Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 245

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 245

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JABEZ HICKSON AKERS. When Jabez Hickson Akers came to Oregon, in 1874, he bought half a block of ground at Junction City, and has since made his home in the residence erected thereon. Until 1897 he engaged in farm- ing on sixty-seven acres of land northwest of the city, but has since rented his land and is now living a comparatively retired life. Mr. Akers is the representative of an old New England family, established in New Jersey by his pater- nal great-grandfather, and in Pennsylvania by his grandfather, Uriah. His father, Jesse, was born in Pennsylvania, as was also his mother, Rachel (Hickson) Akers. On both sides of the family are memoirs and records of the very early days of the Keystone state, the Hickson family dating its residence there to the time when the settlers were obliged to build block- houses in which to live for protection. Timothy Hickson was one of the earliest emigrants, and his agricultural footsteps were followed by his descendants, many of whom to-day till the well worn farms of Pennsylvania. Jesse Akers farmed for many years in Pennsylvania, and took all his family excepting his son, J. H., to Iowa in 1865, settling in Buchanan county, but later returning to his native state, where he lived near the old home place until his death at the age of about fifty years. He was prominent in the general affairs of his neighborhood, and among other political offices held that of justice of the peace for several years. There were five children in his family, three of whom were sons, Jesse being a resident of Pennsylvania, and Timothy having died in Altoona in the summer of 1903.

The necessity for hard work in his youth in- terfered somewhat with the education of Jabez H. Akers, yet in after years he applied himself to making up for early deficiency, and became a

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well informed man. When about twenty-five years of age he engaged in independent farming in his native state, and, in 1854, located in Bn- chanan county, near Independence, Iowa, pur- chasing one hundred and sixty acres of land. In 1874, as heretofore stated, he came to this state, bringing with him his wife, whom he married in Pennsylvania, and who was formerly Beulah Wink, daughter of Jacob Wink, the lat- ter the owner of a two-hundred-acre farm. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Akers, two of whom are living: Lucinda, wife of William Edwards, of Drain, Ore .; and Te- resa, wife of George A. Young, of Snohomish, Wash. Mr. Akers is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a man of sterling characteristics, of sound business judgment, and above all a man of whom his many friends and associates speak in the highest possible terms.

JUDGE CHARLES E. MOOR. Among the earlier members of the bench in Oregon may be mentioned Judge Charles E. Moor, who in more recent years has served in the state legislature, and who almost continuously since 1866 has lived on his present large farm near Corvallis. For the first six years of his life Judge Moor lived in Salem, N. Y., where he was born April 13, 1823, and where his father, John Moor, was also born. The elder Moor married May Davis, a na- tive of Vermont, and settled in the Green Moun- tain state when his son was six years of age. Here the youth grew to manhood on a farm, and received his education in the public schools and at a neighboring academy.

Judge Moor's career of self-support began with his eighteenth year, when he entered the woolen mills, and at the end of three years found employment in the cotton mills of Lowell, Mass. In 1851 he decided to go west and seek a more rapid means of promotion, so boarded a steamer called the Empire City at New York, fellow-passengers with him being Chief Justice Nelson and Surveyor General Preston, as well as other United States officers of prominence. From the Isthmus of Panama the travelers came to San Francisco on the trial trip of the Colum- bus, just out of the docks, and upon reaching his destination Mr. Moor went at once to Oregon, locating in Milwaukee. From there he walked all of the distance to Oregon City, and after spending a couple of months there went up the river to Polk county. Here he engaged in school teaching at Bridgeport for several years, and in the meantime purchased a man's right to a claim of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he lived until 1862. In 1857 he married Marjory J. Johnson, and continued to teach and farm in-

termittently until elected county judge in 1862. During his four years of service he lived in Dal- las most of the time, and after finishing his term moved to the farm where he now lives, and which consists of three hundred acres, five miles north of Corvallis on the Southern Pacific rail- road. Here he has engaged in farming and stock-raising, and has made many fine improve- ments, owning one of the really fine and valuable properties in Benton county.

Always a stanch Republican, Mr. Moor was elected to the legislature in 1891, and during his term of service acceptably represented his dis- trict, proving himself an astute and forceful up- holder of the best interests of those who had honored him with their trust. Judge Moor has been identified with the Odd Fellows for sixty years. He is a stanch advocate of higher edu- cation, and has given his children every advan- tage in his power. Arthur J., the oldest son, is a rancher near Sprague, eastern Washington; John died while young; Hiram, deceased in 1902, was educated at the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvallis, and subsequently practiced law at Stephenson, Wash .; and Percis J., the wife of George Lindeman, living on the home farm. Judge Moor is one of the substantial and highly honored members of the community of Benton county, and his participation in many of its affairs has been a highly creditable and help- ful one.

FRANK KNOWLES. Although not one of the earliest settlers of Lane county, Frank Knowles possesses many pioneer characteristics, not the least of which is perseverance and indus- try, and can adapt himself to all circumstances. The farm of one hundred and seventy acres discernible through the trees on the opposite side of the river from Mapleton, is a fair sample of agricultural excellence as developed in this part of the county, and the genial and successful owner has every reason to be proud of his achievements. About thirty acres of river bot- tom land have been cleared and are under cul- tivation, and besides general farming and stock- raising. Mr. Knowles utilizes his heavily tim- bered land for logging purposes, during the win- ter season.

A native of the vicinity of Danborough, N. H., Mr. Knowles was born November 2, 1854. a son of E. C. and Lucinda (Atwood) Knowles, with whom he removed to Hastings, Minn., when he was three years old. Here the father em- ployed his time in farming and the carpenter's trade, two years later removing to Rice county, Minn., where he remained until coming to Ore- gon in 1885. Frank Knowles was educated principally in Rice county, Minn., and with his

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father learned carpentering and general farm- ing, developing into a strong and rugged youth. In 1876 he came to California, and from Novem- ber, 1876, until May, 1878, lived at Chico, and worked at the carpenter's trade. At San Fran- cisco he boarded the steamer Empire City and came to Coos Bay and from there made his way to the Siuslaw, river, still later coming to his present farm which he reached June 9, 1878. Purchasing a squatter's right to an unsurveyed tract of one hundred and forty-two acres, he in time added to his land, and the present farm is the result.

Independent in politics, Mr. Knowles has been a member of the school board for three years, and road supervisor for two years. He is a member and past master of the Grange. In January, 1878, he married, in Marysville, Cal., Elizabeth B. Morton, a native of Nova Scotia, born March 1, 1856. Of this union five chil- dren are living, of whom Mabel is the wife of Joseph Slemons and lives on a farm adjoining that of her father, while Rosa and Ruth are liv- ing at home.

SWEET BROTHERS. Three young men, of practical, clear-cut methods and forceful characteristics, are left to represent the name of Sweet, which was that of one of the early pio- neers of Oregon, and for many years a resident of Lane county. The sons, Wallace G., Cecil Z. and Marion J., now own three hundred and twenty acres of land in the neighborhood of Point Terrace, Lane county, upon which they have put all the improvements and the intelligent cultivation which have placed their property in the front rank of land-owners in this section of the valley. They are now engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and also exert their energies in the fisheries during the fall of the year, and carry on some logging, all eager to fin- ish honorably and profitably the work which their father undertook as a pioneer.

The father, Z. T. Sweet, is well remembered among the old pioneer element of the country, for he took part in many of the movements which voiced the sentiment of the citizens and advanced the cause of civilization in the west, being the first man in Lane county to raise the flag of the country, for which they were willing to undergo all the hardships and privations in- cident to the settlement of a new state, and he also raised the first flag in the state of Wash- ington. Mr. Sweet was born in Pittsburg, Pa., November 2, 1815, and when a young man he started toward the western states, becoming a house-builder and contractor in Ohio. From that state he emigrated to Knox county, Ill., and there met and married Maria Stephens, who was

born near Montreal, Canada, September 12, 1819, a representative of a Scotch-Irish family, a member of which served in the war of 1812 and participated in the battle of Lundy's Lane. The young people remained in Illinois until 1845, when they outfitted for the trip across the plains, having three yoke of oxen and necessary sup- plies. They joined a train composed of one hun- dred wagons and set out upon the journey which was destined to be full of danger and hardship, and fraught with the perils incident to such an undertaking. Undertaking to shorten the jour- ney by Meek's cut-off, they passed through many perils and nearly starved to death before reaching their destination. They were six months in reaching Oregon, and only seven of the wagons remained together. The first winter in the west was spent in Oregon City and they continued to make that their home until the fall of 1848, when the father went to California and became interested in the future of that fair state. In the spring of the following year the family removed to the south and the father continued to engage in mining until the spring of 1850, when he returned to Portland, having met with gratifying success in his venture. The same year he located a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres two miles east of Eugene, Lane county, and engaged in the less strenuous life of a farmer until 1857. Disposing of his prop- erty he once more removed to California, pur- chasing a farm in Sonoma county, where he remained for two years, becoming a resident of Eugene at the expiration of that time, where he engaged in mercantile business. In the fall of 1859 he returned to California, and three years later returned to Oregon and went to the Salmon river mines, his family being left in the city of Eugene. After five months he went to Grande Ronde and remained for two years.

Upon again locating in Eugene Mr. Sweet re- mained until 1866, when he removed to Yaquina Bay, and made that the home of the family for a year, and then became residents of Davisville, Cal. In the fall of 1869 the family returned to Illinois on a visit, where they remained for five years, at the end of which time they again settled in their last home. In the fall of 1875 they re- turned to Eugene, and remained until in No- vember, 1878, when Mr. Sweet took up one hundred and sixty acres of land located five miles southwest of Mapleton, of this county, upon which his death occurred, in September, 1892, the mother also dying here. Of the four sons born to them, the oldest is Wallace G., who was born in Knox county, Ill., October 14, 1843, and received his education in the public schools of Eugene; he remained with his parents throughout their life and since their death has made his home upon this place. The second son

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was William, the first white child born in Sacra- mento, Cal .; the third son is Cecil Z., who was born in Lane county, Ore., two miles east of Eugene, January 20, 1854, his education being also received in the schools of that city; the youngest son was Marion J., who was born at Petaluma, Sonoma county, Cal., in 1860, his education being received through the medium of the schools of Illinois while his parents were visiting old scenes. He affiliates with the Wood- men, holding membership with the lodge at Acme. Politically they are in accord, all stanch adherents of the principles of the Democratic party, Marion J. Sweet having served as road supervisor in the interests of the party.

ELI BANGS was born February 15, 1851, in ¿ Hillsdale county, Mich., near the city of Hills- dale, where his father, Smith Bangs had settled as a pioneer farmer. The father subsequently lived in Minnesota for a few years, and then re- moved to Page county, Iowa, where he was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until his death. His wife was born in New York state, and died in the fall of 1852. She bore her husband six children, five of whom are living, and one of them, H. M. Bangs, served in the Civil war as member of an lowa regiment.

Being left motherless when but eighteen months of age, Eli Bangs was bound out to a Michigan farmer when a small boy and was forced to work hard, with no school ad- vantages. At the age of eleven years he struck out for himself, going to Page county, where he worked on his brother's farm for three years. From 1865 until 1868, he was in the employ of freighters on the plains, running a mule train

from Nebraska City to Julesburg, Colo., mak- ing several trips each year. The Indians were at that time very troublesome, but he had no serious encounter with them, although he was but two days behind the massacre at O'Fallon's Bluff. The ensuing two years he was employed in breaking prairie, under contract, in Page county, Iowa. Going to Ottawa, Franklin county, Kans., in 1870, Mr. Bangs engaged in teaming in that locality for a few years, and then drove a stage from that city to Osage City, la. In connection with his stage route, he sub- sequently started a livery, and also carried on a large business in buying and shipping horses and mules to the St. Louis and Kansas City mar- kets.

Disposing of his interests in Ottawa in 1884, Mr. Bangs located in East Portland, Ore., where, on May 15, 1884, he opened a livery. On Sep- tember I, of that year, he moved his stock to Eugene, Ore., establishing his business in a small barn ahout three blocks east of his present site.

On November 1, 1884, he purchased the barn at the corner of Willamette and Ninth streets, where he remained until 1886. Buying then one- fourth of the block at the corner of Ninth and Olive streets, he erected his present large barn, 160x160 feet, and has since carried on a very extensive and lucrative business. In the busy season he keeps about one hundred horses, and employs twenty hands to assist him. His large feed and sale stable is without doubt the most commodious livery barn in the Willamette val- ley, if not in the state of Oregon. He is also in- terested in a livery business at Cottage Grove, being in partnership with Scott Chrisman as junior member of the firm of Chrisman & Bangs, which in addition to its large livery busi- ness owns and operates a stage route from Cot- tage Grove to the Bohemia mines, a distance of forty-five miles. Mr. Bangs also owns consid- erable timber land, and is proprietor of Bangs Park, which contains eighty-four acres of land, lying about one-half mile from Eugene, where he has a five-eighths-mile track, used for racing and driving purposes. He is largely engaged in buying and selling horses, dealing in draft and carriage horses, shipping them to the coast mar- kets.

Mrs. Bangs, whose maiden name was Irene Wilson, was born in Ohio. By his first mar- riage, Mr. Bangs had five children, namely : Edward, who resides in Washington; Alphia, who died in Colorado; Fred, engaged in busi- ness with his father ; Mrs. Addie Dullard, of Eu- gene ; and Abraham, in business with his father. Mr. Bangs is a member of Eugene Lodge No. TI, A. F. & A. M .; of Eugene Chapter, R. A. M .; of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks : and of the Ancient Order of United Work- men. He is active in local affairs, and has served one term as councilman, representing the second ward, being elected on the Republican ticket, which he stanchly supports by voice and vote. He is one of the leading members of the Eugene Driving Park Association.

H. WESLEY SMITH. Boasting a sire among the pioneers of the very early days of Oregon, and himself a native of this state, H. Wesley Smith has endeavored throughout his life to be a worthy citizen of the state. His father, Henry Smith, was born during a west- ward journey of his parents, who were traveling from Virginia to Tennessee in 1818, his first resting place in the world being a strip of green grass by the roadside among the Tennessee hills, though his later years were spent in the more prosaic places of life, growing to manhood on his father's farm, where he gained his livelihood from tilling the soil. The principal part of his

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young manhood was spent on a Virginia farm, and it was there he met and married Miss Susan T. Wright. In 1846 they joined an emigrant train bound for Oregon, and after several months' journey had the great misfortune to lose all their wagons through a fire started by the Indians ; but, nothing daunted, they continued their way on foot, the oxen being used to convey the stores saved from the depredations of the savages. With seven months of travel across the wide, desolate plains, Mr. Smith, his wife and three children found themselves in the unsettled land that must claim so many years of labor be- fore the fields would yield their harvests and the citics grow to consume their products. Upon the present site of the little town of Aumsville Mr. Smith took up six hundred and forty acres included in a donation claim, and here he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring February 10, 1885, an event which left general regret in the community. As a pioneer he had been successful in cutting his route through the long distances that separated him from the goal of his ambitions ; as a farmer he had improved the claim which he had made his on his arrival in Oregon and had added to the original number of acres until they amounted to thirteen hun- dred at the time of his death; as a citizen he thought no time spent in the service of the pub- lic lost, giving freely of all the blessings which had come into his life. He was largely instru- mental in the laying out of the roads through this section of country, and to his influence and intelligent interest many of the districts owe much in the organization of the public schools. As a Republican be ably represented his party in the state legislature in 1880. In all his actions Mr. Smith was actuated by motives deeper than mere worldly desires, his attitude toward all with whom he came in contact being dictated by principles founded upon the religion which was the moving spring of his life. He was a con- sistent member of the Christian Church, being active in the crection of the first church of this denomination in the locality.

F. B. BELLMAN is the representative of an eastern family, his father, John, having been born in Pennsylvania, where his grandfather was a farmer, and his mother, Carrie Seeley, was a native of Utica, N. Y. The father settled in Wisconsin in 1835, where he engaged as a farmer and followed his trade of painter, the home of the family remaining for many years in that state, where the death of both father and mother occurred. Of the five children born to them four are living, the third being F. B .. who was born in Washington county, Wis., Novem- her 8, 1858, and was reared to manhood in his

native state. When nine years old he was sent to the public schools of Oshkosh, and when four- teen was apprenticed to learn the trade of a brick- mason, where he remained for four years, then taking up the work in various parts of the state. In the fall of 1880 he came as far west as Mon- tana and remained there for a year, when he re- turned to Wisconsin and continued in the prose- cution of his trade there until 1885, when he came to Eugene and has since made this his home. As a mason he has built the foundations of a large number of buildings in Eugene, among the more important being the court house; First National Bank ; Eugene Loan and Savings Bank ; the two McClung buildings; the armory; Ris- don block; Snyder block; R. M. Day building ; the Odd Fellows Hall ; addition to Hotel Smeede ; Preston building ; Looney block ; Consor block ; Chesny block; Titus block; addition to the Chrisman building:' opera house; Beckwith building ; Chambers, Wilkins, Coleman, Hod- sons, Marx, F. B. Dunn, Saunders, Frank, Mc- Clarens and Shelton buildings; mechanical hall of the University of Oregon; the county court house of Polk county ; the Aken Bristow build- ing; Kern and Veatch buildings in the grounds ; and in Oakland, Ore., put up the E. J. Young building and the Mrs. Thomas Hotel, and also superintended the brick work in the new addition to the Salem Asylum, and others too numerous to mention.

The marriage of Mr. Bellman took place in Grand Rapids in 1883 and united him with Miss Nellie A. Stevens, a native of Taylor, Wis., and the daughter of Alonzo Stevens, an emigrant from the east to that state, where he engaged as a farmer, also serving his country as a sol- dier in the Third Wisconsin Regiment. His wife was Susan Woodhall, a native of Wiscon- sin, in which state her death occurred. Of the four children which blessed their union all are now living, Mrs. Bellman being the youngest. She is the mother of three children, namely : Lloyd, Frank and Lena. Mr. Bellman was made a Mason in Eugene Lodge No. 11 and has been raised to the degree of Royal Arch Mason, and also belongs to Ivanhoe Commandery No. 3. He also affiliates with the Woodmen of the World and is a charter member of the Commercial Club here. Politically he casts his ballot with the Republican party.

THOMAS W. HARRIS, M. D., of Eugene, comes of an ancient honored and distinguished southern family, which for many years has 'num- bered among its members men of rare intelli- gence and personal worth. One of these is Isham G. Harris, of Tennessee, who was a cousin of Dr. Harris' father. Three brothers of

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this family came originally from England. One of them located in Massachusetts, and two of them sought homes in the southern states. The ancestor of the one with whom we are concerned was his grandfather, Saul Harris, who served in the Revolutionary war with the rank of captain. In colonial days he had married a woman of German extraction. Their son, John Moses Har- ris, was born near Stanford, Ky., April 1, 1803. With no advantages in the way of education this young man set out with a determination to ob- tain such knowledge as the study of books would confer upon him. He became a minister in the Christian Church in Indiana, and subsequently removed to Adams county, Ill. Thence in 1865 he crossed the plains with ox and horse-teams, taking his family to Linn county, Ore., where he continued his calling, serving as state evan- gelist for the Christian Church for many years. The death of this good man occurred near Eu- gene in 1882, when he was seventy-eight years of age. His wife was formerly Jane Wilson, a native of Kentucky. She was the daughter of Thomas Wilson, also a native of that state, who settled in Indiana as a pioneer farmer and died there. He was a descendant of Scotch-Irish an- cestry. Mrs. Harris was the mother of ten chil- dren, eight of whom came to Oregon, and six of whom are living.

The third child in this family was Thomas W. Harris, who was born near Russellville, Putnam county, Ind., December 27, 1849. He resided in his native state until 1854, when he removed with his parents to Minnesota, and a year later to Adams county, Ill., where he attended the public schools. When the trip across the plains was made he did a man's work daily, though but sixteen years of age at the time, driving through- out the journey of five months. The party arrived in Portland on September 11, 1865. His father being in complete accord with his desire to obtain an education, young Harris attended the public schools of Linn county, after which he took a two-years course at Albany College. He then spent one year at the Christian College at Monmouth, Ore., following this by teaching in the schools of Linn county for two or three years. In 1869 he took up the study of medi- cine under the instruction of Dr. Shelton of Salem, and in 1870 entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was graduated two years later with the degree of doctor of medicine. After three years of prac- tice in Albany, he entered the medical depart- ment of the University of California, and in 1875 was graduated therefrom with the degree of doctor of medicine. Returning to Oregon he again engaged in practice in Albany. In 1878 he located in Eugene, entering into partnership with Dr. Shelton, with whom he remained for

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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 245

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