Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 50

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 50

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Unto Thomas H. and Hannah (Ferry) Moody were born six children, five of whom reached mature years : Thomas Hovey, who followed farming in Illinois and afterward in Nebraska, in which state he died; Mary, who became the wife of Lemuel Stoughton and died in Connecti- cut ; William Ferry, who was a merchant in Philadelphia, where his death occurred; Z. F. of this review; and Gideon Webster, who re- sides in Morgan county, Illinois. The parents were members of the Congregational Church. The mother died in Bedford, Mass.

Ex-Governor Moody spent the days of his youth in New England. He acquired his rudi- mentary education in the district schools, and afterward became a student in the Union School in Chicopee, Mass. He began his business career as a clerk. In 1851, possessed of a strong desire to see more of the country, he came to Oregon, sailing from New York March 13 as a passenger on the steamer Empire City. He landed at As- pinwall, and thence proceeded by way of the Chagres river and on the back of a mule to Panama. Here he boarded the steamer St. Louis. which carried him to San Francisco. There he

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became a passenger on the Columbia, bound for Astoria. It carried two hundred and fifty-three steerage passengers and five hundred and fifty first cabin passengers. Ex-governor Moody traveled in the steerage; for his money had be- come exhausted and, having nothing left, he borrowed twenty dollars to take him to Portland. For fourteen miles of this journey he traveled on foot.

As it was necessary that he secure employment of some kind at once, he began doing chores for his board. Six weeks later he secured a posi- tion with the first surveying party in Oregon engaged in the survey of the meridian line. He started in as chainman, but steadily worked his way upward until he became an expert surveyor. He followed this profession for some time, act- ing as Deputy United States Surveyor the greater part of the time until 1856, his labors being in the valley and among the mountains of this sec- tion of Oregon. In 1854 he embarked in gen- cral merchandising in Brownsville, Linn county. The following year he went to California, where Surveyor-General Hayes appointed him to ex- amine surveys at the headwaters of the Salinas. After devoting six months to this labor he re- turned to San Francisco and made his report. In the fall of 1856 he left the Pacific Coast for Illinois, traveling by way of the Panama and New York route. Until 1862 he remained in Morgan county, Ill., residing in the city of Jacksonville, where for one term he served as county surveyor. But the fascinating influences of the great west were strong upon him, and, pining for life on the coast, he returned by way of the route he had taken to Oregon a few years before. Upon his arrival in this state he located at The Dalles. There he engaged in general merchandising for some time, and also performed considerable labor as surveyor. As deputy United States surveyor he located the boundaries of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Subse- quently lie again engaged in mercantile pursuits at The Dalles, where he served for a time as member of the city council.

Varied and important have been the interests which, from time to time, have claimed his at- tention. His work, while contributing to his personal success, has also been an important fac- tor in the development of the state in many ways. In 1865 he organized the Oregon & Montana Transportation Company, which built steamboats to navigate Lake Pend d'Oreille and Clark's Fork of the Columbia river, now on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The aim of this company was to secure the transportation busi- ness from Montana to the Pacific coast. For one season the company continued in business, butt the Missouri river route proved cheaper on account of the expenses incurred by the transfer

by wagons, which was necessary from White Bluffs to the lake, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. On account of this feature the company could not well compete with the Mis- souri river route. In an early day, from 1870 to 1874, Mr. Moody also had a contract for carry- ing the mails on the steamers on the Columbia river. With his sons, he has long been associated in business at The Dalles as a grain merchant and the owner of extensive warehouse interests, and the enterprises there have reached large and profitable proportions.

The active part which Mr. Moody has taken in public affairs, his splendid record as a business man, his ability, energy and devotion to the pub- lic welfare, led to his selection for high political office. In 1872 he was nominated by the Repub- licans of Wasco county as their candidate for the state senate, and received a majority of the votes cast. The election was contested, but as the senate was composed of eleven Democrats and eleven Republicans, Mr. Moody's opponent, who had been granted a certificate of election, was allowed to keep his seat. In 1880 he was nominated on the Republican ticket for the state legislature, was elected, and was serving as speak- er of the house when he received the nomina- tion for the governorship. In 1888 he was a delegate to the national convention in Chicago which nominated Benjamin Harrison for the presidency. He was the only Harrison man from the Pacific coast, and throughout the convention he gave the Indiana statesman his support, cast- ing his ballot for him from the start. In 1882 he was the Republican nominee for the office of gov- ernor against the Rev. J. L. Smith, and was elected bv a majority of nearly two thousand, be- ing the first Republican nominee elected in six- teen years.

Governor Moody took the oath of office in September, 1882, and as the legislature had voted to make the time of inauguration in the January following the election, he was thus retained in office until January, 1887. He was not a candi- date for re-election, and retired to private life at the close of his term. In the meantime he had accomplished much for the state. There has been no administration of more practical benefit to Oregon than that of Governor Moody. Hc made a close study of the social, economic and political problems which confronted Oregon, and brought to his administration the keen discrimi- nation and sound judgment of a practical busi- ness man, in addition to the loyalty of a public- spirited and patriotic citizen.

We would intrench upon the province of his- torv if we were to enter into a detailed account of his administration ; but in the record of his life there should be given at least an indication of the work which he accomplished while oc-

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cupying the gubernatorial chair. The biennial message which he transmitted to the legislature showed that he possessed a thorough understand- ing of the conditions in the state. During his term in office the tax rate was reduced from five and one-half mills on the dollar to one and nine- teen-twentieths mills, and within this time, with- out special tax or appropriation by the legisla- ture, much building was done. This included the erection of the brick stockade about the peni- tentiary grounds, and four additional workshops and a large wing to the main building of the penitentiary. Large tracts of land for the use of the asylum and the penitentiary were also pur- chased, all this being accomplished through the economy of the administration. The legislative hall and all the halls and corridors of the west- ern approach and a portion of the eastern ap- proach to the state capitol were completed, to- gether with various minor improvements in the public buildings of the state, involving the ex- penditure of more than a quarter of a million of dollars.

In his biennial message of 1887, after a thor- ough review of conditions in the insane asylum, Governor Moody spoke of the fact that when a person appeared before the county court for ex- amination as to his sanity, it was also customary to make inquiry as to his financial ability with a view to holding him responsible for his main- tenance during the period of his confinement in the asylum. He urged that this practice should be abandoned, as the law frequently worked posi- where the head of a household is bereft of rea- son, leaving the management of a small property in the hands of a dependent and inexperienced family." He also recommended that in case the patient who had been assigned for commitment was in extremely poor health, an experienced at- tendant should convey him to the institution in order that he might have the proper care while upon the way. In taking up the subject of the state penitentiary, he called attention to the fact that no provision existed for the separation of hardened criminals from youths and persons con- victed of less heinous crimes, and serving the shortest sentences, and recommended that a course of moral training should be instituted, that the youthful criminals might be reformed and made law-abiding citizens. The State Agricul- tural College, the State University, the School for Deaf Mutes, the Blind School and the Or- phans' Home also received due consideration and recommendations for means of further work. He showed that he had also made a thorough study of agricultural conditions, dairying and contagious diseases as affecting the prosperity of the state. He had also given earnest thought to questions of pilotage and navigation, as well as

to highways, and he recommended a fish com- mission for the further care and development of what is one of the most important industries of the northwest. He recommended the establish- ment of a railroad commission, and that state aid should be given to the state militia. Another sub- ject which came up for his consideration, and which he recommended to congress, was the re- apportionment of the state, calling attention to the inconsistency in representation caused by the un- equal population in different parts of the com- monwealth. In closing this message he said :

"The volume and importance of your duties increase with each biennial session, and the neces- sary additional labor involved in the consideration of matters brought before you will call for the most patient industry and faithful application. In determining your responsibility in this work, it is well to consider that there is greater danger of too much than too little, legislation. Certainty and stability in our statutes are of the utmost im- portance. Hasty work and frequent changes are to be deplored. A well-established law should remain untouched, unless the demand for amend- ment or repeal is urgent and of vital importance In the introduction of new legislation every point should be well considered and acted upon with deliberation. Grave matters of legislation should not be delayed until the closing days of the ses- sion, and then forced through with such haste as to preclude the possibility of proper consid- eration.

"Upon taking the oath and assuming the duties

tive hardships in many instances, "particularly . of the office of chief executive of the state, I promised faithfully to endeavor to promote the prosperity of the state and the happiness of her people. The record has been made, and it will determine whether the obligation thus taken has been fulfilled. Called from the scenes of a purely business life, and without experience in the ad- ministration of the affairs of state, the varied and complex nature of the numerous duties incident to this office have brought many embarrassments not experienced by my predecessors, who had the advantage of antecedent training and ac- quaintance with public affairs. Whatever suc- cess may have attended my efforts is largely due to the co-operation of the legislative assembly and my official associates, and the generous for- bearance of the people. For the confidence which has been reposed in me, and for the assistance and forbearance extended, I desire to express my grateful acknowledgments; and I bespeak for him who has been chosen as my successor the same generous co-operation and support. Trusting that the work of the session upon which you are about to enter may be such as to redound to your credit and to the prosperity of the state, and invoking for you in your labors the blessing and guidance of the Divine Ruler, I take my

Seo. H. Green.

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leave of the duties and responsibilities of the ex- ecutive office."

Ex-Governor Moody was married in Browns- ville, Ore., November 19, 1853, to Mary Stephen- son, who was born in Boone county, Ind., a daughter of William Stephenson. At an early day she was left an orphan, and with friends came to Linn county, Ore., crossing the plains in 1852. They are the parents of five children : Malcolm A., who is now serving his second term as representative in congress from the Second district of Oregon; Zenas A., a mechanical en- gineer, residing in Ashland, Ore .; William Hovey, who is engaged in business with his father at The Dalles ; Ralph E., who is a graduate of the law department of Union College at Albany, N. Y., now an attorney in Portland and a for- mer representative in the Oregon state legisla- ture; and Edna, wife of Eugene P. McCornack, of Salem.

Ex-Governor and Mrs. Moody are members of the Presbyterian Church. In 1856 he was made an Odd Fellow in Concord, Ill. He is now a member of Columbia Lodge No. 5, of The Dalles, in which he has filled all the chairs. He is also a member of the State Pioneer Association and the State Historical Society. Honored and respected by every class of society, for many years he has been a leader in thought and action in the public life of the state, his honorable career adding lustre to the history of the commonwealth.

GEORGE H. GREER, whose residence in Oregon dates from 1852, was born in Philadel- phia, Pa., December 7, 1836. His father, James Greer, was a native of County Antrim, Ireland, born May 10, 1806, and in the year 1831 he came to America, locating in Philadelphia, where lie was engaged in weaving in the woolen mills, being a hand weaver, for the steam process of weaving had not then come into use. In 1837 he went by way of . New Orleans to Indiana, for the river route was practically the only mode of travel at that time, else one would have had to drive in private conveyance across the coun- try. In 1841 he went to Missouri, where he pre- empted one hundred and sixty acres of land, and in 1852 he came to Oregon, making the journey with ox teams across the country to King's Val- ley. He arrived at The Dalles in August, having spent several months upon the way, for it was on the Ist of May that he crossed the Missouri river enroute for the northwest. On the 25th of Oc- tober, lic arrived in King's Valley and secured a donation land claim of three hundred and twenty acres, which he improved and continued to hold until 1871, when he sold that property and re- moved to Corvallis. In 1889 he took up his resi-

dence at Dallas, where he died when almost ninety-two years of age.

After coming to the northwest Mr. Greer fol- lowed farming and was also freight receiver and packer to Camden, Mo. In his political affiliations in early life he was a Whig and he strongly en- dorsed the Abolition principles when the ques- tion of slavery became the paramount issue be- fore the people. When the Republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slav- ery he joined its ranks and remained one of its stalwart advocates until his demise. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, de- voted to its work and laboring earnestly for the upbuilding of the cause of Christianity. He traced his ancestry back to the early Wesleyan denomination and he was most loyal to the teach- ings of Methodism. A memorial window has been placed in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Dallas in memory of Mr. Greer and his wife. In early manhood he had wedded Margaret Ham- ilton, who was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, January 13 1808, and died at Dallas in 1885. Unto this worthy couple were born nine children, three sons and six daugliters, of whom one son and three daughters came to Oregon.

George H. Greer was the third of the family and after acquiring his education in the common schools he entered upon his business career as a salesman in a store in Missouri. In this way he aided in the support of the family while his father was working in the mines of California. At the age of twenty years he began teaching school in Benton county, Ore., and in the winter of 1857 went to California. He taught in Sono- ma county in 1858 and in Yolo in 1859, and in the summer of the latter year he returned to Ore- gon, where he continued his educational work until the fall of 1860. He then joined the Oregon Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1862 was made a deacon by Bishop Mat- thew Simpson and was ordained elder by Bishop Clark at Salem. He was then stationed at Dallas and afterward continued his labors as a minister of the gospel at Lafayette, McMinnville, and in the Puget Sound country. He was minister of a church in Olympia, afterward in Seattle and did his last pastoral labor in Port Townsend. In 1873, however, he left the Oregon conference because of the change in his religious views and for two years labored in the interest of the Amer- ican Bible Society in western Washington. Bur- dened with doubt as to many of the teachings of the church, however, he then gave up religious work and went upon a farm, but his deep interest in the human race and its ultimate destiny con- tinued to engage his attention and he eventually arrived at a belief in the Unitarian doctrine. In 1883 he became a student in the Unitarian Theo- logical College at Meadville, Pa., and in 1884

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the charge of Washington was assigned to him as a field of labor. He established societies in Tacoma and Seattle and again did work in Olym- pia and in Victoria, B. C. He was instrumental in building the house of worship at Tacoma now used by the Free Church, but on account of his wife's health he left that city and state and in 1891 went to Mayfield, Cal., where he remained until after the financial panic of 1893. Return- ing to Oregon, he then settled upon his farm, which is the old Spencer donation land claim which belonged to his wife's father. It comprises three hundred' and twenty acres and since that time he has been devoting his energies to agri- cultural pursuits. He has twenty-five acres planted to prunes and the remainder of his land is devoted to general farming. In his work he is progressive and has developed a splendid property which annually returns to him a good income.

Mr. Greer was married in Oregon in 1864 to Miss Cornelia Jane Spencer, who was born in Wellsville, Ohio, and who pursued her education in the common schools and under the instruction of her father, John Spencer. He was born in Huntington county, Pa., April 17, 1802, and though he had no educational advantages in his youth, he became a man of scholarly attainments and broad intellectuality. While pursuing his ministerial work he mastered Greek and Latin without the aid of a teacher and he also read broadly in scientific literature and theological works. He continued upon the farm until 1828, when he was admitted to the Pittsburg Confer- ence, which embraced western Pennsylvania, southeastern Ohio and the state of West Virginia. He thus continued his labors in the Methodist Episcopal Church until 1852, when he came to Oregon with an ox train, making the long and arduous journey overland. He located in what is still known as the Spencer farm, which is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Greer, in January, 1853, having spent the first winter in Portland. For a number of years he carried on agricultural pur- suits here and in 1871 he removed to McMinn- ville, where his death occurred June 30, 1884. He was one of a family of nine children. His wife, Julia Ann Spencer, was born February 3, 1810, in Westmoreland county, Pa., and died upon the old Spencer homestead in October, 1889. The ancestry of the Spencer family can be traced back through many generations. The great- great-grandfather was Zachariah Spencer. who it is believed was born in England and for many vears followed farming in Harford county, Md. The great-grandfather, James Spencer, lived for many years in western Pennsylvania and also became a successful farmer in Harford county, Md. He died in the former state and was buried in the cemetery at Johnstown, Pa. William

Spencer, the father of John, was born in western Pennsylvania in 1773 and is buried in the Johns- town cemetery. At the time of the Civil war John Spencer, the father of Mrs. Greer, was an active Union man and had previously been a strong champion of the cause of abolition. He was very prominent and influential and his entire life was devoted to the cause of humanity. Thor- oughly unselfish, he gave of his time, his energy and his means for the welfare of his fellow-men. In politics he was an active Republican and for two terms he served as county superintendent of schools in Yamhill county. His daughter, Mrs. Greer, is a lady of exceptional culture and intelligence and she, too, has left the impress of her intellectuality upon the educational develop- ment of the state. For six years she engaged in teaching in the city schools of Tacoma and dur- ing that time she was elected county superin- tendent of the schools of Pierce county, Wash. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Greer have been born two sons. Elwin Spencer, who pursued a course in divinity in the Meadville Theological School, a Unitarian school at Meadville, Pa., is now at home. Medorem William, of Chicago, Ill., is a graduate in the electrical engineering department of the School of Technology in Boston, where he completed the course in June, 1891, and in 1892 he was graduated in literature in Stanford University.

Mr. Greer is a man of strong socialistic tend- encies and is now a believer in Unitarian faith. Fearless and upright in defense of his honest convictions, he stands to-day one of the highly respected citizens of the county because of his fidelity to what he believes to be right and be- cause of his honorable record.

DORY BUSSARD. Since becoming a resi- dent of Albany, Linn county, Ore., Dory Bussard has established and built up, as proprietor of a feed stable, one of the largest industries of its kind in the Willamette valley. He has been in this business since 1897, having come to this city at that date, and conducted for four years a feed stable at the corner of Baker and Second streets, in 1901 purchasing the quarter block of the Pioncer Hotel property. Upon this land he erected a building which covers nearly the en- tire spot, the dimensions of the part under cover, which is galvanized iron and surrounded by a brick wall, being 133x102 feet and has a capac- ity of one hundred and seventy head of stock.

Mr. Bussard was born in Streator, Ill., Sep- tember 25, 1863, the son and grandson of two William Bussards, the elder, a farmer, having removed from Pennsylvania to Circleville, Ohio, where the younger William was born. On at- taining maturity the father of Dory Bussard be-

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came a pioneer farmer near Streator, Ill., and in 1871 he made his home in Clinton, Mo., after three years returning to Illinois, now living upon a farm near Breeds, Fulton county. He mar- ried Caroline Defenbaugh, a native of Pickaway county, Ohio, the daughter of Dan Defenbangh, who was the first white male child born in Hock- ing county, Ohio. He was a farmer by occupa- tion. Mrs. Bussard died in 1875, in Canton, Ill., leaving nine children, of whom Mary is the wife of William Brown, of Canton, Ill .; Martin is engaged in the sale of agricultural implements in Albany, Ore .; Marquis is located near Eugene, farming; Margaret is Mrs. Duncan of Albany ; Dory is the subject of this review; Susan is Mrs. Cygan, of Bloomington, Ill .; Elizabeth is Mrs. Mackey, of Chicago; Arizona is Mrs. Campbell, of Peoria; and William is in the northern part of Washington.

Dory Bussard, the fifth child, was reared on the paternal farm, and interspersed his home du- ties with an attendance of the public schools. When twenty-one years old he began farming for himself, engaging in the work near his birthplace, and after a few years he went to North Dakota, in 1888 purchasing near Devil's Lake new farm lands for wheat raising. Two years later he sold and again made his home in Illinois, then conducting a feed stable in Streator, where he remained Incratively employed for eight years. In 1896 he came to Oregon, locating first in Salem, where he built a feed yard, which, at that time, was the largest in the Willamette valley, but since his sale of that property in 1897, has taken second place in comparison with the one which he now conducts. In addition to his feed-yard Mr. Bussard is interested in a black- smith shop and a hotel, the latter known as the Riverview House, and is also the agent in Linn county for the Corvallis Gate-opening Device, selling the farm right for this patent gate.

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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 50

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