Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 70

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 70

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Samuel H. Brown in his youth had the ordi- nary school advantages, which he improved to the best of his ability. He remained at home until he was twenty-four years old, and after his mar- riage located on a farm four miles from the home-place, where he lived for eighteen years. After the death of his parents, he returned to the old home, where he still resides, and under his active superintendence it has become one of the most thrifty and well kept farms in that neigh- borhood. He makes a specialty of stock-raising, and his ranch consists of five hundred and eighty acres.

December 9. 1883, he was united in marriage with Rebecca F. Adkison, and their family con- sists of six children, namely : Mary G., Henry G., Helen M., Edith H., Hobart E. and Mattie.

KERSEY A. LEEP, M. D. In the days when Virginia held supremacy among the common- wealths of the United States the Leep family was established there; but, like many from the Old Dominion, subsequent generations crossed the mountains into Kentucky and aided in the up- building of another great state. Not many years after the close of the war of 1812, in which he had borne an active part, John Leep left his old Virginia home and identified himself with the pioneers of Kentucky, but later returned to what is now West Virginia and there died. A son of this sturdy pioneer, who bore his father's name, inherited many of that pioneer's traits and was himself admirably qualified to aid in the develop- ment of frontier communities. A Virginian by birth, his early days were passed at Carrollton, Carroll county, Ky., where he combined general farming with horticulture. About 1856 he re- moved to West Virginia and took up farm pur-

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suits near Newark, Wood county, but in 1868 he removed from there to Missouri, settling on a farm near Windsor. Two years later he died there at forty-eight years of age. He was long survived by his widow, Sarah Leep, a native Vir- ginian, who died in Oregon in 1885 aged seven- ty-eight years. As a child her associations were with frontier settlements, when Indians were numerous and wild beasts roamed unmolested through the forests primeval. Before she was born her father, Stephen Wise, started one day with a hunting party after wild turkeys, but none of the men, seven in number, were ever heard of again, and the supposition was that they fell into the hands of the savages.

In the family of John Leep, Jr., there were eight sons and two daughters, among whom Kersey A. was seventh in order of birth. As a boy he was sent to the grammar school and then to the high school at Carrollton, Ky., from which he was graduated in 1876. He was then twenty years of age, having been born December 23, 1855. In youth he had the good fortune to enjoy the preceptorship of Prentice E. Meade in his na- tive town of Carrollton. During 1878 he matric- ulated in the Louisville Medical College, where he hoped to take the complete course of study, but ill health forced him to abandon his plans. Believing that he would be benefited by a change of climate, as well as find in the new and grow- ing west opportunities which the east did not offer, in 1879 he came to Oregon, where he took up one hundred and sixty acres in Pine valley, Union county. At once he embarked in the stock- raising business at his new home and for a num- her of years gave his attention closely and en- tirely to that industry. However, the science of therapeutics did not lose its fascination for him. More than ever before he found himself attracted to its practice. In addition to his partial medical course he had been a constant student, endeavor- ing to increase his stock of professional knowl- edge by self-culture. During 1889 he took a course of lectures in the Willamette University and the following year settled at Myrtle Point, Coos county, where he took up a general profes- sional practice. Wishing to further perfect him- self in the profession, in 1892 he went to St. Louis and took a course of lectures in the Marion Sims Medical College, this institution granting him the degree of M. D. Of late years his spe- cialty has been surgery. He possesses the calm judgment, fine will power and remarkable self- control which characterize the ideal surgeon. In connection with his practice he has a hospital at Myrtle Point, in which patients have the advan- tage of his constant care and oversight. A life- long student, he has gained his wide professional knowledge by assiduous study and habits of thoughtful reading. So devoted has he been to

his profession that his vacation of 1903 was the first he had allowed himself in twelve years. In 1886 Dr. Leep married Catherine Reed, a native of Boulder, Colo. She died less than a year after marriage, being survived by one son, Roland V. At Myrtle Point in March, 1891, he married Miss Ella Endicott, a native of Missouri. In their family are four children, Homer, born in 1893 ; Hallie, born in 1895; Freda, born in 1897, and Kersey A. Jr., born in 1900.

Noteworthy among the associations of Dr. Leep's life have been his fraternal relations, which include membership in the Woodmen of the World, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Rebekahs (in which he has passed the chairs of the local organization), and the Masons, in which he is identified with Myrtle Lodge No. 78, A. F. & A. M., Marshfield Chapter No. 22, R. A. M., and the Eastern Star, which he joined in 1894. The Democratic party in Myrtle Point numbers him among its most active workers. When he was nominated for state senator in 1900, he received the largest vote ever given a Democratic candidate in this district, a fact which speaks much for his high standing and popular- ity. The office of mayor has been tendered him more than once, but he has always declined the honor, feeling that his professional interests re- quired his constant care. However, he consented to serve in the city council and for seven years has been an active and leading member of that organization.

FRANK A. STEWART. In Frank A. Stew- art Curry county not only has a progressive and successful farmer, but a prominent politician and legislator, as well as bearer of high fraternal honors. It is to such men as Mr. Stewart that the rising generation looks for guidance to an all- around practical and useful life, and his example cannot be too greatly appreciated or too closely studied. This honored land-owner was born in Cass county, Ill., January 25, 1843, and when eleven years of age crossed the plains to Oregon with his mother and stepfather-his mother dy- ing en route. They were six months on the way and met with the usual experiences, arriving in Polk county in the fall of 1854, when the fam- ily were obliged to separate. All of the eight children obtained as good educations as the coun- ty schools of Illinois and Oregon provided.

When Frank A. Stewart was twelve years old he went to Dallas for three years, and then to Belpassi, Marion county, and in the two places attended school for eight years, teaching at inter- vals. In 1865 he came to Gold Beach, on the Rogue river, and engaged in merchandising, fish- ing and saw-milling in partnership with Hon. Michael Riley. Ten years later he sold his store

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and saw-mill to R. D. Hume, and in 1877 Mr. Hume also became possessor of the fishery busi- ness. Mr. Stewart thereupon engaged in sheep- raising in Squaw valley, and in 1882 came to his present farm of three hundred and forty acres on Greg's creek. For a mile and a half his property skirts the beach, and mines for the whole dis- tance facilitate an extensive mining industry. A practical and enlightened mind has aided the pres- ent owner in supplying improvements of a high order on his mine, and one looks in vain for the laborious and old-time methods of less progressive ininers. His home is one of the most beautiful locations to be found on the entire Pacific coast, and a fine library and piano help to render his home life happy.

Almost continuously since the early '8os Mr. Stewart has been before the public as a Republi- can official, his first office of importance being that of member of the legislature, to which he was elected in 1882, his second election to the legislature occurring in 1895. From 1888 until 1890 he was county superintendent of schools, and for the following four years discharged the duties of county treasurer. He was deputy col- lector of customs at Port Orford for two and a half years, and served as collector of customs for the district of southern Oregon from 1890 until 1894. Mr. Stewart was a charter member of the now abandoned Gold Beach Lodge No. 70, A. F. & A. M., was its master for several years. and was the first senior deacon of the lodge. He is a frequent contributor to the local and state papers in both prose and verse, and is universally well read. In 1867 Mr. Stewart was united in marriage with Hattie Riley, whose un- timely death in 1868 temporarily clouded his home. In 1872 he married Laura E. Riley, sis- ter of his first wife, and of which union there have been born five children: Frank R., de- ceased; Fred Dewey; Hardy Thurston; Ruby M .; and Pearl A.

JOHN R. BENSON. For many generations the Benson family lived in England, but perhaps one hundred years ago John Benson brought his family to America and settled in Quebec. At the time of emigration his son, William, was a child of eight years, hence he was reared princi- pally in Canada. Coming to the states in 1857, he settled at Rochelle, Ill., where he took up farm pursuits. From there in 1866 he removed to Laporte, Iowa, and again took up agricultural pursuits. Believing, however, that he could bet- ter his condition by taking up government land, he removed to Hamilton, Neb., in 1871, and took up a tract, out of which he evolved an improved farm. In early life he had married Catherine Procunier, a native of Canada and a daughter

of Isaac Procunier. When a young man her father removed from his native state of Pennsyl- vania to Canada, where he undertook the im- provement of a farm. Illy satisfied with the fruits of his toil, in 1850 he returned to the states, settling on a farm in Ogle county, Ill. Subsequent to this he spent a few years in Iowa, but returned to Illinois, where he died.

In a family of eight, born to the union of William Benson and Catherine Procunier, John R. Benson was next to the oldest. As a child he was sent to country schools in the localities where his father lived, in Illinois and Iowa, yet the knowledge he now possesses is the result rather of self-culture and habits of close observa- tion than of text-book study. Farming was his occupation in youth, but in 1873 he became inter- ested in a drug business at Arcadia, Iowa, where he remained until 1881, meanwhile also holding the office of postmaster. During the latter year he moved to Manning, Iowa, where he conducted a general mercantile business. His residence in the west dates from 1890, when he settled in Crescent City, Cal. The year 1891 found him in Oregon, since which time he has been a resident of Myrtle Point. Included among his property holdings in this vicinity are some town lots and two hundred and eighty acres of farm land. His first business venture here was the management of a sawmill. May 29, 1901, he opened a private bank, known as the Bank of Myrtle Point, and to this he now gives his undivided attention, occupying for that purpose a two-story brick building, 50x60 feet, situated on the corner of Main and Spruce streets. He is now in the prime of life (having been born November 21, 1846), hence it may be safely predicted that years of further usefulness and extensive commercial and financial interests await him.

January II, 1869, Mr. Benson was married at Vinton, Iowa, to Carrie Vaughn, a native of Illinois. They have only one child, Mabel Anita, wife of Lonis A. Roberts, of Myrtle Point; but have adopted Pearl Benson, the daughter of a brother, Charles, who died at this place. Fra- ternally, Mr. Benson is connected with the Knights of Pythias and Rathbone Sisters; also the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Degree of Honor. The United States is his home only by adoption, for he was born in Nor- folk county, Canada. at Port Rowan, on the banks of Lake Erie; yet in everything except birth he is a typical native-born citizen of our country, loyal to its institutions, interested in its prosperity. One of his recollections is connected with a parade when he carried a torchlight for Abraham Lincoln, and today he is as stanch in his advocacy of Republican principles as he was then. In his capacity as a member of the city council he has been instrumental in promoting

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measures for the benefit of his home town and has done much, both as an official and as a private citizen, to enlarge its influence and enhance its prosperity.

JOHN LEWIS BANTON. Few among the early settlers of Benton county have labored more earnestly, practically or wisely for the establish- ment of a home, for the rearing of a fine family or the maintaining of an honored name, than has John Lewis Banton. After years of hard manual labor, of conflict with deprivation and danger in the early days, this large-hearted set- tler is able to view his life and work from the high plane of success, and to rejoice that his children have so far inherited his ability and industry as to assume his responsibilities, and permit him to spend his remaining years in com- parative leisure.

A justifiable pride of birth must always in- spire a Banton to do his best in the struggle for business or character supremacy. For many years the name was one of the best known and most highly honored in Buckingham county, Va., where the representative under discussion was, born April 9, 1825. His paternal grandfather was one of the large land-owners and extensive farmers of Buckingham county, and he inaugu- rated an exceptionally busy career by several years of service in the Revolutionary war. He evidently fought under the banner of the im- mortal Washington, for the patriot's name was given his eldest son, the father of John Lewis, to whom he also bequeathed a courageous spirit and unswerving devotion to his country. Wash- ington Banton served with ardor in the war of 1812, and spent his active life at carpentering and in tilling the soil, at which he made a con- siderable success. Through his marriage with Elizabeth Maxey, in Buckingham county, he al- lied with his own another Revolutionary family, as well as one claiming extreme longevity. Mrs. Banton herself lived to be ninety-nine years old, which was not surprising, considering that her father, John Maxey, a Revolutionary soldier, at- tained the remarkable age of one hundred and four years. About 1836 Washington Banton took his family overland to Missouri, where he farmed and worked at his trade in Monroe county, until an illness of five years terminated in his death in 1842. He was a great sufferer toward the end of his life, but bore his trouble bravely as became a soldier and life-long member and worker in the Baptist Church. Of his nine children, Bennett Maxey is a farmer in Harrison county, Mo. ; Larcina Anne is the wife of John Burl of Harrison county ; Rebecca Jane became the wife of William Conover and both are de- ceased; Edward D. is deceased; John Lewis is

the fifth child in order of birth; Elisha Wash- ington and Charles Spencer are deceased ; Levina Harriet and Elizabeth Frances complete the list.

At the time the Mexican war broke out John Lewis Banton was serving an apprenticeship to a blacksmith, but, true to the example of his father and grandfather, he was ready at a mo- ment's notice to shoulder arms in defense of his country. Enlisting in Company A, Second Mis- souri Regiment, June 25, 1846, under Colonel Price, he went with his company as a sergeant to Santa Fe, and there, under command of Colonel Donavon, volunteered with ninety-nine other men to open communication with General Wool at Chihuahua, Mexico. The brave band of volunteers fought their way through a hostile country, captured El Paso and Chihuahua, and accomplished their mission amid a blaze of glory and universal acclamation. On this expedition Mr. Banton was wounded in the battle of Sacra- mento, and after being confined for three weeks in the hospital, joined General Taylor at Mon- terey. His time having expired, he returned to New Orleans, where he was discharged in July, 1847, and permitted to return to his home in Monroe county, Mo.

In 1849 Mr. Banton married Sophia Majors, who was born in Fauquier county, Va., Novem- ber 3, 1825, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Nichols) Majors. The children of this union are: John Arthur at home and David William, deceased in infancy ; Susan Jane became the wife of Samuel Reckard, both deceased; Martha Frances, the wife of R. S. Brown, both of whom are deceased : Charles Elisha, at home ; May- bella, deceased at the age of ten years ; and Rosa Lee, wife of R. G. Myers, of Alsea, Ore. The year after his marriage, in 1850, Mr. Banton came to California alone, leaving his family in Missouri. The first winter he mined near Placer- ville, and in the spring of 1851 joined an expedi- tion to Gold Bluff, in the northern part of the state, going by water, and once there continuing on to the Salmon river. In June, 1851, he went to Eureka, Cal., then continued on to Josephine county, southern Oregon, where he remained and mined until the spring of 1852. At that time he came to Polk county, and in the fall of 1852 moved to Douglas county, and took up a claim near Wilbur, where he farmed until the winter of 1852. His claim proving disappoint- ing, and the general outlook rather discouraging, he went to Portland and there embarked for the east by way of Nicaragua. Again in Missouri he resumed his old occupation of farming in Shelby county, but in 1860, following the example of thousands of others who have once seen and abandoned the west, returned to its brighter sunshine and larger possibilities with his family. This time he invested the proceeds of his Mis-

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souri farm in a farm near Lookingglass, Douglas county, where he combined farming and saw- mnilling with good results. In 1863 he . went to eastern Oregon and engaged in the cattle business in Union county, thence moved to Idaho, then locating in 1866 on a farm near Junction City, Lane county, Ore. Mr. Banton located on his present farm in 1872, and has therefore made it his home for thirty-one years. Situated four and a half miles south of Alsea, it is one hun- dred and sixty acres in extent, and in its general appearance indicates the painstaking labor of its industrious and conscientious owner. Mr. Ban- ton has one hundred acres under cultivation, fenced and equipped with model barns and gen- eral improvements, and he formerly engaged extensively in stock-raising. As before stated, his children are conducting the farm at present, and himself and wife are enjoying that freedom from care which is prized the more because so dearly purchased. Mr. Banton has been a Demo- crat all of his voting life, and for many years has served as a member of the school board. The Presbyterian Church has profited by his membership for many years, and he is at present an elder in the church, giving both time and money toward its maintenance and general use- fulness. Fraternally Mr. Banton is an honored member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows at Corvallis, and is also identified with Hope Grange No. 269, of Alsea.

ALBERT WILEY KIME. In keeping with its broad and cosmopolitan character, Bandon welcomes within its borders professional as well as commercial and industrial talent. Numerous followers of medical science have found the town a pleasant place in which to live, as well as a profitable field in which to apply their absorbing occupation. Among these, Albert Wiley Kime takes high rank, partly because of his clear and comprehensive understanding of medical and surgical science, and also because of a genial and tactful man- ner and faculty for inspiring confidence.

Dr. Kime is not the only member of his family who has shown a capacity for the call- ing of Æsculapius, for his father, James Henry Kime, is at present conducting a successful practice in Alton, Humboldt county, Cal. The elder Kime was born in Tiffin, Ohio, in 1836, and as a boy removed with his parents to Iowa county, Iowa, where he was reared on a farm until his twenty-first year. He married Kath- erine Zimmerman, who was born in Ohio, and who bore him two sons, of whom the youngest, Charles, is a steamboat engineer with headquarters at Bandon. Albert Wiley, the oldest son, was born in Iowa county, Iowa,

August 27, 1858. The same year his father crossed the plains to California, equipped with ox-teams and a prairie schooner, finally settling in Sierra county, Cal., where Mr. Kime en- gaged in mining with moderate success until 1878. In the meantime his wife and son, Al- bert W., came to his newly established home in 1865, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. The second son, Charles, was born in Oakland, Cal., in 1871. In 1878 Mr. Kime located in Corvallis, Ore., where he worked at the car- penter's trade, in 1885 removing to Baker county, Ore., and still later to Vale, Malheur county. In the latter town he became inter- ested in a drug business, and at the same time undertook the study of medicine, finally grad- uating from the medical department of the University of Oregon in the class of 1890. Di- rectly after his graduation he began to prac- tice in Bandon, and in 1897 removed to his present home in Alton, Humboldt county, Cal.

Albert Wiley Kime was a child of seven when he came to the west, and his preliminary education was acquired in the public schools of California. In 1883 he left his home in Oregon and engaged in a drug business in Portland, and in 1885 transferred his business to eastern Oregon. In the meantime he had made a thorough study of medicine, and in 1892 removed to Bandon, where he practiced until 1894, during that year entering the medi- cal department of the University of Oregon, from which he was duly graduated in 1897. Since then he has practiced medi- cine in Bandon, and at present has a large general patronage, his skill in diagnosis and treatment having won the confidence of his fellow-townsmen as well as the sur- rounding agriculturists. Dr. Kime is one of those liberal and broad-minded practition- ers who find actual enjoyment in public af- fairs, and especially in political undertakings. In Malheur county he was elected county treasurer on the Republican ticket, resigning the office when he came to Bandon in 1892. At the present time he is serving his second term as chairman of the city council, in the deliberations of which he has taken a con- spicuous part. Wise land investments have added materially to his yearly income, and he owns, besides other town and country prop- erty, the Kime Opera House of Bandon. His fraternal associations are with the Odd Fel- lows, in which he has passed all of the chairs ; the Fraternal Aid; the Foresters of America, and the Knights of Pythias. He is also exam- iner for the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and several old- line insurance companies.

Dr. Kime's pleasant and hospitable home

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has a gracious keeper in Mrs. Kime, who was formerly Kittie Rohner, a native of Browns- ville, Ore., and a daughter of J. B. Gross. She is the devoted mother of two children, Mamie and Claude. Dr. Kime is one of the substan- tial citizens of this progressive little town, and in character and attainments represents the fundamental upbuilders of the western slope.

SAMUEL SCHMIDT. The canning and packing of salmon along the Columbia river and its tributaries is now one of the leading indus- tries of the Northern Pacific states, and its de- velopment has increased to such an extent dur- ing the past few years that it is no longer con- fined to individuals, but the numerous curing and packing plants are controlled mainly by heavily- capitalized stock companies. Prominent among the sahinon packers and shippers of Clatsop county is Samuel Schmidt, head of the firm of S. Schmidt & Co., of Astoria. Keeping well abreast of the times, he makes use of the most modern methods and the latest approved ma- elunery in his plant, and his massive cold stor- age building, 225x400 feet, is equipped with a thirty-five-ton ice machine, which was manufac- tured by the Pennsylvania Iron Works. In the curing of fish pure English salt is used, and the mild cure given the salmon by this firm is unexcelled. A native of New York city, he was born on West Nineteenth street, March 17, 1857, and is the third in direct line to bear the name of Samuel. His grandfather, Samuel Schmidt, first, was a life-long resident of Ger- many, and a tiller of the soil.

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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 70

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