An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 151

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 151
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 151
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 151

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).

end in view will take charge of his ranch, now under lease, as soon as the lease expires this year. His property interests consist of this ranch, which is all under water, and mining property in the Yukon region.

In 1874 Mr. Martineau was united in marriage to Martha Tieo, a native of Oregon City, whose parents were Cowlipe Tieo, a native of the Sand- wich Islands, and Ticashara ( Winner) Tieo, a mem- ber of The Dalles tribe of Columbia River Indians. Mrs. Martineau is a sister of Alex Tieo, Indian fore- man of the new government ditch being built near Wapato. Captain Martineau is a member of the Sailors and Masters' Association of America. The captain is a man of ability and is an excellent rep- resentative of the old school of Northwestern pio- neers whose courage, energy and perseverance have made it possible to reclaim the Pacific coast of America from its original wild condition and place the stamp of civilization upon it.

HORACE MARK GILBERT, of the firm of Richey & Gilbert, at Toppenish, and general man- ager of the extensive business carried on by that strong company, is one of Yakima county's leading business men and citizens-a man who has won the place he occupies through sheer merit alone. He is a native of Geneseo, Illinois, where he was born October 22, 1862, to the union of Nathaniel C. and Francelia (Amsden) Gilbert. The father was born in New York Feb- ruary 10, 1834, and is a descendant of a pioneer American family bearing that name. His mother was related to Nathanael Greene, from whom is taken the name Nathaniel. Early in life Na- thaniel C. Gilbert settled in Illinois, where he is still living, and where he has attained to promi- nence and affluence. The mother was born Sep- tember 7, 1840, and traces her ancestry back to James Otis, a pioneer Bostonian.

Horace Gilbert has spent the major portion of his life in Illinois, not having come west until 1897. In his native state he secured a thorough public school education, after which he received, in 1885, an A. B. degree from Knox college, and subsequently was honored by an A. M. degree. He was reared on his father's farm and after finishing his education, continued to devote his attention to farming, managing his father's four hundred-acre place on shares. As this was the best farm in the county, the successful manage- ment of it is a tribute to Mr. Gilbert's skill in that line. He also operated extensively in cat- tle, sheep and hogs. However, in November, 1897, he sold his interests and immigrated to North Yakima. His first purchase of land in the Yakima valley was a twenty-acre tract a mile west of town. This he bought for eighty dollars an acre. He has improved the land and has made

666

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

there a delightful and comfortable home. In 1899 he began operations at Toppenish, organ- izing the Richey & Gilbert Company, composed of James Richey, F. A. Hall, Clyde Richey and himself. This firm has leased and cleared 2,000 acres adjoining the town of Toppenish and for a long time has furnished the Northern Pacific approximately sixty cars per month of hay, pota- toes, grain, fruit, stock, etc., for shipment. It is one of the largest concerns of its kind in central Washington.

Marion H. Richey, a daughter of James and Anna (Hamilton) Richey, was united in mar- riage to Mr. Gilbert, February 15, 1893, in Illi- nois. She is a native of La Salle county, and after being graduated by Knox college in the same class of which her husband was a member, taught school several years in the Peoria public schools. Her father was born in Ohio, 1829, and was brought to Illinois by his parents the year following. He was a successful farmer of Illi- nois during most of his life, coming to North Yakima in 1899. There he died December 13, 1903. Her mother is still living. The Gilbert home has been blessed by six children, the oldest of whom is ten years of age: Curtiss Richey, Marion Lois, Elon James, Guida Margaret, Hor- ace Nathaniel and Dorothy Irene. Both husband and wife are members of the Congregational church, Mr. Gilbert being a deacon. All his life Mr. Gilbert has been a public-spirited citizen and a man of influence among his fellow men. In Illinois he was elected president of the State Farmers' Alliance and received the nomination for representative in congress on an independent ticket. In the campaign which followed he made a strong canvass and. although defeated by a strong combination, ran two thousand five hundred votes ahead of the rest of his ticket. He is still an independent in political matters. Mr. and Mrs. Gil- bert are popular in social circles, and, as previously stated, he is recognized as one of the county's strong men.

FRED AUGUSTUS HALL, of the firm of Richey & Gilbert, Toppenish, one of Yakima county's sterling young business men, was born in LaSalle county, Illinois, in 1867, his parents being Stillman A. and Harriet (Beardsley ) Hall. Stillman A. Hall, who with his wife now re- sides on their ranch. Valley View, on Nob Hill. North Yakima, is a native of Maine, the date of his birth in the Pine Tree state being 1838. His father was a pioneer of that state. When Lin- coln issued his first call for troops, the son Still- man immediately responded by enlisting with the boys in blue, but soon after being mustered in was taken sick with fever and such were the ravages of the disease that he was honorably dis- charged from the service and never again en-

listed. At present he is engaged in farming. The mother was born in Illinois in 1842, her parents settling in that state in 1836. Fred A. Hall spent his boyhood on the farm and in the schoolhouse. Later he entered the Illinois State University, by which he was graduated in 1893. After leav- ing college he engaged in the drug business at Tonica, Illinois, in which he remained seven 'years. In 1899 he sold this business and sought a richer field for his talents in the prosperous Northwest, arriving in North Yakima December 29th of that year. Immediately he entered the firm of which he is still a member. His company leases large tracts of Indian land, upon which they raise grain, hay, melons, potatoes, etc., be- sides which the company does an extensive com- mission business. Richey & Gilbert have erected a fine, commodious, stone warehouse at Top- penish and have materially assisted in the devel- opment of the country surrounding that point.

In 1894 Mr. Hall was united in marriage to Miss Luella Richey, a native of Illinois. She is the daughter of James and Anna (Hamilton) Richey, pioneers of Illinois, to which the father came in 1830. He was a prosperous farmer of that state until his removal to the Yakima valley in 1899. In Washington he became the senior member of the firm of Richey & Gilbert. His death occurred at the North Yakima home, De- cember 13, 1903. Mrs. Richey survives her hus- band. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hall: Thorland Richey, July 30, 1896; Isa- belle, May 29, 1900; and Burton Augustus, May 31, 1902, all of whom are living. Mr. Hall is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen, and polit- ically, is a member of the Republican party. Both himself and wife are highly esteemed by a large circle of friends and in business circles Mr. Hall is rapidly attaining prominence as a man of abil- ity and integrity.

JOHN BAXTER, residing one mile northwest of the thriving town of Toppenish, is one of the reservation's successful and esteemed white farm- ers leasing Indian land. Born in Canada June I, 1857, he is the son of Patrick and Jane Baxter, natives of Ireland and Canada respectively. Pat- rick Baxter came to Canada when a baby, and after reaching mature years engaged in agricul- tural pursuits which he still follows in the land of his adoption. The mother was of French de- scent : she died in 1878. The son John grew to manhood's estate upon his father's farm and at the age of twenty-one came to the United States, taking up his abode first in Cowlitz county, Wash- ington, where he followed the lumber business for twenty years. His experience in this indus- try was mostly in the logging department. As a boy he did not have the advantages of even a com- mon school education, a training whose worth he

667

BIOGRAPHICAL.

keenly appreciated when he became a man. So, with commendable ambition, he placed himself un- der the guidance of President Marsh of Forest Grove college, Oregon, and by patient, attentive study, when he was not at work earning a living, acquired much of the knowledge that his youth was denied. From the Cowlitz region he went, in 1898, to Puyallup and there farmed two years. Then he came to Yakima county and leased his present one hundred acre ranch near Toppenish. His marriage took place February 25, 1894, in Portland, Oregon, his bride being Miss Bertie Schumacher, of Oregon birth and German de- scent. Her parents are Dr. Charles and Margaret (Strauss) Schumacher. Doctor Schumacher emi- grated from Germany to the United States when quite young and settled in Oregon, where he mar- ried Miss Strauss. She was born in Oregon to German parents. Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher re- side in Portland. To Mr. and Mrs. Baxter have been born five children, Carl, May, Lucy, Walter and one yet unnamed, all of whom are living. Both parents are members of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Baxter is an active Republican, at- tending all caucuses and conventions in his dis- trict. Upon his ranch he is successfully raising grain, potatoes and onions, besides breeding fine stock. He is making a specialty of Poland-China and Chester White hogs, of which he has a fine bunch. Mr. Baxter is a member of the true type of progressive citizenship of which America is so proud.

RICHARD FRANK LYONS. One of the men who have taken advantage of the excellent op- portunities presented to energetic, capable white farmers by the fertile Indian lands surrounding Toppenish is the subject of this biography. He leases nearly half a section of land lying a mile and a half northwest of that trading point, and is known as one of the county's most successful ranchmen. Mr. Lyons was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in 1847, to the marriage of Wesley and Lucretia (Crawford) Lyons, also na- tives of the Keystone state. The father was a farmer and lumberman. Both parents are dead. Until he was nineteen years old, Richard F. re- mained in Pennsylvania, working with his father and attending the public schools, but at that age he was seized with an intense longing to assist in subduing the far western wilds, and in 1863 cour- ageously set forth upon his long journey to Ore- gon. Arriving at Oregon City, he decided to settle in the eastern part of the state and accord- ingly wended his way across the Cascades to Uma- tilla county. There he was engaged in various occupations, including riding the range, until 1872, when he entered the business of sheep raising. For twelve years and longer he ranged his growing

bands in what are now Umatilla and Morrow coun- ties, passing through the exciting dangers with which the residents of that section were confronted during the Bannock Indian war of 1878. In the later eighties he removed to the Horse Heaven country in Washington and there met his first seri- ous reverse during the hard winter of 1889-90, losing fully eight thousand head of sheep. At that period Mr. Lyons owned seventeen thousand head and was probably the most heavily interested sheep man in Washington; at least the largest sheep owner in Yakima county. Following this disaster came the panic of 1893, in which Mr. Lyons, with thousands of other western stockmen, was caught and financially embarrassed. However, he con- tinued his business until 1898, when he sold his lands and stock and took charge of the one thou- sand one hundred acre ranch, known as the Snipes place, in Parker Bottom. Three years later, or in 1901, he came to Toppenish and leased three hun- dred acres of fine Indian land, upon which he now lives. This immense ranch is producing hay and grain. Mr. Lyons also devotes considerable at- tention to stock raising, owning two hundred head of high grade Poland-China hogs and about six hundred head of sheep. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, with membership in the Prosser lodge, and is identified with the Republican party. Mr. Lyons has many loyal friends and is highly respected as an active, also progressive stockman, farmer and citizen.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM STEVENS, one of the leading farmers of the Toppenish country, is a na- tive of Suffolk county, New York, where, in the year 1836, he was born to the union of Halsey and Elizabeth (Halleck) Stevens. The father was also a native of that state, and died there in 1888. His ancestors for several generations were citizens of Connecticut. The mother, who died in 1898, was a niece of General Halleck, and had two other uncles who served with distinction in the Revolutionary war. The son, William, was occupied with attend- ing school, farming and sailing on the Atlantic coast until eighteen years old, when he settled in Winona county, Minnesota, filing on government land. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in Company B, Seventh Minnesota infantry, the date of his enlistment being August, 1862. This regiment went to Fort Snelling before going south, and while stationed at that post was called upon to quell the Indians around Fort Ridgely and in Da- kota. The Indians were captured, and thirty-nine of them executed at Mankato. During the Civil war Mr. Stevens was in many battles, the last being that at Spanish Fort, Mobile, Alabama. He was mus- tered out at Minnehaha Falls, August, 1865, and im- mediately engaged in farming and stock raising in Bates county, Missouri, remaining in that section

668

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

for twenty years. Upon his return from the war he was elected captain of a militia company, and this fact, together with the fact that when.a young man he was captain of a boat, has conferred the title of captain upon him in private life. In 1888 he came to Yakima county, purchasing a farm near North Yakima, and living a portion of the time in the city. The next twelve years we find him en- gaged in raising alfalfa, melons, etc., and breeding thoroughbred Plymouth Rock chickens. However, in 1900, he left the Yakima valley and leased a quarter section of land two miles and a quarter northwest of Toppenish, and on this place is now living, engaged in general farming and breeding Plymouth Rock chickens.

Mr. Stevens was married in Missouri, 1867, to Sophia Requa, daughter of Rev. William Requa, a Presbyterian missionary in Missouri and Arkansas. He was of French descent; the mother of Scotch. The father died in 1873. Mrs. Requa died five years previously. Mrs. Stevens was born in Mis- souri, and died in 1895 in the city of North Yakima. leaving, besides her husband, one son, Norman, to mourn their loss. The captain is an enthusiastic Republican, and is, of course, justly proud of his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He is respected as a pioneer, a veteran of the Civil and Indian wars, and a substantial citizen, and is favorably known in his community.

ALLEN R. GRAHAM, clerk of Hotel Top- penish and manager of the livery operated in con- nection at Toppenish, Washington, is a native pio- neer of the Northwest, having been born in Wash- ington county, Oregon, twelve miles from Portland, in 1854. He is the son of John and Caroline M. (White) Graham, the father a native of Pennsyl- vania, of Scotch-Irish descent, and the mother a na- tive of Canada, of English parentage. The parents are now living in The Dalles. John Graham, born in 1827, came to Oregon via Cape Horn when a young man, and settled on a claim of three hundred and twenty acres in Washington county, where he resided until 1870, moving then to Klickitat county, Washington, later to Sherman county, Oregon, and eventually to The Dalles. The mother of Allen Graham was a daughter of Richard Delorus White, who crossed the Plains in 1844, settled in Portland when it was a small town, and built the St. Charles hotel, at a cost of eighty thousand dollars. The subject of this article spent his youth in Washington county, Oregon, attending school and farming. At the age of sixteen years he came with his parents to Klickitat county, Wash- ington, and for ten years was on the range almost continuously with stock. At the age of twenty-one he engaged in the stock business on his own account. For thirty-one years he was a resident of Klickitat county, the greater portion of the time in the stock

business and in farming. For one year he owned a livery barn in Centerville. In 1900 he sold his Klickitat property, came to Yakima county, and pur- chased twenty acres of land near North Yakima, selling afterwards at a great advance over the pur- chasing price. He then bought a small tract near the fair grounds for a home, and, with his oldest son, leased a ranch on the Cowiche and conducted a dairy for one season, coming then to Toppenish and taking charge of the hotel and livery. In 1875 Mr. Graham was married in Klickitat county to Miss Eveline C. Saxon, a native of Illinois and the daugh- ter of John and Mary J. (Free) Saxon. To Mr. and Mrs. Graham have been born the following chil- dren : Mrs. Marietta M. Grimes, living in Sherman county, Oregon ; Edward A., North Yakima ; Luther E., deceased; Frank A., Centerville, Klickitat county ; Roy and Harry, Yakima county ; Ora May, Bertha A. and Velma Lora, at home. Mr. Graham's fraternal connections are with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is an active and an influential Republican. For years he was a member of the county central committee, serving a part of the time as chairman. He was a recognized leader in all the campaigns during his residence there. With the early history of the coun- try Mr. Graham is very familiar; was in the Klicki- tat country at the time of the General Howard cam- paign against the Indians, remaining on his farm when the settlers stampeded for The Dalles on the strength of a rumor that the Indians were crossing the Columbia at Celilo. He is widely known by the pioneer settlers of the valley, enjoys the confidence and respect of all, and we are pleased to accord him a place of honor in this volume.

WILBUR SPENCER. That the American Indian can be successfully guided from his aborig- inal ways and customs into the civilization of the white man and his shrewd, restless, stoical char- acteristics transformed into trained thought of a higher order, into energy and perseverance, is not a fallacious statement, as is evidenced by the life of the young Indian of whom we write. Better still, his adoption of progressive ways has served to only strengthen his influence among his red broth- ers and the example he sets before them has no little effect. Wilbur Spencer's father is the famous old Chief Spencer, who is still living at the age of one hundred and five years on the Yakima res- ervation. Spencer is by birth a Klickitat and Chinook Indian, and both before and after the treaty of 1855 served the Klickitats as a chief. Tah-pa-Sha (Chief Spencer) has always been a steadfast friend of the whites and in the fifties, despite the fact that while serving as a scout under Colonel Wright, Spencer's father, wife, son and baby were killed by over zealous white volunteers, he remained loyal in the treaty negotiations and

66g

BIOGRAPHICAL.

pleaded for the new order of things. The massacred family were on their way to Gen. Sheridan's camp at the time they were murdered, the deed being accomplished by strangulation with ropes. In an- other portion of this work further reference will be made to this Indian patriarch. Wilbur's mother, Tona-ma-ahr, a Wasco Indian, died in 1893. The younger Spencer was born at the Tum- water fishery above The Dalles in June, 1865, and as a youth spent his time either at the home near Fort Simcoe, traveling with his father in the sur- rounding country as far as the Sound, or on the Columbia, at the fishery. In September, 1871, he commenced attending the Indian school at the agency, receiving most of his education under Father Wilbur, from whom he takes his given name. At the school he learned the trade of car- penter and cabinet maker and during vacations was employed at fifty cents a day building Indian houses on the reservation. Three years he was employed in clerical work at the agency. The year 1878 marked the end of his school life, a pub- lic whipping by his teacher, H. L. Powell, for alleged conversation with the girls of the schools, causing him to run away. Arriving on the Colum- bia he secured a position in the cannery business and upon his departure from the employ of the Eureka Packing Company in 1882, was presented with a suit of clothes as a token of the company's esteem. Agent Milroy appointed him as sawver at the Yakima agency; subsequently he was em- ployed in other departments; and in 1889 was en- trusted by Agent Priestly with the responsible job of building a government sawmill. This work he successfully accomplished. Afterwards this mill, like its predecessor, was destroyed by fire. Under Agent Lynch, Mr. Spencer served as government engineer until that position was abolished by the department. Then he came upon his allotment, near Toppenish, where he is farming a portion of his land and leasing the balance. He owns a quarter section, one hundred and twenty acres are owned by some of the children and three others are entitled to allotments. His home was built in 1890 at a cost of one thousand dollars, and he owns another house a mile west of town, where he is temporarily residing. The ranches show evidences of thrift and are valuable properties.

Mr. Spencer was married April 2, 1899, to Josephine Peters, a member of the Grande Ronde tribe living near Portland. She was educated in the Chamowa Indian training school near Salem. To this marriage have been born four children: William H., January 22, 1900; George W., Febru- ary 22, 1901 ; Casey S., March 10, 1902 ; Jerry, Jan- uary 17, 1904. Mr. Spencer has only one brother, Lancaster, though he has several half-brothers. An article from Mr. Spencer's pen relating to the Yakima Indians appears elsewhere in this volume.

FRANK O. PAULGER, in charge of the Northern Pacific telegraph office at Toppenish, Washington, is an Englishman by descent and birth, having been born in England, June 24, 1869, to English parents. His father, John Paulger, came to America in 1879 and during most of his life was successfully engaged in the mercantile business. His death occurred in February, 1896. Ann (Hobson) Paulger was born in 1825, came to America with her husband in 1879 and is still living in Iowa, in the quiet contentment of a ripe old age. The subject of this sketch was reared, from the age of ten, at New Hartford, Iowa, where he received a high school education and learned telegraphy with his brother, the station agent at that point. When nineteen years old the young telegrapher was stationed at Linden, Iowa. From there he went as bill clerk to Fort Dodge; thence to Blair, Nebraska, as station agent. Afterwards he was transferred to Emerson, Nebraska, as sta- tion agent, where the next ten years of his life were spent. During this period he dealt to some extent in real estate, accumulating a considerable holding of property, and rose to a high position among his fellow citizens by reason of his ability and congenial qualities. For nine years he served as a member of the Emerson school board, and still takes a deep interest in educational matters. A trip to and a few months' stay in the City of Mexico followed his departure from Emerson, and in June, 1901, he accepted the position he now occupies at Toppenish, there being only a store and a warehouse at the station then. Mr. Paulger has 'one sister, Mrs. Anna Canfield, and two broth- ers, John and Fred W., living in Iowa. John is a grocer at Cedar Falls; Fred is engaged in business at New Hartford, where, also, the sister lives. Mr. Paulger is a Mason of high standing, being a member of the Shriners, and is also affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Highlanders. In politics, he has always taken an active interest and as the candidate of the Demo- cratic party was elected treasurer of the township in which he resided in Nebraska. In every com- munity where he has lived he has been regarded as a public spirited, progressive citizen and has been a factor in their development. His mother owns half a section of fine land near Emerson. Mr. Paulger is satisfied that the Yakima country is an unusually fine field for enterprising young men and intends to make it his permanent home. He is a young man of stability and talent, com- bined with integrity.

ALEXANDER FOSTER. Few residents of the Northwest have had a more exciting career than has the subject of this biography-adventurer, packer, miner, soldier and frontiersman. His birth- place is Vancouver, the old Hudson's Bay Company's

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 151

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