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 81
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In Portland, Me., Mr. Merrill wag united in marriage with Sarah A. Churchill, a native of Portland, and of this union there have been born six children, viz .: Gustavus C., in business with his father ; Clara E .; Ira C .; Alice M., now Mrs.
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Rhoads, of San Francisco; George F .; and Frank. All of the sons are in business with their father, and all are devoted to their work and en- thusiastic over all things pertaining to naviga- tion. Mr. Merrill was made a Mason in Kenne- bunk, Me., and is now a member of the Washing- ton Lodge No. 46, of Portland. He is also con- nected with the Independent Order Odd Fel- lows; the Ancient Order United Workmen of Grand Haven, Mich., and the Eastern Star. He is a Republican in national politics, and is a member of Sumner Port, G. A. R.
W. J. LEWELLEN. The year after his father came from the east and settled on his do- nation claim near Springwater, Clackamas county, W. J. Lewellen, one of the large farmers and successful general merchants of Spring- water, was born October 16, 1853. E. B. Lewel- len, the father, was born in Kentucky in 1823, and died on his farm in this county in 1894. He was reared to agricultural pursuits in Missouri, to which state his father, Jacob L. Lewellen, had removed when his son was four years of age. After an uneventful youth in Missouri E. B. Lewellen crossed the plains with six yoke of oxen and a large party in 1852, and at the end of the six months' trip landed near Oregon City. One mile south of Springwater he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres, upon which he conducted general farming and stock- raising for the remainder of his life. Through his industry two hundred acres of his land was relieved of its burden of timber and underbrush, and the improvements which he introduced were up-to-date and labor-saving. Mr. Lewellen was a Democrat politically, and though reared in the Baptist Church, became a Presbyterian in later life. Thrice married, his first wife, a sister of George Shaver, of Portland, died after two years of married life. His second wife, Sarah ( Scott) Lewellen, bore him four children, of whom John L. lives in Oregon City; W. J. lives in Spring- water ; Alfred E. is deceased; and the only daughter in the family is now Mrs. M C. Cor- nett, of Portland. Mrs. Wilson, who became the third Mrs. Lewellen, died five years after her husband. Mr. Lewellen was road supervisor and school director for a number of years, and filled quite an important place in the community of Springwater.
William J. Lewellen lived with his father until twenty-four years of age, after which he removed to a part of the paternal farm and undertook in- dependent farming and stock-raising. The year 1892 found him a resident of Springwater, where he started a general merchandise store on a small scale, but in so systematic and careful a manner that his present success was a foregone conclu-
sion. In connection with the store he has also maintained his farming interests, and at present owns and operates one hundred and twenty-five acres of his father's original donation claim.
In 1877 Mr. Lewellen was united in marriage with Jennie Currin, of which union there have been born three children, Ora, George and Sal- lie. Mrs. Lewellen is a daughter of George Cur- rin, who was born in Grayson county, Va., March 7, 1816, and who emigrated to Missouri when a young man. In 1845 Mr. Currin crossed the plains in the usual way, and at the end of his six months' trip located at what is now Currinsville, taking up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres. He married Lida Wade, and reared a large family of children. Mr. Currin became prominent in his locality, as indicated by the town named in his honor, and by the numer- ous positions of trust which he held in the com- munity. Mr. Lewellen is a Republican in na- tional politics, but in local elections votes inde- pendent of party lines. He is a member and elder in the Presbyterian Church, and contrib- utes to the extent of his means towards the main- tenance of his church.
JOHN A. THORNBURGH, manager of the flouring mills of Forest Grove and a partner in the ownership of this important industry, was born in Greenville, Washington county, Ore .; and is the third in order of birth in the family of eight children born unto Ambers and Rebecca A. (Neal) Thornburgh. Obed C. Thornburgh, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Tennessee and became a resident of Forest Grove, Ore. Ambers Thornburgh was born in eastern Tennessee and in the year 1862 came to . this state, settling in Forest Grove, where he con- ducted a sawmill and also engaged in agricul- tural pursuits. He wedded Rebecca A. Neal, a native of Iowa, and their marriage was blessed with eight children, of whom six are yet living.
John A. Thornburgh, of this review, was born March 1, 1872, and spent his childhood days in Forest Grove, attending its public schools from the time that he was six years of age until he began preparation for the practical affairs of business life by entering the Portland Business College, in which he was graduated with the class of 1892. For two years thereafter he was en- gaged in farming and then entered upon the du- ties of deputy county recorder, serving for two years under Recorder Calvin Jack, Jr. He after- ward spent a year with the firm of Shipley & Haines, government hay contractors, and on the 29th of March, 1901, he bought a half interest in the Crescent Mills as a partner of Mr. Haines and assumed the management of the enterprise, which has since been conducted under his guidance.
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The mill has a capacity of sixty barrels per day and a storage capacity of sixty thousand bushels of grain. It is equipped with the latest improved machinery and modern processes, is operated by electricity furnished by a forty horse-power motor, and is a splendid plant, turning out an ex- cellent quality of flour, which finds a ready sale on the market. The flour manufactured is of a very high grade and known throughout Oregon as the Crescent brand. Mr. Thornburgh also owns a farm of one hundred acres, nine miles north of Forest Grove, and is there engaged in the growing of hay and grain.
In Forest Grove April 22, 1894, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Thornburgh and Miss Net- tie M. Whitney, a native of Michigan. He be- longs to the Odd Fellows Lodge of Hillsboro and to Griffin Cabin of the Native Sons of Ore- gon, while in his political affiliations he is a Re- publican. Imbued with the progressive spirit which has led to the marvelous development of the northwest, he has not only been one of the active and enterprising representatives of busi- ness interests in Forest Grove in recent years, but has also been the promoter of public move- ments and measures advancing substantial prog- ress and upbuilding here.
JACOB MAUSS. Among the many German- Americans who have found their way to Oregon, and to whom Washington county has held out large inducements, may be mentioned Jacob Mauss, owner of one hundred and nine acres of land, a considerable portion of which is under cultivation. Mr. Mauss is a practical and scien- tific farmer, and keeps abreast of the times in his chosen occupation. He is in favor of all modern improvements and devices, and himself has thought of many ways in which to lighten farm- ing burdens, and reduce arduous toil to pleas- urable work. He has a pleasant and comfortable residence on his property, good barns and out- houses, and some fine agricultural implements. General farming, dairying, and stock-raising to some extent, are followed with gratifying suc- cess, and from the apparent prosperity, neatness and thrift around the farm it is evident that Mr. Mauss regards as fortunate his decision to make the northwest his home.
In a typical rural home in Germany Mr. Mauss was born May 6. 1850, and in his youth became inured to hard work and little diversion. Never- theless, between times, he managed to acquire a fair common-school education, and upon emi- grating to America in 1871, felt well equipped to face the conditions among strangers in a strange land. In Iowa he found employment on a farm by the month, and from one place went to another, his excellent service making him a de-
sired hand to all who wanted good work. For seven years he continued to live in Iowa, and in 1878 came to Oregon, residing on a rented farm in Washington county for three months. He afterward moved to his present farm, or rather eighty acres of it, which was entirely covered by brush at the time he purchased it, and to this has been added by more recent purchase until at present he owns one hundred and nine acres.
The wife of Mr. Mauss was formerly Pauline Teft, and she is the mother of five children: Henry, Mary, Rosa, Lucy and Katie. Mr. Mauss is a Democrat in national politics, and has served the county as a school director for several years. With his family he is a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
ISAAC LEISY. Two and one-half miles northwest of Hillsboro is the well-improved farmi of Isaac Leisy, who owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in his home farm, and besides owns a tract of fifty-two acres in another part of the county. From timber and brush Mr. Leisy has brought about the present state of development, has fenced his property, and added implements, buildings and all appurtenances which contribute to the maintenance of the splendid agricultural supremacy of the west. Nor have the efforts of this honored pioneer farmer been confined within the limits of his own possessions, for the welfare of the county at large has mingled with his thought of advancement, and his time and money have been unstintingly at the disposal of all worthy efforts at advancement. No little credit for the fine condition of the public thoroughfares is due to Mr. Leisy, who appreciates the extent to which roads are an indication of the character and enterprise of the farmers who live along them.
Mr. Leisy comes from the time-honored Lan- caster county, Pa., where he was born January 25, 1822, and where he lived for thirteen years. His family then removed to Wayne county, Ohio, where he was reared on a farm, and received his education in the public schools. When twenty- one years of age he began working on other than the home farm, and from then on until 1850 he received the average monthly wages, which he saved, and thus made some headway towards better things. During 1850 he became a member of a party of five who started across the plains with two wagons and four teams of oxen, the party bringing up after five months at the middle fork of the American river, where Mr. Leisy mined for about three months. He then came to Washington county, and in the vicinity of Hills- boro worked out until 1854. The following eight years were spent on a homestead taken up on the east fork of Dairy creek, from where he removed
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Charles Mugger
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to the farm where he now lives. During his resi- dence in Washington county he has also im- proved two other farms, which he afterward disposed of.
On his farm Mr. Leisy has a comfortable and commodious rural residence, cared for by his wife, Esther ( Marsh) Leisy. Nine children, five sons and four daughters, have been born into the family, all of whom were given good educations, and every advantage within the power of their parents. All are living and are named as follows : Roseilla, wife of George Hathorn; Henry W .; Nettie, wife of William Montgomery ; Daniel E .; Flora, wife of Dwight Pomeroy; Wealthy, wife of John Long; Isaac Burr ; Perry J .; and Doug- las. Mr. Leisy has been a Republican since 1860, and cast his first presidential vote for James K. Polk. For many years he held the office of school director in his district.
CHARLES MAYGER. No more inspiring example of the man who has developed under strenuous western conditions is available for those who travel the uphill road to success un- aided by the influence of friends or the material advantage of money, than is furnished by the career of Charles Mayger, founder of the town of that name, and one of the very early pioneers of the intrepid great northwest.
The saying that "once a sailor always a sailor" is disproved by the career of Mr. Mayger, whose versatility has enabled him to be as enthusiastic a follower of land opportunities as he is of those of the sea. At the age of eleven lie sailed away from his native France, where he was born De- cember 25, 1829, the vessel flying the American colors. During his ten years before the mast he visited nearly every country bordering on the sea in both hemispheres, and during his travels picked up more than the average amount of in- formation. When Mr. Mayger came to the Puget Sound country in 1849, there were but half a dozen people in Olympia, and not a settler had as yet realized the importance or advantage of locating in either Seattle or Tacoma. Mr. Mayger was employed in a sawmill for a time and in 1850 located in what is now Cowlitz county, Wash., across the river from where he now lives. Here he wisely started a logging business, and for twenty years, or until 1870, his camp was about the busiest concern in all the northwestern country. Large areas of timber were felled in order to meet the demands of trade, and great clearings took the place of prim- eval density. In 1870 Mr. Mayger removed to Portland, where he worked in the mills for five years, and then took up the homestead near where he now lives. In time he formed the May- ger Wood and Logging Company, which com-
pany has cut up eighteen quarter sections of timber around Mayger. In 1888 was started the general merchandise store so well and fav- orably known in this county, which is now being run by the sons of the founder. Thus a num- ber of important enterprises have been inaug- urated by this far-sighted and shrewd business man and pioneer, all of which have proved par- ticularly necessary and helpful to his county and state. Although practically retired, Mr. May- ger still holds the office of postmaster of Mayger, and in addition to this has held various Repub- lican offices. While in Washington territory he was commissioner of Cowlitz county for two terms, an office fraught with great responsibil- ity during that unsettled time.
November 17, 1853, Mr. Mayger was united in marriage with Minerva Kellum, and of this union there were born twelve children, as fol- lows: Margaret Jane, wife of Alex McAveal ; Charles W .; Alice, deceased; Ira, deceased ; Laura May, deceased ; George G .; Jessie G., wife of J. McGinnis; Minnie E., wife of Fred Haas ; Hattie E., deceased; Nillie; George Alex, de- ceased ; and Eva, wife of Wiley Bushong. With keen appreciation of the advantages of a good ed- 11cation, Mr. Mayger has surrounded his children with every opportunity for improving themselves, and all have reflected credit upon their admirable home teaching and school advantages. The name of Charles Mayger is enrolled among the captains of industry of this great state, and among those pioneers whose courage and daring opened up in- numerable vistas of usefulness and honor to more recent arrivals in Washington and Oregon.
REV. CLINTON KELLY. This pioneer of the northwest was born in Pulaski county, Ky., June 15, 1808, and in early manhood was con- verted, becoming a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a licensed minister in the denomination. Ere attention had been attracted to the Pacific coast through the discovery of gold he resolved to seek a home here. In this decision he was influenced by his desire to remove from the surroundings of a slave state. After having carefully prepared for the long journey, he took up the line of march in October, 1847, having three wagons and four yoke of oxen for each. When the approach of cold weather rendered progress impracticable he stopped in Cass county, Mo., but resumed the journey early in the spring of 1848. Slowly the little party wended its way along the old Fort pass and the old immigrant road to Boise City. With his family were others seeking new homes in the west, there being alto- gether about sixty men in the expedition. during the trip through the Blue mountains.
On his arrival in Oregon Mr. Kelly took up a
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section of government land which he secured as a donation claim. The Powell Valley road 110w runs through this land. As soon as he had put up a log cabin he began to clear the land, in order that he might take up farming pursuits. The first house that he built was 20x32, with a clap- board roof. Later it was replaced by a more commodious and comfortable structure. While the improvement of his land consumed almost his entire time, yet he never neglected his religious work, but continued to preach and teach the Gospel as opportunity afforded. His sincere, up- right life won him many friends, and even those who had no sympathy with the doctrines of Christianity were constrained to admire his earnest, self-sacrificing spirit and devotion to the cause. At the time of his death, June 19, 1875, he was sixty-seven years of age. Three times married, his first wife was Mary Baston, who died in Kentucky. Five children were born of their union, one of whom is living. His second wife was Jane Burns, by whom he had one child, and by his third wife, Maria M. Crane, he had nine children.
PLYMPTON KELLY. From the surround- ings of his youth, near Somerset, Pulaski county, Ky., which was also the place of his birth, Sep- tember 7, 1828, Plympton Kelly accompanied his father, Rev. Clinton Kelly, to Oregon at the age of nineteen years. There remains in his mind to this day a very vivid recollection of the tedious and even perilous trip, made in a prairie schooner, drawn by oxen. Few had preceded the expedi- tion over the plains and across the mountains. In the aspect of Oregon there was not much that was inviting. Heavy forest growths covered the land, and no pioneer could hope to succeed unless he was sturdy of frame and stout of muscle. There were five sons in the Kelly family, all eager, industrious and ambitious, so they were able to heartily supplement the efforts of their father, although two died the fall of their arrival. Plympton assisted in clearing the home farm, and when it was in a condition which rendered cultivation possible he took up life for himself. In 1850 he entered three hundred and fifty acres of government land for himself, and on this he now resides, near Palestine, Multnomah county. About the first improvement was the building of a log cabin, and he then set about clearing the land. Since that time he has put under the plow nearly two hundred acres of land. The value of this property was greatly enhanced by the pres- ence of a fine spring and his cabin was erected near this spring. In 1882 he made improvements on another part of the farm and established his home there.
July 4. 1864, he married Miss Elizabeth A.
Clark, a daughter of Alexander and Nancy (Hitchens) Clark. Mrs. Kelly is a niece of Mrs. C. S. Kingsley, who came to Oregon in 1851, in company with her husband, as a Methodist mis- sionary. She was born at Ann Harbor, Mich. Prior to her marriage she was engaged in teach- ing, and during the winter of 1863-64 taught in a log cabin on Mount Tabor, with but sixteen pu- pils, while the district included all of Mount Tabor, Montavilla, Russellville, South Mount Tabor and part of the east side district. As a result of her union with Mr. Kelly she has be- come the mother of the following children: Eu- doxia Amelia, the wife of Alfred Niblin; Calu- met and Clinton, both deceased ; Mary, the wife of Thomas Howitt, of Gresham; Harriet, de- ceased ; and James Garfield, who is at home with his parents.
During the Indian wars of 1855-56 Mr. Kelly served as a corporal under Colonel Nesbit and Colonel Cornelius. The volunteer soldiers marched from The Dalles, through the Indian country into the Walla Walla valley, where they spent the winter. During the latter part of De- cember, 1855, they had a fight with the Indians that lasted for four days, and although the In- dians outnumbered the whites, the latter gained their victory. Mr. Kelly can relate many very interesting stories of those days, and although history states there were more white men than red, he says he was in a position to judge the two forces and says he is quite sure the forces were equally divided.
In politics Mr. Kelly votes with the Republican party. Reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal denomination, he followed his father's example by becoming an exhorter, preaching in local churches and also aiding much in the Sun- day-school work. His life has been one of great activity, and like all pioneers he has had much hard work to do. The clearing of his farm did not prove a sinecure, as all can testify who have been obliged to dig out hundreds of stumps be- fore the soil can be cleared. The reward of his industry is to be seen in his one hundred acres of finely cultivated land. In addition to this im- proved acreage he has fifty acres in the farm that have not yet been placed under cultivation.
WILLIAM T. LEGG. None of the farmers whose untiring zeal and well-directed energies have helped to develop the resources of Oregon retain a more vivid impression of the very early days of her awakening than does William T. Legg, one of the most venerable and prosperous of the agriculturists of Multnomah county. His memory travels back to the time when, twelve years of age, he accompanied his mother and uncle. John Bozorth, across the plains with three
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ox teams, one wagon and some cattle, and how, at the Platte river, the oxen and cattle ran away one night and got mixed up in a buffalo stam- pede. To continue the journey the party had but one pair of oxen, but were fortunately able to borrow animals from others comprising the band, and thus were enabled to make their way via the Columbia river to Vancouver. The mother set- tled on the Columbia bottom lands in 1850, taking up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres, which her son eventually aided in clearing. The conditions were crude and unpromising, the neighbors remote, and trial and deprivation were among the expected rather than the unexpected things. When young Legg came to Portland in 1849 he was obliged to travel by boat, and for many years that was the method of reaching the city. Grain was also taken there by boat, be- cause there were absolutely no roads at that time, and transportation was at best inadequate and tedious. When twenty-one years of age Mr. Legg began working on other than the home farm, and after his marriage to Christina Johns, in 1859, rented a place for a couple of years, later settling in Clarke county, Wash., for a year. He then came back to Oregon, and the following year bought one hundred and forty-six acres of land in section 7, along the Columbia river, which he improved, and upon which he lived until 1878. The farm upon which he now lives then became his property, and consists of one hundred and five acres in the home tract and forty acres in another tract. Here he has engaged extensively in dairying and general farming for many years, but latterly has retired from the strenuous duties which have contributed to his usefulness and prosperity. He has seen the city of Portland de- velop from a town of a few scattering houses to one of the magnificent industrial centers of the west, and the valley of which he is an honored resident yield up its riches in the wake of the cleared timber and human ingenuity.
The success of Mr. Legg is based upon his own efforts, and upon nis ability to grasp the op- portunities by which he was surrounded. Born in Lewis county, Mo., August 27, 1835, his father was already deceased, and his mother was left with him, her only child, in comparatively poor circumstances. The mother subsequently married David Dort, with whom she removed to Hancock county, Ill., when her son was four years of age. After a residence of two years the fam- ily removed to the vicinity of Oskaloosa, Iowa, where the step-father died, and where they lived until the removal to Oregon in April, 1847. Mrs. Legg's third husband was John Lance, who died the year the family came west. For her fourth husband she married Eden Millard, who died in 1868, again leaving her a widow, and her death occurred in 1871, while in Clarke county, Wash.
William Legg, the father of William T., was a native of England, and his wife was formerly Elizabeth Bozorth. Six children have been born to William T. Legg and his wife, Christina (Johns) Legg, viz .: Frank, a resident of East Portland ; Laura, the wife of Frank Powell ; John A., who died, aged ten months; Frederick, a druggist of Salem; Burton, the manager of his father's farm ; and Jesse, a soldier in the National Guards, who enlisted in January, 1899, and in January, 1890, went to the Philippines in the hos- pital corps.
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