Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 146

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 146

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REESE P. KENDALL. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 12, 1829, Mr. Kendall's father, Rich- ard G., and his grandfather, Reese, were born in Salem county, N. J., the family having been established there as early as 1750 by the paternal great-grandfather George, who was born in Can- ada, and died on his New Jersey farm. Reese Kendall followed the martial fortunes of Waslı- ington during the Revolutionary war, and was wounded in the ankle at the battle of Monmouth. He was a shoemaker by trade, and combined the same with farming for his entire active life. Richard G. Kendall was reared on the New Jer- sey farm, and married Ann Brown, a native of Salem county, N. J., a daughter of Samuel Brown, a tailor by trade, who died on his farm in Salem county. Mr. Kendall was educated in New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pa., graduating from a medical college in the latter city, where he also took a course of lectures in the early '30s. After removing to near Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1827, he practiced medicine for many years, but was latterly an invalid, and died of cholera July 4, 1849, his wife surviving him until the following year. Of the family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, four sons and two daughters attained maturity, Reese P. being the oldest of all.

Mr. Kendall was educated primarily in the common schools, and from 1852 until 1855 at- tended the Cincinnati Medical College. Enter- ing Miami College in the fall of 1855, he grad- uated the following year, and forthwith engaged in professional practice in Shelby county, Ill., later practicing near Liberty, Adams county, for about four years. An exceptionally busy life was interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil war, and he enlisted in the fall of 1861 in Company L, Second Illinois Cavalry, after six weeks being promoted to acting assistant surgeon of the Six- teenth Army Corps. From July 22. 1864, until November, 1865. he served as major surgeon of

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the Eleventh United States Colored Infantry, and at the completion of this service was dis- charged at Memphis, Tenn.

From the close of the war until 1871 Dr. Ken- dall continued to practice in Illinois, and then located near Beloit, Mitchell county, Kans., where he pre-empted and owned a farm of three hun- dred and twenty acres for many years, although he was often absent from it in the performance of his duties. In 1874 he removed to Illinois, and in 1875 attended college at Davenport, Iowa, the following year increasing his opportunity for usefulness by taking a course in the Episco- pal theological school at Topeka, Kans. In the spring of 1877 he assumed charge of Christ Church at Warsaw, Ill., at the same time occu- pying his farm of one hundred acres near that town. In 1878 he returned to his Kansas ranch, and in 1882 came to Oregon, assuming charge of St. Thomas Church at Canyon City. His field of labor covered a large territory and included the towns of Prineville, Mitchell, Hay Creek, Prairic City, Dayville and several others, Mr. Kendall being the first preacher in Harney val- ley and Dayville. In the spring of 1885 he went to Benton, Ala., where he preached and kept books for a lumber company for six months, following this by a month at Decatur. Ala., where he prepared confirmation classes for the bishop.

From 1885 until 1887 Dr. Kendall lived on his farm near Hamilton, Ill., returning then to the farm near Beloit, Kans. He came to Med- ford. Ore., in 1893 as a literary worker for the Cincinnati Tribune, now the Commercial Trib- une, and during his two years' association with the paper contributed a series of articles known as Tales of the Argonauts. In the fall of 1895 he accompanied his daughter to Boston, to place her in the conservatory of music of that city, but owing to the ill health of the latter she was obliged to leave the conservatory after four months. Dr. Kendall again removed to Ore- gon, and January 10, 1899, located in San Jose, Cal .. where his daughter, since entirely recovered in health, entered the conservatory of music and graduated in the class of 1900 with the degree of Bachelor of Music. In August, 1901. the doctor came to Medford, where he now lives, and has since been practically retired from active life.

Literary work has been one of his chief sources of revenue, as well as one of the most congenial of the occupations in which Dr. Kendall has engaged. Possessing a graphic style, extensive vocabulary, and pleasing manner of expression. his efforts have been eagerly sought by leading periodicals throughout the country, and have ranged from a book published in New York on Elementary Theology, and Higher Criticism

Simplified, to Pacific Train Camp Fires, and the argonaut articles in the Cincinnati Tribune. In Liberty, Adams county, Ill., Dr. Kendall mar- ried, May 16, 1858, Mrs. Annie Maria Grubb Collins, born in Crawford county, Pa., and the mother of three children: Ann G., the wife of Aaron Andrews, of this vicinity; George Ever- ctt, of Spokane, Wash .; and Abby, at home. Dr. Kendall is a Republican in politics, and was formerly a strong Abolitionist, and a stanch friend of Salmon P. Chase. He is fraternally connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

THOMAS WASHINGTON RENNIER. Early training and environment had much to do with fashioning the tendencies of Thomas Wash- ington Rennier, foreman of the Simpson Lum- ber Company's mill at North Bend, who was born in Douglastown, New Brunswick, in the heart of the lumber district, March 17, 1856. His father, Robert Rennier, was at the time prosecuting a most successful lumbering busi- ness, to which he devoted at least forty years of his life. He came from Scotland many years before the birth of his son Thomas, who was the fourth of his seven sons and two daughters, and built up a lumber industry at a time when its possibilities were as yet hardly appreciated. After selling out his business of two score years he entered the Dominion government as light- house and fog inspector along the coast of New- foundland, and was thus occupied at the time of his death in 1879, at the age of seventy-three years. He was a very successful man, and one who inspired the greatest confidence in his busi- ness and social associates. He married Mary Bates, also born in Scotland, and who is mak- ing her home in Truro. Nova Scotia, at the age of eighty-four.

Thomas Washington Rennier at the age of fourteen started out to earn his own living as a fisherman, and finally landed at Boston, Mass. He had worked hard and saved considerable money, but instead of spending it recklessly as many youths would have done under the circumstances, he settled down in the city and attended the public schools, paying his own expenses. His money exhausted, he returned to New Bruns- wick in 1872, and engaged as apprentice to a lumber surveyor. eventually becoming master of the business. In 1876 he moved to Chicago, Ill., and engaged as foreman of construction while the town of Pullman was rising from the prairie, in 1877 removing to Coos Bay, Ore., where he found employment as pattern maker and machine worker for the Southern Oregon Company.

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In his capacity as foreman of the mills of the Simpson Milling Company, which has a ca- pacity of fifty-five thousand feet of lumber per day, Mr. Rennier has a responsibility in keeping with his ability and capacity for managing men, and inspiring in them a desire to conscientiously perform their duty. He directs the efforts of from sixty to seventy employes. He has evi- denced his faith in the future of the town by purchasing several lots, and has in many ways identified himself with its growth. He is a member and director of the Chamber of Com- merce, a stockholder and director in the sash and door factory in North Bend, and is half owner of a livery stable in North Bend. Mr. Rennier is not interested in office seeking, and although he has allied himself with the Repub- lican party for many years, his local vote is in- fluenced rather by the man, than the political principles he represents.

CHARLES E. LINTON, M. D. A well- known physician and druggist of Clatsop county, Charles E. Linton, M. D., is pleasantly located at Seaside. He has an excellent professional knowledge, possesses rare skill in diagnosis, and these, with his quick perception of the origin of diseases, have been of inestimable value to him in the treatment of the numerous cases that have come under his care. Genial, warm-hearted and sympathetic, he has made friends wherever he has resided, and advanced rapidly in his pro- fession. A son of George W. Linton, he was born June II, 1865, near Toledo, Tama county, Iowa.

Of substantial English ancestry, George W. Linton was born in Lima, Ohio, but when a young man settled in Tama county, Iowa, where he was engaged in business several years. Re- moving to Kansas in 1877, he was employed as furniture manufacturer and dealer at Smith Cen- ter, for about ten years, but has since lived re- tired from active pursuits, being now seventy- eight years old. He married Elizabeth Blosser who was born in Pennsylvania, and died in Tama county, Iowa, in 1876, at the compara- tively early age of thirty-eight years .. She bore her husband six children, four sons and two daughters, Charles E. being the second child.

Acquiring his preliminary education in the common schools of Iowa and Kansas, Charles E. Linton, when seventeen years old, entered the employ of the Denver & Rio Grande Rail- way Company, and worked for two years as brakeman. His inclinations turning towards a professional career, he then entered the medical department of the University of Chicago, from which he was graduated with the degree of M.

D. in 1886. The ensuing three years Dr. Linton was engaged in the practice of medicine in Kan- sas. Migrating to Yamhill county, Ore., in 1889, he continued his professional labors at Amity, for two years being associated with Dr. G. W. Gancher. Removing then to Tillamook county, the doctor introduced, at Woods, the very first stock of drugs ever taken into that part of the county, and, in partnership with R. T. Weath- erby, carried on a substantial drug business for six years. Taking up his residence in Warren- ton, Clatsop county, in 1897, was there engaged in the practice of medicine for three years, being quite successful. Going to Alaska in 1900, Dr. Linton established himself as physician and drug- gist in Nome, where he was meeting with un- questioned success until the great tidal wave of August 5, 1900, swept away all of his posses- sions. Returning then to Warrenton, the doc- tor remained there a few months, coming from there to Seaside in 1902. Opening a drug store, and continuing his practice, he is now conduct- ing a first-class drug business, and is one of the leading physicians of the place.

A strong Republican in his political views, Dr. Linton takes an active and intelligent interest in local, state and national affairs, and while a resi- dent of Warrenton served as mayor of the city for two years, in 1898 and 1899, and is now one of the health officers of Seaside. At Woods, Tillamook county, he united with the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and is now a mem- ber of the Grand Lodge. He is also a member, and medical examiner, of Seaside Lodge, K. of P .; a member of Hammond Lodge, I. O. R. M .; a member of Nehalem Lodge, W. O. W .; and of the Modern Woodmen, which he joined in Seaside.

GEORGE McDONALD. Although a native of Scotland, George McDonald has long made his home in the United States. At the present writing he is engaged in farm pursuits near Langells Valley, Klamath county, Ore., and is also a stock-dealer of some note. One of the substantial men of his section, he is a worthy and estimable citizen of his community and is held in high regard by his fellowmen. The ances- tors of Mr. McDonald were, like himself, natives of Scotland and lived principally in Dumfries- shire, and the father, James, was born at Gretna Green. The grandfather, Alan McDonald, was a native of the Scottish Highlands, where he lived and died. A farmer by occupation, James McDonald was also a veterinary surgeon and practiced his profession during his long life ; having removed to America in 1859, he passed away in Clayton county, Iowa, in 1899, at an age to which very few attain, one hundred and

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twenty years. While yet a young man, he was married to Miss Janette Hunter, who was also of Scotch nativity, having been born in Dum- fries-shire. When eighty years old she also passed away in Iowa in 1893, leaving twelve children. As far as is known, but seven of these children are still living and of the seven sons and five daughters in the McDonald family, the tenth was given the name of George.

Gretna Green, Dumfries-shire, Scotland, is the birthplace of George McDonald, February 15, 1843, being the date of his birth. He attended the local schools until taken to America by his parents, then sixteen years of age, and upon reaching Iowa, young George re-entered school in that state and here the remainder of his edu- cation was received. However, three years later, 1862, he left the parental home and crossed over- land with his brother Alan, traveling by horse teams and making the trip in six months' time. Arriving in Oregon, they settled in Yamhill county, and went to work on a farm seven miles west of Dayton.

Seeking a more southern location, in 1872 he came to what was then known as Jackson county, now a part of Klamath county, and pre-empted a claim in June of that year; this place he still occupies. Mr. McDonald owns considerable land, having four hundred and eighty acres in Klamath county, two hundred acres under culti- vation, and besides this, he is an extensive stock- dealer, owning three hundred head of cattle, mostly Durham stock, and sixty-five head of horses. All the improvements upon the place are the result of his own labor and he has a fine place where once was a wilderness, all going to prove his worth as a citizen and neighbor. Miss Mary Elizabeth Wilson became the wife of Mr. McDonald in 1873, the ceremony taking place in Klamath county. Born in 1853 in North Yam- hill county, Ore., Mrs. McDonald is a daughter of Thomas Wilson, a brief account of whose life may be found in the sketch of Jefferson Wil- son, elsewhere in this history. The three chil- dren who blessed Mr. McDonald and his wife are all at home, and are named as follows : Alexander, Levi and Margaret. The Democrats claim Mr. McDonald as one of their number and in religious circles, the family unite in worship at the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mrs. Mc- Donald being a faithful member of that church.

WILLIAM LARSON. Occupying an hon- ored position among the leading agriculturists of Clatsop county is William Larson, the owner of a finely improved dairy farm lying four miles south of Astoria. Self-educated and self-made in the truest sense implied by the term, he de-

serves great credit for having so rapidly ad- vanced to his present prosperous condition. A son of Lars Rustan, he was born May 26, 1860, in the Province of Skane, Sweden. On the pa- ternal side he is of French ancestry. His Grand- father Rustan, a soldier in the French army, came to Sweden with General Bernadotte, when he took possession of the Swedish government, and settled permanently in that country, there marrying and rearing his children. A life-long resident of Sweden, Lars Rustan was born in 1825, and died in 1889. For twenty-three years he was a soldier in the regular army of Sweden, serving with the same patriotic ardor that had characterized his father in earlier times. On re- signing from the army he was engaged in car- pentering and contracting. His wife, whose maiden name was Karstin Johnson, was born in Sweden eighty-seven vears ago, and is now liv- ing there, on the old home place, a bright and active woman despite her advanced age.

An only child, William Larson had no edu- cational advantages in his native land, but after coming to this country, through his own efforts has acquired a practical knowledge of books, and is now enabled to read, write and converse in three languages. Leaving home when a boy of twelve years, he went as cabin boy on a sailing vessel, and the following twelve years was engaged in seafaring pursuits, being employed on Danish, Swedish, English and American vessels, but never rising above the rank of a petty officer. Arriving in Astoria, Ore., October 10, 1882, as one of the crew of the bark Is King, of Boston, he landed, and has never since crossed the bar of the Columbia river, being weary of sea life. Securing work as a farm laborer at Youngs bay, he remained there several months, when, becoming somewhat fa- miliar with the various branches of agriculture, he embarked in the dairy business on his own account, on the Lewis & Clark river, near old Fort Clatsop. Three years later he moved to the near-by farm of E. C. Jeffers, where he con- tinued his operations seven years. Locating then four miles south of Astoria, Mr. Larson pur- chased his present ranch of one hundred acres, and has here built up an extensive and sub- stantial dairy business, milking about thirty cows. Since coming here he has added im- provements of value, his well-appointed farm, with its neat and orderly appearance, manifest- ing to the most casual observer the thrift and care of the proprietor, and proving conclusively that he has a thorough understanding of his business.

In 1885, at old Fort Clatsop, Mr. Larson mar- ried Martha Heckard, who was born in that locality, September 2, 1866, a daughter of P. B.

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Heckard, who crossed the plains in 1852, locat- ing first near Oregon City, and then removing to Clatsop county, where he died, in 1893, at the age of sixty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Larson are the parents of five children, namely: Ethel, Minnie, Clarence, Mary and William. Politically Mr. Larson is a steadfast Republican, and has rendered good service as school director and as road supervisor. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is also a member of the Progressive Association of Astoria.

JOSEPH W. McCOY. The first representa- tive of the McCoy family in America was George McCoy, a native of Scotland, who crossed the ocean in early manhood and settled in North Carolina. During the Revolutionary war he served as a soldier and endured all the vicissi- tudes of those stormy years. His son, Kenneth, was born in North Carolina in 1809, and as a boy learned the trade of saddle and harness- maker, which he followed during the remainder of his life. Much of his life was spent in Ten- nessee, and there he married Mary Gillingwaters, a native of Roane county, that state, born in 1818, and descended in the second generation from an Englishman. In the family of Kenneth McCoy there were five sons and four daughters, six of whom are now living. The father died in Tennessee in 1893, and the mother in the same state in 1877.

The fourth in order of birth among the nine children was Joseph W. McCoy, who was born in Hamilton county, Tenn., October 15, 1854, in the near vicinity of Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, where a few years later were fought battles of historic importance. As a boy he at- tended the local schools and helped his father when occasion offered. Starting out in life for himself in 1874, he went to Butler county, Kans., and took up farm pursuits. The country was new. Few improvements had as yet been made. His was the difficult task of the pioneer, in clear- ing, cultivating and improving. Not satisfied with prospects in that location, in 1880 he went temporarily to Grayson county, Tex., and the next year settled in Colorado, but two years later made another move, going to Montana. The year 1885 found him a resident of Oregon, where he settled in Klamath county, one and one-quarter miles south of Fort Klamath. On this place he has since made his home, engaging in the stock industry. The property consists of five hundred and forty acres, all in meadow land, available for use. The improvements on the place have been made under his personal direc- tion, and prove him to be a thrifty, intelligent

farmer, thoroughly familiar with the industry which is his life occupation. Stock-raising is his specialty and at this writing he has two hundred head of cattle.

While Mr. McCoy has never been a politician, he is nevertheless interested in public affairs and intelligently conversant therewith. Both in local and general elections he votes the Republican ticket. On establishing domestic ties he was united in marriage, in 1887, with Miss Addie Soliss, who was born in California, but grew to womanhood in Jackson county, Ore. Four children were born of their union, but one died in infancy. The others, Jessie, Albert and Earl, are at home and attend the local schools, where they are being educated in preparation for what- ever duties and responsibilities the future years may bring them.

GEORGE RICHARD GOWAN. For nearly a quarter of a century George Richard Gowan has been a resident of Oregon, and as a ranch owner has been identified with the agricultural prosperity of Josephine county, his farm being located about eight miles west of Grants Pass. A son of Thomas Gowan, he was born Septem- ber 23, 1833, in Davie county, N. C. His grand- father, Richard Gowan, was born and reared in old Virginia. For many years he was over- seer of a large plantation in his native state. Subsequently removing to North Carolina, he purchased land in Davie county, and in addition to raising grain and tobacco was a distiller. He died while yet a comparatively young man.

A native of Virginia, Thomas Gowan was born near Danville, and reared on a plantation. With his parents he removed to North Carolina, and from there went northward, locating first in Indiana, and from there going westward to Illinois. Purchasing land in Coles county, near Charleston, he was there engaged as a tiller of the soil until his death, when but fifty-six years old. He married Jemima Lowery, who was born in Davie county, N. C., and died at the home of her son, James Gowan, in Swift county, Minn., at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. Of the eleven children born of their union, three sons and eight daughters, ten grew to years of maturity, George Richard being the eldest child.

After receiving a limited education in the common schools of his day, George Richard Gowan worked with his father on the home farm, of which he subsequently had the entire charge for a few years. Renting land in Coles county, Ill., in 1860, he carried on general farm- ing in that locality for nine years, and the en- suing four years was similarly engaged in Jasper county, Ill. Removing to Pettis county, Mo., in 1873, he located near Sedalia, and for about

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seven years worked as an assistant in the con- struction of new railways in that state. Coming to Oregon in 1880, Mr. Gowan stopped first in the Willamette valley, in Linn county. After looking about for a few months in search of a favorable place in which to make a permanent location, Mr. Gowan purchased four hundred and six and three-fourths acres of land in Jo- sephine county, near Grants Pass, and has since resided here. He afterwards bought another tract of one hundred and twenty-five acres, but he has sold a part of his estate, and now owns a homestead farm of three hundred and sixty- six acres. At the present time he is not actively engaged in agricultural labor to any extent, rent- ing the larger part of his land for grazing pur- poses. Mr. Gowan has one daughter, Mary Cornelia, wife of Clarence Brown, of Terre Haute, Ind. Politically Mr. Gowan is a stead- fast Democrat, and for one term served as school · director.

JOEL BOND. Among the sea coast farms whose owners take great pride in their modern equipment and superior cultivation is that owned and operated by Joel Bond, a native son of Ore- gon, and born in Linn county, eight miles south of Albany, February 21, 1851. The family is one of those established in the west during his- toric '49, for Hiram Bond, the father of Joel, was a man of ambitious mold, and when the craze for gold and lands swept over the country he responded by selling his Iowa farm and bring- ing his wife and five children across the plains. Hiram Bond was born in Wayne county, Ind., in 1818, and as a young man removed to Iowa, where he found a wife and helpmate in Lydia Peel. The journey across the plains was a great event in his life, and marked the beginning of greater prosperity than he had ever known be- fore. He was wise in his selection of land, for the farm upon which Joel and the later children were born proved all that his imagination had predicted, yielding him a comfortable living in return for labor bestowed. He lived to a good old age, his death occurring in Washington in 1899. To the end he maintained that reputation for thrift and good judgment which character- ized the majority of men who had the courage to brave the overland trail in the dangerous days, and his name is enrolled among those who brought civilization to the doors of the western country.

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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 146

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