Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 43

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 43

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In 1895, in Ashland, Mr. Calhoun married Ella Drake, a native of Jackson county, and they have one son, Lester Drake Calhoun. True to the political faith in which he was reared, Mr. Calhoun is a steadfast Republican, and has served one term as councilman. Fraternally he is a member of Grants Pass Lodge No. 84, A. F. & A. M .; of Reames Chapter No. 28, R. A. M .;

was made a Knight Templar in Malta Com- mandery No. 4, of Ashland, and is a charter member, and recorder, of Melita Commandery No. 8, K. T .; is a member and past chancellor of Thermopolæ Lodge, K. of P .; and belongs to the Woodmen of the World.

HENRY ROGERS. The ancient art of cheese making, appreciated the world over by people who delight in gastronomic delicacies, has many followers in Tillamook county, but none who are better versed in the occupation than Henry Rogers. This very successful dairyman and cheese manufacturer has been a resident of the state since 1885, and prior to locating in Tillamook county exercised his skill as a cheese maker for Colonel Cornelius, in Washington county, for seven years. He also engaged in butter-making at Fairview for about four years before building his present creamery and pur- chasing his present farm. There were but two creameries in the county when Mr. Rogers located in Tillamook; the Fairview was the first to be operated on the co-operative plan. He owns three hundred and twenty acres of splendid- ly improved land, five miles southeast of Tilla- mook, and milks fifty-three cows. His creamery is among the largest in the county, and while he is sole owner, it is operated on the co-operative plan, and is meeting with great success. Mr. Rogers is manufacturing large quantities of cheese and butter, and the large demand for his products is the best guarantee of their excellence. He has a farm of modern and progressive ap- pointments, his home is modern and convenient- ly arranged, and his barns, outhouses, fences and agricultural implements indicate the painstaking, neat, and thrifty husbandman.

For many years James and Mary (Durkin) Rogers have been among the best known farmers of Lewis county, N. Y., and the recent golden anniversary of their wedding day, December 26, 1902, attested 'the esteem in which they are held by the neighbors and friends among whom the greater part of their lives have been passed. They are still living on the old home place to the improvement of which the husband devoted so many years of his life, and whence, so many hundreds of times, he wended his way towards the near by quarries, for he is a quarryman by trade. He is now eighty-five years of age, and his wife is seventy-six years old, both having come from Ireland in their youth and settled with their parents in Lewis county, N. Y. They reared eight children, four sons and four daughters, all of whom were educated in the pub- lic schools.

Henry Rogers was the third child in the parental family and was born in Leyden, Lewis

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county, N. Y., March 24, 1856. At the age of sixteen he left home, and engaged in farming by the month. At the age of twenty he served a two years' apprenticeship to a cheese maker, and afterwards worked at his trade until coming to Oregon in 1885. In New York state Mr. Rogers married Georgia Parkhurst, and four of the six children born of this union are living: Arch J., Vida A., Beulah G. and Merle R. Since his first presidential vote Mr. Rogers has been a stanch Republican, and he served for several years on the school board. He is popular and well known fraternally, being a member of Tillamook Lodge, No. 57, A. F. & A. M., the Fairview Grange, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Tillamook. Mr. Rogers is the possessor of a firm and decided character, of progressive and liberal views, and of public spirited interest in the people and interests which comprise his environment. He is respected and honored by all who know him, and counts his friends among the prosperous and successful in many parts of the state.

HENRY WILLIAM LOWRY. Before lo- cating upon his well managed dairy ranch near Tillamook in 1889, Henry W. Lowry familiarized himself with the west in general, and selected his home with a clear idea of the advantages by which he would be surrounded. Two and a half miles from Tillamook he has the advantages of both town and country, and in coming and going travels over well-kept roads, a distinct advantage to all who labor in the field of dairying. Mr. Lowry has thirty-five acres of land, which, though a comparatively small farm, makes up in the kind and extent of improvements, all of which are modern and the result of the enterprise and forethought of the present owner. He devotes himself to dairying exclusively, and milks about fourteen cows. A comfortable and homelike residence, well furnished and well kept, a dairy barn of large dimensions, convenient outhouses and good fences make up the equipment for work of one of the popular and highly esteemed residents of a highly prosperous agricultural community.

Of English-Irish extraction, Mr. Lowry was born in Marshall county, I11., October 1, 1844, and is the oldest of four children born to George and Lucretia A. Lowry, the former born in Con- necticut, where he was reared and grew to man- hood. George Lowry was a farmer during his entire active life, and was moderately successful from a financial standpoint. Henry remained at home until 1864, and by that time had developed a great deal of ambition and energy, which he determined should not become rusty on an Illi- nois farm. Accordingly, he set out across the

plains for Nevada, which he reached without accident or hindrance, and for a few months visited the mines and principal agricultural cen- ters. The years 1865 and 1866 were spent in Placer county, Cal., to which state he journeyed overland from Nevada, and where he eventually engaged in farming on his own responsibility. He was successful in disposing of his crops at a profit, and remained in the land of flowers and sunshine until 1889, then coming direct to his present farm.

In Sacramento, Cal., May 4, 1870, Mr. Lowry married Cora Carter, a native daughter of Wis- consin, born in Jefferson county, July 19, 1852. Mrs. Lowry crossed the plains with her parents in 1862, her father, John L. Carter, taking up a claim in Sacramento county, where she lived until her marriage. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lowry, the order of their birth being as follows: Dora, wife of Andrew Chris- tensen, of Tillamook; Alice, wife of Henry Finch, of San Francisco, Cal .; Fred, a resident of Pleasant valley; Sydney, a farmer of Clatsop county ; and Henry and Frances at home. Mr. Lowry is a Republican in politics, but his farm and family claim his attention, and he has never found time nor had the inclination to seek for or accept office. He bears an honored name around Tillamook, and as a dairyman under- stands all that there is to know of his interesting calling.

DAVID MARCUS BROWER, M. D., who is successfully filling the double occupation of gen- eral practitioner of medicine and minister of the Gospel at Ashland, Ore., has been a resident of this city since 1893 and has served one term as county coroner of Jackson county. Dr. Brower is a man of enterprise and possesses un- usual ability in both' the professions. The Brower family originated in Holland and prob- ably settled for a time in New York, after com- ing to America, later locating in Lancaster county, Pa. Enoch Brower, the great-grand- father of our subject, was born in November, 1762. He married Froenta Eichenberry. His son, John Brower, a native of Lancaster county, Pa., was a miller by trade, and moved into Rock- ingham county, Va., where he became a tiller of the soil, and where his death occurred. He was united in marriage with Hannah Miller, a daughter of David and Magdeline (Eichenber- ry) Miller.

Dr. Brower's parents were David and Salome (Yoder) Brower, the former, a native of Rock- ingham county, Va., born in 1821. He was an elder in the German Baptist Brethren Church, and preached the Gospel for half a century, in addition to conducting a farm. He left Allen

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county, Ohio, in 1854 and located in Keokuk county, Iowa, where he followed his double vocation of farmer and minister of the Gospel, being a pioneer in that section in both lines of endeavor. His wife, Salome (Yoder) Brower, was born in Center county, Pa., in 1819, a daughter of Henry and Nancy (Yoder) Yoder, Her father was at one time a farmer, in Penn- sylvania, but finally settled in Ohio. Mrs. Brower passed to her final rest in Salem, Ore., whither the family had removed in 1871. The father bought a farm near that city and once more took up his double occupation, following the same until his death in 1890. He preached all over the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho in the home missionary work, his services being given gratuitously. He established congrega- tions and built churches in many parts of the west. He and his wife had seven children, of whom David M., is the fifth. Other members of their family are Jacob D., of Michigan; Mrs. Priscilla Morgan, of Marion county, Ore .; Bar- bara B., now Mrs. William Baltimore, of Al- bany, Ore .; and Levi S., also a resident of Marion county.

David M. Brower was born, October 26, 1858, in Keokuk county, Iowa, where his primary edu- cation was obtained in the district schools. In 1871 he accompanied his parents to Oregon, and in this state his education was completed. He entered Willamette University at Portland, and was graduated from the medical department of that institution in 1888, with the degree of M. D. Soon after his graduation, Dr. Brower opened an office in Roseburg, Ore., and at once commenced the practice of his chosen profession. One year later he went to Myrtle Point, Coos county, as general practitioner, and while there he served one term as coroner of Coos county. In 1893 he lo- cated in Ashland, which has since been his home, and during his years of residence there he has built up a lucrative practice. In 1902-03 he served as president of the Southern Oregon Medical Society. In 1894 he was installed as minister of the German Baptist Brethren Church, over which he still presides.

March 18, 1883, Dr. Brower was united in marriage with Delila Miller, formerly of Jackson county, Iowa, and a daughter of Isaac S. and Elizabeth (Bayer) Miller, the former a miller by trade and a native of Holmes county, Ohio, and the latter of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were married in Illinois. In 1864 they went to Clark county, Ohio, and later became esteemed residents of Rock Creek, that state. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Brower was Solomon Mil- ler.

Dr. and Mrs. Brower have had ten children, only six of whom are living. Their children are as follows : Leland R., who died aged six ; David

M., who died at the age of four years; Manly M .; Myra, who died aged three years; Andrew F .; Edith W., who died when eighteen months old; Voda E .; Harley Ray ; Mina M. and Allan M. Dr. Brower is a Socialist in his political con- victions and is among the most useful members of society in Ashland.

AXOM D. FARMER. A hero of both the Mexican and Civil wars, Axom D. Farmer is also one of the foremost farmers of the vicinity of Hebo, Tillamook county, where he still has a lease of the farm recently disposed of to his son, which has been his home for many years. When he first came to the farm, about 1876, Mr. Farmer had a sawmill in operation, but of late his land has been devoted principally to dairying, and in connection therewith he had engaged at coopering, the trade of his youth, learned from an industrious and worthy father. Ninety-five acres have been retained of the original grant of one hundred and sixty acres, and about fourteen cows supply milk to a number of steady custom- ers. Mr. Farmer came to Oregon by rail, and from Yamhill county came over the old Harris trail to Tillamook, shipping his household goods down the river. He located first on a farm eight miles south of Tillamook, and five years later re- moved to his present farm. He has taken an active interest in Republican politics and has served as road supervisor and school director. He is also identified with the Grand Army of the Republic.

Mr. Farmer is seventy-four years old, and therefore entitled to the partial leisure which he is enjoying at the present time. He was born in Robertson county, Tenn., October 17, 1829, and his father, Benjamin, was presumably a native of the same state. The latter was a cooper by trade, an occupation followed in Tennessee until his removal to Wayne county, Ill., in 1838. As was the case with all tradesmen in the early days, onc occupation did not suffice, and the me- chanic was of necessity master of many depart- ments of activity, including carpentering, mill- wrighting and others equally useful. Benjamin Farmer lived only a year after his removal to Wayne county and died a comparatively young man. His wife, Kisira (Fly) Farmer, died in Williamson county, Ill., in 1901, having attained the age of ninety years. Her family comprised two sons and one daughter, of whom Axom is the oldest.

As a youth of nine, Axom D. Farmer accom- panied his parents to Wayne county, Ill., and he there grew to manhood on a farm, receiving a limited education in the near by school. In time he moved to Union county, Ill., where he mar- ried Betsy Daniels, who bore him a daughter,

mc Intosh

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now Mrs. W. T. West, of this county. He aft- erwards married, in Williamson county, Il1., Mrs. Eliza McGinnis, who was born in Illinois, and who died on the home place in Tillamook county in 1898. Of this second marriage there were born three sons, Frank, Lewis, deceased, and Otis, on the home farm. At the time of the breaking out of the Mexican war Mr. Farmer was making his home in Williamson county, Ill., and was engaged in farming and coopering. The youth and men of the neighborhood welcomed the opportunity as a chance to break the mo- notony of farming, and the exodus to serve the cause of the country was large and enthusiastic. Mr. Farmer went to war as a teamster, serving throughout the contest in that capacity. For a time he was under command of General Taylor at Vera Cruz, and during the service met with many adventures of which he still retains vivid recollections. Returning to Williamson county, he continued farming and coopering until 1862, when the Civil war presented another opportun- ity to show his mettle and patriotism., Strange to say, Mr. Farmer served throughout the Civil war also as a teamster, and was connected with the Seventeenth Army Corps under Gen- erals Grant, Sherman and Logan. He enlisted at Cairo, Ill., in Company H. Thirty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served three years.

Disposing of his Williamson county farm in the spring of 1871, Mr. Farmer came to Oregon, as heretofore stated, and has since made this state his home. He has won a host of friends through the exercise of many fine traits of char- acter, and his uprightness and progressiveness place him among the sterling and highly respected citizens of a prosperous neighborhood.

DONALD McINTOSH. Ship-building, farm- ing and dairying are occupations in which the late Donald McIntosh achieved the success due a painstaking and conscientious workman. Born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, May 10, 1847, he passed the first fifteen years of his life in a fam- ily in which there were nine other children, and then, on account of the death of his parents, he started out to face the world of work and respon- sibility. Long association with sailors and fisher- men and close contact with the sea, bred in the youth a fondness for the deep, and his first money was earned aboard a fishing schooner off the coast of Cape Breton. In the course of his career he one day landed at Cornwallis and there found work in a ship yard. He was so well pleased with the occupation that he mastered the trade in about five years' time. Going to Boston, Mass., he worked at ship-building for about three years and then made his way to San Francisco, where he was similarly employed until 1868. His next

ship-building experience was at Marshfield, Ore., where he worked three years, and from there he went to North Bend, continuing at his trade for twelve years. The company valued his services so highly that for the last seven years of his stay with them he was foreman of the yards.

During the early 'zos Mr. McIntosh removed from North Bend to a farm four miles east of Marshfield, at the mouth of the Coos river. At the time he purchased the land it was considered too low to be very valuable, but by diking and ditching he converted it into a valuable property, the tract comprising two hundred acres, a large part of which is cleared and improved. Mr. Mc- Intosh formerly engaged in general farming and stock-raising, but for the last ten years of his life he devoted his farm principally to dairying, milk- ing about fifty cows. In this connection he mate- rially advanced the interests of the dairymen in the county, and was one of the principal organ- izers of the Coos Bay Creamery in 1892. From that time until his death he was a director in and the manager of the creamery, which has more than realized the expectations of its promoters, and has been of incalculable benefit to dairymen.

Prominent and popular in his locality, Mr. Mc- Intosh gained the confidence of his fellow men by his unswerving integrity, practical common sense and invariable good humor. Early in life he had united with the Presbyterian Church. For twenty-five years he was identified with the Masons, being a member of Blanco Lodge, and was prominent in Republican politics. Aside from other offices which he filled in the county, he served as county commissioner of Coos coun- ty for over five years, being elected thereto in 1898, re-elected in 1902, and at the time of his death was serving his second term.

June 12, 1870, Mr. McIntosh was united in marriage with Miss Nancy Davis, who was born in Newton county, Mo., a daughter of Milton and Martha Frances (Fitzhugh) Davis. Her father died in Illinois, in January, 1882. Mrs. Davis and her daughter settled in Douglas coun- ty, Ore., in 1860, and thence removed to Coos county in 1865. Mrs. Davis' father was Solomon Fitzhugh, a pioneer of about 1850, and for many ycars one of the most prominent men of Doug- las county. He served in the first state legisla- ture and was re-elected to the office. For many years he bore an important part in the public life of the state. His death occurred in 1884. Five children were born into the McIntosh home, of whom Eleanor died at the age of nine years ; Josephine is the wife of Everctt H. Bessey, su- perintendent of the Coos Bay Creamcry ; Jolin A .. who was formerly engaged in copper mining in Arizona, Nevada and California, is now super- intending the work on the home farm; and May Belle and George Kenneth are living at home.

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The death of Mr. McIntosh occurred Novem- ber 23, 1903, and was deeply deplored by the community in which he had made his home so long. He was a large-hearted, generous and pub- lic-spirited man, a man of the strongest integrity and singleness of purpose, straightforward and frank, and his word was as good as his bond. He was industrious, energetic, and to whatever he turned his hand he brought the full force of his strength. The record of his life's work is deserving of a conspicuous place among those of the men who have accomplished the most in the upbuilding of Coos county and the development of its rich resources.

ALFRED HARVEY CARSON. A man of energy, enterprise and good business capacity, Alfred H. Carson is an able representative of the horticultural interests of Josephine county. Since locating in Grants Pass he has made an especial study of the culture of fruit and care of orchards and vineyards, and his close application to his favorite industry has made him an authority on all questions relating to the nursery business. His knowledge is recognized throughout the county, and for the past six years he has served as fruit commissioner for the third horticultural district of Oregon. A son of the late James E. Carson, he was born December 5, 1843, in Mar- ietta, Washington county, Ohio. He comes of Irish ancestry, his grandfather, Patrick Carson, a cousin of Kit Carson, the famous hunter, trap- er and guide, having been born and reared in County Down, Ireland. Coming with his brother William to the United States, in 1760, he located in the Western Reserve of Ohio, be- coming a pioneer farmer in the town of Mans- field, while William settled in New York state. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church.

James E. Carson, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, in 1808, or 1809. Removing to Illinois in 1836, he settled in Henry county, where he bought six thousand acres of land, and in addi- tion to carrying on general farming on an ex- tensive scale, he had the distinction of establish- ing the first store opened in the town of Weath- ersfield. Migrating to Michigan in 1860, he was employed as a stock-raiser and farmer until 1871, when he located in Burlington, Kans., where he lived retired until his death, in 1873. He was a man of strict integrity, and true to the religious faith in which he was reared, was a member of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he was a Douglas Democrat until after the war, when he became identified with the Republican party. He married Mary A. Potter, who was born in Belpre, Washington county, Ohio, and died in Michigan, in 1881, aged about three score years. Her father, Joseph Potter, a native of Connecti-

cut, was a farmer by occupation, and one of the pioneers of Belpre, Ohio. Removing to Illinois in 1859, he scttled on a farm in Lafayette, where he resided until his death in 1878.

The eldest child in a family consisting of three sons and three daughters, Alfred H. Carson was brought up in Illinois, and after leaving the com- mon schools was prepared for college in Knox- ville, Ill. August 11, 1862, inspired by true American patriotism, he enlisted as a private in Company F. One Hundred and Twenty- fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was af- terwards in the cavalry service for some time. For meritorious conduct and gallantry on the bat- tle-field, he was several times promoted. In October, 1864, he was made second lieutenant in Company D, Third United States Cavalry, and in February, 1865, was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in Company L, Third Regiment, which was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, commanded by Gen. J. B. McPherson. He was subsequently a member of the Third United States Cavalry, serving under Gen. Benjamin Grierson. Mr. Carson was on the firing line in many of the more conspicuous engagements of the war, in- cluding among others the battles at Port Gibson ; Bayou Perie; Fourteen Mile creek; Raymond ; Clinton; Jackson; Champion Hill; Black River bridge; and the siege of Vicksburg. In 1864 and 1865 Mr. Carson was acting assistant in- spector-general on the staff of General Osborne, and when, January 26, 1866, at Memphis, Tenn., he was discharged from the service, he was ad- jutant of the Third United States Cavalry.

Returning from Memphis to Illinois, Mr. Car- son resided in Galesburg until 1868, when he took up the study of law at Fort Smith, Ark. He subsequently studied and practiced law with Hughı I. Thomalson, of Van Buren, Ark. In 1874, being forced to give up his legal work on account of ill health, Mr. Carson left his family, and took a leisure trip across the plains, making the journey with teams, and hunting and fishing on the way. Arriving in Josephine county, Ore., at the end of four and one-half months, he was engaged in quartz mining near Grants Pass for a year. Purchasing his present ranch, known as Readland, in 1876, he has since been profitably engaged in the raising of fruits, and for many years was the leading nurseryman of this local- ity. Of his one hundred and sixty acres of land, seventy acres are set out with fruit trees of vari- ous kinds, and thirty acres are devoted to the cul- ture of grapes, which lie raises for table use, and for wine, which he manufactures to a small ex- tent. He is one of the best known fruit dealers of the county, shipping to the Sound cities prin- cipally. He is also actively interested in mining property, in partnership with H. B. Miller, as

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head of the Carson-Miller Mining Company, owning one hundred acres of valuable placer mines in the Applegate district, on Oscar creek, Josephine county.

April 24, 1866, in Galva, Ill., Mr. Carson mar- ried Marie Donnelley, who was born in New York City, a daughter of Bernard Donnelley. Mr. Donnelley was born and reared in Ireland, and after emigrating to the United States em- barked in the general mercantile business in New York City. Subsequently settling in Galva, Ill., he was numbered among the prosperous mer- chants of that place until his death in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Carson are the parents of two children, namely : Alice I., wife of S. Edgar Hamlett, of Fort Wayne, Ind. ; and Lewis W., living at home. Mr. Carson is a stanch Republican in politics, and a member of General Logan Post, G. A. R., at Grants Pass, which he joined in 1867.

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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 43

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