Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 189

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 189

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ASHER F. HAMILTON. The mercantile business of Asher F. Hamilton of Holley, though a comparatively new undertaking, would seem destined for many years of success, judg- ing from the patronage accorded it during its three years of existence. His father, Silas Ham- ilton, was engaged in farming near Waukegan, Ill., when Asher F. was born. Silas Hamilton was born in Genesee county, N. Y., was reared on a farm, and as a young man went alone to Illinois, where he lived for several years, mar- ried Anne Ferry, a native of Massachusetts, and then locating in Berlin, Greenlake county, Wis., afterward started the store which gave him his first start in life. He moved to Wisconsin when Asher F. was a small boy, and late in life came to Holley, Ore., where his death occurred Sep- tember 17, 1894, at the age of seventy-six years. As a boy A. F. Hamilton worked in his fath-

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er's store, and in time went to Chicago and took a course at a commercial college. An oppor- tunity to come west in 1866 with Colonel Saw- yer was readily taken up, and he crossed the plains with his employer with ox-teams, remain- ing with him for a year in his California home. He then returned via the Isthmus to his home in Wisconsin, engaged with his father in the mercantile business, and again came to Califor- nia in 1870. Two years later he went again to Wisconsin, returning to the west in 1873, and settling permanently in Oregon. In Linn county he became interested in farming, but soon aban- doned it for a general merchandise business in Sweet Home. Six years later he again resumed farming for two years. He then established a general merchandise business in Holley, four years later returning to the farm, but since the fall of 1900 has conducted his store in Holley.

March 2, 1873, Mr. Hamilton married Mary E. Crane, daughter of James Elliott and Rachel (Fike) Crane. Mrs. Hamilton was born in Sacramento, Cal., and was reared in the middle west. She is the mother of eight children : Olive Lulu, wife of Cyrus V. Barr, of Sweet Home, Ore .; Fannie Rachel, wife of W. R. Mealey of Foster, Ore .; Charles Asher, married and living with his parents; William Silas, of Altoona, Wash .; Ruth May; Jennie Mabel; Bessie Pearl; and James Harley. Mr. Hamilton is a Prohibi- tionist in politics, and has been postmaster of Holley during all the years of his residence there. He has served on the school board both as trustee and clerk, but is not a politician, car- ing little for offices in general. With his wife and family he is a member of the Advent Chris- tian Church of Sweet Home. In all of his un- dertakings in the west Mr. Hamilton has been successful, and has won a reputation for fair dealing and progress, as well as for tact, kindli- ness and geniality.

FRANCIS MALONE. As one of the pio- neers who came to Oregon without capital, and upon the foundation of grit and determination accumulated a competence through a correct un- derstanding of the chances by which he was surrounded, Francis Malone is entitled to men- tion among the forerunners of civilization in the northwest. His earliest ycars were spent on a farm near Lone Jack, Tenn., where he was born October 9, 1834, and whence he removed with his parents at the age of six years to Cass county, Mo. Monotonous and uneventful, his life was passed on a farm until the spring of 1852, when he joined a caravan bound for the undeveloped west, of which he had heard much from returning travelers. For nearly six months he tramped beside the slowly plodding oxen,

glad of the falling darkness which permitted rest for his weary feet. With the dawn the party was up and doing, and he helped to feed and yoke the oxen, and to do such other things as were required of a man working his way across the plains.

The first winter in Linn county Mr. Malone split rails for a living, and in the spring of 1853 went to the mines in southern Oregon, return- ing at the end of a year to Linn county. He then took up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres near Holley, where he kept bachelor quar- ters for a couple of years. October 15, 1858, he was united in marriage with Ellen Splawn, daughter of Moses Splawn.

In 1863 Mr. Malone removed to the farm now occupied by his wife and children, and which, at the time of his death, October 15, 1890, con- tained eighteen hundred acres in one body. This enormous farm speaks volumes for the enter- prise and good business management of the owner, for it is unincumbered and valuable land, two miles of it being in the bottoms. He inaugurated many fine improvements, built ex- tensively, and engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Frugal and industrious, honor- able and thrifty, he saved more than he spent, and thus always kept ahead financially. The great farm is now occupied by his wife and children, among the latter being Nancy, who is the wife of Murray Barrett; Thomas J. married Eliza A. Weddle; Lizzie, who is the wife of Perry McQuinn; Sarah, deceased, was the wife of Jerry Keeney; Ida is the wife of P. L. Rob- inet ; and Clara. Mr. Malone served in the In- dian war of 1855-6, and for three months fought the red men on the upper Columbia and in the Walla Walla country. He was a man who made many friends as he went through life, and what is better, retained them for many years. He contributed not a little to the upbuilding of the county in which he lived, and at all times main- tained the best possible agricultural standard His widow has recently been awarded a pension on account of Mr. Malone's service in the In- dian war.

JAMES AGEE. It was the fortune of James Agee to be born very near the city of St. Joseph, Mo., from which town the emigrants were taking their way into the new lands of the west, and it was therefore a matter of no won- der that the parents early joined the westward trend of civilization. He was born in Dekalb county, Mo., July 17, 1844, the son of Isaac and Cordelia (Thornton) Agee. In the spring of 1852 the father gathered together his worldly wealth, and with his wife and eleven children he crossed the plains with two wagons drawn

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by ox-teams, and several head of cattle and oxen, with which to begin the work of farming in their new home. The journey was ended safely and the first location decided upon was in Yamhill county, between Sheridan and McMinn- ville, where Mr. Agee took up a claim of three hundred and twenty acres. This was the last home of the head of the family, for there he re- mained until his death in 1901, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. He had proven him- self a sturdy pioneer of the new land, giving his strength and intelligence toward the cultivation of the broad acres of the state, and his influence toward the western growth. Two of his sons, William and Wilson, proved valiant soldiers in the Cayuse war.

James Agee was eight years old when the journey across the plains was made and he re- mained at home until he was twenty years old, when he began to work for his brother. Three years later he went to Walla Walla, Wash., and remained for one year, when he returned to Yamhill county and bought a farm of four hun- dred acres, and there spent the ensuing ten years of his life. At the expiration of this period he made another purchase of land, embodying six hundred and eighty-six acres, upon which he lived for sixteen years, leaving then and locating near Sodaville, in Linn county, principally on account of ill health. He has since made this his home, now owning forty-six acres adjoining McMinnville, and on his farm of four hundred acres being engaged in general farming and stock-raising.

The first marriage of Mr. Agee took place in 1869 and united him with Miss Fannie Murray, by whom he had ten children, the three now liv- ing being as follows: Rufus P., Wilber and Isaac Newton. His second wife was Mrs. May Murray, the widow of Charles Murray. Mr. and Mrs. Agee have one child, Hubert J. In politics Mr. Agee is a Democrat, and fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of McMinnville, and also belongs to McMinnville Lodge No. 43, A. F. & A. M.

ROBERT R. TEMPLETON. Although born in Holt county, Mo., October 3, 1846, Rob- ert R. Templeton owes his early training, start in life, and subsequent success to the environ- ment in Oregon to which his parents brought him when a little more than a year old. His entire active life has been spent in the country, in farming, stock-raising, trapping and hunting, and since July, 1900, he has lived on his present farm of three hundred and seventeen acres, fif- teen of which are devoted to hops. Mr. Tem- pleton's father, William, was born in Virginia, and his mother, Elizabeth (Ramsey) Templeton, was born in Pennsylvania. The parents moved

at an early day to Holt county, Mo., and lived on a farm there until crossing the plains to Ore- gon in 1847. The family party was a large one, for there were eleven children, and the prepara- tions for sheltering and feeding all during the long journey were necessarily extensive. They had two wagons, many pairs of oxen, a few cows and one horse, but when they got to Tygh Valley, just before crossing the mountains, they discarded one of the wagons and came the rest of the way with the other. Mr. Templeton lo- cated a claim of six hundred and forty acres three miles east of Brownsville, along the Cal- lapooya river, the greater part of which was fer- tile and productive, and waited but the industry of man to convert it into a source of great profit. This industry Mr. Templeton possessed in great measure, and he was also a good manager and practical business man.

Robert R. grew to manhood on the Linn county farm, and when old enough to go to school received his elementary education in a little log school house. At the age of twenty-one he went to eastern Oregon and engaged for a year in trapping and hunting, bringing back with him some particularly fine pelts, and gain- ing material for some exceedingly interesting stories of bear and other large game of that re- gion. Returning, he spent a year and a half in Tacoma, Wash., and then bought a farm with his brother, William, and conducted the same for a year. This farm was located near Halsey and after disposing of it Mr. Templeton en- gaged in the stock business at Pinesville for about nine years, returning then and settling on a part of his father's farm.

In 1882 Mr. Templeton was united in mar- riage with Ollie Montgomery, of which union there have been born five children : Bessie, Ada, Clyde, John and Andrew. The last three named children are deceased. Mr. Templeton's present farm is a portion of the old homestead of which he took possession in July, 1900, as heretofore stated. He has made many fine improvements, and in his manner of conducting his property is abreast of the times, having the latest of agri- cultural implements. Mr. Templeton has taken an intelligent interest in Republican politics, serving as a member of the school board, for many years. Both himself and wife are active members in the Presbyterian Church, and he has been an elder in the church four years. No man in this community bears a better reputation or one more in accord with a wide-awake and progressive agricultural region.

JOHN OSBURN. One of the thrifty and thriving farmers of Polk county is John Osburn, a well-known citizen of Independence, a town which is fortunate in having been settled by a

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remarkably enterprising, industrious and intelli- gent class of people. A man of upright princi- ples and good business ability, he has won well deserved success through his own energetic ef- forts and wisely directed toil, and while advanc- ing his own interests has given material assist- ance in developing the resources of his town and county. John Osburn was born in Orange county, Ind., August 25, 1831, and acquired his early education in the old log schoolhouse which constituted the entire educational equipment of that region. Rcared to habits of diligence, he commenced when quite young to assist in the care of the home farm, remaining with his par- ents until 1850. Ambitious then to enlarge his field of operations, he joined an emigrant train of three wagons bound for Oregon, paying $100 for his fare. During the six months that he was on the way, he walked the greater part of the distance, driving one of the teams. Settling first in Oregon City, he remained there until the spring of 1851, when he proceeded to Salem. In March, 1852, he went to southern Oregon to engage in mining on Jackson Creek, in Jackson- ville. Soon after he took up a donation claim of one hundred and sixty acres on Little Butte, and was engaged in stock-raising and mining for several years, being quite prosperous in both branches of industry. Also, in company with P. P. Prim, he did considerable prospecting in that section of the state. At intervals during his residence there serious trouble with the In- dians arose, and Mr. Osburn took an active part in some of the engagements of those years, serv- ing from August 8, 1853, until November 1, 1853, under Capt. J. F. Miller, in the Rogue River war. Subsequently, in the Rogue River war of 1855 and 1856, he served for eight months as second lieutenant of Company G, under Capt. Miles F. Alcorn.

Disposing of his ranch on the Little Butte in 1863, Mr. Osburn went to Idaho, where, for two years he was employed in mining operations at Florence City and Idaho City. Meeting with but little success there, he left Idaho in 1865, coming to Polk county, Ore., to look after his present farm, or at least one hundred and seven- ty-four acres of it, which he had received in ex- change for a hand of bronchos, trading while on the way to Idaho. The land was wild prairie, and this he has since transformed into a finely cultivated, rich and productive farm, adding all the improvements since he came here. He has also bought adjoining land, his estate now con- taining two hundred and fifty acres of land, which is devoted to general farming, stock-rais- ing and dairying.

In 1867, in Benton county, Ore., Mr. Osburn married Harriet Martin, who was born in Iowa in 1846. Her father, Jacob Martin, was among

the pioneer settlers of Benton county, removing there with his family in 1847. Mr .. and Mrs. Osburn have five children, namely: Orange, a resident of Salem, Ore .; Mrs. Estella Barker, of Baker City, Ore .; Ernest, living in Alaska; R. D .; and Lettie Huntley, at home. Mr. Os- burn is a member of Oak Grove Grange, and has rendered his town excellent service as road supervisor, school clerk, and school director. In politics he is a stanch Republican, uniformly casting his vote in support of the principles of that party.

JOHN HOWARD REES. A genial, hearty, whole-souled man is John Howard Rees, who came to Oregon in the spring of 1880. His father, James Rees, was born in Greene county, Tenn., in 1813, and at seventeen years of age, in 1830, he and his father, William Rees, a native of Virginia, joined an emigrating train to Il- linois, locating in Vermilion county, where they bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, and here the elder Rees died. Here James married Miss Jemima Dillon, also from Greene county, Tenn., having emigrated in the same train as her husband. Eight children blessed this union, three sons and five daughters, one of whom died in infancy. John H. was the seventh child, born January 29, 1859, in Vermilion county. At her home in the latter county the mother passed away when sixty-six years old, and the bereaved husband went west to pass the remainder of his days with the son, who had settled at Spring- brook, Yamhill county, Ore. Here the father died at the age of seventy-five.

The education that Mr. Rees had received in the common schools of Illinois and the academy of his native county stood him in good stead, as he used the knowledge thus gained to teach in the public schools, thereby acquiring sufficient means to help him in his western venture. Upon his arrival in Oregon he purchased a farm situ- ated three-quarters of a mile west of Spring- brook, containing one hundred acres, twenty acres of which he has put out in fruit, the re- mainder being utilized for general farming with the exception of thirty acres, which is fine pas- ture land for grazing purposes, as he owns ten cows and carries on quite a scientific dairy busi- ness in conjunction with his farming. He has invested in a cream separator, thereby saving the expense and trouble of carrying his milk to a creamery. This business is very profitable and carried on in the manner in which Mr. Rees prosecutes it, is very pleasant, adding not a little to his income and presenting a pretty pastoral scene with the broad, green meadows and sleek, well kept cattle.

Mr. Rees was married in Portland to Miss

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Lucy Hoskins, who had been a resident of Ver- milion Grove, Ill., at the time her husband had made his home there, and four children born to them are: Algernon F., deceased; Ralph W .; Victor E .; and Florence; all those living being at home. Mrs. Rees' father was George Hos- kins, a native of North Carolina, who came to Indiana and Illinois, dividing his years pretty equally between the two places, until he finally settled permanently in Vermilion Grove, Ill., where he is now living a retired life.

Mr. Rees is very active in public life, lending himself to every movement that has for its end the upbuilding of his country or the benefit of his fellow-men. He is a member of the Friends Church, and is fraternally connected with the Woodmen of the World. A Republican as to his political inclinations, he has served as con- stable, and at the present time is a trustee of the Pacific College at Newberg and clerk of the school board, which latter position he has held for fourteen years. He is one of the oldest set- tlers of the later emigration in this community, and he does honor to the state which he has helped to develop.

RUFUS C. CROSBY. The Crosby family is undoubtedly of English origin. The name is first mentioned in England under the reign of King John, in 1204. The ancestral history in America can be traced back to Samuel Crosby, who came from London, England, to the new world and settled at Charlestown, Mass., in 1635. Phinias Crosby, the great-grandfather of our subject, was usually known as "Parson," being a minister of the Congregational Church. He was born in Hanover, N. H., and always resided in New England. Isaac Crosby, the grandfather, was born in New Fane, Vt., and in 1820 he went to Massachusetts. He married a Miss Fair, who died when his son, Isaac Newton, the father of our subject, was but a year old. The latter was born in Milford, Mass., July 10, 1824, and for many years resided in that place. At various times he devoted his energies to farming and general merchandising and to the coal business, and was long recognized as a leading business man of his native town. He is also a self-made man, for from an early age he depended upon his own resources. He is now living a retired life in Woonsocket, R. I. In public office he has also been quite prominent and has served as as- sessor and in other town offices. He married Maria Farman Howard, who was born in Bethel, Me., in November, 1824. She is descended from the Howards who lived at Howards Grove in Massachusetts. Her great-grandfather was Phinias Howard, and the genealogical history of the family is to be found in the Newberry

library of Chicago. In 1809 there was a marriage celebrated between a member of the Howard family and the Dustan family, of which Mrs. Rufus C. Crosby is a representative.

The subject of this review is the eldest of six children, five sons and a daughter, born unto his parents. Of this number the daughter and two sons are yet living. He obtained his literary edu- cation in the public schools and afterward pur- sued a commercial course in Eaton College in Boston, whence he graduated in 1868. He then entered upon his business career in the capacity of a bookkeeper in the employ of a lumber merchant of Milford, Mass., in 1873. In 1880 he removed to Providence, R. I., and purchased a , third interest in the business of A. B. Rice & Company, lumber merchants, with whom he was associated for two years. On the expiration of that period he disposed of his interests on the Atlantic coast and removed to Duluth, Minn., from which place he traveled for a lumber firm for a year. Then going to North Dakota, he purchased railway land, becoming the owner of one hundred and sixty acres, to the cultivation of which he gave his attention for two or three years. The year 1886 witnessed his arrival in Portland, Ore., where he took charge of the lumber business of the firm of Park & Lacey, with whom he was connected for two or three years. He was then a stockholder in the Oregon & California Lumber Company to the extent of $10,000, and after two or three years' connec- tion with that corporation he came to Dundee and made investment in a prune orchard. The culti- vation of prunes has become one of the important industrial interests of the northwest. He has fifty acres of land here, of which twenty acres are devoted to that fruit, and upon his place he has a dryer and all equipments for caring for his prunes and preparing them for shipment. Re- cently he has erected a fine residence and large substantial barn in Dundee. His home is built in modern style of architecture and is one of the most attractive places of the town. Mr. Crosby has always been a lover of fine horses and always keeps a number of excellent specimens. He also has a number of fine carriages and takes great delight in driving over the country.

In Milford, Mass., occurred the marriage of Mr. Crosby and Mrs. Sarah M. (Dustan) Blakes- lee, who was born in Spartansburg, Pa., a daugh- ter of Jolin H. Dustan, who was a native of New Hampshire and a lincal descendant of Hannalı Dustan, who figures in the history of the country. John H. Dustan engaged in business as a mill- wright in Boston and afterward removed to Pennsylvania, where he lived for many years, but in 1892 he came to Oregon, settling in Portland, where he is now engaged in the dairy business. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Crosby were born two chil-

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dren, but they lost their daughter, Madeline, who died in 1891, at the age of nine years. The son, John Newton, is now a freshman in the Hills Military School at Portland. Mrs. Crosby had one child by her first marriage, Ida Lelle, who is now the wife of Dr. A. P. Watson, of Port- land.

Mr. Crosby belongs to the Royal Arcanum, be- ing a charter member of Oregon Council, which was organized in Portland in 1892. In politics he is a most earnest Republican, who keeps well informed on the issues and questions of the day, and does everything in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party. His fine home in Dundec and his prune farm are the visible evidences of his life of industry and care- engaged in the practice of medicine in New- fully directed labor. The west with its pulsating industrial life is continually drawing to it men of business capacity who come from the older east and find in the opportunities of this section of the country the business advantages which they seek. This Mr. Crosby has done and in his work here he is meeting with well-merited pros- perity.

CHARLES F. MOORE. One of the most reliable and popular of the pioneer business men of Newberg is Charles F. Moore, engaged for the greater part of his active life in the drug business, and at present the owner and manager of one of the best equipped drug stores in Yam- hill county. Mr. Moore comes from sturdy and enterprising farmer stock, and was born near New Providence, Hardin county, Iowa, Septem- ber 27, 1857, the ninth of the seven daughters and five sons born to Alfred Moore, a native of Iowa. The elder Moore removed from Indiana to the vicinity of New Providence, Iowa, and there engaged in farming on one hundred and sixty acres of land until his removal to Oregon, in 1877. For a time he lived at Eugene and Woodburn, removing then to Dayton, and from there to Newberg, where he has since been re- tired. He is a broad-minded and liberal man, in touch with happenings the world over, and great- ly interested in the cause of education, which he has done his utmost to promote.

A common school education and practical home training were the equipments with which Charles F. Moore started out to make his own living. With his brother, Dr. J. B., a practicing physician. he engaged in the drug business, serving an ap- prenticeship of three years, and thoroughly learning every department of the business. In 1800 he bought out his brother, who now resides in Oregon City, and has since conducted it inde- pendently and with gratifying success.

The wife of Mr. Moore was formerly Mary E. Patty, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of

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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 189

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