Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 41

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 41

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where he lived a number of years. Starting for Oregon with an ox-team train in 1853, he died before reaching his journey's end, and his widow survived him but a few years, dying in Ore- gon. They were the parents of five children, three daughters and two sons.

Living in St. Louis, Mo., until fifteen years old, John George Rast was educated in the public schools of that city. In 1853 he came with his mother to Oregon, after his father's death con- tinuing the journey with Messrs. Henders and Remplay, who settled at Scottsburg, Douglas county. Entering the employ of Mr. Remplay, he worked at general farming, and also learned the trade of a brewer. On attaining his majority, he bought an interest in a brewery, and ran it in partnership with Mr. Neel for several years. Selling out, he purchased a flour mill, and as senior member of the firm of Rast & Criteser carried on a successful milling business for a long time. Subsequently purchasing the interest of his partner in the plant, which was the oldest flouring mill in southern Oregon, he managed it alone until his death. Industrious and thrifty, he had a busy career, setting forth with a pur- pose in life, and faithfully performing the duties that fell to his lot. He was a stanch Democrat in politics, and a Mason, belonging to Laurel Lodge, No. 13, A. F. & A. M.

January 31, 1875. Mr. Rast married Miss Clara Jones, who was born about two and one- half miles from Roseburg, a daughter of Isaac Jones, a pioneer settler of Douglas county. Her paternal grandfather, Jacob Jones, was born, reared and married in Indiana. In 1852 he came with his family to Oregon, crossing the plains with ox-teams, and being six months on the way. After living for a year in Portland, he located in Roseburg, buying land, and purchasing Mr. Perry's interest in the grist mill owned by the firm of Denesett & Perry. He subsequently dis- posed of his milling interests to his son Isaac, and afterwards lived on his farm, retired from the activities of life until his death, at the age of seventy years. His death was the result of an accident, his neck having been broken by falling into the stream while crossing the creek on a foot log.

Isaac Jones also crossed the plains in 1852, bringing with him his wife and six children. Coming with his father to Roseburg in 1853. he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres, lying two and one-half miles north of Roseburg. By judicious toil he im- proved a good ranch, and was successfully en- gaged in stock-raising for a number of years. Afterwards purchasing his father's milling property, he was engaged in manufacturing flour until he sold his interest in the mill to Mr. Criteser. Removing then to Roseburg, lie made

his home here until his death, at the age of three score and ten years. He was a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church. Mr. Jones married Ann S. Gouge, who was born in Boone county, Ind., and died, at the age of seventy-one years, in Roseburg, Ore. Nine children were born of their union, namely: William S. and Abraham, who are connected with the Rogue River mines; James O., who was accidentally killed by a fall; Nicholas, a farmer, living in Leland, Ore .; Nel- son, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits at Coos Bay, Ore .; Mrs. Lydia Criteser, of Rose- burg; Clara, now Mrs. Rast; Mrs. Sarah Hod- son, who died at Coos Bay; and Mrs. Anna Barker, of Roseburg.

Born on the parental homestead, near Rose- burg, in 1854, Mrs. Rast was here brought up and educated. She owns much valuable resi- dential property in the city, and since the death of her husband she rents the flour mill. She has six children, all living at home, namely : Regina, Samuel T., Anna Mand, Gertrude, John V. and Dell V. A woman of fine character and good mental endowments, Mrs. Rast is well deserving of the respect and confidence of the many frinds that she has gathered about her by her pleasant manner, and her kind and helpful ways. She belongs to various organizations, fraternal, social and religious, being a member, and past worthy matron, of the Eastern Star; a member of the Woman's Relief Corps ; a char- ter member of the Julia Abraham Cabin of Native Daughters; and a member of the Presby- terian Church, and of the Ladies' Aid Society.

COL. THOMAS R. CORNELIUS. None can dispute the intellectual greatness or the pow- erful service this sturdy pioneer rendered to the people of Oregon, and he was accounted one of her bravest soldiers. His military career was a series of unbroken successes, and for his con- duct in battle he was accorded the highest praise. His public life was just as blameless; he was a concise, logical and earnest speaker, gifted in conversation, fascinating in manner and assidu- ous in the discharge of public duties.

Colonel Cornelius was a pioneer of 1845. He was a son of Benjamin Cornelius, a Kentuckian by birth, who removed to Missouri in 1812, and to Oregon in 1845. Colonel Cornelius was born in Howard county, Mo., November 15, 1827, and came with his parents to Oregon when eighteen years old, being the eldest of ten children. He lived with his father on a donation claim four miles north of Cornelius for three years, and then took up a land claim adjoining his father's and was its owner for more than half a century. When the news of the massacre of Dr. Whitman

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and others became known, he enlisted as a pri- vate in a company then organized, furnishing his own horse and equipments. He was in five battles against the Indians, who were well armed and numerous, and for valiant services Colonel Cornelius was promoted to first sergeant. Fi- nally the Indians were subdued.

The discovery of gold in California caused the people all over the United States to flock to that state, and with others took Colonel Cornelius, who mined in 1848 and was very successful, sometimes mining $300 worth in one day. A year later he returned home, spent the following winter with his father and the following year married Florentine Wilks, formerly of Indiana, and a more extended account of whom is given in the sketch of her son, T. S. Cornelius, also in this volume. Mrs. Cornelius had crossed the plains in the same emigrant's train with young Cornelius, and her father settled in Washington county, Ore. Shortly after marriage, Mr. Cor- nelius and his bride went to housekeeping on their claim and lived there twenty years.

When the Indian war broke out in 1855, Colo- nel Cornelius enlisted in Company D, Washing- ton County Volunteers, was elected captain, and again fought against the Indians, showing true courage and pluck in many ways and making a fine record. Upon the resignation of Colonel Nesmith, then in command of the regiment, the governor ordered an election to fill the vacancy, and Captain Cornelius was elected, and received his commission the following February, with or- ders to prepare for a campaign in the Snake river and Pelusa country. Colonel Cornelius took up the line of march on March I, and dur- ing his active campaign against the Indians achieved several decisive victories, and thus won fresh laurels. In 1856 he became more distin- guished by his clection to the territorial legisla- turc, and was re-elected each succeeding term for twenty years by the Republicans. He was twice clected president of the senate, and was thus connected with the enactments of the legislature of that important period in the history of the young state. During the Civil war he was on the right side of all the great questions that came np, and in 1861 he was commissioned by Presi- dent Lincoln to raise a volunteer cavalry in Ore- gon, with orders to report to the adjutant gen- cral at Washington. This he did and anticipated joining Colonel Baker at the front, but the latter was killed at Balls Bluff. As all the regular army had been taken from Oregon, Colonel Cor- nelius, to his disappointment, was assigned to service on the coast, looking after the Indians and other enemies of our country. In 1862, while stationed at Walla Walla, he tendered his resignation, returned home and turned his atten- tion to farming for many years. He was enlisted

in the building of the railroad and was engaged by Benjamin Holliday to secure the right of way. In 1871, the year preceding the building of the road to Cornelius, he built a large grain ware- house, and was engaged in handling grain and in merchandising for many years. He also oper- ated a portable saw-mill near Cornelius, and afterward moved it about fifteen miles southwest of Forest Grove. This mill had a capacity of twenty-five thousand feet daily and the railroad company, in order to handle the lumber from his mill at its last location, built the Gates spur near Gaston and many millions of feet of lumber were shipped from that point.

Colonel Cornelius was interested in every pub- lic enterprise and did all in his power to advance the best interests of his section. He laid out the town of Cornelius, where he lived until cut off by death, June 24, 1899, after an illness of several months' duration. His first wife died in 1864, and two years later he married Missouri Smith, of Illinois, the daughter of Rev. William E. Smith, a Methodist minister. At the time of his demise he left his widow, two brothers, William, of Mountaindale, and John, of Cornelius; two sons, Judge Benjamin P., of Cornelius, and T. S., of Astoria; three daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Shaw, of San Diego; Mrs. C. C. Hancock, of Cornelius, and Mrs. Alexander Coucher, of Portland; and three sisters, Mrs. Ann Freeman, of Hillsboro; Mrs. William Kane, of Forest Grove, and Mrs. Isaac Blum, of Portland.

BURBAN BROCKWAY. Among the repre- sentative pioneers of Douglas county Burban Brockway occupies an honored position. For fully half a century he has been a resident of this part of the state, and for three decades he has been actively identified with the landed in- terests of Roseburg, his present home. A man of broad and enlightened views, liberal and ac- commodating, he possesses in a marked degree those sterling principles and traits of character that constitute him an honest man and a good citizen. A son of Horace B. Brockway, he was born in Mina, Chautauqua county, N. Y., Janu- ary 7, 1831, of early colonial ancestry. His pater- nal grandfather, also named Burban Brockway, was born in Connecticut, being a descendant in the fourth generation of Walston Brockway, who was living at Lyon, Conn., in 1659. The grand- father was reared to agricultural pursuits in his native state, and subsequently settled as a farmer in Chautauqua county, N. Y., where he resided until his death, September 2, 1861.

A native of New England, Horace B. Brock- way was born March 1, 1796, in Connecticut, and died May 10, 1835, in New York state. He was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Chautau-

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qua county, N. Y., for several years, carrying on a substantial business. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Morse, was born in New York state, and died in Ripley, N. Y. She bore her husband four children, namely : Henry, who died September 9, 1901, in Chautauqua county, N. Y .; Beman Bostwick, a farmer, living in Brockway, Douglas county, Ore .; Burban, the subject of this sketch; and Mary Ann., who died June 2, 1892, in Chautauqua county, N. Y.

Acquiring his early education in the district schools, Burban Brockway remained on the pa- rental homestead until about sixteen years old, when he shipped before the mast as a sailor. For two years he was on one of the lake vessels the Emerald, and was afterwards on the brig Machagan two years. Continuing in service on the lakes, he sailed in other vessels for a year, and was just to be appointed mate when he de- cided to retire from the water, and start for the Pacific coast in search of gold, intending to be away from home about two years. His brother, Beman Brockway, came west with him, and they procured their outfit at Naperville, Ill., of the firm of Swift & Bowie, the former of whom is known throughout the Union as the head of Swift & Company, of Chicago, Ill. At Fort Madison he crossed the Mississippi river, and April 9, 1852, he crossed the Missouri river at Independence, Mo. Taking the California trail. the party to which Mr. Brockway belonged trav- ersed the plains with plodding ox-teams, arriv- ing in southern Oregon September 20, 1852. Continuing the journey to California, he searched for gold until February, 1853, when he returned to Oregon. Locating at Althouse creek, he was there engaged in mining until the spring of 1855, in the meantime being joined by his brother, who had crossed the plains with him. Going then to the Tualatin plains, Washi- ington county, he collected a bunch of cattle. which he took to Cow Creek Hills range, in Douglas county, about twenty miles south of Roseburg, at what was then called Brockway cabin. Disposing of the cattle, he and his brother bought a donation claim of six hundred acres, lying eight miles southwest of Roseburg, and there farmed together a number of years, raising grain and stock. They subsequently divided the ranch. In 1878 Mr. Brockway sold out his in- terest in the farm, and the following year located in Roseburg. where he has since carried on a good business as a dealer in real estate.

For two years Mr. Brockway served as dep- uty sheriff under F. P. Hogan, and at one time had charge of the Coos Bay road, being in the employ of the old Idaho Company. He has ac- cumulated considerable property, being interested in timber and farming lands. In 1855 and 1856 he served in the Rogue River Indian war, in

Company B, under Capt. P. C. Nolan, and then under Capt. Laban Bowie. Mr. Brockway has visited his old home in the east several times, first in 1874, again in 1893, in 1897, and in 1901.

Fraternally Mr. Brockway is a member of Mira Lodge No. 57. I. O. O. F., of Looking Glass ; of Roseburg Encampment; and of Rose- burg Lodge No. 326, B. P. O. E. Politically he was a Democrat until 1896, when he supported McKinley as presidential candidate, not being able to accept the Chicago platform. Now, with the courage of his convictions, he votes for the best men and measures, regardless of party re- strictions. For one term he served as a member of the Roseburg city council, and was a warm supporter of all beneficial projects. He is a member of the Indian War Veteran Association. and of the Oregon Pioneer Association, in both organizations taking a deep interest.

JESSE LEE CALVERT. Inseparably asso- ciated with the history of Maryland is that of the Calvert family, whose representative, J. L. Calvert, of Grants Pass, is justly proud of his connection with so notable a race. His great- grandfather, who was from Maryland, took the family to Kentucky, and thence the grandfather followed the tide of emigration to Missouri, where the father, F. H., was born, reared and carried on farm pursuits. In Missouri he mar- ried Annie E. Hunt, who was born in that state and died there in 1875. They were the parents of two sons and five daughters, of whom all but one daughter still survive. Jesse L. being next to the oldest of the family. As early as 1856 his father took up prospecting and mining in Shasta county, Cal., but not meeting with the hoped-for success, he turned his attention to farming. On his return to Missouri in 1860 he worked at the gunsmith's trade at Liberty, Clay county, and later carried on a farm in the same vicinity, where he still makes his home.

On the home farm near Liberty, Mo., Jesse Lee Calvert was born September 19. 1863. His educational advantages were such as country schools afforded. On starting out for himself he went to California in 1885 and embarked in lumbering in Humboldt county. He dates his residence in Oregon from 1889. when he settled at Grants Pass and purchased an interest in a livery business, which was conducted under the firm name of Lister & Calvert. The business was built up under the able management of the partners until it became the largest in the place. In addition, they conducted various stage lines. finding their several ventures a source of con- siderable profit. In 1901 the partners embarked in the cattle business on the Klamath reservation. where Mr. Calvert has since conducted an ex-

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tensive cattle business and has a fine herd. The liverv partnership was dissolved in January of 1903. Subsequently Mr. Calvert gave his atten- tion to the management of the cattle industry and of a wholesale and retail feed business in Grants Pass until December 1, 1903, when he sold and became a member of the Grants Pass Hardware Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer.

After coming to Oregon Mr. Calvert married Miss Hattie I. Coleman, who was born in Jack- son, Ore. Her father, John Coleman, a pioneer farmer of southern Oregon and a soldier in the Rogue river Indian war, is now a resident, of Phoenix, Jackson county, Ore. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Calvert there are three children, Jesse Rea, Donald Lee and Anna Marie. Mrs. Calvert is a member of the Presbyterian Church and the family are attendants upon the services of that organization. Fraternally Mr. Calvert is associated with the Woodmen of the World; the Knights of Pythias, and was made a Mason in Grants Pass Lodge No. 84, A. F. & A. M., with which he is still connected. Under Edward Lis- ter he acted as deputy sheriff for four years. In December of 1902 he was elected to represent the second ward as a member of the city council, in which he serves as a member of the street, fire and finance committees, and is chairman of the fire committee. The success which has at- tended his efforts shows the possibilities of the west and the inducements it offers to young men of ambition and persevering industry. When he arrived in California his entire worldly posses- sions were limited to $10, and he had only $600 when he came to Grants Pass, but with this as a nucleus of his efforts, backed by determination and tireless industry, he has gained a compe- tency and is numbered among the leading busi- ness men of his home city.

JUDGE JOHN A. BUCHANAN. Finely equipped for a professional career, having a well trained mind, and those habits of industry that are sure to win success in life, Judge John A. Buchanan, of Roseburg, has already attained a commanding position in the legal fraternity, and a place of prominence among the influential citi- zens of the municipality. A native of Drakes- ville, Iowa, he was born October 2, 1863, coming of thrifty Scotch stock, his paternal great-grand- father having emigrated from Scotland to Penn- sylvania in early colonial days. His father, Amos Buchanan, and his grandfather, Nathan Buchanan, were both ministers of the gospel. Rev. Nathan Buchanan was for many years a faithful worker in the Christian Church, holding pastorates in Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and

Idaho, going to the latter state in 1875, and re- maining there until his death.

A native of Indiana, Rev. Amos Buchanan was fitted for the ministry and ordained as pas- tor of the Christian Church in Missouri. He subsequently preached in Iowa, going from there to Idaho, where he continued his ministerial la- bors for nine years. Removing to Oregon in 1888, he has since held different pastorates in Douglas county, and is now, at the age of sev- enty-seven years, residing at Roseburg, being numbered among the most respected citizens of the place. During the Civil war he was noted as a Union man, and acted as a guide to General Siegel in his trip through southwestern Missouri. He married Lavina Jones, who was born in Ten- nessee, and died, in 1876, in Idaho. Of the nine children born of their union, eight are living, namely: Mrs. Rebecca Greninger, of Jackson county. Ore .; Mrs. Millie Cole, of Leland, Idaho; Mark L., who is engaged in agricultural pur- suits near Spring Brook, Wash .: Ira S., a farmer, living in Ashland, Ore .; Judge J. A., the special subject of this sketch; A. J., a well known attorney of Roseburg; Mrs. Dora Lynch, of Jackson county, Ore .; and Mrs. Cora Jones, of Baker City, Ore.

From 1865 until 1875 J. A. Buchanan lived on a farm near Granby, Mo., where he acquired his first knowledge of books. Going then with his parents to Moscow, Idaho, he resided on a farmi in that town for several years, in the meantime completing his early education in the district school. Leaving home in 1884, he came to As- toria, Ore., where he was employed as an insur- ance agent for a year. Entering the State Nor- mal School, at Monmouth, in the fall of 1885, he continued his studies there two years, gradu- ating with the class of 1887. He was class poet of his class. After graduating he was engaged in teaching ten years in different places as prin- cipal of schools, being at Amity two years, at North Yamhill three years, at McMinnville three years, and at Dallas two years. While at Mc- Minnville, Mr. Buchanan studied law under O. H. Irvine, and was admitted to the bar in 1896. Resigning his school at Dallas in 1898, he began the practice of his profession at Roseburg in that year, and has met with eminent success, being admitted to all of the courts of the statc. The Republican nominee for justice of the peace in 1902, he was elected by a large majority, for a term of two years, and took the office in July of that year, since when he has performed his official duties with characteristic ability and fidel- ity. He is a steadfast Republican in politics, and for the past four years has been secretary of the Republican central committee. While a resi- dent of Amity he served as city recorder one

Margaret Suffs

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term, and filled a like position at North Yamhill for a term.

Judge Buchanan married Mrs. Madge (Bond) Ragsdale, who was born in Missouri, and came to Oregon in 1901. The judge has one child, Bonnie B. Buchanan, and Mrs. Buchanan has two children, born of her first union, namely : LeNoir and Lucille Ragsdale. Fraternally the judge is a prominent member of the Woodmen of the World, for four years serving as clerk of his camp, and, in August, 1902, being a delegate to the head camp session held at Cripple Creek, Col .; at North Yamhill he was made an Odd Fellow, in 1889, and is a past officer of his lodge; he is a member and past chief patriarch of the Encampment; and belongs to the United Artisans. In 1889 he was a member of the Na- tional Educational Association, and, as a dele- gate from Oregon attended the convention held in San Francisco. He is a member and a trus- tee of the Christian Church.

JAMES P. TUFFS. The present home of Mr. Tuffs is far removed from the scenes of his boyhood, but his identification with Oregon is so complete and his belief in her growth and pros- perity so strong that he counts his removal to the west as among the most fortunate acts of his long career. The family of which he is a member were English Quakers, but early settled in Penn- sylvania and his father, John Tuffs, was born in the city of Philadelphia. On his removal to Maine he embarked in contracting and building at Eastport, where he remained until his death. His wife, Catherine Fitzgerald, was of Irish birth and accompanied her father to the state of Maine, where the remaining years of her life were passed. Of her five sons and five daughters all but two attained mature years. James P., who was the seventh in order of birth, is the only one of the family residing on the Pacific coast. He was born in Eastport, Me., January 12, 1825, and as a boy had very limited educa- tional advantages. Familiar with the shipping business from boyhood, he was fourteen when he took his first long trip on a coasting vessel.

Following an inclination fostered by early as- sociations, Mr. Tuffs learned the ship carpenter's trade, working in the ship yards at East Boston, Charleston, Medford and South Boston, Mass. As a carpenter on the "Plymouth Rock," he set sail from Boston December 28, 1849, and after a voyage around Cape Horn that consumed six months to the half-hour, he landed in San Fran- cisco June 28, 1850. During the summer he was paid $9 a day for work on the streets of San Francisco, where he assisted in putting in the first paving ever done in that city. His wages were paid in Mexican dollars, which accumulated

so rapidly that soon he had a bushel of them, which he exchanged for gold. It had been his original intention to return east, but the country suited him and he decided to remain in the west. It was not long before he became interested in mines and for a time he worked around Yreka. At the time of the rush to Canon Creek in what is now Josephine county, Ore., he came with a throng of other fortune-seekers, and during the following two years he made $5,000 in mining there. His next venture was in partnership with Lewis Barnes, and together they bought a ferry and a stock of goods, and started in business on Rogue river. On selling out, in 1853, he located a donation claim two miles farther up the river and there planted an orchard of trees that were brought from the Willamette valley, some of which are still standing. While living on Rogue river he had met Miss Margaret Croxton, a sis- ter of Thomas F. Croxton, whose sketch upon another page gives the history of that family. During 1852 she accompanied her aunt, Mrs. Dimmick, to Oregon, having come from England. Two years later she became the wife of Mr. Tuffs, the marriage being solemnized in Douglas county in 1854.

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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 41

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