Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 233

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 233

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THOMAS B. SPRENGER. It is doubtless owing to the industrious and persevering man- ner with which Thomas B. Sprenger has ad- hered to the pursuits of agriculture that he has risen to such a substantial position in the farmn-

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ing affairs of Linn county. Two years after his birth, which occurred October 25, 1850, his par- ents, Nicholas and Maria (Bird) Sprenger, na- tives of Germany and Pennsylvania, respectively, removed from Morgan county, Ohio, and settled in Linn county, Ore., and from that time, which is practically his whole life, Thomas B. Sprenger has made his home continuously in this region.

Thomas B. Sprenger spent his youth much the same as do most farmers' sons, attending the district schools in the winter season and giv- ing a helping hand in the multifarious duties that fall to the farmer's lot. Until 1875 he remained under the parental roof, but in that year he mar- ried Miss Elizabeth J. May, a native of Iowa, who, in 1865, had crossed the plains with her father, James May. The latter settled upon a farm located northeast of Peoria, which he con- ducted for a time, but finally abandoned it and engaged in mercantile pursuits in the village of Shedds. The young people made their first home in the house which the elder Mr. Sprenger erected upon first coming to Oregon, but in time this rude affair was superseded by a more com- modious and up-to-date residence, in which the family now reside. A fine set of outbuildings is in keeping with the other modern improvements which Mr. Sprenger has introduced since his occupancy of the present homestead. While he carries on general farming, he also carries on a dairy business, which adds no inconsiderable amount to his yearly income. The products of his dairy are supplied from a fine grade of Jer- sey cattle.

Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sprenger, as follows: Zaida, who married O. L. Carey, a confectioner of Lebanon ; Winnie, the wife of James Fisher, superintendent of the poor farm : Wallace, a farmer in Linn county ; Mabel, the wife of R. Hoffleck, who also resides in the county ; and Clayton, Arzelia, Thelma, Ethel and Thomas, the latter five of whom are still at home with their parents. Mr. Sprenger is a member of the Grange, which he is at present serving in the capacity of assistant steward. In political affairs he upholds the man rather than the party, and is thus bound to neither party.

THOMAS W. POTTER. To Thomas W. Potter is due the distinction of being the only successful superintendent of the Chemawa In- dian School at Salem. At the time of his as- sumption of authority, in 1895, the school was in a demoralized condition, the attendance num- bered but two hundred, and all semblance of sys- tem or order had disappeared during the admin- istration of seven superintendents. At the pres- ent time the school enrollment is nearly eight hundred. To accommodate the increased attend-

ance eight or ten buildings have been erected, and the promoters have under immediate consid- . eration a large and modernly equipped structure to cost $25,000. All trades are taught in the in- stitution, and the little community, with its mul- tiplicity of interests, its air of industry, cleanli- ness, high moral tone, and general good fellow- ship, presents a spectacle of enlightened interest in the future of the red man cheering alike to the humanitarian, the statistician, and the stu- dent of sociology. Many graduates of the school are serving as teachers, housekeepers, cooks, governesses, seamstresses, bookkeepers, and kin- dred occupations, and many have developed suf- ficient means and independence to operate shops and farms of their own.

Mr. Potter was born in Ontario, Canada, De- cember 28, 1863. From his father, who was a minister in the Methodist Church, he inherited an appreciation of education, liberality of thought, and humanitarianism, and so well did he apply himself as a student, that he had gradu- ated at both the Hamilton Collegiate Institute and the Toronto Normal School before he was eighteen years of age. After a year of teaching in Canada he went to Texas and taught mathe- matics at Fort Worth University for a year, and experienced the novelty of cow-boy life on the plains of Texas and Indian territory for a couple of years. Thereafter he engaged in educational work at the Cheyenne school, and when Col. D. B. Dyer was agent of the Cheyennes and Arapa- hoes, he received his first regular appointment as a teacher in the Cheyenne school, in 1884, and has ever since been identified with the work of bettering the condition of the Indian. After leaving the Cheyenne school he taught for a year in the Arapahoe school. from 1886 until 1887 in the Kiowa and Comanche agency; from 1887 until 1889 was sub-agent at Cantonment, Okla .; for one year a teacher at the Carlisle Indian School; for one year a teacher at Fort Totten, N. D .; and from 1893 until 1895, was superin- tendent and acting agent of the Eastern Chero- kees, N. C.

As a relaxation from his responsibility Mr. Potter is interested in stock-raising, with which his early experience as a cow-boy made him very familiar. He is the owner of a profitable and large cattle ranch and farm in the Indian territory.

L. S. MORIN. At the base of the mountains, in the vicinity of Dayton, is the farm occupied for two years more than half a century by Mrs. Addison Darr, one of the best known women in Yamhill county. This property, well tilled, pro- ductive, and finely equipped, is necessarily asso- ciated with its original owner, L. S. Morin, than

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whom no more honored early settler braved the . dangers of the plains in '44.

Mr. Morin, the first husband of Mrs. Darr, was born in the state of Kentucky in 1819, his father being a very prominent politician of the Blue Grass region. The latter, who died in Cali- fornia at the age of ninety-five years, was the father of four children, none of whom is living at the present time. The son, L. S., remained in the home in Kentucky until 1844, and that year joined a train consisting of sixty or seventy wag- ons, under command of Captain Ford. Mr. Morin was accompanied by his step-brother, and was equipped with provisions and ox-teams, and on the journey encountered many experiences of a decidedly unpleasant nature. However, the party arrived in safety at the end of their long trip, Mr. Morin going direct to Yamhill county, where he took up a donation claim consisting of a section of land, on what is now known as the Salcm and LaFayette road, five miles north of Hopewell. Here he erected a small log cabin, and during 1847-8 was absent in the mining re- gions of California, returning to his claim in '49. His marriage at that time with Eleanor Chris- man was the outgrowth of a romantic attachment begun on the plains, Joel and Mary Chrisman, the parents of Mrs. Morin, being members of that band of home seekers. Mrs. Morin was born in Virginia, November 4, 1826.

Having became firmly established on the dona- tion claim, Mr. Morin took another trip down into California, but not experiencing success, soon afterward came back and resumed general farming operations on his farm. He was not destined to long enjoy the advantages by which he was surrounded, for his death occurred in 1856, while still in the prime of his manhood and greatest usefulness. Three children were born to himself and wife, of whom Josiah and John are still living with their mother, and Laban S. is a resident of McMinnville.

After the death of her husband Mrs. Morin continued to live on the home place, and in 1860 was united in marriage with Addison Darr, who was born and reared in Ohio, and who crossed the plains in 1852. Two children were born of this union, of whom Addison is living in Day- ton, and Ella is the wife of a farmer of this neighborhood. In 1888 Mr. Darr died, and since then his widow has lived on the same place, enjoying the same enviable reputation for hospi- tality which has characterized her whole life in Oregon. She is prominent in the Christian Church, which she joined as a young woman, and her influence has ever been exerted along educational and general improvement lines.

J. S. Morin, the oldest son in the family. and one of the prominent farmers in this county, is unmarried, and has passed his whole life with his

mother. He is enterprising and progressive, and a model farmer and manager. A Democrat in politics, he has never aspired to official recogni- tion, but has honestly cast his vote for the man rather than his political inclinations. Mr. Morin is a welcome member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has passed all of the chairs but that of treasurer, and he is also identified with the Eastern Star.

BRUNO G. BOEDIGHEIMER, who is the proprietor of the Club stables of Salem and a most successful liveryman, was born in Ottertail county, Minn., January 15, 1867. His father, who was also named Bruno, was born on the Rhine in Germany. The grandfather, who fol- lowed building there for some time, brought the family to America when his son, Bruno, was about five years of age. He located in Medina county, Ohio, where he followed carpentering and building, and his death occurred in that state. Bruno Boedigheimer, Sr., was reared in Ohio, learned the carpenter's trade in his youth and followed that pursuit in the Buckeye state until the fall of 1866, when he removed to Min- nesota, settling in Ottertail county, where he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land, to which he added by purchase until his farm comprised three hundred and twenty acres. This he placed under a very high state of culti- vation, became a prominent and prosperous farmer of that locality and eventually his landed possessions there aggregated one thousand acres. In 1882 he came to Oregon and for a year fol- lowed farming in Linn county, after which he purchased a farm near Stayton, there engaging in agricultural pursuits until his death, which oc- curred in November, 1902, when he was seventy- eight years of age. He was of the Catholic faith. His widow still resides on the old home place. She bore the maiden name of Mary Bau- haus and was born in Holland, on the German border. Her father died in the old country and when eighteen years of age Mrs. Boedigheimer came with her mother to America and was mar- ried in Medina county, Ohio. By this union there were seven sons and two daughters, of whom five sons and one daughter are yet living. The family record is as follows: Frank died in Salem, in 1901 ; Joseph and William follow farm- ing in Minnesota: Simon is living at the old home in Sublimity, Ore .: Bruno is next in order of birth: John and Enos are engaged in farming at Sublimity : Aurelia is a sister in St. Mary's convent : and Julia died in Minnesota.

Farm work early became familiar to Bruno Boedigheimer. He attended the public schools until ten years of age, after which his attention was entirely occupied with the labors of the

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fields, as he assisted his father in the improve- ment of the home farm in Minnesota and after- ward in Oregon. He remained under the pa- rental roof until he attained his majority, when he started out upon an independent business ca- reer, carrying on general farming on his father's land. While residing upon the old home place he purchased one hundred and sixty acres ad- joining and to the development and improvement of that place he devoted his energies with excel- lent success. In 1900 he purchased the Club livery stables from L. Miller, on Liberty and Ferry streets, and here has the largest barn in the city. He still superintends his farm and a part of his father's place, his business ability being manifest in the successful conduct of both departments of his business.

Mr. Boedigheimer was united in marriage in Sublimity to Miss Kate Fessler, who was born in Minnesota. They have seven children : Henry, George, Tillie, Mary. Julia, Aggie and William. In his political views Mr. Boedig- heimer is an earnest Democrat, but has never had either time nor desire to seek public office, his attention being fully occupied by his business interests.

EDWIN N. SHEDD comes of an old New England family, the forefathers having been na- tives of New Hampshire, where his grandfather, Silas Shedd, was born of English parentage. The father, William, was also born and reared in that state, later making his home in Illinois, where several of his children now live. For fur- ther information regarding his life refer to the sketch of S. L. Shedd, which appears on another page of this work.

Edwin N. Shedd was born in Alstead, Che- shire county, N. H., March 5, 1848, and was reared on his father's farm, attending the com- mon schools of the state until his removal in 1867 to Illinois. where, for two vears, he re- mained in Knox county. In 1869 he decided to trv his fortunes in the west, going first from his home in the middle west to New York city, where he took steamer to Panama, thence to San Francisco, landing at the last-named place in March of the same vear. Determined upon the life of a miner, he at once sought work of this nature, mining in both Trinity and Humboldt countv. Cal. In September of the same year he came to Corvallis, Ore., and engaged in a saw- mill. finding this employment lucrative for five vears, when he changed his location to Gardiner. Douglas county, and continuing there until 1876. when he returned east to visit the Centennial Ex- position. Thence he went to New Hampshire. enjoving a visit among the scenes of his child- hood. On his return to California he stopped in

Illinois. On his second arrival in the west he mined for a time at Weaverville, Trinity county, and later settled in Lewiston, where he engaged in prospecting and placer mining for nearly twenty-seven years, during which time he met with a gratifying success in his chosen work.

In December, 1902, he returned to Corvallis, Benton county, Ore., where his brother, S. L., makes his home, and has since continued to live with him. Fraternally Mr. Shedd belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows having been made a member November 29, 1870, of Barnum Lodge, No. 7, ot which he was noble grand in 1873. He is still a member here. He also be- longs to the Encampment in Albany, and to the Rebekahs. He belongs to the American Protec- tive Association and politically is a Republican.

S. N. LILLY was born December 18, 1830, in Oneida county, N. Y., the son of a farmer, who died when S. N. was quite young. The mother later married again, and at the age of fourteen years S. N. Lilly left the home roof to make his own way in the world. With an older brother he started toward the west, stopping for about seven years in the state of Illinois, at the close of which period he came to Oregon, crossing the plains by ox-teams, six months of the year being taken up in the journey. Beyond the hardships and pri- vations incident to life on the plains they came through without any trouble, arriving safely in Benton county, Ore., where they settled near Philomath, and there Mr. Lilly bought a farm and remained two years. At the close of that time he traded this place for one located in King's valley, making the latter his home for fifteen years, when he also traded that farm for the one where he now lives. His present posses- sion consists of four hundred acres, two hundred and fifty acres of which are under cultivation. The land adjoins Corvallis on the south, and he is now engaged in general farming and stock- raising, being also interested in hops and fruit, forty and fifteen acres, respectively, being de- voted to their cultivation.

In 1860 Mr. Lilly was united in marriage with Miss Lucinda A. Hardie, a native of Illinois, who crossed the plains with her parents in 1852, and of the union nine children were born, named in order of birth as follows: Sidi, deceased ; Les- lie, located in Roseburg ; Ora, the wife of W. C. Corbett. of Corvallis: Clara, the wife of W. W. Hall, of Salem: Frank, located in Lagrande, Ore .; Hettie, at home ; Mary, the wife of Will- liam Carver, of Minnesota; Arthur and Ruth, also at home with their father. In 1893 Mrs. Lilly died. Mr. Lilly takes an active part in politics, being an adherent of the Republican

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party. Fraternally he is a Mason, and he also belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

An interesting event in the life of Mr. Lilly was his enlistment under Captain Miller for services in the Cayuse war, and during his six- months service he took part in the engagement at Grande Ronde, where he suffered a wound and a broken arm. He was mustered out at The Dalles.

ARMAND L. WYNNE, M. D. During the last twenty years of his life, Dr. A. L. Wynne was connected with a medical and surgical prac- tice in Cottage Grove which not only placed him on a par with the most eminent and learned in the profession in Lane county, but which estab- lished his right to the title of one of nature's noblemen, well planned, well developed, extreme- ly cultured, humane and optimistic. The death of Dr. Wynne in 1883, at the age of fifty-four, and at the zenith of his power and usefulness, was a great shock to the community, the deepest regret being felt that so brilliant and forceful a man should succumb to work entailed by his supreme allegiance to a fascinating and exhaus- tive science.

Dr. Wynne was born in old Virginia, his father, John, being a native of the same state, and owner of a large plantation, still associated with a family which was numbered among the old aristocracy of an historic time. No less a distinguished center was the large farm in Dav- iess county, Mo., upon which John Wynne settled at an early day, taking with him into the practical wilderness the manners and graceful hospitality of the southern gentleman of culture and wealth. According to the light of his early and subsequent training he saw no error in maintaining a large retinue of slaves in both Virginia and Missouri, and his entire life was passed in an atmosphere suggestive of the feud- al, the leisurely and the hospitable. His son, A. L., was educated in Virginia, Philadelphia and St. Louis, Mo., and from earliest childhood evinced a liking for science, anatomy and medi- cine. He crossed the plains in 1864, more to see the country than from motives of economy, and located first at Grande Ronde valley, engag- ing in a professional practice for which he had specially qualified in Philadelphia. Soon after- ward he located in Cottage Grove, and that his prescriptions are still valued to the extent of being used by the drug stores in Cottage Grove argues well for his skill in diagnosis and treat- ment. A student always, and with a receptive, inquiring brain, he never tired of investigating the unexplored regions of medical and surgical science, with the result that few were more thor- oughly in touch with every phase of the broad

subject. He was well known in the social life of the county, and was identified with the Ma- sons and Odd Fellows, and with various pro- fessional associations. In politics he was a Democrat, and his religious home was in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which he was a member and active worker for many years.

In Grundy county, Mo., in 1863, Dr. Wynne was united in marriage with Sarah Ellen Per- kins, who was born in Garrard county, Ky., February 10, 1844, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Ellen (Thomas) Perkins, natives of Ken- tucky. At a very early day the grandfather, Ed- mond Perkins, established himself on a large plantation in Kentucky, where several of his chil- dren were born, and where he attained to great prominence in his neighborhood. He owned many slaves, and prospered exceedingly, his last days being spent among the opulence and plenty of his southern home. His son, Joseph, removed to Grundy county, Mo., with his wife in 1850, and there engaged in farming for several years, or until crossing the plains in 1864. He took up a claim in Baker county, later removing to the Willamette valley, while his death occurred in Cottage Grove, at an advanced age. His daughter, Sarah Ellen, was the fourth of the two daughters and five sons born into his fam- ily, and her life was quietly passed on the home farm until her marriage with Dr. Wynne.

For thirty-four years Mrs. Wynne has lived in the same house, sacred from its association with her comrade husband, and which was the first house to be built on this side of the town. She is happy in the thought that five of her six children have been spared to bear her occasional company, the oldest of these being Harry F. Wynne, of whom extended mention is made else- where in this work. Olivia, the oldest daughter, is the wife of Herbert Eakin, owner and pro- prietor of a store and banking establishment of Cottage Grove; Mabel is now Mrs. Merryman, of Spokane, Wash .; Orpah is the wife of James Benson, a druggist of Cottage Grove; Armand L. lives with his mother; and Joseph is de- ceased.

JOHN H. CLELEN was born in March, 1842, in Adams county, Ill., a son of Robert Clelen, an early settler and pioneer farmer in Illinois, who, with his wife and two children, in 1847. set out for the west with ox-teams, taking the old Barlow route. When the little party had nearly reached their journey's end the hopes that had buoyed them on during the previous months were saddened by the death of the wife and mother, who, when they had reached Molalla creek, was taken with measles. After burying

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their dead the father again took up the march, and on the forks of the Santiam river took up a claim of three hundred and twenty acres of rich bottom land, which he improved, and upon which he erected a log house. The year 1849, which is famous in history as the year of the discovery of gold in California, found Mr. Clelen making his way over the mountains to the gold fields. Two years later he returned to Portland by steamer, and from there went back to his farm. The uprising of the Yakima Indians, in 1855-56, called for the assistance of all the settlers in the vicinity, and Mr. Clelen took an important part in quelling the disturbances. In 1863 he again went to the Golden state, and after remaining in Contra Costa county for a time, went to Russian River, thence to Texas, where he engaged in farming, and where his death occurred in 1871.

The parental family comprised two children, of whom William died when he reached his fif- teenth year. John H. Clelen assisted his father in the management and care of the farm insofar as his strength permitted, and in the meantime gleaned a limited knowledge of the rudimentary studies in the district school. He accompanied his father on his second trip to California, in 1863, but the following year returned to Oregon, and has made his home here ever since. For two years he was employed in a saw-mill, but after his marriage settled on a farm in Linn county. Two years later, however, he established himself in the teaming business in Albany, at that time hauling goods from Portland, but later he en- gaged in the dray and truck business, following this for nine years. At the expiration of this time he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres near Plainview, Linn county, which is now rented to tenants, as is also another farm of the same size which he owns, located near Sodaville, also in this county.

The marriage of John H. Clelen and Miss Me- linda Young was celebrated in Albany, Ore., Mrs. Clelen being a native of Illinois. She was the only daughter of George W. Young, who came to Oregon in 1851 and lent his aid in the development of the state. He is still living, at the age of seventy-three years. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Clelen: Otto, who is an engineer in Albany: Benjamin, also in business here; and Edna, now Mrs. Rowlings, also a resident of Albany. The Democratic party claims Mr. Clelen as one of its adherents, and lie has served as a member of the city committee.

CATHERINE A. PERKINS was born on a claim almost within sight of Cottage Grove, Oc- tober 25, 1855. John Cochran, the father of Mrs. Perkins, was born in Kentucky, and from his native state removed to Missouri, from where

he brought his family across the plains in 1850. In his young manhood he married Lettie Kelly, a native of Tennessee, and who bore him seven children, two of whom were sons, and five of whom accompanied their parents on the west- ward trip. Mr. Cochran selected Lane county as a desirable and promising farming commu- nity, and near Cottage Grove took up a donation claim of a quarter of a section, where lie farmed and raised stock with considerable success. While attending court in Eugene as a juryman, he contracted a fever from which he died in 1858, at the early age of forty-one years. The wife, who survived him, and who eventually died in Cottage Grove, married for her second hus- band Samuel Dillard.

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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 233

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