An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 126

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 126
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 126
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 126

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who has done much for his section and shows his faith in that region by owning a quarter section of fine land, he is justly entitled to be counted among the substantial men of his county.

WILLIAM P. GUTHRIE, of the law firm of Jones & Guthrie, North Yakima, is one of the leading lawyers of central Washington and pros- ecuting attorney of Yakima county. Though still a young man, he has attained prominence in his chosen profession, become a captain in the polit- ical affairs of Washington and acquired a goodly holding of valuable property. Bethany, Illinois, is his birthplace, the date of his birth being July II, 1870, and his parents being David and Phoebe (McKay) Guthrie, the former born in Kentucky in 1837, the latter in Pennsylvania in 1835. His father served through the Civil war in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois infantry, being in the Fifteenth Army Corps, under General Logan, participated in Sherman's march to the sea and was severely wounded at the battle of Atlanta. He is living in Illinois, where he has resided for more than fifty-eight years. His grandfather served as United States Treasurer under President Lincoln and his American an- cestors came to this country in the historic May- flower. William P. was educated and has lived the greater part of his life in Illinois, where he was graduated with a degree of B. S. by the Southern Illinois College and by the law school at Bloomington. He was admitted to practice by the Illinois supreme court in the year 1895, and pursued his profession, in that state until 1897, when he came to Washington, arriving in North Yakima August 23, 1897, and entered into part- nership with his half-brother, Wesley L. Jones, with whom he is now associated. August 15, 1897, Mr. Guthrie and Miss Nellie Robinson, daughter of George and Cynthia (Robinson) Robinson, of Evansville, Indiana, were united in marriage, and to this union has come one child, Iris, born during 1902. Mr. Robinson, deceased, was a prominent business man in Evansville. Mr. Guthrie has one sister, Mrs. Barbara Colman, living in Illinois, and two half-brothers, Wesley L. Jones and C. A. Jones, the latter being a resi- dent of Sunnyside. Mrs. Guthrie is a member of the North Yakima Methodist Episcopal church, in which she is an active worker. Fraternal or- ders to the number of five claim Mr. Guthrie's membership and attention, namely, the Masons, Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen, Elks and the Woodmen of the World, in all of which he is active. But it is in political affairs that Mr. Guthrie has best shown his ability to lead men and in which his prominence has been greatest, though not meaning by this statement to lessen the standing he has gained as a disciple of Black- stone. The year after he was graduated into the

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practice of law, he was signally honored by the Republicans of Piatt, Moultrie and Shelby coun- ties, Illinois, who nominated him as their candi- date for district attorney. That was in 1896, a year unparalleled in the history of the nation in the intensity of the campaign waged. Notwith- standing the fact that Bryan carried these three counties by over six hundred votes, young Guth- rie was defeated by only eleven, clearly demon- strating his popularity. In Illinois, also, he served two terms as chairman of the congres- sional committee of the Eighteenth district, was an alternate delegate to the St. Louis convention in 1896, acted as chairman of the county com- mitteee at home for four years, and was one of the state committee for a time. Shortly after his arrival in Yakima county he was recognized by being appointed secretary of the Republican county committee, and in 1900 was elected prose- cuting attorney of his district, defeating his Democratic opponent, E. B. Preble, by two hun- dred and eighty votes. In 1902 he repeated his success, being re-elected by a majority of seven hundred and eighty votes, a greater demonstra- tion than before of his popularity in the new home he chose in 1897. He takes an active part as a speaker in all campaigns and was one of the Re- publican state orators in 1898. His half-brother and law partner is now serving his third term as one of Washington's representatives in congress. Mr. Guthrie is the owner of two hundred acres of farming land near Sunnyside, all but forty acres being in alfalfa, is interested in city prop- erty, and possesses a third share in the town- site of Prosser.

HUGH K. SINCLAIR is a retired stockman and banker. It is with mingled feelings of justice and pleasure that we accord the citizen whose name stands at the commencement of this article a place among these chronicles, for he has won such recognition by braving the vicissitudes of pioneer life in central Washington, energetically grasping the opportunities presented him and manfully bearing the burdens entailed by public- spirited citizenship. The date of his birth was 1840, and his birthplace was the far-away penin- sula of Nova Scotia, to which his father came from Scotland when but a lad of eighteen and where also his mother was born, to Scotch parents. There, too, his father and mother lived and died. Until he was sixteen years old Hugh remained at home, but when he had attained that age he entered the machine shops in Guysboro county and for the next thirteen years worked 1s a mechanic under the most skilled artisans in the country. The time came, however, when the great opportunities presented by the West ap- pealed to him so strongly that he determined to try stock raising on its grassy plains. With this 36

idea in view he arrived in Yakima valley Novem- ber 22, 1879, and straightway settled upon a homestead in the Naches valley. Subsequently he bought an adjoining quarter section, and on this ranch, comprising half a section of fine farni- ing land, he lived until 1891, successfully follow- ing the lucrative business of raising cattle and horses. Hardly had he arrived in the country before the execution of the Perkins murderers took place at Yakima City, an event which is very vividly recalled by all citizens living in the county at that time. The old rifle Mr. Sinclair was given by the territory for use against possible hostile Indians he still owns and values very highly. Among Mr. Sinclair's neighbors on the Naches valley farm, which is managed by his son. business of stock raising, were Judge J. B. Nel- son, James M. Kincaid, Russell Lowry, Lize Denton and James Glead. In 1891 Mr. Sinclair removed to North Yakima, that his family might enjoy better social and educational advantages, and there he has remained, still retaining his Naches valley farm, which is managed by his son. A portion of this land has been in hay for twenty- two years without having been plowed or fertil- ized during that time, only one illustration, says Mr. Sinclair, of the fact that the Yakima country is the finest under the sun. The month of Feb- ruary, 1864, is the date of Mr. Sinclair's marriage in Nova Scotia to Frances Bishop, a native of that country and the daughter of parents who were born in New England. The father was a carriage maker. Mrs. Sinclair has two brothers: John, now sheriff of Fresno county, California, and George, a bridge builder on the Southern Pacific railroad. Mr. Sinclair has one sister, Mrs. Isabella McPhee, a resident of Yakima county. To Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair have been born four children, two of whom are living: Mrs. Clara Sloan and Alfred H., residing in Yakima county ; and two dead, Mrs. Harry Coonse and Edgar J. Both, Mr. Sinclair and his wife 'are active ment- bers of the Presbyterian church in North Yakima, he being an elder. Although he has been an active and influential Republican, he has steadily refused to accept political preferment at the hands of his friends. For many years Mr. Sinclair served as a member of the North Yakima city council. In educational matters, he has al- ways been deeply interested, and has served on both country and city school boards, with honor to himself and benefit to the schools. Until quite recently Mr. Sinclair was vice-president of the Yakima National Bank, which stands third among the banking institutions of the state as to earnings, and in this business still has much of his money invested, and exercises a power in the bank's policies. The generosity and congenial qualities of Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair have won for them a host of loyal friends, and as a pioneer, pro- gressive citizen and a man of sterling integrity

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and worth the husband and father is recognized as one of the leaders in his county.

FRANKLIN J. KANDLE. Comparatively few men in middle life can claim as their birthplace the renowned Evergreen state, but the distinction of being able to do so belongs to him whose name forms the caption of this article. To him also be- longs the higher honor of having so lived as to re- flect credit upon the young commonwealth whose birth was almost contemporaneous with his own. As was natural in a country blessed with so many undeveloped resources, Mr. Kandle early turned his attention to the task of appropriating and developing the elements of wealth which lay in profusion around him, and in this he has achieved a very en- viable success, at the same time winning what is far more valuable, a standing in his community such as comes to none but persons of sterling integrity and worth.

Mr. Kandle was born at Tumwater, Washing- ton, on the 17th of November, 1855. The circum- stances of his birth are rather peculiar. His par- ents, with their neighbors from a wide section of the country, were refugees in a stockade constructed by their own hands as a protection against the In- dians, who at that time were on the war-path, for the storm of war was then raging in many parts of the west. Henry Kandle, the father of our subject, had come to Portland, Oregon, then a mere hamlet, in 1851, and had later moved to Thurston county and taken up a donation land claim. A native of New Jersey, he had moved as a boy to Indiana, where he grew to manhood and married and whence he had come over the wide plains and precipitous mountains to the Pacific coast. In 1861 he moved to Yelm Prairie, but some time later he became a resident of Pierce county, which he served as com- missioner for several years. His wife, the mother of Franklin J., whose maiden name was Margaret Hill, was born in Ireland and came to the United States when about twenty-one years old. Shortly after her arrival she united her fortunes with those of Henry Kandle, with whom, as his brave help- meet, she endured the hardships and dangers of life on the Plains and in a new and sparsely settled country.

Until the 26th of June, 1879, our subject re- mained at home with his parents, and then moved to Yakima county, where he secured a pre-emption and later a homestead on the Wenas. To the im- provement of this home he has ever since devoted himself, reducing the stubborn soil to a high state of cultivation and making his place comfortable and convenient by the erection of splendid buildings. But the original homestead and pre-emption, though of generous proportions, were not a large enough sphere for the activities and energy of Mr. Kandle, so he has added to his original holdings from time to time until he now has twenty-four hundred acres

of land. Even this is not enough and he leases an amount almost as large, devoting the whole to agri- culture and the pasturing of his stock. He is a lover of blooded cattle and has a herd of Durhams which would delight the eye of any connoisseur in fine stock. But Mr. Kandle finds time, despite all the demands which his extensive farming and stock raising interests must make upon him, to devote to the interests of the public. A Republican in politics, he not only does his share in conventions and cau- cuses, but he watches with a vigilant eye all mat- ters of local or state and even those of national con- cern. . At present he is serving as county commis- sioner of Yakima county, a position which he has held six years in all, his first election being in 1890.

Mr. Kandle was married in 1883, the lady being Ida R., daughter of Jacob and Myra Green, the for- mer of whom as a farmer and an esteemed pioneer of Yakima county, but is now deceased. Mrs. Green, the mother, was a native of Louisiana and is at present a resident of Pierce county, this state. Mrs. Kandle was born in Illinois in 1860, and after a residence of several years there and in Kansas came with her parents to Yakima county in 1879. She has one sister, Mrs. May Pollard, living in the Wenas valley, and Mr. Kandle has three living brothers : Robert, in the Wenas, George, in Tacoma, and William, in Pierce county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kandle are Emma M., Leona F. and Norris H., all natives of Yakima county.

HONORABLE HENRY JOSEPH SNIVELY. One of the leading attorneys of central Washington who has made for himself a name worthy of record in professional and in political life is Henry J. Snively of North Yakima. He is the only son of Ambrose and Elizabeth (Harritt) Snively, and was born in Virginia, August 17, 1856. His father was a contractor and builder, a native of Germany. He came to the United States with his parents when six years old, the family first locating in Maryland, afterwards removing to Virginia. He is now living in West Virginia. His wife, the mother of the North Yakima attorney, was a native of Pennsyl- vania, of English and Scotch parentage. Following the usual common school course of study, Mr. Snively was graduated in 1877 from the classical course of the University of West Virginia. Two years later, in 1879, at the age of twenty-three, he was graduated from the law department of the Uni- versity of Virginia at Charlottesville. Shortly after graduation he opened a law office in Grafton, West Virginia, and there practiced his profession with marked success until 1886, when he came to the ter- ritory of Washington, locating at North Yakima. Almost immediately upon his settlement here he was accorded prominent recognition by the local Democ- racy and, in the fall of the same year, was nomi- nated by that party for the office of district attorney, the district including Yakima and Kittitas counties.

HENRY J. SNIVELY.

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

He was elected by a large majority, his opponent being Honorable C. B. Graves, afterwards judge of the district court. In 1888 he was re-elected to the same office, his opponent in this campaign being Walter M. Milroy. In each of these elections he was the only successful candidate on the Democratic ticket. While serving as district attorney he was appointed by Governor Semple as a member of the code commission, created to formulate a code of laws for the territory. He took an active part in this work, the arduous task being completed about the time Washington was admitted to statchood. Under the direction of the first state legislature the code was revised by W. Lair Hill and the laws made to conform to the state constitution. The compilation afterwards became known as the Hill Code. In 1890 Mr. Snively was the Democratic candidate for attorney general, but was defeated with his party. In 1891, as Democratic candidate for representative from Yakima county, he was, for the third time in his political career, the only successful party nomi- nee at the elections. In June, 1892, he was chosen in state convention as delegate to the National Dem- ocratic Convention at Chicago and had the honor, at the request of the national campaign manager, to second the nomination of Grover Cleveland for pres- ident. In August, 1892, he was nominated as can- didate for governor of Washington. In the elec- tion following he was defeated with the balance of the ticket, but ran five thousand votes ahead of his fellow candidates, his opponent, John H. McGraw, being elected by only a few hundred plurality. In 1897 he was appointed by Governor John R. Rogers as a member of the state board of control, having the management of all the state institutions except the university and the agricultural college. On this board he served with distinction for four years. Since 1900 he has devoted his time almost exclu- sively to his extensive law practice.

Mr. Snively was married in Grafton, West Vir- ginia, to Miss Elizabeth H. Martin, daughter of Luther and Anna M. (Harrison) Martin, the for- mer a lumberman and a native of Virginia, and the latter a native of the District of Columbia and a descendant of the James river Harrisons. Mrs. Snively was born in Virginia in 1858 and was edu- cated in the Pittsburg Female College. Mr. and Mrs. Snively have two daughters and one son. Janie M. was born in Grafton, West Virginia, Jan- uary 22, 1883 ; Jessie H., in Grafton, July 30, 1885 ; Henry J. Snively, Junior, in North Yakima, Janu- ary 25, 1890. The family attends the Episcopal church. The family residence was built in 1888 by Colonel Howlett and afterwards purchased by Mr. Snively. It has lately been remodeled and, in its modern appointments, is one of the most complete and desirable homes in the city. Mrs. Snively is prominent in church and social circles and Mr. and Mrs. Snively are greatly esteemed by a very large circle of personal friends and acquaintances.

JOHN CLEMAN is a farmer and stock raiser whose home is eight and one-half miles north of North Yakima, Washington. He was born in Linn county, Oregon, July 29, 1855, and was the son of Auguston and Rebecca Anna (Griffith) Cleman. His father was one of the first settlers in this terri- tory and died in 1882. Mr. Cleman attended school in Oregon and when ten years old came to Yakima county and attended school here until he was eighteen years old. He worked for his father until he was twenty-one and then engaged with J. B. Huntington in the stock business. Later he spent four years with the stock firm of Phelps & Wad- leigh1. He borrowed capital and engaged in that business alone and has continued the business with considerable success. He was married March 9, 1884, to Mary Kershaw, who was born in Beaver, Utah, September 30, 1864. She was the daughter of Robert and Mary (Harrison) Kershaw, both na- tives of England. Her brothers and sisters were: William, now dead; Robert, Samuel, Emma, Ed- ward, Alice, now dead, and James. Mr. Cleman's brothers and sisters are: Caroline Wagnen, a widow; Ruth Pressy, Olive Sanders, Flora Small, Rosie Olsen, Jacob and Perry Cleman.

Mr. Cleman is the father of two children, Ed- ward, born December 24, 1884, and Frederick, born July 20, 1887. He is a Mason and Elk and is a Re- publican. He was elected county commissioner in 1888 but resigned in 1889 and was elected to the state legistlature as representative. He was a dele- gate to the National Republican Convention in 1892. He owns about twenty-two thousand acres of land, of which about seventeen thousand acres is in Yaki- ma county. He has 400 head of horses and mules, sixty head of cattle and two thousand sheep, a good farm house and three barns which hold one thousand tons of hay. He is well esteemed and highly re- spected by all who know him.

BETHENIA ANGELINE OWENS-ADAIR, M. D., the second daughter of Thomas and Sarah Owens, was born in Van Buren county, Missouri, February 7, 1840. Her parents crossed the Plains in the first emigration of 1843 to Clatsop Plains, Oregon, bringing their small, delicate looking, nerv- ous and sensitive child with them. One seeing her then could hardly be made to believe that so much constitutional vitality and power of endurance could be locked up in so frail-looking a frame, but she was blessed with an exceptionally good heredity, and her subsequent career proved that she had within her a full share of the unyielding granite of both character and constitution which characterized her ancestors. Her grandfather, Owens, was a leader in the world of finance, while her grandfather, Damron, distin- guished himself for conspicuous daring and re- sourcefulness in the wars with the Shawnee and Delaware Indians. For one heroic act, the rescuing of a mother and five children from the blood-thirsty

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savages, he received from the United States govern- ment a splendid, silver-mounted rifle worth $300.

Bethenia's mother was in all respects a worthy daughter of her noble sire, while her father was a stalwart Kentuckian, who first as deputy sheriff, and then during his long experience as sheriff of Pike county, Kentucky, won the reputation of being afraid of neither man nor devil.

The blood of a worthy ancestry early showed its power in young Bethenia. Her long journey over plain and mountain to the far west developed a love for a free, untrammeled, outdoor life, and an utter distaste for domestic duties and the confinement of the house. Her mother may have been just a little disappointed at this evident boyishness, but her father evinced much pride in the boldness of lier spirit, plainly enjoying the manifestations of his own dauntless nature as reproduced in his child. Bethenia was very fond of animals, especially the horse. As soon as she could reach to a pony's mane, she could mount unaided, for she had a cat-like ability to climb, and once on the animal's back she could han- dle him with the skill and adroitness of a wild In- dian. Her peculiar character was brought into bold relief by contrast with her queenly sister, Diana, whose tall, slender, graceful form caused her to be styled "the beauty of Clatsop Plains." But Bethe- nia's daring and spirit were just what she needed for the career that was before her. At a very early age, she began to rebel against the limitations imposed upon her sex and her entire subsequent life has been a protest against the fetters of womanhood. Slie has lived to see many gyves stricken from their wrists and ankles, and enjoys not a little the con- sciousness that in the evolution of the "new wom- an" she has had a not inconspicuous part.

Bethenia Owens led her wild, untrammeled life, following without restraint the dictates of her own sweet will, until twelve years old, when a teacher came to Clatsop Plains and slie was sent for initia- tion into the world of letters. She has many pleas- ant memories of that first school. It was taught under difficulties, books, blackboards, etc., being ex- ceedingly scarce. The teacher, whose name was Beauford, was a handsome young man, always re- served in his intercourse with the other young peo- ple and so particular about his personal appearance that he received the sobriquets of "Slicky" and "Dandy." But with the children of his charge he was a universal favorite. Bethenia was especially fond of him for he taught her to jump, throw the lariat, spring onto a horse's back and perform with dexterity many other feats of western chivalry. One day at a picnic the taunts of the young men of Clatsop Plains about his white hands drew from Mr. Beauford an offer to wager all he possessed against a like amount that he could dig, measure and pit more potatoes than any of them. The challenge was accepted, the terms finally agreed upon being that the pedagogue was to dig, measure and place in three piles sixty bushels of potatoes in a day of ten

hours, he to select his own potato patch. "Upon the day appointed," says Mrs. Adair, "everybody was present, white men and Indians, and women and children of both races. Beauford removed his coat and vest, took off his long, blue, silk, Spanish scarf, loosened his leather belt (suspenders were not worn in those days) removed his boots, put on a pair of handsome beaded moccasins, drew a pair of soft buckskin gloves over his delicate, white hands, then, taking a light hoe from which part of the handle had been sawed, stepped to the middle of the field . and awaited the signal to proceed. When the time- keeper announced the hour of starting, he bowed gracefully to the company and attacked a large hill of potatoes. In an incredibly short time the half bushel was full and with two or three long bounds it was empty again. For about three hours, the tellers were kept busy counting the half bushels, then the wiry schoolmaster slackened his pace and joked pleasantly with the bystanders, but long be- fore the ten hours were passed, the sixty bushels were in the three piles."

Next year Mr. Owens moved to the Umpqua valley, settling near Roseburg. Less than a twelve- month later, Bethenia, then only fourteen years of age, immature in judgment and uneducated, fol- lowed the custom which was at that time in vogue. May 4, 1854, she became the wife of one who had worked on her father's farm and was among those who had lost the wager with the school teacher, Lagrand Hill. As might have been expected, the union did not prove happy, and four years later a separation took place. It was then that Bethenia, enfeebled in health, penniless, and with a two-year- old baby in her arms, began the real upward climb. For a while she remained at her father's home, but with returning bodily vigor came an overwhelming desire for an education and a larger life. Over- ruling her father, who wished her to remain with him, she began seeking all sorts of employment, even washing, that she might support herself and child and enjoy at the same time the benefits of the Roseburg schools. By working from five in the morning until far into the night she was able to accomplish this herculean task. After completing a three-month term, she returned to her old home at Clatsop Plains, but before doing so she brought suit for divorce from her husband, the custody of her son and the right to resume her maiden name. The case was vigorously contested on account of the child, but S. F. Chadwick, who represented her in the trial, succeeded in getting a decree from the court, giving her all she sought. Thirty years later, when Mr. Chadwick was the honored governor of Oregon and Dr. Owens-Adair was, by special in- vitation, a guest in his home, he died very suddenly, despite the utmost exertions and timely presence of this by that time skillful and learned physician.

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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 126

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