Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 209

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 209

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JOHN DENNEY. A substantial and pros- perous farmer. and a much-respected citizen of Albany, John Denney has for many years been industriously engaged in the prosecution of a calling upon which the support and wealth of the nation largely depends, and has met with well deserved success in his undertakings. His large farm contains as rich and productive land as can be found in this vicinity, and on it he has

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erected a comfortable house, good barns and outbuildings, and has supplied it with all the machinery and equipments required by a first- class, modern agriculturist. A native of Ohio, he was born September 6, 1840, in the town of Athens, where he spent the first twelve years of his life.

His father, Christian Denney, removed from Ohio to Oregon in 1852, being about six months crossing the plains, with his wife and six chil- dren, making the journey with ox-teams. He brought with him all of his stock, which con- sisted of ten yoke of oxen, seven cows and three horses. Coming direct to Linn county, he located in Lebanon, where his death occurred four weeks later. His widow, whose maiden name was Eliza B. Nickerson, took up a dona- tion claim of three hundred and twenty acres ot land about three miles west of Lebanon ; and also bought a squatter's right. Moving upon it with her stock, she improved a consider- able part of the land, placing it in a yielding condition, and there reared her children, giving them especially good educational advantages. She died at Jefferson, Ore., in 1897, aged eighty-four years. Her children, six in number. were as follows: Laura, who married William Ralston; Sarah, wife of William H. Galtia, of Albany; Owen N., deceased; John, the special subject of this sketch; Mahala, wife of Frank Pike, of Sherman county, Ore .; and Presley M., deceased. Owen N. and Presley Denney were educated at the Santiam Academy, in Lebanon, finishing at the Willamette University, and became lawyers, both being quite prominent. Owen N. served as state senator two terms, and for several years was judge of Wasco county, Ore. He was subsequently consul to China under President Hayes, serving in that capacity five years, after which he was employed by the king of Corea for a period of seven years as advisor for the Corean government. Returning to Oregon, he followed his profession in Port- land until his death, in 1900. Presley M. Den- ney was the youngest child, and engaged in the practice of law at Portland, and in Utah. He served as prosecuting attorney on the Mountain Meadow massacre trial, and for a number of years was a member of the Utah state senate.

After completing his early education at the Santiam Academy, John Denney had charge of the home farm until 1864. Enlisting then as a private in Company F, First Oregon Infantry, he served for three years on the frontier, two years of the time being on the Snake river, in Idaho. Returning to the farm, he has resided there the greater part of the time since. In his home ranch he has five hundred and twenty acres of land, and his wife owns a smaller farm containing eighty acres. Practical and pains-

taking, he has his land under good cultivation, and well furnished with excellent improve- ments, his estate being a credit to his persever- ing energy and good management. In 1881 Mr. Denney received from his brother, Owen, then consul to China, twenty-six Chinese pheasants that arrived here safely out of the thirty shipped, and turned them loose near Peterson Butte, they being the first birds of the kind to be turned loose in Linn county.

In 1867 Mr. Denney married Sarah F. Kester, and they are the parents of two children, namely : Effie S. and Malcolm J. The latter is a well known physician of Portland, Ore. In politics Mr. Denney is a straightforward Republican, and for fourteen years served as school clerk. He is a member of the Universalist Church, and a pro- moter and supporter of everything calculated to advance the welfare of his community, intellect- ually, socially or morally, and is greatly esteemed for his integrity and ability.

FREDERICK G. BLUMHART. Born in Wurtemberg, Germany, March 24, 1849, Fred- erick G. Blumhart is the son of an architect and builder who for many years contributed his skill to the modern upbuilding of one of the oldest and most historic cities in the United States. The family came to America when he was a small lad, so small that he barely recalls the long voy- age in a sailing vessel, or the subsequent settling in the city of Philadelphia, Pa., where his father continued to ply his trades. The father lived to be forty-five years old, and is survived by his wife, who today makes her home in the City of Brotherly Love, having attained to an age of seventy-six years.

That young Frederick G. was an ambitious youngster, and not amenable to control and dis- cipline, was demonstrated when he attained his ninth year, when his family was completely upset by his disappearance from the hearthstone. The first they heard of him he was living in Mary- land, where he lived until twenty-one years old. His next place of residence was in Florida, where he found employment helping to set out some of the first orange trees in the state near Enterprise, and while there he acquired a taste for landscape gardening, at which he afterward worked in New York state. Coming to Oregon when about twenty-eight years of age, he brought with him many memories of the Centennial exposition, where he had found employment for several months, and where he had picked up a great deal of useful information. In this state he worked for a couple of years on farms near Oakville, and in 1880 he came to Corvallis, Ore., and for twenty years worked at ferrying in this town. No more familiar figure is known here-

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abouts, or one more interestingly connected with the work-a-day life of the town.

Incidentally, while running the ferry, Mr. Blumhart had invested his savings in real estate, thus indicating his faith in the continued pros- perity of this well favored locality. He also owns a farm of two hundred acres near Corvallis, upon which he has made many improvements. It will thus be seen that the ferrying business has its compensations when in the hands of capable and thrifty men, and that the surest and most satisfactory means of investment have been re- sorted to by the popular and successful boat- man. Mr. Blumhart makes his home one and a half miles east of Corvallis, the same being presided over by the wife whom he married in 1902, and who was formerly Mrs. Sarah Peggs. By no means entirely given over to his chosen occupation, Mr. Blumhart has taken an active interest in town affairs, particularly Republican politics, and for fifteen years has been a member of the school board. He is a welcome member of the Maccabees Lodge, and is equally at home in various social and church organizations. Re- spected and honored by all with whom he has come in contact during his many years as a ferryman, he is to be congratulated that his lines have fallen in pleasant places, and that many earnest friends strive to brighten his pathway with kindly and sincere attentions.

JAMES BRUCE. It is doubtful if any pio- neer of the great state of Oregon more emphatic- ally represents the letter and spirit of progress- iveness than does James Bruce, whose prominence as a large land owner and extensive agriculturist is subservient to his invaluable services in connection with the Rogue river war, in which memorable contest he won the rank of major by which he has since been known. A world of romance and adventure is centered in the lives of the greatest of the Indian fighters, not only because of the peculiar daring of which they gave evidence, but because of the vital import- ance of their mission and its bearing upon the later-day development of the west. Organized foes must furnish sufficient risks for the most venturesome, yet how much greater daring was required to deal with ambushed enemies, frenzied by the usurpation of their hunting-grounds and the destruction of that unmolested freedom which practically represented their all. A survey of Major Bruce's Indian experiences shows him to have been not only a relentless pursuer of sav- agery and brutality, but a kind and humanitarian adjuster of complications, for he entered into the feelings of the red men, and understood the momentous change which was sweeping them

from their moorings and placing them within the circumscribed corral of civilization.

The earliest impressions of Major Bruce are traced to Harrison county, Ind., where he was born November 3, 1827, and where his father was managing a farm. His grandfather re- sembled him in possessing nerve and a liking for border life, for he accompanied Daniel Boone on his second expedition into Indiana, and there- after made his home in Harrison county. James was ten years old when the family moved to Adams county, Ill., in 1837, and, his father dying soon afterward, his mother located in New Albany, and in 1875 made her home with him in Oregon, where her death occurred at the age of eight-seven. The oldest of the seven children born to his parents, and also of the four now living, James Bruce has a sister Miriam, the wife of John Sutton of Ballard, Wash .; a brother, Isaac, of Waterloo, Ore .; and a sister, Emily, the wife of William Levitt of California. Interspersed with farming James received the average education in the country school near his home, and while yet in his teens apprenticed to a blacksmith, thereafter following his trade for some time. At the age of twenty he began a border career in Texas, and for two years had ample opportunity to watch the maneuvers of the agile Apache Indians, who were constantly men- acing the lives and property of the early settlers. The wonderful war tactics of these Indians were a source of constant surprise to the youth, and their ability to disappear and reappear, concen- trate and move rapidly, thus giving the appear- ance of far greater numbers than they had, and their feat of riding concealed on one side of their horses, were impressions which sunk deep into his responsive and impressionable nature.

Returning to Quincy, Ill., in 1849, Mr. Bruce engaged for a time in the river traffic, and in the spring of 1850, tiring of the monotony following his eventful experiences in Texas, prepared to cross the plains with some of his friends. Start- ing out with horse-teams he found them imprac- ticable, and soon traded his horses for oxen, with which he continued with practically few unusual experiences. After a short time spent in the mines at Placerville, Cal., he went north to Shasta county and the Reddings diggings, where he mined in distinguished company, his fellow- fortuneseekers including Hon. John Kelly, Thomas Brown and John Milligan. With these companions he made a trip to the famous Scott's bar, where he was overcome with ague, and was obliged to rely upon the thoughtful care of his friends. The journey was accomplished with ox- teams, and owing to a scarcity of provisions Mr. Bruce saw a means of adding to his own finances and at the same time improving the condition of the miners. He brought a band of cattle to the

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mining district and sold the beef at fifty-five cents a pound. With this money he was enabled to start up a ranching business with Dr. Robinson, which he soon afterward disposed of, and assist- ed in establishing Crescent City on the coast.

In 1852 Mr. Bruce came to Jacksonville, on the Rogue river, and there became interested in packing and merchandising, both of which occupations were rendered precarious by the con- stant uprising of the Indians, and their im- placable resistance to the white man's invasion. Instances too numerous to mention of the hair- breadth escapes of this intrepid pioneer could be recounted were space only permitted for their insertion, but it is sufficient to say that he bravely came to the front in the emergency of the hour, and had his share of the hardship, deprivation and danger incident to the long drawn out cam- paign. In an especially hazardous venture the major was destined to realize that gratitude lives even in the hearts of bloodthirsty savages, for in 1853, while the war was well under way, with R. B. Metcalf Mr. Bruce was delegated to seek the camp of Chief Joseph, in order to secure his co-operation in calling in the marauding Indians. They found the chief encamped in a natural fortress, his tent indicated by a blue cloth, and, knowing him to be a man of peace, their desire was to reach him before their presence should be discovered by his subordinates. Such was not to be, however, for a howling, hooting mob soon convinced them that their lives were not worth a farthing, and that their doom was approaching resistlessly. At this juncture an Indian boy named Sambo, whose life Mr. Bruce had saved from infuriated miners who were stringing up Indians at Jacksonville, some time previously appeared shouting at the top of his voice that the white man should not be killed. His inter- ference turned the thought of the mob tempor- arily, and in the meantime Chief Joseph ap- peared on the scene, albeit in an unamiable frame of mind. At first inclined to censure the moder- ation of his braves, he was at length led to hear the story of the white men, and finally consented to visit General Lane, upon whose suggestion the emissaries had sought the intercession of the chief. Needless to say, the boy Sambo treasured 110 greater gratitude in his heart than does Major Bruce today, for not only his own but his companion's life was saved, and a terrible slaughter averted.

When things had quieted down to some extent the major located on a claim near Table Rock, and in 1854 purchased of the Indians the right to cut hay in Sam's valley, he being under con- tract to supply the government post at Fort Lane. His gift of a horse to his old friend Chief Joseph brought him into considerable trouble, for it aroused the jealousy of Chief Zach,

who called a council of war, and determined upon the killing of the horse, the burning of the hay, and the expulsion of the white men. Here again the tact and kindliness of Mr. Bruce was brought into play, for he was besought by his friends among the Indians to placate the irate chief, and forthwith took his place in the midst of the delib- erations, within the circle of the council. When it came his turn to show cause why action should not be taken he most eloquently led their minds and hearts into more peaceful channels, telling them that he loved them, and had come to speak to them as brothers, and as having a common father in heaven. Tactfully he referred to pass- ages in the bible substantiating his statements, even explaining why some were white men and others colored, basing the fact upon differences in occupation, and environment, and thus preach- ing the kinship of the world. Needless to say, he was permitted to cut his hay and pursue his way uninterruptedly.

A different aspect of the matter in 1855 made further intercession of a peaceful nature impos- sible, for after Fields and Cunningham were killed in the Siskiyou mountains, Mr. Bruce formed a battalion of which he was made major, and relentlessly pursued the murderers. He took part in the battle of Hungry Hill and many other battles of an important nature, and in the history of those troublesome times the work of his men stands out in clear outlines, brave, deter- mined, and practically useful. Peace established in the land, he came to Benton county in 1857, and on the Rogue river, north of Table Rock, took up a donation claim upon which he lived until 1862. In 1857 he married Margaret Kin- ney, daughter of Colonel Kinney, of Benton county, and in 1862 removed to Lewiston, where he got out timber for Fort Lapwai. For one season he engaged in the dairy business, and later manipulated stock interests, in time pur- chasing his present farm of three hundred and twenty acres ten and a half miles south of Cor- vallis on the old Territorial road. More than ordinary improvements mark the appointments of this ideal home, to which he has added and now has nine hundred acres, devoted to general farming and stock-raising. In many ways the major has taken the initiative in agricultural directions, and the first Jersey cattle in this vicinity were purchased by him in Philadelphia. Practical and resourceful, he has availed himself of all known aids to scientific farming, and his environment in beauty and productiveness is not exceeded in this part of the state.

In 1884 Major Bruce lost his first wife, and in 1886 he married Miss Elizabeth Mark, with whom, and his daughter, Sarah Catherine, he is passing his declining years. At present a mem- ber of the People's party, he has served both

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Washington and Benton counties in the legisla- ture, and he was an elector on the Douglas ticket in 1860. His reputation outside the borders of his adopted county inay be judged when it is known that he was one of the judges of agri- cultural implements at the Philadelphia Centen- nial in 1876. He is a charter member of the Oregon Grange, and has actively concerned him- self with its organization and maintenance. Thus is told all too briefly the life-story of one of the stalwart founders of the many-sided structure of the western slope, a man whose personal characteristics have permeated whatever sur- roundings he has temporarily acknowledged, and whose word and influence have been of inesti- mable value to the great northwest.

HON. R. S. IRWIN. The agricultural, politi- cal and general prestige established and main- tained for many years by that esteemed pioneer, Richard Irwin, has in no way diminished in the hands of his son, Hon. R. S. Irwin, one of the popular and prominent agriculturists of the vicinity of Corvallis. Born on the old claim nine miles south of the city, he was reared in a prac- tical home atmosphere, and taught the value of a good education, and uncompromising alleg- iance to uprightness and integrity. After leaving the public schools he took a course in the Cor- vallis College, and thereafter settled down to farming in earnest on the home place.

After his marriage with Effie Winkle, repre- sentative of another pioneer family, and who was born on her father's donation claim near Cor- vallis. Mr. Irwin continued to keep house on the old place, for five years and then bought his present farm of four hundred and seventy-five acres thirteen miles south of Corvallis, and com- prising a portion of the old Slagle and Perkins donation claim. There were practically few im- provements of a modern nature on the place, and the present appearance of thrift and pro- gressiveness has been brought about through the untiring and practical efforts of the present owner. Two hundred and eighty acres are under cultivation, the land being advantageously laid out, and devoted to general farming, stock and grain raising. Mr. Irwin has one of the finest barns in his neighborhood, and his house is large and commodious, and well adapted to the cheer and genuine hospitality so characteristic of the owner and his accomplished wife.

Three children have been horn to Mr. and Mrs. Irwin, Fannie, Leanna, and Bessie, all of whom are living at home with their parents. A Democrat in political affiliation, Mr. Irwin is now serving as commissioner of Benton county. having already held many of the local offices in his township. Wide awake and enterprising, this

representative of an honored pioneer name is well utilizing the opportunities by which he is surrounded, and in return for meeting in good faith all in his busy and well directed life, he has their good will and esteem, and their hope for continued financial and other good fortune.

THOMAS MILTON GATCH, M. A., PH. D. A man of scholarly attainments, keenly alive to the progressive methods of instruction in vogue today, and with the prestige on both sides of the house of a line of ancestors professionally educated, President Gatch has made his influence felt in the educational circles of the Pacific states, and has worthily contributed his full share in maintaining the high standard of the Oregon Agricultural College, with which he is officially connected as president.

The descendant of a Prussian family that emigrated to the United States in old colonial days, he comes of old Virginia stock, his paternal grandfather, Philip Gatch, and his father, Thomas Gatch, having been born and reared in Virginia. Rev. Philip Gatch was one of the first three ministers ordained in the Methodist Episco- pal Church in America, and was afterwards a chaplain in the Revolutionary army, serving under Washington. Subsequently removing to Ohio, he continued his pastoral labors there, and was a member of the first constitutional conven- tion of that state, being a delegate from Cler- mont county.

Thomas Gatch spent his early life in Powhatan county, Va., the place of his birth, but after removing with his parents to Ohio engaged in agricultural pursuits in Clermont county, remain- ing there until his death. A man of noble char- acter and good business ability, always faithful to the trusts reposed in him, he exerted a wide influence in the management of public affairs, for several terms being a member of the Ohio state legislature, and for a number of years he was an officer in the Ohio militia, holding a com- mission as general. A strong believer in the religious faith in which he was reared, he was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Lucinda E. McCormick, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Rev. Fran- cis McCormick, a native of Virginia, who also served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary war, and afterward established the first Methodist Episcopal class west of the Alleghany mountains, settling as a minister in Ohio, where his later years were spent. Of the nine children born of their union, Thomas Milton Gatch, the special subject of this sketch, is the only survivor.

A native of Milford, Clermont county, Ohio, Thomas M. Gatch was born January 28, 1833.

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and was reared on the home farm. After his graduation from the Milford high school, he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Dela- ware, Ohio, from which he received the degree of A. B. in 1855, and the degree of A. M. in 1858. Going then to California by way of the Isthmus, Mr. Gatch was engaged in mining for a short time in Tuolumne county, but gave up the work to take the chair of mathematics and natural sciences in the University of the Pacific, at Santa Clara, a position that he held until January, 1859. Coming then to the northwest, he established a literary institute at Olympia, Wash., with which he was connected but a brief time when he was urged to become professor of Greek and Latin at the Willamette University, in Salem, Ore. A year later, on the resignation of President Hoyt, Professor Gatch was made president of the university, and continued in that position until 1865, when he resigned and returned to California to become principal of the public schools of Santa Cruz. Coming back to Oregon he served as principal of Portland Academy, at Portland, until 1870. Then, on the resignation of Rev. Nelson Rounds, D. D., in 1870, Dr. Gatch succeeded him as president of the Willamette University, taking the office for the second time. His former administration having been unusually successful and popular, he found a cordial and sincere welcome awaiting him, and on tendering his resignation, in 1879, it was after some deliberation regretfully ac- cepted by the board of trustees.

Going then to Eugene, Dr. Gatch became pro- fessor of English literature at the University of Oregon, afterwards serving as first principal of Wasco Academy, at The Dalles, an office that he resigned to accept the presidency of the Uni- versity of Washington, at Seattle. He remained in that position ten years, during which time important improvements were made, the new college building being erected, and other benefi- cial changes inaugurated. He next filled the chair of political science in the same university for a year, remaining until 1896, when he was elected to his present position as president of the Oregon Agricultural College. Under his judi- cious management this school has made great progress, meeting in a satisfactory degree the needs of the growing boys and girls of the state, and, with its finely equipped buildings, thorough and systematic methods of teaching the various branches of learning necessary to a practical understanding of agricultural and mechanical arts, and with its superior staff of teachers, this college occupies a high rank among similar insti- tutions in the Union, and is one of which Oregon may well be proud. The college grounds com- prise nearly one hundred and eighty-five acres of land, one hundred and forty-five acres 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 209

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