An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 157

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 157
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 157
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 157

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during his residence has constructed many of the best residences in the town, employing from six to nine men most of the time. The new Free Methodist church at Sunnyside was built by Mr. Hibarger. He is acknowledged to be a master workman of unusual ability and one of the leading contractors in the county.

Mr. Hibarger was united in marriage to Miss Anna Pulvermaker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Pulvermaker, at Smith's Center, Kansas, August 14, 1888. Her parents were born in Ger- many and came to Iowa, where she was born. Mr. Hibarger has three brothers, Oscar, Willis and David, and two sisters,.Cora and Pearl, besides one sister, Anna, deceased. There are two chil- dren in the Hibarger household, Carl and Wanda. Mr. Hibarger is connected with the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen fraternities, and, politic- ally, is affiliated with the Democratic party. He is a man highly respected by all who know him, a public spirited citizen who is a factor in his coun- ty's progress and a successful business man.

EMORY THOMPSON. One of the most favorably known and best horticulturists of the famed Sunnyside valley in central Yakima county is the citizen whose biography is Here- with given. Learning his business under the in- struction of an Ohio expert in the art of pruning, grafting and caring for fruit trees, hedges, etc., Mr. Thompson has successfully applied his knowledge in Washington, besides engaging in general farming. He was born August 1, 1865, at Northfield, Ohio, his father and mother being Emory and Sarah A. (Cross) Thompson, also Ohioans by birth, the former born in 1831, the lat- ter in 1833. Both are living on their farm near Kinsman, of that state. Emory junior received his early education in the public schools and in 1886 entered the Grove City College, Pennsylvania, where he studied two years, paying his way by orchard work. At the end of that time he was forced to abandon his college work. Then he followed general farming in Cherry valley, Ohio, for four years, meeting with encouraging results. In the spring of 1894 he came to the Northwest, decided to locate in Yakima county, and pur- chased ten acres under the Sunnyside canal. He has devoted his untiring energies and skilled at- tention to improving his farm, which has grown to one of a hundred acres, and upon it he has seven hundred and seventy-five first-class, select fruit trees, besides berries and alfalfa.

He was married to Miss Carrie D. Morse at Williansfield, Ohio, on Thanksgiving day, No- vember 29, 1888. His bride is a direct descend- ant of the noted inventor, Samuel F. B. Morse, and is a native daughter of Williamsfield, where she was born September 16, 1865. Her parents,

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Luke A. and Mary P. Morse, still living in Ohio, where the father is engaged in farming, were born in Connecticut and New York, respectively. Mrs. Thompson has one brother, Grant A., and three sisters, Mrs. Flora Rose, Mrs. Elsie Smith and Ida, all living in Ohio; Mr. Thompson is the fifth of a large family of children, the others being Elbridge, living in Hartford, Ohio; Mrs. Nora E. Ferrell and Mrs. Cora B. Payne, twins, living in Erie and Titusville, Pennsylvania, re- spectively ; Mrs. Alice E. Logan, in Vernon, Ohio; John D., now living in Ohio; Mrs. Blanche M. True, a resident of Belle Valley, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Pearl M. McCormick, also in Pennsylvania ; Norman and Ralph, both resid- ing in Ohio. Emory Thompson senior is a self- made man who has, besides rearing a large fam- ily, accumulated a comfortable competence. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson (junior) are consistent members of the Congregational communion and well known in the community's social circles. They have three children, Celia M., Howard S. and Elnier E., born in Ohio. Mr. Thompson is affiliated with the Republican party. The one hundred-acre improved farm upon which has been built a comfortable home and two timber claims situated in Kittitas county constitute Mr. Thompson's property interests. Mr. Thomp- son is one of the solid citizens of the county, of unquestioned integrity and commendable in- dustry.

GEORGE G. MULLER, who is at present . the owner and manager of the Hotel Sunnyside at Sunnyside, Washington, is a German-Ameri- can who has been induced to take up his abode in Yakima county because of the congenial cli- miate and unexcelled opportunities presented home-seekers by that region. Mr. Muller came to Washington in 1883 as a young man of twenty- one years, who had left his birthplace, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, where he was born April 19, 1862, to seek his fortunes in the far North- west. The railroad had not long preceded him, and the region, now dotted with cities and towns and farming communities and networked with railroads, was yet in the infancy of its develop- ment. His parents, Jost and Marguerite (Swartz) Muller, were of German birth, born in 1821 and 1826, respectively, who crossed the ocean and became pioneers of Wisconsin. The mother is deceased, but the father still lives. The young northwestern pioneer attended the pub- lic schools of his native state until the age of eighteen ; then for three years was engaged in carpenter work and various other occupations, but ever the purpose to secure a better educa- tion ruled his ambitions. A short time after his arrival in Spokane, 1884, he entered the Spokane College, attending to his studies in. the winter

and teaching school and doing other work sum- mers, besides college janitor work, to enable him to remain in school. While in this school he also taught German to help meet expenses. After fin- ishing his sophomore year, the young student matriculated at the Willamette University in Oregon, and was able by hard work to remain in the university until he had finished his junior year in 1890. Thus equipped he taught school in Spokane county during 1890-91, but in the fall of the latter year entered the Methodist ministry, his first charge being the church at Wilbur. In the order named he had charge of congregations at Davenport, Coeur d'Alene City and Palouse City. However, severe throat trouble finally laid hold on him and in February, 1899, forced him to abandon, at least temporarily, the pro- fession for which he had so well trained himself through many hardships. The insurance busi- ness, a short experience at school teaching, and real estate business successively engaged his at- tention until January, 1903, when he purchased the Sunnyside hotel property, in the manage- ment of which he has been very successful.

In August, 1890, Mr. Muller was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Powell, of Medical Lake, a native of Illinois, born January 7, 1867. Miss Powell's parents are Doctor John H. and Martha (Jolly) Powell, also Illinoisans, who are now living at Nez Perce, Idaho. Mrs. Muller has one brother, Wesley, in Eureka, California, and one sister, Mrs. Ella Marknell, a resident of Los Angeles. Mr. Muller's brothers and sisters are: Jacob E., in Illinois; Henry F., in Wiscon- sin ; Mrs. Elizabeth Kresse, in North Dakota; Mrs. Anna Kresse, in Wisconsin; John, in Wis- consin ; Mrs. Lena Krohn, in Wisconsin; and Mrs. Mary Miller, also a resident of that state. There are three children in the Muller home, Chester, Walden F. and Harold, the first and last named born in Spokane and Walden F. in Dav- enport. Mr. Muller is connected with three fra- ternities, the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. Politically, he is a Republican. In addition to his hotel property, he owns ten acres of land near Sunnyside and farm- ing property in Stevens county. Mr. Muller holds the esteem of all who come in contact with him, and his family's advent into the life of Sun- nyside has been most cordially welcomed.

LAFAYETTE PACE (deceased). With the death of this prominent pioneer farmer at his home in Sunnyside, Wednesday night, November 18, 1903, there passed away one of the most gen- erally esteemed and successful men of Sunnyside valley. The cause of his death was diabetes, from which he had been a long-time sufferer. His funeral took place at the Federated church under the direction of Sunnyside lodge, No. 49, Inde-

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pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he was a zealous member. He also held a membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Lafayette Pace was born near Fort Wayne, Indiana, October 16, 1852, being the youngest son of Michael and Penelope Pace. His father died about the year 1855, but his mother still survives at the age of seventy-two, at present a resident of Calhoun county, Iowa. At the age of fourteen the deceased removed from his native home to Whiteside county, Illinois, with his mother and stepfather, Silas M. Jones. He re- mained a resident of Whiteside county for the following fifteen years, but in January, 1881, re- moved his family to Calhoun county, Iowa, where he remained until the fall of 1887. Thence they went to Leola, McPherson county, South Dakota, and there resided until the latter part of 1890. Mr. Pace then concluded to abandon farming and with his family came to Tacoma, there embarking in the contracting business, which he followed with fair success four years. At the end of that time he reconsidered his decision to farm no more and resolved to resume his old occupation, com- ing to Sunnyside valley for that purpose in May, 1894. In that section he secured land and met with great success from the beginning of his ex- perience. It had been Mr. Pace's intention to go east with his wife in the fall of 1903 and partici- pate in a grand family reunion at the old home which he had not visited in sixteen years; the journey was to have been commenced on the day of his death. Mr. Pace was a stanch Republican, and for three successive terms had served his district as road supervisor with credit. In the fall of 1902 he was honored by the electors of Yakima county by being chosen county commis- sioner for a term of four years, and up to his death fearlessly and capably discharged the duties of his office with honor to himself and satisfac- tion to his constituents.

Mr. Pace and Miss Helen A. Thompson, of Erie, Illinois, were united in marriage, November 30, 1871, in Whiteside county, Illinois. She is the daughter of a well-known family of pioneers, popu- lar in the community where she was reared to womanhood, and highly esteemed in Yakima county by all who know her. She and five chil- dren, as follows, survive the devoted husband and father : Roy L. and Clyde W., born in Illinois, January 17, 1874, and December 16, 1877, respect- ively; Pearl H., born in Calhoun county, Iowa, December 15, 1883, and Jennie M. and Earl J., twins, also born in Iowa, August 24, 1885. One daughter, Mabel B., was born in South Dakota, August 20, 1889, and died four months later. Mr. Pace is also survived by two brothers, Jacob and John; one sister, Mrs. Melinda Woods, residing in the east, and two half-brothers and three half-

sisters. In life, Mr. Pace was a kind, loving hus- band and father, an energetic and capable man of affairs, a generous neighbor and a loyal friend, and a citizen who did not shirk his duties but ever fearlessly assumed his responsibilities and worked for the upbuilding of his community and country. In death, his loss is keenly felt by those around him.

JAMES F. McCONNON. Few men in the Sunnyside district have had a more varied experi- ence in the west than has the subject of this sketch, who was born in Leith, Scotland, May 3, 1864, to Irish parents, James and Mary (Finley ) McCon- non. The father, now dead, was born in Ireland in 1840; the mother, living in Utica, New York, was born on the same island a year earlier than her husband. When a child of six years, James F. came with his parents to America, the family locating in Utica, New York, where he received his education in the public schools. He remained in school until seventeen years old, then spent a year teaming, following which he joined the great army seeking their fortunes in the west. During the next few years the young man traveled throughout the west, visiting the middle western states, including Nebraska, Minnesota, Montana, the Dakotas, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Washing- ton and many other states, busying himself at various occupations. Immediately after the great Spokane fire he arrived on the scene and assisted in the work of rebuilding the metropolis of the Inland Empire. In June, 1893, he came to Yak- ima county, where for two years he was engaged in farming. Then, during a dull season, he set- tled upon a homestead above the Sunnyside canal, three miles north of the town of Sunnyside. About this same time he gave some attention to mining in the Coeur d'Alene district, working for a short period for the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company. He was fortunate in his experience and with the money thus accumulated he returned to Yakima county in February, 1898, and leased thirty acres of Sunnyside land. The venture proved success- ful and the following January he purchased thirty acres from the canal company, making one pay- ment. To make the next payment he was com- pelled to borrow money. The third payment was inade with the proceeds of a corn crop and the money that Mr. McConnon had been able to save from his wages. Then he purchased an adjoin- ing ten acres, the final payment for which he made in the fall of 1903. From twenty-five acres of hay harvested that fall the doughty farmer realized one thousand three hundred and two dollars, sell- ing the hay at six dollars a ton. The forty-acre farm, all under cultivation, well equipped with machinery, a comfortable residence and barn, out- buildings, etc., is now all paid for-a very credit-

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able testimony to the energy and ability of its owner. Mr. McConnon has four brothers: Peter, an upholsterer in New York City ; Frank, a molder, of Utica, New York; Thomas, also a resident of Utica, and Robert, a butcher, living in Utica; and one sister, Mary, who is the wife of a Texan. Mr. McConnon is a member of the Odd Fellows, is a Republican in political matters and was reared in a Catholic household. During the winter of 1903-4 he visited his old Utica home, which he had not seen for many years.

WILLIAM HITCHCOCK, editor and propri- etor of the Sunnyside Sun, is a native of Clayton county, Iowa, born May 31, 1866. He is the son of Morris S. and Catherine H. (Humphry) Hitchcock. Morris S. Hitchcock (deceased) was born in Water- ville, Oneida county, New York, in 1828; was a farmer and school teacher, and, for ten years of his life, editor of various publications. The mother of the subject of this biography, now living in Tacoma, Washington, is a native of England, born in Fal- mouth in 1835. William Hitchcock received his early education in the public schools of Iowa, leav- ing school at the age of fourteen and entering the office of the National Advocate, published by his father at Independence, Iowa, for the purpose of becoming a practical printer. For six years he labored in this office, becoming proficient in the mechanical department of newspaper work. At the end of this time he went with his parents to Fair- bank, Iowa, and there associated himself with his father in the establishment of a paper known as the Fairbank View, which they conducted together suc- cessfully until May, 1891, when the father died. The son continued its publication alone until 1894, when he sold out and moved to Le Mars, Iowa. There he established another paper, but published it for a short time only, when he disposed of the plant and again moved, this time to Colfax, Iowa, estab- lishing there the Colfax Tribune, a publication that is still being issued. This business he sold in Octo- ber, 1900, and shortly afterwards came to Sunny- side, Washington. Purchasing a newspaper plant, he began the publication of the Sunnyside Sun, the first issue appearing May 24, 1901. In this venture he has been exceptionally successful, the list of sub- scribers now numbering over eight hundred. The office is equipped with a Monona leverless press, gasoline engine, and with other conveniences indis- pensable to the progressive editor of a successful paper. By tireless devotion to public interests and enterprises, both local and general, Editor Hitch- cock has won the confidence of the community, which is giving the Sun the hearty support it de- serves as the medium through which knowledge of the city and of the wonderful country by which it is surrounded is conveyed to the general public. Mr. Hitchcock is one of a family of six children.

The names of his brothers and sisters follow: Wal- ter A., Solomon C., Elizabeth, Mary Lillian and Annette, all residents of Tacoma, Washington.

In 1897 William Hitchcock and Miss Lily M. Lacey were united in marriage in Colfax, Iowa. Mrs. Hitchcock was born in Jasper county, Iowa, March 22, 1875, the daughter of William Lacey, who still lives in Iowa. Her mother's maiden name was Elizabeth McCracken. Mrs. Hitchcock has one sister, Myrtle Lacey, living in Sunnyside. Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock have one daughter and one son : Dorothy D., born in Colfax, Iowa, in February, 1899, and Morris W., born in Sunnyside, July 5, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock are members of the Methodist church. Mr. Hitchcock's fraternal con- nections are with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Besides his business property, he owns two acres of land where his residence stands, and five acres elsewhere within the city limits. He has a most comfortable and de- sirable home. Both by nature and education he is eminently fitted for the profession he has chosen, and the Sunnyside Sun has come to be recognized as one of the best edited and most progressive papers in Yakima county. He is a man of strict integrity and correct principles, and is held in high esteem by all with whom he comes in contact, either in a busi- ness or social way.

CLINTON R. WEBBER is one of the success- ful farmers and stock raisers of the Sunnyside dis- trict, residing four and one-half miles southeast of Sunnyside, on rural free delivery route No. I. He is a native of Maine, born July 11, 1873, the son of Wilbur W. and Emily (Record) Webber, the father (deceased) a farmer, born in Limerick, Maine, in 1845, and the mother, now living near Sunnyside, born in Hartford. the same state and in the same year in which her husband was born. When the son Clinton was four years old the parents moved from Maine to South Dakota, and here he received his early education in the public schools of Watertown. In 1890, at the age of seven- teen, he left home and came west, locating in Seattle, Washington, and for two years following the occu- pation of a plasterer ; thence going to Salt Lake City, where he remained for one year in the capacity of a street car conductor. In 1893 he came to Yak- ima county, and. in connection with his father, be- gan the improvement of what is now known as the Webber stock farm, engaging at first in diversified farming and meeting with good success until the death of the father in 1896, which, coupled with the financial distress of the early nineties, rendered farming temporarily unprofitable. In 1898 he asso- ciated his brother with him, and together they oper- ated the ranch for four years as a dairy farm, find- ing the business very profitable. In 1902 he pur- chased his brother's interests, and February 18,

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1903, took into the business as partners F. S. and G. E. Sylvester. The company is how engaged ex- clusively in the stock business, making a specialty of Poland-China hogs, of which they are raising more than any other company in the county ; among their droves now having twenty-five registered hogs of this breed. This is one of the best known stock farms in the county, and is under the management of our subject. Mr. Webber has one brother and one sister, living in Yakima county, Harold and Gladys, the latter now attending high school in North Yakina.

March 13, 1901, Clinton R. Webber and Miss Esther McDonald were united in the bonds of wed- lock at North Yakima. Mrs. Webber was born in Wisconsin, December 7, 1875, the daughter of Will- iam and Elizabeth (Hill) McDonald; the father is dead, the mother living in Sunnyside. Mrs. Web- ber has one sister, Mrs. Lavina Boland, living in Wisconsin, and two brothers and one sister, Leon- ard, George and Catherine, living in Sunnyside. Mr. and Mrs. Webber have one child, Leone A., born January II, 1902, in their present home in Yakima county. Mr. Webber's fraternal connec- tions are with the Modern Woodmen and the Yeo- men. Politically, he is an independent Republican, supporting the best man for the office in political campaigns, rather than the party. He owns the one- sixth interest in the Webber stock farm, which con- sists of three hundred and ninety acres, valued at fifty thousand dollars, and on which there are one thousand head of hogs and eighteen dairy cows. He also owns a good residence property in Sunnyside. By perseverance and strict attention to business he has won success where many others have failed. He is known as a man of honor and integrity, fair in all his dealings with others, a man of energy and pro- gressive ideas, and by all who know him he is highly esteemed.

ELMER E. FERSON, for ten years a resident of the Sunnyside district, is now engaged in dairy farming and butter making four miles southeast of Sunnyside, on rural free delivery route No. I. He is a native of Wisconsin, born in Oshkosh October 17, 1860, the son of James S. and Augusta (Willard) Ferson, the father (deceased) a native of Nash, New Hampshire, and the mother, now living with her son, a native of Vermont, of Welsh and American descent. When the son Elmer was nine years old his parents moved to Pine City, Minne- sota, and in its public schools he received his early education, later taking a business course in St. Paul, Minnesota. Leaving school at the age of seventeen, he engaged for six years in logging dur- ing the winter months and in contract work on brick structures in the summer. In 1888 he came to the far west, locating in Seattle and following his former occupations until 1894, when he came

to Yakima county. Purchasing a tract of seventy- three acres, where he now resides, he at once be- gan its improvement. Owing to the financial troubles of 1893. he had lost nearly all his ac- cumulations in the Sound country, and was able to make but a small payment on his farm, but, by per- severance, energy and self-denial, he managed to weather the period of financial distress and by the year 1898 began to realize substantial returns from his investment. He combined contracting and building with farming, built the first school house in the Sunnyside district, discovered good brick clay near Sunnyside, manufactured brick and, with T. W. Marble, erected the first brick building in Sunnyside. Mr. Ferson informs us that before prosperity returned to this section money was so scarce that it was next to impossible to discharge even small obligations ; the first crop he succeeded in raising was onions, which for a year or two were his only medium of exchange in settling ac- counts with his neighbors. In 1901 he established a creamery on his farm, which he has named the Mountain View because of the beautiful view that may be had from his place both of Mount Rainier and Mount Adams. The creamery has a capacity of five hundred pounds of butter per day; for the year 1903 Mr. Ferson gathered one hundred thirty- seven thousand four hundred and seventy-four pounds of cream, made thirty-nine thousand three hundred and sixty-seven pounds of butter, which sold for an average of twenty-three cents per pound, and paid to his patrons eight thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine dollars.

In 1881 Mr. Ferson was married in Pine City, Minnesota, to Miss Nellie R. Record, who was born in Buckfield, Maine, February 3, 1863, the daughter of Stephen E. and Sarah (Irish) Record, the father born in Maine in 1820, now living in South Dakota, the mother born in Maine, died when her daughter was eight years old. Mr. Fer- son has one sister, Mrs. Ida Marble, in South Dakota. Mrs. Ferson has three sisters living in Yakima county: Mrs. Alice Adams, Mrs. Emily Webber and Mrs. Bertha Rhoads. She also has a brother, Carrol Record, a retired farmer of Watertown, South Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Ferson have one son and three daughters: Chester, born in Seattle April 7, 1890; Margery, born in Seattle June 2, 1892; Blanch, born in Sunnyside May 4. 1896, and Lois, born in Sunnyside February 19, 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Ferson are Christian Scien- tists. Fraternally. Mr. Ferson is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Modern Woodmen; politically, he is an active Republican. On his farm he has one hundred and three head of cattle, forty of which are milch cows. He has a fourteen-room dwelling, modern in all its appointments and to be lighted later by electricity. He is a man of energy and enter- prise, progressive in his ideas, honorable-in all his

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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 157

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