Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 16

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 16

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Entering upon the study of law Mr. Huston spent one year as a student in Robinson, Ill., his reading directed by George N. Parker, after which he entered the law office of the firm of Heffron & Zaring, in Salem, Ind., being ad- mitted to the bar in 1879. For four years there- after he occupied a clerical position in the em- ploy of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, be- tween Trinidad and Santa Fe, and in 1883 he came to Oregon, settling in Forest Grove, where he remained for a year. In February, 1884. he located in Hillsboro for the practice of law and soon gained a distinctively representative clientage, his practice being not confined within the limits of this county but extending through- out the state and embracing much important lit- igation. The zeal with which he has devoted his energies to the profession, the careful re- gard evinced for the interests of his clients, and an assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases have brought him a large business and made him successful in its conduct. As his financial resources have increased he has made judicious investments in real estate and is now the owner of farm property in Wash- ington county and business property in Port- land.

In Forest Grove occurred the marriage of Mr. Huston and Miss Ella Geiger, a daughter of Dr. William Geiger, who came to Oregon across the plains in 1839, and for many years was a successful and prominent physician of this part of the country, his death occurring in 1901, when he was eighty-five years of age. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hus- ton : Blanche, Oliver and Carl.

The qualities of leadership are dominant in Mr. Huston, and his fellow citizens, recogniz- ing his worth and ability, have frequently called him to office. He has served and at the present time is filling the position of councilman, has been city attorney and mayor of the city and for nine years he was a school director, acting as president of the board for a part of that time. Still higher political honors awaited him, for in 1892, on the Democratic ticket, he was elected to the state senate, serving in the ses- sions of 1893 and 1895, during which time he secured the passage of a number of important bills, including the one to stop the sale of school

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lands or indemnity lands and providing for the appointment, by the governor, of a commis- sioner to select and list all of the lands the state had lost by reason of donation claims, home- stead claims and forest reserves, where the same covered school sections. This became a law and has proved of great value to the state and ma- terially increased the school fund. It was also due to Mr. Huston that there was a bill passed making it a criminal offense to point firearms, either loaded or unloaded, at any human being. In 1896 Mr. Huston became a gold-standard Democrat and is now a Republican. The step which he thus took is indicative of his faithful- ness to his honest convictions. He is ever fear- less in what he believes to be right and never weighs his actions in this regard in the scale of policy. He is a member of the State Bar Asso- ciation, of which he is now ( 1903) president, and holds a position of prestige at the bar as well as in political circles, for his comprehensive knowledge of jurisprudence and his forceful presentation of a case before court or jury have secured him high honors and gratifying suc- cesses at the Oregon bar.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS WORTH. En- shrined in the hearts of all true Oregonians are the pioneers who blazed the way for progress and enlightenment on the coast, and though many of them have long since passed beyond the ken of those comprising the teeming present, their names, if not their faces and voices, are familiar to the student of state history. Such an one was John Quincy Adams Worth, an early merchant of California and Oregon, a pioneer of 1855, and a member of the state legislature on the Demo- cratic ticket for two terms. At the time of his birth, February 2, 1824, Mr. Worth's parents, Joseph and Charlotte ( Ellison) Worth, were liv- ing in Starksborough, Vt., where the father was conducting quite a millwright business. From Vermont the family removed to New York, and from there to Ohio, later locating in Wrights- town. Wis., where the elder Worth died at the age of eighty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Worth, Sr., lived together in harmony, rearing their large family of ten children in comparative comfort, and training all in ways of industry and strict morality. Two children died in infancy, and the majority of the others lived to an advanced age. Lionel died in Illinois; Guy C. died in Alton, Iowa ; William E. died in San Francisco, of which town he was a pioneer, and where he was superintendent of the Union Iron Works for many years ; Richard K. died on the way to the gold mines of California in 1849; Eliza Ann, Mrs. Turnbull, died in Ohio; George W. died in in- fancy ; Samuel M. died in May. 1901, in San-

dusky, Ohio, where he was engaged in a mer- cantile business; Arthur W. came from Califor- nia to Oregon in 1855, was an architect and builder, and died a bachelor, November 13, 1866; Martha J. married Philip DeWalt, lived in Ohio for many years and died in Florida ; Harriet A., Mrs. Morrison, died in Wisconsin; John Q. A. died in Oregon, February 26, 1867; and Vincent died at the age of five years.

The Worth family was established in America by very early emigrants who settled in Nan- tucket off the Massachusetts coast, and whose children subsequently dispersed and founded fam- ilies of their own in various eastern states. The solid and reliable English traits of character were shared by all of the brothers and sisters of John Quincy Adams Worth, and were trained into use- fulness by a common school education, and prac- tical lessons taught at home. After completing his education at Newark, Ohio, John applied hin- self to learning the tailor's trade, and then re- turned to Sandusky, and entered into a dry goods business with his brothers, later being taken in as a partner. They were successful, accumulating considerable money, and with this the brothers came to California via Cape Horn in 1852, mak- ing their way to Mokelumne Hill, Calaveras county, where they started a general store, and operated a pack train, teaming to Sacramento. At the same time Mr. Worth had interests in sev- eral mines thereabouts, but his combinations proved trying for his health and he was obliged to abandon them at the end of three years. After selling out the brothers went to Albany, Ore., and spent the winter, going later to Orleans, where they engaged in business for one year. Mr. Worth founded the little town of Peoria, and with his brother operated a store in connection with the growing of its industries. He was successful and prominent in his locality, was regarded as a benefactor, and very progressive man, and his death in 1867 left a void difficult to fill. He was a Democrat from his first voting days, and aside from two terms in the legislature, filled various positions of trust in his respective communities. He was fraternally connected with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, and was a sociable, genial man, interested in churches and schools and all that had to do with the fundamental well being of his district.

In 1862 Mr. Worth was united in marriage in Brownsville, Ore .. with Miss Geary, who was born in Ohio in 1842, and who, since his death, has reared her children on the farm in Linn county, although she permanently located in Port- land in 1889. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Worth, Edward Geary, the oldest, hav- ing been born April 13, 1863. Mr. Worth is a man of education and ability, and was trained at the University of Eugene, eventually succeeding

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to the position of superintendent of lighthouse construction for the government, located in Port- land. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Joseph E., the second son in the family, was born October 14, 1864, and in 1901 married Leona Henderson. He was a civil en- gineer during the first years of his business life, taking up that profession after leaving the Uni- versity of Eugene. November 5, 1890, he en- gaged in the drug business with Dr. J. H. Irvine, after three years assuming his present position as sole manager of the drug enterprise. Mr. Worth is a public spirited and popular man, is fraternally widely known, and is identified with the Knights of Pythias, of which he has passed all of the chairs ; the Anchor Lodge No. 45, A. O. U. W .; the Artisans, Golden Rod Assembly No. 108; and the Multnomah Camp, W. O. W. Ada Lillian, the only daughter of the family, was born April 6, 1867, and married Alva O. Condit, in March, 1891. Mrs. Condit is a graduate of the Monmouth Normal School, and her husband is a practicing attorney of Salem.

EDWARD RACHFORD GEARY. A brave, patient and richly endowed nature was called from various fields of activity through the death of Edward Rachford Geary, September 3, 1886, but though so long a time has elapsed, months, years nor great changes will place a limit on the extent and usefulness of his ministerial, educa- tional and general accomplishments. While giv- ing all praise to this pioneer of 1851 for his suc- cessful manipulation of resources, it is but fair to say that certain advantages aided in his rise to prominence, not the least being a more than or- dinarily strong constitution, a stature developed to six feet, and inherited traits which have al- ways been associated with the best and most virile blood of England. These same ancestors were peculiar in one particular, in that all were devoted to a seafaring life, only one son being left to perpetuate the Geary name of nine genera- tions, the others were killed in the British navy.

Born in Hagerstown, Washington county, Md., April 30, 1811, Mr. Geary was one of four sons (two reaching maturity), born to his parents, Richard and Margaret (White) Geary, the for- mer of whom was an educator, and removed with his family to Pennsylvania in 1823. Edward was six years older than his brother, John, the latter of whom was equally impressed with the im- portance of life, and moulded his tendencies into hroad and liberal channels. John Geary won the rank of captain in the Mexican war, and that of general in the Civil war, and he became the first mayor of San Francisco, having removed to Cali- fornia at an carly day. He carried scars from

wounds in both wars, and aside from this distinc- tion, won more than local prominence as a poli- tician. At the time of his death in Harrisburg, Pa., at the age of sixty, he had just completed his second term as governor of Pennsylvania. Ed- ward Geary early turned his thoughts to the min- istry, and after graduating from the Jefferson College, Pa., entered the Allegheny Theological Seminary. Afterward he went to Alabama, or- ganized and conducted an academy for three years, and soon after his return to Pennsylvania, in 1838, married Harriet Rebecca Reed, whom he had known as a child. Miss Reed was born in New Berlin, Pa., May 24, 1814, and received an excellent education in her native state. Soon after the marriage the young people removed to Wayne county, Ohio, where Mr. Geary had charge of a Presbyterian church at Fredericksburg for twelve years, during this time having other church re- sponsibilities in the state. His first wife died February 17, 1844, leaving two children, Mrs. Martha L. Perham, of Butte, Mont., and Mrs. Worth. For a second wife Mr Geary married Nancy Merrick Woodbridge, a native of New York, who was born near Owego, Tioga county, January 17, 1818. Mrs. Geary died in Oregon in 1889, having borne eight children, two of whom died in infancy. Of the other children, John White Geary is a physician of Burns, Ore .; Elizabeth W. died in Eugene in 1885; Ellen E. lives in Astoria; Woodbridge, a graduate of West Point, was stationed first in Texas, and then at Fort Parker, N. Y., later at Mackinac, Mich., and Sault Ste. Marie; becoming an in- structor in tactics in the Agricultural College in Corvallis, Ore., and from there enlisting in the Spanish-American war, his death occurring as major and acting captain at the battle of Malla- bon, Philippine Islands; Dr. Edward P. Geary, of Portland, Ore .; and May L., who died in early childhood.

Mr. Geary came to Oregon in the year 1851 as representative of the Board of Foreign Mis- sions, to look after the church and school work. By way of the Isthmus of Panama he reached San Francisco, and from there embarked on a sail- ing vessel for Astoria, coming from there up the river to Oregon City, and thence on the upper river aboard the first boat to make the trip, known as the Little Hoosier. Upon arriving in Oregon he found work much less advanced than he antici- pated, and instead of a ready means of livelihood in his chosen occupation he was obliged to turn his attention to secular work. He organized a school and in connection preached as opportunity offered, and about this time was appointed secre- tary to General Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs. Later he succeeded General Palmer in this important responsibility, in April, 1859. In 1856 he had removed to Linn county from his

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former home near Lafayette, settling upon a claim which continued to be his home for some years. For a time he was interested in a general merchandise business, and on one occasion was sent east to purchase machinery for the woolen mills at Brownsville, the second enterprise of the kind in the state of Oregon. The burning of this mill entailed great loss to its promoters, Mr. Geary sustaining a portion of it himself. He afterward became interested in another general store, but sold out the same upon becoming one of the organizers of the Albany college, of which he served as president. For some time he served as county judge, although he never aspired to political recognition; in the meantime he had purchased a farm near Albany, making this his headquarters while associated with the college and judiciary. In 1873 he removed to Eugene, where he built a home and was instrumental in locating the university at that place. This college enlisted his sympathy and co-operation, and up to the time of his death he was a member of the board of regents, and a substantial contributor to its finan- cial welfare.

In the meantime Mr. Geary had preached in many churches, most of which he himself or- ganized and started upon their self-supporting careers. The gospel was to him a living force in the every day affairs of men, and after its ap- plication, came all else that made living desirable. No call was too remote, or entailed too arduous toil for his ready response, and at one time he rode one hundred and thirty miles on horse- back to Portland to converse with a mem- ber of the board of missions for a couple of hours. He possessed a magnetic and forceful personality, impressing all with his sincerity and truth, facts observable es-

pecially in his intercourse with the Indians in the very early times, when he used to secure treaties, thus averting disaster on many occasions. Many experiences of a startling nature came his way while intent upon his errands of mercy, and on one occasion while going through the almost im- penetrable woods he was attacked by bears and succeeded in killing one with the butt of his gun. He had the faculty of adapting himself to all conditions and circumstances, and was equally at home in the tents and huts of the early settlers, as in the ministerial halls of the assembly. He was a member of the general assembly in 1884. having served in a similar capacity on a prior occasion. Thus was the life of Mr. Geary cast in useful and distinguished mould, and whether as a preacher, merchant, educator or agriculturist, he maintained a settled faith in goodness and suc- cess, as understood by the larger minds of the world, never losing track of the gospel of hu- manity, which smoothed his way in times of dis-

tress and seeming failure, and encouraged his progress in the way to which nature and inclina- tion had called him.

CHARLES N. WAIT, attorney at law and agriculturist of Clackamas county, was born in Oregon City, this county, Febru- ary 10, 1856, and bears a name prominently identified with the jurisprudence of the state of Oregon. His American ancestors were connect- ed with the early history of the extreme eastern states, his paternal great-great-great grandfather, Benjamin, having been born in Connecticut, from which state he emigrated to Hatfield, Mass. This remote forefather was never wanting in physical or moral prowess, and because of his bold frontier experiences was known as an In- dian annihilator. His fighting ability seems to have been inherited by his son, John, who was a soldier in the Whately Company, under Capt. Henry Stiles, and afterward a sergeant in Capt. Russell Kellogg's company, on the Bennington alarm. Joel, the son of John, followed the mar- tial fortunes of Washington during the Revolu- tionary war, and was in both the Hatfield Com- pany, commanded by Captain Graves, and the company of Captain Murry.

- Judge Aaron E. Wait, father of Charles N., and first chief justice of the state of Oregon, was born in Whately, Franklin county, Mass., December 26, 1813, a son of Aaron Wait, also a native of Massachusetts, and a soldier during the war of 1812. Aaron Wait married Sarah Mor- ton, a native of Whately, and daughter of Solo- mon Morton, representative of a prominent Massachusetts family. Four children were born of this union, Eunice, Clementine, Charles G., and Aaron E., the latter the youngest of the fam- ily. Aaron Wait died when his namesake son was an infant, and his wife afterward married again, in consequence of which the lad lived with his grandfather until his fourth year, and then with his uncle until he was eight years old. His education was difficult of attainment owing to the lack of necessary funds, and was chiefly ac- quired while serving an apprenticeship of four years at the broom maker's trade in Hatfield, Mass., his spare money defraying the expenses attached to his schooling. For some time he subsequently engaged in teaching in New York, and in 1837 removed to the state of Michigan, where he studied law in Centerville, St. Joseph county, and was admitted to the bar of Michi- gan in 1842. Before leaving the state he was the military secretary to Governor John S. Barry.

Accompanied by Judge Lancaster, Mr. Wait made preparations to cross the plains in 1847, there being forty wagons in the train and a large number of stock. The journey was not attended

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by any disastrous occurrences, although terrific storms made progress difficult at times. It is recorded that Judge Wait made a deep impres- sion upon the Indians with his glasses, which he wore for near-sightedness, and which the red men believed to endow him with almost super- natural powers, permitting him to see enormous distances and through practically everything. The judge persisted in watching the cattle and horses at night, and came near dealing out the death penalty to a would-be horse thief, who, however, dropped into the tall grass when he found he was discovered, and managed to sneak away to safety. Arriving in Oregon, Mr. Wait settled in Oregon City, and here he entered upon the practice of law with ex-Senator James K. ' Kelley, with whom he remained for a number of years. In 1849 he varied his practice by going down into California on a little seventeen ton vessel, intent upon claim- ing a share of the gold for which thousands were striving. He was fairly successful as a miner, his largest find in one place during the course of a day being $60, and his largest all around find in a day was $100.

Upon returning to Oregon Judge Wait became connected with the Cayuse War Commission, which up to that time had accomplished practi- cally nothing. His service was marked by ex- treme fairness to all concerned, and he audited nearly all of the war claims, and every claim lie allowed was met precisely as he had made it. The judge practiced under the provisional and territorial laws of Oregon, and was elected to the circuit bench in the fourth judicial district and later served as the first chief justice of Ore- gon, immediately after the admission of Oregon as a state in 1859. He held many important offices within the gift of his fellow townsmen, practically his only defeat taking place after his nomination to the senate in 1862. From a large legal practice Judge Wait gradually drifted into real estate speculations, and, as seems natural with so many active men, chose to spend his later life amid the peace and quiet of farming enter- prises. In 1876 he removed onto his six hun- dred acre farm near Canby, remained there for eight years, and then went back to Portland, where he lived until 1897. The same year he re- turned to the Canby farm, where his death oc- curred December 13, 1898. He was a very large land owner, had two thousand acres in Jackson county, Ore., his Canby farm of six hundred acres, and enough other Oregon land to make up five thousand acres. In Washington he owned one thousand acres. No finer type of the gifted and substantial citizen has invaded the ranks of law and agriculture in Oregon, and to none has been accorded more universal esteem, or generous appreciation of splendid personal

characteristics. Judge Wait married Mary Ann Sprenger, who was born in McConnelsville. Ohio, a daughter of a merchant who was born in Germany and came to the United States as a young man, settling in Pennsylvania. From the latter state Mr. Sprenger removed to McConnels- ville, Ohio, from where he emigrated to Linn county, Ore., his death eventually occurring on his donation claim at an advanced age. Of the first marriage of Judge Wait three children were born, of whom Charles N. is the only one living. Of the second marriage contracted by the judge three children were born, but only one matured, Anna Evelyn, the deceased wife of Frank Han- ford, of Seattle, Wash.

The education of Charles N. Wait was ac- quired in the public schools of Portland, which training was supplemented by a course at the Bishop Scott grammar school. His first busi- ness experience was as general timekeeper on construction with the Oregon Railroad & Navi- gation Company, whose employ he entered in 1880, and with whom he remained for eight years. In 1888 he became chief clerk of the money order department of the Portland post- office, and, owing to close confinement and con- sequent effect upon his health, resigned at the end of two years. For the following two years he acted in the capacity of deputy United States marshal under John Myers, after which he en- tered the law department of the Oregon State University, from which he was duly graduated with honors. In June, 1891, Mr. Wait began to practice in Portland, and in 1897 removed to the old homestead in Canby, since which time he has combined the management of the large estate with the general practice of law. He is a Demo- crat in political affiliation, and has taken a prom- inent part in the affairs of his party in Oregon. For one term he was deputy city attorney of Portland, and he was secretary of the state cen- tral committee when Cleveland was last elected. Also Mr. Wait has been mayor of Canby for one term. He is fraternally associated with the An- cient Order of United Workmen, of which he is past master; the Warner Grange, of which he is past master ; the Elks; the Red Men; and the Knights of Pythias.

The first marriage of Mr. Wait was contracted in Clackamas county with Laurena J. Marks, who died July 20, 1891, leaving one son and two daughters. October 2, 1895, Mr. Wait married, in Washington, Wilhelmina Woicka, who was born in Portland, and whose father, William, a jeweler by trade, was born in Germany. Mr. Woicka came to America as a young man, and died in San Francisco, Cal. Of this union there have been born two sons, Aaron E. and George N.

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JOHN COLGATE BELL. With nearly ninety years behind him the memory of John Colgate Bell goes back over the better part of the nineteenth century and recalls the changes which the years have brought to the nation and to the individual. As a mere lad his hand was shaken by La Fayette on his tour of the country in 1824, and he has listened to the retailing of happenings of the two wars with Great Britain, by his grandfather, William Bell, who served as a soldier under Washington at Brandywine and other battles of note, fighting valiantly for his adopted country, for he was a Scotchman by birth, and by his father, also William Bell, who served as major of cavalry in the war of 1812. The father was a pioneer of the state of Ken- tucky and he himself has put the greater part of the continent between him and the scene of his birth, enduring the hardships and dangers of the early days and now enjoying the affluence and prosperity which a wise use of opportunities entail.

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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 16

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