Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 119

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman publishing company
Number of Pages: 1064

USA > Oregon > Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.. > Part 119

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CAPT. ROYAL A. BENSELL. As one of the esteemned citizens of Newport, Lincoln coun- ty, Ore., Captain Bensell occupies an enviable position. He possesses more than ordinary abil- ity, is truly a self-made man and has filled various positions of trust in his section. For seventeen years he has held a captain's commission, and at

one time he owned a steamboat which plied be- tween Newport and Elk City. For a number of years past he has lived mostly a retired life, but in 1903 he accepted a captaincy of the T. M. Richardson, in which he owns an interest, and which he operated until August 10.

Captain Bensell is a native of Cassville, Wis., and June 4, 1838, was the date of his birth. He is a son of Dr. Charles Edward and Juliet (Cot- tle) Bensell. His paternal grandfather, also called Charles Edward, was a physician and sur- geon, and a native of England. In early man- hood he crossed the ocean and located in Phil- adelphia. He was a surgeon in the Revolution- ary war and was particularly useful at the battle of Germantown. He died at the latter city, hav- ing attained the age of seventy-eight or nine years. He was a successful practitioner.

The father of Royal A. Bensell was born at Germantown, Pa., July 4, 1800. He was edu- cated in his native state. When he was sixteen ycars old he went on board a whaling vessel and made his first trip to the Pacific coast. Re- turning, he entered the University of Pennsyl- vania, and, after three years' attendance, was graduated with the degree of M. D. He began the practice of his profession in a New Jersey town, but soon afterward went to St. Louis, Mo. He was an able seaman and spoke several lan- guages, and was of a roving disposition. In 1821 he left St. Louis in company with Captain Ashley to assist in taking a wounded man to the trading post at Council Bluffs, proceeding on to Fort Laramie, in the Rocky mountains. He re- turned to St. Louis in the fall of 1821 and a little later entered the lead mines of Galena, Ill., and for a period of ten years he followed mining in that state and in Iowa. His marriage took place in Cassville, Wis., and taking up a claim in Clayton county, Iowa, he farmed, in connection with which he practiced medicine. In 1854 he crossed the plains to California, with his family, locating in Amador county, and for seven years was engaged in gold mining. In 1867 he went to Oregon, first taking up his abode in Benton county, but afterward removing to Lincoln coun- ty. His death took place at Summit, Ore. He was a successful practitioner in that locality and was considerable of a speculator. Immediately following his removal to Oregon he located on the Siletz Indian Reservation, as government physician under Benjamin Simpson, then United States Indian agent. His service in this capacity extended over a period of four years. He was a Quaker by birth. His wife was born in Con- necticut and, when a little girl, she accompanied her parents to St. Charles, Mo. Her death took place in 1849, in Clayton county, Iowa, and she left three children, Royal A. and two sisters, Marguerite, wife of W. H. H. Rich, of Toledo,

842

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Ore., and Mary, wife of Joseph Skaggs, a suc- cessful farmer at Summit, Ore.

Captain Bensell was the eldest child and re- ceived but a limited education, attending school (in a log schoolhouse), but six months in all his life. In 1851 he began his career as printer's devil on the Clayton County Herald, remaining on the force for three years. In 1854 he crossed the plains with his father to San Jose, Cal .; and also engaged in placer mining in Amador coun- ty. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union army as a private in Company D, Fourth California regi- ment, and served thirty-seven months. His com- pany was sent to Oregon on temporary duty at Fort Yamhill, Fort Hoskins and later to Siletz Block House, but he saw no active fighting.

In 1865 he was appointed farmer on the Siletz Indian Reservation and was so employed for three years. In 1866 he went down as far as Millville and built a saw-mill, in company with two other gentlemen, and the following year com- menced to operate it. He carried on a success- ful business there for three years, shipping lum- ber to San Francisco. In 1870 he commenced building a schooner in the Yaquina shipyard, which was completed in 1873. He followed ship- carpentering for two additional years and in 1875 he was appointed collector of customs at Yaquina port, continuing four years, and after a lapse of a few years, he was re-appointed under Harrison's administration and served another four years. In 1880 he became interested in the Oregon Pacific Railroad and for twelve years looked after the interests of that company in his section, running a steamboat for several years from Newport to Elk City and intervening points.

Captain Bensell is a typical Christian gentle- man. He is a prominent member of the Epis- copal Church in Newport and is superintendent of the Sunday school, which has an enrollment of twenty-three pupils. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and has always been particularly active. He has served on both county and state central committees and is recognized as a polit- ical leader. In 1868 he was elected representa- tive of Benton county and served one term. In 1876 he was elected state representative and served one term. In 1882 he was the Republican candidate for the state senate for the district com- posed of Polk and Benton counties, but was de- feated by the narrow majority of twenty-three votes. His marriage took place in Millville, and Mrs. Mary Sturdevant was the lady he chose for a companion in life. Mrs. Bensell is a native of Illinois. Her father, Hiram H. Hall, was born in Connecticut and came to Oregon about 1877. locating with Captain and Mrs. Bensell. He died at the advanced age of ninety-one years and six months.

Captain Bensell has always taken a deep in-

terest in educational matters, having served many years as a school director. He has also frequently been a member of the city council and is a citizen whose worth is appreciated at its full value.

JASPER C. PENDLETON. The success which has come to Jasper C. Pendleton, of Table- rock, Jackson county, has been the result entirely of his own efforts. Being forced to rely upon his own exertions, at sixteen years of age he gave the strength of a practical and progressive nature toward the upbuilding of that fortune which is every man's right though not every man's pos- session, and has accomplished much in a compara- tively brief time. Since 1893 he has been en- gaged in general farming upon the ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, which he purchased in that year, becoming well and favorably known throughout Jackson county, the esteem of the people being manifested by his election in 1898 as county assessor and his re-election in 1900 to the same office.

The birth of Mr. Pendleton occurred in Win- terset, Iowa, April 13, 1859, and that location re- mained his home until 1870, when his parents crossed the plains to Dixon, Cal. A short time afterward they removed to the Pitt river coun- try, or what is known as the Big Valley, being one of the first families to locate there. They took up government land and engaged extensive- ly in stock-raising, but met with serious losses during the hard winter of 1874, immediately thereafter locating in Reno, Nev. Just about this time Mr. Pendleton, then a boy of sixteen years, found it necessary to seek his own livelihood, which he did by engaging in freighting from Reno to Virginia City and other points, continu- ing for five years, when he entered commercial activity as a traveling salesman. For thirteen years thereafter he was so employed, traveling throughout the Pacific coast states in the interests of a hardware business and ably demonstrating his ability to take a leading part in the com- mercial world. However, becoming interested in the agricultural possibilities of the northwest, he came to Oregon in 1893 and purchased the ranch whereon he now makes his home, and has since proven the benefit of the practical training and business methods which has enabled him to make a success of his work in whatever line he chose to follow.

Mr. Pendleton was united in marriage in 1885 with Miss Maude M. Hall, of Oakland, Cal., a step-daughter of W. J. Frierson, a pioneer of California, and they have one son, Verne H., who is now fifteen years old. In 1879 Mrs. Pen- dleton was graduated from the Sacramento Sem- inary and thereafter engaged in teaching for

843

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a number of years. In his political convictions Mr. Pendleton is a Republican and has always been active in the promotion of the principles which he endorses. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order of Medford.

HORACE PELTON. Many of the most suc- cessful agriculturists of Jackson county, Ore., are her native sons, men who were born and reared within her friendly boundaries, and who have made there their permanent homes. These men know the land and are more capable of making a success of cultivating it than those who, although expert farmers, are comparative strangers in the west. We name Horace Pelton as belonging to the former class and as one who deserves credit for the progressive spirit which he manifests in carrying on his farm pursuits.

In the carly '50s there came to Oregon a man named E. C. Pelton, a native of Little Rock, Ark., who had traveled across the great plains in search of a good western location. Attracted by the stock and farming possibilities of Jackson county, he settled therein and purchased a farm in Sams Valley, where he resided continuously up to the time of his death with the exception of two years spent in Idaho running a pack train to and from the mines. A thorough American, he displayed his patriotism by active service in the Rogue River Indian war. He left this life, Sep- tember, 1865, leaving his wife and three sons, all of whom were natives of Oregon. His wife was before marriage, Miss Mary Stewart Rowe, a native of Missouri, who crossed the plains in 1850, but did not come to the Rogue River val- ley until seven years later. Horace is the eldest son, and his two brothers, James W. and John, are both stockmen, the former at Fort Klamath and the latter at Ashland. The widowed mother survived her husband until December 28, 1901, when she too passed away.

Horace Pelton was born in Jackson county, September 1, 1858. Choosing farming as his life- work, he studied to that end, and after leaving the common school in 1877 he entered the State Agricultural College at Corvallis, Ore., taking a course of about three years. Feeling equipped for a successful career, in 1880 he began to apply his knowledge as a farmer and stockman on the home ranch. Situated five miles north of Gold Hill in Sams Valley, this ranch comprises four hundred acres of excellent land and has been improved wonderfully by Mr. Pelton. Devoting his time cspecially to general farming, Mr. Pelton also is a co-partner with his brother James in a fine sixteen hundred acre ranch at Fort Klamath and of this place the latter gentleman acts as

manager. In connection with this ranch Mr. Pelton also conducts a dairy.

Making such a success of his vocation, Horace Pelton is justly considered a representative cit- izen of Jackson county, and, being still a young man, he will undoubtedly make a fine record. He and his brother James are directors in the Medford Bank; and both are Masons, being valued members of the Jacksonville lodge. The Democratic party claims him as their staunch supporter, but he cannot be termed an active politician.

On January 5, 1902, Mr. Pelton was united in marriage with Miss Meta Morine, of Jackson county. Her father, Frank Morine, is a stock- raiser and farmer of Klamath county, Ore.

ALEXANDER McNAIR. A comparative newcomer to Tillamook who is already establish- ing a reputation for public spirit and business ability is Alexander McNair, who in partnership with Peter McIntosh, owns a hardware and gro- cery store, started shortly after his arrival here in 1898. Born in far off New Brunswick, Jan- uary 13, 1848, Mr. McNair comes of a family established in Canada by his father, David, who emigrated from his native land of Scotland when twelve years of age, and with the paternal grand- father, Nathaniel McNair, settled on a farm in New Brunswick in 1816. Both the father and grandfather were farmers during their entire active lives, and the former lived to be seventy- six years of age. His wife, Jeannette (Fergu- son) McNair, was born on Aaron Isle, off the coast of Scotland, and she also came to New Brunswick with her parents as a child. There were nine children in the parental family, eight of whom are sons, Alexander being the sixth. He came to the United States in 1868, when twenty years of age, locating in Oconto county, Wis., where he engaged in the lumbering busi- ness until 1880. Though fairly successful, he re- nounced lumbering for a grocery business in Florence, Wis., continuing the same until coming to Oregon in 1889. For nine years Mr. McNair clerked in a general store in Hobsonville, Tilla- mook county, and in 1898 utilized his experience in his present business at Tillamook.

Through his marriage with Almeda Jane Mc- Claskey, in Oconto county, Wis., Mr. McNair became allied with another pioneer family of New Brunswick, Mrs. McNair having been born at St. Stephens, New Brunswick, and in later life removed to Wisconsin with her family. Blanche and Hazel, the interesting children comprising the McNair household, are attending the public schools. As a Republican Mr. McNair has taken

844

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a keen interest in party affairs both here and in Wisconsin, he having been town treasurer in the latter state, and school director in his present neighborhood. He has always maintained a working interest in school matters, his own lim- ited opportunities having shown him the value of early educational training. He is fraternally connected with Bay City Lodge, No. 102, A. F. & A. M., and with his family he is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. McNair has the fortunate faculty of inspiring confidence in all with whom he is thrown in contact, and it is a matter of pride with him that this confidence has never been misplaced.

GEORGE WASHINGTON GRAYSON. A livery business which is meeting the require- ments of a large and exacting trade in Tillamook is that of Grayson & McNamer, and known as the City Stables. These excellent business men are fitted by long experience for their chosen work, and have modern and progressive ideas which place them among the foremost thus em- ploycd in the county. Their enterprise is equip- ped with the latest in all kinds of equipages, ranging from light-weight single buggies to the lumbering stage coach, and they keep on hand about sixteen head of well-kept and high-grade horses. They cater to a general trade, special attention being given to commercial men whose business takes them long distances into the coun- try. Horses are boarded by the day or month, and it is the experience of those who avail them- selves of this latter privilege that their four-foot- ed friends receive the most careful and conscien- tious carc.

George Washington Grayson, the senior mem- ber of the firm, was born in Marion county, Tenn., March 14, 1857, and comes of an old southern family who cherished the ideals and traditions of the citizens below the Mason and Dixon line. It is supposed that the immigrating ancestor settled first in New England, and that his children dispersed to different parts of the east and south, the paternal great-grandfather becoming a resident of Tennessee in the time of that state's greatest wealth and prestige. The paternal grandfather was born on a large Tenn- essce plantation, and in time owned a plantation of his own, where he raised cotton and general produce, and kept the usual complement of slaves. His son, Patrick, born on the southern plantation in Tennessee, has never left his native state, and at present makes his home near Whitwell, being seventy-five years of age. During the Civil war he naturally espoused the cause of the Confed- eracy, and fought with the southern army. To himself and wife, who was formerly Martha Jane Moore, of Marion county, Tenn., were born

eight children, three of whom are sons, George Washington being the oldest son and fourth child.

After leaving the public schools George Wash- ington Grayson entered Sequatchee College, Bled- soe county, Tenn., and after completing the de- sired course went to Texas in 1878, locating in Montague county, and engaging in the cattle business. Not meeting with expected success he made his way to Colorado in 1880, and the same year located in Yamhill county, Ore., near North Yamhill, and engaged in farming for seven years. At Newburg, Ore., he conducted a livery busi- ness from 1887 until 1891, and then removed to Sheridan and became interested in real estate and loans. About 1896 he purchased the right to the old Trask river toll road, operated the same for four years, and in 1900, in partnership with John H. McNamer, started the livery business in Tillamook in which he has since been engaged.

In Yamhill county, February 14, 1883, Mr. Grayson married Effie M. Myers, a native of Yamhill county, and a daughter of George and Mary E. (Armentrout) Myers. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson are the parents of two children, of whom Nevada is the wife of Clark E. Hadley, and Carl is living at home. Mr. Grayson is a Re- publican in politics, and has served in the city council for two terms. While a resident of New- burg he was also a member of the city council. He is fraternally prominent, and connected with Tillamook Lodge No. 57, A. F. & A. M., John- son Chapter No. 5. R. A. M., and the Woodmen of the World.

JAMES S. MOORE, M. D. In tracing the history of the Moore family the genealogical records show that they came to America from Scotland at a very early period in our country's history. Three successive genera- tions, each represented by a Joseph Moore, followed farm pursuits in Maine, where they lived and died. Heard L. Moore, a son of the second Joseph, was born in Trenton, Me., where, through his active life, he followed the dairy and fishing industries. He was a stanch Republican and during the Civil war acted as a recruiting officer for the Federal army. In religion he was connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Betsheba Higgins, was born in Eden, Me., and died at Portland, Ore. She was a daughter of Josiah Higgins, a native of the west coast of Maine, the son of Revolu- tionary soldier and by occupation a farmer, having a place in Eden, Me.

Of the eight children of Heard L. and Bet- sheba Moore all but one attained mature years. In order of birth they were as follows:

845

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Ellen, Mrs. A. F. Jordan, who died in Maine ; F. A., chief justice of the supreme court of Oregon ; Mary Augusta, Mrs. Eben Walls, of Bar Harbor, Me .; Mrs. Delia A. Leland, of Portland, Ore .; James S., the subject of this article and a practicing physician of Grants Pass; Arthur W., who is a graduate of the medical college at Burlington, Vt., and a phy- sician in Portland, Ore .; and Addie C., Mrs. William Palmer, of Maine. Dr. J. S. Moore was born in Trenton, Me., July 1, 1852. After completing the studies of the public schools he entered the State Normal School at Cas- tine, Me., from which he was graduated in 1874. Meantime he had assisted in defraying his expenses by teaching school during the va- cation seasons. For a number of years he en- gaged in teaching and subsequent thereto he took up the study of medicine under Dr. R. L. Grindle, of Blue Hill, Me. During a part of two years he also had the advantage of study in Portland, Me., after which he matriculated in the medical department of Bowdoin Col- lege. A year later he entered Long Island College Hospital at Brooklyn, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1877 with the de- gree of M. D. His initial experience as a prac- titioner was gained at Deer Island, Me., but after six months he went to Steuben, Wash- ington county, and four years later he moved to Bar Harbor, Me.

The first visit of Dr. Moore to the western coast was made about 1882 and left an impres- sion on his mind so favorable that he was in- duced, in 1891, to bring his family from his far distant eastern home to Portland, Ore., where he embarked upon a general practice. In July of 1893 he came to Grants Pass, where he has since carried on a general practice and also acted as surgeon for the Southern Pacific Railroad. At one time he held the office of pension examiner. Among the members of the medical fraternity Dr. Moore has estab- lished an enviable reputation for broad and accurate knowledge of therapeutics. Not con- tent with the knowledge acquired in college, he has ever been a student of materia medica, and now, in such leisure as his busy life per- mits, gives himself up with absorbed interest to the records of intricate diseases as they are presented on the pages of medical journals. Hence he is one who keeps abreast with every advancement made in the science of which he is an ardent disciple. His professional rela- tions include membership in the Southern Oregon Medical Association, of which he has officiated both as secretary and president ; the Oregon State Medical Association, the Amer- ican Medical Association, and the Hancock County (Me.) Medical Association.

At Deer Island, Me., May 13, 1878, Dr. Moore married Miss Mattie Babbidge, a na- tive of that place, and a lady of many pleasing qualities, in religion a faithful member of the Presbyterian Church. They are the parents of three children, namely: Vida C., a gradu- ate of the Portland high school; Harvard C., a member of the high school class of 1904 at Grants Pass; and Lena W., who died at nine years of age. While still a resident of Maine Dr. Moore was made a Mason at Millbridge, and is now a member of Grants Pass Lodge No. 84, A. F. & A. M. He also affiliates with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Roseburg and the Woodmen of the World. Though not a politician he is a pronounced Republican, stanch in his advocacy of party principles.

SILAS HOLMES HAZARD, deceased, who for many years was engaged in the practice of law in Coos county, was recognized as one of the most successful practitioners of western Oregon. A representative of a family which became dis- tinguished in the affairs of the American nation, and presumably of English extraction, he was born in Baton Rouge, La., June 16, 1838, a son of Silas Holmes Hazard, a minister in the Pres- byterian church. His primary education was re- ceived in the public schools. In 1855 he entered the University of Iowa, remaining two years.

During his youth and young manhood Mr. Hazard was identified in a mercantile business for about eighteen months, with his brother-in- law, G. D. Palmer, in Iowa City, Iowa, after which he engaged in farming in Iowa until 1860. In that year he began the study of law with the firm of Patterson & Robinson, of Iowa City. After being admitted to the Iowa bar January 23, 1864, he crossed the plains to San Francisco, Cal., but the following year he returned to Iowa. Purchasing a farm near his old home he combined farming and legal practice for a time ; but a growing clientele necessitated the abandon- ment of farming, and he therefore devoted his entire time to his profession until 1873. Re- turning to the west in that year, Mr. Hazard lo- cated at Empire City, then the county seat of Coos county, Ore., and almost from the be- ginning received the recognition due his pro- found understanding of the science of the law. In June, 1876, he was elected district attorney as a candidate of the Democratic party, and was re-elected in 1878, giving the greatest satisfac- tion while filling the duties of that office. He became a man of great prominence and wide in- fluence throughout the county, and undoubt- edly handled the majority of important cases which were tried in Coos county during the

846

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

years of his residence there. His practice in Empire City in no wise lessened after his re- moval to Marshfield, July 25, 1900, although he was then near the end of life's journey, his death occurring July 22, 1901. Mr. Hazard pos- sessed the most complete law library in Oregon south of Portland, and by reason of his superior knowledge of reports and opinions on test cases, was frequently sought as a counsel by other at- torneys.

Mr. Hazard was thrice married. January 27, 1867, he was united with Margaret Shircliff, who died February 24, 1869, leaving a son, Louis Holmes Hazard, an account of whose life will be found in the following sketch. July 3, 1876, Mr. Hazard married Emma Watson, who died December 24, 1880. January 1, 1883, he was united in marriage with Frances Adele Mc- Knight, a daughter of William and Mary Ellen (Wright) McKnight, who survives him. Hon- orable and upright in all his dealings, Mr. Haz- ard's clients found in him a counselor upon whom they could implicitly rely, and whose adjust- ment of legal complications was based upon the best tenets of a great profession. He was at all times a progressive and public-spirited man, fully alive to the best interests of the people, and always ready to do all in his power to promote their welfare.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 119

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman publishing company Number of Pages: 1064

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman publishing company
Number of Pages: 1064