Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 152

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 152

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Mr. Bristow is a native son of Oregon, and was born in Eugene, August 12, 1866. His father, La Fayette Elijah, was born in Illinois, and with his father, Elijah, and his brothers and sisters crossed the plains in 1848, locating on a donation claim near Cloverdale, Lane county. Mr. Bristow was one of the early merchants of Eugene, and after years of successful business sold his store and removed to Salem, where he entered upon a journalistic career. Purchasing the Sunday Mercury, he edited it for some years, and after selling his paper engaged in a grocery business for a time. Later he removed to Port- land and with a partner published the Daily Standard, his death occurring while discharging this important responsibility, at his home in Sa- lem. He was a Democrat in politics, and was . one of the state commissioners during the build- ing of the state capitol, not yet completed at the time of his demise. Fraternally he was con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. He married Hallie E. Hill, a native of Missouri, and daughter of Henry T. Hill, born in Tennessee. Mr. Hill was a pioneer of Lane county, where his death occurred, since which time his wife has made her home in Chicago, Ill. There were but two children in this fam- ily, and of these P. L. is a farmer and stock- man of Pleasant Hill, Ore.

At the age of twelve Eugene L. Bristow ac- companied his family to Eugene, and there at-

tended the public schools. In 1886 he removed to Tacoma, Wash., and entered the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company as brakeman between Tacoma and Kalama, two years later being employed by the Oregon South- ern Railroad, as brakeman between Portland and Junction City. When this road came under the management of the Northern Pacific in 1888 he continued with the new company, and in 1894 was promoted to the position of conductor, run- ning in and out of Portland. In 1896 he was made regular conductor, and in 1900 was trans- ferred to the Shasta Division, his present run being between Ashland and Dunsmuir, Cal.

Since 1900 Mr. Bristow has made his home in Ashland, where he has a comfortable home, presided over by his wife, formerly Agnes Pugh, a native daughter of Marion county, Ore., and whose father, John Pugh, was one of the early settlers of Marion county. Mr. Bristow is a member of the Portland Division of the Oregon Railroad Conductors' Association, and of Aber- nethy Cabin No. 1, Native Sons. For many years he has taken a keen interest in fraternal organizations, and has found his chief social di- version among his fellow lodge members. He is a member of Washington Lodge No. 46, A. F. & A. M., of Portland; Siskiyon Lodge No. 21, R. A. M., Malta Lodge No. 4, K. T., of Ashland ; Al Kader Temple, N. M. S., of Ashland, and Philatarian Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Roseburg.

DANIEL COLWELL. Not least among the pioneer settlers of Klamath county, Ore., stands Daniel Colwell, a retired farmer and an exten- sive land-owner, who, having passed his seventy- second milestone, is now spending his declining years in rest and prosperity. Mr. Colwell was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, August 12, 1831, and it was there that his boyhood days were spent at home on his father's farm. When eighteen years of age young Colwell left his native island and set sail for America, landing at New York, and immediately finding work there. Remaining in the east until 1852, at that date he first went west, crossing the plains to the far-famed state of Oregon, locating at once near Albany, Linn county, and spending the winter in the Willamette valley. The following spring he removed to Siskiyou county, Cal., where he spent a short time in mining, but finally returned to Oregon, this time to Sams valley, Jackson county, engaging in the double occupation of farming and mining. Leaving Jackson county in 1872, Mr. Colwell located permanently in Kla- math county, buying some cattle, and, in part- nership with W. S. Bybee, of Jackson county, carrying on ranch pursuits near Merrill. It was while he was there that the Modoc war was

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fought, and while Mr. Colwell himself was friendly to the Indians and they were not hostile to him, all of his cattle were lost and some of his property destroyed during the war. He evinced his patriotism by caring for and helping the soldiers whenever the opportunity presented itself.

In 1883 Daniel Colwell came to the place where he now lives. He is an extensive land owner, having eight hundred acres, three miles east of Merrill, all the improvements on this fine farm having been made by him, and he has no less than two hundred and fifty head of valuable stock. While yet a resident of Jackson county, in 1872 he was married to Miss Mary Duggan, who, like her husband, was born in the Emerald Isle, her birth occurring in County Cork. She passed away 111 1886, at the age of forty-four years, leaving to the care of her sorrowing hus- band, three children. Of these, John, the eldest, was born October 11, 1873, and is now on the home farm, managing it for his aged father; Mary married E. N. Hammond and lives in Kla- math county, Ore .; while Dan, the youngest, is still at home. Daniel Colwell is Democratic in his political views, and is one of the honored and esteemed citizens of Klamath county.

JASPER HAYDEN. Thomas C. Hayden, the founder of the Hayden family in the west, was born in Clay county, Mo., November 2, 1816, and was a son of Thomas William Hay- den, an early settler in Clay county, Thomas C. was reared on a farm, and during his long and industrious life had no thought of any other occupation. In 1843, in Macon county, Mo., he married Mary Ann Hayden, who was born in Versailles, Woodford county, Ky., February 28, 1826, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Cory) Hayden. Mrs. Hayden was the fourth in a family of seven daughters and three sons, and was educated in the public schools of Ken- tucky and Missouri, to which latter state her father removed at an early day. She had three children after her marriage in Missouri, and these crossed the plains in 1852, the father hav- ing equipped himself for the journey with ox- teams and the ":ecessary provisions. The pa- rents spent the first winter in Linn county, after six months on the plains, and in the spring of 1853 came to the Alsea valley, and lived south of the postoffice of that name for a couple of years, on what is known as the Slate farm. In 1855 Mr. Hayden purchased the right to the place now owned and operated by his sons, Jas- per and Marion, and which originally contained three hundred and twenty acres. Here he farmed and raised stock on an extensive scale, and made such improvements as were known

to the farming world of his time. He lived to long enjoy the benefits of his adopted state, and died August 7, 1893, at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife is now living on the old place with her two sons, and is seventy-eight years old. Of the twelve children born to this pioneer cou- ple Thomas Benton is deceased; Jerusha Ann is the wife of Silas Howell of Lincoln county, Ore .; Elizabeth is the wife of J. H. Mason, de- ceased, of the Alsea valley; Mary is the wife of Edward Rider, of Corvallis, Ore .; Martha is the widow of Willian Slate of this valley ; Jasper lives on the home farm; Alvena is mar- ried and lives at Seattle, Wash .; Marion lives on the home farm; Maggie is the wife of T. J. Risley of the vicinity of Albany, Benton county ; and Fannie is deceased.

Jasper Hayden, the older of the two brothers managing their father's farm, was born where he now lives, two and a half miles north of Alsea, December 10, 1857. Like his father before him he is a natural farmer, and realizes the dignity and usefulness of his life occupation. He began to assume active responsibility on the farm when about eighteen years old. With his brother, Marion, he now owns two hundred and seventy- five acres in the valley, and is engaged in gen- eral farmning and stock-raising on a large scale. Mr. Hayden married in Benton county in 1886, Allie N. Webster, who died on the home place April 15, 1900. Mrs. Hayden was born in June, 1868, and was therefore but thirty-two years of age. She left a family of four children : Pearl. Rufus, Myrtle and John. Mr. Hayden is a Re- publican in politics, and has served as school director, clerk and road supervisor. He is fra- ternally identified with Alsea Lodge No. 6366. M. W. A., and is at present serving as sentry of the order. Mr. Hayden is one of the practical, energetic and thoroughly reliable men of his ' county, and in the conduct of his farm evidences a high order of business ability and progressive- ness.

MARION HANKS. One mile north of Klamath Falls lies a farm of three hundred and eighty-five acres, which is one of the well- known estates of Klamath county and for some years has been the home of Mr. Hanks and the scene of his activities. Out of the entire place one hundred and fifty acres are under cultiva- tion. The majority of the improvements no- ticeable on the farm have been made since it came under its present ownership. The grain raised is used for feed, Mr. Hanks finding it more profitable to feed his crops than to sell them. In stock-raising he makes a specialty of Hereford cattle, of which he has some forty head at this writing.

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On his father's farm at Day's Creek, Douglas county, Ore., Marion Hanks was born July 28, 1865. Reference to the family history appears in the sketch of his father, J. L. Hanks, pre- sented on another page. At an early age he came to Klamath county (then a part of Jackson county ) and received his education in the pub- lic schools of Lakeview and Klamath Falls. On leaving home at the age of twenty-five years, in 1890, he embarked in the butcher's trade at Klamath Falls. For a time he was a member of the firm of Fairfield & Hanks, but in 1891 the name was changed to Cabler & Hanks, and in 1894 he acquired the entire business and conducted it under his own name. After selling out the market in 1897 he engaged as foreman on the ranch of Joseph Koesel near Klamath Falls, and remained there for two years, then in 1899 came to the farm which he now owns and operates.

At Klamath Falls, September 24. 1894, Mr. Hanks married Amelia Heidrich, who was born in St. Louis, Mo., November 3, 1873, and by whom he has two children, Eva and Lena. Mrs. Hanks is a daughter of Otto Heidrich, who came to Oregon about 1875 and settled in Portland. From there he came to Klamath Falls and em- barked in the blacksmith's trade, which he fol- lowed during the remainder of his active busi- ness life. Politically Mr. Hanks is a pronounced adherent of the Democratic party. While living in town he served as a member of the city. coun- cil and took an active part in measures for the benefit of the people and the development of local interests. Fraternally he is a leading worker in Lodge No. 110, A. O. U. W., in which he is past master and has held the various chairs. besides acting as delegate in 1001 from the local lodge to the grand lodge at Portland.

EDMUND W. GOWEN. The family which is represented by Mr. Gowen of Klamath Falls traces its lineage to Puritan ancestry identified with the earliest history of Massachusetts, the first of the name in America having crossed the ocean in the Mayflower. Remotely the race mingles Scotch and English blood and its mem- hers for generations were connected with the Church of England. Thomas Gowen, who was a jeweler during his active years, died in 1854, at the age of ninety-two years, and his wife, who died four years later, had attained the great age of ninety-seven years. Their son, Thomas W. Gowen, was born twenty miles southwest of Boston, Mass., became a farmer and market gardener, and died on the old home- stead when fifty-one years of age. In early manhood he married Eveline Tannt, who was

born in Canton, Mass., of Mayflower lineage and English ancestry; her death occurred in 1899, at the age of ninety-one years and seven inonths, in Madison, Wis., where she was mak- ing her home with a daughter.

In Dorchester, Mass., four and one-half miles from the Massachusetts state capitol in Boston, Edmund W. Gowen was born June 10, 1848. He was one of eiglit children, of whom William died in infancy ; Thomas W., Jr., is a city offi- cial in Boston, Mass .; Elizabeth is the wife of George E. Whittum, of Boston, Mass .; Ellen E. is the widow of L. P. Chandler, of Madison, Wis .; William L. 'is a retired business man liv- ing in Chicago; Davis T. is deceased ; Margaret T. is the wife of A. A. Prindle, of Kansas City. A cousin of this family, Commodore Downs, was an officer in the United States navy during the war of 1812. Another relative of national fame was Gen. Winfield Scott, who visited the family when Edmund W. Gowen was but a small child, but the latter recalls the visit well.

During the winter of 1863-64 Edmund W. Gowen went to Madison, Wis., where he made his home with a brother-in-law, L. P. Chandler, working in his nurseries during the summer time and attending school during the winter months. In 1867 he was graduated from the Northwest- ern Business College, after which for a year he was employed by the American Merchants Union Express Company. For another year he was em- ployed on the run between Madison, Wis., and Harvard, Ill. The next enterprise in which he embarked was the general mercantile business at Tokee creek mine, where he had a store until 1872. On selling out he moved to Virginia City, Nev., and later, after an experience in a quartz mill, worked as a clerk in a general store. By carefully saving his earnings he was enabled to embark in business for himself and conducted a store until 1879, when he sold out. His next location was in Mono county, Cal., where for eight months he was employed as clerk and then started in business for himself. In addition to conducting a store he engaged in mining. Sub- sequent to this he was for four years employed as commercial traveler for a San Francisco house.

The year 1883 found Mr. Gowen starting a general commission house in Portland, Ore., where Battin & Gowen conducted business at No. 130 Front street. A year later he disposed of his interest in the business. In 1887 he moved to Klamath Falls and bought a tract of three hundred and twenty acres on Upper Klamath Lake, but this he sold in the fall of 1889. His next purchase consisted of three hundred and twenty acres near Merrill, Klamath county, which tract he still owns and has improved by

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his own personal labors and constant attention. From 1894 until 1899 he and his family made their home on this farm, but left in November of the latter year and have since lived in Klamath Falls. At this writing he devotes himself to the buying and selling of wool, of which in 1903 he bought seventy-nine thousand pounds. In politics he is a Republican, and on that ticket was elected sheriff of Klamath county in 1890 and re-elected two years later. From 1891 to 1895 he also hield the office of deputy United States marshal. Fraternally he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, No. 110. His marriage occurred in San Francisco January 9. 1884, and united him with Sarah H. Hector, who was born in California September 15, 1865, being a daughter of A. F. Hector, one of Cali- fornia's early settlers. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Gowen is a son and bears his father's 11ame.

PETER BYROM. Among some of the most enterprising and thrifty citizens of Tillamook county are those who were born across the seas, and who have brought into this rich and produc- tive country the industry and economy of the Old World. Prominent among these people is Peter Byrom, of Garibaldi, an extensive land- holder, and a business man of ability and judg- ment. During the quarter of a century that he has been a resident of this locality, he has done much toward the upbuilding of the place, and lias acquired a large amount of real estate, among other pieces of valuable property being a tract of three hundred acres of water front, the best to be found on the bay. A son of Lars Wilmer Byrom, he was born October 24. 1829, in Den- mark. His grandfather, Christian Byrom, was a life-long resident of Denmark, and a prosper- ous merchant. A baker by trade, Lars Wilmer Byrom spent his entire life in Denmark, his birth occurring in 1800, and his death in 1882. He married Christina Peterson, who was born in Lunden, Prussia, in 1804, and died in Denmark, in 1875. Of the ten children that blessed their union, Peter, the subject of this sketch, was the sixth child in order of birth.

After completing his early education in Ribe, Denmark, Pc.er Byrom served an apprenticeship of five y. ars at the trade of manufacturing cloth- ing materials. Ambitious to enlarge his active sphere, he went to Hamburg, Germany, in search of employment, and was there engaged in a wholesale mercantile house for three years. In 1852 he went to Australia, remaining for seven years successfully employed in mining pursuits. Going from there to New Zealand, he continued his mining operations two years, at the same time also making considerable money as a newspaper-

man. Leaving the island in 1861, he sailed along the Pacific ocean to British Columbia, locating at Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Eight years later, in 1869, Mr. Byrom came to the United States, and has since been a resident of Oregon. In 1871 he settled in Astoria as a hotel employe, a work that he followed a number of years. Coming to Garibaldi, Tillamook county, in 1879, he bought his present property, and has since held a leading position among the progressive and enterprising citizens of the place. For a number of years he ran a hotel in Garibaldi, keeping a popular house of entertainment, and becoming widely and favorably known as a most genial and accommodating host. He built sev- eral residences in the town, and for a number of years served as postmaster. Mr. Byrom has be- tween six hundred and seven hundred acres of land in this vicinity, over three hundred acres bordering on the bay, his estate being one of the most desirable and attractive of any in the town. Politically Mr. Byrom supports the principles of the Republican party, and has served as school director. Fraternally he was made a Mason in Astoria, Ore., and is a charter member of Tilla- mook Lodge, A. F. & A. M. Religiously he be- longs to the Lutheran Church.

Mr. Byrom married Mrs. Berite (Soneson) Sevenson, who was born in Engelholm, Sweden, on Easter Thursday. 1837. Her first husband died while in the prime of life, leaving three children : Emelia, wife of Charles Olsen, of Astoria ; Olivia, wife of Lee Alley, of Garibaldi ; and Peter Sevenson, of Garibaldi.

JOHN W. HELLENBRAND. Continu- ously since 1876 John W. Hellenbrand has lived on a farm of two hundred acres thirty-five miles southwest of Tillamook, where he is also con- ducting a store and postoffice known as Nes- kowin. He lias a reputation of long standing as a successful merchant, his store, which is liberally patronized, being equipped with a large stock. Mr. Hellenbrand owes the postmaster- ship to his allegiance to the Republican party, for the best interests of which he has been act- ively devoted ever since casting his first presi- dential vote. He has made many fine improve- ments on his farm, has one hundred acres in grass, and milks twenty cows.

Born in Bangor, Me., March 22, 1855, Mr. Hellenbrand is of French descent, and his father. Charles, was born near the eastern border of France, near Germany. He married Martha Foster, who was born in Maine, and who bore him twelve children, ten of whom died in in- fancy. When Jolin W. was four years of age his parents brought himself and brother, Charles

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W., now a restaurant keeper of Salem, to Ore- gon, embarking from Boston in the clipper ship Golden Rocket. Six months' sailing brought the travelers to San Francisco by way of the Horn, and they re-embarked and landed in Portland in the fall of 1859. The elder Hellenbrand lo- cated a farm on Eagle creek, Clackamas county, lived there two years, and then moved to Mil- waukee, in the same county, where he engaged in the hotel business for two years. Afterward lie removed to Portland and conducted a hotel business on Front street during the '6os, and his death occurred in Marion county in 1873, at the age of sixty-three. He was a tailor by trade, but the greater part of his life was devoted to farming. March 22, 1895, the wife, who had so materially aided in his success, passed away at the advanced age of eighty-four.

After the burning of his father's hotel in Port- land in 1867, John W. Hellenbrand, his brother, father and mother repaired to Salem, where the two sons engaged in the restaurant business with considerable success. John W. sold out his in- terest to his brother in the spring of 1876, soon afterward locating on the farm which has since been his home. Before leaving Salem, in 1873, lie married Leona M. Kimball, who was born in Polk county, Ore., May 10, 1856, the daughter of Ira Kimball, one of the very early pioneers of Oregon. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hellenbrand, five of whom are living: Os- car T., a resident of Fort Stevens; Cora M., the wife of Carl Keller, of this vicinity ; Blanche, the wife of Hugh Gardner, residing near Tillamook ; Edith G., at home with her parents; and Maud, attending school at Tillamook. Mr. Hellenbrand has been road supervisor and a school director for many years, and he is regarded as one of the progressive and helpful members of a thrifty and prosperous community.

JOHN KIRKPATRICK. Conditions have greatly changed since the spring of 1847, when, after a monotonous trip of six months across the plains with ox-teams, Mr. Kirkpatrick arrived in Oregon. Indians still roamed through the forests, wild game was plentiful and scarcely a furrow had been turned in the virgin soil. Con- trasting the surroundings of those days with those of the present time, one is reminded of the debt of gratitude that we owe to the brave and hardy pioneers who penetrated the forests and in the little clearing grubbed for that pur- pose started the building up of a comfortable homestead. In common with all pioneers, he took up a donation land claim, the one he selected being located near Lafayette, Yamhill county. In the spring of 1848 he enlisted as a member of Captain Burnett's company in the Cayuse

war, serving for six months in the eastern part of Oregon and then returning to his claim. In the fall of the same year he went by water to California, and it was some years before he again became a resident of Oregon.

Descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry, Mr. Kirkpatrick was born in Ohio, December 6, 1825, being a son of Samuel and Mary Ann (Zumalt) Kirkpatrick, and the third in a family of seven sons and two daughters. His mother died in Illinois about 1835, and his father passed away in Iowa. From Ohio they had removed to In- diana and settled in Tippecanoe county while their son, John, was an infant. In 1831 they proceeded to Illinois and settled among the pio- neer farmers of Will county, where the father entered land from the government. In his old age he removed to Iowa and made his home with a son until his death. In politics he was of the old school Democratic faith, and in religion was from youth identified with the Methodist Episco- pal Church.

Among the vivid recollections of Mr. Kirk- patrick are those associated with the log school houses of his boyhood days. He remembers the rude structures with greased paper as a sub- stitute for windows, floors of puncheon, and a large fireplace in one end. On comfortless benches the pupils sat, dragging the slow hours away as they endeavored to gain their primary knowledge of literature from the pages of the old-fashioned blue-backed spelling book. As may be imagined, the education thus acquired was not broad or thorough, yet it furnished the founda- tion on which Mr. Kirkpatrick afterward built up a varied knowledge of the world through reading and observation. When a young man he came to Oregon, and from here proceeded to California, mining near Placerville. The spring of 1849 found him in the southern mines, and in the fall of the same year he worked in the mines of Shasta county. More than ordinary luck met his efforts as a miner, and he continued in the occupation until 1857. The following year he returned to Illinois and married Rebecca Caplantz, who was born in the southern part of that state in June of 1835, and now, on account of ill health, makes her home in Marysville, Cal. They became the parents of the following named children : Albert, deceased ; Esther, Mrs. C. Steele, of Del Norte county, Cal. ; Jefferson, who is living at Fort Klamath, Ore .; Charles, a resident of Dunsmuir. Cal .; Algernon, of Kla- math county; Orlando, whose home is in Del Norte county, Cal .; J. Angus, residing in Coos county, Ore .; Frances Eveline, deceased ; Willis, whose home is in Klamath county ; and Lulu, deceased.

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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 152

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