An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 183

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 183
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 183
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 183

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He was married in 1860 to Miss Louise Werkhiser, a daughter of John and Sallie (Boyer) Werkhiser, both natives of Pennsylva- nia, where the father was born in 1812. The mother died in 1861 and the father in 1901. Mrs. Houser's parents were of German descent. She has five sisters and four brothers now living in Pennsylvania. Mr. Houser has one brother, Jo- siah, and one sister, Susan, living in Nebraska. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Houser are Sarah Messerly, Harrison, Clarence, Pernina, Alva, and Amelia C. Churchill. Mr. and Mrs. Houser are members of the Presbyterian church and are prominent in church and social circles. Mr. Houser is Republican in politics ; he is a sub- stantial and influential citizen; holds the esteem and respect of all, and is recognized as one of the most successful of the pioneer citizens of the valley.

WILLIAM A. CONANT, farmer and stock- man, living some six miles west of Ellensburg, Washington, is one of the most progressive farmers of the county. Into his vocation he throws the same enthusiasm which as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war won him the distinctive appellation at the hands of the Confederates of the "Red Shirted Devil." As a farmer Mr. Conant is as successful as he was as a soldier. He was born in Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York, July 24, 1832. His father, Elihu C. Conant, was a lineal descendant

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of Roger Conant, of Salem, Massachusetts, of Mayflower fame. His mother, Jennett E. (John- son) Conant, also from old colonial stock, was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1807 and died in Kittitas county, Washington, at the ripe age of ninety-one years. The Conant family traces its lineage directly to Captain W. E. Walker, a prominent tactician who drilled General George Washington's officers. Mr. Conant received his education in the common schools of Saratoga county and in the academy at Glens Falls, New York. When he was fourteen years old his par- ents moved to Lee county, Illinois, and there his father bought land with warrants secured from Mexican war veterans. Mr. Conant left home when he was twenty-one, remaining in Lee county until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted in the Seventy-fifth Illinois volunteer infantry, commanded by Colonel George Ryan, in the Fourteenth army corps under command of General Jefferson C. Davis. He engaged in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, and later, Oc- tober 8, 1862, was wounded in the left arm. This wound caused his confinement in the hospital at New Albany, Indiana, some time before he re- joined his regiment at Edgefield, Tennessee. He served under General Rosecrans in the battle of Stone River, known as the "five days fight," against General Bragg, and was in the capture of Liberty Gap. He was also at the battle of Chattanooga, doing provost duty, and assisted in the capture of Atlanta, serving on the skir- mish line as a crack shot. He was mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, June 30, 1865, and dis- charged and paid in Chicago. He arrived at home July 4, 1865, after having fought in sev- eral of the most severely contested engagements of the Rebellion. He again engaged in farming, and in 1876 began breeding thoroughbred Dur- ham cattle, making a specialty of them. He has continued to raise this breed of cattle ever since, although not to the exclusion of all other breeds. He now has on his farm some of the finest pedigreed Shorthorns in the west, and has in his home a complete series of the American Shorthorn Herd Book. In February, 1889, Mr. Conant left Lee county for Washington, think- ing to thus obtain relief from asthma, from which he was a great sufferer. He brought all of his livestock and farm implements with him, settling first on thic "Voice" place, five miles east of Ellensburg, but after a short stay there moved to his present home. His farm is one of the best in the county, consisting of 160 acres of farm land with 640 acres of pasture.

Mr. Conant was married at Dixon, Illinois, in 1855, to Miss Charlotte L. Erwin, a native of New York. She died May 29, 1882. Her father, Elder Burton, of German descent, is a resident of Battle Creek, Michigan. Her mother, A. S. (Lovell) Burton, was a native of New

York. Mrs. Conant had one sister, Mrs. Sarah J. Richardson, a resident of Iowa. To this union were born three children, Mary E., in Paw Paw, Illinois, December 4, 1856; Sarah J., November 8, 1858, and William T., October 26, 1873. Mr. Conant is a member of David Ford Post, G. A. R., at Ellensburg. In political matters he has always been a stanch Republican.

JOHN G. OLDING is a successful farmer, whose farm is located four east and two miles north of Ellensburg, Washington. Here he took up one hundred and sixty acres of land as a homestead in 1871, and the following year hewed out the logs and built the first house on the place. Mr. Olding was born in Nova Scotia, July 24, 1844,. and was educated in the common schools until he was nineteen years of age. During the follow- ing three years, he learned the carpenter trade, which he followed for three years. Upon leaving Nova Scotia he settled at Virginia City, Nevada, where he worked at his trade for four years, and later, for a short time, in Walla Walla, Washing- ton. After this he ceased carpentering, as a voca- tion, and moved to the homestead above men- tioned. His father, a farmer and also a native of Nova Scotia, was born about 1819. The mother, Jenny (Roy) Olding, was born in Scotland, in the year 1819. Both are now deceased. Besides John G., our subject, there were children as follows: Pirdon Olding and Anna Olding, both now dead; James W., twin brother of John G., now a carpen- ter at Fall River, Massachusetts; Liza J. Olding, deceased at the age of three: Daniel Olding, now living on the old homestead in Nova Scotia; Mich- ael Olding, now deceased, and Robert Olding, a contractor, who resides in Nova Scotia. All of the children were born in Nova Scotia.

Mr. Olding was married at Virginia City, Nevada, February 9. 1869, to Miss Elizabeth Love, who was born in Nova Scotia, April 29, 1844. She was the daughter of David and Elizabeth (Cameron) Love. Both parents died when Elizabeth was a young girl. Her only brother, John C. Love, n'w lives at San Francisco. Flora, the eldest sister. is dead. Mr. and Mrs. Olding are the parents of the following children: Mrs. Eva (Olding) Shaw, wife of a farmer, born January 5, 1875; Mrs. Net- tie (Olding) Galvin, born November 15, 1876, wife of a butcher, now residing at Nome, Alaska; Eliza J. Olding, born October 23, 1878, who was edit- cated to be a teacher ; Mrs. Anna (Olding) Mitch- ell, born May 23, 1880, wife of a farmer ; Margaret Olding, born August 16, 1882, now residing at Ellensburg, and Mary Olding, born November 6, 1884, who graduated from the Ellensburg high school in 1903. All of the children are natives of Kittitas county.

Politically, Mr. Olding affiliates with the Re- publican party, and fraternally, with the Inde-

THOMAS W. FARRELL.

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BIOGRAPHICAL

pendent Order of Odd Fellows. By industry and integrity he has built up property interests which give him an enviable position among the well-to-do citizens of this county. He owns two hundred and thirty-eight acres of land, fifty head of range cat- tle, twenty-two milch cows, nine horses, and is a stockholder in a co-operative creamery. He has an elegant ten-room house and a large barn on his farm, and has property in Ellensburg. He has done . well in the education of his children, and is con- sidered to be one of the most substantial residents of his community.

VALENTINE C. WYNEGAR, whose home is in Ellensburg, Washington, is one of the pioneer farmers of the Kittitas valley. He was born in Union, Ohio, June 19, 1843. His father, John Wynegar, was born in Virginia in 1803, and died at the age of ninety-four years. His mother was Elizabeth (Dilsaver) Wynegar and she was born in Penn- sylvania in 1818, and died in 1896. Mr. Wynegar was educated in the common schools of Illinois, and worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-one. He was a member of Company C, 146th Illinois volunteers, during the war, and was mustered out July 7, 1865. He then returned to Illinois and engaged in farming until 1871. He spent two years each, farming in Osage and Morris counties, Kansas, and in 1875 moved to Kittitas valley, Washington, where, December 17th of that year, he took up a pre-emption claim. He later lost this claim and took up a homestead, but rented a farm some four years before taking up his resi- dence on his homestead in 1880. He lived there eighteen years and still owns the land. In 1898 he removed to Ellensburg, where he has continued to reside. His brothers and sisters are: Mary A. Kenney, born in Ohio in 1839, now living in Ne- braska; Peter, born in Ohio in 1845, a resident of Kansas; David, born in Ohio in 1847, in Nebraska ; Samuel P., a native of Ohio, a resident of Cedar Falls, Iowa: Joseph A., born in 1851, a resident of Nebraska; Jane Anderson, born in 1853, living in Illinois; Carry L. Wynegar, born in 1855, in Alaska; Pauline Humphrey, born in 1857, a resi- dent of Washington, and John F. Wynegar, born in 1863, a resident of Nebraska. These five last named are natives of Illinois.

Mr. Wynegar was married in Ellensburg, May 14. 1890, to Miss Octavia E. Newman, who was born in Farmington, Iowa, March 26, 1851. Her father, Abner M. Newman, was born in Virginia, June 12, 1825, and came from an old pioneer family. His ancestors came to America in 1632. He died March 13, 1879. His wife, Mary A. (James) New- man, was born in Virginia, September 26, 1825. Mrs. Wyncgar was educated in Iowa and taught school in that state and in Colorado. She came to Washington in the spring of the year previous to her marriage. Her sisters, Gertrude M. Clinesmith and

Roberta E. Newman, are dead. A brother, Theo- dore R. Newman, born in Iowa, June 12, 1855, is living in British Columbia. Mrs. Wynegar is the mother of one child, Rosa O. Wynegar, who was born March 22, 1891. Mr. Wynegar, by his in- dustry and thrift, has acquired a competency which assures himself and family from want. He owns a fine farm of 380 acres in one body and also has about fifty acres in the city of Ellensburg. He is a Republican and takes considerable interest in politi- cal matters. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

THOMAS W. FARRELL, manufacturer of harness and saddles, of Ellensburg, was born in Still- water, Minnesota, March 1, 1863. He is the son of James Farrell, a native of Ireland, a mechanic, who came to America when a young man, settled in Minnesota, and died in 1863. The mother is Elizabeth (Downie) Farrell, who still lives on the homestead at Stillwater, Minnesota. Mr. Farrell was educated in the common schools and in St. John's university, from which he was graduated in 1886, having taken a business course. He followed bookkeeping for a number of years in Minnesota, also for Ames & McCarthy, at Ellensburg. He was next engaged with W. P. Mason in canal and railroad surveys. For seven months he again kept books for J. E. Farrell, and bought out the busi- ness in 1891. He has been exceptionally successful, handling more goods in his line than any other firm in the county. Mr. Farrell was married April 15, 1891, to Louisa Manners, daughter of Henry and Elvira (Wilks) Manners, both natives of England. The father was a live stock dealer, born in 1835; he died in 1887. After the death of her husband, the mother, with her nine children, came to the United States, the family now residing at Ellens- burg. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Farrell have three children, Morris, Stanley and Eugene, all at home Mr. Farrell belongs to the W. of W. fraternity, and is an active Democrat, having for several years served on the county central committee. He at- tends county and state conventions, usually as a delegate.

Mr. Farrell has an uncle, a brother of his mother, whose Civil war record was filled with intensely interesting incidents, and he is well worthy a place in this work. We refer to Col. Mark W. Downie, who was born March 15. 1836, at Chatham, New Brunswick, and moved to Minnesota when a lad of nineteen years. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was cashier of a bank at Still- water, Minnesota. He was captain of the Still- water Guards and eventually became colonel of the First Minnesota regiment of volunteers. Dur- ing a series of battles about Richmond, General Lee had cut off the retreat of General Mcclellan, and it became necessary to build a bridge over the Chickahominy river in a single day. The Federal

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engineers said it could not be done. Gen. Sully sent for Maj. Downie, who was fever-stricken in his tent. He arose promptly, however, and reported for duty, saying: "General, give me a thousand lumbermen from the Northwest, and the bridge'shall be built." The task was performed and Mcclellan released from his trying situation, but the builder was at once taken to a New Haven hospital, where he was confined by a wasting fever for two months. At Atlanta, a few years ago, a Federal officer, on hearing Col. Downie's name mentioned, said of him : "Mark Downie was the bravest soldier in the army." Capt. McGill, a Southerner, replied: "Well, he was surely the kindest," and related the following occurrence: After the battle of Fredericksburg the ladies had entreated permission to take the Con- federate wounded to their homes, and were refused by the commanding officer. Two hours later Col. Downie became commanding officer and at once revoked the refusal, and released a prisoner, Capt. McGill, who was a surgeon, to assist in the care of the wounded. Capt. McGill reported the facts to Gen. Lee, who said: "Col. Downie is a soldier and a gentleman; send his name to the adjutant general's office at Richmond, and if ever he is taken prisoner, let him be released at once on parole." Such is an unadorned narrative of some of the characteristic events which make the record of a gallant and brave soldier and a kind, patriotic and honorable citizen.

Mr. Farrell has the sword, presented to Col. Downie by the citizens of Stillwater, Minnesota, and which he carried throughout the rebellion. Mr. Farrell is prominent in business circles and a most successful and respected citizen of Ellensburg.

ROBERT A. TURNER. The editor and founder of the Dawn, Ellensburg, Washington, as might be inferred from the vigorous, manly charac- ter of his editorials, comes from a family which never feared to battle for the right. His father, Ephraim Turner, was a soldier in the Civil war, as were his four uncles on his mother's side. His mother, Sarah (Hukel) Turner, like his father, was of English descent and a native of Kentucky. They moved to Audrain county, Missouri, about 1839, at a time when there were but three other white families in the county. Mr. Turner was born in that county, October 30, 1859. His father died in 1881 and in 1896 his mother passed away. His parents had moved to Bates county, Missouri,. when he was seven years of age. He worked on tlie farm and attended school, when a boy, walking from three to seven miles to school. At twenty he went to do for himself, working on a farm.

At the age of twenty-one he was married to Minerva C. Brownfield, a native of Missouri, daughter of John J. and Mary Brownfield, both of whom are now dead. Mr. Turner and his bride began married life on a farmi, but after five years,

Mr. Turner, who had a natural turn for news- paper work, embarked in that business. He pur- chased a plant and established the Western Farm Journal at Lone Oak. He ran that publication for five years, establishing it on a firm and paying basis, then sold it and established Turner's Emanci- pator, at the same place. He ran this for five years, when failing health decided him to move west, to see if the change would benefit him. He moved his plant to Seattle, but failing to secure a building there he moved it to Phinney, Island county, and resumed publication of the Emancipator. After eleven months, September 6, 1891, he moved the plant to Ellensburg, where he conducted it under the same name for two years. Then he sold out, deciding to quit the business.

In August, 1894, the old liking for the business proved too strong and drew him back to work, and he established his present paper, the Dawn. It was started as an ardent defender and promulgator of Populism pure and simple. The party failing to establish itself as an active factor on the platform or ginally advocated by it, the Dawn, in 1900, was changed to an independent paper and turned its undivided efforts to the upbuilding of the town of Ellensburg and county of Kittitas by every legiti- mate means in its power. Mr. Turner purchased some property in Ellensburg when he first arrived there and later bought twenty acres additional, which has become quite valuable. He is a member of the Central Christian church of Ellensburg, of which he is an elder. He has been a candidate for office several times. In 1884, in Missouri, he ran for coroner on the Greenback ticket, and polled twice as many votes as any other man on his ticket. In 1892, he was nominated for county clerk on the Populist ticket, after but one year's residence in the county. The whole ticket was defeated. Two of his brothers and two sisters are living. One brother, John A. Turner, is a resident of Enid, Oklahoma, and the other, James Turner, lives at Eugene, Ore- gon. A sister, Celia Brownfield, makes her home at Toppenish, Washington, and the other married sis- ter, Narcissa Wix, is a resident of Pryor Creek, Indian Territory.

Mr. and Mrs. Turner are the parents of two sons, John Ephraim and Joseph Leslie, and two daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Ida May. The

latter died while quite small.

The Dawn printing office is one of the best in Central Washington and The Dawn enjoys the splendid reputation and distinction of being the most widely read paper published in the county. The plant is worth perhaps $3,000.

EUGENE E. WAGER. Twice elected to the office of prosecuting attorney of his county, and held in high esteem by a wide circle of friends, the name of Eugene E. Wager stands out prominently as a member of the Kittitas county bar. The son of a

ROBERT A. TURNER.

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BIOGRAPHICAL

leading lawyer of Virginia and veteran of the Civil war, he was born in Culpeper, Virginia, in 1858. The boyhood of Mr. Wager was spent at the place of his birth, where he was given the benefit of a common school education. He then attended the University of Virginia, from which institution be was graduated in 1890. Coming to Ellensburg the same year, he at once engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, the law. For the first seven years of his practice he was with Will G. Graves, when the parnership was dissolved and since that time Mr. Wager has practiced alone.

His married life dates back to the year 1896, when he was married to Miss Byrd Avard, of Cov- ington, Kentucky. Her parents died in her infancy and she was reared by an aunt. Her guardian was Richard Ernst, one of the ablest attorneys of Ken- tucky. Mr. Wager is also an aggressive Demo- crat and stands high in the ranks of his party. He was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney for the first time in 1892, shortly after coming to the county. In 1894 he was elected to succeed himself in office, enjoying the distinction of being the only Democrat elected to office in the county that year. It will be remembered that it was during his en- cumbency the famous Roslyn bank robbery and the subsequent trial of the robbers, Tom Mccarthy and Ray Lewis, took place. This affair formed one of the interesting items of the county's history.

CHRISTOPHER A. GRAY. Himself a pio- neer, Christopher A. Gray, farmer and stock raiser . of Ellensburg, Washington, is descended from a hardy family of pioneers accustomed to the untried frontier and famous in the annals of Indian wars. The date of his birth was September 14, 1852. An early frontiersman of Indiana, Werley Gray, the subject's father, was born in Ohio in 1823. He is still living at the advanced age of eighty, engaged in stock raising at Britton, Oklahoma. Christopher Gray's grandfather, Jesse Gray, a determined and relentless Indian fighter, was the first white man to cut a trail into the wilds of what is now the state of Indiana. Jesse Gray's hatred of and bit- terness toward the savages was brought about by their cold-blooded massacre of his father's family. By the side of his dead relatives the bereft son and brother registered a solemn vow to wreak revenge. So faithfully did he carry out this vow, that, in 1791, he had become a noted character, so vigorous in his destruction of the Indians and so active in the development of the country and the protection of the whites, that a monument has been erected over his grave at Camden, Indiana, by his fellow citizens as a mark of their appreciation and honor. Besides his participation in desultory Indian fights, Jesse Gray served in the War of 1812, and was under Gen. William Henry Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe.

Christopher Gray's mother, Elizabeth (Huey) Gray, born of Scotch parentage in 1823, died in 1857. Her parents were among the first to tempt the wilderness of Indiana. Her father took part in the War of 1812. In the early sixties Werley Gray removed to Kansas, settling at Fort Riley, where border ruffians were almost as plentiful as buffalo and Indians. Here Christopher, growing to man- hood, hunted buffalo with his father and other plainsmen, being inured to border life thus pre- piring him for the trail which he later followed from the fort to Texas. In 1872 he crossed the Plains, through the Kittitas valley and on to Seattle. Here, for three years, he engaged in the meat mar- ket business and lumbering, when he went to New Castle, where he continued in the meat market busi- ness. Unfortunately for himself, he came to Ellens- burg and went into the sheep business in 1880. The winter of that year is remembered by pioneers as being the severest ever experienced in the North- west. All species of live stock, sheep, horses and- cattle, died almost by thousands on account of the exceptionally deep snow and extreme cold. Like many another stockman, Mr. Gray lost so heavily that he failed. . In the spring he returned to the coast and again entered the logging business. In this he was so successful as to soon be able to re- establish himself in the stock raising industry in the Ellensburg country ; this time, however, he in- vested in cattle instead of sheep, and has since con- tinued in the business coupled with farming and butchering.

Mr. Gray was married, September 25, 1880, in Seattle, to Mary A. Agnew, a native of Van Buren county, Iowa. Mrs. Gray's father, Peter Agnew, a miner, born in Ireland in 1826, came to the United States in 1844. Her mother, Mary (Dolan) Agnew, also of Irish birth, spent the first fifteen years of her life in England. In 1844 she was married and she came to America with her husband the day following her wedding day, continuing their event- ful wedding journey westward with a Mormon ex- cursion. She has five brothers: James, John, Michael, Joseph and Thomas, and one sister, Alice Williams. Mr. Gray has one brother, George Gray, of Miltonville, Kansas, and one sister, Dorothy Gentry, Clay Center, Kansas. His only child is a son, Arthur W. Gray, who lives on a farm in Kitt'tas county, Washington. Although a Repub- I can most of his life, so far from seeking office for himself, Mr. Gray has always refused all nomi- nations for public office.

As has been stated, Mr. Grav is at present en- gaged in the meat business in Ellensburg, being a incmber of the Ellensburg Meat Company, with Thompson and Weed as partners, and in stock rais- ing, devoting his attention to the Hereford breed of cattle, of which he owns a herd of five hundred head, some of the finest in the state. His farming lands number about three thousand acres.

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CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

A. H. STULFAUTH. The editor and pub- lisher of The Capital, Ellensburg. A. H. Stulfauth, was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, August 2, 1857. His father, John Stulfauth, a native of Ger- many, came to the United States in the forties to avoid compulsory army service in his native land. That the senior Stulfauth did not lack courage and devotion to country when enjoying the freedom of exercising his own will and acting in accordance with the dictates of his own conscience is evidenced by his record in the Civil war. When this conflict began he enlisted, August 14, 1861, in Company F, Ninth Illinois infantry. He was twice wounded at Shiloh, was in Corinth, Fort Donelson, and other battles fought by Grant in his memorable campaign. He was discharged from service August 20, 1864. His death occurred in 1873, his life having been shortened by wounds received on the battle-field. His wife, the mother of A. H. Stulfauth, was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and died in 1874. Though of Irish descent, her ancestors had for generations lived in the eastern part of the United States.

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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 183

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