Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 62

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 62

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Edward S. Porter was born June 3, 1860, near Parkersville, Ore., and acquired his early educa- tion in the district schools and the Silverton High School. Having obtained a practical knowledge of the many branches of agriculture under the wise instruction of his father, he chose farming as his life work, and after his marriage settled on the Charles Miller donation claim, five miles from Silverton. Thorough and systematic in his methods, and wise and judicious in the cx- penditure of his money, he has made an unques- tioned success in his agricultural labors, and is now the owner of fourteen hundred acres of val- table land, all but one hundred and sixty acres being in one piece. On this he carries on general farming on a large scale, and is extensively en- gaged in stock-raising, dealing principally in Short-horn cattle. Mr. Porter is also identified with other interests, being junior member of the firm of Kinney & Porter, general merchants at Silverton, where he owns several pieces of town property ; and is also largely interested in the breeding of Belgian horses in the Willamette valley. Taking a lively interest in all that con- cerns the public affairs of town and county, Mr.

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Porter has exerted a decided influence in ad- vancing the various enterprises inaugurated to develop their resources and promote their pros- perity. He has served in various town offices, and for twenty years has been clerk of the school board. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and fraternally is an Odd Fellow, active in the lodge room, having passed all the chairs in the order.

Mr. Porter was married, December 24, 1883, to Miss Lou Hubbard, a native of Oregon. She died April 16, 1893, leaving four children, namely: Grover S., Lora, Glenn E. and Lena L. Mr. Porter married for his second wife Mrs. Alice Sherfy Loron, of Johnson City, Tenn. At her death, December 14, 1902, she left one child by her first marriage, Ira P., who makes his home with his foster father.

WILLIAM L. VANCE. The life-history of William L. Vance, a well known resident of Albany, may well be likened to a romance of olden times, being filled with tales of poverty and riches, with thrilling experiences of pioneer life in an uncivilized country, telling of narrow es- capes from the dusky savages, and eventually settling him in a comfortable home, with a sub- stantial fortune, accumulated through his own strenuous efforts, at his command. A son of Bradley Vance, he was born near Jacksonville, in Morgan county, Ill., in 1831. He is of sturdy Scotch ancestry, his paternal grandfather having emigrated from Scotland, his native country, to Kentucky, where he fought in the Indian wars with Daniel Boone.

A native of Kentucky, Bradley Vance was born and bred near the city of Louisville. He was a farmer by occupation, and became an early settler of Morgan county, Ill., where he died, in 1833, of the cholera. He married Nancy, daughter of John Jewett, a farmer in Kentucky. She died of the cholera within nine hours of the time of her husband's death. Three children were born of their union, one of whom died when young, the two survivors being Jolin, who came to the Pacific coast in 1852, and is now a prominent stockman, of Malheur county, Ore., and William L., the subject of this brief sketch.

Left an orphan in his second year, William L. Vance was brought up on a farm, living with his grandfather and uncles, and receiving very meagre educational advantages, his school life averaging less than a month a year. Beginning the battle of life for himself at the age of six- teen years, he worked in a saw-mill run by horse power, and being industrious, thrifty and prudent in his expenditures, he had accumulated the snug little some of $400 by the time he reached his majority. In 1853, ambitious to seek gold in its native soil, he started for California. Leaving

Jacksonville, Ill., he crossed the plains with the ox-train commanded by Batchelder and Carter. At Salt Lake City, finding the company de- termined to winter there, Mr. Vance and a com- rade purchased mules and came to the coast with a small pack-train, being six months and sixteen days on the way to Placerville, Cal. At once en- gaging in mining, he was very successful, making $7,000 the first three months. Going to other mines he lost and made money, sometimes being without funds, and sometimes rolling in wealth. At the end of seven years, however, he left the mining region with a capital of over $8,000 in cash. During the time he suffered all the priva- tions and hardships of the early miners, and came in contact with people of all kinds and con- ditions, including some of the most noble men he ever knew, and some of the most daring desper- adoes.

The ensuing two years Mr. Vance was engaged in the cattle business at Yreka, Cal., going from there, in 1862, to the Salmon river valley, where he cleared $5,000 in packing from there to east- ern points in one season ; thence to Walla Walla, Wash., where he completed a successful wood contract. In 1863 he ran a pack train from the Humboldt river to Rogue River, Ore., and Chico, Cal., and at the same time also successfully engaged in mining, remaining in that locality over two years. In 1866 he attended school at Jefferson, Ore. Locating then in Umatilla, he drove a pack train from that city to Boise, Idaho, for three years, carrying on a very large and successful business in freighting. In his labors he employed seventy-five mules, finding them best adapted for travel, and although the life was hard, he enjoyed it. He oftentimes found the roads almost impassable, sometimes nearly per- ishing in the severe snowstorms of the plains and mountains, at one time becoming snow blind. Hostile Indians were frequently seen, his life be- ing seriously endangered on more than one occa- sion. Disposing of his outfit in 1869, he made a trip east, going by way of the Isthmus of Pan- ama, spending eight months in Illinois recuperat- ing.

Returning to the Willamette valley by way of Panama in 1869, Mr. Vance purchased two farms in Tangent, Linn county, and was there actively engaged in agricultural pursuits for thirteen years, when he took up his residence in Albany. He has achieved distinguished success in his labors, and is now the owner of eight farms, containing from one hundred and sixty to three hundred and fifty acres cach, aggregating in all nearly two thousand acres of good improved farming land. These farms he rents, receiving a good annual income from each. He likewise owns valuable business and residence property in other counties and towns, and is everywhere

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recognized as a man of great executive and finan- cial ability. His farms are finely located, some being quite near railway stations, the most dis- tant one being but two miles from a station. He has built two business blocks 44x100 and 40x100 fect, respectively. He was one of the directors of the Albany Woolen Mills, in which he was a large stockholder until he sold his inter- est in 1903.

Mr. Vance. married, in Marion county, Ore., Martha Duncan, a daughter of James Duncan. She was born near Fayetteville, Ark., and died in Albany, Ore., January 30, 1903. Her father, James Duncan, the son of a farmer, was born in West Virginia. In 1841 he settled as a farmer in Arkansas, and lived there twenty years. Crossing the plains with ox-teams, in 1861, he came to Jefferson, Marion county, with his wife and five children. Purchasing a farm near Turner, he resided there until his death, January 30, 1899. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Ann Brickey, was born in West Vir- ginia, and died at Turner, Ore., December 30, 1898. She bore her husband eight children, seven of whom grew to years of maturity, as follows: Mrs. C. M. Morgan, of Albany ; M. J. Duncan, of Idaho; J. N. Duncan, an attorney in Albany; W. C. Duncan, who lives on the old homestead in Turner; Mrs. Brown, who died in Washington in 1873; Mrs. Vance; and Rob- ert Duncan, whose death occurred, in 1865, in East Oregon.

Mr. and Mrs. Vance became the parents of two children, namely: Lora, living with her father; and Mrs. Nancy Pearl Peacock, of Portland, Ore. Mr. Vance affiliates with the Republican party, and is one of its stanchest sup- porters, but has never sought political preferment.

LEWELLYN CLAY MARSHALL. The steady rise to prominence in the business and social world of Lewellyn Clay Marshall, in charge of the grocery department in the store of S. E. Young, at Albany, has been entirely the result of perseverance and determination. augmented by a correct estimate of his own abilities. Mr. Marshall is a pioneer, a Mason of high degree, and his many interesting ex- periences in the early days would fill a volume of interesting reading matter. Born on a farm near Springfield, Ill., October 12, 1843, he removed at an early age with his father, James Marshall, to Washington county, Iowa, locating on a farmi in the then unsettled coun- try. His five brothers and sisters were born in Illinois and Iowa, and in January, 1852, the entire family started on the long journey across the plains. They outfitted with ox- teams and prairie-schooners, and Lewellyn,

then nine years of age, was an active boy and, though the youngest in the family, made him- self useful driving stock and bringing water from near-by springs and rivers. The days and weeks and months passed uneventfully until reaching Round valley, the oxen plod- ding patiently, and the Indians keeping to themselves. In the valley the father injured his hand, and, blood poisoning resulting, oc- casioned his death at the Umatilla Agency in October, 1852, at the age of forty-five. The mother was prostrated with grief, two chil- dren, Samantha J. and Anson, were ill with fever, and it was a desolate and heart-sick little party that continued its way, leaving its strong and resourceful leader in a lonely way- side grave. The mother took up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres on Sand Ridge, and later traded for one of the same size on the Santiam, where she lived until her death in 1867. Like her husband, she was a mem- ber of the Christian Church, and reared her children to a fearless reliance upon goodness and industry. Alfred, the oldest, died in Idaho; Arthur G., a veteran of the Indian wars, died in Linn county November 25, 1901 ; and Samantha J. became the wife of J. M. Archibald, and finally died in Linn county.

Realizing the dependence of the family caused by the death of his father, Lewellyn started out to work as a farmhand in Linn county at a very early age, and in 1862 went to the mines on the Powder river. After thoroughly investigating the possibilities of success in this region he turned his attention to freighting rather than mining, and from 1863 until 1869 carried provisions and miners' supplies from The Dalles to the Idaho mines with ox-teams. Returning to the valley in the latter part of 1869 he purchased a farm of one hundred and thirty-four acres six miles east of Albany, which property he improved to some extent, and lived thereon for seven years. Locating in Albany in 1876, he was employed by the Albany Farmers' Company for ten years, and while thus receiving and selling grain, owned a controlling interest with Simpson & Mansfield. In 1886 he re- signed from the Farmers' Company and began clerking for Mr. Simpson, dry-goods iner- chant, in 1892 associating himself with his present employer, S. E. Young. At present other responsibilities are being assumed by him, he being president of the Albany Butter & Produce Company, and the Creamery & Cold Storage Plant. Mr. Marshall owns the old farm upon which his mother moved in 1853 in her lonely widowhood, and at times visits it for relaxation from business cares.

Mr. Marshall is one of the popular and in-

ROBERT ADDISON.

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fluential men of the state. He is past master of St. John's Lodge No. 62, A. F. & A. M .; past high priest of Bayley Chapter No. 8 Royal Arch Masons; past master of Adoni- ram Council No. 4, R. and S. M .; past emi- tent. commander of the Temple Commandery No. 3, K. T., and was elected grand com- mander of the Grand Commandery of Oregon in 1898. He is also connected with the Order of the High Priesthood; the Eastern Star ; and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the board of trustees and served as president of the Masonic Building Association. The Pioneer Association of Oregon, as well as the Alco Club, profit by his helpful and genial membership. Politi- cally he is allied with the gold standard Dem- ocrats.

December 31, 1868, Mr. Marshall was united in marriage with Virginia Lines, who was born February 4, 1851, near Fort Madi- son, Lee county, Iowa, and is a daughter of John H. Lines, of whom extended mention may be found in another part of this work. Like her husband, Mrs. Marshall is prominent in the social circles of Albany, and is a mem- ber of the Eastern Star.

ROBERT ADDISON. Among the pioneers of Yamhill county whose departure from ac- customed haunts left a void in the hearts of his friends, and a place not easily filled in the com- munity, was Robert Addison. a popular, influ- ential and honored farmer, and a veteran of the Rogue River war. In his character Mr. Addison embodied the best of English traits, fostered by ancestors living for many years near Newcastle- on-Tyne, England, where he was born on a farm April 2, 1831. His parents came to America when he was seven years of age, or in 1838, bring- ing with them their nine children. This was destined to be a sorrowful family, for on the way to Wisconsin, up the Mississippi river, the mother fell overboard and was drowned, and the father was left alone with almost an over- whelming responsibility.

Locating in Lancaster, Wis., the Addison chil- dren were reared on a farm, and each and all were obliged to perform their share towards the family maintenance. Robert Addison remained at home with his father until about eighteen years old, and then started out to earn his own living No better opportunity presenting itself, he accepted a position as driver across the plains with a small party, and reached his destination without any serions mishap or trouble with the Indians. From Portland he made his way to Idaho and followed mining and prospecting for three years, and after his return to Portland in 1852 worked

at whatever he could find to do. In 1866 he bought a farm of three hundred and twenty acres three miles south of Dayton, on the Dayton & Salem road, there being at the time but few acres under cultivation. His industry and good management accomplished wonders, however, and at the time of his death, March 15, 1898, he left to his widow and children a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, two hundred and forty being available for crops.

November 7, 1870, Mr. Addison married Mar- tha Scott, a native of Indiana and daughter of William and Sarah A. Scott, who crossed the plains in an early day, settling in Spring valley, Polk county, Ore. The Scott family lived in Polk county for about four years, and afterward experimented in different parts of Polk county up to the time of their death. After his marriage Mr. Addison took his wife to the farm where she now lives, but on account of impaired health located in Dayton in 1897. After a year he went to live on the farm with his son, and after his death his widow again went to Dayton, remain- ing there until October 1, 1901, when she and her sons returned to the farm as a permanent home. Mrs. Addison has proved an excellent manager, and with the assistance of her sons is maintain- ing the admirable farming standard established by her husband, which caused him to be regarded as one of the best managers and most resourceful agriculturists in Yamhill county. He was one of the pillars of the Christian Church of Dayton, and generously contributed towards the support of the same, at all times being active in church and Sunday school work. He was a man of high moral standards, and was thorough and cautious in the extreme, believing that if anything was worth doing at all, it was worth doing well. Four children were born to himself and wife, of whom Anna L. is the wife of George Foster, of Yam- hill county : Charles W. is a resident of Day- ton ; Otheniel is at home, as is also John R.

M. LORENCE. In all but birth, M. Lorence is an American, for he was but five years of age when he left his native land of Germany, where he was born February 14. 1863. He was one of two children born to his parents. After the death of his father, the mother courageously took up the burden of self-support and brought her children to America. They came by sailing ves- sel and were a long time on the water, and after reaching New York removed immediately to Wisconsin, where they lived for nine years. In 1877, the family located in Oregon, where they settled in Sublimity, but eventually purchased a farm six miles north of the town, where the mother died at the age of fifty-two years. She married a second time and had seven children.

After completing his education in the district

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schools, M. Lorence lived on the home farm until about nineteen years of age, and then started out to make his own way in the world. He was a good farmer, and conscientious, industrious man, and found no difficulty in getting desirable work in the country around his home. He married into one of the well-known families of this sec- tion, his wife, Ethel Schindler, daughter of L. Schindler, having been born on the farm upon which the young couple went to housekeeping, and where they are still living.

The old Schindler place is one of the land- marks of this part of the county, and is located four and a half miles south of Silverton. The part of the old claim owned by Mr. Lorence con- sists of two hundred acres, of which about thirty- five acres have been placed under cultivation by the present occupant. Mr. Lorence is a prac- tical, thrifty farmer, and his farm has been fitted with many desirable modern improvements. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising and devotes considerable of his land to grain. Four interesting and promising children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lorence: Andrew, Elmer, May and Maggie Pearl. In politics a Republican, Mr. Lorence has served on the school board, and he is fraternally associated with the Woodmen of the World. He is one of the reliable and progressive farmers of Marion county, and enjoys the confidence of all who have had dealings with him.

STRAUDER FROMAN. A typical repre- sentative of the pioneer farmers of Oregon, Strauder Froman has long been identified with the agricultural interests of Linn county as proprietor of a well kept and finely im- proved rauch in Albany township. Possess- ing an unlimited amount of energy and push as a young man, he labored intelligently and diligently, by thrift and good management acquiring a competency, and is now living re- tired from active pursuits, enjoying the re- ward of his early toil and self-sacrifice. He was born in Danville, Ill., May 2, 1832. His grandfather, Jacob Froman, was for many years a farmer in Kentucky, but subsequently removed to Indiana, where he remained until his death.

When a boy of twelve years Thomas Fro- man, the father of Strauder, left his Kentucky home, going with his parents to Indiana, where he grew to man's estate. Ambitious and enterprising, he subsequently engaged in business in Danville, Ill., and in partnership with his brother Isaac made money in river trading. One of his earliest ventures in this line was the taking of one hundred head of beef steers, and two hundred and fifty hogs,

with sufficient hay and corn to feed the same, to New Orleans, going on a flat-boat down the Vermilion river to the Wabash, thence down the Ohio river to the Mississippi, which he followed to his point of destination. Being successful in this venture, he afterward did considerable trading in cattle, hay and grain, shipping to the gulf ports. Disposing of his Illinois farm in 1854, he removed to Ne- braska, going with horse teams to Richard- son county. Two years later, Thomas Fro- man, whose son Isaac and daughter America, now Mrs. Price, had settled near Albany, Ore., in 1851, conceived the idea of joining them. Starting with his wife and seven chil- dren in an ox-train, he followed the old Ore- gon trail for a time, but on account of the In- dian troubles in Oregon and Washington he pursued the California trail from Soda Springs, the thirty men of the train with their families proceeding to Chico, Cal., arriving there in August, 1856. The journey had con- sumed four months. Leaving his son Strauder, the special subject of this sketch, in charge of the loose cattle, one hundred head of them, Thomas Froman went with the remainder of his family to San Francisco, thence by boat to Oregon City, and from there came to Al- bany by team. Immediately purchasing land in this locality he engaged in farming. his ranch containing three hundred and twenty acres, on which he resided until his death, in 1880, at the age of eighty-two years. At the same time he bought an adjoining farnı equally large for his son Strauder, purchasing both pieces of land from Judd Ness Robin- son. He was a member of the Baptist Church and in his early life was a Whig, but after- wards became identified with the Republican party. He served in the Black Hawk war while a resident of Illinois.

Thomas Froman married Elizabeth Rand. who was born in Ohio. Her father. James Rand, a native of Ireland, emigrated to this country when a boy of seventeen years, and subsequently served as a soldier throughout the Revolutionary war. Settling then in Vir- ginia, he married Miss Carder, and after- wards removed to Ohio, where he lived for a few years. Going from there to Indiana, he continued his agricultural pursuits until his death. Of the union of Thomas and Eliza- beth (Rand) Froman twelve children were born, eleven of whom grew to years of ma- turity, namely: Frances died in Oregon; America, now Mrs. Price, of Albany, came here in 1851, settling on a donation claim ; Louisa, who died in Illinois in 1853; Isaac, who came to Albany in 1851, resides on the

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donation claim which he then purchased ; Strauder, the subject of this sketch; Minerva died in Nebraska; Mrs. Hannah Foster, who died in Oregon; Mrs. Elizabeth Pate, of Al- bany; Mrs. Mary Logsdon, of Albany ; Thomas, who resides on the old homestead ; and Mrs. Martha Wyatt, of San Francisco, Cal. The mother died on the home farm, in Oregon, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.

Brought up on an Illinois farm, Strauder Froman obtained his education at a subscrip- tion school in a rude log school-house, thic teacher boarding around among the families during the annual term of three months. Going with his parents to Nebraska in 1854, he remained there two years, then, as pre- viously stated, started in April, 1856, for Cali- fornia, arriving in August at Chico. Being left in charge of the cattle at that place, he stayed there until 1857, when he sold the stock and came to Oregon, locating on the ranch which his father had purchased for him in July of that year. Taking a drove of cattle across the mountains to California in 1859, he disposed of them at an advantage, and re- mained in the Sacramento valley until 1861. Returning to Oregon, he subsequently en- gaged in mining for three or more years, first at the Oraphino mines, then at the Powder river mines, near the present site of Baker City, thence to the Idaho City mines. Com- ing back to the Willamette valley in 1864, Mr. Froman resumed charge of his farm of three hundred and twenty acres, which is finely located about three and one-half miles southeast of Albany, and for more than a score of years was prosperously engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Since 1885 he has rented his ranch and resided in Albany. He was one of the organizers of the Albany Creamery Association, of which he has been president from the time of its incep- tion, managing its affairs most successfully and satisfactorily.

On November 11, 1868, Mr. Froman mar- ried. in Albany, Ophelia C. Moore, who was born near Middletown, N. Y., a daughter of Henry Moore. Her grandfather, Jacob Moore, was born of Scotch ancestors, in the North of Ireland, and emigrated to this coun- try from there, locating as a farmer in Orange county, N. Y. Henry Moore, a native of Orange county, N. Y., was a farmer by oc- cupation, and removed from his native town to Illinois, purchasing a farm at Whig Hill, near Rockford, where he engaged in farming until his death. He married Frances Slaugh- ter, who was born in Orange county, N. Y., of German ancestry, being the daughter of

Isaac Slaughter, a farmer. She survived her husband, and, in 1864, started across the plains with her six children, three boys and three girls, in the train commanded by Cap- tain Medorum Crawford, the train consisting of three wagons, each drawn by four horses. At Fort Laramie she was taken sick and died. The children continued with the company, and after spending a year at Walla Walla, Wash., came, in 1865, to Linn county. Three of the children are still living, Mrs. Froman being the eldest. Politically Mr. Froman is an uncompromising Republican, ever loyal to the interests of his party and his community. Fraternally he was made a Mason in Chico, Cal., and is now a member of Corinthian Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He likewise belongs to the Albany Grange, which he has served as master. Mrs. Froman is a member of the Eastern Star Lodge.

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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 62

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