An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 131

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 131
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 131
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 131

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

to remain, however, and they separated, Mr. Crory going to the Kimberly diamond fields. For a month after his arrival he was sick with Natal fever, but upon recovery he found the prospects in diamond mining excellent. Aus- tralians were there rewashing debris and finding, by superior methods, ten diamonds where one had been found when the dirt was first washed. Boys and girls even were making money. Mr. Crory hastily sent for his partner and the two bought a half claim, which was considered by the venders as no good, but it turned out well and for a time they made money rapidly. Even- tually, however, a boom was experienced in the diamond fields, properties going skyward in price, and Mr. Crory invested quite heavily. On one of his claims he sunk a well to avoid paying for water. Though he did well at diamond mining as far as discovering the diamonds was con- cerned, the price soon dropped so that he could only pay the royalty on his claims and he was forced to abandon them. Again he had missed it when fortune seemed in sight. The cause of all this fluctuation was that a large syndicate had been formed in London to control the diamond market and was manipulating things for its own interests.

Mr. Crory next went to Australia. He trav- eled extensively over the southern part of the island and over the New Zealand Islands, but though he liked the appearance of the country he did not find any inducements to remain, so the fall of 1876 found him again in San Francisco. He went thence to the Sound and from there started for Arizona, but when he had got as far as San Francisco he changed his mind and went instead to Canada, where he worked on the final location of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. In 1877 he started again for Arizona. Again he changed his mind, coming rather to the Yakima country, where he took up land in the Wenas valley, two hundred acres in all. He has made his home in Yakima county ever since, though his farm was sold in 1887 and the proceeds in- vested in interests around North Yakima. He also has property in Gray's Harbor.

In Yakima county, in 1878, Mr. Crory married Ellen J. Gray, a native of New Brunswick, born in 1834. She died on the 13th of August, 1897, leaving no children. In politics, Mr. Crory is an ardent Republican. His life has been an eventful one and replete with adventures, so re- plete, indeed, that if his whole story were told a fair sized and very interesting volume would be produced.

LOT DURGAN, farmer, North Yakima. was born in Vancouver, Washington, March 15, 1867. His father, Alonzo Durgan, was a native of Ohio, and crossed the Plains in 1851 with his

parents, at the age of fifteen. He located near \ ancouver, Washington, and was here married and lived there until 1870, when he came to Yakima county, and took up land. He continued to reside here until his death in 1894. He was oi Scotch and English parentage. His mother, Nancy (Dillon) Durgan, was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and crossed the Plains when three years old, with her parents. Her father was a member of the first territorial legislature in Washington. The subject of this article grew to manhood in Yakima county, and attended in addition to the public schools of the county a business college at Portland. At the age of four- teen he began to learn the trade of printer, at which he worked for four years and a half. Before his father's death he took the manage- ment of the home farm, which he has continued to operate until January, 1902, when he moved to North Yakima, his present place of residence. W. H. Johnson, of North Yakima, is a half- brother. Mr. Durgan was married in Ellensburg in 1899 to Mrs. S. J. Mabry, widow of W. H. Mabry, deceased. Her father was John Martin. She was born in Iowa and came west with her parents to Idaho, and later to Klickitat county, Washington, where she was educated and first married. Mr. Durgan is a Republican. Frater- nally, he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, Red Men and Eagles. He owns city property in North Yakima, is thoroughly identified with the country's growth and development and is one of its most worthy pioneers.

HENRY L. TUCKER, liveryman of North Yakima and ex-sheriff of Yakima county, is a pioneer of 1876. He first settled in Yakima City, where for several years he was engaged in the feed business. As soon as the townsite of North Yakima was surveyed, he established his livery barn here, and has continued in busines here ever since. He is the pioneer liveryman of Yakima county. Mr. Tucker was born in Indi- ana, February 16, 1847. His parents were Meshach and Nancy (Brown) Tucker, neither of whom are now living. His father, born in 1807, was a farmer and blacksmith, and a native of Tennessee. His mother, born in 1809, was a native of Ohio. November 8, 1862, at the age of fourteen, Mr. Tucker enlisted in company D, Forty-seventh Indiana infantry, and was at once sent to the front. He served with Grant at the siege of Vicksburg, and was also in the battles of Port Gibson, Champion Hill, Big Black river, and of Jackson, Mississippi. At the battle of Champion Hill his haversack was shot away; otherwise he escaped injury through all these engagements. He was honorably discharged at Baton Rouge, Louisiana,- October 24. 1865. He returned at once to Indiana, but in 1866 went

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to Iowa, followed stage driving two years and afterwards assisted in the construction of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, through Iowa and Nebraska. In 1871 he went to Port- land, Oregon, and from there to southwestern Washington, where he assisted in the construc- tion of the Northern Pacific Railroad from Kalama to Tacoma, continuing in the employ of the company for about six years. Coming to Yakima county in 1876, he followed prospecting for several years, locating the Gold Hill placer mines shortly after his arrival. During the early years he also engaged for some time in the lumber trade, running the first logs ever driven down the Yakima river, and operating a freight and pack train between The Dalles and Yakima City, eventually settling in the latter place. Mr. Tucker was married in Yakima City, July 9, 1883, to Miss Emma J. Leach, to which union were born a daughter and a son: Clara (Tucker) Jennett, of Seattle, born June 19, 1884, and Harry A. Tucker, born May 2, 1886. Mr. Tucker is the sixth of a family of eight children, all but three of whom are living. The names of brothers and sisters are as follows: Anderson (deceased), Sarah J. (Tucker) Holt, Minnesota; Joshua B. (deceased), Elizabeth (Tucker) Hingson . (de- ceased), Harriet A. (Tucker) Robinson, Minne- sota ; Eliza (Tucker) Niles, Nebraska, and Jasper N., of Minnesota. Mrs. Tucker has brothers and sisters as follows: John Leach and Martha Scott, of North Yakima; Horace, in Alaska; John C., in Minnesota; Sarah E. Liggett, Dora E. Bun- nell, Melissa Churchill, Frank W., Henry W., Minnie Thompson, George W., Lillie and Lottie, all of North Yakima. Henry W. Leach served through the Spanish war in the Philippines as quartermaster sergeant and, just prior to his dis- charge, was promoted to a second lieutenancy. Fraternally, Mr. Tucker is connected with the Masons, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the T. O. T. E. M. He is a stanch Repub- lican and has served four years as sheriff of the county. He has also served three terms as city councilman, refusing a fourth term on account of press of personal business. He has one of the most thoroughly equipped liveries in central Washington and also operates four stage lines out of North Yakima, two of them on daily sched- ules. Mr. Tucker is extensively interested in town property and owns and occupies one of the best residences in the city. He is public spirited and enterprising ; always active in promoting the best interests of town and community, and is esteemed as one of the most reliable and worthy citizens.

JOHN H. MILLER, farmer, fourteen miles southwest of North Yakima, first came to Wash- ington in June, 1876, on a prospecting tour, and

settled for a time at Goldendale. In May, 1879, he moved to Yakima county, where he has since lived. He was born in St. Charles county, Mis- souri, February 26, 1850, of German parents. His father, John F. Miller, came to the United States when a young man, and served through the Mex- ican war as captain, and later trapped on the Mississippi river, always being on the frontier. He died in 1863. The mother, Louise Mielkers- inan, also a native of Germany, died in 1865. At the age of eight, our subject's parents moved with him to Arkansas, and when sixteen, he went to Texas, where he farmed for a time, returning to Missouri in 1872, where he remained for two years. He then went to California, and after a year moved to Oregon, later, as narrated, settling in Washington. He ranched on the Yakima river for a time for Phelps & Wadley, and they fail- ing, he ran the place for Ben Snipes. At this time he took up a ranch west of North Yakima, which he owned for ten years, but failing to secure artesian water, he sold it and moved to the Ahtanum valley, where he has since lived. He was married in 1884 to Mary Belts, daughter of Daniel and Caroline (Velecks) Belts, both na- tives of Pennsylvania. The former was a pioneer of forty-nine on the Pacific coast, and was drowned while in Oregon. After her husband's

death the mother married John L. Morrison in Illinois. In 1877 they came west to Oregon, Mrs. Miller accompanying her stepfather and mother, the latter dying the same year in Oregon. Mrs. Miller was born in Illinois, October 15, 1849, the same year her father crossed the Plains, and she never saw him. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have two children, Minnie W., now deceased, and Cora C., born August 4, 1888. Mr. Miller is a Republican and a member of the fraternal order of Yeomen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

JOSIAH H. MORRISON, farmer, and for twenty-three years a resident of Yakima county, lives on the Ahtanum, ten miles west and four south of North Yakima, where he is engaged in raising stock, hay and fruit. He is a native of Illinois, born March 16, 1865. His father, John L. Morrison, a leading farmer of this county, was born in Illinois and crossed the Plains in 1877 to Oregon, and in 1880 came to Yakima county, and is now living in Ahtanum valley. The mother, Caroline (Velecks) Morrison, was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Illinois, where she was united in marriage to her first husband, Daniel Belts, who later met his death by drowning, in Oregon. She ten years later mar- ried John L. Morrison. Her second husband moved to Oregon in 1877, shortly after the death of his wife. Our subject came with his parents to Or- egon when ten years of age, and three years later came with them to Yakima county. At the age of sixteen he began to ride the range, herding stock,

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and followed this for six years. He then went to work at the carpenter trade, which he followed for some six years, still returning to the range occasion- ally. In 1894, he bought a farm of one hundred acres and moved onto it. He now has it largely under cultivation, with ten acres in orchard. He was married in the Ahtanum valley January I, 1894, to Carrie L. Minner, daughter of William H. and Harriet (Shamp) Minner. The father was a native of Iowa and a veteran of the Civil war. He moved to Oregon in 1864, after his discharge from the army and in 1876 came to the Ahtanum valley, where he still lives. The mother was born in Ohio of Pennsylvania Dutch parents. Mrs. Morrison was born in Oregon in 1869, and came to this state when eight years of age. She has five living brothers and sisters: Julian E. Minner, Jennie Lisle, Lida Crosna and Nellie Clater. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison have four children : Lester, born October 1, 1884; Gerald, born July 22, 1887; Pru- dence, born September 19, 1898, and Minnie, born February 28, 1903. Mr. Morrison is an active Dem- ocrat. He is also counted a good citizen and neighbor and a man of integrity.

ORBIN F. NOBLE, a farmer living near North Yakima, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1848, to the marriage of George W. and Eliza (Cerplus) Noble. The father, a native of Maine, was born in 1818, and followed mercantile pursuits. He immi- grated to Ohio when a young man and was there married, but at a later date he moved to Illinois and then to Iowa, where he died. The mother was born in Ohio to Irish parents. She is still living in Iowa. Our subject moved to Iowa with his parents when a small boy, and there grew to young manhood and received his education. He began working out at the age of sixteen, and four years later entered the employ of the railroad company, remaining so occu- pied for ten years, through the states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, California and Arizona. In 1888, he came to Washington and engaged in farming, which business he has pursued successfully ever since. Three years ago he pur- chased his present farm of forty acres, principally seeded to grass, and engaged in the dairy business. He was married in this state in 1889 to Mrs. Lois Shaffer, a native of Switzerland, born in 1868. Coming to the United States with her parents when a very small child, she became a resident of Illinois, where she was first married. Her first husband was, however, killed in an accident shortly after his mar- riage. Her father, Beauty Coffer, was a black- smith, born in Switzerland. Mr. and Mrs. Noble's children are: Minnie, Howard and Ida L., the first two born in King county and the latter in Yakima. Fraternally, Mr. Noble is associated with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and Masonic orders, and his wife with the Eastern Star. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church,

and Mr. Noble belongs to the Republican party. Mr. Noble is conducting a very successful farming and dairy business.

ERNEST W. FRENCH, farmer and dairyman on the Ahtanum, was born in Massachusetts, Sep- tember 24, 1863. His father, a ship carpenter, was born in the Bay state in 1841, being a direct de- scendant of the noted Winslow family of that.state. He followed engineering for several years, running ships and tugboats. Adelaide (Phillips) French, the mother, was born in Massachusetts in 1844, and still lives in this state. She traces her ancestry back to the Staples family of the early times in her na- tive state. Our subject attended school in his na- tive state until seventeen, when he engaged to learn the trade of machinist, serving an apprenticeship of three years. In 1883 he went to Texas, and from there to St. Louis, working at his trade, overhauling and repairing the presses of the Globe-Democrat while there. He then went to Omaha, from there came west and engaged in the construction work of the Oregon Short Line, in Oregon. At the end of a year he went to the Puget Sound country and lo- cated on Hood's Canal, where he remained until 1889, going from there to Mason county, where he bought a ranch and farmed until 1900. He then came to Yakima county and bought a farm in Park- er's Bottom, and, two years later, bought his present farm on the Ahtanum. He was married in Seattle, in 1888, to Miss Ida M. Troutman, a native of Illi- nois, who had come to Washington with her parents the same year. Her father and mother are Daniel and Lucy (Townsend) Troutman, the former a real estate dealer, and both natives of Indiana. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. French have been born four children: Arthur D., Edward A., George W. and Ernest O. Mr. and Mrs. French are active mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is fraternally associated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, while politically, he affiliates with the Republican party.

JESSE W. REYNOLDS, who resides on his farm nine and one-half miles west, and two and one- half miles south, of North Yakima, came to Yakima county October 24, 1884, and settled in the Ahta- num. He was born in Missouri in 1838, to the mar- riage of David and Mary (Kelly) Reynolds. The father was a Missouri pioneer, settling in that state in 1834, and came of Holland and French stock. He was born in Tennessee in 1797, and died in 1870. The mother was a native of Tennessee and lived to the ripe old age of ninety years and six months ; she was the mother of eight children. The subject of this biography grew to manhood on the farm in Mis- souri, gaining what education the common schools of his district afforded. At the age of twenty-two he volunteered in the three months' service under

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Captain Abernathy, at the end of which time sick- ness prevented his further service. On his recovery he engaged in farming; later took charge of the home place, which he conducted until his father's death in 1876. He then went to Kansas for a year, and from there crossed the Plains to Oregon in 1877, locating in Union county, where he followed farm- ing and dairying for seven years. In 1884 he came to this county, renting a farm in the Ahtanum coun- try for a year, and later living on the Cowiche for eight years, when he purchased his present place. Here he has since lived, farming and raising stock. He was married in Greene county, Missouri, in 1867, to Miss Susan Garrett, daughter of William D. and Elizabeth ( Dutton) Garrett, the former a farmer and native of New Jersey, and the latter a native of Ohio. Mrs. Reynolds was born in Mis- souri in 1844, where she was raised and educated. To her union with Mr. Reynolds have been born the following children: Mrs. Mary Milborne, Mrs. Bertha J. O'Neil, John F., David D., Franklin D., William M., Mrs. Amy F. Fear, Sarah E., and Jessie F. Politically, Mr. Reynolds affiliates with the Republican party. He owns two hundred and forty acres of land and considerable stock, and is prospering.

ELMER B. MARKS, farmer and stockman, was born in Linn county, Oregon, September 18, 1870, from the marriage of John P. and Ellen ( Wil- liams) Marks, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Illinois, and both pioneers in Oregon, to which country they traveled in teams in 1853 and 1845, respectively, with their parents, and where they were united in marriage in 1867. The mother died in Yakima county in 1891, and the father now lives in the Ahtanum valley, a well-to-do and re- spected farmer and stockman. He served two terms as superintendent of education of Yakima county. Our subject's parents moved from Oregon to Yak- ima county when he was one year of age, and here he has grown up and lived since, receiving his ed- ucation in the common schools, with a course in the Empire business college at Walla Walla. On his return from Walla Walla he engaged in the butcher business at North Yakima, but selling this out in a short time, he and his brother Charles went to Weiser, Idaho, where he remained three years, then went to Oregon for a few months and returned home to the Ahtanum in the fall of 1896. He put in one year on a rented farm, and then went to work for his father on the farm, at the same time buying stock for himself, which he continued to increase as best he could. In 1898, he and his brother bought stock together and became interested in ten and one- half sections of grazing land, on which they ranged their cattle, besides considerable other land. He was married in Yakima county in May, 1899, to Miss Myrtle Morrison, daughter of James W. and Mattie (Good) Morrison. Her father is a farmer and na-

tive of Missouri, who crossed the Plains to Oregon in 1874, and six years later came to Yakima county. The mother is a native of North Carolina. Mrs. Marks is a native of Yakima county, where she was born February 13, 1881, and was educated in the academy. Her brothers and sisters are Wallace, Mrs. Maud Garrison, Edna, Chester, Ethel and Warren. To their union Mr. and Mrs. Marks have had two children born : John P., Jr., and Gladys H. Mr. Marks is a Democrat and a member of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. In their church relations the husband is a Congregationalist and the wife a member of the Christian church. Mr. Marks is a highly esteemed citizen.

WEBSTER L. STABLER. Among the early pioneers of Yakima county who have had a hand in the experiences of those primitive days as well as in the later developments and progress of this now populous county, the name of Webster L. Stabler should appear. Born in 1832 in the Keystone state. his parents moved with him at the age of five to the then wild western country of Illinois. Here he was reared amid the border scenes of that state until he had reached the age of twenty, acquiring his education in the log cabin schoolhouse and develop- ing muscle and hardihood in the various duties re- quired about the home. In 1852, when but twenty, he started from Morgan county, Illinois, with ox teams, to cross the wide expanse of prairie, desert and mountains, a path beset with dangers of floods and Indians on the one hand and privation and ex- posure on the other. He reached Portland, his des- tination, on October 8, 1852, at the end of a six months' journey, and, after wintering there, he took a pre-emption claim in the spring, just across from Vancouver on the Oregon side of the line, where he engaged in farming and stock raising until 1864, when he went to the Salmon river mines in Idaho, where he mined and ran a pack-train into the Boise mines, in partnership with A. J. Bean. He later re- turned to his ranch near Vancouver, and was mar- ried to Miss Melinda S. Hayden, February 22, 1864. In 1868 he bought a bunch of cattle and drove them to Yakima county, taking up a claim in the Ahtanum valley and putting up hay for his stock. He then returned to his place in Oregon, leaving a man in charge of the new ranch. In the spring of 1869, he returned and filed on the land, which has never since changed hands nor had a mortgage on it. His wife died in Vancouver, Washington, August 7, 1869, before he got his effects moved to his present home. Her father, Gay Hayden, was a native of New York, and crossed the Plains to Oregon in 1850, settling near Vancouver. In 1882, Mr. Stabler was united in marriage to Mrs., Harriet Millican; to which union were born two children : Gay, born September 17, 1883, and Lewis, August 17, 1887. Mr. Stabler is an active Republican, and in 1890 was appointed Indian agent at Fort Simcoe, but resigned after

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holding the position for a year and a half, preferring to attend to his ranch and stock rather than pose as an office holder. He owns a fine ranch of one hun- dred and sixty acres, and makes a specialty of breed- ing Shorthorn and Holstein cattle, of which he owns some fine specimens. Mr. Stabler is recognized as an enterprising, public-spirited citizen and a good neighbor.

MRS. MARY SIMPSON. In pioneering in new countries, where deprivations and exposures are suffered alike by all members of the family, as in war times, when the husband is called to the front, and the patient, enduring wife is left at home to en- dure the cares of the family and the mental anguish and continued suspense of uncertainty, who is there to sing of her heroism or record her deeds of self- denial? Few, far too few, historians deal fairly, if at all, with this class of pioneers. Among the pio- neers of Yakima county, Mrs. Mary Simpson is cer- tainly entitled to a place in the annals of its develop- ment. She was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1839, from the union of Willis and Sarah (Tarman) Northcutt. Her father was born in Ohio in 1803 from pioneer parents. He was a lawyer by profes- sion and was educated in Columbus. He crossed the Plains to California in 1850, and, after mining there for some time, moved to Oregon, where he was joined by his family in 1855. The mother was born in Ohio, in 1805, and was married at the age of twenty. She traveled from Illinois to Oregon in an ox-train to join her husband. Mrs. Simpson, when sixteen, came with her mother across the Plains, to Morrow county, Oregon, and four years later was united in marriage to James B. Simpson. They con- tinued to live in Oregon until 1870, when they moved to Yakima county and took up the place where she now resides. Her husband, James B. Simpson, was born in Franklin county, Missouri, in 1828, and went to California in 1850, and, after mining until 1862 went to Oregon, where he met his wife and married her. He died in Yakima county in 1896. To this marriage were born the following children : Alice Angeline, now living at Fort Sim- coe, where she has been in the employ of the gov- ernment as teacher in the Indian school for the past twelve years; Alma Solomon, California; Jemima Gallager, also a teacher for several years at Fort Simcoe; Nettie Swanson, Everett, and William, at home. Mrs. Simpson is a member of the Christian church. Her husband was a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. She owns the old homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, well im- proved, with eighty acres in alfalfa. ten acres in hops, and the remainder pasture land. Her son, William, is running the farm for her.

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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 131

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