An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 171

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 171
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 171
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 171

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EZRA KEMP, stockman, land owner, ware- house proprietor and mill man, residing in the city - of Prosser, is a successful and widely known citizen of the lower Yakima valley. An Englishman by birth and descent, born in 1856, to the marriage of William and Emily (Smith) Kemp, who spent their entire lives in England. he came to America at the age of seventeen, equipped with a fair education and the laudable ambition to make the most of his opportunities. His first work was in a shoe fac- tory in LaFayette, New Jersey, where he was em- ployed two years and one-half; he then worked for a short time in an iron mine, and in 1876 went to California via the Isthmus of Panama. In that state he was employed successively in a shoe fac- tory, on a street car system, advance agent for a theatrical company, and in various other occupa- tions which took him all over the state. He re-

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mained in California until 1882, when he came to the Northwest, settling upon a homestead and tim- ber culture claim six miles from Prosser. He there made his home until 1899, and engaged in farming and stock raising. In the year mentioned he purchased a warehouse in Prosser and also an interest in the Prosser flouring mills, removing his family to the city the following year.

In Michigan, in 1897, he was united in mar- riage to Miss Frances Kenney. She is a native of that state, born in 1859, and there educated and reared to womanhood. Her father and mother, Laura, were also born in the Wolverine state; Mrs. Kenney is living in the country several miles south of Prosser. To Mr. and Mrs. Kemp two children have been born: Edmund W., in Prosser, Septem- ber 17, 1899, and Fred, in Prosser, October 21, 1902 ; both are living. Mr. Kemp is an active fra- ternity man, a member of the Odd Fellows and past grand of Prosser lodge, No. 154. His political sym- pathies are with the Republican party, of which he is an active member. Mr. Kemp owns, besides the warehouse and an interest in the flouring mills here- tofore mentioned, a comfortable city home, three thousand five hundred acres of land in the Horse Heaven country, one thousand two hundred sheep, and various other small interests, to all of which he gives his personal attention. He is still making the most of the opportunities which surround him, and is considered a keen business man, straightforward and aggressive. He is now serving in his second term as a member of the city council. As a citizen, he is interested in all that pertains to the public wel- fare, and is an influential man in the community.

ALEXANDER G. McNEILL, Prosser's popu- lar councilman and business man, is a Yakima county pioneer as well, having arrived in the Yak- ima valley in the year 1879. For many years he was engaged in riding the range for leading stockmen of central Washington, but subsequently left their employ to become one of their number. He has been familiar with Prosser's history from the time it was established. Of Scotch descent, his parents being Lachlan and Katie (McGibberry) McNeill, Alexander G. McNeill was born in Illi- nois, 1859. The elder McNeill came to La Salle county, Illinois, at an early period in its history, and still resides in his old homestead at the age of seventy-one. Mrs. McNeill crossed the Atlantic when four years of age, and was married in Illinois. At an early age the subject of this biography began to do for himself, and in 1877 went to California where he lived a short time before going to Oregon. In the Webfoot state he commenced riding the range, and was subsequently employed in that work in Yakima and Klickitat counties, by Snipes & Allen, J. B. Huntington and H. A. South. The

year 1884 witnessed his entrance into the stock business as an owner, his home being near the mouth of the Yakima river until the fall of 1897, when he removed to Prosser. A year later he sold his stock, purchased a livery stable in Prosser, and was engaged in that business until the spring of 1903. At that time he sold this property and opened a real estate, loan and insurance office, in which work he has since been successfully engaged.

Miss Amy South, a daughter of Hutcheson A. and Maria (Graham) South, became the bride of Mr. McNeill in Walla Walla, in 1883. Her father was born in Illinois, crossed the Plains by ox teams in 1852, and settled in the Willamette valley, Ore- gon, where he lived until 1865, in that year coming to Washington territory and settling in Klickitat county. He was engaged in the stock business in central Washington until his death in Prosser in 1902. Maria (Graham) South, her mother, was born in Pennsylvania and crossed the Plains in 1853, thus becoming one of the brave pioneer wom- en of the Northwest. Mrs. McNeill was born in California in 1861, but was reared and educated in Oregon and Washington. She has one brother, William W. South, who lives in Nez Perce, Idaho. The McNeill home has four children: Katie L., horn April 22, 1884, who is a graduate of the Pros- ser schools and of the Walla Walla high school, and is now teaching near Prosser; Allen G., born May 25, 1889: Fred L., September 3, 1891, and Kenneth, February 21, 1901; all born in Yakima county. Mr. McNeill is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is the past grand of the Prosser lodge, and in 1991 represented his lodge in Spokane. Mrs. McNeill and daughter are members of the Episcopal church. In political affairs, Mr. McNeill takes a deep in- teret, his influence being with the Democratic party. For three years he has served Prosser as school director, was the city's first marshal, is now a deputy sheriff under Sheriff Grant, and has been a member of the city council since its organiza- tion. From this it will be seen that Mr. McNeill has the highest confidence of his fellow citizens, is public-spirited and is considered an able man by his community. Both he and his wife are highly esteemed as loyal friends and good neighbors.

JAMES W. CAREY, the genial, wide-awake manager of Coffin Brothers' general store in Prosser, has been closely identified with Prosser's history for the past thirteen years and is one of that city's foremost citizens. He has been a resi- dent of Washington since 1891, when he accepted a position as clerk in the superintendent's office of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, in Ellensburg. Six months later he was placed in charge of the station at Prosser and faithfully

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served the company and the general public in that capacity for twelve and one-half years. He left that important place to assume the manage- ment of the store referred to, the change taking place in March, 1903. Mr. Carey is one of Wis- consin's native sons, born January 29, 1861. His parents were natives of Ireland, who came to the United States when quite young. Michael Carey, his father, settled in Janesville, Wiscon- sin, where he met and married Margaret Crow- ley. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Wisconsin until his death in 1900. Mrs. Carey is still living. Until he reached his majority, James attended school and worked upon the farm. He chose telegraphy and railroad work as the occupation to which he would devote himself, and accordingly, at the age of twenty-one, en- tered a telegraph office. Six months later he was appointed to take charge of the station at Antigo, Wisconsin, on the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railroad, now the Northwestern. Three years passed and he then went to Woodstock, Illinois, for the Northwestern Company. He there spent a year, thence going to work for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway in Iowa. In 1886 he returned to Wisconsin and as- sumed charge of the station at Manitowoc for the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Company, remaining in that town five years. From Mani- towoc he came to Ellensburg and thence to Prosser.

While residing in Iowa, in 1885, Mr. Carey wooed and won as his bride Miss Sarah Halron, daughter of Thomas and Mary Halron; natives of Ireland, who came to this country half a cen- tury ago and settled in Wisconsin, the father being a youth at the time of his immigration. He was a pioneer farmer of that state. Sarah Halron was born in Wisconsin in 1864, was edu- cated in the schools of her native state and pre- vious to her marriage at the age of twenty-one, taught several terms of school. Mr. and Mrs. Carey have three children living, Bessie, born in 1886; Harold, born in 1887, and Ruth, in 1890. Another child, James, is dead. Both husband and wife are zealous members of the Catholic denom- ination. Mr. Carey is a loyal friend of education and for ten years has served his community as school director. His political opinions are in accord with those of the Republican party, in which he is an active worker. He owns a valu- able twenty-five acre tract of land, all in cultiva- tion and irrigated, and a small band of cattle and horses, besides minor property interests, including stock in mines of the Gold Hill dis- trict. Mr. and Mrs. Carey are held in high regard by a wide circle of friends and acquaint- · ances, and, by his sterling qualities and industry, Mr. Carey has attained to an important position among his fellow citizens of Yakima county.

WILLIAM R. KAYS, stockman, living eight- een miles southeast of Prosser, is a successful sheep raiser of Yakima county. He is also a pioneer of Oregon, having been born in Marion county in the year 1858 to William and Eliza- beth (Tate) Kays. These hardy pioneers crossed the Plains in the early fifties, the date of the father's journey being 1852. He was born in Illinois in 1834. The family settled upon Howell's prairie, Marion county, where William Kays, senior, filed upon government land and lived until recent years. He now resides at Prosser, though still retaining the old homestead. Elizabeth Tate was a native of Missouri ; she died in 1891 at the age of sixty. The subject of this sketch spent his early life farming and raising stock with his father, but at the age of twenty- one entered the sheep business in his own behalf. In 1886 he crossed the Columbia into Washing- ton, since which time he has been successfully engaged in ranging sheep in the Prosser country.

He was married in 1878 to Miss Olive Price, the daughter of early pioneers of Oregon, where she was born and reared. Mrs. Kays laid down the burdens of life in 1888, leaving her husband and two children to mourn the loss of a devoted wife and mother. The daughter, Mrs. Lavelle Cole- man, wife of Calvin Coleman, resides at Bickle- ton ; the son Eton lives at home with his father. Politically, Mr. Kays is an ardent champion of Democratic principles and an energetic worker i1. their behalf. He owns two thousand one hun- dred ewes in prime condition, and his thorough knowledge of the sheep business has made him highly successful in that industry. The range in his community is still excellent and he con- siders that when the land is placed under water it will produce crops equal to those produced anywhere in the Yakima country. As a hardy pioneer of the Northwest who has witnessed and been a factor in its marvelous development, a pioneer sheep raiser of the Yakima country and a citizen of good standing among his neighbors, Mr. Kays is well known by the residents of Yak- ima and Klickitat counties.

GEORGE L. FINN, connected with Rich's mercantile establishment in Prosser and a pio- neer citizen of that city, is a native of Jackson, Iowa, born August 21, 1861, to the union of Frederick and Elizabeth (Heinzerling) Finn. Frederick Finn was born in Germany, immi- grated to the United States in 1851, and, after a short residence in Philadelphia, removed to Iowa, settling first in Belleview. A year later he re- moved to Otter creek, Jackson county, con- ducted a general store at that point five years, then moved to Iowa Falls and for eight years was engaged in the hotel business. Selling this business, he went to Hardin county, engaged in

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

farming ten years, and subsequently entered the real estate business in Radcliffe, where he is still living. Mrs. Finn was born in Pennsylvania and is of German descent. George L. Finn received his education in the common schools of Iowa, leaving school when fourteen years old to work with his father. When he reached the age of twenty he formed a partnership with his father and during the next eight years they cultivated a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. The younger Finn then sold his interest to his father and came to Washington, settling in Prosser in the spring of 1888. In November following, he commenced to work in the Prosser flouring mills and was so employed until the succeeding spring. A year of range riding and two years of railroad work in the employ of N. Rich occupied the next three years ; then a summer on the Sound ; thence back to Yakima county and again in the employ of Mr. Rich until the spring af 1892. At that time Mr. Finn erected a livery barn in Prosser and conducted it for four years, finally selling the stock and renting the building. The next three years were spent in raising sheep, since which time he has been in the employ of Nelson Rich in the latter's store in Prosser. Mr. Finn has three brothers: William, living near Pros- ser ; Charles and Frank, both in Iowa ; also two sisters, Mrs. Ida Waterman and Miss Clara Finn, both of whom are residents of Iowa. Adjoining the town site of Prosser Mr. Finn has a home- stead, nearly all of which is yet in an uncultivated condition, besides which he owns considerable city property. He is identified with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, and in that fraternity has attained the position of past grand. Politic- ally, he is an active and stanch Republican. Mr. Finn has the confidence and respect of all who know him and is ever aggressive in matters concerning the welfare of his home city.

JOSEPH PONTI, ex-councilman and promi- nent citizen of Prosser, is a native of sunny Italy, born in that far away land in 1866. His parents, John and Carlina (Tolini) Ponti, were born in that country in 1829 and 1837 respectively, and are still living there, his father being a prosperous farmer. Joseph is one of eight children and was given the advantage of a good common school education. When fourteen years old he was apprenticed to a weaver and spent three years at his trade. A journey through France and other European coun- tries, lasting three years, followed, after which he lived at home one year. In 1888 he emigrated from Italy, coming to the United States. A ten months' experience in the woolen mills of San Francisco, a year at cooking and a few months of railroad work near Puget Sound succeeded each other in the order named. He then, in the fall of 1890, came to Prosser and settled upon a home-

stead, the land to be irrigated by the proposed Sunnyside canal. He made his home on this place for five years, though engaged in other occupa- tions than farming during this time. In 1892 he and another young man opened a liquor store in Prosser. Subsequently Mr. Ponti purchased his partner's interest and is now conducting the busi- ness alone.

In Prosser, in 1895, he was united in marriage to Mrs. Lavina Shatuck, daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Wikley) Tustin. Mr. Tustin was a na- tive of Virginia and a veteran of the Civil war, in which he was seriously crippled, and also a pio- neer of the Glade settlement, Yakima county, where he came in 1884. He died in.Prosser. Mrs. Tustin is still living. Mrs. Ponti was born in Virginia, but reared to womanhood in Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Ponti have five children; Rena, Stella, Mar- tın J., Amelia and Norma, ranging in age from three to nine years, all natives of Prosser. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ponti are devout members of the Catholic church. He is a prominent Republican and has served his party as chairman of his elec- tion district. Mr. Ponti was elected as a member of Prosser's first council and re-elected for an- other term, thus demonstrating his popularity in the community. Besides his business in Prosser, he owns one hundred and twenty acres of valuable land irrigated by the Sunnyside canal, one of the most comfortable homes in Prosser and a large amount of mining stock.

CHARLES T. RITCHIE. One of the pioneer farmers of the Horse Heaven region lying east of Prosser, one of the first to demonstrate the special adaptability of that region for the raising of wheat, and one of the most extensive wheat growers in that section today, is the subject of this biography. Though making his home in Pros- ser, he gives his vast farming interests his per- sonal management and is a business man of abil- ity. Of Scotch stock, Mr. Ritchie is a native of Ohio, born in 1849, his parents being Thomas and Carrie (Tidd) Ritchie. His father was also born in Ohio, immigrated to Iowa in 1851, pursued his occupation as a farmer in that state eight years and then went to Colorado, where he was drowned. The mother was born in Pennsylvania to Scotch par- ents and was married in Ohio. She, also, is dead. Charles T. spent his youth in Ohio and Iowa, and at the age of twelve boldly set out to make his own way in the world. He went to Dakota Territory and secured work, driving a stage for C. K. How- ard, for whom he drove five years. He then owned the line himself, for a time, subsequently sold a half interest to Mr. Howard and two years later sold him the remaining interest, leaving the stage business for the life of a farmer. In 1878 he sold his place and with six mules and two

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wagons made the journey from Dakota to the Walla Walla valley. For the next few years he followed freighting and railroad work in the In- land Empire, assisting in the construction of the Northern Pacific into Spokane. In 1883 Mr. Rit- chie purchased a section of land in the Horse Heaven region, filed a timber culture claim to a quarter section in that neighborhood and engaged in raising wheat and stock. He sold his horses in 1890, taking land in payment for some and ship- ping a carload to St. Louis. Since that time he has given his attention exclusively to the raising of wheat. Last year he had six hundred acres de- voted to this grain and expects to have the same acreage devoted to wheat in 1904. In order that his family might enjoy better advantages, Mr. Ritchie removed to Prosser last October and is now established in a very comfortable home in that progressive little city.

He was married in Dakota, 1873, to Miss Jennie Martin, who departed this life in September, 1890, being the mother of two children, Charles H. and Louise. Mr. Ritchie was married a second time in 1898, in Portland, his bride being Jennie Apple- gate, the widow of Owen H. Applegate. She is the daughter of Garret and Alice (Davenport) Smith, natives of Ohio and Kentucky respectively. Her father was a pioneer of Iowa and immigrated to Washington in 1886, residing in the Palouse re- gion until his death. Mrs. Ritchie was born in Illinois in 1858, was educated in the common schools of Iowa and there married Owen H. Ap- plegate. Two children resulted from this union, Clarence L., born June 25, 1880, living in Denver, and Alta A. Applegate, born in Kansas, February 12, 1884. Both Charles H. and Louise Ritchie are dead, the former dying in 1896 at the age of twenty, the latter at the age of eleven months, her birth- day having been April 27, 1874. Charles H. was born in Dakota, April 1, 1876. Mr. Ritchie is af- filiated with the Knights of Pythias and is an act- ive Republican. He takes a deep interest in all matters pertaining to education and has been clerk of his district for twelve years. He has one thou- sand one hundred acres of land in the Horse Heaven region, all being in cultivation, and upon this place has a considerable number of horses, cattle and thoroughbred hogs. He is a man of influence, who has made a success of whatever he has undertaken, and as a citizen of ability and high principles is respected and esteemed.

EDWARD J. WARD, of the Prosser business firm, Ward & McFarland, is a native of Marion county, Oregon, born in 1872, his parents being Michael and Mary (Moran) Ward. Michael Ward came to New York from Ireland when ten years old. In 1857, after his marriage to Mary Moran, he rounded Cape Horn and settled in California

for a short time, going thence to Marion county, where he lived twenty-six years. The fall of 1882 witnessed his removal to Yakima county. He set- tled upon an eighty acre homestead three miles west of Prosser and for twenty years cultivated its soil and raised stock. He is living at present in Argyle, on Puget Sound. Mary (Moran) Ward was born in Pennsylvania to Irish parents and was eighteen years old when she married. Of the twelve children born to this union, the subject of this biography is one. He attended the common schools of Oregon and was later a student at St. James College, near Vancouver, Washington. Early in life he began riding the range and was so engaged until he reached the age of twenty-one. He then worked three years in the New Castle coal mines of King county, thence came to Prosser and became a clerk in D. S. Sprinkle's general store and in 1898 opened a meat market in the city. The next year he engaged in the liquor business in the Lape hotel, conducting the business two years. A year in handling hay for shipment followed, but in 1902, he and his partner, McFarland, opened a new liquor store in Prosser, in which business Mr. Ward is still engaged. He has two brothers, Frank W. and Emmett, both living on the Sound.

Miss Charlotte Lyon, of Prosser, became his bride in 1897. Her parents, Henry and Margaret Lyon, came to Washington from the Middle West in 1882, settling in Klickitat county. They became residents of Prosser in 1901 and there Mr. Lyon died in 1903. Mrs. Ward was born in Kansas in 1872 and received her education in the schools of Oregon and California. She has two brothers : Richard, living near Prosser, and Edgard, in Mon- tana ; and three sisters: Mrs. Kate Brown, of Pros- ser ; Mrs. Nellie Sprinkle, wife of D. S. Sprinkle, one of Prosser's prominent merchants, and Mrs. Margaret Johns, in Sumter, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Ward have one child, Margaret, born in Pros- ser, December 11, 1901. The parents are members of the Catholic church, and the husband is a stead- fast Democrat and an active worker. His property interests consist of one hundred and ten acres of raw land near Mabton, his liquor business, a com- fortable home in the city and various other inter- ests in city property.

LAWRENCE C. LEE, of the firm of Lee & Miller, liverymen, is not a pioneer of Prosser, but he is one of that city's most energetic, progressive and well known business men, who in a year's residence has attracted to him a gratifying num- ber of friends. He is an early native horn pioneer of the Northwest, having been born in Marion county, Oregon, 1856, the son of Reuben and Fannie (Drinkwater) Lee. The elder Lee was born in Illinois, went to Missouri when a boy and in the summer of 1852 crossed the Plains with ox

JOHN W. BROWN.

MRS. JOHN W. BROWN.

RESIDENCE OF JOHN W. BROWN, PROSSER, WASH.

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

teams to the Willamette valley, where he is still engaged in farming and stock raising. His wife was a Missourian, who married Mr. Lee in 1854, at the age of nineteen. She crossed the Plains with her parents in 1853; her death occurred in 1883. Eight children resulted from this marriage, of whom Lawrence C. is one. He attended school in Oregon and helped his father on the farm until he was twenty years old. In 1876 he went to the Walla Walla valley and spent two years, leaving there to engage in farming and stock raising near Pomeroy. He lived on the ranch until 1899, then removed to the city of Pomeroy and engaged in the livery business. He gave this up after a year's experience, however, and followed contracting until the spring of 1903. At that time he formed a partnership with S. Miller and entered the livery business again, this time in Prosser, where suc- cess is crowning their industry.

In Pomeroy, in 1882. Mr. Lee was united in marriage to Miss Stella Rew, a daughter of Rich- ard and Etta (Smith) Rew, natives of Wisconsin. Her father, a millwright and farmer, came to Gar- field county, Washington, in 1878, but is now a res- ident of Lincoln county. Mrs. Rew was the mother of four children. Her daughter Stella was born in Wisconsin in 1863, educated in Minnesota and Washington, taught school for a short time near Pomeroy, and, at the age of nineteen, became Mrs. Lee. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Lee is made happier by the presence of four bright children : Clarence R., born April 16. 1884 ; Leslie A., July 14, 1885; Vera, June 1, 1888, and Bernice, June 13, 1891 ; all born in Pomeroy. Their father is an act- ive and influential member of the Odd Fellows, and has the honor of being past grand of Harmony lodge, No. 16, of Pomeroy. He is also a Modern Woodman. Mrs. Lee is a devoted member of the Christian .church. Politically, her husband takes his stand with the Republican party and is an ar- dent supporter of President Roosevelt. He still retains some property interests in Pomeroy, be- sides which he owns a half-interest in the Prosser livery. Mr. Lee has the confidence of his fellow men and is rapidly building up a business of large proportions.

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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 171

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