Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 155

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 155

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JOSEPHUS J. BEARD. The position of agent of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Tan- gent, Linn county, Ore., is now held by Josephus J. Beard, his continuance in the office having been from 1873, and during the intervening years he has never lost a day's time from the faithful discharge of duty. Mr. Beard was born October 13, 1844, in Vigo county, Ind., the son of Zach- ariah Beard, who was born in Pennsylvania, in 1804, and emigrated with his parents to Indiana, in 1808. The grandfather was a miller by trade and he built one of the first grist mills on the banks of the Wabash river, and there Zachariah took up this work and followed it until he came to Oregon in 1873. He first married Ludicy Ferguson, a native of Indiana, and they had ten children, Josephus J. Beard, of this review, being the only one now living. The mother died in 1848, after which Mr. Beard again married, and

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this wife died within a year, leaving him one child, who is now deceased.

Josephus J. Beard and his father came together to Oregon in 1873, the former securing the posi- tion previously mentioned, that of agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad, which he has since held. In 1874 he married Callie Spangler, a na- tive of California, and of the children which have blessed the union, Maude M. is the wife of M. C. Jenks, in the vicinity of Tangent; M. Claude is now deceased; Harry L. is located in Chemawa, Marion county; Joseph Ivan is at home; and Roy B. is deceased. Mrs. Beard died in 1884, and for a second wife Mr. Beard married Mrs. Mary E. Morgan, and in their home the father of Mr. Beard passed away at the advanced age of eighty-one years. In his fraternal rela- tions Mr. Beard is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and is past commander in the Knights of the Maccabees. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In politics Mr. Beard is a stanch Democrat and has faithfully served his party in various offices since his residence in Oregon, being for eight years justice of the peace, and for fourteen years post- master of Tangent. Mr. Beard has certainly made a success of his life since coming west, accumulating property located in this city, tak- ing an advanced place in the affairs of the com- munity and interesting himself generally with all movements calculated to promote the general welfare and increase the importance of the state which so many eastern emigrants have made their own by adoption.

NICHOLAS MICKEL. Many changes of scene have come to N. Mickel, whose first recol- lections go back to the place where he was born, December 14, 1844, in Saxony, the son of George and Mary Mickel. He was one of seven children, six of whom are living and settled in the United States. In 1855 the family set out on the jour- ney that was to end when they had crossed an ocean and a continent. They first setled in Du- page county, Ill., where they remained for two years, going from there by ox-team to Nicollet county, Minn., spending the ensuing twelve years in that location before continuing the jour- ney across the continent. The reports from the west growing more favorable as the years went on, and the prospects being bright for the suc- cess of the energetic and persevering, the father once more made up his mind to go still farther. In the year 1869 the family came to Oregon, settling one and a half miles north of Mount Angel, but later removing to Polk county, where the father died in 1880, at the age of sixty-five years. His widow survived him for about twenty years, her death occurring in Gervais,

Marion county, January 1, 1900, in her seventy- fifth year. Besides the subject of this sketch, the children in the family are George, of Ger- vais ; Michael, of eastern Oregon ; Agnes Inhover, of Nicollet county, Minn .; Mary Schreiber, re- siding near The Dalles; Lena Bowers, of Vic- toria, and Peter, who is now deceased.

N. Mickel received his education in the dis- trict schools of Minnesota, remaining at home with his parents until he enlisted, at seventeen years of age, in Company L, First Mounted Rangers of Minnesota. The company was mus- tered in at St. Peter, Nicollet county, where it was assigned to garrison duty, being principally occupied in guarding the frontier. After having served fourteen months, he was mustered out at Fort Snelling, and returning home he took up the brickmason trade, following that until he came to Oregon, via New York, the Isthmus of Panama and San Francisco. Coming direct to Marion county, he bought the farm where he now lives. At that time it consisted of one hun. dred and sixty acres of virgin land. He now has one hundred and thirty acres under cultivation, upon which he is engaged in general farming and stock-raising, being also interested in the cultivation of hops. In 1902 he produced about fifteen thousand pounds of the latter from six- teen acres. Since its purchase he has greatly im- proved the place by the erection of a modern house upon the location of the one in which he first went to housekeeping upon his marriage to Miss Anna Mary Koler, a native of Bavaria, born in 1842. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mickel, of whom the eldest, Mary Ann, is the wife of F. E. Moore of Ball Butte, Mont., has one son, Ernest W .; the three re- maining at home are Mary, Nicholas George, and Maggie.

Mr. Mickel has served as road supervisor and on the school board of the district in which he lives. In politics he is a Democrat. The family is identified with the Roman Catholic Church.

ALBERT BROWNELL. The Albany Nur- series constitute one of the finest and largest en- terprises of the kind in the state of Oregon. In keeping with its reputation for the propagation of the fruits and flowers of a remarkably fertile region, is the career of its manager and owner, Al- bert Brownell, to whom is accorded well merited praise for the success which he has wrought out by his own unaided exertions. In tracing the life of Mr. Brownell it is important to note the early connection of his family with the history of America, his emigrating ancestors having fol- lowed close in the wake of that historic craft- the Mayflower-and launched their various en- terprises in the midst of primitive colonial con-

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ditions. It is supposed that the family was rep- resented in the Revolutionary war, and the pa- ternal grandfather of Albert Brownell had the satisfaction of seeing four of his sons depart for the Civil war, only one of whom, however, re- turned to his family and friends. Another son, the father of Albert, was a merchant in Evans, N. Y. for the greater part of his active life, and here he married Priscilla Southwick for his first wife, who bore him six children. Of a second union there were born three children, and the sec- ond wife still survives her husband, who died at about the age of seventy. He was born in Massa- chusetts, and settled as a young man in New York, where he made a success of merchandising, and was an influential man in his town.

Albert Brownell was born near Buffalo, N. Y., April 24, 1854, and is one of the children of his father's first marriage, his mother dying at the age of forty-five. He was educated in the public schools and remained at home until he was of age, when he went to Iowa, and during the win- ter taught school, working in the harvest fields during the summer time for about five years. While there he was married, April 17, 1870, to Nettie M. Read, a native of Iowa, and thereafter continued to live in the state until removing to Missouri in the fall of 1870. Continuing to farm and teach until 1884, he came to Oregon and bought a place near Wells Station, Benton county, where he lived about four years. He then came to Albany and purchased the Cline homestead and established the Albany Nursery, conducting the same under the firm name of Hy- man & Brownell until he succeeded to the entire business, of which he has since been owner and general manager. The nursery has seventy-five acres under cultivation just outside of the city limits, and, besides, Mr. Brownell has other prop- erties in different parts of the county devoted to nursery stock. The size of the enterprise may be estimated when it is known that from fifty to seventy-five men are required in the different departments at certain seasons of the year, while from twenty to fifty are employed all the year round. Most of the improvements have been made by the present owner, who has a thorough understanding of his interesting calling, and con- templates even more extensive operations in the near future.

A Republican in political affiliation, Mr. Brow- nell has held most of the minor local offices in his neighborhood. and has taken an active part in promoting the best interests of his party. He is fraternally connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and finds a religious home in the Congregational Church, in which he is a deacon. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brownell, of whom Joyce B. is the wife of Rev. H. Hopkins, of Chicago; Carl R. is de-

ceased; Clara and Dorothy are living at home ; and William S. is deceased.

Mr. Brownell is a broad-minded and cultured gentleman, genial and agreeable to meet, and sincere and earnest in the conduct of the various activities for which nature and inclination have richly endowed him.

GEORGE W. DIMICK. General farming is the occupation to which G. W. Dimick is devot- ing his energies. That he has achieved success in his chosen line of work is evidenced by his well cultivated farm of one hundred acres situ- ated one and one-half miles east of Hubbard, on which he has a splendid orchard of sixty acres, nearly all of which is planted in apples. Mr. Dimick is also well known as a dealer in fine cattle, having been at one time the largest individual breeder and raiser of Short-horn and Aberdeen cattle in the state. Perhaps his work as an agriculturist has been secondary to what he has accomplished for Oregon in elevating its educational and political standard, as well as im- proving the country in the way of good roads and all that it means in commercial advance- ment, for he has faithfully served as road super- visor and as a member of the school board, and in politics he has for years been an acknowledged power. He is a member of the Democratic party, but favors prohibition, and was the or- ganizer of the Prohibition party in the state, be- ing chairman of the first state central committee and manager of St. John's campaign in Ore- gon at the time when that great Prohibition leader was making his memorable fight in the cause of temperance. Under the management of Mr. Dimick as chairman of the state central committee, the largest vote that Oregon ever cast for the Prohibition party was polled. Mr. Dimick was the first candidate for congress on that ticket, and his efforts have been of great value in cleansing and purifying the politics of Oregon. The part he has taken in political life has ever been an active and prominent one, and he is among the most influential men of the state in that respect.

G. W. Dimick was born April 28, 1837, in Boone county, Ill., and is a son of Augustus R. Dimick, who was born April 10, 1790, in Con- necticut. His parents having died when he was a child, he was reared to manhood by his brother. From Connecticut he removed to New York state, thence to Ohio, and early started out in life to make his own way in the world. On leav- ing Ohio he took up a claim in Illinois, camp- ing on the present site of Chicago. Before coming to Illinois he was united in marriage to Laura Pangburn, the wedding taking place in Ohio. Mr. Dimick and his family resided in Il-

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linois until 1846, when they started for Oregon, but stopped in Missouri for the first winter. In 1847 they crossed the plains with a company under command of General Palmer. Ox-teams were used in making the journey, there being one hundred wagons in the train, which was afterward divided. The journey was made in seven months, and the party encountered no serious trouble with the Indians. On arriving in Oregon Mr. Dimick came direct to Marion county, taking up a donation claim of six hun- dred and forty aeres one and one-half miles east of Hubbard, on a part of which the home of G. W. Dimick now stands. This land was all wild and unimproved and the father built a log house upon it for his family, residing therein until 1856, when the present dwelling was con- structed. Four children were born unto himself and wife, the subject of this review being the eldest, the other living child being John B., who resides on the east half of his father's donation claim. A. R. Dimick lived to be seventy-three years of age, while his wife passed away at the age of forty-eight years. He had been married twice prior to his marriage with Miss Pang- burn, and the children born of those marriages are now deceased. He served as justice of the peace for a number of years and was a promi- nent man in the communities in which he lived.

G. W. Dimiek received his early education in the district schools near his home, and remained with his parents until his marriage, which oc- curred November 17, 1859, the lady of his choice being Minerva Gleason, daughter of Parson Gleason. She was born in Indiana and came to Oregon with her people in 1851. The young couple took up their abode on the old claim which had been taken up by the elder Dimick, where they have since made their home, living with the parents until the death of the latter. Six children were born unto them, of whom the following survive: G. Douglas, a resident of Washington; John A., who resides in the vi- cinity of Hubbard; Lottie May, of Idaho; Par- son Gleason and Augustus, of Portland. His first wife dying, Mr. Dimick was married Oc- tober 24, 1878, to Rhoda Gleason, a niece of his first wife, who bore him four children. Of these Walter A., now of eastern Washington, sur- vives. June 11, 1890, he married Mrs. Sadie McCraw. Their children are Orrin R., Harri- son Roy H., Ada V., Harold A., and Raymond E., all at home.

It will be seen that for nearly half a century the best energies of Mr. Dimiek have been ex- pended in Oregon. He was but ten years of age when his parents emigrated here, and from his youth up he has been interested in the growth and progress that has taken place, transforming the state from a vast wilderness into a land that

can hardly be excelled for agricultural resources. During his residence in Oregon he has cleared over two hundred acres of land. In the ques- tions and issues that have been before the people he has taken a prominent part, and his influence has been widely felt throughout the state. A man of the highest integrity, Mr. Dimick has the respect of all who know him, and in the history of the county his name will be ever regarded by posterity as that of an honored pioneer.

HIRAM HENRY STARR. The early life of Mr. Starr is interesting. His father, Jeremiah Starr, was one of the foremost and earliest settlers of the state, and was born in Virginia in 1794, as was also his father, Samuel. The latter took his family to Ohio in 1799, locating in Scioto county. Here Jeremiah Starr married Elizabeth Beavers, who bore him one daughter and one son, soon thereafter dying, and was buried in Ohio. A few years afterward Mr. Starr was again married, his second wife be- ing Sarah Scott, by whom he became the father of five sons, Hiram Henry, of this article, being the oldest. In 1828 Jeremiah Starr set- tled in Vermilion county, Ill., but not liking it very well sold out, and in 1843 took up a donation claim in Wapello county. This farm also had its drawbacks, and the owner looked around for ways of improving his condition and that of his family. April 27, 1847, he started out with ox-teams and wagons to make the long journey across the plains, and without any unfortunate happenings arrived on the south bank of the Columbia, south of Vancouver, November 27, of the same year. The first winter in the strange country they spent on the Clatsop plains, at the mouth of the Columbia, and in the spring of 1848 Mr. Starr took a donation claim near Amity, Yamhill county. This was not altogether satis- factory, and in the spring of 1850 he went to Benton county, and took up a claim of six hun- dred and forty aeres, which he improved and occupied, and which he disposed of at a profit in 1865. He then took up his abode in the Alsea valley, west of Monroe, Ore., and there lived until the death of his wife, formerly Sarah Scott, a native of Monongahela county, Va., whose father died when she was a small child. In July, 1866, shortly after burying his beloved helpmate he went to live with his daughter in Monroe, Orc., and there died at the age of ninety years. He was a man of fine personal traits and his industry and thrift resulted in a substan- tial property, acquired solely through his own efforts. He was strongly in favor of education and all advancement, and gave to his daughter and five sons every advantage within his power to confer.

ZILPHA AND SAMUEL MCCOLLUM.

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Hiram Starr was born in Ohio, December 19, 1826. With his brothers and sisters he attended the early subscription schools near the paternal farm in Illinois, where the family had located when he was two years of age. As the oldest in the family he early assisted his father in man- aging the farm, and was one of the most enthu- siastic concerning the plans to emigrate to the west. At that time he was little past twenty, just the age to appreciate the chances by which he was to be surrounded, and he entered with zest into the preparations for the six months' journey. In 1849 he left the donation claim in Oregon and in Oregon City undertook to learn the cooper's trade, having completed which he returned to Yamhill county and, with his father. engaged in saddle manufacturing. In 1850 he engaged in the saddle business in La Fayette, but a year later gave up his business to go to the mines of California. Returning in 1855, he soon thereafter started for the mines in Colville, and this trip resulted in his enlisting in the Oregon Cavalry, and fighting against the Indians. The next year found him working at saddle making in Corvallis, Benton county.

In 1865 Mr. Starr went to the Alsea valley and took up one hundred and sixty acres of land, which proved so profitable, and was so con- genially located, that he remained on it for over twenty years. He improved his land and raised general commodities and stock, and at the time of disposing of it in 1887, had made of it a valuable and paying property. His next home was on a farm near Falls City, where he pros- pered until 1902, and then retired from active life within the borders of the town. He is con- templating building a pleasant little home in which to spend his declining years, and where he may enjoy many of the pleasant things of life which have hitherto been debarred owing to his unflagging industry. He is a Prohibitionist in political preferment, and has served as school director and clerk for several vears. In religion he is identified with the Free Methodist Church. In 1860 Mr. Starr was licensed as a local preacher and since has done much towards the spread of the gospel and is at present assisting the pastor of the Falls City church.

MCCOLLUM BROTHERS. The McCollum family is represented in Lane county by several members of a rugged and capable second gen- eration, of which two of the best known are Perry and William, occupying a farm of one hundred and eighty acres near Eugene. Will- iam McCollum, the senior of the two, was born on the paternal farm in Kentucky in April, 1841, his father, Samuel, one of the Oregon pioneers of 1850, being a native of the same state. His

mother, Zilpha Callahan, was also born in Ken- tucky, and died on the old donation claim in Lane county in 1897, at the age of eighty-four, her husband living to be two years older. There were five children in the family, William being the oldest of all.

A boy of nine years when the family fortunes were shifted to the west, William attended the public schools as opportunity offered, although hard work on the home farm interfered mate- rially with both diversions and education. He remained at home until thirty years of age, and then purchased his present farm with his brother Perry, since then engaging in general farming and stock-raising. Mr. McCollum is a quiet, unassuming gentleman, loyal to his friends and interests, and heartily in touch with the work to which he is devoting his life. He is a Demo- crat in politics, but has never worked for or de- sired official recognition. Mr. McCollum is un- married.

Perry McCollum was born after his father and older brother had crossed the plains to Ore- gon, Jannary 1, 1855, and he was educated in a little log school-house on Spencer creek, being reared to an appreciation of farming and a gen- erally industrious life. Always most congenial in their relations to each other, it seemed emi- nently fitting that Mr. McCollum should engage in farming in partnership with his brother Will- iam, with whom he has since lived. Mr. McCol- lum married, in 1897, Frances Gearhart, and one son, Frank, has been born of this union. Like his brother, he is a Democrat in political affili ation, and has served as judge of elections. Pro- gressive and enterprising, Mr. McCollum main- tains a high standard of agricultural excellence on his farm, and his improvements are modern and extensive. He enjoys the confidence and good will of the community, which regards him as one of its most worthy native sons.

ANDREW J. BLEVINS. A prominent pio- neer family of 1850 is represented by Andrew J. Blevins, one of the venerable and highly hon- ored agriculturists of Linn county. Mr. Blevins is one of the very successful farmers and agri- culturists of his neighborhood, and his farm of two hundred and ten acres, a part of the old do- nation claim settled by his father, has every evi- dence of being managed by a painstaking and progressive tiller of the soil, and one who has thoroughly appreciated the possibilities of the country in which his lot has been cast. A con- siderable revenue is derived from the raising of Clydesdale and Percheron horses, Shorthorn cat- tle and Cotswold sheep. These high-grade ani- mais have for years been an interesting study to Mr. Blevins, who is thoroughly conversant with

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their good points, and possesses the best of facil- ities for rearing and caring for them.

The early life of Mr. Blevins was passed in Clay county, Ky., where his father, Isaac, was known as a large landowner and blacksmith. Isaac Blevins was born in Tennessee, January 12, 1799, and there learned the trade to which he devoted many years of his life, remaining in his native state until his sixteenth year. He then went to Kentucky, and there married, in 1833, Eliza Maupin, who was born in the Bourbon state January 18, 1809. Seven years after his marriage, in 1840, Mr. Blevins took his wife and children overland to Missouri, and for ten years engaged in farming with fair success. In 1850 he sold his farm and purchased the required outfit for joining an emigrant train across the plains, his son, Andrew J., being at that time fifteen years of age, and therefore of practical assistance in driving the oxen and caring for the loose stock. A great deal of this stock passed into the possession of the Indians, notwithstanding the care exercised in keeping it together. Otherwise the travelers had few adventures out of the ordin- ary, and reached Linn county, Ore., weary enough to appreciate almost any permanent abiding place. Mr. Blevins took up a section of land eight miles southwest of Albany, a portion of which is now occupied by his son, Andrew J., and which is located on the old Albany and Harrisburg road. In the lonely forests, with neighbors many miles remote, and with few financial or other resources at his disposal, he laboriously hewed out timber for a little log cabin, his family in the mean- time continuing to live in the prairie schooner which had housed them so many nights on the plains. It may be imagined with what speed the land was prepared for crops, and how impatiently the wife and children waited for the maturing of the grain and other commodities which should furnish them the necessary food for subsistence. The father was successful, soil and climate con- spiring for the comfort and even enjoyment of himself and family. He was a genial and whole- souled man, and as the district became settled, and the homes separated by fewer miles, he made many friends among his neighbors, all of whom admired his strength of character and upright- ness. He took an active part in political affairs in the county, and was equally active in the church, which he attended regularly, and taught his children to do the same. He lived to be cighty-five years old. One of the cherished mem- orics of his younger days was that he met Lewis and Clark, now famous as discoverers of Ore- gon. Mr. Blevins was survived by his wife until her ninety-first year. In his young days in Ten- nessee Mr. Blevins offered his services to General Jackson in the war of 1812, but owing to his size and age they were not accepted. Besides

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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 155

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