The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 44

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

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John Minger has been married twice. His first marriage occurred in San Francisco in 1884 to Miss Martie Scheidegger, who was a native of Switzerland. Her death occurred twenty-six months later. She became the mother of Theodore, who married and is liv- ing in Prineville, Oregon, where he is engaged in the plumbing business. Mr. Minger's second marriage took place in 1890, when he was united with Miss Adelia Allenbach, a native of Switzerland. To them a child, Edna, who resides at home and attends school, was born on the 10th of April, 1891.

Mr. Minger has never affiliated with any party but casts his vote independently for men or measures which in his opinion insure the best government for the community. He is not a member of any church or lodges but is untiring in his efforts to work for the social good of his community. His public spirit was manifested in the labor which he gave gratis to the state when he acted as landscape gardener at the asylum at Salem for fifteen years. He made a study of this work in Switzerland for two years. The state of Oregon was thoroughly appreciative of the services he rendered and has since found it difficult to fill his place satis- factorily. Wherever he is known he is re- spected for his unfaltering allegiance to the principles of honorable manhood as mani- fest in his social relations and in his public- spirited citizenship.

BENJAMIN E. KERNS. Extensive busi- ness interests claim the time and attention of Benjamin E. Kerns, who since 1898 lias made his home in Klamath county, where he has large landed holdings and is exten- sively engaged in farming, stock-raising and industrial pursuits. He was born on the banks of the Delaware in western New Jer- sey, March 24, 1877, and is the eldest of the four children of Benjamin S. and Martha (Everhart) Kerns, the former a native of New Jersey, and the latter of Ohio. They were married in Missouri and established their home in New Jersey, where they lived for four years. In 1879, however, they located in Missouri, where they remained for a number of years. In the fall of 1893 they

went to southern California and now reside in Chico, that state, the father being a retired ranchman there.

Benjamin E. Kerns remained with his par- ents until twenty-one years of age. Accom- panying them on their various removals, he came to Klamath county in 1898, having but recently attained his majority, and has here continuously engaged in farming. He now owns one thousand acres of land near Keno, the greater part of which is under cultiva- tion, and he also rents six hundred acres. He likewise has about one thousand acres of hay land and pasture which he rents. He is a prominent stockman of southern Ore- gon, extensively engaged in the raising of cattle and horses, of which he has about three hundred head. He is also associated with his brother, James W., in the building of a power plant near Keno, which will be operated under the name of the Keno Light & Power Com- pany and will furnish power for irrigation purposes. This is a business in which the spirit of public service figures largely, for the enterprise will be one of untold value to the community.

On the 14th of December, 1905, Mr. Kerns was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Mat- toon, a native of Douglas county, Oregon, and a daughter of H. J. Mattoon. They now have four children: Esther May, Edna B., Claud C. and Mary Edith. In the four- teen years which have come and gone since Mr. Kerns came to the northwest he has made continuous advancement in a business way. He realized the fact that great oppor- tunities are here to be had almost for the asking and he determined that he would win his share of success if it could be done through persistent and earnest purpose in- telligently directed. He is working hard in all the different lines upon which he con- centrates his energies, and Klamath county numbers him as one whose efforts are con- stituting a vital force in the upbuilding of this section.

A. W. COLLINS is well known in agricul- tural circles of Douglas county, where he owns and operates a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on Cow creek. His birth oc- curred in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of October, 1867. His parents were Samuel and Angeline (Worley) Collins, both natives of Pennsylvania, who removed to Nebraska in 1884. They made their home in that state for ten years and then moved to California, where they spent fourteen months before they came to Oregon and located on Cow creek, in Douglas county. Here the father bought a ranch which he operated with much success until his death in 1905. He was the father of five children: Martha E. and Clara J., who have passed away; A. W., of this review; Mary E., who is deceased; and Ella S., who is still living on the old homestead.

A. W. Collins was reared at home and remained on the farm until he had attained his majority. By careful saving and strict economy he accumulated a small sum of money with which he bought a farm in Ne-

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braska, operating the same until he went. to California in 1894. After one year in that state he came to Douglas county, Ore- gon, and located on Cow creek. He is now the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of improved farm land in this county and is one of the prominent agriculturists of his district. He is well acquainted with the details of farming and takes an active inter- est in every new discovery along the line of scientific agriculture. He makes a spe- cialty of stock-raising and dairying and in both of these branches has met with suc- cess. He keeps a large herd of graded cattle constantly. on hand and the products of his dairy obtain a ready sale on the market.

In 1889 Mr. Collins was united in marriage to Miss Anna Mills, a native of Effingham county, Illinois, and a daughter of Michael and Nancy (Tedrick) Mills, the former a native of Indiana, and the latter of Mary- land. To Mr. Collins and his wife have been born two children: Lola M., the wife of Walter J. Burch and Samuel A., who is living

at home. Politically Mr. Collins is a demo- crat and takes an active interest in the affairs of his district. He is now serving as director of the school board and has always been a prominent figure in educational circles. He brings to the cultivation of his land a scientific knowledge of the details of agri- culture, a progressive mind and the most modern and up-to-date equipment which the markets of America afford.

WESLEY J. HAGA devotes his attention to farming, dairying and gardening, having thirty-nine acres of land which he has re- deemed from brush and converted into a productive property. He was born in Vir- ginia, December 10, 1872, and is a son of J. F. and Melinda (Dixon) Haga, who were natives of Virginia and North Carolina re- spectively. The family came to Oregon when Wesley J. Haga was but eight years of age and settlement was made at Eugene, where they lived for eight years, removing thence to Coos county. The father preempted a place of one hundred and sixty acres which he began to cultivate and improve. Later he bought about three hundred and fifty acres but afterward disposed of that property and became owner of one hundred and twenty acres upon which he and his wife still re- side. In their family were eleven children, as follows: Sarah I., the wife of J. R. Cox, of Parkersburg, Oregon; George Columbus, also of near Parkersburg; Wesley J., of this review; John W., a resident of Parkersburg; Docia, who married Frank Flam, near that city; Polly, the wife of E. M. Randleman, of whom mention is made on another page of this work; Gussie, the wife of E. E. Doyle; Elizabeth, the wife of F. Van Leuven; Frances, who married John McAdams; David, who died in infancy; and Joseph, who re- sides with his parents. With the exception of Mrs. McAdams, who makes her home at Coquille, Oregon, they all' live near Parkers- burg, Oregon.

Wesley J. Haga accompanied his parents on their various removals until he reached

the age of twenty-four years, when he started out in the business world on his own account. He had previously had consider- able experience in the best methods of re- claiming wild land and converting it into fertile fields. At twenty-four years of age he married and rented land upon which he lived for six years, during which time in- dustry and careful expenditure brought him a sùm sufficient to enable him to purchase thirty-nine acres where he now lives in Coos county. The tract was mostly in brush and timber but with characteristic energy he be- gan its development, clearing the fields and bringing them under a high state of cultiva- tion. He carries on general farming, dairy- ing and gardening and his practical methods are evidenced in his growing success. His home is pleasantly situated on the Coquille road about four miles from Bandon.

Mr. Haga has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Annie M. Taylor, a native of Oregon and a daughter of William and Jane (Cox) Taylor, in whose family were eight children, and by her marriage Mrs. Haga became the mother of four children: Bessie, who was born January 10, 1898; Clara, May 22, 1900; Lester, March 9, 1903; and Arthur, October 4, 1905. All are at- tending school. Mrs. Haga passed away Oc- tober 2, 1909, and Mr. Haga has since mar- ried Irlean Evans, a native of California and a daughter of William H. S. and Lulu (War- ner) Evans, who were natives of Ohio and Mississippi respectively. Mrs. Haga was the younger of two children, her brother being Owen, living at Bullard, Oregon. It was on the 20th of October, 1910, that she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Haga, and unto them has been born a son, Kenneth, on June 15, 1911. Mr. Haga votes with the republican party but has never been active in politics, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business interests.

ISAAC ECCLESTON. The various fea- tures of progressive ranching as seen in the northwest are found on the place of Isaac Eccleston, who is the owner of two hundred and seventy-four acres on the east side of Goose lake valley, seven miles south of Lake- view. He was born in Cedar county, Mis- souri, September 4, 1843, and is a son of Henry Harrison and Belinda (Richardson) Eccleston. The father was born in Cayuga county, New York, September 6, 1811, and the mother's birth occurred in North Caro- lina, in 1808. She had been previously mar- ried and had a son, John M., who, however, went by the name of Eccleston. His death occurred in 1852, while the family were cross- ing the plains to the west. Two children were born of the second marriage. The family removed to Ohio, thence to Illinois and afterward to Missouri. In 1832 the father served in the Black Hawk war, where- by the Indians of Illinois and the middle west were subjugated, and in 1838 he went to Missouri, where he lived until 1849, when he crossed the plains to California returning to Missouri the following year. In 1852 he came to the Willamette valley, settling in

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Lane county in 1853. He was a physician and practiced medicine throughout his entire active life, yet other interests to some extent claimed his time and attention, for he secured a donation claim of three hundred and twen- ty acres and supervised its development and improvement. He aided in organizing the republican party in Lane county and in 1855 he served in the Rogue River Indian war. He was a member of the Christian church and his life commended him to the confidence, good-will and high regard of those with whom he came in contact. In lıis family were nine children: Ezra, de- ceased; one who died in infancy; M. M., who served in the Rogue River Indian war and resides in Junction City, Oregon; James Y., deceased, who was one of the first pioneers of Lake county, arriving in 1867, driving a bull team from Idaho for D. R. Jones; Henry Harrison, of the Deerlodge valley of Mon- tana; Isaac; S. J., deceased; Mary, who be- came the wife of William Ragsdale and after his death married George Goodman; and Martha Jane, who is the wife of Amos Higgins, of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Isaac Eccleston resided with his parents until 1861, when he left Lane county and went to Idaho, which was then a part of Oregon. For five years thereafter he worked in the gold mines and subsequently removed to Yamhill county, building a good home in McMinnville, where he worked at the car- penter's trade for several years. In 1872 le came to Goose lake valley, where he has resided most of the time since, living upon his present ranch for thirty-seven years. He owns two hundred and seventy-four acres of land, on the east side of the valley, seven miles south of Lakeview. He homesteaded one hundred and seventy-two acres of the land and made all necessary improvements thereon. He is now engaged in raising hay, grain and stock. He and his son have three hundred head of cattle on the range and thirty-five head of horses and mules. He has learned to utilize his time, energies and opportunities to the best advantage in the cultivation of his land and in his stock-rais- ing ventures, and his labors are being at- tended with a gratifying measure of suc- cess.

In 1868, in Yamhill county, Mr. Eccle- ston was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Miller, who was born in Polk county, Ore- gon, in July, 1852, a daughter of John and Ruth Ann (Franklin) Miller, the mother hav- ing been a first cousin of Benjamin Frank- lin. The parents crossed the plains in 1847 from Ohio to the Willamette valley and their last days were passed in Douglas county, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Eccleston have six children: F. M., living in North Yakima, Washington; Lilly, the wife of William Smith, lighthouse keeper in Lane county, six- teen miles north of Florence; Charles, of Lakeview; George D., of Portland; Amy, the wife of George Peterson, of Eugene; and Harry B., who is living at Drain, Oregon.

For forty years Mr. Eccleston has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined that organization on

the 26th of April, 1872. He closely follows the teachings of the society, to which he las ever been loyal. For about six decades he has been a resident of Oregon and much of his time has been passed in Lake county, the development and improvement of which is due to the work of such men as Isaac Ec- cleston-men who realize the possibilities for progress here and seek at all times the bet- terment and upbuilding of the community.

STEIN DANIELSON who died upon his farm on the Coquille river on June 7, 1909, was prominent among the many men of foreign birth who have given their energies and talents to promote the agricultural de- velopment of Oregon and his career was a factor not only in farming progress but in the motives which influenced its success was an addition to the qualities of citizenship in Coos county. He was born in Norway in 1841 and came to Oregon in 1867 settling in that year in Coos county. He had followed the sea for some time in his early youth and came from Norway to America as ship's car- penter on a sailing vessel. He had learned his trade in Norway and also followed it in Oregon. He was pleased with the conditions in the American northwest and determined to settle in Coos county. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on the Co- quille river and began its improvement and cultivation. He was successful from the be- ginning, as his methods were always prac- tical and his industry untiring. He worked hard, plowing his fields, gathering his har- vests and caring for his stock and grain. His enterprise grew more lucrative as his methods became more progressive and his experience wider. At the time of his death he was numbered among the representative and substantial citizens of his district and was counted among the individuals who made their personal success important in promot- ing public growth.

Mr. Danielson married Miss Elizabeth Thrush, a native of California and a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Trimble) Thrush, who in 1853 came to California across the plains with ox teams. They lived in that state for a short time and thien journeyed north to Portland. They spent a few years in the Willamette valley, finally settling in Douglas county. To their union were born twelve children: Nathaniel, who is deceased; Sarah Jane, who is the wife of Richard Crow of Loraine, Oregon; Phoebe, who married Ike Boyles of Douglas county; Clementine, the deceased wife of Joseph McCue; Rhodie A., who has passed away; Rosie A., the widow of Joseph Russell of Prosper, Oregon; Susan A., the widow of James Blundell of Bandon; Elizabeth, the wife of our subject; Maggie, the widow of Adolph Hulton of Prosper; Rich- ard, who is also a resident of Prosper; and two children who died in infancy. To Mr. and Mrs. Danielson have been born nine children : Matilda L., who married Jesse Smitlı of Marshfield; Rosetta, who became

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MR. AND MRS. STEIN DANIELSON

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by fording it, and following a dim trail till niglit came on, he was obliged to sleep out of doors on the prairie. Fortunately he came upon a giant boulder high up on the divide and found a slight shelter in one of its clefts. The night was a warm one and, by making a pillow of his shoes and dividing his clothing from his satchel between a bed and covering, lie slept well. Arising at the first gleam of sunlight and mounting the boulder, he could see the houses of a village miles away to the south. Gathering his ef- fects, he followed a dim trail in that direc- tion, and by seven o'clock he arrived at the village of Eden, situated in a pretty grove, where he breakfasted.

"There is one incident of this journey of some two hundred miles," says Mr. Sherman, "which deserves a place in history. Stopping en route for a few days to visit relatives at the town of Marietta, Iowa, which was then the county scat of Marshall county, I pro- ceeded southward on my journey, along the road on the west side of the Cedar river, passed by Waterloo, a distance of some twelve miles, when I came to a large stream known as Wolf river, which I discovered, owing to recent heavy rains above, was bankful and a raging torrent. Some six miles further back I passed by the last house, and none was in sight on the opposite side of the stream. How I was to get across this stream was a troublesome problem. To turn back seemed to me out of the question. There were groves of timber bordering the torrent and great logs and brush were floating down the stream. Possibly, I thought, I might find a log further up, on my side, and by getting a pole, might push myself across, floating with the current. So I walked on the bank upstream for half a mile or more, when I came to a large tree that was lodged in an eddy. It had several branches and was deeper in the water near its center than at either end. Looking about, I found a stout pole some fifteen feet in length. Taking off my shoes and stockings and tying them to my satchel and with my suspenders tying my satchel to my shoulders, I mounted the log and tried it to see if I could turn it over easily. The result was satisfactory. The forks and limbs so balanced the tree in the water that it would not turn. Thus reas- sured, I stood on the log and with the pole pushed boldly out into the roaring, surg- ing river in such a way that the butt of the log went downstream first. When the cur- rent struck the tree it came near going over but soon righted up and floated rapidly with the current. Finding it difficult to keep my feet, I sat down, with my feet in the water on either side. That pole was not of much use to me, but occasionally I could use it with good effect in steering the tree toward the south side of the stream, and after float- ing about two miles downstream the tree was drawn, with my help in pushing with the pole, to the south bank, in an eddy, and I mounted the shore, thoroughly frightened and only then fully realizing what a fear- ful venture I had made. Sixteen miles' walk brought me to a village and a good night's

rest." The balance of the journey was made without notable incident.

The following spring, by correspondence, Mr. Sherman ascertained that there was an opening for a boy in a printing office at Council Bluffs and without hesitation he inade the journey afoot to that place, al- though the country was thien thinly settled, arriving there on the 19th of April, 1858. After paying for his dinner he had but ten cents left in his purse. He found the editor of the Council Bluffs Nonpareil in his sanc- tum, introduced himself and was at once in- stalled as "the new devil." In all of his experience with men since then, he has never found a better man than W. W. Maynard, the founder and manager of that news- paper.

Getting a touch of the "gold" fever, in the spring of 1861 he engaged himself to a man named McLain, of Omaha, to drive a freight team across the plains to the Rocky Mountains, and, returning as far down the Platte valley as Fort Kearney, took care of his ranch and herd of cattle until July. While there, during the absence of his em- ployer, he was made a prisoner by some bands of Sioux, Arapaho and Cheyenne In- dians while they plundered the ranch of its goods and valuables. On the 13th of July he resigned his position and started to walk back to Iowa, determined to enlist as a soldier in the Union army. He arrived at the home of his mother and brothers in Knoxville on July 27th, the day after the burial of his youngest brother, Henry, who belonged to the Third Iowa Infantry and was the first man of the regiment to be killed. His body had been brought home for interment. Determined on being one of the boys to answer the call of Uncle Abra- liam for men to save the Union and still unwilling to go without his mother's bene- diction, Charles Sherman remained at home almost a month before she, having just lost one son, could make up her mind to part with a second-her youngest. But finally, in response to his pleadings and to maintain unsullied the honor of the family, she gave her consent and the boy enlisted and be- came a member of Company K, Third Iowa Cavalry. He served throughout the war, re- enlisting in 1864 as a veteran and being finally mustered out with his regiment at Atlanta, Georgia, on the 9th of August, 1865. Three times he had been slightly wounded. With his company or regiment he was in twenty-one battles and was under fire fifty- one times, participating in the most auda- cious and successful cavalry charge that was made during the Civil war-at the battle on the Marias des Cygne, or Little Osage, on the Kansas-Missouri state line. He was one of the sixty-two men who charged over the enemy's entrenchments, creating a panic whichi successfully ended the last battle in the war -in front of Columbus, Georgia,-lıis regi- ment making the charge in a night attack, on the 16th of March, 1865, a weck after Lee had surrendered at Appomattox.

After the war Mr. Sherman went back to his trade and before long launched into the

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newspaper business, in a small way, being greatly hampered by the lack of means. His first venture was the Eddyville Star, a small paper in a small town in Iowa. This undertaking was not a success and he sold his plant within a year, going to Burling- ton, where he became a compositor on the Daily Hawkeye. He afterward published newspapers at Queen City, Quincy, Villisca and for ten years at Glenwood, Iowa. Sell- ing out there, he began the publication of the Plattsmouth Journal, a daily and weekly, which he continued for twenty years. Then his office was burned, without insurance, and the paper passed into other hands.

In 1902 Mr. Sherman compiled and pub- lished a directory of the "gold belt" cities of the Black Hills --- Lead, Deadwood, Silver City, Terry, etc., and in March, 1903, came to Oregon, soon thereafter taking up a quarter section of Uncle Sam's land as a homestead in Dairy precinct, Klamath county, where he still resides. In addition to improving his place he has been keeping in touch with his former life by corresponding with various newspapers, not only writing the local news of the day but dissertations upon topics of current interest and upon political questions of the day.

In early life Mr. Sherman became a "free soiler"-an opponent of slavery-and from that drifted into the republican party, to which he held allegiance till the second nom- ination of Grant for president, when he sup- ported Mr. Greeley and since then has counted himself a democrat of the reform or progressive order. He was one of the earliest to recognize the abilities and power of William J. Bryan as a public orator and statesman and .a leader of the people and has been a steadfast adherent to his stand- ard, both of morals and of politics. He has not been an office. hunter, although he served

a term as councilman of the village of Quincy and was sergeant-at-arms of the Iowa house of representatives during two sessions. He was his party's candidate for state senator while living at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, but was not elected. In 1912 his name was on the democratic ticket at the primaries for delegate to the national conven- tion, but he was taken sick and made no can- vass for election.

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 44

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