Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 230

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 230

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OSCAR P. ADAMS. A pioneer resident of Cottage Grove, with whom one might profitably while away many a winter evening, is Oscar P. Adams, whose most emphatic recollections are centered around the very early days of Oregon, and around the mines in this and some of the surrounding states. Probably no one in this county possesses greater familiarity with the ore output of the best known mining localities throughout the west, or has more accurately gauged the agricultural and general possibilities of a well favored and very productive region. A distant relative in a family which has provided a president to the United States, and which was represented on the battlefields of the Revolution by his paternal grandfather, Mr. Adams was born in Tioga county. Pa., July 30, 1828, a son of Isaac and Sophronia Lydia (Porter) Adams, natives respectively of New York and Vermont. Isaac Adams was born December 15, 1803, and in the early '30s left his native state and went to Michigan, locating in Tecumseh, Lenawee county. This part of Michigan was a wilder- ness at that time, and the new arrival found no neighbors or even evidence of any previous set- tlers. He became prominent in his locality as it was built up and agricultural and other indus- tries were started, and he became a member of the local militia, attaining to the rank of cap- tain. He was a farmer all his active life, and died in his adopted state in 1873, his wife hav- ing preceded him in 1844, at the age of forty years. The Porter family was an old Vermont

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one, and John Porter, the father of Mrs. Adams, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Adams, four of whom were sons, Oscar P. being the oldest. By a for- mer marriage Mr. Adams had one son, J. C. Adams.

On the wilderness farm in Michigan, Oscar P. Adams grew to manhood, and in the public schools succeeded in getting as far as algebra, and other studies accordingly. He developed a great deal of physical strength while felling trees, and in time apprenticed to a machinist and wood-turner, trades which he applied for some years in the timber district. In this way he saved quite a little money, and $50 of this was paid to John H. Stevens for the privilege of accompanying him across the plains in 1854, but in addition he was required to perform various services during the progress of the journey. Starting out May 4, they went via the Barlow route and arrived at Foster September 6, Mr. Adams soon after finding employment in a saw- mill. After a month in the mill he made his way to the mines in Josephine county, and in 1855 enlisted for government service as head packer during the Indian war, as he had no gun with which to operate as a soldier. Thirty days sufficed for this kind of work, and during that time he made dangerous expeditions with flour from the Bear Creek mill to the quartermaster, wherever located. Again he worked in the mines of Josephine county, and for many years spent portions of each year in mining in some one of the well known regions hereabouts.

In 1858 Mr. Adams bought three hundred and twenty acres of land around and including the present site of Cottage Grove, in time dispos- ing of the town site at $10 to $12 an acre. He still has one hundred and twenty-four acres of the original purchase left, and has engaged in farming, stock-raising and mining ever since he bought it. At present his farm is rented, al- though he oversees it, as he also does his several mining claims in the western part of the state, principally the Bohemia district. In the mean- time he has been variously interested in business in different parts of the state, and in 1864 spent the year in Portland, where he engaged in truck- driving. In this town he married Elizabeth Saylor, who crossed the plains with her people in1 1853, and who died in Cottage Grove in 1870, leaving the following daughters : Lovica Helen, now Mrs. Charles Vilas, of Portland ; Mary C., the wife of Frank McFarland, and living with her father; Sophronia L., now Mrs. Charles Van Buren, of Astoria, Ore .; Theo- dosia L., the wife of C. F. Cathcart, of Rose- burg, Ore .; and Hattie E., now Mrs. Wilbur McFarland, of Cottage Grove. The second wife of Mr. Adams was formerly Minerva Crom-

well, who was born in Georgia, and who for nine years has been an invalid, suffering from a paralytic stroke. Mr. Adams has been a stu- dent all his life, and his life deductions are in- teresting and original in the extreme. Few men are better posted on current events, nor have many a larger fund of general useful informa- tion. He is a Republican in political preference, and finds a religious home in the Christian Church.

S. N. WILKINS. Among the prosperous business men of Benton county, Ore., who have succeeded in life mainly on account of their ener- gy, perseverance and economy, is the subject of this biographical sketch, S. N. Wilkins, of Cor- vallis, who is too well known throughout Ben- ton and adjoining counties to need an extended introduction to the readers of this volume. Mr. Wilkins is now serving his second term as county coroner of Benton county, having been elected first on the Democratic ticket and afterwards as a candidate on the Republican ticket. He is a man of much natural ability and his experience proves that he can turn his hand to almost any- thing and make a success of it. He has been identified with the substantial improvements of Corvallis, having built three clegant homes which have at each move been surpassed by better ones, until the present house was erected on the cor- ner of Third and Madison streets in 1902. The first was built in 1885, and the second in 1892. The foundation of his present splendid business was formed in 1885, when he put into a corner of his paint shop a small stock of wall paper, and to this a year later added a stock of paints, to which was soon added other lines-picture- molding, artist material, and stationery. The business had now grown to an extent that com- pelled him to give up a very profitable business -contractor in painting and paperhanging-and devote his entire time to his store, which had grown to require larger quarters, which were supplied by E. W. Fisher, in 1889. In 1890 he formed a partnership with Bond Brothers and to the already splendid business they added a line of "New York Racket goods." After a year with this firm Mr. Wilkins sold his interest and accepted a position with The Northwest Fire In- surance Company of Portland, Ore. Beginning at the bottom of the ladder July 1, 1891, he forced his way to second in his line within a year, and in August, 1892, left his lucrative position with this company and purchased the stock and busi- ness of the late Philip Weber, and during this and the succeeding year did a business in line with the "boom times," and with many others found himself at the starting point again in 1894, but, belonging to a stock who do not readily ac-

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cept defeat, rallied his forces and, in April, 1895, organized the Corvallis Furniture Company and purchased the stock of furniture and undertaking goods of the estate of J. A. Knight, where this business had been conducted for thirty-seven years, and had not been a profitable business. Mr. Wilkins, as manager and undertaker, put it on a paying basis, and in 1897 he bought the stock of undertaking goods of his only competi- tor-L. Welker & Co. He continued the busi- ness at the old stand where prosperity followed until 1899, when he absorbed all the stock of the Corvallis Furniture Company, the latter going out of business. In 1901 Mr. Wilkins sold his stock of furniture to J. D. Mann & Co., and moved his undertaking business to his present elegant quarters, which had just been completed, and which are situated on Madison street next to the elegant city hall, and on the same lots with his residence. In these new quarters Mr. Wil- kins has office, chapel, workroom, storeroom and morgue, constructed on the latest and best sani- tary plans, and it is conceded that his place is the best outside of Portland, and is several years in advance of the town. Since moving to these new quarters Mr. Wilkins devotes his entire time to his undertaking business. He has one fine funeral car and a small hearse, the latter of which was built in this town by the pioneers, L. L. Horning and J. T. Phillips, in the early seven- ties, and was one of the first in the valley. Mr. Wilkins believes in keeping abreast of the times in his profession. He has taken four different courses of lectures on embalming and sanitation, and is now taking a special course in anatomy at the Oregon Agricultural College, and has his plans made for a trip east, where he will com- plete the work begun more than eight years ago. As a funeral director, undertaker and em- balmer, he ranks second to few in the state, and his place and the methods of conducting it are a source of much admiration by his friends.

The Wilkins family originally came from Eng- land, and the American branch first settled in New England, of Puritan stock. They finally became scattered, one member going south and establishing that branch to which our subject belongs. Mr. Wilkins was born near Eufaula, Barbour county, Ala., November 4, 1851, and is the fourth son of H. L. Wilkins ,who was also a fourth son. His paternal grandfather, Wil- liam Wilkins, was born in the state of Georgia February 5. 1785, was a pioneer of Alabama, where he reared a family of twelve children- nine sons and five daughters. In 1856, with his sons, daughters and their families, he came west and settled in the western part of this state, near Mobile, Ala., where he resided until 1870, com- ing with his son, H. L. Wilkins, to north Missis-

sippi, where he died at the advanced age of eighty-seven years.

H. L. Wilkins, the father of S. N. Wilkins, was born in Georgia April 27, 1821. He was reared in eastern Alabama, where he was mar- ried to Sarah M. Jones, May 2, 1841, and fifteen years later, with other members of his family, came to the western border of the state and settled in Choctaw county, where he resided un- til 1867. In 1861 he, with his eldest son, who was only eighteen years old, responded to his country's call and with the Twenty-third Ala- bama Regiment, saw four years of service and took part in the struggles at Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Atlanta and many other places, and for forty-four days lay in the trenches under a tropical sun at Vicksburg, living part of the time on "mule" beef, and a short ration at that, with a tornado of shot and shell that tried men's souls and broke their constitutions, so that, when he returned from the war, he not only found his health much impaired, but his wealth had been wasted by the ravages of war. After two years enough was rescued from the wreck to enable him to take his family to the more fer- tile fields of north Mississippi, where he built up a comfortable home and regained much of his former losses. After a residence in Panola county, Miss., of ten years he, with his remain- ing family, came to Oregon to join S. N. Wil- kins and other sons who had preceded him' to Corvallis, Benton county. Here he spent the remaining days of his activity, being prominently identified with many substantial improvements in Corvallis. His last few years were spent in re- tirement, principally at Roseburg with a son, where he died January 27, 1902, at the age of eighty years. His wife had preceded him fifteen years. His life had been one of action. He not only reared a family of ten children of his own, but raised four orphan girls. He was a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity for more than forty years, and the latch-string of his door was always on the outside for his friends and he was never known to turn a fellow-man away empty-handed, when he had the ability to help him.

In his youth S. N. Wilkins attended subscrip- tion schools for three months of the year from the age of six to ten years, when the war put a stop to schools and he, with others both older and younger, had to "scratch for a living," and at the close of the war, schools, with everything else, were demoralized, and it was 1867 before even a short three-months school could be main- tained, and at the age of sixteen he began his attendance, which was kept up with the irregu- larity of the subscription school of an unsettled country. In 1870 he went to the far western wilds of Texas, encountering many adventures,

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one of which was when, on his return trip by way of Galveston, he escaped a yellow fever quarantine by just one day. Returning to Bates- ville, Miss., the next three years were spent in learning the carpenter's trade, and in February, 1874, he left his southern home for Oregon, where he arrived in company with the Apple- white-Davis-Willbanks party April 1, 1874. The first two years were spent at carpenter work, and on the farm when this work could not be had to do, and in 1876 he began a course in the Oregon Agricultural College which was continued through 1877. At the conclusion of this, Octo- ber 9, 1878, he met and formed a matrimonial alliance with a native daughter, Miss Mary A. Moore. Mr. Moore, her father, was a native of Tennessee and drove an ox-team to Oregon in 1851. Here he was joined in marriage with Miss Rachel A. Robinette, February 15, 1852. Mr. Robinette was a native of Missouri and a pioneer of 1849, and was one of the first settlers about Lebanon, Linn county, Ore. After his marriage Mr. Moore settled on a donation claim near Lebanon, where he resided many years, transferring his residence to the vicinity of Irv- ing, Lane county, and to Corvallis in 1870, for school privileges. Here he remained until 1888, when he moved to The Dalles. Ore., where he now resides. He is a member of the Masonic order in all its branches, and is as spry as the average man of sixty, while he is past seventy- five years of age.

In 1881 Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins went to Yakima City, where they resided for two years. During this time Mr. Wilkins served an apprenticeship under W. E. Thornton, to learn the trade of painting and paperhanging, and on his return to Corvallis in 1883 opened a shop where success crowned his efforts as above stated.

One incident in the career of this man of ac- tion occurred in 1885, when he procured the ground for a home, but, not being able to get others to build for him, nor could he leave the work that was pressing him daily, the necessity became urgent and the house of six rooms was built from basement to roof and interior all finished without taking an hour from the regular time-all the work being done before and after hours.

Mr. Wilkins is prominently identified with the fraternal and beneficiary lodges of Oregon. He is a member of the Corvallis Lodge No. 14. A. F. & A. M .; Ferguson Chapter No.5. R. A. M .; Oregon Council No. 2, and Temple Commandery No. 3, K. T., of Albany ; and Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of Portland; all the branches of the Odd Fellows; the Woodmen of the World; the Knights of Maccabees; the Artisans ; and the Independent Order of Lions. Mrs. Wilkins belongs to all the auxiliary orders

-Eastern Star, Rebekahs, Ladies of the Macca- bees, W. O. W. Circle, the D. of H., the Lions, and the leading social organization of the city- the Fireman's Coffee Club. Mr. and Mrs. Wil- kins have two children-one daughter and one so11. The daughter, Lola M., is now the wife of Albert Lee Wigle, who resides at Prineville, Crook county, Ore. Harold, the only son, now sixteen years old, is a student at the Oregon Agricultural College and a member of the Cadet Band.

HARRY F. WYNNE. A native of Oregon, and the son of one of the most prominent pio- neer physicians of this state, Harry F. Wynne, of Cottage Grove, Lane county, is well worthy of representation in this biographical volume. Industrious and enterprising, he has never been content to lead a life of idleness, but as a young man developed his native mechanical talent by a constant exercise of his skill in that direction, and is now giving proof of his mercantile ability as one of the active merchants of Cottage Grove, where, in partnership with his mother, Mrs. Sarah E. Wynne, he is carrying on a substantial hardware business. He was born July 27, 1866, at Union, Ore., a son of the late Dr. Armand L. Wynne. He comes of Virginian ancestry, his paternal grandfather, John Wynne, a successful planter and a prominent member of the Quaker Church, having been a life-long resident of the Old Dominion.

Armand L. Wynne, M. D., was born in Taze- well county, Va., and there acquired his pre- liminary education. Deciding upon a profes- sional career, he was graduated from the Phila- delphia Medical College, in Pennsylvania, and afterwards received the degree of M. D. at the St. Louis Medical College, in St. Louis, Mo. After practicing medicine for a time in Trenton, Mo., Dr. Wynne came to Oregon, locating in Union in 1864. Two years later he removed to the Willamette valley, locating in Eugene, where he built up an extensive practice. Settling at Cottage Grove in 1870, the doctor continned the practice of his profession in this locality until his death, in October, 1882, when but fifty-five years of age. Noted for his skill and medical knowledge, he won an extensive and lucrative patronage, and was one of the leading physicians of this part of Lane county. His wife, whose maiden name of Sarah Ellen Perkins, was born in Kentucky. She survives him, and is now in business with her son, Harry F., as above stated.

After completing his studies in the public schools, Harry F. Wynne learned the trade of a steam enginecr on the Northern Pacific railway, working on the road for six years. The follow- ing six years he was employed as a stationary

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engineer, working in different places in Wash- ington, California and Idaho. Returning to Cot- tage Grove in 1895, Mr. Wynne operated a steam engine for Booth & Kelley for a while, and then assumed charge of a quartz mill in the Bohemia district, working for Hellma & Music. Return- ing to the employ of Booth & Kelley, he worked in the company's saw-mill, at Saginaw, Ore., until 1900. Coming to Cottage Grove with the hardware firm of Griffin & Veatch in 1900, Mr. Wynne soon after embarked in the hardware business on his own account, forming a partner- ship with his mother. He carries a full line of hardware, having a stock valued at $2,500, and also handles agricultural tools and implements of all descriptions, having a large trade in this line as well as in his regular line of goods.

Mr. Wynne married, in Salem, Ore., Alice Veatch, a native of LaGrande, Ore. Politically Mr. Wynne is an earnest supporter of the prin- ciples of the Democratic party, and fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World, and belongs to Cottage Grove Blue Lodge, No. 52, A. F. & A. M.

MRS. MARY A. CANAN. Among the varied biographies contained in this volume, we are pleased to give a short sketch of Mrs. Mary A. Canan, who owns and conducts in a manner above reproach, the Occidental Hotel, which is considered one of the best in Corvallis. This hotel is a large, three-story structure, with pleas- ant and convenient rooms. The spacious and attractive dining-hall, with well filled tables, is a delight to the guests, whose wants are antici- pated by their genial hostess. An addition, 75×100 feet, three stories high, has recently been added and the place is well patronized.

Mrs. Canan has been a resident of the western coast since 1865. She was born at Culpeper Court House, Va., and is a daughter of Jesse and Mary (Redley) McKenney. Her father was of Scotch descent, was born in the vicinity of Richmond, Va., and followed hotel-keeping. Later he removed to Brown county, Ohio, settling permanently at Georgetown, where he spent his closing years. Her mother was a native of Bal- timore, and died in Ohio. Four children blessed their union, three being still living. Mrs. Canan was reared in Hillsboro, Ohio, where her mother moved after the death of her husband, and it was there that Mrs. Canan was educated. She has been married twice, her first union taking place at Hillsboro, where she wedded William Glascock. The latter was a Virginian by birth and was engaged for many years in mercantile business. In 1865 he went to California, via Panama route, and located at Healdsburg, So- noma county, where he died. Some time after

the death of her husband, Mrs. Glascock be- came the wife of W. C. Canan, a Pennsylvanian by birth, and one of the early gold-seekers, hav- ing crossed the plains in the customary way. After this marriage, Mr. Canan engaged in the drug business at Healdsburg, and was also a local banker until 1882 when he removed to Corval- lis, Ore., and purchased the Occidental Hotel. He died in 1891, aged sixty-nine years. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and in his political views he was a Republican.

Mrs. Canan has carried on the hotel business ever since the death of her husband and has met with success. She has remodeled it, and in addi- tion owns a fine business block in Corvallis. She is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and also belongs to the Eastern Star.

JOSEPH S. AMES. When a lad of eleven years of age, Joseph S. Ames crossed the plains to California, the trip being made in three wag- ons, drawn by nine yoke of oxen. The start was made April 6, 1851, and six months later they arrived at the Sierra mountains. October 6 they began the journey across the mountains, and the first winter was spent at Diamond Springs, forty miles east of Sacramento. By way of the water route they reached Portland in July, 1852, and from there proceeded to Linn county. A few months later the father took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres near Sweet Home, his farm lying one-half mile west of the present postoffice. Lowell Ames, the father of Joseph S., was a native of Cuya- hoga county, Ohio, and all his life had followed farming. He passed away March 8, 1864, at his home in Sweet Home, when in his sixty-fifth year. His wife, prior to their marriage known as Miss Anna Kessler, was born in Pennsylvania, and died in Sweet Home in 1872, in her seventy- first year. Their marriage was solemnized in Ohio and shortly afterward the young people re- moved to Illinois, locating at first in Kane county, but finally settled in Peoria. It was from the latter place that the family took up the long march across the plains.

The parental family comprised eight children, all of whom were boys with one exception, and Joseph S., born in Kane county, Ill., January 16, 1840, was the youngest of the family. His edu- cation was received in the common schools of Illinois and as soon as years and strength per- mitted gave a helping hand in the farm duties. His services were given to his father until his death, when he engaged in farming on his own account and has followed this calling ever since. His fine farm of four hundred acres, which lies adjacent to the village of Sweet Home, is a model farm and is embellished with commodious

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and convenient buildings. The family residence is located in town. While Mr. Ames carries on general farming to a certain extent, he makes a specialty of stock-raising, and in the raising of Merino sheep has no superior in the county. As road supervisor Mr. Ames has been instrumental in bettering the condition of the roads in his dis- trict. In all local affairs he takes an intelligent interest, and in politics is a Republican. In his religious belief he is allied with the Latter Day Saints.

JOHN K. McCORMACK is a native of Dixon county, Tenn., born February 19, 1827, and, in 1831, accompanied his parents to near Jacksonville, Ill., where he was reared, educated and grew to manhood. His father's property was in a fertile section of Illinois and furnished a fair income, yet the young man saw little pros- pect of forging to the front with anything like the rapidity that he desired, and therefore re- turning travelers from the west found him a willing listener. These reports were communi- cated to three other young men of his neighbor- hood, and the party proceeded to outfit for the long journey across the plains, purchasing a wagon and four yoke of oxen, and such pro- visions as they could cook in their camp equip- ment. They were six months on the way. The first winter in Oregon Mr. McCormack found work in La Fayette, and in the spring of 1852 he went to the mines of Jacksonville, in the fall returning and taking up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres in Benton county. Here he farmed with considerable success for five years, and then moved into the Alsea valley, taking up a homestead upon which he erected a pleasant residence, good barns, out-houses and fences. In 1887 he came to his present farm, which also is highly improved, and through his industry has been rendered one of the very desirable and pay- ing properties in the neighborhood. He is en- gaged in general farming, hop and stock-raising.

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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 230

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