The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 113

Author: Gaston, Joseph, 1833-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1072

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Mr. Van Zile was united in marriage to Miss Minnie La Salle, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Charles La Salle, who was a resident of Florence, Wisconsin. To Mr. and Mrs. Van Zile nine children have been born, as follows: Edith Mabel, the wife of George M. Sells of North Bend, Oregon; Mary Josephine, the wife of Earle E. Schrim- ser of St. Johns, Oregon; Harriett W., who is the wife of Andrew Holt of North Bend; Charles J., who is a high-school graduate and still resides under the parental roof; Jenette, who is also at home; and Ruth, Forrest, Hazel and Dorothy, all of whom are attending school.

Charles J. Van Zile is affiliated with the republican party and has been deputy county assessor in North Bend for three years. He was also a county officer during his residence in Wisconsin. His fraternal relations are with the Knights of Pythias, the Maccabees and the Foresters of America. Mrs. Van Zile is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Charles J. Van Zile, since taking up his residence at North Bend, has been identified with many of the leading business enter- prises of his adopted city and is a man whose well known reputation for integrity and uprightness of character entitles him to be numbered among the most desirable citi- zens of this part of the state.

ALONZO W. LAMB has been a resident of Douglas county since 1893 and is a man well and favorably known as an extensive and successful operator in farm and ranch lands in this part of the state. He is at present serving in the office of mayor of

Yoncalla with great acceptability to his con- stituents. He was born in Upton, Massa- chusetts, September 16, 1846, and is a son of Emery and Phoebe A. (Richmond) Lamb, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Rhode Island. The father, imme- diately after his marriage, settled in Up- ton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, and engaged in farming. He later removed to Charlton, in the same county, and there bought a farm which was formerly owned by Dr. Morton, who discovered the anaesthe- tic properties of ether. On that land he lived until the time of his death.

Alonzo W. Lamb was reared at home and received his early education in the public schools and was later a. student in the Charlton high school. On the 20th of Au- gust, 1862, when he was sixteen years of age, he enlisted' in Company H, Fifty-first Reg- iment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and served for one year. At the expiration of that time, on account of his extreme youth, his parents refused to give their con- sent for further service in the army and he was accordingly discharged, July 27, 1863. He returned to his home and for two terms attended the high school, after which he was engaged in work on his father's farm until just before his twenty-first birthday. Shortly before reaching his majority his father gave him his time and he at once apprenticed himself as a machinist at Whit- insville, Massachusetts, and continued in that work until he had completed his knowledge of the trade. He then, as a journeyman machinist, took up work at Holyoke and for several years worked there and at Spring- field, Massachusetts. . On account of failing health he later purchased a farm in Wor- cester county, near Brookfield, and engaged in general farming. He later purchased another farm, and while successfully operat- ing his two farms he also worked in machine shops at various times for about twenty years. In 1888 he decided to dispose of his property in Massachusetts and remove to the western coast. For a time he was en- gaged in selling his real-estate holdings and, in the spring of 1888, he made an inspec- tion trip to Oregon and while there pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of land in Columbia county, thirty miles from Portland. He then returned to Massachu- setts in the summer of that year and the following year brought his family and seven other people with him to Oregon. The busi- ness conditions at that time in this state proved unfavorable and Mr. Lamb, with his family and the entire party, who had come to Oregon, returned to Massachusetts, where he continued to live for four years during which time he occupied himself in the pur- suit of his trade in machine shops. In 1893, he again came to Oregon and this time made a permanent settlement in Yoncalla, at which place he built the residence in which he now lives. Since establishing his home in Yon- calla he has been engaged in buying and selling farm and ranch lands in this part of Oregon. He, at one time, owned two hun- dred and forty acres in the vicinity of Yon-

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

calla, all of which he has disposed of, at a very advanced price, selling a large part of his land near Yoncalla for four hundred dollars per acre.

Mr. Lamb was united in marriage June 20, 1869, to Miss Mary Prest, of Whitins- ville, Massachusetts, and they are the par- ents of three children, one of whom survives, Gertrude H., the wife of C. H. Daugherty, an extensive prune grower of Yoncalla. Mr. Lamb is affiliated with the republican party and has served twelve years as a member of the school board. He was elected clerk of the board at the time the new schoolhouse was erected and was one of the dominant factors in securing the building, which was eventually completed after a severe and pro- longed contest. He has served repeatedly as a member of the town council and as town recorder and town clerk and is the present incumbent in the office of mayor of Yoncalla.

Alonzo W. Lamb, since taking up his res- idence in Oregon, has been identified with the development of the agricultural and business interests of the section in which he lives and is a man who is held in high es- teem by all who know him.

RICHARD LYSTER. Six hundred acres of land fifteen miles up the Smith river from Gardiner, Oregon, intelligently developed along modern lines, an extensive stock-raising en- terprise directed with conspicuous ability, and a dairy business of rapidly expanding proportions are the contributions which Rich- ard Lyster has made to the progress of Douglas county and have been the means of placing him among the foremost citizens of that section. He was born on the Smith river, near Gardiner, Oregon, and is thus num- bered among the native sons of this state. His natal day was June 29, 1868, and his parents were John and Elizabeth (Elliott) Lyster, the former a native of Canada and the latter of New York state. John Lyster eame to California from Canada when he was a young man and for several years was en- gaged in the logging business in that state in partnership with Solomon Perkins. In 1865 they came to Oregon, arriving in Gardiner on May 1, of the same year, and continued their partnership in the lumber business for twenty years. John Lyster subsequently bought a ranch five miles up the Smith river from Gardiner but retained this property: only a short time. He disposed of his hold- ings in order to purchase a ranch lying across the river from his son's present property, fifteen miles up the river from Gardiner. He later bought three other ranches on the north fork and owned and operated these with re- markable success until his death, in 1894, when he was fifty-seven years of age. His wife is still living and resides in Corvallis, Oregon, where she is well known and popu- Iar.

Richard Lyster remained at home during his childhood and acquired his education in the common schools of Douglas county. He had but limited opportunities in this line and was able to pursue his studies only three

months in each winter. At the early age of sixteen he began life for himself, working in the lumber woods and for many years was identified with the logging industry when he was not needed in the operation of the home ranch. Upon his marriage, in May, 1891, he rented a ranch on the north fork of the Smith river, which he operated with much suc- cess for a few years and in 1900 was able to purchase the old home farm from his inother, on which he resided for seven years. He gained in this time a practical knowledge of modern and progressive agriculture in the aspects which it assumes in the American northwest and was prosperous and success- ful as a farmer. He sold the homestead eventually and purchased a portion of his present ranch. His original holdings com- prise one hundred and seventy-two acres lying just across the river from his father's home- stead. He has made extensive improvements upon his property and has added to his hold- ings at different times. He now operates five or six hundred acres of the most fertile and productive land in Douglas county and rents adjoining tracts. He is engaged in stock- raising on a large scale and this branch of his activities forms a valuable source of in- come to him. He also specializes in dairy- ing and has built up a flourishing and rapidly expanding business in this line. He bases his success on progressive and sanitary meth- ods, efficient modern equipment and intelli- gent and persevering labor.

On May 18, 1891, Mr. Lyster was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Dewar, a native of Minnesota and a daughter of William Dewar, who came to Oregon and located on Schofield creek, Douglas county, in 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Lyster have six children: Sher- man; Hazel, the wife of Nelson Mccullough, of Marshfield, Oregon; Virginia; Geneva : Lyle; and Harry. All of the children are living at home with their parents except the eldest daughter, Hazel.

In his political views Mr. Lyster gives his allegiance to the socialist party, being a firm believer in the principles which he ad- vocates. He has served as road supervisor of his district with much success and his political life has always been distinguished by strict integrity and intelligent activity. Fraternally he is a member of Sunset Lodge, No. 109, A. O. U. W., and of Gardiner Lodge, No. 132, I. O. O. F., in which organization he is connected with Encampment, No. 69. Mrs. Lyster is a member of the Riverside Lodge of Rebekahs, No. 100. Mr. Lyster is one of the substantial and well known men who own productive ranches on the Smith river. Intelligent activity always results in success and when it is combined, as in the case of Mr. Lyster, with industry and concentrated purpose it inevitably results in general ex- pansion and development.

.REV. THOMAS A. YOST is a regularly ordained and qualified elder of the United Evangelical church, to which organization lie has given many years of successful, minis- terial labor. He was born in Armstrong, Pennsylvania, April 7, 1847, a son of Ren-

MR. AND MRS. RICHARD LYSTER

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

ben and Sarah Yost. His paternal grand- parents were natives of Germany and his maternal grandparent was of Scotch descent. The father, Reuben Yost, was a native of Pennsylvania and in early life became pro- ficient as a blacksmith and carpenter. Dur- ing his early years he was alternately en- gaged in the pursuit of the crafts of his trades and in later years became a partner in a merchandising business in his native state. In his family were nine children: Susanna and Mary, both deceased, the former having passed away in infancy; Thomas A., of this review; Francis M., who is engaged in farm- ing in Reno county, Kansas, and is mar- ried and has six children; Rebecca and Emma, both deceased; Aaron, who is a sawmill oper- ator of Black Rock, Oregon, and is married and has five children; Maggie, deceased; and William, a mill man of Polk county, Oregon.

Thomas A. Yost was reared at home and educated in the public schools. During the early years of his life, after completing his studies, he became an apprenticed wheel- wright and blacksmith under the direction of his father and continued to be so engaged until he had fully mastered each of the above named crafts. He remained under the par- ental roof until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he engaged independ- ently in the blacksmith business, to which he continued to give his entire attention for a period of fourteen years, after which he removed to the west and settled near Lewis- ville, in Polk county, Oregon, where he pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres of land and was there engaged in farming for three years. During the time he was engaged in agricultural pursuits he became a qualified and licensed preacher of the United Evan- gelical church and to the work of the min- istry he consecrated his entire time for a period of sixteen years. During all of that time without interruption he served in the regular appointments of his church, being engaged as pastor on four separate fields of labor. Since his retirement from the active ministry he has been engaged in varied busi- ness interests and is now devoting his at- tention principally to the occupation of nur- seryman. He, however, often supplies the pulpits in and about the neighborhood of his home. At the time he established his home in Oregon he preempted a claim of one hundred and fifty-one acres, located on the Siuslaw river, and afterwards purchased one hundred and sixty acres, which he later sold to the Siuslaw Boom Company. Imme- diately thereafter, he invested in one hun- dred and forty-three acres of excellent agri- cultural land, which he is now engaged in developing into a model nursery, which in- cludes all of the varieties of apples and small fruits suitable for culture in the intermoun- tain district of the Pacific coast.

On May 6, 1868, Rev. Yost was united in marriage to Miss Eliza A. Shick, a daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Shick, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. To Rev. and Mrs. Yost nine children have been born. Jesse W. is a dairyman of Polk county, and holds the record of having the largest Vol. IV-31

output of cream in his community. He is married and has three children, George, Hazel and Mabel. Clara passed away at the age of twelve. Ida died at the age of three and Reuben at seventeen. Mattie is the wife of Richard Hensley, a dairyman, and they reside on the north fork of the Siuslaw river. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children. Sadie married William Jeffcoth, a dairyman of Stayton, Oregon. William A. is a teacher in the pub- lic schools of Glenada and is also engaged in the building of boats. He is married and has two children. Wilkie C. and Francis M. reside at home with their parents.

Rev. Thomas A. Yost was for many years a consistent and loyal adherent of the re- publican party. Later in life, however, he has divided his support between that great political organization and the prohibition party. Fraternally he is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which benevolent association he has been a member since twenty-one years of age, and he also belongs to the Masonic order. He is a regularly licensed and ordained elder of the United Evangelical church and has in- deed accomplished much during his lifetime for the improvement and uplift of mankind. Sixteen of the strongest years of his man- hood were devoted to work of the gospel. Failing health necessitated a change of voca- tion, however, and since that time he has been a successful agriculturist of Point Ter- race in Lane county, this state. He is a highly respected man and is now engaged in laying the foundations for a first-class nursery, which bids fair to give a strong impetus to fruit culture in this state.

J. W. LINDSAY is now living retired in Klamath Falls but is still the owner of good ranch property in southern Oregon. He was born in Saline county, Missouri, June 29, 1849, a son of David and Julia Ann (Mul- lens) Lindsay. James W. Lindsay is under- stood to be a scion of the old Lindsay fam- ily of Maryland and Kentucky and hence descended from the powerful Lindsay clan of Scotland, which was more powerful in some periods of Scottish history than even the royal family, to which it was closely re- lated. Its Viking blood, coming down the cen- turies from Niord, king of Sweden, gave vir- ility to many old Scottish clansmen and to many of their descendants in America, among whom may be mentioned General and Gov- ernor Spottswood of pre-Revolutionary times; and the Lees, Tuckers, Moores, Dandridges, Randalls and other leading families of Vir- ginia. General Robert E. Lee, son of "Light Horse Harry" of the Revolution, was a lineal descendant of Rachel, daughter of Sir David Lindsay, lion king at arms of Scotland, chief of the knights. The three Applegate broth- ers, Charles, Jesse and Lindsay, who were leading men in the great emigration from Missouri to Oregon in 1843, were sons of Rachel Lindsay of Kentucky and cousins to General Jesse Lindsay of the War of 1812. J. W. Lindsay is also distantly related to the Applegate family, one of the oldest and

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most numerous families in southern Oregon. His father, David Lindsay, was born in Dear- born county, Indiana, and in Saline county, Missouri, wedded Julia Ann Mullens, a na- tive of Cooper county, Missouri. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California, going first to Hangtown, now Placerville, where he engaged in mining for about a year and a half. He then returned to Missouri by boat and suffered shipwreck off the coast of Acapulco. At length, however, he reached home in safety and remained a resident of Missouri until 1864, when he crossed the plains to the Grande Ronde valley of Oregon. In 1865 he removed to Lane county and in 1868 became a resident of Josephine county. He died at Grants Pass, December 3, 1907, when in the eighty-sixth year of his age, his birth having occurred on the 1st of May, 1822. Most of his life had been devoted to farming and stock-raising. He served as a soldier in the Mexican war and also under General Price in the Civil war and thus ren- dered valuable aid to his country in two of her most important military contests. He held membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also in the Methodist church, South. His widow, who was born January 1, 1832, still survives him and is living at Grants Pass, Oregon. In their fam- ily were nine children: J. W., who was born while his father was in California in 1849; Martha, who is the widow of Si Messenger, of Grants Pass; Mrs. Emma Twiggar, of Portland, Oregon; Luella, the wife of T. Y. Dean, of Grants Pass; Mrs. Belle Herbie, of Grants Pass; Mrs. Bessie Carr, of Portland; David La Grande, of Grants Pass; Richard; and Jefferson.

J. W. Lindsay resided with his parents until twenty-four years of age. He accompanied the family on their westward removal and in 1873 became a resident of Klamath county, where he has since made his home. Here he was engaged in the stock business until May 26, 1911, when he retired to Klamath Falls. Year after year his live-stock inter- ests were carefully conducted and brought to him substantial financial returns. He now owns a ranch of three hundred and twenty acres forty miles east of Klamath Falls and in addition has some city property. He was in the employ of the United States government here during the Modoc Indian war of 1873, although not regularly enlisted for the serv- ice. He has been a witness of all the various changes which have transformed Klamath county from a pioneer district into a thickly populated and prosperous section of the state. As a stock-raiser he showed sound judgment, a thorough knowledge of the best grades of stock and put forth earnest effort to improve on the kind of stock raised in this part of the state.

In 1873 Mr. Lindsay was united in mar- riage to Miss Mollie Witt, a native of Ore- gon. They have two children: Dora, the wife of Joseph Lane, of Lakeview; and Ad- die, the wife of John H. Zwald, of Oakland, California. On the 19th of February, 1900, Mr. Lindsay married Mrs. Alice Campbell, widow of Joseph Campbell and a daughter of

Bartlett Oberchain, who was a native of Virginia and in 1861 came to the Rogue river country of Oregon, where he died four years ago. He had twelve children, eight of whom are now living, and Mrs. Lindsay had six children by her first marriage. She was one of the first students in the first academy in the Rogue river valley, located at Ashland.

Mr. Lindsay has led an active life, so that his present rest from labor is well deserved. He has seen great changes since coming to the coast, having lived here for forty-eight years. Realizing the trend of events along the line of progress, he has cooperated in the work of general improvement and is justly accounted one of the representative and valued citizens of Klamath county.

GEORGE W. VOGEL. Through indefatiga- ble effort and judicious investment George W. Vogel has won the right to be classed with the representative citizens and men of affluence in Rainier, where he is now en- gaged extensively and successfully in the real- estate, loan and insurance business, handling both city and country property on his own behalf and for others. With keen insight he recognizes the possibilities of a situation and so places his investments that good re- turns are achieved.

Mr. Vogel was born in Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1860. His father, Frederick Vogel, was born in Alsace, Germany, April 12, 1828, and in the year 1846 crossed the Atlantic, establishing his home in Pennsylvania. He was there re- siding at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war and in 1864 he espoused the cause of his adopted country, enlisting with a regi- ment of Pennsylvania volunteers. He par- ticipated in several engagements and was with Grant in front of Richmond when Stonewall Jackson surrendered. He never made his way farther west than Minnesota, where he took up his abode in 1878, there giving his attention to general agricultural pursuits until his death in 1901. He wedded Mary Schmidt, who was born in Germany in 1840 and was brought to the United States when only a year old. In their family were twelve children, nine sons and three daugh- ters.

George W. Vogel pursued his education in the common schools of Pennsylvania and in the normal school of St. Cloud. Minnesota, from which he was graduated with the class of 1888. Previous to that time. however, he had engaged in teaching school and thus provided the funds necessary to enable him to continue his own course. Following his graduation he turned his attention to the real-estate business in St. Cloud in com- pany with Captain West. There he remained until 1893, when he came to the Pacific coast country, making his way to Wash- ington, where he engaged in teaching school and music for several years after devoting one year to mining in that state. In 1896 he went to Circle City, Alaska, and en- gaged in the packing business, making trips to the mines from Circle City, which was

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

then a very extensive town composed en- tirely of log cabins. Mr. Vogel remained in Alaska for seven years, opened up the first big tent restaurant in Dawson and also introduced the first moving picture show there. After his experience in that north- ern country he returned southward and in 1902 located in Seattle, where he was en- gaged in the real-estate business for about five years or until 1907, when he came to Rainier. Here he opened a real-estate, loan and insurance office and has since been ac- corded a large clientele, conducting an exten- sive business in all branches. He handles his own property as well as real estate be- longing to others and his wise investment has brought him a substantial return. He has firm faith in the future of Rainier, which is growing steadily in population, a number of manufacturing interests being here estab- lished at a recent date, which has brought a considerable number of people to the town and promises well for its future prosperity.

On the 7th of June, 1909, Mr. Vogel was united in marriage to Miss Exel LeDuc, who was born in L'Anse, Michigan, a daughter of Joseph LeDuc, a timberman of that dis- trict. Both Mr. and Mrs. Vogel are mem- bers of the Catholic church. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he has served as president of the water board but is not an active politician in the sense of office seeking, preferring to concen- trate his time and energies upon his busi- ness affairs, which, carefully managed, are bringing to him success.

CHARLES E. FLATMAN has for the past twenty-two years been employed by the gov- ernment as a carpenter at Fort Stevens. His birth occurred in Suffolk, England, on the 3d of April, 1838, his parents being East- gate and Harriet Flatman who spent their entire lives in that country, the father pass- ing away in 1869 and the mother in 1848. Eastgate Flatman followed carpentering and contracting throughout his entire business career. He was the father of nine children, of whom Charles is the only survivor and the only one who came to America.

Charles E. Flatman spent the first thirty- one years of his life in the land of his nativ- ity and in 1869 emigrated to North America, settling first in Belleville, Canada, where he worked at the carpenter's trade for one year. He next spent six months in Brantford, Can- ada, and then crossed the border into the United States, locating at Fort Gratiot, Mich- igan, where he remained for a similar period. Subsequently he removed to Detroit, Michi- gan, and there was employed in the car shops of the Michigan Central Railroad as a builder of passenger cars for a period of fifteen years. In 1889 he came to Clatsop county, Oregon, and has since remained in the government service as a carpenter at Fort Stevens. He has maintained his residence at Hammond for the past eleven years, but prior to 1900 his family lived at Jordan, Linn county, Oregon. In addition to his home he also owns some property at Portland.

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 113

Author: Gaston, Joseph, 1833- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1072

Author: Gaston, Joseph, 1833-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1072