USA > Washington > King County > Seattle > A volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of the city of Seattle and county of King, Washington, including biographies of many of those who have passed away > Part 33
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J. W. GODWIN.
In past ages the history of a country was the record of wars and con- quests : to-day it is the record of commercial activity, and those whose names are foremost in its annals are the leaders in business circles. The conquests now made are those of mind over matter, not man over man, and the victor is he who can successfully establish, control and operate extensive commer- cial interests. J. W. Godwin is one of the strong and influential men whose lives have become an essential part of the history of Seattle and the west. Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty of purpose, genius for devising and executing the right thing at the right time, joined to every-day common sense, guided by great will power, are the chief character- istics of the man. Connected with one of the wholesale commission houses of Seattle, the place that he occupies in business circles is in the front rank. He is president and manager of the J. W. Godwin Company. controlling one of the largest commission houses of this city, and is also president of the Fisher's Union of Alaska, largely engaged in the canning of salmon.
Mr. Godwin is a native of the Old Dominion, his birth having occurred in Bloxom, Accomack county, Virginia, on the 23d of August. 1860. Ile
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is descended from one of the old families of that state of English lineage. Several generations of the family, however, have resided in this country and were well known as planters in Virginia. O. W. Godwin. the father of our subject, was there reared and educated and after attaining to man's estate married Miss Elizabeth Bloxom, a lady of Irish descent, also belonging to one of the old Virginian families. Both Mr. and Mrs. Godwin were mem- bers of the Baptist church. In his political faith he was a Democrat and a gentleman of sterling worth, reliable in all of life's relations. He was called to his final rest in his seventy-fourth year and his wife passed away in her sixty-fifth year. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom seven are yet living.
J. W. Godwin, who is the only member of the family in Washington, was educated in the public schools of his native city. He remained with his father until his twentieth vear, after which he engaged in clerking in a store for two years and then went to the city of Philadelphia, where he became connected with the commission business, familiarizing himself with the meth- ods of carrying on operations along that line. He had been associated with trade in the city for four years prior to his arrival in Seattle. Believing that there were good business possibilities in the northwest he resolved to become an active factor in trade circles in this state and removing to Washington he established a wholesale commission business, which has grown in volume and importance until it exceeds that of any other house in the city. Mr. God- win is the president and manager of the company and its splendid success is attributable in a large measure to his efforts. He is likewise the president of the fisher's union of Alaska, extensively engaged in the canning of salmon. He has made large investments in city property and has been one of the build- ers of this attractive municipality of the northwest. He was alone in the commission business from the time of his arrival in 1890 until 1894, at which time the present company was incorporated and since that time he has been at its head. The firm has acquired extended popularity as well as a large busi- ness and its trade covers much of British Columbia and Alaska, as well as the state of Washington. The company largely imports bananas from cen- ral America, distributing them over the districts mentioned. His realty in- vestments have been judiciously placed and he has bought and sold consider- able city property. His block on First avenue is a brick one, sixty by one hundred and twenty feet, which was built for stores and is thus occupied on the first floor, while the remainder is used for hotel purposes. Mr. Godwin has also built and sold a number of residences in the city and is credited with
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having done his share toward the improvement and substantial progress of Seattle.
In 1892 occurred the mariage of our subject and Miss Ella Dickinson, the wedding being celebrated in Philadelphia, of which city the lady is a native. Her father, Lea L. Dickinson, belongs to the celebrated Dickinson family of the Keystone state. Mr. and Mrs. Godwin have a nice residence in Seattle and the circle of their friends is a large one. He is a Royal Arch Mason, having been a valued member of the craft since 1881 and at the present time he is a past master. In politics he is Democrat and sands high in the ranks of his party, but has never been an office seeker, as the claims which his business makes upon his time are too extensive to admit of much outside work. The character and position of Mr. Godwin illustrates most happily for the purpose of this work the fact that if a young man be possessed of the proper attributes of mind and heart he can unaided attain to a point of unmistakable precedence in the business world. His career proves that the only true success in life is that which is accomplished by personal effort and constant industry.
JOHN ARTHUR.
For a number of years a distinguished member of the legal profession, Mr. Arthur is a leader in thought and action in the public life of the state. His name is a familiar one in political and professional circles throughout Washington. By reason of his marked intellectual activity he is well fitted to aid in moulding the policy of a new state and forming its public opinion.
Mr. Arthur is a native of the Green Isle of Erin, his birth having oc- curred there near the town of Ennis, county Clare, on the 20th of June, 1849. He is of English and Irish ancestry. His father, Thomas Arthur, was also born in Ireland, and was descended from a prominent old English family, which, with the ancestors of the famous General Wolfe, the hero of Quebec, the Whites, Melvilles, Stackpooles, Martins, and others, formed a strong colony of landholders in the counties of Limerick and Clare. Presi- dent Arthur was a member of this family. Thomas Arthur, the father of him whose name introduces this review, removed in 1860 to England, and in 1863 to the United States. With his wife and seven children he settied in Mckean county. Pennsylvania, where he died at the age of eighty-five years ; his widow is still living, aged eighty-seven years.
Jolm Arthur received his education in Ireland, England and the United States. He began his legal studies in Erie. Pennsylvania, under the pre-
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ceptorship of Hon. Jolin P. Vincent, ex-Judge of the Erie judicial district. Later he became a student in the Columbian University, at Washington, D. C., where he completed both the regular and post-graduate courses, of two years each. At the close of his second year he received the degree of Master of Laws, and was awarded the first prize for producing the best essay upon a legal subject. The prize was delivered to him in the presence of the presi- dent of the United States and his cabinet and the judges of the supreme court ; the presentation being made by the solicitor-general, in behalf of the attorney-general, who complimented Mr. Arthur on his able and schol- arly production, and soon thereafter moved his admission to practice before the supreme court of the United States. Mr. Arthur resigned a legal posi- tion under the government and opened a law office in Washington, D. C., where he continued to practice until March. 1883, when he removed to Puget Sound to accept the attorneyship for the Tacoma Land Company. with headquarters at Tacoma, but passing a large part of the time in Seattle, where he has resided continuously since April 18, 1887. He has been for over fourteen years the secretary of the King County Bar Association, and has been president of the Washington State Bar Association. In Erie he was president of the city board of license commissioners. In Seattle, in 1891. he was elected president of the state board of University land and building commissioners. In politics he is a Republican, and has served his party as chairman of the King county central committee.
In the year 1880 Mr. Arthur was happily married to Miss Amy A. Lane, a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, but at that time a resident of Philadelphia. Their only child, Chester W., died in the city of Washington.
In Masonic circles Mr. Arthur has borne an active part. He was made a Master Mason in St. John's Lodge, No. 9, of Seattle, and soon became its master. He has taken all the degrees in the York and Scottish Rite. and has served as potentate of Afifi Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Tacoma. He is Grand Master of Masons in the state of Washington.
WILLIAM JAMES.
Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, never fails in secur- ing a due measure of success, and the well known and able business man of whom this sketch is written has given in his career an exemplification of the truth of the statement. and he is now incumbent of the responsible position of assistant superintendent of the Renton coal mines, representing one of the important industrial enterprises of King county. To Mr. James belongs
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the distinction of being one of the sterling pioneers of the Pacific coast, and in this section of the Union he has passed practically his entire life, growing up under the invigorating environments and scenes of the pioneer epoch and developing that sturdy self-reliance and self-respect which have made for the attainment of success and which have gained to him unequivocal respect and esteem in an objective way.
Mr. James is a native of the island of Scilly, where he was born on the 18th of Angust. 1845, his parents dying while he was a mere child, having been of stanch old Welsh stock. He was taken into the home of relatives and with them, when but nine years of age, in 1854. he came to California. the trip being made by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and they settled at. Marysville, where he received limited educational advantages, the school system in that locality at the time having been very crude and primitive. Thus he may be said to be self-educated, even as he has been distinctively the architect of his own fortunes, having been dependent upon his own resources from his boyhood. He became identified with the mining industry in Marys- ville and vicinity and there remained until 1862, when he went to Nevada, where he was engaged in a similar line of work for the ensuing six years, thus becoming thoroughly familiar with the wild life of the mining camps of the frontier during the early days when civilization maintained a precarious foot- hold in this isolated section of the Union. During the greater portion of his residence in Nevada he was identified with quartz mining, but he later passed two years in the coal mines of Mount Diablo. California. At the expiration of this period Mr. James went to Illinois and was for a time identified with coal mining in La Salle county, after which he returned to the west and was engaged in mining in different sections of Wyoming until 1876, when he came to the Newcastle coal mines, in King county, Washington. Here he opened the Franklin mine and was also employed as suprintendent at the Gilman mine for about two years, and since that time has had charge of the operation of the Renton mine, which is now a very large producer, and he has also had charge of the development of other important coal mines in this locality. In fact it may be said without fear of contradiction that no man in the state of Washington has been more prominently and intimately con- cerned in the developing of the coal mining industry than has Mr. James, while his long experience and thorough technical knowledge have gained him a high reputation as one of the best mine operators in this section, and his able and faithful services have won for him the respect and confidence of those in whose service he has been enlisted and also of those over whom he has been placed in charge. The mine which he opened at Adaville, Wyom-
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ing. had a vein of coal eighty-three feet thick, and this was one of the import- ant coal propositions which owed its development to his effective labors.
In politics Mr. James is a stalwart Republican, and fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, holding membership in St. John's Lodge No. 9, which was one of the first organized in the city of Seattle. In 1868, Mr. James was united in marriage to Miss Mary James, the two families not being related. She was born in the state of Michigan, and of this union two children have been born, Richard H. and James W., both of whom are able and popular young tradesmen of Renton, where the family have a pleasant home and where Mr. James is the owner of several other residence properties, taking a due interest in all that makes for the advancement and ma- terial prosperity of his home town, where he has lived for so many years and where he is accorded the highest confidence and esteem. Mrs. James is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and she has proved to her hus- band a true and devoted helpmeet and companion during the happy married life of nearly thirty-five years.
CHARLES A. KOEPFLI.
Charles A. Koepfli, now acceptably serving as county clerk of King county and ex-officio clerk of the superior court of the state of Washington for the county of King, is one of the leaders of the Republican party in his section, his large acquaintance and unbounded popularity giving him an in- fluential following, while his shrewd judgment of men and affairs makes his counsel of value in all important movements. In business circles he also takes a foremost rank.
A native of Iowa, Mr. Koepfli was born in Dubuque, on the ioth of June, 1854, his parents being Theodore F. and Mina ( Benson ) Koepfli, who were born in Germany of Swiss ancestry. On his emigration to America the father located in Dubuque, Iowa, where he engaged in merchandising for several years. He departed this life in the sixty-third year of his age, but his wife still survives him and is now in her sixty-sixth year. Unto them were born two sons, the older being Adolph H., a resident of Dubuque.
Charles A. Koepfli, the younger son, was reared and educated in his native town, and there engaged in the grocery business with his father for some years. Coming west in December, 1880. he located in Seattle, Wash- ington, and embarked in the undertaking business under the name of the Seattle Undertaking Company, of which he is still a stockholler, president and manager. His place of business is at 1012 and 1014 Third avenue, and
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he is meeting with good success in that venture, being thoroughly reliable and honorable in all things.
The Republican party has always found in Mr. Koepfli a stanch sup- porter of its principles, and he has taken a very active part in promoting its interests. In 1900 his name was placed on the ticket as candidate for coun- ty clerk and ex-officio clerk of the superior court of the state of Washington for King county, and when the votes were counted it was found that he had been elected by a large majority, receiving the support of his many friends in both political parties. He is now filling the office with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens.
Socially Mr. Koepfli is a valued member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Independent Order of Foresters, the lowa Legion of Honor. the Modern Woodmen of America, the Bankers Association of Des Moines, lowa, the Sons of Herman, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Washington Fraternal Congress, of which he is treasurer, but the order in which he takes the most active part is the Woodmen of the World, being one of the head managers of the organization for the nine states of the Pacific jurisdiction. This order is one of the best and most successful fraternal insurance societies and is receiving very large accessions to its membership every year, its management and methods being highly approved by all who have investigated the subject.
In 1876 Mr. Koepfli was united in marriage to Miss Maria Reynoldson of Dubuque, Iowa, and to them have been born three sons, namely : Albert E., T. Frank and Thomas R. The family are quite prominent socially and are held in the highest esteem by a host of friends in the city where they now make their home. In business, social and political circles Mr. Koepfli stands deservedly high, and is entitled to honorable mention in the history of his adopted state.
VITUS SCHMID.
Vitus Schmid is now living a retired life on Mercer island, where he was one of the first settlers, dating his residence from 1887. He has lived in the state of Washington, however, since 1870 and has therefore been a witness of much of its growth and development from early pioneer times when this section of the country was separated from the older east by almost impass- able mountains and the limitless sand stretches of the plains. There was little or no railroad communication to bridge over time and space and the task that awaited the pioneers was a severe and hard one. In the work of
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development and improvement in Seattle and the surrounding district Mr. Schunid has borne an active and helpful part.
A native of Hohenzollern, Germany, Mr. Schmid was born December 18, 1848, and is a son of Conrad and Theresa Schmid, the former a farmer by occupation. In the public schools of his native country our subject pur- sued his education until he was fifteen years of age, when he bade adieu to friends in his native land and sailed for America in company with his brother. He landed in New York and shortly afterward made his way to Philadelphia; where he served an apprenticeship to the wagon-making trade. He after- ward followed that trade, gradually making his way westward. He crossed the plains as the railroad was built and assisted in constructing the snow sheds near Cheyenne, Wyoming. Eventually he reached California, but re- mained in that state for only two months, after which he came up the coast to Portland in 1869. There he was employed until April, 1870, but business was dull there, and he determined to continue his northward journey, sending his baggage on by stage. He then walked to Olympia and at that place took a boat for Seattle, where he arrived with only five dollars in his pocket. He aided in building the Alida, the first new boat built here. In August of the same year, 1870, he opened a wagon shop at the corner of Second and Wash- ington streets and there built the first express wagon and also the first lumber wagon ever constructed here. For three years he conducted the shop and then returned to the east in order to marry the lady to whom he had previous- ly become affianced. After spending four years in the east le again came to Seattle. Finding that another wagon shop had been established in the mean- time, he worked at the carpenter's trade and also dealt to some extent in real estate, purchasing some farm land on Mercer island. He has erected a house at the corner of Ninth and Marion streets in the city, also his shop here. He is very active and enterprising in his real estate operations, and his efforts in this direction have led to the substantial improvement of this portion of the county. From his home on the island he has a fine view of Lake Wash- ington and Seattle.
In politics Mr. Schmid is a Republican where questions of national im- portance are involved, but at local elections he casts his ballot independently of party ties. He has served as road supervisor and also as a member of the school board. Socially he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In pioneer days he belonged to the German Singing Society, but since he removed to the island he has not been associated with that organization.
Mr. Schmid has been twice married. On the 6th of April, 1874, he
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wedded Sarah .\. Chase, and they have had four children : Conrad G. ; Victor J .; Theresa, who became the wife of Edward McMahon; and Caroline, the wife of Frederick Remich, who is proprietor of a newspaper at Wood- stock, Illinois. Both Mr. and Mrs. McMahon are graduates of the State University and are now successful teachers; the two sons were also students of the State University, and in the summer of 1897 they went north in company with Professor Ingraham and made the ascent of Mount St. Elias with Count Luigi: the following year they were lost with the Jane Grey while on their second trip to Alaska. The mother died July 15. 1883, and on the 6th of August. 1888, Mr. Schmid was agam married, his second union being with Ida Dryen. Their son. George Mercer Schmid, died in the spring of 1899, at the age of six years. Such in brief is the life history of our subject. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to make America his home, for in the opportunities of this land he has found the business open- ings he desired, and with appreciation for possibilities and with unflagging enterprise he has steadily worked his way upward.
JOHN STEWART BRACE.
John Stewart Brace is the president of the Brace & Hergert Mill Com- pany of Seattle, extensively engaged in the manufacture of lumber and shingles. Canada has furnished to the United States many bright. enter- prising young men, who have left the Dominion and entered the business circles of this country, with its more progressive methods, livelier competi- tion and advancement more quickly secured. Among this number is John Stewart Brace. He has some of the strong, rugged and persevering charac- teristics developed by his earlier environments, which, coupled with the im- pulses of the Celtic blood of his ancestors, made him at an early day seek wider fields in which to give full scope to his ambition and industry. He found the opportunity he sought in the freedom and appreciation of the growing western portion of the country. Though born across the border he is thoroughly AAmerican in thought and feeling and is devoted and sincere in his love for the stars and stripes. His career is identified with the history of Seattle, where he has acquired a competence and where he is an honored and respected citizen.
Mr Brace was born in Canada on the 19th of August. 1861, being of English ancestry. Harvey Brace lived in Vermont when the Revolutionary war broke out, and he was a captain on General Washington's staff during the war. His son Bannister, born in 1764, moved to AAuburn. New York, where
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Harvey Brace, the grandfather of John Stewart, was born in 1808. This grandfather Brace moved to Toronto, Canada. in 1829. where he established an edged tool factory, later removing his industry to Goodrich, Canada. He married a Miss Fischer, a lady of German ancestry, and in his later life went with his son Lewis John Brace to Spokane, Washington, where he spent his remaining days, passing away at the ripe old age of eiglity-one years. By his marriage he had a large family, and the children were reared in the faith of the Episcopal church, and as there was no church of that denomination in the neighborhood in which they lived the grandfather of our subject joined the Presbyterian church and remained identified therewith until his death. ile was a man of sterling worth and unquestioned honesty.
Lewis John Brace, the father of our subject, was born in Goodrich, Ontario county, in 1838, and after arriving at years of maturity wedded Miss Mary Gibson, a native of Ireland, who went with her parents to Canada when only five years of age. Lewis John Brace became an extensive man- ufacturer of lumber and was also engaged in contracting tor and construct- ing public buildings, bridges and roads. During a large portion of his resi- dence in Canada he held the office of Queen's magistrate in the town of Wing- ham, this being an office very similar to that of justice of the peace in the United States. Removing westward to Spokane, Washington, he was there largely engaged in stock-raising and later turned his attention to the manil- facture of lumber, but now he is retired from active business and with his estimable wife resides in the city of Seattle. During the whole of his busi- ness career he has been a prominent and reliable man, honored for his upright 1:usiness methods as well as for his public spirited citizenship. He and his wife have had seven children, four of whom are yet living.
Of this number John Stewart Brace is the eldest. He pursued his early education in the public schools of Ontario and afterward completed a course in a collegiate institute in Gault. When seventeen years of age he joined his father in the lumber business and came with him to Spokane. Washington. when twenty-two years of age, in 1883. and since that time has given his un- divided attention to the lumber business in the state of his adoption. For five years he was connected with the Spokane Mill Company and in company with his father was associated in conducting a mill outside of the city. In October. 1888, he came to Seattle and has since been associated closely with the city and her interests. Here he at first accepted the position of superin- tendent of the old Western Mills Company, with which he remained until it was absorbed by the Rainier Power & Railway Company, of which D. T. Denny was the largest stockholder. Later this business went into the hands
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