An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 164

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 164
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 164
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 164

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twenty-two. To this union have been born three children: Mrs. Winona Muller, born in 1882, liv- ing in the Glade; Anthony, born in 1884, at home; Robert V., born in 1886, living at home. Mr. Donoho is a prominent Odd Fellow, in which lodge he is a past grand. Politically, he is a Republican of strong views. Upon his ranch of one thousand three hundred and sixteen acres, of which three hundred acres are in cultivation as grain land, he has a band of twenty cattle, and another band of twenty horses. Mr. Donoho is a thoroughly snc- cessful man, who has won that success by energy,

thrift and integrity, and these qualities are what give him his position in the community.

DEAN STAIR. That the strennous character of our national life at this period is calling upon men to assume important responsibilities at an earlier age than formerly is a self-evident truth; particularly is this true of the later settled portions of the union-the western divisions. And in the Northwest, nowhere are the young men more re- sponsive to this demand or more successful in as- suming these increased responsibilities than in the thrifty Yakima country, where progress is the slogan of all. The traveler in that section will at once note that the words Yakima and progress are inseparable, so intimately are they connected. Mab- ton is one of Yakima county's commercial hives, and the young man of whom we write is one of its busiest, most popular and successful occupants, being the manager of the St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company's yards at that point. He is, moreover, a product of Yakima county, having been born in Yakima City in the year 1881, to the union of David W. and Ella (Parker) Stair, pioneers of the valley. The father was a native of Ohio. He was by profession a lawyer, graduating from the Lebanon, Ohio, and the University of Michigan law schools. In 1877, he immigrated to Washington Territory, locating in Yakima City, where he practiced his profession two years. How- ever, in 1882, he sought the more healthful pur- suit of farming, living for five years one mile west of Yakima City. Then he settled on the railroad land in the Ahtanum valley, where he continued

to follow farming and stock raising with success, until his death in 1895. During these years he was honored by being appointed to serve a term as probate judge of the county, and by an appoint- ment as county treasurer to fill a vacancy caused by death. The mother is a native of Nebraska, the daughter of pioneers of that state, where she was married at the age of twenty. For twenty-five years Mrs. Stair has been a teacher in the Yakima schools and is at present holding the position of principal of the North Yakima High school. In the schools of that city and the Portland Business College Dean Stair received his education, being graduated by the latter in 1900. His schooling was not uninterrupted, however, for the outbreak of the Spanish-American war so fired his patriotism that in 1898, when only seventeen years old, he en- listed in Company E. First Washington volunteers, and went to the front with his young comrades. As a member of the Philippine army he partici- pated in a year's vigorous campaign around Manila, returning with the Washington troops in the fall of 1899 with the rank of a corporal. After graduation from the business college, Mr. Stair spent a year riding the range for John Switzer be-

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fore accepting a position with the St. Paul and Ta- coma Lumber Company. His first work for that corporation was in North Yakima, thence he went as bookkeeper into the Ritzville office for ten months, thence to Toppenish as manager, and January 15, 1903, was placed in full charge of the Mabton branch.

Mr. Stair assumed the further responsibilities of matrimony in February, 1903, his bride being Miss Edith Morrison, also a native of Yakima county and the daughter of Abraham W. and Alma (Lybyer) Morrison, whose biographies will be found elsewhere in this volume. Miss Edith was born at the family homestead near Prosser in 1881, and was educated in Yakima county and at the Catholic seminary in Spokane. She is a member of the Christian church. To this union has been born one child, Dorothy D., whose birthday was De- cember 21, 1903, and birthplace is Mabton. Mr. Stair is a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Wood- man, and both himself and wife are well known and highly esteemed among the young as well as the elder residents of the community.

THOMAS L. STEPHENS, residing three and a half miles northeast of Mabton, was born in Erie county, New York, in 1839, the son of Thomas and Esther (Stetson) Stephens. Thomas Stephens was born in Massachusetts in 1798, came to Erie county in 1825 and died there in 1870; the mother was born in Otsego county, New York, in 1802, and passed into the life beyond at the age of fifty-five. Thomas L. attended the public schools and academy of his native county and worked upon the farm until he reached his majority. Then he went into the new state of Wisconsin and there taught school during the winters and farmed during the summers until 1863, when he returned to New York and en- listed in the Tenth cavalry, Company L, in which he served through the remainder of the Civil war. Upon his discharge on account of disability in 1865, Mr. Stephens returned to Wisconsin, resum- ing his work as a teacher. In 1867 he went to Nebraska as one of that commonwealth's pioneers, teaching and farming for ten years there. Then for eleven years he farmed in Kansas. The year 1887 saw his return to Nebraska, where he re- mained until 1893. At that time he immigrated to the Northwest, locating first in Klickitat county. A year later he removed to the Sunnyside region in Yakima county, where for three years he was engaged with Dr. P. B. Wing of Tacoma. Subse- quently he purchased ten acres of land near Mab- ton and afterward purchased twenty additional acres, selling these holdings in 1903 and reaping a neat profit on the transactions. In 1903 he pur- chased the forty-acre tract constituting his home, and another forty, giving him in all eighty acres

of fine land. Of the home place only eleven acres are in cultivation, but the forty acres lying three miles northwest of his home are all in cultivation and under water. Both farms are very valuable ones and indicate what water, energy, persever- ance and ability can do in a sage-brush country.

The marriage of Mr. Stephens to Ellen Butch- art was celebrated in Nebraska in 1871. Previous to her marriage to Mr. Stephens, she was the wife of John Murdie and to this union was born one child, Agnes, now Mrs. W. H. Wright, living in the Sunnyside valley. Mrs. Stephens' parents were Andrew and Jessie (Adams) Butchart, both natives of Scotland, who came to Canada in early life. Mrs. Butchart was the mother of fifteen children. Mrs. Stephens was born on the banks of the Dundee in 1849, was educated in Canada, came to Topeka when she was seventeen and at the age of twenty-two was married in Nebraska. To Mr. and Mrs. Stephens have been born the following children: Lewis, deceased, 1873; Ver- non, deceased, 1874; Ernest, 1879; Ira, February 13, 1881 ; and Ora, May 15, 1885, the first two be- ing born in Nebraska. the remaining three in Kansas. For twelve years past Mrs. Stephens has been sorely afflicted with rheumatism. Mr. Stephens is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Ancient Order of United Work- men, is a member of the United Brethren church and is affiliated with the Republican party. He is a prosperous agriculturist and a respected citi- zen of the county in which he lives.

CLARK MILLER. One of the prosperous farmers living in the district irrigated by the Sun- nyside canal is the subject of this sketch, who is also a pioneer of the Yakima country. Indiana is his birthplace and 1861 was the year of his birth, his parents being Alcana and Eliza (Koontz) Miller, natives of Indiana and New York respect- ively. The elder Miller lived in his native state until 1870, when he removed to Greenwood county, Kansas. There he lived until 1878, in that year crossing the Plains to Klickitat county, Wash- ington Territory. In the new home the first year was spent in Goldendale, after which the family settled near Bickleton, where the father and mother are still living. Eliza Koontz was born in 1829 and came to Indiana with her parents. Clark Miller attended school in Eureka, Kansas, obtaining most of his education there. He was sixteen years of age when he entered Klickitat county and for the succeeding five years lived at home on the farm, assisting his father in making a home. Then he crossed the Cascades and en- tered the logging camps of the coast region. Af- ter three years of this experience he returned to Klickitat and for the next three years remained at home. In 1893, however, he filed a homestead

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claim to land near Mabton and after a five years' residence thereon, obtained a title from the gov- ernment. Two years more at Bickleton followed; then he purchased his present ten-acre place, three miles northeast of Mabton, under the Sun- nyside canal. Recently he bought an additional five acres. Ten of these fifteen acres are in culti- vation, a portion being in orchard, and on the place Mr. Miller has built a comfortable home. Besides this valuable tract he still owns forty acres on the south side of the river.

Miss Josephine Marrs, daughter of Andrew B. and Charlotta (Shaw) Marrs, was united in mar- riage to Mr. Miller in Cowlitz county, Washing- ton, 1888. Her father was a native of Indiana; her mother a native of Illinois, where she was married in 1857. In 1849 Mr. Marrs crossed the Plains to California and in that state mined and followed his trade, that of a gunsmith, until his demise in 1876. Mrs. Marrs is still living. Jose- phine Marrs was born in the Golden state in the year 1869, but received most of her schooling in Washington. She was married when seventeen years old, and to this union have been born four children, all living: Clarence, March 23, 1889; Lydia, August 13, 1890; Noah J., January 6, 1893 ; Ina L., February 27, 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are connected with the Baptist church. Mr. Mil- ler is a Socialist in politics and is regarded as a public-spirited citizen.

WILLIAM H. WRIGHT, who lives on a well improved farm two and a half miles northeast of Mabton, has been a resident of the valley of Yak- ima for more than twelve years, and in that period has witnessed the truly marvelous development of that section and himself has taken a share in it. Born in Pennsylvania, 1866, he is the son of Will- iam and Ellen (Hawley) Wright, natives of Eng- land and Ireland respectively. The father immi- grated to America in 1861 and was married to Miss Hawley, and lived in Pennsylvania until 1882, when he removed to Nebraska. There he resided until 1891; then came to Tacoma, where his death occurred. The mother was twelve years old when she came to the United States with her brother, and was married when sixteen. Her death also occurred in Tacoma. To this union were born six children, of whom the subject of this sketch is one. He was educated in private schools and in the public schools of Albany, New York. When sev- enteen years old he commenced working on a stock ranch in Nebraska. Five years later he abandoned this life and went to Tacoma. On the Sound he was engaged for two years in the great logging camps of that region, but in 1891 crossed the range to the Yak- ima country and settled upon a homestead near Mab- ton. In 1895 he took charge of the Riverside hotel at Prosser and managed it successfully for four

years. Then for a year he conducted a restaurant in Tacoma. Returning to Mabton after this venture, he opened a saloon and was thus engaged until June 1, 1902, when he sold the business and re- moved to his present home.

Mr. Wright was married at Prosser, March II, 1897, to Miss Agnes Murdie, the daughter of John and Ellen ( Butchart ) Murdie, natives of Scotland. Mrs. Wright was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1870, and attended school in Kansas and Ne- braska. She came to Washington when twenty- three years old and was married at the age of twenty-seven. Her mother is now Mrs. Thomas L. Stephens, and lives near Mabton. One child has come into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright, William D., born in Tacoma, September 21, 1900. Mr. Wright is affiliated with the Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen and is a member of the Repub- lican party. Mrs. Wright is a member of the Pres- byterian church, and also connected with the Re- bekahs and Royal Neighbors. The thirty-acre farm is all under water and all in cultivation, twenty being in alfalfa and half an acre in a select or -. chard. Besides this property, Mr. Wright owns a quarter section of land near Mabton. He is a successful business man and farmer.

O. FRANK BERNEY, living three miles northeast of Mabton, is a highly respected citizen and successful farmer and stock raiser of that re- gion. The little republic of Switzerland is his na- tive land, and in one of its nestling valleys he was born August II, 1866, in the home of Fran- cois and Zele (Rochat) Berney, also of Swiss birth and descent. The father was born in 1829, and at a ripe old age is still living in his Swiss home. By trade, he is a watchmaker. His wife was born in 1835 and lived to be sixty-six years old. The subject of this biography attended the com- mon schools of Switzerland, and from the age of ten to that of eighteen worked with his father at the watchmaker's trade. In 1883, however, the young man crossed the Atlantic to seek his for- tune on American soil. He came direct to Klick- itat county and there settled upon a quarter sec- tion of railroad land and commenced raising stock. Until 1890 he made his home upon this place, but in that year he took a trip to Walla Walla county and in the fall returned to Yakima county and filed a homestead claim to land near Mabton, where he made his home the ensuing five years. In 1898 he entered the Euclid settlement and re- sided there for two years on rented land. Then he purchased twenty acres three miles north of Mabton, sold it and purchased another twenty, on which he now makes his home.

He was married to Mrs. Bertha Erikson at Prosser in 1895. Her parents, Erik and Bertha (Anderson) Nelson, were natives of Norway and

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there lived until their deaths. She was born in Norway in 1859 and at an early age was married to Jonas Erikson, immediately immigrating to St. Paul, Minnesota. In St. Paul they lived twelve years, or until Mr. Erikson's death in 1893. Six children were the result of this union: Edward, born March 14, 1883; Clara, March 21, 1885; Erik, March 17, 1887; and three who are not living. Mr. and Mrs. Berney are the parents of two children, both living: Auguste, born at Mabton, April 25, 1898, and Francis, at Mabton, May 1, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Berney are consistent members of the Lutheran church, and are considered good neigh- bors and loyal friends. He is a believer in the principles advocated by the Republican party. For three years past Mr. Berney has served his com- munity as a school director, and is known as a man who takes a deep interest in all public mat- ters. He still retains forty acres of the homestead near Mabton, and his home place of twenty acres, of the latter one-half acre being in a fine orchard, nineteen acres being in alfalfa and the balance in other crops or used for building sites. He also owns eighty head of cattle and sixteen head of horses. Mr. Berney is one of the valley's sub- stantial citizens and a man of progressive ideas.

WALLACE WELLS, residing three and a. half miles northeast of Mabton, upon one of the finest little ranches in the valley, was born in Allegany, New York, in 1844, to the union of Peter and Patience (Strait) Wells, both of whom claimed that same state as their birthplace. When the son Wallace was three years old he lost his mother and six years later his father died, leaving him an orphan. An older brother took the unfortunate lad in charge, giving him a home and educating him. In 1865, the brothers went to Wisconsin and there, when he reached the age of twenty, Wallace bought a farm and commenced work for himself. He lived in Wis- consin, engaged in agricultural pursuits, until 1895, at that time coming west to Mabton. With three other men he erected a water wheel and ir- rigated a tract of land, which he made his home for four years. In December, 1898, he purchased his present place and since that date has resided upon it.

Mr. Wells and Adella Smith were joined in matrimony in 1877, the marriage taking place in Wisconsin. Miss Smith was born in Milwau- kee in 1857, her parents being Abel A. and Miranda (Bump) Smith, both natives of the Em- pire state. The father crossed the Plains to Cali- fornia in 1849, when nineteen years old, taking his young wife with him to the gold fields. Within a short time he made a fortune in the mines, returned to New York, but again crossed the Plains in the fifties to the same state. Again he returned to his native state and resided until

1860, when he immigrated to Wisconsin. The mother died in 1864, but the hardy old frontiers- man lived until 1894. Mrs. Smith was the mother of seven children. Mr. and Mrs. Wells have had three children: Mrs. Clara G. Meek, born April 16, 1878, now living in Yakima county ; Emerson W., born in Wisconsin, April 8, 1880, died Octo- ber 26, 1887, and Charles W., born in Wiscon- sin, August 31, 1882, living at home. Mr. Wells and his wife are devout members of the Presby- terian church, he being a deacon in that body. He takes a deep interest in national affairs, and on national issues aligns himself with the Repub- licans. For three years Mr. Wells has been a director of the board of the Mabton school dis- trict, filling the office with credit. All of his six- ty-acre ranch is under irrigation, thirty acres being devoted to alfalfa and three acres to timothy and clover. Mr. Wells is also raising fine stock, owning seventy-five head of horses, twenty-five head of hogs and several cattle. He is a highly respected citizen and neighbor, who is doing his share in reclaiming the desert lands of the Yakima and reaping a goodly success.

CHARLES H. MEEK. One of the popular and enterprising farmers of the Yakima valley is the subject of this chronicle, who resides four and a half miles northeast of Mabton. Mr. Meek is a native son of the Badger state, his birth oc- curring in July, 1870. His father was George Meek, born in Michigan and an early pioneer of Wisconsin, where he died in 1897; his mother's maiden name was Sarah Harmer, the daughter of pioneers of Wisconsin, her birth occurring in that state. Mrs. Meek is still living, her home being in Wisconsin. Charles H. is one of five children, all of whom were educated and reared in the old Wisconsin home. When he reached his majority, however, he began to do for himself, working at various occupations during the first six years. In 1897, he came to the Northwest, locating in the Mabton district. Six years he rented land, thus accumulating sufficient means wherewith to purchase, this year, his own com- fortable, well improved farm.

In 1898, July Ist, he was united in marriage to Miss Clara G. Wells, at Mabton. She is also a native of Wisconsin, born April 16, 1878, and is the oldest daughter of Wallace and Adella (Smith) Wells, residents of the Mabton region, whose biographies will be found on another page of this volume. Mrs. Meek was married when twenty years old. Two children have been born to this union, Della A. and Dora E. Mrs. Meek is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Meek does not belong to either of the old line political parties, but is an ardent advocate of Socialism, with which party he is actively identified. His twenty-acre farm is well supplied with water

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and bears the marks of a skillful, energetic hand upon its soil and improvements. None in the val- ley is a firmer believer in the richness and bright future of the Yakima country than Mr. Meek.

TILTON S. PHILLIPS, of Mabton, is one of the leading business men and stockmen of Yakima county. He has made the most of his opportunities since coming to central Washing- ton with the result that unusual success has crowned his efforts. Mr. Phillips was born in 1861, in the border state, Missouri, his parents being Joseph and Deborah (Hardy) Phillips, the father having been born in New Hampshire in 1823, and the mother in that state two years later. In the early forties Joseph Phillips immi- grated to Missouri and there lived until he en- listed in the Union army. He was killed in ac- tion in 1863, ranking as a captain at the time of his death. The mother gave up the unequal struggle for life in 1883, leaving three children to mourn her loss. Tilton remained at home with his mother until fourteen years of age, meanwhile attending school; then for three years he and a brother engaged in stock raising. At the age of seventeen, with commendable spirit, he commenced a three years' course in college, after the completion of which he returned to stock raising. A year later he and his brother opened a general mercantile house in Tuscumbia, Missouri, which they conducted two years. In 1885, he came to Washington, stopping at Walla Walla the first summer. In December he re- moved to Prosser and filed pre-emption and tim- ber culture claims in the Horse Heaven region. These he abandoned, however, and after a sea- son on Eureka Flat and a winter in Prosser, en- tered the logging industry at Cle-Elum, where he remained most of the time until the spring of 1890, when he came to Mabton and there settled upon a homestead. Eight years of stock raising followed, but in November, 1898, Mr. Phillips was appointed postmaster of Mabton and at the same time opened a general store in that growing village. After conducting the store fifteen months he sold the property to the Hub Mercan- tile Company, but in May, 1902, again entered the mercantile business, in which he still remains. April 1, 1903, he added a meat market to his establishment. During his business life he has always continued his stock raising with the re- sult that he has fine bands of horses and cattle. The year 1897 marks the date of his marriage to Miss Agnes E. Begg, daughter of James A. and Annie U. (Sidey) Begg, natives of Scotland, who came to Canada nearly half a century ago. Her father immigrated to the United States in 1898, settling in Ellensburg. He is now living in Rochester, Thurston county. Mrs. Phillips was born in Canada in the year 1868, where she

received her education, and was married in Thurston county, Washington, at the age of twenty-nine. To Mr. and Mrs. Phillips have been born one child, Ruth I., at Mabton, December 29, 1901. In a fraternal way, Mr. Phillips is con- nected with the Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America and Yeomen; politically, he is an energetic Republican of influence. His country property consists of four hundred and thirty-six acres of land, of which two hundred and seventy- six acres are meadow; six hundred head of cat- tle, including two hundred head being fed for the beef market, and two hundred head of horses, in which he is making a specialty of the Perch- eron stock. Ability, energy and perseverance are responsible for the accumulation of his fine prop- erty. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips enjoy the blessings conferred by a host of warm friends, and as a business man and citizen Mr. Phillips possesses the esteem and confidence of all who know him.

SAMUEL P. FLOWER, merchant and owner of a lumber yard at Mabton, has been prominently identified with the business interests of Klickitat and Yakima counties since 1878, and is at present recognized as one of the leading business men of that section of the state. The Flower family comes of pioneer American stock, both the grandfather and father of the subject of this biography having been influential pioneers of Illinois, where Samuel was born in White county in the year 1851. His parents are Camillus and Edith (Pritchard) Flower, both natives of Illinois, also, and both of English descent. The grandfather, George Flower, settled in Illinois in 1818 and was prominent in the early history of that state. Camillus Flower came to Washington in 1893 and settled at Bick- leton, where he and his wife are still living. Mrs. Flower was born, educated and married in Ed- wards county, Illinois. Samuel P. Flower at- tended school in his native state, remaining at home on the farm until nineteen. Then, equipped with a rugged constitution and a fair education, he sought the bustling metropolis of the Lake Michigan shore, and there in the wholesale dry goods establishment of a great company received his first business training. However, his Chicago experience was short, for after three months' work, in 1871, the great fire destroyed the establishment in which he was employed, and he returned home. The succeeding three years he alternately farmed and taught school. In 1877 he sought the shores of the Pacific, settling at Georgetown, California, where he spent a summer. In the fall he went northward into Oregon, and in July, 1878, arrived in Goldendale, Klickitat county. Subsequently he settled on a farm near Bickleton, where he lived until October, 1880. At that time he opened a general store on the site of Bickleton, then com-

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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 164

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