Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 231

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 231

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November 30, 1857, Mr. McCormack was united in marriage with Lucinda Mason, and their happy married life has been blessed with six children, namely : Emma, deceased ; Laura, Hardy, Ira, Ella J. and Fred. Mr. McCormack enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him.

JOSHUA M. MARTIN. In 1901 the Eu- gene brick manufactory became the personal property of Joshua M. Martin, who has been identified with various interests in the northwest ever since 1883. He was born in Andrew county, Mo., July 26, 1863. his parents, Jesse B. and Julia A. (Yates) Martin, being natives of the

same state, the former born in Buchanan county, January 30, 1837, and the latter born in Andrew county, June 26, 1838. The parents continued to farm in their native state until locating in Lane county, March 8, 1902, and they have since lived on a farm adjoining that of their son near Eugene, where they are retired from the active cares of life. Seven children, six of whom are sons, have been born to them, and of these, Joshua M. is the oldest. In the spring of 1883 he came to Oregon, and for seven years was the valued assistant of a farmer near Irving. After- ward he rented a farm and engaged in stock and grain-raising from 1889 until 1900, in which year he moved to Eugene, soon after purchasing the brick industry with which his name has since been connected. Aside from the ground owned for the brick manufactory, Mr. Martin is inter- ested in his father's farm, and with him engages in a general farming industry

In 1890 Mr. Martin was united in marriage with Laura Montgomery, who was born in Macon county, Mo., April 28, 1862, and who crossed the plains with her people in 1865. Of this union there has been born one son, Albert, now deceased. Ever since casting his first presi- dential vote Mr. Martin has adhered to Demo- cratic principles, and in this capacity has served with credit as school clerk and director, and road supervisor. He is fraternally identified with the Woodmen of the World and the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Eugene, and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, ot which latter organization he has passed all of the chairs.

H. W. HATCH, who is head miller of the Salem Flouring-mill Company, was born in Con- neaut, Ohio, February 25, 1855, and since 1886 has been a resident of the Sunset state. His father, Alpheus Hatch, was born near Chelsea, Vt., which was also the birthplace of the grand- father, Rufus Hatch. The latter was a farmer by occupation and at an early day in the devel- opment of Ohio removed to the Buckeye state. There Rufus Hatch was reared and in course of time became extensively identified with agricul- tural interests and at one time he was also en- gaged in the milling business. In 1871 he went on a business trip to Kansas and died in Cedar- ville, that state. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Harriet Babbitt, was born in Pennsylvania and is a resident of Portland. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hatch: Mrs. Edith Stimson, of Portland; H. WV., of this review; and A. J., who is living in Oklahoma.

Upon the home farm in Ohio H. W. Hatch spent the days of his youth and attended private schools there. Between the years 1865 and 1871

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he lived in Lowell, Mich., where he attended school, and during the periods of vacation he was employed in his uncle's flouring mill, so that he early gained practical experience of the busi- ness which he has made his lifework. In 1871 he returned to the old home in Ohio, and was there apprenticed to the miller's trade in a mill having a capacity of three hundred barrels of flour per day. He occupied that position for three years and then removed to Cedarville, Smith county, Kans., where he carried on farm- ing for two years, returning to Ohio in 1876. He there worked at the miller's trade until 1877, when he went to the oil regions of Pennsylvania and secured a position as tool dresser, acting in that capacity until 1880-the year of his removal to Mankato, Minn. Accepting a position as miller with the firm of R. D. Hubbard & Com- pany, in their large roller mill, he there remained until 1886, when, attracted by the business op- portunities of the growing northwest he came to Oregon and obtained employment in the Port- land Flouring Mill. After eighteen months he was sent to Salem as head miller of the Salem Flouring Mill and has acted in this capacity con- tinuously since the spring of 1888. He has the entire confidence of those whom he represents, and as manager of the business has made it a profitable enterprise and has largely increased its scope. In 1899 the mill was destroyed by fire, but in the fall of 1901 was rebuilt and is today fitted with the latest improved machinery and has a capacity of three hundred and fifty barrels of flour. Mr. Hatch has a thorough and prac- tical understanding of the business in every de- partment, including the working of the ma- chinery and the manufacture of flour, and is thus capable of controlling the labors of those who serve under him. The output of the plant is of excellent quality and therefore finds a ready sale upon the market.

Mr. Hatch was married in Mankato, Minn., to Miss L. Wood, who was born in Lowell, Mich., and they now have one son, Harold Wood, and an adopted daughter, Murah. Mrs. Hatch is connected with the Christian Science Church and is prominent therein. Mr. Hatch gives his po- litical support to the Republican party, and while keeping well informed on the questions and issues of the day he has never been an aspirant for office, preferring to devote his energies to his business affairs, which he capably conducts.

JOHN I. MATLOCK. The entire life of John I. Matlock has been spent upon the farm, one and a half miles from Holley, where he was born June 20, 1858. His father, William, who was born in Missouri, contracted the gold fever in 1849, and as a young man joined a party

bound for the mines of California. He was fairly successful, and with his little hoard came to Oregon in 1851, locating on the farm of three hundred and twenty acres now occupied by his son. He married Nancy Shields, member of an early family here, and reared a family of ten children, four sons and six daughters. He natu- rally suffered from the depredations of the In- dians in the early days, and as naturally joined the defense instituted for the protection of the life and property of the settlers, serving in the war for several months. His death occurred in 1875, at the age of forty-nine years, and nine of his children are living at the present time. These are: Amanda, the wife of Greenbury Splawn ; Sarah A., widow of Gideon Hodson; Evaline, wife of Timothy Riggs; John I .; A. J., near Holley; Artilla, the wife of Henry H. Chance ; William T .; Mary J., wife of Andrew Shanks; and Eliza P.

When his father died John I. Matlock was seventeen years old, and as the oldest son in the family the management of the farm fell upon his shoulders. His first wife, Annie (Johnson) Mat- lock, died in 1887, leaving one child, Minnie, now living in Albany. For a second wife he married, October 12, 1891, Olive Pendleton, who is the mother of four children: Henry; Ray, deceased ; Bryan, deceased; and Vina. Mr. Mat- lock still owns one hundred and sixty acres of the original claim, and is engaged in stock-rais- ing and general farming. He is a member and overseer of the Grange, and is connected with the Christian Church.

GEORGE R. MILLER. From British Co- lumbia to Mexico, and in thirty states and terri- tories in the Union, George R. Miller is known as a shrewd and successful horse dealer. Prac- tically his entire business life has been spent in studying the merits of the horse, and he has be- come an authority on all points concerning this noble animal. Mr. Miller received his start in life while associated with the W. W. Wallace circus, and, like all concerns of the kind, it prided itself on the excellence of its thoroughbreds. At- taining the position of horse-buyer for the cir- cus, Mr. Miller naturally came to an appreciation of the best horses, and, having acquired a high grade standard, he has never allowed it to de- teriorate. Leaving the circus, he devoted several years to breaking, training, buying and selling horses, and in this capacity visited the states and territories above mentioned. He came to Ore- gon in 1884, and engaged in the horse business in Albany, and, in 1887, took a herd of horses back over the mountains, in order to ship them to Muncie, Ind. This trip took four months,

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and upon returning, Mr. Miller started an even larger business, making his headquarters on the corner of East Front and Chicago streets, Al- bany, where he has his office and stables. He visits points all along the coast, and inland sta- tions from British Columbia to Mexico, wher- ever good horses are to be had, or are in de- mand. He leads a varied and interesting life, meeting people of all classes, all of whom find him a courteous, agreeable and thoroughly hon- orable gentleman.

Previous to his circus experience Mr. Miller had been connected with his father, Henry P. Miller, who was an extensive business man of Muncie, Ind. Father and son were born near Williamsport, Lycoming county, Pa., the latter July 7, 1854. The elder Miller was for many years engaged in the lumber business on the Sus- quehanna, and, in 1855, when his son was a year old, he took his family to Muncie, Ind., where he became interested in a lime manufacturing plant. Later, he turned his attention to pump manufacturing, and, in 1884, removed to Ore- gon. However, his devotion to the middle west led him to again take up his residence in Muncic, in 1895, and his death occurred in that city two years later. He was survived by his wife, for- merly Mary Grover, also born in Lycoming county, Pa., and still living in Muncie. Nine of the ten children in the family attained maturity, and eight are living, George R. being the ninth child. The children were educated in Lycoming county and Muncie, Ind., George R. receiving a practical training in the public schools ere en- gaging with his father in business. He attended principally to the jobbing department, but from the first evinced a keen interest in everything pertaining to horses.

While living in Muncie Mr. Miller married Rose Leslie, who was born in Winchester, Ind., and who has accompanied her husband on many of his expeditions. The family are members of the Christian Church, in which Mr. Miller is a deacon and active worker. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Foresters of America.

C. H. BREWER, M. D., was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of Dr. Brewer, and with only a small part of his education acquired in that city. His father emigrated to Oregon, and after his location in Salem, Marion county, proceeded to build up a lucrative practice. C. H. was but twelve years of age at the time of the removal to the western state and soon after arriving here he entered upon his course of education, the scene of his early school days being Mount Angel Col- lege. Upon the completion of his course there he entered the state university at Eugene and later the medical college at Salem, where he was

graduated in the class of 1898. Locating in Sil- verton, Marion county, he at once commenced the practice of medicine for which he had been preparing so many years. After two years' time he came to Stayton, believing this city to be a better location for his business. In 1902 he bought the drug store which he is now conduct- ing in a business-like manner, and from which he realizes considerable profit. In his political affiliations Dr. Brewer casts his ballot with the Republican party.

EDWARD GOINS, SR., was born December 12, 1842, in Chatham county, N. C., a son of William Goins. He comes of patriotic stock, his paternal great-grandfather having fought in the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, Edward Goins, of North Carolina, served in the war of 1812; he was a man of culture and a noted teacher and educator.

William Goins, a life-long resident of North Carolina, was a miller by occupation. He mar- ried Kissie Sinkler, who was born in North Carolina, of pure Scotch ancestry, her father, Duncan Sinkler, having emigrated from Scot- land to North Carolina, where he pursued the vocation of a farmer. Thirteen children were born of their union, twelve of whom grew to years of maturity, and three are now living, Ed- ward being the only one on the Pacific coast. The mother died in Indiana.

The third child in order of birth, Edward Goins, Sr., had very limited school advantages, but early acquired a knowledge of agriculture, and of milling, receiving instruction in both branches of industry from his father. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted for twelve months in the Confederate army, becoming a member of Company H, Thirteenth North Carolina In- fantry. Just before the year of enlistment was up he was given the opportunity to re-enlist for three years, or until the war closed, and receive a bounty, or be conscripted. He naturally re- enlisted, joining the same company and the same regiment. He participated in many of the prom- inent battles, among others the Seven-days bat- tles; Fair Oaks; Chancellorsville; Wilderness ; South Mountain; Antietam; Gettysburg; Fred- ericksburg, continuing until the surrender of Lee. Returning then to North Carolina, Mr. Goins remained at home until the fall of 1865, when he went to Wilkesbarre, Pa., where he was employed in the Audenreid mines for eighteen months. Going back to his native place, he worked a year at the cooper's trade, when, be- coming dissatisfied, he induced his mother to re- move with her family to Brazil, Ind., where he remained three years, working in the coal mines of that region. Going from there to Burlington,

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Kans., Mr. Goins established himself in the mill- ing business, for several years thereafter run- ning a burr water-mill on the Neosho river. Starting for Oregon on April 19, 1874, he came directly to Albany, and since that time has been a resident of Linn county. At once entering the employ of Beach & Monteith, millers, he worked for that firm five years. Purchasing, in 1879, a one-third interest in the old warehouse, he re- modeled it, turning it into a flour-mill, and under the name of the Red Crown Mill managed it for seven years. Disposing of his interest in the plant, he then purchased a mill in Scio, and having put in modern equipment ran it by the roller process three years, when it was burned. Mr. Goins immediately replaced it with a new mill, into which he introduced modern ma- chinery, and for four years operated that most successfully. Selling out his interests in Scio, he returned to Albany, and for two years ran the Red Crown mill, which he leased. Then, in company with C. C. Hogue, he rented the old Magnolia mill, which he enlarged and remod- eled, putting in machinery of the most approved modern manufacture, and has since carried on an extensive and lucrative business. In his plant, which has a capacity of one hundred barrels of flour daily, he manufactures a standard brand of flour, the "Magnolia," and also makes large quantities of bran and feed.

Mr. Goins married first, in Indiana, Jane Wicker, who was born in North Carolina, and died in Albany, Ore. She bore him three chil- dren, namely: Annie, who died in Albany ; Samuel, a resident of Portland, Ore .; and John, who is connected with the Magnolia mills. Mr. Goins married second, in Albany, Clara Butcher, a native of Linn county, and of this union three children have been born, namely: Lizzie, de- ceased ; Archie; and Edward, Jr. Politically he is a stanch supporter of the principles promul- gated by the Republican party, and takes a keen interest in the welfare of town and county. He served as councilman in Albany until his re- moval to Scio, when he resigned, and while re- siding in that city was a member of the common council several terms. Fraternally he is a mem- ber of the A. O. U. W. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a class leader, and is also one of its board of trustees.

I. B. BEAM has been a citizen of Albany since 1875. and during all the intervening years has been engaged in the grain business. He was connected with the Magnolia mill for eighteen years, where he gradually mastered the business, and finally succeeded to the responsihle position of manager. After severing his connection with

the Magnolia mills in 1893, Mr. Beam engaged in his present business with G. W. Simpson, with whose efficient help a large and remunerative en- terprise has been firmly established. To store their commodities, the firm have two warehouses in Albany on the railroad and river, with a com- bined capacity of fifty thousand bushels, and have besides erected a warehouse of thirty thou- sand bushels at Scio, and houses at Stayton and Aumsville, with capacities respectively of twenty- five and fifteen thousand bushels. Formerly they owned the fifteen-thousand-bushel ware- house at Shaw, but disposed of it some time since. They ship grain, potatoes and hay to San Francisco, Portland, and points all along the coast, and also fill government contracts for the Philippines. Mr. Simpson attends to the Port- land part of the business, and therefore spends much of his time in the latter city.

Of German descent, the Beam family was hon- ored by the services of the paternal grandfather of I. B. in the Revolutionary war, and this colo- nial soldier afterward returned to his home in New England, whence he eventually removed with his family to Ohio. This trip was under- taken overland with horse teams, and the grand- father took up government land in Knox county, near Mount Vernon, where his son, Asa, the father of I. B., was born. Asa was reared on the farm, and in his native state married Jemima Hague, who was born in Maryland, and was of German descent. Several children were born to the parents in Ohio, and, in 1850, Asa Beam disposed of his farm and took his family with teams to McLean county, Ill., locating on crude land near Hudson. Here the balance of the large family of children were born, eleven in all, nine of whom attained maturity, and two of whom are living, I. B. and Asa, the latter being a mer- chant in Albany.

In 1863 I. B. Beam enlisted in the Fourth Illi- nois Cavalry, Company G, and was mustered in at Springfield. He was attached to the Army of the Mississippi, in the fall of 1864, but was shortly discharged from the service on account of physical disability. In 1865 he went to Shelby county, and afterward to Carroll county, Mo., then returning to Illinois, where he engaged in farming until he was twenty-two. He then en- tered mercantile ranks as a clerk in a warehouse concern in Hudson, Ill., and, in 1875, came to Albany, Ore., which has since been his home.

In Illinois Mr. Beam was united in marriage with Emma J. Groves, who was born in Mc- Donough county, Ill., and whose father served in an Illinois regiment during the Civil war. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beam, of whom Orrin is a medical student in San Jose, Cal .; Delbert is clerking in Portland, Ore .; and Bessie and Lloyd are at home. Mr.

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Beam is a Republican, and is a member of the McPherson Post, G. A. R., of Albany. In re- ligion he is a Baptist.

WILLIAM BENTS was born in Kansas, February 28, 1860, the son of Henry and Anna (Bosshard) Bents, both natives of Switzerland, whose emigration to the United States took place · in 1854. (For further information regarding the parents refer to the sketch of Fred Bents, the eldest son of this family, whose sketch ap- pears elsewhere in this work.) When William Bents was but three years old his father removed to Oregon, crossing the plains by ox-teams and settling in Marion county, near Butteville, where he purchased a farm from John Shyrer, who proved a friend to the emigrant family dur- ing the years in which the father was struggling for a foothold in this western land.

The education of Mr. Bents was received in the common schools of Oregon, which he at- tended intermittently until he commenced work for himself. He was reared on the old home place, and after his marriage, January 1, 1894, to Miss Annie M. Hopp, began housekeeping there in a modern house, having built the same in 1892. Mr. Bents now owns one-third of the original land composing the three hundred and six acres which his father purchased in 1864. Upon this property he is now engaged in general farming, in which he takes an intelligent and practical interest. In connection with his broth- ers, Fred and Henry L., he is interested in hop- cultivation, and like them has made an unques- tionable success of the business. He has four- teen acres devoted to this plant.

Mr. Bents is a Republican and serves his coun- try whenever called upon. At present he is road supervisor of his township.

REV. FELIX BUCHER. A commanding personality in the religious and intellectual world embraced in Benton, Lincoln, and the surround- ing counties of Oregon, is Father Felix Bucher, who came as a missionary to this state in 1893, and has since devoted the resources of a cultured mind and great heart to the uplifting of the In- dian, and the maintenance of peace and good will among various congregations of worshippers.

In Dillingen, a village of Bavaria, province of Schwaben and Neuburg, Germany, Father Bu- cher was born September 23, 1862. Augsburg, the capital of that province, which claims great antiquity, the Emperor Augustus having estab- lished a colony there as early as 12 B. C., later took a prominent place in the history of religious disturbances, and today numbers among its claims to distinction its large trade in printing,

engraving and bookbinding, its splendid picture gallery, its gymnasiums and schools, and its office of the Allgemeine Zeitung, the leading journal of Germany, established there in 1796. Into this historic atmosphere, where Holbein, the elder, was born, and where he painted, and where the wines of Switzerland and Italy are sent forth into every quarter of the globe, Xavier Bucher, the father of Felix, was born, in the same village of Dillingen, and for the greater part of his ac- tive life conducted a mercantile enterprise. He was of German and French descent. His wife, Crescentia (Wachter) Bucher, was a native of Augsburg, and was the mother of seven chil- dren, three of whom are living, Father Felix being the only one in America, and the youngest in the family.

It is evident that Rev. Bucher never enter- tained a thought of life outside the priesthood, for at the early age of fourteen he left his home in Dillingen and took up his abode in the mother house in the Palazzo Moroni, in Rome. This old palace, occupied now by the Society of the Di- vine Savior, was owned three hundred years ago by Cardinal Moroni, and has since borne his name. Here Rev. Bucher was prepared for his chosen calling among the most favorable and in- spiring conditions in the world, and was eventu- ally ordained in the great church of St. John of Lateran, the mother church of the whole Catho- lic world, September 19, 1891. For a year after his ordination he remained in the Palazzo and then undertook the long journey to Vancouver, Wash., where he remained for a short time. From there he came to Oregon as a missionary of the church, spending one year at The Dalles as pastor of St. Peters, and the next year was located at Newport, as pastor of the church there. In connection with the latter charge he visited the Siletz Indian Mission in Lincoln county, which very worthy enterprise has been attended once or twice a year for some years by Father Crockert, of Grande Ronde, one of the most sacrificing and helpful of the early Indian workers, and who had spent forty years in trying to improve the condition of the red men. While at Newport Father Bucher became somewhat fa- miliar with the work at this mission, and in 1897 took up his residence on the reservation, the church and parsonage of which was donated by Mother Catherine Drexel, of Philadelphia, and consecrated by Archbishop Cross. Ever since, Father Bucher has ministered to the spiritual needs of a large and increasing congregation, for the responsibilities of which he is eminently fitted, having learned the Chinook language suf- ficiently well to be able to converse and preach therein. He also holds services at other churches and missions, and in January, 1903, assumed charge of St. Mary's Church at Corvallis. A

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scholar, linguist and man of practical and hu- manitarian ideas, Father Bucher exerts a won- derful influence upon the lives of those by whom he is surrounded, leading them always up to greater heights, and into broader and more useful fields of activity. He is devoted to his work, to the country in which his lines are cast, and to the people who look to him as their guide in the every-day affairs of life. Surely the people of his far-off native town in Germany should be proud of its native son, who has traveled so far, so well, and so fearlessly to a splendid and re- sourceful destiny.

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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 231

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