The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 165

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

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On the 15th of September, 1886, Mr. Tower was united in marriage to Miss Fannie L. Miller, a native of Scott county, Iowa. They have eight children, namely: Raymond I., Harold H., May I., Chesley H., Charles, Rob- ert, Elizabeth and James. Mr. Tower votes with the republican party and keeps well in- formed on the questions and issues of the day, but is not a politician in the sense of office seeking, although he once served as assessor in Nebraska. He was one of the organizers of the building association of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which ereeted the Odd Fellows Temple in Klamath Falls. He is greatly interested in the work of his lodge and exemplifies in his life its beneficent spirit and principles. He has worked hard, has progressed steadily and has not only won a creditable measure of success but also the good-will and confidence of his fellow- men.

ANDREW J. STONELAKE is a native of Finland and has been in this country only seven years, but he has in that short time become known as one of the successful farmers and dairymen of Coos county, where he is engaging in the cultivation of one hundred and sixty aeres of land three miles above Lakeside. He was born in 1885 and is a son of Ely and Mary Stonelake, both na- tives of Finland, where his father died. His mother is still living in her native country at the age of seventy-three years. They were the parents of five children, those be- side our subjeet being: Ely, who is deceased; Hilma, the wife of Mathew Bay, of Marsh- field, Oregon; Alee, a resident of Ten Mile . Lake; and Minnie, who has passed away.

Andrew J. Stonelake received his early education in the public schools of his native country. He came to America in 1905 and settled immediately in Coos county, Oregon, where he worked in a logging eamp for nine months. He then obtained employment in a shipyard, where he worked for two years. At the end of that time he mined for eight months in the Beaver Hill coal mines in Coos county and then came to Ten Mile Lake, where he is now residing. He bought one hundred and sixty aeres of land three miles

above Lakeside and has improved and oper- ated this tract up to the present time. He engages in general farming but makes a specialty of dairying. He is interested in every new development along agricultural lines and it is his constant ambition to keep his dairy and equipment modern and sani- tary.

On March 31, 1910, Mr. Stonelake was united in marriage to Miss Selma Shutter, who was born in Marshfield, Oregon, on March 29, 1892. She is a daughter of John and Hannah Shutter. Her father is a pros- perous farmer residing near Ten Mile Lake and is still active in the cultivation of his land. Her mother died in 1894. Mrs. Stone- lake received her education in the publie schools of Coos county. She is an active worker in the Lutheran church, to which faith her husband also gives allegiance. In his political views Mr. Stonelake is republi- ean but does not take an active part in publie affairs. He is a member of Marshfield Camp, Woodmen of the World, and is promi- nent in that organization. Outside of this he has no fraternal affiliations, preferring to devote his time entirely to the cultivation of his lands. He has attained a gratifying de- gree of success during his short residence in America and is highly esteemed and respected by his fellow citizens of Coos county.

JOHN AXEL HAGNER is the proprietor of a fine ranch in Coos county, Oregon, fifty aeres of which he has under cultivation mostly in potatoes. He has developed his holdings from a state of wilderness to a cul- tivated farm and has built for himself a beautiful home upon his land. He was born in Finland, June 7, 1865, and is a son of Frank Dove and Maggie Hagner. He is one of six children born to his parents: Frank D., a sailor, who makes his headquarters in England; John Axel, the subject of this review; Vietor, who resides in his native country, Finland; Gus, deceased; and Maria Sophia and Wilhelmina, both of whom live in Finland.

John Axel Hagner's aetive life began at the early age of nine years when he found employment in a sawmill in Finland at twelve eents a day. He retained his eonnee- tion with this mill for eight years, gradually rising and advaneing in salary as he grew older. In 1882 he shipped as a sailor and for a number of years followed the sea, touching the principal sea ports of the world. He fin- ally arrived in Philadelphia and sailed from that point for five years. At the end of that time he made the journey overland to Califor- nia where he engaged in various occupations for a short time and then came to Coos bay. Here he worked at ranching in the employ of John Bear for one year and later engaged in the lumber business for several years. At the end of that time he took up a homestead claim on Ten Mile lake two miles above Lakeside and remained upon his holdings and operated his farm for ten years. He eventu- ally sold out and purchased two hundred aeres on Ten Mile lake and has resided npon his holdings sinee that time. He has fifty

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acres of this land under cultivation and car- ries on his work intelligently and scientific- ally. He makes a specialty of his dairy and does an extensive business in its products. Most of his cultivated land is planted in potatoes and his potato crops are increasing in quantity and quality with each year, find- ing a ready market at good prices.

In 1899 Mr. Hagner was united in marriage in Finland to Miss Anna Olreka, a native of that country. Mr. and Mrs. Hagner have no children of their own but are rearing and educating two children of Mrs. Hagner's sis- ter.

In his political views Mr. Hagner is inde- pendent and gives his allegiance to no par- ticular party, preferring to keep his judg- ment free and unbiased. He is interested in education and is now serving with great ability as a director of the school board. He is a member of the Lutheran church and to this faith his wife also gives allegiance. Mr. Hagner in the development of his farm out of a tract of wild brush land has shown a steadiness of purpose and a dominating ambition which are his principal character- istics, and his success has been one of the leading influences in the upbuilding and im- provement of Coos county.

DOM J. ZAN is president of the firm of Zan Brothers, a name inseparably associated with the manufacturing interests of Port- land on account of the extensive business conducted in the manufacture of brooms, wil- lowware and woodenware. A spirit of enter- prise and progress characterizes him in all that lie does and while he entered upon a business already established, he has displayed undaunted energy and capable management in enlarging and developing this and in car- rying forward its interests to successful com- pletion.

He was born in San Francisco, October 15, 1867. His father, Marino Zan, was born in Dalmatia, Austria, and died April 7, 1900. The father followed the sea for ten or eleven years, or until about the time he attained his majority, when he made his way to New York and abandoned a sea-faring life. He then learned broom manufacturing and about 1865 went to San Francisco, where a few years later he established a broom manufac- tory on his own account. The new enterprise grew and prospered and in 1868 he came to Portland, and with his brother, Frank Zan established a branch factory under name of Zan Brothers. Again success attended him in his venture and about 1872 he added willow- ware and woodenware departments. Later he began the manufacture of some lines of woodenware and the continuous growth of his business in this city led him to establish the family home here in 1875. The business was also continued in San Francisco until about 1906. At one time Mr. Zan established a factory in Melbourne, Australia, for the manufacture of brooms and conducted it for a number of years. He was active in business as long as he lived and his indefatigable industry, his sound judgment and his initia- tive spirit enabled him to win a most grati-

fying position as a representative of manu- facturing and commercial interests on the coast. His high standing as a business man is indicated in the fact that he was chosen the president of the Portland Manufacturers Association, of which he was one of the or- ganizers, continuing in that position for sev- eral years.

Marino Zan married Hannah Cullen, of New York city, and they have four children who reached adult age: Dom J .; Madeline C., who is the wife of W. E. Coman; James C., a practicing physician; and Jordan V. All of the children save the last named were born in San Francisco. The mother is still living and yet makes her home in Portland.

Dom J. Zan completed his education in Santa Clara College of California. He then went into business with his father and event- ually the enterprise was incorporated with D. J. Zan as president, Mrs. Jennie F. Zan as vice president, and Jordan V. Zan as secre- tary and treasurer. They cover the entire Pacific coast with their output of wooden and willowware and they also manufacture brooms and other articles of a similar na- ture. This is one of the oldest established houses of the kind on the coast and through- out all the years it has enjoyed an unassail- able reputation for excellence in workman- ship, for promptness in delivery and for reli- ability in trade transportation.

In 1894 Dom J. Zan was married to Miss Alice Jackson, a daughter of Walter H. Jack- son, of Albany; and they now have two chil- dren, Nancy Jackson and Alice Virginia. Mr. Zan is a member of the Multnomah and the Arlington Clubs, to which his brothers also belong, and he likewise holds membership in the Commercial Club. The company has a well equipped plant which is the visible evi- dence of their capable management, result- ing in success. Dom J. Zan enjoys in a large measure the confidence and high regard of business colleagues and contemporaries and his life record is proof of the fact that pros- perity and an honored name may be won simultaneously.

JAMES S. ROBERTS is a native of Coos county and one who has been familiar with its agricultural conditions since his boyhood. He is engaged in the cultivation of two hun- dred and sixty-one acres on Benson creek and is one of the most prosperous farmers in that district. He was born in Libby, Coos county, January 15, 1877, and is a son of Benjamin and Mary (Thomas) Roberts. His mother was a native of Maryland and his father was born in England. They were married in Maryland and came to Coos county in 1872, where they settled in Libby. Benjamin Rob- erts then took up a homestead claim on Ten Mile lake and established his wife and chil- dren upon his holdings while he himself remained in Libby and worked in the mines. Here the father worked for twenty-two years and here the mother died in 1909. The former is still living and makes his home at Templeton, Oregon. In their family were eleven children, namely: Heska, the wife of Nels Munson, of Templeton; Janie, deceased;

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David, who also makes his home in Temple- ton; James, the subject of this sketch; Eliza- beth, who has passed away; Emma, who mar- ried Charles Liggett, of Templeton; Edith, the wife of Alde Benson; and George, Abe, Allen and Joe, all of whom reside in Temple- ton. James S. Roberts was reared at home and received his education in the public schools of Coos county. At the age of twen- ty-two years he started in active life for himself and went to North Bend, Oregon, where he worked in the employ of the Simp- son Lumber Company for five years. He married during that time and went to his wife's home, where he remained until he moved to Wyoming. He lived in that state for a year and a half and then returned to the home farm. He gradually bought land for himself and is now in association with his wife the owner of two hundred and sixty- one acres on Benson ereek which he has improved and cultivated along modern and progressive lines. He makes a specialty of his dairy and milks daily fifteen cows.

On January 1, 1904, Mr. Roberts was united in marriage to Miss Albina Coleman, a daughter of William Coleman, of Iowa. Mrs. Roberts was one of four children born to her parents, the others being: Bettie, the wife of Daniel Hallock, of Englewood, Kan- sas; Charles, of Templeton, Oregon; and one ehild, who died in infancy. To Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have been born four children: Al- bina, whose birth occurred in December, 1905; Ora, born in February, 1907; Gale, born on May 13, 1908; and Allen, whose birth occurred in November, 1911.

Politically Mr. Roberts is a firm republican but has never sought public office, as his farm and his dairy require his constant at- tention. Coos eounty is rapidly developing under the guidance of the men who own and operate its land. It is becoming one of the best and most fertile sections of the state of Oregon and the American northwest and its growth and progress are the result of intelligent activity along agricultural lines. No man has done more worthy and excellent work in this connection or has contributed more to the upbuilding of the section than has Mr. Roberts.

HON. VIRGIL CONN. Every year new towns are springing up in Oregon as the state is becoming more thickly populated by an enterprising and progressive class of citizens-men who see and improve the op- portunities of the Pacific coast country. Such a man is the Hon. Virgil Conn, now postmaster and merchant at Paisley, which town came into existence in 1911 and al- ready displays conditions that would be a credit to a city of longer existence. Its founders and those who are now active in its business affairs, have been men who have recognized the essential and valuable ele- ments in town building and have used such in making Paisley a progressive western city.

Mr. Conn was born in Logansport, Indiana, January 31, 1847, his parents being Henry and Mary (Stultz) Conn. The father, whose birth occurred in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Octo-

ber 23, 1816, was a son of David Conn, a native of Kentucky and a descendant of an- cestors from the north of Ireland who eamne to America in early colonial days. Mem- bers of the family served as soldiers in the Revolutionary war. David Conn was a pio- neer of Lyeoming eounty, Pennsylvania, and afterward of Logansport, Indiana, his death occurring in Cass county Indiana, when he was in his eighty-eighth year. Virgil Conn remembers many of the pioneer residents of that state-the men who were the founders and promoters of the great commonwealth of the middle west. His mother was born in Hamilton, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, in May, 1821, and there resided until her mar- riage. Her mother was a Wallace, belonging to a prominent family of Hamilton eounty, Ohio. Henry and Mary Conn resided in Indi- ana from 1838 until 1854, when they crossed the plains to Douglas county, Oregon, mak- ing their home near Roseburg until called from this life. Both were eighty years at the time of death and their remains were in- terred in the Roseburg Masonic cemetery. On coming to Oregon they secured a donation claim which continued to be their place of residence throughout their remaining days. The father was a prominent free-soil demo- crat in early life and one of those men who took an active part in the organization of the Union party which eventually developed into the republican party. He became a Royal Arch Mason when few members of the fraternity had taken the chapter degrees. The community in which he lived recognized in him a good business man who by judicious investment became the owner of four thou- sand acres of fine land, and at his death he left a large estate, most of which is still owned by his children who were eleven in number, namely: George, a resident of Pais- ley ; Henry, who resides near Roseburg; Har- mon S., of Seattle, Washington; Virgil; Fran- cis, of East Portland; James W., living near Roseburg; Elizabeth, who died at the age of thirty-five years; Mrs. Anna McCurdey and Jolın C., both deceased; Lafayette F., an at- torney of Lake View, Oregon; and N. L., also living near Roseburg.

Virgil Conn accompanied his parents on their emigration to the northwest when a youth of seven years and remained upon the old homestead until seventeen years of age, when he went to college, pursuing his stud- ies in the Willamette University at Salem. He left that institution, however, when a junior and entered mercantile cireles in Rose- burg, where he remained for eleven years. connected with the firm of Flood & Company. On the 26th of October, 1882, he came to the present site of Paisley and established in connection with his brother, George, a gen- eral mercantile store under the name of V. & G. Conn. On the 1st of April, 1889, he purchased his brother's interest and the busi- ness has since been conducted under his own name. He now has the largest mercantile establishment in Lake county. In February. 1883, he was made postmaster and has since filled that office with the exception of a period of four years during President Cleve-

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land's administration. He is also interested in the Pacific Carbonic Gas Company of East Oakland, California, and he has extensive real-estate interests in Paisley and Lake county. His property holdings also include a section of the old homestead which he in- herited from his father and which is a very desirable piece of property. He is seldom if ever at fault in matters of business judg- ment and carries forward to successful com- pletion whatever he undertakes.

Mr. Conn has been very prominent in pub- lic affairs in his part of the state. He served for two terms in the lower house of the state legislature in the '90s and was recognized as an earnest, working member, whose support of any measure indicated his firm belief in the principles involved or the results to be attained thereby. He is now a member of the town council of Paisley, which town was incorporated in November, 1911. He had served for about seventeen years as school clerk and school director here and no move- ment tending to promote the welfare and advance the interests of the district has ever sought his aid in vain.

In 1880 in Logansport, Indiana, Mr. Conn was married to Miss Frances Long, who was born in that city, May 1, 1857, and is a daughter of John Long. Their children were Earl, who died April 4. 1884, when a year old; Vera, who is a member of the class of 1913, De Pauw University of Indiana; and Velma, who is a student in the Illinois Wo- man's College, at Jacksonville, Illinois, of the class of 1913.

Mr. Conn belongs to Paisley Lodge, No. 86, F. & A. M., and is also a Royal Arch Mason and a member of Portland Consistory, A. A. S. R., and of Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of Portland. He likewise belongs to Rob Morris Chapter of the Eastern Star, at Paisley, and to the Elks lodge at Rose- burg. His acquaintance by reason of his activity in business, social, fraternal and po- litical circles has become a wide one and wherever he is known he is held in high regard. He has never deviated from the course which he believes to be right and at all times has been actuated by the spirit of progress which seeks to benefit the com- munity as well as to advance his individual interests.

MILO M. PIERSON is essentially a self- made man. He was obliged to earn a liveli- hood for himself when he was only nine years of age at farm work and at thirteen was a newsboy on the San Francisco streets for some time. Today he is the owner of the only general merchandise store in Lakeside and has attained a respected and successful place in the world. He was born in Nodaway county, Missouri, in 1883, and is a son of James and Martha (Creason) Pierson, both natives of Missouri. The family is of Eng- lish and Welsh descent but has been founded in America for many generations. The grandparents on both sides were natives of Virginia. Mr. Pierson is one of three chil- dren born to his parents, as follows: Daffy Myrtle, the wife of F. A. Pierce of Coos

county, Oregon, by whom she has four chil- dren; Nora Ethel, the wife of D. O. Kenyon, a native of Missouri, now living in Lakeside, Oregon, by whom she lias one child; and Milo M., the subject of this review. After James . Pierson's death his wife was again married, her second union being with Oliver Landruth and to this marriage one child was born, Alice M., who is living in Roseburg, Oregon. Both Mr. and Mrs. Landruth are now deceased.

Milo M. Pierson was obliged to face the world for himself when he was only nine years of age. After his father died he left home and worked at farming in the employ of different people along the Coos river until he was thirteen years old. When he had at- tained that age he went to San Francisco, where he sold newspapers upon the streets for one year. In 1897 he returned to Coos Bay and took a position as cook on a rafting scow. He remained in this capacity only a short time and later went to Washington and worked on the farms in that state until he removed to Idaho, where he spent two years as a dairy workman. On the Columbia

river he then ran a donkey engine and when he returned to Coos river was active as an en- gineer in the rock quarries of that district for some time. For six months he worked as a fireman on a tug boat in Astoria, Ore- gon, and then went to lower California as su- perintendent in a rock quarry. After six months' work along this line he made a trip through the northwest, working as a sheep shearer in various states. He married at the age of twenty-one and worked at Gardiner, Oregon, for a short time. He spent one year and a half in the real-estate business in Coos Bay and at the end of that time came to Lakeside, where he purchased two hundred and fifty-nine acres of land upon which he built his home. He engaged in the mercan- tile business in a small way, handling only oils and launch supplies. He met with a gratifying degree of success in this line and his business prospered. Gradually he en- larged his capacity and added different de- partments. His enterprise branched out in various directions and became so large that at length he was obliged to purchase another small store and he now owns and operates the only general merchandise business in Lakeside. He has recently built a large two- story building, thirty feet long by fifty feet wide, and carries a seven thousand dollar stock. He has been extremely successful and his success is due entirely to his own efforts. His life has been hard and filled with privations, but his dominating deter- mination and his power of concentrated in- . dustry have brought him to final prosperity. He owns a large amount of property in Marslıfield where he is the proprietor of eighty-one town lots and has extensive hold- ings in the Ocean View addition to North Bend.

On October 22, 1905, Mr. Pierson was united in marriage to Miss Flora Krick, a na- tive of Oregon, and a daughter of F. P. and Mary (Smith) Krick, both natives of Mis- souri, Mrs. Pierson was one of nine children

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born to her parents: William, deceased; Charles, who is engaged in the timber busi- ness in Multnomah county, Oregon; John, who follows the occupation of fishing in Em- pire City, Oregon; Thaddeus, who is married and lives in Marshfield, having one child; Belle, who married Alex Corlson of Lakeside, Oregon, by whom she has five children; Flora, the wife of our subject; Maud, who niarried Willis A. Henderson, a contractor in Marsh- field, Oregon; Ella, who lives with her par- ents in Lakeside; and Gertrude, who also lives at home. To Mr. and Mrs. Pierson have been born five children: Mary Ethel, whose birth occurred October 27, 1906, and who is attending school in Coos county; Milo Frederick, who died at the age of three years and nine months; William, born Au- gust 10, 1908; Irvin, whose birth occurred May 11, 1909; and Hazel, who was born in September, 1911.

Mr. Pierson is independent in his political views and does not affiliate with any particu- lar party. He is intelligently interested in public affairs but has never been an office seeker. His only fraternal affiliation is with the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Lakeside, Oregon. He is a true type of the modern business man, shrewd and keen, gifted with a discriminating knowledge of values, anx- ious for his own rights and careful for those of others and a man of unquestioned integ- rity and honorable business methods, which are the basis of his prosperity.

FRANCES L. GORE, living about three miles east of Sherwood, is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of Wash- ington county. Her father was Captain George A. Gore, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, May 21, 1848, and was a son of John and Anne (Clancy) Gore, the former born in County Clare, Ireland, and the latter in the city of Dublin. John Gore came to America at the age of nine years, landing at New York with his parents, a brother and two sisters. They went direct to Michigan, where the parents took up donation claims of three hundred and twenty acres cach. Arthur Gore, the father, sold his property twenty years later but his wife retained hers and from the proceeds of that property her heirs have become wealthy. In their family were four children, of whom the eld- est, John, is deceased. Ann took up the dressmaking and millinery business in De- troit with her sister, when they were about twenty and eighteen years of age respect- ively and later they invested their earn- ings in real estate, from which they have derived a handsome income. The youngest was Mary, who became Mrs. Van Antwerp and had six children: Engene, Auther, Frank and Arthur, of Detroit, who became priests of the Catholic church; Pauline. of New York city, and Lydia, also of Detroit.

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 165

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