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 58
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trustees at the present time. In politics, while he has no personal ambition for official preferment. Mr. Powles is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, though he takes no active part in political affairs, preferring to de- vote his undivided attention to his business interests. He is president of the Renton Hill Club, an important organization which is devoting its energies to the beautifying of that delightful section of the city from which it derives its name. He is interested in several mining properties and propositions and also owns valuable tide-land property, while his influence is ever given in the furtherance of all enterprises and projects brought forward for the general good of the city and state in the lines of industrial, civic and ma- terial development, and he is held in the highest esteem in both business and social circles. On the 7th of April, 1881, Mr. Powles was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary Jane Dixon, who was born in the city of Montreal, Can- ada, the daughter of Alonzo Dixon, a prominent business man of that city. and of this union two children were born, Charles William, who died in the third year of his age; and Olive Rachel, who is now a student in the Seattle high school.
JOHN H. IRVING.
In viewing the mass of mankind in the various occupations of life, the conclusion is forced upon the observer that in the vast majority of cases men have sought employment not in the line of their peculiar fitness but in those fields where caprice or circumstances have placed them, thus explaining the reason of the failure of ninety-five per cent. of those who enter con- mercial and professional circles. In a few cases it seems that men with a peculiar fitness for a certain line have taken it up and marked success has followed. Such is the fact in the case of the subject of this biography, John H. Irving. He is a member of the firm of Irving & Cannon, merchant tailors, doing business in the Colonial block at Seattle, and is the pioneer in the introduction of tailoring to the trade here.
A native of Michigan, he was born in Port Huron, December 23, 1868, and is of the third generation to bear the name of John in the Irving fam- ily, and has given the same name to his own son. His grandfather was the first of the Irvings to come to America, emigrating from Scotland to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he engaged in ship-building. Later he removed to Stratford. Ontario, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits, becom- ing a very prominent and influential citizen of that locality. John Irving.
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the second, who was born in the land of hills and heather, thence came with the family to the new world. He was afterward engaged in railroad con- tracting in Michigan and also conducted a lumber business there. He mar- ried Eliza J. Culbertson, of New York city, and to them were born seven children, the subject of this review being the sixth in order of birth.
The father met his death in an accident and early in life John H. Irving was thrown upon his own resources. He earned the money to meet the ex- penses of his education, working in the day time, while at night he attended Bryant & Stratton's Business College. For two and one-half years he was with the Bell Telephone Company in Michigan. He afterward made a con- tract with the firm of Wannamaker & Brown to represent them in the state of Washington and came to Seattle in 1888, making this his headquarters. He was very successful in building up a good trade for them and remained with them for seven years. Perceiving that there was a demand for the better class of goods here, he then entered into partnership in 1891 with Mr. Cannon, and this relationship has since been maintained. He started in to build up a business that would prove a growing and profitable one, and that they have succeeded is evidenced by the fact that their sales in 1901 exceeded twenty-four thousand dollars. That they do an immense amount of work is apparent in visiting their place of business in the Colonial block, as their space there is not sufficient for performing the mechanical part of their work and their goods are made up elsewhere. At considerable expense they have established agencies in different parts of Washington and Alaska and continuously have one man upon the road, while at times the house is represented by two traveling salesmen. Mr. Irving devotes his entire time and attention to business and has had the satisfaction of seeing it steadily increase in volume and importance so that to-day he is at the head of one of the leading commercial enterprises of the city.
In his political views Mr. Irving is a stalwart Democrat, and socially is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the United Com- mercial Travelers. He was formerly connected with and was an enthusi- astic member of the Seattle Athletic Association, but the leisure which he now has from business cares he devotes to his home. He is a man of ex- cellent business ability and has gained success through close application, mremitting diligence and by strict adherence to commercial interests. He planned his own advancement. accomplished it in spite of obstacles, and to-day is the possessor of a very desirable capital, which is the well earned reward of his labors.
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THOMAS M. ALVORD.
Thomas M. Alvord was one of the honored pioneers who aided in lay- ing the foundation on which to erect the superstructure of King county's present prosperity and progress. Through the period of early development he was an important factor in the improvement and advancement of this sec- tion of the state, and was also concerned with the broader interests which had to do with the welfare of the commonwealth.
Mr. Alvord was born at Homer, New York, on the 26th of February, 1832, and is a son of Sylvester and Lucy ( Hall) Alvord, both of English descent, the former born in New York in 1796 and the latter in New Hamp- shire in 1800. In the paternal line the ancestors were among the early set- tiers of Connecticut. The parents both died at Homer, New York, the fa- ther on the 13th of October, 1864, and the mother in 1882. Their son Thomas attended the public schools of his native city and later was a stu- dent in an academy at that place. Remainng under the parental roof until his twenty-first year, he then, in 1853, made the journey, via the Nicaragua route, to California, taking up his abode in Calaveras county, where for the following five years he followed mining and logging. During the Fraser river gold excitement in 1858 he spent about six months in that region, coming thence to Olympia, Washington, and after a short sojourn there lo- cated in the White river valley, near the present town of Kent, the year of his arrival being 1859. He there purchased a donation claim of three hun- dred and twenty acres from Moses Kirkland, who had entered it in 1854 and had improved it to a considerable extent. In 1855 MIr. Kirkland was obliged to leave this place on account of the Indians, who had massacred a number of families in the immediate neighborhood. When he returned, in company with Mr. Alvord, he found his stock gone and his house and all the farming implements burned, with the exception of a grindstone which was found under the bank of the river. The Indian trouble had then subsided and Mr. Alvord began the arduous task of improving and developing his land, and soon he had placed it under an excellent state of cultivation and had established a prosperous dairy. which he successfully conducted from 1859 until 1895. During this time he also added to his original purchase until his landed possessions consisted of eleven hundred acres, constituting the largest ranch in the White river valley. During the great panic of 1893-94 he was compelled to mortgage his place. and, being unable to meet the demands on time. the mortgage was foreclosed in 1895 by the New England Mortgage and Security Company, and for a time thereafter he rented the land from
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this company. In 1899, owing to his indomitable energy and wise manage- inent, he was able to repurchase this valuable property, and success has since abundantly rewarded his efforts. He is now the owner of one of the largest and most complete dairy farms in the White river valley. Prior to the ter- rible panic of 1893 he had also invested largely in Seattle property, and this lie also lost.
At Spafford, New York, in 1850. was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Alvord and Miss Maria J. Smith. She was born at Fabius, Onondaga coun- ty, New York, on the 16th of September, 1832, and is of Irish and English parentage. Although she, too, has reached the seventieth milestone on the journey of life. she is yet very active, and by her cheerfulness, wise judgment and earnest labor has proved to her husband a true helpmate. Four chil- dren have been born to this worthy couple, but only three are now living. namely: Elisha H., who is engaged in mining on the Skagit river; Irving T., a farmer and dairyman on White river, near Pialschie, Washington; and Albert S., engaged in mining pursuits in Alaska. Carrie Ellen, the first born. died at the home farm on the 18th of April. 1891, at the age of twenty- eight years. In political matters Mr. Alvord is independent, preferring to support the men whom he regards as best qualified to fill positions of trust and responsibility. He is a true example of one who has achieved success without paying the price at which it is so often bought: for his prosperity has not removed him farther from his fellow men, but has brought him into nearer and more intimate relations with them. The more means he has had the more he has done for those around him, and this honored pioneer is num- bered among King county's most prominent citizens.
GEORGE F. COTTERILL.
Among the young men who came to Washington territory and to Seat- tle during the "early eighties," few have made a more permanent impression on the progress and development of state and city than the subject of this sketch. Mr. Cotterill has not achieved wealth, for his activities have not been directed to personal dollar-getting. lle has not attained public office. though twice before the people as candidate for mayor of his city and con- gressman from his state, yet his sincere and manly advocacy of minority principles have commanded the universal respect of partisan opponents. In his profession as civil engineer, Mr. Cotterill has played an important part in laying the foundation for the present progress and future greatness of Seat- tle: as a writer and speaker his service in the public affairs of city and state
Toy Cotterill
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has earned the devotion of friends and the friendship of opponents; as an advocate of reform principles of government as applied to city, state or na- tion, he is a recognized leader, whose sincerity is never challenged nor cour- age in application questioned. Though never seeking honors or emolu- ments, and enjoying a degree of confidence and assured success in the practice of his profession Mr. Cotterill has never shirked a call to public service, what- ever might be the personal sacrifice required, demanding only a square stand in advocacy of his avowed principles, preferring defeat on that ground to success by evasion or time-serving. To-day, at the threshold of middle man- hood. George F. Cotterill looks toward the future with but one controlling . ambition-to accomplish the highest service for humanity which opportunity and ability may afford.
George Fletcher Cotterill was born in the city of Oxford, England, November 18, 1865. His parentage is of that solid foundation of Britain's greatness-the honest, industrious working people. Robert Cotterill and Alice (Smith) Cotterill, commenced life as gardener and housewife in their native "merrie England." but by the time five children were gathered about their fireside ( three others having died in infancy), the father carried out a long cherished plan looking to the future of his family, and joined the tide of emigrants to the republic across the Atlantic. This was in 1872, the good steamer Samaria arriving in Boston harbor early in May of that year. Dur- ing 1869-70 Robert Cotterill had made a preliminary trip to "spy out the pro- mised land." extending his visit as far west as Michigan, returning with the determination to earn enough to come again with wife and children, which he accomplished in 1872. At this period the subject of our sketch was six years of age, the fourth of the flock of five.
After a few weeks' residence in Boston and later at West Newton, where the children first attended an American school, the family located at Montclair. New Jersey, a wealthy and picturesque residence suburb of the American metropolis, nestling under and along the slope of the Orange mountain, fif- teen miles west of Manhattan Island. Here they remained twelve years. Robert Cotterill working as gardener and later establishing himself in a hum- ble way as a village florist. Four others were added to the fold, of whom three little one spassed away in infancy and childhood, leaving two daughters and four sons around the family herth. Montclair has always enjoyed and boasted of exceptional educational facilities, and these the Cotterill family litilized to the utmost within the means available. By reason of an aptitude for study and desire for advancement, the subject of this sketch made such rapid progress that at fifteen years of age he was graduated from the classi-
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cal course of the high school as valedictorian of his class. It was his ambi- tion to become a lawyer, history, literature and languages having been his favorite school studies. He hoped by some means to work his way through Yale College, the entry to which was open by his graduation diploma. But there were difficulties other than financial. The fifteen year old valedictorian, crammed with Latin and literature, mathematics and philosophy, was a slend- er boy of stunted growth, with voice not yet turned from the childish falsetto. a candidate for consumption rather than for college. On the night of graduation, while others were bestowing bouquets and congratulations, one of the school directors, Mr. James Owen, said with practical brusqueness equivalent to a command, "George, you've studied long enough. What you need is good air, plenty of exercise and a chance to grow. I'm going to start a 'crew' Monday morning to survey a railroad line the other side of the mountain. Be ready at seven o'clock at my office. I want you to carry the rod." And since that July day of 1881, George Cotterill has been carrying the rod or the chain or the instrument, steadily advancing by practical experience in the profession of surveying and civil engineering.
In 1884 Robert Cotterill proceeded to carry out a purpose long cherished but delayed only that his older children might complete their education. The same spirit which had sent him across the Atlantic in search of better oppor- tunities, convinced him that the great west offered still greater opportunities, and during the latter seventies his judgment settled upon the frontier terri- tory of Washington and the Puget Sound region, with its baimy climate and great possibilities, as the place of eventual location. The threatening illness of his oldest son, Hedley, then twenty years of age, for which change of cli- mate was urged, hastened the decision. In August, 1884. the father and two sons, George being then eighteen years of age, set out for the Pacific north- west. It was an emigrants' journey, without the comforts of modern trans- continental travel, or the means to purchase them had they been available. The journey from St. Paul to Portland then required six days of tedious, tire- some travel. With his three years of experience under the direction of Mr. James Owen, then as now one of the eminent leaders in the profession of en- gineering, George Cotterill hoped for employment with the Northern Pacific Railway, whose headquarters were then at the Oregon metropolis. Hence he remained at Portland, while his father and brother went on to Puget Sound. 'The opportunity seemed certain, but after three weeks of weary waiting, his hopes were dashed to the ground by news of the cessation of all work on the Cascade division, to which he had been promised assignment by the chief en- gineer, Virgil G Bogue, on the strength of his recommendations from Mr.
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Owen. On October 1, 1884. he took the boat for Kalama and the train for Tacoma, arriving at the "city of destiny" in the dead of night with a "two- bit piece" as sole cash resource. A cheap bed in a "shack" lodging house front- ing the stumps of the future Pacific avenue, absorbed the twenty-five cents. but brought daylight in its stead. and a long walk out to the home of friends on a forest "ranch" in the suburbs, found the wanderer a grateful welcome and a late breakfast. Work was scarce, and difficulties multiplied. The meager funds set aside for the trip were soon exhausted. The older brother found no improved health. for the dread disease consumption had marked him for its victim. During October and November, though battling bravely against its inroads, and striving to earn a living by working at his occupation as a bookkeeper for Moran Brothers, fellow townsmen from Montclair. New Jersey, then just establishing themselves in Seattle, the struggle was unequal in the face of the Puget Sound rainy season. "Take him back to the old home." was the physician's order, and sacrificing all, the father turned his face back towards the Atlantic. It was on Thanksgiving day, 1884. that father and two sons met at Tacoma, there to say goodbye, in the one case. forever. George, though without work or prospects, had determined to re- main, both from necessity and choice. In the division of the scanty funds at hand, he reserved but eight dollars when the train for the east left him alone on the Tacoma platform. He secured a few days' work laying out a cemetery for the future metropolis, but was buncoed out of his pay by a drunken em- ployer. Even with frugal repasts of "coffee and doughnuts" at measured intervals, with the weekly room rent, the capital was steadily vanishing and affairs looked dark. An opportunity was offered to do housework chores for an old bachelor, who had forsworn all cooking but his own : the compensa- tion was five dollars per month and board. It was a life preserver, and George grasped it. His employer was an old-time northern Facific engineer, C. A. White, with a fine library and a fund of knowledge about Puget Sound and the Cascade mountains, which were liberally drawn on by the surveyor "house-maid." Before the month expired, during the festive holiday season. Mr. White concluded to break up housekeeping, but he munificently paid his young engineer "dish-washer" the full month's pay. With that five dollars in hand, and no Tacoma prospects in sight, George F. Cotterill accepted the invitation of Captain E. Goding, then working at Tacoma with his little tug, the Lucy, and on New Year's eve, came over to Seattle to commence 1885 in. the Queen City of Puget Sound.
A continued detail of Mr. Cotterill's life is largely a record of the various enterprises which have made up the progress of Seattle. Pending employ-
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ment at his profession, he continued his brother's work of bookkeeping for Moran Brothers, residing at the home of Robert Moran. His first survey- ing in Seattle consisted of measuring and platting a seat diagram for the new Frye's Opera House, a job secured by James Hamilton Lewis, whose ac- quaintance he had made at Tacoma, over occasional "coffee and doughtnuts" -the limit of the purse capacity of the young southern lawyer and the youth- ful northern engineer. Mr. Lewis was "hind chinaman" on the opera house survey, and "consulting engineer" on the scientific numbering of the seats, and the fee of fifteen dollars was proudly divided. During February and March young Cotterill secured a post as back-flagman on a survey for the Columbia and Puget Sound Railway between the Black Diamond vicinity and the present Palmer Junction. This was his first taste of Washington woods. He was ad- vanced to leveler and topographer before the completion of the survey. Re- turning to the city, he entered the employ of the firm of Whitworth & Thom- son, serving in any capacity that offered on surveys in Seattle and vicinity. During the summer of 1885 he worked under Mr. F. H. Whitworth as transit man on the first surveys of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, and as draughtsman on the preliminary ,maps for that enterprise. During this year and the next he assisted Mr. R. H. Thomson on the surveys and con- struction of the first section of the permanent sewer system of Seattle, and up- on the project of the Grant street bridge to the head of the bay-a great under- taking for that day. He helped on the first surveys of the present site of West Seattle into five-acre tracts, and in January, 1886, armed only with com- pass and chain, was sent over into the woods of Kitsap county, and with crude means and unskilled help, designed and staked the site of Sidney, the present county seat of the neighboring county across the sound.
In May, 1886, the Northern Pacific railway resumed the construction of the Cascade division, and Mr. Bogue remembered and redeemed the promise made in Portland in 188.4. Mr. Cotterill proceeded to Ellensburg, via Tac- oma. Portland and Pasco, then the only available route of travel, reported to H. S. Huson there, and was assigned to service as transit man under Locating Engineer J. Q. Barlow. The relocation of the main line from Cle Elum to the Stampede tunnel, the location and construction of the wonderful "switch- back line" over the Cascade summit, and the three miles of loops and tunnels west of the "big tunnel," were under Mr. Barlow's direction. Though not yet twenty-one years of age Mr. Cotterill did responsible service and gained valuable experience. The Cascade mountain air and ample exercise com- pleted the work of physical upbuilding commenced in 1881, and when he left the Northern Pacific in January. 1887, the slender, stunted student of Mont-
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clair had the physique of an athlete. The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern enterprise having resumed progress, Mr. Cotterill returned to that employ and during 1887 and 1888 served with Mr. Thomson on the location work and later with Mr. Whitworth in the prospecting and opening of the coal mines at Gilman (Issaquah) and Grand Ridge. In December, 1888, he re- signed from that service to enter a partnership with Mr. H. Thomson, now city engineer, and Mr. Clarence L. White, since county surveyor, for the general practice of surveying and engineering in Seattle.
Within two weeks from the return of the father and brother to New Jer- sey in 1885, Hedley Cotterill succumbed to his disease and the fatigue of the homeward trip, from which he never rallied. The first news which reached George after the great snow blockade of that winter, delaying mails for weeks, conveyed the sad story of the death of his brother. Robert Cotterill settled down to his old business as florist in Montclair and in another three years was ready for the westward trip, bringing wife and youngest son. The oldest daughter, Emily, remained in Montclair, becoming the wife of Eu- gene Haring, and still residing there. The second daughter, Alice, was at that time a school teacher in Iowa, having spent several years in that state and in Illinois, afterwards, in 1888, coming to Seattle, and later became the wife of John J. Smith, now the superintendent of a Seattle fruit-can- ning industry. The second surviving son, Frank, had worked his way to Washington territory during 1886, and has since resided at Seattle or neigh- boring towns, engaging in his occupation of plumbing. When father and mother came west in 1887 they located upon a ranch on Lake Sammamish, near Redmond, a tract acquired by George F. Cotterill while on the rail- road survey in that vicinity. Here the parents still reside, in the quiet and peace of a modest dairy farm, with all their children save one settled down at close visiting distance in the busy metropolis ten miles to the westward. Though approaching threescore years and ten, they are in fair health and satisfied with the turns of fortune's wheel which have brought them con- tentment, though not wealth. Though Episcopalians from training in the church of England, and still devoted to that faith, they are regularly to be found at the little union Sunday-school at Redmond, working for Chris- tian service regardless of denomination.
In 1892 Mr. R. H. Thomson became city engineer of Seattle and he at once appointed George F. Cotterill as his assistant. In that capacity, during the eight years that followed. Mr. Cotterill made his mark in the public progress of Seattle. The design and construction of the sewer sys- tem was largely under his supervision. The system of street naming and
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