Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 240

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 240

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JOHN Q. VAUGHAN. In 1863 John Q. Vaughan bought his present property which con- sists of one hundred and seventeen acres located in the neighborhood of Coburg, Lane county, and since that time he has been energetically en- gaged in its improvement and cultivation, eighty acres of which are cultivated. He was born in Missouri, January 30, 1840, and came to Oregon in 1847 in company with his parents, who were seeking a home among the broader opportunities of the western states. He remained with his father until 1858, when he went to the mines in the hope of finding the fortune which awaited the miner. He continued in the same mines for a year, and in 1861 he went to Idaho, still con- fident of his ability to succeed, and time justified the faith in himself, for after a winter spent in the neighborhood of Salmon river, during which he experienced hardships and privations which proved his courage, he returned to Ore- gon with $6,000 as the result of his persever- ing work. January, 1862, found him once more located on the home place, and there he re- mained until 1870, when he married and went to the farm which he had purchased seven years earlier.

The wife of Mr. Vaughan was formerly Miss Flora Canterbury, and she died in 1895, the mother of four children, of whom Wilber is located in Coburg; Oma is the wife of L. P. Protzman: Eulia is the wife of A. C. Wheeler ; Strahan St. Clair, who is engaged in agricultural

pursuits with Mr. Vaughan. In political con- victions Mr. Vaughan adheres to the principles advocated in the platform of the Republican party, and fraternally affiliates with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.

MELVIN TAYLOR is now located on a little farm of sixty-six acres which is a very small part of what he once owned in various sections of the northwest, in a home in the vicinity of Coburg, Lane county, in which location he has lived since 1873.

The parents of Mr. Taylor, John and Eliza- beth (Murphy) Taylor, were both natives of Virginia, and it was in that state that they were married and from which they emigrated. They first located in St. Charles county, Mo., and later removed to Franklin county, where they made . their home until the spring of 1847, when they started across the plains, having three wagons, nine yoke of oxen and a few cows to carry them safely through and start them as agriculturists in that remote west, of which they had heard so much. Four children crossed with the parents on the six-months journey, and at its close the father located near Aumsville, Marion county, where he took up a donation claim of six hun- dred and forty acres, and made that his home until he removed to Aumsville, where he died October 26, 1870, at the age of seventy-six years. His wife died in February, 1874, at the age of seventy-eight years. Of their seven sons and two daughters two are now living, George W., of Halsey, and Melvin, who was born in Frank- lin county, Mo., January 22, 1829.

Mr. Taylor was eighteen years of age when he came to Oregon, and he remained at home until 1852, in that year visiting the mines of Jackson- ville. He was married also in that year and began farming on his place near Sublimity, the cleared land being the result of his own effort. He proceeded to improve and cultivate the land and made a nice little farm, upon which he re- mained for seventeen years, when he removd to Pitt valley, Shasta county, Cal., and spent a year. In 1870 he returned to Oregon and lo- cated near Harrisburg, Linn county, and in the fall of that year removed to near West Point for the period of a year. Locating in the Palouse country, Wash., in 1871. he and a son took up land and in the spring of '72 removed to Walla Walla, and in the fall of that year the family were taken north. Their stay was short, how- ever, for, in 1873. they were back in Lane county, and Mr. Taylor bought two hundred and eight- een acres located three miles from Coburg, and this remained their home for nearly a quarter of a century. In the fall of 1897 he sold out and

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went to British Columbia on a visit to a daugh- ter, returning in 1898 to his present home.

The wife of Mr. Taylor was, in maidenhood, Returning to Missouri in 1867, Mr. Hembree engaged. in farming until 1872, and then came to Oregon, selecting Lane county as a fertile and promising locality. For the first five years Serena McDonald, and much of their life was passed together. For twenty-four years Mr. Taylor has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics he is a . he rented land, and with the proceeds of the Democrat.

ISHAM N. HEMBREE. A meritorious ser- vice during the Civil war, the office of commis- sioner of Lane county worthily maintained, and agricultural and stock-raising undertakings of a practical and successful nature, have con- tributed to the broadening and all-around use- fulness of the life of Isham N. Hembree. Mr. Hembree owns a farm of three hundred and twenty acres twelve miles northwest of Eugene, where he carries on extensive stock-raising, his improvements being modern and labor-saving, and his residences and buildings on a par with the ideas of enterprise and progress.

Mr. Hembree is a farmer by inheritance, training and preference, and because of the lat- ter fact especially makes a success of his chosen occupation. He enjoys everything pertaining to the country, the industry, people, fresh air, and healthful living. In Dade county, Mo., where he was born August 24, 1838, his parents owned a good-sized farm, where he was trained to make himself useful, and attended the pub- lic schools during the winter season. His father dying when he was four years old, at the age of sixteen he started to earn his living on the farms of the surrounding families in Dade county, and was thus employed by the month at the breaking out of the Civil war. It is doubtful if the call to arms received such ardent response from any class of people as it did from the toilers in the fields of the country, the ar- duous toil from one end of the year to the other bringing in its train a longing for diversion or change, even at the risk of life. In 1861 Mr. Hembree enlisted in the Confederate army in Missouri, and in 1862 re-enlisted in the Mis- souri Cavalry, as a private in the Trans-Miss- issippi Department. Participating in the battles of Wilson Creek, Pilot Knob, Little Rock, Springfield, and many others of a momentous nature, he was wounded in his first battle, thus carrying through the remainder of his ser- vice a correct idea of the grim and terrible side of warfare. After the surrender at Shreveport, La., he continued to live in Louisiana for a couple of years, and this ended his experiences in the south, the only bright memory of that time being of the fact that he won the rank of first lieutenant of Company I, Sixth Missouri Cavalry, thus establishing his claim of valor and

disinterested devotion to the cause he then deemed just.

enterprise saved sufficient to make a trip to Mis- souri in 1877, and upon his return in 1880 to purchase his present farm. The next.year, in 1881, he married Tena Gibson, of which union there have been born four children: Linna S .; Louie ; Eugenia; and Itha. While not a politi- cian in the generally accepted sense, Mr. Hem- bree has held a few local offices, and has served as a county commissioner for a year and a half, appointed thereto to fill an unexpired term. He is essentially a religious man, and is a member and active worker in the Fern Ridge Christian Church.

AMOS WILKINS. Want of ambition, or ability to forge to the front under even trying cir- cumstances, are failings which can never be laid at the door of Amos Wilkins. To his neighbors near Coburg, he represents the type of farmer and stock-raiser who would do credit to any community in the country, and who is just such a man as is needed to carry on the work of devel- oping Oregon. Mr. Wilkins has the advantage of being a native son, and he was born on his father's donation claim not far from where he now lives, April 13, 1853.

Mr. Wilkins was fortunate in having educa- tional opportunities beyond the reach of the average farm-reared youth, and after completing the training of the public schools he attended the Monmouth Normal College and De France & White Business College at Portland. An apt student, he made the most of these chances, a statement borne out in his conversation and wide range of information. Thirty-one years had passed over his head when his marriage occurred July 4, 1884, with Varian V. Babb, a native daughter of Oregon, and one of the children in the family of A. J. Babb, an early settler of this state. Soon after the ceremony the young people located on their present farm, which at that time had some improvements, since added to materially by the present owners. Two and a half miles north of Coburg. the farm consists of six hundred acres, and is devoted to high-grade stock, including Durham and Hereford cattle, thoroughbred driving horses, and Duroc hogs. Nor does this represent the extent of Mr. Wil- kins' possessions in the state, for with his brother, Jasper, he has purchased a ranch of two thousand four hundred acres in Linn county, and this also is the scene of a large

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stock-raising industry. Like the typical stock- man, wherever found, Mr. Wilkins has a warm place in his heart for a good horse, and he is perhaps one of the best judges of this noble beast to be found in the county. He has the best possible facilities for caring for his stock, essarily commands large prices in the markets, The Wilkins' home is cheery and bright, and education and refinement are noticeable in the children, Welby M., Juanita B., and Warren. The genial head of the house is popular and successful from a business and social stand- point, and is a welcome visitor at Coburg Lodge No. 263, of the Woodmen of the World. Chicago Homeopathic College in Chicago. He has always treasured a kindly feeling for his preceptor, Dr. Hart, of Ontario, Wis., under whose efficient and kindly guidance he laid the solid foundation for his subsequent extensive re- searches. Graduating at an unusually early age, and the latter being of superior grade, he nec- . and in such manner as to indicate more than average scholarship, he began to practice medi- cine in Wisconsin, and removed to the less tried conditions of Roseburg, Douglas county, Ore .. in 1878. Without money or influence, he began in a small way to make his professional influ- ence felt, and gradually became known as a humane, kindly and successful practitioner, main- taining the highest standards of a profession which furnished such splendid outlet for his creditable ambition. For eight years he minis- tered to the sick in the community, becoming a necessity in many homes, and the stanch friend and wise counsellor of those who placed their faith in him.

DR. J. F. W. SAUBERT. The river indus- tries of Oregon, without which this state had proceeded laboriously towards an infinitely post- poned prosperity, might, in their incipiency, fur- nish the theme for many a life-story, as they have supplied the foundation for many a for- tune. The opening up of the waterways of the northwest, the rousing from singing idleness and loitering between timbered banks, to a semb- lance of usefulness and activity, might well be considered the first step towards anything of moment in the industrial world in the state. The Siuslaw, now a hive of industry, has its pioneer sojourners, its practical economists who turned its motive power to latter-day account, and revo- lutionized the wooded stillness along its course. Of these, none have arisen in time of need with surer or keener insight that Dr. J. F. W. Sau- bert, projector of the first saw-mill on the banks of the Siuslaw, also of the first general mer- chandise store, and of Acme, promising and thrifty among her sister towns of Lane county.

The traits of character which have enabled Dr. Saubert to accomplish his ends unaided are unquestionably those of the high-class German people, and which are welcomed as fundament- ally strong and resourceful in any country in the world. Born in Bavaria, Germany, February 26, 1835, he comes of a long-lived family on the paternal side, his grandfather, Saubert, and his father, Carl, both born in Bavaria, living to the ages of ninety and eighty respectively. His wife dying when his son; J. F. W., was five years of age. Carl Saubert continued to farm in Ba- varia until 1844, and after his marriage with Christine Glassell, brought his family to Amer- ica, locating on new land in Jefferson county. Wis. Since his death in 1896, his wife has con- tinued to live on the old place in Wisconsin. weoffices of school trustee and clerk. Various fra- The three children in the family, of whom Dr Sanbert is the oldest, were primarily educated in the public schools. The latter received his professional training in Wisconsin and at the

Regretted by a large following in Roseburg, Dr. Saubert came to the Siuslaw river, and more than any other in this section had to do with the founding of the town of Acme, which he named and promoted with his many undertak- ings. Purchasing a large tract of timber land he engaged in logging and lumbering, erected the first saw-mill which awoke the echoes in the timber land, and materially changed the char- acter of the entire surrounding country. This first structure outliving its usefulness, and fall- ing behind in the race for improvement, a new mill was erected in 1897, steam machinery being placed in it in 1901. Nothing busier or noisier dots the landscape for many miles around than this mill, which works the year around at manu- facturing general mill supplies, and which has a capacity of from twenty-five to thirty-five thousand feet per day. Up the river is the mill's logging crew, which operated on different sec- tions of the mill-owner's tract of fifteen hundred acres. As in all milling localities, the general merchandise store, with its incentive to friendly intercourse and sociability, is a necessity, and to this Dr. Saubert gave his attention when he first arrived. The mill and store and continuous practice are monuments to the untiring energy and resource of one of the most honored pio- neers of Lane county, and it is not strange that his name is a household word, carrying with it an impression of rugged simplicity, substantiality and worth. In connection with the store he has served as postmaster for thirteen years, and though independent in politics. has filled also the

ternal organizations profit by his membership, including the Independent Order of Odd Fel- glows and the Ancient Order of United Work- men, in both of which he has passed all of the

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chairs. He became a charter member of the Odd Fellows at Viola, Wis.

In Wisconsin Dr. Saubert was united in mar- riage with Anna Dejean, of which union there were born four sons, of whom George lives in Spokane, Wash., and Charles, Thomas and Frank are residents of Acme, the last two being members of the mercantile firm of M. E. Sau- bert & Co. A second marriage was contracted by Dr. Saubert in Roseburg in 1879, Mary Tay- lor being a native of Illinois, and an early comer to the state of Oregon. Four children have been born of this union, of whom Irma is the wife of Grant Earhart, of Acme, and Ray, Roy and Lloyd are living in the same town. As one of the stalwart founders of a flourishing com- munity, as a man who has accomplished more good through his professional and humanitarian services than will ever be known, and as an example of inflexible integrity, public spirited- ness and keen insight into the needs of commun- ities, Dr. Saubert deserves to rank with the adopted sons of whom Oregon is and will con- tinue to be proud.

JOHN SUTHERLAND. The talents of John Sutherland have been so varied in char- acter that more than one occupation has felt the impetus of his strong and practical ideas, the ful- fillment of which has benefited more than one community, for he has been a pioneer in several of the western states. He was born in Newton county, Mo., December 27, 1846, the descendant of a line of ancestry which had been prominent in the advancement of the country's interests. His grandfather was a captain of a battalion of artillery in the war of 1812, in which he served his country efficiently. His son, the father of John Sutherland, was born and reared to the life of a farmer in Dutchess county, N. Y., and re- mained there until attaining manhood, when he removed to Indiana. In the latter state he mar- ried Elizabeth Copple, and in 1844 they removed to Missouri, where he followed the trade of a cooper. The father lived to be sixty-four years of age while the mother died at fifty-four.

John Sutherland was one of nine children born to his parents, and he remained at home until attaining manhood. Besides the education which he received in the common schools of the state, he learned tlie trade of engineer, which he followed successfully for about ten years, about 1872 leaving his location in Missouri and remov- ing to Tehama county, Cal. This was his home for a year. He then located in Modoc county, and in 1874 went to Prescott, Ariz., where lie re- mained two years. A like period was spent in Maricopa county, of that territory. In 1878 he located in Idaho and passed the ensuing six

years. While on the route back to California he stopped for a short time in Jackson county, Ore. Six years were passed in California. In 1891 he came to Brownsville, Linn county, and the same winter purchased a ranch of eighty-six acres near London, Lane county, which he still con- ducts. In 1898 he established the first store in this place, which he has successfully conducted since then in partnership with Mr. Geer, the firm name being Sutherland & Geer. It was through his influence that a postmaster was appointed here, which position he fills acceptably. In ad- dition to the work which he now carries on, he has been an ordained minister in the Church of Christ for twenty years and fills the pastorate in London. In Fort Scott, Kans., he learned the trade of a wagonmaker. Having a talent for music, he cultivated it, and taught for several years.

The marriage of Mr. Sutherland occurred in 1867, and united him with Nancy J. Bowring, a native of Kentucky, a member of an efficient family, two of her brothers being school teachers and two ministers of the gospel. Twelve chil- dren have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland, of whom Martha Alice became the wife of J. L. Henderson, and lives in California ; William L. also resides in that state; Nora mar- ried L. J. Henderson, and is located in this vi- cinity ; George F. is also in this vicinity ; John A. is in California ; Maggie M. married J. W. Doak and makes her home near that of her parents; Rose D., who became the wife of H. B. McBee, also lives near ; Emma lives with her parents and acts as assistant postmaster, and Amanda M. E., James G., Charles H. and Bessie are also at home. In religious matters Mr. Sutherland is associated with the Church of Christ. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, through the influence of which he has served as justice of the peace and a member of the school board.

JAMES H. SHORTRIDGE. There are few self-made men who are obliged to start upon their independent careers as early as ten years of age, yet such was the case with James H. Short- ridge, whose place among the state builders of the west is undisputed, and is based upon a well directed and successful life. From time imme- morial an interest has centered around the black- smith. Mr. Shortridge is a master workman, his little shop on his farm six miles south of Cot- tage Grove, being a very busy place. He took up his present farm in 1853. and at that time had three hundred and twenty acres.

The better to trace the career of Mr. Short- ridge, it is necessary to go back to the farm in Tippecanoe county, Ind., where he was born July 18, 1831, and which had been taken up by his

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grandfather as government land at a very early day. With the grandparents on their overland journey to Indiana went their son, Samuel B., who was born on the home farm in Bourbon county, Ky., in 1798, and who while yet a boy was apprenticed to a blacksmith, and followed the trade in connection with farming for the greater part of his life. He was a relative of Daniel Boone, the great American explorer and colonizer, and used to hunt with his illustrious kinsman, for he was twenty-two years old before the latter's death. Mr. Shortridge married Em- ily A. Heath, a native of Kentucky, and from Indiana moved to Iowa, thence to Illinois. His son, James H., having preceded him to the west in 1851, he set out the following spring with ox teams, and accomplished the long distance in safety and comparative comfort. He came at once to Lane county, Ore., and took up a claim seven miles south of Cottage Grove, upon which he lived a few years, after which he made his home with his son, James H., until his death. He was quite an active politician, and was a firm believer in good schools, good roads and good local government. He took a keen interest in church affairs, and in this was seconded by the wife whom he married in his youth, and who died before he came to the west. Three of his seven children are living, James H. being the old- est. William W. lives near the old place, and Mrs. Caroline D. Stewart is a resident of Goshen.

Beginning with his tenth year James H. Short- ridge worked in a nursery, and after some years returned home and learned the blacksmith trade of his father. From Millersburg, Ill., he started across the plains March 13, 1851, and five months later, after a comparatively pleasant journey, reached Lane county, Ore., and took up a claim of three hundred and twenty acres six miles south of Cottage Grove. March 13, 1853, he married Amelia S. Adams, who was born in In- diana, and crossed the plains in 1852. Mrs. Shortridge entered with zest into the making of a home in the comparative wilderness, and the little house took on a semblance of genuine com- fort and cheer. Naturally, Mr. Shortridge wished to make use of his trade, and erected a shop on the farm, it being the first, and for many years the only one in the neighborhood. For many years the entire ranch was used for farm- ing and stock-raising, the genial owner respond- ing to calls at his shop and gaining a reputation for expert workmanship. Twice fire has caused Mr. Shortridge great loss. First his barn and all its contents were destroyed, including grain, lumber and farming implements. About ten years later his home was burned, while in June, 1858, their four-year-old baby girl was burned to death, These great losses have made it neces-

sary for Mr. Shortridge to sell a portion of his farm, so that he now owns one hundred and fifty- nine acres, eighty being under cultivation.

Republican politics have profited by the sup- port of Mr. Shortridge, who has held many posi- tions of trust in the community, and has invari- ably labored for the best interests of those who placed him in power. For several terms he served as deputy sheriff, and during a part of that time his responsibilities were arduous and exact- ing. He is a member of the Christian Church, supporting the same with his attendance and financial help. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Shortridge, four of whom are living: Franklin B., of California; Rosetta be- came the wife of J. W. Harris, of Eugene; Alice married first, J. P. Langdon, and for her second husband married John Weeden, of Ne- braska ; and Olive S. married first, F. M. Jones, of Portland, and after his death became the wife of S. M. Lacey, of Portland. Mr. and Mrs. Shortridge have eleven grandchildren and one great grandchild.

WILLIAM HAMILTON was born in Jeffer- son county, Ind., January 10, 1836, and is the fourth child of the three sons and two daughters born to Forgus and Matilda (Wood) Hamilton, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia. The family was established in Pennsyl- vania by the paternal grandfather, who came from Ireland at a very early day. From Penn- sylvania Forgus Hamilton moved to Ohio, and from there to Jefferson county, Ind., his death occurring in Jennings county, Ind. Limited educational opportunities did not dwarf the early ambitions of William Hamilton, who learned more from observation and practical experience, than do most in many years of application to books. In 1851 he crossed the plains in a cara van train bound for Oregon, and for ten years mined and prospected in Jackson and Josephine counties, in the spring of 1861 making his way to the Orofino mines in Idaho. In the fall of the same year he went to southern Oregon, bitt spent the winter of 1861-2 in the Salmon river basin in the mines of Florence, Idaho. In 1864 he bought pack-animals and engaged in packing from Lewiston to the Salmon river district and Elk City, and afterward to Walla Walla and the Boise Basin. In 1864 he returned from this pio- neer experience to the Willamette valley, after- ward visiting the mines in the summer of 1865, since which time Lane county has been his home. His first farm here bordered on Lake creek, twenty-five miles west of Junction City, and con- sisted of one hundred and sixty acres of land which he lost. He later took up one hundred and twenty-nine acres near his original farm,

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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 240

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