Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 138

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 138

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Mr. Stearns served with his company in the Snake country when they helped build Camp Alvord during the fall of 1865 and made sev- eral campaigns after the hostile Indians, hav- ing one engagement near Albert Lake in 1866. On enlistment Mr. Stearns was ap- pointed first sergeant and served as such dur- ing the entire period of his connection with the army, with the exception of two months. July 19, 1867, he was mustered out at Jack- sonville. Meantime he had located his pres- ent place and on being mustered out settled

on the farm, to the cultivation of which he has since given his exclusive attention.

At Sacramento, Cal., May 17, 1873, Mr. Stearns married Margaret Jane Riggs, who was born in Ray county, Mo., July 22, 1855, and died May 17, 1895. They were the par- ents of the following children: Leslie Orin, of Klamath Falls; Blanche Alice, wife of George Ager, who owns a farm adjoining her father's place; and Eva May, Mrs. Theodore Bryant, of Klamath Falls. The second mar- riage of Mr. Stearns occurred January 10, 1897, and united him with Luella M. Sherman, who was born in Ohio in July of 1861. The only child of the second marriage is Ernel Everett.

Politically Mr. Stearns is a pronounced Republican. He was the first delegate to a political convention from this section of the state, being a representative of the Repub- lican soldier vote at Fort Klamath March 16, 1866, held at Jacksonville, Ore. As one of the first justices of the peace here, his juris- diction at that time embraced all of Klamath and Lake counties. In 1880 the members of his party elected him to the state legislature when Klamath was still a part of Lake county. His service in that body was satisfactory to his constituents and proved the possession on his part of ability in legislative matters.

The family represented by Mr. Stearns is among the earliest established on American shores. The genealogical records state that on the morning of April 8, 1630, Isaac Stearns and family, Sir Richard Staltonstale and fam- ily, Rev. George Phillip, Governor Winthrop and many others embarked at Yarmouth, Eng- land, in the good ship Arabella, which an- chored at Salem, Mass., June 12, of the same year. An investigation of the location con- vinced the passengers that they did not desire to settle there, so they soon proceeded to Charlestown and from there to Watertown near Mount Auburn, Mass. From that day to this members of the family in each genera- tion have contributed to the development of their various localities and have been citizens of high standing and the loftiest principles of honor.

THOMAS P. HANLY, a prosperous and up-to-date rancher residing eleven miles east of Bandon, Coos county, Ore., has, without doubt, the finest ranch along the Coquille river, having upon it an orchard of four hun- dred trees, as well as an extensive dairy. He has risen to his place of prominence by steady effort and while still a young man has an enviable position in the esteem of his fellow

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citizens. He was born in San Francisco, Cal., January 10, 1860, the son of Thomas Hanly, an architect, who died when his son was but two years old. His mother, of Irish descent, was Miss Elizabeth Jackson before marrying Mr. Hanly, and some time after his death she was united with Henry Chlemens, a native of Denmark and a ship-carpenter by trade. By this union there were four children, two of whom are deceased; the living are Fred and Anna, both residents of California.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hanly were blessed with six children, two of whom are still living, Mrs. Jennie Rasette, of Canada; and Thomas P., the subject of this biography. The latter lived with his step-father and family in Cal- ifornia until 1869, when they came to Coos county, Ore., and his step-father pre-empted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres on the Coquille river, ten miles east of Bandon. Here he made many improvements and here he still lives. His wife passed away in 1882.

Thomas P. Hanly was educated in the dis- trict school, remaining at home until fifteen years of age, when he started out to seek his fortune. For six years he worked in a saw- mill, and in 1882 he took up ship-carpenter- ing, which he followed for five years. For some time he had been a resident of Parkers- burg, when, in 1888, he bought three hundred and seventy acres of land opposite Lampa creek, where he still lives. When Mr. Hanly came to this place there was but one acre cleared; there are now two hundred acres cleared and under cultivation. He has erected a handsome, modern dwelling, commodious barn, etc., and has in his dairy thirty-five cows. He brought some of the first Jerseys into the Coquille river country and has been an extensive dealer in Durham and Jersey cattle. He is an undoubted success as a rancher and an admirable man in many re- spects.

June 5, 1881, Mr. Hanly was joined in wed- lock with Dora A. Schroeder, an accomplished daughter of Judge J. H. Schroeder of Arago. She was born near Norway, Coos county, Ore. Mr. and Mrs. Hanly have three bright children, Thomas, Theresa and Marguerite. Mr. Hanly is a Democrat, and while he is now and has been for several years school clerk, yet he takes little interest in political affairs. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World.

JOHN T. MOULTON. With what has proved to be far-sighted and accurate judg- ment John T. Moulton came to the site of Coquille in 1871 and built the first house in

the history of the town. Nor did his pioneer- ing effort stop with this accomplishment, for he started a merchandising business, an equal- ly necessary adjunct to embryo communities, and continued the same until general pros- perity had begun to prevail in 1884. In the early days also he purchased a ranch of sixty acres adjoining the hamlet on the east, and retained the management of the same until illness and increasing responsibility necessi- tated its sale. Soon afterward he erected the cottage in the town which has since been his home, and from where he still watches with increasing interest the development of sound and practical enterprises.

Mr. Moulton is a California pioneer of 1850, and an Oregon pioneer of 1865. He was born April 1, 1826, in Bucksport, Hancock county, Me., in which town his father, Dr. Rufus Moulton, was conducting a large medical practice. The elder Moulton was born in England and came to the United States with two brothers, locating at Bucksport, where he maintained a career of great professional activity, and where he attained the advanced age of eighty years. He married Caroline Davis, a native daughter of Maine, who, after his demise married again, and eventually died in her native state. There were four sons and two daughters of the first union, and three sons and two daughters of the second, John T. being the oldest son and third child. The latter was reared in the town home at Bucks- port, and received a fair education in the public schools. At quite an early age he ac- quired some business experience in his native town, and was thirty-four years of age when he started for the west in 1850.

Mr. Moulton made about the first trip on the Vanderbilt line to the Isthmus of Panama, and after reaching San Francisco remained there for six months. He next turned his at- tention to mining in Sonora, Cal., and in 1851 became one of the first white settlers of Tuolumne county, the same state. He was successful in the mines, and afterward mined in the Carson valley and at Esmeralda, going still later to the Owens river to fight the Indians. After some months he again re- turned to Tuolumne county, Cal., and engaged in the lumber business for seven years. This proved a losing venture, for fire destroyed a stock worth over $100,000, and both Mr. Moul- ton and his partner, T. Lewis, lost about all that they had in the world. In 1858 Mr. Moul- ton took the contract to dig the miners' ditch in Tuolumne county, at an estimated cost of $1,500,000, but he unfortunately lost heavily in this undertaking, and in 1860 engaged in litigation with the company.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In 1865 Mr. Moulton exchanged his Cali- fornia home for one in Oregon, locating on a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres on the Coquille river three miles south of Beaver slough. The following year he began to work in the Simpson ship yards, and in 1868 con- tracted to put in hydraulic pressure in the Lane mine at the mouth of the Coquille river. In 1871 he became permanently iden- tified with the town which owes so much to his enterprise and forethought, and where he married Mary Jane Bunn, a native daugh- ter of Illinois. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Moulton, two sons and three daughters: George, the oldest son, is Coquille agent of the Coos Bay, Roseburg & Eastern Railroad; Lulu is the wife of S. M. Nosler, engaged in the creamery business in this town; William is deceased; Mattie is de- ceased; and an infant died when but a few days old. Mr. Moulton is a Republican in politics, and has acceptably filled the offices of school director and road supervisor. He is a conscientious, painstaking, and high- minded gentleman, and commands the grat- itude and esteem of all who profit by the present conditions of Coquille.

ELIJAH C. JEFFERS. Among the enter- prising, practical and prosperous agriculturists of Clatsop county is Elijah C. Jeffers, proprietor of an excellent ranch, finely located about three and one-half miles south of Astoria. He is extensively engaged in general farming, includ- ing stock-raising and dairying, and exercises great skill and good judgment in his chosen vocation, meeting with corresponding success in his operations. Of pioneer ancestry, he was born August 31, 1839, in Henry county, Iowa, and came with his father, Joseph J. Jeffers, to Oregon in 1847.

Joseph J. Jeffers was born in Washington, D. C., October 17, 1807. Early learning the trade of a plasterer, he followed it in different localities throughout his active career. Soon after his marriage in 1829 he removed to Iowa, locating in Henry county, where he lived sev- eral years. In 1847, in the company commanded by Capt. Joseph Meeker, he crossed the plains to Oregon with his family, driving five yoke of oxen and a span of mules, being about six months on the way, leaving Iowa March 6 and arriving in Oregon City September 12. Locat- ing his family in that city, he went to California in quest of gold, and as a miner was quite suc- cessful, bringing back $2,000 worth of the pre- cious metal. In the fall of 1850 he removed to Astoria, and immediately took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres on the

Lewis & Clark river, three hundred acres of which constitute the present farm of his son, Elijah C. Jeffers. Joseph J. Jeffers never de- voted much of his time to the care of his land, but continued at his trade, as an expert work- man, plastering many of the earlier buildings erected in Astoria and Portland. Mr. Jeffers, more familiarly known as Judge Jeffers, occu- pied quite a prominent position in social and political affairs in Clatsop county, having twice been elected as a representative to the Oregon legislature on the Democratic ticket. He at- tained the age of sixty-eight years, dying in Portland, Ore., January 2, 1876, while visiting his daughter. In 1829, in Pennsylvania, he married Sarah E. Hurford, who was born in Ohio September 21, 1808, and died at the home of her daughter, with whom she was living in Montavilla, Multnomah county, Ore., March 7, 1902. Of the eleven children born of their union, nine died in childhood, three daughters and six sons, and two children are living, name- ly : Elijah C. and Carrie E., wife of George L. Hibbard, of Montavilla, Ore.

Coming with his parents to Oregon City when eight years old, Elijah C. Jeffers acquired his early education in the common schools of Clat- sop county, afterwards, in 1857, continuing his studies at the Willamette University, in Salem, and the next year attending the Portland Acad- emy. Returning home, he assumed the man- agement of the home farm in 1859, and is now the owner of three hundred acres of the orig- inal homestead. Making all the improvements on the place himself, he has one of the best and most productive ranches in this section of the county. Devoting his attention to stock-rais- ing and dairying, he has been exceedingly pros- perous in his undertakings, occupying an as- sured position among the leading stockmen and dairymen of Astoria, and of late he has formed a corporation with his sons, Irvin M. Jeffers being secretary and manager, and himself presi- dent.

August 30, 1871, Mr. Jeffers married Jane Hess, who was born November 25, 1850, in Bremer county, Iowa, and came to Oregon with her father, Jacob Hess, in 1866, journeying hither by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Locating in Multnomah county, near Portland, Mr. Hess lived there two years, and then resided for some time in Clatsop county. Going from here to Goldendale, Wash., he resided there until his death, in 1891, at the age of seventy years. Seven children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers, namely: Irvin M., John H. of Astoria, Carrie M., Mabel E., Jennie E., Laura H. and Esther C. Mr. Jeffers is inde- pendent in politics, voting for whomever he deems best qualified, regardless of party restric-

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tions. For a number of years he has served as school director, and has also been road super- visor. Fraternally he belongs to Seaside Lodge, A. O. U. W., of Astoria.

PETER PETERSON. At the present writ- ing Peter Peterson is filling the office of post- master at the little postoffice of May, Coos coun- ty, Ore., which office bears the name of Mr. Peterson's youngest daughter. Mr. Peterson claims Sweden as his native country, and was born October 12, 1844. The youngest of three children, he received his early education in the public school, and at the age of twelve his father died. In early youth Mr. Peterson learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked until he had attained the age of seventeen, when he be- came a sailor, continuing a sea-faring life until 1868. Coming to the United States at that date, he settled at Newport, in Coos county, Ore., following his trade at that place for about fifteen vcars. Afterwards he lived at Coal Banks and Bay City, finally, in 1886, purchasing three hun- dred acres of fine land on Haines slough, ten miles north of Marshfield. It was in a wild state when bought, but Mr. Peterson has made many improvements upon it. He carried on general farming and stock-raising very successfully until appointed postmaster of the May postoffice, which position he still holds, his farm being managed by his children. Before his appointment, in 1902, he built a gasoline launch named the May- flower, which he still runs on Coos Bay for pub- lic use.

Mr. Peterson visited his native land about 1873 and when he returned to the United States he brought his bride, who was before marriage Hilda Erickson, a native of Sweden. She has borne her husband the following children : Annie, now Mrs. Riggs, of North Bend; John E. and Florence, who reside on the home place; Lizzie, now Mrs. McDonald, of Toledo, Ore .; Emil, a real estate man of North Bend; Charles, Pere and May, the latter three living on the home place.

Politically Mr. Peterson is independent in his opinions, and has held several minor offices with- in the gift of his fellow-citizens. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons. Thoroughly trusted by all who know him, he is a repre- sentative man of Coos county.

NATHAN SMITH MERRILL. As

a worthy scion of a distinguished French family, and as a descendant from one of three brothers who located in Boston, Mass., as early as 1600, Nathan Smith Merrill has every claim to prom- inence, and for him the town of Merrill in Kla-

math county, Ore., was named, having been founded on a part of his land in 1894, and now being the second in size in Klamath county. To Mr. Merrill belongs the distinction of having lived in many different states representing the far east, the middle section, and afterward the far west. A native of New Hampshire, his boy- hood days were spent in Illinois, and he after- ward spent several years in Missouri, prior to going to the Pacific slope, where he lived first in California and afterwards in Washington. It was not until his fifty-fourth year that he found a permanent location, settling this time in Kla- math county, Ore., whose interests have been identified with his own ever since.

His parents, Nathan and Julia Ann ( Morrill) Merrill, were both from the state of New Hamp- shire, the former born January 26, 1806, near Nashua, and the latter April 13, 1814, in Hills- borough county. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812 and met his death in the brave performance of his duty at Plattsburg, Vt. The marriage of Mr. Merrill's parents took place in New Hampshire in 1834, following which they continued to live in that state until 1846, re- moving to Illinois at that time and locating in Kane county, where Mr. Merrill engaged in farm pursuits, having previously worked at his trade as a shoe-maker, and it is worthy of mention that he followed that useful occupation for thirty years. In 1858 the family moved to Missouri and located in McDonald county, and in after years Mr. Merrill went west to California, his death taking place in 1893 at The Willows, in that state. He had previously lost his wife, who died in 1865, on her fifty-first birthday.

Born as he was in Hillsborough county, N. H., near Hillsborough, August 22, 1836, Nathan Smith Merrill is the eldest in a family of seven children. His eldest sister, Julia Ann, is de- ceased, and his remaining sister, Henrietta, the youngest in the family, married N. Scroggins, and resides in California. Of his brothers, W. R. resides in the same state; Abbott, in Redding, Cal .; C. H. in Klamath county; and M. A. in Glenn county, Cal. The early education of Mr. Merrill was gleaned from the instruction re- ceived in the common schools in Kane county, Ill., and after leaving school he at once took up farm pursuits, his life-long vocation. Accom- panying the family to Missouri in 1858, he spent several years in McDonald county, returning in 1862 to Kane county, Ill., and again farming in that county until 1869.

Having determined to go to California, in 1869 he made the trip by rail, the first year after the completion of the railroad, and taking up his residence in Colusa county he once more engaged in farm pursuits, renting land and continuing to reside there for a number of years. He found a

N. P. Sounsen

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

new location in 1882 in Washington and for nine years he carried on dairy farming in Chehalis county, but he was not entirely pleased with con- ditions there, and in looking about for a place where he might locate permanently he was favor- ably impressed with Klamath county, Ore., and it was there he made his home in 1891. At that time he purchased land twenty-four miles south- east of Klamath Falls, adjacent to the present site of Merrill, and it was here that the inter- vening years have been spent, in farming and stock-raising. These years so well spent have been fraught with success, and today Mr. Mer- rill is recognized as one of the substantial men of his community. He owns five hundred acres at present, and has made many improvements on his place. Two hundred acres are devoted to raising alfalfa, and he makes a specialty of raising Short-horn and Durham cattle and Berk- shire hogs, having about thirty head of cattle and one hundred head of hogs.

By his marriage, October 28, 1860, in Mc- Donald county, Mo., Mr. Merrill was united with Miss Nancy J. Newland, who was born in Wash- ington county, Ark., February 8, 1840, a daugh- ter of Richard Newland. Her father was a na- tive of Tennessee, born in 1818, and passed to his final rest in 1844 in Arkansas. Her mother, whose maiden name was Deborah Starr, was also born in Tennessee in 1819, and survived her husband until March 22, 1854, her demise also occurring in Arkansas. This couple had a large family, which consisted of eleven children, and in 1839 they located in Washington county, Ark.

A Democrat in his political views, Mr. Merrill is doing his part as county commissioner of Kla- math county, having been elected to that office for a four years' term in 1902. He is an in- fluential member of Lodge No. 137, I. O. O. F., of Klamath Falls, having passed through all the chairs and in 1899 he represented that lodge as a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the state.

NELS PETER SORENSEN. Some of the most inspiring examples of ambition of which Oregon can boast are furnished by men whose childhood was spent on foreign soil, but whose steps were directed this way by a chance, to which they have always been grateful. Such a one is Nels P. Sorensen, one of the successful and influential lumber dealers of Oregon, and formerly manager of the Sorensen Lumber Com- pany. The better to understand the causes which have contributed to Mr. Sorensen's mas- tery of western opportunities, it is necessary to visit Veile, Denmark, a fertile grazing and dairy- ing section of this country on the North Sea. There for many generations his people followed dairying, and were fairly well-to-do, considering

the limitations under which the Denmark farmer labors. The father, Samuel, owned a dairy farm. Through his marriage with a Miss Chris- tensen he became the father of six children, three of whom are living: Christ, Anton and Nels P. By a former marriage Samuel Sorensen had six children, two of whom are living. In the early '70s two of the sons by the second marriage, Christ and Anton, had yielded to praiseworthy ambi- tions and sailed to America, whence they made their way to Gray's River, Wash., and where they are living at this writing.

Nels P. Sorensen was born October 7, 1861, and at the age of fourteen years started out to make his own living, at the age of nineteen, in 1880, embarking in a steamer for America. Nat- urally his destination was his brother's home in Washington, which he reached via the Santa Fe to San Francisco, thence by boat to Astoria, ar- riving at the latter town May 1, 1880. After nine months at Gray's River he went to Walla Walla, Wash., and worked four months in the freight department of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, then returned to Astoria, hoping to find more congenial employment.

In the fall of 1881 Mr. Sorensen had his first experience with lumbering, and for one year en- gagcd in hand logging on Gray's river. The fol- lowing three years he logged with a team on the same river, and for a year logged on Gray's bay. Disposing of his small interest he went to Cath- lamet, Wash., remaining there for a year, and then went to Sellwood, where he bought an old mill. This he remodeled and improved, devoting it to lumber manufacturing for nine months, and was so successful that he sold a half interest in the mill to Joseph Young, afterwards continuing the business four years, or until selling his share to his partner.

In 1882 he was united in marriage with Mary Anderson, ho was born in Denmark and who camc to America with her parents when she was three years of age. Mr. Anderson eventually came to Oregon, where he secured employment as a skilled mechanic in wood working. For two years after his marriage Mr. Sorensen bought and sold real estate, then located in Astoria, which has since been his home. For the first two ycars he operated a logging enterprise at Gray's bay, Wash., and later on the Lewis and Clark river, under the firm name of Sorensen & Kin- ney. Several years later he organized the Sor- ensen Lumber Company, of which he was man- ager, and which operates at Seaside, shipping logs by rail to Astoria. About the same time Mr. Sorensen bought out the Seaside Lumber Company's mill, and incorporated the Necanicum Spruce Lumber Company, the members of the firm being N. D. Bain, Frank Patton, W. F. McGregor and Mr. Sorensen. A year later he

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bought the share of Mr. McGregor, and in the meantime rebuilt and refitted the mill, which has a capacity of forty thousand feet per day. In addition to the mill the company maintains a large box factory at Seaside, and Mr. Sorensen was the leading factor in promoting the firm's inter- ests until disposing of his share in the business in September, 1902. Mr. Sorensen is a member of the firm of Sorensen, Patton & McGregor, contracting loggers, and he is also a director and one of the largest stock-holders in the Alaska Fishermen's Association. He owns large tracts of land in Clatsop county, Ore., and many acres in Pacific county, Wash.

Scarcely an enterprise of any magnitude es- tablished in this part of the state but has felt either his direct or indirect influence, for in these parts the successful lumberman is king, his do- inain bounded only by the extent of his enter- prise, which after all reaches out and allies itself with the merchant, the boatman, the railroads and in many other interests. There are few men in the state who have so correct an appreciation of the huge lumbering resources of the northwest, who have so carefully traversed its timbered re- gions, or have familiarized themselves with the streams and rivers, without which fewer for- tunes had been made and civilization much more slowly developed.

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Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 138

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