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 44
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Mr. Hull has also been a most important factor in public affairs in the city and has done much for the general good. He votes the Republican ticket, and was elected by his party member of the city council, where he was prominent in the fight to secure the water works system for the city. Later, when he was not on the council, and another proposition to get control of the water supply came up, he took an active part in the contest to save the system to the city. It was a hard and bitter fight, requiring much time as well as money, to awaken the people to the danger; but notices were printed on wagons which were driven through the streets, meetings were held at various places, Mr. Hull acting as chairman at some of these meetings, and thus the attention of the public was awakened to what it would mean to have the water system pass from the control of the city. He also took an active part in defeating the scheme of the Northern Pacific Railway and in having the streets vacated on the water front, and thus preserved the control of these in the city, and his efforts have been untiring in behalf of any measure for the public good.
While at St. Louis Mr. Hull was married on the 16th of May, 1877, to Miss Miriam F., a daughter of Stephen A. Bemis, a member of the largest bag manufacturing firm in the world, known as the Bemis Brothers Bag Company of St. Louis, with branches in Boston, Chicago, Omaha, San Fran- cisco, Minneapolis, West Superior, New Orleans and Indianapolis. To Mr. and Mrs. Hull have been born seven children: Stephen A., who is engaged in the grocery business on Broadway in Seattle; John S .; Herbert, who
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attends the high school of this city; Miriam; Alonzo, Jr; Farwell; and Ruth. Mrs. Hull is a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance U'nion and is an active and influential member of the Baptist church. She also belongs to the Queen Ann Club and is a leader in social circles. Mr. Hull is a charter member of the North Seattle Baptist church and is serving as one of its deac- ons and was active in the erection of the house of worship, contributing liber- ally to the support of the church and doing everything in his power to advance the cause of Christianity. Although charitable and benevolent, he is entirely without ostentation in work of this character. Among Seattle's business men none are more closely identified with the growth and best interests of the city than Mr. Hull, who has made his home here for more than a decade. For many years he has been known for his sterling qualities, his fearless loyalty to his honest convictions and his clear-headedness, discretion and tact as manager and leader. He ever places the general good before personal aggrandizement, and Seattle owes not a little to his efforts in her behalf.
FRANK H. FOLSOM.
It is given to but few men to say that in their line of busines they stand pre-eminent, but in the case of the subject of this memoir it can readily be done, for, as a shipper of telegraph and telephone poles and piles, his busi- ness probably more than doubles that of any other person in the state. Brought up in the logging business, he has made it his life work and the success he has attained is the result of untiring industry and application. A resident of the Sound country for the past fifteen years, he has had his share of financial trouble, but while he lost heavily in the great panic, he made a record that may well be envied, as instead of settling his debts at a discount he began working with unremitting zeal and thus labored until he paid off dollar for dollar every claim there was against him when the crash came. and thus to-day his credit is above question.
A native of Maine, Mr. Folsom was born in Burlington. December 4. 1863, in the same house in which his father had been born. The paternal grandfather, Samuel Folsom. served in the Revolutionary war and attained to the remarkable age of one hundred nine years. John Folsom was en- gaged in logging and lumbering and died when his son, Frank H., was but three years of age. He had wedded Mary Sanborn and left a family of eight chidren, of whom the subject of this review is the seventh in order of birth.
Frank H. Folsom pursued his studies in the public schools, but at that time educational institutions were very limited as to their scope. He after-
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ward pursued a short course in a business college and was only fifteen years of age when he began logging. When he had reached the age of nineteen he went to Boston, where he had many relatives and after two years spent in business there he made his way westward to Minnesota, where through the following three years he was engaged in logging. Looking to the future he realized that it would be but a comparatively short time when timber would be scarce in that country, so in 1887 he decided to come to Washington. He first located in Tacoma and engaged in electric construction in addition to conducting a hotel. His operations were very gratifying from a financial standpoint until the great panic, when all business was tied up and he could not meet his obligations for the time being. He then went to Everett and en- gaged in outside electric construction work and was the contractor on the street-car lines and electric light lines, and in fact set every pole that was put in at that place during the five years of his residence there. Believing that Seattle had a bright future in store for it he decided to make this city his per- manent headquarters. He had spent considerable time here before and in 1897 he took up his permanent abode here. While in Everett he began con- struction work in Los Angeles, California, but soon received such large orders for poles that he gave up construction work and began shipping tele- phone poles. Since that time he has devoted the most of his attention to shipping poles and piles, which he has sent as far east as Minnesota, Wiscon- sin, Illinois and Michigan, as far south as California, as far westward as the Hawaiian islands, Australia and Japan, having built up a business in this line of over thirty thousand dollars a month. He now has an order on hand for filling a contract that will amount to fifty thousand dollars, first cost at this end. He has invested largely in timber land, owning over four thousand acres in Kitsap county, where he maintains a number of logging camps and during the busy season gives employment to four hundred men. In addition he purchases about three-fourths as many poles and piles as he is able to get out himself. He furnished the first poles for building the roads both in Portland and Tacoma, and supplies the traps for the salmon fishers as far as the Gulf of Georgia. He keeps two tugs employed throughout the year, and during the busy season four or five tugs. Mr. Folsom has done considerable work for telegraph companies and took a contract to cut the right of way and furnish the poles for the Western Union line from Seattle to the British Co- lumbia line, a work that he completed in sixty days, although most of the way lay through a heavy timber region.
In June, 1890, at Olympia, Mr. Folsom was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Hays, a daughter of John P. Hays, a retired ranchman who came to the
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northwest in 1852. He served as Indian agent in the early days and took part in the Indian war of 1857. He was born in Missouri and made the trip to California at the time of the excitement over the discovery of gold in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Folsom are the parents of three children, Hazel, who is now a student in the public schools and stands at the head in singing, and is presi- dent of the Junior Christian Endeavor society; John Hays; and Irbe. Mrs. Folsom is a member of the Plymouth Congregational church. Their home is located in Eighth avenue between Seneca and Spring streets and Mr. Fol- som intends erecting a fine residence on Madison street in the near future. His political affiliations are with the Republican party, but he has never taken a very active part in politics, as his extensive business interests require his close attention, and therefore he has refused to accept a nomination to any office. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of a number of fra- ternal organizations, chief among which are the Knights of Pythias, the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Woodmen of the World.
Such in brief is the life history of one of a class of men who have been in- strumental in the rapid development and improvement of this wonderful country. He stands as a worthy example of what may be accomplished here by close attention and energy combined with laudable ambition. After the financial panic he was left with a large indebtedness on his hands, and the profits which accrued from his work at Everett were all used in meeting his obligations at Tacoma, so that when he began business in Seattle he had prac- tically no capital. He has, however, built up an enterprise the profits of which have never fallen below ten thousand dollars any year and have reached as high as fifteen thousand dollars. The greater part of this he has invested in timber land, so that he will realize more largely in the future from his pro- perty. His office is in the new Colman dock building and consists of a fine suite of rooms which are conveniently furnished and arranged for the dis- charge of his business duties. Mr. Folsom is to-day one of the most pront- inent representative business men of the northwest, possessing marked enter- prise, keen discernment and capability.
FRANK H. OSGOOD.
In the past ages the history of a country was the record of wars and conquests; 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 con- quests now made are those of mind over matter, not of man over man, and the victor is he, who can successfully establish, control and operate exten-
7.26. Osgood
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sive business interests. Frank H. Osgood is one of those strong and influen- tial men whose lives have become an essential part in the history of Seattle. As president of the Seattle & Renton Electric Railway he occupies a front rank in business circles.
Mr. Osgood was born in Charleston, Sullivan county, New Hampshire, on the 2d of February, 1852, and belongs to an old New England family of English origin, which was founded in this country in colonial days, his an- cestors having fought for American independence in the Revolutionary war. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and the Colby Aca- demy. Throughout his active business life he has been a railroad builder and has built a number of electirc railways in the northwest. He has the distinction of building and having put in operation one of the first successful electric roads in the United States. Since 1884 he has been a resident of Seattle and is today the owner of the Seattle & Renton Railway, having pur- chased the road in 1895. At present, it is the only road outside of the con- bination, and under his able management it is now in successful operation, Mr. Osgood has other heavy interests in the northwest, principally in min- ing, timber lands, etc. He was one of the incorporators and was treasurer of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway, a line originally designed to give Seattle a connection with some trans-continental road from the east. It was purchased by the Northern Pacific and is now being operated as a part of that system. He was president of the Seattle Street Railway Com- pany from its inception to the organization of the Seattle Railway & Power Company, and was president of the latter company which is now a part of the Seattle Electric Railway Company. Mr. Osgood's railway buildging inarks a distinct period in the history of the state as he was the builder of the first street tailway in Washington territory.
In 1877 he was united in marriage with Miss Georgina Arquit. of Brook- lyn, New York, who presides with gracious dignity over their elegant home. They are members of the Episcopal church, and Mr. Osgood is also a member of the leading clubs of the city. He is prominent in social, as well as busi- ness circles, being a pleasant, genial and polished gentleman, of highi social qualities, and has an extensive circle of friends and acquaintances who esteem him highly for his genuine worth.
ELEAZER P. WHITNEY.
Eleazer P. Whitney and his estimable wife are widely known in Black Diamond and throughout the surrounding district. He was born in Harri- son, Cumberland county, Maine, on the 15th of February, 1846. His an- 26
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cestors were descendants of John Whitney, who came to the New England roast in 1641. Many representatives of the family have figured prominently in the industrial or political history of this great country since that period. Direct ancestors of Eleazer P. were in the Revolutionary war, and his great- grandfather, Daniel F., was one of the twelve who drove the British out of Portland, Maine, in 1812. Eleazer P. Whitney was educated in the common schools of his native county, and in the academy at Bridgton, Maine. In 1873 he went to Chicago and was employed in the offices of the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne Railroad Company for two years, and for the succeeding two years he was stationed at Fort Wayne, Indiana. in the employment of the same corporation. In 1877 he went to San Francisco, California, where he was engaged in the teaming and transfer business for two years.
Mr. Whitney was married in September in 1875, to Alary E. Dwyer, and in 1879 they came to Washington, settling on a section of school land at Stuck, King county, where they lived for five years. On the expiration of that period they sold their property and removed to the Green river valley in :884, taking up a homestead on the beautiful farm on which they have since lived. By purchase they have added to the original tract until they now have a very valuable and extensive farm of three hundred and nine acres located on Green river about nine miles from Auburn, and on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It is also four miles from the gold mining town of Black Diamond. This farm is devoted to dairying and to general agriculture. . \11 of its products find a ready sale on the market of Black Diamond, which has a population of about five hundred people.
Mr. Whitney votes the Republican ticket and has firm faith in the plat- form of the party. He belongs to Diamond Lodge No. 83. F. & .A. M., and 10 the Eastern Star chapter at Black Diamond. He has met with success in his business affairs and is to-day accounted one of the progressive and enter- prising agriculturists of this locality.
Mr. Whitney has been ably assisted by his estimable wife, who has had a long career of notable activity and is well known not only in the west but in the eastern and middle states. She was born in Syracuse, New York, Jan- mary 22, 1838, and received her early education in the public schools of Syra- cuse, and the Pompeii Seminary, and Fayetteville Academy, near there, her education being completed under the direction of her father, who was an ac- complished scholar, and he well prepared his talented daughter for the battle of life. She engaged in school teaching in the vicinity of her girlhood home for about twelve years. In 1873 she went to Chicago and for three years was employed there as a drygoods clerk. During that time she first became
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known as a forcible writer of much ability, being a contributor to the old Chicago Times, then edited and published by Story. She won the warm personal friendship of that gentleman, who remained her friend until his death. From Chicago Mrs. Whitney went to San Francisco, California, in 1875, and there engaged in dressmaking for three years. As above stated, she came with her husband to Washington in 1879 and has since been identi- fied with the interests of King county and of this state, principally as an earnest and forcible reform writer for various newspapers and periodicals, both of the east and of the west. For many years her home has been visited by prominent people throughout the country, who delight in the lavish hos- pitality bestowed by herself and very excellent husband.
HARRY A. RASER.
Harry A. Raser is one of the busy, energetic and prominent business men of Seattle, representing insurance and loan interests, with an office at 210 Pioneer building. He has been a resident of the city since 1889, arriv- ing just after the great conflagration which swept over Seattle, and has con- tributed in no small manner to its upbuilding and since that time he has taken an active part in its progress and improvement. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born in Lewisburg. Union county, on the 16th of December, 1852. The origin of the family in this country is not distinctly known, but the rec- ords can be traced back in an unbroken line to Baltus Raser, who, on the 6th of February, 1743. married Mary Lucken, according to the custom of the Society of Friends. Mr. Raser has a copy of the original certificate, which is attested by the congregation then present, fifty-five signatures being appended in addition to those of the contracting parties. Their son Bernard Raser was married in 1790 to Mary Heyl. a daughter of Phillip Heyl, who served in the Revolutionary war as an ensign in the regiment of Philadelphia . Is- sociates under command of Colonel John Cadwallader. Bernard Raser joined this company February 2. 1775, and was a noted member of the same. He was the great-grandfather of our subject. His son, Bernard Raser. served in the war of 1812, holding the rank of captain. Of the six children born to him, Thomas Raser was the second in order of birth. The youngest was a daughter, Mary, who became the wife of John H. Vincent. Their son, Reverend John H. Vincent, of Topcka, a bishop of the Methodist Epis- copal church, is one of the most prominent divines, not only of that de- nomination, but of the entire country. He is a leader of great ability, of strong mentality, and moreover an earnest Christian gentleman, who stands
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as a type of honorable manhood, developed by Christian principles. In the summer of 1899 he visited Seattle, and was entertained in the home of Mr. Raser of this review.
Thomas Raser, the father of our subject, was born in Philadelphia .August 26, 1793, and at Chillisquaque, Pennsylvania, on the 30th of Sep- tember, 1841, he married Elizabeth Knight Brown, who was born in Sun- bury, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1819. In early life he was a contractor and also engaged in carrying on a grist and sawmill at Chillisquaque as well as con- ducting a farm there. In all his business affairs he was very successful and was a man of influence in his community. When he closed out his in- dustrial interests there in 1854 and removed to Waterford, Erie county, Pennsylvania, the community in which he had lived felt that it had lost one of its most valued representative men. After taking up his abode in Water- ford he lived a retired life until called to his final rest on the 8th of De- cember, 1857. He left a comfortable estate, but the trustee appointed by the court, after paying the interest on the principal for three years, failed and left the widow helpless with the care of seven children.
Harry A. Raser then started out to gain his own education. While the family was at Waterford he pursued his studies in the public schools and the Waterford Academy, paying for his tuition at the academy by serving as janitor and performing other duties in the school. In 1866 the family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he attended the Erie Academy for two terms and in April, 1867, he started out to earn his own way, be- coming messenger boy in the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Com- pany at Erie, at a salary of fifteen dollars per month. He was then four- teen years of age. While thus engaged he learned telegraphy and after- ward accepted a clerkship, becoming shipping clerk for the Erie & Pitts- burg Railroad at Newcastle, Pennsylvania. In 1869, when the Pennsylvania Company leased the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad, he was employed by the new corporation and filled various positions, such as telegraph operator, ticket and freight agent. He was stationed at various places on the Erie & Ashtabula divisions of the Pennsylvania Company's system and remained with that corporation continuously until 1889, with the exception of the years 1873 and 1874 spent as bookkeeper in the employ of the Shenango Furnace Company at West Middlesex, Pennsylvania.
In 1889 Mr. Raser took a vacation of two months, and made a trip to San Francisco. There he met a friend who gave such glowing accounts of business opportunities for young men in the Puget Sound country that Mr. Raser decided to sever his connection with the Pennsylvania Com-
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pany, go north and locate with his friend in Tacoma. Going to Seattle a few days later, and noting its great business activity, he concluded "Seat- tle was good enough for him." He at once engaged in the loan and gen- eral insurance business, a little later becoming a partner in the W. L. Gaggan Company. The business was afterwards reorganized under the firm name of Goodwin, Raser & Fisken, under which title operations were continued until 1895, when Mr. Goodwin sold his interest to his partners. They continued the business under the firm name of Raser & Fisken. Since 1899 Mr. Raser has had no partner, conducting a general insurance and loan business at 210 Pioneer building. The insurance department embraces fire, life, marine, accident, burglar, plate glass, surety bonds, liability and excess credit.
On the 25th of July, 1897, Mr. Raser joined the first rush to the Klon- dike, taking passage on the steamship "Mexico." He reached Skagway before the White Pass trail had been blazed through. Those who accomplished that perilous journey that year know only too well the hardships endured and difficulties encountered during the two months required to make the trip to Bennett. At Bennett, with his partner, he whip-sawed lumber and built a boat in which they made the trip to Dawson, accomplishing what, at that time, was considered a great feat, namely, going through Miles canyon and shooting the White Horse rapids without a pilot, and with all their goods on board. On the morning of November 10th they found themselves op- posite Dawson in mid-stream, their boat wedged in an ice gorge which was moving rapidly down the river. Before them lay the objective point of those weeks of toil and hardship, but they were powerless to reach it. No mortal hand could stay the on-rushing of that field of ice. Anxiously watch- ing the shore, they noticed a lessening of their speed and when exactly opposite the sawmill in Dawson, to their great surprise and rejoicing the gorge stopped, attracting the attention of those on shore; boards were laid across the ice to them and their goods were carried to land. No sooner had they reached the land than the gorge broke away, carrying off their boat, and it seemed that the temporary stoppage was providential. This was the last boat to reach Dawson that year. Mr. Raser had a varied experience in the Klondike. He secured a lay claim on No. 7, below Bonanza, and performed all the various duties incumbent upon miners on those days. In August. 1889, with two others, he started down the Yukon for St. Michaels in a double end scow, making two thousand miles in twenty days, reaching St. Michaels in time to catch the Humboldt on her last trip to Seattle that year.
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.At Greenfield, Pennsylvania, on the 20th of October, 1875, Mr. Raser was united in marriage to Miss May W. Iddings, a daughter of Dr. Warren Iddings, of Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, and a granddaughter of Thomas Denny Webb, a noted attorney of the western reserve, in which he served as a circuit judge. Mr. and Mrs. Raser have three children, Carrie Beth, Laura, and Charles Iddings. In his political views Mr. Raser is a Republi- can and has served as a delegate to party conventions, but has never sought or desired office. He is quite prominent in social and fraternal circles, and his wife is a valued member of the Queen Anne Fortnightly Club, of which she is now serving as treasurer. Mr. Raser belongs to St. John's Lodge No. 9. F. & A. M. He has taken an active interest in Masonic work and holds membership in Seattle Chapter No. 3. R. A. M., Seattle Commandery No. 2. K. T., of which he is a past eminent commander and is a member of Afifi Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Tacoma. He is also connected with the order of the Sons of the American Revolution. In religious views he is a Presbyterian and has been an active and energetic member, filling various offices in the past. Since coming to Seattle Mr. Raser has been numbered among the representative citizens, taking a deep interest in the progress and upbuilding of the northwest. Prominent and reliable in business and pop- ular in social circles, he well deserves mention in this volume.
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