Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 58

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 58

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

pendently on a part of the old farm, and in 1883 settled near Moro, Sherman county, and engaged in the cattle business for three years. He soon found that his land was particularly adapted to wheat raising, and discarded cattle for wheat. He became one of the successful growers in his vicinity. He pre-empted a large claim, later bought one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land, and the same amount of school land, as well as three-fourths of a section from his neigh- bors. His entire ranch consisted of eleven hun- dred and twenty acres, nine hundred of which was devoted to raising wheat. He was unusually successful, and still owns the property which gave him such a forceful start in life. Locating in Halsey in 1893, he added to his land holdings by purchasing two farms of four hundred acres each, and in 1901 he permanently located in Al- bany. Although a comparative newcomer in the real estate business, much valuable property has already passed through his hands, and he is among the most successful of those in the coun- ty similarly engaged. He is sole representative of the Page Fence Company of Adrian, Mich.

A Prohibitionist in political affiliation, Mr. Penland has exerted an influence for temperance as generally understood, but the term may be taken as an index of his character, and is ap- plicable to all of his relations in life. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of the board of deacons He married in Hal- sey, Ore., Lizzie Hopkins, who was born near Cleveland, Ohio, in 1856, and who is the mother of two children, one of whom, Dr. Hugh E., a graduate of the Oregon Agricultural School and a medical school of Kirksville, Mo., is practicing medicine in Eugene, while Mabel is living at home.

NELSON H. ALLEN. Since there must come a time to all men to put aside the instru- ments of material advancement and go to face a great Unknown it is well to labor in the passing years to leave behind a record of success, not alone as far as worldly wealth and social honors are concerned, though these also have their place, but rather a memory of integrity. Such was the apparent aim of Nelson H. Allen, one of the suc- cessful citizens of Albany, Linn county, whose death occurred September 3, 1897, in the six- tieth year of his life.

Nelson H. Allen, born September 9, 1837, in New York state, was the representative of an eastern family, rich in native virtues of frank integrity and trust in their fellow citizens, which trust proved their ruin financially, for the grand- sire gave his money into the hands of a man whom he had called a friend, and who, proving false to the trust, left them with but little of

their once substantial fortune. The father, Stephen, also a native of New York state, was early a settler of Wisconsin, engaging in farming near Madison. In 1849 he started for the gold fields of California, his death occurring upon the plains, while en route for the west. His wife, formerly Rhoda Jenung, a native of New Jersey, where she was born of French descent, died in Wisconsin, leaving two sons, one of whom is still living in Wisconsin. During the Civil war he served in the cause of his country, and was one of the many prisoners who suffered the horrors of Andersonville. The other, Nelson H., of this re- view, came west from his birthplace near Lake Ontario, and grew to manhood in Wisconsin, receiving his education principally in the Spencer Business College, William Spencer of that insti- tution being the originator of the Spencerian system of penmanship. After the completion of his school course Mr. Allen engaged in the hotel business at Racine, Wis., and later conducted the Jeneau House, in Chicago. He engaged in various lines of business afterward, at one time being a railroad employe, and later entering the mercantile business in Agency, Iowa, where he remained until 1875, when he changed his resi- dence to Oregon. He came in July of that year, the journey being made via San Francisco and Portland. On his arrival in the northwest he settled in Albany, where he engaged in the man- ufacture of lumber in partnersip with a Mr. Robinson, and later with a Mr. Mortin. He owned several tracts of land along the Calapooia creek, which he later sold, after which he en- gaged in the mercantile business, the firm being known first as Allen & Mortin and later as N. H. Allen & Co. Until 1886 he was connected with this business, and at that date he again disposed of his interests and organized the electric light plant, this being the third plant in the state. This was one of his most successful ventures and reflected much honor upon Mr. Allen, for his executive skill and management had much to do with the ultimate incorporation of the busi- ness, under the title of Albany Electric & Tele- phone Co. Mr. Allen was president of the com- pany previous to his death.

The marriage of Mr. Allen occurred at Agency, Iowa, his wife being formerly Miss Mary Hanawalt, who was born near Agency. Iowa. She died September 23, 1898, when forty- four years of age. She was a member of the Baptist Church. Her father was Samuel Hana- walt, a native of Pennsylvania, who was one of the first settlers of Iowa. He there engaged ex- tensively in agricultural pursuits, and became one of the most prominent men of that section of the state. Public spirited and in every way desirous of the general welfare he gave liberally of his time and means toward progressive movements,

ALBERT WHITFIELD LUCAS.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

quite a portion of his land having been given for school purposes. His wife was in maidenhood Catherine Courtney, a descendant of an old Vir- ginia family, which was originally founded by one of three brothers who came from Germany to Pennsylvania. Mrs. Hanawalt is still living. To Mr. and Mrs. Allen have been born four children, namely: Edna V .; Mamie L .; Francis Nelson, located in Seattle, Wash .; and Alma. The daughters are prominent in the social circles of Albany, and as members of the Baptist Church they are lending their best efforts to advance its interests.

In his fraternal relations Mr. Allen was a Knight Templar in Masonry and also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and Knights of Pythias. He was buried with Ma- sonic honors. Politically he was a strong Repub- lican. In connection with his convictions and patriotism a curious incident in the life of Mr. . county, Ky., in 1827, and who was of German- Allen occurred at the opening of the Civil war, when he was in the state of Mississippi for the benefit of his health. He was conscripted by southern law and would have been forced into the ranks but for a timely escape, made after pass- ing through many and hazardous experiences. He finally reached the north, where he would have entered the ranks of the army but for the condition of his health.

MRS. ELIZABETH F. LUCAS. In a com- fortable little home on College avenue in Mon- mouth lives Mrs. Elizabeth F. Lucas, widow of Albert Whitfield Lucas, and one of the pioneer women of Oregon around whom still clings traces of the heroism which, more than the physical toil of men, had to do with the creating of homes and the upbuilding of industries in the very early days. Before her marriage Mrs. Lucas was a Miss E. F. Murphey, daughter of Rev. J. F. Murphey, granddaughter of William Murphey, and great- granddaughter of a soldier of the war of 1812. William Murphey was born in Tennessee, and as a boy removed with his parents to Kentucky, eventually removing to his last earthly home in Illinois, of which state he was a very early set- tler. He married in Kentucky, and in that state was born, in 1807, his son, Rev. J. E., who mar- ried Frances W. Doughty, a native of Kentucky, and daughter of Preston Doughty, a native farmer and large slave owner of Kentucky. Rev. J. E. Murphey removed to Illinois about 1830, locating with his father on an unimproved farm in the wilderness, in time contributing his share towards its development, and at the same time acquiring what was considered in those days an excellent education. He became a minister in the Chris- tian Church, and after removing to Oregon in 1852 was prominently connected with the Chris-

tian College at Monmouth, of which he was the financial agent and a trustee. As time went on he became a profound student, and took a great interest in educational matters, exerting a broad influence for good in the community in which he lived. His death, June 7, 1876, removed one of the most worthy members of the ministry of pioneer distinction. Although in moderate cir- cumstances, he reared to ways of usefulness and honor twelve children, five sons and seven daugh- ters, nine of whom are living. Mrs. Lucas being the third oldest.

The foundation laid at the district schools has been utilized by Mrs. Lucas as a basis for further study, and during her entire life she has been a voluminous reader, keeping well posted on cur- rent events, and in touch with the literature of the day. In 1851 she was united in marriage with Albert Whitfield Lucas, who was born in Hardin

French ancestry. His forefathers were very early settlers in Kentucky, in which state his father, Marsham Lucas, was born September 5, 1801. In 1823 he married Cynthia Ann Whitman, daughter of Thomas Whitman, and in 1830 re- moved to Illinois, where, two years later, he par- ticipated in the Black Hawk war. Those were very trying times, for his family were obliged to make their escape from their home in order to save their lives, returning at the expiration of hostilities. His faithful wife died in 1837, and he eventually gave up farming and settled in Abingdon, Ill., where he died June 24, 1898, when nearly ninety-seven years of age. In early life he was a Baptist, but afterward became a member of the Christian Church.

Albert Whitfield Lucas was reared in Illinois, to which state he went with his parents when three years of age. After completing his educa- tion at Galesburg, he started to earn his living on a small tract of land near that town, and March 13, 1851, was united in marriage. The following year, April 13, 1852, he started from Monmouth, Ill., across the plains, being accom- panied by his wife, her father and his family and a company composed of thirty wagons and nearly as many families, under the capable leadership of a Mr. Mason. At Grand Island the company divided, one of the trains being known as the Murphey train, of which Rev. J. E. Murphey was the gallant captain. Ox teams, horses and mules carried the emigrants and their possessions, and the journey was a pleasant one, the travelers experiencing but little of the annoyance or in- convenience which fretted the westward course of many of the homeseekers of the early days. More fortunate than many, Mr. Lucas had a few hundred dollars in his possession, and with this he purchased land which formed the nucleus of the whole section owned by him in later years,

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and of a still later possession of eight hundred and thirty-three acres. For housekeeping pur- poses they had the barest necessities in the way of furnishings, but the little house was a pleasant place to live in. In connection with the tilling of his land he engaged in school teaching to some extent, and was at one time engaged in mer- cantile pursuits.

In all his undertakings Mr. Lucas was suc- cessful, possessing sound business judgment and capacity for hard work. He was one of the stock- holders in the Polk County Bank, and was a warm friend and financial supporter of the Chris- tian College, serving in the capacities of trustee and clerk of the board for twenty years. Previous to 1887 he was allied with the Republican party, but at that time joined his forces with the Pro- hibitionists. This latter move proved to luis dis- advantage from an official standpoint, for the whisky element frustrated his election as senator and representative. For twenty years he was an elder in the Christian Church, having joined that organization in early life. His influence and money were at the disposal of all practical efforts at improving the general conditions among which he lived, and after locating in Monmouth in 1874, he took a keen interest in the welfare of the town. In the center of beautiful and well kept grounds, and surrounded by trees, shrubs and flowers, he built the little home now occupied by his faithful widow, and there enjoyed a life comparatively free from care up to the time of his death, April 6, 1893. Of the ten children born into his family, Ella Ann, deceased, was born November 16, 1851 ; Ada L., a resident of Portland, was born Septem- ber 2, 1853; Jay Prentice, for four years a regis- trar of the land office at The Dalles, was born June 3, 1856; Mary Alice, deceased, 'was born May 26, 1858; Katie L., the wife of W. D. Fen- ton, of Portland, was born July 6, 1859; Susie, deceased, was born November 4, 1861; Al- bert Lincoln, an engineer on the Southern Pacific Railroad at Portland, was born Feb- ruary 13, 1865; Nellie, deceased, was born June 12, 1867; Frank, for five years postmaster of Monmouth, was born September 25, 1868; and Fred, deceased, was born April 14, 1871. Frank Lucas, one of the well known citizens of this town, who lives near his mother, is a grad- uate of the State Normal, and before locating in town farmed for a number of years. In 1896 lie started up a general drug business in Mon- mouth, but was unfortunately burned out the next year. He married Lorena Mulkey, a native of this county, and daughter of William Mulkey. One child has been born of this union, Bernice. Mrs. Lucas is known as a philanthropist and most charitable woman, and her visits to the sick and needy have brightened many a household in

the town and county. She is active in the Chris- tian Church, and takes an interest in all social and literary matters.

JOHN ROBERT HINKLE. It is a pleasant thing to be able to trace one's family record through long years of change and struggle. One of the oldest families of Oregon, whose history is closely interwoven with that section of the country, is the Hinkle family, and among its more prominent members is the subject of this sketch, John Robert Hinkle, who has a handsome residence in Hubbard, and who is one of the most esteemed retired citizens of Marion county.

Mr. Hinkle has been a resident of Oregon since 1852. He was born in Perry county, Mo., June 30, 1843, a son of Alexander and Fanny (Hinkle) Hinkle, Alexander Hinkle, the father, was born . in Pennsylvania, and when grown to manhood. he drifted to Indiana and later to Missouri, and engaged in agricultural pursuits in Perry county, of the latter state, until 1852. Like many of his friends and neighbors he desired to take advant- age of the new laws made to stimulate immigra- tion into Oregon, and conceiving the idea of going to the Far West, in 1852 he began the perilous journey. He crossed the plains by the Platte River route, and the journey consumed nine months. He located on the Elliott Prairie in Clackamas county, where he took up a donation land claim of three hundred and twenty acres Later Itis claim was approved and he obtained a clear title to the land upon which the closing years of his life were spent. He died in 1882 in his eighty-second year. He was joined in marriage with Fannie Hinkle, who was however, no blood relation, as the name might indicate. This worthy lady also passed away on the home place in Clackamas county, when about fifty-seven years of age. Nine children were born to these pioneer settlers, five being sons and four daughters.

John Robert Hinkle was the youngest of the family, and he obtained but a limited education in the common schools. When eighteen years old, he took charge of the home place, which he con- ducted for many years. This farm has been in- creased to three hundred and fifty acres and our subject is the proud owner of the entire farm, which he leases out, but still oversees its man- agement. In 1888, he purchased a livery stable in Hubbard, in connection with a partner whose interest he afterward purchased. He conducted a successful business until 1900, when he sold out and retired from active business pursuits.

Mr. Hinkle's marriage was celebrated at Salem, Ore., in 1866, when he was joined in wedlock with Mary Elmira Thomas, who was born near Silverton, Ore., August 12, 1850. Her father.

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Lorenz Thomas, located near Silverton in 1842, having come from the east. He died in Clacka- mas county, at the home of our subject aged sixty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle have two children, Eliza, wife of O. L. Darling, of Salem. and they have one son Lloyd; and Harvey A., a successful commission merchant of Hubbard, whose biography is found elscwhere in this vol- ume, who has one daughter, Lona.

In social circles our subject is a worthy mem- ber of the Odd Fellows' Lodge. In politics he is independent, and at one time served as supervisor of Clackamas county. He is also largely inter- ested in the cause of education, as his twenty years' service on the school board in Clackamas county will testify.

CHARLES KIEFER. The German element, which is both substantial and progressive, and is at the bottom of many of the strongest and most influential business organizations in nearly all of the cities and towns of the country, is represented in Albany by Charles Kiefer, at present retired, but formerly connected for fifteen years as owner and manager of the Albany brewery of this city. Mr. Kiefer comes of a family indefinitely associ- ated with the city of Pirmasens, a walled town on the Vosges, in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, where he was born April 17, 1837. His father, Adam, and his mother, Magdalene (Arnold) Kiefer, were born in the same locality, and the former was for many years engaged in the meat market business.

The only one of his father's nine children to come to the Pacific coast, Mr. Kiefer was four- teen years of age when he boarded a sailing ves- sel at Havre, France, bound for Pittsburg, Pa., where his uncle was already well established in business. He was thirty days on the ocean, and arrived at his destination in Pittsburg just before Christmas, 1851. Under his relative he gained a mastery of the tanner's trade, and after four years in the tannery he went to Philadelphia, and from there to Wilmington, Del., where he engaged for five and a half years in dressing morocco. In 1860 he came to the Pacific coast by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and from San Francisco went to the placer mining region around Big Oak, Cal. Not as successful as he had hoped to be, he started out on a tour of the state, investi- gating the prospects for permanent location, and finally arriving at the "John Day" country, on the Powder river, in 1862. Still intent upon making money in mining, he went horseback over the mountains from Walla Walla to the Columbia district, and later on arrived at Jacksonville, Ore., where he combined mining and brewing until 1865. He then removed to Corvallis and engaged

in the butchering business for a year; in 1866 located in Albany, starting the first brewing con- cern there, and operated it most successfully for fifteen years. During that time he gained the reputation for fair dealing and business sagacity which has since clung to him, and also for the public-spirited interest which he has manifested in the social, musical, theatrical and general af- fairs by which he is surrounded.

The first wife of Mr. Kiefer was formerly Margaret Smith, who died a year after her mar- riage, in Wilmington, Del. In 1863 he married, in Jacksonville, a Miss Louisa Sage, who was born in Baden, Germany, and who died December 30, 1894. Of the children of this second union, Clara M. is the wife of Harry Noel, of Morenci, Ariz .; Bertha G. married William Warner, of Albany ; Rosa M. died in Albany ; Caroline L. is the wife of Stephen Riley, of Pendleton; and Carl is deceased. In Wilmington, Del., Mr. Kiefer became identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is now a member of the Albany Lodge, and with the Encampment, of which he is past chief patriarch. He is also a member of the Ancient Order United Workmen. Politically he is identified with the Democratic party, but aside from the formality of casting his vote has never been heard of in local or state un- dertakings of his party. The expression regard- ing the similarity between a man's word and his bond is applicable to Mr. Kiefer, whose business transactions have always been above reproach, and whose private life is worthy of emulation. He was one of the organizers of No. I Albany Fire Company, and is now No. 5 of the exempts.

ROBERT GLENN. Among the well-de- veloped farms in the vicinity of Salem none pre- sents a neater or more painstaking appearance than does that of Robert Glenn. One hundred and ten acres in extent, eighty acres are available for general farming, and their clearing is due entirely to the energy and perseverance of the present owner. Many fine improvements have followed in the wake of years of industry, in- cluding a pleasant residence. convenient barns and outhouses, and those agricultural implements which denote the modern and progressive tiller of the soil, the man who keeps abreast of the times.

Of Scotch descent, on the maternal side, Mr. Glenn is the second oldest of the three sons and three daugliters born to his parents, Caswell and Jane (Smith) Glenn, and his birth occurred in Cole county, Mo., April 13, 1853. The other living children are: Missouri, wife of John Mc- Kee Roberts: Annie, wife of John Stephenson ; and Emma, widow of Asa Forman. The father and mother were born in Cumberland county, Tenn., the former January 28, 1826, and the lat-

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ter June 1, 1828. With their respective parents they moved to Missouri as children, and there met, and married, in 1850, and spent many years of their lives. Robert was reared on the farm in Cole county, and during the winter months at- tended the district schools, eventually remaining at home to be of great practical assistance to his father. He was nineteen years of age when the family outfitted with ox teams and crossed the plains in 1872, leaving the old farm behind in April, and arriving at their destination in Salem November 28, 1872. They located on the farm now owned and operated by Robert Glenn. Here the elder Glenn took a great deal of comfort, and experienced the greatest satisfaction in his adopt- ed state, making money rapidly, and was firmly launched in the good will of his equally enter- prising neighbors. His death occurred on the old homestead January 8, 1899, after twenty-six years in his northwestern home, and he was sur- vived by his wife who still makes her home with her son. Mr. Glenn is a Democrat in politics, and has been a road supervisor for some years. He is a genial and obliging man to meet, success- ful in his farming and stock-raising, and alert to the many opportunities which come his way to be of general use in a constantly growing com- munity.

FRANCIS MARION COOK. Of the sixty- four years of Mr. Cook's life all but six have been spent in Oregon, to which state his father immi- grated in the earliest pioneer days. He was born near Springfield, Mo., March 8, 1839, a son of Isaac and Sarah (Robertson) Cook. In 1845 his parents, having decided to found a new home in the then comparatively unknown Oregon coun- try, started from their Missouri home with two wagons, forty-four oxen and ninety-seven head of cattle. After a journey of six months they arrived at their destination without the loss of any of their stock, an experience very rare in those days as many of the immigrant trains suf- fered heavy losses through the depredations of the Indians. Locating in Marion county Isaac Cook took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres three miles south of the present site of Turner, upon which he immediately erected a small log cabin containing but one room. Upon this claim, the development of which was begun as soon as the family had become established in their new home, he resided until 1872. In that year they removed to eastern Oregon, locating at Camp Watson, where the father died in 1876 at the age of eighty-four years. His wife's death had occurred some time before. The children born to this couple were as follows: George, William and Thomas, all deceased ; Delilah, wife of Will-

iam Frazier, of San Jose, Cal .; Francis Marion. of this review ; and one who died in infancy.

Isaac Cook's life was a useful and most hon- orable one. He was a man who was always ready to assist in all movements for the better- ment of the community's interests. He assisted materially in the construction of the early roads of Marion county, and was specially active in the promotion of the educational interests of the community, helping to build the first school house in his district. He was an earnest member of the Baptist Church, became one of the organizers of the first church of this denomination in the neigh- borhood, and devoted considerable of his time and means toward the construction of the house of worship. He was a large-hearted, public- spirited, liberal man, whose integrity was never brought into question. His name deserves a con- spicuous place among the pioneers of the Willam- ette 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 58

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