Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 95

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 95

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In Amity, Ore., Mr. Cooper became identified with the Masons, and is now a member of the Union Lodge, No. 43, of which he is past master ; Taylor Chapter, R. A. M., of McMinnville, of which he is past high priest ,and Hodson Coun- cil, No. I. He is a member and past commander of Custer Post, No. 9, G. A. R., and was com- mander of the Department of Oregon during 1893-4, with the rank of major-general. From 1883 until 1886 he was assistant adjutant-gen- eral of the Oregon State Militia under Governor Moody, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and in 1891 was a delegate to the National Encamp- ment which was held at Detroit, Mich. In 1898 Colonel Cooper organized and drilled a Manila Guard, consisting of forty girls of McMinnville. a venture which proved highly satisfactory, for the girls proved splendid soldiers, and were so well drilled that they drew encom- iums of praise at Astoria, Portland and many other points in the state. The trip to Astoria was particularly interesting, thousands turning out

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to welcome the handsomely uniformed and mar- tial appearing Manila Guard.

For several years Colonel Cooper was presi- dent of the Board of Trade, and during this time, as well as during the greater part of his life here, he has been an important factor in stimulating an interest in the town and county, drawing particular attention to its multiplicity of resources, and its advantages as a home build- ing center. Much of the success of the local af- fairs of McMinnville are traceable to his enthu- siastic support, and his recognition of their de- sirability has made of the state encampment a joyful meeting place for war scarred veterans. In 1868 Colonel Cooper made a trip back to Mis- souri via Panama, and while in his native state married Melzena P. Spillman, who was born in Lawrence county, Mo., November 29, 1850, daughter of Judge Nathan C. Spillman, and a sister of Prof. William J. Spillman, government agriculturist of Washington, D. C. Of the chil- dren born of this union seven are living, the order of their birth being as follows: Nora J. is the wife of R. W. Doane, in charge of the experi- mental station at Keyport, Wash .; Dr. Arthur Spillman, a graduate of the Philadelphia Dental College, and now a practitioner on Broadway, N. Y .; Ina P., the wife of E. L. Darr, of Los Angeles, Cal .; Wells C., living in Chicago, Ill., and a member of Company A. Second Oregon Volunteer Infantry during the Philippine cam- paign : Nellie, captain of the Manila Guards, a stenographer and at present private secretary to the president of the State Normal School in Washington; Paul B., a soldier in Company A, Second Oregon Volunteer infantry, a graduate of Pullman College, a pharmacist at Olympia, Wash .; and Frederick Goss, an artist and car- toonist in San Francisco. Lewis J., the oldest son in the family, died from injury at the age of seventeen. Mrs. Cooper is a member of the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church, and is prominent in the Woman's Relief Corps, of which she is ex- president. She is socially well known, and has many friends among the most exclusive people in the state, and past matron of the Chapter of the Eastern Star. In October, 1902, Colonel Cooper was appointed a member of the Board of Direc- tors of the Lewis and Clark Centennial, a posi- tion for which his vast experience in various de- partments of western activity has eminently fitted him, and in 1903 was appointed chairman of the special committee having entire charge of woman's work and woman's participation in the exposition, through whose efforts the Lewis and Clark Woman's Clubs are now being so exten- sively organized throughout the state, and will prove an important factor to the exposition.

Colonel Cooper is also performing important work on the committees of Legislation and Agri- culture.

HIRAM SIMKINS. As one of the pioneers of 1847 Hiram Simkins has been identified with the very early as well as later development of Yamhill county, and to no one have the early trials and deprivations brought more satisfactory returns both as to character and personal posses- sions. Mr. Simkins was reared in a family in which there were nine other children, his earliest recollections going back to the paternal farm in Greene county, Pa., where he was born Novem- ber 25, 1826. His leisure as a boy was very lim- ited, and his schooling opportunities suffered in consequence. Nevertheless, he gained much solid training while working early and late, and started forth in the world with a fair idea of its responsibilities and opportunities.

When his services were no longer required on the home farm Mr. Simkins applied himself to learning the blacksmith's trade in Knox county, Ill., whither his parents had removed in 1836, and where his parents died at the ages respective- ly of sixty-two and ninety-eight. In 1847 he started across the plains with ox teams and wagons as a driver for Ralph Geer, and after a seven months' journey reached Oregon City, under the able command of General Palmer. Very soon Mr. Simkins made his way to Cham- poeg, Marion county, Ore., where the breaking out of the Cayuse war found him busily working at his trade. With commendable appreciation of the straits of his adopted state he enlisted in Company H, First Rifle Corps Oregon Volun- teers, as a private, and during his service par- ticipated in many of the important Indian en- gagements. After this glimpse of the seamy side of life he returned to Champoeg, Marion county, and there worked at blacksmithing until the country was worked up into a fer- ment in 1849. To test his ability and luck as a miner he went down into California, but not realizing his expectations returned to his former home in Champoeg, where he found employment in the McLoughlin warehouse for about five years. During three years of this time he was a yard laborer.

In 1857 Mr. Simkins married Mary Ann Gay, a native of Yamhill county, Ore., and daughter of an English whaler. Mr. Gay retired to Ore- gon after many years in pursuit of the wily whale, locating in Yamhill county as early as 1836. After his marriage Mr. Simkins under- took housekeeping on what was known as the William Crozier donation claim four miles north of Hopewell, and this continued to be his home

HENRY HELMICK.

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for the long period of twenty-five years. He then bought the farm upon which he has since lived, which consists of two hundred and sev- erity-two acres two miles south of Hopewell, on the Polk and Yamhill county line. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and it is needless to say that his reputation as an agriculturist is in keeping with his firmly established name as a progressive and well-in- formed citizen.

To Mr. Simkins and his wife were born six- teen children, the order of their birth being as follows: Newton, living at home; Fredcrick, living in this vicinity; John, living near his father ; Andrew, a resident of Hoquiam, Wash .; Jesse, living with his parents; Mary and Jane, both living in Oregon City; Isabelle, residing in Portland; Rosa, a resident of Oregon City ; Anna and Etta, both of whom are living at home; Florence, a resident of this vicinity ; and May, living near her parents. Three of the children died in infancy: George, Alice and Lor- raine. Mrs. Simkins died in 1891, leaving be- hind her many mourning friends, as well as dis- consolate children. As a member of an old Democratic family Mr. Simkins has never de- parted from the teachings of his youth, but has rather strengthened his regard for the politics of the south. He is fraternally identified with Amity Lodge, F. & A. M., having been a mem- ber ever since 1870. With his children he is a member of the Evangelical Church. As a re- minder of the very early days of Oregon Mr. Simkins has in his possession the trowel used in the construction of the first brick house in Oregon, which mansion was none other than that belonging to George Gays of Hopewell.

MRS. SARAH HELMICK. Not to the sterner sex alone can be given the glory and reverence due the founders of a state, for front the lives, the hearts and homes of women have come the strength that made possible the sac- rifices necessary to succeed in the herculean task of leveling forest and upturning field, and following this with the modern movements which characterize the advance of this western section. A most worthy and representative member of these brave products of a western life is Mrs. Sarah Helmick, who bore her share of the burden in pioneer days as the wife of Henry Helmick, with whom she had come on her wedding tour to become a factor in the growth of the west.

Mrs. Helmick was in maidenhood Sarah Stepro, who was born in Harrison county, Ind., July 4, 1824, her parents being Harvey and Catherine (Shuck) Stepro, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father had become an

early settler in Harrison county, where he engaged in farming and where his death oc- curred. The widow then took her family of eight children to Iowa, where she passed the remainder of her days. Of this large family, all grew to maturity and are all now living, with the exception of one or two, and Sarah is the fourth youngest. She made her home in Indiana until 1833, when she became a resi- dent of Iowa. There she engaged in spinning and weaving, manufacturing from the raw ma- terial. On account of straitened circumstances she was allowed to attend school but three months in her life. In February, 1845, she married Henry Helmick, a native of Germany, who had come from the Fatherland with his parents and settled in Des Moines county, Iowa, where he was employed at farming, and also engaged as wagonmaker and blacksmith. The following April found them en route for Oregon, with tour yoke of oxen and one wagon, the extent of their worldly wealth. They came over the old Oregon trail, fording the streams, facing the depredations of the Indians, and patiently enduring the hard- ships, privations and dangers of the journey for the sake of the home they hoped to make among the splendid conditions of the new west. Six months and three days after leav- ing the Mississippi valley found the young pioneers at Cascade Falls, Ore. After coming safely through the dangers of the trip they here experienced the bitter misfortune of losing everything they had through their raft being swept over the falls. Undaunted, how- ever, by their hardships, they continued their journey as best they could, arriving at the Tualatin Plains in October, where they re- mained until Christmas. They then removed to Salem and spent the balance of the winter. In the spring of 1846 they took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres located on the Big Luckiamute, four miles from Mon- mouth, Polk county, which remained their home for many years. Affluence and conse- quent ease is now the portion of this family, but the beginning of their career was that cf a crucial nature, for with absolutely nothing they took up the work of farmers in this loca- tion. The first year was one of especial hard- ship, not even three pounds of meat being brought into the house, their entire diet con- sisting of boiled wheat and peas, upon which they carried on steady, earnest labor. Mrs. Helmick continued her old occupation of spinning, making stocking yarn, and giving the help of a brave, patient woman to the up- building and improvement of their own par- ticular part of the state. The farm was im- proved and cultivated in every possible way,

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and is still retained in the family. It is now rented, for after the death of her husband in 1878 Mrs. Helmick removed to Albany, Linn county, and located upon East Seventh street, where she has built a comfortable home.

Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Helmick, James is located in Polk county, and is engaged in farming on the home prop- erty; Lewis died in Polk county in 1899, at the age of fifty-three years; and Mary is the wife of James Tedrow of Polk county. Mr. Helmick was identified with the Cumberlan.1 Presbyterian Church, of which Mrs. Helmick is a member. The political affiliations of the family have always been Republican, that being the party with which Mr. Helmick cast his vote during his years of citizenship.

W. T. MACY. Among the young men of Yamhill county who are recognized as active and valued factors in business and public life is W. T. Macy, who is popular with a large circle of friends, not only in McMinnville, where he makes his home, but also throughout the sur- rounding district. He was born in Greenville, Clay county, lowa, March 19, 1872. His father, Paul Macy, was a native of Indiana, born near Richmond, while the grandfather, Thomas Macy, was born in North Carolina, removing thence to Ohio and afterward to Indiana. He was a shoe- maker by trade and followed that pursuit in the localities in which he made his home. He be- came one of the pioneers of the Hoosier state and subsequently he went to Iowa, where he spent his remaining days. The Macy family is of English descent. Paul Macy was but a boy when his parents removed to Iowa and was reared in Winncshiek county, where he became acquainted with and married Miss Dosha Painter, who was born in Indiana, although her parents were natives of North Carolina. Her father, Edwin Painter, became a farmer of the Hoosier state, dying there at an early day. From Win- neshiek county Mr. and Mrs. Macy removed to Clay county, casting in their lot with its pio- neer settlers, and there the father developed a good farm. In 1889, however, he left the Mis- sissippi valley and came to Oregon, settling in Newburg, where he is now engaged in general farming and in horticultural pursuits. He and his wife are members of the Friends Society, and he is a trustee of Pacific College at Newburg. The children of this worthy couple are W. T., of this review; Mrs. Effie M. Votaw, who re- sides in Ashland. Ore .; Walter, who is with the Southern Pacific Railway Company at Newburg ; Perry D. and Orie, both at home.

WV. T. Macy spent his youth upon the home farm, and after attending the public schools con-

tinued his studies in Newburg. He entered Pa- cific College at that place, remaining there as one of the students in that institution for three years. At the end of that time, in 1892, in Sher- idan, he married Miss Mary M. Stowe, a native of Oregon and a daughter of one of the pioneers of the state.

The same year Mr. Macy established a furni- ture store in Newburg, which he conducted suc- cessfully for three years, and in 1896 he was non- inated for the position of county recorder upon the Union ticket, being elected to that office over the Republican candidate by a majority of three hundred and eighty. He filled the position so acceptably that in 1898 he was re-elected, being the only one on the ticket who was successful . in that year. He received a majority of fifty- five and was thus continued in the office from July, 1896, until July, 1900. No higher testi- monial of his capability or of the confidence re- posed in him by his fellow-townsmen could be given than the fact of his re-election. At the same time he held local office in McMinnville, for in November, 1899, he was elected to the city council, but after three months he resigned. On his retirement from the office of county recorder he entered upon a business connection with the Spaulding Logging Company and established their lumber yard in McMinnville, conducting it for a year. In January, 1902, however, he re- signed, and accepted the agency of the Oregon City Transportation Company at this place.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Macy has been blessed with two children: Glen and Evelyn V. Mr. Macy was a charter member of the Com- mercial Club of McMinnville and for a number of years has been its secretary. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Woodmen of the World, and for four years has served as clerk in the camp of the latter fra- ternity. He votes with the democracy and his religious belief is indicated by his membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Macy is a young man possessed of the typical spirit of the west, a spirit of marked enterprise and progress and of adaptability and it is through the united efforts of such men that the upbuild- ing and progress of this section of the country have been assured.

HUNDLEY SEVIER MALONEY is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war who fought for the preservation of the Union and who in times of peace has ever been loyal to the best interests of his country, laboring for the advancement and up- building of his home locality, along material, social, intellectual and moral lines. He has been a resident of Oregon since 1873, his birth occur-

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ring in Warrensburg, Tenn., February 28, 1849. His paternal grandfather, Hugh Conway Ma- loney, was a native of Ireland, and on emigrat- ing to America took up his abode in Tennessee, where he followed farming. He there married a Mrs. Susannah (Conway) Sevier, the widow of John Sevier, first cousin of Governor John Sevier, of Tennessee. William Conway Maloney, the father of our subject, was born in Tennessee and followed farming and surveying near War- rensburg, operating his land with the aid of slaves that he owned. He died in 1882, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife, who in her maidenhood had been Louisa Cureton, was like- wise born in Tennessee, and was a daughter of Richard Cureton, of German descent, one of the heroes of the war of 1812. He, too, followed farming in Tennessee, and it was in that state that his daughter, Mrs. Maloney, died, upon the old family homestead. Unto the parents of our subject were born ten children, but only two are now living, Thomas being an attorney at law in Ogden, Utah. Enlisting in the Civil war June 1, 1863, he served first as a member of Company L, Eleventh Tennessee Cavalry, and afterward as a member of Company M, Ninth Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry, with the Federal army, and was diseharged September 11, 1865, at Knox- ville, Tenn. Another brother, Hugh D. Maloney, was sergeant-major in the Fifth Tennessee Con- federate Cavalry under General Joe Wheeler.

Hundley S. Maloney, named after Ambrose Hundley Sevier, United States senator from Arkansas, was reared upon his father's farm and attended a private school. During the progress of the war, although but a boy, he joined the Eighth Tennessee Regiment and served for a month, but on account of his age and size could not be mustered in. On the Ist of January, 1864, however, he volunteered as a member of Company D, Fourth Tennessee Infantry, in defense of the Union, and was mus- tered in at Loudon. Tenn., serving until the close of hostilities. His regiment was engaged in guerrilla warfare against Morgan's Cavalry in East Tennessee, and Mr. Maloney thus took part in numerous skirmishes and battles. The regi- ment was housed altogether in tents, save when they slept out of doors. In 1865 Mr. Maloney was made a corporal and August 2, 1865, he was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn. He was then but sixteen years of age, yet he had rendered to the country valiant service, and he displayed bravery equal to that of many a veteran of twice his years.

After the close of the war Mr. Maloney heeame a student in Tusculum College at Greeneville, Tenn., where he remained until 1867. On the 22d of July of that year he was commissioned second lieutenant in the Thirty-third United

States Infantry by President Johnson, on the recommendation of Colonel Reeves, for faithful and meritorious service in the Rebellion. He served in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina during the reconstruction period and at the time of the Ku Klux trouble. Remaining in the south until September 6, 1870, Mr. Maloney then ear- ried on farming, and in the spring of 1873 came to the west, making his way to San Francisco and on to Portland, where he arrived April 30, 1873. He first located near Harrisburg, in Linn county, and then went to southern Oregon in October of that year. He began farming in Uma- tilla county, where he carried on agricultural pur- suits until 1876. His father had been a surveyor and Mr. Maloney had studied surveying under him and practiced it to some extent while in his native state. In 1876 he was elected county sur- veyor of Umatilla county over Lee Moorehouse, but did not qualify. He afterward spent one sea- son teaching in Linn county, and in October, 1877, he purchased a farm near Sheridan, car- rying on agricultural pursuits and surveying until 1880. In that year he was elected county surveyor of Yamhill county and served for three years while from 1887 until 1889 he was deputy United States surveyor and surveyed the Grande Ronde Indian reservation.

Legislative honors were conferred upon him in 1892, when he was chosen to represent Yam- hill county in the general assembly. He served during the session of 1893 and was a member of the committee on enrolled bills and other im- portant committees. He took an active interest in the work of the house, giving each question which came up for settlement his earnest eonsid- eration and his influence was felt in legislative measures enaeted during his term. He was, much interested in the passage of the Soldiers' Home bill, providing for the establishment of a home for the soldiers at Roseburg, and his efforts in this and other directions for the benefit of the state were not without result. In 1896 Mr. Ma- loney was elected county surveyor of Yamhill county for a two years' term, and in February, 1902, he was appointed city recorder of McMinn- ville. On the 3d of November following he was clected to that office, his name being placed upon both tickets. In connection with the duties of the position he is also practicing surveying. He laid out the original town of Newburg, also Will- amina and several additions to Sheridan. In 1897 he located in McMinnville and in 1898-99 was mayor of the city. He has also been notary public sinee 1880.

Mr. Maloney has been thrice married. His first wife, Laura F. Hale, died November 2, 1872, leaving no children. In Umatilla county, in 1873, he married Miss Mary Metzger, who was born in Tennessee, and died in 1893, leaving

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seven children, who are still living, namely : Mrs. Lillie Scott, of Sheridan ; Louisa M., of McMinn- ville; Nannie, wife of Charles Nelson, of Clover- dale, Ore .; Hugh, of McMinnville; Carl; John, who is a student in McMinnville College, and Ray. Mr. Maloney's third marriage occurred in Tennessee, Miss Lucy Scruggs, a native of that state, becoming his wife. They have two children, Flora and Emma. Mr. Maloney was made an Odd Fellow in Morristown, Tenn., in 1873 and became a charter member of Sheridan Lodge No. 87, I. O. O. F. He now belongs to Occidental Lodge No. 30, of McMinnville, of which he is noble grand. He retains pleasant re- lationship with his old army comrades through his membership in Custer Post No. 9, G. A. R. He served for three terms as commander of Don- nelson Post No. 55 while living at Sheridan, and he was a delegate to the national encampment at Louisville, Ky., in 1895, and was present at the dedication of the national park comprising the battlefield of Chickamauga. He served as aide on the staff of the national commander, General Clarkson, and has a number of times been aide on the staff of the state department commander. His wife belongs to the Women's Relief Corps and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Maloney also visited the south to attend the Cotton States Exposition at Atlanta in 1895. In 1864, when but fifteen years of age, he cast his ballot for Abraham Lincoln under the rule of allowing soldiers to vote, but since that time he has given his support to the Democracy. Mr. Maloney has led a busy and useful life and one of his most noticeable characteristics has been his loyalty to duty, whether duty to his office he has been prompt and faithful and he is a man of pleasant manner, kindly disposition, of strong integrity and of marked liberality.

MILTON S. CHAPIN. Starting out in life with assets consisting solely of his own per- severance and good common sense, Milton S. Chapin has so adjusted his opportunities as to be numbered among the most substantial up- builders of Yamhill county. A courageous sol- dier during the Civil war, for many years a successful farmer and stock-raiser, and at all times a broad-minded and enterprising citizen, Mr. Chapin has earned the right to the com- parative immunity from active business cares which he now enjoys.

A native of Branch county, Mich., Mr. Chapin was born April 28, 1837, and is the oldest of the three children born to his parents, one son being deceased, while Nelson is a farmer of Polk county, Ore. His father, who was a con- tractor and builder for the greater part of his active life, died in Michigan at the age of forty-

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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 95

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