Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 116

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 116

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in 1860 found his way across the mountains to Canyon City, eastern Oregon. He was one of the first to reach the gold mines of that section but he was not particularly successful, and so came in 1862 to near Readville, Washington county. In 1881 he purchased his present farm of one hundred and eighty-one acres, where he has one of the ideal rural homes of the county, and is engaged principally in raising cereals.

At Hillsboro, Washington county, Ore., Mr. Roberts married Elizabeth Jane Stewart, a na- tive of that town, and the first white child born there. Mrs. Roberts' father, Thomas, was born in Missouri, and came overland with ox-teams in 1847, taking up a donation claim of six hun- dred and forty acres near Hillsboro. He was a blacksmith by trade, and a hard-working man, accumulating, during his thirteen years in the west, quite a competence. Ida, the eldest child born to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, is living at home, while Myrtle is the wife of E. J. Hern; S. P. is a railway agent at Harrisburg; and Edward is at home. Mr. Roberts is a Republican in politi- cal affiliation, and has served the community as recorder, and member of the council many terms. Of strong and forceful characteristics, he has exerted an influence for good in the town, and has especially worked for the suppression of the vicious element. In this he is fearless and de- termined. As a reminder of the numerous en- counters with the Indians in Oregon and Wash- ington Mr. Roberts has an arrow mark on the pit of his stomach, and other healed wounds in- dicate the extent of his operations among the Indians who so bitterly resented the encroaching civilization. The arrow mark was received on the Platt river in 1862, and about this time this intrepid investigator escaped many times from places of imminent danger. He never partici- pated in organized fights against the Indians, his services being purely voluntary, and rendered according to the exigencies of the situations in which he found himself. Mr. Roberts is fra- ternally connected with the Blue Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and in religion he is a member of the Christian Church.

ISAAC W. STARR, M. D. An eminent physician of Linn county, whose years of success-" ful practice have won him the lasting apprecia- tion and good will of the community, is Dr. Isaac WV. Starr, of Brownsville. A native son of Ore- gon, he was born on his father's donation claim near Monroe, in Benton county, November 28, 1853, shortly after the arrival of the family in the west. He comes of an ancestry which must necessarily have inspired an ambitious lad to endeavor, for his father, Philip M., and his grand- father, John Wesley Starr, were ministers in the

Methodist Episcopal Church, and were renowned for their self-sacrificing characters. John Wes- ley Starr was born in the east, and crossed the plains to Oregon in 1850, locating on a claim in Benton county, where his farm was headquarters for church services for a period of between twenty and thirty years. He was an earnest and noble man, giving unstintingly of his time and substance for the furtherance of the cause which he represented. In connection with preaching he managed his farm, and died at the age of seventy-five, leaving behind him a record unsur- passed for nobility of heart.

Philip M. Starr was born in the state of Ohio, April 18, 1825, and was reared on his father's farm in Guernsey county, until the family re- moval to Iowa in 1833. Under the inspiration of his father's Christian life he also resolved to devote his life to the ministry, and at a com- paratively early age prepared for his lifework under the father's direction. He was ambitious and in 1849 took advantage of the tide of emi- gration wending its way to the coast, hoping to find broader fields for his life's labors. He re- turned to his home in Iowa via Panama in 1852, and there married Ann Maria Rambo, who was born in Elkhart county, Ind., February 14, 1831. The following year, in 1853, Mr. Starr brought his family to Oregon, making his sec- ond trip across the plains with ox-teams. Locat- ing near Monroe, Benton county, on a large claim he made this his home for many years, and like his father, combined the management of his property with an active ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was twenty-five years in the church in Oregon, and during that time he served for one term as presiding elder of the Portland district, and in 1878 was delegate to the general conference at Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1890 he retired from active life, and his death occurred in Brownsville, Ore., October 22, 1900. His first wife died at the age of twenty-four years, leaving one son, Isaac W. He afterward mar- ried a second wife, who bore him two sons and two daughters, two of whom are living, Ann Maria Leper and Edward D. Starr.

After completing his education in the public schools, Isaac W. Starr entered Philomath Col- lege, where he remained for two years. In 1874 he entered the medical department of the Willam- ette University, graduating therefrom in the class of June, 1877. After a short practice in Mon- roe, Ore., he located in Halsey in 1879, and the same fall came to Brownsville, taking up the practice of Dr. S. C. Stone, now located in Salem. During the intervening years the doctor has made himself an integral part of the com- munity, contributing to its sanitary and physical well-being, and evidencing at all times an ap- preciation of the magnitude and possibilities of

H.F. Fischer

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his noble profession. For twenty-five years he was part owner of a drug store in the town, disposing of the same to Osborne & Hume in the fall of 1903. In Brownsville, Dr. Starr married, in 1882, Clara L. Bishop, who was born in Oregon, a daughter of Rev. W. R. Bishop. Chester Harvard, the only son in the family, born October 23, 1882, will graduate from the classical course at Eugene in 1906; and Georgie, the only daughter, was born March 16, 1892. On account of educating the children, the family of the doctor made their home in Eugene, and in the fall of 1903 the doctor removed his family to Salem for a permanent home. The doctor is a Republican in political affiliation, and fraternally is associated with the Blue Lodge, No. 36, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Royal Arch Chapter, No. 19, of Brownsville; with the Knights of Pythias; the Woodmen of the World; the Artisans; and the Independent Order of For- resters of Albany. Genial, tactful and optimistic, the doctor makes friends wherever he goes, and nowhere more than in the sick room.

HENRY FRED FISCHER. For many years the name of Henry Fred Fischer was a power in milling circles in Benton county, although for several years before his death, September 23, 1902, he was practically retired, his son, Lewis Henry, assuming the greater part of the responsibility, and in 1900 took entire charge of the Fischer Flouring Mill at Silverton.

As his name implies, Mr. Fischer was of Ger- man ancestry, and his birth occurred in Han- over, Germany, March 25, 1838. His father, Fred, was also a native of Hanover, and by oc- cupation was a farmer, who brought his family to the United States in 1842, locating on the farm in Du Page county, Ill., where the bal- ance of his life was spent. Henry Fred Fischer was about four years old when he came to America, and his youth and early manhood were spent on the farm near Elmhurst, a very undulating part of the state, the house being located on a hill thirty feet high. At an early age he evinced decided business ability, and when barely twenty-two years old, built a mill in the neighborhood of his home, which had many years of uninterrupted success, and which is even now standing, and is used for the manufacture of flour. The old mill was built on a stone foundation and was of the Holland order, the entire structure being one hundred and sixty feet across, while the main shaft was 14×14 feet, and the tower reared into the air one hundred and seventy-five feet. The mill was arranged with sails for motive power, and had a capacity of forty barrels a day, origi-

nally, but it was later equipped with steam ap- paratus, which greatly increased its capacity. Thus Mr. Fischer became an influence in the commercial world of Du Page county, Ill., and in time acquired a competence through his milling business.

Having disposed of his Du Page property, Mr. Fischer came to Oregon in 1877, and, in Corvallis, bought a third interest in the Cor- vallis Mills, owned by Gray, Corthaeur & Co. This mill was a small affair, having a capacity of only thirty-five barrels per day, and had been built about four years. Mr. Fischer as- sumed the active management thereof, and, as may be imagined, after his long independent milling experience, he did not particularly rel- ish the partnership feature of the business. Almost immediately he decided that he would either sell his share or buy the others out, and it happened that at the end of three years he was sole possessor of the Corvallis mill, with ambitious projects for its future. The capacity was greatly increased by the addition of modern machinery, the dam was enlarged, and three large crib warehouses erected, each having three floors, 36x130 feet in dimensions, the combined capacity being one hundred and sixty thousand bushels of wheat. In time the capacity of the mill became two hundred and twenty-five barrels a day, being one hundred- horse (water) power, and the steam plant an eighty-horse engine. Mr. Fischer also built a warehouse at Peoria with a capacity of eighty thousand bushels.

In 1899 Mr. Fischer bought the Oregon Mill- ing Company's mill at Silverton, enlarged and remodeled it, and made of it a sifter mill with a capacity of two hundred and twenty-five bar- rels a day. The combined milling interests were then under his control, although by that time the infirmities of age began to tell upon his powers, and he naturally adjusted his af- fairs accordingly. His son, Lewis Henry, had been trained with special reference to sup- planting his father as a miller, and his knowl- edge of milling interests has resulted in his prominence as the manager of the Silverton mill, of which he assumed control in 1900, and which he has greatly improved in the mean- time, increasing its capacity to two hundred and fifty barrels per day. The flour turned out of these mills has a reputation far beyond the borders of Oregon, and its merit is best in- dicated when it is known that it took medals at the Trans-Mississippi Fair at Omaha, the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, and the Charleston Fair. The product was also exhibited at the Osaki, Japan, exposition. Willamette valley wheat is used exclusively in the manu- facture of the flour, and such well known brands

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as Corvallis and Pride of the Waldo Hills finds its way to the markets of California, South America, Alaska, Havana, the Philippines, and the ports of the Orient.

In his young manhood Mr. Fischer married Sophia Rathje, who also was a native of Ger- many, and who came with her parents to America, locating among the pioneers of Du Page county, Ill. Mrs. Fischer, who, at the age of sixty, is living in Corvallis, is the mother of eight children, of whom six are liv- ing. In the order of their birth the children are as follows: Emma, the deceased wife of Will- iam Rotermund, of Addison, Ill .; William was bookkeeper for the mills, and died in 1899, at the age of thirty-five years ; August W., man- ager for the Corvallis mill ; Lewis Henry, man- ager of the Silverton mills; Ernest, employed in the Corvallis mill; Lousie, the wife of Rich- ard Kiger, of Benton county; Martha and Frederick, living at home. A Republican in politics, Mr. Fischer never identified himself with political undertakings further than the formality of casting his vote. In religion, he was a member of the Lutheran Church. At the time of his death he was sixty-four years of age. He was buried in the churchyard at Corvallis, and was mourned by the hosts of friends won hy his sterling personal traits, his unquestioned in- tegrity, and his great services in behalf of the upbuilding of Marion and Benton counties.

JAMES WILLIAMS COMPTON. Since 1889 James Williams Compton has made his home in Scio, Linn county, where he bought property at that date, and is now enjoying a rest after an active life of well directed effort toward a successful utilization of the advantages which the state offered in its pioneer days. He was born in Washington county, Mo., November 17, 1831, the son of John Compton, who was born in Woodford county, Ky., in 1794, and the grand- son of Richard Compton, also a native of Ken- tucky. The latter spent the greater part of his life in his native state, and later moved to Mis- souri, where he located near Jackson, and en- gaged in farming, living to a ripe old age. The father, John Compton, married in Kentucky Margaret Schoffner, a native of that state, and from there he moved to Missouri in 1818, in which state his wife later died. He located first on the Merrimac river, and removed to Washington county, in the neighborhood of the county-seat, and there engaged in farming and lead-mining. In 1849 he made the trip which was then so attractive to the inhabitants of the Mississippi valley, and after a time in California, where he met with some success, he returned to Missouri, in March, 1850, and died in April of

the same year, having made the dangerous trip across the plains with ox-teams, returning home by way of the isthmus of Panama.

Of the twelve children, nine sons and three daughters, born to his parents, James William Compton was the tenth child. His education was received through the medium of the subscription schools of his native state, the amount of in- struction and the worth of it being somewhat limited, as was often the case among the ham- pering conditions of those early times. In 1852 he engaged in farm work on his father's farm, until the fall of that year, when he took up a claim, remaining until March 27, of the next year, when he followed the example of his father, and with ox-teams, started across the plains for the west. He chose the route along the Platte river, and August 20, 1853, he arrived at his destination, in the Willamette valley, Ore., reach- ing at this date what is known as Foster's place. He first located in Benton county, where he split rails and did a little farming, and in November of the same year he took a donation claim four- teen miles south of Corvallis, purchasing the squatter's right to a tract of three hundred and twenty acres. He remained there for four ycars. In March, 1857, he purchased a farm in Linn county consisting of three hundred and twenty acres, four and a half miles southeast of Scio, and in February, 1858, moved upon it. Here he engaged in farming, and later added one hun- dred and seventy acres, and again a small tract of four and a half acres, making the entire amount four hundred and ninety-four and one- half acres, which he sold May 14, 1902, at $20 per acre. His residence has since been in the town of Scio, and his principal occupation the loaning of the money which he derived from the sale of his land.

Mr. Compton was married in Missouri to Me- linda Sumpter, a native of that state. She was the daughter of Alexander Sumpter, who was born in east Tenessee, May 6, 1810, and was but four years old when he removed with his parents to Indiana, where, near Greencastle, he followed the vocation of farming. In manhood he removed as an early settler to Missouri, locat- ing about ninety miles below St. Louis, on Black river, where he continued to farm. In 1849 he journeyed to California, and, though taken sick en route, lie recovered and entered the mines, finding employment in the Santa Clara valley. In 1851 he returned to Missouri, and two years later came to Oregon across the plains, bringing his family with him, and located six miles south of Scio, Linn county, where he bought a dona- tion claim of three hundred and twenty acres, upon which he lived until 1872. In the last- named year he removed to Crook county, Ore., and later traveled over many different counties

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of the state, and Idaho, in October, 1896, making his home with Mr. Compton, with whom he has' since lived. The fourteen children which blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Compton are: George W., a farmer in Linn county; John E., a farmer in Polk county, Ore .; Margaret Jane, the wife of E. A. Bishop, a farmer in Willow county, Ore .; Henry Clay, located in Linn county ; James Silas, who is in Lebanon, Ore .; Charles Dudley, in Scio; Riley, who is deceased ; Albert Lee, who is located southeast of Spokane, Wash .; Emma May, the wife of Henry Kinser, of Linn county ; Thomas Jefferson, in Whitman county, Wash .; Martha Alice, the wife of J. J. Arkison, of Baker City, Ore .; Nancy Ella, who is de- ceased; Larkin Lafayette, also deceased; and Otto William, who is in Whitman county, Wash. Mr. Compton is a member of the Baptist Church, and politically is a Democrat, and for many years has served as road supervisor and school di- rector.

WILLIAM E. OWEN. Though a resident of Oregon but nine years, William E. Owen has built up a substantial and lucrative business in Monitor, Marion county, in the accomplishment of which he has won the good will and esteem of the citizens of this community through the many good qualities which have distinguished his life in the west. He was one of two children in an Iowa family, whose occupation was that of till- ing the soil, and after his birth in Monroe county, May 1, 1866, his parents, John E. and Elvira J. (Berry) Owen, continued in this occupation, rearing him to the same life. His education was received through the medium of the district schools, which he attended for some time. Upon attaining manhood he remained with his father engaged in farming until 1894, when he left home and, coming to Oregon, located at Mon- itor, Marion county, where he now makes his home.

In this village Mr. Owen soon found employ- ment with the Monitor Mills, where he remained for eight years, giving the best of satisfaction to liis employers and winning the respect of all by his application to business and his energetic efforts toward success. Upon his resignation from this position he took charge of the Monitor Trading Company, a mercantile establishment in which he has been a partner ever since 1897. Under his management a large business is con- ducted, the principal stockholder being Mr. Owen. Since his connection with the establishment the business has improved in many ways and has shown a steady increase in volume.

Mr. Owen was united in marriage, January 30, 1901, to Emma McKee, a daughter of David and Caroline McKee, who was born and reared

in the state of Oregon. They at once went to housekeeping in the house in which they still make their home. Through Republican influ- ence, of which party Mr. Owen is a strong ad- herent, he was appointed postmaster of Monitor, August 25, 1902, by President Mckinley. Hc has also served as judge of election. Fraternally he is quite prominent, being a member of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, at his old home in Iowa, to which he has belonged since his twenty-first birthday; Woodmen of the World, French Prairie Camp No. 47 ; and Modern Wood- men of America, Monitor Camp No. 8281. Mr. Owen owns his home in the village, and is also owner of the building in which the mercantile business is conducted. He has always taken an active interest in school matters, and is chairman of the board of Harmony District No. 70.

CHARLES FRANKLIN MOIST. Through his association with the agricultural interests in this section of the state Charles Franklin Moist has become known in Linn county, and as a successful farmer he has added much to the importance of the industries of the state. He is a native son, having been born on his father's donation claim, three miles north of Lebanon, Linn county, January 13, 1851. His father, Joseph Moist, a native of Pennsylvania, settled first in Iowa, from which state he crossed the plains by ox-teams in 1845, and became the owner of six hundred and forty acres of land. The remainder of his life was spent upon his farm, where he died in 1893, at the age of seven- ty years. He married Elizabeth Jane Ralston, who was born in the east and crossed the plains with her parents, and she now makes her home in Albany, at the age of seventy-five years. Her father was Jeremiah Ralston, who came from Iowa to Oregon across the plains in 1847, and took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres upon the present site of the city of Lebanon. In the establishment of the town he gave much earnest help, being the first merchant. and later conducting a general merchandise bus- iness. On his farm property he engaged in stock-raising, and met with gratifying success. His death occurred in this city. To Mr. and Mrs. Moist were born four sons, of whom Charles Franklin was the eldest.

Mr. Moist was reared upon the paternal farm, and received his education in the common schools of the county. In 1877 he undertook the man- agement of his father's farm, and in 1882 he bought fifty acres west of Lebanon, upon which he engaged in farming until 1890. At that date he became the owner of one hundred and thirty- seven acres of what is known as the Morgan Kees donation claim, and upon which he is now

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engaged in stock-raising, buying and selling stock. He has his farm well improved, his dwell- ing being a handsome, two-story building, well located in the midst of his broad acres. In ad- dition to this property lie also owns one hundred and forty acres west of the town.

The marriage of Mr. Moist occurred in Le- banon and united him with Mary Wassom, a native of Oregon, and whose father, Jonathan, came from Iowa to Oregon in 1846, and took a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres, five miles north of Lebanon, and died in 1899 upon this place, at the age of seventy-three years. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Moist are: Joseph; Frank, deceased; Carrie, also deceased ; Ruth and Charles, who are at home with their parents. Politically, Mr. Moist is a Democrat.

JOSEPH THOMAS ROSS. The Ross family was established in Oregon as early as 1852, the leader of the exodus from Morgan county, Ohio, being Thomas Ross, an expert car- penter and builder, and experienced farmer. Thomas Ross was born in Pennsylvania in 1807, and was reared on a farm, receiving a limited education in the public schools. As a young man he removed with his parents to Ohio, settling in Morgan county, where he learned the carpen- ter's trade, to the application of which he de- voted many years of his life. In Ohio he mar- ried Margaret Van Horn, a native of the Buck- eye state, with whom he went to housekeeping on a farm, thereafter combining farming and carpentering with some success. In 1852 he outfitted and crossed the plains with ox-teams, and during the six months' journey encountered many difficulties with the Indians, besides ill- ness and bad roads, but nevertheless the party managed to reach its destination in fairly good health and spirits. In Clackamas county Mr. Ross took up a donation claim of two hundred and eighty acres near Marquam, and the re- mainder of his life was devoted to rendering profitable this fine property. He lived to be sixty-six years of age, dying in 1873. His wife died in 1879, at the age of sixty-four years. To their credit was the rearing of a family of nine children, of whom the following are living : Robert, of Dayton, Washı .; George, of Palouse City, Ore .; Olive, wife of D. Wilcox, living five miles from Palouse City, Ore .; Mary, wife of James Marquam ; Clara, wife of George Foster, of Portland; and Joseph T. Mr. Ross became very prominent in his adopted locality in Ore- gon, and probably accomplished more carpenter work and building in this vicinity than any other one man. He took an active interest in politics, and from his first voting days was a stanch ad- herent of the Republican party. In the Metho-

dist Episcopal Church he worked for many years, „and contributed of his means towards its general support. Honorable and straightforward in all his dealings, he not only won the confidence of the business public, but by his kindly and sympa- thetic manner made and retained many friends.

Reared on his father's farm, J. T. Ross was educated in the public schools, and under his father's practical guidance learned to be an ex- cellent farmer. Just before leaving home he married America Quals White, who was born in Callaway county, Mo., in June, 1849, and a complete history of whose family may be found elsewhere in this work. The young couple went to housekeeping on the White donation claim, and then located on the farm upon which Mr. Ross now lives, one and a half miles northwest of Marquam. The farm was all wild land at the time of the purchase, and at the present time the owner has accomplished the clearing of fifty of his one hundred and forty-seven acres. Butte creek runs through the property, and the other watering facilities are admirable. A comfortable residence, good barns and outhouses, and plenty of agricultural implements of modern make. facilitate a general farming enterprise, and give an impression of substantiality and thrift. A Republican in politics, Mr. Ross takes a keen in- terest in local affairs, and has served as school director, road supervisor and for two terms as constable. Fraternally he is associated with Mar- quam Tent. Knights of the Maccabees. Mr. Ross maintains the prestige accorded the family name, which was established by his father, both as to work accomplished and fine personal char- acteristics. His career has been marked by strict integrity, splendid business qualifications, broad- mindedness and liberality of heart, together with other qualities which combine to render a man dear to his friends and a factor in the prosecution of the affairs of life. Mr. Ross' family consists of one child: Vert, who was born January 18, 1879, and was married in October, 1901, to Miss Alta Winslow, and they reside with the father, J. T. Ross.

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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 116

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