The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 129

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

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SAMUEL M. OLSEN, who successfully operates forty-two acres in Coos county, Ore- gon, five miles from Coquille, southwest on the Foothill road, where he is active as a general farmer, dairyman and stock-raiser, was born in Norway in 1868 and is a son of Ole and Maggie Olsen, natives of Norway. In their family were seven children: Carrie and Gertrude, both of whom reside in Nor- way; a child, who died in infancy; Samuel M., of this review; Ole, of Denver, Colorado; Olf, deceased; and Tillie, the wife of Charles Bondelie, of San Francisco, California.

Samuel M. Olsen attended the public schools of Norway and pursued his education until he was sixteen years of age. During the last two years of his school life he spent his spare time in working upon neighboring farms. His father sold the family home-

stead in Norway but after two years rented another tract of land which he improved and operated for some time. Mr. Olsen returned home and worked for his father until he was seventeen years of age and then worked as a laborer for a year. When he was eighteen he crossed the Atlantic to America, settling in Minnesota. He worked out upon the farms of that state for three years, going at the end of that time to Coos county near Marshfield, where for five years he was engaged as an assistant in a sawmill. He then labored in the harvest fields in eastern Oregon for one year, returning to Coos county at the expiration of that time. He took up a homestead claim near Myrtle Point, which he operated along modern and progressive lines for six years. He then purchased his present farm near Coquille, comprising forty-two acres of unimproved land. Upon this he built his home and has carried on the work of improvement and cul- tivation successfully since that time. The prosperous condition of his farm is entirely the result of his own labors and exertions. It is one of the model farms in the district and has been developed from wild and uncul- tivated land. He specializes in dairying, keeping a herd of fourteen cows for this pur- pose, and has gained success in this line.

On January 7, 1898, Mr. Olsen was united in marriage to Miss Mary Shields, a native of Washington and a daughter of Calvin and Lavinia (Rice) Shields, residents of that state. Mrs. Olsen is one of a family of twelve children, namely: Sylvester and John, of Bandon; Ida, deceased; Jessie, who mar- ried Frank Christie, of Washington; Mary, the wife of our subject; Hattie, now Mrs. Ernest Everden, of Bancroft, Oregon; Stella and Eugene, residents of Bandon; Myrtle, who is the wife of Hayden Jackson, of Ball- don, by whom she has three children; Benja- min, who is married and resides in Bandon; Daisy, whose home is also in Bandon; and Rosa, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Olsen are the parents of four children: Elmer, who was born January 3, 1899, and who is attending school; Edna, who was born August 21, 1900, and who is also a student in the public schools; Lavinia, born April 16, 1903; and Myrtle, born October 20, 1906.

Mr. Olsen is a republican in his political beliefs but has never sought public office, preferring to devote his attention to the du- ties incident to the management of his farm. The success which he enjoys is entirely the result of his well directed labor along pro- gressive lines, aided by personal experience in the details of agriculture, and it has dem- onstrated that in farming, as in other busi- ness or professional life, efficiency and system are a sure basis of prosperity.

HENRY S. TILTON has been engaged in stock-raising five miles south of Dexter, Lane county, where he owns a stock ranch of three hundred and twenty acres, for thirty-six years. He does not reside on his land, how- ever, but rents a house about one mile from town, where he makes his home. He was born in Wabash county, Illinois, on the 16th

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of September, 1851, and is a son of Richard and Mary Jane (Moore) Tilton. The father was a native of New Jersey and the mother of Illinois, and they were married in the latter state and there they both passed away, the mother in April, 1855, and the father in 1892. Richard Tilton, who was a cripple, was a shoemaker and continued to follow that trade during his active life. From his earnings he managed to acquire the means to buy a farm, which was operated by his sons, as, owing to his affliction, he was not able to engage in agricultural pursuits. Before the James Moore family, the maternal grandparents of our subject, started across the plains in 1852, Mr. Tilton fitted them out with a supply of shoes and he did likewise for a number of other early pioneers. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Tilton, of whom our subject is the only one now living.

Henry S. Tilton was reared at home and educated in the common schools. At the age of twenty-one years he left the parental roof and started out to make his own living. He had been trained to agricultural pursuits and obtained work as a farm hand, an occu- pation which he followed in Illinois for three years, and at the end of that period, in 1875, he crossed the plains to Oregon. Upon luis arrival he located in Lane county and im- mediately filed on one hundred and sixty acres of land. Long years he devoted to stock-raising and he now owns one of the valuable stock ranches of that section, a part of which is still in timber, which would make about four million feet of lumber. Mrs. Tilton owns a quarter section adjoining their homestead.

In Lane county, in May, 1877, Mr. Tilton was united in marriage to Miss Millie Briggs, daughter of John A. and Sara J. (Veach) Briggs, who crossed the plains to Oregon with an ox team in 1852. The father was accidentally drowned in Douglas county, this state, when Mrs. Tilton was a child of two years, and the mother subsequently married Levi Harper. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Briggs, as follows: A. J., who is a resident of Walker station, Lane coun- ty; Mrs. Tilton; and Emma, who married J. A. Horn, of Pendleton. To Mr. and Mrs. Harper were born four children: Agnes, Homer and Alice, all of whom are deceased; and Maud, the wife of R. L. Edwards, of Trent. Oregon. Mr. Harper passed away in 1894, and his widow, who is now seventy- one, makes her home in Trent. Mr. and Mrs. Tilton have had seven children: May B., who was born September 27. 1879, and died at the age of two years; Ollie. whose birth occurred in April, 1881, the wife of J. A. Hills, of Lowell, Oregon; Asa, who was born on March 4. 1883, and is now married and living on his father's ranch; Etta M .. born on the 15th of July, 1886, the wife of Albert Higgins, of Trent; Lena, who was born in 1900; Earl E., whose natal day was March 4, 1906: and Walter who was ac- cidentally killed at the age of nine years. The older members of the family were given the advantages of a common-school education and the younger ones are now students of the public schools.

The family affiliate with the Christian church, and Mr. Tilton votes the republican ticket. He is one of the oldest inhabitants of his community as regards length of res- idence and is highly esteemed and respected by all who know him, as he is a man pos- sessed of many exellent qualities.

BENJAMIN F. LOONEY, a representative of one of the pioneer families of Oregon, was born in Bates county, Missouri, June 7, 1842, his parents being Jesse and Ruby (Bond) Looney, both natives of the southern states, the former's birth having occurred near Knox- ville, Tennessee, and the latter's in Kentucky, in the vicinity of Covington, her natal day being March 18, 1808. They were married in Alabama March 16, 1827. Jesse Looney was a cousin of Andrew Johnson, and like him inherited slavery as one of the local condi- tions of his section but adopted freedom as his conviction of right. His father left him land and negroes, but he had imbibed a dis- like for that life and resolved to take and rear his family in a free territory, thus in- creasing the number of pioneers who left slavery behind to come to Oregon. Mrs. Looney was descended from Revolutionary stock, and was related to George Walton. the first governor of Georgia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, and so the family had noted connection with our nation's history. In 1843 they crossed the plains with their family, consisting then of six children, in company with John P. Gaines, Daniel Waldo and the Applegates. They were exceptionally well equipped for the long and arduous journey, having two great wagons with five yoke of immense oxen to each and spare oxen to alternate. They also brought with them twenty head of choice cows and four fine mares. Their provisions were likewise abun- dant, and they were afforded the pleasure of relieving many of the less fortunate whom they met on the plains and, after that grati- fication, a supply remained after their new home was reached. Their journey therefore was divested of many of the hardships and privations experienced by the ordinary pio- neer, seeking a home in the land of the golden sunset. Upon reaching the great and un- explored northwest they journeyed on to the fertile valley of the Columbia, and it be- ing then late in the season, they determined to winter at Whitman Station on the Walla Walla. Here the Indians proved troublesome, and in the spring of the following year they removed to Willamette valley. Mr. Looney at first took a piece of land near Salem but later disposed of it and went to Santiam bottoms, where he secured a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres on Looney's Butte. For two years he and his family were the only settlers here for a radius of twenty miles. In addition to this donation claim Mr. Looney accumulated several thou- sand acres more in the valley. From an uncultivated prairie this land has been devel- oped and improved until it is transformed into one of the most productive and attractive properties in this section of the country.

BENJAMIN F. LOONEY

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

every acre of it being now under cultivation. Men reared in comfortable homes, accustomed to all the conveniences and privileges of city life, can hardly conceive the struggles and dangers which attended the early settler upon the borders of civilization. These men and women must have possessed indomitable ener- gies and sterling worth of character as well as marked physical courage, and to them praise and honor should be given, for the mighty states of the west with their improve- ments and enterprises, are monuments to their memory. Mr. Looney contributed no small part in the development and upbuild- ing of the state of his adoption, and his life was, indeed, an active and well spent one. He took a prominent part in the organization of Oregon and served as a member of the pro- visional legislature. He prospered to the extent that at his death he was able to leave to each of his ten children a farm near the old homestead, but his last words to his sons and daughters before passing to the world beyond-"Do right, be honorable and truth- ful," were a priceless legacy in themselves. They bespoke the caliber of the husband and father, and left a lasting impression upon the minds of the young folks at his bedside, giving birth to an ambition and determina- tion to do honor to the father and the trust. He passed away at Salem, March 25, 1869, at the age of sixty-nine years. Mrs. Looney long survived her husband, she having de- parted this life May 7, 1900, at the ripe and cheerful old age of ninety-two years. She was one of the most remarkable, enterprising and widely known women in western Oregon. Her strong lines of character were a pillar of strength to all her descendants, and she has commanded the honor and admiration of all who knew her from the days of 1843, when she with her husband and little children came to make her home in the uncivilized wilderness of the Pacific coast, to the day she passed away in dreamless sleep amid the circle of her loved ones. She lived to see the conversion of that unsettled wilderness into one of the populous and prosperous states of the Union. They were the parents of fourteen children, eight of whom are now living: J. B., of Jefferson; Ellen, the widow of A. Gaines, of Vancouver; Benjamin F .; Pauline, of Jefferson; David H. and Norris F., both of Jefferson, the latter superintendent of the State Reform school; Frances, the widow of Wilber Cornell; and Addie B., who married G. A. Fairbanks of Petaluma, Cali- fornia.

Benjamin F. Looney was an infant of but one year when brought by his parents across the great American desert. His boyhood and youth were spent under the parental roof and he acquired his education in Eugene, Albany and Salem. and later completed a course in Willamette University and also attended the university at Eugene. After securing a good education as a foundation for life's activities he devoted several years to travel through ' eastern Oregon and Idaho. occupying his time and attention with mining. Subsequently he returned to the home farm and until 1902

engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock- raising on part of the old donation claim. In that year he removed to Jefferson, where he has since lived retired.

In 1878 was solemnized the marriage of Benjamin F. Looney and Miss Josephine Deardorf, a native of Douglas county, Ore- gon, and a daughter of W. H. B. and Georgia Anna Deardorf, both of whom were numbered among Oregon's pioneers of 1849, and resided in Jefferson until their deaths. To Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Looney have been born three children, two sons and a daughter: Deman D., who is residing in Spokane, Wash- ington, and engaged in the engraving busi- ness; Everett F., a leading druggist of Sheri- dan, Oregon; and Georgia Anna B., who be- came the wife of William Smith, postmaster of Jefferson and a prominent merchant of that town.

Mr. Looney gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He has never been a politician in the sense of the office seeker but gives at all times his firm support to his party, because he recognizes the fact that it is the duty as well as the privilege of every true American citizen to support the prin- ciples in which he believes. He has found in his busy life no time to affiliate with lodge or church, preferring rather to spend with his family whatever leisure his activities al- lowed. Idleness and indolence were ever for- eign to his nature and he now enjoys a well merited rest as a reward of his former toils. Many changes have been wrought by time and man during Mr. Looney's long residence here, and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past with all its hard- ships and privations, and the progressive present with its advantages and opportu- nities.

VALENTINE BROWN, attorney at law of Portland, his native city, was born No- vember 10, 1862, his parents being Valen- tine and Maria Ann (Heaney) Brown. The father was a native of Vermont, while the mother was born in New York city and was of Irish parentage. When Valentine Brown. Sr., was quite young he removed westward to Wisconsin, where he engaged in the lum- ber business. He took up the land that now constitutes the site of Stevens Point and owned that property for a time but later traded it for stock in a railroad, which afterward failed. so that he lost all. In 1857 he arrived in Oregon, via Panama, set- tling on the east side of the river at Port- land. At that time his capital consisted of about twenty thousand dollars, which he invested largely in land. Afterward he sold this land and made investment in a mining venture in Curry county, which did not prove profitable, so that he again lost every- thing. He was in such straitened financial circumstances that he had to walk back to Portland. but through all these reverses his business integrity was unassailable and his courage unfaltering. Even in the face of such disasters he never allowed his industry to falter and, upon his return to Portland,

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he began operating the ferry for Samuel Donglas, continuing that work to the time of his demise.

His son and namesake, Valentine Brown, Jr., pursued his education in the public schools and in Bishop Scott school. He af- terward went to sea, spending four years as a sailor and later became a postal clerk, in which position he likewise continued for four years. A similar period was then dc- voted to the real-estate business but in the meantime he had determined to enter upon the practice of law and with this end in view pursued a course in the law depart- inent of the University of Oregon, from which he was graduated with the class of 1892. In the same year he turned his at- tention to the abstract business, in which he continued until about two years ago. He is now devoting his energies largely to the practice of law but all through his life he has engaged largely in literary work. His poetic talent has found expression in the writing of four volumes of verse, contain- ing a total of about ten thousand lines. In 1900 he brought from the press a volume of his poems, and again in 1902, Armageddon, his most pretentious work was issued. In a review of the latter the Critic of New York said that the work evidenced a close reading of Ovid's Metamorphosis but Mr. Brown had never read that book. Byron and Shelley are about the only poets with which he is acquainted, his poetic genius being an inherent talent. In 1903 he brought forth another volume called the Chieftain and Satires. In 1905 he published his first written poems, under the title of Tales and Verse. Some years age he took up typesetting and in his leisure hours set all the type for his works, which are an excellent specimen of the printer's art as well as of poetic ability. His second vol- mine was composed at the case as he set type. This necessitated much resetting, for, like all writers, second thought called for many revisions. Most of his pocms are too long for a sketch of this character but the following gives an indication of his ability.

Is This Life A Dream?

"Is this earthly life a dream ? But a dream ? Is that mystic soul of ours Wandering by the banks and bowers Like a stream-but a dream?

"Will it like a river flow Soft and low ? Till it finds a soothing deep, There to sleep-ever sleep- Never in its home to know Weal or woe ?

"Ah, this life is not a dream; Not a dream;

Though the soul will darkness mcet. And the heart's last feeble beat Ends the theme.

"Ah, this earthly life is real, Truly real;

Building by incessant strife

Fairer life-purer life,

Slowly building on the carth Lasting worth.

"Earthly Aidenn's sapphire towers Are not ours;

Heaven's dominion strewn with flowers

May be ours, sweetly ours; Yet on earth some future time Will arise a life sublime, And the palaces to be Men will see."

Mr. Brown was married in 1889 to Miss Jennie M. Ham, a daughter of Isaac Ham, a Portland pioneer. They have three chil- dren, Valentine, Helen M. and Zenas Shel- Jey.

WILLIAM L. WALLACE, an agriculturist residing two and a half miles north of Leba- non, on the Albany road, is successfully en- gaged in the operation of a farm comprising three hundred and seventy acres and belong- ing to his brother, Dr. J. P. Wallace, in addition to his own valley farm. His birth occurred in Tennessee in the year 1856, his parents being Brice and Nancy (Hall) Wal- lace, likewise natives of that state. The father, retiring from active business life. came to Linn county, Oregon, and was here elected county treasurer, serving in that capacity for two years. He has since resided at Albany with his daughter, Mrs. A. B. Mar- shall, and is now eighty-six years of age. His wife was called to her final rest in 1887. To them were born eleven children, three of whom are deceased. The living members of the family are: J. P., a practicing physician of Albany, Oregon; S. O., who is a resident of Lebanon, this state; F. E., an agriculturist residing at Lebanon; R. R., living in Astoria, Oregon; William L., of this review; Janie. who is the wife of J. V. Keebler, of Lebanon, Oregon; Mattie, who gave her hand in mar- riage to A. B. Marshall, of Albany, Oregon ; and Bertha, who is the widow of William Hawkins and resides in Portland, this state.

William L. Wallace spent the first twenty years of his life on the home farm in Tennes- see. In 1877 the family home was established in Linn county, Oregon. and here he leased a farm of three hundred and twenty acres. operating the same successfully for five years. On the expiration of that period he was mar- ried and leased another farm near Albany, the cultivation of which claimed his time and attention for sixteen years. He then leased a place of three hundred and seventy acres from his brother, Dr. Wallace. of Albany, and has been busily engaged in its operation to the present time. Three hundred and twenty- five acres of the land is under cultivation. Mr. Wallace owns twenty-five acres of bot- tom land in Linn county and a small tract in Clackamas county. He also owns stock and implements, has an interest in a thresli- ing machine and well deserves recognition

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

among the substantial and representative agriculturists of his community.

In 1882 Mr. Wallace was united in marriage to Miss Alice Gentry, a native of Tennessee and a daughter of John and Josephine (Burk), Gentry. Mrs. Wallace was one of a family of five children, the others being as follows: Alvis, who is a resident of Portland, Oregon; Lindsey, living in Knoxville, Tennessee; and two who have passed away. Our subject and his wife have three children. Pearl, who is a graduate of the Portland Business College, was employed for a time as a bookkeeper and also followed the profession of school teach- ing. She is now the wife of George L. Wash- burn, of Portland. and has one child. Robert W. is still under the parental roof. Eva, also yet at home, is pursuing a special course in music at the conservatory of music at Albany College. She possesses a remarkable voice and expects to complete her musical education abroad.

Mr. Wallace gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and has served as road supervisor in his district for twelve years. He has also been a member of the election board for eight years and has acted as school director for a period of twelve years. His public duties have ever been discharged in a highly commendable man- ner and, though not an office seeker, his fellow townsmen have recognized his worth and chosen him for positions of trust. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church, while fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. The period of his residence in Linn county and the Sun- set state covers more than a third of a cen- tury and he enjoys an extensive and favor- able acquaintance here.

ORLANDO A. KELLY is living retired in Riverton, Oregon, where he has resided since 1888 and is taking a well earned rest after labors, which have constantly benefited the community in which he lives. He was the first postmaster of the village and conducted the first hotel within its borders, gaining success in both lines of occupation, by rea- son of his business ability and his straight- forward methods. He is now serving as justice of the peace and notary public which office he has held for twenty-one years. Mr. Kelly has been a resident of Oregon for almost twenty-six years but is a native of Illinois, his birth having occurred in Mc- Henry county, in 1856. His parents were William C. and Mary (Klink) Kelly, na- tives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively, the father having been born in 1816 and the mother in 1820. On the paternal side Mr. Kelly is of Irish and Scotch stock, his grand -. father having been a native of the Emerald isle. His grandmother was of Scotch an- cestry and a descendant of Lord William Wallace, the noted Scotch pirate. His mother was of Dutch descent and her father commanded the American forces at the time the city of Buffalo was burned by the Bri- tish. He and his two brothers came over from Holland and settled in New York state,

where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. William C. Kelly had seven children: David, Wallace, Phoebe and John, all of whom have passed away; Jo- seph, who is living retired in Yuba county, California; Orlando, a twin to Joseph and the subject of this sketch; and Fernando, who is teaching in the district schools near Berkeley, California.

Orlando Kelly was educated in the pub- lic schools of Illinois and later attended Lombard University at Galesburg, Illinois, from which institution he was graduated in 1873. His father was a farmer and Mr. Kelly's childhood was spent amid agricul- tural scenes. He, however, never followed this line of occupation, engaging in school teaching immediately after his graduation. He was active in this profession in Illinois, Kansas, California, and Oregon, abandoning it in 1893 and coming to Chicago, Illinois. where he remained only a short time. He had accumulated some property in Kansas. which he sold in the same year and came to Coos county where he invested in land. He owned the first residence in the town of Riverton and is still proprietor of this house and also the lot upon which it stands, al- though he has sold all his other interests in Coos county. He was the first postmaster of Riverton and held this position for seven years, doing able and practical work during that time. For six years he conducted a hotel, which was the first enterprise of its kind in the village and which he conducted successfully until 1912. He has now re- tired from active life, although he still per- forms his duties as notary public and justice of the peace, having served for fourteen and twenty-one years, respectively.

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 129

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