Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 53

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 53

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Brought up on the home farm in Greene coun- ty, Ill., E. J. Seely obtained his education in the district schools and the Whitehall high school. Leaving home at the age of nineteen years, he went to Bartelsville, I. T., where he was em- ployed in farming and stock-raising until the spring of 1889. Coming then to Oregon, he lo- cated at Springfield, Lane county, where he re- mained for five years in the creamery business, being associated with Douglas & Co., as manager of their creamery, and while there became pro- ficient in the trade of a butter maker. Remov- ing, in 1895, to Albany, Mr. Seely became sec- retary and manager of the Albany Creamery As- sociation, with which he was connected five years. In 1900 he organized the Albany Butter and Produce Company, of which he has since been the secretary and manager. Buying a cor- ner lot he built the creamery, and has been in- strumental in the establishment of an extensive and profitable dairy business, making a specialty of manufacturing a choice grade of butter, in the season of 1902 making 155,000 pounds. Remod- eling the building in 1902, Mr. Seely crected a cold storage plant, and is in every way success- ful. He both stores and manufactures ice, in which he carries on a substantial retail trade, having a lucrative patronage in Albany.

Mr. Seely married, in Albany, Miss Stena Freerksen, who was born in Illinois, of German ancestry, and they have one child, Claribel Seely. For several years Mr. Seely has been a member of the Democratic Central Committee, of which he is now the chairman, and for one term rep- resented the third ward in the City Council. Fra- ternally he was made a Mason at Eugene, Ore., joining Eugene Lodge, No. 11, A. F. & A. M., and is a member of Eugene Chapter, R. A. M., and of Temple Commandery, No. 3, K. T., of Albany, being Past E. C. He united with the Odd Fellows at Springfield, Ore., and now be-

David Graig

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longs to Albany Lodge, No. 4, I. O. O. F., in which he has passed all the chairs, and to the Albany Encampment, of which he is Past C. P. Mr. Seely likewise belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, to the Alco Club, and to the State Dairymen's Association.

CAPT. DAVID CRAIG. The fine farming property owned by Capt. David Craig, located eight and a half miles from Salem, has witnessed many large undertakings in the line of stock- raising and general farm operations, and without doubt has been one of the most productive and profitable farms in Marion county. The owner has advanced ideas relating to his preferred oc- cupation, and through the medium of his own practical experiments, agricultural journals and conferences with others as thoughtful and inquir- ing as himself, has probably brought his farm to as high a state of perfection as it is possible at the present time and under present conditions in the northwest. Of the three hundred and forty acres in the property, three hundred are under cultivation. The work of improvement has been greatly facilitated by reason of the many natural advantages existing, chief among which is the presence of numerous living springs. A beau- tiful rural home, surroundings of shrubbery, trees and flowers, with fine barns, hop houses and the most modern of agricultural implements, convey an idea of the enterprise and progressive spirit of one of the representative land-owners of Marion county.

When Captain Craig took possession of his farm in 1877, he had to deal with and solve the problem of disposing of vast areas of scrub oak and underbrush. Having accomplished this work, he began, on a small scale, the raising of wheat and oats, gradually increasing his annual production until he became one of the extensive grain-producers of his community. At the same time he embarked in stock-raising, a business which soon developed to large proportions. In years gone by, some very valuable stock has been bred on his farm. During the stock-raising pe- riod of his career, which terminated in 1895. he was awarded many prizes at the State Fair. He has made a specialty of Angora goats, Cotswold sheep and Poland-China swine. In 1894, Cap- tain Craig put sixty acres of his land under hops. Two years later he reduced this to thirty acres, which has since been devoted uninterruptedly to the culture of this product. In 1902 the yield was over eighteen tons.

A native of Toronto, Canada, Captain Craig was born February 8, 1852. When eight years of age he was taken by his parents to London, Canada, where his rudimentary education was received. After the completion of his studies in the public schools he entered Day's Business Col-

lege in Toronto, from which he was graduated. He was variously employed during the earlier years of his young manhood, until he came to Oregon with his father in 1875. His father located on a farm in the Waldo Hills in Marion county in that year, where David Craig remained for two years. In 1877 he settled upon the farm which he now occupies, and which he has since made his home. April 20, 1881, he was married to Olivia Small, a native of Silverton, Ore., and of this union five children have been born : Ernest E., the eldest son, while a student in Mount Angel College, ran away to participate in the Spanish-American war, and died in the Phil- ippine Islands; Harvey S. graduated from the classical department of Mount Angel College, in June, 1903; Alma M., Willard D. and Vernon W. reside with their parents.

Recognizing his qualifications for public office, the people of Marion county elected Captain Craig to the Oregon state legislature in 1895, and again in 1897. During both sessions he sup- ported all measures inspired by a desire to pro- mote the highest interests of the state and the community in which he resides, and those who watched his record accord to him the highest credit for the capable and efficient manner in which he safeguarded the causes of his constitu- ents. His first presidential vote was cast for a Republican candidate, and he has since stanchly adhered to the principles of that great party. Fraternally, he is identified with the Masonic order, affiliating with Pacific Lodge No. 50, A. F. & A. M., of Salem, and Multnomalı Chapter No. I, R. A. M., also of Salem. For many years he was connected with the Oregon National Guard. Upon the organization of Company I, Second Regiment, Oregon National Guard, in September, 1887, he was elected first lieutenant. May 17, 1890, he was elected to the captaincy of the company, and filled this office until his resig- nation, in 1892, after a continuous service of nearly five years.

Captain Craig is a man possessed of a high public spirit and a keen sense of personal honor. In all his associations with his fellow-men he has exhibited those characteristics which cause a man to be respected and honored, and his influence and his means have always been at the command of the public when the opportunity of assisting in any cause for the advancement of the general welfare presented itself to him. He has been a frequent contributor to the press, and his opinion on public affairs, thus disseminated, has been of immediate interest to the people. In every sense he has shown himself to be a thoroughly repre- sentative citizen, and his name will go down in history as that of one of the thoughtful, unselfish, generous-hearted and conscientious citizens of the county.

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MANFORD McCROSKY. Though a resi- dent of Oregon but three years, Manford Mc- Crosky has become a man of no small importance in the industrial life of the community in which he has chosen to make his home. Having met with a gratifying success in his line of work in the middle west he has ventured to extend his operations into the less tried opportunities of the Pacific slope, confident as to his ability to win the approval and business confidence of the people with whom he should deal, and his effort has met with speedy and entirely satisfactory results.

Mr. McCrosky is a representative of a Scotchi- Irish family, his grandfather, Samuel McCrosky, having been a near descendant of an emigrant from the country across the water. His home was originally in Pennsylvania, and from that state he removed to Ohio, where he continued to follow his occupation of farming. Near St. Paris of the latter state the father of Manford McCrosky, John, was born and reared to man- hood, likewise following the occupation of an agriculturist, later making his home near Argos. Ind., where he was well known through the sub- stantial results of his work. He married Cynthia Hunt, a native of Ohio, and daughter of Isaac Hunt, a farmer in that state, and she was the mother of two children, a son and a daughter. She died when the son, Manford McCrosky, was an infant.

The birth of Manford McCrosky occurred near Argos, Ind., September 24, 1864, and he there grew to manhood, receiving his education in the public schools of that state. Until 1888 he re- mained at home, and at that date he removed to Rosewood, Champaign county, Ohio, and there engaged in the employment which had occupied the attention of his forefathers. After a few years he became interested in the creamery busi- ness in the city of Rosewood, being one of the organizers of the Rosewood Elgin Butter Com- pany, of which he became director, secretary and manager. The business venture was entirely suc- cessful and he continued in this employment until 1899, when he decided to carry his interests into the west. Unlike the pioneers of old, but no less interested in all that pertained to the welfare of the land in which he was seeking a home, he traveled to Oregon, and at once entered the em- ploy of the Albany Creamery Association, re- maining, however, but six weeks at their skim- ming station at Tangent, before he accepted a po- sition as butter-maker with the T. S. Townsend Creamery Company, of Salem. For seven months he was satisfied with this position, but January 1, 1901, he returned to Albany at the request of the Albany Creamery Association, and though they gave him the position of manager and sec- retary he also took charge of a department where he could make the butter. Though receiving help

at times in his department the work which he has chosen is done entirely by himself, and he derives much satisfaction in so doing when viewed in the light of results. He has competed in several butter-making contests, his first being at the Oregon State Fair, where he took first premium. At the Hillsboro meeting of the Ore- gon Dairymen's Association, December 16-18, 1902, he took the gold medal, his butter scoring 961/2, and through his successive triumphs a proper valuation has been placed upon his work. He is also interested as a stockholder in the Albany Creamery Association, of which he is secretary and manager.

The marriage of Mr. McCrosky occurred in Urbana, Ohio, and united him with Victoria E. Newcomb, a native of that city, and they are now the parents of two children: Carl R. and Cecil B. Religiously Mr. McCrosky is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically he is a Democrat, while in his home in Rosewood serving for six years as justice of the peace, a postion which he resigned on coming to Oregon. Always interested in his business affairs, Mr. McCrosky is an active member of the State Dairymen's Association, and during the Oregon state fair at Salem, in 1900, he was a judge of the creamery display.

JUDGE H. H. HEWITT. For many years associated with the jurisprudence of Oregon, Judge H. H. Hewitt occupies a position in the community of Linn county in keeping with his profound legal attainments, his political integ- rity and sagacity, and his advantages as a native son and a member of one of the earliest pioneer families of the northwest. Born near Wheaton. Yamhill county, December 7, 1846, he laid the foundation for his present rugged constitution on the home farm, and gained his rudimentary education while irregularly attending the public school of his neighborhood. A son of Henry and Elizabeth (Matheney ) Hewitt, he is a grandson of another Henry.

The father of Judge Hewitt was born near Huntingdon, Huntingdon county, Pa., November 19, 1822, and was sixteen years old when his father moved overland to Platte county, Mo. A mountaineer chancing to pass the lonely and iso- lated farm of the Hewitts discoursed glowingly upon the advantages in the far northwest, and young Henry lent a ready ear to his account. and eventually inspired others with faith in the remote western country. At a public meeting he secured the signatures of a number of the prominent settlers of the locality, the majority of whom withdrew after promising to make ready for the proposed journey. At best the project was a hazardous one, for no wagon train had as

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yet penetrated the limitless tracts of the plains, and the chances were against their reaching the desired goal. Nothing daunted, the young man persevered in agitating the plan which accentu- ated his limitations and made his days and nights restless with uncertainty. He finally succeeded in getting together a party which included Messrs. Applegate, Burnett, Martyn, Lennox, Waldo, and many others, as well as Captain Ma- theney, one of the central figures in this first great emigration towards the western sea. Captain Ma- theney was one of the settlers of Platte county with whom the Hewitts became acquainted soon after removing there, and his daughter, Elizabeth, finally became the wife of young Henry Hewitt. She was born in Indiana, while her father was born in Virginia, and reared in Kentucky. From Indiana he took his family to Illinois, and in Hancock county won the rank which clung to him through life, that of captain of a company organized to drive the Mormons out of Nauvoo. In Missouri the fearlessness which characterized his entire life made him an important factor in the then wilderness country, and he naturally fell into a foremost position in the opening expedition of 1843.

History furnishes various accounts of the brave and fearless men who sold their middle west farms and risked all on the chance of reaching the western slope of the Rocky mountains. That the company was a large one is certain, for it is practically agreed that their original intention was to travel in four columns, of thirty wagons each, and sufficiently far apart to facilitate the formation of a square into which the loose cattle could be driven at night for protection from the Indians. Owing to the necessity of forming so many new paths this plan proved impracticable, and it is assumed, after reading many accounts, that the train finally resolved into a single line, the different wagons of which took their turn in lead- ing the way. However, three companies were formed, each having a captain, and thus organiza- tion was effected, and complications minimized. Great difficulty was experienced with the loose stock, and greater difficulty in crossing the North and South Platte rivers. Here also one can hardly get a correct version of the methods em- ployed, for each company accomplished the feat according to their best judgment, and the result, good or bad, of those who had preceded them. One authority speaks of chaining all of the teams together and passing over the South Platte in a solid column, while another recounts the placing of buffalo robes under the wagons, thus trans- forming them into boats. Ferries were made by lashing two Indian canoes together, and placing the wheels on each side of the wagons in the canoes. The mountains offered many obstacles for the intrepid travelers, and it is recorded of

Mr. Hewitt that he was the first to drive a wagon over the range since Whitman's time-honored vehicle passed that way in 1838. From The Dalles the most of the party went by water, the cattle being driven along the south shore, and made to swim the Columbia river at Sauvie's island, going thence to Vancouver.

Locating in Washington county, Mr. Hewitt the next year moved to a claim three miles north of Wheatland, Yamhill county, the same being the Joseph Mclaughlin farm, first settled upon in 1832, and constituting the oldest farm on the west side of the Willamette. Here he improved his land, reared his children, and ennobled his life by as true, sincere and helpful a career as any that contributed to the upbuilding of Oregon. His old-time friend, Captain Matheney, true to his former record, continued to exert an influence among his new surroundings, and after taking up his residence in Wheatland established the Ma- theney Ferry, destined for a long era of useful- ness in propelling people across the river. The captain was a large, strong man, with wonderful powers of endurance, and an expert axman. A remarkable shot, he hunted with his friend in the timberlands, and up to the time of his death at the Hewitt homestead, at the age of eighty, de- lighted to recall the trials and adventures with which he had to contend in crossing the plains. and during the subsequent settlement of Yamhill county. His daughter, Mrs. Hewitt, who died in October, 1899. was the mother of ten children, the order of their birth being as follows: Ann Eliza, deceased wife of Mr. John L. Thornton, of Yamhill county ; D. M., a farmer in Polk county ; Judge H. H., of Albany ; A. W., of Salem, Ore .; A. J., living on a part of the old home in Yamhill county ; J. C., of Salem: M. C., a builder of Sacramento, Cal .; J. L., a doctor of dental surg- ery of Portland ; H. W., a jeweler in La Grande, Ore : and L. L., living on the old homestead in Yamhill county.

Mr. Hewitt, whose death occurred January 15. 1899, at the age of seventy-six years, was a stanch Republican, and took an active part in the establishment of his party in Oregon. He was a regular attendant at county and state con- ventions, and served two terms as commissioner of Yamhill county. He was successful as a farmer, and at one time owned Scott Mount, in Portland, which he sold to H. W. Scott many years before his death. He participated in all of the measures adopted for the development of his county, and contributed both time and money for many worthy causes. His varied experiences in- cluded some time spent in the mines of California in 1848. His family was distinguished during the Civil war by the meritorious service of two of his brothers, one of whom, Andrew J., lost his life in battle as colonel of his regiment, and the

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other, Adam, entered the service after returning from Oregon, whither he had gone with a pack train in 1842.

Judge H. H. Hewitt secured his higher educa- tion at the Willamette University, from which he was graduated in the class of 1870, with the de- gree of A. B. For the following nine years he engaged in educational work, his time being dis- posed of for a year as principal of the Baptist College at McMinnville, as principal of the pub- lic schools of Amity for two years, principal of the Scio schools for two years, principal of the LaFayette Academy for a year; as professor of Greek, Latin and mathematics in the Albany Collegiate Institute for two years, and as principal of the latter institution for one year. In 1872 he was elected superintendent of schools of Yam- hill county. In the meantime Mr. Hewitt had devoted his leisure to the study of law, and, hav- ing been admitted to the bar in December, 1877, he opened a law office in Albany in July, 1879. For ten years he engaged in practice in partner- ship with H. Bryant, and later was connected for three years with O. H. Irvine. In 1888 he was elected attorney of the Third judicial district on the Republican ticket, and in 1894 was nominated judge of the same district, and elected by a large majority. Upon the completion of his political service he retired to private practice, and has since been senior member of the firm of Hewitt & Sox. He is an ex-member of the State Central Committee, and was chairman of the Congres- sional Committee at the convention held in Rose- burg, Ore., in 1902. For two years he has served as city attorney.

In Yamhill county in 1872 Judge Hewitt was united in marriage with Maggie J. Rowland, a native daughter of the county, and daughter of Jeremiah Rowland, and sister of Dr. L. L. Row- land, of Salem. Jeremiah Rowland was one of the early settlers of Yamhill county, having crossed the plains in 1844. Mrs. Hewitt died in 1899, leaving a daughter, Olga L., who shares her father's appreciation of mental culture, hav- ing graduated from the Albany College. Fra- ternally Judge Hewitt is prominent as a member and ex-senior warden of Albany Lodge No. 64, A. F. & A. M., the Royal Arch Chapter, the Knights of Pythias, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a member, and ex-vice president of the State Bar Association. No name in the legal annals of this county carries with it greater influence than does that of Judge Hewitt. He has the personal characteristics which rivet popular attention, and command universal re- spect. Industrious, fearless, profound and prac- tical, he has made himself distinguished for erudi- tion in the legal profession, for painstaking and exhaustive examination of every subject engag-

ing his attention or committed to his care, and for guarding well the interests of clients, the public and the integrity of law.

JASON N. BRANDEBERRY. The firm of Brandeberry & Wheeler represent the largest re- tail lumber enterprise in Linn county. Started in Albany in 1899, an era of prosperity has al- ready dawned for the promoters, both of whom are men of extended experience in their chosen occupation, and command the confidence of the business world. J. N. Brandeberry, the senior member of the firm, was born in Troy township, Ashland county, Ohio, November 18, 1848, and lived on a farm for the first twenty-two years of his life. The most remote ancestor of whom authentic record has been kept is his paternal great-grandfather, who came from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania, where his son, Abraham, the grandfather, was born. The latter removed to Medina county, Ohio, as a young man, and there Conrad Brandeberry, the father of J. N., was born, and upon the same farm the grand- father passed several years of his life, his death occurring after his removal to Ashland county, the same state. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. Conrad Brandeberry farmed for many years in Ashland county, but in 1854 took up his residence in Williams county, Ohio, and died there in October, 1902, at the age of eighty-four years. He was a Republican in politics, and a member of the United Brethren Church. His wife, Jane (Malcolm) Brandeberry, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, a daughter of Alexander Malcolm, who brought his family from Scotland and settled in Ashland county, where the balance of his life was spent in farming. Mrs. Brande- berry, who survives her husband, is the mother of eight children. One of her four daughters is deceased.

From the public schools J. N. Brandeberry went to Oberlin College, Ohio, which he left at the end of a year to engage as a clerk in a drug store in Bryan, Ohio. During his four years' as- sociation with this concern he acquired a com- plete knowledge of the business, and thereafter traveled for a year before his marriage in Pio- neer, to Mary L. Himes, a native of Williams county, Ohio. After farming for a year Mr. Brandeberry engaged in the drug and grocery business in Montpelier, and after four successful vears his store was consumed by fire and he lost about all that he had accumulated. He then turned his attention to railroading, beginning as fireman on the Wabash Railroad, and the fifth year was promoted to engineer, acting in that capacity for two years. In 1886 he came to Corvallis, Ore., and worked at the carpenter's trade for a short time, and then became manager

Bar Leonard

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of the warehouse business of Wells & Cauthorn for about ten seasons.

Mr. Brandeberry's first lumbering experience was acquired in partnership with Nels H. Wheeler, with whom he has since been associated in business. The firm rented a mill in Corvallis for two years, and were so successful that they started a branch concern in Albany in June, 1899, thereafter managing both mills until disposing of the Corvallis mill in October, 1899. The com- pany now have two yards, one on Jackson and Water, the other on Water and Washington streets, the main yard covering half a block. The company have complete arrangements for con- ducting a large retail and wholesale business, the former the most extensive in the county, the business being facilitated by switch connections with both the Southern Pacific and Corvallis & Eastern Railroads. The lumber for manufactur- ing is brought from Mill City, Ore., and the firm turn out all kinds of lumber and builders' mate- rials. They are the exclusive agents, outside of Salem, for the Curtis Lumber Company, shipping their output to the east, west, north and south in the Willamette valley.

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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 53

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