Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 95

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 95

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Good fortune has certainly followed the life of Mr. Braden in his new home in the west, for he has come unscathed through many dan- gers, during his mining days having many en- counters with the Indians which might have cost him his life. In all this time he has never re- quired the services of a physician as he has always enjoyed perfect health. To his credit be it said, he has allowed everything of good fortune which he has received to become a part of his public life, as a liberal, broad minded citizen, whose acquaintance with the people who make the city, and the existing conditions have added materially to his ability, advancing the cause of progress in the greatest commonwealth which has grown up in the northwest.

JOSIAH YOUNG. During the many years of his life in Oregon Josiah Young was known as a thrifty citizen and upright man. He was born in Illinois July 1, 1833, a son of Joseph Thomas Young, who was born in the east and was a brick mason by trade. Naturally the son became interested in his father's occupation, and after attending the public schools for a time learned the trade which he afterward followed during his active life. With his parents he came to Oregon in 1852, crossing the plains with ox- teams and wagons. He arrived at his destina- tion without any particular adventures, and for a time lived near Damascus. About twenty- five years ago he came to Milwaukee and bought ten acres of land upon which his wife now lives, improved it from the brush, and planted apples, pears, prunes, plums and peaches, as well as various kinds of fruit. In the midst of his suc- cessful activity he died on his farm April 18, 1898, leaving a well conditioned property to his wife and children. He was a Republican in national politics, and a member of the Christian Church.

The marriage of Mr. Young and Julia Grim occurred in Damascus, Ore., in March, 1862, Mrs. Young being a native of Ohio, and born August 10, 1843. Jacob Grim, the father of Mrs. Young, was born in Germany, and by occupation was a farmer and wool carder. When a young boy he came to the United States, at the time be- ing twelve years old, and an orphan, his uncle taking an interest in him and sending him across the water. This interest proved to be a selfish one, for the parents left a considerable fortune, and the children were sent to America to get them out of the way of their inheritance. Jacob Grim got along very well in his new country, for he succeeded in buying land near Keokuk, Iowa,

upon which he lived until removing to Oregon in 1852. This journey was undertaken with the old-time ox-teams and wagons, and of the three teams but one lived to see the state of Oregon. Also they had nine head of cattle, all of which died from alkaline water. The cholera was raging that year, and many graves were dug upon the plains, while the broken hearted trav- elers pursued their way to the land of the west- ern sea. Mr. Grim settled near Damascus on up- lands consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, where he farmed for many years, and where his death occurred. He married Jane Bindley, who was born in Pennsylvania, and who became the mother of four sons and five daughters, all of whom reached maturity, and five of whom are living. Mrs. Young being the third oldest. She attended the public schools in her youth, and in addition to natural shrewdness, possessed sound business judgment and a knowledge of how to best manage her fine little property. Her children are as follows: Seth C., who is now liv- ing on a portion of his Grandfather Young's do- nation claim ; Joseph E., an attorney of Cottage Grove; Annie Jane, who was educated in Ore- gon ; Effie E., who is living at home; Mary L., who is attending school; Julia, who is living at home ; and William Walter, also living with his mother.

HON. IRVIN L. SMITH. Upon the mili- tary history of his country and the legislative annals of his adopted state the name of Hon. Irvin Lucien Smith is deeply engraved. He was born in Franklin county, Ohio, six miles east of Columbus, his natal day being May 16, 1827. His paternal grandfather. Samuel Smith, removed from New York to Ohio, becoming one of the pioneer farmers of the latter state. Among his children was Thaddeus Smith, the father of our subject, who was born in the Em- pire state and with his parents went to Ohio, where he too devoted his energies to farming and there engaged in the tilling of the soil until 1834, when he became a resident of Tazewell county, Ill., not far from Peoria. At that point he carried on farming for many years and at length died in that locality. His wife, who bore the name of Mary Ross, was born in Ohio, of Scotch ancestry. Her death occurred in Illinois soon after the removal of the family to that state and the father later married again. By the first marriage he had four children. two of whom reached manhood: Irvin L. of this review and Levi E., who came to Oregon in 1870 and now re- sides in Portland. Of the eleven children born of the second union all reached adult age and two of the sons were soldiers in the Civil war. Eli, who served throughout the entire struggle in the

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Fourth Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, enlisting in 1861. now resides on a farm in Washington county, Ore. William, who became a member of the Sixth Illinois Infantry, was killed in battle at Altoona, Ga. One brother, Leonard, died in Medford, Ore .; and a sister, Mrs. Stephenson, lives in Forest Grove.

In 1834, when Irvin L. Smith was about seven years of age, his parents removed from Ohio to Illinois, making the journey overland by wagon, a distance of four hundred miles, across cor- duroy roads. He was reared on the old family homestead, attending the public schools and in his youth he was a schoolmate of the Hon. Shelby M. Cullom. The "little temple of learning" was built of logs and was furnished in the primitive style of the period, the methods of instruction being little better than the building and its equip- ment. Quill pens were used and it was a very common thing to hear the remark from a scholar, "Master, please mend my pen." When nineteen years of age Mr. Smith began work at the car- penter's trade, afterward mastered cabinet making and then engaged in the furniture business in Mackinaw, Ill. Subsequently he resided at Pleas- ant Hill, in McLean county, that state, and in 1856 he took up his abode upon a farm in the same county, carrying on agricultural pursuits until after the outbreak of the Civil war. In August, 1862, he responded to his country's call for volunteers and joined Company H, Ninety- fourth Illinois Infantry, under Colonel McNulty, being mustered in at Bloomington. The regiment was sent to Springfield, Mo., where Mr. Smith. because of his ability as a carpenter. was detailed to build a hospital, remaining there until after the battle of Prairie Grove. Ark. While there the Confederate troops under Marmaduke ad- vanced upon Springfield and he was engaged in repelling them. Later he participated in the siege of Vicksburg, his regiment being one of the first to enter the city after its capitulation. He participated in the battle of Yazoo City and Port Hutchinson, going thence to New Orleans, where for a time he was ill in the hospital. Following this he crossed the Gulf of Mexico to Browns- ville, Tex., and the Ninety-fourth Illinois was one of the two regiments which crossed the Rio Grande river into Mexico to protect the American consul, bringing him back into the United States. This trip consumed ten months. Later Mr. Smith participated in the capture of Fort Morgan, Span- ish Fort and Fort Blakely, then crossed the gulf again to Galveston. Tex., and a month later re- turned to New Orleans, where he was mustered out in the fall of 1865 with the rank of sergeant and received an honorable discharge upon his return to Illinois. When he went to the war he left a family consisting of his wife and five chil- dren. He had a farm that was in an excellent

state of improvement and well stocked and which was free from all indebtedness. It was of course a sacrifice for him to join the army and fight for the flag. but he did this willingly and was most loyal in his attachment to the United States. His wife, in order to meet the living expenses of the household and to pay the high assessments which were levied in order to meet the draft which the war made it necessary to institute, had to sell off the stock and also to incur in- debtedness, and thus upon his return Mr. Smith found it necessary to again resume work at the carpenter's trade in order to pay off this indebt- edness and gain a new start.

Upon his Illinois farm the subject of this re- view remained until 1870, when he came to Oregon, locating near Forest Grove, where he purchased a farm, conducting it for a year. He then established the Western Hotel in Forest Grove, which he conducted for four years, at the end of which time he built a shop and em- barked in the furniture business. Subsequently he and his sons, James and George, erected a sash and door factory and furniture plant and continued its conduct until the second Democratic disaster, when they retired from business. At that time Mr. Smith took up his abode upon his place of seven acres in Forest Grove and there he lived in honorable retirement until April, 1903. when he moved to Sheridan, Yamhill county. He has passed the Psalmist's span of three score years and ten and well does he merit the rest which is vouchsafed to him.

Mr. Smith was first married in Illinois, the lady of his choice being Miss Margaret Mathews, who was born in Ohio and died in Oregon. They became the parents of twelve children. ten of whom reached years of maturity, namely: Mary. who died in this state: James, a farmer of Uma- tilla county, Ore .; Mrs. Flora Hinman, of Balti- more, Md .: George, who is engaged in the furni- ture business in Sheridan, Wyo. : Elmer. of Forest Grove: Mrs. Esther Kane, who is a teacher of Portland : William, a carpenter of Portland ; Fred, who is engaged in the furniture business in Sheri- dan, Wyo .; Mrs. Carrie Merchant of Yamhill : and Lillie D., the wife of Rev. W. E. Stewart, of Reno, Nev. After the death of his first wife Mr. Smith was again married, in Salem, Ore., his second union being with Mrs. Margaret J. Mc- Meekin, who was born in Sangamon county, Ill .. a daughter of James H. Brown, Sr., who was born in Virginia, and a grand-daughter of James Brown, who removed from the Old Dominion, settling in Columbus, Ohio, while later he became a resident of Tazewell county, Ill., where his death occurred.

James H. Brown, the father of Mrs. Smith. took up his abode in Sangamon county, Ill., where he followed farming and was married. In 1850.

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with his wife and seven children, he crossed the plains to Oregon, driving an ox-team, and in Sep- tember he reached his destination. Portland at that time contained but one store. He settled three miles from Sheridan, in Yamhill county, where he purchased a tract of land and engaged in the raising of grain and stock, succeeding so well in his undertakings that in course of time he became the owner of sixteen hundred acres. His death occurred upon his farm in 1875, when he was seventy-two years of age, and the old home- stead is now owned by his three sons. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sophia W. Hussey, was born in Sangamon county, Ill., a daughter of Nathan Hussey, who was born in Ohio and took up his ahode upon a farm in the Prairie state. In 1846 he, too, made the long and perilous journey across the plains with an ox-team and settled on the Yamhill river near Fort Yamhill, where he resided until his death in 1895. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Brown were four daughters and three sons, all of whom are living. Their daughter, Margaret J., was reared in Oregon and in Yamhill she gave her hand in marriage to Archibald McMeekin, who was born in Scotland. His parents removed to the north of Ireland. settling in Antrim, whence they came to America, their home being first established in Canada. In 1852 Mr. McMeekin crossed the plains to Oregon. He was a blacksmith and farmer and after reach- ing this state carried on agricultural pursuits on Mill creek, in Polk county. Later, however, he sold that property and located in Salem. The year following his marriage he was stricken with paralysis and for twenty-four years could not walk a step, during which time with wonderful devotion Mrs. Smith cared for him as she would a child and also managed their farming interests. She owned five hundred acres of land in Mill creek which she has since sold. Her husband died in Salem in 1885 and later she was united in marriage with Mr. Smith. She is a lady of marked force of character, of splendid ability, and is deserving of the greatest credit for what she has accomplished.

In public affairs Mr. Smith has been prominent and influential. An earnest advocate of Repub- lican principles, he served on the first board of trustees of Forest Grove and for three or four terms was a member of the city council. For two terms he was mayor of Forest Grove and in 1878 he was elected county commissioner. In 1880 he was honored with the election to the office of state legislator and in 1886 he was again chosen to represent his district in the general assembly and served during the special session of 1887. A prominent and patriotic member of the house, lie did everything in his power to promote the welfare of the state and advance the interests of its institutions. He belongs to James B.

Mathews Post No. 6, G. A. R., of which he was the first conductor, and his wife is a member of the Women's Relief Corps, in which she has served as senior vice-commander. This worthy and highly esteemed couple belong to the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Smith for- merly served as trustee. His has been an event- ful career. He lived in Illinois during an early period in the development of that state and has served upon juries there when Abraham Lincoln was one of the attorneys at the bar. Going to Ore- gon he has borne an active and important part in the progress and substantial upbuilding of his sec- tion of the state and has been particularly helpful along educational lines, serving upon the school- board when the schoolhouse of Forest Grove was built. Character and ability will come to the front anywhere, and the genuine worth of Mr. Smith has been widely recognized, making him a distinguished citizen of the Willamette valley.

RALPH FEENEY. A very successful trans- fer business is conducted in Portland by Ralph Feeney, who has been a resident of Oregon since 1878, and a citizen of this town since 1887, and identified with the present business since 1890. A native of Brown county, Ohio, he was born May 22, 1856, and is the oldest of the three children born to William and Amelia (Reed) Feeney, natives respectively of New Jersey, and the latter of English descent.

William Feeney was connected with nautical affairs for many years, principally as a steam- boat captain on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, running between Lawrencebury and New Or- leans. At the time of the Civil war he had re- moved with his family to Williamsburg. Cler- mont county, Ohio, where the river captain be- came commander of Company K, Twenty- seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the war. With the restoration of peace he resumed association with compass and tide, but eventually retired to Zanesville, Ohio, and later to Cincinnati, which has since been his home. One of his sons, Prof. T. L. Feeney, is principal of the state normal school of Oxford, Ohio, and Hettie, the only daughter in the family, is now Mrs. Skidmore, of Portland.

Reared in Williamsburg. Ohio, until his ninth year, Ralph Feeney thereafter lived with his par- ents in Zanesville, but completed his education at the night high school in Cincinnati. In the latter city he learned the blacksmith trade at the Robinson wagon works, but as his health was somewhat impaired he soon after removed to Wayne, Du Page county, Ill., which continued to be his home for two years. After coming to Portland in 1878 he went up the Willamette val-

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ley for a year, and later bought a farm in Clack- amas county, where he engaged in farming with moderate success. From 1887 until 1889 he was in the employ of the Oregon Railroad & Naviga- tion Company, and during 1889 and 1890 drove a team for the Oregon Transfer Company. His own transfer business, inaugurated about this time, has constantly increased in volume, and at the present time five double and two single teams are required for the successful conduct of the enterprise. The office is located at No. 1141/2 Front street, and the concern is patronized by an appreciative and paying trade.

In Clackamas county, this state, Mr. Feeney was united in marriage with Louise Darnielle, who was born in the state of Missouri, and brought across the plains by her parents when a babe. Two children have been born of this union, of whom Effie is a graduate of the Arm- strong Business College, and Nettie died at the age of eleven. In 1893 Mr. Feeney became a member of the Ancient Order of United Work- men, and has since been very prominent in that organization. He is past master workman of Upchurch Lodge No. 126, and at Salem, in 1900, he was elected grand master workman, serving for one term. Mr. Feeney was representative to the supreme lodge which convened at Portland in 1902, and at that time was active on the com- mittee of general entertainment. At the present time he is sitting past grand master. He is also president of the Knights and Ladies of Security and was a delegate to the national convention which assembled at Topeka, Kans., in 1898. Mr. Feeney is identified with the Woodmen of the World, and is otherwise represented among the social and fraternal organizations of liis adopted town. A Republican in politics, he has never taken an active part at other than voting times, but may be counted on to maintain the best in- terests of his party. Of eminently social ten- dencies, and a firm believer in healthful sports, Mr. Feeney organized and promoted the Up- church baseball team, composed of members of Upchurch Lodge exclusively, and was the first team in the vicinity. He was the manager there- of for the first and second seasons. Popular and highly esteemed, Mr. Feeney occupies an enviable place in the community.

WILLIAM M. WATSON. Through the work of practical artisans has come much of the rapid development of the country, both east and west, but a fact worthy of note is the settlement of Oregon largely by men who thoroughly under-

stood the use of tools and even while following other lines of business have used this in the advancement and upbuilding of the uncultivated lands. Among these is to be named William M.

Watson, who died in Portland, April 9, 1891, after a life of practical fulfillment of duties during which he won the commendation of his fellow- citizens by his many sterling qualities. At one time in his life he proved his intense loyalty for the country of his adoption by becoming a soldier and helping to preserve the Union in which he had made his home.

Mr. Watson was born in the northern part of Ireland, April 9, 1837, his parents having re- moved to that location on account of adverse con- ditions in their native country of Scotland. When about fifteen years old Mr. Watson left home and crossing the ocean made his home with a brother located in Clinton county, N. Y. There, with Matthew Watson, a wagon maker and

blacksmith, he found employment for some time, the shop being located in Clintonville. Later he removed to Appleton, Wis., and continued to work, at the trade he had learned, for a short time, finally engaging with Benjamin Holliday, who conducted the pony express across the plains, the duties of Mr. Watson being to shoe the horses at various points along the route. Being taken ill he left his employment and went to Otterville, Mo., where he worked for a Mr. Bell at black- smithing, eventually building a home there and remaining so located for some time. In 1859 he was joined by his affianced wife and their mar- riage occurred in Boonville, Mo., where he was lo- cated at the time of the breaking out of the Civil war. Manfully resisting the efforts made to force him into the ranks of the Confederate army, Mr. Watson made his escape from the southern of- ficers by firing an engine into St. Louis, from which city he made his way back to Wisconsin, there enlisting as corporal in Company G, Forty- sixth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered in February 25, 1865, at Osh- kosh, and served throughout the war. At its close he returned to Wisconsin and began making buggies, but on account of injuries he was com- pelled to give up this business. Having read and heard much of the western lands, he decided to make the trip across the plains, and disposing of his property he took his family to California, a little later coming north and locating in Salem, Marion county. Orc., where he found steady em- ployment for a year as a mechanic. He then

went to Klamath Indian Reservation as a black- smith and remained there until the close of the Modoc war, when he once more located in Cali- fornia and secured employment in various ma- chine shops of the state. Afterward he was em- ployed as manager of the construction gang on the Southern Pacific Railroad, later being pro- moted to the position of roadmaster, in which three years' service he made his home at Truckee. Returning once more to Oregon he located in Portland and the year 1871 made his home in

D. M ML auchlau

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Salem, thence becoming a resident of Klamath Indian Agency, where he remained until 1876. Going south, he visited for a time in Reno, Nev., when he again worked in the machine shops of California, where he repaired quartz wagons for as long a time as his health would permit, later working on the old Central Pacific Railroad until the fall of 1879. Locating in Portland he became employed in placing switches on the Oregon & California Railroad and also on the Northern Pacific Railroad, later assuming the position of superintendent of construction of the Narrow Gange, in which latter work he remained until the road was completed. He then went to Astoria to work on the road to be built through the Chehalem country, and in the business of elearing up a landslide he took a severe cold which re- sulted in his death.

The marriage of Mr. Watson united him with Miss Emma Murphy, a native of Clintonville, Clinton county, N. Y., in which location the ro- mance of the two had begun. Of the two chil- dren which blessed their union William Eddy was born in Wisconsin, in 1863, and after his marriage in Portland he located in Monte Cristo. Ore., where he was employed as a locomotive engineer, while at the present time he is living in Portland; and Irwin S. was born in 1869, married in Stockton, Cal., and is now an expert accountant located in Great Falls, Mont. Both sons were educated in the public schools of Cali- fornia and Oregon, in addition to which the elder took a course in the Portland Business Col- lege. The home in which Mrs. Watson now resides consists of about an aere of land and a neat dwelling, the place having been purchased with one house upon it while another was later erected upon the corner of Sandy Road and Six- teenth street. In his fraternal relations Mr. Watson was identified with the Royal Arch Masons and Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

DANIEL M. McLAUCHLAN. The family represented by Chief of Police McLauchlan of Portland came from Scotland, where the name was originally spelled MacLachlan. His father. Alexander, was born in Argyleshire, and became a locomotive engineer on the Glasgow & South- western Railroad. In 1855 he brought his wife, Emily (Campbell) McLauchlan, and three chil- dren to America, settling in Hamilton, Canada. There his death occurred when he was about eighty years of age. His wife, who was a dangh- ter of Donald Campbell, a farmer of Inverness, also died in Hamilton. One of their sons, Alex- ander, is a commercial traveler in Ontario. The youngest of their three children. Daniel M., was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, October 31, 1854. and was only a year old when the family crossed

the ocean to Canada. In the grammar and high schools of Hamilton he received fair advantages. At fifteen years of age he entered the Great West- ern Railroad shops at Hamilton, where he served an apprenticeship of five years. During 1878 he came to the Pacific coast, settling in San Francisco, where he spent six months in an iron foundry. Next going to Seattle, then a new and small town, he was employed on the Seattle & Walla Walla road, a short line of twenty-one miles, ex- tending to the coal mines. First as a machinist, then as an engineer, he rendered efficient service to the company, but finally resigned in order to remove to Oregon. During February of 1880 he came to The Dalles, where he engaged as a ma- chinist in the shops of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company.

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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 95

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