Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 96

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 96

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five years, and was survived by his wife-for many years a school teacher-until her death in Yamhill county in 1878, she having been a resident of this state for ten years. In his youth Milton S. Chapin attended the district schools . of Michigan, and when sixteen years of age de- termined to henceforth make his own living. Removing to Lagrange county, Ind., he remained there until 1861, in August of which year he enlisted as a private in Company G, Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After being mus- tered in at Fort Wayne he was sent to Inde- pendence, and from there to Louisville, Ky , later to Nashville, Tenn., being under command of Colonel Lawton, who subsequently met his death in the Philippines. Besides many minor engagements he participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Stone River, Chickamauga, and the Atlantic campaign, and though subjected to the thickest of the fight fortunately escaped in- jury sufficiently serious to incapacitate him for fighting. Not more than thirty per cent. of the brave Thirtieth returned to Indiana, and it was said that no regiment was subjected to greater danger or hardship, or more courageous- ly stood by their leader and colors.

After his discharge from the service Septem- ber 24, 1864, at Indianapolis, Mr. Chapin en- gaged in farming near Springfield, Ill., and Sep- tember 1, 1866, he married Mrs. Jane (Crum) Arthington, a native of Illinois. Thereafter he continued to live in Illinois for nineteen years, and was known in his neighborhood as one of its most reliable and successful agriculturists. Four children were born in Illinois, of whom Jennie is deceased; Charles is a farmer in this locality ; Pratt is deceased ; and Harry is a resi- dent of Sherman county, Ore.

In 1884 Mr. Chapin disposed of his Illinois in- terests and, removing to Oregon, settled on what was known as the Galloway farm, three and a half miles east of Sheridan, where he lived for sixteen years. In 1900 he built a delightful little home on a small portion of his property, and this is all that remains to him of the three hundred and sixty-four acres which he once owned in this fertile section. The rest of the property has been divided among the children of Mr. Chapin. In politics decidedly independent, Mr. Chapin has never taken an active interest in the political agitation by which he has been sur- rounded, but has rather chosen the quiet and unobtrusive life of the high-minded, popular and unostentatious country gentleman. For more than fifty years he has been a member of the Christian church, and during that time has ex- erted his emphatic energies toward its upbuilding and general support. He is a welcome member of Custer Post No. 55. G. A. R., and has passed all of the chairs in connection with that organi-

ISAAC LEVENS.

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zation. To an exceptional degree Mr. Chapin en- joys the confidence of his fellow townsmen, and his fine personal characteristics have won and retained for many years the most desirable of friendships.

ISAAC LEVENS. Although years have elapsed since the death of Isaac Levens, in 1892, he is still recalled by his friends and associates as a whole-souled and public-spirited citizen, whose efforts were invariably directed towards the betterment of the conditions around him. Mr. Levens was born in southern Illinois, and was reared on the farm of his father, Otho Lev- ens, one of the very early settlers of that state. The rumors of gold penetrated into the district of which the Levens family was an upbuilding factor. and the sons determined to give up farm- ing operations in Illinois and seek their fortune in the west. Besides Isaac, Thomas and Zacha- riah, there was a cousin, Henry Levens, who joined the little party in their trip across the plains, in 1848, and of these Thomas died in Amity, Ore., and Zachariah died on the Umpqua river.

Isaac Levens stood the journey well across the plains, and, after arriving at his destination, trav- eled around considerably in search of a desirable location. A part of the donation claim which he purchased constituted what is now the western part of the city of Dallas, and was six hundred and forty acres in extent. Here he commenced to clear his land, and prepare for the reception of crops. He prospered in his adopted state, and at the time of his death, at the age of seventy- one, was the possessor of as fine a property as one could desire. For a while he was interested in the butchering business, and was for some years a partner in the Ellendale Woolen Mill Company. He laid out a portion of his property into city lots, the sale of which brought him good financial returns. He was progressive and quick to see an opportunity among the complexity of interests by which he was surrounded. A Democrat in poli- tics, he served as county coroner for several terms, and also acceptably filled other positions of trust and responsibility in the neighborhood. He was a member of the Christian Church.

Near the town of Monmouth, Ore., Mr. Levens married, in 1850, Eleanor S. Whiteaker, who was born in Old Virginia, near Abingdon, a daughter of Benjamin Whiteaker, a native of Tennessee. Mr. Whiteaker was of English descent. and a son of Richard Whiteaker, a native of Virginia, and an extensive planter. At an early age Mr. White- aker settled near Dixon, Lee county, Ill., where he conducted a hotel for about twelve years, and in this capacity had an opportunity to hear

much about the prospects of the west. Accord- ingly, outfitting with ox teams, he brought his wife and nine children across the plains in 1848, being five months on the journey. From Oregon City he went to Independence, Polk county, and there bought the claim of Dr. Boyle, consisting of six hundred and forty acres. In this home he spent the remainder of his days, and died at the age of seventy-seven years. He was a Demo- crat in politics, and came out fearlessly for the principles of his party. In religion he was iden- tified with the Baptist Church. Mr. Whiteaker married Mary Hayter, who was born in Tennes- see, a daughter of Esau Hayter, who was born and died in Virginia. Mrs. Whiteaker lived to be seventy-five years of age, and died on the old homestead. Nine of her children attained ma- turity : David, a soldier in the Indian war, and who died in Independence in 1902; William, who died several years ago in Washington; Rachel, now deceased, was the wife of Mr. McGee, of Washington; Mrs. Levens; James, who died in Washington; Benjamin, who lives in Polk county ; Maria, a resident of Los Angeles ; Mrs. Mirah Ogden; Mary, who died in Polk county, and George W., of Independence.

Mrs. Levens was born in Tennessee, November 3, 1832, and was fifteen years of age when she came with her parents to Oregon. She had for- tunately attended the public schools in Illinois, otherwise her education would have been very limited, as there was no school in the vicinity of her father's home, after their arrival in Oregon. She was a capable and willing girl, and readily set about helping to make the wilderness home as pleasant and attractive as possible. She was well schooled in household arts, and her husband found in her an invaluable assistant in hewing out his fortune in the west. She came immediately to the farm, upon which she lived for so many years, and for which Mr. Levens paid $1,600. After her husband's death she built her present residence in Dallas, although she still retains eighty acres of the original claim, and has pur- chased ten acres adjoining, which includes a hop- vard. Mrs. Levens is possessed of excellent busi- ness ability, and shows rare discretion and jitdg- ment in her many charities. She is a typical member of that noble band of pioneer women to whom their husbands were indebted for the greater part of their success, and from her early struggle with adversity has evolved a strong and self-reliant character, inspiring to all who are associated with her in whatsoever capacity. She is a member of the Christian Church, and con- tributes liberally towards its charities and general support. Of her two daughters, Nellie is the wife of Frank Rowell, of Dallas, Orc., and Annie is now Mrs. James Dougan, of Tacoma, Wash,

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JUDGE BENJAMIN F. RHODES, who is serving upon the bench of Yamhill county and has for a number of years maintained a position among the leading representatives of the bar in this section of the state, came to Oregon in 1873. He was born in Madison county near Frederick- town, Mo., January 15, 1860. His father, John Rhodes, was also a native of that county and the grandfather, John Rhodes, Sr., was born in North Carolina, whence he emigrated at an early day to Missouri, becoming one of the pioneer farm- ers of that state, where his remaining days were passed. The great-grandfather was a resident of Pennsylvania and removed from the Keystone state to North Carolina, where be became a planter. He was of German descent.

John Rhodes, the father of the judge, was reared as a farmer boy and also became a me- chanic and builder. He remained a resident of his native county until 1873, when he brought his family to Oregon, coming by way of San Francisco and Portland. He made his way to Salem, but a few weeks later settled at Mon- mouth, Polk county, and after another two months had passed he went to Portland, where he was engaged in the building business. Eighteen months later, however, he was obliged to abandon that pursuit on account of failing health and removed to a farm in Polk county, whence, in the fall of 1879, he came to McMinn- ville. Here he again resumed work at his trade and was identified with the building interests of this place until he retired on account of a stroke of paralysis. He died thirteen years later, in August, 1900, and McMinnville thus lost one of its representative and worthy citizens. He was a Master Mason and his life exemplified the helpful and bencficent spirit of the fraternity In religious faith a Baptist, he was always loyal to the teachings of his church and for twelve years he served as a trustee of the Baptist Col- lege at McMinnville. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Eliza Graham, was born in Madison county, Mo., and died in 1890. She was a daughter of the Rev. Carter T. Graham, a native of Kentucky, who became an early settler of Madison county, Mo., where he followed farming in order to provide for his family, but on Sundays he engaged in preaching. He did not, however, accept any recompense for his services as a minister of the Baptist Church. He was of Scotch descent so that the judge comes of German and Scotch ancestry. Unto John and Eliza Rhodes were born three children -Benjamin Franklin, Josephine S., who died in childhood, and M. D. L., who is an attorney in Seattle, Wash.

The judge spent the first thirteen years of his life in the county of his nativity and then ac- companied his parents to Oregon, where he fur-

ther continued his education in the schools of Portland and of Polk county. In September, 1879, he entered McMinnville College, where he remained as a student for four years. In the meantime he had begun teaching, taking up that work in 1883. He followed the profession for a year in Yamhill county, after which he again spent a year as a student in McMinnville Col- lege. He was afterward connected with mercan- tile life for a year, followed by three years spent as a teacher, and during the last two years of that time he also pursued the study of law un- der the direction of William D. Fenton. In February, 1890, his mother died and about that time he and his brother began in the insurance and real estate business in McMinnville, which they carried on until Benjamin F. had completed his law course. In June, 1896, he was admitted to 'the bar in Salem and at once opened an office in McMinnville, where he has since been known as a leading representative of his chosen calling. Wealth and influence avail little or naught in the legal profession. One does not trust impor- tant litigated interests to unskilled hands and it is the man of broad learning, who correctly ap- plies his knowledge to the point in litigation, that secures the legal business of a district. Judge Rhodes manifested skill and ability that soon won for him recognition as one of the lead- ing lawyers at the Yamhill county bar and in the spring of 1902 he received the Democratic nomination for county judge, being elected by a majority of two hundred and forty-two in a county which usually gives a Republican ma- jority of more than five hundred. He thus won a noble victory and in July he took his seat upon the bench where he is now serving in a most capable manner. His decisions indicated absolute fairness and freedom from judicial bias, broad learning and a thorough understanding of the points in evidence and already his course has won the warm approval of the members of the legal profession in McMinnville.

The judge was married in McMinnville to Miss Mary I. Collard, who was born in Yamhill county, a daughter of John J. Collard, who in pioneer times came to Oregon from Illinois and settled in Clackamas county. He crossed the plains when a boy with his parents and subse- quently he came to Yamhill county and now re- sides in McMinnville. The home of the judge and his wife has been blessed with three children -Veda Ethelyn, Dada Althea and John Alvin.

The judge was made a Mason in Union Lodge, No. 43, A. F. & A. M., of McMinnville, and has twice served as its master. He is also con- nected with the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of the Maccabees, and in politics he has been a stalwart Democrat since attaining his majority. In 1892 he was appointed justice of

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the peace and was afterward elected for a two years' term and was then re-elected, continuing in the office until elevation to the bench in 1896. He belongs to the Baptist Church of McMinn- ville and since 1894 he has been an active and valued member of the board of trustees of Mc- Minnville College. He is a man of strong in- tellectuality, of keen foresight and practical judg- ment and his co-operation with any measure therefore becomes a forceful factor in winning for it success. His influence is ever on the side of progress, reform and improvement and he is to-day recognized as one of the influential and prominent residents of the adopted city.

J. C. MICHAUX, M. D. As a leading ex- ponent of medical and surgical science Dr. J. C. Michaux is catering to a constantly increasing patronage in McMinnville and Yamhill county, and is besides winning many friends because of stable and admirable personal characteristics. The doctor is a transplanted easterner who did not have to become acclimated in the west, but rather brought with him a breeziness and enter- prise which instantly adjusted him to the vigor- ous opportunities here represented. While ap- preciating and utilizing the best that his profes- sion holds, his versatility invades various social and other strata, a particularly pleasing trait be- ing his fondness for that noble friend of man, the horse. In the well-equipped stable of Dr. Michaux the horse is seen at his best, both as to appearance and speed, and when he travels upon town thoroughfares or country roads one may be sure that he encounters in his equine life such treatment as is dictated by an innately humani- tarian instinct.

The old-time ancestors of Dr. Michaux emi- grated from France, with other religiously per- secuted Huguenots, and after various migrations settled in America in time to participate in the Revolutionary war. His paternal grandfather, J. E. Michaux, was a planter in Virginia, the paternal great-grandfather having been a very early pioneer of that state. Here was born J. G. Michaux, the father of the physician of Mc- Minnville, who also was a physician, and who practiced for about half a century in Newport, Tenn. The elder Michaux was a man of reso- lute character and uncompromising ideas of honor, and during his lifetime claimed many dis- tinguished friendships, among them being that of Andrew Johnson. He lived to be seventy-six years of age, and was survived by his wife, for- merly M. J. Wells, daughter of Robert Wells, a native of North Carolina, and who at present lives with her son in McMinnville.

The third oldest of the five children in his father's family, Dr. Michaux, was born in New-

port, east Tennessee, September 13, 1858, and in his youth was favored with exceptional edu- cational advantages. After graduating from Nashville College in 1878 he attended Vander- bilt University for a couple of years, and then entered upon his professional training at the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, graduating therefrom in 1889. After practicing for five years in his home town of Newport he removed to Lafayette, Yamhill county, in 1886, and for thirteen years devoted his energies to ameliorating the physical ills of that community, taking also an active interest in the social and other life of the town. He became associated with McMinnville in 1899, and it is to be hoped that his enthusiastic reception by a large con- tingent of the town and country will inspire a permanent residence within these hospitable and profitable borders.

With him from Tennessee came the wife of Dr. Michaux, formerly Miss M. E. Easterly, a native also of east Tennessee, and the mother of one son, Carl. The doctor is a Democrat in political affiliation, and is fraternally associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Lafayette, Ore; the Encampment of Dayton ; the Ancient Order of United Workmen; and the Knights of the Maccabees. Genial, opti- mistic, alert to the pleasures as well as tlie dis- advantages of living ; whole souled and generous and thoroughly honorable, the doctor is indeed an acquisition to his adopted town and county.

OLIVER H.ADAMS. More clearly than that of any other inhabitant of McMinnville the name of Oliver H. Adams is outlined against the back- ground of its history and substantial interests, its moral, intellectual and industrial growth, and its just claims to distinction among the thriv- ing communities of Yamhill county. No other kind of existence could be expected of Mr. Adams, through whose veins flows the blood of two illustrious servants of this government, John and John Quincy Adams, both of whom filled the popular eye and ear in the highest office within the gift of the American people. The em- igrating ancestor was a Protestant of Scotch origin who came from the north of Ireland, and settled in Massachusetts while yet the banner of England waved over increasing discord in the colonies. The paternal grandfather of Oliver H. Adams was a soldier of 1776.

A native of Painesville, Geauga county, Ohio, Mr. Adams was born March 25. 1819, a son of Sebastian and Eunice (Harmon) Adams, natives of Vermont, and born respectively in Salisbury. August 3, 1789, and in Rutland, October 24, 1798. The parents were married in Painesville, Ohio. May 6. 1818, and of their three sons and five

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daughters three sons and two daughters are pio- neer residents of Oregon, Oliver H. being the old- est. Of the children, William L. is a practicing physician on the Hood river and crossed the plains in 1848; Sarah J. is the deceased wife of A. N. Phelph, of Illinois; S. C. died in Salem; Mary P., Mrs. Skinner, resides in Kansas City, Mo .; Eunice M. is now Mrs. McBride, of Portland ; Charlotte Ann is the deceased wife of W. H. Hardman, of Oregon; and Caroline E. is the de- ceased wife of A. Dunney, of Montana. Sebas- tian Adams was a prominent farmer of Geauga county, and for years was county sheriff. After- ward he owned a large farm in Huron county; and subsequently engaged in lumbering and farm- ing in Jonesville, Mich. After removing to Galesburg, Ill., he built the first hotel in that place, and died in the little town destined to be- come an educational center, March 8. 1847. Some time after his wife married a Mr. Goodale, with whom she started across the plains in 1852, Mr. Goodale succumbing on the way to the pre- vailing cholera of that year. Continuing her journey with her children, Mrs. Goodale located in McMinnville and died in Eugene City, De- cember 4, 1883, at the age of eighty-six years. She was a remarkable pioneer mother, possess- ing exceptional mental alertness, retained with exuberant health to almost the end of her life.

An uneventful home life in Ohio on the part of Oliver H. Adams was broken into by his at- tendance at the Huron County Academy, of which he was still a student when the family fortunes were shifted to Michigan. Overcome with homesickness he left the academy and joined his parents in Michigan, and with them removed to Galesburg in 1840. Here he mar- ried, October 20, 1846, Sophia Hills, a native of Connecticut, and daughter of Walter Hills, born also in Connecticut, and the descendant of an old New England family. After his marriage Mr. Adams began to farm and team, and eventually drifted into freighting between Galesburg and Chicago, a distance of over two hundred miles. The round trip consumed the greater part of two weeks, and during the winter time the winds of the prairies were frightfully cold. Going up to Chicago and meeting people from all around that section Mr. Adams heard considerable about the prospects of the far west, and March 9, 1852. he started from Galesburg with his wife and three children, Alice, Emma and Mary, his mother and stepfather, and two sisters, for Ore- gon, the family equipment heing ox and cow teams, and three wagons. The party came along the old Oregon trail, and this being the year of the terrible cholera epidemic, they were horrified by many evidences of departed travelers, who, like themselves, had started forth with high hopes for the future, Accidents also marred

the pleasure of the journey, one being the break- ing of a wheel which was first successfully re- paired, but which came to pieces a second time with altogether dire results. In consequence, Mr. Adams was obliged to resort to a mongrel two wheeled cart for the conveyance of the uten- sils, and thus crippled they started on their way. October 1, 1852, the party arrived at Panther creek, where lived Dr. Adams, the brother of Oliver H., and the latter bought a claim of three hundred and twenty acres for $200, and was soon comfortably settled with his family. He was not slow in recognizing milling possibilities on the rapid little creek, and so constructed the first mill in that neighborhood. A little later he took in a partner in the milling business who was none other than G. W. Jones, a practical miller, and later one of the chief upbuilders of McMinnville, and with this addition to his re- sources bought another mill, for many years operated in connection with the original. The combination of pioneer energy and business judg- ment accomplished much toward building up the section in which their milling was conducted, and the two men represented all that was sub- stantial and of good report in the county.

In 1872 the mills were sold out and Mr. Adams and his partner moved into McMinnville and built a factory in the heart of the then small town. As the population and interests increased they moved out on Third street, and there the sash and door factory of Jones & Adams entered upon an era of continuous prosperity. Even- tually the business was handed over to the son of Mr. Adams, who still continues to maintain the financial prestige of the pioneer industry. Probably no man in McMinnville has built more than has Mr. Adams, especially deserving of mention being a large brick building on Main street : the brick building of Jones & Adams : numerous residences besides his own commodi- ons home, and several stores and warehouses.

After coming to Oregon nine children were added to the family of Mr. Adams, and of the entire number eleven have attained maturity : Inez Ione is living with her father; Carrie Cor- nelia is the wife of C. C. Scott, of Portland ; Austin Hill is a sash and door manufacturer of Astoria : Frank Grant is a member of the firm of Jones & Adams; Lillie May died at the age of fifteen: Alice Amelia is now Mrs. Crawford, of Eugene, Ore .: Emma Ellen is the wife of G. W. Jones, of McMinnville; Mary Maria is the wife of W. G. Henderson, of McMinnville : John Quincy died in this town at the age of three years; Ida Irene is now Mrs. H. A. Reasoner, of Washington ; Eva Ellen is now Mrs. Simons, of Washington ; and Ada Ann is the wife of W. A. Hill, of McMinnville. Mrs. Adams died in McMinnville March 3, 1902, at the age of

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seventy-four years. She was a stanch adherent of the Presbyterian Church, in which both she and her husband labored for many years.

A Republican in national politics, Mr. Adams has ever maintained that character rather than party should prevail in local offices especially, and has therefore voted impartially on many oc- casions. In his youth he labored zealously for his friends, but has been somewhat averse to assuming official responsibility himself. How- ever, he has been councilman for several years, and his services as a member of the school board have been of lasting benefit to the community. He assisted in the building of the first log school house which offered educational advantages to the rising generation hereabouts, and has been the chief instigator of the larger and more mod- ern institutions which have supplanted the prim- itive effort. Possessing the potent character- istics best appreciated and developed in this man> making region, Mr. Adams has adjusted his life to high principle and large accomplishments, and his name will be enrolled among the foremost promoters of the peace and prosperity of Yam- hill county.

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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 96

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