Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 222

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 222

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BYRON J. PENGRA. There has recently passed away from the scenes of his early asso- ciations a man whom all of Oregon has come to know in the past fifty years, and to appreciate for the evidence of a masterly ability which had ever characterized his efforts toward the ad- vancement of his own interests or those of his adopted state. Byron J. Pengra was born Feb- ruary 15, 1823, and lived to attain the age of eighty years, seven months and three days, his death occurring at the home of his son, W. J. Pengra, near Coburg, Lane county, September 18, 1903. He came to Oregon in 1853 and set- tled on a claim a few miles east of the present town of Springfield, Lane county, and at once became identified with the political life of the country.

Mr. Pengra was a Republican, and in 1858 was the leader and the most forcible speaker on that side of the legislative campaign, and though the whole ticket was defeated at that time,-the territory being largely Democratic-he retained his influence in the circles of his party, two years later being known as absolute dictator of the Oregon Republicans. He had been editing for about a year the People's Press at Eugene, this paper being then the Republican organ of the state, and at the time of his nomination as presi- dential elector he turned the paper over to Joel Ware in order that he might give his undivided attention to the exciting campaign before Him. Through his influence Col. Edward D. Baker was induced to come north from California, not

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only to help canvass Oregon for members of the legislature and for Lincoln, but also to become candidate for United States senator. Through the division of the Democrats, the Republican electors were chosen by a small majority. Though not a member of the legislature, Mr. Pengra went to Salem, where the legislature met, and engineered the election of Colonel Baker and J. W. Nesmith to the senate by uniting the Re- publicans with the Douglas Democrats, and in the next campaign united the two factions under the name of Union Republican party. He car- ried the vote of Oregon to Washington and cast it for Lincoln and Hamlin. The appointment of surveyor-general of Oregon was given to Mr. Pengra through the influence of the senators whose election he had engineered, and this office he held for some years, being located in Eugene. Baker and Nesmith also secured for Mr. Pengra a land grant of several hundred thousand acres, from Eugene to the eastern boundary of the state, for a military wagon-road, which he in- tended should be used for the construction of a railroad at some future time. This was the cher- ished ambition of his life and to its accomplish- ment he gave years of energy and effort, only to fail in the end, his first defeat being through the amendment which Senator Williams made to his railroad bill in the senate, which allowed Ben Holliday to build the road through Jackson and Douglass counties instead of up the Willamette over Pengra's route. Many years later Mr. Pen- gra was enabled to begin the building of the road through the help of C. P. Huntington, who was then warring with Stanford for the control of the Southern Pacific, but with the settlement of the differences between those two men work was discontinued and Mr. Pengra was once more dis- appointed in his ambitious efforts. After that time Mr. Pengra made his home in eastern Ore- gon on the line of the road which had taken all of his energy and been the dream of his life. The failure to accomplish this object was one out of a life of successes, his ability and tenacity bringing about results aimed for in almost all other lines, all of which added to the growth and prosperity of the state wherein he made his home. He did much for the development of Oregon, and will long be remembered as a factor in the pioneer days of the state.

MRS. JULIA A. KIRK was born in Sanga- mon county. Ill., nine miles north of Springfield, September 19. 1834, and was eleven years old when she accompanied her parents across the plains. She was united in marriage with Will- iam Riley Kirk, who was born in Tennessee. His father, Alexander Kirk, had removed from Tennessee, also the state of his birth, when Will-

iam Riley was but two years of age, locating first in Missouri, and following this up with a trip to Oregon in 1846. The first year of his residence in Oregon was spent in Yamhill county, the next year finding him on a donation claim near Brownsville, Linn county, the land now oc- cupied by the southern part of the city having once been a part of his claim. His death oc- curred in Umatilla county, Ore., after a very successful life spent in the state of his adoption. Upon attaining manhood William Riley Kirk took up a donation claim one and a half miles east of Brownsville, where he engaged in farm- ing until 1870, when he located in the city and became interested in general merchandise. Later he purchased a large interest in the Brownsville Woolen mills, which he served as president for many years. During the financial panic of 1893 his business suffered heavily, the total loss of his fortune being averted only by his masterly ef- forts to weather the storm. From that year his health gradually declined and he died September 24, 190I.

Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Kirk, Andrew J. and Nathan are engaged in farming near Brownsville; Sarah Jane makes her home with her mother; A. Lincoln lives in Browns- ville; America is now the wife of D. M. Cush- man, a farmer in the vicinity, and Alexander is a resident of Brownsville. Mr. Kirk was a Re- publican in politics, and was associated frater- nally with the Odd Fellows. Both himself and wife were members of the Methodist Church.

PETER HANSEN was born in Knudsker county, Denmark, November 10, 1857, the son of Follenstein Hansen, a native of the town of Hasle, Clemensker county, of the same country. The mother was, in maidenhood, Christina M. Peterson, who died in 1899 at the age of eighty- one years, having always been a resident of her Danish home. Six children were born of their union, three daughters and three sons, of whom Peter was the fifth. The father had early learned the carpenter's trade, and until his forty-fifth year had engaged in the pursuit of this calling, but at this time he left the town for a farm, fol- lowing this business up to the present time, being now eighty-five years old, and like his wife, sat- isfied to remain in the land of his birth.

At nineteen years of age Peter Hansen entered the regular army of Denmark, in which he served for fifteen months as a private. His father had been able to give him a good educa- tion by allowing him to attend the public schools, and also the high school for two winters. At twenty-three he left home and the next year he came to the United States, following his brother. who was located in Colorado, where he was en-

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gaged in mining. For three months the young emigrant remained there, at the close of that time coming on to Portland, Ore., where he secured employment on the dry docks. This enabled him to purchase land upon which to enter into the work for which his early training inclined him, and in 1883 he came to Eola, and in con- nection with his brother bought a farm near Oak Grove, upon which they remained for two years. In 1890 Mr. Hansen bought his present farm of two hundred and five acres, located near Dallas, of the same county. He has one hundred and twenty acres in active cultivation, a commodious residence, hop-house and good barns of all kinds.

Mr. Hansen married, October 23, 1902, Miss Kate Fink, the daughter of Dr. Fink, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. A Re- publican in his political affiliations he has been selected by that party to fill the office of school director of his district. Mr. Hansen belongs to the Lutheran Church, in which he was reared in his Danish home.

HENRY CLANFIELD. The paternal ances- tors of Mr. Clanfield have for many years been natives of Berkshire, England, his grandfather being John and his father, Robert Clanfield. The latter is now living in that county, over eighty years of age. He married Miss Mary Howse, born in Oxfordshire, and she died in 1893 at the age of sixty-five years. Nine children were born to them, seven of whom are now living. Henry Clanfield was the eldest, and was born October 3, 1845, and his father being a farmer he was reared to that life. His early education was re- ceived in the public schools of England. At the age of twenty-three years he emigrated to the United States, settling in Shelby county, Ill., where he engaged in farm work, continuing in the same for four years. Coming to Oregon about 1873 he located near McMinnville, where he was employed by David Logan for two years, at the end of this time going into Marion county and renting a farm in the Waldo hills. After five years' residence on that place he came to Polk county and bought the farm which he now owns, the latter purchase containing two hun- dred and forty-nine acres, in addition to which he has added by purchase one hundred and ten acres, one-half mile cast of his home and one hundred and forty-seven acres southwest of Dal- las, at Luckiamute. One hundred and eighty acres is in active cultivation, upon which he is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. He has sixty-five acres devoted exclusively to hop-cultivation.

Mr. Clanfield married, in 1877, Martha Palmer, a native of Minnesota, and they now have six children living, of whom Mary Smith

lives in Mill Creek; Hannah Dodson makes her home near Monmouth; George, Bert, Elizabeth and Elona are still at home with their parents. Independent in his political views, Mr. Clan- field has been elected to several offices by the vote of the best men of all beliefs, his integrity and judgment making him an able representative of the people. He has held the positions of road supervisor and school director and clerk. He adheres to the tenets of the Episcopal Church.

JAMES HENDERSON McFARLAND. Variously engaged since coming to Oregon in 1853, James Henderson McFarland has well uti- lized the opportunities that have come within his grasp and is today regarded as one of the large land owners and very substantial men of Lane county. Of an old southern family, he was born in Cooper county, Mo., July 4, 1845, his father, John Ward, and his mother, Lavica Mc- Farland being natives respectively of North Carolina and Texas. John Ward McFarland was born February 20, 1809, and as a young man removed to Illinois, and from there to Cooper county, Mo., where he engaged in farm- ing for several years. His wife dying in Cooper county, leaving to his care three sons, of whom James was the youngest, he thought to improve his prospects by emigration to the west, and ac- cordingly invested a large share of the proceeds of the sale of his farm in oxen and other equip- ment for the long journey. This was in 1853, and the trip was the second undertaken by Mr. McFarland, who had driven a team across coun- try for his brother in 1850. He reached his des- tination on the second trip without any particu- lar incident, and took up a claim of three hun- dred and twenty acres one and a half miles from Cottage Grove, where his death occurred in 1880. He married again in later life, and there were several children of this union, all of whom sur- vived him.

Left motherless at the age of nine months, James Henderson McFarland was given into the care of his aunts, but rejoined his father ere he set out on his second journey over the plains. He helped to clear the Oregon farm, and made himself generally useful around the home place until 1862, when he took advantage of the Sal- mon River mine excitement in Idaho, going there and remaining on the scene for about a month. Returning home, he worked with his father, and November II, 1865, married Sophrona Knox, born in Schuyler county, Mo., in 1847 a daugh- ter of Samuel Barton Knox, a native of Ken- tucky. Mr. Knox removed to Illinois at a very early day, and upon coming overland to Oregon in 1853 located on a section of land four miles north of this place. He died at the home of his

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daughter, Mrs. S. E. Veatch, in 1894, at the age of eighty-five years. He was a very successful farmer and general business man, leaving quite a large estate to those dependent on his care. In 1867 the elder McFarland turned his property over to his son, he being an invalid for several years before his death.

From 1865 until 1875 Mr. McFarland varied his home work by running a threshing machine in this county, and thus became familiar with its resources, its people and its possibilities. At times he has made his home in Cottage Grove, and from 1900 until 1902 successfully owned and managed a butcher shop here. He has always been greatly interested in high-grade stock, and in the days of his greatest agricultural prosperity furnished some of the finest horses in this coun- ty. During the Civil war he was a member of Company E, Home Guard Cavalry. He is a Re- publican in political preference, and is a stanch friend of education, although his own chances were limited in the extreme. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McFarland, four sons and two daughters: Annie Laura is the wife of W. W. Chrisman, of the Row river, Ore .; Charles Austin living on the home farm; George Wilbur, also on the home place; William War- ren, a clerk in Cottage Grove; John Franklin, engaged in the meat market business in this town; and Lillie Myrtle, living at home. Mr. McFarland is public spirited, and generously dis- posed towards all enterprises which have for their object the upbuilding of the community. His influence has always been exerted on the side of temperance and morality, and the time-honored association of word and bond is not misapplied in his case.

DARWIN BRISTOW. The inheritance of an untarnished name is a legacy prized beyond all others, and when accompanied by these traits and characteristics which have kept the purity of the name untouched it is indeed a foundation upon which to build a lifework. Darwin Bris- tow has in all truth followed the standard set by his father, becoming an honored citizen of the county in which his father was a pioneer and in which Darwin Birstow was born. He is suc- cessfully engaged in the mercantile business and is also conducting a banking institution of Cot- tage Grove, Lane county, being now president of the bank which was incorporated in the fall of 1900 as the First National Bank of Cottage Grove. The capital stock is $25,000 with a small surplus, and this has grown from a beginning of $5,000, application to the work wherein talent was so rightfully placed bringing about these sat- isfactory results. The merchandise stock is valued at $25,000, and this also was commenced

on a small scale, November, 1884, witnessing the mercantile venture of Mr. Bristow and Herbert Eakin, then purchasing the bankrupt stock of Luckey & Noland, and together the two have re- mained until the present day.

The father of Mr. Bristow, the Hon. William Wilshire Bristow, was born in Kentucky, July 18, 1826, but was reared in McDonough county, Ill., whither his parents removed. In the year 1848 he made the journey to Oregon with ox- teams, on his arrival locating on a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres at Pleasant Hill, Lane county, and in the following year he made the trip to California in the hope of finding a fortune in the gold fields. The fall following he returned to his claim and at once began improv- ing and cultivating it, and in the spring of 1850 or 1851 he taught the first school in the county. Always interested and active in public move- ments he was often called upon to fill official posi- tions. He served as justice of the peace for many years and also as postmaster. He was a dele- gate to the constitutional convention in 1857 and the year following was elected one of the first state senators from Lane county, where he was an able representative for the people in assisting in the first legislative movements of the state. He was again elected to the state senate in 1870 and served until 1874. His death occurred in the latter year, when he was only forty-eight years old. One of the chief interests of the life of Mr. Bristow was the mercantile business with which he became connected in 1865 in Eugene, pur- chasing in that year a one-third interest with the Bristow & Company mercantile firm, which was then composed of his brother Elijah L. Bris- tow and T. B. Hendricks, and with this work he remained until his death. Fraternally Mr. Bris- tow had been a Mason for many years.

The father of this family was not the first who settled in the west as a pioneer, his own father having preceded his emigration by three years. Elijah Bristow, a native of Virginia, after his emigration to Kentucky, and thence to Illinois, followed this up with the journey across the plains in 1845 and became the first white settler of Lane county, Ore. He located at Pleasant Hill, and there took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres and built the first house of the county, which is still standing upon the land, and there his death occurred. He had been a leader in his county, giving freely of time and means in his broad-minded efforts to advance the cause of growth and civilization in this western land, being the first to donate land upon which to establish schools.

Darwin Bristow was born December 21, 1862, at Pleasant Hill, Ore., the youngest child of the three daughters and one son born to his mother, who was formerly Elizabeth Coffey, of Illinois,

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and who died quite young in her western home. Darwin Bristow was educated first in the com- mon school near his home, entering the Univer- sity of Oregon in 1880, graduating from the nor- mal course in 1884 with the degree of A. B. During the vacations of summer he became a cow-boy in southeastern Oregon, enjoying a wild, free life which better fitted him for the world of books when school was once more opened. In November, 1884, as before stated, he entered upon a mercantile life, no inconsiderable knowl- edge having been gained through his occasional clerking for T. G. Hendricks, with whom he made his home after his father's death, Mr. Hen- dricks having been appointed administrator of the estate and guardian of the children. In 1892 the banking institution was established as a pri- vate affair, and from that has grown the present substantial and remunerative business which adds in no little degree to the financial prestige of the town. Mr. Bristow, in company with F. L. Chambers and others of Eugene, have formed a banking firm under the name of the Chambers- Bristow Banking Company, and during January of 1903 opened the bank at Eugene with a capital stock of $50,000. Mr. Bristow will, however, retain his business interests in Cottage Grove for an indefinite period.

Mr. Bristow was married in Cottage Grove to Mary L. Medley, a native of Iowa, and the daughter of James N. Medley, who emigrated to Oregon in 1874 and settled in Lane county, and now makes his home in Eugene. The following children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Bristow: Greta E .; William Wilshire; Darwin Darrel; Evelyn; Dorothy, and Helen. With the exception of Dorothy, who died in early child- hood, the children are all at home. In his polit- ical relations, being a Republican, Mr. Bristow is very active, having served five terms as mayor of this city, in the city council one term, and as city treasurer two terms. He has also been a member to the state convention and of the county central committee for many years past. He is a member of the Christian Church. Fraternally Mr. Bristow is quite prominent among the Ma- sons, having served for two terms as master of Cottage Grove Lodge No. 51, A. F. & A. M., belongs to Eugenc Lodge No. 10, R. A. M., Ivanhoe Commandery No. 2. at Eugene: the Mystic Shrine of Al Kader Temple, of Port- land, and is a past grand patron of the Eastern Star of Oregon.

JOHN F. KELLY, vice-president of the Booth-Kelly Lumber Company of Eugene, was born on a farm near Roseburg, Douglas county, Ore., December 11, 1857. and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Parker) Kelly, both pioneers of

Oregon. (For early history of the family, see sketches of John Kelly and Rev. P. C. Parker, which appear elsewhere in this volume.) His early environment was such as to stimulate and encourage ambitious tendencies, but he soon learned that while influence and friendly inter- cession may give to a youth of character an op- portunity, it cannot so place him as to continue him in a line of promotion unless he possesses the substantial merit, together with a character which counts no effort too great nor sacrifice too dear in the fulfillment of obligations or the performance of duties. Early in life he realized that the world is moving so rapidly that a man must become a part of his work-otherwise he may expect to see another step in and do it for him. He therefore puts so much force and good cheer into his daily work that the efforts of his associates and subordinates are stimulated by his example.

The first nine years of Mr. Kelly's life were spent on the home farm. When the University of Oregon was opened to the youth of the state he was a pupil in the public schools of Spring- field, Lane county. Ambitious to equip himself as fully as possible for a successful business ca- reer, he entered the university with the first class, continuing his studies in the classical de- partment for three years. He subsequently at- tended the Portland Business College. Feeling satisfied that this educational foundation would prove sufficiently strong to support any structure he might elect to build upon it, he started forth to make his own way in the world. After devot- ing four years to the railway mail service in Oregon, he served another four years in the reg- istry department of the Portland postoffice under Postmasters Cole and Steel. After resigning this position he went to Ashland, then the south- ern terniinus of the Oregon & California Rail- road, and engaged in the forwarding and com- mission business for three years with H. B. Miller & Co. At the same time he conducted a large hardware and implement business in Ash- land. disposing of it just before the extension of the railroad was begun in 1885. Mr. Kelly and Mr. Miller next engaged in a lumber manufac- turing business at Grant's Pass under the style of the Sugar Pine Door & Lumber Company. In this occupation Mr. Kelly felt perfectly at home, for from his earliest boyhood he had fa- miliarized himself with the details of the lumber trade, his father being largely interested in the pineries of the state. The partners continued together for some time, and to their aid came such business men as John C. Carson, George H. Keely, H. C. Kinney and R. A. Booth, as well as many others. They purchased several mills in southern Oregon, built others. and operated them as manufactories of doors, boxes and build-

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ing materials. After the incorporation of the Booth-Kelly Lumber Company in 1895, the con- cern purchased the property of the J. I. Jones Lumber Company at Saginaw, rebuilt and en- larged the mill, and established the main office at Eugene. In 1899 they built the mill at Wend- ling, on the Mohawk river, soon afterward pur- chased the Coburg mill, and in 1902 erected the new mill at Springfield. The Saginaw mill has a capacity of one hundred and fifty thousand feet in twenty hours; the Springfield mill has a capacity of two hundred and fifty thousand feet in twenty hours; the Wendling mill has a ca- pacity of two hundred and fifty thousand feet in twenty hours, and the Coburg mill has a capac- ity of one hundred and sixty thousand feet in twenty hours. Each of the five mills owned and operated by the company in southern Oregon has a capacity of about forty thousand feet in ten hours.

The Booth-Kelly Lumber Company has pur- chased large areas of timber lands on the Mc- Kenzie river, owns vast tracts in Lake, Jo- sephine and Klamath counties, and buys the en- tire output of the mills in Josephine county and other points along the Southern Pacific railroad. It employs more than one thousand men directly, while indirectly it gives employment to fully two thousand five hundred more. It is undoubtedly doing more to turn to practical use the un- equalled timber lands of the northwest than any other human agency in Oregon. Mr. Kelly was the president of the company for seven and a half years. Since assuming the vice-presidency his former place has been taken by F. H. Buck, of Vacaville, Cal.

Individually, Mr. Kelly is a large property owner. Besides his own home in Eugene he has several farms. He keenly appreciates the ad- vantages surrounding the residents of Eugene, and his vitalizing energy permeates other phases of the state's activity. He is one of the directors of the Roseburg Bank. In politics he is a Re- publican, and fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

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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 222

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