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 50
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Mr. Muchmore is also very active and prominent in political circles, has been a close and earnest student of the questions and issues of the day, and has been active in support of the principles of the Republican party since, as a lad, he marched in the campaign when Grant was a candidate for the presidency. Since his arrival here he has been an active factor in local political circles and is now serving as a member of the city central commit- tee and has frequently been a delegate to both city and county conventions. In 1895 he joined the Woodmen of the World, and his labors in behalf of the order have been far-reaching and very valuable, being fruitful of good re- sults. He was a representative of the head camp section which met in Crip- ple Creek, Colorado, in July, 1902, having been elected unanimously to that office. He has been consul commander here for two terms. He also be- longs to the Royal Arcanum, to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, to the Modern Woodmen of America, and is identified with the Women of
Woodcraft. He likewise holds membership relations with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Im- proved Order of Red Men, in which he is a past sachem and as a delegate attended the great council of the state of Washington in 1899. He has further membership relations with the Foresters of America and the Degree of Pocahontas. In Oakland, California, in 1893. occurred the marriage of Mr. Muchmore and Miss Florence Harrison Chick, a daughter of Harri- son Chick, who was an attorney of San Francisco. They have one daugh- ter, Dorothy Kitchell. Their hospitable and comfortable home is a favorite resort of their many friends throughout the city. From a humble begin- ning in business circles Mr. Muchmore has steadily worked his way upward until the position which he now occupies is alike creditable and honorable to him.
SAMUEL LEROY CRAWFORD.
Born near Oregon City. Oregon. June 22, 1855. of a family connected on both sides in the first settlement of Oregon, Samuel LeRoy Crawford is one of the few descendants of the pioneers of the northwest that are dis- tinguishable among the "che-chacos" that make up the larger part of the population of the northwest to-day. His parents crossed the plains to Ore-
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gon in 1847; the father, Ronald Crawford Crawford, to join his brother, Medorem, who had settled in the Willamette valley in 1842; and the mother, then a young girl, Elizabeth Moore, with her parents to join her grandfa- ther, Major Robert Moore, who had come across the plains in 1842 and taken up a donation claini at the falls of the Willamette river opposite Ore- gon City. Major Moore was one of the organizers of the first civil gov- ernment west of the Rockies, the provisional government of Oregon, estab- lished in 1843. Medorem Crawford also took an active part in forming that government and was during the remainder of his life a prominent figure in the political and civic history of the state.
After receiving a common school education in the schools of Oregon City and Salem, in 1869 Samuel Crawford moved to Olympia, Washington, with his father's family. While there he learned the printer's trade and worked for several years on the Washington Standard and the Daily Echo. Visiting Seattle and becoming convinced that it was the most promising place on Puget Sound, Mr. Crawford came here in June, 1876, and took charge of the mechanical department of a newly established paper, the Daily Intelli- gencer. In a few years nis instinct for news and his ability for newspaper work cropped out and he was placed at the head of the local department. In 1880 he and Thomas W. Prosch purchased the Intelligencer and by enter- prise and hard work made it the leading journal of the territory. In 1882, when the Intelligencer was consolidated with the Post as the Post-Intelli- gencer, Mr. Crawford sold his interest, but remained for six years in charge of the news department. In November, 1888, he and another employe of the Post-Intelligencer, Charles T. Conover, quit its service and entered the real estate business. Their co-partnership, later incorporated under the title of Crawford & Conover, gave this state its soubriquet "The Evergreen State," and has spent large sums of money in advertising the wealth and ad- vantages of Seattle and the state of Washington. Mr. Crawford is presi- dent of this corporation and is also a member of the firm of Crawford, Con- over & Fisken, general insurance agents.
For many years a trustee of the chamber of commerce, Mr. Crawford has always been one of its chief workers, particularly in receiving and enter- taining visitors, for which he is especially fitted by his knowledge of what Seattle has done and is doing. Because of this knowledge and his familiarity with values of real estate in and about Seattle Mr. Crawford is frequently called upon to appraise property for the federal and state governments and the large corporations having interests here.
Mr. Crawford has a fine collection of interesting and valuable photo-
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graphs of pioneer men and places, and his memory is a treasure house of anecdotes of early days on Puget Sound. He was a member of the first baseball nine of the sound; in fact, he introduced baseball to Seattle, and was for years one of the best amateur players on the sound. He was also a member of the volunteer fire department, which served Seattle well for many years, and was a charter member of Seattle Hook & Ladder Company No. I.
Princess Angeline, Chief Seattle's daughter, counted Mr. Craw- ford, who speaks Chinook, one of her "tillicums," and used to go to him for advice and assistance, and he often acted as interpreter when a prominent visitor to this city wished to interview the old princess. After her death Mr. Crawford raised a fund among the children of Seattle and erected a monument over her grave in Lake View cemetery. He appealed to chil- dren rather than adults in the hope that contributing to this fund would make them feel linked in some measure to the early history of their city, which he believes should be made familiar to the rising generation, that, knowing from what small beginnings and by what struggles Seattle has at- tained her present position, they may appreciate what Seattle means to the old residents.
A genuine westerner, hearty, generous, hospitable, "Sam Crawford," as he is familiarly known to thousands of the old residents of the Puget Sound country and to many of the new, is the type of the men that have made the "Seattle spirit" famous by their pride and confidence in the city and by their united and untiring efforts to advance her interests. Of this spirit. which was undaunted by a fifteen million dollar fire and which carried the city through the great financial panic without the loss of a bank and with a steady increase in wealth and population, no other Seattleite has more than Mr. Crawford, no other has a deeper love for Seattle or a firmer belief that the future for which he has helped to lay the foundation will gloriously ful- fill the promise of the present.
H. A. NOBL.E.
The above named gentleman, who is well known in business circles in Seattle on account of his prominent connection with the Kirkland Land Int- provement Company and the District Telegraph Company, is an eastern man with a distinguished genealogy, both on the side of his father and mother. Thomas Noble, the emigrant ancestor, crossed the ocean from England in the wake of the Pilgrims in the early half of the seventeenth century, bought
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land in Massachusetts and became the progenitor of a vigorous line which in future years ramified throughout the various states of the American Un- ion. Passing over the numerous generations down to the present era, we find a branch of this family strongly entrenched in Monroe county, New York, on the borders of Lake Ontario. From there, in 1832, Theron A. Noble removed to Ohio and engaged in the mercantile business at Cleveland, but on account of an outbreak of the cholera subsequently changed his loca- tion to the neighboring city of Akron. His experiences as a pioneer mer- chant at that point are interesting to this age of rapid transportation. It was his custom to ride annually to New York on horseback to purchase his stock of goods, and such a journey in those days was longer and more tedi- ons than a trip now around the world. The return merchandise was trans- ported to Ohio in those clumsy vehicles called "prairie schooners," and the arrival of these caravans in the scattered Ohio towns was always an event of moment. This Akron merchant married into a distinguished family at Rochester, New York, his bride being Miss Lydia, daughter of John Acer, and on the maternal side a granddaughter of John Quincy Adams. This lady, who is described by those who knew her as possessed of remarkable strengthi both of mind and character, lived to an unusual age, only lacking two years of having completed a century of existence when the final sum- inons called her to eternal rest.
H. A. Noble, son of this worthy couple, was born at Rochester, New York, May 16, 1829, and was consequently but three years of age when his father located in Ohio. He grew up in his new western home and received his education principally in the schools at Akron, but inherited his father's fondness for mercantile pursuits and at an early age engaged in the milling business. We find him thus employed at the inception of the great Civil war, whose momentous incidents changed careers for so many of the youths of the land. Mr. Noble, like other young men of Ohio, felt the patriotic impulse and was anxions to go to the front. but the wretched condition of his health at that time, added to the difficulties of a domestic nature, pre- vented his enlistment in the army. He was liberal with his means, however, and as a donation to the Union cause paid nine hundred dollars to clear his township from a draft for the army, and was offered the quartermastership of the Ninety-eighth Ohio Regiment. In hopes of recuperating his health Mr. Noble went to Iowa and was for some time engaged extensively in the cattle business near Des Moines. With regained strength and vigor, as a result of a change of climate and outdoor exercise, he subsequently em- barked in the barbed wire business and carried this on energetically for some
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years in that section of the state. In 1886 he removed his headquarters to Chicago, established a mill at Lockport and entered vigorously into the man- ufacture of barbed wire, which at that time was much in demand throughout the farming sections of the west. At first his ambition extended no farther than the turning out of some fifty carloads of his product annually, but in a short time his firm was manufacturing at the rate of one thousand two hun- dred and fifty carloads a year. Ill health, however, again interfered, and in 1890 Mr. Noble found himself compelled to leave Illinois in search of a more salubrious atmosphere and a complete change of employment. His atten- tion had been attracted to the rising young city on Puget Sound, and eventu- ally he found himself located and engaged in an entirely new business at Seattle. In partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Leigh Hunt, he as- sisted in organizing the Kirkland Land & Improvement Company, of which he has been president since its incorporation. This company owns about two thousand acres of land, situated on the shores of Lake Washington, and the original intention was to establish a large iron plant in that locality, but unexpected difficulties prevented the carrying out of this design. Owing to the hard times then prevailing in the west as the result of the panic of 1893, and felt with special severity in the state of Washington, some of the heavy eastern stockholders were unwilling to proceed, though a large amount of money had already been expended in the enterprise. When Mr. Noble reached Seattle he found the American District Telegraph Company in a lan- guishing condition, but being elected president he reorganized it with his usual energy and executive ability, and in time brought about such marked improvement that the success of this undertaking now seems assured.
Turning to the social side of Mr. Noble's life and his relations aside from business, a few additional remarks will be pertinent. He was married at Massilon, Ohio, to Miss Mary F. Cummings, and by this union has two sons and two daughters. Miss Jessie, the eldest, is the wife of the well known Leigh Hunt, now engaged extensively in mining operations in Korea. Mr. T. A. Noble, the oldest son, is a civil engineer by occupation. His young- er brother, C. H., is engaged in the lumber business at Leahy. Washington. and Josephine, the other daughter, married Frank H. Brownell, an attorney at Everett. It has been the custom of Mr. Noble for years to spend his summers at luis pleasant rural residence across Lake Washington, while his winters are usually passed in southern travel, last season being devoted to a delightful trip to old Mexico and the previous one to a journey through dis- tant Japan. Mr. Noble was affiliated with the Whig party until its merger with the Republicans as a result of the great slavery agitation, and since then
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has been an ardent advocate of the principles of Lincoln, Sumner and the other great apostles of freedom. His fraternal connections are confined to the Masonic fraternity, of which ancient and honorable order he has long been a member.
ZEPHANIAH B. RAWSON.
In this enlightened age, when men of industry, energy and merit are rapidly pushing their way to the front, those who, by their own individual efforts, have won favor and fortune may properly claim recognition. In no calling to which man gives his attention does success depend more largely upon individual effort than in the law, and that Mr. Zephaniah B. Rawson has achieved distinction in the field of jurisprudence at once attests his superior ability and close application. A man of sound judgment. he manages his cases with masterly skill and tact, is a logical reasoner and has a ready command of English. His powers as an advocate have been demon- strated by his success on many occasions, and he is an able lawyer of large and varied experience in all the courts. Thoroughness characterizes all his efforts and he conducts all his business with a strict regard to a high standard of professional ethics.
Mr. Rawson was born in Paris, Maine, in 1858. The ancestral line can be traced back to a very early period in the colonization of America. The first of this family to come to America was Edward, a native of Eng- land, who crossed the Atlantic in 1636. He became a very prominent and influential man and served his country as secretary of the Massachusetts colony from 1650 until 1686. He was also one of the founders of the Old South church of Boston, and bore an important part in the establishment of the policy of the colony in the early days. The family is one well known and honored in England to this day, and its members yet hold high offices in the navy, while one is a member of the House of Lords. At the time of the Revolutionary war the branch of the family that had been founded in this country was represented by loyal soldiers in the colonial army. In civic affairs and in various important walks of life members of the family have figured honorably and conspicuously in both the New England and central states. The name of Rawson has ever been an honored one and in civil and military life its representatives have commanded the respect and confidence of the communities in which they have lived, and have borne their part in the work of public progress and improvement. Frank M. Rawson, the fa- ther of our subject, was born in Paris, Maine, and followed agricultural pur-
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suits. His religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Methodist church. He married Vesta A. Whitman and died when the subject of this review was only six years of age.
Zephaniah B. Rawson remained at home until he was twelve years of age. Hle prepared for college in the Maine Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill, and, earning his own way through school from the time he was thir- teen years of age, he thus early showed the elementary strength of his char- acter, which has been developed with the passing years. His natural aptitude in his studies, supplemented by his earnest desire to secure an education. made him a good scholar. He resolved to devote his attention to profes- sional life, and to this end he read law under the direction of Judge Enoch Foster of the supreme court of Maine, and subsequently entered the Colum- bian University, at Washington, D. C., and was graduated in that institu- tion with the class of 1888.
He practiced in the Pine Tree state until 1889, and, as he had resolved to become a resident of Washington when the state should be admitted to the Union, he started for the northwest as soon as this was accomplished. He had heard more of Tacoma than of Seattle, but on looking over the situa- tion and viewing the possibilities of the two cities he decided to locate in the latter, although friends and relatives urged him to establish his home in Tacoma. Time has proved the wisdom of his choice, for in this great and growing city he has risen to an enviable position in the ranks of the legal fraternity. On locating here he entered into partnership as a member of the firm of Lovejoy & Rawson. A year later he formed a partnership with Mr. Waller, which was continued for two years, since which time Mr. Raw- son has been alone. He has engaged in the general practice of law, thoughi to some extent he has made a specialty of real estate litigations. He has had a large volume of probate practice, but he does not desire to make a specialty of any one line and has a broad and comprehensive knowledge of jurisprudence in all its departments. He practices before all the courts, and in 1896-97 was city attorney of Seattle. He is quick to master all the in- tricacies in a case and grasp all the details, at the same time losing sight of none of the essential points upon which the decision of every case finally turns. He has a ready flow of language and as a speaker is fluent, forcible, earnest and logical as well as convincing in argument. His knowledge of the law, it must be conceded, is hardly second to that of any other member of the bar of Washington.
Mr. Rawson has taken an active interest in military affairs, having been identified with the national guards since 1893, when he became a member of
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Company D, and was soon afterward appointed to the position of sergeant major of the First Washington Regiment. As this office was in the line of staff duty, and he desired active work, he resigned just prior to the Span- ish-American war and re-enlisted in Company D. This regiment was mus- tered into the United States service and he has the distinction of having been the first enlisted man sworn into the service from the state of Washington. He received honorable mention for distinguished and meritorious service ou five different occasions, while acting as first sergeant in the Philippines. He was later promoted to the second lieutenancy for his commendable gal- lantry and capable work. He was in every engagement in which his com- pany participated except one, and that was while he was in the hospital, thir- ty miles away, but twenty minutes after he had heard that the battle was in progress he started to join his company. He was also in many of the scout- ing expeditions and was twice away from his company for so long a time that he was reported dead among his comrades. He participated in eighteen definite engagements outside of the scouting expeditions, and served con- tinuously with the regiment until mustered out with the rank of second lieu- tenant at San Francisco on the Ist of November, 1899. Soon after his re- turn he was appoined brigade inspector with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and held that position until he became a member of the legislature.
Mr. Rawson has also won honor and distinction in political circles. His study of the issues and questions of the day and of the attitude of the parties concerning the same has led him to ally himself with the Republican party, and in the fall of 1900 he was nominated on its ticket as representative from the forty-first district to the state legislature. His opposition to the bill increasing the salary of adjutant generals and decreasing that of the enlisted men won him considerable notoriety: In aiding in the defeat of the admin- istration bill he also took a prominent part. He labored as earnestly for the bill providing for the return of the penalty on city taxes to the city instead of to the county, and was of material assistance in obtaining the passage of that measure. While in the house he served as chairman of the military com- mittee and was a member of the committee on appropriation, in which ca- pacity he was instrumental in wrecking some of the unjust bills. He was also a member of the judiciary and horticultural committees and was widely recognized as one of the active working members of the house, fearless in defense of what he believed to be right and as fearless in his opposition to what he believed would be detrimental to the weal of the state.
In Maine, in January, 1884. occurred the marriage of Mr. Rawson and Miss Nellie F. French, a daughter of Edwin R. French, who for two terms
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served as state senator in Maine. They now have two interesting sons, Ralph F. and Erroll W. Mr. Rawson is a member of the Woodmen of the World, of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Unitarian church. His has been a most creditable record, characterized by a fidelity to duty in private life, in military circles and in politcal matters. He has been recog- nized here for his sterling qualities, his fearless loyalty to his honest convic- tions, his sturdy opposition to misrule in public affairs, together with his clear-headedness, discretion and tact as a manager and leader. His career at the bar has been one of great honor, and throughout his entire life he has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been associated. He is a gentleman of strong purpose, who from the early age of thirteen years, has depended upon his own resources and by sheer merit and ability has gained the honorable position which he now occupies in public affairs.
ARCHIBALD L. HERREN.
The above named, a retired real-estate dealer and capitalist of Seattle, has through the control of extensive property interests been the promoter of growth and development in more than one section of this country. Pos- sessing keen discrimination, which enables him to readily recognize oppor- tunities for colonization, having also marked energy and business capacity, luis labors have proven of benefit to the localities in which he has operated and at the same time have brought success that ranks him among the cap- italists of his adopted city. Mr. Herren deserves great credit and com- mendation for what he has accomplished, for at the close of the Civil war he found himself destitute as the result of the exigencies of that struggle, his interests at that time having been in the midst of the country over which passed the contending armies.
Mr. Herren was born at Waynesville, North Carolina, July 19, 1833, a son of Eli B. and Jane (Yarbrough) Herren, natives of North Carolina and South Carolina, respectively. He comes of an old and prominent fam- ily of the south that has been represented in all of the wars of the country from the time of the early Indian outbreaks. Representatives of the name were found among those who fought for liberty in the Revolution and for American rights in the war of 1812. They were also in the Texas revolu- tion and when the contest arose between the north and the south two broth- ers of our subject joined the Confederate army. The great-grandfather of Mr. Herren was a native of Virginia, but became the founder of the family
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ยท Herren
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in North Carolina, where Berry Herren, the grandfather, was born. He engaged in agricultural pursuits, but Eli B. Herren, his son and the father of our subject, turned his attention to merchandising and trading, and in his business affairs prospered. In his religious faith he was a Baptist and a man of prominence and influence in his community in ante-bellum days. In the family were ten children, of whom Archibald L. is the eldest. Seven of the number are now living: A. J., a farmer of Cowlitz county, Washing- ton; J. P., who is a millman and farmer residing in North Carolina; Will- iam A., who is engaged in farming and manufacturing at the old home in North Carolina; S. C., an attorney of Moscow, Idaho; Josephine, the wife of Thomas S. Siler, of North Carolina; and Sarah J., the wife of W. E. Miller, of North Carolina. Those who have passed away died in childhood.
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