Julia Wagner, a native of that country, whose father, Jacob, was a farmer, and lived to be seventy years of age. Of the two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sager, Julia is the wife of John Kekel, a farmer of Stafford; and John works with his father on the home farm. Mr. Sager is a Republican in national politics, and is in religion a Baptist. He takes great pride in his finely improved little farm, and considers a fortunate circumstance connected therewith a bubbling spring, which may be relied on the year round to furnish an abundance of pure water. A comfortable home has been erected on the premises, and the barns and outhouses are constructed with reference to convenience and modern ideas. Mr. Sager is enterprising and thrifty, and his property is among the best improved in the county.
G. H. ROGERS. Although a comparatively new comer to Willamette Falls, having arrived here the latter part of 1901, G. H. Rogers has already established a paying and thrifty general merchandise business, which promises to steadily increase as the merits of the owner and promoter become known. A native of Blue Earth county, near Mankato, Minn., Mr. Rogers is a son of Robert Rogers, born in Beaver Dam, Wis., and a farmer and stock-raiser during his entire life. On a large scale the elder Rogers engaged in stock-raising in Minnesota, to which state he removed when a young man, and where he became prominent in general affairs of his dis- trict. He removed to Oregon with his family in 1889, settling with his family at Newberg, where he bought land, speculated to some extent, and bought and sold stock on a large scale. He later removed to southern Oregon, where he also farmed, and from where he removed to Wash- ington county, where he is now living retired at Scholls. His wife, who was formerly Myra Comstock, was born in Oshkosh, Wis., and is the mother of two sons and one daughter, of whom G. H. is the oldest.
On the paternal farms in Minnesota and Ore- gon, G. H. Rogers was reared to an appreciation of the dignity and usefulness of the life agricul- tural, and as opportunity offered he attended the public schools, especially during the leisure of the winter months. He eventually entered Pacific College, after finishing which he entered mer- cantile life as a clerk for the hardware firm of W. C. Kruger at Newberg, with which firm he remained for about six years. In 1898 he be- came identified with Metcalf & Wade, shingle manufacturers, his duty being to superintend
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the packing of the shingles for shipment. In 1901, Mr. Rogers came to southern Oregon, and for the first part of the year lived at Gold Hill, a few months later taking up his permanent residence at Willamette Falls, of which town he has since been an honored and highly successful citizen.
In Newberg, Ore., Mr. Rogers was united in marriage with Grace Cook, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Henry Cook, formerly a railroad man and section foreman, but now a farmer near Walla Walla, Wash. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Blanche and La Vergn. Mr. Rogers is public spirited and social, and is fraternally connected with the Woodmen of the World, in which he has held high official position; and with the Ancient Order United Workmen. He is a Republican in politics, and while a resident of Cowlitz county, Wash., served the community as central com- mitteeman, and as delegate to the late state central committee convention. Recently he has purchased five acres of land near the town, upon which he intends erecting a residence, and which will probably become his home at a not far distant date. Mr. Rogers enjoys the confidence and respect of the social and business world of Wil- lamette Falls, and that his success may be contin- uous is the wish of all who know and appreciate him.
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