Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 39

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 39

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Mr. Dimmick met the sons and daughters of the settlers on that field of human equality known as the district school, and during 1866-67 he attended Umpqua Academy. From then until 1880 he engaged in elerking in a general store and farming, and then came to Marshfield and built his tannery. His activities have been by no means confined within its walls, for marked executive ability and broad gauge reasoning upon current events have qualified him particu- larly for political office. He was made justice of the peace in Scottsburg, Ore., serving from 1879 until the latter part of 1880. and in 1900 he was elected joint senator from Coos and Curry counties, serving in the session of 1901 and again in the session of 1903. His representation of the people was characterized by extreme conscien- tiousness and painstaking effort, and he effected good results as a member and chairman of the committees on fishing industries and roads and highways. He was also a member of the com- mittee on assessing and taxation, and during the session of 1903 served on about the same com- mittees. He has been one of the stanchest sup- porters of education which Coos county has known, and it was chiefly through his influence as chairman of the board of education that the present fine school house in Marshfield was erected.

The political prominence of Mr. Dimmick is not exceeded by his popularity in fraternal eir- cles. He is past chairman and master workman of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and in 1897-98 was a delegate to the state convention at Portland, again representing his lodge at the Grand Lodge in 1903. He is also past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Dimmick was married, in Douglas county, Ore., to Fannic Lyons. a native of Frankfort, Ky., and daughter of D. J. Lyons, a native of County Cork, Ireland. Mr. Lyons eame to the United States as a boy. and at Frankfort, Ky., lived with his parents

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and acquired a practical education in the best schools of the city. A calamity befell him as a young man, when he was struck in the eye by a schoolmate and lost the use of one eye; later the other was made blind in sympathy from effect of the first wound. Where another would have been discouraged and disheartened he never allowed his affliction to interfere with the use- fulness or scope of his life. After coming to Oregon in 1854 he located near Drain, Douglas county, later removing to Scottsburg, and suc- cessfully engaged in the hotel business. Eventu- ally he turned his learning to good account as editor of the Umpqua Gazette for many years, this being one of the first papers published in the state of Oregon. He became a prominent and influential man, and to those who knew him best he was a truly remarkable man. His last days were spent at the home of his son-in-law, Mr. Dimmick. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dimmick, all of whom are living at home : Daniel L., Harold H., Laura May, August E., Albert A., and Victor. The Dim- mick home is a pleasant and hospitable one, and the genial and enterprising owner is conceded to be one of the foremost and influential men of Marshfield.

JOB R. TOZER came to the Rocky moun- tain region as early as 1864, and a few years later he came in the Willamette valley. In 1868 he located in Ashland, which was then a very small place, and carried on contracting and build- ing, many fine residences testifying to his skill. Very soon thereafter he began building mills and twenty years of his useful life were spent in the development of the lumber industry. He is now living a retired life in Ashland, where he is surrounded by every comfort.

Mr. Tozer is of Welsh descent and the first of the name who came to America were three brothers, who left Wales and probably located in New York state. The descendants of these men are now widely scattered. Various mem- bers of this family were noted for their bravery and fighting proclivities and to this number be- longs the great-grandfather of our subject, who came to America and fought in the Revolution- ary war. His son, Col. Julius Tozer, was a native of this country, and participated in the war of 1812, being an eye-witness of the blowing up of Fort Erie. He was a pioneer settler of Bradford county, Pa., and owned a fine farm eighteen miles from Towanda on the Chemung river.

Job R. Tozer was born in Bradford county, Pa., being a son of Murray and Elizabeth (Gross) Tozer, the latter of German descent, and a native of Berks county, Pa. Murray

Tozer followed in the footsteps of his father and became a tiller of the soil, owning two valuable farms in Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Tozer were born eight children, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood and are still living, our subject being the third and the only one who went to the far west. Mr. Tozer enlisted as a private during the Civil war, but died prior to the victory of the stars and stripes, for which flag he gave up his life. In his political belief he was a Democrat, while fraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. Job R. Tozer first saw the light of day December 30, 1841, being reared to young man- hood in Bradford county, Pa. He early learned the trade of a carpenter and followed it until 1864, when he started west to make his fortune. At that time great excitement prevailed owing to the discovery of gold in Idaho. He started across the great plains at St. Joseph, Mo., driv- ing ox-teams over the old Oregon trail. Cross- ing the Missouri river at Omaha on June 24, after several threatened attacks from the Indians, he reached the mines in Idaho October 25, and engaged in mining on the South Boise, at Rocky bar. In 1867 a location was made in the Willamette valley, Ore., where he wintered and the following year, located permanently in Ash- land, where he followed contracting and building up to a recent date, being now practically retired. After erecting a number of residences, he started a planing mill, which was among the first in that section. This was sold in 1878 and another mill was built in the eastern part of town, which was conducted successfully in partnership with Messrs. Emery and Daily. After twenty years in the milling business Mr. Tozer disposed of his interests and turned his attention to his other business interests.

Mr. Tozer has been twice married. His first marriage occurred in Josephine county, Ore., with Harriett Briggs, a native of New York, a daughter of Edwin Briggs. He went to Cali- fornia during the gold excitement in 1849, and the following year settled in Josephine county, Ore., where the remainder of his life was spent. Mr. Tozer was called upon to mourn the death of his first wife, who died in 1872, in Ashland, leaving one son, Albert B., who now resides in Seattle, Wash. June 14, 1874, Mr. Tozer was united in marriage with his present wife, who was before marriage Louisa Neil, formerly of Buchanan county, Mo. Her father, Clairborne Neil, was a pioneer settler in Oregon, whither he removed in 1853, and the following ycar lo- cated in Jackson county. In 1886 Mr. and Mrs. Tozer adopted a daughter, Frankie Tozer, who is attending the Southern Oregon Normal School at Ashland. Mrs. Tozer is a member of the

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Jackson County Pioneer Association, and also the Degree of Honor of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In his political views Mr. Tozer, like his father, is a Democrat. He was a councilman at the incorporation of the city, and has always taken a deep interest in educational affairs, frequently serving as clerk of the school board. In fraternal circles he is allied with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

ALFRED EVAN REAMES. A man of lit- erary and scholastic attainments, well versed in legal science, Alfred Evan Reames is now ren- dering excellent service as district attorney for Jackson and Josephine counties. A native-born citizen, Jacksonville, the city in which he re- sides, may well be proud of her distinguished son, who has achieved praiseworthy success in his professional career, and has won a good repu- tation for judicial impartiality and legal ability. A son of Thomas G. Reames, an early settler of Jacksonville, he was born February 5, 1870. Woodford Reames, his paternal grandfather, a native of Kentucky, came to Oregon with his family in 1853, crossing the plains with ox teams, the customary mode of traveling in those days. Locating in Jackson county, he took up a dona- tion claim of three hundred and twenty acres, lying midway between Phoenix and Talent. The upper portion of his claim was the site of the diggings of 1849, and is still rich in placer, and valued highly by the family, who have retained its possession until the present time. Retiring to Jacksonville in 1884, he lived here until his death, in 1885, at the age of seventy-two years. He was a blacksmith by trade, and worked at his trade in connection with farming during his years of activity.

A native of Grayson county, Ky., Thomas G. Reames was but a boy when he came with his parents to Oregon. Completing his education in the pioneer schools of Jackson county, he first embarked in mining pursuits, and was afterwards a general merchant in Phoenix for three years. Disposing of his Phoenix store, he came to Jack- sonville, and, in company with his brother, E. R. Reames, bought out the firm of Sachs Bros. & Co., and engaged in the mercantile business, conducting a general store. He subsequently organized the firm of Reames, Martin & Co., of Klamath Falls. Ore., the firm including, besides his brother and himself, Alex Martin, now liv- ing retired in Oakland, Cal., and Charles S. Moore, now state treasurer. E. R. Reames is still at Klamath Falls, where he is carrying on a prosperous banking and general mercantile business. During the time that the soldiers were in Fort Klamath, Mr. Reames and his brother

carried on a substantial business in that locality. On retiring from the business in Jacksonville, E. R. Reames was succeeded by John F. White at first, and later by Lee Jacobs. In 1886 Mr. Reames became connected with the banking busi- ness of Jacksonville as junior member of the firm of Beekman & Reames, a position that he retained until his death, in 1900, at the age of sixty-three years. In 1885 he was appointed by President Cleveland postmaster inspector for Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Alaska, but at the end of eighteen months he re- signed the position. In 1874 he was deputy sheriff of Jackson county, and in 1887 was elected sheriff, and served one term. In 1878 he was nominated for the position of secretary of state, but was defeated by only one hundred and twen- ty-six votes. One of the leading Democrats of the state, he served on the county and state Democratic committees until 1890. He married Lucinda Williams, who was born in Missouri, near St. Joseph, and is now residing in Berkeley, Cal.

The second child in a family of four sons and six daughters, Alfred Evan Reames acquired the rudiments of his education in the common schools of Jacksonville. From 1888 until 1889 he con- tinned his studies at the University of the Pacific, in San Jose, Cal., and the ensuing three years was a student in the University of Oregon, where he took a short course preparatory to taking up the study of law. Entering the Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Va., in 1892, he was graduated in 1893 with the degree of B. A. Returning to Oregon, Mr. Reames began the practice of his profession with Eugene Skipworth of Eugene. Going to Portland in 1894 he was associated with C. M. Idleman, who was later attorney general of Oregon. Returning to Jack- sonville in the fall of 1896, he was engaged in practice with William M. Colvig until 1900, when the partnership was dissolved. In that year he was elected district attorney for Jackson, Jose- phine, Klamath and Lake counties on the Demo- cratic ticket, receiving a majority of four hun- dred and eighty-nine votes, although the coun- ties went Republican by a majority of seven hun- dred and fifty votes. On the death of his father- in-law, Congressman Tongue, in 1903, Mr. Reames received the Democratic nomination for congressman from the First Congressional dis- trict.

In Hillsboro, Ore., in 1895, Mr. Reames mar- ried Edith L. Tongue, who was born in Hills- boro, Washington county, Ore., August 26, 1871, a daughter of the late Thomas H. Tongue, of whom a brief biographical sketch may be found elsewhere in this work. A man of activity and enterprise, progressive and far-sighted, Mr.

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Reames is associated with many of the leading industries of this locality. He owns a controlling interest in the Deep Gravel Mining Company, of which he is secretary. This company, incorpo- rated with a capital of $85,000, of which $75,000 is paid up, owns a valuable mine in Josephine county, about a mile north of Waldo. He is president of the Three Pines Timber Company, which owns ten thousand acres of timber land in Jackson and Josephine counties. In Jacksonville he built, and owns, the Jacksonville Gasoline Lighting Plant, the only one in existence in this part of the state. He is a student, and his valuta- ble library contains a choice collection of books, being one of the finest in Jackson county.

Politically Mr. Reames is an earnest supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and a prominent worker in its ranks. Fraternally, he is a member of Warren Lodge No. 10, A. F. & A. M .; of Oregon Chapter No. 4. R. A. M .; of Oregon Commandery No. I, K. T. of Portland ; of Al Kader Temple, N. M. S., of Portland; of P. P. Prim Cabin, Native Sons of Oregon, of which he was grand president in 1900-01 ; and of Pocahontas Tribe No. 1, I. O. R. M.

HENRY H. ALDERMAN. Through his wise administration of the duties of sheriff of Tillamook county, Henry H. Alderman is ful- filling the hopes and expectations of his fellow- citizens. He is a son of Isaac W. Alderman, who came across the plains to California in 1850, and after two years of rather unsuccessful mining crossed the mountains to Oregon, locating first in Polk, and a year later in Tillamook county. He was born in New York state, January 5, 1815, his Holland Dutch ancestors having immigrated to this country many years before. In time he left New York and started out to earn his own living in La Porte county, Ind., where he met and married Harriet B. Young, a native of Wilkesbarre, Luzerne county, Pa., born Febru- ary 7, 1822. Mrs. Alderman was of German descent, and when sixteen years old removed to La Porte county, Ind., with her parents. She joined her husband in Yamhill county, Ore., and came with him to Tillamook county, locating on the farm of three hundred and twenty acres three miles north of Tillamook. This was wild and unimproved property, yet through the industry of the pioneers it became a comfortable and even pleasant home, always producing sufficient to maintain the family of nine children, five sons and four daughters. Isaac W. Alderman died in February, 1877, and his wife, who afterward moved to LaFayette, Yamhill county, survived him until 1892.

Ilenry H. Alderman was born on the paternal

farm three miles north of Tillamook, March 25, 1863, and in 1882 accompanied his mother to Yamhill county, thus receiving the educational advantages of both counties. He was variously employed until 1894, principally as a clerk in LaFayette, and then located in Tillamook county and engaged in farming for a short time. He had always taken an interest in local Republican politics, and in 1896 his zeal was rewarded by appointment to the position of deputy sheriff un- der Sheriff J. H. Jackson. In January, 1897, he was advanced to the office of first deputy, and in September of the same year succeeded to the office made vacant by the resignation of Sheriff Jackson. So admirably did Mr. Alderman fill the difficult and trying position that his election by a large majority followed in 1898. He was re-elected in 1900 and 1902, thus ensuring to his native county a continuation of the hitherto sat- isfactory conditions.

July 15. 1891, Mr. Alderman married Edith M. Kelty, who was born at LaFayette, Yamhill county, June 19. 1870. They have one daughter, Pauline, who is living with her parents. Mr. Al- derman is well known and popular in fraternal circles, being identified with four of the fore- most lodges of Tillamook : Tillamook Lodge, No. 57, A. F. & A. M., Woodmen of the World, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Knights of Pythias. With his family he worships at the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a member and elder for several years. Mr. Al- derman is credited with sincerity in the discharge of his official duties, and with intelligent handling of the difficult emergencies which he is called upon to adjust. He possesses great faith in, as well as knowledge of. human nature, and his position affords many opportunities for reforma- tory as well as corrective measures.

JOHN MAROLF. While this country was in a ferment of excitement over the discovery of gold on the western coast, when caravans were start- ing over the plains, and outgoing steamers almost sank beneath their load of gold crazed human freight, John Marolf, one of the prominent farm- ers and politicians of Tillamook county, was born in Switzerland, May 13, 1849. He was reared on the farm of liis parents, Emert and Annie Mar- olf, both of whom were born in the Alps country, the former in October. 1821, and the latter in 1825. The paternal home was near the capital city of Berne, in one of the most fertile and desirable parts of the country, and here were born several of the seven sons and four daughters in the fam- ily, all of whom received a liberal education. In time the parents came to this country. The mother died in Tillamook in 1901, and the father is still living on a farm near the city.

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With equal readiness John Marolf speaks Eng- lish, German and French, and his general educa- tion is correspondingly broad and liberal. In his native land he learned the art of cheese making, in which his countrymen particularly excel, and in 1871 he came to America, landing in New York City. Almost immediately he located in Muscatine county, Iowa, where he added to his knowledge of the trades by mastering the black- smith's trade, thereafter working on the railroads in Iowa for a couple of years. In 1873 he re- moved to California and engaged in farming in Sacramento county for two months, and then spent a year in San Francisco in the hotel busi- ness. Yet another occupation was undertaken in 1875, when he shipped on a whaling vessel bound for the north Pacific and Arctic oceans, and after returning made his way to Victoria, British Columbia, and from there to Grant county, Ore. For about three years he engaged in placer min- ing in the eastern part of the state, coming then to the Willamette valley, where he engaged at farming in Linn county until 1879.

Purchasing his present farm in the fall of 1879, Mr. Marolf has greatly improved his prop- erty, which consists of two hundred and thirty- four acres four and a half miles south of Tilla- mook. He is engaged in a general dairy busi- ness, and at present is milking about forty-five cows.

For many years Mr. Marolf has taken an active interest in politics, being a firm believer in Re- publican principles and institutions. For three years he was postmaster of Nestocton, when the office was maintained at his home, and he has been a school director for many years. He was mar- ried in 1882, to Lula Daniel, who was born in Macon county, Mo., in 1860, and died in Tilla- mook county in 1900, leaving six children : Preston, Hattie, Arthur, Ethel, Claude and Widie, the two latter twins. Mrs. Marolf was one of the pioneer women of the state, and her family was one of the first to settle on this part of the coast. Mr. Marolf has been a member of the Reformed Church for many years, and has liberally subscribed towards its support. He is held in high esteem by his friends and associates, and is one of the versatile and capable men now responsible for the dairying supremacy of Tilla- mook county.

JOHN R. MAYS. Honored as a pioneer resi- dent of Oregon, and as the son of a pioneer, John R. Mays has been intimately associated with ag- ricultural and mercantile development of differ- ent parts of the state, and is now the only mer- chant of Elk City, having a well stocked general store. Coming to the Pacific coast more than half a century ago, he shared with his parents

all the trials and tribulations of the early pioneers, and in the wonderful transformations that have since taken place has been a practical and useful assistant. A son of Elijah Mays, he was born June 29, 1836, in McDonough county, Ill. His grandfather, Robert Mays, was born in North Carolina, and his great-grandfather, Benjamin Mays, was born in England. Emigrating to the United States in colonial times, he served in the Revolutionary war, afterward settling on a plan- tation in North Carolina. Robert Mays was born and reared in North Carolina, on the old plantation. Removing to Illinois, he improved a farm in McDonough county, and in addition to general farming was a preacher in the Baptist Church.

Going with his parents from North Carolina to Illinois when a boy, Elijah Mays continued in the free and independent occupation in which he was reared for a number of seasons. Think- ing to better his material condition by moving to a newer country, where he might have the ad- vantage of cheap lands, he crossed the plains with ox-teams, after a journey of six months arriving in Portland, Ore., on October 7, 1852. Going directly to Lane county, he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres of land, lying about twenty-five miles west of Eugene, where he lived about seven years. Selling that property, he bought a ranch at Pleasant Hill, to which he held title four years. Disposing of that farm in 1864, he bought a tract of land in Lane county, seven miles southwest of Monroe, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. Active in political affairs, he was one of the leading Democrats of his neighborhood, and served a number of years as justice of the peace. He married Mary Bradshaw, who was born in Tennessee, and died, three years before he passed away, in Lane county. Her father, Joel Bradshaw, a native of Tennessee, settled in Illinois, taking up farming, in which he was em- ployed until his death.

The fourth child, and second son, in a family of eleven children, six of them being boys, John R. Mays received a limited education in the dis- trict school. Coming with his parents to Oregon in 1852, he assisted his father in reclaiming a farm from the wild and uncultivated land, doing his full share of the pioneer labor. Removing to Benton county in 1858, he worked as a farm laborer for nearly six year's, when, having ac- cumulated some money, he purchased three hun- dred and seventeen acres of land, three miles south of Philomath, on Mary's river, on whichi he lived from 1865 until 1893, being profitably engaged in agricultural pursuits. Going then to Portland, he remained in that city eight months, being employed as a general merchant. Going

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from there to Glencoe, Washington county, Mr. Mays opened a store of general merchandise, which he managed successfully for four years. Locating in Elk City in 1897, he formed a part- nership with his son, E. M. Mays, and has since carried on a Incrative mercantile business, and also has a half interest in the Elk City Hotel, which his son manages. He is a man of thrift, judicious in his investments, and in addition to his other property owns considerable real estate in the town.

In Benton county, Ore., in 1858, Mr. Mays married Mary Jane Wiser, who was born in Illinois, and came to Oregon with her foster- parents, who are still residents of Lincoln coun- ty. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mays, the fol- lowing children have been born: Almira, de- ceased; Elijah Marion, in business with his father ; Alvira Jane, wife of T. H. Mitchell, of Woodburn, Ore .; Laura Ella, deceased; Alton J., living in Juneau, Alaska; Elmer, who is en- gaged in mercantile pursuits in Glencoe, Ore .; and Clarence, also a merchant in Glencoe. Po- litically Mr. Mays is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and has served as school director, and is now road supervisor.

ALEXANDER H. PRACHT. Conspicuous among the rising young business men of Jack- son county is Alexander H. Pracht, who is well and favorably known to many of the patrons of the Southern Pacific Railway line as proprietor of the Depot Hotel at Ashland. Active, enter- prising, genial and accommodating, he is an ideal host, and is meeting with excellent success in the management of his house, which is well patron- ized and very popular with the traveling public. A native of Missouri, he was born February 18, 1875, in St. Louis, a son of Max Pracht.

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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 39

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