The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 83

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

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ELSIE BOYD, who for the past several years has been the proprietor and manager of a hotel in Creswell, is an efficient and successful landlord and now has under con- struction a three-story modern, concrete hos- telry of about forty rooms. He was born in Indiana, in 1858, a son of William E. and Elizabeth (Adamson) Boyd, being one of seven children in his parents' family, the others being: Addison and Susan, both de- ceased; Lincoln, a resident of Halsey, Oregon; Emma, the wife of S. M. Ray, of Dalles, Polk county, Oregon; Mathew, deceased; and Thomas, residing in Oakland, Oregon.

Elsie Boyd spent the period of his boy- hood and youth on the home farm in Indi- ana, remaining with his parents until he at- tained the age of twenty years, when he started out in life for himself. Removing to Kansas, in 1877, he remained there until 1385, employed at different vocations. He then removed to Oregon where lie worked along different lines until 1892, when he left the farm which he had owned and em- barked in the grocery business in Junction City. He remained in that business and in that city about one year and then worked as a carpenter for about four years, after which he removed to Pleasant Hill and later to Halsey. In the latter city he was em- ployed by the railroad company, conducting a railroad hotel and restaurant. After two years thus employed he went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad, remaining an employe of that company for three years, and then returned to the hotel business, set- tling in Coburg, where he remained for two years. He then once more engaged in the grocery business for a time, afterward selling out and removing to Creswell. Here he purchased a hotel which he has since operated in a most satisfactory manner. He is now engaged in the construction of a new concrete hotel building which will have about forty rooms and which is being built along modern lines in every respect. In addition to his hotel property he owns two lots and since taking charge of his present business has improved it to the extent of about one thousand dollars. Mr. Boyd is also inter- ested as stockholder in the Creswell Canning Company.

Mr. Boyd was married, January 30, 1884, to Miss Emma Loretta Mulkey, a daughter of Willis J. and Mary E. (Davis) Mulkey. She was the third in order of birth in a family of eleven children, the others being as follows: Ensley and Dennis, deceased; S.

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

Howard, of Canada; Martha B., the wife of W. F. Reed, of Eugene; Lucy, who mar- ried J. R. Liles, of Pleasant Hill; Kate, the wife of Amos Walker, of Medford, Oregon; Sadie, who wedded Joseph Ehnherst, of Can- ada; Allen and Babe, both of whom have passed away; and Alta, residing with her parents and attending the Eugene Business College. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have been born four children, namely: William, an cn- gineer, who was born in December, 1884, and died on the 22d of January, 1906; Alpheus, born January 21, 1888, who is at home with his parents and attending college at Dallas, Oregon; Leeta, who was born June 21, 1893, and died April 28, 1900; and Thelma, born August 4, 1904, who is also attending school.

Mr. Boyd is independent in his political views, supporting such candidates as seem best fitted for the position to which they aspire, irrespective of party affiliation. Fra- ternally he belongs to the United Artisans, in which organization he is active and he is a member of the Creswell Commercial Club. He belongs to the Christian church and as- sists to the extent of his ability in making that organization effective for good in the community. He is well known and popular in business and social circles and is much respected by his large number of acquaint- ances. In his hotel business, which he has successfully and satisfactorily conducted, he has been of service to the city of his adop- tion and as a landlord he has a long list of warm personal friends. In the building of his new hotel he exhibits a commendable amount of enterprise as well as abundant faith in the future of the community.

ROBERT CHAMBERS, an enterprising farmer of Marion county, residing four and one-half miles southwest of Salem, was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, April 11. 1848. and is a son of William and Dorcas (Jones) Chambers. The great-great-grandfather was a native of Ireland. The father, William Chambers, was born in Cayuga county, New York and moved to Ohio in 1836, where he resided until 1890, when he came to Oregon and spent the remainder of his days with his son Robert Chambers, of this review. He died in 1898 and was buried in Salem. He was a farmer by occupation and served three years in the Civil war in the Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He fought in nine bat- tles and several skirmishes. His father, the grandfather of Robert Chambers. was in the war of 1812. Dorcas Chambers, the mother of our subject. who was a native of Penn- sylvania, was married there and died in Ohio in 1909. In their family were six children: Jolın, who served in the Sixth Ohio Cavalry for one and a half years and died while in service: Robert, of this review; James and Joseph, both of whom are deceased: Anna. who is the wife of John F. Thomas. the post- master at Pratt City, Alabama: and Starr. who is a railroad engineer at Akron, Ohio.

Robert Chambers was educated in the com- mon schools in Ohio and remained under the parental roof until 1864, when he enlisted in the army, joining Company A. Forty-first Ohio Infantry. and was enrolled for three

years but was discharged in 1865, in Mur- freesboro, Tennessee. He was with Sherman in the famous march to the sea; was in the battle of Buzzard's Roost, in Altona Moun- tain and many other engagements. At Al- tona Montain he received a slight wound in the arm. At the close of the war he re- turned to Ohio and remained there until 1884, when he came to Oregon, settling in Marion county, where he first rented land and later bought a farm five miles south of Salem. After improving that farm he sold it and purchased his present tract of land, which is situated four and one-half miles southwest of Salem. He has improved this place until it is one of the best in the locality, having there twenty-six acres in a high state of cultivation. Mr. Chambers has never mar- ried and his aunt, Laura Chambers, keeps house for him.

Mr. Chambers gives his political allegiance to the democratic party but has never de- sired office. He is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to the Sedg- wick Post at Salem. All through life he has made good use of his time and justly merits the prosperity which has come to him and the high regard in which he is held through- out the community.

ALBERT E. IMBLER. A log cabin_at Dufur, about fifteen miles south of The Dalles, was the birthplace of Albert E. Imbler, and his natal day was April 2. 1867. Today he is the owner of a ranch of two hundred and twenty acres pleasantly situated on Summer lake and there is not another tract of similar size in the county which pays better, yielding more ready and profitable returns for the care and labor be- stowed upon it. It presents an attractive appearance, manifesting the careful super- vision and progressive methods of the owner, who has been a lifelong resident of Oregon and is a son of Jesse and Esther (Masiker) Imbler. The father was born in Kentucky, May 22. 1843, and the mother's birth occur- red in Illinois on land now included within the limits of Chicago but at that time about twenty miles from the heart of that city. Her natal day was November 2, 1850, and she was about three years of age when brought to Oregon, while Jesse Imbler ar- rived here when a youth of eleven. They were married at The Dalles, where they re- mained for six of seven years. and then re- moved to the town of Imbler. in Union county, named in their honor. The father homesteaded a claim there upon which he resided for thirty years. when he removed to Hood River and later to Ashland. Ore- gon, where he died, December 17. 1909, and his wife passed away on the 13th of Jann- ary. 1912. As one of the pioneer ranchmen of the state he took an active part in its early development. He journeyed to the north- west after the primitive manner of the times. driving ox teams across the plains, and Fort Laramie and a trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company at La Grande were the only houses which he saw between Omaha and the Willamette valley. He was one of a family

ROBERT CHAMBERS

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THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

of three sons and six daughters, all of whom lived and married in Oregon. Thus the fam- ily took active part in the development and upbuilding of the state. The only surviving son is E. W. Imbler, of Oregon City, while the living daughters are: Mrs. Anna Courtney and Mrs. Susan McCauley, both of Dayton, Washington; Mrs. Fannie Root, of Asotin, Washington; and Mrs. Nancy Hall, of Lin- ton, Oregon. The four children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Imbler were: Albert E .; Ellis A., living in Paisley, Oregon; Lillie, the wife of Dr. R. H. Greene, of Emmett, Idaho; and Ray, of Hood River.

Albert E. Imbler resided with his par- ents until he attained majority and met the usual experiences of ranch life on the fron- tier. When twenty-four years of age he be- gan running stock for himself in Wallowa county, where he remained for five years, when he removed to Tillamook, Oregon, where he engaged in merchandising for seven years. He was afterward an orchardist of Rogue river for seven years and in 1909 came to his present ranch of two hundred and twenty acres which is located on Summer lake. He has irrigated one slope and always raises a crop regardless of weather conditions. His ditches are from four to six feet in width and the water for them is supplied by an artesian well one hundred and forty-seven feet in depth. He raises fruit of every va- riety adapted to climatic conditions here and all kinds of grain and has a well improved farm. His fields produce several crops of alfalfa each year and there is no better im- proved farm of similar size in southern Ore- gon. In addition to his agricultural and horti- cultural interests he has mining investments in Curry county, Oregon.

In 1890 Mr. Imbler was married to Miss Mattie Dishman, who was born in Missouri in 1866 but was reared in Wallowa county, whither she went with her parents, William S. and Elizabeth Dishman. The father died at Whittier, California, September 13, 1911, and the mother now makes her home with her children. Mr. and Mrs. Imbler have two children: Elsie, twenty-one years of age; and Hazel, aged sixteen years. The parents are members of the Christian church and al- though they have resided in the Summer lake valley for but a comparatively brief period of time they have become well known here and have won many friends. That Mr. Im- bler's efforts are of a practical as well as of a progressive character is indicated by the ex- cellent results which have crowned his la- bors as an agriculturist and as a horticultur- ist. Sound judgment enables him to readily determine the value of any plan or method which promotes improvement and his ranch interests are conducted along scientific lines.

JOHN F. VAN LEUVEN is one of the en- terprising young farmers of Coos county. Here he was born in 1881, a son of W. H. and Rosella (Flam) Van Leuven, the former a native of New York and the latter of Ger- many. The father died when his son John was but two years of age, leaving five chil- dren. He had come to Oregon from New Vol. IV-23

York in 1870. At different times he had lived in various places and had been employed at various occupations. On taking up his abode in Coos county he purchased a farm near Co- quille but after a brief period sold that and purchased the place upon which his son John now resides, comprising about sixty acres of land. This he cleared and developed, being engaged in the work of further improvement upon the place at the time of his death in 1883. His widow survives, makes her home in Bandon, and with her son John owns the old homestead. There were three daughters and two sons in her family: Mary Alice, the wife of Arthur Coats, of Bandon; Laura, who is the wife of Bert McDuffy, of Bandon; Hor- ace J., of Bandon; John F .; and Rosella, +he wife of Elbert Clinton, of Coquille.

John F. Van Leuven spent his boyhood with his mother and with her, owns the old home . place on which he is engaging in dairying on an extensive scale, keeping a large herd of good cows for that purpose. He also carries on general farming and the success which is coming to him is the legitimate outcome of earnest, persistent labor. His place is pleas- antly situated about five and a half miles from Bandon, on the Bear Creek road.

On the 28th of March, 1903, Mr. Van Leu- ven was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Haga, a daughter of Joseph Floyd Haga. They have become parents of two children: Rose Elizabeth, born. October 10, 1907; and Willis, born May 22, 1910. Mr. Van Leuven is liberal in his political views but his fel- low townsmen, appreciative of his loyalty and progressiveness in community affairs, have called him to office. He has served as road supervisor, has been school director and clerk for several terms. At all times he is a stal- wart champion of the cause of education. Fraternally he is connected with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, seeing much beauty in its teachings, which he regards as good standards to follow in life.

JUDGE BERNARD DALY, M. D. It is a matter of common opinion that the man in professional life is seldom a successful busi- ness man and yet Dr. Bernard Daly has given evidence of the fact that his sagacity, sound judgment and enterprise can be used as effectively in promoting commercial en- terprises as in the practice of medicine or of law. He has proven his strength in both those departments of professional life and there stands to his credit an excellent record as county judge of Lake county and as one of the most capable practitioners of medicine. He was born in Ireland in 1858 but in early youth was brought to America and reared in the south. He supplemented a thorough pre- liminary education by a course in the Ohio Northern University, from which he was graduated in the class of 1886. He had in the meantime begun the study of medicine and next entered the medical department of the University of Louisville (Ky.), and was graduated therefrom in 1887. Coming at once to Lakeview he entered into active prac- tice. Before the supreme court of Oregon he was admitted to the bar and his work in the

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courts has won wide recognition and high com- mendation, yet it has been but one feature of an active career that has also established him as one of the foremost physicians of southern Oregon. He has been a close and discriminating student of the science of medi- cine and has enjoyed an immense practice, covering a radius of two hundred miles over this new but rapidly developing country. He is now limiting his practice, however, re- sponding to no night calls and engaging more largely in consultation practice. The public's recognition of his ability as a law- yer found expression in 1902 in his election to the office of county judge, and he is still serving on the bench, having for ten years continued in this judicial position, his course being characterized by a masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution, com- bined with intimate knowledge of the prin- ciples of law and correct application thereof to the points in litigation. Other honors of an official character have been conferred upon him in recognition of his fitness for leader- ship in matters relative to the welfare of state and nation. In 1892 he was elected a member of the house of representatives and in 1896 was chosen a member of the state senate. In 1900 he was democratic candidate for congress and ran ahead of his ticket more than six thousand votes-a fact which is plainly indicative of his popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. That his interest in edu- cation is of a practical and beneficial charac- ter is indicated in his service as a regent of the Oregon State Agricultural College and as a member of the board of education for the public schools and high school of Lake- view through the past twenty-four years.

Other interests, too, of a strictly business character, claim his attention. He assisted in the organization of the Bank of Lakeview and has continuously been its president. He organized the Lake County Land and Live Stock Company, of which he is also presi- dent, and which has many thousand head of cattle upon its extensive ranch of twelve thousand acres. Still other business activi- ties of a varied nature claim his time and energies and all profit by his experience, sound judgment and cooperation.

IVY MORRIS is among the well known, respected and successful farmers and fish- ermen of Lane county, this state. He was born in the state of Missouri, July 19, 1864, and is a son of William and Nancy (Wood) Morris. His father was a native of Iowa and his mother of Kentucky and he is one of nine children born to his parents. A more extended review of the family of William and Nancy (Wood) Morris is published far- ther on in this work.

Ivy Morris was reared at home and edu- cated in the public schools of the district in which he lived. During his early years in life he was engaged in farming and re- mained with his parents until he was twenty- eight years of age. In 1880, in company with his parents, he removed to this state and settled on the north fork of the Siuslaw

river, where he remained for two years and then filed upon a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres located on Mercer lake, six and one-half miles north of Florence, where he continued to live until the time of his marriage, when he removed to his wife's home, where he has since been engaged in general farming and fishing.

Mr. Morris was united in marriage to Mrs. Ellen Nelson, the widow of John Nelson, whose home was located on the lower Siuslaw river. By her first marriage Mrs. Morris was the mother of a son, now deceased, his death having occurred by accidental drowning on December 26, 1911. This sad event forms one of the deep shadows of sorrow in the history of Mrs. Morris, her greatly beloved son having been removed from her fireside by death at a time when he was in the midst of his public-school years, a boy of rare prom- ise and excellent traits of character and habits. Mr. Nelson, the father, passed away in 1886. Mrs. Morris is a daughter of Henry and Nellie (Baker) Tronson, the former of whom was born in Missouri and the latter in Umpqua, Oregon. In 1887 the parents re- moved to Point Terrace on the Siuslaw river and there they reared their family of five children, namely: Matilda, the wife of Wil- liam Thomas, of Portland; Mrs. Morris, the wife of Ivy Morris, of this review; Katherine, who became the wife of Ralph Amoth, of Portland, and is now deceased; Robert, who resides on the Siletz reservation in Oregon; and James, of Portland. To Mr. and Mrs. Morris four children have been born: Matilda Lee, born May 15, 1889, who is the wife of John Perry, of the Umpqua river district; William I. and Edwin E., both of whom re- side at home with their parents; and Vera M., who was born April 15, 1903, and is a pupil in the public schools.

Mr. Morris is affiliated with the republican party and a loyal adherent of that political organization. He has, however, never been a candidate for political preferment of any kind. The highly developed and beautiful farm of Mr. and Mrs. Morris is located at Point Terrace on the Siuslaw river, south of Mapleton, and contains a total acreage of one hundred and seven acres. Mr. Morris is one of the highly respected and much es- teemed citizens of Lane county, of which he has been a resident since 1880. He is re- garded by his friends and associates as a most trustworthy and reliable man and is in- terested in any issue seeking the advance- ment and improvement of the community in which he lives.

MICHAEL SULT. Early in his business career Michael Sult realized that "there is no royal road to wealth" but he determined that he would gain prosperity if it could be won by honest, persistent labor. Through- out the greater part of his life he has lived in the Summer Lake valley and has proven an active factor in the development and upbuild- ing of this section, while at the same time he has furthered his own interests and has become the owner of a valuable and well im- proved property. He was born in Marion

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county, Ohio, July 1, 1847. His parents, John and Eve (Jacoby) Sult, were also natives of that state and were there married, after which they removed to Marshall county, In- diana, when their son Michael was but six weeks old. Their remaining days were there passed, the father following farming. In their family were six sons and four daugh- ters of whom only two daughters and Michael Sult, the youngest child, are living. His sis- ters are: Margaret, the widow of John Travis, of Marshall county, Indiana; and Eliza Ann, the wife of Jacob Huff, of Lincoln, Nebraska. One brother, William, served for three years in an Indiana regiment in defense of the Un- ion during the Civil war, and for seven years he was a successful school teacher.

Michael Sult was reared in Indiana, where he remained until he attained his majority. He spent one year in Iowa and Missouri, working as a farm hand, and in 1869 he came to Oregon with Lane county as his destina- tion, there joining a sister, Mrs. Mary Cruzan, who had crossed the plains in 1852 and who spent her last days at Pleasant Hill, Lane county. After coming to the northwest Mr. Sult worked as a farm hand in Lane county until 1872, when he went to Lake county. He had previously visited the district in 1871, at which time there was no one in the val- ley. In 1872 he located on a claim and has since resided on Summer lake, where he ex- pects to remain until death calls him. He thinks this valley cannot be excelled in the production of fruit, grain and alfalfa in Ore- gon and he here owns three hundred and sixty-five acres of rich land upon which he has made excellent improvements. He has a good orchard of five acres, constituting an at- tractive feature of his place, and containing the finest varieties of fruits. For about thirty years he ran cattle on his ranch, having from five to six hundred head. While on the whole he has been successful, his business career has not been free from reverses, for during the severe winter of 1889-90 he lost four hundred head of cattle. He now engages in the raising of grain and in general farming, feeling that he is too old to ride after stock. His brand for cattle is the capital letter S placed on the right shoulder at an angle of about forty-five degrees, and he has branded as high as one hundred and fifty calves in a year. In 1881 Mr. Sult was married in Lane county, Oregon, to Miss Laura Belle Conrad, who was born in that county October 8, 1861, a daughter of David and Maria (Cruzan) Conrad, who crossed the plains in 1852. The father was of German birth and died in Lane county, where his widow still makes her home. To Mr. and Mrs. Sult have been born seven children: Etta, the wife of William Robinett, who is living on a farm near her father's property; Ivan, who died at the age of two months; Della, a bookkeeper of Los Angeles, California; Frances, the wife of Clyde Kiger, of Silver Lake valley, Lake county; Pearl, the wife of John Hanan, of Warmspring, Oregon; Michael C., a student in the State Agricultural College at Corvallis; and David Earl, at home. All of the children were born in the Summer Lake valley.

Mr. Sult is independent in politics and has only held school and road offices, preferring not to take an active part in political affairs but rather to give undivided attention to his business interests, which have brought to him gratifying prosperity. He has worked ear- nestly and persistently year by year, knowing that close application to duties is the basis of all honorable success. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished and his example is one well worthy of emulation, showing that in the individual and not in his environment is found the opportunity for advancement.

DOANE B. COLCORD, M. D. The career of Dr. Doane B. Colcord has been an unusually active and useful one. He was a Union soldier, then studied engineering and medi- cine and, entering upon the work of his dual profession, distinguished himself by holding many important positions. He was born in Bucksport, Maine, in 1841, a son of Rev. Da- vid and Hannah (Doane) Colcord. The father, who was both a minister and sea captain, was born at Prospect, Maine, while the mother was born at Bucksport, in which city she was reared and educated. The father was a cousin of John N. Colcord, the adventurer, who started out when a young man on a voyage from Sanford, Maine, and was captured by the British navy and impressed into its serv- ice, being kept there until during the War of 1812 when the ship on which he was serving was captured by the Americans, after which he served the American cause until the close of the war. In 1838, in Maine, Rev. David Colcord married Hannah Doane and there resided until his death in 1858. The mother later moved to West Liberty, Iowa, where she lived for a time, later going to Chicago, Illinois, and thence to Topeka, Kansas, where she passed away in 1901, at the age of ninety-five years. She was well edu- cated and taught school for some years pre- vious to her marriage. In her family were ten children, the subject of this review being the only one now living.

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 83

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