Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 161

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 161

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His term as sheriff expiring, Mr. King soon after bought a farm near where the college is now located, and lived thereon until 1891. He then came to his present farm one and a half miles from Corvallis, where he has prospered exceedingly, and added to his original purchase. Until recently he owned a thousand acres of land, but the greater part of this has been divided among his children. His money has been made with Short-horn cattle and general farming, and he has also conducted a very successful dairy business for several years. Of the six children born to himself and wife, Annie is the deceased wife of W. B. Kinder, the latter living near Lebanon; Eli married Miss Tomkins and lives on the home farm; William G. married Alice Bird and runs a sawmill at Burns, Ore .; Abra- ham married C. Bussey and lives near Corvallis; and Scott is with his father. Mr. King is well known fraternally, and is identified with the

Ancient Order of United Workmen. Of un- questioned integrity, great common sense in all of his dealings, and of indefatigable energy, Mr. King commands the respect and good will of all who know him, and is richly deserving of the financial success which has come his way.

THOMAS J. PHILPOTT. On an average sized farm in middle Missouri William J. Phil- pott farmed for many years, having settled there after removing from his native state of Virginia, where he was born February 22, 1822. When a young man he married Sarah Darby, and with her crossed the plains to Oregon in 1851, his outfit consisting of four yoke of oxen, plenty of clothing and provisions, and several milch cows. On the way he was attacked by Indians, some of his cattle were stolen, and one of his party was killed. Otherwise his trip to the west was uneventful, and he arrived at his destination in this county with sufficient means to start life under favorable conditions. He took up a claim two miles north of Holley, where he farmed for many years, and where his son, Thomas J., was born June 14, 1854. The elder Mr. Philpott finally retired from active life, and his death occurred in Oakville in December, 1900.

Reared on his father's farm, and educated in the public schools, Thomas J. Philpott devel- oped habits of thrift and industry, and consider- able sagacity as a business manager. He re- mained at home until twenty-eight years of age, and then moved to the A. R. Breeden donation claim, of which he now owns two hundred and sixty-six acres, under a high state of cultivation. He is engaged principally in stock-raising, and upon his fertile meadows graze Short-horns, Durhams, Cotswold and Merino sheep, and fine horses. He understands and likes stock, and makes it a rule to have only the best on his farm. His general improvements are in accord with modern ideas of farming and stock-rearing, his home is comfortable and commodious, and he is to be congratulated upon the many evi- dences of good management to be found upon his paying and valuable farm.

Through his marriage, in 1882, with Sarah R. Rice, a native of Linn county, six children have been born into the family of Mr. Philpott : Tracy, Cleveland, Justin, Vera, Franklin and Landis. As a Democrat Mr. Philpott has been quite active in the county, although he has never worked for office, holding with credit, however, those of school director and road supervisor. He is a member of the Grange at Halsey, has been treasurer of the same for some time, and in his religious inclinations is identified with the Chris- tian Church. Mr. Philpott is a scientific and

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successful farmer and stock-raiser, broad minded and liberal promoter of the general well being of his neighborhood, and a man in whom his friends and associates place the most implicit confidence.

WILLIAM PRESTON. The harness, sad- dlery, paints and oils establishment of Preston & Hales has a reputation in keeping with the high character of the men directing its management. William Preston, the senior member of the firm, who is a Mason of high degree, and one of the prominent men of Eugene, is a practical harness- maker, having fortified himself with the trade when he first started to make his own living. His life has practically been spent in handling leather goods, and no better judge of fine work- manship is known in the state. The present headquarters of the firm are in the building which was erected in 1902, and constructed with particular reference to the manufacture of har- ness and saddles, and to the handling of a com- plete assortment of paints, oils, and glass. The ground dimensions are 30XII4 feet, and two floors are occupied by the company, which caters to a large trade by no means local in extent.

Born in Picton, Prince Edward county, On- tario, Canada, in 1844. Mr. Preston is the youngest of the five children born to his parents, George and Isabella (Beatty) Preston, farmers by occupation, and both of whom died in On- tario. George Preston came from Ireland as a young man, and after living for a short time in New York City proceeded to Ontario, with his wife, locating on a farm. William remained at home until about twenty years old, in the meantime, at the age of seventeen, serving an apprenticeship to a harnessmaker in Picton. In the fall of 1864 he went to Oswego, N. Y., and worked at his trade, and in 1868 invested his earnings in transportation to California by way of Panama. At Calusa, Cal., he worked at his trade for three years, and in April, 1871, made his way to Oregon, and worked as a journeyman for a couple of years. Feeling amply qualified to conduct an independent harness business he bought out Sam Ashley's harness shop on East Ninth street, but later sold out and bought a harness shop in partnership with L. T. Bragg on Willamette street, north of where he is located at present. A year later he bought his partner's interest and continued alone for five years, at the end of that time taking C. H. Hales into the business under the firm name of Preston & Hales.

In Eugene Mr. Preston married for his first wife, Iola Bristow, daughter of W. W. Bristow, one of the pioneers of Oregon. Mrs. Preston, who was born in Lane county, died not long

after her marriage, leaving a daughter, Etta V., now the wife of Emerson L. Fisher of Eugene. For a second wife Mr. Preston married Miss Emma C. Hunsacker, also born in- Lane county, and daughter of Daniel Hunsacker, a retired pioneer of the state living in Eugene. Three children have been born of this second marriage, Vera, who died in infancy, and Donald and Guerold are living. Mr. Preston's activities have extended to political life, and he has always maintained the interests of the Republican party. For six years he served as councilman of Eu- gene, and has been a member of the school board for three years. He is prominent frater- nally, and is a member and past master of Eugene Lodge No. 11, A. F. & A. M .; Eugene Chapter No. II, Royal Arch Masons; Ivanhoe Com- mandery No. 2, of which he is past eminent commander; and ex-officer of the Grand Com- mandery of Oregon; also a member of the Al Kader Temple, N. M. S. He is a man of broad sympathies, intense public spiritedness, and may be counted on to further financially and other- wise, all efforts for the general improvement of the city.

MRS. SAMANTHA ANN HUDDLESTON. The early days of territorial development and the birth and growth of a statehood is often recalled to the present generation by Mrs. S. A. Huddle- ston, one of the old members of the society of Lane county, her home having been in the vicinity of Eugene since 1847. She came as a child to the west, settling here when the primi- tive conditions which prevailed entailed the greatest hardships and privations upon the pio- neers, and with but a vague promise of the fu- ture which awaited the country to give them courage and cheer amidst their efforts. Passing years have brought the changes which required great faith to foresee, and her home is now among the affluent ones of the state of Oregon as it exists today.

There is more than a passing interest attached to those sturdy products of the middle west and a deep and absorbing pleasure in going over the events of their lives. Mrs. Huddleston was in maidenhood Samantha Ann Davis, the daughter of Benjamin Davis, who was a native of Ohio. He was a tailor by trade, and when a young man he removed to Plymouth, Ind., and in 1847 outfitted with ox-teams and wagons and prepared to bring his family into the west. The trip occupied six months and was full of the dangers and hardships incident to the life of the early travelers. They came by the southern route, the only firearm which the father had being an old flintlock gun, and though they arrived safely in Oregon, September, 1847, two

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years later it was impossible to come by that passage. With his wife and six children lie lo- cated on a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres two miles from the present site of Eugene, though at that time there was no city in the vicinity and the subject of this sketch rode on horseback in this region when the grass grew to the pony's back. Their first year in the west was one of untold hardships, for they were penni- less, with the exception of seventy-five cents which the father had. They built a log house for a temporary shelter and though wheat sold at $5 per bushel, they lived on boiled wheat, served without salt or milk. The first soda was made from ashes, and the first soap from balsam drawn by the mother from the fir trees and made with lye, and vinegar was produced from the Oregon grape until they began to use the crab- apple. Salt-rising bread was another of their homely products. The first dress which Mrs. Huddleston had made for her in her western home was from an old wagon cover, washed, and dyed with alder bark, and the first dress pur- chased being English calico and costing seventy- five cents a yard. Wild animals of all kinds roamed the country, and made hunting a com- mon and much-enjoyed sport.

As the finances of Mr. Davis increased, the second year in Oregon finding him among the wheat-growers, which brought them an income, he added a frame addition to his log house, the first of the kind in Lane county, and the frame house which finally took its place was also the first of its kind. This latter is still standing, a landmark of those early times. All the pro- visions of the family were brought from Van- couver, Wash., at that time their nearest mer- cantile point. Mr. Davis became a successful man in the country, accumulating property which he proceeded to improve, and taking a strong and active interest in all that concerned the wel- fare of the growing state. He had the confi- dence and esteem of all his fellow-citizens, who respected him for the many sterling qualities which distinguished his character and made him valuable as a member of their community. His death occurred upon his claim in 1856, at the age of forty-nine years. He had married Cath- erine Slater, a native of Pennsylvania, whose father died in Ohio, at the advanced age of one hundred and two years. The mother made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Huddleston, un- til her death at the age of eighty-seven years, in 1897. Besides Mrs. Huddleston, she was the mother of the following children: Lemuel E., located in Yaquina Bay, Ore .; Iantha Jane, who hecame the wife of F. Castleman, and died in Portland : Lycurgus, located on a part of the old claim : William Lewis, in Summit, Ore .; Caroline, who hecame the wife of Edward Davis and died

in California ; and Melancthon M., in the steam- boat business at Yaquina.

Mrs. Huddleston was educated in a subscrip- tion school in Yamhill county in her girlhood, her marriage to James Huddleston occurring in Lane county, in 1853. Mr. Huddleston was born in West Virginia and was left an orphan at a very early age, after which he made his home with an uncle, who resided on a farm. When about twenty-three years old, in 1851, he crossed the plains with ox-teams and the next spring engaged in placer mining in California. After a short time he returned to the Willamette valley, and engaged in the mercantile business in Eugene in partnership with A. P. Ankeney, this store being the first in Lane county. The build- ing utilized for the purpose was a shed, or " lean- to," belonging to the house of E. Skinner. Later they erected a store building at the point where the bridge now enters the city and still later built at the corner of Ninth and Oak streets a frame structure which was considered at that time to be exceedingly large. For a time the two men were connected in this business, and then Mr. Huddleston became sole proprietor. When Mr. Huddleston first came to Eugene he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres which is now a part of the land upon which the city is situated, only one hundred and sixty acres being left in the estate. He made his home upon this farm, engaging in agricultural pur- snits in connection with his mercantile interests until he disposed of the latter in 1856 and de- voted his energies to the improvement and culti- vation of his farm. His death occurred Novem- ber 27, 1891. Politically he was a Democrat and had served his party for one term as county treasurer. Fraternally he was an Odd Fellow and a member of the Encampment.

Since her husband's death Mrs. Huddleston has laid out an addition to the city of Eugene, in the spring of 1903 apportioning thirty acres on the west side to city lots. She has one son, Henry C. Huddleston, a native of Eugene, who was formerly in business here, but now combines his interests with those of his mother. He is, like his father, of Democratic convictions.

JOHN C. CHURCH. Long associated with the commercial activity of Eugene, Lane county, John C. Church is not forgotten in business cir- cles, though several years have passed since he came to his death through a fall from the top of the electric light building. Not only an im- portant factor in the business world, Mr. Church also stood high as a man of integrity and ear- nestness of purpose, the esteem given to an hon- orable and upright citizen being his throughout his residence in Eugene. Previous to his re-

Robert Callison Dolly bullion

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moval to the west he was located in various states of the middle west, where he served as a soldier in the Civil war.

Mr. Church was born in Genesee county, N. Y., June 22, 1834, and was left an orphan at a very early age. His father having been a farm- er, he was more or less trained in agricultural pursuits, and especially so in those frugal and industrious habits which foretell success in life. Coming toward the west, he first located in Tif- fin, Seneca county, Ohio, where he remained until 1852, when he crossed the plains to Cali- fornia and engaged in mining for the ensuing six years. Satisfied with his returns, he went back to Ohio, traveling by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and after a brief period in that state he removed to Iowa, where he engaged in clerk- ing in a mercantile establishment. At the break- ing out of the Civil war he enlisted in the Sec- ond Iowa Regiment of cavalry and served for four years, during which time he became orderly sergeant of Company C, and was afterward pro- moted to the rank of second lieutenant. Soon after the close of the war he removed to Macon, Mo., where he engaged as a clerk in a hardware establishment, where he remained until 1872, when he came to Eugene, Ore. In connection with J. F. Robinson he established a hardware store, the firm name being Robinson & Church, and together they built up a large and lucrative business, which was successfully continued for many years. Disposing of his interests to Brown & Griffin, he engaged in the electric light busi- ness with Mr. Robinson, the concern being known as the Eugene Electric Light Company, of which Mr. Church became president. When the building was nearing completion Mr. Church came to his tragic death, the date being August 3, 1897.

In politics Mr. Church was a Republican, and was active in the work of establishing the prin- ciples of this party in his adopted city. For one term he served as county judge of Lane county, and was a member of the city council for two years. He was a member of J. W. Geary Post, G. A. R., and fraternally he was an Odd Fellow and a Mason of the Knights Templar degree.

The marriage of Mr. Church occurred in Macon, Mo., November 16, 1869, and united him with Adaline Greene. She was born in Rich- mond county, Ky., the youngest of seven chil- dren born to her parents, H. M. and Adeline (Campbell) Greene, both of whom also owed their nativity to the state of Kentucky. The father of the former came from Ireland and set- tled there, bringing with him the traits of an English, Scotch and Irish ancestry. Mrs. Church's father was a farmer, and became a resident of Macon county, Mo., where he died. All of the children of that family are now liv-

ing, though the only one in Oregon is Mrs. Church, who was reared in Missouri and re- ceived her education in the public schools and Huntsville College. She has the following chil- dren : Lee W., chief engineer of the Lane Coun- ty Electric Light Company ; Earl H., a graduate of the University of Oregon, and served in the Philippine Islands under General Summers in the Second Oregon Regiment ; Erminie E., and Curtis H. Since her husband's death Mrs. Church has made her home in Eugene, where she owns considerable property.

ROBERT CALLISON. In the neighbor- hood where he has grown old in the service of agriculture and general advancement, Robert Callison is universally associated with the wife who has traveled the uphill road with him, and whose economy, bravery and unfailing sympathy have never wandered or forsaken him. At pres- ent retired from active life, these pioneers of 1848, these Kentuckians so far from the sur- roundings of their birth and childhood, are one of the most delightful and interesting couples to be found in Lane county. The oldest married people in this part of Oregon, their minds are stored with valuable facts personally noted during their long residence here, and their wit in conversation might well be envied by the rising generation.

A hard struggle for existence characterized the youth of Mr. Callison, who was born in Adair county, Ky., June 5, 1818. His parents dying when he was a small boy, he started away from home to make his own living at the age of fifteen, his first work bringing him in $6 a month and board. In 1833 he made his way overland with teams to Illinois, accompanied by his uncle and family, and inspired in his journey by the fact that four brothers had pre- ceded him to Illinois. He lived and worked with his uncle and brothers until his marriage, De- cember 5, 1839, with Polly Bristow, who was born in Kentucky, October 28, 1820, her father, Elijah Bristow, having been born in the Old Dominion state itt 1786. The Bristows emi- grated to Illinois in 1827, and Elijah came over- land to California in 1845, then to Oregon, his family following in 1848. All of the members took up claims in Lane county, and the father lived to be eighty-five, and the mother eighty- three years of age. A brother of Mrs. Callison taught the first school in Lane county. The fam- ily became identified with political, church and social advancement. Elijah Bristow was a soldier in the war of 1812. In his family were fifteen children, two besides Mrs. Callison being alive at the present time.

After his marriage Mr. Callison located on

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a farm in McDonough county, Ill., remaining there and prospering for nine years. His out- fit for crossing the plains in 1848 consisted of a wagon with two yoke of oxen, and one of cows to furnish milk during the journey. Fear- lessly they joined the band of fifty wagons which ventured forth into the practically un- known, and, overcome with weariness each night, pitched their tent only to face the incessant march of the following day. It is not remem- bered that anything out of the ordinary hap- pened on this mission to the west, and at the end of seven months the various members of the cavalcade dispersed to their respective claims, Mr. and Mrs. Callison coming directly to Lane county, and settling on a claim of a section of land on what is now known as Pleasant Hill. Several years later they bought their present farm of six hundred and forty acres, comprising the W. W. Bristow donation claim, made the extensive improvements which have increased its value from year to year, and which now forms one of the most modern and productive properties in Lane county. As early settlers on their farm Mr. and Mrs. Callison had but two neighbors, and their long drives over the new country revealed few signs of activity, agri- cultural or otherwise. Long since they have deeded their large farm to their only son, Josiah T., and their daughter, Lucetta, widow of W. H. Baughman, their respective portions. This venerable couple have two granddaughters, ten grandsons and thirteen great grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Callison live on one hundred and twenty-five acres which they reserved for their home.

A large share of the influence of this worthy family is due to the uprightness of their lives, and to their participation in church and edu- cational advancement. Mrs. Callison was thir- teen and her husband fifteen years of age when they joined the Christian Church, and their al- legiance has never wandered from the denom- ination thus early espoused. They, and the father of Mrs. Callison, were the chief promot- ers of the Christian Church on Pleasant Hill, and they are two of the three charter members of the church which have survived the changes of all these years. A Republican in politics, Mr. Callison cast his first vote for the first President Harrison, and though working at times for the recognition of his friends, he himself has never desired to hold office. Broad-minded, generous, practical and well abreast of the times in which he lives, Mr. Callison commands the best thought of his neighbors and friends, his life work plac- ing him among the foremost of the noble band whose courage and nobility have accomplished the redemption of Oregon.

MRS. ROSALIA BAUSCH. Floriculture and women seem such a natural combination that one scarcely requires a practical demonstration of their ability in this direction. In no other country in the world have women given the sub- ject such profound and serious consideration, or have so well succeeded in carrying out ambitious projects of catering to large and exacting trades, in direct competition with men of larger means and infinitely greater resources. The greatest opportunities of the kind are by no means con- fined to our sister state of California, for one has but to call attention to such successful flor- ists as Mrs. Rosalia Bausch of Eugene, in sub- stantiation of Oregon's claim of supremacy. Mrs. Bausch has by far the largest floral estab- lishment in the town, and its conduct has been and still is characterized by shrewdness, tact, and good judgment.

Mrs. Bausch possesses the home-loving and practical traits of the typical women of her na- tive land, Germany, where she was born at Wieselburg, on the Danube, in Bavaria, and where her father, Joseph Auman, was a well known blacksmith. The latter married Monica Kuchler. In the Fatherland eight children were born into his family, all of whom he brought to America in 1854, Mrs. Bausch being at that time thirteen years old. Settling in Manitowoc, Wis., Mr. Bausch worked at his trade until retiring from active life, his death occurring at the age of seventy-seven years. Prior to coming to America Mrs. Bausch had received a practical education in the Gymnasium at Regen, and no member of the family was more delighted than she when the family boarded the sailer Beta, at Bremen, and spent six weeks of storm and calm ere they landed at Baltimore, Md. Stopping at Pittsburg and Chicago on the way to Wisconsin, she completed her education in the latter city and grew into a graceful and attractive woman, making many friends among her schoolmates and members of the German colony. August 5, 1856, she was united in marriage with Peter Zimmer, a native of Dolheim, Luxemburg, Ger- many, and who was engaged in building and con- tracting in Manitowoc, Wis. Mr. Zimmer died in Dakota. His wife afterward went to St. Paul, Minn., and in 1876 came to San Francisco with friends.

Soon after her arrival in the west, in April, 1876, she was united in marriage with Peter Bausch, a native of Bayford, Luxemburg, Ger- many, who in his youth learned the shoe- maker's trade in the neighborhood of his home. He was more than an ordinarily fine workman when he came to America in 1876, eighteen years of practical experience in the finest shops in Paris having fitted him for the most delicate and artistic work in his line. He settled first in Al-

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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 161

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