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 73
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In Chicago, Illinois, shortly after his arrival in this country, Mr. Bebb was married to Virginia R. Burns, a daughter of Dr. A. P. Burns of Ellicott City, Maryland, and they have one son. In politics Mr. Bebb is a Repub- lican, but his business interests give him no time for active political work. A prominent Mason, he belongs to Arcana Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., Wash- ington Lodge of Perfection No. I, Washington Chapter of Rose Croiz, Washington Council of the Knights of Kadosh, and Lawson Consistory No. I. He is likewise connected with Afifi Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Tacoma. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, is presi- dent of the Washington State Chapter of the American Institute of Archi- tects, belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, is secretary of the Seattle Ath- letic Club and is a member of the University Club and the Tennis Club. The profession with which he is identified deserves to be ranked among the arts. It demands superior qualifications, a thorough understanding of me- chanical principles combined with artistic knowledge and taste, and these should be supplemented by kecn executive ability and foresight. In all these
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qualities Mr. Bebb is well equipped, and thus through his own efforts he has gained a reputation in the field of his chosen labor that is hardly second to any on the Pacific coast.
EDMUND BOWDEN.
Edmund Bowden is of English ancestry, his birth having occurred in British Columbia on the 28th of August, 1860. His father, William Bowden, was born in Belfast, in the north of Ireland, was married in England and in 1858 cmigrated to the new world. locating in British Columbia. He was chief of police there for fifteen years, and was a valued and leading member of the Masonic fraternity. Of his family of nine children only five are now living, and Mr. Bowden of this review is the only member of the family now living in Washington.
Edmund Bowden was educated in the public schools of British Colum- bia, completing his studies in the schools of Victoria. He has made his own way in the world, and the splendid success he has achieved indicates his excellent business ability and force of character. He first learned teleg- raphy, and was a very capable operator, so that he was enabled to com- mand good positions. He continued in that business for a number of years, and during a part of the time was manager of the Western Union Tele- graph Company at Walla Walla. In 1888 he came to Seattle and turned his attention to the real estate business and made insurance a department of the new venture. He also began loaning money for eastern capitalists, and placed about two million dollars in Seattle to rebuild the city after the great fire of 1889. He has represented the Atlas Assurance Company of London for eight years, and has done his full share in the insurance busi- ness of the city. He is now extensively engaged in buying and selling real estate in Seattle, which he handles on his own account. His success in the other lines of his business has enabled him to make judicious investments in real estate, and he is now the owner of much valuable property.
In 1882 Mr. Bowden was united in marriage to Miss Angie Burt, of Walla Walla, Washington, and they now have two children : Edmund R. and William Burt. Mr. Bowden is a prominent Republican in his politi- cal views, and in his social relations is connected with Arcana Lodge No. 87, F. & A. M., in which he took the degree of a Master Mason in 1895. He is a past master of the blue lodge, and has received all the degrees of the Scottish Rite up to and including the thirty-third, and has accept- ably filled most of the offices in the order. He is a thoroughly informed
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Mason and one of the best workers in the craft in this city. He is also a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and is chairman of the judiciary committee of the grand lodge of the state and chairman of the board of trustees of Queen City Lodge No. 10. K. of P., of Seattle. He is also secretary of the associate board of trustees of the organization and is master of the Lodge of Perfection of the Scottish Rite Masons and treas- urer of Arcana Lodge, F. & A. M. He is a valued member of the Seattle Athletic Club, and with his family attends St. Mark's Episcopal church. Mr. Bowden has contributed in no small measure to the upbuilding and improvement of Seattle, and is one of the highly respected residents of the city, in which he and his wife have a wide and favorable acquaintance.
CHARLES V. O'BRIEN.
There are few men in whose life history losses and successes have fol- lowed in such rapid succession as in the career of Charles V. O'Brien, but to- day he is known as one of the capitalists of the Sound country, his invest- ments being so judiciously placed that they yiekl to him an excellent return, and his income is now a gratifying one.
Born in Halifax. Nova Scotia. April 5. 1859. he is a son of Ambrose and Isabelle ( Chisem) O'Brien. both of whom were natives of Canada. The father was a shipbuilder at Maitland, on the bay of Fundy, and became well known in that line of business. He still resides in Nova Scotia, at the age of seventy-seven years, while his wife is sixty-seven years of age. Al- though he led an active business life, he was never prominent in politics. pre- ferring that his undivided attention be given to his ship-building interests.
The eldest of a family of seven children, Charles V. O'Brien was reared in his native country and acquired but a limited education, for from the age of ten years he spent most of his time in the forests in the lumber and logg- ing camps. At the early age of sixteen he engaged in logging contract work on his own account and followed that pursuit until his twenty-fourth year. He then left his native country and in the spring of 1883 came to Washington in order to engage in business amid the great forest districts of the northwest. He followed logging on Discovery bay in the employ of others, and when he had saved fifteen hundred dollars of his earnings began business on his own account, but he lost all that he had made through a fresh- et which swelled the waters of Salt creek until they carried away all his logs. The next year Frank Clapp furnished him with funds to enable him to re- sume operations, from which he cleared six thousand dollars, but in the turn
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of fortune's wheel he was again the loser, for he lost that sum in real estate transactions. Not yet disheartened, he again engaged in logging one season with fair success, and the following year engaged in street-grading contract work in Seattle, having in his employ one hundred men and forty teams. He followed that business for two years, during which time he cleared seven- ty-five thousand dollars, but this was also lost in real estate speculation. Once more he started at the bottom of the financial ladder, and he started in again to earn his living as a teamster in a logging camp, but a man of such resolute spirit and unfaltering energy could not long remain in such a posi- tion. He eagerly watched for a business opportunity of which he might take advantage, and found one in 1897 when he went to Alaska, outfitting a pack train of thirty horses, but in three months he lost them all. In the au- tumn of the same year he purchased a train of one hundred and fifteen pack animals and took a contract from the Canadian government to transport all government supplies from Skagway to Lake Bennett and other interior points. For two years Mr. O'Brien was engaged in that work, making his headquarters at Skagway. The business proved profitable, enabling him to make a new start on the highroad to success. While residing there he was also elected a member of the city council, but resigned preparatory to return- ing to Seattle, in August, 1899.
After the time spent in the north he made a tour of the east, visiting Chicago. Washington, New York, and his old home in Nova Scotia, spend- ing nine months in travel. On the expiration of that period he returned to this state and began logging on the Columbia river, following that pursuit for a year and a half, when he sold ont, and for six months was not connected with any business enterprise. He has invested largely in city property in Seattle and now owns the fine three-story flat building at the corner of Fifth avenne and Lenora street, and has other improved property here, the rental from which furnishes him with a very gratifying income. His persever- ance, his adaptability to circumstances, his strong determination and un- faltering courage, have been the means of enabling him to overcome ob- stacles and difficulties which have beset his path and to push his way steadily forward to prosperity.
In politics Mr. O'Brien is a Republican, and socially is connected with the Fraternal Order of Artic Brotherhood. On October 6, 1887. he was married to Miss Jeanne Dick, of Clallam county, Washington, a daughter of James B. and Margaret ( Dewar) Dick. Mrs. O'Brien was born in Indiana and her parents were natives of Cardiff, Scotland. At an early day they became residents of Dungeness, Clallam county, where Mr. Dick became well
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known and prominent in business and public life. His wife is now living at Port Angeles, Washington. Mr. and Mrs O' Brien have had four children, but three died in childhood. One daughter, Margaret, named in honor of her grandmother, is now living. Mr. O'Brien has had a checkered and eventful career, during which time he has traveled extensively over the north part of this continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. His fortunate tendency of looking upon the bright side, even in the face of discouragements, and an- ticipating a more encouraging future, combined with good business judg- ment, has won for him a desirable position among the capitalists of his adopted city and state.
ROBERT O. SMITH.
Robert O. Smith is a member of the firm of R. O. Smith & Company, real estate dealers of Seattle. He was born in Barton county, Missouri, January 6, 1870, his parents being W. C. and N. J. (Jones) Smith. Upon his father's farm in the county of his nativity he was reared, and acquired a common school education. At the age of nineteen he left home, going to Kansas City, where he entered the employ of the street car company, acting as a gripman and conductor for several years. He was afterward engaged in the real estate business in Kansas City for a time and in 1891 came to Seattle, attracted by the great and growing northwest, believing that in its business opportunities he would have better advanages for securing the suc- cess which is the goal toward which all business men are striving. For ten months he was engaged in various employments, and then returned to Lib- eral, Missouri, where he engaged in the hay, grain and feed business and also followed farming and stock dealing for three years. In 1895, however, he again came to Seattle and through the succeeding year conducted a creamery at Avon, Washington. On the expiration of that period he again came to this city and accepted a position in the employ of Lilly, Bogardus & Company for two years. Next he entered the employ of Mitchell, Lewis & Staver, having charge of their machinery department for one year. In August, 1900, he became associated with C. D. Hillman, a prominent real estate dealer of Seattle, under the firm name of Hillman & Company. Mr. Smith has established a reputation as a reliable and successful real estate dealer and has demonstrated his ability as a salesman. Associ- ated with Mr. Hillman, he became actively interested in real estate transac- tions in the vicinity of Green Lake, and during that time assisted in the sale of four thousand lots included in the Kilbourn. the Hillman and the Hill-
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man's School additions, also the Woodland Park addition, the Green Lake Home addition and Hillman's Lake Front addition. In May, 1902, Mr. Smith severed his connection with Mr. Hillman and established his present business, and has already secured a large and gratifying clientage in general real estate transactions. He handles timber lands, lots, houses, and attends to rental investments, and, in fact, does all kinds of business included within a general real estate enterprise.
On the 23d of February, 1892, Mr. Smith was united in marriage in Missouri to Miss Effie Nichols, a daughter of John E. Nichols, and they now have three interesting children, Clarence, Jessie and Earl. In his political views Mr. Smith is an earnest Republican and is quite prominent in fraternal organizations. He belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees, to the Wood- men of the World and to Green Lake Lodge No. 184, of the Fraternal Broth- erhood, of which he is now treasurer. He is one of the active and enterpris- ing young business men of Seattle. His is a genial and pleasing personality, and he has made a large circle of friends.
WILLIAM MCLACHLAN.
A native of Scotland, William McLachlan well represents the sturdy thrift and unexcelled honor of the sons of that portion of Great Britain .. His father was a native of Scotland, and his grandfather also, the latter, Daniel McLachlan having been born at Inverness, where he was married to Mary McDowd. also of Scotch descent. They came with their children to Canada, where the remainder of their lives were spent, Daniel Mclachlan having taken up crown land, which he improved to a high state of cultivation. He died at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years. To this worthy couple were born the following children: Charles, Malcolm, John Daniel. Alex- ander, Mary, Clemina and Nancy.
Our subject was third in a family of five children born to Malcolm and Jane ( Kirkwood) Mclachlan. Daniel, the oldest, is governor of the In- dian agency in Victoria, British Columbia; Robert K., the second in order of birth, is engaged in farming; William is the immediate subject of this re- view : Margaret is the wife of William Douglas, and lives in Canada; Mary, the youngest, is the wife of Alexander Crawford and also resides in Canada. By a second marriage. with Christina McDonald. Malcolm McLachlan be- came the father of six children, as follows: Duncan, president and founder of Chalam College in Ontario: John, deputy sheriff of Ottawa, Canada ; Alexander, who is 'a missionary, having been president for ten years of the
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board of missions; Charles, a physician of New Rockford, North Dakota; Malcolm, a professor in a college in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and James, who also lives in New Rockford, North Dakota.
William McLachlan was born of the marriage of Malcolm McLachlan to Jane Kirkwood, September 8, 1831, in Ontario, Canada. Here he lived on a farm with his parents, engaging in the pleasures and hardships of the average Canadian boy, and receiving, his education in the common schools that the country afforded. Mr. McLachlan remained with his father on the farm, and in this connection they also conducted a very lucrative dairy business. In 1878 he removed to the island of San Juan, where he engaged in the lime business, founding the Eureka Lime Company. His brother Daniel was connected with him in this enterprise, which yielded them an ample competence until they sold out, four years later. William McLachlan then came to Seattle, where he has since been engaged in the house-moving business. The firm name of Mclachlan & Son, at 1421 Sixth avenue, was adopted in 1898, when his son Thomas E. became a partner. He is also interested in Seattle real estate, being owner of four handsome residence lots 011 Lenora avenue, besides the beautiful and well improved property where his residence stands.
On January 1, 1873, occurred the marriage of William McLachlan and Lillian Cox, daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Campbell) Cox. To this happy couple have been born two children, Thomas E., before mentioned as a partner with his father; and Etta W., an intelligent and accomplished young lady, a graduate of the city schools and the commercial college. In politics Mr. Mclachlan is a stanch Republican, never swerving in his allegi- ance to his party. He is a valued member of the First Presbyterian church of Seattle, and a charter member of Columbia Lodge No. 2, A. O. U. W. He is honest and upright in all his dealings, and well deserves the success which has crowned his efforts.
CHARLES E. REMSBERG.
As a member of the firm of Remsberg & Simmonds, the subject of this review is practicing law in Seattle, where he located in 1889, soon after the great fire. He was born in Warren county, Indiana, May 20, 1863, and traces his ancestry back to Adam Remsberg, who during the period of the Revolutionary war located in what is now known as Washington county, Pennsylvania. The line of descent is traced down through John Remsberg, Sr., John Remsberg, Jr., and Lewis Remsberg, the last named being the
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father of our subject. Lewis was born in Frederick county, Maryland, and in 1859 moved westward, locating in Indiana. In his native state he wedded Rebecca Brandenburg, a daughter of Samuel Brandenburg, and a grand- daughter of John Brandenburg, who was born in this country but was of German parentage. Our subject is the youngest in a family of five children, the others all being daughters. Both parents are still living in Warren county, Indiana, the father at the age of eighty years and the mother at the age of seventy-nine. With the exception of the youngest sister the children also survive.
In the district schools Charles E. Remsberg pursued his education until he was fourteen years of age and afterward devoted his entire time and attention to the work of the home farm until he had attained the age of twenty. One of his sisters having been ill for a long time, it was believed that traveling would prove beneficial to her, and Charles accompanied her on a trip to the east, through Maryland, Washington and New York. This caused him to realize the need of further education, and in the fall of 1882 he went to the Terre Haute Normal School. After completing one year's work he engaged in teaching for two years and then spent a period of two more ycars in the normal. Later he entered the University of Indiana at Bloomington, making a specialty of the study of sociology. He completed his course in 1889 and intended to go to Charlottesville, Virginia, to pursue his law course. but events occurred that occasioned him to seek a home in the northwest, and he arrived in Seattle in 1889.
Mr. Remsberg was much impressed with the business outlook here and deciding to remain he engaged in the real estate business and also began reading law in this city, being admitted to the bar in 1893. He has since engaged in practice, and in February, 1898. entered into partnership with George Simmonds under the firm name of Remsberg & Simmonds. While he has been engaged in general practice. his law work has been largely in the probate court. He was one of the three lawyers who published the re- vised statutes and code of the state of Washington in 1896, a work of much value to the members of the profession and one which has been accepted as authority. Mr. Remsberg was engaged in this task for two years, and although the work did not prove a financial success, owing to the great money panic in which the country was involved at that time, the volume is one that has elicited the highest commendation of the leading members of the bar not only in Washington but throughout the country. Mr. Remsberg has been connected with much important litigation. He was one of the counsel in the damage case of S. P. Dixon against the Third Street Railway
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Company. This was tried twice in the supreme court of the state and then was taken to the supreme court of the United States and in each instance Mr. Reinsberg won a verdict favorable to his client. Other very important litigation has been conducted by him and he stands to-day as one of the noted lawyers of the Seattle bar, strong in his comprehensive knowledge of juris- prudence, logical in his deductions and forceful in his presentation of a case.
Voting with the Republican party, Mr. Remsberg has attended almost all of the city and county conventions since his arrival here, and his opinions carry weight in the Republican councils. From 1890 until 1894 he served as justice of the peace, and thereby acquired the title of judge, by which he is universally known. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he belongs to the Chamber of Commerce at Seattle.
In 1891 Mr. Remsberg returned to Indiana and was there married to Belle Farquhar, a daughter of A. H. and Esther Farquhar. They have two daughters, Mabel and Helen. Mr. Remsberg was one of the first settlers in the northern part of this city, where Fremont now stands, and was one of the chief factors in having the bridge constructed along the west shore at Lake Union. When he located there the only highway was a country road, and his influence has been very great and beneficial to the substantial development and improvement of that part of the city. In 1902 he erected a nice home on a five-acre tract on the shore of Green Lake, known as "The Farquharidge." He has loaned much money in Seattle for eastern and other clients and to a considerable extent has made investments on his own ac- count in both business and residence property. He has erected two business blocks here and his labors have been effective in promoting public progress along lines of business improvement. He is a member of the Unitarian church, and possessing excellent musical ability his services in this direction have proved of pleasure and benefit to the church. Perhaps the art of music furnishes him his most desirable and pleasurable recreation from the strent- ous cares of important business undertakings and an extensive and growing law practice.
JOHN D. SMITH.
john D. Smith, a retired capitalist residing at 601 Garfield avenue, Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, has passed the eightieth mile-stone on life's jour- ney and may well look with pleasure and pride on the long and successful career from the time when he started as a poor boy and aided only by his honest purpose to succeed. until now when he ranks as one of the wealthiest
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and most influential men of Seattle. Mr. Smith is the son of John and Lavinia (Prouty) Smith, both of New England birth and early settlers of Kentucky, the father being an extensive farmer of Greenup county, where he fived and died. John, Jr., first saw the light of day on his father's farm in Greenup county, Kentucky, on the 3d day of June, 1822; he was left mother- less at the age of ten and two years later passed out from under the paternal roof, and until he was eighteen years of age worked on a farm. He then went to New York city and learned the clockmaker's trade at a shop on Maiden Lane, his part of the business being to put the clocks together at eight cents apiece ; he spent two years at this and in 1842, when twenty years of age, moved west to Guernsey county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming and running a store. There on July 15, 1845, he was married to Margaret McClelland, a native of Pennsylvania; he continued in the merchandise line at Point Pleasant. Guernsey county, until the death of his wife in 1852. After this sad bereavement he left his only child, John C., with its grand- parents McClelland, and for four years engaged in the fur trade, traveling throughout the wilds of the Lake Superior region in Canada, Michigan and Wisconsin. He met with satisfactory results and then settled at Lincoln, Nebraska, making that a base of operations for a large cattle business ; every year he drove one or two droves of from five to nine hundred cattle each through from Texas; he also engaged in buying and shipping grain from Lincoln to Chicago and St. Louis. He remained, in all, about thirteen years in Lincoln.
In 1876 Mr. Smith came to Seattle. Here he engaged in land and real estate transactions, acquiring about twenty-two hundred acres of land. In 1885 he platted what is now known as the France addition of Seattle and later sold the tract to Martin France, whose name it bears; in 1890 he laid out the third motor addition of the city. He has done much in building and improving the city; he has built four houses on Union street, five on Stewart and Seventh and four on Queen Anne. He was the first man to purchase lots in the Biglow addition of Queen Anne Hill, and here in 1890 he erected his beautiful home, a three-story residence with basement and with a veranda entirely around each of two stories; from one of these is to be obtained a magnificent view of the scenic region of Puget Sound, and off to the south the snow-capped grandeur of Mount Rainier is visible. Mount Baker also being seen in its purple splendor: an excellent view of the city of Seattle is also to be had. Here Mr. Smith enjoys receiving his friends and takes pleasure in showing them the points of interest.
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