Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 52

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 52

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

390

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing disorder was the cause of his death at the age of seventy-six years. His wife, Anna Shaddock, was also born in the east, the daughter of a farmer in Massachusetts, and her death occurred on the old homestead in Milford township.

The second youngest in his father's family of seven sons and two daughters, Erastus Spauld- ing attended the carly subscription schools at irregular intervals, and was early inured to long hours and hard work. Between the ages of ten and sixteen he knew little leisure on the home farm, and after that applied himself for seven years to learning and applying his trade of blacksmithing. During this time he lived in Westborough, Mass., and in 1858 he located in Leavenworth, Kans., where he lived and pros- pered for six years. Various activities engaged his attention in the Kansas city, including black- smithing, masonry and teaming, and he also came to own and manage a saw-mill. He was a strict Abolitionist, and fearlessly made known his views on this then all-important question. Those were interesting times in Kansas, and the ener- getic blacksmith had some peculiar experiences. The Quantrells were traveling their liveliest gait, and the country was being scoured for their cap- ture, dead or alive. Mr. Spaulding luckily es- caped close association with this murderous band of robbers, and his services were never in demand to hunt them to their lairs.

In 1872 Mr. Spaulding unsettled himself from Kansas and located in California, where he found employment in the shop of the Excelsior Manu- facturing Company, managed by his brother. Thereafter he developed a talent for invention, and with a man named William Plumber invented what became known as the Plumber Fruit Dryer. They built the second fruit dryer in the state of California, and placed it in Sonoma, Sonoma county. They were fairly successful in manufac- turing their dryer, but a drought appearing the second year they removed to Oregon in 1874, locating their plant at East Portland. Here

they manufactured and sold their dryer for three years, made a large amount of money, but owing to a failure in the fruit crop the fourth year de- termined to dispose of their company rights. The severing of the partnership was accompanied by considerable friction, owing to the unreliability of the partner of Mr. Spaulding.

After retiring from manufacturing dryers Mr. Spaulding bought a farm of one hundred and thirty acres near Pleasantdale, Yamhill county, a part of which was improved, and upon which he lived and farmed until 1896. He then took up his residence in Newberg, and though he still owns his farm, is practically retired from busi- ness activity. Four years ago he had a stroke of apoplexy, but at the present time has nearly recovered his normal health. In Massachusetts,

May 8, 1861, Mr. Spaulding was united in mar- riage with Elizabeth Kent, who was born in Can- ada, and whose father, a printer by trade, lived and died in the northern country. Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding one died in infancy; Frank, who had just completed an apprenticeship as a machinist, was drowned while moving some lumber into its proper place for his employers in Portland, and, stepping back- ward, fell into the Willamette river, striking the lower deck of a steamer moored to the shore. His neck was broken, and for two days the effort to find his body was futile. However, a longshore- man saw in his sleep the place where the boy might be found, and strange as it may seem, a search of the place revealed the body of the un- fortunate lad. He was twenty years and fifteen days old at the time of his death, and his taking away was sadly deplored by his family and many friends. C. K. Spaulding. the youngest son, is mentioned at length in another part of this work. Mr. Spaulding is a Republican in politics, and in religion professes no particular creed. He is fra- ternally associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Woodmen of the World.

J. J. COLLINS. Bringing with him into the west a fund of enthusiasm and a firm belief in the inexhaustible resources of the states of the Pacific slope, it is not a matter of wonder that J. J. Collins has grandly succeeded in his under- taking, building up for himself an interest in a substantial and remunerative business, as well as developing the latent possibilities of the country. After many years of experience in the timber lands of Michigan, where he gained a keen, true insight into every detail of the work, he desired a new and broader field for utilizing the ability and energy which he felt had become the moving power of his ambitions, and he therefore sought the fields of Oregon, and as a member of the firm of E. Dorgan & Co., of Albany, Linn coun- ty, he has added to the business possibilities of the city.

J. J. Collins was born in Carsonville, Sanilac county, Mich., December 5. 1865, the son of Jeremiah Collins, a farmer in that vicinity, and who died there. He was the second oldest of the eight children, six of whom are living, two sisters and a brother, F. H. Collins, having also located in Albany. He was reared to manhood on the farm of his father, receiving his education in the district school, and when eighteen years of age he went to Alpena, Mich., and entered the employ of F. W. Gilchrist. Beginning at the foot of the ladder he made his way gradually to one of the best positions in the business, becom- ing, before the close of the fifteen years' service. the buyer and scaler of logs. In 1899 he resigned

ANSON S. CONE.

393

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his position and coming to Albany, Ore., he be- came one of the firm of E. Dorgan & Co., which was then formed by himself, E. Dorgan and F. J. Devine, the three being experienced lumber and timber men. Mr. Collins assumed charge of the office and the other two attended to the locating and buying of lands, beginning at once upon the work, and in their sale of the same meet- ing with extremely gratifying success. In 1902 they located about seventy thousand acres, most of the locaters being Linn county people, alto- gether in this short time having bought and sold over thirty thousand acres of land. The best efforts of this firm have been put forth in the endeavor to induce capital to build a good saw- mill in the city of Albany, and thus advance the timber interests of the county and vicinity, the value of which operations would extend through- out the Willamette valley, and induce emigration from the eastern states.

The marriage of Mr. Collins united him with Miss Katherine G. Marinan, a native of Mis- souri. In addition to the absorbing interests of his timber business, Mr. Collins is connected with fire insurance circles, representing the Phoenix & Milwaukee Mechanics. In his fraternal rela- tions he is a member of the Benevolent Protec- tive Order of Elks, Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica and Foresters of America, in the first named serving as treasurer.

ANSON STERLING CONE. A family nu- merously and ·worthily represented in Oregon is that of which Anson S. Cone is a member. He is widely known as one of the extensive farmers and stock-raisers of the Willamette valley, and since 1846 has been actively identified with the best citizenship of this state of unbounded re- sources and possibilities, and with its wonderful latter-day development. He was born near Shel- byville, Ind .; November 6, 1827, a son of Gus- tavus Adolphus and Mary (Garrison) Cone. When he was four years of age he was taken by his parents to Laporte county, Ind., and at the age of thirteen accompanied them to Lee county, Iowa, where his father purchased a farm. As early as 1846 rumors of the superior advantages offered by the west began to reach the quiet agri- cultural region of Lee county, and the sons in the Cone family discussed the subject with as much enthusiasm as did any of their neighbors- and perhaps with more practical results. At any rate Anson and Aaron Cone, two of the most enterprising and ambitious young men of that neighborhood, joined a caravan bound for Oregon in the spring of that year, having outfitted with ox-teams, with the unalterable determination of putting their fortunes to the hazard in the won- derful new country. A halo of romance invested

everything connected with the great region for which they were headed, and, once started, noth- ing persuaded them to turn back.

Upon their arrival at Whitman's Station the brothers, accompanied by Asbury Pugh, pur- chased pack horses and proceeded on horseback the rest of the way to Oregon City, where they arrived about seven months after starting out. The following year Oscar H. and Gustavus A., their brothers, crossed the plains in the same man- ner, the former from the Iowa farm and the latter from Laporte county, Ind., and settled near Butteville. In 1852 the father of these young men, desiring to share in the advantages surrounding his sons, sold his Iowa property and followed them to Oregon. In 1853 Francis M., Oliver and Philander J. brought their mother to join the family, and thus were assembled in one state, and in practically the same neighbor- hood, the dear ones to whom separation and its attendant anxieties had been so severe a trial.

Anson S. Cone's first location in Oregon was in Washington county, where he was employed for a time at work upon farms which were being developed out of the wilderness in the vicinity of Hillsboro. Subsequently he removed to the vicinity of Oregon City, and in 1848 started for California with ox-teams. The pioneer spirit of adventure had taken possession of him, and he was determined to secure some of the gold, the discovery of which about this time had created such a sensation the world over. The party with which he traveled was the first to open a road over the mountains into the far-famed valley of the Sacramento. The expedition consisted of forty wagons and one hundred and twenty men, only one of whom was accompanied by his wife and children. Anson S. Cone first went to Sut- ter's Mill and prospected until the spring of 1849, at which time he visited the north, middle and south forks of the American river, experi- encing fair success in his mining operations. In the fall of the same year his brother Aaron, who had been his companion in so many travels and adventures, and who had gone to California in the spring of 1849. died in Sacramento; and in August Mr. Cone himself became ill and was obliged to abandon his work and return to Ore- gon. He came by steamer from San Francisco to Astoria, and in the spring of 1850 went to Butteville, where he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres. This is the property now occupied by J. B. Kenyon and his sons. In the summer of the same year he took up his present farm of three hundred and twenty acres, and upon this his father moved in 1852. In the latter year he built himself a log house on his original claim, and in the midst of crude and unattractive surroundings began the work of converting the wilderness into a productive

394

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

farm. For four years he maintained bachelor quarters on this property, and endured many hardships without complaint, assured of ultimate improvement in his condition.

In 1850, when the Indians who participated in the Whitman Massacre were tried, Mr. Cone served on the jury, in charge of Joseph L. Meeks, then United States marshal.

In 1861 Mr. Cone went to Florence, Idalio, and for two years earned considerable money in the mines. For a time thereafter, he turned his attention to a pack train with which he con- veyed provisions from Lewiston to the mining camps of Elk City and Clearwater Station, a distance of one hundred and thirty miles. Dur- ing the heat of two summers he made this trip frequently, and finally, with his brother, Philan- der J., he took the train to Marion county. In 1866 he was united in marriage with Sarah A. Cone, widow of his brother Oliver, who had five children by her former marriage. Of these, Jane married Joseph Graham, of Clackamas county ; Alvina is deceased ; Orville O. resides near Sandy, Ore .; Everett A. M. lives on the farm ; and Mary F. is the wife of Mr. Tower, in the mail service in Portland. By her first marriage with William Long she had a son, John Wesley Long, now on the home farm.

Soon after his marriage Mr. Cone settled on the farm upon which his father formerly lived, and which now consists of four hundred acres. He is engaged in general farming and stock- raising, has seventeen acres under hops, and is breeding hogs and Angora goats in large numbers. In politics he is a Republican, but has never evinced a desire to hold public office. Thorough, practical and substantial in appear- ance and fortune, he is a typical. large-hearted and resourceful northwestern pioneer. Possessed of a genial disposition and a kindly public spirit which actuates him to many deeds which will al- ways reflect credit upon his name, he strives to do his part in the world toward making it better and happier. At his home he and his family dispense a gracious and generous hospitality. The publishers of this volume have taken great pride in preserving for the future a record of the life of Mr. Cone, with this brief estimate of the es- teem in which he is held by those who have learned to know him best, feeling assured that such a review will prove the fountain-head of in- spiration for many an ambitious youth of the present day, as well as of generations yet to come.

Z. H. RUDD. No history of the Willamette valley would be complete were no mention made of Z. H. Rudd, who, as manager of the Linn County Abstract Company, occupies an impor-

tant place in the business affairs of the county. A native son of the state, he was born August 27, 1862, a son of Harry L. and Lydia A. ( Mor- rison ) Rudd, natives of Rutland county, Vt., and New Hampshire, respectively, the latter a daugh- ter of Major Morrison, also a native of New Hampshire, but who finally settled in Michigan.

Harry L. Rudd was proud to claim descent from an old New England family. He was a farmer's son and was early initiated into the duties that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. From Rutland county, Vt., he removed to Cass county, Mich., there also engaging in farming. In 1849, however, he was seized with the fever of unrest, as were so many others upon the an- nouncement that gold had been discovered in California, and forthwith started across the plains with gold and California as his goal. In the fall of the year 1851 he returned to the east, and in Michigan, in the early part of 1852, was united in marriage with Miss Lydia A. Morrison. The young people at once started across the plains, ox teams furnishing the motive power. He became associated with John N. Donalds in the management of a merchandise business in Burlington. Adjoining what is now known as Peoria, Linn county, Mr. Rudd took up a dona- tion claim of six hundred and forty acres, and at once began to transform it into a habitable tract.

The long and useful life of Harry L. Rudd was brought to a close in 1892, his death occur- ring in Albany, his wife preceding him by one year. To this worthy couple three children were born, only two of whom are living. Lura, Mrs. Haight, of Albany, and Z. H.

As his father was a farmer, it was but natural that Z. H. Rudd should become acquainted with the duties that pertain to the farm, and at an early age he gave a helping hand. When the district schools were in session he improved every opportunity which they afforded, and subsequent- ly he attended Armstrong's Business College in Portland, from which he graduated in February, 1882. From then until 1891 he remained on the old home farm, taking an active part in its care and cultivation. In 1891 he was appointed deputy to the county recorder, E. E. Davis, hold- ing the position two terms, and in the meantime gaining a practical insight into the details per- taining to the office. In 1892 Z. H. Rudd. E. E. Davis and W. A. Kimsey formed what has since been known as the Linn County Abstract Com- pany, although the individual owners have changed somewhat since its organization. Mr. Kimsey's interest was later purchased by the two other partners, and subsequently B. M. Payne and Z. H. Rudd bought Mr. Davis' interest Substantially all the abstracts written in the conn- ty pass through the company's hands, and it goes

395

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

without saying that the company enjoy the com- plete confidence of the people wanting work in that line. A number of assistants are required in the office to do the detail work. Mr. Rudd is manager of the company, for which position he is thoroughly qualified.

In Lebanon, Linn county, Mr. Rudd was united in marriage with Miss Mary Rieland, whose birth occurred in Ohio. Fraternally Mr. Rudd is a Mason, being identified with St. John's Lodge No. 62 and is also enrolled among the Royal Arch Masons and the Woodmen of the World. Socially he holds membership with the Alco Club, and in political matters invariably casts his vote in favor of Democratic candidates. Mr. Rudd and his sister still own the old donation claim which his father took up in 1852, but rent it to tenants, In his business dealings he has been very successful, his good management, enterprise and fair dealing winning him a handsome com- petence, which numbers him among the substan- tial citizens of the community.

WILLIAM GOLTRA. Since coming to Ore- gon in 1853 William Goltra has been closely connected with the business as well as the ag- ricultural interests of the communities of which he has been a resident, through the exercise of his practical, clear-cut methods, dictated by an unusually keen judgment. Not empty-handed when he came west-for no man can be called so who has mastered a trade, and with earnest energy and industry prepares for the work which is to win his livelihood-he also had for his cap- ital the personal traits which have since charac- terized his success, and also called forth the ad- miration and esteem of those who have witnessed his efforts.

The Goltra family came originally from Ger- many, the first representative in America being the great-grandfather of William Goltra. He set- tled in New York state, where Oliver Goltra was born, the latter serving his country in the war of 1812. He was a farmer by occupation and made his home in young manhood in New Jersey, and later in life removed to Jacksonville, Ill., where his death occurred. The second Oliver, the father of William Goltra, was born near New Brunswick, N. J., and in that state he engaged at his trade of a hatter, carrying on his work in both Middlesex and Somerset counties until 1861, at which time he removed to Jack- sonville, Ill., and became a farmer in Morgan county, later removing to Lincoln, where he died. In his religious views he was a Presbyterian. He married Anna Harris, a native of New Jer- sey, and a descendant of Welsh and English an- cestors. Her father, William H. Harris, died in New Jersey, where Mrs. Goltra also died, his

loyalty having been tested in the war of 1812 dur- ing which he faithfully served. Of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Goltra, ten at- tained maturity and nine are now living, only two of whom came to the Pacific coast, another son, Nelson, coming at the same time that William Goltra emigrated. He settled in Linn county, Ore., where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber, and was killed in Corvallis in 1858, by the explosion of one of the boilers of the saw- mill.

The oldest child living of this large family is William Goltra, who was born May 24, 1834, near New Brunswick, N. J., and there reared to manhood, receiving his education in the public schools. He early learned the trade of a carpen- ter, working at the same for some little time in his native state, but when only nineteen years old he started with his brother for the west. The outfit, consisting of ox teams and necessary sup- plies, was obtained in the spring of 1853 and they set out over the "Barlow route " for Ore- gon, May 12 witnessing their departure from the site of Kansas City, and five months later, . to the day, they arrived at their destination. Mr. Goltra walked the entire distance between Mis- souri and the western territory, driving a team, his pluck manifest in the way he endured hard- ships and privations in this first struggle of life. The brothers first located in Clackamas county, Ore., and there spent the winter following the journey. William Goltra engaged in the prose- cution of his trade. In 1854 he came to the city of Albany, Linn county, and for the ensuing eleven years continued here, contracting and building. In 1855 he bought the right to a do- nation claim seven miles southeast of Albany, known originally as the Keller claim, and near which the Southern Pacific railroad now runs, and improved and operated it in connection with his interests in Albany. In 1865 he removed to the farm and devoted his energies entirely to the cultivation of the same, and has added to the original number of acres purchased until he has four hundred and thirty acres. In 1873 he rented the farm and again located in Albany, engaging then in the grain business. He has since con- tinued in this work, meeting with a gratifying success which can scarcely fail to accompany earnest, persevering effort, such as Mr. Goltra has put forth in everything that he has attempted in life. He buys grain from Linn, Marion and Lane counties principally, and ships to Portland and San Francisco, dealing almost entirely in wheat and oats. In 1896 he bought out the branch house of the Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Hardware Company, of Portland, and moved the stock into his own building at the corner of Ells- worth and First streets, where he carries a com- plete line of all farming implements, carriages.

396

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wagons and harness. The business is conducted under the firm name of Goltra & Rumbaugh. Mr. Goltra is well known through his extensive grain dealing, especially in the eastern part of the Willamette valley, where he bought and shipped grain over the " East Side Railway " be- tween Silverton and Coburg, and the main line between Harrisburg and Turner, for many vears. Mr. Goltra also owns other farms in the vicinity of Albany, and for some years was interested in the Farmer's Elevator Company, of which he was one of the organizers.

The marriage of William Goltra with Sarah E. Denney, occurred in Lebanon, Linn county. She was born in Ohio, the daughter of Christian Denney, who crossed the plains in 1852 and set- tled in Linn county. Of the four children which blessed this union, Eva died in Albany; Addie became the wife of D. W. Rumbaugh, of Al- bany; Laura was married to J. B. Starr, now of New York City; and John O., a graduate of Willamette University, is the secretary of the Portland Trust Company, and makes his home in Portland. Mr. Goltra is a Methodist in his religious views and a Republican in politics, and though never desiring official recognition, he takes an active interest in political affairs and gives every effort toward the betterment of mu- nicipal government and hearty encouragement toward movements calculated to advance the general welfare of the city. He is one of the representative citizens of the west, and it is through the efforts of such men of ability and integrity that the commonwealth of Oregon has so quickly risen to a place of importance in the affairs of the country.

E. J. SEELY. An important factor in the industrial interests of Linn county, and a lead- ing member of the Democratic party, E. J. Seely holds a commanding position among the active and enterprising men of the thriving city of Albany. He takes a prominent part in public matters as chairman of the Democratic Central Committee, and is widely and favorably known as a most successful creamery operator, being the secretary and manager of the Albany Butter and Produce Company. A son of the late William Seely, he was born July 3, 1866, in Whitehall, Greene county, Ill. He is of French-Canadian descent, his paternal great-grandfather, Anthony Seelye, as the name was formerly spelled, having been born of French ancestors, in Canada. He subsequently removed to Missouri, settling in St. Louis, when that now important city was but a hamlet. His son, Stewart Seely, who curtailed the family surname by cutting off the final " e," was the grandfather of E. J. Seely. He was born and bred in St. Louis, but as a young man

settled in Greene county, Ill., where he became a farmer of some prominence.

Born in Whitehall, Ill., William Seely was reared to farming pursuits, and continued a resi- dent of his native town until 1888. Emigrating then to Benton county, Ore., he purchased land in Alsea, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1892. He married Jennie Jones, who was born in Greene county, Ill., and died, in 1896, in Alsea, Ore. Her father, Josiah Jones, a native of North Carolina, was a pioneer settler of Greene county, Ill. Of the thirteen children born of their union, eight sur- vive, namely: E. J., the special subject of this sketch; Charles, a resident of Astoria; Curtis, who is engaged in the creamery business at Wald- port, Ore .; Mrs. Lana Neal, of Heppner, Ore .; Mrs. Lucy Warfield, Harry, Gusta and Inez. The last four named children live in Alsea valley.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 52

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