An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 155

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 155
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 155
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 155

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).

smith's trade and spent the first few years in this trade in Illinois and Iowa. He was then for sev- eral years located in various cities, going first to Omaha, Nebraska; thence to Des Moines and Cedar Falls, Iowa; thence to Oregon, Illinois, where he formed a partnership with a cousin ; thence to Hampton, Iowa, where he remained two years. Leaving Iowa again, he went to Chey- enne, Wyoming, and entered the employ of the government as a horseshoer and, eighteen months later, was sent to Fort Robinson, where, for thir- teen years, he continued in the service of the United States. In the beginning of the Spanish- American war he was sent to Chickamauga, Geor- gia, where troops were being massed, and ex- pected to be sent on to Cuba. He was held at Chickamauga during the summer, however, and in the fall of the year 1898 severed his connection with the government and went to Crawford, Ne- braska, where he engaged for a time in farming. In 1900 he again changed locations, this time coming to Washington, overland with teams, ar- riving at Zillah July 14, and at once putting up a shop. Later, however, he rented a shop already built and in operation, and in turn rented his new building to a physician for an office, but has since built another shop. He has built up a good trade and is now recognized as one of the substantial citizens of the town. He has invested considerable capital in town property and now owns two resi- dences, besides a number of business and residence lots. Mr. Elliott was married, in 1873, to Miss Nellie Quick, who died a few years later, leaving two children, George P. and Charles A. In 1897 he was again married, to Mrs. Rosa Hand. Mr. Elliott is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is making a success of his business in Zillah; is energetic and progressive, a man of generous impulses, esteemed by friends and acquaintances and respected by all with whom he comes in contact in a business or social way.

COLONEL A. C. WALKER, for fourteen years a citizen of Yakima county, Washington, is now engaged in farming and raising fruit two miles east of Zillah. Mr. Walker is a native of the old Bay state, having been born in Worces- ter county, Massachusetts, in 1834. He is the son of Walter and Salinda (Hill) Walker, natives of Massachusetts, father and son being born in the same county. The elder Walker was of Eng- lish and French descent and his people settled in Massachusetts in a very early day. The son, A. C. Walker, was educated in his native state; at- tended the common and high schools and after- wards took the preparatory course required for matriculation in the colleges of Massachusetts. After the completion of his studies he was placed

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in a wholesale boot and shoe house, where lie be- came thoroughly conversant with all departments of the business, and, until his coming to the Pa- cific Northwest, was always connected with some of the great manufacturing establishments of that great manufacturing state. After many years' close attention to his commercial interests he be- came possessed with the desire to see the Pacific coast country and, with this end in view, left Mas- sachusetts in 1890 for Portland, Seattle and other points, thinking to spend six months in pleasur- able rambles up and down the coast. After a visit to the cities named he came to Yakima county to spend a short time with a relative, Colonel Howlett, and, being delighted with the climate and with the wonderful possibilities of the country, he decided to remain, making it his permanent home. The first year was spent in the real estate busi- ness with Colonel Howlett in North Yakima. In the meanwhile he had taken up a timber claini, a desert claim and a homestead, the latter where he now resides, and eventually proved up on all the tracts. At that time the surveys for the great Sunnyside canal had not been made. When the canal was completed he gave the company eighty of his one hundred and sixty acres, for the water right on the other half, which he has improved and developed into one of the best producing farms in this section of the county, and has made of it also an ideal home. He has since added one hundred acres to his holdings in the valley, and at the present time engages principally in the raising of alfalfa. He was about the first homesteader to settle here, there being at the time absolutely no one permanently settled between this point and Prosser. Mr. Walker was married in Massachu- setts in early life, but the wife died before his de- parture for the west. He has one son, Arthur, in the wholesale boot and shoe business in Boston. In 1901 he was again married to Miss Alice Doug- las, a native of New York. Mr. Walker's frater- nal connections are with the North Yakima lodge of Elks. In political matters he supports the prin- ciples of the Republican party and was a few years ago the party candidate for assessor, meeting de- feat with the balance of the ticket. He is recog- nized as one of the most influential party leaders, both in local and state campaigns. He is a man of exceptional business and executive ability and is one of the more successful agriculturists of the valley. Fourteen years' residence in the county lias not diminished his faith in its future, which he believes to be fraught with still greater possi- bilities in the further development of its natural resources. As a man of strictest integrity and honor, of progressive ideas and devotion to the advancement of the people among whom he has established a permanent home, he has won and retains the confidence and respect of all.

ALVIN DALTON, farmer and horticulturist, lives three miles southeast of Zillah. He was born in Columbia county, Wisconsin, July 26, 1847, the son of Willian and Clara (Bradley) Dalton, natives of Maine. William Dalton served under General Scott in the War of 1812, with Great Britain, and his father was a soldier in the Revolution. The parents are dead. They were pioneers in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Montana, going from Wisconsin to Minnesota in 1861, and shortly afterwards to Montana with the Captain Fisk immigrant train. At the time the last long, dreary and hazardous journey was made, Alvin Dalton was fourteen years old, his early youth having been spent in the common schools and on the farm in his native state. In 1865 he went to Colorado, and from there returned to Minnesota, where he remained four years. June 12, 1871, he was married in Sioux City, Iowa, to Miss Isa- bella Fogg, daughter of George and Nancy (Brown) Fogg, the father a veteran of the Civil war, who was sent to the middle Northwest to assist in quelling the Sioux Indians. He was of English descent. The parents of Mrs. Dalton are dead. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton, with her parents, went to Colorado in 1874 and engaged in farming, propecting and raising stock; thence, in 1877, to the Black Hills, where Mr. Dalton followed min- ing for three years, assisting while there in put- ting in the first timbers in the famous Homestake mine. In 1882 he went to the Wood river, Idaho, mining region; thence to the Coeur d'Alene mines; thence to Thompson Falls, Montana, en- gaging during this period in mining and hunt- ing. From Thompson Falls he went to Kootenai county, Idaho, and took up a ranch on the Pend d'Oreille lake, raising stock here for five years. During the floods of 1894 most of his stock per- ished and he decided upon another change in loca- tion. Selling out the same year, he came to Yakima county and took up the farm where he has since resided. He has made two trips to Alaska, the first, in 1897, with his son, Frank P., and the second in 1899. The two sons, Frank P. and Wallace Alvin, are now in that "land of the midnight sun." While there Mr. Dalton had many interesting experiences, at one time mak- ing a continuous journey of fourteen days with a pony and sleigh down the Yukon river on the ice from Skagway to Dawson, and again making a trip of seven hundred miles with his son, Frank, to the mines on Myrtle creek. In August of the same year he traveled down the Koukuk river from its head to the Yukon, then down the Yukon to St. Michaels and thence home.

Mr. and Mrs. Dalton have one daughter, Florence I., living at home. Mrs. Dalton is a member of the Episcopal church. Politically, Mr. Dalton is a Republican, but he believes there are some sound principles in the platform of the

Photograpbed by F. J. Tiekner.

ARTHUR GURLEY.

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Socialists. He has a valuable farm of twenty acres, on which is a fine orchard of eight acres. Two years ago he realized $1,125 from the sale of apples. Mr. Dalton is a man of generous im- pulses, energetic and progressive, a typical pioneer, and commands the respect of his fellow nien.

ARTHUR GURLEY, for seven years a resi- dent of Yakima county, is engaged in diversified farming three miles east and two south of Zillah. He is native of Park county, Indiana, where he was born April 3, 1857. His father, Joseph A. Gurley, of English descent, in his earlier days a teacher, and later in life a millwright and civil engineer, was born in Guilford county, North Car- olina, in 1830. He was a pioneer of Indiana, a veteran of the Civil war, serving in Company A, Eighty-fifth Indiana volunteers, and as a civil engineer, belonging to the bridge building corps that accompanied Sherman on his march to the sea. He was at one time taken prisoner and for nine months confined in the famous Libby prison. He died in Mobile, Alabama, in 1902. The mother of the subject of this biography is Sarah B. (Carty) Gurley, of Scotch-Irish descent. She is a native of Ohio, and in early life was a teacher. She is still living. Arthur Gurley spent his youth and early manhood in Indiana, where he received his education, finishing his studies in the Bloomingdale Academy. As a young man he worked in his father's pump factory, learning the trade and remaining with him until twenty- three years of age, when he entered the service of Fairbanks, Morse & Co., scale and windmill manufacturers, as a builder. At the end of three years he severed his connection with this com- Fany and moved to Coffey county, Kansas, and for a time farmed, both in Coffey and in Mont- gomery counties. In 1889 he again changed his location, this time coming to the coast, where for seven years he was variously employed. He built the Port Gamble mill; spent some time in the dairy business, and superintended the con- struction of sixteen bridges on the Belt Line Railroad. In 1897 he came to the Sunnyside district and eventually purchased his present farm of 100 acres, which he has developed into one of the most productive in the valley, and of which he has made an ideal home. He engages extensively in hop raising. His last two crops sold for $8,000, the crop of 1903 netting him $625 per acre. With farming he combines the breeding of draft horses, for which he is wide- ly known, having brought the first heavy draft horses to the county and having for two years taken the first prize on his stock at the state fair. Mrs. Gurley is interested in mining property in the Swauk district. In 1883 Mr. Gurley was married to Miss Mary A. Pickard, who died in

1890. In 1892 he was again married to Miss Vesta Thomas, born in Douglas county, Oregon, in 1865, the daughter of Lawson and Isabella (Dysart) Thomas, pioneers of 1849 in the Ore- gon country. Mrs. Gurley grew to womanhood and was educated in her native state of Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Gurley have no children of their own, but have adopted and reared six, two of whom are now with them, attending the home school ; they are Kittie M. and Claud. Another, May Thomas, is attending school in North Yaki- ma. Mrs. Gurley is a member of the Christian church. In political matters Mr. Gurley sup- ports the principles of the Republican party, but has always declined political preferment, al- though frequently importuned to become a party candidate. He is one of the leading and most popular citizens of his section of the country; is a man of strict integrity and excellent business ability, of pronounced influence in local and county affairs, progressive and public spirited, and is held in high esteem by all who are hon- ored with his friendship.

EDD E. MUDD, whose home is in Zillah, Wash- ington, is by trade a bridge carpenter, and has been a resident of Yakima county for about four- teen years. Illinois is his native state, and the date of his birth June 10, 1864. He is the son of LaFay- ette and Rosamund (Herbert) Mudd. His father was born in Kentucky, in 1844; was a veteran of the Civil war, having served in a Kentucky regi- ment, and was finally killed in a railroad accident in Illinois in 1868. His mother is a native of New York, born in 1838, and is now living with her son in Zillah. After the war of the Rebellion the family removed from Illinois to Kansas, and at Osage Mission, in that state, the son Edd received his education. He left school when twenty-one years of age, and for a number of years was engaged in various lines of business in Nebraska, Colorado and Washington. In 1891 he settled permanently in Zillah, and has since followed bridge work and masonry. He assisted in the con- struction of the Sunnyside and the Kennewick canals. Besides a comfortable home in Zillah, he owns twenty acres of land six and one-half miles east of Zillah, which is yearly increasing in value. Mr. Mudd was married in Nebraska, in 1889, to Miss Nannie L. Douglas, a native of New York, where she was born in 1871. She is the daughter of Joshua P. and Eliza J. (Robinson) Douglas, both natives of New York, and both now dead. Her mother was a schoolmate at Saratoga, New York, of "Samantha Allen" (in private life, Amanda M. Douglas), and was related to the New England In- gersolls and Whitneys. Charles Mudd, of Sunny- side : Mrs. Amy L. Adams, wife of a North Yakima civil engineer, and Mrs. Ada M. Zediker, living near

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Zillah, are brother and sisters of the subject of this article. To Mr. and Mrs. Mudd have been born the following children: Hazel M., born in Nebraska, 1891; Irma G., Yakima county, 1894; Herbert D., Zillah, 1898, and Edgar R., Zillah, 1902. Mr. Mudd's fraternal connections are with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Wood- men. He is a Democrat in politics and takes an active interest in political campaigns. He believes in a prosperous future for Yakima county, and has made a success of his trade and of his investments. He is energetic and industrious, and as a man of honor and integrity commands the respect of his neighbors and of all with whom he comes in contact.

GEORGE VETTER, ex-mayor and at the pres- ent time postmaster of Sunnyside, is one of that re- gion's popular citizens, whose influence has long been felt in the public affairs of that section of the Yak- ima country. Coming into the Sunnyside region in 1894, in a period of slow development and many discouragements, he perseveringly toiled on his farm, steadily improving it, assisted his neighbors by kind words and deeds, remained loyal to the Sunny- side valley, encouraged others to do the same, and is now reaping a just reward and witnessing the ample fulfillment of early prophecies made concerning the valley's destiny. A native of Chicago, Illinois, this German-American was born August 25, 1849, in that erstwhile thriving town upon the southern shore of Lake Michigan, to the marriage of George and Ursula (Knecht) Vetter. The elder Vetter was born in Germany, 1827, and came to the United States in the year 1848; he died many years ago. The mother was also a native of Germany, born in 1826; she is living at Aberdeen, South Dakota. George Vetter received his school education in the city of Chicago and at the Northwestern college, Plainfield, Illinois, from which he was graduated in 1865. After leav- ing college, he engaged in the mercantile business at Deerfield, Illinois, remaining there five years. Then he returned to Chicago, and during the next six years devoted his attention to the commission trade. He sold this business in 1881, and was for a time employed as bookkeeper for a hardware firm in Peoria, but in. 1883 he left Illinois to seek his for- tune in South Dakota. Near Aberdeen he settled and there made his home for twelve years, occupied successfully in the master industry of the great northern plains-wheat raising. He was not en- tirely satisfied with Dakota, however, and learning of the recently opened irrigated district in a section of Washington noted for its genial climate, fertility and advantagecus situation, Mr. Vetter disposed of his South Dakota ranch, and in 1894 came to the Sunnyside valley, where he has since lived. He pur- chased land from the Washington Irrigation Com- pany, and until 1898 was engaged in agricultural work, but in that year sold the farm and removed to

the town of Sunnyside that he might take charge of the postoffice there. He was serving as postmaster January I last, when the office was advanced to the presidential class, and he was appointed by Presi- dent Roosevelt to continue in charge of Sunnyside's mails at a salary of one thousand two hundred dol- lars a year.

Mr. Vetter and Miss Florence H. Tupper were united by the bonds of matrimony at Deerfield, Illi- nois, in 1883. The bride's parents were Simeon and Alvira (Gifford) Tupper, natives of New York and Vermont, respectively ; both are dead. Mrs. Vetter was born in Chicago in the year 1850 and was reared and educated in Illinois. Mr. Vetter has one brother, John S., register of the United States land office at Aberdeen, South Dakota ; and one sister, Mrs. Julia W. Miller, also a resident of Aberdeen. Mr. and Mrs. Vetter have five children : George L., born in Illinois, 1884, living in Spokane as a Northern Pa- cific railroad engineer; Elmer J., also born in Illi- nois, and a Northern Pacific engineer, living in Spo- kane; Frank S., living at Sunnyside (biography elsewhere in this volume); Charles E., born in South Dakota, living with parents; and Mary L., also a native of South Dakota, and at home with her parents. Sunnyside's postmaster is one of the Civil war's youngest veterans, having enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Illinois volunteers when a lad of but sixteen years and serving three months, or until the close of hostilities. He is affili- ated with one fraternity, the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In 1902, as the candidate of the Citizens' party, which stood for temperance or an anti-saloon policy, Mr. Vetter was elected as the sec- ond mayor of Sunnyside, there being practically no opposition. His administration, which terminated with his resignation late in 1903 on account of the pressure of postoffice work, was a progressive and a creditable one to all concerned. As a Republican, Mr. Vetter held several minor elective offices in South Dakota. He owns considerable Sunnyside property, including the postoffice building and a sub- stantial, cozy, six-room residence. Mr. and Mrs. Vetter are highly esteemed as neighbors and friends, and his position as one of the county's progressive, upright and solid citizens is universally recognized.

JAMES HENDERSON, druggist, Sunnyside, Washington, has been a resident of Yakima coun- ty for about ten years, during which time he has become extensively interested in valley and timber lands, besides having built up an excellent drug business. Mr. Henderson was born in Wisconsin, January 10, 1868, the son of John and Isabella (Sanderson) Henderson, natives of Scotland; the mother, born in 1829, is still living in Minnesota. John Henderson was born in 1827 and was a pio- neer of Wisconsin, having immigrated to that state with his wife an an early day and participated

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in the development of its frontier. In 1870, when the son James was two years old, the family moved to Minnesota, where they again passed through a long period of pioneer life; the father died there in 1895. In the common and high schools of Wil- mar, Minnesota, James received his education, and both during his course of study and after its com- pletion he followed teaching, being very successful as an instructor. At the age of twenty he went to North Dakota, where he continued in school work, varying this with other occupations, receiv- ing good wages and saving them, until 1891, when he returned to Paynesville, Minnesota, and pur- chased a drug store, beginning at once the study of pharmacy. After four years of successful busi- ness life he sold his stock of drugs at a good profit and came direct to Yakima county, Washington. Here he opened one of the first farms put under cultivation near Sunnyside and, although badly crippled financially by the panic of the early nine- ties, persevered in his efforts and eventually suc- ceeded in putting the place on a paying basis, having at the time one of the best orchards of its size in central Washington. In 1895 he established his present business, which soon grew to such propor- tions that he was obliged to sell the farm in order that he might attend properly to the store. His is the only business now conducted in Sunnyside by its original owner.

The subject of this article is one of a family of seven children. His brothers and sisters are as follows: Mrs. Maggie Smithson, in Minnesota ; Mrs. Dr. W. R. Henderson, Detroit, Michigan ; Mrs. Jessie Hadley, Chicago; Peter, a salesman, Minnesota ; John, Minnesota, and Hugh, a dentist living in Chicago.

Mr. Henderson was married in Minnesota, August 27, 1892, to Miss Isabella E. Brown, born in Paynesville, that state, April 5, 1870, the daugh- ter of John J. and Ellen E. (Bennett) Brown, na- tives of Vermont, now living in Sunnyside. Mr. and Mrs. Henderson have five children, the eldest born in Minnesota, the others in Yakima county, Marion, born February 16, 1894; Blanch, Novem- ber 29, 1896; Bernice, January 29, 1898; Amy, September 4, 1900; Ruby, November 17, 1901. Fraternally, Mr. Henderson is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Wood- men. In politics, he is a Democrat. September 2, 1902, he was elected, on the Citizens' ticket, the first mayor of Sunnyside. He served several years as a member of the school board and has also served as justice of the peace. Besides his business prop- erty and residence, he has become the possessor of a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, forty acres of land under the canal and one hun- dred and sixty acres of timber in the Cascades; also other real estate interests and a number of mining claims in Montana and Wyoming. Excel-

lent business qualifications, correct principles and perseverance have enabled him to win success where many others have failed. He is one of the substantial and reliable citizens of Sunnyside and of Yakima county, a man of influence in local and county affairs and one who enjoys the confidence and respect of his fellow men. He is proud of the fact that his oldest acquaintances are his stanchest friends and patrons.

WILLIAM B. CLOUD, a merchant of Sunny- side, has been a resident of Yakima county for ten years. He is a native of Monmouth county, New Jersey, born January 15, 1870, the son of William B. Cloud, Sr., and Anna (Walter) Cloud, natives of Delaware, now residents of Oklahoma. The mother was born in 1845. The father, born in 1836, is a veteran of the Civil war, having served in a Pennsylvania regiment, He was in the battle of Gettysburg and other decisive engagements of the war and was for some time a prisoner in the famous Libby prison. The sub- ject of this biography is one of a family of six children and has five sisters living: Mrs. Anna Miller, Mrs. Lillie Stevens (a twin sister), Mrs. Clara Siegler, Mrs. Helen Satterlee, living in Okla- homa; Mrs. Jane Sisty, living in Sunnyside. In 1873, when the son William was three years old, the family moved to Iowa and here he spent the years of his youth and received his education in the common schools. Leaving school at the age of fifteen, he engaged in farming for one year for a neighbor and the second year leased a farm and conducted it himself with satisfactory results. At the end of this time his parents removed to Ne- braska, he going with them and farming for his father for one year. The second year in Nebraska he entered a general merchandise store in the capac- ity of a clerk and since that time has been almost continuously in mercantile pursuits. Leaving Ne- braska, he went to Tacoma, Washington, in 1890, where he was for three years engaged in the grocery business; going thence to Oklahoma and for a short time clerking in a bakery ; returning in 1894 to Washington and settling in Sunnyside as a clerk in a general store, remaining so employed for eighteen months. He then spent four years in Northport, a portion of the time in the lumber business and a portion in the grocery business, re- turning to Sunnyside in 1900 and purchasing land which he farmed for one year. Leaving the farm, he entered the employ of the Hub Mercantile Com- pany, remaining with them for two years as man- ager. In December, 1902, he purchased a stock of goods and has since been conducting a cloth- ing and furnishing establishment, and has built up a splendid business.

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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 155

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