An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 170

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 170
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 170
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 170

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Dr. Angus was united in marriage to Miss Grace Brune, the daughter of Charles H. and Rosario (Romero) Brune, at The Dalles in 1901. She is a native of Klickitat county, born in 1877, and was educated in that county and at The Dalles. Her father was born in Germany and immigrated to America when a young man of twenty years. He settled in Oregon in 1860 and six years later was married to Rosario Romero, the daughter of California pioneers and a native of that state. Mr. Brune died in 1894; Mrs. Brune is living in Grand Dalles, Washington. Mr. Angus is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens, who honored him in 1900 with the mayoralty of Prosser, and found him a capable, progressive official, who did not disappoint them. He is connected with neither of the old line political parties, but is an enthusiastic Socialist. Fraternally, he is connected with the Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. Besides his drug store busi-

ness, he owns considerable other city property and land. Dr. and Mrs. Angus are prominent and in- fluential in their community and popular with all classes.

HERBERT J. JENKS, extensive land pro- . prietor, dealer in real estate and representative of several insurance companies, is one of Prosser's earliest pioneers, as well as one of its successful business men at present. A native of Maine, born January 14, 1857, he is the descendant of two of the oldest families of the Pine Tree state. His father, Joshua E., was born there in 1834, a de- scendant of a well-known family, and the sixty-five years of his life were spent within its boundaries. He was engaged in the hotel business. Three times he made an effort to get into the Union army, but each time physical disabilities pre- vented him. Maria (Jordon) Jenks was born in 1836. Her father was an old East India sea cap- tain whose ship and crew were lost on the Atlan- tic in 1849. The Jordons have lived in Maine for more than two hundred years. After receiving an education in his native state, including attend- ance at high school, in 1876 the young man, Herbert J. Jenks, went west to St. Louis, Mis- souri. When the mining excitement connected with the Black Hills discovery reached St. Louis, in the spring of 1877, he started for the mines, but gave up this ambition to work for the government, driving teams to various forts in Wyoming and Montana. He subsequently visited the upper Yel- lowstone valley, spent five years farming and log- ging near Miles City, Montana, then two years in hunting the buffalo, and in 1883 came to Wash- ington, first visiting Walla Walla and later con- ing to Prosser. He filed upon a homestead and a timber culture claim near Prosser, and, while engaged in their development, located other home- seekers and entered the stock business. In 1884 he opened the first livery barn to be started in Prosser and successfully conducted it four years. He then sold it and spent a year in North Yakima. He returned with a band of cattle and was en- gaged in farming and stock raising until 1898, when he went to the Klondike mines for a sea- son, returning with more experience than gold .. One year since then, in 1901, he was away from his home in Prosser, and during that time he was. in California.

In 1884, Mr: Jenks was married in Prosser, to- Miss Emma C. Badger, daughter of William M. Badger, of North Yakima. Mr. Badger was an Ohio farmer until 1876, when he went to Califor- nia and later came to Yakima county. Mrs. Jenks was born in Ohio, 1865, was educated in Ohio and Oregon, and married at the age of nine- teen. Two children resulted from this union, both of whom are still living : William C., born in

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Prosser, October 9, 1885, and Ina B., born in North Yakima, November 25, 1888. The loving wife and mother succumbed to disease in January, 1897. In 1899, Mr. Jenks was again married, his second bride being Miss Jessie Woolliscroft, daughter of Jesse and Jennie A. (Mills) Woollis- croft, of Prosser. Her father was born in England ; her mother in Wisconsin, where, also, Mrs. Jenks was born in 1879. Mr. Woolliscro.t is a prosper- ous Yakima county farmer. To this second mar- riage one child has been born, Herbert J., Jr., born in Prosser, March 28, 1901. Mr. Jenks is fraternally affiliated with the Odd Fellows, Rebek- ahs, Modern Woodmen and the Royal Neigh- bors ; politically, he is an ardent Republican and a zealous admirer of President Roosevelt. He is a citizen who holds the confidence of his fellow- men, as shown by the number of his friends and the fact that he has served as councilman. His most valuable property is a holding of two hun- dred acres of land, irrigated by the Sunnyside canal.

JAMES B. CLEMENTS, one of the promi- nent stockmen of Yakima county, Washington, re- sides in Kennewick. His ranch, which embraces five hundred acres, is located about seven miles west of the town, at the mouth of the Yakima river. He is a native of the Blue Grass state, born in 1859, the son of Raymond and Sarah ( Phillips) Clements. His father was likewise a farmer by occupation, and a native of Kentucky. He was born in 1834, and died in 1893, in the month of May. His mother, who is still living in the Blue Grass state, was also born in that state, in 1842. Her son received his education in the public schools of his native state, and until he was nine- teen years old, worked for his father on the home place. He spent the next three years in the south- ern part of Kentucky, working for various farm- ers; the following year was spent in farming on his own account. He then removed to Chicago, and was employed by N. K. Fairbank & Com- pany, in their factory, for a period of two years. In April, 1885, he removed to Nebraska and re- mained in that state until 1888: during this time he was principally engaged in farming, but a part of the time worked in other lines of employment. Early in the spring of 1889 he migrated to the town of Prosser, Washington, and was in the em- ploy of the old ditch company for nearly four years. At the expiration of that period he bought his present ranch at the mouth of the Yakima river, and has since made it his home. He farms and engages in the stock business. Two hundred and fifty acres of his farm is in cultivation. He has raised horses principally; in 1895 he shipped two carloads to eastern markets, in 1896 a like num- ber, and the following year succeeded in making

a shipment of three carloads, for which good prices were obtained in the eastern market.

In North Yakima, Washington, on the 8th of June, 1892, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Julia Bower. She is the daughter of Frank and Caroline (Kraft) Schuneman; her father is a native born German, and a blacksmithı by trade. He came to the United States when a young man, and located in Illinois, where he was later mar- ried. He migrated to the Golden state in 1861, reaching there via the Isthmus of Panama, and following his trade for sometime, also conducting a hotel in Oakland for some months. He next moved to Arizona, resided there a year, and again returned to California. In 1879 he went north to Washington, located in Ainsworth, and for a space of two years worked at his trade of smithing. He took up a homestead three miles west of Pasco, in 1882, and later bought' one hundred acres of railroad land near-by. He now resides in Pasco. His wife, who was also of German birth, came to this country with her parents when three years old, and was raised within twenty-five miles of the metropolis, Chicago. She married at the age of nineteen and died in Pasco, Washington, Febru- ary 25, 1904. Her daughter Julia was a California girl, born in 1867, and was educated first in the schools of the Golden state, later attending the Washington schools; her parents moved to the latter state when she was thirteen years old. She was first married to G. W. Bower, who came to the state in 1880, and died ten years later, leav- ing two children, Cora and Georgia A. Bower. They were both born in Kennewick; Cora on July 6, 1886, and Georgia four years later, on the 8th of August. The mother has five brothers living in Washington : William, Henry, Albert, Fred and Adolph L. Schuneman. The three last named re- side in Pasco. She also has a brother, Frank, living in California. Mr. and Mrs. Clements have four children, of whom Elsie, born in Kennewick, April 4. 1893, is the eldest. Blanche was also born in Kennewick, January 10, 1896, and Elda M., in Franklin county, Washington, July 3, 1898. The youngest child, Wesley J. Clements, was born in Kennewick, March 29, 1902. Mr. Clements is a Mason, and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, an active Democrat in politics, and a school director at present. He has an orchard on his land, and owns over a hundred head of cattle. He is an exceedingly pleasant gentleman, success- ful in his business, and a popular citizen.

SOLOMON M. WEBBER. It was the privi- lege of the honored pioneer whose biography is here- with given to become the first permanent white farmer upon the extensive Horse Heaven plains and to first demonstrate the peculiar adaptability of

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CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

that erstwhile bunch-grass region for the produc- tion of wheat. Solomon M. Webber was born in Franklin county, Indiana, March 18, 1827. His parents were Nicholas and Polly (Marlow) Web- ber, of Dutch and English descent respectively. Nicholas Webber was a native of New York state, who settled very early in the century in Indiana. There he was married and lived until 1832, when he went northward into Michigan Territory and became an early pioneer of that commonwealth. He lived to the unusual age of ninety-three, dying in Michigan. Mrs. Webber, the mother, was a na- tive of Virginia, reared in Kentucky; she was in her ninetieth year at the time of her death in Michi- gan. Solomon M. attended school and worked on the farm until he was nineteen years old, then learned the carpenter's trade and followed it until he was twenty-three. In the spring of 1852 the young Hoosier started across the continent to Cali- fornia. He spent the winter at Salt Lake, complet- ing the journey in the following spring and summer. Three years he followed mining in the Golden state; then farmed four years, after which he was engaged in various pursuits in Marysville until 1859, at that time going to Nevada. In that state he lived until 1880, when he started overland with twelve mules and tliree wagons to found a home in the Northwest. Two years he stopped at Weston, Oregon, and from there visited the Horse Heaven region, locating a ranch. He filed upon the land in April, 1882, but did not begin its cultiva- tion until the summer of 1883. Then he and Will- iam Badge, who came to the country with Mr. Webber, commenced farming, Mr. Webber turning the first furrow on the Plains and breaking one hundred acres of sod. In the fall he sowed forty acres to wheat, but did not harvest the crop for the reason that he harrowed it so thoroughly it ran to- gether when the rains came on, and the wheat could not break through the crust that formed. They lived in a tent in 1884. In December of that year they 'underwent great hardships in a blizzard while making a trip to Wallula. They had reached the river when the storm struck them, the river freez- ing over in a short time. They could not get across to get feed, which was in plain view, and their teams suffered greatly. They witnessed the de- struction of some one thousand eight hundred dol- lars worth of horses before the storm subsided, be- ing held there for some six weeks. The deep snow prevented their return home, and, but for the fact that parties at the river had just laid in a goodly supply of flour, they would certainly have perished. At the end of the six weeks the storm broke under the influence of a chinook, and they started across the river, through the broken ice, like "Washington Crossing the Delaware," and were only saved from going over the falls by a fortunate gorge of ice at an opportune moment. Mr. Webber continued to farm successfully upon his place until 1897, selling

his property at that time, and making an extended trip to other parts. Returning to Yakima county in 1899, he acquired his present farm, seven miles south of Kiona, and since then has followed agri- cultural pursuits.

Mr. Webber was married in North Yakima, 1893, to Ellen Lea, a daughter of William and Mary (Wolsoncroft) Lea, natives of England. Both parents lived and died in the old country, after rearing a family of sixteen children. By trade, the father was a carpenter. Mrs. Webber was born in Manchester, England, 1853, and was educated in the common schools of her native land. In Octo- ber, 1889, she came to Portland, Oregon, which was her home for two years and a half, or until April, 1892, when she came to Yakima county. She has two brothers, William and Charles H., liv- ing in Portland and Providence, Rhode Island, re- spectively, and two sisters in England, Mrs. Eliza- beth McKee and Mrs. Sarah A. Turner. Mr. and Mrs. Webber were the parents of one child, Ruth, born in Yakima county, March 10, 1894. By a former marriage Mr. Webber is the father of the following children: Mrs. Mary R. Lea (de- ceased), born in Michigan, October 1, 1850; Charles M., California, January 5, 1854; Mrs. Sarah J. Getchell, California, October 25, 1856, deceased ; John V., California, January 21, 1859; Robert E., California, November 8, 1861, deceased ; Tenia, California, November 19, 1862, deceased ; Francis E., California, December 21, 1865; Minnie B., California, December 8, 1868; William H., Ne- vada, August 10, 1871, and Walter G. (deceased), Nevada, May 26, 1876. Mr. Webber is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mod- ern Woodmen of America, and the Order of Wash- ington, and both himself and wife are members of the Methodist church. He is a Republican, and served as assistant assessor of Yakima county from 1888 to 1892 ; at present he is road overseer for his district. Mr. Webber owns a quarter section of well- improved farming land, all in cultivation. He has labored faithfully and successfully for the upbuild- ing of his county, has endured all the hardships and vicissitudes common to pioneer life in the West, and now, in the winter of a long, useful life, enjoys the good-will and esteem of all around him.

CHARLES TOMPKINS. No tongue can be too eloquent, no pen too powerful, in paying hon- age to America's heroic frontiersmen ; their monu- ment has been in course of construction for at least three centuries, and when the massive work is fin- ished, for it is yet hardly begun, it will be the noblest, grandest, and, it is to be hoped, the most enduring erected by any race in any age of the world's recorded history-the United States of America in its most perfect development. This biography deals with the history of one of these

EZRA KEMP.

HENRY WASHINGTON CREASON.

CHAS. TOMPKINS.

JOHN VICTOR RYDHOLM.

SOLOMON M. WEBBER.

JAMES B. CLEMENTS.

MRS. JAS. B. CLEMENTS.

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

doughty families of pioneers which has participated in the conquest of the West. John G. Tompkins, the father of Charles, was born in New Jersey in the year 1824, of the Dutch stock that settled New York. As a youth, he shipped aboard a trading vessel and served three years before the mast. Then, in 1838, he enlisted in the Texas navy, one of America's unique creations, and remained under the Lone Star flag three months. Following this adventure he settled in Galveston, entering busi- ness, and was there united in marriage in 1846 with Mary L. Woodruff, a native of Tennessee. Her American ancestors were colonizers of Vir- ginia (members of a King James colony of the seventeenth century), and in a very early day be- came settlers on the Tennessee frontier. In 1830 they united their fortunes with those of Stephen F. Austin Colley and accepted the invitation ex- tended by the inhabitants of that Mexican province to join their numbers, settling on the Colorado river. Later they fought in the struggles waged by Texas for its independence, and engaged in the battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836. After a residence of ten years in California, to which state they immi- grated by ox team conveyance in 1870, the parents of Charles took up their abode in the Arizona Salt river valley, and there lived until their deaths, that of the father occurring in 1890, and of the mother in 1892. Charles Tompkins' education was ob- tained in Texas, where he was born, March 10, 1849. At an early age he began riding the range for his father, driving cattle as far north as Iowa and Kansas. In 1870, he took a band to California, the journey occupying six months, and remained there until 1873. He repeated the trip in 1874, and lived in California during the succeeding six years, coming to the Walla Walla valley in 1880. In Washington he was employed by the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company in its bridge department six months, then spent eight months at the carpenter trade in Portland, worked a year for the Northern Pacific Company in Montana, and in 1883 returned to Walla Walla. The next

year he settled upon a homestead in the wheat belt, then Yakima's frontier settlement, and there has since made his home, successfully engaged in gen- eral farming and wheat raising. He has three sis- ters, Mrs. Emma Alexander, Mrs. Martha Beard, both of whom live in California, and Mrs. Mary M. Burnett, living in Arizona, her husband being a cousin of the first president of Texas, David G. Burnett. He also has three brothers: John H., George E. and Joseph, cattle raisers and farmers in Arizona. Mr. Tompkins is very prominent in In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows' circles, and has occupied the high position of past grand and repre- sentative to the grand lodge. He is a Democrat and an active worker for his party's interests. Mr. Tompkins is general superintendent and treasurer of the artesian well enterprise on the Horse Heaven

region, and owns eight shares of the stock. For several years he has served his community as road supervisor, and in that capacity doing much to bene- fit road conditions in that region. His homestead, one hundred and sixty acres, is all under cultivation, and upon it he has a very comfortable home and other improvements. Mr. Tompkins possesses the fullest confidence of his fellow pioneers, and is in- dustriously and sincerely engaged in contributing his mite toward the gigantic work of nation build- ing, seeking to leave the impress of his handiwork upon the great monument.

JOHN VICTOR RYDHOLM, one of the most successful and prosperous farmers in the Horse Heaven region, south of Prosser, is a native of Sweden, who crossed the Atlantic in 1869, and took up his abode in Yakima county in 1884, thus en- titling him to the distinction of being a pioneer of the Yakima country. His birth occurred in the year 1851, brightening the little rural home of Peter Magnus Anderson and Anna Stine ( Stana) Anderson, whose forefathers for innumerable gen- erations were inhabitants of Sweden. John Victor spent his early years as do most farmers' sons- working with their father upon the farm and at- tending the district school, perhaps higher institu- tions of instruction. When he was seventeen, the young farmer suffered two irreparable losses, both his father and mother dying about the same time. However, with brave heart and strong hopes, he bade farewell to Sweden and the old home and set out to seek his fortunes across the sea in the great American republic. Arriving in Illinois early in the summer of 1869, he commenced farming, spend- ing the first four years in that state. Then he went to South Dakota, was there a year, and in the spring of 1874 settled on a pre-emption claim in Sedg- wick county, Kansas, where he lived five years. Three years in Illinois followed ; then, in the spring of 1883, he came west to Pendleton, Oregon. Late in the fall he filed a homestead claim to a desirable quarter section in the Horse Heaven region, Yak- ima county, and the next spring moved upon it and began its improvement. For a number of years the dauntless pioneer labored each fall in the harvest fields of Umatilla county, in order to support him- self while developing his farm, but in 1893 he was able to take up his permanent residence on the place and devote his whole energies to cultivating it. He has placed a hundred acres of it under cul- tivation, sunk a well, which furnishes an abundance of water (a matter of great importance, when it is considered that for seven years he was obliged to haul this precious fluid to the place), and ac- quired possession of a large amount of pasturage and a goodly band of horses, all of which speaks well for his thrift and abilities. His total land pos- sessions now comprise four hundred and ninety

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acres, one hundred of which, as stated, are in cul- tivation, and much more available for that pur- pose, besides owning about forty head of horses and small stock. Mr. Rydholm has two sisters and one brother dead, Mrs. Britta Johnson, Sophia and Nils, and four brothers and sisters living: Fred- erick, in Sweden; Gustavus, in Nebraska; Mrs. Louisa Nelson, in Sweden, and Mrs. Caroline Young, in Illinois. He is a consistent member of the Lutheran church, and a man of high principles. He is a Republican. As road overseer he has faithfully served his district, and in all other mat- ters pertaining to the upbuilding of the community Mr. Rydholm is actively interested ; he is one of the county's substantial citizens.

HENRY WASHINGTON CREASON. The esteemed pioneer citizen of Prosser whose name stands at the head of this biography has been prom- inently identified with the history of Yakima county, particularly with the history of Prosser, for the past twenty years, and is favorably known from one end of the county to the other. Cali- fornia is the birthplace of this pioneer of the Pa- cific coast, that memorable event in his life occur- ring January 10, 1855. His parents, Andrew and Elsie (Bernett) Creason, came from the middle western states, his father from Missouri and his mother from Tennessee. They were married in Mis- souri, and in 1852 made the daring, tedious jour- ney across hill, plain and mountain to the Golden state. There the old pioneer is still living upon his farm ; his companion and wife through all the hard- ships of pioneer life died in 1878. The son, Henry, remained at home on the farm until he reached the age of seventeen, at which time he and N. B. Fire- baugh engaged in sheep raising until 1876. Two years of wheat raising followed, succeeded by his opening a blacksmith shop in Stanislaus county, where he remained until the spring of 1883. In July of that year he came to the Horse Heaven region, Washington, filed upon government land, lived there a year, then abandoned it and erected the first blacksmith shop opened in Prosser. In 1889 he filed a homestead claim to a quarter section of land adjoining the town site of Prosser, and upon this place he is living at present, having removed thereto in 1900, after the sale of his blacksmith shop. Noting the opportunity offered for the es- tablishment of a coal and wood yard, in October, 1902, he established the one which he is success- fully conducting at present. He built the better part of Prosser's sidewalks, and is now completing a modern two-story brick building for the Odd Fel- lows.

May 5, 1875, marks the date of the marriage uniting Mr. Creason and Miss Ada Maxon, daugh- ter of Darwin and Hanna (Clark) Maxon, of Cali- fornia, for life's journey, the ceremony taking place

in the state mentioned. Darwin Maxon, now de- ceased, was a native of New York, who settled in Wisconsin in an early day, and in 1873 came to California, and there engaged in farming until his death. His wife was also a native of New York, of French parentage. She died in 1876. Their daughter, Ada, was born in Wisconsin, educated in that state, and married at the age of twenty. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Creason are: Green D., born in California, February 29, 1876, living in Prosser; Mrs. Martha A. Forsyth, born in Cali- fornia, August, 1877, also of Prosser; Mabel, born in California in 1881, died at the age of three ; Cas- sius P., the first white child born in Prosser, his birth occurring in November, 1884; Fred, born in California, October 31, 1887, and Harry, born in Prosser, 1892. The father holds membership in two fraternities, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past grand, and the Mod- ern Woodmen of America. For many years he has served on the Prosser school board. In the political affairs of Yakima county he has taken a leading . part as a Democrat. He was appointed a county commissioner in 1886, to fill a vacancy, and so well did he fill the position that he was elected to serve two years longer. At the succeeding election a tie vote resulted between Mr. Creason and Joseph Brown. The result was decided by lot, Mr. Brown being the fortunate contestant. Upon the removal of Mayor Taylor to North Yakima in 1898 Mr. Creason completed the term as mayor of Prosser, and was afterward elected by his fellow townsmen to occupy that important office for two years longer, which he did with credit to himself. Dur- ing this time he was engaged in conducting the Riverside hotel. As a courageous pioneer, a pro- gressive, public-spirited citizen, a faithful officer and a man of integrity and charitable spirit. Mr. Creason commands the good-will of all who know him.

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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 170

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