USA > Washington > Asotin County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 1
USA > Washington > Columbia County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 1
USA > Washington > Garfield County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 1
USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59
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LYMAN'S HISTORY
Old Walla Walla County of
Embracing
Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin Counties
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1918 J.F.
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 1972054 ASTON LEIDE AND ALDAN POIN DATION
1721 L
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PUBLIC LIV ATY
ASTOR FEVER
Nelson & Blalock
BIOGRAPHICAL
N. G. BLALOCK, M. D.
No history of Walla Walla and of this section of the northwest would be complete without extended reference to Dr. N. G. Blalock, who not only figured as a most successful and progressive physician but, also recognizing the possibilities for the material development of the northwest through its natural resources, contributed in marked measure to the upbuilding of this section of the country and the promotion of its business activities. His labors were of a character that contributed to public progress as well as to individual success and in fact they were of the most farreaching extent and importance.
Dr. Blalock was a native of North Carolina, his birth having occurred in Mitchell county, that state, in 1836. He spent his youth amid rural surroundings in his native state, his time largely being devoted to agricultural pursuits, while later he took up the profession of teaching but regarded this merely as an initial step to other professional labor. It became his earnest desire to enter the medical profession and with that end in view he matriculated in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1861. He first located for practice in Mount Zion, Illinois, and when the Civil war was in progress he put aside all business, professional and personal considerations and joined the army as surgeon of an Illinois regiment, doing active duty at the front in this connection. When hostilities had ceased he resumed the practice of medicine in Illinois, where he remained until 1872. He then heard and heeded the call of the west. He first came in 1872 to spy out the land. Crossing the continent part of the way with a team, actuated by the purpose of selecting a new home in the Pacific northwest, he decided upon Walla Walla and then returned to Illinois for his family. In May, 1873, they left their home in Macon county, that state, and on the Itth of October reached Walla Walla, having spent about six months upon the road, as they traveled by team. There were twenty-seven members in the little immigrant party and their total financial resources on reaching their destination did not exceed twenty dollars. Dr. Blalock at once sought employ- ment in order to replenish his depleted exchequer. He began hauling wheat from Walla Walla to Wallula and upon the return trip brought groceries and other merchandise, which had to be laid in before navigation on the Columbia river closed for the winter. He was thus engaged for a little over a month, after which he opened his office and began practicing medicine. His career in that professional field was a most notable one. His ability was pronounced. He most carefully diagnosed his cases and his judgment was seldom, if ever, at fault. He did most important work in the frontier community, his professional career
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covering a period of fifty-three years, during which he kept a complete record of his obstetrical cases, including the names, ages and birthplaces of parents and the names and sexes of children. lle officiated at almost six thousand obstetrical cases. He was the loved family physician in many a household. He was most sympathetic by nature, kindly in spirit and these qualities, added to his professional skill and ability, made him most efficient in medical practice.
Dr. Blalock also deserves special mention for his contribution to the develop- ment of Walla Walla and the northwest. He organized the firm of Blalock, Son & Company for the purpose of buikling a mill and flume to engage in the manu- facture and shipment of lumber, wood. etc., from what is known as the Blalock Mountain. This undertaking did not prove profitable, however, and the company failed for two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, with assets of only fifty thousand dollars. The nature of Dr. Blalock at once was manifest, for he immediately assumed the liabilities of the company and in less than eight years paid off every cent, with interest at from fifteen to twenty-four per cent per annum, acting in this matter contrary to the advice of his attorneys. No other course was possible to a man of his straightforward and honorable nature, how- ever. He felt that every cent of his indebtedness should be met and he resolutely set to work to achieve this end, which in an incredibly short space of time he accomplished.
It was Dr. Blalock who installed the first telephone used in the state. He rented six instruments at twelve dollars per month each and built and kept up his own line from the mill to the end of the flume. He was the promoter of what is known as the Blalock Orchards, two miles west of Walla Walla. In 1876 he purchased for two dollars and a half per acre four hundred acres of desert land, which he leveled, irrigated and then planted with fruit trees, including apples, pears and cherries, and also set out many small fruits. Ile shipped the first two car loads of pears from the state of Washington east of the Rocky Mountains and made large exhibit of his fruit at the World's Columbian Expo- sition in Chicago in 1893. Since that time the Blalock Orchards have been enlarged to sixteen hundred acres and have constituted a most important feature of the horticultural development of the northwest. Upon the land are now eight artesian wells, all strong and affording a supply of water ample to irrigate the entire area with a system of pipe lines over twenty miles in length touching every acre of this vast tract. The lands are being sold in five-acre tracts at from one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars per acre. Dr. Blalock also made arrangements for the purchase of three thousand six hundred acres of dry land six miles south of Walla Walla, for which he was to pay ten bushels of wheat per acre, an amount equal to five dollars per acre. The first erop paid for the land and all expenses of raising and harvesting and left him about three thousand dollars. This was followed by the purchase of seven thousand acres of wheat land in Gilliam county, Oregon, and he planted and promoted an orchard at the town of Blalock. He was the promoter of the Blalock Islands enterprise, cover- ing four thousand acres in the Columbia river in Benton county, Washington. He was associated with others in the development of three thousand acres of desert land under the Carey act in Morrow county, Oregon. No one labored more untiringly for the opening of the Columbia river for navigation than Dr. Blalock, who for years devoted many hours to the work. In appreciation of his efforts
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in that behalf the Columbia and Snake River Waterways Association, meeting in Lewiston in its third annual convention, passed the following resolution: "In these days of the passing of the pioneer the people of the great northwest are called upon from time to time to recognize the lifelong service of noble men and women and to honor their names. Occasionally we take unto ourselves the rare privilege of brightening the closing years of one of these servants of mankind by a slight expression of our affection and appreciation of their efforts in things worth while. Such an occasion greets us today as we meet to honor one of God's emblems. In recognition of the large part Dr. N. G. Blalock has had in effecting an organized movement to secure an open river ; in grateful acknowledgment that through his indefatigable and successful labor, associated with Joseph N. Teal, WV. J. Mariner and J. F. Smith, almost insuperable obstacles were overcome and the Oregon Portage Railroad was built at The Dalles; and with hearty thanks to him for the lavish expenditure of time and money in representing his state at meetings of the Natural Rivers and Harbor Congress and attending innumerable other gatherings in the interest of our rivers, where he has materially helped in securing definite results. Therefore, be it resolved, that we, the delegates to the Columbia and Snake River Waterways Association here assembled, express to Dr. N. G. Blalock our deep affection and our grateful appreciation for his long life of loving service."
A splendid characterization of Dr. Blalock is found in the memorial address which was delivered by the Hon. Ben F. Hill before a joint session of the state senate and the house of representatives, on which occasion Mr. Hill said :
"Mr. President, Gentlemen of the senate and house :
"It is with a sense of profound sorrow that we pay a tribute to the memory of Dr. Nelson G. Blalock, the distinguished member from Walla Walla, of the constitutional convention. Dr. Blalock was born in Mitchell county, North Caro- lina, in 1836. He was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, served as a surgeon in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois Regiment in the Civil war and came in 1873 to Walla Walla, the then metropolis of the northwest. The brilliant young surgeon was in demand throughout the whole of the Inland Empire. He became acquainted in his travels with the religious and geographical work of the great Marcus Whitman and his chief ambition appeared to be to develop the economic resources of that part of Washington territory. For this reason the names of Marcus Whitman and Nelson G. Blalock will be indelibly linked together in the building and construction of our great state. One of Nelson G. Blalock's earliest exploits was, when roads were impossible, the building of a large flume from the Blue mountains to Walla Walla, for the purpose of transporting logs, fuel and lumber to that growing community. He made a success of and was the pioneer of arid land wheat farming. As early as 1881 he produced the unprece- dented yield of fifty thousand bushels of wheat on one thousand acres of arid land. After proving that wheat could be successfully produced he turned to irrigation projects, some of which now are honored in retaining the Blalock name. He drilled for and found artesian water, utilized the water of the various streams, and every one of the districts he founded is now a prosperous and conservative community. I could go on and tell you of his work to complete the Celilo locks and canal and of his intense desire to see an open Columbia river, but those and local problems are developing as he anticipated they would. In fact
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before Dr. Blalock passed away he had the final pleasure of knowing that all these great economic benefits to the Inland Empire would be finished. In the 1913 session we were honored by having Dr. Nelson G. Blalock, during one of our sessions, invited to take his place with our speaker and then a few days later during the session we were shocked to hear of his death. You do not wonder then that Dr. Blalock was elected to represent the Walla Walla district at the constitutional convention and we revere and honor that man, soldier, physician, statesman who in the economic development of the Inland Empire was the greatest man the northwest has yet produced, Dr. Nelson G. Blalock."
On the 13th of March, 1914, Dr. Blalock was stricken with apoplexy while at work in his office and was taken to a hospital, where he died the following day.
DORSEY S. BAKER, M. D.
No history of Walla Walla and the Inland Empire would be complete with- out extended reference to Dr. Dorsey S. Baker, now deceased, who for many years figured most prominently in the professional, commercial and financial circles of the northwest. He stood in the front rank of the columns that have advanced the civilization of Washington, leading to its substantial development, progress and upbuilding. He was particularly active in the growth of Walla Walla, where he continued to make his home for many years. He recognized and utilized the resources of the country and by establishing many business enter- prises contributed in marked measure to its development and progress. Widely known, his life history cannot fail to prove of interest to the many friends that he left behind and who still honor and cherish his memory.
Dr. Baker was born in Wabash county, Illinois, October 18, 1823, and while still a boy in his teens became the active assistant of his father. who was engaged in milling and merchandising. Thus he received a thorough training that con- stituted the broad foundation upon which much of the success of his later years was built. After a time, however, he determined to enter upon a professional career and with that end in view matriculated in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1845 on the completion of the full course. IIe located for the practice of medicine in Des Moines, Iowa, but after remaining there for a brief period determined to follow the advice of Horace Greeley, who said: "Go west, young man, go west." Accordingly in 1848 he started for Oregon, where he arrived in the fall of the same year, having no money and no acquaintances in this section of the country. He imme- diately opened an office and began the practice of his chosen profession in Port- land, which was then a small town containing but one or two streets along the river front. Gold was discovered in California the following year and Dr. Baker joined the rush for the famous Eldorado. He remained in that state until the spring of 1850 and then returned to Portland, where he entered into partner- ship with L. B. Hastings in the conduct of a mercantile enterprise. The follow- ing spring he again went to the mines, this time his objective point being Yreka, which was then a newly developed mining camp. In May of the same year. however, he once more returned to Oregon and established his home in the
D.S.Bunlar
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ISTOR : INOX
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Umpqua valley, where for several years he devoted his attention to stock raising, to milling and to general merchandising. He erected the first flour mill in southern Oregon at the old town of Oakland in Douglas county, and in 1858 he was conducting business in Portland as a hardware merchant.
Dr. Baker's connection with Walla Walla dated from October, 1859, when he established a store in this city, placing William Stephens in charge. The following year, however, he personally assumed the management of the business and in 1862 he entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, John F. Boyer, in establishing the firm of Baker & Boyer, which was so long widely and favorably known in eastern Washington. It was in that year that he also became asso- ciated with Captain Ankeny, H. W. Corbett and Captain Baughman in the organization of a steamboat company to operate a line of boats on the Columbia and Snake rivers. This company built the steamer Spray for the upper river and the E. D. Baker for the lower Columbia trade, thus instituting what con- stituted a most important element in the development and upbuilding of the north- west. These steamship lines were sold the following year to the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. Dr. Baker's recognition of the possibilities and oppor- tunities of the northwest constituted a most important factor in the develop- ment of the Inland Empire. After nine years he took up the construction of a railroad from Walla Walla to the Columbia River, building the line entirely from his own resources. This not only enhanced the fortune of the promoter but brought prosperity and wealth to the entire Walla Walla valley and adjacent country. It was a matter of pride to Dr. Baker that during his ownership and management of the railroad it was never encumbered, with a mortgage and never had a floating debt. He finally sold the road in 1878 to the Henry Villard syndicate and it became a part of the Oregon Railway and Navigation System.
Throughout the remainder of his life Dr. Baker devoted his energies to banking and to the inauguration of various business enterprises in and about Walla Walla that continued as factors in the progress and improvement of the city and of the state. The Baker-Boyer Bank, which was organized in 1869, is the oldest institution of the kind in Washington and remains one of the strongest moneyed concerns of the state. Later it was reorganized as the Baker-Boyer National Bank.
Dr. Baker was married in Portland, Oregon, in June, 1850, to Miss Caro- line Tibbetts, a native of Indiana, by whom he had seven children, three of whom died in infancy. The others were Edwin Franklin, now living in California ; Mary E., the deceased wife of Ex-Governor Miles C. Moore, now president of the Baker-Boyer National Bank; Henry C .; and W. W., who is the vice presi- dent of the Baker-Boyer National Bank. For his second wife Dr. Baker chose Miss Mary Legier, of Tuscola, Illinois, who passed away soon afterward, and in August, 1867, he wedded Elizabeth H. Mccullough, by whom he had eight daughters, four of whom died while young. Mrs. Baker passed away May 7, 1917, having for many years survived her husband, whose death occurred in Walla Walla, July 5, 1888.
Dr. Baker not only lived to witness a remarkable transformation in this sec- tion of the country but was an active participant in all the changes that brought about modern-day civilization. His greatest effort in pioneer days was the building of the Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad, which was the
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foundation of the early settlement and building up of the great Inland Empire, of which Walla Walla became the distributing point for eastern Washington, Montana and Idaho. He gave the original site for Whitman Seminary, donat- ing land which became the nucleus of the present property of what is now Whit- man College. Almost seventy years have passed since Dr. Baker came to the northwest to cast in his lot with its pioneers. People of the present period can scarcely realize the struggles and dangers which attended the early settlers, the heroism and self-sacrifice of lives passed upon the borders of civilization, the hardships endured, the difficulties overcome. These tales of the early days read almost like a romance to those who have known only the modern prosperity and conveniences. To the pioneer of the early days, far removed from the privileges and conveniences of city and town, the struggle for existence was a stern and hard one, and these men and women must have possessed indomitable energy and sterling worth of character as well as marked physical courage when they thus voluntarily selected such a life and successfully fought its battles under such circumstances as prevailed in the northwest. The efforts of Dr. Baker were indeed an important feature in the development of this section of the country. He saw and utilized opportunities which have brought about modern-day prog- ress and improvement and not only kept pace with the trend of the times but was a leader in the onward march of progress in Walla Walla and this section of the state.
C. R. ROGG.
C. R. Rogg, who is engaged in the furniture and undertaking business in Dayton, has in his business career ever followed the admonition of the old Greek philosopher, Epicharmus, who said: "Earn thy reward; the gods give nought to sloth." In other words he has ever been diligent and determined and his close application and his energy have brought him the measure of success which he now enjoys. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, May 17, 1876, and is a son of Raymond and Katie (Toy) Rogg. The father was a native of Germany but came to America when a young lad and settled in Connecticut, where he was reared and married. In 1877 he removed with his family to Kansas, where he established his home upon a farm and in that state both he and his wife passed away. In their family were seven children, six of whom are now living.
Although born in New England, C. R. Rogg was only about a year old when the family home was established in the Sunflower state and there he was reared and educated, pursuing his studies in the public schools. He was a young man of about twenty-seven years when he determined to leave the middle west and try his fortune upon the Pacific coast. He arrived in Walla Walla county, Washing- ton, in 1903 and there remained for a year, after which he removed to Dayton, where he established a furniture and undertaking business, in which he has now been engaged for thirteen years, building up a trade of large and gratifying pro- portions. He has a well appointed furniture store, carrying a large and carefully selected stock, and his reasonable prices, progressive business methods and earnest desire to please his customers have brought to him a very gratifying patronage.
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In May, 1906, Mr. Rogg was united in marriage to Miss Ollie Landon, who was born in Kansas, a daughter of R. E. Landon, who is still living in that state. To Mr. and Mrs. Rogg have been born three children : John Vern, whose birth occurred October 23, 1907; Erna B., who was born January 29, 1910; and Caro- line Bernice. Mrs. Rogg is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Rogg has membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has filled all of the chairs in the local lodge. He is also connected with Dayton Lodge, No. 3, K. P. His political support is given to the democratic party and he has been elected a member of the city council by the vote of his fellow townsmen, who recognized his worth and ability and felt that public interests would be safe in his hands. The years of his residence in Dayton have brought him a wide acquaintance and his sterling worth has gained for him the high regard of those with whom he has been associated.
FRANK C. ROBINSON, M. D., F. A. C. S.
Prepared by comprehensive study at home and abroad, Dr. Frank C. Robin- son has won for himself a distinguished position in the ranks of the medical profession in Walla Walla and the northwest. He has wisely utilized his native talents and as the years have gone on his reading and research have kept him in touch with the trend of scientific attainment. He was born in Blandinsville, Illi- nois, May 24, 1874, a son of Campbell and Elizabeth (Hungate) Robinson, both of whom were natives of McDonough county, Illinois, where they were reared and married. There they resided until 1875, when they removed to Taylor county, Iowa, and in 1892 they became residents of Walla Walla county, Wash- ington. The father purchased land at Bolles Junction, where he engaged in farming for ten years, and in 1902 he retired from active life, taking up his abode in the city of Walla Walla, where his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1913, while his widow survived until 1916. He was for a long period one of the most extensive and successful agriculturists of his locality, owning and cultivating two thousand acres of land at Bolles Junction. In his family were six children, namely: Frank C., of this review; Charles D., connected with the Lin- coln Trust Company, of Spokane, Washington; Samuel E., a farmer of Imperial, California ; Lillian M., who is teaching in the high school of Hilliard, near Spokane, Washington ; Harry H., a physician now on duty as a captain in the Medical Reserve Corps at Waco, Texas; and Myrtle V., the wife of William R. Howard, a teacher in the high school of Spokane.
Dr. Frank C. Robinson was very young when the family went to Iowa and was a youth of about eighteen years when the removal was made to the northwest. He has since taken a most active interest in the development of the Inland Empire and has contributed in substantial measure to the work of progress and improvement along various lines. He was educated in the public schools and in the Waitsburg Academy, being graduated from the latter institution with the class of 1897. The following year he began preparation for the practice of medicine and surgery, entering Rush Medical College of Chicago in the fall of 1898. He was grad- uated from that institution on the completion of the four years' course as vale-
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dictorian of the class of 1902 and immediately afterward served an interne- ship of a year and a half in the Presbyterian Hospital of Chicago, thus gain- ing broad and valuable practical experience along professional lines. He was afterward appointed superintendent of the Monroe Street Hospital in Chi- cago, in which capacity he served for a year. Desirous of further advanc- ing in his profession, he went abroad in August, 1905, for post-graduate work in Europe, pursuing his studies and his research work in Vienna, Austria, where he remained until May, 1906, coming under the instruction of some of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of the old world. He then returned to his native land and opened an office in Walla Walla, where in the intervening period of eleven years he has won a place in the front ranks of medical practitioners. His ability is pronounced and he has gained a most creditable name and place in a pro- fession where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit.
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