Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 139

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 139

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).

Mr. Sorensen is a stanch Republican, but as may be readily seen has had little time or op- portunity to serve his party as his many qualifica- tions would permit of. Fraternally he is well known, and is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World and the Hoo Hoo's. Two children have been born into the family, Emma and Ches- ter. Personally affable, approachable and gen- erous, Mr. Sorensen has friends all along the Columbia river and throughout the principal tim- ber regions in the state, the humblest laborer and the capitalist uniting in crediting him with stanch and dependable traits of character, with tact, consideration and unswerving integrity.

JAMES T. HENLEY. The farm purchased some years ago by Mr. Henley and now occu- pied by his widow lies nine miles southeast of Klamath Falls and is one of the most attractive homesteads in southern Oregon. With an acre- age of three hundred and twenty acres, all under fence and a large part minder cultivation, it offers excellent advantages for a successful stock-raising business and is devoted to that industry by the present owner. Mr. Henley was born in Indiana September 13, 1853, and was fifth among the ten children of Frank Willis

and Caroline H. (Burns) Henley, natives of Indiana. Of all that large family he alone is deceased. When he was a small child his par- ents renioved to Missouri and in 1865 went a little further west, settling in Winchester, Kans., where he received a high school education. In 1874, having attained his majority, he started out in the world for himself and from that time for- ward was dependent upon his own exertions for a livelihood. Coming west during that year he secured employment in Cortez camp, Eureka county, Nev., where for thirteen years he acted as assayer and manager of a quartz mill.

In Reno, Nev., January 10, 1882, Mr. Hen- lcy married Sophia (Steele) Foster, a widow with two daughters, Sarah E. and Lucy T. Foster. Mrs. Henley was born in Waupaca, Wau- paca county, Wis., March 19, 1854, a daughter of William and Esther Anne (Johnston) Steele, natives respectively of County Armagh, Ireland, and Perth, Upper Canada, the former born Oc- tober 8, 1824, and the latter October 28, 1833. Among nine children, of whom Mrs. Henley was the oldest, only three are now living; she has a sister, Minnie, Mrs. Frank Ward, who resides at Klamath Falls, and a brother, Donald R., wlio is living at Reno, Nev. The name of her father, William Steele, deserves to be perpetuated among those progressive, public-spirited men, who con- tributed to the early growth of Klamath county. In 1845 he crossed the ocean to America from his native land. He was then a young man of twenty-one, pushing, energetic and on the alert to grasp such opportunities as came his way. After some years in the east, during 1859 he crossed the plains to Virginia City, Nev., and two years later his family joined him in that state. · The subsequent years of his life were identified with the far west. In 1885 he came from Nevada to Oregon and located on a state land claim adjoining the present property of his daughter, Mrs. Henley. On that estate he re- mained during the balance of his life. The de- velopment of the land by no means represented the limit of his energies. With a keen, far-see- ing grasp of the environment and its possibili- ties, he realized that land could never be culti- vated profitably here until the irrigation problem was solved. Witli this object in view, he took up the building of an irrigating system. His efforts at first were criticised by people of more narrow views than his own, but subsequent events justified his wise judgment. It is now recognized that his work has been of the greatest aid to this county and has promoted its prosper- ity an hundred fold. Had he been longer spared he would have witnessed the larger success of his enterprises, but death came to him September 5, 1888. His wife also died in Klamath county, 1892 being the year of her demise. They are

939

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

remembered as among the most valued citizens the county has ever had.

From the time of casting his first ballot until he died, Mr. Henley was a constant supporter of Republican principles. On his party ticket he was elected county commissioner of Klamath county, which office he held for four years. On the organization of the lodge of Odd Fellows at Klamath Falls he became one of its charter members, and his wife identified herself with the Rebekahs, to which order she still belongs. They had an only child, James T., Jr., who resides with his mother on the Klamath county ranch. Besides beginning the improvement of this property, Mr. Henley had other interests in Klamath county, chief among which may be mentioned his connection with the Klamath Falls Irrigating Company, of which he was president at the time of his death. While on a visit in San Francisco, Cal., August 8, 1891, his earth life ended, when he was still in the prime of a busy existence, with many plans formulated whose consummation he had hoped to achieve as the years passed by.

WILLIAM JAMES DENVER is descended from a distinguished Irish ancestry, and is him- self a native of County Down, Ireland. The family name is properly spelled Denvir, and is so recorded in the old country, but through care- lessness it finally came to be spelled as now written. Left an orphan early in life, no authen- tic record of Mr. Denver's birth was preserved, but he is supposed to be about fifty-nine years old. On the paternal side an uncle was a bishop of the Catholic Church in Belfast, Ireland. The paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Eng- lish army, during the American war for freedom, and he was a sea-captain by occupation. Mr. Denver is a son of Patrick and Nancy ( Philips) Denver. By his first marriage Patrick Denver had six children, four daughters and two sons, whose names were Margaret, Mary, Sarah, Anne, Robert and John. When William James was seven years old his mother died, leaving six children, two sons and four daughters, to the care of her sorrowing husband. Five of those children are still living, William James being the fourth child in the family. The father also filled an early grave, being about fifty years old at the time of his demise. The four daughters still living are as follows: Jane, wife of John Savage of Liverpool, England; Catherine, wife of Joseph Quinn, of Manitoba, Canada; Eliza- beth, Mrs. Burnside, of Ohio; and Martha, now Mrs. McNally, of Arkansas. Patrick, the younger brother, died when quite small.

William James Denver was twelve years old when his father died, and he was attending the

common schools of Ireland. At the age of four- teen years he was sent across the ocean to the home of Alexander Alcorn, in Iowa, an uncle by marriage, with whom he continued to live for four years at Mt. Sterling, in Van Buren county. In 1862 young Denver was sent across the plains to Nevada, making the trip behind ox- teams. He located in Virginia City until he sold some horses which he had taken out. The following year he returned to Iowa. In the fall of 1864 he again crossed the plains, this time with mule teams, and located at the old Virginia mining-camp in Montana. After mining for eight months with fair success he went to Helena and engaged in ranching. This venture did not prove very successful, however, and soon afterward he made the trip back to Iowa on horseback. In 1871 he crossed the plains again, this time going by rail to San Francisco, and proceeding by water from that point to Portland. The following year (1872) he located upon the farm which is his home today. He took up both homestead and pre-emption claims in all about two hundred and eighty acres, and still retains possession of two hundred and seventy acres of the original claims. His farm is well located in Nehalem valley, on Fishhawk creek, and he is profitably engaged in general farming. He has made many inprovements on his place and has fifty acres under cultivation.

In 1879 Mr. Denver was joined in matrimony with Anna Ledford at Jewell, Ore. Mrs. Den- ver was born in Jackson county, Ore., March 16, 1859, and had the misfortune to lose her father in the Rogue River Indian war. He lo- cated in Oregon as early as 1849. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Denver, but the grim reaper has claimed one bright child. The others are Molly, Grace, Nancy, Maud and Robert. August 26, 1903, Grace Denver was united in marriage to Fred L. Pope, and is now living near Nehalem river at Elsie, Ore. The family are devout members of the Catholic Church of Astoria, and in his political affiliations, Mr. Den- ver prefers the Democratic party, which he sup- ports by his vote and influence. He is now fill- ing the office of school director.

HENRY LACROSSE. When Henry La Crosse came to the west in 1864 he brought with him the enthusiasm of a man of twenty- two, and a large fund of experience gained in the lumber camps and copper mines of northern Michigan. After paying for his passage by way of Isthmus of Panama he landed in San Francisco with scarcely money enough to pay for a week's board and lodging, yet this condi- tion did not prove disconcerting to one who had slept in all kinds of improvised beds in a rough

940

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

country, and had eaten fare chiefly noted for its staying qualities. For one year in the west he herded cattle on the sunny slopes of Califor- nia, and in 1865 came to North Bend, Coos county, and worked in a saw-mill for five years. This continuation of his Michigan occupation proved both congenial and remunerative, and his thoroughness and ability to please his employers resulted in continued promotion in the mill. At the end of a year it was noted that he understood the business thoroughly, and for the remainder of the time he had charge of the lath mill, run- ning it in a most satisfactory manner, and in the meantime saving sufficient of his earnings to give him a start in some other line of busi- ncSs.

With the proceeds of his milling experience Mr. LaCrosse purchased his present farm of one hundred and fifty acres, sixteen miles east of Marshfield, on the south fork of the Coos river. Sixty acres of this is bottom land, rich and fertile, and adapted to almost any of the favorite farm products. He is engaged in stock- raising and fruit-growing principally, but gen- eral farming claims much of his attention. The farm has a pleasant rural home, with good barns and out-buildings and many modern im- provements, and in its entirety is an example of what may be accomplished by sheer grit and de- termination. In 1867 Mr. La Crosse married Rosalia Cutlip, who died in 1870.

The youth of Mr. La Crosse had many ups and downs, and was filled with much work and little leisure. He was born at Three Rivers. Canada, September 13. 1843, and at the age of thirteen started out on his own responsibility and earned his living in the lumber camps of north- ern Michigan. In the winter time he cut, and in the summer rafted logs for five years, and then made his way to Lake Superior and worked in the copper mines for two vears. Returning to the lumber districts he rafted on the lake for about six months, and in the fall of 1864 went to Buffalo, N. Y., and soon afterward to New York City, where he embarked on an outgoing steamer for California. Mr. La Crosse is well pleased with the west, and his success has nat- urally caused him to think kindly and enthusias- tically of Coos county. He is a Republican in political belief, and is a member of the Catholic Church.

WILLIAM SCARTH. While the prominence of William Scarth of Toledo rests primarily up- on his positions as vice president of the Willam- ette Vallev Banking Company and cashier of the Lincoln County Bank, mere financial ability would hardly account for the regard in which he is held in the community. Resourcefulness, stability of

character and public spirit have been important factors in his well directed career. That many years are not required to accurately gauge the worth of men is demonstrated in the case of Mr. Scarth, who came to Oregon in 1900, and is therefore a newcomer upon whose broad and capable shoulders the mantle of western success has rapidly fallen.

Mr. Scarth comes honestly by his financial qualifications, for in the Orkney Islands, where he was born September 4, 1863, his father, Rob- ert Scarthi, was a well known and very success- ful banker. Further delving into the family his- tory reveals many commercial undertakings. The paternal grandfather, Robert, who spent his entire life in the Orkneys, devoted his active days to farming and merchandising. As the name indicates, remote ancestors were among that hardy class of Norsemen whose deeds of daring upon the seas have elicited the admira- tion of succeeding generations, and who set an example of daring and moral rectitude rarely equaled among the races of the world. On the maternal side Mr. Scarth claims sterling fore- fathers who helped to build the fame of Scot- land, and his mother, Jemima (Stevenson) Scarth, was born in Leith, Scotland. In her youth she was taken to Canada by her parents. After her marriage in Ottawa she returned with her husband to Scotland, where the remainder of their lives were spent. Mrs. Scarth's death occurred in the Orkney Islands in 1869. She left a family of ten children, six of whom were SO11S.

As a boy William Scarth dreamed of adven- tures upon the sea, as boys in northern latitudes are wont to do, and it was not surprising that his school days should be succeeded by a career upon the deep, inaugurated at Orkney in 1877. At the time he was fourteen years of age, and as a cadet on her majesty's ship Conway he served two years, afterward being transferred to the Daphne, where he remained for three years. He became identified with the Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Company, of London, Eng- land, in 1882, and in this capacity encircled the world, visited India. Australia, and all well known ports, at the time advancing in the service from fourth, to third and second officerships. On these long journeys he accumulated a wealth of valuable information, and today, one of his favor- ite means of recreation is recalling the various experiences which rendered his sea-faring life memorable and pleasant. In 1889 he abandoned the sea and located at Binscarth, Manitoba, Can- ada, the town being named for his father's estate in the Orkney Islands. Here he engaged in farming and banking until coming to Toledo, Ore., in 1900, when he entered into partnership with Thomas Leese, his former partner in Man-

941

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

itoba, in forming the Willamette Valley Banking Company and the Lincoln County Bank. With Messrs. Leese and B. F. Jones, Mr. Scarth owns and manages the Toledo Waterworks and Elec- tric Light Company, and with Messrs. Leese and J. F. Stewart he controls the Lincoln County Land & Investment Company. His ventures bear the stamp of conservative and substantial worth, and are directed with a view to bettering the community in which his lot is cast. That the town is to be congratulated upon so valuable a combination of capital and natural endowments admits of no question.

In Canada, in 1895, Mr. Scarth married Isa- bella Lawson Jamieson, who was born in An- struther, Fifeshire, Scotland, and who is the mother of four children: William Pillans, James Anstruther, Robert Leese and Chrichton Archi- bald. Politically, Mr. Scarth has not as yet ranged his forces with either party, but views the situation around from the standpoint of in- dependence. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, as are also his wife and children.

THEOBALD MANNELL HERMANN. One of the finest and historically most interesting properties in Coos county is what is known as the Hermann farm, at present owned by T. Man- nell Hermann, who has recently resigned his position as chief of the mail division in the bu- reau of pensions at Washington, D. C. Associ- ated with this farm of seven hundred acres, and located six miles south of Myrtle Point, on the south fork of the Coquille river, are the mature and earnest efforts of a pioneer physician, schol- ar and gentleman, who unflinchingly allied his fortunes with a wild and desolate region, leaving it years later transformed by his well directed energy, and dignified by the worth of his charac- ter, and the boundless usefulness of his profes- sional services.

Dr. Henry Hermann was born in Hesse-Cas- tle, Germany, in 18II, and came of a family long associated with government service. He was educated at the world-famous colleges of the fatherland, became learned in scientific and meta- physical lore, and at a very early age undertook the study of medicine. Completing his mental training at the University of Berlin, he became the instigator and promoter of free speech and a free press, and was naturally drawn into the Revolution of 1832, participation in which re- sulted in his compulsory emigration to America in 1834. After spending several years in the city of Baltimore, Md., he moved to Lonaconing, the same state, and there married Elizabeth Hop- kins, who was born in Wales in 1826, and came to the United States in 1844. Mrs. Hermann's father was an iron-worker by trade, and built

the first iron furnace in the state of Maryland. While Dr. Hermann engaged in the practice of medicine in Lonaconing, children were born into his family, and he became thoroughly established in the community, acquiring an enviable reputa- tion for skill in treatment and diagnosis. Hon. Binger Hermann, his oldest son, was elected to congress from Roseburg in 1903; T. Mannell, the owner of the home place in Coos county, was born January 8, 1845; Washington P. died in this vicinity in 1901; Cass M. lives on a farm near Myrtle Point; Thursnelda is the wife of E. Bender, of Myrtle Point; Maria is the wife of John Baker, of Phoenix, Ariz .; Henry died in October, 1871, at the age of nineteen years; and Ernest W. lives at Myrtle Point.

An omnivorous student himself, Dr. Hermann desired superior advantages for his children, and in order to obtain them moved his family to Baltimore, Md., in 1856. While there he be- came interested in the far west, and was im- pressed with the evident opportunity awaiting the resourceful and industrious. In order to as- certain the exact conditions for himself and a number of friends whom he had interested in the project, he journeyed to Oregon, in 1858, and found in Coos county the Mecca for which he was seeking. Returning the same year, his enthusiastic accounts gained adherents to his' side, and in 1859, with his family and what was known as the Hermann Colony, he again set out for the west, going by way of the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco, and from there to Portland. The colonists selected farms accord- ing to their preference and judgment, the doctor himself locating on one hundred and fifty-two acres of land on the south fork of the Coquille river, six miles south of what is now Myrtle Point. No wilder timberland has furnished theme for romance and story than that in which this healer of men made his pioneer home. But five or six settlers had as yet located in the county, and the nearest trading post at which provisions could be secured was Port Orford, forty-five miles distant. This journey required four days in coming and going, and the roads at times were almost impassable. For the greater part there were no roads at all and barely dis- cernible trails, and the doctor, who was the only medical man within a radius of seventy-five miles, often experienced great difficulty in get- ting from one place to another. Almost imme- diately his services were in demand, and when not alleviating the physical woes of mankind he turned his attention to clearing his land, and finally had quite a little patch available for crops of general produce. The dwellers in the little cabin experienced all manner of deprivations in those days, but gradually the prophecy of plenty was fulfilled, the log house was supplanted by a

942

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

more pretentious structure, and the doctor was obliged to purchase more land in order to carry on his ambitious plans. Before his death, at the age of fifty-nine years, he had added three hun- dred and twenty acres to his farm, devoting the whole to general farming and stock-raising. His wife, who had so materially hastened his success by lier ready co-operation and unfailing sym- pathy, survived him until her seventy-fifth year.

T. Mannell Hermann, unlike his learned father, received his preliminary education in that great field of human equality, the public schools, afterward attending the Knapp Institute of Bal- timore, Md. He was fourteen when he expe- rienced the novel journey to the west, and he afterward settled down on the home farm and assisted his father in clearing and improving it. In April, 1865, he enlisted in the First Oregon Cavalry for service in the Civil war and served one year. June 2, 1877, he married, in Santa Cruz, Cal., Mary Trust, a native of Baltimore, Md., and with her returned to his father's place, assuming entire charge after the death of the older man. At a later period he bought out the heirs and is now sole owner, having added to the original property until he has at present seven hundred acres in the same vicinity, the greater part of it grazing land. One hundred and forty acres consists of rich bottom land. He is en- gaged principally in stock-raising and dairying, milking thirty-eight cows. The farm has the latest of agricultural implements and general im- provements, and a new rural home, just com- pleted, illustrates the acme of country comfort and convenience. The wife of Mr. Hermann died October 2, 1872, four months after her mar- riage. June 2, 1877, Mr. Hermann married Minnie Marjory, a native of New York city, eight children having been born of this union, the order of their birth being as follows: George T., living in this vicinity ; Mary, the wife of John Grant, of Coos county; Nellie, the wife of T. Wagner, of Myrtle Point; Henry G .; Binger; Forest G .; Russell; and Myrtle.

In 1888 Mr. Hermann was appointed by Com- missioner James Tanner chief of the mail di- vision in the bureau of pensions at Washington, D. C., and served four years under President Harrison, and six months under President Cleve- land. In 1896 he was appointed to the same po- sition during President McKinley's administra- tion, and held the office until September, 1903, when he resigned to attend to his duties about his farm, which necessitated his personal atten- tion. It will thus be seen that this popular pio- neer has been obliged to absent himself from the home in which the greater part of his life has been spent, and his vacation sojourns among the old familiar haunts were anticipated with great pleasure by his hosts of friends. Mr. Hermann

is a stanch upholder of Republicanism, and he is fraternally connected with the Myrtle Lodge No. 78, A. F. & A. M., and La Fayette Chapter No. 5, R. A. M., of Washington, D. C.

JOHN FLANAGAN. The extent of John Flanagan's energy and enterprise may be best indicated by a résumé of his life. He had touched at many points of the globe's surface, and had been identified with many occupations. In Belfast, Ireland, where he was born April 16, 1836, his school days were limited, for at the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a ma- chinist, to serve seven years. His life about this time would hardly appeal to a bright American boy of today, nor would the wages paid be likely to inspire large financial ambitions. The first year he received fifty cents a week, and each suc- ceeding year his salary was raised a shilling a week. A fellow worker with him in the machine shop was A. T. Stewart, afterwards famous as New York's most successful merchant.

After completing his trade it is safe to say that Mr. Flanagan was an expert workman who could command good wages in any part of the world. He continued to work in Ireland until 1847, and then went to England for a time, later crossing the channel to France, which he found in a state of revolution. Returning to England he soon afterward visited his native land, and in 1852 came to America on a sailing vessel, landing in New Orleans. In the meantime a brother and sister had crossed the sea and set- tled in Texas, and after visiting them several weeks he made his way to Galveston and worked at his trade. There he became interested in the west, and finally arranged to make the long jour- ney by way of Nicaragua. Stopping at Gray- town, he worked at boat repairing for three months, and then shipped for San Francisco, where he readily found work as a machinist.

From San Francisco Mr. Flanagan went to Humboldt county, Cal., and with his brother en- gagcd in merchandising and mining near Eureka for about five years. The country was wild and somewhat dangerous, but there were plenty of patrons to pay large prices for goods, and the business was finally closed out to the satisfaction of the partners. For a year Mr. Flanagan con- ducted a inachine shop in San Francisco after leaving Humboldt county, and he then went to Newport, Ore., where his brothers, James and Patrick, were operating the Libby coal mine, which they had discovered. He next ran the Black Sands mine at Randolph until 1862, and then went to Lewiston, Idaho, where he was so successful in the merchandise business that he started branch stores at Florence and Elk City. His fertile mind also saw money ahead in pack-

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 139

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