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 37
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Ralph Cook was brought by his parents to this country when only five years of age, the family locating in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, where the father was employed as inspector of mines. There the son Ralph spent the days of his boyhood and youth, and to the public school system of the city he
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is indebted for the early educational advantages which he received. At an carly age he engaged in carpenter work, and was associated with his father in the work of the mines. In 1888 he accompanied the family on their re- moval to Seattle, Washington, where the father engaged in the grocery busi- ness at the corner of Fifteenth and Spruce streets, and the son received con- tract work for grading and excavating. In November, 1890, the season subsequent to the disastrous fire which swept over this city, the Seattle fire department was organized into a paid company, and our subject was made deck hand on the fire boat. Previous to his coming to Seattle he had spent five years in the volunteer fire department of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, two years of the time being president of the company, and after fifteen days of service on the fire boat his efficiency caused him to be transferred to company No. 1, where for a time he served as a pipeman. From October, 1892, until February, 1895, he held the position of lieutenant, was then promoted to the captaincy, and in July, 1895, was made the chief of the department. On the IIth of June, 1896, however, he resigned that position to engage in busi- ness for himself, and on the 31st of September of the same year he was ten- dered the office of assistant chief, which he accepted and filled until February 26, 1901, when he was again made chief of the department.
Chief Cook is without exception the most capable and efficient fireman on the western coast, and for a man of his years he has probably seen more active service than falls to the lot of those who engage in fighting this des- troying element. He has been engaged in almost continuous service since his eighteenth year, and the efficiency of the fire department of Seattle re- flects great credit on the worthy chief as well as to the brave fire laddies under his command. The headquarters of the department are at station No. 1, on the corner of Columbia street and Seventh avenue, where three com- panies and eighteen men are located; engine company No. 2 is stationed at Pine and Third avenue, where nine men are employed; company No. 3 is stationed between Seventh and Eighth avenue, south; company No. 4 is located at Battery and Fourth avenue, with eight men; company No. 5 is the fire boat, Snoqualmie, at the foot of Madison street, with eight men ; company No. 6 is stationed at Twenty-sixth avenue, south, and Yesler Way with six men; company No. 7 is at Fifteenth avenue and Harrison street, with six men; chemical engine company No. 1 is stationed at Fremont street, with three men; chemical engine company No. 2 is stationed at Ter- race and Broadway, with three men; and chemical engine company No. 3 is at Lee and First avenue, west. The company have seven steam fire engines ; two of the most approved modern chemical engines; seven hose wagons,
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equipped with chemical engines; two combination chemical engines and hose wagons; one fire boat, with necessary equipments; three hook and ladder wagons, of the Arial turn-table patterns and a sixty-five foot extension ladder; seventeen thousand two hundred feet of hose in good condition and four thousand and five hundred and fifty feet in an inferior condition, kept for extra service. In the year 1901 they made three hundred and eighty runs, eighty-eight in excess of the previous year and one more than in any year since the company was organized. The department was organized with paid service in October, 1889, immediately after the great fire. It has ever been the aim and effort of Chief Cook to increase the working efficiency of the department by the adoption of the best methods and appliances, and through his exertions many improvements have been made and other im- portant ones are under way. With the exception of San Francisco the com- pany has not a superior on the Pacific coast.
On the 24th of January, 1893, in Seattle, Chief Cook was united in mar- riage to Miss Nellie Meade, a daughter of Thomas and Julia Meade. She was born in the city of London, but when a child was brought by her parents to Toronto, Canada, where her life was spent until 1890, and in that year she came with the family to Seattle; her father is a contract plasterer of this city, and Mrs. Cook is the youngest of his three children, the others being : Thomas, Jr., a brickmason of Seattle; and Mary, the wife of Richard Hays, also of this city. Four children have been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Cook, but two have passed away, Ralph, the first born, and Grace, both dying in infancy. The two surviving children are Mary and Elline. In his fraternal relations Mr. Cook is a charter member and for several years was treasurer of Evergreen Lodge, No. 33. A. O. U. W., and is also a member of Seattle Lodge, No. 92, B. P. O. E. He attended the Fire Chiefs' convention in New York, and visited the fire departments of all the castern cities. He is one of the most honored and highly esteemed citizens of his community, and it is safe to say that no man in Seattle has a wider circle of friends and acquaintances than Ralph Cook.
WILLIAM M. RUSSELL.
William M. Russell is the popular manager of the Third Avenue The- ater of Seattle. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, on the 22d of February, 1849. His grandfather, Peter Russell, came from France with Marquis De Lafayette and fought in the Revolutionary war. After its close he de- termined to make his home on the American continent, and subsequently re-
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moved to Montreal, Canada, where his son, Peter Russell, was born in 1819. Throughout his business career the latter was engaged in contracting and building. In 1827 he left his native place, removing to Wayne county, Michigan, and settling near Detroit, and as the city grew his place was finally included within the corporation limits. There he built the Russell saw- mill on Grand River avenue. He married Miss Ellen Quigley, a native of Inverness, Scotland. Her father was a native of the Emerald Isle, born in Belfast, and her mother was born in the land of hills and heather. Mr. and Mrs. Russell continued to reside in Michigan, and he died in Detroit in 1878, at the age of seventy years, while his wife had passed away ten years before, and both were laid to rest in Mount Elliott cemetery of that city. They were imembers of the Catholic church. In their family were thirteen children and five of the sons and three of the daughters are yet living. One of the sons, Charles Russell, is an engineer in the Third Avenue Theater of Seattle.
William M. Russell attended school in Detroit until his eighth year, after which he had only three month's mental training within the school- room. In the school of experience, however, he has learned many valuable lessons and has continually obtained knowledge by reading, experience and observation. He entered upon his business career in connection with the lumber trade in Birmingham, Michigan, and later was an officer in the De- troit House of Correction, having charge of fifty of the convicts in the paint- ing department. He was just in his twentieth year and he displayed such good judgment and efficiency in the discharge of his duties that after three years he was promoted to the position of deputy warden, which office he filled until 1871, when he resigned in order to go upon the road as collector for the firm of D. Appleton & Company of New York. He continued in that business for seven years, or until 1878, when he entered the theater business as a manager in New York city. He first was manager for the scout, Texas Jack (J B. Omohundro), and Daniel Mckay, the famous Ore- gon scout. Later he took out his own company and toured through Mich- igan until 1886. He not only managed his own company, but also spec- ulated in various other theatrical enterprises. In 1887 and 1888 he man- aged Dan Morris Sullivan, "Mirror of Ireland," and in 1889 he organized a dramatic company under the firm name of the Russell and Jewell Dramatic Company. This company he brought to Seattle, it being the first popular attraction of any note ever in the city. It occupied the old Turner Hall and proved a valued addition to the amusement circles of the west. In 1890 he returned to Seattle with the same company and later toured Oregon, Califor- nia, Montana, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and Arizona. He closed
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out his business on the 22d of February, 1893, and spent some months in southern California. On the 15th of May, 1893 he again arrived in Seattle and took charge of the Third Avenue Theater.
Not long after this the Merchants National Bank acquired the owner- ship of the theater, and in 1894 Mr. Russell became manager for the owners, and when the bank failed a receiver was appointed, Mr. Russell continuing in his position. In 1897 hie formed a partnership with E. L. Drew and purchased the bank's interest in the theater. Since then they have been the lessors of the theater, which for a time played a stock company, but in 1896 Mr. Russell began placing traveling attractions and has brought to this house the leading popular attractions of the United States. The patronage for the last three years has been six times greater than that when he took charge. Attractions are all booked at least a year in advance. The house is represented by Stair & Havlin of New York, where it has be- come as well known to theatrical men as it has to the people of Seattle. Mr. Russell devotes his entire time to the management of the opera house and has made a marked success in this business.
CHRISTIAN N. SANDAHL.
Denmark has furnished her quota of good citizens to this country, and not the least enterprising among these is the subject of this review. Descended from a line of successful florists and seedgrowers, it is not won- derful that C. N. Sandahl's greenhouses and nursery are known through- out Seattle and even the county. He was born in Derimark on the Ioth of May, 1857. His father was an extensive land proprietor and successful agriculturist, using his lands for the raising of flowers and seeds. Being bred in this atmosphere, our subject could do nothing else than engage in the business he now follows so profitably. He remained in his native country until he reached manhood, receiving a good education in the com- mon schools, which he supplemented by a course at college. When he was twenty-one years of age he engaged in the floral business in Denmark, which he continued with profit until he came to America in 1881. He located in Grand Forks county, North Dakota, where he entered some government land, and remained there for some eight years. During this time he was not idle, and at the end of this period found himself proprietor of four hundred acres of land, which he cultivated in an agricultural way until 1890, when he disposed of his land interests in North Dakota and came to Seattle.
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Here he rented land along the Columbia car line, and for a time was successfully engaged in market gardening. The inherent instincts of his race cropped out, however, and this business was gradually merged into floriculture. In 1897 he enlarged this business considerably, adding the nursery and seeds. This has grown and enlarged from year to year, until it has finally reached its present extensive dimensions. Mr. Sandalil gives especial attention to the quality of his flowers, and imports bulbs and seeds from France, Holland, Germany and Japan. He makes a specialty of im- ported ornamental shrubs from France and Japan, and one gains a knowl- edge of almost every kind of plant, bulb or seed, in going through his extensive greenhouses. He is proprietor and founder of the Puget Sound Nursery and Seed Company, whose store and distributing depot is at 1109 Second avenue. Their nursery and greenhouses are on IOII Taylor avenue, while their main and largest nursery is at Renton. They have also a branch store at Tacoma, and supply many smaller houses, shipping as far east as New York. In politics Mr. Sandahl is a Democrat, and belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Danish Brotherhood. He is an industrious, energetic and intelligent citizen, and upholds all that stands for honesty and fair dealing. He is highly respected by his many acquaint- ances, and greatly admired and loved by his countless friends.
M. FRANK TERRY, M. D.
Seattle, the city wonderful, has enlisted in her professional ranks the services of many men of distinguished ability and sterling character, and among the representative physicians and surgeons of the metropolis of the great northwest stands the gentleman whose name initiates this review, and it is with marked satisfaction that we here incorporate a brief review of his carcer. Dr. Terry claims the old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity, having been born in Terry township, Bradford county, Penn- sylvania, on the 10th of August, 1840, and being a son of Mynor and Susan (Lacy) Terry, both of whom were likewise natives of Pennsylvania, as was also the paternal grandfather who bore the name of Nathaniel Terry, while his father was born in the state of New York, thus bearing to us the assurance that the family has been identified with the annals of Ameri- can history from the early colonial epoch. The last mentioned was one of the pioneers of Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where he figured as the founder of Terrytown. Mynor Terry, was a tanner by vocation, and he passed his entire life in his native town.
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M. Frank Terry was reared to the invigorating discipline of the farm, and his early educational privileges were such as were afforded in the public schools, including a high school course. At the age of twenty years he began his technical study of medicine and surgery, under most effective preceptorship, and after fully qualifying himself he entered into practice in his native town. in 1864, and there remained for a quarter of a century, securing a representative support and attaining marked success in his pro- fessional work. The Doctor may well be considered also as one of the pioneer physicians of Seattle, since he took up his abode here in the year 1889 and has ever since carried on a successful general practice in medicine and surgery, gaining marked prestige and having a supporting patronage of representative character. He has thus been in the active practice of his profession for nearly two score years, and that these have been years of devotion and much self-abnegation none can doubt.
In 1897 Dr. Terry was appointed a member of the state board of health of Washington and he served in this capacity for a period of four years. For more than thirty years he has been prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is past noble grand and has been a representative in the grand lodge of this fraternity in the state. In politics he has ever been independent. He has not been denied a due measure of temporal success during the years of his residence in Seattle, where he has accumulated valuable real estate, while he is also the owner of mining interests in the state. On the 8th of June, 1865. Dr. Terry was united in marriage to Miss Maria Sweeney, who was born in Vermont, the daughter of Dr. Daniel Sweeney, and they are the parents of one daugh- ter, Mary, who is the wife of S. J. Stewart, of Seattle.
EDWARD M. RATCLIFFE, M. D.
There is no field of endeavor in connection with the countless activities of life that places so exacting demands upon those who serve in its con- fines as does the profession of medicine. There is demanded a most careful and discriminating preliminary training and unremitting and consecu- tive study and application through all the succeeding days, and. over and above this, the true physician, who in a sense holds life in his hands, must be imbued with that deep sympathy and true humanitarian sentiment which will bear his professional labors outside the mere commercial sphere. He whose name introduces this review is known and honored as one of the representative medical practititioners of Seattle, having gained distinctive
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professional prestige and the confidence and respect of those to whom he has ministered, as well as of the community at large.
Dr. Ratcliffe, who has his office at 115 Yesler Way. is a native of the fair old state of Kentucky, having been born in Verona. Boone county, on the Toth of June, 1851, and being the second in a family of nine children. He was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and continued to devote bis attention to agricultural pursuits in his native state until he had at- tained the age of twenty-six years, his early educational training having been received in the public schools. At the age noted he began reading medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Findley at Crittenden, Kentucky, making very satisfactory progress in his technical study and finally being matriculated in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, in 1878. He was graduated as a member of the class of 1881, passing the intervals between the college terms in study and practice with his old preceptor. Shortly after his graduation the Doctor located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he continued in the active practice of his profession until 1884, when he' came westward as far as Kansas and located in Cimarron, which was then in Finney county, now Gray county, and there be accepted a position as land agent for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company, retaining his incumbency until 1887, when he was appointed to the office of sheriff of Gray county by Governor Martin, but resigned the office at the end of one year. During his regime the county seat contest was at its height, and so bitter was the feeling engendered in the connection that his duties proved not only insistent and onerous, but also extremely dangerous at times. The Doctor made a record as a brave and discriminating officer, performing his duties with that distinctive courage and self-reliance which were so nec- essary in that new and wild section of the state at that time.
In 1888 Dr. Ratcliffe came to Pierce county, Washington, where he was engaged in the general practice of his profession until July 10, 1893. when he removed to Seattle, where he has ever since maintained his home and where he has attained an enviable reputation as a skilled physician and surgeon, retaining a practice of representative character. During his resi- dence in the state he has been identified with. many business enterprises of importance, both in the city of Seattle and in connection with mining in- terests through the northwest, and he is known as an able and progressive business man as well as a leading member of the medical fraternity. In politics the Doctor gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, and he ever gives his aid and influence in the promotion of those undertakings which make for the general good of his home city and state. In the city
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of Tacoma on the 29th of October, 1890, Dr. Ratcliffe was united in mar- riage to Miss Maude Garlough, who was born in the state of Iowa, and they are the parents of two sons, Robert G. and Charles E.
ISAAC WARING.
One of the substantial and representative business men of Seattle is Isaac Waring, the agent and manager of the Great Northern Express Com- pany in Seattle. For a number of years he has been identified with the industrial development and public life of this section, and is widely and favorably known. A native son of England, he was born in Yorkshire on the 16th of August, 1867, and is a son of Isaac and Mary ( Russell) War- ing, both natives of Yorkshire. The father, who was a prominent farmer and land owner in his native land, came with his family to America in 1881, a location being made at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he entered government land and engaged in general farming and stock-raising. He still makes his home at that place, and is an industrious and highly es- teemed citizen.
Isaac Waring is one of eight children born to Isaac and Mary ( Russell) Waring, and is the only one of the family residing in the coast country. His primary education was received in a private boarding school in England, where he remained until his fourteenth year, at which time he was apprenticed 10 a grocer, but. shortly afterward accompanied the family on their removal to America. His first occupation in this country was in a clerical capacity with a wood and coal company at Sioux Falls, and in 1885 he entered the employ of the American Express Company. During his seven years' con- nection therewith he passed through the various grades of promotion, and for one year was the company's agent at Grand Forks, North Dakota. While stationed there, in 1892, the Great Northern Railroad Company or- ganized their own express company, and Mr. Waring then came to Spokane to assume charge of it. his territory extending from Havre, Montana, to the coast, and since 1896 he has had charge of the local office in Seattle. Throughout the period of his residence in this city he has taken an active interest in local affairs, and in his political affiliations is a stalwart Re- publican. Since 1900 he has been a trustee of the Seattle General Hospital, and is a trustee of the Co-operative Mining Syndicate, having been in- terested in mining operations for the past five years.
On the 12th of October, 1892, at Kasota, Minnesota, Mr. Waring was united in marriage to Miss Martha E. Moses, a daughter of Thomas and
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Louise (O'Dell ) Moses, and to this union two sons have been born, Thomas G. and Earl Russell. The family reside in a pleasant and comfortable home at 970 Twentieth avenue, and in addition Mr. Waring also owns property in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He is a prominent member and active worker in the First Methodist Episcopal church of Seattle, in which he is holding the office of treasurer, and for the past five years has been a member of its official board. His excellent business ability, together with his affable man- ner, strict integrity and courteous treatment of his patrons, have advanced him step by step to the high position which he now occupies in the busi- ness world, and in every relation of life he has lived up to his high ideals.
WILLARD W. DE LONG.
The man of wealth is not the man whom the American citizens hold in highest regard, but he who can plan his own advancement and accomplish it in the face of competition and obstacles that are always to be met in the busi- ness world. The "captains of industry" are those whose business foresight can recognize opportunity and whose executive force can utilize advantages which are not given to one alone, but perhaps encompass the whole race. The life history of Willard W. De Long is simply that of a successful busi- ness man who owes his advancement to close application, energy, strong de- termination and executive ability. He has never allowed outside pursuits to interfere with the performance of business duties or the meeting of any business obligations and thus he stands to-day, one of the prosperous resi- dents of King county, strong in his honor and his good name. He is to-day president of the Bank of Ballard, with which he has been connected since its organization. For thirteen years he has been a resident of King county and for more than eleven years has made his home in this town, his labors prov- ing of the greatest benefit in the up-building of the place.
Mr. De Long was born in Lake City, Wabasha county, Minnesota, . July 25, 1861. four days after the battle of Bull Run occurred. His paternal grandfather was a French refugee at the time of the Revolution. In his native country he attained great wealth but his estates were confiscated. . \t that time the name was spelled Da Longe. Fleeing to America the grand- father located in eastern New York and became connected with woolen man- nfacturing there.
James W. DeLong, the father of our subject, was a native of Ohio, but when only eleven years of age went to sea. He worked his way steadily up- ward in a seafaring life until he became the owner of a sailing packet. the
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Eagle Wing, which he operated between California and Panama, during the years 1848, 1849 and 1850. The boat was lost in the spring of 1858, having been engaged in the coasting trade with the Sandwich Islands. It met destruction while rounding Cape Horn, after which Captain De Long retired from the sea and went overland to Minnesota. He had previously served in the United States navy as a machinist and he took up the same line of work in Minnesota and afterward was engaged in the same capacity in Chicago. In the early seventies, however, he returned to Minnesota, but later went to the east and was in business at different places; coming to Se- attle on a visit, he died here on the 31st of July, 1893. While in Minnesota, Captain James De Long had married Miss Matilda A. Phillips, whose father belonged to an old Vermont family. After serving for four years in the United States navy, in Pacific waters and also engaging in chasing slave ves- sels in the Atlantic. Captain De Long entered the army and was wounded at San Francisco, while engaged in quelling a riot. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted in Company I, Thirteenth Minnesota Infantry, and was afterward captain of a Wisconsin company. With the Minnesota regiment he served in the army of the Tennessee and was captured but was later paroled. Subsequently he was again in military service under the command of General Sibley, at the time of the Indian outbreak.
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