Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 129

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 129

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The farm-reared youth of today can hardly realize the difficulty which John T. James had in acquiring an education, for his father's ill health in both Illinois and Oregon made it imperative that the sons assume the entire re- sponsibility on the farm, a fact which gave them little opportunity to attend the schools of their neighborhood. That Mr. James is today a well informed and well educated man is due entirely to later application, and to his appreciation of books and periodicals. He was eighteen years of age when he came to Oregon, and three years later, in 1870, he moved to Polk county, and near Suver engaged in the pork-packing busi- ness. Afterward he engaged in other occupa- tions in the neighborhood, remaining there about four years. Later he returned to Douglas county, and near Oakland went into the stock- raising business, being thus employed until 1891. He then sold out and returned to Polk county, locating on a farm formerly owned by J. W. Suver. near Suver, eighteen acres of which are under hops.

Notwithstanding his busy agricultural life Mr. James has found time to interest himself in politics and social diversions, thus placing himself in touch with all phases of life in this county. On the Democratic ticket he has been elected school director and clerk, and has also served as road supervisor. Fraternally he is connected with the United Artisans of Wells, and the Masons of Oakland, Douglas county. March 15, 1873. he married Carolene Suver, who was born in Polk county. December 9, 1854. and in honor of whose father the town of Suver

was named. Seven children have been born of this union, the order of their birth being as follows: Joseph H., of Washington,; Julia Ann, at home; Mary Alice, the wife of A. E. Harper, of Springfield, Lane county, Ore .; John E., at home; Carolene, the wife of O. M. Allen, of Suver, Ore .; Harriett Elizabeth, at home; and Lenora Belle, also at home. Mr. James is a practical and scientific farmer, and his buildings, fences, and general improvements give evidence of a progressive and resourceful mind. He is appreciated for his many fine traits of character, and especially for his sin- cerity and public spiritedness.

THERON A. IRELAND. As fine and pro- ductive a farm as one would care to own is that occupied by Theron A. Ireland, one of the successful stock-raisers and farmers of Polk county. Of Scotch-Irish descent, Mr. Ireland claims Jackson county, Ind., as the place of his nativity, the date thereof being December 10, 1842. His parents were David and Mary A. (Sanderson) Ireland, and his grandparents were James and Sarah (Burnell) Ireland, the grand- father being a native of Pennsylvania.

Near the paternal farm in the vicinity of Sheridan, Lucas county, Iowa, to which the family had removed from Indiana, was a little log schoolhouse where knowledge was dis- pensed according to old-time methods, and hither went Theron A. when the work on the farm permitted. At the age of twenty he began to devote all of his time to farming, assisting his father with the management of the property and drawing his regular income from the sale of grain and other commodities. In the mean- time he was thinking of broader opportunities than those by which he was surrounded and decided to cast his lot among the emigrants to the unknown west. Nancy L. Brummett was born in Brown county, Ind., December 15, 1845, and her marriage with Mr. Ireland took place March 17, 1864. Thereafter the young people devoted their time to outfitting for crossing the plains with mule-teams, and made the start from the home farm April 4, 1864, less than a month after their marriage. Their long and tedious journey was accomplished without mishap and they arrived at The Dalles, September 26, 1864. The first winter was spent near Monmouth, and the following spring Mr. Ireland rented a farm of eighty acres two miles south of the town, where they lived for one year. The farm proved undesirable, and he removed to his pres- ent farm, which consists of three hundred acres, a large portion of which is under cultivation. In addition to general farming the owner is engaged extensively in stock-raising, and while making

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no attempt at registered or fancy breeds he keeps a substantial and generally high grade of cattle. He is successful in his chosen occupa- tion, and attributes his good fortune to industry, good business judgment, economy, and strict integrity.

A Socialist in politics, Mr. Ireland has held several offices of responsibility in his neighbor- hood, including that of road supervisor and school director. He is a member of the Chris- tian Church of Monmouth, Ore., and since young manhood has supported, as his means permitted, his chosen denomination. Six chil- dren have been reared in his home to make useful members of the community: William H., living on the Mackenzie river in Lane county; Frank V. lives on a ranch near Santa Ana, Orange county, Cal .: Mary B. is at home; Effie M. is the wife of Sam Tetherow of Lewisville; Mellie M. is the wife of G. W. Girard of Independence ; and Clara E. is living at home.

J. EARL HOSMER. Among the wideawake and progressive young journalists who are help- ing to mould public opinion in Marion county is J. Earl Hosmer, editor of the Silverton Appeal, a weekly, seven-column, eight-page newspaper, devoted to promoting the best interests of this wonderfully fertile valley. The Silverton Appeal has a large circulation throughout the entire county, and its pages are filled with valuable suggestions on all departments of living, it be- ing a stanch advocate of fundamental things, such as hygiene, diet, education, agriculture and home-building. It is the effort of the manage- ment to obliterate such information as tends to lower the standard of a progressive and inquiring community, and to place all in touch with clean, optimistic views of life. A live paper in every sense of the word, the Appeal is destined for a long era of prosperity, and is not likely to fail through advocacy of issues or principles not founded on common sense, and the individual rights of man.

Mr. Hosmer was born in Durand, Pepin county, Wis., February 17, 1862, and is the son of Albert M. and Cynthia (Earl) Hosmer. natives respectively of Vermont and Canada. Albert M. Hosmer removed from Vermont to New York state when eleven years of age, and before the Civil war settled in the colony at Du- rand, Wis., where he died at the age of sixty- four years. As an early settler of that region, he was identified with various pioneer industries, among them hotel keeping. ferrying, stage driv- ing. farming and carpentering. His wife removed to New York with her parents when a child, and was reared in St. Lawrence county. She was the mother of five children, four sons and one daugh-

ter, of whom the editor of the Appeal is the third child.

J. Earl Hosmer acquired his preliminary edu- cation in the public schools of Durand, and the Oregon State Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1893, with the degree of B. S. D. This training was supplemented by a course at the Western University of Chicago, Ill., from which he was graduated in 1897, with the de- gree of Ph. D. His youth contained somewhat of hardship and responsibility, for at the age of twelve he began to drive a team for his father, and afterward engaged in active farm work. In 1901 he bought the Silverton Appeal, installed the plant with modern water-power machinery, and has increased the subscription list one hun- dred per cent. Aside from his journalistic work Mr. Hosmer is interested in real estate, and is president of the Cascade Real Estate Company, which has at its disposal vast areas of timber lands, improved farms, stock ranches, saw-mill property, and city property. This company has done much in promoting the well-being of Marion county, and in placing its many merits before prospective purchasers.

September 1, 1885, Mr. Hosmer was united in marriage with Minnie Page, who was born in Minnesota, March 30, 1867, and removed when young to Durand, Wis., with her parents. She was educated in the high school of the latter town, eventually engaging in educational work, locating in Oregon in 1890 with her husband. The pre-empted claim of one hundred and sixty acres taken up at that time by Mr. Hosmer in Tillamook county was sold by him in 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Hosmer were among the founders of the Liberal University at Silverton, and reluct- antly resigned from the association because of their inability to coincide with certain beliefs which crept into the university. Mrs. Hosmer died February 1, 1901, and August 4, 1902, Mr. · Hosmer married Frances Rauch, a native of Ma- rion county. Mrs. Hosmer is the capable assist- ant of her husband in his newspaper work.

A. M. CLOUGH, who is engaged in the un- dertaking business in Salem, has heen a resident of the city since 1876. He was born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., September 4. 1850, being one of a family of seven children horn unto Gardner and Laura (Joslin) Clough. The father was a native of Massachusetts and the family is of Scotch lineage, for the grandfather, Jabez Clough, was a native of Scotland, whence he emigrated to the new world, establishing his home in the Bay state. A few years later he removed to Vermont, where he carried on farm- ing and at the time of the war of 1812 he aided his adopted country. Gardner Clough was a pat-

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ternmaker and millwright and followed his trade in Vermont until 1856, when he removed to New York, and in 1857 to northeastern Iowa, settling in Winneshiek county. He built some of the first grist-mills in that part of the state and was thus instrumental in establishing a new in- dustry there. He resided near Bluffton until September, 1861, when he volunteered for ser- vice as a defender of the Union cause, enlisting in Company I, Twenty-seventh Iowa Infantry. At the end of his term of enlistment he re-en- listed and served until the close of the war, but his health became impaired from the effects of his long and arduous service, and he never fully recovered. Upon his return in 1865 he secured a homestead farm in Buena Vista county, Iowa, where he died about five years later. In politics he was a stanch Republican and held the office of county commissioner and county recorder in Buena Vista county. His wife, who was born in Kirby, Vt., was a daughter of Sylvanus Jos- lin, also a native of that locality and a farmer by occupation. He belonged to one of the old Puri- tan families of New England, held membership with the Congregational Church and died at the age of eighty-nine years. Mrs. Clough survived her husband for many years and passed away in Iowa at the age of seventy-eight. In their fam- ily were seven children, of whom five are yet living. Fernando, the eldest, who was a member of Company B, Ninth Iowa Cavalry, served for two years and four months in the Union army and was taken prisoner at Little Rock, Ark., while carrying dispatches. After- ward he was exchanged, and he now resides at Elk Falls, Kans. The next member of the fam- ily is A. M. Clough of this review. The others are Fred M., John O., and William L., all resi- dents of Iowa.

A. M. Clough was seven years of age when he accompanied his parents to Iowa and took up his abode upon a farm in Bluffton township. Winneshiek county. He spent his boyhood days in the usual manner of farm lads of that period. and the public schools afforded him his educa- tional privileges. When the Civil war broke out his mother removed to Waukon, Iowa, where the family resided during the period of hostilities, the father being absent. serving in the army. In the spring of 1865 .A. M. Clough ran away from home to McGregory and enlisted, but after thir- teen days with the troops he was rejected on account of his age and size. In the same year, after the close of the war. the family removed to Buena Vista county, Iowa, settling near Sioux Rapids, and our subject resided upon the home farm until 1866, when he took up his abode in Waukon and for three years was engaged in driving stage. He then went to Bhiffton. Iowa. where he engaged in farming and also learned

the carpenter's trade, which he followed for about three or four years.

In 1876 Mr. Clough arrived in Oregon and secured a situation in the Babcock cabinet shop, working in their undertaking establishment until 1884, when Mr. Babcock was elected county clerk. In that year Mr. Clough purchased his undertaking business and has since continued as undertaker and funeral director. He is a gradu- ate of three different schools of embalming, of which he makes a specialty. He is very success- ful in his chosen field of labor.

In Cresco, Howard county, Iowa, in 1873, Mr. Clough was united in marriage to Adella Rider, who was born in Woodstock, Ill., and with her parents came to Oregon in 1876. Her father is now deceased, but her mother is still living. In Mr. Clough's family are three children: Bertha L., Mona M. and Alice L. The parents hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Clough is a trustee. He has al- ways been a stanch Republican, attending the county and state conventions, and his influence carries weight in the councils of the party. In 1894 he was elected county coroner, and so capa- bly did he serve that he was re-elected in 1896 and 1898. On the expiration of his third term in 1900 he retired, but in 1902 he was again clected and will continue in the position until July, 1904. He belongs to the Greater Salem Commercial Club, to the lodge and Rebekah de- gree of the Odd Fellows society, to the Union Artisans, and is past master and member of the Woodmen of the World.

GEORGE W. KNIGHT. The best mercan- tile interests of Hubbard, Ore., are being main- tained by George W. Knight, who, in partner- ship with Peter Susbauer, who owns the build- ing, is conducting an up-to-date store. The stock, valued at $13,000, comprises such necessities and luxuries as would be required in any cosmopoli- tan community. It is the policy of the partners to observe the greatest courtesy and consideration for patrons, and this, combined with cleanliness. and absolute business integrity, has assured to the firm of Knight & Susbauer many years of uninterrupted success.

Mr. Knight comes of an honored old pioneer family of the state of which he is a native son. He was born in Canby, Clackamas county, April 14, 1874. His father. Dr. Charles Knight, for many years a practicing physician of Canby, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., December 10, 1828, and moved with his parents to Pittsburg, Pa .. in 1831. He became an employe in a foundry in that city, and at the age of eighteen found a less strenu- ous position, which enabled him at the same time to study medicine. In 1845 he removed to Mis-

G. I Fragen

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souri, and made that state his home until coming to Oregon in 1871. He was the first to settle in Canby, the first to map out the future of the town, the pioneer dwelling of the embryo village being due to his constructive ability. He was known throughout the entire surrounding coun- try, and in connection with a large and lucrative practice conducted a drug store for many years. His death, July 22, 1893, removed a man whom all delighted to honor, and who had an enviable reputation as man and physician. He married Catherine Schriver, who was born in Frankfort, Ohio, in 1834, married in 1862, and died October 16, 1898. She was the mother of nine children, five sons and four daughters, of whom George W. is the eighth child. Those living are : Louisa, Henry, George W. and Esther.

George W. Knight was educated in the public schools, and his youth did not differ materially from that of the average boy of his town. He was employed for some time in his father's drug store, and while still living in Canby became interested in Republican politics and served on the town council for four years. At the age of eighteen he went into the employ of Carlton and Rosecrans, remaining for seven years. He went to Hubbard, February 27, 1899, bought out the general merchandise business of George H. Beebe, and converted it into the present reliable and progressive business. After settling there he married Minnie Whitney, a native of Oregon, born November 19, 1884, and daughter of John and Anna (Feller) Whitney, formerly prominent farmers in the vicinity of Woodburn, but now liv- ing retired near that city. Mr. Knight has served in the council of Hubbard, and has otherwise identified himself with the upbuilding of the city. He still owns a one-third interest, twenty-four acres of his father's original donation claim ad- joining Canby, ten acres of which are devoted to hops, and the remainder to general farming. Though one of the younger generation of busi- ness men in this county, Mr. Knight is esteemed for his general business qualifications, and for many estimable traits of character. He is a mem- ber of Hermes Lodge K. of P. No. 57; passed the chairs and represented the local to Grand Lodge three times. Is a member of Hubbard Lodge I. O. O. F. No. 76. Passed the chairs of Columbia Lodge No. 47 A. O. U. W.

GEORGE N. FRAZER. Outside of Port- land, the Eugene Iron Works is the largest en- terprise of the kind in the Willamette valley. George N. Frazer, the owner and proprietor, is unquestionably one of the most experienced in all kinds of iron manufacturing on the western coast, and as such enjoys a prestige commensurate with the worthy and far-reaching industrial re-

sults of which he is the chief incentive. Born in Brockport, Monroe county, N. Y., June 12, 1851, he is of English ancestry, his parents, James Scott and Sarah Ann (Kenworthy) Fra- zer, having been born in Oldham, Lancashire, England, where had lived many generations of his grandfathers. Upon emigrating to America, the father settled in Monroe county, N. Y., where he worked at the moulder's trade, and in time practically started the town of Brockport, by establishing the first store and butcher shop. Meeting with financial reverses in 1858, he dis- posed of his interests and removed to San Fran- cisco, where he followed his trade until 1870, removing then to the city of Portland, Ore. His death occurred by drowning in the Willamette river in 1872.

The necessity for early self-support over- shadowed the diversions and even education of George N. Frazer, for at the age of twelve he learned the moulder's trade from his father. While serving his apprenticeship in the San Fran- cisco Iron Works he came to a realization of the possibilities of his trade and applied himself with zest to learning all that his superiors had to teach hin. From the San Francisco Iron Works he went to the Oregon Iron Works, and in 1871 went into business with his father, operating the Eagle Iron Works of Portland. Encouraged by a contract for the iron work for the construc- tion of the Clackamas river railroad bridge be- low Oregon City, the business progressed rapidly, many notable and paying contracts being filled under the able leadership of father and son. Mr. Frazer afterward started the Pioneer Brass ' Foundry in Portland, and after its destruction during the great fire, he entered into partnership with W. J. Zimmerman in an iron business which was later operated under the same management in Ashland and Roseburg.

Disposing of his business in 1886, Mr. Frazer came to Eugene and started the Eugene Iron Works in partnership with J. C. Land, the latter retiring at the end of the first year, and leaving the business to the sole supervision of the senior member of the firm. That the iron works have more work than can be accomplished at present, and in fact are six months behind with their or- ders, may be taken as a fair indication of their standing in the community. The most modern of machinery facilitates the conduct of a bus- iness which embraces the most delicate as well as the heaviest of iron productions, ranging from donkey engines to structural iron work, sawmill machinery and engines weighing many tons. The machine shop proper is two stories high and 36x50 feet ground dimensions, the foundry is 40x70 feet, and the blacksmith and boiler shop is 50x40 feet. Needless to say, Mr. Frazer is at home in any department of his business, having

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mastered the minutest details, and is therefore able to command the best possible effort from his men. Having no competition south of Eugene in the state, his trade is drawn from a wide ter- ritory, orders coming in from all along the coast, and from the principal cities of the surrounding states.

The agencies inaugurated for the improvement of Eugene have invariably received the stanch support of Mr. Frazer. He is the friend of edu- cation, of municipal purity and political upright- ness. As a Republican he has served on the county committee for several years, althoughi of- fice-holding has never appealed to him, or been in accord with his otherwise busy life. An en- thusiastic advocate of the climate, resources and general advantages of Lane county, he has shown his faith in its future by investing heavily in town and country property, his own residence being one of the finest and most hospitable in the town. He is interested in the Eugene Opera House Company, and various substantial enter- prises of public character, and his social asso- ciates include the cultured and progressive ele- ment of the town. Fraternally Mr. Frazer is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Eugene, in which he has thrice been noble grand; with the Encampment, in which he is past chief patriarch, and the Woodmen of the World. He is a member of the Congregational Church of Eugene. In Ashland, in 1877, he was united in marriage with Ella E. Jackson, who was born in California, and who is the mother of two children: George N., Jr., who is inter- ested in business with his father ; and Arthur L., instructor of the piano at the University of Oregon.

LAFAYETTE F. HALL, of Newberg, identi- fied principally with loans and insurance, is a worthy representative of one of the best-known pioneer families of Yamhill county, and one most intimately connected with its growth. Mr. Hall was born in Carlinville, Macoupin county, Ill., January 17, 1846, his father being a native of North Carolina, and born February 5, 1798, while his mother, Malinda, was born in Tennessee.

Mathew Hall was one of those strong and rug- ged personalities which stands out vividly from the pioneer ranks of Yamhill county. As a youth in his native state he learned the blacksmith trade, and as a young man grown he settled in Ma- coupin county, Ill., where he plied his trade for a number of years. He was one of those cou- rageous men who braved the dangers of the plains before the craze for gold made the expedition one . of comparative safety, and in 1847 set out with a party, eventually arriving at his chosen desti- nation in Clackamas county. The first winter was spent in Molalla, and in the spring he engaged

in ranching near Astoria, on the Columbia river. Not being favorably impressed with that farming section he went to Portland and worked at his trade, and the quality of his work may be esti- mated when it is known that when he took his departure in 1849, the people of Portland offered to give him a house and lot and place to put his shop if he would remain. Notwithstanding this tempting offer he decided to settle on a farm near where Newberg now stands, and, having com- fortably installed his family, he went down into California and struggled for a year among thie mines in that state. Although fairly successful he was not forcibly impressed with mining as a means of livelihood, his practical and shrewd mind detecting easily the chances in favor of the few rather than the many. Returning to Oregon he settled on his farm of six hundred and twenty acres, a portion of which he improved, and where he died in 1869, at the age of seventy-one years. He was known far and near as Squire Hall, as he filled the office of justice of the peace for be- tween twelve and fourteen years. In his rulings he was invariably just and impartial, and rarely were his decisions questioned.

The youngest of three sons and four daughters born to his parents, Lafayette F. Hall was edu- cated in the public schools, supplemented by one term at McMinnville College. During six years of his life he was an educator, and during that time was also manager of his father's farm. In 1875 he abandoned teaching and divided his at- tention between farming and outside business. He has since been engaged in a general business, and in connection therewith handles collections and insurance, and a little real estate. He is a notary public, and has been justice of the peace for two terms. Mr. Hall is the owner of considerable town and country property, including two lots on Columbia Heights, two lots upon which his residence is erected, an additional lot elsewhere in the town, and three hundred and twenty acres of the home place, now being managed by his son, W. L.

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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 129

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