Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 103

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, The Chapman Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1622

USA > Oregon > Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present > Part 103

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Mr. Walker was married in Tazewell county,

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Ill., to Miss Clary M. Davis, a native of that locality and a daughter of one of the early pioneer farmers of the state. Seven children were born of this marriage: Thomas F., who is living on the home farm; Mrs. Sarah Sav- age, who died in Salem; Mrs. Annie Martin, who also passed away in this city ; Mrs. Emma Savage, of Brooks, Ore .; Harvey, who is liv- ing on the home farm, and two who died in infancy.

Since 1877 Mr. Walker has been a valued member of Chemeketa Lodge, No. I, I. O. O. F. and is identified with the encampment of Salem. On questions of national importance he gives an earnest support to the Democracy and in 1898 he was nominated on the Citizens' ticket for the office of councilman from the first ward. Having been elected he was ap- pointed a member of the ways and means com- mittee, also of the committee on accounts and current expenses and chairman of the printing committee. The duties of the office he re- garded as a sacred obligation which he fully met, giving to every subject which came up for settlement his earnest consideration. He was very active in reducing the city debt from $85,000 to $65,000 and in funding the latter amount with four per cent bonds in place of eight per cent bonds and these were sold as popular loans. He was also instrumental in reducing the expense of the electric light of the city to one-half the former amount. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and value in office, re-elected him on the Citizens' ticket in 1900 by a large majority and during the second term he was a member of the fire and water committee, of the committee on ac- counts and current expenses and chairman of the ordinance committee. In 1902, against his wishes, however, he consented to again become a candidate and is now serving for the third term of two years. Over the record of his public career and private life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He is a man of much worth and high standing and is also classed among the wealthy residents of Salem. This fact is due to a life of industry carefully directed: He started out for him- self without means, but was determined to win success if it could be gained through honorable methods and persistency of purpose and to- day he is one of the substantial men of his adopted country. Mr. Walker is entirely self-made and out of debt. No man can say that he ever presented any obligation to him that was not promptly met.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN CHUTE. Although comparatively a newcomer in Monmouth, Mr. Chute is well known, and whereyer known is

respected. Great interest in all of the local en- teprises is maintained by him, and he does all within his power to promote the general pros- perity of his adopted city. The birth of Mr. Chute occurred in Faribault county, Minn., Sep- tember 22, 1863, and his parents were Willian E. and Mary Ann (Hill) Chute, both of Canad- ian birth. Shortly before the birth of the son the parents had left their home in Canada and settled on a quarter section of land in Fari- bault county, Minn., which from that time until 1901 continued to be the family home. In the year last mentioned, however, the father re- tired from active cares and made his home with his son, who in the meantime had removed to Chicago, Ill., and there the father's death oc- curred in 1902, at sixty-five years of age. The maternal grandfather, Walter Hill, was also a Canadian by birth, and upon emigrating to the United States located on a farm near Eagle Lake, Minn, where the remainder of his life was spent.

Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. William E. Chute, four sons and one daughter, Abrahamı L. was the oldest son and second child. His education was received in the ex- cellent schools for which Canada is famous, and in getting an education he worked with the same cnergy that has characterized all his ef- forts in life, doing with a will and determina- tion whatever he set his hand or mind to do. At twenty years of age he felt himself suffi- ciently equipped to take up the affairs of life on his own account, and forthwith took from the government a grant of land in South Dakota which he improved and cultivated for seven years, but in 1890 he sold the land and went to the Northwest Territory, where he also filed on a piece of land and engaged in farming. It was in the year 1894 that he cast in his lot with the citizens of Oregon, and at once became identified with her immense lumber interests. One winter at this, however, sufficed to prove that it was not a line that he cared to continue permanently, and in June, 1895, took up his abode in Monmouth, Polk county, and here he expects to make his home continuously.

It is said nothing which we learn in life can be wasted, but on the other hand can always be turned to good account, and so it has proved in the case of Mr. Chute. It was while he was in Canada that he learned the blacksmith's trade, and ever since his identification with the city of Monmouth he has followed the latter calling, for which he seems to have a special aptitude. and is meeting with gratifying returns from a monetary standpoint. His faith in the city of Monmouth as a desirable place of residence has been further indicated by the fact that in the southeastern part of the city he has erected a

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fine residence, which is not only a credit to the owner, but to the city as well. In addition to this property he also owns nine acres of land within the city limits.

It was while in South Dakota that Mr. Chute and Miss Maggie Connor, a native of Canada, were united in marriage. Three children were born to them and all are still at home, their naines being as follows: Ray William, Blanch Victoria and Stella May. Mrs. Maggie Chute died May 1, 1896, at Monmouth, and in 1897 Mr. Chute was married to Annie Henson, a native of Missouri, and three children have been born to them, Lora Anna, Mary Elizabeth and John Lincoln, all being at home with their parents.

Private interests have not consumed the en- tire attention and time of Mr. Chute, as his two terms of valuable service as a member of the city council will testify, and in behalf of the Prohibition party he has done all that has been possible within his power to further the cause of the party. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Fraternal Union of America. The family are members of the Evangelical Church, liberally assisting in its support.

JOHN M. McCARTNEY. Countless as were the number of men who cheerfully accept- ed the hard conditions incident to life among the undeveloped regions of Oregon in pioneer days, there is scarcely the name of one lost from the history of the country. Although nearly a scorce of years has passed since John M. McCartney died, he is still remembered among the people with whom he mingled as a pioneer of the Willamette valley, there giving his energy to the upbuilding of the country as a cultivator of the broad fields of the generous western land.

Mr. McCartney came with his parents to Ore- gon in 1852, when he was only fifteen years old, having been born November 18, 1837. He was a native of Gibson county, Ind., and a son of Henry A. McCartney, who was born in Ten- nessee, a descendant of Scotch ancestry. The mother was Margaret A. Finney, of English descent. When but one year old his parents removed from Indiana, locating in Monmouth, Ill., being there among the early settlers, after which they spent six months in crossing the plains, the journey's end finding them in Linn county, Ore. There they passed the first win- ter, after which the father took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres lo- cated on the banks of the river and upon the present site of Peoria, and of this little town Mr. McCartney was one of the benefactors.

He also served two years in the Oregon legis- lature. The mother died August 12, 1862, at Peoria, and in 1881 Mr. McCartney sold his property and removed to Sodaville, where he died January 15, 1893.

The early education of Mr. McCartney was received in the common schools of Linn county, where he remained until attaining his majority, when he left home and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land located one and a half miles west of Shedds, where he took up farni- ing. After eight years' residence there he re- moved to his father's old claim in 1872, and continued there for four years, at the expira- tion of that time becoming the owner of the two hundred and twenty acres which his widow now has in her possession. This is located two and a half miles north of Harrisburg, and con- sists of two acres more than was included in the original purchase. From the time of the purchase until his death, which occurred Feb- ruary 2, 1885, Mr. McCartney remained here engaged in farming. The wife of Mr. McCart- ney was in maidenhood Melinda J. Porter, a native of Boone county, Ind., having been born there December 1, 1844. She was the daugh- ter of James A. Porter, who was born in Rus- sell county, Va., June 15, 1816, and died in Harrisburg, Linn county, Ore., in 1880. He had married Nancy S. Knott, a native of White- water, Ind., who died in 1862 near Halsey, Ore., when forty-seven years old. In 1853 Mr. Porter brought his family across the plains, September 11 finding them in the Willamette valley, where he bought the right to a donation claim located four miles northwest of Halsey, where Mrs. McCartney was reared. After her education was finished she married November 14, 1861, and became the mother of four children, name- ly : Asbury A., who now lives at home and conducts the farm; Nancy A., the wife of A. J. Basey, of Salem; Edgar I., deceased; and Guy M., at home. Since the death of her hus- band Mrs. McCartney makes her home upon the farm, where general farming is now carried on. Mr. McCartney was a Republican in poli- tics. Mrs. McCartney is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church of Harrisburg, in which she officiates as trustee, and has held that posi- tion for the past five years.

JAMES S. BUCHANAN. Among the prominent men of Polk county, Ore., is to be named James S. Buchanan, whose success in life has been entirely the result of excellent busi- ness judgment and the ability to execute his plans, combined with a quickness of decision by which he has taken advantage of many an opportunity which would have escaped a less

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astute man. Mr. Buchanan is now a merchant of Airlie in a building which he erected in 1902, his business comprising no small item among the mercantile interests of the city.

The father of James S. Buchanan, Thomas, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and on com- ing to Canada at an early day he became em- ployed at Montreal in building the docks. Later he was engaged at Carryall Rapids in building a canal, his business being that of a civil en- gineer. Later in life he became the owner of a large farm, where he was engaged in farm- ing and breeding fine horses, meeting his death while at this latter business in 1849 by the run- ning away of a horse attached to a sleigh. He was a finely educated, popular man, and was very prominent in the local politics of his com- munity and exercised no little influence in pub- lic affairs. His business ability was indicated by the fortune which he had acquired at the time of his death. He married Floranda Hutch- ins, a native of New York City, whose father was a lumber merchant at the Lake of Two Mountains, and was very successful in his busi- ness, exporting large quantities of lumber. He came to his death at a comparatively early age while running a raft at Power's bridge at La- chute.

Of the eight children born to his father and mother, five sons and three daughters, James S. Buchanan was the seventh child and the young- est son, and was born on the Lake of the Two Mountains, May 24, 1836. After his education in the common schools was complete he and his brother Paul were sent to the Ray school in Newark, N. J., from which they graduated at an early age. After serving an apprenticeship at the boot and shoe trade he engaged in the manufacture of these articles at the age of nine- teen years, locating in Upper Canada, Huron county. Until the Civil war broke out in the United States he carried on a splendid business, having ten men employed. Taking advantage of the need in the neighboring country, he be- gan importing horses into the United States to sell to the government, and continued at this with handsome profits until the close of the war. In 1866 he decided to make his home in the United States, locating first in Roscoe, Ill., where he engaged in broom manufacturing. After a year there he sold his interests and removed to Sheridan county, Mo., making a purchase of eight hundred acres of land upon which he re- mained engaged in farming until 1873. when be again changed his residence, taking up a homestead in Graham county, Kans., near Hill City. He proved up on his property and paid out, but not meeting with the success which he had hoped to find in stock-raising he came to Oregon in 1887, purchasing a mercantile estah-

lishment at Wren, Benton county. For three years he made this his sole interest, building up a fine custom, and at the expiration of that time he bought a store at Summit, conducting the two for some time. In 1892 he disposed of this second interest at a comfortable profit. Leaving his son, Orville, to conduct his interests at Wren he came to Airlie and engaged with his son-in-law, A. D. McKisson, in a general mer- chandise establishment, the partnership later be- ing dissolved by Mr. McKisson leaving the coun- try for Nome, Alaska, when Mr. Buchanan be- came sole owner of the business. The business in Airlie having grown to larger proportions than Mr. Buchanan cared to handle alone, he sold his interests in 1901 in Wren and gave his son em- ployment in this city, in 1902 putting up the building now occupied by his business.

Mr. Buchanan was married in Goderich, On- tario, to Miss Eliza Dickson, a native of Brock- ville, Canada, the daughter of a lumber mer- chant, who died in that country when quite young. Of the children born of this union Floranda is now the wife of F. P. O'Neil of Washington; Annie is Mrs. D. M. Collop, of Fairhaven, Wash .; Kate, deceased, was the wife of M. Sexton; Rosena is the wife of A. D. McKisson of Montavilla, Ore .; Orville makes his home in Airlie, engaged in business with his fatlier, with whom he has always worked, be- ing business manager of the mercantile estab- lishment. He was born in Missouri, and is mar- ried: Mrs. Fay Glassford, who has three chil- dren living-two sons and a daughter-Paul, Neal and Gay; Evy, the wife of W. J. Newton, a farmer located near Colfax, Wash .; John and Samuel, deceased, and buried in Blueville, Can- ada; and two daughters who died in infancy and were buried in Missouri. Mr. Buchanan is a Democrat of the Jacksonian type. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

HENRY H. BRINKLEY. A meritorious war record preceded the coming of Henry H. Brinkley to Oregon in the fall of 1866, and he has since lived on a well improved farm of three hundred and three acres in Polk county. Born in Paducah, MeCracken county, Ky., April 18, 1838, he is a son of William W., and grandson of Timothy Brinkley, both of whom were natives of North Carolina, and of English descent. Spe- cial mention is due William W. Brinkley, who was a cripple, and notwithstanding this discour- aging circumstance, accomplished much during his active life, acquired a good education in his vouth, and also prepared for the future by learn- ing the shoemaker's trade. For many years he was a school teacher, and in connection therewith made shoes, and also managed a farm. When

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his son, Henry H. was a mere boy he removed to Illinois, locating on a farm in Gallatin county, subsequently residing on farms in Hardin and Hamilton counties. He was a stanch Democrat, and served for many years as justice of the peace, and about 1850 represented Hamilton county in the state legislature for a couple of terms. In Gallatin county he was tinited in marriage with Mary Hall, a native of Gallatin county, and whose grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mrs. Brinkley died in Hamilton county at the age of forty, leaving five children, three sons and two daughters. Her husband survived her until 1870, and died in Hamilton county at the age of seventy.

With the other members of his family Henry H. Brinkley moved around a great deal in Illi- nois, and at irregular intervals attended the early subscription schools. He was living on a farm in Gallatin county when the war broke out, and September 16, 1862, enlisted in Company E, Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry as a private, and served as first duty sergeant. The regiment was stationed at Peoria, Ill., for five months, and afterward sent to Louisville, from which head- quarters it scoured the state under the command of General Hobson. In the spring of 1863 it was sent in search of General Morgan under command of General Shackleford, returning to Glasgow, Ky., at the expiration of five weeks. In September, 1863, the regiment was sent across country under General Burnside to Knoxville, Tenn., and was later with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, eventually falling back and joining General Thomas in the fight at Nashville. During the last mentioned battle Mr. Brinkley received a slight wound on the left hand from a sabre, and also was hit in the face with a shell. After being mustered out at Pulaski, Tenn., July 31, 1865, he returned to Gallatin county, Ill., and remained there until coming to Oregon in 1866. He took steamer at New York city, crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and arrived in San Francisco, from which port he sailed for Portland.

The Brinkley farm is valuable and well im- proved, and is devoted to farming and stock- raising, a specialty being made of Cotswold sheep. A comfortable and commodious resi- dence, good barns and the latest implements contribute to the pleasure and profit of one of the most peaceful and satisfactory occupations in the world. In 1871 Mr. Brinkley married Annie Wilds, a native of Benton county, and born on Soap creek, upon which her father, John Wilds, settled after crossing the plains in 1846. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brinkley: Mary, the wife of A. J. Bagley of Athens, Ore .; John, living in Boise City; Jessie, the wife of Fred Koomtz, of Athens, Ore .;

Walter, at home; Annie, living at Salem, Ore .; and Thomas, at home. Mr. Brinkley is a Repub- lican in politics, and has been road supervisor and school director. He is fraternally associ- ated with the Ancient Order of United Work- men of Corvallis, and the Grand Army of the Republic of Independence.

JOSEPH ELMER HAMILTON. The pio- neers who came to Oregon before the rush for gold sent countless numbers out upon the plains, thus minimizing the danger of travel, are deserv- ing of more than passing mention, exhibiting as they did a courage almost beyond the belief of those who today occupy palace cars, and gaze upon the farms which have supplanted the haunts of the Indian from one ocean to the other. Among the class of men who were influenced rather by the fertility of the soil than the contents of the mines, and who swelled the emigration west- ward of 1847, must be mentioned Joseph Ham- ilton, former agriculturist, merchant, state legis- lator, and promoter of Linn county. This hon- ored pioneer was the father of Joseph E. Hamil- ton, occupant of the old homestead at the present time, and who was born thereon, June 17, 1862.

Joseph Hamilton was born on a small farm near Londonderry, Ireland, March 25, 1819, and came to the United States with his parents in 1826, settling on a farm in Ohio, where he grew to manhood. He was married, in 1846, to Caro- line Owens, born near Richmond, N. C., and after his marriage continued his occupation of thresh- ing in Iowa, to which state he had in the mean- time removed. In 1847 he outfitted with ox- teams and a prairie schooner, joined a train of people bound for Oregon, and was on the road six months. The party had several skirmishes with the Indians, and one of the men was killed ; they also had a number of cattle stolen. The first winter was spent near Salem, and in the spring of 1848 Mr. Hamilton came to Linn county and took up a donation claim of six hun- ‹Ired and forty acres eight miles southwest of Albany, which property is now occupied by his namesake son, Joseph E. The elder Joseph built a little log cabin, as all the settlers were obliged to do, and the substitution of this by a more modern dwelling was an event of special significance, indicating, as it did, the success achieved by the father in clearing and cultivating his land. A large part of his property was prairie land, and this he devoted to general farm- ing and stock-raising, in time starting a general merchandise store on his land, the first place in the vicinity to sell goods. This little store was quite a curiosity in its way, and people came from far and near to purchase household necessi-

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ties, and incidentally to meet their friends and talk over important happenings among the settlers. The stock of the store was necessarily limited, owing to the difficulty of transporting goods from Portland, but it paved the way for other and larger undertakings, and filled a long- felt want among the pioneers.

In 1850 Mr. Hamilton left his store and farm to other hands and went to the mining districts of California, and here, as elsewhere, he showed his shrewd business sagacity. Realizing that many were called but few chosen to succeed as miners, he avoided being one of the latter class by engaging in merchandising and freight- ing rather than mining, and so wise proved this decision, that he returned to his farm in Oregon the richer by several hundreds of dollars. He took an active part in politics from the time of attain- ing his majority, filling a number of prominent positions, representing Linn county in the state legislature, and serving as county commissioner. Even as a boy he was much interested in the Presbyterian Church, and the older he grew the more he appreciated church associations. Him- self and wife were among the organizers of the First Presbyterian Church in their vicinity, and from year to year contributed to the best of their ability towards its maintenance and chari- ties. Even now at the age of seventy-seven years, the wife who survives him is a regular attendant at Sunday services. He was actively identified with the organization of what is now the Cor- vallis & Eastern Railroad Company and the con- struction of its line and served on the committee which endeavored to acquire the right of way and the necessary legislation. He became one of the stockholders in the company and was in- terested in the project for many years. He had previously been interested in the construction of the first wagon road from Corvallis to Yaquina Bay. In later years he was associated with other leading men in the promotion of the County Agricultural Society, and from its inception he was one of the chief promoters of the State Fair held at Salem, which he annually attended in an official capacity. He and his brothers brought with them, in 1847, the castings for the first threshing machine ever operated in the Willamette valley. This machine they made in Ohio, and operated it in that state and Iowa. After reaching Oregon they put the parts together and operated it for several years, the only implement of the kind in the valley. Mr. Hamilton lived to be sixty-five years old, and he left a finely improved property to his wife and children. He was a man for whom all enter- tained the most profound respect, and his death, September 12, 1884, was mourned by a host of friends and associates. He left six children, of whom Joseph E. is the fifth. Angelina, the

oldest daughter, is the wife of George Riddell of The Dalles; Josephine is the wife of George Henderson of Baker City; Jennie is the wife of Rev. A. M. Acheson, of Pennsylvania; Nellie is the wife of G. T. Hamill of Idaho; and Will- iam B. is a physician practicing in Portland.

In his youth Joseph E. Hamilton had the ad- vantages of the public schools and Albany Col- lege, and has always lived on the home farm. Since his father's death he has managed the farm for his mother, with whom he is part owner, and that he has made a success of it is not questioned by anyone who visits the place, and inspects the modern facilities for conducting an extensive general farming and stock-raising enterprise. At present he and his mother own eight hundred acres, quite an increase over the father's original purchase, and one hundred and fifty acres are under cultivation. The family have a comfort- able and pleasant home, and the barns and out- houses are of the best. September 8, 1891, Mr. Hamilton married Anna E. Greenlee, who was born near Joliet, Ill., and reared in Kansas. Of this union there have been born four children, Robert Bruce, Joseph Allen, Mary Isabella and Amna Irene. Like his father, Mr. Hamilton is a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he is an elder. In political faith he is a Repub- lican, with a strong leaning towards prohibition. No family in the county represents in greater degree moral and agricultural excellence, con- servative growth and reliability, than does the pioneer and prosperous family of Hamilton.

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Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 103

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago, The Chapman Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1622

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, The Chapman Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1622