Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 33

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 33

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In closing this brief sketch of the life of Mr. Small, it is but just to add that, throughout his entire career, he has been highly esteemed by his fellowmen. The admirable traits in his charac- ter-his probity, his generosity toward others, his fine religious qualities, his public spirit, and the broad view he takes of affairs in general- all contribute to render him one of the most worthy citizens of the Willamette valley. Not only his family, but his many friends and ac- quaintances, view his record with feelings of justifiable pride; and when the time comes that he shall be called from the scene of his earthly labors, his good works will stand perpetually as a monument to the graciousness, honor and unselfishness which have characterized his entire career.

WILLIAM RALSTON. This honored and worthy pioneer citizen of Linn county, Ore., is passing his sunset days in ease and comfort, en- joying the reward of his early industry and per-

severance. He has been identified with the in- terests of Linn county for over half a century and has long been recognized as one of its best citizens, aiding and maintaining it in reaching its present position among the first-class com- munities of the state. He is a son of Jeremiah and Margaret (McKnight) Ralston and was born in Rockville, Parke county, Ind., March 24, 1824.

Jeremiah Ralston was born in Greene county, Ohio, where he stayed until he reached man- hood's years, then moved to Washington county, Ind., where he was joined in wedlock with Mar- garet McKnight. Of the large family of chil- dren afterward reared by them, only three are now living. After residing in Indiana for a number of years they moved to Iowa and located in the city of Burlington, where he engaged in mercantile life until 1847. That year he left lowa and traveled by ox-teams to Oregon to seek his fortune anew. The train of which he was a member had many difficulties and hard- ships to pass through before reaching his des- tination, for the Indians at The Dalles were troublesome. Upon their safe arrival, however, they located at Lebanon in Linn county and through the years of prosperity that followed he was always numbered among that city's in- habitants until his demise twelve years ago, at an advanced age. He entered the business life of the city and worked his way to the top of the ladder, owning the leading merchandise store of the city at the time of his death. Politically, he was an aggressive supporter of the Demo- cratic party all his life, and in religious affairs belonged to the Methodist Church. His wife, who died in Iowa in 1840, was a member of the Secular Church, now the United Presbyterian.

William Ralston was the eldest child of his parents. His education was derived from schools in Indiana, where he remained until ten years of age, and from those in Iowa, where the fam- ily later located. After his father moved to Ore- gon, he assisted all he could in managing the store and home place until 1848, at which time he went to the mines of California, and labored there three years. Finding this not as suitable as he had believed, he returned to Oregon and engaged with his father as a partner in the first store ever started in Lebanon. The busi- ness continued five or six years, until William severed his connection to engage in general farm- ing and stock-raising near Lebanon. This farm consisted of a donation land claim of three hun- dred and twenty acres, which was improved as fully as possible by Mr. Ralston, and became his home place until 1878, the year of his retirement from active life.

In 1854 he was joined in marriage with Laura Denney, a daughter of Christian and Eliza (Nick-

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erson) Denney and a native of Muskingum coun- ty, Ohio. Her father was born in Virginia and went to Ohio at an early age, moving in 1853 to Oregon, where he settled in Linn county near the city of Lebanon, but lived only a short time after his arrival.

Mr. Ralston and his wife had five children, of whom only two are now living. The deceased are Franklin, who lived three years; Christian, who had attained the age of twenty years, and William, who died in infancy. The others are Loner L., a stockman of Portland, Ore., and Joseph H., residing in Albany, Ore., where he follows the business of an electrician. The mother died in 1886 at her home in Albany. Mr. Ralston was afterward joined in marriage with Plantena Biddle, the widow of Dr. William Bid- dle, who died in May, 1903. Both of these ladies were devoted and active members of the Metho- dist Church which Mr. Ralston also joined some years ago and has served many years as a trus- tee.

Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order, being a Knight Templar. He has always been a Democrat in his political views, and for three terms served as a councilman of the city of Albany. He is admired by his fellow-citizens for his integrity and uprightness.

FRANK EUGENE ALLEN. The business contingent of Albany is materially augmented by the successful business career of Frank Eugene Allen, engaged in an extensive grocery and hard- ware business since 1888, and a resident of this town since 1886. He was born in Adrian, Lena- wee county, Mich., September 18, 1852, to which part of the country his father, Asa, a native of western New York state, removed at a very early day: The family afterward removed to Rich- mond, Macomb county, where the father cleared a place in the beech and maple wilderness, and built the first house and church in the vicinity. He was one of the very first settlers of that region, and up to the time of his death was an important factor in its development. His wife, Ellen (Sanford) Allen, was born in Wyoming county, N. Y., and died fifteen years after the birth of Frank Eugene, her oldest son. She had four children in all, and of these two sons and one daughter are living

Equipped with a public school education, Frank Eugene Allen became independent at the age of eighteen, and for a few years worked on farms in different parts of Macomb county. In 1876 he came west to Oregon, and at once inaug- urated a successful stock business on a farm near La Grande, Union county, and was thus em- ploved for ten years. With the gains from his stock dealing he located in Albany in 1886, and

organized the Pacific Mattress Company, of which he was manager for a couple of years. In 1888 he bought out N. Blodgett, one block west of his present store, and engaged in a grocery business, conducting the same until enter- ing into partnership with E. Washburn in 1896, when he moved here and added to his orig- inal stock a complete line of hardware. He is successful and thoroughly understands catering to the public and is possessed of the tact and consideration which retains the good will of the public.

Mr. Allen has been twice married and is the father of five children. His present wife was formerly Rachel Dumond, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The children are: Berthe, who is Mrs. Whitlark of La Grande; George, who died in Stockton, Cal., in 1902 .; Elmer, who is clerking in Spokane, Wash .; Ruth and Donald. Fraternally Mr. Allen is one of the best known men in the Willamette valley, and few have ex- ceeded him in the extent of honors conferred. In 1884 he became a member of the La Grange Lodge No. 41, A. F. & A. M., and is now a member and past master of St. John's Lodge No. 62. In 1896 he became high priest of Bayley Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, and in 1898 became eminent commander of Temple Com- mandery No. 3, K. T. In 1896 he was elected grand junior warden of the Grand Commandery of Oregon and September 25, 1902, was elected grand commander of the Grand Commandery of Oregon. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor; and the Woodmen of the World. For many years Mr. Allen has been connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is steward. He is a member of the Alco Club, and politically is identified with the Republican party. Mr. Allen is the sole architect of his fortune, and his quiet and unostentatious rise to prominence is both to be commended and emulated.

CHARLES SCOTT. The name of Scott has been indelibly associated with the rise and progress of Marion county, and the development of one of the most important industries in the entire valley of the Willamette. Robert H. Scott, father of Charles Scott, a detailed outline of whose career appears on other pages in this volume, was for many years one of the most prominent and highly esteemed citizens of the county, and accomplished as much, if not more. than any other individual toward the promotion of the industrial interests of the community. The example he set, and his firm principles of strict integrity, determination, unflagging industry, and public-spirited efforts toward the advancement of the general welfare of Scott's Mills and Wood-

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burn, where the most active years of his life were spent, doubtless proved a source of great inspiration to his sons, who have striven to emu- late their worthy sire in all those characteristics which combined to render him a conspicuous figure in the valley for so many years.

Charles Scott received from his father an herit- age which has enabled him to compete success- fully with other captains of industry in the great northwest. He became one of the most expert millers in Oregon while still a young man, and although at the present time various worthy interests have resulted in his abandoning the full control of the mills his father established in Woodburn, he has always been associated with the trade. He is the fifth of the ten children born to Robert H. and Ann (West) Scott, and was born at Westport, Ore., November 5, 1864. He was favored with excellent educational ad- vantages. After completing his rudimentary training in the public schools, he entered the Oregon State Agricultural College at Corvallis, to which he was appointed as a student by T. W. Davenport, of Silverton, Ore. After three years spent in this institution, he entered the Portland Business College, from which he was graduated March 10, 1886. While a youth he had assisted his father with his books, and in other work about the mill, and gradually became interested in saw-milling. For two years lie acted in the capacity of manager of the plant at Scott's Mills. He then removed to Woodburn and engaged in the milling business with his father, and for several years managed his interests in that town.

In later years Mr. Scott has become identified with various other important interests. Mining has demanded a great deal of his time and atten- tion. He owns the controlling interest in the Esmeralda gold and quartz mine in the state of Sonora, Mexico, which contains a ledge vary- ing in width from two to six feet, and has been worked to a depth of sixty feet. He is also inter- ested in mines in Montana, seven miles north of the National Park, in Sweet Grass county. These are both quartz and placer, one of the former being the Hidden Treasure, which has been incor- porated for $10,000,000. Another line of activity has occupied no little of his time and energy. At Scott's Mills he owns forty acres of land upon which he is raising large quantities of prunes, pears, apples and other fruits. He also owns two hundred acres of farming land near Scott's Mills which he devotes to general farming and stock raising.

At Glad Tidings, Ore., June 21, 1893, Mr. Scott was united in marriage with Lulu Shaver, a native of that town, and a daughter of Alfred H. and Margaret (Ridings) Shaver. Her father, who was born in Kentucky, came to Oregon in

1851, crossing the plains with ox-teams, and locating in the Waldo Hills. Subsequently he moved to Glad Tidings, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their days. Mr. and Mrs. Scott are the parents of one son-Alfred Merle.

Mr. Scott was reared in the faith of the Demo- cracy, but with the characteristic breadth of mind by which he levels all things, he has developed an independence of thought in political matters. Fraternally he is a member of Woodburn Lodge A. F. & A. M.

Mr. Scott is a man of pronounced business ability and of unquestioned integrity, and he wields an important influence upon all public undertakings in his adopted city. Numerous occasions have arisen during the years of his maturity when the opportunity of exhibiting a fine public spirit has presented itself to him, and he has never failed to assist in the promotion of such causes as have been inspired by a desire to advance the welfare of the people. Though a very busy man, he does not show an inclination to neglect the finer ideas of humanity, but, by his advice and example, encourages the best which an ambitious community demands.

JOHN BALDWIN TEAL. Since coming to his present farın in 1880 John Baldwin Teal has advanced steadily to the fore in county affairs. and as a politician and lumberman has gained an enviable reputation, being the first lumberman to invade this section of Polk county. His property is fortunately well adapted to lumbering, being heavily wooded, and he has added to his origina! purchase of one hundred and sixty acres, until he is the owner of six hundred and forty acres of valuable timber land. For the first ten years of his residence here he made rails and shakes, and be- ing successful he branched out into the saw and planing-mill business, building the first mills of this part of Polk county in 1891. Since then the hum of machinery has broken the former still- ness of the surrounding country. Shipments are made at the rate of the mill's capacity, which is ten thousand feet per day. A modern residence, fine barns and outbuildings, and a complete gen- eral farming outfit, facilitate one of the most ambitious and far-reaching projects in this part of Polk county.

This genial and popular miller and farmer is a native of New York state, and was born at Utica, May 5, 1849. As far back as authentic records show, his ancestors pursued their various voca- tions in Yorkshire, England, where Charles Teal, the paternal grandfather, was born, and where his son, Thomas Teal, the father of John, was also born. The father emigrated with his wife, Elizabeth (Baldwin) Tcal, to America, in the

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spring of 1849. He was possessed of considerable skill as a stationary engineer, although he had little money, and no influence to assist him on this side of the water. Locating in Utica, he worked at his trade for some months, and in 1851 re- moved to Illinois, locating in Scott county, where he also followed his trade until the outbreak of the Civil war. Enlisting at the age of thirty- nine in Company K, Fourteenth Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, as a private, he was destined to be enrolled among the fallen heroes of that memor- able strife, and fell at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, April 6, 1862. He was survived by his wife, who died in Florida in the fall of 1886, at the age of eighty-four years. She was the mother of four children, three sons and one daughter, of whom Charles is a potter by trade, and a resident of Macomb, Ill .; Susan, deceased wife of G. B. Campbell, of Upshire county, Fla .; and W. H., deceased.

When the father went to the war John Bald- win was bound out for his board and four dollars a month, and while thus serving, supplemented his rather meager common school education by attending night school. At the age of seventeen he apprenticed to a carriage-maker, serving four years, and in 1870 he came over the Union Pa- cific Railroad to Oregon, locating at Dallas, where he followed his trade for ten years. In 1880, as heretofore stated, he came to his present farm, bringing with him his wife and children, the for- mer of whom, Ursula A. (Huffman) Teal, was born in Virginia, June 5, 1852, a daughter of John A. Huffman, who died in Kansas City in 1891, at the age of seventy-four years. Ursula A. Huffman came to Oregon in 1870 with Nathan Baker and his wife, and her marriage with Mr Teal occurred in 1871. She is the mother of eleven children, nine of whom are living : Charles D., at home; Annie B., the wife of Abie Brown, of the vicinity of Falls City; William A .; James E .; Chester O .; John B., Jr .; Nova A .; Ira L .; and Orva P.

Besides saw-milling and general farming, Mr. Teal is interested in the raising of Angora goats, and has about two hundred and forty head at the present time. He has taken a prominent part in Republican politics, has been school director and road supervisor many terms, and since 1901 has served as county commissioner. Fraternally he is well known and popular, and is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees of Fall City. He is a capable and far-sighted business man, a scientific agriculturist, and successful stock- raiser, and he may be counted on to further with counsel or practical assistance any project which has for its object the maintenance of the well- being of the community.

HON. JOHN W. COWLS. The name of Hon. John W. Cowls is inseparably associated with the early educational, judicial, mercantile and financial development of Yamhill county, and his death, November 24, 1896, removed from accustomed haunts and innumerable friends a noble, versatile and well-adjusted personality. During very early colonial days his emigrating ancestors settled in Massachusetts, where was born his paternal grandfather, Adonijah, one of the stanch supporters of colonial independence during the Revolutionary war. This patriotic sire removed in later life to New York state, where his son, Cyrus, the father of John W., was born. The latter married Rachel White, a native of New York, and whose people were also early settlers in Massachusetts, and devoted members of the Methodist Church. As far back as au- thentic records go; the male members of the Cowls family have been fraternally associated with the Masons.

A native of Onondaga county, N. Y., Hon. John W. Cowls was born November 3, 1823, and was educated at the De Reuter Institute and the Pompey Hill Academy. The knowledge thus gained was applied to educational work, in which he engaged in his native state, and in connection with farming, after his removal to Ohio, in 1840. From Wisconsin, which was his home for five years, Mr. Cowls crossed the plains to California in 1852, and though he was moderately success- ful in prospecting and mining in the vicinity of Placerville, failing health interfered with his cherished plans, and compelled his removal to the more bracing climate of Oregon. At no time of large proportions, his available assets were soon diminished to $2.50, and in order to replen- ish his depleted finances he earnestly sought em- ployment as a teacher. In passing, one day, he encountered Zebedee Sheldon in his yard, who, reckoning before consulting his wife, arranged very favorable terms with the disconsolate scholar for the education of his six children. The bottom falling out of this arrangement, Mr. Cowls offered to teach the children a few days for his room and board, and so favorably im- pressed the parents with his worth, that his serv- ices were retained for some time. Two of the boys thus instructed developed into physicians, one locating in Salem and the other in Eugenc City. After three months in the Sheldon home, Mr. Cowls secured a school two and a half miles from the present site of McMinnville, and at that time but few and widely separated settlers inhab- ited the region, the children for the most part arriving for their tuition on horseback, and in their general lives experiencing deprivations un- thought of by the searchers after knowledge of to-day.

This particular school was recalled by Mr.

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Cowls as the center from which radiated his later success, for he was thus thrown into intercourse with the older members of the community, who quickly arrived at an appreciation of his abilities. Though still continuing to teach, he was able also to fulfill his duties as county auditor, an office to which he was elected after the first meet- ing of the Republicans in Oregon in 1857. When the state constitution was adopted, he was elected county clerk, and afterward served for eight years as county judge, during the latter office engaging also in farming three miles northwest of McMinnville. His special fitness for official responsibility being fully demonstrated, Mr. Cowls was nominated and elected to the state senate, and during the session admirably main- tained the best interests of those who had worked in his behalf. Beginning with 1864, Mr. Cowls operated a mercantile establishment in McMinn- ville, in partnership with James R. Bean, but after a year and a half, returned to his farm, ostensibly to remain for the rest of his life. How- ever, his ambition to accomplish largely had by no means diminished, for in 1888 he established the McMinnville National Bank, of which insti- tution he was the honored and capable president for the balance of his life. The impress of his sterling integrity pervaded this developing enter- prise, and invested it with a substantiality not exceeded by any of its kind in the county. Be- sides owning the building in which the bank is housed, Mr. Cowls otherwise contributed to the structural development of McMinnville, and after erecting the first residence, in 1865, when few people had as yet identified their lot with the embryo town, built several residences and public buildings.

The first wife of Mr. Cowls was formerly Mrs. Lucretia Martin, and of this union there was born a daughter, Mary, who died at the age of two and a half years. The present Mrs. Cowls was formerly the wife of James F. Bewley, men- tioned at length in another part of this work, and she was, before her first marriage, Lucy E. Graves.

COL. JAMES B. GRAVES. Among the Oregon pioneers of 1847 the name of Col. James B. Graves is worthy of prominent mention. His ability for public service was soon recognized, and his valuable assistance as a member of the territorial legislature gained him great promi- nence. He was born in Virginia in 1796, and came of English ancestry. The family was es- tablished in America by Thomas Graves, the father of James B., who came to the land of the oppressed in time to assist in making it the land of the free. He settled in Virginia, and in time owned large landed estates, his enlistment in the

Revolutionary war covering many of the impor- tant battles of that memorable time. From Vir- ginia he removed to Kentucky, and from there to Warren county, Mo.

Before the removal of the family to Missouri James B. Graves married Diana Newton, a na- tive of Kentucky, and she became the mother of nine children. In Missouri Mr. Graves was a member of the state militia, for meritorious serv- ice in which he gained the rank of colonel. Dis- content in the middle west led to plans for re -. moval to the far northwest, and in 1846 the old- est son and daughter joined a train across the plains, the father, mother and five children fol- lowing the next year. After spending two months in the vicinity of what is now McMinn- ville, the father took up a donation claim, which has since been in the possession of the family, and which is located one mile west of Sheridan. As may be imagined, no country possessed fewer signs of civilization than did this very region around Sheridan, for in the territory there was scarcely an aggregation of houses and interests worthy the name of town. Portland was in its infancy, and Oregon City owed its signs of life solely to the fact that it was the principal dis- tributing point for the arriving emigrants. On his square mile of beautiful and fertile land Col- onel Graves built the log cabin which was the home of the family for several years, and here the first wife died in March, 1848. His second marriage also occurred here, and united him with Mrs. Catherine Bewley, who died in 1867.

In 1862 Mr. Graves purchased a home in Salem, but from 1867 until his death, in 1882, at the age of eighty-five, he lived with his chil- dren. He was a man whom all delighted to honor, and his sterling integrity and interesting . personality pervaded whatever he started out to accomplish. At one time he took much interest in politics, and his services in the early territorial legislature were characterized by marked ability and disinterested devotion to the best welfare of his district.

HENRY A. CLEEK. The successful career of Henry A. Cleek should furnish encouragement to all who contemplate engaging in stock-raising operations in Linn county. When he arrived in Oregon in 1861 his worldly possessions con- sisted of the clothes he wore, an old wagon, and four horses much the worse for their trip across the plains. For the first eighteen months he was glad of common wages as a farm hand, and with his earnings he was able to pay for a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Benton county, near Corvallis. This he stocked to a limited extent, and as success came his way he added to his land, in time settling on three hundred and

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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 33

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