An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 115

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146

USA > Washington > Kittitas County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 115
USA > Washington > Yakima County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 115
USA > Washington > Klickitat County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 115

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ARTHUR J. SMITH, who is a resident of the vicinity of Kuhn, Klickitat county, Washing- ton, was born in England, December 31, 1872. His father, James A. Smith, is also English, as is the mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Sarah A. Wallis. When Arthur was ten years of age, his parents moved with him to the United States, settling in Dekalb county, Illinois, where they remained for four years. There he completed his education, though the greater part of his school training was acquired before leaving the old country. In 1886, the family came to Klickitat county, Washington. When Arthur J. became a young man he ac- cepted employment as a sheep herder, from Ezra Camp, who at that time resided near Prosser, Washington, and at various times afterward he worked for other men who were engaged in the sheep business. With the experience he thus acquired, and with his earnings, a large part of which he retained, he was enabled, in 1893, to go into the business of wool growing on his own account. He is still an earnest devotee of the sheep industry, as is also his father, who is interested with him. He now owns two sections of land, all of which is fenced and a part of which is under cultivation, the remainder being used as a pasture for his sheep, of which he has about two thousand one hundred head. He is very much opposed to the government's proposed shutting out of stockmen from the forest re- serves, a policy which cannot but injure the

stock industry and work a hardship upon all stockmen, rendering useless the foothill pasture lands. He says that while it formerly cost but fifty cents to maintain a ewe for a year, the cost has now increased to nearly three times that amount, or about a dollar and a quarter. Being diligent in business, and a careful student of everything relating to his industry, he is well posted on this important subject.

In the Bickleton church, in Klickitat county, on April 24, 1898, Mr. Smith married Dora Myers, a native of Iowa. Her father, Thurston Myers, and her mother are residents of the state of Kansas. Mr. Smith has two brothers, Bertrie and Percy, both engaged in the sheep business in Klickitat county, and one sister, Daisy M., the youngest of the family, living at home. I'n poli- tics, Mr. Smith is a Republican.

ALFRED O. WOODS, one of the most highly-esteemed pioneers of Klickitat county and the Northwest, and one of the most success- ful farmers and stockmen of the vicinity of Dot postoffice, can claim for his birthplace the fa- mous Willamette valley. To be able to do so is a distinction which few of his age enjoy, for set- tlers were few in the west in 1847, on the 20tlı of June of which year Mr. Woods was born. His father, Joseph W. Woods, is a native of West- borough, Massachusetts, born in 1813. At an early age he took to the sea, and for seven years he served before the mast. When at length he decided to try his fortunes on terra firma, he left his ship at the Sandwich Islands, where he re- mained for nine months, coming then direct to Oregon City, Oregon, which town he first saw in May, 1842. Three years later, he married Martha J. White, a native of England, who had come to the United States when six years old, had grown up in Canada, and had crossed the Plains with her parents in 1844. This honored pioneer couple are both living, Mr. Woods being at the home of our subject, and Mrs. Woods with a niece. Alfred O. Woods received such educa- tional advantages as the pioneer schools of Ore- gon afforded. When seventeen. he enlisted in Company D, First Oregon Infantry, and for fourteen months he served with that regiment, performing such military duties as the Civil war rendered necessary in Oregon. Upon receiving his discharge, he went to Portland and engaged in clerking in a general merchandise store. In 1871 he came to Klickitat county, settled near Centerville, and engaged in farming, which occu- pation was followed by him with assiduity for half a decade. Returning then to his old home in Oregon, he made his home there for four years, then, in the fall of 1880, he returned to Klickitat county, and took up the place where he now lives. Until 1892, he gave much atten-

RICHARD D. WHITE.

ISAAC CLARK.

MRS. MARTIN FUHRMAN.

S. N

JAMES A. SMITH.

ARTHUR J. SMITH.

ALFRED O. WOODS.

JAMES U. CHAMBERLIN.

TIMOTHY B. CHAMBERLIN.

JAMES H. BEEKS.

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tion to cattle raising, but in that year he turned his mind more especially to sheep, and at the present time he has three thousand three hun- dred of these animals. He keeps, now, only a few head of cattle and horses. His land holdings consist of twelve hundred acres, much of which is used only for pasturing his stock.

At Oswego, Oregon, on the 18th of Novem- ber, 1872, Mr. Woods married Martha C. Soper, who was likewise a native Oregonian, born in Multnomah county, July 4, 1854. Her father, Rheuben Soper, was a native of Ohio, but of German descent. In 1850 he crossed the Plains to California, but the next season he became a resident of Oregon, in which state he spent the remainder of his life time. Mrs. Woods' mother, Melissa (Powers) Soper, was born in Oneida county, New York, her lineage being Scotch. When quite young she accompanied her parents across the Plains to Oregon, and in Jackson county, that state, she is still living. The chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Woods, with the birth- place and date of birth of each, are: William W., Klickitat county, December 5, 1873; Richard A., Klickitat county, November 6, 1875; Ada, now Mrs. L. B. Moser, Oregon, December 7, 1877 ; Ellis L., Oregon, July 19, 1880; Maud, now Mrs. J. C. Trumbo, Klickitat county, July 16, 1885; Orrin L., Klickitat county, August 26, 1892. In politics, Mr. Woods is a Republican. In 1884 his district honored him with a call to the office of county commissioner, and for two years he served faithfully as such. In 1896 he was again elected a commissioner for the term of a year. It may with truth be said that both in public and in private life Mr. Woods has always so de- meanored himself as to win the esteem of his associates and neighbors, by all of whom he is regarded as one of the most substantial and progressive men of Klickitat county The son of pioneer parents and himself a pioneer all his life, he has developed the maniy independence, re- sourcefulness, force of character and other ster- ling virtues for which frontiersmen as a class are universally honored.

JAMES UNDERWOOD CHAMBERLIN, a Klickitat county farmer, residing on his three hundred and sixty-acre ranch, fifteen miles east and three miles south of the city of Goldendale, was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, June 29, 1838. His father, Martin Chamberlin, was a lumberman by occupation, born in the Bay state in 1799. He passed his life in that commonwealth and died in 1854. His mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Underwood, was of the same age and a native of the same state. She passed away in Massachusetts in 1875, after having raised a family of nine chil- dren.

James received a high school education, graduating early in life. When he was sixteen his father died and the family was broken up. Two years later he went to Mississippi and ob- tained employment in a mercantile establishment, where he served as clerk until the opening of the Civil war. At the first outbreak, he joined the Confederate army. For two years he campaigned under General Lee, then he was captured by the Union forces and took the oath of allegiance. That was in 1864. After his release he went into the oil regions of Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1888, with the exception of two years spent in the city of New York. He was employed as conductor on the Fourth avenue car line for twelve months during his stay in the metropolis. Mr. Chamberlin came west to Klick- itat county in the fall of 1888, and for two years thereafter he lived with his brother Grif- fin. He then went to live with another brother, Timothy B., who died two years later, and since that time he has lived on his brother Timothy's place, which he acquired from the heirs. Timothy was born and educated in the Bay state, and when a young man started to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. At New Orleans he changed his route, going overland through New Mexico, and he arrived at his destination in 1850. He resided in the Golden state four years, then came north to Klickitat county. Soon, however, he went to Canyon City, Oregon, for a two years' stay, at the end of which time he came back to Klickitat county and became one of its earliest pioneers. Chamberlin Flat was named for him. He took up the ranch upon which James now lives, that being the first homestead filed upon in what is now known as the Goodnoe hills. In October, 1902, he passed away.

James married in Pennsylvania, in 1868, Al- mena P. Acken, who died in 1883, leaving no children. He was again married, in 1898, the lady being Mrs. Esther M. Richmond, daughter of John and Hannah (Hanks) Rodgers. Her father, a preacher, was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1822, and became a resident of Michigan, his present home, in 1882. Her mother, a native of New York, had the distinc- tion of being a second cousin to Abraham Lin- coln. She was likewise a native of the Quaker state, born in 1847, and in its public schools she received her education. There also she was mar- ried the first time. Her first husband died some years ago, leaving six children, namely: Addie, Mary, Edwin, Myrtle, Ione and Lena. Mrs. Chamberlin has a brother. David, living in the county, a sister, Mrs. Cynthia Sparks, in Michi- gan, and one, Mrs. Orris Sparks, in Ohio. A third sister, Mrs. Marrilla Randall, passed away some years ago. Mr. Chamberlin's brother, Henry W., lives in East Orange, New Jersey, and his widowed sister, Mrs. Carrie Raymond,

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is a resident of Evanston, Illinois. Mrs. Louise C. Rowe, another sister, lives in Los Angeles, California, and his remaining brother, Griffin, died in this county in 1900. One brother, Mar- tin, met his death in the Civil war, as a Con- federate soldier. Another sister, Mrs. Eliza Craig, also passed away during that strife. Mr. Chamberlin is a member of the Methodist church, and politically, is a stanch Democrat. He has served as justice of the peace. Of his large hold- ing of land, some two hundred and fifty acres are in cultivation. Mr. Chamberlin stands high in the esteem of the entire community, because of his benevolent, sunny disposition, and his many other sterling qualities.

JAMES H. BEEKS, one of the prosperous farmers of Klickitat county, resides on his ranch of three hundred and twenty acres, some six miles south and nineteen east of the city of Gold- endale. He was born in Lee county, Iowa, De- cember 19, 1853, the son of Samuel and Hannah (Beel) Beeks. His father, who was born in Ohio, in 1812, to English parents, was likewise a . farmer by occupation. He moved to Missouri in 1855, resided there until 1874, then moved to Iowa and thence the succeeding fall to Washing- ton county, Oregon. He came to Klickitat county in 1876, and died April 9, 1891. His wife, who was born and raised in Ohio, also died in Klickitat county. James H. received his educa- tion in the common schools of Missouri. He re- mained at home until twenty-three, then came west and secured a piece of railroad land in Klickitat county, which he sold after a year's residence on it. He filed a pre-emption claim in 1885 to land in the Goodnoe hills, later com- muting it to a homestead entry. Purchasing his present place in 1902, he at once improved it substantially by the erection of an especially good farm residence. Besides his own land, Mr. Beeks farms another half section adjoining, which he holds under lease. Half of the section he thus controls by lease and ownership, is devoted to wheat raising. On the remainder he keeps stock of various kinds.

Mr. Beeks was married, April 24, 1877, in Pleasant valley, Klickitat county, the lady being Miss Mary Hearn. Her father died when she was a small child, and her mother, whose maiden name was Fannie Coach, and who was a native of Missouri, died in Lewiston, Idaho. Mrs. Beeks was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1861. She and Mr. Beeks have had fifteen children: Albert and Alfred, twins; Nora, Edith and Marie, deceased; Samuel N., Cora, Luella, now Mrs. Miller, a resident of Goldendale; Dora, Bertha, Riley T., Blanche, May, Etta and Wil- liam A. Mr. Beeks is a member of the Church of Christ, and politically, he is a Republican.

While he has never shown any special ambition for political preferment, he has discharged the duties of such local offices as justice of the peace and school director. He stands well in the com- munity, enjoying in full measure the esteem and good will of all who know him. Recalling the stirring Indian war times, Mr. Beeks relates that in 1877 his folks started to go to Goldendale, but came back, and that in 1878 they started to build a fort on his father's place, around the house, but did not complete it, as the scare passed over too soon. This was on Pleasant Prairie.

WILLIAM O. VAN NOSTERN, a prosperous young agriculturist of Klickitat county, re- sides on his farm, a quarter of a mile south of Cleveland. He is a native of Oregon, born in Linn county, September 28, 1867. His father, David G. Van Nostern, who was born in the state of Missouri, June 13, 1843, was left an orphan at the age of six or seven years, and was taken to West Virginia by his sister. He lived with her until ten years of age, then ran away from home and went to Missouri, whence he crossed the Plains to Oregon the same year. He lived in Linn county until he was forty years old, and was educated and married there, the latter event occurring January 8, 1866. Removing to this county in 1883, he secured a piece of rail- road land, and from that time until January 13, 1891, when he died at Cleveland, he was a resi- dent of Klickitat county. He was of German descent. His wife was a native of Missouri, of Scotch and German descent, her maiden name Melissa J. Thompson. Born October 16, 1849, she crossed the Plains to Oregon some time during the fifties. She was married in that state at the age of nineteen, and died there on the 6th .of April, 1883. William O., of this review, received his education in the common schools of his native state, also attended the schools of Klicki- tat county. He made his home with his father until the time of the latter's death, in 1891, though after he was a little past sixteen he worked out part of the time. The summer of 1884, he spent in the employment of Harry Pat- terson, driving a band of horses to Wyoming for his employer. Coming home in the fall, he rode the ranges for his father for the two suc- ceeding years, then for two years more he fol- lowed the same work for Mr. Smith, then until 1891, he worked on the family place. In that year he went into the stock business on his own account, also doing some farming, and in 1892 he filed on a homestead. He lived on this for five years, in the meantime purchasing the land on which he now makes his home. His realty holdings at present consist of four hundred acres, of which one hundred and fifty have been

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

reduced to a state of cultivation. He has a hun- dred head of horses and a number of cattle. Mr. Van Nostern has three brothers living in Klicki- tat county, namely: Joseph I., near Cleveland ; James, the present postmaster of that town, and George, near Bickleton. His sister, Mrs. Aivilla Elizabeth Macy, died in Cleveland some years ago, and a brother, David C., passed away at the age of eight months. Mr. Van Nostern was mar- ried at Dot, Washington, December 18, 1898, to Almeda B. Collins, daughter of Aretus R. and Estella (Rogers) Collins. Her father, who was born in Rochester, New York, in 1845, is a farmer by occupation. He moved to Minnesota in the early days of that state, and thence to Oregon in the seventies. Soon, however, he made his home in Seattle, Washington. In 1881 he came to Klickitat county, where he resided until the spring of 1902, then going to Arlington, of which town he is still a resident. His wife, a native of Minnesota, born in 1855, passed away in Klicki- tat county, June 9, 1900. Mrs. Van Nostern was born in Seattle, September 18, 1876, and grew to womanhood and was educated in Klickitat county. She has two sisters and one brother living, namely: Mrs. Odella Darling, residing at Arlington; Mrs. Ethel Jackson, at Dot, and Fred, also living in Arlington. She and Mr. Van Nos- tern have three children: Dean, Isaac and Wil- liam G., born in Cleveland, August 28, 1899, July 8, 1901, and April 14, 1903, respectively. Fra- ternally, Mr. Van Nostern is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and in politics, he is a Demo- crat. He has been constable of the district for several terms. A thrifty, industrious farmer, he is achieving a splendid success in a business way, while his many good qualities as a man have won him a high place in the esteem of his neigh- bors.

ROLAND L. RICKETTS, a Klickitat county farmer, lives on his two hundred and eighty-acre ranch, two and a half miles south and a mile east of the town of Cleveland. He was born in Jackson county, Missouri, in 1862. His father, William Ricketts, a native of Maryland, born in 1804, moved to Missouri some time in the forties, and was in Kansas City at a time when he could have purchased land where the central part of the city now stands, at the insignificant price of seven dollars an acre. After a residence of nearly forty years in Missouri, he died in Kan- sas City, in 1881. He was of Irish birth, and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Hoff- man, was of German extraction, though born in Clay county, Missouri, in 1828. Her people were pioneers of the state. She died in Klickitat county in 1889, after having resided for eleven years in the west. Roland L. Ricketts was edu- cated in the schools of Jackson county, Mis-

souri. He remained at home with his parents until eighteen, working, when not at school, on the parental farm. He was then employed by farmers for a period of six years. He was four- teen years old at the time his parents moved to Ottawa, Kansas, and sixteen when they moved to Fort Scott, where they resided a year and a half, returning then to Jackson county, Missouri, in which was their home until 1889. Mr. Rick- etts came west to Klickitat county in 1889, and two years later moved into Walla Walla county, where he farmed for three years. Returning to Klickitat in 1895, he spent the ensuing six years in various parts of the county, going back then to the Walla Walla country for another eighteen months' stay. In November, 1902, he removed to Pendleton, Oregon, and engaged in the confec- tionery business, but the next spring he sold his establishment, and returning once more to Klickitat county, purchased the place upon which he has since made his home.

In Pendleton, Oregon, on the 21st of Decem- ber. 1902, Mr. Ricketts married Mrs. Narcissa Wiley, daughter of Thomas B. and Ann Eliza- beth (Stephens) Marr. Her father was a Mis- souri pioneer, of Scotch parentage, and a Civil ' war veteran; he died in the state of his nativity several years ago. His widow, Mrs. Marr, is likewise a native of Missouri, and she still lives in that state, in the city of Warrensburg, the county seat of Johnson county. Mrs. Ricketts was born in that county, May 3, 1862. She was educated in the common schools there, and later married Frank Wiley, of that locality, who passed away five years ago, leaving four children, as follows: Anna and Liddie, twins, the former now deceased ; John and Grace. The last men- tioned, now Mrs. Frank Beagle, resides at Walla Walla, Washington. Mrs. Ricketts has also two brothers, James and Seth Marr, both living in this state. Mr. Ricketts is fraternally connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In re- ligion, he is a Presbyterian, though his wife be- longs to the Christian Church. An energetic and skilful farmer, he has already reduced half his place to a state of cultivation, and his energies are being steadily and judiciously applied to its further subjugation and improvement.

PAUL P. CHAMBERLAIN, a well-to-do farmer, of Klickitat county, resides on his ranch of three hundred and twenty acres, three miles cast and two south of the town of Cleveland. He is a native of Oregon, born in Washington county, May 16, 1863. His father, James L. Chamberlain, a native of Nebraska, crossed the Plains to Oregon in 1852, was married in Marion county, that state, and is at present living at North Yakima, Washington. At one time he owned a store in Prosser, the first started in

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that town. His wife, a native of the Blue Grass state, whose maiden name was Christinia Kin- caid, also still lives, and is with him at North Yakima. She crossed the Plains with her parents to Oregon in the early days. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain have had eleven children, seven of whom are still living. The subject of this review attended school in Oregon, and later in Klicki- tat county, he having been but fourteen years old when he came to the latter place with his parents in 1877. His father and mother located eight miles east of Goldendale, and lived there four years, but, in 1881, they moved to Cleveland. Until he was a year past his majority, he worked on his father's farm, though on becoming of age, he took a pre-emption claim. In the spring of 1885, he changed this to a homestead. In due time he proved up on it and he has ever since made it his home, following farming principally, although he has also raised some stock. At pres- ent he is giving much attention to the raising of hogs. Mr. Chamberlain has six brothers and sisters living, namely, Mrs. Jennie Hamilton, in Goldendale; Mrs. Mary E. Grant, at Scappoose, Oregon; Joseph, at North Yakima; Lee, near Toppenish; Mrs. Emma White, on the Naches; and James, in North Yakima.

At Goldendale, on the 18th of November, 1886, Mr. Chamberlain married Alverdia, daugh- ter of Milton W. and Jane (Harris) Wristen, the former a native of Illinois, and a farmer by occu- pation. He early removed to Kansas, and thence to California, where he still resides, as does also his wife, who is likewise a native of Illinois. Mrs. Chamberlain was born in Illinois, Novem- ber 1, 1865, but received her education in the common schools of California. Her people came to Klickitat county in October, 1874, but later returned to the Golden state. Mrs. Chamber- lain's brothers, Oliver and Don, also her sisters, Hannah L. and Liddie, now Mrs. Smith, reside in California, while her sister, Mrs. Mamie Ellis, lives near Cleveland, and her brother, Emmet, at Bickleton. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain have had one child only, Alta, born near Cleveland, August 22, 1890. Unfortunately she died when still an infant. In religion, Mr. Chamberlain is a Methodist; fraternally, he is a Modern Wood- man, and in politics, he is an active Democrat. An early pioneer of Klickitat county, he is well known to most of its citizens who esteem him as a progressive farmer and a worthy man.

WILLIAM L. LEWIS, owner of a six hun- dred and forty acre ranch three miles east and three south of Bickleton, is a native of the state of Alabama, born June 7, 1849, at Tuskegee, Macon county. His father, William L. Lewis, a native of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a carpenter and contractor. He fought in the War

of 1812, as captain of a company of soldiers raised by himself in Georgia. Going later to Macon county, Alabama, he died there in 1863. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and his wife, whose maiden name was Charlotte Peel, was of English extraction, but a native of North Caro- lina. She was brought up on a farm in that state, and was also married there at the age of twenty. She raised a family of seven children, one of whom was killed in the Civil war, while serving in General Lee's army. The others are still liv- ing. The subject of this article was educated in the common schools of Alabama. He began to help his father and mother when eleven years old, earning his first money by carrying news- papers, and at fourteen he entered a general merchandise store in which he was employed for the ensuing two years as clerk. Upon reaching the age of seventeen, he bought a stock of goods and opened an establishment in the city of Mont- gomery, Alabama, where he was in business for a number of years, succeeding well. During this time he was appointed deputy sheriff of Mont- gomery county, which position he held for two years. In 1877 he sold his store and migrated to California, whence after a residence of four years, he came to Klickitat county, where he took a homestead three miles south of Bickleton, also purchasing some railroad land. This has been his home since that time and to its culti- vation and improvement he has brought the same energy which characterized him as a boy merchant and enabled him to succeed. He cul- tivates one hundred and twenty-five acres of his farm, keeping the remaining five hundred and fifteen acres for pasture. Mr. Lewis has five sis- ters, namely: Mrs. Mary A. Hull, Mrs. Joseph- ine Debarlaben and Elizabeth, in Alabama; Mrs. Georgiana Holley, in Dallas, Texas, and Mrs. Narcissa Howard, in California. The marriage of Mr. Lewis was solemnized in Klickitat county, on the 13th of November, 1889, the lady being Miss Maggie Ely, a native of Iowa. Her father, John Ely, was born in the Quaker state, and re- moved successively to the states of Iowa, Mis- souri and Kansas, coming from the last men- tioned to Klickitat county, in 1888. He is of Dutch ancestry. He now lives with his son-in- law, and though eighty-three years old, is still hale and hearty. Mrs. Lewis was born June I, 1859. She received the principal part of her education at Carthage, Missouri, and after com- pleting her school training, taught in that city for some time. She also taught a number of terms in Klickitat county. She and Mr. Lewis have two children: William E., born June 16, 1892, and John H., on the 28th of August, 1897. Mrs. Lewis is a member of the Methodist church. In politics, Mr. Lewis is an active Republican, and that he is public-spirited and interested in the cause of education is evident from his having

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An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 115

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146