The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 150

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

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ARTHUR L. HUTCHINSON is a native son of Oregon and has spent his entire life in Douglas county, where he is a prominent stock-raiser. He owns one hundred and seventy-seven acres of valuable land on the Umpqua river, near Kellogg, and has brought his enterprise by hard work, industry and specialized knowledge to a high degree of success. Mr. Hutchinson was born about two and one half miles east of Oakland, November 14, 1869, and is a son of James C. and Sarah (Copeland) Hutchinson, the for- mer a native of Illinois and the latter of Missouri. The father crossed the plains to Oregon in 1852 making the journey with his brother Robert M. The latter took up a donation claim now known as the Shine ranch two and one half miles east of Oak- land. James C. Hutchinson, however, re- turned to Illinois in 1853 and in the follow- ing year again came to Oregon, traveling this time by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Four years after his second arrival he pur- chased the donation claim, which his brother Robert then owned and located upon the property, residing there until about 1884, when he removed to the claim, which he had previously purchased from James Marshal. This land was located twelve miles west of Oakland and upon it he resided until 1898.

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

He gave his name to the farm and it is at the present day known as the "old Hutchin- son place." In 1898 the father of our sub- ject moved into Roseburg, where he resided until the death of his wife in 1904. Since that time he has made his home with his sons. He has been identified during all his life with democratic politics and served as a member of the state legislature in the session during which the Southern Pacific railroad was built through the state and took an active part in the contests in the state as- sembly over the question. During his resi- dence near Oakland he and his brother had a contract to furnish meat to the soldiers at Victoria, British Columbia, and he made his headquarters in the latter city during the time. He is today one of the substantial and prominent citizens of Douglas county and has many friends there. His wife was among the early settlers in Oregon, having crossed the plains with her parents, Royal and Sallie Copeland, in 1865. They settled on the Calapooia river and Mrs. Hutchinson made this district her home for some time. She died in 1904.

Arthur Hutchinson received his education in the public schools of Oakland and remained at home until he attained his majority. He then engaged in stock-raising, with which he has been prominently identified ever since. He did not give up his connection with this occupation even during the three years which he spent, from 1905 to 1908, in the logging woods. He now gives his entire attention to the operation of his ranch of one hundred and seventy-seven acres situated on the Umpqua river near Kellogg and to the pro- motion of his extensive and rapidly growing stock interests. He is the proprietor of one of the most valuable ranches in Douglas county and is ranked among that section's representative citizens.

In 1899 Mr. Hutchinson was united in mar- riage to Miss Sarah Fryer, a daughter of John Fryer, of whom more extended mention is made elsewhere in this work. Mr. Hutch- inson is a democrat in his political beliefs and intelligently interested in local affairs and well informed upon national issues. He, however, never seeks public office, preferring to devote his entire attention to the success- ful operation of his ranch and stock farm. He is a member of Oregon Camp, No. 125, Woodmen of the World, and in the course of a life spent in Douglas county has made many friends, who honor him for his straight- forward business principles and for the in- dustry and enterprise which have been the dominating factors in his success.

CLAUDE M. JOHNS, engaged in the gen- eral practice of law at Astoria, is a promi- nent representative of the legal fraternity in northwestern Oregon. He has a compre- hensive knowledge of the principles of juris- prudence, is careful and accurate in the prep- aration of his cases, and clear and forcible in the presentation of facts before the courts. Not only his professional prominence but also the fact that he is one of the native sons of the state and a representative of an old

pioneer family entitles him to representa- tion in this volume. He was born in Dallas, Oregon, October 2, 1885, a son of Charles A. Johns and a grandson of James McClellan Johns. The last named was born in Wayne county, Ohio, August 9, 1834. His mother was a cousin of John Quincy Adams, presi- dent of the United States, her father having been James Adams, a brother of President John Adams. James Adams married Miss Margaret Mcclellan, an aunt of General George B. McClellan. James McClellan Johns made his way to Oregon by the Panama route. He had previously resided in Mis- souri and on reaching the northwest settled in Marion county. He built the first grain elevator in the state of Oregon and made the first shipment of grain from this state to Liverpool. At the age of fifty-seven years he was admitted to the bar and had an excel- lent practice at the time of his death. For several years he was editor and proprietor of the Arlington Record, published at Arling- ton, Oregon, and through the columns of his paper and in a private capacity he had much to do with molding public opinion and in shaping the history of that section of the northwest in which he lived. His son, Charles A. Johns, was born in Missouri about 1858 and was brought to Oregon in his in- fancy, crossing the Columbia river bar when he was a babe of sixteen months. He has since lived in this state and is now a well known attorney of Baker City, where he has also served as mayor for four terms. He is, indeed, one of the prominent and influential residents there and in his official capacity has done much to shape the policy and mold the destiny of that place. He married Miss Mabel Ellis, who was born in Decatur, Iowa, November 2, 1860, and was a daughter of Henry Ellis, whose birth occurred December 14, 1825. He was married, October 2, 1844, to Henrietta Rowell, who died in May, 1899. Her father was William Rowell, who passed away in 1860. Her grandfather, David Rowell, was born in 1765, and in 1788 wedded Miss Nancy Neal, who was born in 1760 and was a daughter of James Neal; whose birth occurred in 1737, while in 1822 he was called to his final rest. He was a captain in the Thirteenth Virginia Regiment in the Revolu- tionary war under Colonel William Russell and received his commission on the 19th of December, 1776. His name last appears on the list showing the arrangement of the Vir- ginia Battalion at White Plains, New York,- in August, 1778. Thus Mrs. Charles A. Johns comes from Revolutionary ancestry and is entitled to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was brought to Oregon in her early childhood, her parents · settling in the Willamette valley, where her father followed the occupation of farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Johns were born three children: Claude M., Ruth Mabel, at home; and Charles A., also under the par- ental roof.

Claude M. Johns spent his youthful days at home and pursued his education in the public schools of Baker City, passing through the consecutive grades until graduated from

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

the high school with the class of 1906. He also attended the Shattuck Military Academy at Faribault, Minnesota, and subsequently studied law in his father's office for a year and a half. He spent a similar period in the legal department of the Oregon Washington Railroad & Navigation Company under W. W. Cotton, general attorney of the Har- riman lines throughout the northwest. In May, 1909, he was admitted to the bar and remained at Baker City until November of that year, when he removed to Lakeview, where he spent three months as a law partner of L. F. Conn. On the 5th of February, 1910, he arrived in Astoria, where he is now engaged in general practice. Although he has been a resident of this city for a com- paratively brief period and although he is yet a young man, he has gained for himself a creditable position in legal circles here and his future seems bright with promise.

On the 1st of November, 1909, Mr. Johns was married to Miss Rose Bronken, who was born in North Dakota. At an early age she lost her father and since four years of age has been a resident of Oregon, where her mother still lives. She was a descendant of Ole Bull and her grandfather Bronken was for three and one-half years a soldier in the Civil war with the Thirteenth Wisconsin Infantry. Her mother, Mrs. Carrie Bronken, was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1868, and came to America in 1882. In this country she became the wife of Herman Bronken, of Pennsylvania. The maternal grandmother of Mrs. Johns was born in Herfendahl, Nor- way, and married Knute Munson.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Claude M. Johns has been born a son, Courtney R., whose natal day was August 24, 1910. Both Mr. and Mrs. Johns have won many warm friends during the period of their residence in Astoria and have made for themselves a creditable position in social circles, while in the ranks of his profession Mr. Johns has gained recognition as an able lawyer.

JAMES E. TYCER, a retired farmer of Josephine county, where he was formerly engaged in general farming and stock- raising on a ranch of four hundred acres, was born in Tennessee, July 29, 1830. His parents were Louis and Sarah (Wright) Tycer, in whose family there were five children.

James E. Tycer was reared in his parents' home and received his elementary education in the public schools. In 1853 he emigrated with his parents to Oregon, crossing the plains with ox teams and completing the journey after six months of continuous travel. He settled in Linn county, where he filed upon a homestead, which he improved and on which he continued to live for thirteen years. He later sold that property and in 1867 removed to Josephine county, where he purchased two hundred acres, to which he eventually added another tract of two hun- dred acres, all of which he brought to a very high state of cultivation. Upon this prop- erty he has continued to make his home, although he has given over the ownership

and management of the place to his sons, with whom he lives.

Mr. Tycer was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Patterson in 1853, and to them the following named children were born: Wil- liam; Thomas; Edward; Sarah; Susan; Mary A .; Lucy; John N., who passed away in 1905; George P., whose death occurred in 1896; and Lucinda C., also deceased. Mr. Tycer is one of the best known men in Jose- phine county, where he is highly esteemed for his integrity, enterprise and progressive citizenship.

STEPHEN L. BENSON. About a quarter of a century ago Stephen L. Benson, then just entering manhood, left his home in the east and came to the Pacific coast, there casting in his fortunes with those who sought the precious metal. He was successful to a con- siderable' degree and beside mining property he owns a two hundred acre ranch which is well improved. He resides in Applegate, Oregon, which has been his home for a num- ber of years. He was born in Wisconsin, June 10, 1863, a son of J. Benson and Abbie (Hall) Benson, both natives of the state of New York.

Stephen L. Benson remained at home and assisted his father with the work of the farm, while acquiring a good common-school education, until he was twenty-three years of age. He then came to the Pacific coast and engaged in mining, in which he was reason- ably successful. He has been active therein ever since coming to the Pacific coast and at present owns a fine hydraulic mining prop- erty in California. He came to Oregon in 1890, settling in Josephine county, where he continued his mining operations. He now owns a valuable ranch property comprising two hundred acres, a large part of which he has placed under cultivation and upon which he has made good improvements.

Mr. Benson was married in Kansas to Miss Fannie Sloan and to this union three children have been born. Mr. Benson is affiliated with the republican party but he has been too busy with other matters to give the sub- ject of politics more than passing attention. In his religious life he is an earnest and con- sistent member of the Adventist church, in which denomination he is actively engaged as a worker, rendering such material assist- ance as lies within his power. Mr. Benson has an extensive acquaintance in Applegate and community, where by his life of indus- try and good-fellowship he has gained the respect of a large number of its citizens. He has been devoted to business and has cared for his interests in a wise way so that he has attained comparative affluence. The Benson family stands high in social and church circles and are among the most respected people of the community.

GEORGE W. CRUNK, JR., owns and oper- ates one of the most flourishing and produc- tive farms in Coos county. His holdings comprise a quarter section of highly culti- vated and well improved land seven miles above Bridge on Rock creek and form one

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

of the model properties in this section. Mr. Crunk was born in Montana in 1869, and is a son of George W. and Anna Crunk, more extended mention of whom appears in an- other part of this work. His father is one of the enterprising and representative agriculturists in Coos county and has handed down to his son progressive and scientific methods of operation.

George W. Crunk, Jr., received his early education in the public schools of Coos coun- ty. and later continued his studies in the state of Washington. He remained at home and was an active aid to his father in the work of the farm until his marriage, when he was twenty-six years of age. Following that event he worked in a logging camp for one year and then established himself in the stock-raising business, buying and selling high-grade cattle and breeding and raising them for the market. He lives upon a quar- ter section of land on Rock creek, seven miles above Bridge, and his undertaking has been successful. He has equipped his farm with all modern conveniences, has constantly improved his land. His stock-raising busi- ness is increasing yearly and forms the most important source of his income. He is known throughout Coos county as an ex- pert judge of high-grade horses and cattle and as a man thoroughly representative of the highest and most scientific methods of breeding and raising stock. The land which he now farms he purchased in 1900 as a squatter's right and has since made it his home.

On the 31st of August, 1896, Mr. Crunk was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Wagner, whose birth occurred in Coos coun- ty, March 20, 1874. She is a daughter of John and Mary Wagner, the former a na- tive of North Carolina and the latter of Ten- nessee. Their marriage occurred in North Carolina and they shortly afterward came to Oregon, where they settled in Jackson county, remaining in that section for one year. At the end of that time they took up a homestead claim of two hundred acres on the south bank of the Coquille river twenty miles from Myrtle Point, and upon this land they are now living. They are the parents of ten children: Lee, who main- tains his residence in. the state of Wash- ington; Fannie, the wife of our subject; Charley, who is in business in Alaska; Mrs. Barr of Bandon, Oregon; Alice, who is Mrs. Eberdeene and a resident of Coos county; Mrs. Nettie Briggs of Coos couunty; and John, Sterling, Glenn and Wilbur, all of Coos county.

Mrs. Crunk received her education in Coos county and remained with her parents until her marriage. She and her husband are the parents of two children, Elmer W. and Vesta E. Mr. Crunk is a democrat in his political views, but beyond casting his vote at each election takes no active part in public af- fairs and never seeks office for himself. He prefers to devote his time to the scientific cultivation of his land and has become ex- pert in the best methods of tilling the soil

and attending to the various phases of agri- cultural life. Mr. Crunk has contributed in no unworthy measure to the growth and progress of this section of Oregon.

WILLIAM H. HOLLIS, prominently con- nected with various corporate interests and at the same time recognized as an able mem- ber of the Oregon bar, practicing in Forest Grove, was born in Edgar county, Illinois, July 9, 1853. His father, George W. Hollis, who was born in Delaware in 1824, devoted his life to farming and passed away in 1903, when almost eighty years of age. He had wedded Marcy J. Clark, who was born in Virginia in 1831, and is now living in Gibson, Illinois, at the age of eighty years. One of their children died in infancy. The family included the following: William H., of this review; Louis, a resident of Muncie, Indiana; Charles, of Oakland, Illinois; Joseph, resid- ing in Gridley, California; John and Melvin, both of whom make their home in Gibson, Illinois; and George, deceased.

William H. Hollis is indebted to the pub- lic school system of his native county for the early educational privileges which he enjoyed. He made his initial step in the business world by clerking in a store and was thus employed for several years in Clayton, Illinois. While residing there he became interested in the study of law and by private reading began familiarizing himself with Kent, Blackstone and other commentaries. In 1886 he became a resident of Tacoma, where he continued reading law under the direction of Judge Snell until admitted to the bar, in 1889. While a resident of the state of Washington he was elected auditor of Pierce county, and was connected with that office either as auditor or as deputy for six years. His election came to him as a candidate of the republican party. At length'he retired from office as he had entered it-with the confidence and good-will of all concerned. Following the expiration of his term as auditor he was engaged in the practice of law in Tacoma for four years and then, in 1896, removed to Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he followed his profession with success until elected in 1900 to the position of municipal judge. He served upon the bench until 1903, when he resigned for the purpose of coming to Ore- gon. His previous experience in business had awakened in him a love for and interest in the western country and, believing that better opportunities were here offered, he made his way to Forest Grove, where he has engaged in the practice of law for eight years. He is widely known, not only as an interpreter of the principles of jurisprudence, but also as one of the law makers of the state, for in 1910 he was elected to represent Washington county-the fifteenth district- in the state legislature. He has given care- ful consideration to every question that has come up for settlement and has proven him- self an active working member of the house. He has also filled the office of city attorney of Forest Grove. He has a large private

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

practice which is connecting him with many of the important cases tried in the courts of the district. . Aside from his professional labors Mr. Hollis has done important work in the organization and management of vari- ous corporations. In connection with other men, in 1906, he formed a local insurance company known as the Bankers & Merchants Mutual Fire Relief Association and has served as one of its directors and as its secretary since its organization. He represents a num- ber of stock companies and is president of the Forest Grove Abstract Company. He was the organizer of the Hollis Title Invest- ment Company, formed for the purpose of making investments for clients, and of that enterprise he is the president. With others he organized the Forest Grove Transportation Company, establishing a local street car sys- tem with a mile and seven-tenths of track. Of that company he is a director and secre- tary and was formerly president. He has been the secretary of the board of trade of Forest Grove for several years and is attor- ney for the Oregon United Railways Com- pany and for a number of other important corporations.

On the 12th of June, 1907, Mr. Hollis was married to Mrs. M. Louise Blackmer. Wil- liam H. Hollis is prominent in Masonry, hav- ing attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the State Bar Association and many of his warmest friends in Oregon are numbered among his profes- sional brethren. He is a man who in all business affairs displays expediency and re- sourcefulness, ever looking beyond the ex- igencies of the moment to the possibilities and opportunities of the future. His plans are well formed and carefully executed and, being based upon sound judgment, make for success.

JESSE LOONEY. In the year 1843 two great wagons to each of which were attached five yokes of oxen, were to be seen wending their way from the Mississippi valley toward the setting sun. There were also spare oxen to alternate with those being driven and twenty head of choice cows and four fine mares made up the stock which were being taken by the party to Oregon. The owner thereof was Jesse Looney who with his family was trav- eling to the northwest attracted by the op- portunities of the Pacific coast country and urged on by a desire to leave slavery and its influences behind. He was a southerner by birth but there was in him a strong and instinctive dislike for the holding of human beings in bondage. Oregon thereby gained a citizen whose labors constituted an impor- tant element in the development of the state.

Jesse Looney was born near Knoxville, Tennessee, and spent his youth and early manhood in the south. He was a cousin of Andrew Jackson and like him inherited slav- ery as one of the local conditions of his sec- tion but adopted freedom as his conviction of right. He was married in Alabama on the 16th of March, 1827, to Miss Ruby Bond, who was born in the vicinity of Covington, Kentucky, March 18, 1808. She was de-

scended from Revolutionary ancestry and was a relative of George Walton, the first gov- ernor of Georgia, and a signer of the Declar- ation of Independence and the articles of con- federation. For some years Mr. and Mrs. Looney resided in Bates county, Missouri. The former inherited land and negroes from his father but as previously stated was op- posed to the system of slavery and in 1843 started across the plains with his family, then consisting of a wife and six children. In the party were also John P. Gaines, Daniel Waldo and the Applegates. They es- caped many of the hardships and privations which fall to the travelers across the plains for in addition to the stock they carried with them a large supply of provisions which not only met their own requirements but also at different times enabled them to relieve the wants of less fortunate travelers whom they met on the plains. They journeyed on until the days lengthened into weeks and the weeks into months and late in the au- tumn of that year arrived in the fertile Co- lumbia valley. They determined to spend the winter at Whitman Station on the Walla Walla but in the ensuing months the In- dians proved troublesome, leading to their re- moval in the following spring to the Wil- lamette valley. Mr. Looney had secured a tract of land near Salem but afterward sold that property and secured a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres on what be- came known as Looney's Butte at the San- tiam bottoms. His home was the only one within a radius of twenty miles for two years. As time passed on Mr. Looney added to his landed possessions until he was the owner of several thousand acres in the val- ley. He bent his energies with resolution and determination to the development and cultivation of his place and improved it until it was transformed into one of the most at- tractive and productive properties in this section of the country, every acre of his home place being now under cultivation. There were many hardships and difficulties to be encountered incident to the work of developing a farm upon the western fron- tier but he possessed courage and determina- tion and was among those whose labors con- stituted an element in the upbuilding of the western empire. He was not only active in agricultural pursuits but also in the settle- ment of many momentous questions, serving as a member of the provisional legislature of Oregon, and in many other ways furthered the interests and welfare of the state.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Looney were born four- teen 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, California. The death of Mr. Looney occurred at Salem, March 25, 1869, when he was sixty-nine years of age. Such had been his capable business management and prosperity that he was able to leave each of his ten children

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 150

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