Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 157

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 157

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GEORGE W. COCHRAN. No farm in the vicinity of Albany has finer improvements, or is conducted on a more practical or scientific basis than that of George W. Cochran. Near by the comfortable and commodious house occupied by the present owner is a log house around which are clustered many memories of the old days, and which was built by James Cochran, the father of George, who established the family in the northwest in 1851.

James Cochran was born in the state of Iowa, and as a boy removed with his parents to Mis- souri, where he received his start in life, and lived for many years. His first wife, formerly a Miss Morris, lived but a few years after her marriage, leaving to the care of her husband two children, of whom James is in Idaho, and Paula Anna is deceased. The second wife, Ruth A. (Boggs) Cochran, was born in Virginia, and bore her husband six children. Of these, An- drew is at . Arlington, Ore .; Eleanor, wife of J. H. Settlemier, of Woodburn, is deceased; Vir- ginia died in childhood, while crossing the plains ; George W. is living on a part of the old home- stead: Emma K. is the wife of Lewis Simpson, of Idaho, and Pearne Alexander is a resident of Woodburn.

About 1851 James Cochran became dissatisfied with his prospects in Missouri, and, disposing of his farm, purchased the necessary outfit for

bringing his wife and children across the plains. They were but a comparatively short distance from home, when George W. was born in De Kalb county, Mo., May 17, 1851, and his infancy was therefore passed in constant journeying. As the coming of a little child gladdened the liearts of the home-seeking parents, the death of another child during the journey, filled them with sadness and a sense of loss. The Indians, fortunately, caused them little trouble, but they were, never- theless, a weary and travel-worn company, glad to rest even among the crude and uninviting con- ditions among which they found themselves in Oregon. The father took up a donation claim of a section six miles south of Albany, nearly all of which was prairie land. The western boundary of this claim was marked by the Calapooia creek, . which cut off a small section in the northwest corner of the claim. Mr. Cochran at first erected the log house before referred to, and which is being jealously preserved by his devoted chil- dren. As he prospered on his land, and got a fair start in the new country, he built a larger and more modern house, in which he spent the balance of his life, his death occurring July 26, 1863, at the age of forty-two years. He is sur- vived by his widow, who has since made her home principally in Woodburn.

George W. Cochran was twenty-five years of age when, on October 1, 1874, he married Eu- genia K. Couch, a native of Scotland county, Mo .. who crossed the plains with her parents at an early day. She is a daughter of P. Henry and Rebecca Ann ( Morris). Couch, who came to Oregon from Scotland county, Mo., in 1865, lo- cating in Harrisburg. They have resided in Linn county since that time with the exception of one year spent in Lane county. The young people went to housekeeping on a part of the old claim, and together have created as happy and comfortable a home as one would wish to see. They have two children, Ernest C. and James C .. the latter at home, and both assist the father in caring for his splendidly improved and produc- tive farm. Ernest C., the oldest son, was united in marriage in June, 1901, with Vivian Starr, daughter of Stephen C. Starr, of Tangent. They at once went to housekeeping in the first frame house erected by his grandfather, the founder of the family in Oregon. Mr. Cochran has all of the facilities for carrying on the most modern of general farming, and his dairy is equipped with all that is needful to conduct an ideal enterprise. He has a large number of Jersey cattle, besides other stock, some of it high-grade, including some fine blooded horses. He is a Democrat in politics, and is a broad-minded, liberal and popu- lar man, contributing generously of his time and money for any cause destined for the wellbeing of the community.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

JOHN ALBERT LAMBERSON, M. D. Those who blazed the western trail are pioneers well worthy of the country which they have made their own, and which gives them honor for the dangers and hardships borne in those early times. Numbered among these pioneers is Dr. John A. Lamberson, whose message has been one of welcome ministry, his life having been given over to the profession which means amel- ioration of the ills of suffering humanity. He is both the son and grandson of pioneers, the grandfather, Timothy Lamberson, a native of Bolivar, Ohio, having crossed the plains in 1845, and located in Oregon. The trip was made with ox-teams, and upon the arrival at their destination Mr. Lamberson took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres located on Scappoose plains, Columbia county, which was the home of the family for some years. In 1846 he went to California, where he remained for eighteen months in the pursuit of agriculture and stock- raising, at the expiration of this period return- ing to Oregon. Hardly had he returned when the gold excitement in the former state again attracted him, and in 1849 he made the trip to California and engaged in mining upon a tribu- tary of the Sacramento river, where he met with a gratifying success. In 1850 he returned to his claim in Columbia county, and there built the first sawmill in the locality, a tiny cabin on Scappoose creek, from which he shipped lumber to many parts of the country. In 1859 he ven- tured to Sonora, Mexico, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising, and in 1860 he located permanently in Arizona, where he established the town of Walnut Grove. He built the first grist-mill in the place, most of it being the work of his own hands, his burrs being made from granite, his trade having been that of a stone- cutter, and the belts being made from rawhide. Connected with his milling interests he also en- gaged in mining and farming, the combination of lucrative work affording him quite a fortune. His death occurred in Walnut Grove, Ariz., in 1891, at the age of seventy-six years. Mr. Lam- berson was a Whig, and later a strong Abolition- ist. During the later years of his life he was a Republican. Possessed of a lively, energetic tem- perament, his real worth won for him many friends. He bore the privations and hardships of a pioneer life with an optimism characteristic of the pioneer settler of Oregon, California and Arizona. Timothy Lamberson's son, Daniel, was tortured to death by the Apache Indians near Tucson, Ariz., about 1865. His body was riddled by arrows and hanged among the chaparral. The cldest son, Samuel, the father of Dr. Lam- berson, was also a native of Bolivar, Ohio. He crossed the plains with his parents in 1845, at the age of fourteen years, being

old enough, however, to appreciate the trials and dangers which such a journey meant. He became a stockman and farmer in Oregon, remaining for some years upon the pa- ternal homestead. In 1876 he disposed of this property and removed to Gilliam county, Ore., where he continued in the stock business, making his home there the remainder of his life. While preparing to join the family reunion at Condon, Gilliam county, December 24, 1901, he died of heart disease on the prairie near Condon, at the age of seventy-three years. His loss was not felt alone by the family, for his years of peaceful, kindly living had endeared him to many. He had married Mary Jane Armstrong, a native of La Harpe, Hancock county, Ill., who started across the plains with her parents in 1852. The journey was one which can never be effaced from her memory on account of the misfortunes that accompanied the party. Her mother, Mary Jane Armstrong, died of the cholera and was buried on the banks of the Platte river, and her father, John Armstrong, a native of Indiana, passed away the latter part of the year 1852, near Baker City, Ore., a victim of mountain fever. To Mr. and Mrs. Lamberson were born sixteen children, four sons and twelve daughters.

The oldest of his father's children, John Albert Lamberson was born in Columbia county, Ore., June 16, 1854, and received his preliminary edu- cation in the common schools of his native county. In 1872, at the age of eighteen years, he entered the academy of Prof. George W. Cur- tis, at Vancouver, Wash., and through appli- cation and hard work secured an excellent foun- dation for higher studies in the three years which he spent there. After leaving the academy he went to Arizona, where he found employment in the Hassayampa mines, where he met with a fair return for his labor. In 1876 he settled in eastern Oregon, engaging in the stock business at Fossil, remaining there for six years, three of which were spent in the study of medicine under the tutelage of Dr. W. W. Oglesby, now of Cottage Grove. At the expiration of this period in 1882, he removed to Lebanon, Linn county, and began practicing with Dr. D. W. Ballard, an old resident physician, who had been ap- pointed in an early day by President Grant as governor of Idaho territory. Their professional interests continued together until the death of Dr. Ballard. In 1890 Dr. Lamberson became interested in the sale of cascara sagrada bark, and from a small beginning he is now under contract to collect all of that product to be found in the states of Oregon and Washington, as it is grown only in the Pacific northwest. When he first began the business there were only about twenty tons consumed annually, but the annual consumption is now two hundred tons. In addi-

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tion to this business he is also interested in ship- ping balsam fir, principally to New York markets, having begun this in connection with Capt. George Pope, of Portland, Ore., who has since left the business entirely to the doctor. Leading up to this business was his help in promoting the establishment of the Essential Oil Company for the manufacture of cedar, hemlock and pepper- mint oils.

Though interested along various lines. Dr. Lamberson has never forgotten that his practice means more to him than any other work, and he has neglected no opportunity to become profi- cient therein. In 1891 he passed an exhaustive examination before the State Board of Medical Examiners, his clear, practical knowledge and judgment winning words of commendation from the board, accompanied by the much-valued med- ical certificate. He then continued his practice, and in 1900, with Dr. J. Linsey Hill, of Albany, Ore., as companion, he took a special course in surgery in the New York School of Clinical Medicine. Upon his return from New York City he worked for a month each spring under the instruction of Dr. A. E. Rockey, of St. Vin- cent's Hospital, Portland, Ore., and a warm friendship exists between the two men. Through intense application to his work, which has char- acterized every effort of Dr. Lamberson, he suf- fered a paralytic stroke, January 25, 1902, which has partly incapacitated him, leaving him able to attend to the office practice only.

The marriage of Dr. Lamberson occurred in Lebanon, in 1882, and united him with Mahala Mossholder, a native of Ohio, and the daughter of Joseph Mossholder, who emigrated to Oregon in 1863 and, locating in Lebanon, built the first hotel in that town. The one child born to them is Norman Vivian, who was born May 22, 1885, and is now attending Santiam Academy. Inheriting more than ordinary talent, this representative of the pioneer family of Lam- berson displays it in the writing of excellent poetry, having begun its composition at the age of thirteen years. Another member of the house- hold of Dr. Lamberson is an adopted daughter, Hazel May, who is also unusually talented, being a contralto singer of no little ability. As a Re- publican in politics Dr. Lamberson is very much interested in the movements of his party, local or national, and lends his best efforts toward ad- vancing what he considers the broadest prin- ciples of government. His busy life admitting of no room for political honors, he has neverthe- less given his time in various ways, serving for several terms as committeeman. In 1896 he edited a Republican paper called the· Lebanon Truth, which met with success under his able management, though he discontinued the publi- cation at the close of the political campaign of

that year. Fraternally he belongs to a number of different orders, being tent physician of the Knights of the Maccabees, in which he has served as commander for eight terms. He was ap- pointed state physician in 1899 for one term, consisting of one year. In the Woodmen of the World he is a member of Lamberson Camp, No. 507, which was named in honor of himself, and in which he serves as presiding officer; he is also associated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Order of Pendo, for which he is general examiner. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Lebanon.

WILLIAM O. HUDSON. To the student of nature the nurseryman's occupation opens up fas- cinating vistas of investigation, and he has the added satisfaction of seeing his products sent forth to beautify and gladden the world about him. No humdrum life is his, but one fraught with never-ending interest, that interest felt while watching growth from seed to perfection, and in working always near to the heart of nature. A particularly appreciative disciple of horticul- ture is William O. Hudson, whose many years of practical experience with flower and shrub, fruit and vine, has entitled him to rank among the most cultured of those who plant, train and develop.

All of the active life of Mr. Hudson has been devoted to horticulture, his first interest therein having been aroused on his father's farm in Alle- gan county, Mich., where he was born July 28, 1846. The four other children in his father's family spent their youth as did he, in assisting with the work around the home, and in attending the public schools. As a young man he took up the nursery business, and from the beginning strove to learn all that his teachers had to tell him. At the age of twenty he started out on his own responsibility, went to Missouri, and worked in a nursery in that state for about two years. With this experience he then returned to Michi- gan and started the Allegan County Nursery, a venture which proved successful, and to which he devoted nineteen years of the best part of his life. In Michigan he married, December 13, 1870, Anna Donaldson, who was born in Ohio, and of which union there have been born three children : Cora L., the wife of H. H. White, of Wasco City; Albert D., of Tangent; and Flor- ence A., of Eugene.

In 1891 Mr. Hudson disposed of the Allegan County Nursery and, having heard favorable reports of the soil possibilities of Oregon, brought his wife and children to Tangent. For three years he served as foreman of the Settle- mier Nurseries, and in 1893 became identified with the Pacific Nursery Company, now owned

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by himself and son. Father and son have proved of great help to each other, are most congen- ially associated, and do one of the largest busi- nesses in this county. They own one hundred and fifty-two acres of land, about sixty of which is under nursery cultivation. A visit to this nursery reveals many interesting sights, and the visitor is impressed with the many-sided knowl- edge of things that grow, as shown by the many kinds of plants, the neatness and compactness of arrangement, and the modern facilities for watering, wintering, and general care. Mr. Hud- son is past master of his calling, and his plants seem to understand and appreciate his interest, and to respond with dutiful alacrity to his expec- tations. He is well and favorably known throughout the entire county, and his products find a ready market in the surrounding states, and in towns all along the coast. Mr. Hudson has never taken any special interest in politics, and generally votes for the man best qualified to . fill the office. He is fraternally connected with the Knights of the Maccabees, and is a member and active worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Albert D. Hudson, the son and partner of William O., was born in Michigan, September 17, 1874, and came to the west with his father in 1891. As a lad he became versed in the work around the nursery, and has steadily advanced to the fore, so that he is today a remarkably well informed nurseryman. He married Golden Knighten, a native daughter of Oregon, and an earnest sympathizer with her husband's busi- ness. Mr. Hudson is independent in politics, is fraternally a Knight of the Maccabees, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a young man of great promise, and should his father retire from his present responsibility as general manager of the nurseries, he will leave the business in most capable and business like hands.

ENOCH D. SLOAN. Conspicuous among the older residents of Albany is Enoch D. Sloan, who has attained distinction as one of the brave and courageous pioneer settlers of Linn county, and is deserving of honored mention in this bio- graphical volume as a veteran of the early Indian wars. Coming here when the country was but sparsely populated, he took up land that was in its pristine wildness, and while clearing his claim was also actively identified with the estab- lishment of the great lumber industry of the Pa- cific coast by the erection of a saw-mill. At the present time he is carrying on a substantial bus- iness as a wagon and carriagemaker, his shop being located on West Second street, Albany. A son of the late William Sloan, he was born June

12, 1831, in Montgomery county, Ohio, seven miles north of the thriving city of Dayton.

A Pennsylvanian by birth, William Sloan re- moved to Montgomery county, Ohio, when young, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits several years. Removing with his fam- ily to Covington, Ind., he resided there until 1853, when he came with his family to Oregon, making the journey across the dreary plains with bull-teams. He located first in the Umpqua val- ley, but afterwards took up land in Linn county, about eight miles from Albany, and there car- ried on general farming until his death. He married Mary Dunkereley, who emigrated with her parents from England, her native country, to Ohio, when a girl of ten years. Of their fam- ily nine children, eight sons and one daughter, six sons survive, three of them being residents of Oregon.

Being but a small child when his parents left Ohio, E. D. Sloan was brought up and educated in Indiana, on the home farm. Learning the car- penter's trade when eighteen years of age, he subsequently worked at that occupation until 1853, when he came with his parents to Oregon, driving five yokes of bulls all the way across the plains. Settling in Linn county soon after his ar- rival, he began work as a carpenter, and took up a donation claim about three miles from the village of Albany. He cleared the land, bringing a large part of it under cultivation, and erected a saw-mill on the Callapooia river. Thus well start- ed in business, he carried on general agriculture and lumbering quite successfully for awhile. En- listing in 1855 in Company D, First Regiment of Oregon Volunteers, he took an active part in the various engagements with the Indians of the northwest, remaining in Walla Walla county, Wash., until June, 1856, when he was honorably discharged from service.

Returning then to Linn county, Ore., Mr. Sloan resumed work at the carpenter's trade, and did considerable building, hewing the timber from the forests, and putting up houses, confining his operations as a contractor and builder to Albany and vicinity. Becoming well known as a skillful mechanic, he was for five years employed by the government, being for two years carpenter at the Warm Springs Indian reservation, and for three years at the Klamath Indian reservation. Com- ing back to Albany, Mr. Sloan followed his for- mer trade until 1897, when he removed to Pen- dleton, where he was engaged in business with his brother for five years. Since the fall of 1902 he has resided in Albany, where he is prosper- ously employed as a wagon and carriage manu- facturer, as previously mentioned.

Mr. Sloan married, while living near Albany, Emily Haley, who was born in Illinois, and came to Oregon with her parents in 1847. Their only

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child, Burr M. Sloan, is employed as a govern- ment carpenter at an Indian reservation in North Dakota. Politically Mr. Sloan is an adherent of the Democratic party, and fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Work- men, and of the Indian War Veterans' Associa- tion. Mrs. Sloan is a valued member of the Congregational Church.

JOHN R. SMITH. A pioneer who has met with most gratifying returns for the days of hardships and privations which he passed when the country was new, for the dangers he faced in the unsettled wilderness, for the strength of youth which he gave to the upbuilding of the commonwealth, is J. R. Smith, the postmaster of Lebanon, Linn county, Ore. He came to Ore- gon in 1852, and has spent most of the interven- ing years within the borders of the state, where he has won more than local renown through the display of characteristics which have contributed to the country's greatness.

The father of J. R. Smith, Dr. Elijah Smith, was also a pioneer, emigrating from his native state of Ohio to Iowa in 1837, where he remained until he settled permanently on the Pacific slope. His father was John J. Smith, a native of Ken- tucky, who came to Ohio in an early day and located in Madison county, his land being that upon which the town of Mount Sterling was . afterward built, and toward which he helped very materially. His occupation was primarily that of a millwright, though he combined the inter- ests of farming with his trade. He owned both a saw and a gristmill. In 1838 he removed to Jef- ferson county, Iowa, and there engaged in farm- ing, his death occurring there at the age of eighty-six years. Elijah Smith removed to Iowa, in 1837, and located in Jefferson county, where, with his farming, he combined the practice of medicine. He had made a special study of can- cer, and it was in this line that he really made his greatest successes. He soon became well known throughout the state through his evident knowledge and practical treatment of the dis- ease. In 1850 he crossed the plains to California, and entered the mines at Placerville, and two years later he came north and located in Oregon. He took a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres in Marion county, near the town of Sublimity, and, combining farming with the practice of medicine, he soon became as thor- oughly known in Oregon as he was in the middle west, people coming to him for relief from every part of the northwest. Later in life he removed to Macleay and passed a few years in retirement, where he died in 1885, at the age of eighty-six years. He had married Annie Riddle, a native of Ohio, who died in Salem, Ore., in 1880, when

seventy-five years old. She was the daughter of John Riddle, who was born in Ohio, and spent the greater part of his life there, engaged in the cultivation of the soil. His death occurred in his native state.

Of the eleven children born to Dr. and Mrs. Smith, six sons and five daughters, J. R. Smith is the oldest, and was born in Madison county, Ohio, September 23, 1830, and remained at home with his parents for many years. He received his education in the primitive schools, and when about twenty years old he crossed the plains with his parents and became a resident of Placerville, Cal., where he engaged in mining, in which he enjoyed a fair degree of success. In the fall of the same year he returned to Iowa with his pa- rents, arriving in the state which had so long been their home, in January, 1851. The next year found them again upon the plains, this time bound for the great northwest. This son soon became independent, and engaged in work in which he hoped to reap substantial returns. In the Waldo Hills, Marion county, he engaged in buying and selling cattle and following the car- penter's trade, and a few years later, through energy and industry, he was able to make a pur- chase of land, the first being near Sublimity, and consisted of three hundred and twenty acres, upon which he remained for two years. At the close of that period he sold this property and bought two hundred acres in the same locality, upon which he engaged in farming and stock-raising, until 1865, when he became the owner of land in the neighborhood of Lebanon. Thirty years passed away while he made this place his home and many changes came to the sturdy pioneers of this one-time wilderness. In 1895 he removed to his present home, a pleasant, well improved residence on Bridge avenue, Lebanon, and with two acres of rich land to cultivate. On his first residence in the city he engaged with his son in the drug business. Mr. Smith still owns a farm in the vicinity of this place, comprising three hundred and fifty acres of land.

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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 157

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