Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 126

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 126

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On May 18, 1865, on the farm which he now owns and occupies, Mr. Norton married Nancy A. Zumwalt, who was born on Tualatin plains, Washington county, Ore., May 25, 1847. Her father, the late Isaac Zumwalt, was born in St. Charles county, Mo., May 29, 1815. Coming to Oregon as a pioneer in 1846, he took up a donation claim near Lewisville, in Polk county, and was here engaged in mixed husbandry until his death, March 21, 1891. He married Sarah Crow, who was born in Missouri, June 13, 1815, and died on the home farm, in Polk county, June 8, 1885. Twelve children, seven boys and five girls, were born into their household, Mrs. Norton being the sixth child in succession of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Norton have six children living, namely: Arthur, residing in eastern Oregon; Warren, of Benton county; Le Roy, of Benton county; Walter, at home; Serena, a stenographer, in Idaho; and James Emmett, at home. Mr. Norton is a strong Republican in politics, and has served as road supervisor, and school director and clerk.

MRS. MARGARITE BECK. The business interests of Salem find a worthy representative in Mrs. Margarite Beck, who was for some time the owner of the Capital Brewery. She is the widow of Seirphein Beck, who was born in Alsace and came to America when nineteen years of age. He made his way into Illinois where he learned the brewing business, and in 1878 he came to Salem in the employ of Mr. Adolph, who was the owner of the old Salem Brewery on Trade street. Mr. Beck served as head brewer and subsequently he removed to Portland to act in the same capacity for Mr. Weinhard, filling that position until he was taken ill, when he returned to Salem. Later he again entered the employ of Mr. Adolph and because of his business ability and thorough understanding of the brewing industry he was admitted into partnership under the firm name

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of Adolph, Klinger & Beck. This relationship was maintained for three years, when Mr. Adolph sold out to his partners, Messrs. Klinger & Beck continuing together in the conduct of the old Salem Brewery. Later they purchased a new site and built a new brewing plant, con- ducting it under the name of the Capital Brew- ery until the death of Mr. Beck, on April 25, 1899.

In Salem, in 1879, Mr. Beck had been united in marriage to Miss Margarite Neibirt, who was born in Wisconsin, a daughter of Paulus Neibirt, whose birth occurred in Germany. He wedded Annie Frizholtz, also a native of the Fatherland, and soon after their marriage they came to the United States, settling in Wisconsin, where Mr. Neibirt followed farm- ing. In 1871 he came to Oregon, settling in Benton county, and in 1872 removed to Sub- limity. There he purchased a farm, but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, for he became ill and died about 1876. His wife also passed away in Marion county in October, 1897. In their family were seven children, of whom four are yet living. One son, George, is a resident of Stayton, Marion county ; Lizzie Schutt, a daughter, died in Sublimity; Mrs. Barbara Clasp, another daughter, is living in San Francisco, and Mrs. Mary Wolf now lives in Salem; another son, Conrad, was murdered while defending his house against an attack by robbers.

Mrs. Beck is the youngest of her father's family, and was born in Wisconsin. She at- tended German schools of that state and is a lady of culture and refinement, who possesses marked business ability and keen discrimina- tion in matters of trade. After her husband's death she assumed the management of his business affairs, and, in 1901, she bought out the interest of Mr. Klinger's heirs and was the sole owner of the Capital Brewery until 1903, when she sold out. She remodeled the entire plant, and new machinery of the most modern kind and improvements was installed. In this connection she also operated an ice plant, en- gaged in the manufacture of pure ice, besides operating an extensive malt plant. While Mr. Beck and Mr. Klinger were associated in busi- ncss they built the Klinger & Beck building on Commercial street, which has since passed into other hands.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Beck were born three children: Joseph Seirphein, Mary Leona and Louie Conrad, who died at the age of ten years. Mr. and Mrs. Beck belonged to the St. Joseph Catholic Church, in which faith Mr. Beck died. and was laid to rest in the Catholic cemetery. Mrs. Beck is still identified with the church, and is a liberal contributor to its support.

THOMAS LINCOLN AMBLER. The present postmaster of Mount Angel was for- merly a well known educator. He was born in Pike county, Ohio, June 14, 1864, a son of Thomas and Catherine (Brill) Ambler, natives respectively of Guernsey and Pike counties, Ohio, and the former born July 7, 1831.

Thomas Ambler married Catherine Brill, whose father was born in Pennsylvania, and became an early settler of Pike county. He served in the war of 1812 as a private, and when the Civil war occurred he again entered the military service, enlisting in the Ninety- first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in 1861, and was with the Army of the Potomac. While on picket duty he was taken prisoner by the reb- els, and that they might not secure possession of a whole gun, he broke it over a log. He was confined in Libby prison, and was honorably discharged in Virginia, in 1865. Mr. Ambler was an active Republican. His death occurred at the home of his son in Illinois, at the age of eighty-four. In 1866 Mr. Ambler removed to Champaign county, Ill., where he settled on a small farm, and remained there until 1878. He then took up his residence near Fredonia, Wil- son county, Kans., and ten years later removed to a farm near Bentonville, Ark., where his death occurred at the age of sixty-three years. Of the seven children born into his family, those beside Thomas Lincoln Ambler, of this review, are: William H., deceased; Sarah C., deceased; one child, deceased in infancy ; Jo- siah E., engaged in the bakery business in Kan- sas City, Mo .; Effie V., the wife of E. D. Wright, of Portland, Ore., and Arletta M., the wife of Z. Briggs, their home being in Iowa.

The third of the children in his father's fam- ily, Thomas Lincoln Ambler received his ele- mentary education in the public schools of Kansas, and eventually took a course in the Fredonia High school. At the age of fifteen he began to make his own way in the world, de- voting his summers to hard manual labor and his winters to hard study. His efforts were not in vain. In his twenty-second year he began a most successful record as a teacher, which terminated sixteen years later. He taught for five years in the schools of Ne- braska. He then removed to Oregon, where he soon won a reputation which placed him in the front ranks of his profession. In 1892 he lo- cated at Mount Angel, and for four years taught in the public schools at this place. He then devoted the last six years of what we may term a successful life to the welfare of Hazel Dell district, which adjoins Mount Angel on the south, and while thus employed, in 1898, was appointed postmaster of Mount Angel. His discharge of the duties of this office has

A . S . Hampton

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necessitated his withdrawal from educational work, and it is a well-known fact that the strict attention to duty on the part of Mr. Ambler has brought the service in the city to a high state of efficiency. The office is now third - class, and under the administration of the pres- ent incumbent, and principally through his en- terprise and public-spiritedness, the present postoffice building has been erected. This, a two-story building, is adequate for all present demands, and the system maintained has been prolific of good results. Fraternally Mr. Anı- bler is a member of Silverton Pine Camp No. 198, W. O. W., and politically has always been active in the Republican party.

In Salem, Ore., March 17, 1892, Mr. Ambler married Flora Wolf, who was born in Illinois, December 20, 1858. Her father was Daniel Wolf, a native of Preble county, Ohio, and was born February 9, 1835. Mr. Wolf removed from his native state to Illinois, thence to Mis- souri, and from there to Nebraska, locating near Lincoln. In 1892 he came to Oregon, but was not long permitted to enjoy the west, for his death occurred in 1896. The wife, who sur- vives him, makes her home with her two sons on a farm near Silverton.

Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ambler, Eda May and A. Dewey, the latter of whom was named by special request of his mother just a few moments before her death, which occurred June 18, 1899. The loss of this dear and sympathetic companion and wife has been a severe trial to Mr. Ambler, and he has found it difficult to take up alone the tasks that confront him from day to day.

JOHN D. HAMPTON. The roll call of the early plains emigrants, who struggled day after day and month after month in the effort to reach their northwestern goal, and who afterward lent an unwavering courage and dignity to Oregon's agricultural upbuilding, would be sadly incom- plete without mention of John D. Hampton, a pioneer of 1845, who came to the state at the age of fourteen, and continued to make this his home until his lamented death, in March, 1899, at the age of sixty-seven years. Mr. Hampton hore himself well among the trials and dangers which beset the pioneer settlers, and though only a boy, seemed to realize the immensity of the task which rested on the shoulders of the fore- runners of western civilization. He not only ac- complished his individual mission as he saw it in his most ambitious moments, but left behind him six sturdy sons to perpetuate his fine personal characteristics and to become progressive and influential factors of a latter-day development.

Of a fine old southern family, Mr. Hampton

was born in Lexington, Mo., in 1831, a son of Jacob Hampton, who was born in Kentucky, and grandson of a native of Virginia, who became an early resident of Kentucky. For many years Jacob Hampton built and contracted in Lexing- ton, Mo., and in 1845 brought his family to Ore- gon, crossing the plains with ox-teams, and set- tling first on the Tualatin plains, Washington county. Afterward he took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres in Yamhill county, resided here until 1852, and then removed to a farm near Goshen, Lane county, where he en- gaged in general farming and stock-raising for three years. Returning to his Yamhill county farm he lived there many years, and for several years also lived on a farm in Lake county. His last years were spent with his son, John D., near Goshen, and he died rich in experience, and- with a moderate share of this world's posses- sions.

Following his father's footsteps, John D. Hampton became early interested in stock-rais- ing, and when a comparatively young man took up a three hundred and twenty acre donation claim near Goshen. To this farm he brought his newly wedded wife, whom he married October 26, 1854, and who was formerly Mary Eleanore Moore. Husband and wife "put their shoulders to the wheel" to improve the crude property, and render it not only a profitable but a pleasant place in which to live. Harvests rewarded their efforts in well-doing, and soon more land was re- quired for carrying on the large plans of the owner. Accordingly he increased his possessions to six hundred and fifty acres, all of which is still owned by his widow, one of the representa- tive pioneer women of Lane county. Some time before his death, Mr. Hampton moved into Eugene and retired from active life, his last days being spent among friends whom he had long known, and by whom he was held in the highest esteem. Throughout his life he cherished high ideals, and instinctively impressed others with his absolute sincerity and truth. His business and private life was above reproach, and his steady, calm temperament, enabled him to pursue unflinchingly a course once marked out and clearly defined. He was a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church from his sixteenth year, and during his life contributed generously to- wards its support.

Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Hamp- ton has lived in the home in Eugene, and draws a liberal income from the farm. Born near Montezuma, Vermilion county, Ind., January 31, 1836, she is a daughter of William Moore, who was born in Pennsylvania, and who moved with his father, Jonathan, also a native of Pennsyl- vania, to Ohio, at a very carly day. The family was established in Indiana in 1832, and there

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William Moore owned a large farm and prospered as a farmer and stock-raiser. He was a discern- ing and ambitious man, and though cautious and conservative, readily grasped the full significance of the favorable reports which reached him from the west. Being well-to-do, he fared better on the plains than many of his neighbors, for he was able to purchase every comfort for his wife and four children, and to go well supplied with horses and cattle; as well as ox-teams. Although they suffered small inconvenience from the Indians or cholera, the alkali water of the desert killed many of their cattle, and they were obliged to replenish their stock by purchasing of other emigrants. The survivors of the long, six- months expedition still recall the details of the trip, and Mrs. Hampton, who was then twenty years of age, vividly remembers the trials and hardships endured by those brave pioneers who bore the brunt of the journey with Spartan courage. Mr. Moore took up a claim of three hundred and twenty acres near Goshen, and died there at the age of seventy-five, his wife, who was formerly Elcanor Limerick, of Pennsylvania, surviving him until seventy-seven years of age. Mrs. Moore came of the famous old Limerick family, of Ireland, and her father rendered valu- able service in the war of 1812. Jonathan L., one of the older sons of William Moore, was a first lieutenant in the Rogue river war, and died from drowning in Fall creek, about thirty years ago. Mrs. Hampton is the third child of her father's family, and although she has reached her seventy-first year she has a heart and mind in tune with the beneficent present. She is a believer in high living and high thinking, in courtesy and absolute fairness in all the little ways of life, and all who come in contact with her feel the charm of goodness and ideal sympa- thy. She is justly proud of her six sturdy sons and one daughter, and hopes to watch their suc- cessful careers for many years to come. Frank, the oldest son, is a member of the mercantile firm of Hampton Brothers ; Horace lives on and farms the old home place; Hugh is a farmer near Eu- gene ; Alton and Jolin are at the head of Hamp- ton Brothers, merchants ; Austin lives in Eugene ; and Nellie is at home.

W. E. CRESSY. As an educator of many years' experience, W. E. Cressy came to Ore- gon in 1881, and, in 1883, located in Independ- ence, where he lived retired for many years. A man of more than ordinary endowments, he was a linguist and scholar, a brilliant per- former on the violin, and a keen appreciator of things artistic and beautiful. Therefore, his influence was rather in the intellectual than the business world, and in this regard he filled a

nook hitherto unoccupied to a great extent. A native of New Hampshire, Mr. Cressy was born September 23, 1846, and was reared on a farm, receiving his preliminary education in the public schools. Into an otherwise unevent- ful youth came the opportunity to serve his country during the Civil war, and at the age of seventeen he enlisted in Company H, First Regiment, New Hampshire Cavalry, serving for three months, or until a severe case of measles compelled his retirement. The bent of his mind is shown by his subsequent dispo- sition of his bounty money, for he used it to pay his way through a New Hampshire col- lege, from which he was duly graduated with honors.

In 1870 Mr. Cressy removed from New Hampshire to Henry county, Ill., where he engaged in teaching, and while there married and had two children, of whom Warren P. is a resident of South Bend, Wash., and Jessie is deceased. In 1873 Mr. Cressy located in Chico, Cal., and taught in the public schools of that city, winning praise for his thorough and practical methods of imparting knowledge. Desiring a change, he brought his family to Oregon in 1881, as heretofore stated, and here his first wife died in 1886. He entered heartily into various phases of northwestern life, his personality and gifts winning for him many admiring friends. After retiring from teach- ing he retained his interest in the languages, which he spoke with fluency, and also derived much comfort and satisfaction from composing music, of which he was unusually fond. On the violin he played with expression and deli- cacy, and in order to further an interest in music in Independence he organized an orches- tra which he drilled, and of which he thought much. He was well posted on current events, was in touch with the political situation. and in conversation was most interesting and instruc- tive. Although caring nothing for office, he served for a time as councilman. In religion he was a member of the Unitarian Church.

In 1889 Mr. Cressy married his second wife, Mary T. Turner, a native of Rock Island, Ill .. and daughter of Elihu Turner, a native of New York City. Mr. Turner came from a mercan- tile rather than agricultural family, and that his parents were in moderate circumstances was perhaps the best for the strong young boy. At the age of twelve he apprenticed to a shoemaker, and, having mastered his trade, worked thereat until removing to Rock Island, Ill., in 1837. Rock Island was then but an embryo hamlet, so small that the industries represented did not include a shoemaking es- tablishment. Mr. Turner therefore filled a waiting and necessary nook, and from a very

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small beginning worked up a trade which ren- dered him a comparatively wealthy man. He was influential in other lines than business, took a deep interest in political and other af- fairs, and was prominent and honored in the community, where his death occurred June 18, 1888, at the age of seventy-three years. He married Ann Tracy, who was born in Lim- erick, Ireland, and who came to Canada with her parents when six years of age. The family of Tracy moved to Rock Island in 1838, one year after the arrival of Mr. Turner. Six chil- dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Turner, three sons and three daughters, of whom Mrs. Cressy is the fourth. The latter was educated in the public schools of Rock Island, but in youth was not favored with a very robust constitu- tion. In order to improve her health she re- moved to Denver, Colo., and later to Leadville and Cheyenne. She came to Oregon in 1889, and the same year occurred her marriage with Mr. Cressy. Mrs. Cressy is a woman of broad and liberal ideas, and during her husband's life was his most sincere appreciator and his unfailing sympathizer and helper. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

LORENZO A. BYRD. The story of the early experiences of the pioneers of the northwest is always of more or less interest, and particularly so when the journey was made overland, compell- ing the pioneer parties of the '4os frequently to endure hardships and sufferings which no pen will ever be able to describe. The reminiscences of such a man as Lorenzo A. Byrd, who is now living retired at No. 209 Union street, in Sa- lem, would make a volume of intensely inter- esting narrative, from beginning to end. Sur- rounding him is that absorbing interest which is inseparably associated with the hardy fore- runners of northwestern civilization, to whom danger was a spur, and deprivation an accepted heritage.

Lorenzo A. Byrd was born on a farm near Batesville, Independence county, Ark., Decem- ber 10, 1822, a son of John and Mary (Wise) Byrd, both natives of Kentucky. Mr. Byrd was but two years of age when his father's death occurred. His mother afterward became the wife of Reuben Millsaps, an officer in the American army during the war of 1812, who commanded a portion of the forces under Gen- eral Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. To John and Mary Byrd were born three children : Micajah Luther, who died in Oregon ; Virginia, also deceased, who became the wife of John Magnes, and Lorenzo A.

The first twenty-four years of the life of the subject of this sketch were spent upon the home

farm in Arkansas, and it is safe to assume that he lost nothing from close association with the soil, correct living, and exercise which de- veloped an already strong constitution. In his boyhood he knew no relatives excepting his mother and a first cousin. Like the other farmer lads of his neighborhood, life did not pass by unobserved by him, for he was keenly alert to all that the future might have in store for him. Accordingly, when the opportunity to cross the plains came to him in 1846, he wel- comed it as a special dispensation of Provi- dence, believing that the chance thus offered him reflected all that he had thought and dreamed regarding his future. The party of which he was a member was under the guid- ance of the Rev. Josephus Cornwall, the train consisting of eighty wagons. Starting out April 15, 1846, with a large number of oxen, the man for whom young Byrd drove found his resources dwindled down to two yoke of oxen before the journey was completed. Dur- ing the journey many great hardships were ex- perienced by the travelers, but the greatest of these were met with in the Applegate cutoff, where they suffered untold agonies of mind and body, nearly dying of starvation. If the members of the party had not been possessed of marvelous physical endurance fatalities must have ensued as the result of this most trying experience. The relief of the members of the party upon their arrival in Polk county in January, 1847, can scarcely be appreciated by modern tourists, who travel amid all the com- forts, even luxuries, of the twentieth century.

In the month of April, 1847, Mr. Byrd lo- cated on land in the Waldo Hills, Marion county, fifteen miles east of Salem, but failed to prove up on the three hundred and twenty acres he intended to occupy. In the fall of 1848 he traveled overland to California, and after mining near Redding's Fort, on the Sac- ramento river, and on the American river, re- turned to Marion county in the spring of 1849. During the fall of the latter year he again visit- ed California, where he remained until Janu- ary, 1851. He made his way back to his home by water, and in 1852 bought the right to a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres fifteen miles north of Salem, on French Prairie. Wild and destitute of all improve- ments, this land underwent a great transforma- tion at the hands of as earnest and hopeful a pio- neer as ever turned a sod in the west. In the course of time this property, naturally very fertile, approached a cultivated and valuable state, supplying not only general farm produce, but large numbers of high-grade stock. In order to better educate his children, Mr. Byrd left the farm and made his home in Salem in

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1890. Though still owning his farm, he rents it to others, and is now enjoying a well-earned rest from the cares and responsibilities of a long and very active life. Two hundred and ninety-two and a half acres still remain to him of the original claim.

January 1, 1854, after being thoroughly es- tablished on his claim, Mr. Byrd was united in marriage with Martha C. Savage, who was born in Missouri, December 3, 1836, and crossed the plains with her parents in 1850. Her father, Dr. John Savage, was for many years a very popular physician and farmer in Marion county, and left a large property at the time of his death. Eight children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Byrd, as follows: Wil- liam H., a prominent physician of Salem, an extended sketch of whose life appears else- where in this volume; J. C., a hardware mer- chant of Spokane, Wash .; E. F., also a resi- dent of Spokane : Cordelia J., wife of William Hager of Fairfield, Marion county; Lorenzo A., who lives in Fairfield; Virginia, who is an employe in the United States Land Office at Roseburg; Berthia C., who is engaged in edu- cational work in the public schools of Salem, and Roy, who resides with his parents, and is now a student in the medical department of Willamette University.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Byrd has served as school director for many years, but has not otherwise been actively interested in official life. Though past four score years of age, he still retains his mental and physical alertness to a remarkable degree, and exhibits a keen interest in the affairs of his family, his friends and the community in which he is a venerable and honored acquisition. He is a striking type of the better class of pioneers who founded the commonwealth, and the record of no man's life is more worthy of a place in the historical literature of the Willamette valley.

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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 126

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