Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 182

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 182

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Mr. Palmer at once began to put improve- ments on the place, which at that time was prin- cipally wild land, but with the touch of civili- zation soon blossomed into the beautiful country that now delights the eye of the traveler. Though necessarily much engrossed with his farming, Mr. Palmer still found time to respond to the demand made upon him by his Demo- cratic brethren, serving for several years as jus- tice of the peace and in other local offices. He was a liberal contributor toward all church movements, though not a member. He died in 1894 in his seventy-seventh year, his widow still surviving him, making her home in Lebanon, Linn county, where she removed soon after her husband's death. Twelve children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, being named in the order of their birth as follows: George W., of Washington; Nixon, who was killed in South Africa by the natives while pros- pecting for gold; Lucy J., widow of Frank Mad- dock of Washington ; Clarissa, deceased;

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Henry, L., of Washington; Marion, of this re- view; Brunette, the wife of Monroe Cleaver, of Lebanon, Ore .; Martha, deceased; Thomas, located in the vicinity of the old home; Edwin, of Portland; Herbert, deceased; and Constan- tine B., of Kansas.

Marion Palmer received his education in the district schools of Oregon, engaging with his father in farming until his marriage March 5, 1874, with Miss Josephine Porter, a native of Marion county, and a daughter of Stephen Por- ter. Mr. Porter was born in Illinois, removed with his parents to Missouri in young manhood and in 1848 brought his family with him to Ore- gon. They located on a donation claim which now forms part of the site of the village of Stayton. Ten years later he removed to the farm now occupied by Marion Palmer, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in 1890. His widow still survives him at the age of eighty-eight years. Mr. Porter was a stanch Republican, and served many years as justice of the peace.

Mr. and Mrs. Palmer took up their married life near the old home, where they remained for about six years, removing at the end of that pe- riod to eastern Oregon. In a short time they returned to Marion county, too firmly attached to the home of their childhood to care to go far away to make another. They are now settled upon a farm two and a half miles north- west of Silverton, containing two hundred and sixty-three acres. One hundred and fifty acres are under cultivation, twenty-seven acres of which are devoted to hops. Mr. Palmer is also interested in the raising of stock, and particularly Short-horn cattle, the latter having been a source of considerable profit. The appearance of the farm is greatly enhanced by the excellent build- ings which Mr. Palmer has added to it since he took possession. The home has been enriched by the birth of four children, of whom Stephen Ernest is located in the vicinity, the three daugh- ters, Susan Pearl, Clarissa Lillian and Winona Marion, being still at home with their parents. Like his father, Mr. Palmer has taken a strong interest in the events of the day, and being a stanch Democrat he has held several positions through this influence-clerk of the school dis- trict, constable, and other offices. He is asso- ciated fraternally with the Woodmen of the World.

ROBERT ANDERSON RAMPY. An in- teresting and successful career has been that of Robert Anderson Rampy, who now makes his home in Harrisburg, Linn county, where most of his active life has been passed, and to whom much of the commercial activity of the city is

due. Through failing health Mr. Rampy has sev- eral times withdrawn from active business, but the consciousness of his own ability, the strength of purpose which has animated his entire life has invariably brought him back to add to his success and prestige before retiring permanently. Faithfulness has been the watchword and motto of Mr. Rampy, not only in business but in all the avenues of life, preserving the friendships of youth as carefully as his business interests are guarded. A splendid illustration of this is em- bodied in his journey into the northwest. He was commissioned to drive a wagon for A. J. Wigle, a friend of his boyhood days, and who is now located on a farm eight miles northeast of this city, and from the home of Mr. Wigle's father he drove the team until he brought them to the home of the latter's uncle in Oregon City, their friendship having withstood the strains of those strenuous times and lasting even to this day.

Mr. Rampy was not forced to come west to better himself financially, as he was the son of a successful man of the middle west. His father, Phillip Nicholas Rampy, a native of South Carolina, came in 1824 to Illinois, being then twenty-one years old, his own pluck and en- ergy representing the capital from which he hoped to make a fortune before he should be called upon to lay down the burdens of life. He located first at Kaskaskia, thence removed to Carlton, De Kalb county, in 1828, in the first lo- cation serving in the employ of the state land office and in the latter engaging in the general merchandise business. Mr. Rampy also enjoyed much prominence in public life, being an old- line whig and a politician of more than ordi- nary ability, having improved his native talents through wide and well-directed reading, his edu- cation having been entirely acquired through his own efforts. He served one term each as clerk and recorder of the county, and for eight years was postmaster of Carlton. In 1841 he removed to Payson, Adams county, Ill., where he con- tinued his merchandise interests, and in 1849 he became a resident of Liberty, where he taught school for one term, after which he practically retired. He had left behind him, in each place where he had made his home, a record for his shrewd business judgment and the practical manner in which he handled his affairs. He had acquired a splendid business education and was an expert accountant. His death occurred in Carlton at the age of sixty-four years. He married Mary Catherine Davis, also a native of South Carolina, and a distant relative of Jeffer- son Davis, and her death occurred in 1840, in the same location where her husband later died.

Of the three sons and one daughter born to his parents, Robert Anderson Rampy was the

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third child, and was born in Carlton, Ill., July 22, 1832, receiving his education almost entirely in the common schools of his native state. When twenty years old Mr. Rampy felt im- pelled to try his fortunes among the changing scenes of the west, and accordingly he joined a train bound for Oregon, starting in April, 1852, driving the wagon of his friend, A. J. Wigle. There were about sixteen wagons in the train and about seventy-five people, and during the trip over the old Oregon trail, via the Platte river, four were taken ill and died with the cholera, which was so prevalent that year, but Mr. Rampy came through safely, Sep- tember 22 finding him in Oregon City. He first found employment in a logging camp, hauling to the old sawmill on the Clackamas river, and undergoing many hardships and privations, ex- posure implanting the seeds of disease which resulted shortly in a siege of illness. For sev- eral years Mr. Rampy traveled up and down the Pacific coast, the spirit of adventure fed with the excitement and oftentime peril of those jour- neys. In 1855 he decided to locate permanent- ly, then taking up a donation claim of one hun- dred and sixty acres five miles east of Harris- burg, Linn county, upon which he spent the en- suing three years. In 1858 he removed to the city and engaged in business, at which he con- tinued intermittently for ten years, spending the principal part of the summers in the mines. After the year 1863 he quit the mines entirely and devoted his time to his other business in- terests, remaining so engaged until 1870. The next year found him a student in the Portland Business College, where he took a course best calculated to aid him in his ambitions, and when he graduated he returned to Harrisburg and became the owner of a drug store which he conducted profitably for several years. A part of that time he was also engaged in handling grain. In 1881 he met with what to many business men would have meant financial ruin in the loss of this business by fire, but undis- mayed by such misfortune he again embarked in the business. In 1882 he was forced to put business aside and seek a renewal of health in the eastern states, traveling through New York and Pennsylvania in his efforts to recover from the effects of nervous prostration, which made a total blank of six years of his life. In 1888, however, he was so far recovered as to return to his chosen field of operations, and here he then established the Harrisburg Bank, in the handsome brick building which he had erected on the corner of Second and Smith streets in 1887. From January 18, 1888, he conducted the bank until 1892, when he was once more forced to retire on account of ill health. Again opening the bank in 1898, he closed up the business fin-

ally July 1, 1901. Having withdrawn from busi- ness interests, Mr. Rampy now spends his time looking after his stock raised upon his farm of one hundred and sixty acres three miles north- east of this city. In addition to this property he also owns ten town lots and his residence, which occupies three lots.

Mr. Rampy was married in Lane county, Ore., in 1866, to Miss Sarah E. Johnson, a native of Missouri, who crossed the plains with her parents in 1853 and located in that county. Of the five children born to them Cecil Orilda is the only one now living, the others being as follows: Phillip Nicholas; Robert Franklin; Walter Mil- lard and Clyde Rockwell, the third son, especially, having made for himself in the brief eighteen years of his life a record of manliness and Chris- tian living which has never been forgotten in his birthplace, Harrisburg, where his death oc- curred January 18, 1893. Mr. Rampy is a stanch Republican in politics, and has served in various offices, among them being city treasurer for two terms and as a member of the city council many times. Not only anxious to build up for himself a successful and substantial position among the scenes of his adopted state, but with his best efforts directed toward the betterment of the general conditions of the community, Mr. Rampy has exercised no little influence along these lines. As a patriot he enlisted in the Rogue river war in 1855, serving three months as a private, and the summer following acting as steward in the quartermaster's department of the carpenter's mess in the building of the government barracks.

JAMES L. ARNOLD. By far the larger number of the residents of the west have come here from the eastern states, and from foreign countries as well, but in Mr. Arnold we find a native son of the west, his birth occurring in Linn county, near Brownsville, April 2, 1857. His parents, Isaac and Precelia Arnold, were na- tives of the middle west, coming from Ohio and Illinois respectively. Prior to their removal to Oregon they had resided in Iowa, but in 1852, with ox-teams and wagons, they began the six- months journey which was to bring them to Oregon, where greater opportunities awaited them. Purchasing a farm near Brownsville, the parents made this their home for about seven years, or until their son was about two years old, when they removed to a farm adjacent to the village of Scio.

James L. Arnold passed his boyhood and youth upon his father's farm, and attended the district school during the short term when it was in session. His marriage, January 6, 1881, united him with Nancy D. Miller, and for two years they made their home on rented land near

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Scio. At the end of that time he felt himself in a position to purchase a farm, and invested in a tract of one hundred and thirty-one acres lo- cated two and one-half miles west of the village of Scio. By careful management Mr. Arnold was enabled from time to time to extend the limits of his farm by the purchase of adjoining land, and he now has three hundred and thirty acres all in one body and well located. His efforts in the line of improvements have not been without results, as one who is familiar with its appearance at the time he assumed control can see at a glance. In addition to general farming and stock-raising Mr. Arnold finds considerable profit in the dairy business. Besides the farm upon which he resides Mr. Arnold also owns sixty-six acres of his father's old home place four miles east of Scio.

Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Arnold, to whom they have given the names of Marion I. C. and Ethel L. G. Private affairs have not consumed all of Mr. Arnold's time and thought, for as road supervisor and as a member of the school board he has given his services for a number of years. He united with the Baptist Church June 24, 1875, at Providence, and later united with Scio Baptist Church, was elected church deacon by that body and served as such, and as superintendent of the Sunday school he wielded an influence which was far-reaching in its scope, his fitness for the office and his tact in handling children, to say nothing of his love for doing good, making this success inevitable. Politically he gives his vote to the Republican candidates. In his business dealings Mr. Arnold has been very successful, the just reward of up- right dealing and faithfulness to duty, and his popularity among his fellow-citizens is of a deep and lasting nature.

ELIZABETH GOAN. The business enter- prises of Lebanon are by no means confined ex- clusively to the control of men, for there, as elsewhere in the northwest, women have either adopted a practical means of livelihood, or with rare tact and adaptability have stepped into vacancies not originally intended for them. Such a one is Mrs. Elizabeth Goan, who, since the death of her husband, August 8, 1895, has conducted a large and paying undertaking en- terprise. The early life of Mrs. Goan was passed near Martinsburg, Pa., where her birth occurred December 11, 1842. Formerly Elizabeth Gibson, her family was established in Pennsylvania by her paternal grandfather, Hugh Gibson, who was born in Ohio, and with six of his brothers set- tled in the Quaker state at a very early day. His son, John H., the father of Mrs. Goan, was born on the paternal farm near Martinsburg, April

24, 1816, and in early life learned the carpenter's trade, to which he devoted several years of his life. He married Sarah Rogers, who traced her ancestry to Scotland, but who was born in the north of Ireland, whither had settled her father in the days of religious persecution. She came to America with her father, Andrew, who was a stanch Presbyterian, as have been the mem- bers of the family since earliest recollection. After his marriage Mr. Gibson gave up his trade and settled on a farm in Pennsylvania, where un- expected good fortune came to him in the shape of the discovery of oil wells on his land, which he developed with large profit, and became a man of means and influence. He died in 1883, firm in the faith of the Presbyterian Church, in which he had been an active worker, and had for years filled the position of Sunday school super- intendent. He was a man of pronounced char- acteristics, very determined in his manner, and not easily swerved from his point of view. Nine children were reared in a rigorous moral, mental and industrial atmosphere, of whom Mrs. Goan is the third.

With her brothers and sisters Mrs. Goan at- tended the public schools in Pennsylvania, and after completing her education continued to live at home. A son of the family having removed to Oregon and located on a farm near Lebanon, she and a sister joined him in the spring of 1884, and the same year occurred her marriage with Emanuel Goan, a neighbor of the Gibson family in Pennsylvania, and an old schoolmate of the children. Mr. Goan was born in Armstrong county, Pa., June 8, 1836. Being left practically alone in the world at an early age, he apprenticed to a carpenter after the death of his mother, and devoted his entire life to work of which his trade was the foundation. In 1857 he located on a farm near Oakland, Cal., where he became an extensive wheat raiser. In 1878 Mr. Goan came to Ore- gon, and after a season of farming near La Comb, on the Farren Ridge, took up his residence in Lebanon, and started an undertaking establish- ment. This was the beginning of a successful business career, and in his undertaking business he found his knowledge of cabinet-making all- important. He also manufactured furniture, and in time branched out even further and became interested in a hardware business. The suc- cess of these three enterprises encouraged him to try yet another western enteprise, and he built and operated a planing mill at Lebanon with sat- isfactory results. From time to time he invested his earnings in real estate, and he became active in social and other undertakings in the com- munity. He had the traits of character which command attention and win respect, and at the time of his death, August 8, 1895, the general verdict was that a loyal citizen and high-minded

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pioneer had passed to his rest, leaving behind him a record of which any man might be proud. He was a Republican in politics, and a member of the United Brethren Church.

Mrs. Goan has one daughter, Viola Dale, who is at present taking the English course at the Albany College. The mother is ambitious for her daughter's future, and it is her intention to supply every advantage suggested by her talents and capacity for advancement. Notwithstand- ing her arduous responsibilities, Mrs. Goan finds time to enjoy society in a general way, and takes a keen interest in the Presbyterian Church, con- tributing generously towards its charities and general support.

JOHN EDWARD DRUCKS. A prominent mill owner of Lebanon, Linn county, Ore., is John Edward Drucks, who located in that city September 6, 1899, and became the proprietor of his present property, which he has since over- hauled, putting in new and modern machinery, and now, with water as the motive power, he turns out one hundred barrels of flour per day. He has a large trade, California especially receiv- ing much of his product. He also owns a large warehouse and buys all the grain which comes into the city.

The father of John E. Drucks, Frank Drucks, was born in Austria, November 2, 1822, came to the United States in 1856, locating with his fam- ily at Manitowoc, Wis., where he followed his trade of cooper for one year and a half, after which he removed to a farm which he had pur- chased there. In 1876 he came west, passing through Oregon and settling five miles east of Vancouver, Wash., where he bought Hexter's flour mill, a remainder of the old Hudson Bay possessions. For five years he conducted this business with considerable profit, after which he located in Portland and engaged in the grocery business until 1902. In that year he retired from the active cares of life, and coming to Lebanon, he now makes his home with his son, a sturdy product of a sturdy age and nation. Mr. Drucks married Rosa Wartz, a native of the location in which he first saw the light of day. She died on the farm near Vancouver in 1887, at the age of fifty-six years.

Of the eleven children, nine sons and two daughters, born to his parents, of whom five are now living, John Edward Drucks is the fourth. He was born in Manitowoc, Wis., October 24, 1857, and received his education in the common schools of his native state. He was nineteen years of age when his parents settled in Oregon, and he soon took charge of his father's mill in Washington. In 1879 he assumed the same po- sition in the Star Mills of McMinnville, Ore.,

where he remained until 1884. In that year he entered the flour business in Sheridan, Ore., where he bought a mill, and in 1885 he located for a short time in Portland. He then carried his milling interests into Washington, there be- coming the owner of a mill at La Camas, which he conducted for two years. At the expiration of this period he located in San Francisco, Cal., there assuming charge of a flour mill until 1888, when he returned to Oregon and purchased a half interest in a hotel at Medford. The next year he leased the property and removed to Portland, where he engaged in the real estate and brokerage business. In 1894 he returned to California and spent one year in Los Angeles, after which he again located in Portland and continued his former occupation until his return to the milling business at Lebanon in 1899.

The marriage of Mr. Drucks occurred in Mc- Minnville, Ore., in 1881, Anna Sax, a native of Portland, becoming his wife. Of the three chil- dren born to them, two of whom are living, Ed- ward S., who was born in McMinnville in 1883, is studying medicine in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco; Lenora, also born in that city, makes her home with her parents; Zeda, who was born in Medford, Ore., in 1888, died at Vancouver, Wash., at the age of three years and four months. Mr. Drucks has become the owner of a fine residence in Lebanon, in addition to which he owns ninety- four and a half acres of land near Troutdale, and sixteen acres near Portland. In his fraternal relations Mr. Drucks is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and politically is a Re- publican. He is at present serving as city coun- cilman, having always taken an active and intel- ligent interest in municipal affairs. He belongs to the Roman Catholic Church.

ALPHEUS MILLER WILSON. Interested in both industrial and municipal affairs of the city Alpheus Miller Wilson holds a prominent place in Lebanon, Linn county, adding to the importance of the former through his connection with one of the leading livery stables, and in the service of the latter acting as mayor of the city. A stanch Republican, he has been chosen to fill his present office for a term of two years. His anxiety to make his administration one of prosperity to all has won for him many friends even among his political opponents.

Alpheus Miller Wilson was born near Bur- lington, Iowa, October 10, 1849, the son of George Washington and Mary Ann (Moore) Wilson, the former born in Virginia and the latter in Pennsylvania, the daughter of Samuel Moore, also a native of that state. The father removed to Iowa in 1848 and crossed the plains

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in 1852, locating first near Dallas, where he bought the squatter's right to one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon which he engaged in farming. In 1860 he came to Linn county, and locating near Lebanon, combined the interest of stock-raising with that of farming, becoming the owner of considerable property. He now makes his home near Sodaville, Ore., and is eighty-seven years old. Of the six sons and six daughters which blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson nine are now living, and the second child and oldest son is the subject of this re- view. He was but three years old when the trip was made to Oregon, so he has practically passed his whole life in Oregon. He received a rather limited education in the common schools of the state, the greater part of his information having come to him through observation. When sixteen years old he became an employe on the farm, and as his means increased he felt justified in making a purchase of land, which consisted of seventy-six acres, located near Lebanon. He remained upon this property until 1897, when he came to the city of Lebanon and engaged in the livery business, also purchasing a half interest in a drayage business.

The wife who shares the pleasant little home which Mr. Wilson has bought in the city, was formerly Mrs. Ellen Jane Gilson, a native of Michigan, and whom he married in this city. Two children have been born to them, Mary Ellen and Albert Francis, both of whom are at home with their parents. Always popular in his party Mr. Wilson served for fifteen years as school director while living on his farm, and for two terms as road supervisor. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows.

J. P. WALLACE, M. D. A more than or- dinary appreciation of the possibilities of med- ical and surgical science, augmented by superior elementary training and continuous research en- titles Dr. Wallace to the enviable place which he occupies in the professional life of Linn county. Dr. Wallace was born in Ander- sonville, Anderson county, Tenn., July 24, 1852, of Scotch ancestry. His paternal grand- father, James, was born in Virginia, and eventually became a planter in Anderson county, where he died in 1877, while his father, Brice, born in Anderson county, followed a similar occupation during his active life. The father was a strong Union sympathizer during the Civil war. In 1877 he removed to Oregon, settling on a farm near Lebanon, where he en- gaged in farming for many years. At present he is retired from active life and is living with his children. He is a Royal Arch Mason. A

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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 182

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