The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 13

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

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

in Heppner, conducting it as a side interest until his son, Benjamin Robert Patterson. became actively connected with the business. The father then left the employ of the rail- road company and since that time, both he and our subject have been actively engaged in the drug business in Heppner. In the spring of 1872 J. H. Patterson was married to Rebecca Griffiths, of Hornellsville, New York, and shortly afterward they came west, becoming pioneers on the Pacific coast. J. H. Patterson is a republican, and fraternally he holds membership in the Masonic order, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree. He belongs to the Shrine and is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

Benjamin R. Patterson received his pri- mary education in the public schools of Hepp- ner and later entered the pharmaceutical de- partment of the University of Buffalo, being graduated from that institution in 1897. He then returned to Heppner and in partnership with his father engaged actively in the drug business, which has since been successfully conducted under the firm name of Patterson & Son.

At Portland, Oregon, in July, 1900, Benja- min R. Patterson was united in marriage to Miss Addie Bean, a daughter of H. F. Bean of that city. Mr. Patterson is a republican and takes a reasonably active interest in mat- ters of state. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World, being one of its active members. The members of the firm of Patterson & Son are widely known in the community, where they are regarded as being among its best and most valued citizens. They are public- spirited, have great faith in the future of their county and town and, being genial in disposition and optimistic by nature, have during the course of their business and social careers formed an extensive acquaintance among the people of Morrow county, large numbers of whom are their intimate friends.

J. B. C. TAYLOR is a partner in the Crater Lake Navigation Company, being actively engaged as engineer and sometimes as cap- tain on the steamer Mazama, plying on the Upper Klamath lake. He was born in Solano county, California, December 29, 1862, a son of G. W. and Elizabeth (Shoop) Taylor, natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania, respec- tively. They were married in the east and in 1854 the father made his way to Cali- fornia, after which he returned and brought his family to the Pacific coast. In 1866 he went to Idaho and in 1868 came to Oregon. Both he and his wife were residents of the Willamette valley at the time of their death, the father dying in 1907, at the age of seventy-four years, while the mother passed away in 1872, at the age of thirty-six. -

J. B. C. Taylor was the fifth in order of birth in a family of eight children. He re- sided with his parents until 1879, when at the age of seventeen years, he began working for wages in Linn county. At different times he clerked in stores, taught school and worked in the mines, in lumber camps and at blacksmithing, shoemaking and carpenter-

ing. He also took up steamboating and bas occupied the position of engineer on railroads as well as on steamboats. In the fall of 1885 he came to Klamath Falls, where he has since made his headquarters. He is a man of considerable mechanical ingenuity, able to turn his hand to almost any kind of work along industrial lines. He was em- ployed for ten years by the government on the reservation but for the past four years has been connected with the steamer Ma- zama, acting most of the time as engineer but during a part of the time as captain. This has brought him a wide acquaintance and he has gained many friends during his residence in this district.

Fraternally Mr. Taylor is a Mason of high rank, belonging to the commandery and to the Mystic Shrine.

C. H. McCUMBER is the owner of a ranch of two hundred and eighty acres which is the only one all under cultivation in the Yonna valley. When it came into his posses- sion it was covered with sage brush but in a comparatively short space of time the gray-green of the sage has given away to the golden harvests of autumn, while in the midst of the fields are found substantial buildings, giving ample shelter to grain and stock. Mr. McCumber was born in Read- field, Maine, August 2, 1860, and is a son of Horace and Elizabeth (Lane) McCumber. both of whom were natives of Maine and representatives of old New England families. The mother died in the Pine Tree state in 1882, at the age of fifty-four years, and about 1885 the father went to Texas, where his death occurred in 1888, when he was sixty-four years of age. He was a travel- ing salesman during the greater part of his life, thus providing for his family, which numbered five children. The three sons and two daughters of his household are: Wil- lard A., now living in Pittsfield, Maine: Fred, who is living in Alaska; C. H., of this review; Eva, the wife of A. H. Yeaton, of Skowhegan, Maine; and Ella, the wife of George S. Healy, of New London, Connecticut.

C. H. McCumber remained a resident of the Pine Tree state until 1876, spending the period of his youth largely in school. He afterward traveled extensively over the United States, working at any employment that he could secure until he came to Oregon in the spring of 1882, making his way first to Portland. He was there employed on public works and remained a resident of the Rose City for six years, or until 1888, when he took up his abode on his present ranch of two hundred and eighty acres in the Yonna valley. He preempted and home- steaded this tract, which was covered with sage brush. Presently he undertook thic work of cultivating crops where heretofore the wild brush grew at will, and today he has the only ranch in the Yonna valley that is all under cultivation. He carries on gen- eral farming and stock-raising and in addi- tion is a timber cruiser and locates lands for - settlers. His example in the develop- ment of his property is one well worthy of

THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

emulation and his efforts have been a potent element for the upbuilding of the district.

In October, 1909, Mr. McCumber was united in marriage to Mrs. Elizabeth Alred, a native of Oregon and a daughter of W. H. Teters. By her former marriage she had two children, Earl and Ora. Mr. McCumber may be called an independent republican but is liberal in both his political and religious views and holds rather to an independent course instead of binding himself by any creed or platform. His fellow townsmen recognize in him a reliable, trustworthy busi- ness man and one who merits his success because it has been won through industry.

PETER NELSON. The name of Peter Nelson figures prominently in connection with events that have left their impress upon the history of Oregon and the north- west, and by reason of this and his personal work as a citizen he well deserves mention in this volume. He was one of the pioneers of Gardiner, where he still makes his home. His birth occurred in Norway, May 27, 1837, his parents being Nels and Martha Olsen, both of whom were born, lived and died in Norway. In 1851, when fourteen years of age, Peter Nelson came to the United States. He was then following a sea-faring life and sailed out of New York until 1858, when he came around the Horn to San Francisco. He there made his headquarters for a time, sail- ing out of the Golden Gate for two years on trips to the sound. While in the northwest he made a trip to Australia, where he spent the winter, after which he returned to San Francisco and continued on the sea until 1867. That year witnessed his arrival in Gardiner, at which time the inhabitants of the town numbered but three families. Mr. Nelson began work here in the lumber mills and was thus employed for about three years. He afterward went to Scottsburg where he engaged in the saloon business for three years and then returned to Gardiner where he bought a saloon, which he con- ducted successfully for thirty-four years. He retired from active life in 1907 and has since enjoyed a rest, made possible by his careful expenditures and his able business management in former years.

In 1877 Mr. Nelson was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Sawyer, a daughter of Andrew Sawyer who was a pioneer , of Umpqua county, now Douglas county, of 1850. His daughter Anna was the first white child born in that county and Mrs. Nelson was the second. Andrew Sawyer took up a donation claim on the Umpqua river about nine miles above Scottsburg, and the farm is now owned by his son William Sawyer. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have been born three children: Anna L .. the wife of George Perkins of Gardiner; Fannie, who married Captain Gust Westerdale of San Gabriel, Oregon; and Peter A., of Gardiner.

Mr. Nelson is a democrat in politics, prominent in local ranks of the party and for several years served as chairman of the county committee and as a delegate to state conventions. In fact, he was the dominant

factor in democratic politics in this district but always refused any political preferment for himself. He belongs to Roseburg Lodge, No. 326, B. P. O. E., and is a charter mem- ber of Aurora Lodge, No. 59, A. F. & A. M., of Gardiner. With many important events of this region he has been closely associated. He was one of a crew of thirty who took the steamer Swan up the Umpqua river to Roseburg, this being the first and only ves- sel that has made the trip. At that time it was thought feasible to navigate as far as Roseburg and several thousand dollars were spent in deepening the channel. After the trip was made congress gave an appro- priation of fifty thousand dollars for more work, and while the more powerful steamer Enterprise was built for . that service it was found to be impracticable and the navi- gation of the upper Umpqua was abandoned. For years Mr. Nelson was a factor in politi- cal life of Douglas county and became widely known throughout southern and central Ore- gon. He has always taken a progressive stand in support of public measures and is one of the first to foster and support any movement for the advancement of the inter- ests of Douglas county.

EDWARD FREUER, whose home property, known as the Seven Springs Ranch, is splen- didly located not far from Bonanza, has been a witness of the arrival of every settler in the Poe valley, for he is a pioneer here and others have followed in his footsteps in choos- ing this location as a place of residence. He was born in Suffolk county, England, April 1, 1854, and is a son of W. L. B. and Eliza- beth (Ray) Freuer, who spent their entire lives in the mother country. Edward Freuer was the eighth in order of birth in a family of nine children and is the only one that ever came to the United States. He arrived at his present place of residence in 1882 and has since made this his home, covering a period of thirty years. His boyhood days and youth were spent in his native country and for some time he worked in accountant offices in Lon- don. He also engaged in farming for six years in England and since arriving in Oregon has led the life of a ranchman, having at the pres- ent time four hundred and eighty acres on section 1, township 40, range 11, east, in the Poe valley. The place is today well fenced and upon it is a comfortable residence and good barns and outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock. It is appropriately named the Seven Springs Ranch by reason of the seven different springs which are found upon the place, Many modern conveniences, acces- sories and improvements have been introduced and the farm is today one of the valuable properties of the community.

Mr. Freuer was married in England in 1880 to Miss Claudine Chenery, who was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1856. They have become the parents of four children, all of whom were born upon the old home ranch, namely: Ray; Bertha, who is the wife of R. D. Wagner; living at Calgary, in the Alberta province of Canada; Sidney; and Frances, at home. Sidney and Ray each own

THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

a quarter section of land adjoining their father's property and are enterprising young business men of this part of the state.

Mr. Freuer came to Oregon a poor man and acquired land cheap. He has won prosperity through his dealings in live stock, making a specialty of cattle for a quarter of a century. At the present time he is engaged in dairying and he also handles horses. He has worked with unfaltering purpose to accomplish what he had set out to do and his success is the logical and legitimate outcome of his earnest purpose, careful management and determina- tion.

Mr. Freuer is interested in the public wel- fare of the community to the extent of giving aid to many movements for the general good. In politics he is a democrat but takes only a citizen's interest in the questions of the day, never seeking political preferment. He had the first postoffice established in Poe val- ley, calling it Bedfield after his old home. After ten years this postoffice was discontin- ued. He helped to establish district No. 20 and has been a school officer most of the time. For ten or twelve years he conducted a road house on his ranch and entertained many of the leading stock men of the community. He also gave an acre of land and established the cemetery conducted under the name of the Bedfield Mutual Burial Association. He is today the oldest resident in Poe valley and has taken a most active and helpful part in promoting its interests along lines leading to continuous development and progress. There has been nothing spectacular in his entire life. He has worked earnestly and perseveringly day by day, knowing that industry and close application are the basis of all honorable suc- cess. He has had the usual experiences of the pioneer dairyman and farmer upon the fron- tier and he has lived to triumph over diffi- culties and obstacles and reach a place among the substantial residents of this part of the state.

THOMAS JEFFERSON BRATTAIN. The specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave the perpetual record estab- lishing his position by the consensus of public opinion. Judged in this light, Thomas Jeffer- son Brattain was one of the most prominent, influential and valued citizens who have lived in southern Oregon. He was very suc- cessful in his business undertakings and his life was fraught with many good deeds- the expression of his generosity and his deep interest in his fellowmen. He was born Jan- uary 2, 1829, in Illinois, and was the second child of the Hon. Paul Brattain, who was a native of North Carolina. At an early day the latter removed to Tennessee when that state was a wilderness, became a resident of Illinois when it was a territory and went to Iowa when it was the "far west," settling on the broad prairie east of Keosauqua. Still he felt the lure of pioneer life and in 1852 came to Oregon, taking up his abode upon a farm in Lane county, which he occu- pied to the time of his death. He became

known throughout that section of the state as "Uncle Paul," a term expressive of his kindly nature and of the affectionate regard entertained for him by all who knew him. He was a man of much more than ordinary ability, as manifest in his business affairs and in his active connection with public life. He filled many positions of prominence, leav- ing the impress of his individuality upon the history of Illinois, Iowa and Oregon as a member of the constitutional conventions of those states. He served as county auditor of Lane county under the territorial govern- ment and for many years held the position of county agent. His plans were well formu- lated and carefully executed in office and in business life, and he carried forward to suc- cessful completion whatever he undertook. His family numbered ten children: John, who died in Baker, Oregon; Thomas J .; Al- fred, who formerly lived near Springfield, Oregon, but who died in 1909; William, a resident of the Columbia river country; Marion, who died in Lane county, this state; Cyrus, who formerly lived on the old home- stead in Lane county and died in September, 1912; Elizabeth, the deceased wife of James Ebert; Mary, who died in her father's home; Martha, the deceased wife of Robert Had- ley; and Emillie, the wife of Frank Smith, of Jasper, Oregon.

Thomas J. Brattain accompanied his par- ents on their various removals and was a young man of twenty-one years when he came to the west. He had already become familiar with the various experiences of pio- neer life in the different states where they had lived, his boyhood being largely passed in Van Buren county, Iowa, when it was a frontier district. It was in the spring of 1850, when twenty-one years of age, that he joined a wagon train proceeding westward. He walked most of the way, driving an ox team, and in the fall arrived in the placer fields of California, where he remained until the spring of 1851. Removing to western Oregon, he first settled in Linn county but soon afterward went to Lane county, taking up his abode near Springfield. He purchased a tract of land there and at the time of his death was the owner of three hundred acres adjoining Springfield on the east, which is now the property of his widow. In 1869 he removed to Langells valley, in Klamath coun- ty, and in 1873 took up his abode in the Chewaucan valley, in Lake county, locating on the place where his remaining days were passed and where his widow now resides. He engaged in the cattle business, which he followed on the ranges of Lake and Klamath counties for more than forty years. He was still actively engaged in business with his sons at the time of his death. His enter- prise, determination and energy were ever strong features in his career and he more- over displayed sound judgment, keen insight and unfaltering purpose. As the years went by his business affairs prospered, bringing him a very substantial and gratifying meas- ure of success, and his dealings were ever characterized by the strictest principles of integrity and honor.

THOMAS J. BRATTAIN

THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

On the 30th of June, 1859, in Lane county, Oregon, Mr. Brattain was married to Miss Permelia Jane Gillespie, who was born in Lafayette county, Missouri, June 4, 1838, and in 1852 crossed the plains to Lane county with her parents, Jacob and Elmira (Hanna) Gillespie. She was married in the house which her father built on first coming to the west. He was a native of Sumner county, Tennessee, and died in Lane county, Oregon, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. Her mother had passed away in Missouri, in 1845, and the father afterward married Mrs. Amelia Wood Martin, whose death also occurred in Lane county, Oregon. There were seven children by the first marriage, of whom Mrs. Brattain was the fourth in order of birth. By her marriage she became the mother of four children, as follows: Celesta Maude, the wife of James Small, of Summer Lake, Lake county; Judge Elden Marcellus Brattain, a practicing attorney of Lakeview, who at one time was county judge and who is married and has two sons; and Hazen Adelbert and Paul Jacob, who are partners in stock-raising interests in Lake county. The former resides on the ranch with his mother. He is a graduate of the State Uni- versity of Oregon and is one of the most extensive stockmen of Lake county. He is also well known as the vice president of the First National Bank, of Lakeview, and as a leading and active republican who for one term has represented his district in the state legislature.

Thomas J. Brattain was also a prominent factor in political circles and earnestly advo- cated republican principles, believing that in the platform of the party were contained the best elements of good government. During the Civil war he served as sheriff of Lane county and afterward became the first sheriff of Lake county, filling that position when Lake and Klamath counties were one. In early life he took an active and helpful inter- est in educational affairs, gave to his children good opportunities in that direction and served on the school boards of both Lakeview and Paisley. He also assisted his neighbors in building a schoolhouse at the south end of the Chewaucan valley, it being at the time the only one between Prineville, Crook county, on the north and the Pine Creek dis- trict on the south. At that time the town of Lakeview had not sprung into existence and there were only a few hundred people in Lake county. The district as petitioned for included Chewaucan, Summer Lake and Silver Lake.

Early in October, 1909, Mr. Brattain, while out on the hills gathering plums, suffered a slight stroke of paralysis from which he seemed never to fully recover. Later he in- curred a cold which developed into pneu- monia, and he passed away on his ranch, four miles south of Paisley, on the 3d of December, 1909, when almost eighty-one years of age. His was a well spent and hon- orable life which gained for him the high regard and respect of all who knew him. He was very generous to those in distress, having never been known to refuse assistance

to anyone in need. His home was a hospi- table one, displaying the spirit of old-time hospitality when "the latchstring was always out." He gave more money to the San Fran- cisco sufferers at the time of the earthquake than any other man in Lake county. He did not profess to be a religious man but the true spirit of Christian helpfulness and min- istry was exemplified in his life. He ever made wise use of his time and opportunities, not only for the benefit of himself but for friends and neighbors and for the community at large. The world is better for his having lived and his life record constitutes an ex- ample well worthy of emulation. He estab- lished in Lake county one of her oldest, wealthiest and most prominent families and at his death he was able to leave to his widow and children a most handsome compe- tence as the visible evidence of a well spent life, his acres and his cattle being numbered by the thousands.

MOORE BROTHERS. Elsworth and Elmer Moore are now operating the ranch of five hundred and twenty acres in the Poe valley, on which the family have resided since 1893. The place is now devoted to general farming and stock-raising and indicates the careful supervision and practical management of the two brothers, who are natives of Sutter county, California, their birth having occurred about eight miles from Marysville, in tlie Sacramento valley, on the 18th of October, 1875. Their parents were William P. and Clara (Chambers) Moore, natives of Illinois and Ohio, respectively, the latter having been born in 1846. They were married in Missouri, and in 1872 became residents of California, where they lived for fourteen years, coming to Oregon in 1886. On arriving in this state they took up their abode upon a ranch that constitutes a part of the Hot Springs addi- tion to Klamath Falls. This ranch was cleared by the family, who lived there for eight years, and the two brothers then came to their present ranch in Poe valley in 1893. The place today comprises five hundred and twenty acres of rich and productive land which is devoted to general farming and stock-raising.

In the family were seven children: George, now living at Moulton, Washington; Els- worth and Elmer, twins; Charles, a resident of Lake county, Oregon; Bertha, who died in 1891 at the age of twenty-two years; Ethel, the wife of J. B. Casey, of Ashland; and Grover, who is in the government civil service at Chico, California.

The family came to Oregon by wagon. Mrs. Moore made the trip with three of her children, who were then quite small, camp- ing at night along the way, for the big wagons had gone on ahead. The family had a hard struggle in the early years and met with extensive financial reverses caused by the loss of their stock and other unavoidable conditions. The loss of an accomplished daughter also added to the weight of the trials which the family had to bear. The mother and children, however, struggled on bravely and prosperity has at length rewarded

THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

their efforts in the reclamation of their claim and in the development of their farm- ing property which now constitutes one of the well improved ranches of this part of the state. The sons who are now in charge are young men of marked enterprise and ability and their capable and progressive methods are indicated by the excellent condition of their farm.

F. W. BOLD. The enterprising and grow- ing town of Bonanza finds a worthy repre- sentative of the progressive element in its citizenship in F. W. Bold, a successful black- smith who is doing all kinds of iron work and wagon work in wood. He was born De- cember 17, 1857, in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, and is a son of James and Lydia (Kidd) Bold, who were natives of England and were married there. They came to the United States in 1830, settling first in Illinois, while later they removed to Wisconsin. The father was foreman for seven years at the Bain Wagon Works, and also spent seven years in the J. I. C. Plow Works. He was closely associated with mechanical interests through- out his entire life to the age of seventy years, when he retired, well meriting the rest which he enjoyed throughout his remaining days. Both he and his wife died in Wis- consin at the ages of eighty-seven and eighty-eight years, respectively. They reared a family of seven children: Henry, deceased; George, who resides in Wisconsin; Mrs. Anna Taylor, who has also passed away; F. W., the subject of this review; Byron, who makes his home in California; Ella, the wife of William Chase, of Nebraska; and Edward, of Wisconsin.

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 13

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