The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 85

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

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In political matters, Mr. Johnson is a re- publican, but while he is not at all remiss in matters of citizenship, he has always de- clined to serve in an official position. Since

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residing her he has been nominated to the town council, but refused to accept the office. Nevertheless, he is one of the most public- spirited and progressive citizens of the town and can always be depended upon to assist in promoting any movement that he feels will benefit the community. He is one of the enthusiastic members of the Springfield Commercial Club and champions its various efforts to advance the development of the public utilities and the different local ac- tivities. Mr. Johnson deserves high com- inendation for the intelligent manner in which he has adapted his inherent abilities to the best utilization of his opportunities. He is in every sense of the word a self-made man, his advancement in life having been achieved by following well defined plans of action, rather than through the assistance of friends or by favorable circumstances. He possesses much determination of purpose and never yields a point that can be won through honorable, persistent effort, and as a, result he is able to dominate conditions and is generally recognized by all who know bim as an efficient and capable business man.

HON. BINGER HERMANN is one of the foremost men in Roseburg at the present time. He has served his city, state and country in many different capacities. He is a brilliant lawyer, a sound and discriminat- ing judge, a loyal statesman and an upright and honorable man.

He was born in Maryland, February 19, 1843. His father, Dr. Henry Hermann, was a native of Germany, in which country his birth occurred May 18, 1812, and where he became professor in the University of Mar- burg. He came to America in 1831 and en- gaged in the practice of medicine and sur- gery in the city of Baltimore, and later in western Maryland, and then removing to the Pacific coast, with a colony of Mary- landers, he became the founder of the first permanent settlement of the Coquille valley. He reached this section of the Oregon Terri- tory with a number of Baltimore people in October, 1858, and like the rest of his asso- ciates, took up a public land claim under the preemption law. He was one of the first early pioneer physicians along the southern coast of Cregon, and his death occurred in the Coquille river valley on December 16, 1869. His wife, Elizabeth (Hopkins) Her- mann, was a native of Wales born March 1, 1821. She survived him many years and died April 2, 1900. Of the family, eight children grew to maturity and all but one are now residents of the state of Oregon.

Binger Hermann received his early educa- tion in the public schools of western Mary- land and supplemented this by an academ- ical course in Irving College, near Baltimore city. He came to Oregon with his parents

in 1859, just after its admission as a state, and engaged for several years in teaching school, having been one of the first two teachers of a public school in Coos county and then in Douglas county. He then deter- mined to make the law his life profession and at Roseburg entered the office of Judge

Chadwick, who afterward became governor of Oregon. He still later continued his law studies in San Francisco in the office of Hon. John B. Felton, a distinguished member of the San Francisco bar. He was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Oregon in October, 1866, and entered upon the active practice of his profession in Roseburg, Ore- gon, where he continued except when engaged in the public service. Just prior to his ad- mission to the bar and before the close of the Civil war, Mr. Hermann assisted in re- cruiting a company of volunteers under the last call of President Abraham Lincoln for troops. He was to have been commissioned as first lieutenant. However, owing to the close of the war in 1865, and before the full company was completed, it was consolidated with other fractional companies and this am- bition was not realized.

Mr. Hermann, however, devoted himself to his chosen profession and soon proved himself to be an active, able and successful lawyer. His reputation grew and his at- tainments led him to be recognized as a valuable asset to the political life of Ore- gon. He was elected to the legislature for his home county in 1866 and two years later he was made state senator for the three counties of Douglas, Coos and Curry. He also served during this time as deputy col- lector of internal revenue for the state of Oregon, and later, under the administration of Governor Z. F. Moody, was appointed judge advocate with the title of colonel of the Oregon militia.

In 1884 he was elected to the United States congress as the single representative for the entire state of Oregon, and began a political career which in its success and long dura- tion has rarely been equalled in the history of the Pacific Coast states. He served for eight years as representative from the whole state and upon its division into two con- gressional districts, was continued as rep- resentative of the first district for four years more, making a continuous service of twelve years. He served under the two administra- tions of President Cleveland, and continued through that of President Harrison. One of his associates during this service was Wil- liam Mckinley of Ohio, who when he be- came president, selected Mr. Hermann as commissioner of the general land office, in which he had supervision of all the public domain. He served in this capacity for six years first under the administration of Presi- dent Mckinley, and a portion of the time under that of President Roosevelt. After his service in this capacity for six years, he resigned and three months afterward was again reelected to congress from Oregon, as representative of his former congressional district. He served one term and was then reelected to another, thus making a record of sixteen years as a member of the United States congress. After the expiration of his last term, Mr. Hermann engaged in several tours throughout Europe and the Oriental nations, and returning to his old home at Roseburg, he resumed the practice of his profession, in which lie is still engaged. He

BINGER HERMANN

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has gained a reputation during these years of official and professional service for ability and integrity in everything relating to his public and private life. During his official service as commissioner of the general land office, he became the author of an interest- ing volume on the Louisiana Purchase, now in the Congressional Library at Washing- ton, D. C., which showed a breadth of view and a detailed study of his subject which led to a change in the United States cession maps, which no longer exhibited that pur- chase as extending to the Pacific ocean and which excluded Oregon from that claim. This claim had been made by Calhoun as sec- retary of state when presenting to Great Britain our claims to the Oregon territory. Official maps and school histories had also maintained this contention for many years.

Mr. Hermann was united in marriage to Miss Flora A. Tibbetts, a native of Indiana and a daughter of Rev. Jonathan Tibbetts, an old pioneer missionary and preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church. The four surviving children of Mr. Hermann and his wife, are: Schiller B., a graduate of Wash- ington and Lee University of Lexington, Vir- ginia, who has served for several terms as a member of the Oregon legislature, and who now resides in Portland, Oregon; Agnes, the wife of Dr. K. L. Miller, a practicing physician of Roseburg, Oregon; Maybelle, the wife of H. Prescott Gatley, a prominent lawyer of Washington, D. C .; and Elbert B., a student of the law department of the George Washington University of that city. and who is now associated with his father in the practice of law. He is also the city attorney of Roseburg.

Mr. Hermann has been an adherent of the principles of the republican party from the time of the Civil war. During his pub- lic career he was intimately associated with the inauguration by the government of numerous public enterprises in the state of Oregon. He aided in the passage of many river and harbor appropriations for Ore- gon and for the establishment of lighthouse and life-saving stations along the coast. He was the author of the act of congress, known as the Indian Depredation law, which pro- vided payment for the damages committed by hostile Indians upon the property of set- tlers during the Indian wars.

Fraternally, Mr. Hermann is a Knight Templar Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is also prominent in the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to the Encampment. He is at present Ex- alted Ruler of the Benevolent Protective Or- der of Elks of the Umpqua valley.

He possesses a clear mind, uniting as it does the capacity for detail required in his legal practice, with the broad liberal states- manship which has always marked his pub- lic career. He is of the Western American tradition, cool and resourceful in an emer- gency, devoted to his country and to its interests and welfare, and is mentally and morally an example of the shrewd, indefati- gable and resourceful American type, which in politics and in industry, in commerce and

finance, in the conquest of a vast continent and in the upbuilding of a rich, powerful and strenuous nation, has proved itself one of the most potent among the tribes of men.

EDWARD C. MORTON is a well known landowner and a prominent citizen residing just outside the city limits of Creswell. He was born in Ohio in 1849, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Banard) Morton. The fa- ther was a native of Pennsylvania and the grandfather was born in Ireland. In 1855 the father and mother removed to Zanes- ville, Ohio, to Iowa, where the father became a farmer, following that occupation until the time of his death, August 8, 1902. In his family were six children: Thomas, of Mason City, Iowa; John B., of Shelby, Iowa; Mary A., the wife of J. D. Caughran, of Tacoma, Washington; Willamine, the wife of Levi Dickerson, of Altoona, Iowa; Charles, of Mis- souri; and Edward C.

The subject of this review began earning his own living when he was twelve years of age by working for a man who had the beef contracts for the army during the Civil war and for four years was thus employed. He then learned the horseshoeing trade in Iowa. after which he purchasd a livery barn and conducted it in a very successful manner for sixteen years. He then removed to Nor- folk, Nebraska, and purchased a farm of two hundred and eighty acres in that vicinity. Upon this farm he lived and labored for thir- teen years, when, selling out his holdings in Nebraska, he removed to Oregon in 1904, locating near Creswell, where he purchased one hundred and eighty acres of land and later bought ten acres of timber. He still owns one hundred and eighty acres and has one hundred and twenty acres of his farm under a good state of cultivation, and is en- gaged in growing wheat, oats, potatoes and hay. He built the second house of any con- sequence in Creswell when he erected his present large residence, which is situated just outside the city limits. He also owns the business property where his harness shop is located and another five-room residence on Front street.

On January 11, 1874, Mr. Morton was married to Miss Louisa R. Smith, a daugh- ter of David and Elizabeth (Hocker) Smith, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the parents of the following children: Agnes, deceasd; Fran- ces, the wife of John Hedgener, of Fremont, Nebraska, and the mother of two children, Mamie and Guy; Louisa R., now Mrs. Edward C. Morton; Annie, the wife of Oscar McCol- lum, of Nebraska; George, deceased, who was married to Laura Wyatt, by whom he had two children, Laura and Jessie; Ernest; Ev- erett; Ella, who is the wife of Ed Fitzger- ald, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and the mother of five children, Ed, Ella, Geraldine, Ells- worth and Bertha; Jessie, the wife of James Melligan, of Missouri; and Etta, the wife of John Lay, of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Mor- ton are the parents of six children: Charles W., of Norfolk, Nebraska, who is married

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and has eight children, Hattie, Edna, Lee, David, Lenora, Dallas, Clarence and Grace; David of Creswell, who is married and has one child, Earl E .; Frank, who is married and resides in Goldendale, Washington; Emma, the wife of William Holterman, of Creswell and the mother of two children, Gladys and Henry; Troy H., who is a harness maker and resides at home; and Nellie, also residing at home.

In his political views Mr. Morton is inde- pendent, preferring to cast his vote for the candidate who is best fitted for the office regardless of party affiliation. He has never been an office seeker, having given all his at- tention to other matters. He is well known in Creswell, where he ranks as one of its best citizens and where he is universally respected.

CAPTAIN ELIPHALET FOLLETT. While New Pine Creek is one of the recently estab- lished towns of Lake county its citizenship includes Captain Eliphalet Follett, one of the venerable residents of this part of the state. He was born in what was Lake county but is now Geauga county, Ohio, February 2, 1828, a son of Ashley and Diantha (Mont- gomery) Follett, the former born in Massa- chusetts in 1798 and the latter in New York in 1808. They were pioneer residents of northeastern Ohio, living in the reserve, where they were married. The father was a millwright by trade and followed his chosen occupation when eastern Ohio was almost an unbroken wilderness. About 1835 the fam- ily removed to southwestern Michigan, set- tling at Port Sheldon, where Mr. Follett built a mill, establishing the town not far from Michigan City. He afterward removed to Chicago, Illinois, and later to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He subsequently resided in Iowa and in 1838 went to Chippewa, Wisconsin, then he removed once more to the Menominee river and then back to Clay- ton county, Iowa. Again, however, he took up his abode in Wisconsin in 1844, remain- ing for four years, after which he returned to Iowa. There he secured a tract of wild land and became actively engaged in farm- ing. The mother became a widow in 1847.

Captain Eliphalet Follett was the second of seven children and as the oldest son was away from home, the care of the family de- volved upon him and he continued to work on the old homestead until he attained hi's majority, when he married. He afterward entered the field of general merchandising at Elkader, Clayton county, Iowa, but even- tually removed to Elgin, Fayette county, that state, where he conducted a store from 1853 until 1862. Following the outbreak of the Civil war his patriotic spirit was aroused and, feeling that his first duty was to his country, he enlisted on the 23d of July, 1862, as captain of Company H, Thirty-eighth Iowa Infantry. He served with that com- mand until January 1, 1865, when he was honorably discharged by reason of the con- solidation of his regiment with the Thirty- fourth of Iowa. He was on duty with the Thirteenth Army Corps but was detached

and served on the Mississippi until the sur- render of Vicksburg. He was then sent to the convalescent camp at Carrollton, Louis- iana, but later participated in the capture of Brownsville, Texas, where the troops re- mained for nine months as an army of ob- servation. At the close of that period they returned to New Orleans and were ordered to Mobile bay, seventeen days being spent in the capture of Fort Morgan. From that point the troops proceeded to Morganza, Louisiana, and to Florida and participated in the battle of Fort Blakely. They also assisted in the capture of the steamer Ala- bama and later went to Houston, Texas. The most important battle of the war in which Captain Follett participated was that at Vicksburg.

When the war was over he returned to Iowa, and engaged in railroading for more than two years, but he also owned a farm of two hundred and seventy acres there and gave some of his time to its supervision. In 1876 he went to Yolo county, California, and in 1879 removed to Willowranch, Modoc county, that state, seven miles south of New Pine Creek, Oregon. In 1881 he suffered a stroke of paralysis and since that time has engaged in merchandising, being identified with business interests in New Pine Creek since 1893. He has a well appointed store and he remains a factor in business circles although many men of his years have long since put aside commercial or industrial cares to spend the evening of life quietly and without any business activities to claim their attention.

Captain Follett has been married twice. On the 7th of February, 1847, in Iowa, he wedded Christenia Downie, a native of Can- ada, who was born June 7, 1833, and died in New Pine Creek in November, 1904. Their children were seven in number: John A., liv- ing in Lyon county, Iowa; Blanch, who is the widow of Columbus Cannon and resides in New Pine Creek; Josephine, who is the widow of L. C. Button and makes her home in Sacramento, California; A. E., of New Pine Creek; Ernest B., of Benton county, Oregon: E. W. G., of New Pine Creek; and Sadie L., the wife of Joseph L. Hampton of Paisley, Oregon. On the 17th of June, 1910, Captain Follett was married to Mrs. Jane L. (Worthington) Mulkey, who had been a widow for fourteen years. She was born in Davidson county, North Carolina, April 29, 1835, and when five years of age came to Missouri with her parents, Brooks and Hannah (Green) Worthington, who were natives of North Carolina but died in Mis- souri, where her father followed farming. In early womanhood Jane Worthington be- came the wife of Johnson Mulkey and they removed to California, where the latter's death occurred April 21. 1895, when he had reached the age of sixty-five years, two months and eight days. They were the par- ents of four sons and four daughters, of whom six are living.

For many years Captain Follett has been a stalwart republican but his first vote was cast in 1849 in support of democratic can-

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didates. He voted in 1856 for Fremont and for each presidential candidate of the re- publican party since that time. He has served as justice of the peace and in other local offices and for seven years was post- master of New Pine Creek. For thirty-five years he has been a Master Mason and since 1855 has been an Odd Fellow, having in that year joined the lodge at West Union, Fayette county, Iowa. At the time of the Civil war every one of its members enlisted for service at the front, whereby the lodge was broken up, and after the war he aided in organizing another lodge at Elgin, Iowa. He was at one time commander of the Grand Army post at New Pine Creek but there is no organiza- tion here now, as there are not enough mem- bers to support it. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. Captain Follett is remarkably active for one of his years, for, although he has passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life's journey, he is in business and in spirit and interest seems many years younger. He keeps in touch with the progress of the world and through- cut his life has actively figured in projects and movements which were of value in mat- ters of citizenship and as factors in the at- tainment of material success. He has ever been as true and loyal to the old flag as when he followed the stars and stripes upon south- ern battlefields.

WILLIAM MORRIS is one of the highly respected citizens of Florence, this state, where he lives retired. He was born in Indi- ana, June 27, 1835, the son of Ivy and Abi- gail (Steward) Morris. The father was a native of Virginia, his birth having occurred in the vicinity of Norfolk, and the mother was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky. They were united in wedlock in Kentucky and in that state continued to live until 1833, at which time they removed to Switzer- land county, Indiana, where Mr. Morris was engaged in farming until 1850. In that year he removed with his family to Lee county, Iowa, and later, in 1857, he moved to Liv- ingston county, Missouri, remaining there until 1876, when he removed to California, where he continued to live during the re- maining years of his life. His wife, who be- came the mother of William Morris, died in Iowa in 1855, while Mr. Morris' death oc- curred in California in 1881, when he was eighty-one years of age. They were the par- ents of nine children: Phoebe, who resides in southern Kansas; Joseph E., of Florence, Oregon; Amy, who passed away in Meigs county, Ohio; William, of this review; An- nias, a resident of Bandon, Oregon; Martha A., who makes her home in the eastern part of this state; Mary E., of Oakland, Califor- nia; and Jacob and Jesse, both of whom are deceased.

William Morris was reared at home and received his education in the public schools. He left the paternal roof at the age of twenty years and started in life for him- self. After leaving his father's home he spent some time in traveling through various portions of the eastern and middle states

and immediately following his marriage, which occurred in his twenty-third year, he established · himself as a farmer upon his own farm of eighty acres, which was located in the state of Missouri. While engaged as a farmer he enlisted in the Civil war in 1864, joining Company G, Forty-fourth Mis- souri Volunteer Infantry. During the period of his enlistment he was engaged in two pitched battles and had the good fortune to pass through the fire and field of death un- harmed and was mustered out of service in 1865. Immediately after the close of the war he returned to his home in Missouri, where he continued to live until 1866, at which time he disposed of his eighty acres and purchased a farm of forty-one acres, located near Chillicothe, Missouri, upon which he maintained his residence and con- tinued to be engaged in general farming for a period of twenty years. He then sold his place and removed to Montague county in northern Texas, where he purchased a fine body of land and was there engaged in agri- cultural pursuits for six years. On selling his real-estate interests in Texas he removed to Lane county, this state, and was engaged in farming for thirteen years. At the close of that period he disposed of his farm, which contained one hundred and sixty acres, and also a smaller piece of ranch land contain- ing sixty-four acres and removed to Flor- ence, where he now lives a retired life in the comfortable residence of which he is the owner.

In 1857 Mr. Morris was united in mar- riage to Miss Nancy J. Wood, a native of Shelby county, Kentucky, and a daughter of James Wood, of Virginia. Both of her par- ents are now deceased, having died many years ago. In their family were fourteen children, of whom Mrs. Morris was the only one to settle in this state. To Mr. and Mrs. Morris nine children were born: Sarah, the wife of M. E. Perry, who is engaged in farm- ing in Oklahoma; Mary W., the wife of William Carleton, a ranchman of Monroe, this state; Ivy, who is engaged in ranching at Point Terrace; Amy, the wife of Marion Morris of Florence; James, a blacksmith of Florence; Joseph L., who resides near El- mira; Dolly, the wife of Welcome Warren, of Blaine, Washington; Mattie Lee, of Acme, Oregon; and a child who died in infancy. The mother of this family passed to her re- ward beyond in 1905.

William Morris after a long and active business life is in the well earned enjoy- ment of a competency which is sufficient to provide him with comfort for the remain- ing years of his earthly pilgrimage. He is a man highly respected and one of the solid and valued resident citizens of Lane county, · this state, in which he has spent many years of his active life.

GEORGE L. GILFRY. Among the pio- neers of Creswell is George L. Gilfry, the first mayor of the town, vice president and a director of the Fruit Growers Bank, which he helped to organize, a retired merchant

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and a capable public official. He was born in Illinois, March 10, 1841, a son of John T. and Delila C. (Bristow) Gilfry. The father was born in Pennsylvania and the mother in Kentucky, but the grandparents on both sides were pioneers in Oregon, their emigra- tion to that state dating back to 1848. To John T. and Delila (Bristow) Gilfry six chil- dren were born: George L .; Henry H., who has filled the position of chief clerk of the United States senate in Washington, D. C., for the past thirty years; William R., a farmer in Lane county; John E. and Susan E., both of whom are deceased; and Sarah F., the wife of Ira Petty, a mine owner of Seattle, Washington.

George L. Gilfry was given a common- school education in the schools of Lane county, to which place his parents removed when he was seven years of age. When twenty years of age he started to learn the milling business in his father's mill and later bought an interest in the same. He was subsequently placed in charge of the mill, which he conducted for seventeen years. The father also operated a store at Clover- dale, where he was a successful business man. At the end of seventeen years George L. Gilfry sold his interest in his father's mill and hauled the first lumber into Creswell, with which he erected the first building in that town. This structure was for general merchandising purposes and into it he re- moved the goods from his father's store at Cloverdale. Both the father and son re- moved to Creswell and engaged in business there together, being the first merchants of the town. The store was afterward burned and they replaced it with a brick building and continued together in the merchandise business for seventeen years. The father was the first postmaster, the first express agent and the first railroad agent in Cres- well and, with the exception of his position as postmaster, he held these offices for the entire period of seventeen years in which he remained in active life. At the end of that time he sold out his business interests and retired, making his home with his daughter until the time of his death, which occurred May 25, 1899, at the age of seventy-eight years, six months and seven days. When the store in Creswell was sold George L. Gilfry removed to eastern Oregon, where he engaged in the cattle business. He became a prominent man in his district and was elected county commissioner and school di- rector in Lake county, but after being there for a time he decided to return to Clover- dale and resigned his official positions. On returning to Cloverdale he made his residence in the old home until 1907, when he came to Creswell, where he lived retired in his town residence. During the early years of his mercantile career, from 1854 to 1864, Mr. Gilfry hauled all of his merchandise from Portland with ox teams during the summer seasons, as the roads were impassable in winter. It was his custom to make five trips each summer, which was sufficient to keep the store stocked with merchandise. Mr. Gilfry helped to organize the first bank in

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The centennial history of Oregon, 1811-1912, Part 85

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