Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 243

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 243

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ABRAHAM HACKLEMAN. The birth of Abraham Hackleman occurred near Rushville, Ind., July 29, 1829, his parents being Abner and Elizabeth (Lines) Hackleman, the latter a native of North Carolina. The father was one of the earliest settlers of Rush county, Ind., and later was in the vanguard of emigration to Des Moines county, Iowa, where he engaged near Burlington as a farmer. In 1845 he likewise be- came an émigrant to Oregon, crossing the plains with the customary ox-teams, remaining, how- ever, but one year, when he returned to Iowa by pack horses, his death occurring in the fall of the same year. Of the five children born to himself and wife, four came to Oregon, the three besides Abraham being John, who came in 1852, and died in Albany ; Margaret, who is now Mrs. Culver, of Eugene, Ore .; and Mrs. Estes, of Baker City. The mother also came across the

plains in 1852, and her death occurred in Baker City.

Abraham Hackleman was reared principally in Iowa, having removed there at the age of four years, and remained until he was eighteen. At that age, in the year 1847, he furnished a yoke of oxen and crossed the plains with a Mr. Burk- hart, leaving in April and taking the Barlow route over the old Oregon trail, having crossed the Missouri river at St. Joseph. After his ar- rival in Oregon City Mr. Hackleman came, in September of the same year, to the present site of Albany, where his father had located a dona- tion claim. He re-located the claim and at once erected a log house, this being the first in this vicinity. The next year found him en route for the mines of California, his trip across the moun- tains made exciting and dangerous by many en- counters with the Indians. The fall of the same year he returned to Oregon by water with sub- stantial fruits of his short time of labor. In the spring of the next year he again made the jour- ney south, but had the misfortune to be ill much of the time spent there, and after his return in the fall of '49, he engaged at once in farming and las since remained one of the representative farmers of the community. In 1850 he laid off seventy acres of land in the eastern part of what is now Albany, and which was known as Hackle- man's first addition, following this later with three more additions, including in all more than a hundred acres, which take in the portion of the city up to Baker street and the Southern Pacific depot. In addition to his property here he owns two other farms in the valley, and also three thousand acres of land comprising a ranch east of the mountains in Crook county, which has always been devoted to the raising of horses and cattle, the land being principally useful for hay and grazing. He has sold as many as nine hundred horses in one season, a very large num- ber even in this country of large productions.

The marriage of Mr. Hackleman occurred in Linn county, Ore., Miss Elenore Davis becoming his wife. Miss Davis crossed the plains in 1847, with her father, Truit Davis, of Missouri, who took up a donation claim two and a half miles out of the city. Mrs. Hackleman died in the Rogue river valley, while on a visit to that vicin- ity. She was the mother of five children, of whom Pauline is Mrs. Price, of Rogue river valley; Thurston is an attorney in Albany, and also engages in farming; Denver is a farmer lo- cated two miles out of Albany ; Josephine became Mrs. Irvine and died in Albany; and Frank A. is a stockman here. Some time after the death of his wife Mr. Hackleman married in Albany Mrs. Vira (Anthrom) Mckinnon, who had come from California to Oregon. In his political affili- ations Mr. Hackleman belongs to the Democratic

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party, and through that influence he has held various offices, having been county commissioner and a member of the city council. Always active in every public movement which promised an advancement of the interests of the state or community, Mr. Hackleman has assisted in sev- eral very notable enterprises, among them being the building of the military road across the moun- tains, and which he has served at different times as director and president, maintaining each posi- tion creditably for several years. He was also interested in the old Oregon & Pacific Railroad, and for four years served as director of the same. Mr. Hackleman is a member of the Christian Church, and certainly lives up to the tenets of his religion in his patient and contented philosophy, which has endeared him to the hearts of many who have enjoyed his friendship.

WILLIAM H. SMALL. The well known fact that towns and cities partake, as a whole, of the characteristics of the people comprising them, finds no less emphatic expression in coun- try communities, where distinguishing features are fewer and therefore more pronounced. As illustrating this thought it is a pleasure to call attention to the career of William H. Small, so long identified with Lane county, and whose as- pirations, ambitions, hopes and example, may be taken as typical of all that is worthy and of good report. Mr. Small is a prominent man in his neighborhood, not only as a successful farmer and stock-raiser, but because he has taught peo- ple that his word, his work, and himself are thoroughly to be depended upon; that his judg- mment is good, and that a generous regard for the rights and prerogatives of others underlies his most ambitious undertakings.

In Pettis county, Mo., where he was born February 17, 1837, Mr. Small was reared in an atmosphere of refinement and comparative af- fluence, for his father, Henry Small, was a large land owner and stock-dealer, and prominent in political, educational and social life. Henry Small was born in Tennessee in 1812, and at a very early day removed with his parents to Mis- souri, where he was reared, educated, and finally embarked upon an independent agricultural life. In 1835 he was united in marriage with Nancy Mosby, born in Kentucky, and of this union sev- eral children were born in Missouri. William H. was thirteen years of age when the family migration to Oregon took place in 1850, and in innumerable ways he made himself useful on the long and tiresome journey. They were on the road about six months, and on the way had sev- enteen horses and mules stolen by the Indians. Otherwise their journey was uneventful. They settled on a claim in Linn county, near Browns-

ville, for a couple of years, moving then to an- other claim upon a portion of which Cottage Grove now stands. The father lived to be sixty- three and the mother eighty-eight years old. They were people of refinement, large of heart and strong of purpose, nobly filling their obliga- tions in an enlightened and progressive com- munity.

With the exception of his sister, Mrs. Susan Ann Julian, of California, William Small is the only remaining child of the six born to his parents. Of a studious turn of mind, he im- proved the educational chances that presented themselves by attending the district schools dur- ing the winter, devoting his summers to assisting his father around the home farm. In 1861 he married Martha Ann Cooley, and their first home was on a claim adjoining the land where London has since been built. In 1878 Mr. Small pur- chased his present farm of four hundred and twenty-four acres, nine miles south of Cottage Grove, upon which he has made extensive im- provements, and converted into one of the best farming properties in the county. He raises Cotswold sheep, Durham cattle and Poland- China hogs, besides grain and general farm pro- duce. He is a Democrat in politics, and has held all of the minor offices, being particularly active as a member of the school board. Fraternally he is connected with the Grange, and has done much to promote the well-being of this helpful organization. His children are John T. and Henry, living on the old place; George A., en- gaged in farming on the home place; Robert C., farming near his father; and Nancy C., living with her parents.

FRANKLIN J. CHAMBERS. A native son of Oregon, Franklin J. Chambers was born in King's valley, Benton county, February 15, 1853, the son of Rowland and Louisa (King) Cham- bers, who came to Oregon in 1845, in company with Nehemiah King. In the spring of 1846 he came to King's valley and took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres, upon which he continued to make his home until his death in 1870. at the age of fifty-seven years. He married Louisa King, the daughter of Nehemiah King, and upon her death he married her sister. He was the father of the following children: Mar- garet Bagsley and James Chambers, both dead ; Sarah, who lives at Dayton, Ore., the wife of Mr. Watson ; William, who lives at Pullman. Wash .; Jackson, conducting a hotel at Canyon City, Grant county, Ore. ; John located in King's val- ley: Franklin J., the subject of this review ; Henry. in Pullman, Wash .: Ordelia, at Olex, Ore .; Samuel, in Pullman, Wash .; Lydia, the wife of H. T. Maxfield, of King's valley; Re-

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

becca, the wife of A. B. Alexander, of Corvallis, Ore .; Julia, the wife of L. G. Price, of King's valley ; and Lincoln, also of King's valley ; Annie and Alice, who died several years ago. Mrs. Louisa Chambers died December 3, 1889, aged sixty-three years.

Franklin J. Chambers was reared to manhood upon the paternal farm, receiving his education through the medium of the common schools in the vicinity of his home. Following close upon hiis twenty-first birthday he located on the farm where he now lives, having made this his home ever since. He has been very successful in his work, and has inherited much property, now owning three hundred and fifty acres of the home farm, and altogether seven hundred and fifty-five acres in King's valley, and a stock ranch in Polk county, consisting of fourteen hundred and eighty acres, upon which he raises cattle, horses, sheep, goats, etc.

Mr. Chambers was married in 1874 to Miss Emma Maxfield and they have made this their home ever since. In his political affiliations Mr. Chambers adheres to the principles of the Re- publican party, and through this influence he has held the position of county commissioner for eight years. Fraternally he is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding membership in King's Valley Lodge, No. 44, of Corvallis. Ore., in which he has passed all the chairs but one, also belongs to the Encampment. Religiously he is a member of the United Evan- gelical Church.

B. S. KELSAY, one of the best known ranch- ers on the Pacific coast, is a native son of Ore- gon. His birth occurred on a farm near Cres- well, Lane county, March 10, 1862, and he is the oldest of the ten children born to Burton and Euphrasia Ann (Gillis) Kelsay, natives of Wayne county, Ky., and Warren county, Mo., respectively. After many years of exceptional country activity, Burton Kelsay and his wife are living retired in Fossil, Ore., and have the satis- faction of knowing that eight of their thirteen children are living and in good circumstances, all but B. S. being residents of eastern Oregon. Bur- ton Kelsay was born September 15, 1833, and while in his teens removed from Kentucky to Missouri, where he married the daughter of George Gillis, now deceased. At the age of nine- teen, in 1853, he started across the plains with ox-teams and wagons, and after a six months trip took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres two miles southeast of Cres- well. A few years later he sold this property to Mrs. Fannie Eaton, and took his family to Lake county, Cal., engaging in general farming for cight years. Kelsayville, Cal., was named in

honor of his cousin. Returning to Lane county, he farmed again in the vicinity of Creswell, and in the spring of 1878 removed to Umatilla count- ty, where he engaged in the sheep business with great success. Feeling somewhat the infirmities of approaching age, he retired to Fossil, Ore., taking with him ample means to live in comfort and even luxury for the remainder of his days.

B. S. Kelsay was four years old when the fan- ily removal to California took place, and twelve when his parents returned and placed him in the public schools of Lane county. Accompany- ing the family to Umatilla county he remained. at home until the spring preceding his majority when he went to Sherman county with his brother, L. C., and engaged in a large sheep- raising industry. The brothers were destined for success as sheep raisers, and their brand, three perpendicular lines with the bar across the top, became a familiar one to the surrounding rangers. After a few years the brothers divided their profits, B. S. continuing on the same ranch, which is known far and near as the Jack Knife sheep ranch. At times he had as high as twenty thousand sheep at a time. In 1898 Mr. Kelsay located his family in Creswell, purchased back the old place from Mrs. Eaton, and also bought an adjoining farm, having at the present time twelve hundred acres in one body. This farm is located east of Creswell and on the banks of the Willamette river, and is devoted to cattle, sheep, Angora goat, horse and hog-raising. This is one of the finest stock farms in Lane county, being well equipped with buildings for the care of the stock, and with modern agricul- tural implements for general farming. In addi- tion, Mr. Kelsay owns about four hundred and forty acres in the Sherman county ranch, and has two hundred acres in wheat.

Mr. Kelsay purchased twenty acres of land in Eugene, between Fifteenth and Seventeenth and Hilliard and High streets, and laid the same out in fifty-two lots in 1902. This addition has built up faster than any addition in the city, and is all sold at present with the exception of the two lots occupied by Mr. Kelsay. An inducement to purchasers has been a deep well dug by the pro- moter, operated by a gasoline engine, and with a tank capacity of thirty-six thousand gallons. For the first three years after the first purchase, own- ers are privileged to use the water gratis, provid- ing they do their own piping to their homes. Needless to say, all have been glad to avail them- selves of this advantage, with the result that the addition is one of the best watered and most modern in this part of the state.

In Grant county, Ore., Mr. Kelsay was united in marriage with Eliza C. Gilchrist, who was born near Scio, Ore., a daughter of William Gilchrist, a pioncer of 1850. Seven children

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have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kelsay: Earl, Nona, Burt, Hazel, Charles, Ethel and Una. In politics Mr. Kelsay is a stanch Republican. He is a member of the Christian Church, and is fraternally identified with the Woodmen of the World; the Woodmen Circle; and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of Grass Valley.

JOSEPH G. POWELL. The science of agriculture in Lane county has been materially advanced by the efforts of Joseph G. Powell, who represents a pioneer name of dignity and distinction, and has built up a reputation of which any man might well be proud. Much may be attributed to the fact that Mr. Powell was reared in an atmosphere where the upright and honorable were fostered and encouraged. His father, Alfred Powell, was a minister of the gos- pel his entire active life, and in that capacity ac- complished an untold amount of good in Lane county. This pioneer of 1851 was born in Ohio, July 10, 1810, and while Illinois was yet a terri- tory, moved there with his parents, settling on a farm in Menard county, which had been the rov- ing place of the red man. From earliest youth Alfred Powell was religiously inclined, and when about twenty years of age he entered the minis- try which, combined with farming, constituted his lifework. In 1833 he married Sarah Bracken, who was born in Illinois, and of this union there were born two children, of whom James H. is deceased, and Alexander H. lives in the vicinity of Cottage Grove. His wife dying in January, 1837, Mr. Powell married for a second wife, Hannah Goble Sherell, who had removed several vears before from her native state of Ohio, to Illinois. Of this union five children were born, Mrs. Lucinda J. Davis and Joseph G., the latter born June 1, 1841, being the only survivors. With his little family Rev. Powell crossed the plains in 1851, and after a six-months journey he arrived in Linn county, taking up a claim seven miles southeast of Albany. A few years before his death at the age of seventy-one he went to live with his children in Albany, his latter days being spent in peace and retirement and surrounded by loved ones. His was an in- teresting and self-sacrificing life, his ambition to do good leading him into remote parts of the state, and placing him in immediate touch with all phases of existence. He was not one of the solemn, religious enthusiasts, but won souls with his brightness and kindliness, his happy faculty of looking on the best side of things, and his intense sympathy with the temptations and as- pirations of his fellow-men. In his younger days. he served in the Black Hawk war, and for meritorious service was elevated from private to the rank of a commissioned officer.

Joseph G. Powell was reared to farming, and lie continued to live on the old place after his marriage to Melissa A. Ramsey in 1862. In 1887 he purchased his present farm of two hundred and sixty-two acres, eight miles south of Cottage Grove, and which is a part of the old Rogers donation claim. He has added to his farm as his interests increased, and now has three hun- dred and eighty-two acres. Besides general stock, he raises Merino and Southdown sheep. The improvements are modern, the dwelling large and commodious, and barns and outhouses well constructed. To Mr. Powell farming is an occupation which demands study and continual advancement, and he is to be numbered among the influential and progressive men who are help- ing to maintain a high standard. Nine children have been born to himself and wife, of whom Emily, the wife of Stephen Overholser, lives in Washington; Nancy Overholser lives in London, Ore .; Charles is at home ; Maude married Levi Geer and lives in Lane county; Ida married Ernest McReynolds and lives at Divide, Ore .; George A. lives at home; Robert B .; Edwin W. and James H. Although never seeking office, Mr. Powell has held several of the local offices, and he is fraternally associated with the Grange, having held all of the offices in that organization. In the Christian Church, of which he has been a member since early manhood, he has always been a cheerful and earnest worker, contributing gen- erously towards its charities and general main- tenance.

ALEXANDER COOLEY. It is an easy matter to find the source of the strength of char- acter and solidity of manhood which distin- guishes Alexander Cooley, when one reflects that his mother was one of the few women who sought the west almost entirely upon her own responsi- bility, as none of her children had then attained maturity. Left a widow in 1843, and with a fam- ily to support, Mrs. Cooley gathered together her worldly goods and removed to Missouri as a better location than that of hier Virginia home, and prepared to rear her children among the broader opportunities of the middle west. In- duced at a later period to look favorably upon the advantages accruing from the long and dan- gerous journey which would take them over the remainder of the continent and into the great northwest, the family outfitted in 1853 and started across the plains with ox-teams. At the close of an unusually short journey, occupying but five months, they arrived safely in Lane county, Ore., and at once located on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres one mile southeast of Cottage Grove, upon which the mother died at the age of seventy-six years. This was a part of the

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G. C. Cooley donation claim and its improve- ment and cultivation at once became the most ab- sorbing interest for the young pioneers, and to the energy of the sons of this mother is due the greatly increased value of the property, the home site being one of the desirable ones in the vicin- ity, and the buildings a credit to a practical and progressive farmer.

Alexander Cooley was born in Grayson county, Va., January 10, 1835, and through the early death of his father, a farmer, he felt the necessity of assuming burdens which would not otherwise have been his. He remained with his mother throughout her residence in the middle west and the later one in Oregon, and through her management and ability he was enabled to gain a good education in the district schools in the neighborhood of their home. In 1865 he married Eliza Shields, a native of Indiana, who crossed the plains with her parents in 1851. Her death occurred in 1877, leaving a family of four children, of whom George is located in Paisley, Ore .; J. R. and Currin are both located on the home place ; and Juda, the wife of V. D. White, is living in the vicinity of her childhood's home. At the present time Mr. Cooley owns two hun- dred and sixty acres of land and carries on gen- eral farming and the raising of Cotswold sheep, Durham cattle and other stock. As a Democrat in politics he has never taken an active interest in political movements, though he has mani- fested his willingness to do his duty as a citizen through the faithful discharge of duties em- bodied in the various minor offices of the vicinity pressed upon him, and is in all ways public-spir- ited and interested in the welfare of the com- munity.

HON. ROBERT M. VEATCH. A man of inestimable worth for the good which he has accomplished in more than one avenue in a life of sixty years is the Hon. Robert M. Veatch, whose name is well known throughout the entire state, and especially in Lane county, where he has made his home since 1865. Besides taking an active and engrossing part in all public affairs of his community and state, he has had the entire care of a family of three children, having lost his wife February 28, 1885. through her attend- ance upon him when he had the measles while in the state legislature. With a judgment and devotion seldom found outside of maternity, the father took up the double burden of widowhood and the caring for his children, and has now given to the state two honorable sons and a daughter as citizens of the commonwealth which he himself helped to form. Every credit is due Mr. Veatch for the strong, sturdy strokes which he has given toward the upbuilding and growth

of the country, for the exemplary life which he has lived as a member of the community, and the respect and esteem of all men is given him.

The Veatch family traces its lineage back to the early history of the country when three brothers, Elias, Nathan and James, came from Wales, their native land, and became settlers in Alabama and North Carolina. The last named was the great-grandfather of Robert M. Veatch, and he was here married to Miss Rayner, in 1751, and removed then to North Carolina and later to South Carolina. He died in 1780, the father of eight children, the following sons serving in the Revolutionary war: Walter, Isaac, Elias, James, Amos, and Charles. Elias was born in North Carolina and served as a private in the Revolutionary war. As a farmer he removed to Illinois in 1820 and there his death occurred. His son, Isaac, was born in North Carolina, August 25, 1786, and when a young man he went to Georgia on business and there married, and after returning to his home he decided to locate in Tennessee, which move was afterward fol- lowed by one which took them into Illinois, whither the father had settled. He located near the present site of Enfield, White county, earn- ing his livelihood by the combined interests of farming and the running of a grist mill, and being also a cabinet-maker by trade. Late in life he came west to spend the remaining years of his life with his five sons in Oregon, making the trip about 1881 and dying in 1882 at the age of ninety-six years. In politics he was a strong Douglas man and also a great admirer of Lincoln, while in religion he was a very active member of the Presbyterian church. His wife was formerly Mary Miller, of Georgia, and she died in Davis county, Iowa, where the family passed a short time, afterward returning to Illinois.

Of twelve sons and four daughters born to his parents Robert M. Veatch was the youngest, and was born in White county, Ill., June 5, 1843. He was but two and a half years old when his mother died, and he therefore grew up without her care. He received his education in the com- mon schools of Iowa and Missouri, his teacher in the latter state being Senator Pfeffer, of Kan- sas. In 1864 he made the six-months journey across the plains with ox-teams, locating in Te- hama county, near Red Bluff, Cal., and the year following found him a resident of Lane county. Ore. He first made his home with a brother who lived near Cottage Grove, and in 1866 he entered the Eugene Academy, where he remained for one year, after which he spent a like period in the Willamette University, and in 1868 he en- tered the Oregon Agricultural College and was a member of the first class that graduated from that college, having then the degree of A.B. Mr.

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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 243

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