Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 42

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 42

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In Linn county Mr. Dannals married Louise Clover, daughter of Paul Clover, and who was born in Indiana, settling in Linn county after crossing the plains with her parents in 1852. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dannals, of whom Oscar Paul is a blacksmith in Albany; Lucy is now Mrs. Worth Huston, the sheriff of Linn county; Rosa died in Al- bany; Frank is a painter in Albany; Daisy is now Mrs. Allen of Washington; Charles is engaged in painting in Albany; and Laura is living at home. Mr. Dannals is a very de- termined Republican, and has always stanchly upheld the principles and issues of his chosen party. He served as councilman for one term and has held other offices of trust in the com- munity. His religious relations are with the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an ex- elder.

JOHN H. LINES. Among the pioneers of 1853 who have long since passed beyond the ken of those who knew and valued them in life, is John H. Lines, recalled as one of the men of southern birth who reflected great credit upon the agricultural and political de- velopment of Linn county. Born April 21, 1803. in South Carolina and removing with his parents to near Louisville, Ky., he was reared on a farm, and with a common school education and plenty of inherited ability and

PAUL DARST.

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determination, settled in Louisville a a young man and engaged in the drug business. At an early day he removed to Lee county, Iowa, where he owned a large farm devoted to general farming and took a prominent part in local politics. For seven and a half years he was clerk of Lee county. Disposing of his Lee county farm in 1853, he brought his wife and four children to Oregon by way of the Isthmus of Panama and San Francisco, and in Linn county, Ore., three miles south of Albany, located a claim of three hundred and twenty acres. This he improved to some extent, and after selling it at a profit invested in five hundred and forty acres east of Knox Butte. As in Iowa, his reliable and substan- tial traits of character, and oft-evinced inter- est in the public welfare received practical recognition from his fellow-townsmen, and he served as county clerk seven and a half years. From his first voting days he was a stanch Republican, but in local affairs con- fined himself rather to the personal character and principles of the respective candidates than to the issues of the party which they represented.

On November 17, 1842, in Lee county, Iowa, Mr. Lines married Martha M. Sample, who was born in Huntington county, Pa., February II, 1824, and died in Oregon, Sep- tember 8, 1902, having survived her husband thirty-four years. Mr. Lines died on his claim, October 21, 1868, leaving behind him a legacy of good will, success, and honor, and the esteem of all with whom he had ever been associated. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lines, of whom Margaret, the old- est child, died in early youth; Mont D., a farmer, lives in eastern Oregon; Perry C. died in Linn county, September 2, 1887; Vir- ginia is the wife of L. C. Marshall of Albany ; Lillie is the wife of Dr. L. Foley, of Lebanon, Ore .; Frank is a farmer in Linn county ; Cyrus died in early childhood; and Fred E. is engaged in farming in Linn county.

PAUL DARST. For the history of Paul Darst, one of the most interesting and worthy of the early Oregon pioneers, we herewith acknowledge indebtedness to the able article prepared by his brother, William, at the request of members of the Oregon Pioneer Association. As the sole survivor of a little party of three who traversed the plains comparatively alone in 1847, and as the later associate of his brother in many of his worthy undertakings, Mr. Darst is qualified to speak disinterestedly and to the point, and he is probably the only one of whom

absolutely reliable information could be obtained at the present time.

Paul Darst was born in Gallia county, Ohio, September 28, 1819, and when eight years of age removed with his father, David, to Hocking county, of the same state, going in the fall of 1838 to Vermilion county, Ill. In the fall of 1840 they took up their residence in Henry county, Iowa, and when Paul was twenty-one years of age he started out to make his own living at farm work, continuing thus until the spring of 1847. During a portion of this time he worked on farms in Dade county, Mo., returning then to Iowa, where, in the spring of 1847, he pre- pared to cross the plains, accompanied by his brother William and John Morley. This small party, with their one wagon and team of oxen, started away from home and kindred April 7, 1847, and, continuing their way westward to with- in a few miles of St. Joseph, Mo., there camped on a river called One Hundred and Two. The 7th of May they crossed the Missouri river into the Indian country, and after traveling for a few days joined what was known as the David- son party, of whom Albert Davidson was the capable guide, he having been to Oregon on a previous occasion. In the company were about forty-seven wagons, and Paul Darst and his friends joined them, traveling as far as Ash Hollow. There the company divided into three parts, Mr. Darst and his two companions and wagon becoming a part of the Louisa com- pany, consisting of seventeen wagons. Arriv- ing at the Powder river, the Louisa party also divided, and the Darst party became members of a small company of four wagons. Crossing over the Cascade mountains, they came to the new Barlow road, which had but recently been opened to the public, the toll on this thorough- fare being $5 for a wagon and team, and ten cents a head for stock. This little party arrived on the Clackamas river, a short distance below Oregon City, September 7, 1847, just four months from the time of leaving St. Joseph, on the Missouri river, and five months from the time of leaving Mount Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa.

After resting on the Clackamas river for two or three days, the four wagons proceeded up the Willamette valley on the east side, and along what might be called the mountain road. They passed the present site of Silverton, in the east- ern part of Marion county, and on to the Waldo Hills country near the town of Sublimity. Here the party broke up, and as there was plenty of vacant land all around in this section nearly every man availed himself of the opportunity and became an independent landowner. Mr. Darst located on the claim which he afterward sold to George W. Hunt for $100, and the same

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became famous for its fine stock, and was later the site of the Whiteaker postoffice. This early settler took part in the Abaqua river war, which contest has often been questioned, but which, ac- cording to an eye witness, William Darst, was quite a momentous struggle. In February or March, 1848, in the eastern part of Marion county, and on the Abaqua river, the Indians became very troublesome, and Paul Darst and some of his companions went forth to meet them in mortal combat. William Darst and his friends arrived at the home of John Warnock too late to engage in the conflict, and were unable to fol- low because the deep snow covered up their tracks. When the party returned they reported that the Indians had been routed, some being killed, while the Indian wives and children were taken prisoners, as were also the horses and cat- tle. However, this wholesale capture was merely a ruse, and was used to induce the Indians to permanently abandon the county, whereupon their wives, children and cattle were turned over to them. To this day, in the estimation of Will- iam Darst, they have never since interfered with the peace of mind of any of the residents of Marion county. The whole party followed the red men to the Santiam river and saw them cross over, never to return.

Until 1849 Paul Darst worked on his original Oregon claim, and then went to the gold mines of California, making the journey on a sailing vessel, for passage upon which he paid $60 in the steerage from Portland to San Francisco. On the Yuba river he worked in the mines until about October Ist, and then, owing to impaired health, he returned to Oregon with about $1,500. Thereafter he worked on his claim until the pas- sage of the donation law by congress, and he then sold his land, and in the vicinity purchased three hundred and twenty acres of deeded land. This was the eastern half of the claim of David Simpson and wife, about two and one-half miles north of Sublimity, in Marion county. Here he started in a second time to make his agricultural fortune, a task appreciated only by those who have cleared land in Oregon and assiduously worked for its cultivation. He was also a car- penter of much ability, and in connection with the management of his farm accomplished con- siderable building in his neighborhood and in Cal- ifornia. For some years he was also engaged in teaching school in the neighborhood where he re- sided. In 1852 he was elected assessor of Marion county, and according to his brother Will- iam, assessed the whole of the county with- out any help whatsoever. This was an enormous task even in those early days, in order to make the return in the time required by law. In 1856 he volunteered in the Yakima Indian

war, and of his service Col. George K. Shiel says : "Paul Darst enlisted about the Ist of Jan- uary, 1856, in the second company raised by Marion county, E. J. Harding captain, for the recruited battalion of the First Regiment of Oregon Mounted Volunteers, in the Indian war of 1855-56. Col. Thomas Cornelius command- ing." Mr. Darst remained with the command until it was mustered out of service some time in May, 1856, and, according to the colonel, had a very hard time of it. Their extremity may be imagined when it is known that for two or three weeks they were obliged to subsist solely upon horse meat and wild onions.

After the war Mr. Darst returned to his farm and combined farming and carpentering, and in 1857 was again elected assessor of Marion county. In the meantime the country had grown to such an extent and was so much more thickly settled that it was impossible for him to cover the whole county in the time required by law. Up to this time he had been a stanch Democrat but with the beginning of the Civil war he es- poused the cause of the north. October 24, 1861, he married Cindarella Phillips, a young woman of about twenty, and together they com- menced housekeeping on the donation claim. Mrs. Darst was not blessed with good health and in the fall of 1866 she went with her hus- band to California, remaining for about a year. Returning to the Oregon farm all went well until the Ist of April, 1874, when Mr. Darst was stricken with apoplexy. Following the cus- tom of his time for all complaints the physician bled his patient in the arm and brought on par- alysis of the right side. Gradually Mr. Darst grew worse, continually lost strength and at last failed to respond to remedies administered. April 23d his spirit left its earthly housc, and he was buried not far distant from where he had come and gone and labored for so many years in the Downing settlement, about fourteen miles from Salem. A short time after his death a son was born to his wife, and thus three children were left fatherless, and a wife was left without her chief consoler and greatest strength. The son was called Charles Paul, and at present he is managing the home farm of five hundred and twenty acres for his mother. Of the daughters, Fidelia, is the postmistress of Whiteaker, and Parthenia is living at home. Mr. Darst was a man of force of character, of untiring industry and good business judgment, as evidenced by his possession of eight hundred acres of land. As reminders of a sterling pioncer, and as the possessors of abilities and admirable character- istics of their own, the household enjoys an envi- able place in the community.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

W. W. HALL, who has ever been found true to the trusts reposed in him in official life and who made for himself a most creditable record as county clerk of Marion county, is numbered among Oregon's native sons, his birth having oc- curred near the present site of Woodburn, July 25, 1865. His father, Benjamin F. Hall, one of the honored pioneers of this state, was born in Clay county, Mo., in 1826, while the grand- father, James Hall, was a native of Kentucky, whence he removed to Missouri. In 1845 he brought his family to Oregon, traveling with an ox train across the long stretches of sand and over the mountains. When the party were on the Meeks cut-off they became lost. At length they made their way to the Snake river and in November arrived in Oregon City. The grand- father secured a donation claim in Marion county near Champoeg, and improved a farm, upon which he spent his remaining days.

Benjamin F. Hall was a young man of nine- teen years at the time of the emigration of the family to the northwest. When he had attained his majority he, too, secured a donation claim, comprising three hundred and twenty acres near the present site of Woodburn, and this property is still in his possession. His financial resources increased and gradually he extended the bound- aries of his original tract and now has large farming interests. At one time he was the owner of fourteen hundred acres of valuable land, but this he divided with his children. He maintains his residence on the old home place and is an honored pioneer citizen seventy-six years of age, who receives the respect and high regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact. He has not only been helpful in the reclamation of the wild land for purposes of cultivation, but has also aided largely in the promotion of in- tellectual and moral interests of the community. He has taken an active part in educational work and in the upbuilding of the schools, and has been a liberal contributor and helpful member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a stanch Republican. He was married March 24, 1854. to Miss Mary A. Johnson, who was born in Tazewell county, Ill:, July 2, 1829, a

daughter of the Rev. Neil Johnson, whose birth occurred in North Carolina, whence he removed to Kentucky and in pioneer times took up his abode in Illinois. In 1851 he brought his family to Oregon, making the overland journey, and settled near what is now the town of Woodburn Here he secured a donation claim and his energies resulted in transforming the wild tract into a finelv developed farm. In the establishment of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in this part of the state he took a most active interest and was instrumental in founding a church in Salem and other places. While he depended upon his

farm to bring to him and his family a living he engaged in preaching the gospel without financial remuneration, and his influence in behalf of Chris- tianity was widely felt. He died in McMinn- ville at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years, but the influence of his life and labors is yet a potent factor in the lives of many in this part of the state. His daughter, Mrs. Hall, is also a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and is now seventy-three years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall were born eleven children, nine of whom reached nature years: A. D., who is a farmer at Waldo Hills, Marion county ; Sophronia J., the wife of G. W. Mclaughlin, who resides in Buena Vista, Polk county, Ore .; E. N., also a resident farmer of Buena Vista; E. T., who follows farming near Salem; O. L., who died at the age of twenty-eight years; Will- iam W., of this review; Mrs. Edith Haller, of Woodburn; C. C. and J. J., who follow agricul- tural pursuits near Woodburn.

William W. Hall remained upon the home farm until seventeen years of age. Having acquired a good preliminary education in the public schools in 1883 he entered the Oregon Agricultural Col- lege at . Corvallis, in which institution he was graduated in 1888, completing the regular five years' course with the degree of B. S. Mr. Hall then engaged in teaching. first becoming principal of the Brownsville schools. Later he was prin- cipal of the schools of Hubbard, Ore., and after- ward occupied a similar position in Woodburn. He put aside his educational labors when elected county clerk in June, 1898, as a candidate of the Republican party. He received a majority of two hundred and twenty-eight and in 1900, when re-elected, his majority was increased to eight hundred and forty-nine. This fact stands in in- controvertible evidence of his promptness, sys- tem and accuracy in the discharge of his duties. No more capable official has ever served as county clerk and when he retired from the position in July, 1902, he carried with him the confidence and good will that he had taken with him to the office. He owns a farm at Woodburn and is en- gaged in horticultural pursuits and to some ex- tent in stock-raising, but continues to make his home in Salem.

Mr. Hall was married in Corvallis, Ore., to Miss Clara Lilly, who was born in Benton coun- ty, this state, in 1868, a daughter of S. N. Lilly, one of the pioneer settlers who became identified with farming interests of Benton county at an early day. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Hall is blessed with one daughter. Eva. Socially Mr. Hall is connected with the Masonic fraternity of Woodburn and likewise belongs to Woodburn Lodge No. 102, I. O. O. F., of which he is a past noble grand. while both he and his wife are connected with the Rebekalı degree. He is also

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a member of Salem Lodge No. 336, B. P. O. E .; French Prairie Camp No. 47, W. O. W .; Salem Assembly No. 87, Union Artisans; and Daniel Waldo Cabin No. 3, Native Sons of Oregon. He has always been a Republican in politics and in- terested in the welfare of his party. His entire life having been passed in the northwest he is imbued with the progressive spirit which has led to the wonderful development of this section of the county and is a popular and enterprising young man widely known in Salem.

EUGENIO E. GOFF. In no department of science has more searching inquiry been made during the past few years than in that relating to electricity, and although great progress and many important developments have been estab- lished, scientists are aware that but little is as yet really known of this potent force, which is des- tined one day to revolutionize labor, and settle complicated questions connected with our indus- trial conditions. One of the pioneer and most competent electricians of Oregon, E. E. Goff, of Albany, built, at Astoria, in 1887, the second electric light plant installed in the state, and has since carried on a successful business in that line. The respresentative of one of the early New England families, Mr. Goff was born November 6, 1858, in Bentonsport, Van Buren county, Iowa, a son of J. H. F. Goff.

A native of New York state, J. H. F. Goff was employed as a bridge builder in his younger days, constructing railroad bridges, for which he hewed the heavy timbers from the forest. He also built many saw and flouring mills. Removing to Iowa he continued his operations in that state until 1861, then removed to Nevada, and, near Lake Tahoe, he erected seven saw and shingle mills. Coming to the Pacific coast in 1870, he located in California, four miles south of San Jose, here he embarked in horticultural and agricultural pursuits, also built a four-mile flume for the Los Gatos flouring mills. Two years later he settled in San Benito county as a miller and ranchman, but subsequently returned to San Jose, and lived there until his death, in 1896, at the age of sev- enty-seven years. He married Hannah M. Gelatt, who was born in New York, a daughter of Rich- ard Gelatt, a civil engineer and surveyor, who re- moved from New York state to Iowa. Four sons and two daughters were born of their union and of these three sons and one daughter survive, all excepting Eugenio E., the subject of this sketch, residing in San Jose, where their widowed mother still lives.

In 1861 J. H. F. Goff made his initial trip to Nevada, going by ox-teams across the plains, and returning to his Iowa home the same year

by the way of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1862, taking his family with him, he again went to Ne- vada, being three months in accomplishing the journey to Carson City. There E. E. Goff ob- tained the rudiments of his education, attending the public schools until twelve years old. In 1870 he accompanied his parents to San Jose, Cal., where he continued his studies in the high school. He subsequently worked with his father on the ranch, and in the grist-mill, then learned the painter's trade, which he followed four years, being employed in Oakland and in San Jose. En- tering the employ of the Pacific Coast Electrical Construction Company in 1882, he was stationed at the Union Iron Works, in San Francisco, under the instruction of Prof. N. S. Keith for a year. Mr. Goff was then sent by the company to Port- land, Ore., to take charge of the newly patented electrical machinery at the Mechanic's Fair ; here he made a most satisfactory and successful ex- hibit of electrical goods. Continuing with the same company, Mr. Goff remained in Oregon after the close of the fair as their Construction Elcc- trical Engineer. In 1887 he installed, for J. C. Trullinger, the Astoria Electric Light Plant, of which he subsequently had charge for eighteen months.

Accepting the agency for the Heisler Electric Company, of St. Louis, Mo., Mr. Goff had head- quarters in Portland, and in the next two years he sold and superintended the installation of five Central Station Plants, namely : At Pendleton, Eugene, Salem, East Portland and Albany. Pur- chasing a half interest in the Albany Electric Light Plant, in 1889, he has since resided here as its superintendent. In company with the late N. H. Allen, he incorporated the Albany Electric Light, Power and Telephone Company. Since taking charge of this plant, in 1889, he has made great improvements in the service, increasing its power from a fifty-two horse-power to a one hundred and sixty horse-power, which is de- veloped by water and steam. On January 15, 1903, this plant was sold to the Albany Canal and Water Company, of which Mr. Goff is stock- holder, and general superintendent and elec- trician. More water power and more room being needed, the plant was removed one block farther south, where a new building has been erected, and furnished with ample machinery of the most ap- proved modern patents, including a new boiler and engine, two hundred horse-power, and hori- zontal twin turbine water-wheel of two hundred and sixty horse-power, also electrical machinery for both light and power.

Mr. Goff married, in Berkeley, Cal., in 1886. Clara Etta Kelsey, who was born in Oak- land, Cal., October, 1858, and they have two chil- dren : Laura Adele and Alice Irene. Fraternally Mr. Goff is a member of St. John Lodge, A. F. &

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A. M., and of the A. O. U. W. He belongs to the First Presbyterian Church, in which he is a dea- con, and is also secretary of the Sunday school connected with it. He is one of the trustees of Albany College, in the management of which he is warmly interested. Socially he is a mem- ber of the Alco Club, and is a supporter of the Republican party.

CAPT. PETER F. CLARK. Twice has Peter F. Clark crossed the plains to the west, once with oxen and once with horses, on the way experiencing the deprivations and adven- tures which befell the early seekers after homes and fortunes. His life in the northwest has been successful and after a creditable war record during the Rebellion, and many years of farm- ing and stock-raising, he may well survey with satisfaction his well directed career. A native of Greene county, Ill., he was born January 27, 1829, a son of Christopher H. and grandson of Peter H. Clark, the latter of whom was born in Virginia, on a plantation near Norfolk, De- cember 18, 1779. The paternal great-grand- father, presumably the founder of the family in America, was a supposed second consin of Cap- tain William Clark, famed in Revolutionary an- nals, and he spent many years of his life in Vir- ginia, and probably died there at an advanced age. His son, Peter H., was a minister in the Baptist Church, and reared a family of eleven children, of whom Christopher H. was the third oldest. He removed to Greene county, Ill., about 1824, and there died in 1833, at the age of fifty-four years.

Christopher H. Clark was born in Pittsylvania county, Va., August 10, 1806, and was reared on a farm, profiting by the religious atmosphere created by his father's calling. Although en- listing in the Black Hawk war he was never called upon to serve, and in 1822 he preceded the family to Greene county, Ill., his parents settling near him when they followed him there in 1824. He became an extensive farmer and stock-raiser, and in 1848 disposed of his lands and removed with teams to Lawrence county, Mo. There he lived until the spring of 1865, when he moved to Bourbon county, Kans., and it was there that his death occurred March 23, 1887. His marriage united him with Margaret Bell, who was born in Jefferson county, Tenn., January 23, 1809, and who came from a family distinguished in the early history of the country. Her grandfather, Francis M. Bell, was born in North Carolina, November 23, 1782, and his half brother. John Bell, was the presidential can- didate on the Union ticket in 1860.

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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 42

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