Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 74

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 74

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Lorenzo D. Carle grew to manhood in Illi- nois and attended the common schools of Washington county. This was supplemented by a complete scientific course in Caledonia College, at Caledonia, Mo., after the removal of the family to that state. After leaving school, he followed farming in Missouri for about twelve years, making a specialty of Cotswold sheep, and in 1883 he came to Oregon. He at once located in Roseburg, where he opened an office and engaged in fire insurance, repre- senting the New York Home and other re- liable companies. For a number of years he did an extensive business in that line through- out Douglas, Coos and Curry counties. Mr. Carle made his first trip to Alaska in 1897, where he went as a correspondent for the Review, and during his stay in that country he wrote interesting and instructive articles every month. He started from Roseburg with $50 in cash and a Yukon sled which he had constructed for himself, having only a picture for a guide. Taking his sled, he took passage on the steamer Oregon at Portland and sailed for Skagway. His object was to get there with as little expense as possible. The trip was a memorable one, as the boat was over- loaded, having four hundred more passengers than it was chartered to carry. They were alongside the Corona when the later sank and Mr. Carle was among the first to help man the lifeboats and assist in saving the crew and passengers. There were nine lifeboats and about twenty-one were rescued by each boat. The boat on which Mr. Carle was a passenger contained among the passengers a lady and her child, and Mr. Carle proved his sympa-

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thy for them by giving his coat to the child to keep it warm, as it required four hours to reach the steamer. When they had reached it great difficulty was experienced in getting the passengers from the lifeboat to the big steamer, as they had to be hauled up to the latter by rope and tackle.

They proceeded on their journey as far as Juneau, where the boat was disabled, and Mr. Carle took a tug for Skagway. In com- pensation for services rendered, the captain of the Oregon gave him passage on any boat to Skagway, and in addition refunded him his passage money. At Skagway he pro- visioned his sled, and accompanied by George Burke pulled his sled over to the headwaters of the river, and down to White Horse. This was the first of a series of twenty-one trips made by Mr. Carle, who piloted different parties through to White Horse and received from $20 to $50 a trip for his services. Six months to a day after leaving home he landed in Dawson, with $825 and one thousand pounds of provisions, the latter worth at least $1 a pound. Taking fifty pounds of provisions, he journeyed on to Eldorado to join the Berry brothers. Arriving there, he introduced him- self to Clarence Berry and went to work for them with pick and shovel for $15 per day. Working for them a short time, he heard of the excitement on Gold Hill and went there and located a claim, which proved to be a rich one, and he operated it until the next summer. About that time, in partnership with Mr. Holdsclaw, he built a cabin and sunk a shaft eighty-three feet deep at an expense of $20 per foot. They averaged only one foot per day, as they hauled the wood from tim- bers, two miles, on their sleds. After going down to good depth, instead of finding gold, they struck a blank. To make matters worse, his partner took ill, had to be assisted from the shaft, and did not recover. Mr. Carle paid him $800 and he started home; the police assessed him and claimed half of the amount and after his return home, to Seattle, he be- came insane and shortly afterwards died.

Mr. Carle still had faith in his claim, and after his partner was sent home, he fell in with a Swede, whom he hired to assist him, and together they ran a shaft each way from the main opening and, fifteen days later, they struck the main lead, which yielded from $100 to $300 to the pan ; putting on another man, they worked the mine and made an aver- age of $1,000 per day for about ninety days. He paid his men $1 per hour. That fall he returned to his home in Roseburg, having checks and gold dust amounting to $21,000, having worked two years in the Klondike

regions. The trip was made in company with Clarence Berry and his wife. Mr. Carle had one hundred and fifty pounds of dust, but his companion, Mr. Berry, had twenty-six hun- dred and Cariboo Billy, another companion, had sixteen hundred. After his arrival home, he spent some time in traveling. He visited St. Louis, was through different parts of Mex- ico and returned to Roseburg by way of San Francisco in February, 1900. Shortly after- ward he went to Portland and in partnership with R. B. Dixon, began speculating in stock, shipping cattle to Cape Nome, which proved to be quite a successful business, as Mr. Dixon went with the cattle and effected the sale of them. In the meantime, Mr. Carle sent a Mr. Shafer to Cape Nome to haul provisions to the mines, paying him the freight on the team, wagon, and provisioning it, in all amounting to $3,200. Mr. Shafer arrived there all right with his team and found teaming to be worth $100 per day. Turning his horses out to graze, they were all stolen in less than an hour's time and this was a loss of $1,000. Mr. Carle in the meantime had started back to Dawson. In company with others, he trav- eled from Skagway to Dawson on a bicycle, inaking the trip in nine days. He found no trace of his old claim, so he proceeded to Dominion creek and in partnership with three other men, paid $10,000 for the franchise to operate a fraction of a claim. He mined there about one year, and was joined in the spring by his wife, who returned home by way of the Yukon, the following October. A few days after her departure he effected a sale of his claim, having made $10,000. He then went to Nome, but found the condition of things so unfavorable that he decided to re- turn home. The trip home will never be for- gotten on account of hardships and privations caused by the disabling of the vessel Oregon by severe storms. The propeller was broken and they drifted into the Japan current which carried them far out to sea. In required eleven days to construct a jury rudder, and it, too, was carried away by a subsequent storm. They ran out of provisions and came near starving. Mr. Carle lost thirty-five pounds. Finally another steamer picked them up and took them to Cape Flattery, and then towed them to Seattle, after being out seventeen days.

Returning to Roseburg, he built a fine resi- dence and is now living in retirement. He was joined in marriage with Sallie Hood of Illinois, and they were married in Missouri. They have one child, Gay, wife of F. S. Huffman, ticket agent on the Southern Pacific railroad, of Portland. In politics Mr. Carle

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is an unswerving Republican and in fraternal circles he affiliates with Lodge No. 330, I. O. O. F., of St. Louis, Mo., of which he is a past officer.

OPHIR H. BEYERS is now in the very prime of energetic, busy life, having been born February 20, 1864, and deserves mention as a general farmer and stock-raiser, who con- tributes the best he can to the advancement of Canyonville, Ore. He is a son of E. H. Beyers, an Ohioan by birth, and is, himself, a native of Lassen county, Cal.

E. H. Beyers is a farmer of note in Coos county, Ore., and made his home in the west soon after his marriage in Ohio. The couple crossed the intervening country by means of a team of horses, and had little or no trouble in reaching the place on which they desired to settle, namely, Lassen valley, Cal. They lived at that place for six years and then left the state and settled in Nevada for eight years before going to Coos county, Ore., where they still make their home. Mr. Beyers conducts a large stock ranch and runs a first-class dairy business also, being much esteemed for his sterling qualities. His family consisted of nine children, of whom Ophir H .; Laura Bowtell, of California; Alice Black, of Coos county ; Jesse, also of Coos county ; Josephine, living in Roseburg, Douglas county ; Mellie and Net- tie, still at home, are the living members.

Ophir H. Beyers had a limited education, as he faithfully attended the district school until but twelve years of age. At that early age he left home to make his own way in the world and found his first work on a ranch, where he attended to stock-raising for eight years. When twenty years of age he went to his grandfather's ranch, the same he now owns, which was a donation claim of four hundred and seventy-three acres. He assisted in the work until he was enabled to purchase the property, which was kept in first-class condition by his grandfather. Here he car- ries on general farming and also raises some valuable stock, mostly Shorthorn Durham cat- tle and Cotswold sheep.

In May, 1902, Mr. Beyers was joined in marriage with Cora M. Coltin, whose birth occurred in California, and they have one child, John Herbert. In fraternal circles, Mr. Beyers is a member of the A. O. U. W. He is an ardent Republican, has ever taken a keen interest in politics, and was once a candidate for county commissioner of Douglas county. His career thus far has been very successful and he is making improvements on his ranch each year.

WILLIAM F. DISHER. Two finely equipped farms, aggregating four hundred and twenty acres, represent the success of Wil- liam F. Disher, one of the progressive and highly esteemed farmers of Coos county. This popular dairyman may well view with satis- faction his life work, for hard work, good judgment, fair dealing and honest regard for the rights and prerogatives of others, are at- tributes most noticeable in his struggle for existence, and these have overbalanced neces- sary discouragements, failures and obstacles, leaving him the possessor of an abundance of good will and kindly thought for those less fortunate than himself. His appreciation of the most natural occupation in the world is his by inheritance and training, for in Ger- many his forefathers industriously tilled less productive farms, and their children followed their example after establishing the family name in Canada. George W. Disher, the father of William F., was born in Canada, and as a young and ambitious man moved across the border into the United States, fin- ally casting his lot with the very early set- tlers of the vicinity of Rensselaer, Jasper county, Ind. Here he met and married a native daughter, Phoebe Titus, and raised a family of whom William F., born August 26, 1856, is the fifth in order of birth. Joseph, the oldest son, is at present living in Califor- nia; Mrs. Martha Dunham makes her home in Missouri; Mrs. Caroline Moore lives in San Diego, Cal .; George W. is a resident of San Diego, Cal .; Ellis Dickinson lives also in California; and Clara died in the state of Missouri. In 1860 George W. Disher took his family to Missouri, and the following year he enlisted in the Civil war in a Missouri regi- ment. His service was of short duration, for he was unable to stand the exposure and deprivation incident to the long march, and, being overcome with illness, was brought home to die. He was a brave soldier and willingly risked everything for the cause of the Union, dying as a soldier should, with courage in his heart and voice. His widow moved with her children to Contra Costa county, Cal., in 1869, and the following year married S. B. Hatch, a native of Illinois, and with whom she is still making her home in Contra Costa county.

At the age of eighteen, William F. Disher, who had received an excellent high school edu- cation in Ukialı, Mendocino county, Cal., en- gaged in a sheep-raising business with his brother. This proved both profitable and agreeable, and after selling out in 1884 he engaged in farming in Humboldt county, Cal. In 1887 Mr. Disher came north to Coos coun-

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ty, Ore., and bought the ranch of two hun- dred acres upon which he made his home un- til October, 1903. This is known as the Pa- laski ranch, and is located three miles south- east of Coquille, back from the Coquille river about a mile. The most modern of improve- ments have been added to those on the farm at the time of purchase and about eighty acres are available for crops at the present time. One hundred and twenty acres consist of rich bottom land. The owner was engaged in gen- eral farming, stock-raising and dairying; in connection with the latter department he con- structed a creamery on the farm, maintained by milking thirty Jersey cows of graded stock. About two miles below the home place Mr. Disher owns another farm of two hundred and twenty acres, eighty of which are bottom land. In October, 1903, Mr. Disher moved his family to Bandon.

As a Republican Mr. Disher has held va- rious local offices in his district, and takes a keen interest in the undertakings of his party throughout the country. For many years he has been a member of the Presbyterian church, and for years an elder thereof. January 8, 1890, he married Erminia Maddocks, who was born in Sonoma county, Cal., December 12, 1862, and of the union three children have been born. The eldest died in infancy. Mr. Disher is an advocate of education, and of all prac- tical advancement, yet there is sufficient con- servatism in his makeup to give his judg- ment value for the weight and consideration' behind it.

JOHN P. TUPPER. A highly respected resident of Coquille, John P. Tupper is well known throughout Coos county, his connec- tion with different hotels having brought him into prominence with the traveling public as a genial, accommodating and most popular host. Naturally ambitious and far-sighted, he has been identified with various important in- dustries, being so successful in general that his ability as a business man is universally conceded. A son of James S. Tupper, he was born August 23, 1831, in Sterling, Nova Scotia, of English ancestry.

A native of London, England, James S. Tup- per, a joiner by trade, emigrated at the age of twenty years to Nova Scotia, where he was engaged in the banking and timber business for a number of years, working for a Mr. Dum- bares. Hc subsequently made several trips across the Atlantic, and, although he acquired considerable wealth, he spent the greater part of it in traveling, visiting many of the old world countries, including China, Japan and

India. He spent his closing years in Nova Scotia, dying at the age of seventy-five years. He married Margaret Martell, who was born, lived and died in Nova Scotia, where her father, John P. Martell, was a lifelong farmer. Of their large family of thirteen children, nine boys and four girls, twelve are living, John P., the subject of this brief biographical rec- ord, being the fourth child in order of birth.

Having acquired a practical education in the common schools, John P. Tupper learned the trade of a ship carpenter, which he fol- lowed in his native country for nearly twenty years. Coming to the Pacific coast in 1869, he worked at his trade in San Francisco from the time of his arrival, June 12, until August 28, of that year, when he located in Coos county. Entering the employ of John Push- backer, in Marshfield, he worked in his ship- yard a few months, afterwards being in the shipyard belonging to Charles H. Merchant for a year or so. Going then to North Bend, Ore., he worked as a ship carpenter for A. M. Simpson for twelve months. From 1872 until 1874 Mr. Tupper was employed as a carpenter at the Eastport coal mines, the ensuing two years working at his trade in the Hardy & Goodall coal mines. Going to the Columbia river with Captain Parker in 1876 he took a boat off Clatsop beach, but failed in his at- tempts to make it again seaworthy, and, in 1887, in the employ of George Ainsworth, was engaged in the diving business.

Returning to Coos county in 1878, Mr. Tup- per assisted in the putting in of the Coos Bay jetty, working as foreman of a gang under Captain Littlefield, with whom he was simi- larly employed the next year on the Bandon jetty. Buying one hundred and sixty acres of land in 1881, in Bandon, he erected the Ocean House, which he managed successfully ten years, when he sold out, and bought a hotel in Bandon, the Tupper House, which still bears his name. Selling this hotel in 1896, soon after the death of his wife, he was engaged in the real estate business in Bandon for five years. Buying the Coquille Hotel in 1901, Mr. Tup- per has since carried it on with most satisfac- tory results, his only son, Benjamin Frazier Tupper, being its manager.

At Handsport, Nova Scotia, Mr. Tupper married Martha A. Lynch, who was born in Falmouth, Nova Scotia, and died in 1896, at Bandon, Orc., at the age of sixty-four years, leaving one child, Benjamin F., mentioned above. Mr. Tupper is a consistent member of the Episcopal Church, and in his political at- filiations is a straight Republican. He has been industriously employed during his entire life, and by means of thrift and good manage-

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ment has acquired a competency, owning val- uable town property in both Bandon and Marshfield.

MILTON B. GIBSON. No further proof of the high standing and moral character of Milton B. Gibson is required than the state- ment that he has served as treasurer of Curry county for sixteen years, and during that long occupancy of a position of great trust and re- sponsibility no dissenting voice has been heard to criticise either his ability or disinterested de- votion to the best interests of the people. Mr. Gibson was elected first in 1876, holding the office for ten years, and he was again elected in 1892, remaining in office until 1898. His devotion to Republican politics secured his ap- pointment as postmaster of Ellenburg for four years, and he has held other local offices within the gift of an appreciative and intelligent com- munity.

Mr. Gibson began life on a small farm in Kentucky, where he was born October 19, 1835, and where he gained that excellent con- stitution and practical knowledge which have been of such vital importance in fashioning his successful career. In 1859 he removed to Kan- sas with large expectations of success in that state, but after living on land thirteen miles from Fort Scott for a year, decided to come further west, where crops and general pros- pects were more to be depended on. With his brother he crossed the plains with ox- teams in the spring of 1860, and after a fairly pleasant journey located on a ranch on Beach- ers creek, Curry county, near Gold Beach. Here he mined for a short time, and afterward got timber out of the woods, in time becoming an important factor in the building up of this now prosperous region. Gold Beach was then known as Ellenburg, and it needed the im- petus of business careers and men solid in their worth and judgment. Mr. Gibson proved just such a man, and his boot and shoe enter- prise, started in a small way, and gradually enlarged to meet a growing demand, proved of great benefit to the community. For fifteen years he sold boots and shoes to the town and county residents, and then became a member of the Ellenburg Business Association, which contributed so largely toward the upbuilding of the town.

After forty years at Ellenburg, or Gold Beach, Mr. Gibson came to Dairyville and lived with his son-in-law, E. B. Thrift, with whom he has since made his home. Three children were born of his marriage with Jo- hanna Bailey in 1873. Mary, the oldest daughter, is the wife of E. B. Thrift; Anna E.,

now known as Sister Aquinas, is a teacher at Mount Angel Convent; and Jeanette B. Mrs. Gibson, died June 14, 1885. Mr. Gibson was reared in the Catholic faith, and all of his fam- ily are stanch in their devotion to the church of their forefathers. A man of great dignity and force of character, Mr. Gibson holds an honored place in the hearts of all who know him, and his exemplary and highly useful life may well serve as an inspiration to his younger friends bravely struggling for a name and competence.

HON. HENRY THORNTON. Identified with the early history of Oregon as a pioneer of 1853, Henry Thornton of Grants Pass came to the west from Iowa. He was born in Tip- pecanoe county, Ind., May 2, 1832, and was the youngest of four sons and one daughter, whose father, Levi, was a native of Pennsyl- vania. One of his brothers, James, is a resi- dent of Ashland, Ore., and his sketch pre- sented on another page gives the family his- tory. When only two years of age Henry Thornton was taken to Iowa by his father, who settled on a farm near Muscatine. Such was the need of his services on the farm that he was unable to attend school regularly. In 1840 his father died and five years later his mother passed away. He then made his home with James Laughlin, a farmer. April 5, 1853, Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin and Mr. Thornton started across the plains with two wagons and four yoke of oxen for each wagon. They crossed the Divide on the Ist of July, thence proceeded via Fort Hall and Fort Boise on the Barlow route, arriving at Oakland, Ore., on the Ist of October. Settlement was made at Elkton, the young man remaining with his foster parents for some time afterward.

During the Rogue River Indian war of 1855-56 Mr. Thornton was first sergeant of Company I. Second Oregon Mounted Volun- teers, and served as such until peace was established. On removing from Douglas to Jackson county, in 1866, he became interested with his brother, James, in the Siskiyou moun- tain wagon toll road, which he superintended for seven years, meantime making his home there. On selling out to his brother he settled in Josephine county and purchased a ranch of three hundred and twenty acres near Kerby, where he engaged in farming and stock-rais- ing for ten years. Meantime he also kept the stage station on the overland road from Jack- sonville to Crescent City. After ten years on the farm he rented it and in 1884 settled in Grants Pass, where he bought a residence on Sixth and H streets and has since made it his

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home. Shortly after his arrival he built a large livery barn on H street and conducted a livery for three years, when he sold out. A later employment was that of teaming, after which he retired from business cares. In 1903 he erected a building known as the Thornton block, 50x100 feet, two stories in height, situ- ated near the corner of Sixth and H streets. This is unquestionably one of the most sub- stantial blocks in the city.

Miss Josephine Haines, who became the wife of Mr. Thornton in 1865, at Elkton, Ore., was born in Whiteside county, Ill., and in 1862 accompanied her parents, Alfred and Sarah (Nixon) Haines, to Douglas county, Ore. Of this union have been born the following- named children: Charles, who was accident- ally drowned in Rogne river; Mrs. Kittie Gray, of Roseburg; George, who lives at Sisson ; Frederick, who was drowned at the same time with his older brother; John, an engineer 011 the Southern Pacific Railroad; Mrs. Alice Grimes, of Portland; and Edward, who died in childhood.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Thornton was treasurer of Douglas county and was elected on the Republican ticket to the Grants Pass city council, serving for one term. For a simi- lar period he was county commissioner of Jo- sephine county. In 1882 he was elected to rep- resent Josephine county in the state legisla- ture, being the first Republican elected in the county, and during his term of office he as- sisted in electing Hon. John N. Dolph to the United States senate. Besides being connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, he is connected with Grants Pass Lodge No. 84, A. F. & A. M .; Reames Chapter No. 28. R. A. M., and Melita Commandery No. 8, K. T., and both himself, wife and two daughters are members of the Order of the Eastern Star.

G. W. STEPHENSON. The distinction of being the best judge of horseflesh in southern Oregon belongs without a doubt to Mr. Ste- phenson, the well known horseman of Ash- land, who has dealt with and handled horses ever since his boyhood days, and his services as government inspector of horses have been in requisition since first locating in the far west in the early sixties. An Ohioan by birth, born January 20, 1834. in Seville, Medina county, he is a son of James and Jane (Canon) Stephenson, the latter, although a native of Pennsylvania, being reared principally on a farm in Ohio, whither her father, John Canon, had removed from the Keystone state. On the paternal side of the family, the grand-

father, a native of Ireland, emigrated to Amer- ica at an early day, settled in Vermont and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. It was in that state that James Stephenson, the father, was born, but in after years he settled in Medina county, Ohio, and was engaged in farming pursuits there, prior to removing to Janesville, Wis., in the interest of a stage company. Both he and his wife died, however, in the vicinity of Rochester, Minn., after rear- ing a family of eleven children, six of whom are living at this writing. The third child of this interesting family, and reared as he was in his native state, Mr. Stephenson had the ad- vantage of attending good district schools there during his boyhood and early youth. When fourteen years old, his parents moved to Wisconsin and G. W. worked out as a farm- hand for two years. At sixteen years of age he was employed as stage-driver in southern Wisconsin, and it was there that he first began to learn the habits, care and management of horses, to which so many of his useful years have since been devoted. Upon the removal of the family to Minnesota, in 1856, he began working in his own behalf and spent some time improving a farm near Rochester. But farmwork was distasteful to him, so he relin- quished that occupation in favor of teaming. In 1860 he and some companions started west to Pike's Peak with an outfit consisting of two wagons of supplies, one drawn by mules and one by horses, and $18 in cash. On the plains, the horses were traded for a yoke of oxen and several milch cows, and with these the party continued on their journey until they reached the present site of Denver. Attracted to this place by the discovery of gold a few years previously, they now found the mining camps five thousand feet above the level of the sea and this and other difficulties which they had to contend with, caused the party to proceed on their journey toward the Pacific slope. At Salt Lake City they decided on going to Ore- gon and at Green river sold the mules and light wagon for cash, and by purchasing an additional yoke of oxen and all crowding into one wagon, they passed through the old south pass into Phoenix, after a six-months' journey. At that time low prices prevailed there, espe- cially on stock, and cattle were considered al- most worthless. Upon reaching Phoenix. Mr. Stephenson had but twenty-five cents left, and to retrieve his fallen fortunes, he found em- ployment as cook at the Mountain House the first winter, and afterward followed similar work at Crescent City. Returning to Phoenix a little later, he took up his favorite occupation -teaming-this time in the government serv- ice, and, in connection therewith, he began

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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 74

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