An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 165

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 165
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 165
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 165

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).

TILTON S. PHILLIPS.

SAMUEL P. FLOWER.

JOSEPH F. KUNZ.

EDWARD J. EIDEMILLER.

HORATIO E. CROSNO.

WILLIAM P. CROSNO.

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

prised of only a handful of buildings, the firm name being Bickle & Flower. This partnership lasted nine years, or until 1889, when he bought Mr. Bickle's interest in the business and as sole pro- prietor conducted the store until 1894, when he sold to his brother, Edward .. Meanwhile, how- ever, Mr. Flower had become convinced that Mab- ton was a fine business location and in 1892 had opened a store and warehouse at that station. The increase of his business interests there was so great that in 1895 he removed to that place in or- der to give matters his personal attention. In 1900 he added a lumber yard to his other inter- ests and in April, 1902, the family became more deeply interested in Mabton by reason of Mrs. Flower and A. J. Humphrey buying the townsite, consisting of four hundred and forty acres, from the Northern Pacific Railway Company. Thus has Mr. Flower's family become prominently identified with Mabton's history. He has two brothers, Charles and Edward, and two sisters, Mrs. Eliza McCredy and Mrs. Rosamond Story, living at Bickleton; and two other brothers, Fred and Philip, living in Il- linois; and his brother, Harry, and sister, Mrs. Alice Bristow, live in Portland.

Mr. Flower was married, January 17, 1897, in Yakima county, to Mrs. Amy M. Beckett, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. John Lee, natives and resi- dents of England. Amy Lee was born in England, but came to Canada when a child and was there educated and married to Philip Beckett. He lived until 1894, leaving the following children: Rich- ard, born in 1887; Philline, 1891, and Bruce, born in Washington, 1893. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Flower has been brightened by four children, all of whom were born at Mabton and are living : Camillus, December 10, 1897; Herman K., June 10, 1899; Alfred, May 14, 1901, and Joseph A. April 14, 1903. Fraternally. Mr. Flower is affiliated with the Masons and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically, he is an active Republican and is at present serving as a United States court commissioner. Both himself and wife are mem- bers of the Methodist church. In school matters Mr. Flower is also prominent, having served as a director of the Mabton district since he came to the town. Besides his town interests, he owns three hundred and forty acres of land just outside the townsite. Mr. and Mrs. Flower are highly esteemed socially, and as a pioneer, substantial citizen of integrity and an able man of affairs, Mr. Flower is respected by all.

JOSEPH F. KUNZ, residing a mile and a half east of Sunnyside upon one of the fine farms of the valley, was born in Germany, April 7, 1854, the son of Jacob and Anna M. (Degenhart) Kunz. Jacob Kunz was born in Germany in 1819, be- came a pioneer of southeast Wisconsin in 1858,

and was there engaged in farming until his death in 1880. Anna M. Kunz was born in Bavaria, August 4, 1824; she died in 1898. The subject of this sketch was four years old when he was brought to Wisconsin and in that state received his education, attending the school in district No. 4, Waukesha county, in the last few years only during the winters. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one he assisted his father on the farm, then entering a blacksmith shop as an apprentice. He worked as an apprentice two years, at the end of that time being in possession of his trade and one hundred and twenty-five dol- lars in cash, his start in the world. Two years he worked on a farm, and in December, 1881, opened a shop in Big Bend, Wisconsin, which he con- ducted nearly four years. Selling this establish- ment in 1885, he came to the northwestern part of Wisconsin and farmed for four years. In the fall of 1888 he became a resident of Yakima county, still continuing to farm. Three years later, in December, he filed upon one hundred and sixty acres near the site of Sunnyside, and the November following began in earnest to improve the place, removing his family thereon. Steadily and vigorously this work has gone forward until Mr. Kunz now has his whole farm, eighty acres, all under a high state of cultivation.

He was married in Wisconsin, December 14, 1882, to Miss Susan W. Darling, a native of Wis- consin, born May 6, 1861. Her parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Purves) Darling, are Scotch, born in Scotland in 1830 and 1840 respectively. They are still living in Wisconsin, the father being a re- tired farmer. Mr. Kunz has four brothers: Lut- drig and Andrew E., Parker Bottom; William, in Yakima; Frederick and Anna M., residents of Wisconsin. Lutdrig is a hotel man, the other brothers farmers. Mrs. Kunz has three sisters: Mrs. Elizabeth Yahrmark, Mrs. Christina I. Cole and Mary C. Christison, and two brothers, John W. and William T., all living in Wisconsin. Will- iam T. Darling is principal of the Florence, Wis., schools. Mr. and Mrs. Kunz have five children, all at home; Frantz T., born December 4, 1883; William W., January 30, 1886; Christian J., Janu- ary 8, 1890; and Fred, September 14, 1891, the first two born in Wisconsin, the remaining two in Yakima county. One daughter, Edith A., born in Wisconsin, September 17, 1887, died February 8, 1896. Mr. Kunz is a public-spirited citizen, and as such takes an active interest in political af- fairs, his sympathies being with the Republicans. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The family are members of the Congre- gational church. Mr. Kunz has ten acres of or- chard, the balance of his farm being in hay. A fine eleven-room house serves as a residence. As a man who commands the respect and esteem of his fellow men, a man of integrity and stability and

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CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

a successful farmer, Mr. Kunz is known to the community.

EDWARD J. EIDEMILLER is one of Mab- ton's energetic young business men who has charge of the North Yakima Milling Company's warehouse at that point. As Mabton is one of the best shipping points for its size on the Cascade division of the Northern Pacific, Mr. Eidemiller has the management of important business inter- ests which require ability, energy and honesty in no small degree. Of German descent, his parents being George and Hanna (Huck) Eidemiller, na- tives of Germany, the son Edward himself was born in Dubuque county, Iowa, October 6, 1874, and was there educated in the public schools. His father came to the United States in 1846 at the age of twelve, making his home for three years in Philadelphia. In 1849 he went to Iowa and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1889, when he came west to Seattle. After a five years' residence in the Sound metropolis, Mr. Eidemiller took his family to Mabton, of which place he is at present a resident. Mrs. Eidemiller came to the United States when only five years old and was married to Mr. Eidemiller in Iowa.

In Seattle the subject of this sketch learned bookkeeping and otherwise prepared himself to enter mercantile pursuits. The year 1894 wit- nessed his arrival in Mabton, then only a hamlet, but he did not tarry there long, immediately go- ing to Sunnyside. After a year's labor there he engaged in work for W. H. Babcock on Eureka Flat, with whom he remained three years. The next two years of his life were spent in the sheep business. In 1901 he was occupied in farming at Byron and the year following he worked in the street car service of Seattle. However, in March, 1903, he accepted his present position and since that time has been a resident of Mabton. Success is crowning his efforts and he is rapidly becoming recognized as a capable young business man with bright prospects before him. Mr. Eidemiller is connected with the Woodmen of the World and the Brotherhood of American Yeomen, and is a communicant of the Lutheran church. He is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party and a supporter of President Roosevelt. His property interests consist of a homestead two and one-half miles south of Mabton and four valuable town lots. Mr. Eidemiller is fortunate in having a host of warm personal friends and well wishers.

HORATIO E. CROSNO, farmer and stock- man, living in the Ahtanuni valley, was ushered into this world in the historic town of Vancouver, Washington, August 31, 1865, to the union of Will- iam P. and Frances (Smith) Crosno. His parents

were both natives of Jefferson county, Illinois, and had traveled the long, tedious trip from their na- tive state to Washington, with ox teams, only two years prior to the birth of Horatio, their first child, and had taken up land with a view to making a permanent home in the new country of their adop- tion. But, not being fully satisfied with the condi- tions there, they sold their right to the land and in 1869 moved up to Yakima county, and settled in the valley of Ahtanum. Here they took land again and once more started to make a home. Less than six years from their settlement the mother passed away. She was the first white woman to settle in the Ahtanum valley. Here the father continued to reside until 1895, when he too passed to the great unknown. The subject of this article came to the Ahtanumı valley with his parents when but three years of age, and was brought up on the old home- stead, working for his father in farming and stock raising until he reached the age of twenty-one. He then filed on a tract of land in the valley, moved upon the property and improved it. He made this his home for six years, and then rented other farms, among others his father's, on which latter place he was living at the time of the father's death in 1895. The horse place was then divided, and he continued to live upon his tract of land until 1903, raising stock and farming. In March of that year he leased for a period of five years a four hundred acre tract, and has engaged in farming on an extensive scale, and in a diversified manner. He was married July 8, 1898, in the Ahtanum valley to Miss Lydia Min- ner, daughter of William H. Minner and Harriet J. (Shamp) Minner, pioneers in Yakima county. Mrs. Crosno was born in Willamette valley, Ore- gon, in 1869, and came to Washington in 1876 with her parents. Her brothers and sisters are: Julia, Mrs. Jennie Lyle, Mrs. Carrie Morrison and Mrs. Nora Claler, all of whom live in Yakima county but the latter. Mr. and Mrs. Crosno's chil- dren are: Emmett, Newell, Ruth F., Mabel J. and Purdy B. Mr. Crosno is a Democrat. Fraternally, he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Woodmen of the World, and the wife is a member of the Circle. He owns seven hundred acres of timber and grazing land, with a fine herd of cattle, principally Durham, and is operating a large dairy.

HENRY C. VARNER. One of the most fa- vorably known and prosperous farmers living in the Sunnyside district, his residence being three miles and a half northeast of Mabton, is the Klickitat pioneer of whom we write. For a quarter of a cen- tury he has made his home on the eastern slope of the Cascades, coming to this section in December, 1878, from Colorado. His first location was near Bickleton, where he filed timber culture and pre- emption claims. Upon this ranch he was engaged

731

BIOGRAPHICAL.

in farming and stock raising until 1890, when he made a trip to. Fairhaven. In the spring of 1891 he came to Yakima county and took a homestead claim, which is his present home. Mr. Varner is a native of West Virginia, born January 15, 1855, to Ashbury and Phoebe (Davis) Varner, both natives of Pennsylvania. Both paternal and maternal an- cestors for several generations were pioneers of the Atlantic coast, the grandparents of western Penn- sylvania. Ashbury Varner and his wife were a remarkable couple in that he lived to the goodly age of ninety-eight and she to the age of ninety-three. He was of Irish extraction. Henry C. was reared upon his father's farm in West Virginia, obtaining a fair education. When he was twenty years old he taught a term of school in Virginia. March 6, 1876, witnessed his departure from the old home and the beginning of a journey to Iowa. In that state he farmed for two years, or until 1878, when he went farther west to Colorado, and there lived until he immigrated to Washington.

He was married to Miss Pauline McCredy, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Beaman) Mc- Credy, of Bickleton, in that town in 1887. Her parents are natives of Ohio and Missouri respect- ively, and crossed the Plains to Oregon in 1853, where they lived until their removal to Klickitat county in 1880. The mother died in 1894. Pauline McCredy was born in Missouri, educated in the common schools of Oregon, and was married to Mr. Varner when she was thirty-four years old. To this marriage were born two children: Luella M., at Bickleton, November 10, 1888, and George S., in Yakima county, in 1892, both of whom are liv- ing. In 1897, after the dissolution of his first marriage ties, Mr. Varner married Mrs. Mary Young. She is the daughter of John and Sarah (Conway) Fhelps, natives of New York state. The father removed to Iowa in 1860, and in 1875 be- came a resident of Kansas, his death occurring there. He was a farmer by occupation. Mrs. Var- ner was born in Iowa, 1866, and there attended school, and was married to Mark Young, five chil- dren resulting from the union, all of whom are liv- ing with their mother: Frank, born January 29, 1882; Lloyd P., January 22, 1884; Fred S., No- vember 14. 1885; Jessie M., November 14, 1890, and William H., April 6, 1893. Mr. Varner is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Goldendale, and is a trustee in the Presbyterian church. On political questions he has taken his stand with the Democratic party. He has served Bickleton as constable for six years, and Klickitat county as a deputy sheriff. Mr. Varner owns one hundred and ninety acres of land, all under the Sunnyside canal. One hundred acres are raising hundreds of tons of alfalfa each season, five acres are devoted to timo- thy and clover, two acres raise timothy, a quarter of an acre is set out in all kinds of berries, and the balance of the ranch is plow land. Mr. Varner

also owns about thirty head of neat cattle, mostly beef steers, and seventeen horses. He is a success- ful ranchman and business man, and is highly re- spected as a man of integrity and a good citizen.

FREDERICK MIDEKE, who resides on his farm six miles northeast of Mabton, was born in Freeport, Illinois, in the year 1869, the son of Frederick and Caroline (Erthman) Mideke. His parents were born in Germany, the father immi- grating to America in the early forties and set- tling in Illinois. Six weeks after the birth of Frederick junior, his mother died; the father lived until 1887. . He was a carpenter by trade. The younger Frederick is one of nine children and lived upon the farm with his father until the age of eighteen. At that time he went to Nebraska and worked upon his brother's place for two years. In 1889 he went to Wyoming; thence to Idaho, where he worked on the Union Pacific three months and later in the mines; and in the fall came to Washington, stopping first in the Horse Heaven country. In 1890 he settled upon a home- stead two miles northeast of Mabton, residing thereon seven years. During this period he worked for various parties including T. S. Phil- lips and T. Beckner. During the year 1898 he worked in the lumber woods near Easton, return- ing in 1899 and purchasing the farm upon which he now resides. Mrs. Grace McComb became his bride at North Yakima, in 1901. Her parents are Abram and Eveline (Reynolds) Little, natives of Pennsylvania and New York, respectively. Mr. Little immigrated to Kansas, settling at Logan in 1880 and there followed his trade as a stone mason until his death in 1887 at the age of fifty- four. Mrs. Little is now living in Oregon City, Oregon. Mrs. Mideke was born in Pennsylvania in 1878 and went with her parents to Kansas two years later. She became the wife of Jacob S. Mc- Comb in 1895, one child, Velma, born August 24. 1897, resulting from the marriage. Mr. McComb died in 1899. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mideke: Henry, August 19, 1902, and Walter, October 1, 1903. Fraternally, Mr ... Mideke is connected with the Modern Woodmen and the Yeomen ; politically, he is a member of the Socialist party. Of his fifty-five acre farm, twenty-five are in alfalfa, two are in orchard, two in clover and timothy and the balance in plow land. Besides this land, he owns the homestead near Mabton; and Mrs. Mideke owns forty-five acres. Mr. Mideke raises quite a number of cat- tle, horses and hogs and is counted as an able farmer.

LESTER R. SPENCER, living two miles north of Bluelight, is a Missourian by birth, born

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CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

December 7, 1866. His parents, William and Be- linda (Proctor) Spencer, born in Ohio and Illinois respectively, were married in Missouri, whither Mr. Spencer went from Ohio. While living in Missouri Mr. Spencer enlisted in the Union army and fought three years in the Civil war. After a residence on Colorado, he settled in Walla Walla in 1882 and there his death occurred. The mother was the daughter of a Methodist minister who came to Illinois in an early day. She is living near North Yakima. Lester R. Spencer was fifteen years old when his parents moved to Washington. After a short school attendance in Washington he began riding the range for H. W. Patterson, for whom he worked three years. In 1888 he settled upon the homestead, thirteen miles southwest of Mabton. In addition to this one hundred and sixty acres, he owns an eighty-acre tract adjoining on the west and a quarter section of fine land ad- joining the homestead on the southwest. Of this valuable ranch three hundred acres are in cultiva- tion.

Mr. Spencer entered the matrimonial state in 1894, the ceremony taking place in Yakima county, his bride being Miss Hattie M. Smith, daughter of Seaman and Charity (Cooper) Smith, natives of the Buckeye state. Seaman Smith was a farmer by occupation. He settled in Iowa when that state was sparsely inhabited and in 1849 joined the mad rush to the California gold fields, making the trip by mountain and plain. After a considerable ex- perience in that industry, Mr. Smith returned to Iowa. In 1885 he immigrated to Washington Territory and settled in the Glade, Yakima county, where he died in 1897. Mrs. Smith's parents crossed the Plains by ox conveyance to Walla Walla in 1865 and there lived until their deaths. She was married to Mr. Smith in Missouri. Mrs. Spencer was born in Monroe county, Iowa, in 1870, and received her education in Iowa and Yakima county. Since she was fifteen years old she has resided in Washington. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Spencer has been blessed by two chil- dren, namely, Harry L., whose birthday was Jan- uary 16, 1897, and Bertha H., born March 19, 1902. Both husband and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. He is a stead- fast Republican. Besides general farming, Mr. Spencer is raising some stock, owning at the pres- ent time twenty-five head of cattle and twenty head of horses. Both himself and wife command the friendship and best wishes of all with whom they are associated, while Mr. Spencer is looked upon as a citizen of influence, commendable char- acter and substantial attainments. His extensive ranch is one of the finest in that section of the country and is a credit to the man who has thus redeemed the wilderness.

CHRISTIAN MILLER, a prosperous young farmer, living in the Glade settlement south of Mabton, is one of the most popular and esteemed citizens of that region and an excellent represen- tative of the type of men which is transforming the desert wastes of Yakima county into verdant fields and gardens. Born March 20, 1876, upon the Alpine slopes of Switzerland, whose beauty and grandeur have ever been an inspiration to the Swiss, the love of freedom and liberty is inherent in his nature and he finds in America a congenial atmosphere not unlike that of his native land. His parents, Christian and Elise (Jacot) Miller, also living in the Glade, are of Swiss birth, as were the ancestral members of the family. In 1883 they left Europe to found a new home on American soil. The first settlement was made in the state of Illinois, where the family lived until 1890. Then the father decided to immigrate to the far North- west, and in that year came to his present home in Yakima county. He is one of the successful farmers and respected citizens of the Glade. Hav- ing secured a fair common school education in Illinois and Yakima county, Christian began rid- ing the range at the age of fifteen and was so employed by his father and other stockmen until he arrived at his majority. Then he filed upon his homestead and has since devoted himself to farm- ing.

Mr. Miller was married February 20, 1900, to Miss Leutta Donoho, daughter of James S. and Elizabeth (Dunnigan) Donoho, residents of the Glade, whose biographies will be found elsewhere in this book. The father was born in Missouri, crossed the Plains to California in 1875, was there married and lived until he came to Washington in 1887 and settled upon his place in the Glade. Mrs. Donoho was born in California, where also, in 1883, Leutta Donoho came into the world. She received her education in the schools of Yakima and Klickitat counties and was married at the age of eighteen. One child has blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Dell, born December 10, 1901, in Yakima county. Mr. Miller is an ardent Republican and takes an interest in all public mat- ters. His original one hundred and sixty-acre farm has been increased to a fine ranch of four hundred and eighty acres, of which three hundred and fifty are in cultivation and producing as only the fertile plateaus of that section can. Mr. and Mrs. Miller command the esteem of many loyal friends and the best wishes of all who come into association with them.

LEWIS H. SHATTUCK, residing seven miles northeast of Bickleton, in Yakima county, though born in California, has spent most of his life in Yakima and Klickitat counties and is a well known pioneer stockman of that section.

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

He was born February 19, 1869, in Lake county, to the union of Dickson P. and Nancy (Bones) Shattuck, natives of Mississippi and Missouri, re- spectively. Dickson P. Shattuck was born in 1829, went to California in 1849, via the Isthmus of Panama, and tliere engaged in farming, stock rais- ing and mining. Subsequently he lived a short time in Mexico, but in 1880 removed to Klickitat county, Washington, where he settled upon gov- ernment land six miles south of Bickleton. He now resides three miles north of that town. The date of Mrs. Shattuck's birth was April 24, 1841, She crossed the Plains with her parents as a girl of eight years and married Mr. Shattuck May 13, 1858; she also is living. Lewis H. Shattuck was educated in the district schools of California, though he left that state when only eleven years old. Between that age and twenty-one, he rode the range for his father and other stockmen, but in 1891 he commenced farming in Yakima and Klickitat counties. In 1894 he settled upon a homestead near Mabton and lived there five years. Last year Mr. Shattuck purchased the place upon which he now lives, having formed a liking for it while leasing it in 1889.

Mr. Shattuck and Miss Hattie B. Wommack were united in marriage at Bickleton in 1890, she being the daughter of William L. and Matilda (Renner) Wommnack, pioneers of Klickitat county. Mr. Wommack is a native of Greene county, Illinois, born in 1841, and lived succes- sively in Kansas, Colorado, Utah and Idaho be- fore coming to Washington in 1882. Mrs. Wom- mack was born in Missouri and married in Il- linois at the age of nineteen. Mr. Wommack now resides at Mabton, but Mrs. Wommack has been dead for several years. Missouri is the birthplace of Mrs. Shattuck, and 1872 the year of her birth. Mr. and Mrs. Shattuck have three children; Louis S., born in Yak- ima county, October 30, 1893; Reta, born in Yakima county, November 26, 1895; and Bertha, born in Klickitat county, September 22, 1901. Fraternally, Mr. Shattuck is affiliated with the Yeoman of America; politically, he is a Repub- lican. Altogether, he owns four hundred acres of valuable land in Yakima and Klickitat counties, of which two hundred and forty acres are in cul- tivation. He has one of the best small orchards in that region. Mr. Shattuck has amply demon- strated his business qualifications and is recognized as a man of sterling worth and influence in the community.

CHARLES W. GIBBONS, an energetic Yak- ima county farmer, resides on his ranch two miles north and two miles east of Bluelight postoffice, in the state of Washington. He was born in Arkansas in 1862, the son of James and Maria

(Price ) Gibbons. His father was of English birth, and followed the occupation of a farmer. He came to the United States in 1846 and settled in New York City, where his home was for the ensuing four years. He moved westward to Indiana in 1850 and to Arkansas in 1856, the latter trip be- ing made overland by team. He was married in the old country, where for some time he served as a police officer in one of the numerous stations in Ireland, having been appointed to that position by friends in England. A Civil war soldier, he was the holder of a commission as captain on May 22, 1864, when he was killed during an engage- ment with Confederate forces. His wife, Maria, was a native of Ireland. Married at the age of seventeen, she became the mother of nine children. At present she resides in Pratt county, Kansas.

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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 165

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