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 60
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In 1858, at the call of the governor of California for troops, Colonel Pros- set enlisted and was elected second lieutenant of the Trinity county rangers. They proceeded at once to Humboldt county and were actively engaged in the service of the state against the Indians along the Eel river and along Mad river in the vicinity of Humboldt Bay. They had many severe encounters with the red men and a number of the company were killed while others were wounded. That was a very severe campaign during the winter and spring and in the latter season they crossed the mountains covered with snow from one to ten feet deep. It was a time of severe suffering. Senator J. P. Jones was a member of the company, then serving as private clerk to the captain. The troops finally returned to Trinity county and were mustered out in April, 1859. The campaign had been a very successful though an arduous one, and they had captured many Indians and so got the remainder of the red men to cease their depredations. Upon his return Colonel Prosser again engaged in mining on Canyon creek. In 1860 he was nominated by the Republicans for the state legislature and was the party's first candidate after its organization. He made a very strong campaign but as the district had a very large Democratic majority he was defeated by a small vote. The following spring the great Civil war burst upon the country and Colonel Prosser went east to take part in the defense of the Union. He enlisted as a private in the Anderson Troop which was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, and there became the body guard of
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General Buell, being attached to his headquarters for special duty. They went with the army to Nashville and thence to Shiloh, participating in the bottle at the latter place and in the subsequent operations of General Buell until they reached Florence, Alabama. While on the march to Huntsville Colonel Prosser was detached by General Buell to go across the country to Nashville, Tennessee, with requisition for stores and supplies needed by the army, and while on the way he was captured by a detachment of Morgan's Confederate Cavalry. They took from him his horse and arms, then paroled him and turned him loose in the woods to make his way as best he could. He walked to Columbia, Tennessee, a distance of about forty miles, in order to reach the Union lines. He then proceeded to Nashville and reported the facts to General Buell. He was sent to Annapolis. Maryland, until an ar- rangement could be made for his exchange, and in that city he was assigned to duty with the paroled soldiers from Pennsylvania. there being a large num- ber. Mr Prosser remained at that point from June until September before he was exchanged, but at the latter date he was ordered to Carlisle, Pennsyl- vania, to assist in the organization of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry. serving as the first quartermaster of the regiment. He took an active part in the battle of Murfreesboro, and soon after the engagement, at the request of the adjutant-general of the state of Tennessee, he was transferred to the Second Tennessee Cavalry, acting as its adjutant until March, 1863. At that time he was commissioned major of the regiment, serving in the latter capac- ity until March, 1864, when he received the commission of lieutenant colonel, and in June. 1865. he was made a colonel, these promotions having been con- ferred upon him for active and efficient service. During the time of his con- nection with the army he participated in a large number of battles, skirmishes and field engagements, including the battles of Shiloh. Murfreesboro and Chickamauga, the siege of Knoxville, the siege of Decatur and many other engagements. In the latter part of 1864 he had command of the cavalry in the district of north Alabama, with headquarters at Decatur. and protected the railroad line during Hood's operations in Tennessee up to the battle of Nashville. On the 6th of July, 1865. he was mustered out of the service at that city. He had never received a wound but had suffered greatly from hardships and exposure and his health had become much impaired through the malaria in that part of the country in which his military operations were executed.
Owing to the beauty of the country and its rich promise for the future Mr. Prosser settled near Nashville, and purchased a farm seven miles from that city. There he engaged in numerous pursuits looking to the development
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of the resources of the country. In 1867, without his knowledge, he was nominated by the Republican party of Davidson county, in which Nashville is located, as one of its candidates for the state legislature, but not wishing to en- gage in political strife he declined the nomination. Subsequently, however, at the solicitation of the leading men of the party who believed that he could be very useful in the work of the legislature, growing out of the conditions arising as a result of the war, he consented and entered upon a most exciting and dan- gerous campaign owing to the bitterness of feeling which had hardly abated after the close of the war. He made a successful canvass, however, and was elected. In the legislature he took an active and leading part in the work of the house, with the result that his district recognized his usefulness and named him for Congress the following year. Again he passed through another ex- citing campaign in which there was great personal danger, but he made speeches throughout his portion of the state and held joint debates with the opposing candidate. That he enjoyed in a high degree the confidence of his fellow townsmen was shown by his second election and he served his first term in the forty-first congress of the United States. His congressional work consisted chiefly in advancing the cause of popular education in the south and of promoting industrial improvements. He championed every measure calculated to rebuild the shattered interests of the south and his efforts were very effective and beneficial. He caused the improvement of the Cumberland river to be begun, a work that has since been continued by Con- gress down to the present time. At the close of his service in the national halls he received the position of postmaster of Nashville, Tennessee, an office which he filled in a most satisfactory manner for three years. In 1872 he was appointed one of the commissioners from the state of Tennessee to the centennial exposition in Philadelphia and took an active part in the prepara- tions necessary for that national celebration. In June, 1873, he was ap- pointed one of a commission for the purpose of visiting the world's fair at Vienna and took notes concerning the methods there employed with reference to making arrangements for the exposition in this country in 1876. On this trip he visited the principal cities of Europe and in connection with the prep- aration for the exposition at Philadelphia he visited that city very frequently during a period of seven years. In 1876 and 1878 Colonel Prosser was again the nominee of his party for Congress, but the party having met with reverses he and many friends suffered defeat.
Owing to continued ill health growing out of his service in the Civil war Mr. Prosser resolved to return to the Pacific coast, and in 1879 he was ap- pointed special agent for the general land office in Washington. In this
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capacity he again came west and rendered the government important services in the territories of Washington and Idaho and the state of Oregon. In 1885, when President Cleveland became the chief executive of the United States, he was retired. In the meantime he had located a homestead, in 1882, in Yakima county, where the town of Prosser, named in his honor, has since been established on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. There he maintained his home for a number of years, living in true pioneer style. The markets on all sides of him were at great distances and one had to travel many miles through a sparsely settled region, chiefly occupied by Indians, making the journey by team in order to bring the supplies to his lo- cality. Colonel Prosser was elected in 1889 to represent in part the coun- ties of Yakima and Klickitat in the constitutional convention which was called to meet at Olympia on the 4th of July, 1889, to frame the consti- tution for the state of Washington. He took a very active and helpful part in the work of the convention and was particularly instrumental in securing to the school fund of the state a large amount of money through the econo- mical disposition of the school lands, In 1890, at the special request of Gov- ernor Elisha P. Ferry, he accepted the appointment as a member of the Har- bor Line Commission, of which he was president, and in endeavoring to pro- tect the interests of the people of the state upon the water front of its principal cities this committee came into conflict with many private interests. This made the two and one-half years in which the commission served a most try- ing time, exceptionally annoying, and was hampered by much litigation, fourteen suits in all being brought against the commission in the superior courts of the state and in the supreme court of the United States. Every means available were used against them but through all the commission main- tained its integrity and was successful in every case. Since the termination of his services as president of the Harbor Line Commission, Mr. Prosser has given his attention to his private interests, yet his fellow citizens were not content to allow him to remain in private life and in 1893 he was elected as mayor of the city of North Yakima, serving for two years. He was made a school director of that city for two terms and since that time he has been actively engaged with work in connection with the State Historical Society, of which he has been president since 1899 and editor of the Washington His- torian, a very valuable and most ably edited and managed monthly. The Colonel is also engaged in the handling of real estate both for himself and for others. having an office in the New York block in the rapidly growing city of Seattle, where he now resides.
The Colonel was happily married in this city in 1880 to Miss Flora L.
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Thornton, a native of Oregon and a daughter of Henry G. Thornton of Ports- mouth, Ohio, and one of the Oregon pioneers of 1853, in which year he brought his family across the plains. Colonel and Mrs. Prosser have one son and two daughters: William Thornton, who is now a reporter on the Post Intelligencer of Seattle; Margaret Helen and Mildred Cyrenia, who are at home. The Colonel and his interesting family are members of the Episcopal church. of which he has been vestryman for twenty years. He has a very wide acquaintance and no man in all the northwest is held in higher regard than he, for in his public service he has commanded the confidence of all. His life has indeed been a useful one to his fellow men and the honors that have been conferred upon him have been well merited.
CHARLES M. ANDERSON.
The above named gentleman, who is quite prominent in the business and railroad circles of Seattle, is the eldest of the six children of Professor Alex- ander Jay Anderson, the distinguished educator, and it is not too much to say that he is such a son as such a father would naturally like to have. In fact. it must be a source of pride to this worthy father to observe how well all his living children are succeeding in the world, and how much they have profited by his parental precepts, both those of a domestic and those of a professional character. Two of his sons, as will appear later, have followed in his footsteps as teachers, and bid fair to rise high in the educational world. The other two hold influential positions in connection with important busi- ness corporations, while the husband of the only daughter is state agent of one of the large insurance companies. In fact, this is quite an interesting fam- ily in more ways than one and exactly the kind so pleasant to contemplate as typical of the boundless energy, unfailing courage and conquering ambi- tion which characterize the dominant element in this country to which our marvelous national progress is due. The Andersons are but one of many that we see and read about, who face the world with no other fortune than willing hands and bright heads and soon win success for themselves and then for others and in the aggregate make up the grand army of men of ac- tion who are pushing forward the mighty republic in its onward march to greatness and glory.
In the somewhat elaborate sketch of Professor Anderson full details are given of his own career and such particulars as were available concerning his parents, so it will not be necessary to repeat any of them in this biography of his son. Charles M. Anderson was born at Lexington, Illinois, January
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3. 1858, and with such a father as he had it is hardly necessary to add that his early education was not neglected. This boy, however, seems to have imbibed from the great national bard of his ancestral land the true secret of success as expressed in Burns' famous "Letter to a Young Friend :"
"To catch Dame Fortune's golden smile. Assiduous wait upon her. And gather gear by every wile that's justified by honor ; Not for to hide it in a hedge, Not for a train attendant,
But for the glorious privilege of being independent."
The youth of true grit hates dependence above all things, and longs for the time to escape the home cage and carve out a competency for himself. Young Anderson, therefore. even before reaching the age of maturity was revolving schemes to become a great captain of industry, his special ambition being to make an engineer of himself. When twelve years old he began to learn this profession, and a year later was connected with a railroad in that capacity. It was, of course, a boy's job and performed during the summer vacation when school was not in session. In January, 1878, he joined his father to assist as teacher in the territorial university which he was then endeavoring to resuscitate at Seattle, and held this position for the following three and a half years. Later he went to Walla Walla to take his brother's place as assistant teacher in Whitman College, of which his father then had charge, but only remained there a year and returned to Seattle, where he had previously opened an office for the transaction of business connected with en- gineering. He laid out the city's first water-works plant, known as the Yeder system. and later the McNaught and Jones systems. Ile served also as county engineer, and extended the street-car line from Columbia to Renton. At least a fourth of the present enterprising city of Seattle was laid out by this energetic young engineer at a time when others of his age have hardly left college. He made the first mineral survey in the state of Washington and subdivided a good many of the sections of King county, particularly in the vicinity of Seattle. He was engineer of the Moore Investment Company, made the topographical map of Capital Hill in its interest and is now its consulting engineer. In 1884 he organized the .Anderson Engineering Com- pany and incorporated the same in 1892. He has done considerable work for the state on the tide flat lands, and served as land surveyor under contract with the national government. In 1897 Mr. Anderson made a trip to Alaska and did considerable expert work there for various companies and
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determined the feasibility of the route for the line of the Alaska Central Railroad Company, and when the latter was organized in 1902 he was ap- pointed chief engineer.
Mr. Anderson has always had a taste for military matters, and has fig- ured somewhat conspicuously in this line since coming to Washington. Shortly after his arrival at Seattle he organized a battalion among the uni- versity students. He was also one of the organizers of the Seattle Rifles, which served during the Chinese riots. He was a member of the military board during the period of organization of the National Guard of Washing- ton, and was colonel commander of the Second Regiment of the State Guard. He organized a regiment consisting of eight companies in eastern Washing- ton, of which he was the colonel in command, and four of these companies are now serving in the Philippines. Mr. Anderson is a Republican in poli- tics, and served as delegate to various territorial and county conventions and in the state convention of 1902. September 19, 1889, he was married in Seattle to Miss Laura. daughter of William A. McPherson, a merchant at Seattle. The children, consisting of three daughters and a son, are Mary, Isabella, Lizzie Ferry, Laura Marjorie and Chester McPherson.
JOHN RIPLINGER.
No outside aid or influence, no family connection or fortunate environ- ments have assisted John Riplinger in his career, which, however, has been an active and successful one, and he has attained to prominence in public affairs and gained the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been associ- ated. He is now serving as city comptroller and is ex-officio city clerk. Born in Minnesota on the 12th of October. 1864, his paternal ancestors came from Loraine, France. His father, Nicholas Riplinger, emigrated to .Amer- ica in 1852 and located in Minnesota, where he engaged in agricultural pur- suits until 1888, at which time he sought a home in Washington. locating in Skagit county, where he spent his remaining days, departing this life in 1895. While in Minnesota he served as a member of the board of county commis- sioners from 1878 until 1886 and then declined a re-nomination. He was a leader in public affairs and his loyalty in citizenship and devotion to the gen- eral good made him well qualified for office. In the family were eight chil- dren and with the exception of three all are yet living.
John Riplinger was a student in the public schools of Minnesota in his early days, but has not been able to attend school since the age of thirteen. although reading. experience and observation have broadened his knowledge
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and increased his usefulness as a factor in business and official life. Ile remained on the home tarm until he was eighteen years of age and then entered the office of the county auditor. Later he began learning the printer's trade and in the spring of 1887 he engaged in the newspaper business on his own account, but owing to ill health he sold his paper in 1890 and came to Seattle, intending to enter the field as a publisher here. Instead, however, he accepted a position in the office of the county treasurer. In 1891 the legis- lature enacted a law to revise the manner of assessing the county property. which under the old system had become greatly confused. The property had been assessed only as reported by the owners and the rest was credited to "unknown owners." Some pieces were thus assessed twice and others not at all. It was therefore arranged by townships numerically and Mr. Rip- linger was given charge of this very important and extensive work, which he performed so satisfactorily, however, that upon the completion of the task he was appointed chief clerk in December, 1891. He was in the office of the county treasurer until the spring of 1895. when he began prospecting and mining in British Columbia, being thus engaged until October, 1897. At the latter date he returned to Seattle and was given employment by Mr. Col- vin, who was receiver for the Front Street Railroad Company, and for whom he served as accountant. On the ist of January. 1898, he was appointed by Mr. Parry to the position of chief clerk in the office of the city comptroller, with whom he served for two and one-half years, and afterward hekl the same office with Mr. Paul. He acted in that capacity until the election of the spring of 1902. At that time the Republicans nominated him for the po- sition of city comptroller, and the result of the election was very greatly to his credit. He has always been a Republican and has attended a number of city and county conventions and has been one of the most active workers in his party. His long service in the office of chief clerk eminently qualified him for the duties of the office and that he has made many friends is evi- denced by the fact that the majority he received was the largest ever given in the city, it lacking but one vote of reaching thirty-five hundred, while the mayor of Seattle was elected by only six hundred fifteen. No higher testi- monial of Mr. Riplinger's capability, his loyalty to the trust reposed in him and his personal popularity could be given.
In December. 1888, in Minnesota, Mr. Riplinger married Ada Lavina Richards, and they have one daughter, Marie. They have a good home in the city and Mr. Riplinger acquired some farming interests in Skagit county. Hle belongs to various fraternal and social organizations, including the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks : the Knights of Pythias; the Fra-
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ternal Order of Eagles; the Workmen; the Woodmen of the World; the Royal Arcanum and the Seattle Athletic Club. He finds hunting and fish- ing a pleasant means of relaxation and recreation from his strenuous official and business cares. He is a man in whose life is exemplified the best traits of American manhood and good-fellowship. He has a deep and abiding in- terest in his fellow men, a genial nature and a kindly disposition. He is a self-educated and a self-made man, and such a record Americans hold in the highest regard.
ALEXANDER JAY ANDERSON.
The educational annals of the northwest present few names which shine with a brighter luster as the result of good deeds done and great work ac- complished than the one which forms the caption of this paragraph. Per- haps no one who has labored in his line gave greater emphasis to Young's famous remark in his "Night Thoughts" that it is a "delightful task to rear the tender mind and teach the young idea how to shoot." Professor Anderson was not only enamored with his task but took especial delight in grappling with the young idea, and it must have been a very obdurate subject that proved unyielding to his persuasive methods. If any one of the generations of bright students who benefited by his instruction were assigned the duty of inditing these pages they would make them fairly glow with praises of their old preceptor and loving tributes to his fatherly care. His career, ex- tending over a period of thirty-five years, embraced work of great responsi- bility and difficulty in many institutions of three states of the Union. His success in each charge was not only marked but cumulative, as his efficiency. increasing with experience. made each achievement an improvement over the last. At length he was able to retire with that highest of all plaudits. "Well clone, thou good and faithful servant," and an army of alumni, graduated under his fostering ministrations, loudly acclaim their admiration and undy- ing affection for Alexander Jay Anderson.
One naturally thinks of Scotland when hearing of great educators, as , more good teachers have come out from the rocky borders of Old Scotia than any other equal territory in the world. In fact, before the days of pub- lic schools in the United States the chief dependence for teachers was upon the Scotch, who seemed to have special talent for managing unruly pupils, as well as leading the reluctant along the thorny paths of knowledge. It is no surprise, therefore, to learn that Alexander Jay Anderson is of Scot- tish lineage, both on the side of father and mother, though he perhaps re-
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grets with a Scotchman's pardonable pride that the honor of nativity in the land of Burns was withheld from him by fortuitous circumstances. It so happened that his father, Joseph .Anderson, had a building contract at Grey Abbey. near Belfast, Ireland, and it was while his parents were temporarily residing there that the future instructor was born November 6. 1832. The father, however, had previously come to America when seventeen years of age, but after acquiring citizenship had returned to Scotland, where his mar- riage occurred. Five years later he again crossed the ocean and took up a homestead in New York, on the banks of the St. Lawrence. There he met his death accidentally while felling a tree, after which untoward event his widow, with her little children, removed to Illinois and located at Lockport. Alexander Jay was but six months old when the family reached these shores and his boyhood was passed amid the privations incident to life on the frontier. He, however, had the ambition for learning, which seems indi- genous in the Scotch character, and we find him at an early period making every effort to gratify his aspirations. Despite the loving assistance of an elder sister and a good mother's affectionate aid, numerous stumbling blocks were found in the way, and it was proved in this case. as in many others, that the road to knowledge is by no means royal. School attendance was irreg- ular, owing to demands made upon the young man's time for work in the store, the printing office and at the teacher's desk, as the family exigencies demanded. Finally, however, as they say in the rude but expressive slang of the west. young Anderson "got there," and in 1856 was made happy by the reception of the degree of .1. B. from Knox College at Galesburg, Illinois, which may be regarded as the starting point in what was to prove his life work. But Professor Anderson looks back to the years before his graduation as fraught with elements of great value in securing his future success, on account of the business training then acquired, especially that re- ceived in the printing office.
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