Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 72

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 72

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In October of 1901 Mr. Dement moved to Myrtle Point and later bought a ranch of one thousand acres owned by Cass Hermann. While making his home in town, he personally man- agcs his ranch and gives careful oversight to his large flocks and herds. Indeed, his success is due not a little to this personal direction and constant care. In the midst of his activities he finds time to take an active part in local affairs and is a worker in the Republican party, always supporting its men and measures. Fraternally he is connected with the Woodmen of the World. His marriage took place near Coquille, Ore., and united him with Nellie Figg, a native of this state and the daughter of a well-known pioneer, Benjamin Figg. They have two children, Wal- lace B. and Alice. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dement are highly respected throughout their home neighborhood and have many friends among the best people of their town and county.

RALPH F. DEAN. Inheriting both his abil- ity and taste for farming, and being more and more convinced that the life offers a satisfaction to be found in but few of the occupations of men, Ralph F. Dean has succeeded because he expected to, and because he is employing the right methods to bring it about. His farm of two hundred and forty acres shows painstaking and conscientious work, and marked business ability is shown in the disposal of the land to the best possible advantage. The one hundred acres under cultivation is mostly bottom land, and he raises grains, general produce and a high grade stock. While thus employed he has taken that in- terest in public affairs which the enterprising far- mer of today considers his duty and right, and has developed a broad and tolerant insight into happenings of the world. As a Democrat he has held about all of the local offices within the gift of his fellow townsmen, including that of deputy

sheriff for one term. Fraternally he is a mem- ber of the Central Point Lodge, No. 81, A. O. U. W., and he is connected with P. P. Prim Cabin Native Sons of Jackson county. In his home life Mr. Dean is solicitous for the comfort and con- venience of those dependent on him, being an appreciator of the benefits of bright and pleasant surroundings, of books and pictures, and even luxuries. The wife who presides over his home was formerly Olive Glass, of Arkansas, whom he married June 8, 1896, and with whom he started in at independent farming on his present land, where he was born January 2, 1861. He has two children, Clara Ethel and Frank Cobb.

While the name of Dean is being dignified and ennobled by the career of Ralph F. Dean, it acquired its first importance in Jackson county through the originator of the family in the west, Nathaniel Cobb Dean, the father of Ralph F. He was born in Whitesboro, N. Y., in 1818, and was educated in the public schools, his first in- dependent money being earned as a steamboat hand on the Mississippi river. For some time he worked on boats running between St. Louis and New Orleans, and was making considerable headway when the outbreak of the Mexican war appealed to his patriotism. Enlisting in Company C, Second Louisiana Volunteer Infantry, he served as a teamster until the close of the war, being often subjected to danger, and participating in the moves of the army from one point of battle to another.

In 1850 Mr. Dean came to California by way of the Isthmus, and for two years followed min- ing. In 1852 he came to Jackson county, where he took up a donation claim of one hundred and sixty acres three miles west of Central Point. In October of the same year he married Anna Huston, a native of New Jersey, and who crossed the plains in 1852. Mrs. Dean took up a claim adjoining that of her husband, and therefore, this first white couple to marry in the Rogue River valley had three hundred and twenty acres between them, a by no means discouraging out- look for young people starting out in life. Mr. Dean was energetic and practical, and besides making many improvements on his property hc branched out into mining, eventually owning ex- tensive mining properties in the county. His yearly income was a large one, and he was one of the most prosperous men in his neighborhood. Extremely public spirited, he watched with in- creasing interest the development of the Demo- cratic party in the county, and took a foremost lead in local offices, becoming a member of the first board of commissioners appointed by the Territorial Legislature to organize Jackson coun- ty. At the time of his death. June 4, 1876, his name was a household one not only in Jackson county, but throughout the entire southern part

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of Oregon, and in his passing the county he had helped to upbuild lost a faithful friend and earnest believer in its future prosperity. The wife who survived him until October 24, 1900, bore him nine children, four of whom are living : Bradford W., a farmer of Curry county, Ore .; Mrs. Sherry Rodenbergher, of this vicinity; Ralph F .; and Mrs. Clara Farra of Central Point.

HON. ERNEST V. CARTER. A man of good executive and financial ability. Hon. Ernest V. Carter is prominently identified with the lead- ing interests of Ashland, and has exerted a large influence in the forwarding of its material prog- ress. He is a man of strict business integrity, and has become widely and favorably known as cashier of the Bank of Ashland. In public capac- ities, he has served his town and county with zeal and efficiency, and has rendered valuable service to his fellow-citizens as a representative to the state legislature and as state senator. A son of the late Henry B. Carter, he was born October 13, 1860, in Elkader, Iowa.

The descendant of a prominent New England family that settled in Connecticut in colonial days, Henry B. Carter was born in Tallmadge, Ohio, in 1821, died in Los Angeles, Cal., in April, 1896 and was buried in Ashland, Ore. Remov- ing to Iowa when a young man he settled in Elkader, Clayton county, where he was a pio- neer farmer, for a number of years being en- gaged in agricultural pursuits in that locality, and in Lyon county, Iowa. Retiring from the farm, he opened a general store in Elkader, and in 1871 established the First National Bank of Elkader. He took an active interest in industrial and public matters, both in town and county, and was an extensive stock dealer and shipper. For one term he served as state senator. Making a trip to Oregon in 1881, he was very much im- pressed with the fertility of the Rogue River val- ley, and made a second visit in 1882. In 1884 he settled with his family in Ashland, Jackson coun- ty, and in that year organized the Bank of Ash- land, becoming one of its largest stockholders. He also became associated with other enterprises, being a pioneer horticulturist of this locality. Improving an orchard of one hundred acres, he embarked in the culture of peaches, and was one of the first to make large shipments of this frnit from this county. He owned valu- able city property, and was interested in the original Ashland Hotel Company. He was also the prime mover in the establishing and installing of the Ashland Electric Light and Power Company, serving as its first president. Politically he was a stanch Re- publican, and fraternaily he was a member of the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He mar- ried Harriet H. Coe, who was born in Tallmadge, Ohio, of New England ancestry. She died in November, 1902, in Ashland. She was a most estimable woman, respected by all, and was proni- inent in church and temperance work. Of the eight children born of their union, five grew to years of maturity, namely: Frank H., of Ash- land; Mrs. Ellen C. Galey, of Ashland; Mrs. Orra A. Pordy, of Houston, Tex .; Ernest V., the special subject of this sketch; and Albert R., of Salem, Ore. Frank H. Carter, the eldest son, is an extensive and successful orchardist; the vice-president of the Bank of Ashland; secre- tary and manager of the Ashland Electric Light and Power Company; and regent of the state normal school.

After completing his studies in the city schools of Elkader, Iowa, Ernest V. Carter attended the State Agricultural College, at Ames, Iowa, for two years. Entering the First National Bank of Elkader in 1880, he was first bookkeeper, af- terwards assistant cashier, and before attaining his majority was elected cashier, succeeding his brother, F. H. Carter, who resigned to enter the employ of the Mexican Central Railroad, as pay- master. He retained the position of cashier for more than a year, when the family disposed of all its Elkader interests. Mr. Carter subsequent- ly traveled for a year, then, in 1883, came to Oregon. In 1884, on the organization of the Bank of Ashland, he was elected cashier, and has since held the position. This is the oldest institution of the kind in the city, and the oldest incorporated bank in Jackson county. It car- ries on a general banking business, having a fully paid up capital of $50,000, with a surplus and undivided profits of $33,000, and has been under the same management for upwards of nine- teen consecutive years. Mr. Carter was one of the incorporators of the Carter Land Company, of which he is president, and his brother vice- president. He was one of the organizers of the Ashland Fruit Produce Association, which handles three-fourths of the fruit raised in this locality, and is a director and the treasurer of this company. He is also one of the directors of the Ashland Electric Light and Power Com- pany, and of the Ashland Hotel Company. For a number of years he served as city treasurer, and is a member, and ex-president, of the Ash- land Board of Trade.

Active in political circles, Mr. Carter is a steadfast Republican, and has filled many offices of importance. In 1898 he was elected as repre- sentative to the state legislature from Jackson county, was elected speaker of the House in the special session of 1898, and was again speaker of the house during its twentieth biennial session. In 1900 he was not a candidate for re-election,

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but in 1902, on the Republican ticket, he was elected state senator, and served in the twenty- first bienmal session, being a member of the com- mittee on ways and means; chairman of the committee on banking and insurance, and on game. While speaker of the house Mr. Carter succeeded in securing a good appropriation for the state normal school, and in the senatorial con- test of 1903 was one of the original C. W. Ful- ton supporters. Fraternally Mr. Carter was made a Mason in Elkader Lodge No. 72, and is now a member of Ashland Lodge No. 23, A. F. & A. M., of which he is past master ; united with Harmony Chapter No. 41, R. A. M., in Elkader, and is now a member of Siskiyou Chapter No. 21, R. A. M., of which he is past high priest ; was made a Knight Templar in McGregor, Iowa, and is one of the charter members of Malta Commandery No. 4, K. T., of Ashland, being past eminent commander ; belongs to the Oregon Con- sistory, of Portland; to the Al Kader Temple, N. M. S .; and to the Eastern Star Chapter, of which he is past patron. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; of the Woodmen of the World; and of the An- cient Order of United Workmen. In 1884, in Denver, Colo., Mr. Carter married Miss Anna Fox, who was born in Clayton county, Iowa, the daughter of Benjamin Fox, a retired busi- ness man, and a citizen of note.

HERBERT LUVILLE GILKEY. The genealogical record of the Gilkey family is traced back to Scotland, whence two brothers of that name emigrated to America and settled in Massachusetts during the colonial period. From that state one ancestor removed to Maine, and his son, Samuel, a native of that state, spent his entire life in farm pursuits there. William, son of Samuel, and father of Herbert L., was born in Gorham, Me., in 1822, and on arriving at man's estate he took up agricultural pursuits in that neighborhood, but later removed to Troy, Me., where he served as selectman. His next location was on a farm near Fort Fairfield. In 1873 he came west and settled on a farm near Seattle, Wash., but at this writing makes his home at Montesano, Wash. His wife, Nancy, was born in Troy, Me., and was a daughter of Jesse Smart, also a native of that state. After having for some years followed farm pursuits and conducted

a lumber business at Troy, Mr. Smart crossed the plains to California with a son about 1852 and there engaged in mining until his death four years later. The Smart family was of early Massachusetts stock.

Of the nine children of William Gilkey all but one are living. Herbert L., who was among

the youngest of the number, was born at Fort Fairfield, Aroostock county, Me., September 20, 1866. In the spring of 1873 he accompanied his parents to Washington, where he passed the years of boyhood on a farm, alternating farm work with attendance upon the district schools. Later he took a course of study in Heald's Busi- ness College, San Francisco, from which he was graduated in 1887. His first employment was that of bookkeeper in a general store at Monte- sano, Wash. A year later, in 1888, he secured a position as bookkeeper in the bank of C. N. Byles & Co., at Montesano, and his services with that firm proved so satisfactory that in time he was promoted to be cashier. When the institu- tion was merged into the Bank of Montesano in 1890, he continued in the capacity of cashier, besides being a stockholder and director. In 1894 he disposed of his interests in Montesano and moved to Medford, Ore., where he engaged with W. T. Kame in the hardware business, under the firm name of Kame & Gilkey. On selling out in 1897, he became cashier of the Jackson County Bank, which position he held until April, 1901.

As cashier of the First National Bank of Southern Oregon at Grants Pass, Mr. Gilkey came to Grants Pass in April of 1901 and has since been identified with the financial interests of the city. The property which he purchased on A street has been remodeled and enlarged under his personal direction and forms a beauti- ful home, the attractiveness of the residence being enhanced by the well-kept lawn and eight acres of grounds surrounding. December 7, 1903, Mr. Gilkey was elected mayor of Grants Pass, on the Citizens' ticket, resulting in a victory for better municipal government. In ad- dition to being an active member of the board of trade, he officiates as treasurer of that organ- ization. His identification with local affairs in the various places of his abode has been intimate. A stanch Republican in politics, his election to office has usually been non-partisan, At one time he served as a member of the Republican county central committee of Chehalis county, Wash. While in Montesano he was a member of the city council three terms. During his residence in Medford he was twice honored with the office of mayor, and while in office gave his support to and was instrumental in securing the passage of an ordinance providing for re- modeling the water works and placing the en- tire plant on a paying basis. Another important measure he secured was the opening up of Main street through the building of a new depot by the railway company.

In fraternal relations Mr. Gilkey is a member of Golden Rule Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Grants Pass, in which he is past noble grand. The

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Woodmen of the World also number him among their members. The cause of religion has in him a sincere friend and adherent. For years he has been Sunday-school superintendent in the Methodist Episcopal Church, where he fills the office of steward. While living in Washington, he was married at Montesano in 1888, to Miss Olive Karr, a native of Hoquiam, Wash., and daughter of James A. Karr, one of the pioneers of that place. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Gilkey there are five children, namely: Wilna O., Herbert J., Errol C., Winfield and Esther.

MAJOR DANIEL CRONEMILLER. Three- quarters of a mile west of Fort Klamath stands the farmhouse owned and occupied by Major Cronemiller. On coming to this place in 1883 he took up the land as a homestead and is now the owner of five hundred and twenty acres, which he has improved and converted into one of the best stock ranches in Klamath county. He makes a specialty of the Shorthorn Durham cattle, of which he has about three hundred head at this writing. His has been a life of varied experiences in different parts of the country, but through all of the eventful incidents of his career he has retained the mild and unassuming manner, the quiet disposition, and the high principles of honor that characterized him in his youth.

As the name indicates, the Cronemiller family is of German extraction. At an early period in American history they became identified with the growth of Pennsylvania. Martin Crone- miller, the major's father, who was born in 1794 and died in 1848, was an intimate friend of Com- modore Perry, by whom he was presented with a medal for gallantry in action during his service as a colonel in the war of 1812. This medal is still preserved, a valued family relie. Colonel Cronemiller's first wife, who was a Miss Arm- strong, traced her lineage to England and died about 1833, after which he married Mrs. Conkle. Of his first union there were the following chil- dren : William and Perry, deceased; Margaret, wife of James Lee, of Ohio; James, deceased ; David, a resident of Jacksonville, Ore .; Daniel, of Klamath county, Ore .; and Sarah, widow of Samuel Heckman and a resident of Orangeville, Stephenson county, Ill.

In Center county, Pa., Daniel Cronemiller was born August 7. 1831. When three years of age he was taken by his parents to Wadsworth, Medina county, Ohio, where his father followed the blacksmith's trade, later going to Perrys- burg, Wood county, that state, where he died. The son was taught the blacksmith's trade by his father, under whom he served an apprenticeship of three years. March 20, 1856, in Ashland

county, Ohio, he married Mary Jane Spencer, who was born in Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, August 31, 1835, being a daughter of William and Sarah (Helfer) Spencer. Her father, who was born in Pennsylvania, of Scotch and English extraction, accompanied his parents to Ohio in a very early day and there grew to manhood and passed his active years. In his family of three sons and five daughters the youngest was Mary Jane, who was given excellent advantages and in 1852 graduated from the Grove Female In- stitute in Wooster. Born of her marriage were two children: Ida, wife of J. Beach, of San Francisco, Cal .; and Fred P., at home.

When seventeen years of age Daniel Crone- miller began to earn his own livelihood and from that time forward depended upon his own exertions for whatever he secured of this world's goods. In 1852, accompanied by two brothers, he crossed the plains with horse teams, reaching the Missouri river on the Ist of April and Hang- town on the Ist of August. After having en- gaged in mining in California for three years, in 1855 he returned via the isthmus to Ohio. Im- mediately after his return he took up general merchandising at Sullivan, Ohio, but eighteen months later sold out and removed to Stephen- son county, Ill., where he carried on a harness shop. Meanwhile hostilities had begun between the north and south. Feeling ran high. Men of the north were every day responding to the call of the president for volunteers to protect and preserve the Union. No less patriotic than the many thousands who left home and family to brave the dangers of war, Mr. Cronemiller of- fered his services to his country, and in August of 1862 became a member of Company I, Seven- ty-fourth Illinois Infantry, assigned to the army of the Cumberland, under Generals Grant, Rose- crans and Thomas. Among the twenty-seven pitched battles in which he bore a part the fol- lowing were especially important : Perrysville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Atlanta, and Franklin, Tenn. Upon the organization of the company he was elected second lieutenant, later was promoted to be first lieutenant and afterward became cap- tain. For gallant services at the battle of Frank- lin he was breveted major by President Johnson. At the close of the war he was honorably dis- charged and mustered out July 9, 1865, where- upon he returned to his Illinois home.

Not long after the war Major Cronemiller moved to Macon county, Mo., where he engaged in farming. In 1871 he removed from there to Oregon and settled at Jacksonville, Jackson coun- ty, where with a brother, David, he carried on a blacksmith and repair shop. In 1879 he came to Klamath county, where he and his wife en- gaged in teaching at the Indian Agency, and

C. Long

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in addition he acted as superintendent of farm- ing. From there he removed to the farm which he now operates. In all of his labors he has received the sympathy and co-operation of his wife, who is a lady of gentle and amiable dis- position and a broad fund of knowledge. Both are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Fort Klamath, and have been active in promoting its welfare. As steward and secre- tary of the congregation he has borne an influ- ential part in its policy and has done much to en- large its usefulness. Though not a partisan, he is a decided Republican and always votes with his party. In fraternal relations he is connected with Lodge No. 10, I. O. O. F., at Jackson- ville.

CHRISTOPHER LONG. Starting out to earn his own living at the age of seventeen, Christopher Long made it the rule of his life to be honest in all of his dealings, to do thoroughly whatever task he set about to ac- complish, and to let no opportunity pass which might contribute to the welfare of himself, his family or the community in which he lived. That he is at present one of the wealthy and substan- tial citizens of Bandon, is a large land owner and is spending his time looking after his prop- erty and loaning money, would indicate that his theories of life have at least been attended by a fair measure of success. This liberal minded and enterprising financier comes from farming and trade ancestry and was born in Canada, near Detroit, December 12, 1837. His paternal grand- father, John Long, who was of Dutch descent, was born in Pennsylvania, and was a potter by trade, an occupation which he successfully fol- lowed both in his native state and in Canada, to which place he removed at an early day. He married in Pennsylvania, and for a time lived near Pittsburg, where Christopher Long, the father of our subject, was born. The latter learned that most ancient of trades, pottery mak- ing, from his father, John Long, and when he arrived at years of discretion, conducted a pot- tery in Canada, on Bear creek. Here he owned a farm and also kept a tavern on the public road. About 1841 he located near Rockford, Ill., re- maining there until the spring of 1853. At this time he put into execution a long cherished plan, and with ox-teams and wagons succeeded in moving his family to the coast, locating in Yreka, Cal. The following spring he came to Jackson- ville, Ore. In crossing the mountains front Yreka, Cal., they came by way of Roseburg, and not having enough horses, three being all they possessed, they secured six oxen and managed to fix saddles for these in order to assist in car- rying the articles necessary for the comfort of the

family and to let the women in the party ride. This being an entirely new feature to the cat- tle, as soon as the girth was tightened they ran away and the goods were scattered and with difficulty recovered. Finally two of them be- came manageable and carried their burdens; the others were made to do double duty for being in- tractable. Finally they arrived in safety and be- gan the work of building up a home. Two and a half miles north of Port Orford, Curry county, the father took up a squatter's claim, upon which he lived for a year, but the land not proving sat- isfactory, he moved to a farm of three hundred and twenty acres a mile and a half south of Ban- don, where his death occurred in the winter of 1856, at the age of fifty years. He was sur- vived by his wife, formerly Mary Magdalene Hendershot, a native of Canada, until 1879, her age being sixty years at the time of her death.

Christopher Long, Jr., is the second of the two sons and one daughter born to his parents, and in his youth he worked too hard for educa- tion to take an important part in his life. Di- rectly after crossing the plains with the family he began to farm on his own responsibility, and in 1862 sought a quick road to wealth in the mines of Idaho. Three years sufficed to convince him that the majority of worth-while things have to be worked for and acquired in the usual slow and methodical way, and after coming back to Bandon in 1865 he engaged in driving cattle, soon afterward purchasing a farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres stocked with a few horses and cattle. With this modest beginning he labored long and faithfully until he had two hundred head of stock and eight hundred acres of land, all acquired through untiring industry and excellent business judgment. This became known as the Star ranch, and the stock raised thereon invariably brought the high market price justified by their quality and fine condition. Mr. Long sold this farm in 1889 and moved into Ban- don, where he loaned money and purchased a half interest in a line of steamers plying the bay. The steamers passed into other hands in 1899. He then bought the tract of three hundred and twenty acres on Bear creek, which is still in his possession. He owns two acres of land in the town of Bandon, and at present makes his home at Monk Hall.

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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 72

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