The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 34

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

tives of Rhode Island and both members of old New England families. The grandfather, Cornelius Brownell, Sr., was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. His son and namesake lived but a comparatively short time in Tiver- ton, removing thence to Little Compton, Rhode Island, where his after life was spent. His time and energies were devoted to agri- cultural pursuits until his later days, when he passed away at the age of eighty-four years, while his wife reached the age of eighty-five years.

P. A. Brownell remained at home until his nineteenth year and was educated in the common schools. In 1865 he shipped aboard a whaling vessel with the privilege of leav- ing the vessel at the Sandwich islands if he so chose. He decided on that course and sailed from the islands to California. For two years he worked in the sawmills at Humboldt and then spent about a year in the mining regions of Idaho, where he was engaged in searching for the precious metal. He next made his way to Portland, Oregon, where he worked in a mill for about a year. On the expiration of that period he built a mill in Portland which he operated for about three years, and on selling out he made his way to British Columbia, on a timber cruise. In that district he worked for some time as a millwright in Vancouver but later returned to Oregon and in 1873 took up his abode in Gardiner, where he has remained continu- ously for thirty-nine years. He has been identified with the same mill throughout the period of his residence here, although it has been owned by three different companies. He has served in the important position of superintendent of the mill all the time and his capable and excellent work in that con- nection gives entire satisfaction to those whom he represents.

In 1878 Mr. Brownell was united in mar- riage to Miss Jennie Balderree, a daughter of George Balderree, who came to Gardiner from Arkansas in 1871 or 1872. He followed the occupation of ranching and passed away in 1874. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brownell have been born four sons, as follows: Mark A., engaged in the stationery business in San Francisco, California; Edward A., a ranchman of Powder River valley, in Oregon; Philip A .. a civil engineer, who is at present associated with the Oregon Electric Company; and Aus- tin A .. a student of the Oregon State Agri- cultural College at Corvallis, Oregon.

In politics Mr. Brownell is a republican but without ambition for office. He served. however, for ten years on the Gardiner school board and the cause of education has found in him a warm friend. He is prominent in fraternal organizations, belonging to Aurora Lodge. No. 59. A. F. & A. M., and to Gar- diner Lodge, No. 132, I. O. O. F., while both he and his wife are connected with Martha Chapter, O. E. S., and with Riverside Lodge, No. 100, of the Daughters of Rebekah. Mrs. Brownell is also a member of the Baptist church. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brownell are widely and favorably known in this part of the state, for excellent traits have won them warm friendships. Mr. Brownell has been

found to be thoroughly reliable under all circumstances and his work in connection with the Gardiner Mill Company has been most satisfactory.

HON. MITCHELL AND PERMELIA ANN (ALLAN) WILKINS. The name of Wilkins is one which will always attract the atten- tion of the student of the history of Oregon, for it was borne by one of the early settlers of the state, one whose high character and conscientious efforts have left their impress upon the progress of events. This pioneer, the Hon. Mitchell Wilkins, was born in Orange county, North Carolina, in 1818. His father, who was descended from a Scotch family of the colonial period, died in North Carolina when the son was but nine years of age. Early in life Mitchell Wilkins started out in the world to seek his own livelihood and for several years engaged in boating and boat-building on the Mississippi river. He afterward settled in Andrew county, Missouri, near St. Joseph, which was then little more than a pioneer camp on the outskirts of civilization: He performed the first carpenter work of any note in that embryo town, erect- ing the first substantial buildings there.

In April, 1847, Mr. Wilkins and his wife became members of a party of seven hun- dred people who started overland from St. Joseph for the far west-a long trip fraught with many dangers and privations in those days. Mr. Wilkins met with his full share of trial and tribulation. While crossing the plains he lost his team, this necessitating the abandonment of the wagon upon reach- ing the Cascade Mountains, and the journey to the Willamette valley was completed with one horse, one ox and two cows. Mr. Wil- kins and his young wife, their hopes and am- bitions high despite the drawbacks with which fate had handicapped them, walked all the way across the mountains, following the old Barlow route and reaching their des- tination in safety, on the 25tlı of October, 1847. They spent the winter of 1847-48 near what is now Marquam, Clackamas county, where Mr. Wilkins erected a small log cabin. In the spring of 1848 they resumed their journey toward the south. Arriving in what is now Lane county, Mr. Wilkins took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres located ten miles northeast of the site of the city of Eugene. Here he set about erect- ing a temporary log cabin, into which he moved his family in the fall of that year. During the following year he constructed a more substantial house of hewed logs and in 1854 erected a frame house of a much more pretentious character, which still stands in fairly good repair. It is covered with ivy and is pictured in the historical part of this work.

Mr. Wilkins had barely become established in his pioneer home in the wilderness before news of the discovery of gold in California began to attract the attention of the inhabit- ants of the western frontier. In the hope of bettering his financial condition he started for the Eldorado on horseback in the fall

MITCHELL AND PERMELIA ANN WILKINS

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of 1849. He arrived in the Sacramento val- ley without incident of note and at once engaged in placer mining on a small scale; but after fourteen days he and the party as- sociated with him in the work were driven out by the snow and the depredations of the Indians, and Mr. Wilkins returned to his home in Oregon. From that year until the time of his retirement from the active re- sponsibilities of life Mr. Wilkins devoted his energies to stock-raising, in which he met with most gratifying success.

Mr. Wilkins was never selfishly interested in his work toward his personal success, but always cheerfully and capably aided in the promotion of all worthy causes, the tendency of which was to advance the welfare of the people at large. In politics he was a repub- lican from the time of the Civil war and served as a member of the Oregon state legislature in 1862. For some time prior thereto he had taken a prominent part in the political undertakings of the county and state. During the historical triangular fight for governorship of the state in 1878 he was nominated for the office on the independent ticket but was not able to overcome the re- publican majority. He always manifested a deep and abiding concern in the general welfare of agricultural interests in Oregon. He became one of the chief organizers of the State Agricultural Society and for many years served as its president. In 1876 he visited the Centennial Exposition at Philadel- phia as commissioner from Oregon, acted in the same capacity at the New Orleans Ex- position in 1884 and the Columbian Exposi- tion at Chicago in 1893. It was in the fall of that year that he was stricken with paral- ysis, which caused his retirement from active pursuits and from which he never wholly re- covered. His death occurred January 31, 1904.

On Christmas day of 1844, in Platte county, Missouri, Mr. Wilkins was united in mar- riage with Permelia Ann Allan, by the Rev. John Low. Miss Allan was born in Bates county, Missouri, April 7, 1827, and was a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Morrow) Allan. In 1847, following the death of his wife in Missouri, Robert Allan crossed the plains in the same train with his daughter and son-in-law. Mr. and Mrs. Allan were both natives of Tennessee. Mrs. Wilkins passed away in the faith of the Cumber- land Presbyterian church, on the 10th of June, 1909. She was a lady possessed of many excellent traits of character and en- joyed the regard and esteem of all who knew her. She bore herself with cheerful forti- tude during the early days of hardship and privation, overcoming the many difficulties of life in a frontier region by an optimistic energy that was at once encouraging and inspiring. She became the mother of seven children, of whom three are living: Francis Marion, Angeline and Amos. Those deceased are Jasper, Eliza Jane, Henrietta, and May Rose.

Mitchell Wilkins belonged to the highest type of the pioneer citizen. The character- istics which contributed most to his success, Vol. IV-10

as shown by the record of his life, were his indomitable energy and perseverance, his integrity in all business transactions and the liberal, broad-minded manner in which he conducted all his operations. His record in public and private life was above reproach and free from all suspicion of dishonor. Hon- esty, courage, enterprise and fairness toward his fellowmen endeared him closely to all who were favored with his friendship. He and his estimable wife were pioneer settlers of the Sunset state whose names figure on the pages of its early history among those whose labors made possible the wonderful trans- formation that has here been effected.

BENJAMIN HUNTINGTON, Sr., one of the substantial and influential citizens of the Yoncalla valley, is a worthy representative of an honored pioneer family of this state. His holdings comprise nine hundred acres of land, and for over a quarter of a century he has resided on his present ranch situated a mile and a half southwest of Yoncalla. Oregon numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in the Yoncalla valley, in Douglas county, on the 3d of Sep- tember, 1859. His parents were John W. P. and Mary (Applegate) Huntington, the former a native of Norwich, Connecticut, and the latter of Missouri. At the time of the gold excitement, in 1849, John W. P. Hunt- ington sailed around the Horn to San Fran- cisco and shortly afterward made his way north into Oregon, taking up a donation claim which is now the J. T. Miller place in the Hayhurst valley, Douglas county. He settled at the head of this valley and his portion was later known as the Huntington valley. Sometime in the early '60s he re- moved to Salem, Oregon, and for a number of years owned and edited the Statesman. Subsequently he was appointed superintend- ent of Indian agencies of the state of Ore- gon under President Andrew Johnson, serv- ing in that capacity for about four years, or until his death in 1869. He was a Royal Arch Mason and enjoyed an enviable reputa- tion as one of the foremost citizens of this state. His wife was a daughter of Charles Applegate and in 1843 came to Oregon with the Applegate Company, more extended men- tion of which is made on another page of this work. Mrs. Mary (Applegate) Hunting- ton was called to her final rest in 1879.

Benjamin Huntington, Sr., was reared un- der the parental roof and obtained his edu- cation in the common schools. In 1880. when twenty-one years of age, he started out for himself as an agriculturist, cultivat- ing land of his own and also rented land, farming at one time as high as twelve hun- dred acres. In 1886 he took up his abode on a ranch a mile and a half southwest of Yoncalla, where he has since remained and where he makes a specialty of raising sleep and goats. His holdings embrace nine hun- dred acres of land and his undertakings as an agriculturist have been attended with highly gratifying results.

In 1880 Mr. Huntington was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Miller, a daughter of

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James Miller, who crossed the plains from Missouri to this state in 1852 and took up a donation claim which now forms a part of our subject's home place. Mr. and Mrs. Huntington have thirteen children, as fol- lows: Benjamin, Jr., who is a druggist of Drain, Oregon; Webster, living in Portland; Perit, a resident of Malınomen, Minnesota; Phillip, who is engaged in the drug business at Youcalla, Oregon; Mckinley, a student in the Oregon Agricultural College; James; Thomas; Retta; Anna; Sarah; Mary; Ruth; and Rachel. The last eight named are still at home with their parents. In politics Mr. Huntington is a stanch republican, having supported the men and measures of that party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. During the period of his residence in this state, covering more than a half century, he has not only witnessed but also aided and rejoiced in the work of prog- ress and improvement and richly merits recognition as a prominent and representa- tive citizen.

OLE O. LUND is the nominee on the re- publican ticket for sheriff of Coos county, Oregon. He was born in Norway in 1862 and is a son of Ole Oleson and Christina (Christiansen) Lund, both natives of that country. They were the parents of nine children: Chris, and Nels, both of whom are living in Wisconsin; Bennie, who makes his home in St. Paul, Minnesota; Alfred, who resides in Wisconsin; Christina, Clara and Gulog, all of whom are living in their native country; Varda, who resides in Wisconsin; and Ole O.

Ole O. Lund was educated in the public schools of Norway and pursued his studies until he was twelve years of age. He was reared on a farm and became thoroughly familiar at an early age with the details of practical agriculture. When he left home he worked in the employ of others on farms for four years. He then learned the shoe- maker's trade in Norway and followed this occupation for two years before he came to America. When he crossed the Atlantic he settled in Wisconsin and worked at lum- bering for one year. He went to Minnesota at the end of that time and realizing his dis- advantages in an educational way and feeling hampered by his foreign training he entered the public schools of that state where he studied for one year and a half. He spent the next three years working at the butcher's trade and after a short residence in South Dakota returned to Minnesota and worked in various capacities for eighteen months. His principal occupation during this time was along the shoemaking line which trade he had learned in Norway. He later spent three years in Minnesota working as a harness and shoemaker. After his marriage in 1890, he spent some time in the shoemaking busi- ness and was for three years a member of the police force attached to the sheriff's office in Bayfield, Wisconsin. After his ser- vice in that capacity he came west and lo- cated on a timber claim in Oregon. He finally settled on Coos bay in Marshfield in

1907 and took up his old trade of shoemak- ing to which he added a harness and a retail shoe business. He previously had spent five years in Grants Pass, Oregon, where lie car- ried on a successful fuel enterprise.

In 1890, Mr. Lund was united in marriage to Miss Anna Oleson, a daughter of Peter and Oliva Oleson, natives of Norway. Mrs. Lund is one of four children born to her parents: Martin, a resident of the state of Wisconsin; Anna, the wife of our subject; Julia, who lives in Marshfield, Oregon; and Hilda, a resident of Washington. Mrs. Lund received her early education in the Wis- consin public schools and remained at home until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Lund are the parents of four children: Lula, who was educated in the public schools of Wisconsin and Oregon and took a commercial course in Portland, and who is the wife of Mr. F. C. True, a bookkeeper of Coquille, Oregon, by whom she has one son, Frank; Perlie Oliver, who was educated in Wisconsin and Oregon and took a commercial course in California and who is residing in Marshfield, Oregon; Myrtle, who attended the public schools in Wisconsin and Oregon and received a com- mercial education, and is at home; and Mar- garet, who is attending school in Marshfield, Oregon1.

Fraternally Mr. Lund holds membership in the Improved Order of Redmen and in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also prominent in the affairs of the Mod- ern Woodmen of America, the Royal Neigh- bors, the Equitable Fraternal Union and the Sons of Norway. He is a devout member of the Lutheran church and to this faith, his wife and children also give their allegiance. He is a progressive republican and is a firm believer in the principles of that party, and a strong supporter of its policies. Mr. Lund is eager for the welfare of his section of the country and has firm belief in the future of Coos county.

IVAN D. APPLEGATE is one of the early pioneers of Oregon, and during a long and useful life he has been identified with the political and business development of his adopted state. He was born January 25, 1840, in Saint Clair county, Missouri, and is a son of Lindsay and Elizabeth (Miller) Applegate. In 1822 the father settled in Missouri where he later celebrated his marriage. In 1843 he crossed the plains to Oregon and settled in the Willamette valley at a point where now stands the city of Dallas in Polk county. He and his brothers were the first settlers in that part of the state. Since that time the Applegate family has been distinguished for their activities in the development and prog- ress of Oregon. Lindsay Applegate and his brother Jesse located the south road through the Tule lake country to the Willamette val- ley in 1846, and thus became the first pioneers of Klamath county. In 1861 Lindsay Apple- gate was captain of volunteers. and in the course of his duties he passed through that same territory again. He died at Swan Lake in 1891 at the age of eighty-three Years,

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Mrs. Applegate's death having occurred six years previously.

Ivan D. Applegate with his parents came to Oregon and received his early education in Ivan D. Applegate, as a pioneer of his adopted state, has done his full share as a patriotic citizen in the development of the political and industrial interests of Oregon, and his name is a synonym for all that stands for the progress and advancement of business, educational and moral improvement. the primitive schools of the district in which he lived. In 1850 the family removed to Douglas county and later settled in Jackson county. In 1862 he enlisted in the militia as captain and in 1864 was appointed recruit- ing officer by Governor A. C. Gibbs and sta- tioned at Eugene. In 1868 he was appointed by Superintendent Huntington to take charge MARSHALL A. SWEETMAN maintains his office at No. 156 Broadway, Marshfield, Ore- gon, where he carries on a flourishing real- estate business. His activities in this line are marked by an experienced knowledge of land values and a firm belief in the future prog- ress of Coos county. He was born in Iowa in 1871, and is a son of John P. and Tabitha (Leach) Sweetman. His father and grand- father followed the contracting business and were well known builders. John P. Sweetman of the commissary in the Indian department of the state. While in this position he acted as interpreter of the Snake River Indians and was placed in charge of the transfer of that tribe to its present reservation, and in 1869 he established the Yianax agency. In 1870 he retired from active public life and settled in Swan lake valley and there en- gaged in stock-raising. The following year, however, he received an appointment from the government as special representative to · was born in Ohio and his wife's birth oc- the Modoc Indian camp on Lost river, and while in the discharge of his duties partici- pated in the first battle of the Lava Beds. During his service in that campaign he was one of six men who, with great danger to their safety, secured the bodies of citizens who had been slain by the Indians.

Mr. Applegate was united in marriage on July 14, 1871, in Jackson county, to Miss Margaret Hutchinson, a native of Pennsyl- vania and a daughter of Richard and Anna (Armstrong) Hutchinson. She came west in 1869. To Mr. and Mrs. Applegate five chil- dren have been born. Alice is a graduate of the State Normal School at Monmouth. Fol- lowing her graduation she became a member of the faculty of that institution in the training department and later was transferred to the Ashland Normal School as principal of one of its departments. She later became the principal of the Klamath Falls public school and later assistant principal of the Klamath Falls high school. She is now the wife of C. E. Piel, of Ashland, Oregon. Ada F., deceased, was the wife of J. G. Pierce and a graduate of the State Normal School. Moray Lindsay who graduated from the State Normal School at Monmouth with the class of 1896, later matriculated at the State Uni- versity at Eugene. In 1898 he enlisted in Company C, Second Oregon Volunteer In- fantry, and served for eighteen months in the Spanish-American war. During his time of service his command was engaged in con- tinuous fighting from February 4 until the following June. In 1899 he returned to the university at Eugene and from that institu- tion was graduated with honors with the class of 1900. In the fall of that year he returned to Manila and was appointed assistant super- intendent of public instruction in that city. He continued in that capacity until 1902, after which he served for some time with the ethnological survey. He then accepted the position as collector for the Philippine exhibit of the World's Exposition and directed that work until the exposition was ready to be opened to the public and then returned to Klamath county. Lena L., who was educated

at the State University, is now the wife of Dr. Hargiss of Klamath Falls. Jessie, the fifth child, is residing at home.

curred in Illinois. They were married in Iowa and became the parents of five children: Martha A., the wife of R. B. Hughes, of Oklahoma, by whom she has four children; Marshall, the subject of this review; George A., a resident of Enid, Oklahoma; Sena, who married D. Wyrick of Mountain View, Okla- homa, by whom she has one child; and Ivy, the wife of D. Jennings of Oklahoma, and the mother of one child.

Marshall A. Sweetman was reared at home and educated in the public schools of his native state. He lived on a farm in Iowa until he was fourteen years of age, when his parents moved to Kansas where the father engaged in farming and in various other oc- cupations. Mr. Sweetman assisted his father in the work of the farm and was active along other lines of business in Kansas for four years. At the end of that time he removed to Oklahoma where he engaged in farming in the employ of others and worked in various other capacities for fifteen years. He was ac- tive in the real-estate line during that time and had built up a flourishing business before he left Oklahoma. He then lived in Wichita, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, for a short time and in 1906 came to Oregon and settled in Marshfield on Coos bay. Mr. Sweet- man has been engaged in the real-estate busi- ness in this city during the entire period of his residence here and is well known through- out Coos county as a discriminating judge of land values. His business is increasing every year and is founded on well known and well tested commercial principles. He has accumulated a moderate fortune which he has invested in Coos county property. He built two houses in Marshfield, one of which he occupies. His home is situated on one of the most beautiful sites in the city, com- manding a fine view of the bay and of the surrounding country. The other residence which Mr. Sweetman erected he rents. He is contemplating an increase in his activities in the home-building branch of his business.

Marshall A. Sweetman has been twice mar- ried. His first union was with Miss Clara Martin, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of

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John T. Martin, whose birth occurred in that state. She was one of four children. The others are Walter, Edgar, and Oscar, all of whom are residents of Kansas. Mr. Sweet- man became the father of two children by his first marriage: Beulah E., born Decem- ber 26, 1897, who is attending school in Okla- homa; and William J., born April 16, 1900, who is pursuing his studies in the same state. Some time after the death of Mrs. Clara Sweetman our subject was again married. His second union was with Mrs. Louise (Trego) Helm, a daughter of Dr. Trego, a prominent physician of Mound City, Kansas. The second Mrs. Sweetman was one of nine children, eight of whom are still living. Her father died in August, 1905, and her mother is living at Mound City, at the age of eighty- one years. Mrs. Sweetman was the widow of William Helm and had one child by her first marriage, Eleanor, who is the wife of War- ren H. Painter, of North Bend, Oregon, by whom she has two children, Warren H., Jr., and William John.

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 34

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