An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 117

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 117
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 117
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 117

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Mr. Smith and Miss Augusta M. Purdy, a native of Salem, Oregon, were united in marriage June 15, 1873. She was born Maich 12, 1849, to the union of Aaron and Belinda ( Bucklew) Purdy, who were prominently known as among the early pioneers of Oregon. The father was born in Pennsylvania, November 30, 1806, and when forty-one years of age crossed the Plains to Ore- gon, arriving about the time of the Whitman mas- sacre. He was a miller by trade, though he de- voted much of his attention to other business.

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His death occurred in 1866. By descent, M1. Purdy was a German. His wife was a native of Virginia, born in 1810; she died in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have five children, namely : Mabel, born October 31, 1874; Ada, born May 25, 1877; Fritz G., born April 10, 1879; Edna, born April 23, 1881; and Regina, born January II, 1889, all of whom are natives of this county. Mr. Smith is connected with one fraternity, the Masonic; politically, he is an ardent Republican, though an independent one, free from party prejudices. He devotes his entire time to the management of his extensive stock and land interests, his holdings comprising between four thousand and five thou- sand acres on the Columbia river.

ALONZO H. CURTISS. To this worthy pioneer, whose home is at Grand Dalles, on the Columbia, belongs the distinction of being Klick- itat's oldest resident citizen; only one other set- tler preceded him and that one left the county more than a quarter of a century ago. But since the fall of 1858, forty-six years ago, nine years be- fore Klickitat county came into permanent ex- istence, Mr. Curtiss has called Klickitat "home," and in that vast stretch of time has witnessed the organization of three powerful states out of the great Northwest and the development of this erst- while wilderness into one of the busiest and rich- est sections of the Union. Born July 19, 1831, at Granville, Massachusetts, Alonzo H. Curtiss is the son of Samuel and Sallie (Fairchild) Cur- tiss, both of whom were also natives of the Old Bay state. The Curtiss and the Fairchild families came over to the colonies from England many generations ago and in the New England states soon attained to positions of influence and afflu- ence. Samuel Curtiss, who spent most of his life in agricultural pursuits in Hampden county, Mas- sachusetts, died at the age of sixty-eight; his wife died ten years ago in her seventy-ninth year. Alonzo H. remained on the farm and in school until he was twenty years old. He attended the Granville Academy and the public schools, thus receiving a good education. In 1851, with the characteristic longing of youth to get to the front in life's battle, he went to Ohio, and learned the carpenter's trade. He then made up his mind to seek what fortune might bestow upon him in the far west and accordingly, in 1853, came to the Pacific coast by way of the Isthmus. He soon became satisfied that he could do better in Ore- gon, so he went north to Portland, then a strag- gling village and there and in Washington county he followed his trade until 1855. At that time he came to The Dalles and laid the foundation for his present prosperity. In the fall of 1858, he crossed the Columbia and filed upon a tempting tract of land situated along the shore just north of the Rockland ferry landing, and upon this

pleasant place Mr. Curtiss and his estimable wife have lived continuously since the day they moved into their pioneer home. For many years Mr. Curtiss followed stock raising and contract work, ranging large herds and becoming one of the builders of The Dalles. He is still a prominent stockman, though this portion of his business is now looked after by his son, Leon W. After in- vesting considerable money in the erection of dwellings in The Dalles, Mr. Curtiss, in 1889, erected the first roller mill ever built in that city, The Diamond Roller Mills, there being at that time only two old burr mills there. It cost $40,- 000 and is one of the best equipped plants in Ore- gon. Mr. Curtiss still owns this fine property, but leaves the active management of it to his son -. in-law, James S. Snipes. Besides some valuable city property, Mr. Curtiss also owns between three thousand and four thousand acres of grazing and farming land in Klickitat county, opposite The Dalles, an interest in the steam ferry operated by The Dalles & Rockland Ferry Company, and his valuable home ranch, which is highly improved, and one of the best for its size on the river.

Miss Lizzie Gould, the daughter of John and Anna Gould, became the bride of Mr. Curtiss, January 10, 1858. The parents as well as the daughter were born in Ohio, the date of Mrs. Curtiss' birth being March 24, 1834. Her father was a millwright by trade and a very successful business man. He died when she was a child. The romance in the life of Mr. and Mrs. Curtiss began before he came west and when he had pie- pared a home for her occupancy, he went back east and brought her to it. Her mother accom- panied them to The Dalles, and there was subse- quently married to John A. Murdy; she died in 1889 .. Four children have come to the Curtiss home: Jennie, born in 1859, now the wife of James Snipes, of The Dalles; Leon W., born March 4, 1861, a prominent Klickitat stockman who has represented this county in the legisla- ture ; Orlando H., who died when a child; and Joseph S., whose deatlı occurred in 1890. Mr. Curtiss has one brother living, Elizer, an Ohio farmer. Politically, Mr. Curtiss is a stanch Repub- lican, and in years gone by has served his county as county commissioner and in other official ca- pacities. Both he and his wife are held in the highest esteem by all who know them and, though well advanced in years, are yet apparently far this side of life's sunset.

LEO F. BRUNE, a large sheep owner and stockman of Klickitat county, Washington, resides on a farm five miles north of Grand Dalles. He has the distinction of being a native of south cen- tral Washington, the place of his birth being Grand Dalles and the date, April 19, 1873. His father, Charles H. Brune, was born in Pome-

ALONZO H. CURTISS.

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rania, Germany, near the Baltic sea, in 1840. Being an adventurous spirit and of a roving disposition, the elder Brune early took to the sea, sailing on a German merchantman to New York, where he shipped on an American vessel for a second voyage. Later he was with the noted Captain Sewell, famed for his exploits as a block- ade runner, and became mate of the vessel. He came to California in 1864, and thence after a few months' residence to The Dalles, Oregon. For some time he operated boats on the Columbia river, the principal business of which was the transportation of wood, and for several years he had charge of a ferry boat there. He married in The Dalles in 1867. In 1877 he took up a pre- emption claim five miles north of Grand Dalles, in Klickitat county, this being the first land filed upon so far back from the river. At the same time he purchased two hundred head of sheep, thereby getting a start in a business to which he devoted his best energies for several years after- ward. He and his brothers, Henry and William, were the first men to take a band of sheep into the Mount Adams grazing district. He continued to follow sheep raising until his death, which oc- curred at the ranch near Grand Dalles, July 29, 1894. He was deputy sheriff at one time and also clerk of school district No. I, which at the time took in almost the whole of Klickitat county. His wife, whose maiden name was Rosario Romero, is a native of Mexico, born in the prov- ince of Sonora, in 1850, to Spanish parents. She came to California with her parents when a small girl, and in 1863 came overland to The Dalles. Her father died in California; her mother, Jane

Romero, still lives with her daughter and son-in- law. Leo Brune, of this article, grew to manhood at the old home ranch, attending the district school, and from 1890 to 1893, the Bishop Scott Military Academy at Portland, Oregon. He learned the sheep business as a boy. At the time of his father's death in 1894, he went to Kenne- wick, Washington, with a sheep man, and bought the old Leeper spring, with eighty acres of land, to secure water for the sheep. He then entered the wool growing business with his uncles, Henry and William Brune, forming a partnership which remained in force for a space of two years. After its dissolution, Leo F. continued the business alone. In the fall of 1902 he bought six thou- sand acres of land near the spring. He sold it later, however, also his band of sheep, then bought a band of four thousand five hundred at Heppner, Oregon, which he still has.

At Hartland, Washington, in the fall of 1897, Mr. Brune married Bertha Isham, an Oregonian, born near Salem, June 22, 1880. Her father, James Isham, is an old Oregon pioneer, and has lived in the vicinity of Salem for many years. Her mother, whose maiden name was Sina Pitt- man, is likewise a native of Oregon and a mem-

ber of an old pioneer family. Her father and mother, A. J. and Louise Pittman, are still liv- ing, though aged seventy-six and seventy-three years respectively. They crossed the Plains in 1850, and while en route, were stricken with the Asiatic cholera, hence were deserted by the other members of the party, and narrowly escaped from the Indians. Mr. Brune has eight brothers and sisters: Rose, now Mrs. J. M. Cummins, a resi- dent of Sprague, Washington; Josephine, a pro- fessional nurse at Portland, Oregon; Grace, now the wife of Dr. D. M. Angus, a physician at Pros- ser, Washington; Minnie, now Mrs. Alex. Angus ; Jean, a stenographer in Portland; Victoria and Alma. Mr. and Mrs. Brune have two children: Charles H. and Bernice, born September 23, 1899, and September 30, 1901, respectively. In politics, Mr. Brune is a Republican. Public spirited and enterprising, one of the most capable young men in the county, eminently successful in business, and possessed of qualities of character which win for him the esteein and regard of those with whom he is associated, Mr. Brune enjoys a very enviable standing in south central Washington, and his prospects for future achievement are bright in- deed. He owns an interest in two thousand five hundred acres of land, besides his large stock holdings.

JAMES O. LYLE is a retired farmer resid- ing at present four miles northwest of Lyle post- office, at what is known as the "Hewitt" place. He was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, June 4, 1831, the son of Charles and Sarah (John- son) Lyle, both deceased many years ago. Charles Lyle was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1799. In 1847 he moved to Ottumwa, Iowa, at which place he resided at the time of his death. His people were of Scotch-Irish descent and among the colonial settlers of the Atlantic coast. Hannah (Croford) Lyle, his paternal grand- mother, was related in some way to General An- thony Wayne. Sarah (Johnson) Lyle, a native of Pennsylvania, was born in 1812, and died in 1859. James O., of this review, moved with his parents to Indiana when six years of age, thev later proceeding to Iowa and settling near what was later known as Agency City, the Indians hav- ing been removed from this place to their reser- vation but a short time before. In Iowa, he re- mained on the home farm with his parents until twenty years of age, then taking up stage driving between Mount Pleasant and Oskaloosa, his em- ployers being Frink & Walker, of Chicago. He was thus employed until 1853. Then with a few thou- sand other fortune seekers he got the "gold fever" and started to California with an ox team. The consideration of his passage was one hundred dol- lars, he in addition driving a team all the way, missing only one day during the five and a half

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months required to make the trip. In Fiddle Town, California, the tiresome journey termi- nated and here Mr. Lyle began mining, remaining thus engaged until April, 1856. Then he took passage on the Golden Age, bound for Iowa, via the Panama route. Ill luck attended his journey. The Golden Age was wrecked two hundred miles from Panama on an island and here the hapless passengers lived several days, scantily supplied with the necessities of life, until rescued by an- other vessel. After this narrow escape, Mr. Lyle proceeded to Iowa as best he could and arrived safely. He lived in Iowa until 1863, during which time he was married. In the year mentioned he again crossed the Plains, his objective point this time being The Dalles, Oregon. Shortly after his arrival he rented a place at Rowena, a short distance down the river from The Dalles, where he lived two years, then buying of a squaw man, a farm situated on the Washington side of the Columbia river. This property afterward became the townsite of Lyle, and long before there was much of a town there, a postoffice was established, of which Mr. Lyle was postmaster for eight years. In the spring of 1892 Mr. Lyle sold this property to the Balfours, English capitalists. He then pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of land on Camas prairie and a quarter section a few miles northwest of Lyle, which he has since divided between his daughter, Mrs. I. B. Hewitt, and son, G. B. Lyle, himself retiring from the more wear- ing activities of farm life.

In 1857, Mr. Lyle married Miss Marthia Snipes, then a resident of Iowa. She was a native of North Carolina, born in 1834; she died in 1887. Ben Snipes, a noted cattleman of Klickitat county during the early days, is her brother. Her parents were Elam and Acenith (Rosson) Snipes, pio- neers of this country, the former a native of North Carolina, in which state he attained manhood. He came to Klickitat county in 1863, and resided there until the tinie of his death in 1894. Acenithi Snipes was a native of North Carolina, also, born in 1818. Her death occurred in 1896. Children that have been born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lyle are : Charles E., deceased; George B., and Sarah A., now Mrs. I. B. Hewitt. Frater- nally, Mr. Lyle is affiliated with the Odd Fellows and the Grange. In politics, as in all else, he is independent, but he expects to vote for Turner for governor and the rest of his ticket shall be Socialist. No man now residing in Klickitat county is better entitled to the honors due old set- tlers than is Mr. Lyle. This county, when he first saw it, contained little evidence of the civilization that was to follow his arrival. Indians' were the only established inhabitants; their crooked trails the only roads across the unplowed prairies, and life and property were safe or otherwise accord- ing to the strength of the persons who defended them.

D. E. WITT, merchant, farmer, hotel man, and livery stable owner, is one of the foremost citizens of Klickitat county, and the leading busi- ness man of Lyle, in which he resides. Since his arrival there three years ago, he has been inter- ested in every considerable enterprise of a busi- ness nature that has been developed, and in addi- tion to dealing in town interests has bought and sold twenty farms. At present he is engaged in the diverse pursuits first mentioned, also is an extensive buyer and shipper of stock. This en- ergetic business man is a Missourian, born in Neosho county, September 17, 1861, the son of James Witt, also a native of Neosho county, born in 1816. The mother, Amanda ( Rush) Witt, was born in middle Tennessee. She is still living though seventy-seven years old, and is enjoying exceptionally good health for one of that age. James Witt crossed the Plains to California in 1849, but stayed only a short time, returning to the east. He made a second trip to the Golden state in 1852, and this time remained there work- ing in the mines until he accumulated consider- able money. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he was promptly upon the scene of action, and like tens of thousands of other brave men, died in battle for the sake of country and posterity.

The subject of this review was, at that time, a babe of three years. Fatherless as he was, he grew to young manhood under the load of re- sponsibility which usually rests upon the head of a family, since he was obliged to assist in the support of his mother and the other children. The family moved to Kansas City, Kansas, when he was sixteen years of age, and here for several years he worked hard at whatever he could find to do that was sufficiently remunerative. These were hard years for D. E. Witt, yet, doubtless, did much to fit him for the successful business career he has since had. In 1885 Mr. Witt went to Texas and there engaged in buying and shipping cattle, Austin being his principal shipping point. He followed this business for ten years, then re- turned to Kansas, where he remained for two years. His final move was to Lyle, Klickitat county, in 1899, and at this location he has since been engaged in business continuously and suc- cessfully.

Mr. Witt was married, February 20, 1886, to Miss Lizzie Pool, then residing in Missouri, her native state. George and Mary (Spencer) Pool, her parents, were among the pioneer settlers of Missouri. Both are now deceased. One child has been born to this marriage, namely, Charles, who is at present fourteen years of age. Fra- ternally, Mr. Witt is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, and in politics, he is a Republican. In political and fraternal affairs, he is as energetic as in his business, and in everything he so de- means himself as to command the respect of his fellow citizens. Mr. Witt is a Klickitat county

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enthusiast. His particular locality he asserts to be one of the best fruit-growing regions in the state, fully as good as the White Salmon, or the Hood River sections, and he claims that the en- tire country abounds with choice opportunities waiting to be taken hold of by the man of busi- ness ability and industry. In accordance with his views he is centering all his efforts in the develop- ment of his Klickitat county property, and he is always alert in seizing opportunities to add to the reputation of his community.

CAPTAIN ALBERT T. HIGBY, the re- spected justice of the peace and notary public of Lyle, Washington, was born in Allegany county, New York, October 22, 1833, the son of Ira and Ruth (Fuller) Higby. Ira Higby was born in Rutland, Vermont, April 27, 1784, and was after- ward closely associated with the pioneer history of New York. He participated in the War of 1812. He was one of the first settlers to occupy the Hol- land purchase in western New York in 1818. He resided in this region till 1848, then moving to Crawford county, Pennsylvania, where he resided till the time of his death in 1868. He was of Eng- lish descent. Ruth (Fuller) Higby was born in New York state. Her father and uncles all were soldiers in the Revolutionary war, and served also in the Indian wars immediately before and after the Revolution. They were of the oldest colonial stock in the state of New York. Mrs. Higby's death occurred in 1857.

Captain Albert T. attained the age of nine- teen on his father's farm in New York, and in ad- dition to completing the common school studies took an academic course. At the age mentioned he left the paternal roof and went to Virginia, thence to Rock Island, Illinois, where in addition to serving as sheriff, he studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar. At the beginning of the Civil war he was among the first to respond to the call for troops, and in May, 1861, he received a com- mission as second lieutenant in the Thirteenth Il- linois infantry. During the war he served under General Steele in Missouri and was in the com- mand of General Grant at the siege of Vicksburg, where he was officer in charge of a picket line. After the battle of Wilson Creek he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, his real duties be- ing those of a major. However, he was not com- missioned in the latter rank.

After being mustered out of service in June, 1864, Captain Higby returned to Rock Island, Il- linois, where he engaged in the practice of law till 1870, when he went to Montgomery county, Kansas, and practiced law there. After two years thus spent he went to Prescott, Arizona, where he engaged in business of a commercial nature and in mining. His next move was to California in 1872; thence he went to Puget Sound in 1875,

and he was a resident of Whatcom county till 1888, spending a part of the time, however, in California. In 1888 he went to Rochester, New York, where he remained till the fall of 1891; then he came to The Dalles, Oregon. A year later he bought a farm three miles from Lyle, which prop- erty he brought to an excellent state of cultiva- tion, then sold in 1903. This property comprised three hundred and twenty acres, and is now re- puted to be one of the best farms in the county.

Mr. Higby has been married twice. His sec- ond marriage occurred July 29, 1888, in Roches- ter, New York, Miss Mary L. Maltby being the bride. She was the daughter of Seth M. and Abigail (Grannis) Maltby, both of the old colo- nial stock of New York. Seth M. Maltby was born July 31, 1791, and died July 23, 1873. His mother's father was the redoutable Brigadier Gen- eral Seth Murray of Revolutionary war renown, who was for twenty-eight years in the service of the United States government. His forefathers were among the famous Scotch Covenanters who were driven from Scotland to America by relig- ious persecution. His father, Isaac Maltby, is known to readers of United States history as General Isaac Maltby, who commanded the Elite Brigade of Boston in the War of 1812. He him- self-S. M. Maltby-was a paymaster in that war. Abigail (Grannis ) Maltby was born in Walling- ford, Connecticut, April 11, 1800, and died in De- cember, 1846. She was of English extraction, and her forefathers were among the first settlers of colonial America. Two of Mrs. Higby's broth- ers are now living. They are: George B. Malty, of Aurora, Indiana, and John W. Maltby, of Rochester, New York. Mr. Higby's family his- tory, as will be noticed, justifies him in laying claim to being an American of the truest stock. His forefathers, as well as those of his wife, were in America when what is now the mightiest na- tion on earth consisted of a few oppressed col- onies whose strength lay not in wealth or popu- lation, but in the indomitable spirit and unflinch- ing courage of a few hundred thousand hardy colonists scattered along the Atlantic coast. These brave spirits, reckoning in the face of what was perhaps the most overwhelming odds ever con- fronted by a similarly actuated people, threw off the yoke of oppression and founded the American nation.

JOHN KURE, an energetic farmer and stock- man residing six miles northeast of Lyle in Klick- itat county, was born on Bornholm Island, Den- mark, February 6, 1861, the son of Ola Sonne and Catherine (Holm) Kure, both subjects of the Danish kingdom. Ola Kure was a farmer. He was born in Denmark in 1814 and died in the land of his nativity at the age of fifty-six. Cath- erine (Holm) Kure was born in 1830 and died at

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the age of sixty-six, having resided in Denmark all her life. John attained young manhood in Denmark, being in the city till he was fourteen years of age, after which he resided with one of his uncles on a farm for several years. At the age of twenty he came to the United States, his objective point being Ohio, and in Akron, that state, he accepted employment in a manufactur- ing establishment. After two years thus spent he came to San Francisco, where, for a time, he was employed in a restaurant. This work, however, was not entirely to Mr. Kure's liking, so he quit it and for a short time worked on a tarm in Napa county. His next move was to Klickitat county, where he arrived in 1885, and the claim he then filed on is his home today. Klickitat county, when Mr. Kure first saw it, gave little evidence of being a land of promise-unless, indeed, those promises were of Indian massacres, and pro- longed remoteness from the marts of civilization. Indians were his most frequent visitors, and, as a rule, social intercourse with the Siwash is not greatly to be desired by the white man. The squirrels ate his crops; the coyotes joined the In- dians in pillaging his hen roost, of the two being possibly the fairer-minded, since the coyote stole only what he could eat, while the Indian took all he could carry ; white neighbors were few and far between, and so steadily occupied in meeting the difficulties incident to pioneer life as to be drawn away from attention to neighborly functions. Not- withstanding all drawbacks, however, Mr. Kure began improving his land. He built fences, a house, farm buildings, managed to obtain a start in cattle, and by the employment of divers re- sources, some inherent within himself and others which he forced from his surroundings, at length succeeded in establishing a home for himself and family as comfortable as any in Klickitat county.

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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 117

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