Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 38

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 38

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Judge Robert Francis Caples became identified with Wayne county at a very early day, where he engaged in farming and was associate judge of the county courts. In time he removed to within fourteen miles of Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio. where he entered, cleared and improved the land upon which the town of Risdon was built, and of which he was one of the proprietors. The near- by town of Rome, of which Mr. Foster was pro- prictor, was eventually incorporated with Risdon, under the name of Fostoria. Judge Caples studied law in his youth and was admitted to the bar, in after life becoming known for his equit- able rulings and wise disposition of legal com- plications. His death occurred in 1835 of chol- era. His wife was of German descent, and a (laughter of John Laffer, a pioneer of Allegheny county, Pa., who followed the martial fortunes of Washington during the Revolutionary war, under command of General Wayne. Mrs. Caples died in Ohio in 1852, having survived her hus- band seventeen years. Three of her large family are living, and of these Henry L., a resident of Vancouver, an attorney, and cx-member of the Washington legislature, came to the coast in 1852.

The education of Hon. John F. Caples was ac- quired in Risdon, now Fostoria, Ohio, and at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, which latter institution he attended for four years. His legal training was inaugurated with the firm of Stanton & Allison, of Bellefontaine, Logan

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county, Ohio, and he was subsequently admitted to the bar of Logan county in 1853. In 1855 he transferred his law practice to Findlay, Ohio, and later to Warsaw, Ind., and after returning to Ohio entered the government recruiting service in northwest Ohio and northern Indiana. In 1865 he brought his family to the coast via the Isthmus, San Francisco and to Vancouver, Wash., in which latter city he engaged in practice and served as city attorney. A year later, in 1866, he located in Portland, and in 1872 was elected to the legislature from Multnomah county, was chairman of the judiciary committee, and assisted in the election of Mr. Mitchell to his first term in the United States senate. In 1878 he was elected district attorney, his territory compris- ing Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Colum- bia and Clatsop counties, a responsibility main- tained by Mr. Caples for six years in succession, an honor hitherto accorded to no district attorney in the state. In 1897 Mr. Caples was appointed United States consul to Valparaiso, Chili, by President Mckinley, and while holding this im- portant post had opportunity to exercise the dip- lomacy and tact which have been important factors in the formation of his success, and which were especially required because of the compli- cations resulting from the Spanish-American war. Mr. Caples resigned the consulship in 1901, and thereafter returned to Portland, where he has since engaged in a general practice of law.

In Champaign county, Ohio, Mr. Caples mar- ried Sarah J. Morrison, in 1854, Mrs. Caples hav- ing been born in Ohio, and her death occurred in California in 1877. Six children were born of this union : Carrie, wife of Dr. W. H. Saylor, of Portland; Mrs. Matthieu, of Portland; Mrs. Paget, of Portland; Mrs. Anthony, of Califor- nia : Robert A., a newspaper man of Vinita, I. T .; and Jennie, living at home. Mr. Caples is a member of the State Bar Association and of the Board of Trade. Fraternally he is associated with Portland Lodge No. 55, A. F. & A. M., the Consistory and the thirty-second degree of Scot- tish Rite; and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. As a stanch upholder of Republican- ism he has enrolled himself among the western politicians in the broadest sense of that much abused term, and aside from the honors before mentioned, served as presidential elector of Ore- gon in 1892, and was the messenger who conveyed the vote to Washington. In 1896 he served in a similar capacity for President Mckinley. Back in Ohio Mr. Caples was a delegate to the Ohio state convention at Columbus in 1856, and he was present at the Chicago nomination of Abraham Lincoln. As an orator. eloquent and effective platform speaker, and general trial lawyer. Mr. Caples is excelled by few. if any, on the Pacific coast, and within the state of Oregon no one is

personally known to more people than he. He is a member of the Taylor Street Methodist Episco- pal Church, a member of the board of trustees, and chairman of the same for many years.

HON. JAMES WILLIS NESMITH. The name which heads this review is one written high in the annals of Oregon's history, and stands for the life of a man whose influence still makes itself felt throughout various circles in the life of the west. Beyond the borders of the state which Colonel Nesmith made his by the life and work of a pioneer, has also gone that broad- ening influence, for he became one of the prom- inent men of the national government during the trying times of '61, and gave the strength of his intellect and manhood toward the support of those principles, upon which the foundation of the Union rests. True, always, to his princi- ples of honor, loyal to that which claimed his allegiance, and earnest in the prosecution of whatever duty came into his hands, Colonel Nes- mith won the esteem and confidence of all with whom he came in contact, friend and foe alike trusting him, for in his social, business and polit- ical relations, in public and private life, his career was free from the stain of dishonesty. Oregon is justly proud to claim him as a repre- sentative son.

The life of Hon. James Willis Nesmith began in New Brunswick, in 1820, while his parents, William Morrison and Harriet ( Willis) Nesmith, were visiting in the north. Both the father and mother of Colonel Nesmith were representatives of old and distinguished families, on the pater- nal side inheriting the sturdy qualities of Scotch- Irish ancestry. After their marriage in 1814 the young people took up their abode in Maine, where they remained until the death of the mother, which occurred while the colonel was still an infant. When this son was five years old, the father lost his entire fortune by fire, and was thus prevented from giving to his children those advantages which would otherwise have been theirs. Though deprived of the reg- ular training of school, Colonel Nesmith did much studying, as he had a natural inclination for books, and had also a keen observation, which enabled him to pick up a great deal of valuable knowledge as he grew older and found more association with the outside world. Like many another eastern-bred youth, he felt a strong de- sire to test his ability in a pioneer life, and he was not old when he came as far west as Ohio. and in company with his cousin, Joseph G. Wil- son, late member of Congress from Oregon. attended the district school near Cincinnati. A little later he came to Missouri, and was joined by his father, who died and was buried there.

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After the death of the elder man the younger had left no ties to bind him to the east, and he at once sought to join a company bound for the trip across the plains. He failed to join the party he sought, but became, instead, a member of the Applegate party, who crossed in 1843. Locating in Oregon City, he followed out the suggestion of Peter Burnett, who was also one of the party that crossed the plains in 1843, and began the study of law. With that application which ever distinguished his efforts, the colonel soon became familiar with the common sense idea of jurisprudence contained in the few books which came into his possession, and two years later qualified to fill the office of judge under the provisional government.

Always a stanch Democrat, it required no small degree of courage for Colonel Nesmith to ally himself on the side of another party and plat- form, as he was compelled to do, at the time of the breaking out of the Civil war. Many of those who had always been his friends, Demo- crats in politics, gave their support to the south- ern cause, while his ideas of honor and his deep- rooted convictions made the colonel a stanch Unionist. He was not an abolitionist, nor in sympathy with the anti-slavery agitation, and it was because of this that his friends expected him to join them in their espousal of the south- ern cause. He did not, however ; he stood apart from the regular party ranks, and in 1860 accepted a position as elector on the Douglas tieket. He was elected through the votes of the Douglas Democrats and the Republicans, the latter having entire confidence in the integrity and the worth of the man selected to fill the position. He therefore became senator to fill the place left vacant by General Lane, for many years a warm personal friend of the colonel's. and who accepted the place of vice president on the old Democratic ticket with Breckinridge. Whatever trials and difficulties arose during the time in which Colonel Nesmith served as senator were met with that same courage, that frank, fearless honor, but masterly will and intellect, which contributed so largely to the personal suc- cess of the man. It was not an easy position to fill, and a man less worthy in any way would have failed in the discharge of duties. Until the close of the war he upheld national authority and be- came a trusted adviser of President Lincoln. After its close, however, he vigorously opposed the re- construction measures of the Republican party, and was ever afterward identified with the Demo- cratic party. Upon his return to Oregon he be- came a leader in that party, and in 1873 was elected to fill the vacancy in Congress caused by the death of his cousin, Joseph G. Wilson.

Colonel Nesmith was never too busy in the pur- suit of his profession, or his own aggrandizement

in any way, to neglect his duty as a citizen and a pioneer in the western state. He was one of the number who fought in the Cayuse war in 1848 to avenge the death of Whitman, and again in 1855 he served with distinction in the Rogue river and Yakima wars, earning there the title by which he has ever been known, that of colonel. In 1857 he was appointed superin- tendent of Indian affairs, and served for two years, in a position of great responsibility, cov- ering a field which included Oregon, Washing- ton and Idaho. He also served at one time as United States marshal at Salem, and became a member of the state legislature, meeting every duty promptly, and as promptly fulfilling it. This most admirable trait was that which won the commendation of those who had the interests of Oregon at heart, and meant to intrust them only to men who possessed the courage, honesty and earnestness of purpose to carry forward the great plan which was to make her one of the first of the states.

In 1846 Colonel Nesmith was united in mar- riage with Pauline Goff, whose father was a pioneer of 1844, and she bore him the following children : Joseph Lane, Mary J., Harriet. Va- lena, James and William. The death of the colonel occurred in 1885. Thus passed away from mortal sight one of the men to whom Ore- gon owes her greatness; but memory survives the lapse of time, and his name loses none of the luster which attaches to it as that of a pioneer. a courageous, loyal, worthy man and gentleman.

BLUFORD D. SIGLER. In the business ca- reer of Blufora D. Sigler, the young man of the present generation may find a source of inspira- tion and encouragement. Coming to Portland when that city was at the zenith of its era of early commercial development, he was still a very young man when he decided to establish himself independently in business. But the northwest, with its boundless resources, is a country of young men, and here Mr. Sigler found abundant opportunity to build the founda- tions of a business which is amply rewarding his laborious and well-considered efforts.

Mr. Sigler was born in Georgetown, Vermil- ion county, Ill., November 27. 1866. His fam- ily was founded in Illinois by his paternal grand- father, John Sigler, a native of Pennsylvania. who became one of the earliest pioncer farmers of Vermilion county. His son, Samuel W. Sig- ler, father of B. D., was born in Illinois, and was reared and educated in that state. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he left his farm to take up arms in the defense of the Union, and served as a private in Company C, Seventy-

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third Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His active service continued until the close of hostilities. He married Deborah Smith, a native of Ver- milion county and a daughter of Jefferson Smith, an extensive farmer and an early settler of Illinois. In 1870 Mr. Sigler moved with his family to Medoc, Jasper county, Mo., and en- gaged in a general merchandise business, which he disposed of five years later in order to take up his residence in Dayton, Ore., where he es- tablished a similar business. In 1883 he re- moved to Portland and conducted a feed business until 1898, but in that year returned to Dayton, where he now resides.

The only child in his father's family, B. D. Sigler received his education in the public schools of Illinois and Missouri, concluding his studies in the high school of Portland, to which city he removed with his parents in 1883. In his boyhood he had become familiar with the mercantile business, having been educated along these lines by his father, and in 1886 became a clerk in a store in Mount Tabor. At the expir- ation of, two years he became identified with the sawmill business of Smith Brothers & Company, whose works were located at the foot of Harri- son street. In 1897, in company with Samuel E. Wrenn and W. V. Smith, he organized the Multnomah Box Manutacturing Company, which succeeded to the business of the Multnomah Box Company. This enterprise proved highly suc- cessful, and at the end of three years was dis- posed of at advantageous terms. The whole- sale feed business next engaged the attention of Mr. Sigler, who organized the Sigler Milling Company in 1901, with himself as secretary and manager. The concern conducts an extensive and constantly increasing trade in flour, feed, lime, land, plaster, and shingles, besides doing a general commission business. A. T. Smith is president, and A. J. McDaniel vice-president. The business is located on the corner of Front and Madison streets, occupying a building 30x 75 feet. and containing four floors.

Aside from the enterprises with which he is identified in Portland, Mr. Sigler has taken a wholesome interest in politics, the Republican party receiving his stanch and unqualified sup- port. In 1902 he was nominated for council- man for the sixth ward, and elected by a major- ity of one hundred and twenty-five. In the council he is a member of the committees on ac- counts and current expenses, sewers and drain- age. and parks and public property; and is chairman of the committees on liquor license, and on health and police. He is a life member of the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club, of which he served as secretary for one year; and is now vice-president of the same and a member

of the Commercial Club. His marriage, which occurred in Portland united him with Veina E. Adair, a graduate of the University of Oregon. whose parents came to this state in the early '50s.

REUBEN DANNALS, one of the pioneers of Clackamas county, was born in Greene county. Ohio, October 23, 1829, and is the second oldest son of the four sons and five daughters born to Reuben and Hannah (Wyckel) Dannals, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and the east.

From his native county of Bedford, Pa .. the elder Reuben Dannals removed with his parents to Ohio, and later to Illinois and Iowa, coming to Oregon in 1865. Settling in Linn county. he farmed for several years, but at the time of his death, in 1883, at the age of eighty-two years. was living a retired life. All of the children of the family were obliged to work hard from early morning until late at night, and Reuben per- formed his share with willing heart and capable hand. As might be expected. he had little time for either leisure or study, and his education has been a matter of his own acquiring during later years. He was one of the most enthusiastic of the little band who crossed the plains in search of larger opportunities. Although there were eighteen wagons from their own neighborhood in Iowa, the Indians were so very troublesome that they were obliged to fall in with a freight train for protection during the most dangerous part of the journey. Three ponies were stolen during the dawn of one morning, and they had many other experiences which added zest and interest to the journey.

When the family arrived in Clackamas county Mr. Dannals bought, on his own responsibility. one hundred and forty-two and one-half acres of land, a part of which he soon after sold, and at present his possessions consist of eighty of the original acres, besides one hundred and sixty acres at Highland, this state. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. and has met with great success in his chosen occupation. With him across the plains came the wife of Mr. Dannals, formerly Hannah Colson, who was born in Ohio, and whom he married in Iowa. Three children have been born into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Dannals, of whom Charlotta is the oldest ; Hiram is the second child and only son ; and Minnie is the youngest. Mr. Dannals is a Democrat in politics and is fraternally associated with the Grangers. He enjoys the respect and good will of all who know him, and his integrity and public spiritedness have never been ques- tioned.

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WILLIAM H. BYRD, M. D. The family of which William H. Byrd, M. D., of Salem, is a distinguished representative is one of the oldest and most favorably known throughout the Willamette valley. His father, Lorenzo A. Byrd, who is still living in Salem at the advanced age of eighty-one years, is a striking type of the best class of sturdy pioneers who braved the dan- gers and hardships of the plains more than half a century ago in order to assist in the founda- tion of a new commonwealth in a region whose natural wealth was, in those early days, little more than conjectural. The family was founded by him in the northwest in 1847, and since that year the unusual versatility and adaptability of its members to environment have been demon- strated in various ways. With descendants who have taken a high position in professional, edu- cational, mercantile and agricultural circles, this honored pioneer must view with a great degree of satisfaction the happy augury which led his ambitious young steps toward the greater pos- sibilities of the northwest, and inspired him to earnest and upright endeavor. (See sketch of Lorenzo A. Byrd, which appears elsewhere in this volume.)

William H. Byrd, the eldest son in the family of Lorenzo A. and Martha (Savage) Byrd, was born near Fairfield, Marion county, Ore., October 31, 1854, was reared on his father's farm, and received his classical education in the public schools of Fairfield and Salem. Upon reaching young manhood he engaged in teaching school, at the same time beginning the study of medi- cine under the direction of Dr. J. C. Shelton of Salem. In 1880 he matriculated in Cooper Med- ical College, in San Francisco, but the follow- ing year entered the medical department of Will- amette University, from which he was gradu- ated with the class of 1881. Opening an office in that year, he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession uninterruptedly, with the exception of the winter of 1890-91, when he took a course in surgery in the New York Post- Graduate Medical College. His practice has as- sumed large proportions and has been attended by exceptional success.

For several years Dr. Byrd has been local surgeon for the Southern Pacific Company. When Willamette University established its medical department in Salem, in 1896, he was chosen professor of surgery, and one year later was made dean of the faculty, a post which he has continued to fill to the present time. Since 1896 he has also served on the staff of the Salem Hospital, which was established in that year. In the line of his profession he is identified with the Marion County Medical Society, the Ore- gon State Medical Society, the American Med-

ical Association, and the International Associa- tion of Railway Surgeons.

In Salem, in 1882, Dr. Byrd was united in mar- riage with Teresa Holderness, a native of Oregon. She died in Salem in 1886, leaving a daughter, Winifred M., now a student in the Boston Con- servatory of Music. In 1890 he married Mar- garet J. Macrum, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of I. A. Macrum, deceased, of Forest Grove. Mrs. Byrd is a graduate of the Pacific University, and a lady of many graces of mind and character. Dr. and Mrs. Byrd are the par- ents of two children, Clarence M. and Donald W.

In politics Dr. Byrd is a Democrat. For sev- eral terms he has been a member of the Salem Board of Education, and has also served in the city council. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, being a member of Pacific Lodge No. 50, A. F. & A. M., Multnomah. Chapter No. I, R. A. M., DeMolay Commandery, Al Kader Temple, N. M. S., of Portland; and has taken all the Scottish Rite degrees up to and in- cluding the thirty-second. He is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is past noble grand; and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, of Salem, in which he has been exalted ruler.

Genial in disposition, optimistic in tempera- ment, and an erudite scholar, Dr. Byrd com- mands the attention and good will of the com- munity in which he dwells. By his contem- poraries he is regarded as the peer of the most noted physicians and surgeons of Oregon. A well-trained and inquiring mind has resulted in the accumulation of a vast store of the knowledge disseminated by the greatest masters of medical and surgical science; and to this he has added through his own personal investigations, direct- ed along special lines which have appealed to him as worthy of profound study. By the laity he is highly regarded for the many splendid traits in his character which have become so con- spicuous during his professional career in Salem.

JOB CONNER. For many years a highly esteemed resident of Ballston, the late Job Con- ner was well known throughout this section of Polk county as an industrious and enterprising farmer, a good citizen, a kind neighbor, a loving husband and father; and his death, which oc- curred November 10, 1888, on the home farm, was a cause of general regret.

A native of Ohio, Job Conner removed in boy- hood to Iowa with his parents, and resided in that state until 1847. Following the tide of civ- ilization westward in that year, he, with thrce of his brothers, William, Nathan and Robert, came to Oregon to take up land in this newer

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country, hoping thereby to speedily improve their financial condition. All settled in the Willamette valley, where they engaged in agricultural pur- suits. In 1871 Job Conner purchased the farm now owned and occupied by Mrs. Conner and her family. Laboring earnestly and industrious- ly, he placed a large part of it in a good state of cultivation, and added substantial improvements. making his estate one of the most valuable and attractive of any in the vicinity, residing on it until his death.

In 1855 Mr. Conner was married to Polly Ann Riggs, who died April 13, 1871, leaving several children. Those living are: Robert S., of Col- orado; Thomas Edgar; Jane Baxter, Roswell, Yamhill county ; Louisa Morrison, of California ; Nancy Ann Berdau, of Idaho; and one who died in infancy.

On May 16, 1872, Mr. Conner married Martha Hicklin, who was born in Jennings county, Ind., September 27, 1842. Her father, John L. Hick- lin, removed from Kentucky, his native state, to Indiana, from there coming to Oregon in 1849. Locating first on the Columbia river, he remained there a year, then went to Washington county in search of a more favorable site for establish- ing himself permanently. Being pleased with the land in that part of the state, he took up a dona- tion claim near what is now called Tigardville, Ore., and having made some improvements, sent for his family. His wife, whose maiden name was Martha Thorn, went with her family from Indiana to St. Joseph, Mo., where she joined a train composed of twenty-eight wagons starting across the plains. Four of the wagons came to Oregon, Mrs. Hicklin and her family reaching the home farm at Tigardville on September 13, 1851. Mr. Hicklin continued adding to the im- provements already made, by energetic efforts clearing a good homestead, on which he carried on general farming until his death, October 14, 1877. His widow survived him, dying in June, 1882, at the home of her sister, Jane Conner, near Ballston.

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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 38

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