Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 93

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 93

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ships did not discourage him, nor did obstacles daunt his patient, persevering spirit. He brought an engine and other machinery from Baltimore and erected and operated the first saw- and grist-mill on the Coquille river.

Finally, when he had grown too old to con- tinue the hard manual labor of the farm, Mr. Volkmar in 1884 moved to Myrtle Point and opened a tin shop. Having learned the trade of a tinner when a boy in Germany, he called it to his assistance as a means of livelihood when agriculture proved too wearing upon his body. By degrees the little shop was transformed into a hardware establishment and it is still conducted in his name, although by reason of deafness which has come to him in his old age, he no longer superintends the business, but has turned its management over to his sons, Henry George and Albert L. These young men are proving worthy successors to their father and from the start he made are building up a trade that is assuming important proportions.

While living in Baltimore Mr. Volkmar was a member of the Maryland state militia. There, as here, he was a stanch but conservative member of the Republican party, caring nothing for office himself, yet willing to do all in his power to assist those of his friends who were candidates for election. In his younger years he was actively associated with the Masonic fraternity and assisted in organizing the first lodge in Marshfield. He was also identified with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and took a warm interest in the workings of both organiza- tions. Though advancing years have obliged him to relinquish many of the interests of his younger days, yet he manages to keep in touch with the marvelous progress of these, the opening years of the twentieth century, and loves to com- pare the improvements of the present with condi- tions as they existed in pioneer times. After coming to Oregon he suffered a deep bereave- ment in the death of his wife, Wilhelmina Dief- fenbach, whom he married in Baltimore, and who was a native of the same town in Germany as himself. At the time of her death she was seventy-one years of age. Of their seven chil- dren six attained mature years and one of these, Carl H., an attorney, died when in the prime of life. The others are as follows: Dr. James M., who is proprictor of a drug store at Creswell, Ore .; William F., of North Yakima, Wash. : Tillie, wife of B. M. Green, of Myrtle Point ; Albert L., one of the managers of the store; Stella, wife of H. B. Steward, of Myrtle Point ; and Henry George, who was born in Coos county, June 10, 1875, and represents the younger element of Myrtle Point's business men. These children were all born in Coos county except .. Carl H., who was born in Baltimore.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

WILLIAM MYER. Occupying a place of prominence among the native-born citizens of Jackson county is William Myer, of Ashland, whose birth occurred August 15, 1857, on the parental donation claim, about three miles north of this city. He has succeeded to the business of his father, the late William C. Myer, who, for nearly half a century, was one of the foremost agriculturists and stockmen of this part of the state, having an extended rep- utation, and being a trustworthy authority on all questions relating to the breeding of fine horses. A close student of all things pertain- ing to his special line of industry, progressive and enterprising, he did more than any other one man to improve the blooded stock of the county, being the first to import thorough- bred Percheron horses and Jersey cattle.

Nathaniel Myer, Mr. Myer's paternal grand- father, was born and reared in Lancaster county, Pa., being a millwright and surveyor by trade. He later settled in Jefferson county, Ohio, from there removing to Van Buren county, Iowa, where he cleared and improved a farm. In 1853, with his wife and numerous members of the Myer family, he came to Ore- gon, locating in Jackson county. Taking up a donation claim near Ashland, he resided here until his death, January 13, 1870, at the advanced age of four score and one years. His wife, whose maiden name was Mona Rid- inger, survived him, dying April 25, 1882, at the age of ninety years. Of their union the following children were born, and all came to Oregon with their parents in 1853: William Corliss, father of William Myer ; Benjamin F., who died in Ashland, Jackson county, in 1896; Mrs. Eli K. Anderson, living near Talent, this county ; Mrs. Fowler, who died in Oakland, Cal. ; Mrs. John P. Walker, residing near Ash- land; Mrs. A. G. Rockefeller, of San Diego, Cal., and Mrs. Sarada M. Scott, of Pennsylva- nia.

Born in Jefferson county, Ohio, April 22, 1818, William Corliss Myer was a pioneer set- tler of Jackson county, and died in Ashland, May 21, 1903. With his parents, he removed to Iowa in 1843, and ten years later, with his own and his father's family, he crossed the plains to Oregon, arriving in the Rogue River valley September 3, 1853. Very soon after- ward he took up land near Ashland and cm- barked in agricultural pursuits. Having a large range, he made a specialty of stock- raising, being particularly interested in the raising of horses. In 1865, going back to Ohio, he bought the noted horse Captain Sligart, which he placed at the head of his herd. De- ciding to again take up his residence in the middle west he took two hundred head of

horses across the plains, going by the south- ern route, and being five months on the road. Locating in Franklin county, Kans., six miles from Ottawa, he sold his horses and engaged in farming. A year later, not pleased with that country or climate, he came again to Oregon, settling on land that he had pre- viously purchased, about one mile from Ash- land. As interested as ever in the breeding of good stock, he brought with him four full- blooded Percheron horses, the first introduced on the Pacific coast, namely: White Prince, Doll, Maggie and Perche. Establishing a suc- cessful stock business, he soon found it neces- sary to add to his stock on hand, and again went east, returning in 1872 with Napoleon, a superb Percheron stallion, four Jerseys, the first brought to Oregon, and some Cotswold sheep for J. P. Walker, the first brought into Jackson county, and a few Durham cattle for E. F. Walker. In 1876 he brought from Wis- consin a Percheron stallion, Pride Perch, and General Fleury and two mares, White Rose and Jennie. In 1883 he again added imported horses to his herd, buying the fine stallion Gambetta, and a noted Shetland stallion, King Kole. In the breeding of a superior grade of horses and ponies he was one of the foremost in the state, making large shipments from his ranch to all the important points of the great northwest. As an agriculturist he employed all modern methods, being the first in the valley to use a gang-plow, an improved Haines header, and the screw pulverizer. In his efforts to have a pottery established in Ashland he was the first to attempt to make use of the kaolin beds of this locality. In his various importations of cattle and horses, Mr. Myer had some very noted animals, which at- tracted much attention, and will long be re- membered. Among the finest of these im- ported to Oregon in 1878 was an Arabian Per- cheron, named Arabian Boy, which was sired by the Jenifer Arabian, imported from Arabia by Colonel Jenifer, an American officer in the Egyptian cavalry, and a handsome filly, Jua- nita, raised by Colon Cameron, of Pennsyl- vania.

April 3, 1849, in Ohio, where he returned from Iowa for his bride, William C. Myer married Elizabeth Nessley, who was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, June 17, 1820, and died in Ashland, Ore., November 6, 1887. Two children were born of their union, namely: Frances M., a native of Iowa, the wife of G. F. Billings, of Ashland ; and William, the spe- cial subject of this sketch. Politically Mr. Myer was a stanch Republican, and relig- iously he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Brought up on the homestead, William Myer obtained a practical education in the public schools, and in the old Ashland Acad- emy. Endowed by nature with mechanical ability he has always been interested in ma- chinery, and has shown considerable aptitude for mechanical pursuits. From early man- hood he assisted his father in his agricultural industries, later assuming the entire charge of the home farm, which originally comprised four hundred and sixty acres. Twenty-five acres of this land has been laid out as the W. C. Myer addition to the city of Ashland, and Mr. Myer now owns three hundred and two acres. He carries on general farming most successfully, raising large quantities of hay, and continuing the stock business established by his father, his Jersey cattle, Percheron horses and Shetland ponies being celebrated throughout the county and state.

September 27, 1893, in Ashland, Mr. Myer married Annie L. Gall, who was born in Sams Valley, Jackson county, a daughter of C. C. and Sarah J. (Pankey) Gall, the former a pio- neer ranchman of that locality, who crossed the plains from Iowa in 1852, settled in Jack- son county and subsequently served in the Rogue River Indian war. Mr. and Mrs. Myer are the parents of two children, namely: Ced- ric Nessley and Frances Bernice. True to the political faith in which he was reared, Mr. Myer is a straightforward Republican. Fra- ternally he belongs to Ashland Lodge No. 45, I. O. O. F., and to the Woodmen of the World. Mrs. Myer is a member of Elizabeth Apple- gate Cabin, Native Daughters of Oregon, and both Mr. and Mrs. Myer are members of Acorn Circle No. 54, Women of Woodcraft, of Ashland. In 1903 they removed to their beautiful residence on High street in Ash- land.

ROBERT PROCTOR NEIL. A pioneer settler of Jackson county, and the son of an honored pioneer, Robert P. Neil, of Ashland, is well worthy of representation in a work of this character. Prominently associated with the industrial progress of this section of the county, being one of its largest. landholders, and most active business men, he is widely and favorably known as an upright, straight- forward man, and a representative of the lead- ing agriculturists of this part of the state. Coming here as a small child, when a half dozen families constituted almost the entire population of the southern portion of the Rogue River valley, he has been among the foremost in transforming the wild land into a magnificent agricultural region, whicht is de- voted to general farming and stock-raising.

A son of Claiborne Neil, he was born April 12, 1851, in McMinn county, Tenn. His grand- father, John Neil, was a life-long resident of Tennessee, and was a son of Peter Neil, who emigrated from England to the United States in colonial times. (Further parental and an- cestral history may be found elsewhere in this work, in connection with the sketch of Clai- borne Neil, a venerable and highly esteemed resident of Ashland.)

One of the twelve children of Claiborne and Louisa C. (Gibson) Neil, being the sixth child in order of birth, Robert Proctor Neil was two and one-half years old when he came with his parents to Oregon, and three years of age when they located on a farm about five miles south of Ashland, where he grew to manhood. Through the days of his boyhood and youth, he assisted in the farm labors, at- tending in the meantime the district school. Beginning life for himself at the age of sev- enteen years, he worked for wages at general farming, and completed his studies at the Ashland Academy, paying his own way through that institution. In 1873, in company with his brother, L. A. Neil, he embarked in the butcher business as a member of the firm of Neil Brothers, proprietors of Central Mar- ket. He afterwards continued business on the same site as junior member of the firm of Pel- ton & Neil, having three hundred and twenty acres of land, on which the slaughter house stood, on Bear creek, in addition renting a large ranch. Continuing thus employed until 1888, Mr. Neil carried on a successful business in that line of industry. Buying then, in com- pany with Mr. Virgin, the Ashland Flouring mill, he operated it for four years, when he sold out his interest in the plant. In 1892 Mr. Neil purchased the old B. F. Meyer farm of. nineteen hundred acres, lying two and one- half miles northwest of the city, with twelve hundred acres of it plowed land. On this ranch, which is the largest in the valley, he raises stock and grain, keeping a high grade of Hereford cattle, and cutting usually one hundred and fifty tons of hay per annum. He has also a stock range of five hundred and sixty acres in Dead Indian valley, about six- teen miles east of Ashland, and this he de- votes to stock-raising, and the raising of hay. He has a valuable residential and business property in the city, and likewise owns con- siderable real estate in Ashland. A man of energy and enterprise, he has met with far more than average success in his various op- erations, and is entitled to rank among the leading business men of Jackson county.

In Ashland, February 25, 1877, Mr. Neil married Miss Lydia F. Russell, a native of

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Missouri, whence she crossed the plains to Oregon in 1863. Three children have been born of their union: Frederick Robert, who was graduated from the Portland Business College, is associated with his father in stock- raising and also holds the chair of bookkeep- ing and penmanship in the Southern Oregon State Normal School and is secretary of the faculty ; Roy H. died while in the senior class of the Southern Oregon State Normal School. at the age of nineteen years; and Grover Rus- sell is a student in the Southern Oregon Nor- mal School. Mr. Neil has always been deeply interested in promoting the educational wel- fare of his city and county. He was a member of the board of regents of the old Ashland College, and since that institution was reor- ganized into the Southern Oregon Normal School he has served continuously as a mem- ber of its board of regents, and a member of its executive committee. In December, 1900, he was elected mayor of Ashland, and served for one term. For a number of years he ren- dered good service as councilman and school director, and is now a member of the Ashland Board of Trade. In national politics Mr. Neil is a sound Democrat, and an ex-member of the county central committee. He is con- nected with several fraternal organizations, belonging to Ashland Lodge No. 23, A. F. & A. M .; to the Woodmen of the World; to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past noble grand and past chief patri- arch of the encampment. He is also a mem- ber of the Jackson County Pioneer Associa- tion. Mr. and Mrs. Neil are members of the Ashland Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Neil is serving as an elder and trustee.

JOHN S. HERRIN. Stable and reliable characteristics have contributed to the busi- ness and political success of J. S. Herrin, ex- state senator, general promoter of country in- terests in Jackson county, and owner of three thousand three hundred and twenty acres of land. Mr. Herrin's advancement has proceed- ed along practical and conservative lines, and has tonched upon the fundamentals of good government and scientific agriculture. In his boyhood days on the home farm near Provi- dence, Webster county, Ky., where he was born November 15, 1827, he developed a hardy constitution and common-sense ideas of life, acquiring also a fair education in the schools near his home.

In 1850 Mr. Herrin left home and went to Clinton county, Mo., where he rented land for two and a half years, and where he married, March 10, 1853, Nancy C. Walker. The fol-

lowing month, in April, 1853, he started with his wife across the plains, equipped with ox- teams and such provisions and household fur- nishings as would be required to start life anew in an unsettled part of the country. A comparatively pleasant journey preceded their settlement in Jackson county, in September of the same year, the farm chosen by Mr. Her- rin being one of two hundred and four acres six miles east of Jacksonville. Under his ex- cellent supervision this farm underwent a transformation, became profitable and fertile, and at the time of its sale in 1883 netted its owner a liberal interest on money invested. His next home was the farm upon which he lives at present, and which was selected be- cause of its close proximity to Ashland, where better educational facilities were to be found for his children. Mr. Herrin bought at first eleven hundred acres five miles north of Ash- land, and to this added as his interests in- creased, until he now has three thousand acres in the home farm, besides a ranch of three hun- dred and twenty acres on Evans creek. It is idle to associate the possession of such a tract of land with inadequate improvements, for the ability to create such a showing with practically no outside assistance, presupposes progressiveness of a high order, and an ap- preciation of modern appliances and equip- ments. That Mr. Herrin is abreast of the times in all departments of his farm is apparent to all familiar with his methods. Every in- novation which appeals to his good judgment, and has been demonstrated to be an advance upon former methods, may be sure of intro- duction into the equipment of one of the large and finely managed ranches of Jackson county. Since 1883 the farms have been devoted prin- cipally to sheep-raising, a branch of industry found most profitable and congenial to the successful owner. Mr. Herrin makes a spe- cialty of the French Merino or Rambouillet, having bred always for wool. At a recent shearing one of his rams sheared forty-six pounds of wool, while he has six rams that shear from thirty to forty-six pounds each.

For many years the name of Mr. Herrin has been before the public as a politician, and the broad and liberal-minded sort, and for years he was one of the stanchest sup- porters of Democracy in the county. Since President Cleveland's second administration, however, he has changed to the Republican side, and his sympathies are as untiringly enlisted in this as in the other cause. In 1870 he served as county commissioner for two years, and from 1874 until 1878 he represented his dis- trict in the state senate. During the sessions he gave abundant proof of his devotion to the

N. D. 27 Smith

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

best interests of the community, whose needs he presented with satisfactory results, and his service met with the approval of the people who had honored him with their confidence. Mr. Herrin finds consolation in the fact that his children have so admirably fulfilled his expectations for them, and have so well re- warded his efforts to give them a good edu- cation and fair start in life. William F., the oldest of the ten children, is a prominent law- ver of San Francisco, and is attorney for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company ; John W. lives on the home ranch; Mary is the wife of Silas W. Kilgore; Sarah died at the age of two and a half years; David C. is a resident of Portland, and is lecturer for the order of the Modern Woodmen; Edward W. is a mining expert at Forbestown; Nettie M. is the deceased wife of Edward Kilgore; Emma G. is the wife of Edward C. Dickey, a merchant of Baker City, Ore .; Carrie B. is the wife of Alge Dixon, of Coburg, Ore .: and Fred. W. is at home. The mother of these children died in 1891.

WILLIAM D. L. F. SMITH. As a pioneer of Coos county, and a much respected citizen, William D. L. F. Smith, now living retired from business cares in Marshfield, is well worthy of honorable mention in a work of this character. He is an excellent representative of those sturdy, thriving agriculturists who have attained a high degree of success in their useful vocation by shrewd foresight, good management, and sheer persistency of purpose. A native of New Eng- land, he was born July 3, 1828, near Milford, Conn., a son of Preserve Smith.

Born in Connecticut, March 20, 1800, Preserve Smithi was left an orphan when quite young, and was afterwards brought up on a farm. Removing Ohio, in 1829, he settled in Knox county, taking ing up land near Mount Vernon, where he fol- lowed general farming until his death, in 1872. He married Amelia Knowles, who was born in Con- necticut in 1805, and died in Ohio in 1872. Her father was a Tory, and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Of their union, ten children were born, six sons and four daughters, William D. L. F. being the third child in order of birth, and all living except one daughter.

But a year old when his parents re- moved from their New England home to Ohio, William D. L. F. Smith received a limited edu- cation in the pioncer schools of his time. Not content to spend his entire life in farming, he went to Indiana in 1849, locating in Johnson county, where he was for two years engaged in selling fanning mills. Going to Des Moines. Iowa, in 1851, he successfully continued in the same business there for a year. Desirous, how-

ever, of trying his luck as a gold miner, he crossed the plains with an ox-team train in 1852, the company which he joined having some trouble with the Indians at Shell creek, and losing a few of their cows. Arriving in California, Mr. Smith at once began his min- ing operations, being located subsequently in dif- ferent places in California and Oregon, including American valley, Nelson creek, Weaverville, Yreka, Crescent City and the Rogue River valley. In 1855 he enlisted in Company K, of the Ore- gon Volunteer Militia, in which he served ninety- six days, taking part in the battles at Rogue River, Big Bend and Illinois River, and in various other skirmishes with the Indians. Be- ing mustered out of service in July, 1856, he went to Port Orford, Curry county, where he worked in a saw-mill for fifteen months. Locat- ing at North Bend, Coos county, in 1857, Mr. Smith was employed in the Simpson Lumber Company's saw-mill two years. Going then to Empire, he worked in the saw-mill belonging to H. H. Loose for awhile, and was afterwards em- ployed in different mills for a few years.

Turning his attention then to agriculture, Mr. Smith, in 1863, bought three hundred acres of land at the forks of the Coos river, about seven miles east of Marshfield, and improved a fine ranch, which he still owns, and on which he lived for thirty consecutive years. In order that his children might have the advantages of a good school education, he moved into the city of Marsh- field in 1895, and has since lived here, retired, en- trusting the care of his farm to his sons. An engineer by trade, his hand has never lost its mechanical skill, and for old times' sake he now occasionally runs a boat along the coast, always having with him a license for marine navigation.

At Coos Bay, in 1859, Mr. Smith married Mary R. Loose, a native of Ohio, which was also the native state of her father, Henry Heaton Loose, who crossed the plains to Oregon in 1853, and after living in Coos county for many years located in San Francisco, where he spent his last years, dying at the age of ninety-two years and three months. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of five children : Ada, whose first his- band was Julius Egenhoff, is now the wife of Charles Dongan, of Marshfield; William H. is living on the home farm; Florence is the wife of Prof. John Howes; E. Augusta is deceased ; and George F. is also on the old homestead. Fra- ternally, Mr. Smith belongs to Blanco Lodge, No. 48, A. F. & A. M., and to the Eastern Star. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and has served in various pub- lic offices. For four years he was justice of the peace ; was school director four years; and was school clerk seven years. -

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHARLES PRIM. A prominent and well- known resident of Jacksonville, and one of its native-born citizens, Charles Prim holds an hon- ored position as county judge of Jackson county. A skilful attorney, he has brought into the prac- tice of his profession an earnest zeal, a well- trained mind, and habits of industry that have gained for him success in the legal world. Keen- ły alive to the truth of the facts, and the princi- ples of the law, involved in cases brought to his special notice, he is ever just in his rulings, and his decisions are rarely questioned. A son of the late Paine Page Prim, he was born July 25, 1859, in this city.

A native of Tennessee, Paine P. Prim was born near Nashville, in 1822, and died in Jacksonville, Ore., in 1898. Early deciding upon a profes- sional career, he was graduated from the law school of Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tenn., and first settled as a lawyer in his native state. Coming across the plains to Oregon in 1851, he took up a donation claim of three hun- dred and twenty acres near Albany, Linn coun- ty. Settling in Jacksonville in 1852, he was en- gaged for awhile in placer mining, and then re- sumed the practice of his profession. In 1857 he represented Jackson county in the constitu- tional convention. Upon the organization of the state, and after its admittance into the Union, he was appointed by Governor Whittaker, justice of the supreme court of Oregon, and served in that position from 1859 until 1879, discharging the duties devolving upon him with commend- able fidelity, punctuality and success. In 1882 he was elected to the state senate, and served for one term. He was subsequently engaged in the practice of law in Jacksonville until his death. He married Theresa M. Stearns, who was born in Vermont, and is now living in Jacksonville. Of their three children, Charles, the subject of this biography, is the second child, and only son.

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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 93

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