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 76
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county commissioner, and in addition, for twelve years he was United States storekeeper and gauger. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons and in politics affiliated with the Re- publicans. His father, George, was a farmer of Pennsylvania and lived to be eighty years old.
By the marriage of Col. John Miller Mark to Catherine Zimm, daughter of John Zimm, a farmer and miller, there were born six sons, all but one of whom is now living. The oldest son, P. G., was a soldier in the Ninety-third Pennsyl- vania Infantry, and during his four years of service rose from the ranks to be major of his regiment. Later he took up the study of law and for years was a leading attorney in Lebanon. Another son, Milton H., is vice-president of the Denver Live Stock Company. John died in Pueblo, Colo., being accidentally killed while out hunting. Cyrus, who for eighteen years was deputy postmaster at Pueblo, Colo., is now a coal merchant in that city. Charles is the editor of a paper at Grangeville, Idaho. The fifth among the sons, James Monroe, was born in Lebanon, Pa., August 27, 1857, and passed the years of youth in his home county, meantime attending the grammar and high schools. At the age of sixteen he began an apprenticeship to the machinist's trade with the Lebanon Manu- facturing Company, remaining with them for three years. At the expiration of his time he took up journeyman work and visited different states, working in the employ of the company under which he had learned his trade. A spec- ialty was made of erecting engines, and many that he put up are still standing and doing good service in their several localities. After twelve years of this work he entered the Wenner machine works at Lebanon, in whose employ he still continued erecting engines and furnaces.
The cause of Mr. Mark's first visit to Oregon, which occurred in 1889, was in order to erect the furnace and blowing engine of the Oswego plant, and on the completion of the work he was retained in charge as master mechanic, holding the position for five years, until the works were closed down. Immediately afterward he ac- cepted a position at Oregon City with the Port- land General Electric Company as master me- chanic, having charge of the starting of the new works and aiding in the erection of the plant. Since then he has discharged all the duties at- tendant upon the position of master mechanic, in which capacity he has proved himself to be an expert workman and thorough mechanic. While living in Lebanon, Pa., he married Amanda R. Uhler, who was born and reared in that city. The family of which she is a member was one of the first to settle in Lehanon and her grand- father erected all of the old stone churches that still are used in that city. In the family of Mr.
Mark there are two daughters, May and Kate. In religious views he is of the Reformed faith, but, there being no denomination of that faith in Oregon City, he finds a church home with the Congregationalists. Politically he is a pro- nounced Republican. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and Woodmen of the World.
WILLIAM STUWE. The country home owned and occupied by Mr. Stuwe is among the most attractive in the entire county of Clackamas and lies near the village of Needy. Hither came the present owner in 1888 and bought one hun- dred and forty-five acres, a large part of which had been cleared. Under his energetic supervis- ion and personal care the place has been trans- formed into one of the most beautiful in the locality, being improved with substantial barns and a residence that has few superiors for ex- terior beauty and interior furnishings in all that neighborhood. Ten acres of the land are devoted to hiops, which industry is enhanced in value by the presence on the place of a large drier and storage house where the hops are placed when in readiness for the market. One hundred and twenty-five acres are under cultivation and twenty acres are used for the pasturage of his cattle and horses. All general farm products are raised here, the owner reaping a desirable addi- tion to his income from their sale in the markets.
In Westfallen, Germany, William Stuwe was born February 22, 1842, being a son of William Stuwe, Sr., who brought a part of the family to the United States in 1854 and settled at Gal- veston, Tex., later buying a farm six miles west of that city on the island of the same name. The place was small, comprising only ten acres, and was utilized in the raising of vegetables for the Galveston market. On this place he died at the age of fifty-nine years. His wife had died in Germany, leaving three daughters and a son, of whom William, Jr., was the third. He had few advantages as a hoy and attended school only for a brief period. In 1856 he joined his father in Texas and aided him in the cultivation of their market garden. After the death of his father he sold the place and then spent two years in Galveston, coming from there to Oregon in 1888 and buying the land which he still owns and cultivates.
Before leaving Texas, Mr. Stuwe married Christine Schaffer, a native of Germany. Her father, who was born at Hanover in 1825, came to the United States in 1870 and settled on a farm in Texas. More recently he has removed to Oregon. where he makes his home with his daughter, Mrs. Stuwe. In the family of Mr.
Mm Laughlin
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and Mrs. Stuwe there are eight children, namely : William, who is married and assists in the culti- vation of the home farm; Anst and Fritz, who are in eastern Oregon; Albert, Christine, John, August and Hammond, all of whom are at home. The family are associated with the Lutheran con- gregation and Mr. Stuwe is a contributor to the support of this church. Among the local workers in the Republican party he is active and promi- nent, and has aided his party in every way pos- sible. Educational affairs come in for a share of his time and thought and his service as school director was helpful to the best interests of the schools of the neighborhood.
WILLIAM LAUGHLIN. One of the large land owners of Yamhill county is William Laugh- lin, the possessor of nine hundred acres of land devoted principally to stock-raising interests. Mr. Laughlin, who feels a just pride in his Rev- olutionary ancestry, and in forefathers who ac- complished largely and substantially, was born in Lincoln county, Mo., October 13, 1830. His grandfather was James, and his father, Samuel, the latter being especially worthy of mention as comprising one of the largest band that crossed the plains in 1847.
William Laughlin was educated in Missouri and Yamhill county, Ore., and when eighteen years old left the farm upon which his father had settled and tried his luck in the mines near Stockton, Cal. From the fact that he spent over two years in the mines argues that he must have been reasonably successful, and that from May, 1849, until August, 1851, he succeeded in appropriating to his own use a fair share of the hidden treasure of the earth. From the mines he went to San Francisco and thence embarked for Portland, arriving at length on the old home- stead in Yamhill county. In 1853 he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres east of North Yamhill, where he farmed and raised stock for four years, and then traded for a farm of two hundred acres upon which he lived and prospered until October 8, 1892. He then settled on his present farm of one hundred and ninety-four acres, which, however, he had pur- chased in 1886. To this has been added by more recent purchase, so that at present Mr. Laughlin owns about nine hundred acres, being one of the very large operators of this county.
April 3, 1857, Mr. Laughlin was united in mar- riage with Phœbe Roberts, born in Tippecanoe county, Ind., October 8, 1839, and of this union there were born sixteen children, twelve of whom are living: Bedford H. is a resident of Forest Grove; Charles lives in Alaska ; George also is in Alaska ; Abram is a farmer in Yamhill county ; Mrs. Mary Tate lives in Seattle, Wash .; William lives near Yamhill; Samuel is cashier of the
North Yamhill Bank ; Benjamin lives in the state of Washington; Alice is living at home ; Leona lives in Washington; Mrs. Delia Richardson lives in Goldendale, Wash., and Crystal lives with her parents. Like all the members of his widely diffused family Mr. Laughlin is a stanch ad- herent of the Republican party, and among the offices maintained by him with credit may be mentioned that of road supervisor and school di- rector. He is a liberal minded, progressive mem- ber of the community, and as an agriculturist is both practical and successful.
BEDFORD H. LAUGHLIN of Forest Grove, is a native son of Oregon, and was born on his father's farm in Yamhill county, February 4, 1858. His parents, William and Phoebe ( Rob- erts) Laughlin, are natives respectively of Mis- souri and Indiana, and his grandfather, Samuel, was born in the state of North Carolina. The latter removed from North Carolina to Missouri in the '20s and in 1847 crossed the plains with ox teams, locating on the claim in Yamhill county where the remainder of his life was spent. His son, William, was reared principally in Missouri, and was seventeen years of age when the memorable trip was undertaken, and he in time took up three hundred and twenty acres in North Yamhill, Yamhill county, to which he has since added another large farm. He served with distinction in the Yakima Indian war of 1855-56, and has in many other ways shown his deep interest in the affairs of his native state. At present he is living on his well improved property two miles west of North Yamhill, managing both of his farms with an abundant degree of success. His wife is a daughter of Henry Roberts, who removed at an early day from Pennsylvania to Indiana, and who crossed the plains in 1848, his daughter being at that time seven years of age. Sixteen children were born to William and Phoebe Laughlin, and of these twelve are still living, Bedford H. being the oldest of the family.
After completing his education at the district schools and Tualatin Academy, Mr. Laughlin engaged in business for a year in Forest Grove, and then turned his attention to mining for several years. At present he is one of the best informed men in the county on mining affairs in general, he having experienced all the ups and downs which harass the soul and delight the heart of searchers after golden fortunes. 1883 found him in the Cœur d'Alene district during the excite- ment, after which he went up into British Col- umbia, and in all worked in the mines and at pros- pecting for five years. During that time he spent a couple of winters in Forest Grove, and after finishing in the mines engaged in railroading with the Northern Pacific and the Oregon Railroad &
23
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Navigation Company, principally in the freight department.
In 1896 Mr. Laughlin renewed his association with mining, going to the extreme north to Cook's Inlet, Alaska. After spending the winter in Juneau he availed himself of the promising conditions in the Klondike and started over the Chilkoot Pass in March, 1897. Going down the Yukon, he took up a claim on American gulch, tributary to Bonanza creek, and in this enterprise was seconded by two comrades who also took up claims in the same neighborhood. The men worked faithfully for three years, and realized considerable success, although not sufficient to wish to devote the remainder of their lives to mining. Mr. Laughlin spent the winter of 1900- of in North Yamhill, and in the spring of 1901 tried his luck in the Copper River country. Re- turning to this town that fall he bought a livery business which he built up and enlarged, and conducted a general livery and transfer business until he disposed of the same in March, 1903. Mr. Laughlin was united in marriage in Forest Grove June 18, 1902, with Nora E. Johnson, a native of Yamhill county, Ore., and a daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Gallee. Mr. Laughlin was made a Mason in Washington, and was iden- tified with Palouse Lodge No. 46, until his trans- fer to Holbrook Lodge No. 30, of Forest Grove. He is a member of the Republican party, but has never taken an active interest in local affairs, or been willing to serve his party officially. He is a progressive, particularly well informed, and adaptive citizen, and his life has been prolific of great good will and esteem on the part of his fellow townsmen.
JOHN MILNE. The name of John Milne is associated with all that is substantial and of good report in the northwest. Certain undertak- ings in his career have been pioneer, distinctive and inaugurative, and his services are of such a nature that they belong rather to the state of Oregon than to his home town of Hillsboro. When he came here to start an oatmeal mill in 1870 he found the finest oats he had ever seen. and in spite of deterring obstacles and discour- agements managed to manufacture the first oat- meal in the state, and has since turned out mil- lions of dollars worth of this healthful cereal His industry and farsightedness have resulted in the accumulation of extensive grain lands, fine blooded cattle, horses, hogs and sheep, besides mill, business, and residence property, elevators and warehouses. With this success, which is worthy of the great state in which he lives, has been established a reputation for rugged honesty and moral worth as enviable as it is rare and admirable.
The personal traits of character which have been important factors in the life of Mr. Milne are undoubtedly inherited from an ancestry as- sociated with the Scotch persecutions and early Pilgrim days in Massachusetts. The ancestors are authentically traced back to the sixteenth century, when one of the family suffered the ig- nominy of being burned at the stake in intolerant Scotland. The Milne home was henceforth abandoned by its old time tenants, who fled to America for greater religious liberty. Later mem- bers returned to the land of their forefathers, for the great-grandfather, grandfather, and the father of John Milne, all of whom bore the name of James, were born in Scotland. and he himself was born at Banffshire, Scotland, May 24. 1832. His mother. Jane ( Adam) Milne, was also a native of Scotland, and had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, ten of whom attained maturity, and five of whom are living, John Milne being the second oldest.
Until seventeen years of age John Milne lived on the paternal Scotch farm, and was then ap- prenticed to a miller at Elgin, Scotland, but after serving three of the required seven years was obliged to abandon the work owing to ill health. He forthwith began an apprenticeship of seven years in the New Mill Iron Works at Murray- shire. Scotland, and after completing his trade was superintendent of the machine shop in a man- ufacturing plant in Elgin for five years. Upon emigrating to America in 1857. he located at Ingersoll, Ontario, and for a time further studied at his trade, afterward assuming charge of a mill for eight years. In 1868 he sailed from New York for New Zealand, and from there went to Melbourne, Australia, and later to Tasmania, where he engaged in the milling business for eighteen months. Business proved very satis- factory in this remote locality, yet Mr. Milne de- termined that the opportunities were limited compared with those in America, and he there- fore returned and landed in San Francisco in 1870.
It was the intention of Mr. Milne to start a milling enterprise in California, but not finding what he wanted, he came to Oregon the follow- ing year, and has since made this state his home. At the time Portland was a town of less than ten thousand inhabitants, and with only four wholesale houses. As may be imagined, the owners thereof discouraged him in his efforts to establish a mill, but he was persistent and based his chief encouragement upon the excellent qual- ity of the grain raised in the state. It took six months to get the machinery together, and Mr. Milne himself made everything with his own hands but the burrs. He began building the Hillshoro mill in 1870, and the same year was able to manufacture oatmeal, the first cereal to
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be manufactured north of San Francisco. The business grew apace, and larger machinery be- came imperative to meet the increasing demand. The new machinery was brought from Scotland, and a year was required in which to have the order filled. After that there was an almost un- paralleled increase in the trade, and soon cars were required for shipment, and elevators and warehouses for storage. At the time of putting in the Scotch machinery, Mr. Milne also put in machinery for manufacturing flour, and fifteen years ago established the roller mill process. Since 1898 he has discontinued the manufacture of oatmeal, and devoted his mills entirely to flour, of which the Hillsboro brand has the largest sale.
Two farms owned by Mr. Milne, and located respectively two and a half and five miles from Hillsboro, comprise sixteen hundred acres, and are utilized for extensive grain operations, and for the breeding of fine blooded stock. It is a well known fact that some of the finest draft horses in Oregon have come from these farms, and not only Clydesdales, but other breeds of horses, Jersey cattle, Cotswold-Shropshire sheep. comprising the finest mixture next to Reno; Berkshire and Poland-China hogs, are among the valuable possessions of these model ranches. Mr. Milne is extensively engaged in buying and shipping grain, for the accommodation of which he owns large elevators and warehouses along the railroads. He is a Republican in political affili- ation, and has been councilman from time to time for several years. As a Presbyterian he was one of the organizers and builders of the church at Tualatin Plains and has been a trustee of the same for many years.
In Portland, in 1878, Mr. Milne married Mar- garet Linklater, a native of the Orkney Islands, off the northern coast of Scotland. Mrs. Milne died in January, 1901. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Milne, John, Jr., Jacob and Elizabeth. Since coming to America Mr. Milne has twice returned to Scotland, in 1867, while living in Canada, and in 1888, while at the height of his success in Oregon.
SAMUEL W. SIMMONS, deputy sheriff, road supervisor and large land owner of Multno- mah county, is a typical westerner, and was born at Fisher's Landing, Wash., September 8. 1855. William Simmons, the father of Samuel W., was born in Virginia, and subsequently engaged in farming in the east for many years. During 1850 he brought his family across the plains, and settled at Fisher's Landing, which continued to be his home for many years.
The education of Samuel W. Simmons was acquired in the public school of Fisher's Land-
ing, and this educational institution consisted of a log house with inadequate furnishing and ex- tremely crude opportunities for knowledge get- ting. The little school was situated two miles from the Simmons farm, and this walk was best appreciated during the spring, after the ex- tremely cold winter, and its accompanying bad roads. In 1874 Mr. Simmons came to this side of the river in Oregon, renting land for farming purposes, and with the earnings of this venture was enabled to purchase his present farm of two hundred and seventy acres, most of which has in the meantime been cleared of its timber growth. For years he conducted a model and extensive dairying business, but latterly has utilized his property for breaking and boarding horses, of which animals he possesses an extended knowl- edge.
In 1878 Mr. Simmons was united in marriage with Eva J. Force, daughter of George W. Force, one of the early Oregon pioneers. To Mr. and Mrs. Simmons have been born five children, the order of their birth being as follows: George W., Hubert S., Burton W., Norman J. and Henry R. Mr. Simmons is a stanch Repub- lican, and his ability has been recognized by his party in many ways. As road supervisor and deputy sheriff he is working for the best inter- ests of the community which has honored him with its votes. He is progressive and enterpris- ing, and has many friends and few enemies.
BENJAMIN F. SNUFFIN. Much of the life of Benjamin F. Snuffin has been passed among pioneer conditions, his birth even hap- pening on a farm among the unsettled, woody part of Champaign county, Ohio, March 4, 1830. The somewhat remote little log school house, conducted on the subscription plan, supplied whatever of education his arduous home duties permitted, and he remained in this gradually developing section until eighteen years of age. His first venture from home found him in An- drew county, Mo., where he remained until the spring of 1851, engaged in general farming for the surrounding agriculturists.
When the gold craze was at its height in 1851, Mr. Snuffin joined a caravan bound for the Pa- cific coast, there being about twenty teams in the party, each containing three or four oxen. At the expiration of six months the dangers and deprivations of the overland trail had been cir- cumvented and Mr. Snuffin thereafter engaged in mining and prospecting on the Rogue river for about seven months. A later undertaking was conducting a saw-mill on the Clackamas river for about fifteen years, which he had pre- viously been interested in. This enterprise was disposed of in 1872, in order that the owner
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might investigate the prospects in Mendocino county, Cal. Not content with the outlook, he came to Mount Tabor, Ore., the following year and hought forty acres of partially timbered land, upon which the street car terminus is now located. After four years Mr. Snuffin sold this land and removed to East Portland, where he engaged in teaming for three years, and then bought his present place of eight acres. He has since been interested in fruit raising, the profits of which have enabled him to invest in more city and county property, among which is the Stephens addition and five residences.
The marriage of Mr. Snuffin and Mary A. Pierce occurred in 1862, and of this union there have been born six children, viz .: William, Frank, Walter, James, Fred and Sadie. Mr. Snuffin is a man of sterling integrity, and his years in Oregon have heen prolific of large worldly returns and unquestioned confidence on the part of all who know him. To his credit is valorous service for six months during the Indian war of 1856, and a continuous interest in all that has pertained to the upbuilding of the county and state of his adoption.
JAMES E. MARQUAM is one of the repre- sentative sons of Oregon, his birth having oc- curred in this state June 12, 1850, a half mile east of the town which bears the family name. His father, Alfred Marquam, was born in Ken- tucky and there engaged in the manufacture of chairs and also followed the painter's trade. Attracted by the opportunities of the great north- west, he made his way with an ox-team across the plains to Oregon, in the year 1845, traveling by way of the Meeks cutoff. The journey was a difficult one, for there had been little travel prior to that time and it required no little courage to face the hardships and difficulties incident to a trip across the plains and through the mount- ain fastnesses. He started in the spring and after several months spent upon the way reached his destination and secured a donation land claim of six hundred and forty acres. He built the first house and the first store in the town that now bears his name and was also the first post- master here. He aided materially in the devel- opment and upbuilding of this portion of the state and the town of Marquam now stands as a monument to his work and to his memory. He was an advocate of the Republican party and had no little influence throughout Oregon not only in political circles, but as a representative of busi- ness interests and of the pioneer development of the state. He passed away at the age of sixty- two years, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Olive W. Burbage, was also a native of Kentucky and likewise died in Oregon.
Reared under the parental roof James E. Mar- quam assisted his father during the period of his boyhood. He was the fifth in a family of eleven children and to the common school system of the state he was indebted for the educational privi- leges he enjoyed. At the age of eighteen years he rented his father's land and began farming on his own account, which pursuit he followed upon the old homestead for ten years. During that period, with the capital he had gained through his labors he purchased one hundred and seven acres of land in the brush and with char- acteristic energy he began its development and cultivation. The most of his life, however, he has rented land and has thus carried on farm work which has brought him a fair return.
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