Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 46

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 46

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Of this union were born ten children, their names being as follows: Thomas; Sarah Eliz- abeth, now Mrs. Huelat; Joseph, who was graduated from the Cooper Medical School, dying in Salem; Emily, now Mrs. J. W. Jor- dan, of San Francisco; Alfred M. in the employ of the government at the Mare Island Navy yards of San Francisco; John D., a druggist of Sheridan; Benjamin F., pharmacist in Read- ing, Cal .; George W., an attorney and circuit judge at Spokane, Wash .; Marian, now the wife of Judge Burnett, of Salem, and Charles F., who was born February 14, 1860, in Salem, Ore.

With a fine education secured in the excel- lent public schools of Salem and the Willan- ette University, Charles F. Belt felt able to cope with the world in his efforts to live up to the splendid example set by his father, and in 1890 he left Salem, going to Dallas to study pharmacy with his brother, John D., where he remained for six years. Being strong in his political convictions, which were Democratic, he had early taken an active part in public affairs, and his efforts were appreciated by his fellow-townsmen, securing for him the ap- pointment of postmaster of Dallas, under Cleveland's last administration. For five years he served in this capacity, at the end of which time he purchased a drug store in partnership with G. N. Cherrington, continuing in the business with marked success, and now owning one of the handsomest stores in the city, ele- gantly finished in white pine, with fixtures to match the surroundings. Their stock is up-to- date in every way, and their practiced handling of trade has won them many commendations. Their business is further increased by the plac-

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ing in their hands of the agency of the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company.

In 1896 Mr. Belt married Miss Emma Black, also a native of Oregon, the daughter of Jo- seph Black, a very prominent man of Dallas. Mr. Belt was elected a member of the city council in 1902, and he became a Mason in Jennings Lodge No. 9, A. F. & A. M., in March, 1891, and has since taken the Scottish Rite de- grees in Oregon Consistory No. I of Portland, besides being a member of Al Kader Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to Salem Lodge No. 18, Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World, and the Native Sons of Oregon.

JOHN M. KITCHEN, M. D., who for thirty- eight years has been a resident of Oregon, and for more than a quarter of a century has been engaged in the practice of medicine in Stayton, is a representative of one of the well-known fam- ilies of Missouri. His father, Thomas Kitchen, was born in North Carolina, but at the age of twelve years left that state with his parents and emigrated to Missouri, where he grew to man- hood. In 1847, having heard much of the won- derful opportunities afforded by the northwest, he set out for the Oregon country, the customary ox-teams being employed to convey him across the plains. After a journey consuming six months he arrived in Marion county. For some time he remained at the home of a Frenchman named Laroque, who had a claim on what is known as French Prairie, but as soon as he had become familiar with the relative value of lands in that locality he took up a donation claim on Muddy creek, near the site of the town of Hal- sey. In 1849, when the gold excitement was at its height in California, he left his newly estab- lished home and started on horseback over the mountains for the new Eldorado. His journey was rendered a very dangerous one by the pres- ence of numerous bands of hostile Indians, who persistently attacked him ; but he passed through in safety, reaching the gold fields on the Sacra- mento river, where he at once engaged in mining. Some time later he found it more profitable to run a pack train from San Francisco to the min- ing camps. In this occupation he remained until 1851, when, having acquired a handsome little sum of money, he returned to his home in Mis- souri, going by water to New Orleans. At the same time he also made a visit to his birthplace in North Carolina.

Mr. Kitchen's next location was near Little Rock, Ark., where he purchased a ranch; but not finding agricultural life in that region as satisfactory as he had anticipated he soon re- turned to Missouri and re-engaged in farming

until 1864, when he went to Texas to remain until the close of the Civil war. The remaining years of his life were spent in that state, where his death occurred in 1900, at the age of eighty- five years. Sixteen years prior to his death he was stricken with paralysis, but it did not seriously affect his general health. He was twice married, his first wife being Mary McHard, a native of Kentucky. The only child of this union is Dr. John M. Kitchen. His second wife was Mary Best, a native of Missouri. To them were born eight children, four of whom are liv- ing: Jefferson, Moses, Samuel Tilden, all of Missouri, and Lottie, wife of Henry Teeters, of Randolph county, that state.

Dr. John M. Kitchen was born near Keytes- ville, Chariton county, Mo., February 12, 1842. The death of his mother occurring when he was but eighteen months old he was taken into the family of his mother's parents, with whom he remained for ten years. On account of the bet- ter educational advantages to be derived by the change he was then given into the care of his paternal grandparents. He attended the public schools until he was sixteen years of age, when he entered McGee College, a Presbyterian school now located at College Mound, Mo., where he remained for two years. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he espoused the cause of the Con- federacy, enlisting July 5, 1861, in the First Regiment of the Third Division of Infantry, under the command of General Sterling Price. He remained in this service from that time until June. 1863, in the meantime participating in the battle of Carthage, and numerous other en- gagements. At one time he remained in camp for four weeks drilling for a campaign, during which period the Federals were met at Fort Scott, Kans. In 1863 he was taken prisoner in company with a few other Confederate soldiers near Osceola, Mo., and for some time was im- prisoned in a large store building in Clinton, that state. During his incarceration his slum- bering convictions were awakened into life by maturer thought and judgment, and he realized that the south would eventually be vanquished. He took the oath of allegiance to the United States and entered the enrolled militia of Mis- souri in the fall of 1863. In 1864 he was hion- orably discharged, and entering the drug store of a personal friend, Dr. T. B. Jackson, a son of ex-Gov. Claiborne Jackson, who was also a physician, he began the study of medicine. In April, 1865, he started on his journey across the plains, reaching Brownsville, Linn county, Ore., October 5, his trip having been rendered more than ordinarily interesting by several ex- citing skirmishes with the Sioux Indians in the Medicine Bull Mountains.

Upon his arrival in Linn county Dr. Kitchen

W.H. Odell

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engaged in teaching in the public schools, a vocation he followed until 1874. In the mean- time he continued his medical researches in Willamette University. In June, 1875, he re- moved to Stayton and . engaged in practice in partnership with Dr. McCauley. The fol- lowing year he resumed his studies in the med- ical department of Willamette University, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D., in June, 1877. Since that time he has been continuously engaged in the conduct of a laborious practice in Stayton, with the excep- tion of a few months spent in East Portland and about four years, during which he took a much-needed rest on account of the state of his health. In 1893 he visited the Columbian Expo- sition at Chicago, and from there went to New York City, where he took a post-graduate course in the New York Post-Graduate Medical Col- lege.

The marriage of Dr. Kitchen, which occurred October 20, 1872, united him with Melissa J. Wheeler, a daughter of Jason and Eliza (Claypool) Wheeler. They have an adopted daughter, Deane, now the wife of Dr. F. R. Bowersox, of Glendale, Ore. Fraternally Dr. Kitchen is a Mason, affiliating with Santiam Lodge No. 25. In his political preferences he is a Democrat of the Jacksonian school, and has never wavcred in his faith in the righteousness of the principles underlying the fabric of that party. He is a member of the Baptist Church. Dr. Kitchen's career as a practitioner has been greeted with success. He has not rested con- tent with the foundation of knowledge with which he was equipped at the beginning of his career, as is altogether too frequently the case, but he has been and is to-day a constant student, keep- ing fully abreast of the most advanced thought in medical science. He is esteemed alike by his fellow-practitioners in the Willamette valley and by the laity, who keenly appreciate his talent and ability, the great care which he bestows upon all cases intrusted to him, whether his patients be rich or poor, and the kindly disposition so frequently manifested by him in the midst of his arduous professional labors. He is accorded a personal character above reproach, and belongs to that class of men who are always ready and anxious to contribute to the well-being of their fellow-men.

GEN. W. H. ODELL, who is now living re- tired in Salem, but who for many years was an active factor in business circles and in the devel- opment and progress of the state, was born near Delphi, Ind., December 25, 1830. He comes of an old family of Welsh lineage. On leaving the little rock-ribbed country of Wales, his first American ancestors settled in Canada, whence

representatives of the name later went to New York. James Odell, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in northern New York, whence he removed to South Carolina. Later he became a pioneer farmer of Ohio and Indiana. He died near Delphi, Ind., where he had settled in 1825. John Odell, the father, was born near the divid- ing line between North and South Carolina, in 1799, and in 1803 was taken by his parents to Wayne county, Ohio, and in 1808 to Wayne county, Ind. He stood guard at a block-house in which the farmers had taken refuge during the battle of Tippecanoe. In 1825 he took up his abode near Delphi, Ind., being the first settler of the township, following an old trail to his home, as there was no wagonroad. Having built a log house he began hewing out a farm in the midst of the forest of oak and black walnut trees, and continued his farming operations in the Hoosier state until 1851, when he came with his family to Oregon, traveling across the country until he reached Yamhill county. He settled near Day- ton, securing a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres, which he broke and improved, making his home thereon until his death, in March, 1869. In politics he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican; and religiously he was a devoted member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church. While in Indiana he married Sarah Holman, who was born near Louisville, Ky., a cousin of Congressman Holman, of Indiana, and a daughter of George Holman, who, in 1781, at the age of sixteen years, was taken prisoner by the Indians while acting as an escort to a govern- ment team on the road from Virginia to Ken- tucky. For three years he was held captive by the Indians, and then securing his freedom, he settled near Centerville, Wayne county, Ind .. where he followed farming until his death, at the age of one hundred and two years. He was a representative of an old Virginia family, of English descent. His daughter, Mrs. Odell, died in Yamhill county, in 1888, at the age of eighty- three years.

In the family of John and Sarah Odell were eleven children, ten of whom reached years of maturity : Mrs. Martha Coovert, deceased ; Rus- sell B., a farmer of Josephine county, Ore .; Jo- seph, who died in Yamhill county; Mrs. Sarah McTecr, who resides near McMinnville; W. H., of this review; James A., who died in Eugene. Ore., in 1872: Mrs. Mary Farnsworth, who died in Yamhill county; George W., a physician, re- siding near McMinnville; Charlotte, now Mrs. A. L. Alderman, of Dayton, this state, and John Albert, who is engaged in the insurance business in McMinnville.

Upon the home farm in Indiana General Odell was reared and pursued his education in the sub- scription schools. When twenty years of age he

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came with his parents to Oregon, starting from Indiana on the Ioth of March with ox teams, in a train of sixteen wagons, with four yoke of oxen to each wagon. At Peoria they crossed the Illi- nois river, and at Fort Madison, the Mississippi. They purchased one hundred and fifty head of cattle in Iowa, and then proceeded onward, cross- ing the Missouri river at Council Bluffs. At that time there was not a single house on the site of Omaha, and beyond that a waste. They followed the old Oregon trail, and did not see any Indians between Elkhorn and Green river, except at a ferry, and there they were leaving because of a small-pox scare. The family arrived in the Wil- lamette valley September 26, 1851, and in Yam- hill county October 3.

Mr. Odell remained with his father until Feb- ruary, 1853, and assisted in breaking the fields, planting the crops and also in planting an or- chard. He then entered the Oregon Institute, now Willamette University, where, for two years, he pursued a course in the classics and civil en- gineering, going into the field in the summer of 1854, with a corps of surveyors. He began as chainman with a company engaged in govern- ment work in Yamhill county, after which he re- turned to school, and the next spring he again spent two months in surveying. In 1855, he set- tled on a farm near Dayton, and continued to im- prove the place until 1860, when he rented his land, and he and his wife took charge of the Santiam, better known as Lebanon, Academy, with which they were connected for three years. Removing then to Engene, General Odell entered the service of the surveyor-general of Oregon as deputy United States surveyor, and was thus engaged until 1871. During two summers, 1864 and 1865, he was employed by the Oregon Cen- tral Military Wagon Road Company, in locating and making the survey of the route, and in the summer of 1869-70, was superintendent of con- struction of the military road. In 1871 he was appointed by President Grant surveyor-general of Oregon, and made his headquarters at Eugene. He served in this office until 1874. The follow- ing year he was nominated a presidential elector on the Republican ticket, and being elected, he was selected by the Electoral College to carry the votes to Washington, and he became a promi- nent factor in what was known as the Oregon Case. The votes which he carried for Oregon made the election of the Republican nominees, Hayes and Wheeler, possible.

General Odell continued to act as deputy United States surveyor until the spring of 1877, when he purchased the Statesman, of which he was the editor and proprietor until 1884, and during that time he was for two years the state printer, having been elected in 1880. After sell- ing his paper he was appointed postmaster of

Salem by President Arthur, and filled the position for four years and one month, or until April, 1889. In 1891, he was appointed by the surveyor- general of Oregon as inspector of public surveys. For fifteen months he was engaged by the Indian department in surveying and allotting lands to the Indians on the Selitz reservation. With Judge Boise and Major Harding he was appointed a commissioner to negotiate with the Indians for such of their lands as were in excess of the amount of the allotments. In this work Genera! Odell was made disbursing agent. In 1895, fol- lowing the election of Governor Lord, he was appointed clerk of the state land board of Salem, and upon the expiration of his four years' term he retired to private life, and is now living in Salem.

In 1855, General Odell married Mrs. Elizabeth (McLench) Thurston, who was born near Ban- gor, Me., and was a graduate of the Bangor Fe- male Seminary. In 1853, she became preceptress of the Oregon Institute, which position she held for two years, and in 1860, of the Santiam Acad- emy for a term of four years. She was the widow of the Hon. Samuel R. Thurston, who crossed the plains in 1847, and settled in Oregon City. He was an atttorney, and served as a dele- gate to congress from the territory of Oregon. He died while on the way home from the second session on the steamer off the coast of Acapulco, Mexico. Mrs. Odell, who died in Portland, in March, 1890, was the mother of two children by her first marriage, George H., and Mrs. A. W. Stowell, of Portland. In 1894, in Indiana, the general married Mrs. Carrie (Bright) Taylor, a native of Ohio.

General Odell is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Oregon His- torical Society and the Pioneer Society. Since 1878 he has been a member of the board of trus- tees of Willamette University, and its president since 1891, and his efforts in its behalf have been instrumental in promoting its welfare and extend- ing its influence. Always a Republican in poli- tics, his opinions have carried weight in the coun- cils of his party, and for many years he was a member of the state central committee. An ac- tive member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he is now serving as chairman of the board of trustees of his home church, and in 1890 he was a delegate to the general conference of the church held in Chicago. If one examines his life to find the secret of his influence in so many lines, it will be seen that it rests upon his deep interest and zeal in every movement which he endorses,-a zeal which inspires others. He has much of that quality which, for want of a better name, is called personal magnetism, and which arises from a sin- cere regard for his fellow men and a hopeful view of the world and its progress.

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CHARLES P. BISHOP. Among Salem's business and professional men none is more closely identified with the growth and best in- terests of the city than C. P. Bishop, who has made his home here for twelve years, a period within which the city has attained her present proud position, vying with other metropolitan centers for leadership in the world of commerce. For many years Mr. Bishop has been known for his sterling qualities, his fearless loyalty to his honest convictions, his sturdy opposition to mis- rule in municipal affairs and his clear-headed- ness, discretion and tact as manager and leader. He is now serving as mayor of the city and is a popular and progressive officer, his administra- tion being at all times practical and beneficial.

Mr. Bishop was born in Contra Costa county, Cal., September 23, 1854, and traces his ancestry back to an early epoch in American history. His great-grandfather was killed in the war of 1812. His grandfather, William Bishop, was born in the south and was married in Tennessee, after which he removed to Alabama. He was a me- chanic and went to that state in order to build cotton gins. Subsequently he became a pioneer farmer of Indiana, and in 1836 removed to Illi- nois, settling in McLean county, ten miles from Bloomington. There he secured government land, which is still in possession of his descend- ants and upon that farm he passed his remaining days.

Hon. W. R. Bishop, the father of Salem's mayor, was born in Carroll county, Ind., and obtained his education in the public schools of Illinois and in Cherry Grove Seminary. In 1850 he started across the plains to California, traveling with mules and horses. He made his way to the mines and for a year was engaged in a search for the precious metal, after which he turned his attention to farming, which he fol- lowed in California until 1856, when he went by way of Portland to Linn county, Ore. There he secured a donation claim of one hundred and sixty acres and devoted his energies to its culti- vation and improvement until 1879, when he re- moved to Portland, where he is living retired. In 1893 he represented Multnomah county in the state legislature. He served as secretary to Gov- ernor D. W. Ballard of Idaho, and was appointed by him superintendent of public instruction for that territory. He acted in the latter capacity from 1866 to 1868, when he resigned in order to return to Oregon. He has been an advocate of Republican principles since the Dred Scott de- cision, and upon the organization of the party he became a stalwart advocate of its principles and has never wavered in his allegiance to the party. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity ; and he is an ordained minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In early man-

hood he married Elizabeth J. Adams, a native of Indiana. Her father started across the plains to California in 1846, accompanied by his wife and three children ; but he died during the trip. His widow continued the journey and with her little family located in California, where Mrs. Bishop was living at the time of her marriage. She be- came the mother of three sons and four daugh- ters. With the exception of one daughter all reached mature years, namely: C. P., of this review ; Mary D., the wife of W. O. Stannard, of Portland; Jay A., of Salem; Mrs. Clara L. Starr, of Brownsville, Ore .; Mrs. Effie Muir, who died in Portland in 1901 ; and Fred E. and Estella, both of Portland.

C. P. Bishop, of this review, was reared upon the home farm in Linn county, Ore., and ob- tained his education in the public schools of Crawfordsville. In 1874 he started out in life for himself as a clerk in Brownsville, and in 1878 began business on his own account as a general merchant of Crawfordsville, where he remained until 1884. In that year he established a clothing store in McMinnville, which he con- ducted with success until 1889, when he joined Thomas Kay in the incorporation of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mills Company, Mr. Kay becoming president and manager, while Mr. Bishop was a director in the business until 1900, at which time he resigned. He assisted Mr. Kay in building up the mills at Salem, and in 1889 he went to Portland as a representative of the milling in- terests there. In 1891 he established his home in Salem and became proprietor of the Salem Woolen Mills store. In 1897 he established the Salem Woolen Mills store in Portland, located in the Sherlock building. This store is large and well arranged and in each place he carries on a general merchant tailoring business with excel- lent success. He is a man of marked enterprise, keen discernment and unfaltering perseverance, and he forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution.

While residing in Brownsville, Ore., Mr. Bishop was married to Miss Fannie Kay, who was born in Yorkshire, England, in November. 1857, a daughter of Thomas Kay, who was also a native of the same country and became a practi- cal woolen manufacturer, as were his ancestors for several generations. Crossing the Atlantic to New England he there engaged in woolen manufacturing. About 1862 or 1863 he came to Oregon, having been persuaded by the people of Brownsville to remove to this state and build and operate a woolen mill there. Two or three years afterward, however, the mill was burned, and while he had periods of prosperity he also suffered a number of hardships in his business career. In 1872, in company with two others he leased the old Brownsville Mill for a period

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of three years, and later they purchased the property, conducting it for sixteen years, when they sold out. In 1889 Mr. Kay built the Salem Woolen Mill, of which he was manager up to the time of his death in 1900. This proved a large and important enterprise and was success- fully conducted by Mr. Kay from its establish- ment. In 1896 his plant was destroyed by fire, but the following year he rebuilt and carried on the work with unflagging energy. Prominent in the Masonic fraternity, he attained the Knight Templar degree, and his life was in harmony with the beneficent teaching of his craft. His widow, Mrs. Ann Kay, still resides in Salem. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bishop have been born three children : Clarence M., who spent five years in the University of Oregon; Thomas Royal, who was for two years a student in the Willamette University ; and Robert Chauncey, who is now preparing for a commercial career at the Bond Institute of Mercantile Training in New York City, and will probably follow in the foosteps of his father. The two eldest sons are graduates of the Philadelphia Textile School, and of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art at Philadelphia, and will devote their lives to the woolen manufacturing industry on the Pacific coast.

Mr. Bishop is a member of the Greater Salem Commercial Club and is a man of marked influ- ence and popularity in the city because of his genuine worth of character and his devotion to the public good, his loyalty to Salem and its in- terests being above question. In December, 1898, he was nominated on an independent citi- zen's ticket for mayor of the city and was elected by a large majority. He filled the office so ac- ceptably that in December, 1900, he was re- elected. His administration has been one of great benefit to Salem and its people. He has been progressive and practical ; and while he has introduced many improvements he has at the same time saved a large amount of money to the people. His administration refunded eighty-five thousand dollars of the floating indebtedness by reducing it twenty thousand dollars, and then refunded sixty-five thousand dollars by popular loan at four per cent, payable on or before ten years. Formerly the interest had been from six to eight per cent. It had always been claimed by financiers that bonds must be sold to bond- holders, and that there must be a stipulated time of maturity ; but the course which Mr. Bishop introduced soon proved practical and the issue was subscribed for three times over in Salem. In this he established a precedent hitherto un- known in Oregon. During the first year of his administration the electric light contract expired and was reduced from fifty-four hundred to twenty-five hundred dollars.

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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 46

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