Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 124

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 124

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Fraternally a Mason, Captain Ormsby was ini- tiated into the craft at Ypsilanti and afterward joined the lodge at Carthage, Mo. He is a mem- ber of Sedgwick Post No. 10, G. A. R., and was Commander of the Department of Oregon in 1894-95. He also served as an aide on the staff of Grand Commander-in-Chief Adams. He is a member of Oregon Commandery of the Loyal Legion, and has always exhibited a deep interest in military matters and the condition of the veter- ans of the Civil war. He served for a time as justice of the peace for Silver Falls precinct, but otherwise has held no local office. In the state and federal positions he has filled he has dis- charged his manifold duties in a manner which reflects credit not only upon himself but on the appointing power. A man of strong mentality, of an engaging personality, of culture and refine- ment, he commands the respect of his fellow-men who find him an entertaining and agreeable com- panion. His life record, a brief outline of which is here preserved for future generations, shows him to have been a thoroughly representative man, and an honorable, patriotic citizen.

WILLIAM C. JACKSON. As a blacksmith and a dealer in all kinds of hardware, buggies and wagons, William C. Jackson supports both com- inercial and industrial lines of business in Shedds,

Linn county. His business probity and sterling character have made him one of the most popular men in the town and one deserving the confidence and esteem of his fellow-townsmen. Mr. Jackson was born March 6, 1862, in Whiteside county, Ill., the son of Barney K. and Malinda (Constant ) Jackson, the former being born in Mount Vernon. Ohio, December 21, 1827, and the latter being a native of Illinois. When only a boy B. K. Jack- son removed with his parents to Illinois, and there grew to manhood and married, following teach- ing and clerking until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he enlisted in Company E, Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he served about sixteen months. He then returned to Illinois, where he lived until 1866, when he removed to Franklin county, Iowa, and there followed farming for twenty years. In the year 1886 he came to Linn county, Ore., locating near Brownsville, where he lived retired until his death at the age of sixty-nine years. Both himself and wife were members of the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church. After the death of his wife, which occurred at the age of fifty-one years, Mr. Jackson married a Mrs. Wilson, who still survives him. Besides William C. Jackson of this review, there were the following children : Charles L. located in the home place; Mary, the wife of Charles Sickle, of Topeka, Kans; and Anna, wife of Charles Manas, located in Porto Rico. Her husband served as a lieutenant in the regular army during the war with Spain.

In tracing the life of William C. Jackson we find that it has been very much like that of many other early Oregon pioneers. He enjoyed a comparatively brief time of school attendance in his home district, after which, at the age of nineteen years, he took up the blacksmith trade. in 1883 taking up his residence in California, where he earned his livelihood by the prosecution of his trade. At the close of eight successful years in this locality he changed his location to Shedds, Ore., succeeding E. Becker in a black- smith shop of this place. Having met with a success in his work he felt financially able in 1902 to enter into a hardware business, now handling all kinds of farm implements, buggies, wagons, etc. He owns both his business and residence property here, and is enjoying a well earned prosperity.

In California in 1885, Laura Brummett, a native of Missouri, became the wife of Mr. Jack- son, and they now have three children, all of whom are at home-Gladys, Ellsworth and Mil- dred. In his fraternal relations Mr. Jackson has held all the chairs in the Woodmen of the World, in which he is past consul. In.religion he is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and in politics cast his vote with the Republican party.

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GARY E. LAWRENCE. A paying mercan- tile business is being conducted at Scott's Mills by G. E. Lawrence, who has succeeded so well that he owns his store building and a fine resi- dence, and is substantially identified with the upbuilding of his adopted town. He comes from farming ancestors, later members of which were located in the state of Iowa, where he was born at Magnolia, May 24, 1870. His father owns a large farm in Iowa, but at present is living retired, at Battle Creek, Iowa, after a life of unusual activity and usefulness. His success has been reflected in the lives of his four chil- dren, all of whom profited by a liberal education, and had advantages not enjoyed by the average farm-reared youth.

G. E. Lawrence attended the public schools and concluded his studies at the Normal School at Woodbine, Iowa, remaining at home until he was about eighteen. In search of greater oppor- tunities he went to Nebraska, where he found employment in a general store at Pender, and at the expiration of four years had saved sufficient means to negotiate the purchase of a grocery and queensware store in the same town. In 1890 he disposed of comparatively flourishing interests to come to Scott's Mills, Ore., where a year later he started out in the business in which he is at present engaged. He carries a complete line of general necessities, and his cor- rect business methods, genial and considerate manner, and personal popularity, insure a con- tinuation of present prosperity.

October 19, 1898, Mr. Lawrence married Lisa M. Lint, a native of Richland Center, Wis., who became the mother of one child, Irene E. In politics Mr. Lawrence is a Republican, and in religion is a member of the Christian Church.

REUBEN A. HASTINGS. The owner of a finely improved farm lying two miles east of Pedee, Reuben A. Hastings occupies an assured position among the more intelligent, enterprising and active citizens of Polk county. He is carry- ing on general farming with success, year by year adding to his wealth, and, having the respect and confidence of his neighbors and friends, is regarded as a valuable member of the community. Native and to the manor born, his birth occurred, January 26, 1857, on Soap creek, Polk county, near Suver Station, on the homestead which his father, Burres L. Hastings, took up from the government.

His paternal grandfather, John W. Hastings, was born April 15, 1798, in Orange county, N. C. Emigrating to Tennessee with his bride, just after his marriage, he lived in Henry county until 1840, being engaged in agricultural pur- suits. He subsequently continued his independ-

ent vocation in Fulton county, Ark., until his death, April 2, 1847. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Estes, was born in Orange county, N. C., and died, in 1850, in Arkansas. They reared five sons and two daughters, Burres L. being their third child.

Born April 2, 1832, in Henry county, Tenn., Burres L. Hastings obtained the rudiments of his education in his native town, completing his studies in the common schools of Arkansas. In 1852, in company with his brothers, John and Archibald, he came to Polk county, Ore., where all three located, and one of the brothers, John Hastings, now resides in Airlie. Leaving Arkansas on April 7, 1852, the brothers were a little more than four months on the road, arriv- ing in Portland, Ore., August 26. They remained on the Luckiamute, Polk county, about two weeks, and then proceeded to California, where they were engaged in mining on Weaver creek for some time. Having poor luck, Burres L. Hastings returned to Oregon in the summer of 1853, and took up a donation claim on Soap creek, near Suver, and on his farm of three hun- dred and twenty acres engaged in mixed hus- bandry, including stockraising, for four years. Selling out, he purchased a ranch containing one hundred and sixty acres, about two miles north from his present home, and lived there a year and a half. Disposing of that estate, he settled on the Luckiamute, near Airlie, renting a farm for three years, and then buying a ranch, which he occupied until 1871. Renting that farm, he moved into Tillamook county for the benefit of his own and family's health, and lived there fifteen months. He subsequently lived for a time on his Airlie ranch, then carried on farming on his Tillamook county ranch for a year. Re- turning then to Airlie, he resided there until 1875, when he sold his farm, and moved to his present homestead, in the vicinity of Pedee. He has a well improved estate of three hundred and seventy-nine acres, seventy five of which are in a good state of cultivation, and he is carrying on general farming and stock-raising with good results.

Burres L. Hastings married, in 1854, Sophia Simpson, who was born in Fulton county, Ark., April 5, 1837, and of their union four children have been born, namely: Rebecca Alice, de- ceased; Reuben A., the special subject of this sketch ; Hannah J., wife of William Elkins, of Dallas; and R. W., of Cottage Grove, Ore. Mr. Hastings is a Democrat in politics, and has served as road supervisor and school director. Both he and his wife are members of the Evangelical Church at Pedee.

Born near Suver, Reuben A. Hastings, ob- tained his early education in the common schools of Polk county, and when yet a boy moved with

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his parents to the mountains near Pedee. As soon as old enough to be of use, he began assist- ing his father on the farm, and as early as prac- ticable engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own account. Locating on his present ranch, not far from Pedee, he has one hundred and twenty-nine acres of land, forty of which are in cultivation, yielding excellent crops. In addition to general farming he carries on a substantial business as a stock-raiser. He also has charge of his father's large ranch, managing it ably and satisfactorily.

Mr. Hastings has been married three times. He married first, October 12, 1879, Ella Price, daughter of Fantley Price, who crossed the plains in 1852, and located near Salt creek. She died, at Pedee, in 1884. His second marriage, which occurred August 3, 1890, united him with Etta Johnson, daughter of John Johnson, who crossed the plains in 1844, and settled near Lewisville, on the farm now occupied by his widow. She died on the home farm, February 20, 1895. Mr. Hastings married for the third time, November 4, 1901, Tena Waters, a daughter of John Waters, an early settler of Pedee. Mr. and Mrs. Hastings have one child, Grace Rowena. Politi- cally Mr. Hastings is actively identified with the Democratic party, and has served his fellow- citizens as school director, and as road supervisor.

JOHN N. McKAY. For more than twelve years John N. Mckay has successfully com- bined agriculture with business interests in Port- land connected with his father's estate, and thereby has led a varied and by no means monot- onous existence. Nevertheless he is a farmer by inheritance and early training, and takes great pride and delight in maintaining the high standard established by his father on the old homestead. He is the owner of six hundred and twenty acres of the old donation claim, the greater part of which is improved, and is carrying on stock-raising and hop-growing, having thirty-five acres under the vine.

On the farm which he now owns Mr. McKay was born March 7, 1855, a son of James and Cecelia (Lawson) Mckay, natives respectively of Ireland and Scotland, who came to America early in life and settled at Albany, N. Y. After various changes of location he crossed the plains to Oregon in 1849 and subsequently purchased the right to a donation claim in Marion county, developing the farm now occupied by his son, John N. McKay. Later in life he became exten- sively connected with real estate operations in Portland, in which city he spent his last days. For more complete details of his life refer to his sketch which appears elsewhere in this work. John N. Mckay was educated in the public

schools of Marion county and Portland. At the age of twenty-five years he assumed the manage- ment of his father's farm with his brother, William R., continuing this association until the marriage of the latter in 1885. His brother sought a new location at that time, but the sub- ject of this review remained on the homestead until 1891, in which year he went to Portland to assume charge of his father's city property. He remained a resident of Portland for six years, devoting practically all his time to the management of his father's estate. Since that time he has divided his time between the farm and city property, discharging with exactitude and rare business judgment the many obligations devolving upon him by reason of his twofold responsibility.

He was united in marriage November 26, 1900, to Caroline Bochsler, a native of Switzer- land and a daughter of Joseph and Mary Bochs- ler. Mary A., the eldest child of this union, was born September II, 1901, and the youngest daughter, Cecilia Florence, was born August 10, 1903. Mr. Mckay is highly esteemed by the citizens of Marion county and Portland for the many admirable traits of character which he possesses. Though he has taken no active part in the political life of the community he has always evinced a disposition to assist in further- ing the best interests of the county, and in various ways has shown himself to be the possessor of a liberal mind and public spirit. He is regarded as one of the most substantial men of the county, and his probity and consideration for the rights and privileges of his fellow-men have never been brought into question. In religion he is a mem- ber of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Paul.

MRS. PHOEBE A. JOHNSON. The farm of one hundred and fifty-one acres now owned and occupied by Mrs. Phoebe A. Johnson, is a portion of the old homestead taken up by her Fusband, John Johnson, as early as 1845. Many of its improvements, and more especially the pioneer clearing of the land, and the establishing of a varied agricultural enterprise, are traceable to this very early settler, whose death July 13, 1877, cut short a very useful and well balanced career. Mr. Johnson was born in Worcester, Tompkins county, N. Y., July 29, 1816, and came to Oregon in 1845, making the long trip with ox-teams in a train containing many other home-seekers. He took up the donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres since divided between his wife and 'children, and in 1850 returned to the east, via Panama, remained in Michigan for a year, and again crossed the plains in 1851. To the average traveler, however am- bitions, these two jaunts would seem quite suf-

JOHN STEWART.

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ficient, but Mr. Johnson again returned to Michi- gan in 1851, and in 1852 outfitted with ox-teams for his third tramp across the plains. In this party was James Taylor and his family, one of whom was Phoebe A. Taylor, of whose many charms of person and character Mr. Johnson was fully conscious. March 19, 1854, near Pedee, he mar- ried Miss Taylor, who proved a sympathetic and helpful wife, and bore him three children, of whom Alcida is the wife of Nicholas Tarter, of Corvallis; Esther is deceased; and Fred is working his mother's farm. After his marriage, Mr. Johnson settled on the farm he had taken up in 1845, and from then until the end of his life engaged in general farming and stock-raising. making a success of both occupations, and bring- ing his land up to a high state of cultivation. He was a man of high honor, and his upright and well directed life was a credit to the promis- ing community of which he was one of the most respected members.

Mrs. Johnson, now living on the old home- stead, was born in Erie county, N. Y., September II, 1829, her father James Taylor previously mentioned, having been born in Kennebec county, Me., September 24, 1794. James Taylor was a blacksmith, carpenter, and farmer, and in the east married for his first wife, Esther Aldrich, who was born in Rhode Island, in Smithfield township, and died in Erie county, N. Y., July 19, 1833, at the age of about thirty. Of the children of this union Mrs. Phoebe Johnson is the oldest, while Esther is the wife of W. S. Gilliam, of Walla Walla, and Alcida died in infancy. With his first wife Mr. Taylor moved to New York, located on the farm in Erie county, and worked at his trade for several years. In 1835, hoping to find a more desirable place of residence, he went to Michigan, leaving his two motherless children with his mother in New York. In Michigan he married in 1836, Margaret Johnson, who bore him four children : Anderson, deceased; John, living near Lewis- ville ; James, deceased; and Persis, deceased. In 1837 Mr. Taylor went back east for his chil- dren and brought them to Michigan overland in a wagon, and in 1852 outfitted and crossed the plains in the same party with his future son-in- law, Mr. Johnson. Mr. Taylor reached Polk county, Ore., November 26, 1852, and the follow- ing spring bought the right to the farm upon which he lived until his death, January 19, 1858. He was taken with his final illness while in Dallas, whither he had gone to build the county jail, which he did not live to complete. He was a prominent man in this county, and took a great interest in Democratic politics, serving as judge of Polk county from 1853 until 1858, a position he was holding at the time of his death.

Mrs. Johnson was educated in the public

schools, and has always been a great reader, keeping well posted on current events, and having a wide knowledge of the most progressive agri- cultural methods. She lives with her son, Fred, who is manager of the farm, and who is, like herself, in favor of modern improvements, and the many inventions which at present make farm- ing life as admirable as it is comfortable and congenial.

JOHN STEWART. An unusual amount of pioneer interest is centered around the lives of John and Mary (Scott) Stewart, the former of whom died in Corvallis in 1885, at the age of eighty-five years, and the latter of whom still occupies the home in this town to which she and her husband retired from active life in 1881. These courageous homeseekers of '45 lived closc to the deprivation and discouraging conditions of the very early days, and undertook with stout hands and hearts the conquering of a great ad- versity. Mrs. Stewart was the first woman to live on the land upon a portion of which Cor- vallis is built, and she, more than any other, has stored up in her mind innumerable reminiscences while this section was being awakened to a sense of its possibilities as an agricultural region.

Mr. and Mrs. Stewart come from Revolution- ary ancestors. John Stewart was born in the Old Dominion state in 1800, his father, George Wash- ington Stewart, and his grandfather, being na- tives of the same state. The grandfather stacked his musket on many of the battlefields of the war of Independence, and his son served in the war of 1812. George Washington Stewart re- moved from Virginia to Indiana, and from there to Missouri, and finally died on his farm in Orc- gon. He married Mary Smith, who was born in Virginia, and came to Oregon in 1851, where her death occurred. John Stewart was fourteen years old when the family removed to Missouri, and his life was uneventfully passed on the pa- ternal farm. In Switzerland county, Ind., Janu- ary 7, 1842, he married Mary Scott, a native of that part of Indiana, and daughter of William Scott, who was born in old Virginia. The pater - nal grandfather Scott was a Revolutionary sol- dier, and passed his entire life in Virginia. William Scott removed from Virginia to Ken- tucky, and afterward became one of the very carly settlers of Indiana, arriving in time to par- ticipate in the Indian difficulties which for a time made life hazardous in the Hoosier state. His wife, Rachel (Mounce) Scott, was born in New Jersey, a daughter of Thomas J. Mounce, also born in New Jersey, and who was a soldier in the Revolutionary and Indian wars. Mr. Mounce died in Indiana, as did also his wife. He was the parent of nine children, two of whom are liv-

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ing. Two sons and one daughter succeeded in reaching Oregon, where one of the sons served in the Cayuse war; and one of the sons died on the plains.

Mr. and Mrs. Stewart farmed for some time in Holt county, Mo., and in the spring of 1845 prepared for the hazardous journey over the plains. One child had been born in the meantime, and accompanied its parents, who were outfitted with two wagons and eight yoke of oxen, besides having one hundred head of loose cattle. There were one hundred wagons in the train, and they started from Missouri May first, all going well until they reached Boise City. One of the party by the name of Meeks thought to shorten the course by striking out from the main road, but he got lost on the desert, and the rest had to proceed without him. Without any particular incident they arrived at Sheets, and then came down to The Dalles, arriving in the valley in November, 1845. On the way they had lost near- ly all of their loose cattle, but otherwise they were in fairly good condition, at least possessing fair health. After wintering at Tualatin Plains, they stopped near Rickreall and raised one hun- dred bushels of wheat, and in March, 1846, took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres just north of Corvallis. Here their troubles began in earnest, for at first they were obliged to suhsist almost entirely on boiled wheat and peas, but finally they discovered that there was an abundance of wild game, a most welcome addi- tion to their limited menu. On the banks of the Willamette Mr. Stewart built a comfortable little log house, and this same house proved a blessing indeed to that uncivilized neighborhood. The faithful wife made the clothes for the fam- ily out of buckskin, and she was obliged to make about six pairs of moccasins a week, so fast did they wear out. They were of course intimately associated with the Indians, who readily recog- nized the friendship of the white settlers, and displayed no animosity towards them.

Of importance in connection with these early days was the organization of the first Methodist Church in Benton county, which took place at the Stewart home, and there received its first impetus towards usefulness. The first pastor was Rev. Leander Ballew, who crossed the plains with Mr. Meeks. For three years the services were held in the hospitable home of the Stewarts, the people coming from many miles around with ox-teams, and invariably staying over night. They also partook of the boiled wheat and game, and left refreshed materially and spiritually. After three years a log school- house was erected where Mrs. Stewart's house is built in Corvallis, and thereafter the services were held there, thus relieving these earnest pio- neers of their courageously horne responsibility.

In time Mr. Stewart cleared considerable of his land and was rewarded with golden harvests, and still later fences enclosed the property, and ag- ricultural devices of a modern nature facilitated the large enterprises he had inaugurated. In 1850 he took a run down into California, spent the summer in the mines, and experienced fair success. He engaged during his active life in the west in general farming, although he de- voted considerable time to stock-raising and de- pended for the larger part of his revenue upon cattle and hogs. Before his death he disposed of one hundred acres of his land, and in January, 1881, retired to a well earned rest in his pleasant and comfortable home in the town. Mr. Stewart was a Republican in politics, and although he was not active therein in the west, had served as probate judge in Missouri.

Since her husband's death Mrs. Stewart has continued to live in the town home, where she is honored not only for her brave and helpful life in the past, but for those enduring qualities of sympathy, humanity, and womanliness, which have made her so conspicuous among the pioneer women of Benton county. Mrs. Stewart still owns five hundred and forty acres of the original donation claim, which is being managed by her son-in-law, Miner M. Swick, husband of her second oldest child, Cerenda. Her oldest child, and only son, John, was born in Missouri, is married, has one child, Lenora, and lives near Tacoma, Wash. Mrs. Stewart has been a mem- ber of the Methodist Church since her girlhood days, and is a member of the Pioneer Associa- tion.

BARTHOLOMEW WIESNER. On the Parkersville and Aumsville road, ten miles northeast of Salem and five miles west of Sil- verton, Marion county, Ore., is located the farm of Bartholomew Wiesner, presenting a fair picture of rural comfort. The house, barns and outbuildings are all substantial and up-to-date, and the farm itself is well stocked with Angora goats, horses, Jersey cattle, Brown Leghorn and Barred Plymouth Rock chickens, the fowls having taken first prize at the Oregon State Fair, where they are exhibited each year.

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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 124

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