Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 142

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 142

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In 1869 Mr. Zierolf married Mary Hauck, who was born in Ohio, and in the fall of 1870 the young people came to Oregon and settled near their present home. In 1871 he bought his pres- ent farm of two hundred and sixty acres, twelve and a half miles south of Corvallis on the old Territorial road. He has made all of the im- provements which go to make it a valuable and

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productive property, including a fine rural house, large and commodious barn, and the latest in agricultural implements. To his original purchase he has added and now has two hundred and nine- ty-six acres, one hundred and seventy-five of which are under cultivation, and devoted to gen- eral farming and stock-raising. By no means narrow in his views or circumscribed in his in- terests, Mr. Zierolf takes a keen interest in the political and other developments in his neigh- borhood, and as a stanch Republican has ma- terially influenced party undertakings. He has served as road supervisor, school clerk and is at present director, and in these capacities has in- variably worked for the best good of the com- munity. Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Zierolf, the order of their birth being as follows: Albert, living in this vicinity; Eva, the wife of C. Dennis, of Monroe, this. county ; Lorenzo, conducting general farming near Bruce ; Cora, living at home; Irena, making her home in Pendleton; Judd and Jay, twins, living at home; Ada, the wife of J. Hurlburt, of the vicin- ity of Corvallis; Florence, living at home; Isaac, and Ida.

The wife of Mr. Zierolf died in Portland on April 19, 1903, after a short sickness. She was a devoted wife and a kind and loving mother. She was a devout member of the Roman Catholic Church and is buried in the cemetery at Monroe, Benton county. She was fifty-nine years of age at the time of death.

ABRAHAM B. B. LEWIS. In the days of his buoyant youth, and when teaching school or farming, or risking his life on the battlefields of the Mexican or Civil wars, Abraham B. B. Lewis was as fine a specimen of physical manhood as one could find in the length and breadth of this great country of ours. Six feet two inches in height, broad chested, perfectly proportioned, and erect as an arrow, he was the cynosure of all eyes wherever he went, and the admiration of all who were permitted to note the harmonious blending of his material and mental endowments. At present Mr. Lewis is a very old man, four score and two years, and paralysis has caused his shoulders to stoop, and his hardihood to vanish. but his mind is clear and rich in memory, and he is still a comfort to his many friends in Phil- omath.

For centuries the Lewis ancestors pursued their various occupations in the snug little country of Wales, the first to think seriously of departing from accustomed haunts being the paternal grand- father, John, who came to America at the age of fourteen. He settled presumably in the state of Kentucky, where he farmed for the rest of his life, and from where he enlisted in the Colonial

army during the Revolutionary war. In Ken- tucky was born his son, Thomas S., the father of Abraham B. B., and who in 1819 removed to near Madison, Ind., later taking up his residence on a farm near Indianapolis, Ind., where Abraham B. B. was born June 3, 1821. Thomas S. Lewis removed to Schuyler county, Mo., and in 1855 to near Humboldt, Kan., where he died in 1858. He was a successful farmer, and to an otherwise creditable life added valuable service as a non- commissioned officer during the war of 1812. Through his marriage with Margaret Ellen Bayle, a native of Scotland, and who died near Indianapolis, eight children were born, five sons and three daughters, Abraham being the second oldest.

Educated in the common schools and at Frank- lin College, Indiana, Abraham Lewis began teach- ing school in the Hoosier state in 1844, and in 1854 shifted his educational field to Higginsville, Ill. In 1874 he removed to St. Clair, Mo., and after teaching a term engaged in general farm- ing and stock-raising for about twelve years. Coming to Oregon in 1887, he took up a home- stead near Vernonia, Columbia county, and suc- cessfully improved his one hundred and twenty acres, remaining thereon until retiring from active life in Philomath in 1895. Interspersed prin- cipally with his teaching has been the military service of Mr. Lewis, which began in May, 1846, when he enlisted as a private in Company H, First Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front in Mexico, remaining away from home until the following January. He then re-enlisted in Company D, Fourth Indiana Volunteer Infan- try as first lieutenant, and served until his dis- charge in July, 1848. During the service he participated in the battle of Huamantla, Mexico, a town located two days' march from Pueblo, and where the Mexicans were defeated by the Americans October 9. 1847. He also took part in innumerable skirmishes of a more or less seri- ous nature, during the first part of his service being in the Taylor line, and during the latter part in the Scott line. During the Civil war Mr. Lewis enlisted July 3, 1861, in Company I, Thir- ty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry as captain, and at St. Louis was under General Fremont, and later under General Buell. He took part in many minor battles and skirmishes, and in 1862 found himself in Louisville, Ky. Here he was overtaken by a severe attack of rheumatism, in consequence of which his service was curtailed, and his discharge took place in Louisville in 1863.

Near Williamsport, Warren county, Ind., Mr. Lewis was united in marriage with Artemisa Harris, a native of Marion county, Ind., and daughter of Benjamin Harris, who came from Kentucky to Indiana, locating in Marion county, and afterward removing to Boone and Warren

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counties. Mr. Harris was a Baptist preacher and a farmer, and died in Park county, Ind. Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis two are deceased. The oldest son, Willis Oscar, is living in Missouri; William Wallace is a resi- dent of Oregon ; Milton Douglas ; Benton Edgar ; Minnie Agnes is the wife of J. K. Atkison, of Gaston, Ore. ; Effie Estella is now Mrs. William H. Dark, of Portland, Ore .; Orphia Nina is the wife of Robert A. Clark, of Philomath; and Louise E. is the wife of S. O. Watkins, the latter a professor in the Philomath College. In politics thoroughly independent, Mr. Lewis has served as justice of the peace in Missouri and Oregon for about eleven years, and he was a school director in Columbia county, Ore. He is a member of the Cumberland Presby- terian Church, and during his life has contrib- uted unstintingly toward its maintenance. A man of fine principle, great capacity for indus- try, and unflagging zeal in whatever he under- took to do, he furnishes a worthy example of the transported easterner who soon becomes at home and at ease in his new and more purposeful surroundings.

LEWIS ABRAMS. Among the men first connected with the business enterprises of Lin- coln, Polk county, Ore., is Lewis Abrams, the pioneer merchant and warehouseman of this city. He is not a native of the west, having been born in Monmouth county, N. J., February 29, 1824, the son of Stephen Abrams, also a native of that locality, and died in Scott county, Ill., in 1862, at the age of sixty-two years. The fam- ily of this name was first located on American soil in the state of New Jersey. the grandfather having also been born there, of English parents, and on attaining manhood proving his loyalty to his country by serving as a colonel in the Revo- lutionary war, under Washington. The grand- mother was of German parentage, giving to her descendants the sturdy qualities which character- ize the people of that country. In 1833 the father brought his family to Morgan county, Ill., though afterward, through a division of the counties, he found himself located in Scott county, and there he engaged in farming and milling, meet- ing with excellent success. Religiously he was a Methodist. His first wife was Letitia Conover, a native of the same state ; she died in Illinois in 1835, having become the mother of six children, of whom Lewis Abrams is the only one living. Mr. Abrams afterward married Anne Taylor, and three children were born of this marriage.

Lewis Abrams was nine years of age when the family fortunes were changed to Illinois, and he was there educated in the primitive log school houses of Scott county. When sixteen years of

age his education was considered finished and he started out into the world to make his own way, as was the custom in those early days, and he secured employment on the Illinois river. Meet- ing with success he invested his earnings in a boat, running it from St. Louis up the river, and continuing thus employed for about four years. In 1849 he gave up these interests to make the journey to the gold fields, crossing the plains in an ox train under the command of Captain Pope, of Booneville, Mo. Beyond minor incidents the trip was uneventful, and on arriving at his des- tination he went at once to the mines at the American river, and though not finding a fortune in the mining venture he left the mines in 1861 with considerable money. Still interested in the precarious life of a miner he started with a pack train for the Fraser river, but stopped at Colville, Stevens county, Wash., where he engaged in a general merchandise business. packing his sup- plies from Portland. Meeting with considerable success he remained there until the spring of 1868, when he sold out and came to Polk county, Ore., locating at Lincoln in the spring of 1869. having previously lost about $30,000 in the mines of British Columbia. He at first entered into part- nership with J. D. Walling, but the death of the latter occurring soon afterward he became sole proprietor of the mercantile business, remaining in the same since, with entire success. In addi- tion to his mercantile business he has been en- gaged for many years in the buying, storing and shipping of grain. His store and warehouse are situated on the banks of the Willamette river, af- fording convenient transportation to Portland. He has handled as much as one hundred thousand bushels of grain per annum, and is still conduct- ing a large and lucrative business. He is the owner of a fine residence in Lincoln, which he built in 1869

Mr. Abrams was married in 1864, in Scott county, Ill., to Mary Shea, a native of that state, who died in Lincoln in 1869. Five years later he married Phosia Witten, a native of Portland, Ore., the daughter of Joshua Witten, a native of Tennessee, and a pioneer of 1852. By his first marriage Mr. Abrams has one daughter. Lois, now Mrs. L. Rea Green. a music teacher in Philomath, Benton county, Ore., and three chil- dren by his later marriage, Letitia E., a teacher of elocution at Philomath, College, Benton county ; WV. Carleton, a reporter on the Statesman, of Salem, and who served in the Philippine Islands with the Second Oregon Regiment as sergeant in Company K ; and Chester W., now in his sec- ond year in Corvallis College. Politically Mr. Abrams is a Republican and has held 'several . offices through this influence, among them being that of postmaster, to which he was appointed in 1870, and several terms thereafter; road super-

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visor and many school offices. Religiously both himself and wife are members of Lincoln Metho- dist Episcopal Church, which they assisted mate- rially in building and in many other ways since its organization. Mr. Abrams is a steward and trustee, filling the offices in a manner which has won and retained the confidence of the citizens of the community. Throughout his entire busi- ness career, he has been known as a man of honor and integrity, whose name is above re- proach.

VICTOR P. MOSES. Benton county's leading citizens find a worthy representative in Victor P. Moses. The qualities essential to honorable and strong manhood are his-dili- gence, intelligence, reliability-and he has for a number of years been regarded as one of the most popular and prominent citizens of this portion of the state. He is a leader in musical circles and in public office his course has awakened the commendation and good will of even those opposed to him politically.

Mr. Moses is a native of Quitman, Ark., and has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished. His father, the Rev. P. A. Moses, has in his possession the ancestral his- tory of the family back to the time when repre- sentatives of the name left their homes in Amsterdam, Holland, and crossed the Atlan- tic to the new world, settling in Pennsylvania, at an early epoch in the seventeenth century. Prior to the Revolutionary war the family was founded in Virginia and when the colonies be- came involved in war with England the family was represented in the Continental army by loyal patriots. Samuel Moses, the grand- father of our subject, was born in Virginia and there engaged in surveying. His son, Rev. P. A. Moses, was also a native of the Old Dominion and was graduated in Ran- dolph-Macon College, of Lynchburg, Virginia, with second honors of the class of 1855. He became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and removed to Arkansas, where he became prominent as a divine and educator. He served for a time as president of Quitman College and during the Civil war he for three years filled the position of chap- lain, with the rank of major, in the Thirty- fourth Arkansas Regiment Confederate Volun- teers. In 1875 he came to Oregon, settling in Linn county, and for one term served as county superintendent of schools there. He was also principal of the schools of Albany and principal of the Lebanon Academy for several years, and throughout this time he also continued his labors in the Methodist ministry. He is now living a retired life in

Corvallis, and well does he deserve the rest which has been vouchsafed to him, as his has been a most useful life, his labors proving of marked benefit and helpfulness to his fellow- men. He married Miss Lucy Howell, who was born in Arkansas of Scotch descent and who has been to him for many years a faithful com- panion and helpmate on life's journey. They have six children: R. J., a merchant of Philo- math, Ore .; A. W., who is connected with the Indian service department at Chilocco, Okla .; S. H., who is also engaged in mer- chandising in Philomath; Mrs. Susie Jenks, of Tangent, Ore .: Josie, now Mrs. S. E. Trask of Corvallis; and Victor P.

The last named was born September 20, 1875, in Quitman, Ark., and the following year the family joined the father in this place, Rev. Moses being at that time principal of the Brownsville school. The son pursued his edu- cation in Albany, completed the high school course in 1892 and in the fall of the same year he entered Albany College, where he remained until the spring of 1893, after which he en- gaged in teaching in Douglas county. In the fall of the latter year he came to Corvallis and matriculated in the Oregon Agricultural Col- lege, where he continued the work until he had reached the senior year. He was leader of the band while in Albany College, and was also leader and instructor of the band of the Ore- gon Agricultural College and under his guid- ance it attained a high degree of proficiency and became one of the attractive features of the school.

In 1896 Mr. Moses accepted the position of deputy county clerk under Virgil E. Watters and acted in that capacity for nearly six years, when, without his solicitation he was nomi- nated by the Democratic party, in 1902, for the position of county clerk and was elected by a majority of twenty-three. He took the oath of office on July 7, of the same year, to serve for two years, and his previous experi- ence in the position of deputy having made him familiar with the duties of the office, he is now proving a most capable official. He is methodical, accurate and reliable in the dis- charge of the duties which devolve upon him and his course is winning for him unqualified commendation. He is also clerk of the county commissioners and probate courts.

Fraternally Mr. Moses is connected with the Woodmen of the World, is consul commander and served for five years as clerk. He is also a member of the Uniformed Rank of the same order and is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Corvallis and chaplain of the Knights of the Maccabees. While inter- ested in political and social work, he never

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neglects the higher, holier duties of life, being a faithful and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He is serving as a member of its board of trustees and since he attained the age of twenty years has been superintendent of the Sunday School, putting forth strenuous effort for the promotion of the cause. He is a charter member of the Jeffer- sonian Society of the Oregon Agricultural College and was at one time its president. In musical circles Mr. Moses is very prominent and has done much to promote the musical culture of the city in which he makes his home. He possesses a fine tenor voice, has a broad knowledge of the art and has done much to cultivate a taste for both vocal and instru- mental music in his city. He has been a teacher of both and is also active in the music- al development of the college and vicinity, taking an important part in the musical fes- tivals of the college and the Willamette Valley Choral Association. Other interests of Cor- vallis also claim his time and attention. He belongs to Hose Company'No. 2, of the Cor- vallis Fire Department, of which he has been captain and for two terms he was its president. His is a finely balanced mind and a well rounded character, enabling him to view the various departments of activity which consti- tute life in their true portions and to give due attention to each. His splendid qualities, his ready smile, his kindly nature and his unfail- ing courtesy render him very popular and have gained for him a host of warm and sincere friends.

CHARLES BRUCE MONTAGUE. With a wide knowledge of the advantageous locations of various parts of the world, Charles Bruce Mon- tague selected Lebanon, Linn county, Ore., as a place of residence. There he has be- come an important factor in the business and political affairs of the community. Previous to his retirement from the active cares of life, in 1892, he had been engaged in the mercantile business, for twenty-five years having success- fully conducted a store. He has hield various political offices, his broad-minded, earnest thought and effort being calculated to elevate the char- acter of both state and municipal government.

Mr. Montague is the representative of an old Scottish family, his ancestors having figured in various political warlike movements associated with the fortunes of England. His grandfather, Andrew Montague, a native of Scotland, and the son of another Andrew. whose birth and death occurred in that country, held the rank of major at the battle of Waterloo. He died in Scotland, when fifty years old. The father of

Mr. Montague, Thomas, was born in Scotland and came to the United States about 1847, and as a contractor he was employed by the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company. After spending four years in different sections of the Union, and seeing the greater part of the western country, he returned to Scotland in 1853. His wife, Kath- erine De Courcey, likewise a native of Scotland, where she died, was the mother of four sons and

three daughters, of whom Charles Bruce was the fourth. He was born in Argyll, Scotland, January 4. 1833. He came with his parents to America in 1847, when he was sixteen years old. His education was obtained in private schools in his native land. Having an uncle, John De Courcey by name, located in San Francisco, Cal .. Mr. Montague passed a part of the year 1852 with him, working in his uncle's mercantile estab- lishment. Returning to Scotland, he enlisted in 1854 for service in the Crimean war, and served until the fall of 1856, with the commission of lieutenant. After the close of his service he returned to London, England, from which city lie made trips to various parts of Europe, jour- neying through Ireland, Scotland, France, Egypt, and Greece, spending some time in Athens. In 1858 Mr. Montague returned to the United States, and after a short time spent in San Fran- cisco he came to Oregon. Soon after he started for the mines of the Fraser river, but changed his mind when he reached Salem, and began tcaching school in the Waldo Hills. Three years later he joined the First Oregon Cavalry, became first sergeant in Company B, and freely gave his services to his adopted country in her time of need. He remained in the service from 1861 to 1864, in the last-named year being mus- tered out at Vancouver, Wash. In the same year he became chief clerk, under Captain Hop- kins, of the United States quartermaster depot, stationed at Vancouver. In 1866 he was ordered to San Francisco. The next year found him located in Sitka, Alaska, by order of the govern- ment. Three years later he resigned his office as chief clerk and, coming to Lebanon, Linn county, Ore., he was there engaged in the mer- cantile business for twenty-five years.

Mr. Montague was married in Marion county, Ore., in 1860 to Martha Peebler, a native of lowa, who died in Lebanon. She was the daughter of David Peebler. a pioneer of 1852, who died in Lebanon at the age of ninety-six years. The six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Montague, three sons and three daughters, are named in order of birth as follows: Elmer E .. of Albany, Ore .: Clara N .; Mary, the wife of G. W. Giboney, D. D., pastor of the First Pres- byterian Church of Spokane, Wash .; Charles D., a member of the board of examiners in the United States custom service in Portland, Ore. ;

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Ida M., wife of Dr. J. S. Courtney, of Dayton, Ore .; and Robert B., who is engaged in the real estate business in Albany. In 1879 he was united in marriage with Mrs. Priscilla C. Redpath of Albany, Ore. She is a native of Saline county, Mo., the daughter of Dr. Nathaniel Ostrander, deceased. He was a native of the Hudson valley in New York state, removed to Missouri in young manhood, and in 1852 came to the Pacific coast, locating on the Cowlitz river. For about forty years he was continually engaged in the practice of medicine, being located for over a quarter of a century in Olympia, Wash., where his death occurred in 1901. Mrs. Montague's uncle, J. L. Yantis, D. D., a native of Kentucky, became a pioneer minister of the Presbyterian Church in Oregon, and founded the First Presbyterian Church of Portland in 1852. In 1853 he removed to Linn county and took up a donation claim located near the site of the town of Shedds. The latter years of his life were spent in Missouri.

In addition to the property upon which Mr. Montague makes his home, a large and hand- some dwelling, which he built in 1890, he owns other residence and business property in Lebanon and also farming land near Vancouver, Wash. In his political associations a Democrat, in 1891 he ably represented his party in the state legis- lature, as a member of the house of representa- tives, and there exercised no little influence through his associations upon various important committees. He has been active in municipal affairs, having served as mayor of the city for many terms, and also as a member of the council. In 1896 he became county clerk for Linn county, a position he filled for two years. Fraternally Mr. Montague is a Mason. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church.

ABNER DAVIS GARDNER. A man whose business career has contributed materially to the prestige of Stayton, Marion county, is A. D. Gardner, the character of whose work has ex- tended beyond the narrow confines of that little city, reaching two-thirds of the way to the At. lantic coast, the section of country which has found it hard to believe all that is said of the great resources of this part of the northwest. The flour produced by the mills of the Gardner Brothers has been awarded two prizes for its excellence, the first being at the World's Colum- bian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893, and the sec- ond at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition at Omaha, in 1898: and the awards are emphatic- ally indorsed by thousands of consumers through- out the west.

The father of the subject of this sketch, A. D. Gardner, Sr., was born in Ohio in 1819: subse- quently removed to Osage county, Mo., and in

that state was united in marriage with Sarah P. Johnson, in 1842. Immediately thereafter he re- moved to a location near Des Moines, Iowa, fol- lowing the occupations of farming and preach- ing, the latter in the local way so popular in the earlier days. Not realizing a sufficient remunera- tion from his combined efforts, he decided to emi- grate to a more western state, following up his intention in the spring of 1852 by heading a party bound for Oregon. Mules and ox teams were employed in the expedition, and Mr. Gard- ner was chosen to command the train. After a wearisome trip of several months the caravan arrived in Oregon. Mr. Gardner and his family spent their first winter here near Salem, where he made as careful an investigation of the re- sources of various sections of the Willamette valley as was possible under the circumstances. As the result of his inquiries he decided to locate in Linn county, where he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres the fol- lowing spring. The house erected on the claim, though constructed of roughly hewn logs, was regarded as a very fine one in those days, since it possessed two rooms, where most settlers were content, or appeared to be, with but one room. Most of his farm was bottom lands at Fox Val- ley, on the Santiam river, and was provided with excellent natural advantages for general farming and stock-raising. The remaining years of his life were passed upon this estate, with the excep- tion of a few years, during which he conducted a hotel at Scio, to which town he removed for better school advantages. He died in 1885, at the age of sixty-six years.

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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 142

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