Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 82

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 82

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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ROSS, who re- sides three miles southeast of Marshfield, may with truth be called a pioneer settler of Coos county, as he was one of the first twenty-five who located in that county, and claims the distinction of building the first house at Empire. He was born November 3, 1827, in Spencer county, Ind., and is the son of a Kentuckian. His father, Evan Ross, settled with his family in Indiana at a very early date. There he carried on farm- ing, and there his marriage to Catherine Ashby took place. He removed to Iowa in 1844, and his death occurred about a year later. His wife came to Coos county in 1882, making her home with her children until she died in 1891. There were in this family fourteen children, of whom the following three are still living : Mrs. Sarah Bonebrake, of Coos county; Mrs. Louisa Hod- son, who resides near Coos river; and Benjamin F., of this review.

Benjamin F. Ross, after leaving the district school, learned the trade of a plasterer, which he followed until 1850. He then started across the plains with ox-teams, having little trouble with the Indians, who stole some of his stock, however, but who did him no serious injury. Af-

ter being on the road six months, Mr. Ross ar- rived in Oregon and located in Lane county, tak- ing up a donation claim, but never proved up on it. Instead, he went to Eureka, Cal., and engaged in prospecting and mining, at Shasta mines, then at Scott's river mines, and later at Weaverville. He left the latter place in March, 1852, going to Jackson county, Ore., where he followed mining for one year. In August, 1853, he located in Coos county, Ore. Here he first engaged in the hotel business and later in the butcher business, at Coal Banks. In 1857 he took up the homestead claim of one hundred and seventy acres where he still lives. This land is situated on Ross' slough, which is named for Mr. Ross, and which is a branch of Catching slough. The place is well improved and is a good dairy farm, having on it thirty Shorthorn Jersey milch cows.

Mr. Ross enlisted, in 1856, in Captain Harris' company and served three months in the Rogue River Indian war, guarding the frontier. In 1851 he joined a company of regulars, under Major Carney, and was with them about one month, having several skirmishes with the In- dians and giving good service as a soldier.

In 1867 Mr. Ross was joined in marriage with Rhoda E. Bonebrake, a native of Iowa, having been born in 1842. They have one child, George F., who now lives on a part of the home place. Politics holds quite an interest for Mr. Ross, who has frequently served as judge of election and also as deputy sheriff for several years. In 1878 he was elected county commissioner, being re- elected in 1882 and again in 1888. He is inde- pendent in his political opinions. Mr. Ross and his wife are active workers in the United Breth- ren Church, in which he is a class leader. He is one of the most prominent men in his vicinity and supports liberally all worthy causes that tend to advance the interest and well being of the people of his vicinity and as a pioneer none de- serves more prominent mention than Mr. Ross.

COL. J. LINSEY HILL, M. D., PII. D., one of the most eminent physicians, surgeons and medical writers of the Willamette valley, has been a resident of Oregon since 1853, and since 1871 has been continuously engaged in the prac- tice of his profession in Albany, Linn county. Born in McNairy county, Tenn., February 28, 1845, Dr. Hill inherits his love for medi- cine and surgery from his father, Dr. Reuben Coleman Hill. The latter was a native of Ten- nessee and a descendant from an old and hon- ored family of the Old Dominion. He was a practicing physician and a minister in the Bap- tist Church, both of which callings he followed during most of his long and useful life. From

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Kentucky he removed to Tennessee when a young man, and there married Margaret Gra- ham Lair, a native of Kentucky. Thereafter he continued to preach and to practice medicine for many years. Eventually he removed overland to Berry county, Mo., where he lived for seven years, continuing his useful and meritorious labors.

Leaving his wife and nine children, he gave evidence of his courage and determination by crossing the plains on the back of a mule in 1850. After devoting a year to mining and to preach- ing and practicing medicine in California he came across the mountains to Oregon. He was so well impressed with the conditions which he found in Oregon that he resolved to make it his home. Pending his return to his family he located in Albany, taught the first school estab- lished there, and likewise became the first phy- sician of the place. To the traveler of to-day, the distance already covered by this enterprising pioneer would seem quite sufficient for one life- time, especially when the means employed are considered; yet in 1852 he returned to Missouri in this primitive manner.

In 1853 Dr. Hill outfitted with ox-teams and wagons and started overland for Oregon with his wife and children. After a journey of about six months they arrived in the Willamette val- lev, and soon afterward settled upon a farm in Benton county. For seven years he made this his home, practicing medicine and preaching the gospel. Almost from the first day of his resi- dence in Benton county he wielded a beneficent influence upon the community, which spread year by year until. upon his location in Albany in 1860, he had become personally known to every family within a radius of many miles, and was greatly beloved by all. He was intensely inter- ested in McMinnville College, of which he was one of the founders and for many years a trus- tee. He traveled extensively in behalf of the in- stitution, making one trip to the east, raising funds for the furtherance of the work of the school. He founded four permanent scholar- ships for the benefit of his own descendants and worthy young men who desired to fit themselves for ministry in the Baptist Church. The work which he inaugurated has been carried on since his death by his son, Dr. J. L. Hill, in accord- ance with the wishes of his father.

When he removed to Albany Dr. Hill took up his residence in the old octagonal house now occupied by his daughter, where he spent the remainder of his life in devotion to the manifold duties which he had imposed upon himself. He took an active and important part in the political undertakings of the county and the state, and for three terms, between 1850 and 1860, represented Benton county in the state legislature. In poli-

tics he was a Democrat, but viewed all public affairs with a liberal and unprejudiced eye. He belonged to that class of men possessed of an in- finite capacity for hard work, and thought noth- ing of riding long distances at any hour of the day or night, or in any kind of weather, to min- ister to the physical or spiritual necessities of the inhabitants of the valley, all of whom were his friends. In many respects he was of that type of " doctor of the old school " immortalized by Ian McLaren in his stories of Scotch life- " Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush." The great northwest, with its multitude of rugged, sincere, gracious, unselfish, useful men in all walks of life, probably never numbered among its pioneers a man who became more closely endeared to the people of all classes than he; and his death at the age of eighty-three years, which occurred December 31, 1890, was as deeply deplored as that of any citizen of the Willamette valley. The record of his noble life is eminently entitled to a permanent and conspicuous place in the annals of Oregon, and, besides being a source of pro- found pride to his descendants, should prove an inspiration to representatives of the present and future generations.

Of the six sons and three daughters born to the union of Reuben Coleman and Margaret (Lair) Hill, four sons and one daughter sur- vive, as follows: W. Lair Hill, an attorney-at- law, now of Oakland, Cal., who compiled the codes of Oregon and Washington; George Al- fred Hill, an attorney-at-law of Seattle; Dr. J. Linsey Hill; H. Taylor Hill, a stock-raiser of Washington county, Ore .: Margaret Adeline wife of Rev. Rufus Thompson, of Albany.

Dr. J. Linsey Hill was eight years of age when his father returned to his eastern home from his first journey to the west for the purpose of bringing his family to Oregon with him. His elementary education was received in the public schools of Albany. As a boy he had become familiar with typesetting and other features of the printer's trade, and subsequently was asso- ciated for a short time with T. B. Odeneal in the publication of the Corvallis Gasette. In 1865 he began the study of medicine under the super- vision of his father, who carefully assisted him in laving a foundation of scientific knowledge which has proven an important factor in his pro- fessional career. In 1869 he entered the medical department of Willamette University, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1871 with the degree of M. D. In 1900 he took a post-graduate course in the New York School of Clinical Medicine. McMinnville College con- ferred upon him the degree of B. A. and the degree of Ph. D. was conferred by an eastern school in recognition of his contributions to the medical literature of the day.

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For thirty-two years Dr. Hill has been en- gaged in a general medical and surgical practice, though he has also made a specialty of mental and nervous discases. He has been a frequent contributor to scientific journals, setting forth the results of his research in and experience with mental disorders, and his work in this direction has received marked attention from the profes. sion in all parts of the country. He has also contributed profusely to local periodicals, dealing with subjects of immediate interest to the public.

Since 1895 Dr. Hill has occupied the chair of genito-urinary diseases in the medical depart- ment of Willamette University, and he is sur- geon-general of the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of Pythias. During the administration of Governor Moody he served upon the official staff of the latter with the rank of colonel, his post being that of surgeon-general of the Oregon National Guard. He is past grand chancellor of the Knights of Pythias of the Grand Domain of Oregon. He was made a Mason in Lyon Lodge No. 27, A. F. & A. M., of Independence, and is a charter member of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, of Albany. He is also identified with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows.

It is doubtful if any resident of Albany has contributed more extensively to its development and its practical upbuilding than has Dr. Hill. The Hill Block, a fine two-story business struc- ture 56x100 feet in ground dimensions, is one of his most important undertakings in this direc- tion. He has erected a large number of resi- dences in Albany, and is the owner of several of the older buildings in the city, about which cluster historical associations of nearly half a century ago. Among his landed possessions are a farm of two hundred and fifty acres in Ben- ton countv, and real estate in Portland and Yaquina Bay. He is an enthusiastic student of ornithology, and has a fine collection of mounted birds from all parts of the world. He is also the owner of the finest museum in the Willamette valley, including a most complete collection of Indian relics and curios.

Dr. Hill was united in marriage on December 30, 1870, with Mary E. Penington, daughter of S. M. and Abigail (Cooper) Penington, pioneers of Oregon. She died on December 28, 1895. leaving three children. Of these Clyde L., the eldest son, is a doctor of dental surgery and is practicing in Wasco, Ore .; Gale S. is an attor- nev-at-law of Albany; and Emily G. resides with her father.

Dr. Hill has always led a strenuous life. In- heriting the characteristics which made his father one of the most remarkable of the pioneer in- habitants of Oregon, among which is a rare ca- pacity for work. he has made each day of his life one of activity and usefulness. He has

always exhibited a deep and unselfish interest in all movements which have appealed to him as well-considered efforts to advance the material in- terests of the community, and by the inhabitants of Albany has come to be regarded as one of the most enterprising, discreet and public-spirited men of the city. No man enjoys to a greater extent the confidence of all classes in the com- munity where he has spent the better portion of his life, and no one deserves in a greater degree the appreciation of thoughtful people for that sympathy and help in every movement calculated to elevate the social, intellectual, moral and com- mercial standards of the city. In an eminent de- gree he is entitled to rank among the best class of thoroughly representative men of the Willam- ette valley.

JOHN FREDERICK GOELLER. The Klamath Falls Planing Mills, of which Mr. Goeller is the proprietor, rank among the leading business enterprises of Klamath coun- ty, and have contributed in a large degree to the development of this part of the state. The present proprietor's connection with the busi- ness dates back to 1891, the year of his arrival in Klamath Falls, when he bought an interest in a plant then owned by A. M. Peterman. The two continued as equal partners until the spring of 1892, when C. A. Dillen bought out Mr. Peterman and the firm name thereupon became Goeller & Dillen. Later C. H. Withrow bought out Mr. Dillen and he in turn was succeeded by O. H. Harshberger. In 1896 Mr. Goeller assumed complete con- trol of the business and is now its sole owner. Under his supervision every department of the plant moves forward systematically. Besides contracting and building, he makes furniture to order, furnishes builders' hardware, manu- factures sash, doors, blinds and moulding, does scroll sawing and carving of all kinds, and also makes a specialty of wall paper, paints and oils.

In Tuscarawas county, Ohio, near the town of Winesburg, Mr. Goeller was born January 22, 1860, a son of John Michael and Barbara (Woeher) Goeller. His father, who was the son of a German immigrant to Ohio, was born near Toledo, that state, has devoted his entire life to farm pursuits and now makes his home in Beach City, Ohio.' At this writing ( 1903) he is sixty-five years of age. His wife was born in Ohio, and died in Ohio in 1899, aged about sixty years. Her children were six in number and named as follows : John F., of Ore- gon : John, a jeweler, in Idaho; George, a farmer in Pratt county, Kas .: William, who

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has a farm in the same county as George; Charles and Caroline, who are with their father in Ohio.

Little of special note marked the boyhood years of John Frederick Goeller, who attended school and helped at home in the usual man- ner of farmers' sons. At the age of twenty-one he began to learn the carpenter's trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of three years. On the expiration of his time he went as far west as Kansas in 1883 and settled in Nemaha county, where he followed general carpentering and also took contract work. During 1890 he came still further west and set- tled in California. For a short time he followed his trade in Santa Rosa and Alameda, from which points he came to Klamath Falls in the fall of 1891, and has since been identified with the business interests of this place. While living in Kansas, in 1887, he married Alice Sawyer, who was born in that state February 12, 1868, and is a daughter of Cyrus A. Saw- yer, a farmer and stock-raiser of Brown coun- ty, Kas. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Goel- ler are Harry Elmer, Hazel Maude and Bar- bara Frances.

In political views Mr. Goeller is a pro- nounced Democrat and at this writing is chairman of the county central committee of that party. At one time he served as a mem- ber of the town council. Fraternally he is connected with Klamath Lodge No. 137, I. O. O. F., in which he has passed through the chairs and acted as delegate to the grand lodge; also the Ancient Order of United Workmen No. 110, at Klamath Falls, and the Order of Washington, in which he has been honored with election as president of the local lodge for three years.

G. C. MORRIS. As chief dispatcher of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Ashland, Mr. Morris holds a position of the greatest respon- sibility, but one which he has filled in a man- ner satisfactory to his superiors and indicative of superior ability on his part. The greater part of his life has been passed in Oregon and since attaining manhood he has been con- tinuously connected with railroad affairs, meanwhile gradually working his way up from an unimportant position to the place which he now fills. He is a native of Ohio, born in Washington county, August 10, 1864, and was the youngest of three children, the others be- ing Richard E., a farmer near llarrisburg, Linn county ; and Mrs. Hattie D). Ray, of Med- ford. His father, Charles I .. , who was born in Washington county, Ohio, and followed

farming and stock-raising there for a consid- erable period, removed to Oregon in the win- ter of 1870-71 and settled in Salem, afterward following the butcher's .trade until his retire- ment. He died in Oakland, Ore., as did also his wife, who bore the maiden name of Polly M. Palmer and was born in Ohio.

It was the ambition of Charles L. Morris to give his children fair educational advan- tages and thus prepare them for the responsi- bilities awaiting them in the world. The sons were sent to school regularly, and G. C. is a graduate of the business department of Wil- lamette University, where he took a thorough course in telegraphy, having the advantage of special training under the oversight of Will- iam DuMars, then manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Salem, but now of Portland. His first position was in 1884, when he became agent and operator at Shedds, Linn county, for the old Oregon & California Railroad. Two years later he was transferred to a similar position at the car shops, and from there after six months he was sent to the general office at Portland as operator and dis- patcher. Since the spring of 1887 he has been connected with the dispatchers' department. When the Southern Pacific acquired posses- sion of the narrow gauge road in 1889, he was transferred from Portland to Dundee as dispatcher. Eighteen months later he returned to Portland, and continued there until 1898, when he was raised to the position of chief dispatcher at Ashland, and to the duties of this position he has since given all of his time and attention. While at Dundee he es- tablished domestic ties, his wife being Miss Ella A. Bowker, a native of California.

The political views of Mr. Morris bring him into hearty accord with the Republican party, but, owing to the heavy demands of his occu- pation, he is unable to participate in public affairs or to accept offices within the gift of his party. For some years he has been an cn- thusiastic disciple of Masonry and a hearty admirer of its lofty principles of charity and brotherly kindness. After coming to Ashland he was made a Mason in Ashland Lodge No. 23, A. F. & A. M., in which he is now officiat- ing as master for the second term. In addi- tion he is connected with Ashland Chapter No. 21, R. A. M., Malta Commandery No. 4, K. T., in which he has been honored with the office of generalissimo, and is a member of Alkader Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of Port- land. That kindred society of Masonry, the Eastern Star, numbers both himself and wife among its active members. He assisted in the organization of the board of trade at Ash- land, was elected its president and later re-

LA. Howard

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elected, and in this position he was enabled to promote measures for the benefit of the town and the growth of its commercial in- terests.

JAMES SULLIVAN HOWARD. To his occupations of surveying and engineering James Sullivan Howard has brought as fine a mind, as practical and thorough an equipment, and as in- spiring an enthusiasm as any man similarly em- ployed on the Pacific coast. It is reasonable to suppose that this honored citizen of Medford will surrender to others the carrying out of such tasks as have been allotted to his talent before many years have passed, and when that time comes he may regard with greatest satisfaction his life work, for no class of men have made more vigorous strokes toward the present than these same engineers, whose chain and compass and mathematical calculations have brought order out of chaos, and made tracks through the dense tim- berlands. Few engineering projects of an im- portant nature in the southern part of the state but have been under his direct supervision, and the name of Mr. Howard is therefore intimately associated with the potent developing forces of the state.

As the name indicates and history records, the Howards are first heard of in England, and those bearing the name have attained to distinction in affairs of church and state in the mother coun- try, becoming prominent also in literary, profes- sional and commercial life, the tendency being towards brilliancy and versatility. At least four generations of the family have been identified with Hillsboro county, N. H., where settled the paternal great-grandfather of James Sullivan Howard upon coming from England long before the Revolutionary war. His son, Samuel, spent his life at Temple, Hillsboro county, served as selectman for many years, and enlisted from there for service in the war of Independence. He reared a large family of children, among whom was Capt. Sullivan Howard, the father of James Sullivan Howard, born in New Hampshire in 1806. Captain Howard gained his rank as head of the state militia at Mason, Hillsboro county, in which locality he was prominent as a politician and business man. He married Elizabeth B. Lit- tle, born in Hollis, N. H., in 1808, and daughter of Abner B. Little, a native farmer of the vicinity of Hollis. Captain Howard came to Kewanee, Ill., in 1836, accompanied by his father-in-law, Abner Little, the latter of whom died in Kewa- nee at the advanced age of ninety-two. Captain Howard settled on a farm in what was then a wilderness, and in time became one of the found- ers of Kewanee, his enterprise and high-minded

zeal forcibly impressing themselves upon the growth of the community. From the humble capacity of carpenter and expert mechanic he advanced to the position of vice-president of the First National Bank of Kewanee, also holding many important political offices in the county. He was a member of the Board of Trade of Chicago, Ill., and was everywhere recognized as a solid and substantial business man. His death oc- curred in 1887, his wife surviving him until 1892. There were three sons and four daughters in the family, of whom one daughter is deceased. The others are: Horace, a resident of Chicago; Henry, a farmer in Kansas; Mary E., the wife of James Gidley, a hardware merchant of Victor, Iowa; Harriett E., the widow of Zac Squires of Chicago, and now residing in Los Angeles, Cal .; Martha C., now Mrs. Cyrus Wells of Minneapo- lis, Minn., a literary and business woman pos- sessing remarkable executive ability, and honored as one of the lady commissioners of the St. Louis Exposition in 1904; and Nancy, deceased.

After graduating from the high school of Ke- wanee, Ill., James Sullivan Howard, who was born in Hillsboro county, N. H., April 21, 1832, attended an academy on the corner of Clark and Washington streets, Chicago, and at the age of twenty-one he embarked upon an independent career as a furniture dealer in Kewanee. Decem- ber, 21, 1855, he married Margaret E. Snuggs, born in England March 7, 1831, a daughter of Samuel Snuggs, also a native of England. Mr. Snuggs brought his family to America in 1850, locating in Stark county, Ill., where he farmed until his death, at the age of sixty. In 1859 Mr. Howard started with his wife and three children for Pike's Peak, Colo., but on the way changed his mind, and came to Oregon instead. His equipment consisted of ox teams and wagons, and his route lay via the Platte river, Salt Lake and the Humboldt to Jacksonville, at which town he arrived with fifty cents in his pocket. About this time the rains began to fall, and the pros- pect was a dismal one, especially after the fifty cents had been spent for supper. Fortunately, the cattle had survived the journey, and were in fairly good condition, thus insuring food for some time to come. Mr. Howard found work as a carpenter, but for some time had little opportunity to use the surveying instruments upon which hung his success of the future, and which already constituted one of his prized possessions. As the country began to settle chances came his way, and in time he devoted his entire energy to surveying and engineering, his star of success ascending continually and with splendid results. Such im- portant commissions as the preliminary survey of the Southern Pacific railway, from the Rogue to the Klamath rivers, has been accomplished by

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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 82

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