An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 190

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 190
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 190
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 190

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FRANK E. TAYLOR is a representative cit- izen of Ellensburg, his occupation being that of a carpenter and builder. He is a native of Bureau county, Illinois, born April 19, 1853. His parents moved to Minnesota when he was three years old and here he grew to manhood, working on the farm with his father until his eighteenth year, when he began doing for himself. He continued on the farm until he was twenty-five, thien learned the carpenter trade, also engineering, following the latter occupa- tion for six years, after which he again took up the trade of a carpenter. The family was in Minnesota during the Sioux Indian troubles, the father being in the three days battle at New Ulm, and the family narrowly escaping the general massacre preceding the battle. Prior to his leaving the parental roof to assume the duties of life unaided, Mr. Taylor received his education in the common schools of the country, thus wisely preparing himself for the ac- tive life he has since led. Leaving the farm in 1882 he went to Minneapolis and for six years was con- nected with the harvester works of that city. In 1888 he decided to try the west, so came to Ellens- burg and worked at the carpenter trade for one year, going then to Wenatche, where he continued at the same work for seven years. In 1896 he re- turned to the Kittitas valley and for a time followed both farming and carpenter work, eventually buying a quarter-section of land near Thorp, on which he resided for two seasons. In 1901 he moved to Ellensburg, where he has made a per- manent home for himself and family. He still owns the farm at Thorp, where his sons reside and look after its management. While working at the carpenter trade Mr. Taylor built, among many other structures, a church at Thorp and several of the residences and business buildings of Ellensburg.

Mr. Taylor was married February 22, 1880, to Edith Smith, who was born in Maine October 6, 1859. Her father, Amos Smith, a native of Massa- chusetts and a wagon maker by trade, served in the Civil war with a Vermont regiment and came west to Ellensburg in 1888. Her mother is Asenith (Gibson) Smith, a native of Massachusetts. Mr. Taylor has one sister, Elmira Ingles, living at Hast- ings, Minnesota. The following are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor : Amy C., Zelia, Floyd, Hazel, Percy and Loyal.

The parents of Frank E. Taylor were Elias F. and Nancy M. (Sloan) Taylor. Elias F. Taylor was a farmer, born in Providence, Rhode Island,

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October 8, 1828. He was a pioneer both in Illinois and in Minnesota, residing but a short time, how- ever, in Illinois, whence he moved to Rice county, Minnesota, in 1856. He died in 1891. He was a veteran of the Civil war, serving three years and three months in the Third Minnesota infantry. The mother, Nancy Taylor, had three brothers in the Civil war.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Taylor are members of the M. E. church. In politics Mr. Taylor is a Re- publican ; he is progressive in his ideas and is espe- cially interested in the maintenance of good educa- tional institutions.

ARTHUR M. HALL, agent of the Northern Pacific Express company at Ellensburg, was born in Cook county, Illinois, not far from the city of Chicago, in the year of 1865. Henley Hall, his father, a native of Virginia, was born April 1, 1837, and died fifty-five years, to the day, later. Orig- inally Mr. Hall, Sr., was a farmer in the state of his birth and at an early age chose Cook county, Illinois, for his home. Here he ranked as a prom- inent man in political and public circles, being elected in turn to the offices of assessor, collector and commissioner of his county. Throughout his life he was an ardent Republican. Arthur M. Hall's mother, Elizabeth (Marshall) Hall, was a descend- ant of English stock and a native of the state of Illinois. Her parents were among the early settlers of Illinois, coming direct from the mother country to that state. She had a brother who participated in the Civil war. Mr. Hall grew to manhood in Cook county, Illinois, where as a boy he was ed- ucated in the grammar schools and later took a course in the Bryant & Stratton business college in Chicago. Following his graduation from this school he paid a brief visit to his old home, then entered upon the life which he has since followed- that of railroading. He began his railroad career as an express messenger, running between St. Paul and Helena, Montana, and later was transferred to the run between Helena and Portland, Oregon. In 1892 he left this road to accept the position at El- lensburg which he now occupies. The fact of his having held the same position for eleven years is an eloquent testimonial of the confidence and trust re- posed in his ability and honor by the company which employs him. Of his family two brothers and two sisters are living: William B., in Chicago with the Merchants' Loan & Trust Company ; Herbert H., of Des Plaines, Illinois; Minnie Gary. Wheaton, Illi- nois, and Clara Pate of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Mr. Hall is a member of the Knights of Pythias order, and is 'an outspoken and ardent member of the Republican party.

GEORGE W. CARVER. To the agricultural and dairying resources of its surrounding country

Ellensburg stands greatly indebted for its past and present condition of thrift and prosperity. A his- tory of these prolific industries would be incom- plete without prominent mention being made of the one of whom this sketch treats, George W. Carver. He is a native of Licking county, Ohio, where he was born June 15, 1840. His paternal ancestors came originally from Scotland, where his grand- father, Seth Carver, was born, emigrating to the state of Ohio to be numbered among the earliest pioneers of that state. In the year 1810 William Carver, father of George W., was born in the county which afterward became the birthplace of his son. He served in the Mexican war, and after that strug- gle was over he removed with his family to Illinois, where he died in August, 1887. Susan (Living- stone) Carver, George W. Carver's mother, was a woman of German parentage, born in 1812 to die at tlie ripe age of eighty years. Her father was a soldier throughout the War of 1812. By a com- parison of dates mentioned above it will be seen that the subject was a lad of twelve years at the time of his removal from the state of Ohio to Mc- Lean county, Illinois. Here he grew to manhood, working on his father's farm and attending district school. Emanating as he did from a fighting ances- try it was only to be expected that, at the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, he would be among the first to offer his services in the Union's cause. This he did August 7, 1862, enlisting in Company E, Ninety-fourth Illinois infantry, and, during a part of the war, was under command of Gen. Curtis Fremont. He participated in many prominent bat- tles and skirmishes while in service and was pain- fully wounded during the battle of Pea Ridge. With his company young Carver was mustered out of service November 17, 1865. At the close of the war he returned to Illinois, to remain there, how- ever, only one winter, at the break-up of which he traveled westward, stopping at Leavenworth, Kan- sas. Here he engaged as a stage driver across the Plains to Utah. For two years he drove on lines lending out of Salt Lake City, carrying the United States mails. As would be supposed, while engaged in this frontier occupation Mr. Carver experienced many hardships and many a "brush" he had with hostile Indians, sometimes barely escaping with his life. One among many interesting adventures Mr. Carver relates is of a time when the Indians suc- ceeded in capturing his stage at Pine Bluffs, Wyo- ming, and burning its load of mail.

In 1869, at Lincoln, Nebraska, he was united in marriage to Rose H. Curtis, a native of Michigan. The couple's first year of married life was spent in Dodge county, Nebraska, after which, in 1870, thev immigrated to Clackamas county, Oregon, and settled on a farm. Here they remained until the year 1876, directly preceding the threatened Indian outbreak of '77, when they came to Washington and took up, as a homstead, their present home, near Ellensburg, on which they have resided contin-

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

uously since. During the Indian trouble referred to Mr. Carver assisted in the erection of the stockades in the valley for mutual protection. To Mr. and Mrs. Carver have been born eleven children, six of whom are living: William, Rosa B., Susan, James, Elizabeth and Nellie. Mr. Carver is one of a family of eleven, of which but three members besides him- self survive: Mary I. and Elizabeth, both living in Illinois, and Susan, whose home is in Canada. George W. Carver is well known as an upright, straightforward citizen as well as a prosperous busi- ness man, possessing some two hundred and eighty acres of choice land. Until recently he operated one among the largest dairies in the county. His politi- cal affiliations are with the Republican party. In lodge circles he is well known and popular, holding membership in the Masonic and Odd Fellows fra- ternities ; he is also an influential charter member of the Grand Army of the Republic, David Ford Post, No. II.

JAMES H. THOMPSON is engaged in the butcher business at the People's market at Ellens- burg, Washington. He started to earn his living when a boy of thirteen, when he secured a job with a freighting outfit in Montana. He has been all over the Northwest, even to Cave Nome, Alaska. He was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1862, and went when a baby with his parents to Minnesota. His father, Joseph Thomp- son, was a native of Pennsylvania and died in 1893. He was a Minnesota pioneer and hotel keeper at Minneapolis. Mr. Thompson's mother, Catherine (Branthoofer) Thompson, was born in Pennsyl- vania of German parentage and died in 1866. Fol- lowing his mother's death, the boy was cared for by foster parents in Carver county, Minnesota. He lived on a farm and attended country school until he was thirteen, when he struck out for himself. He landed at Miles City, Montana, and went to freight- ing for the Diamond R. Freighting Company, which had the government freighting contract in Mon- tana. Later he was corral boss for this company for three years. He moved to Helena, Montana, en- gaging there in the butcher business and subse- quently located near Missoula, where he furnished meat to the contractors who were building the Northern Pacific. He followed the construction of the road to Ellensburg, continuing to furnish the meat supplies. In 1887 he formed a partnership with H. A. Bull at Ellensburg, in the butcher business, but sold out after one vear and worked on a salary until 1899. Then he joined in the rush to the Cape Nome gold fields of Alaska, where he remained three years and did well. In January, 1903, he returned to Ellensburg and again engaged in the meat business.

He was married in 1888 at Ellensburg to Mrs. Mamie Ammond, a native of Webster City, Iowa. They have one child, a daughter, named Mary Con-

stince. Mrs. Thompson is a member of the Chris- tian church at Ellensburg. Mr. Thompson is a Re- publican and takes an active interest in party work. He makes it a point to be present at caucuses and primaries as well as at the conventions, but has never been a candidate for office.

WILLIAM B. PRICE. The Grand Pacific Hotel, Ellensburg, has been under the management of William B. Price for three years, during which time it has continued a first class hostelry, well patronized by the traveling public and, to a consid- erable extent, by citizens of Ellensburg. Mr. Price has been in the restaurant and hotel business in this city for seventeen years, or since 1886. Prior to that date he had a varied experience, well worth relating in a work of this character, that has to do with the personal histories of the pioneers of the business and industrial institutions of Kittitas coun- ty. Mr. Price was born in Cloverdale, Sonoma county, California, July 24, 1857. When five years old, in 1862, he was "packed" into Canyon City, Oregon, on a mule, his parents being among the first to go to that place during the mining excite- ment of those early days. Two years later the fam- ilv went to Portland; in 1866, to Boise, Idaho; in 1867, to the Salmon river mines; in 1868, to Mis- soula county, Montana; in 1870, to Big Hole, to Bannock, later to Utah, eventually locating in San Bernardino, southern California. But the settle- ment here was not permanent; the next move was to Mason county, Washington, where the father re- ceived a government appointment as physician and surgeon ; from this place the family went overland to Missoula county, Montana, where the mother died in 1873. Two years later, in 1875, the father and son went with a pack train to Seattle, passing through the Kittitas valley. W. B. Price remained on the Sound for four years, when he came to El- lensburg, in 1881, and began operations in the Swauk mining region with his brother Richard; he has been interested in mines ever since. In 1883 he returned to Montana, remaining there seventeen months, arriving again in Ellensburg December 31, 1885. In 1885 he opened a restaurant and has since been continuously in the restaurant and hotel busi- ness, at the same time looking after extensive min- ing interests in various sections. He took charge of the Grand Pacific hotel in 1900 and has found it a profitable investment. The father of William B. Price was Joseph B. Price, a physician and sur- geon, born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, November 3, 1818. He crossed the Plains in 1851, engaging in mining in California and also becom- ing one of the most extensive live stock owners in that state. He was a progressive man and intensely active : he practiced his profession while engaged in the other pursuits, served four years as sheriff of Mendocino county, and took a prominent part in the political affairs of the state. He was of Welsh

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descent, tracing his ancestry to colonial times; he died in 1900. The mother of our subject was Mar- tha M. (Huff) Price, a native of Illinois, born in 1830 and died in 1873. She was the widow of Dr. Arnold of colonial stock. She was a pioneer of California, crossing the Plains in the early fifties.

W. B. Price was married August 19, 1882, in Ellensburg, to Mary Etta McDonald, a native of Oregon, born in 1863. Her father is Jesse W. Mc- Donald, a native of Missouri, who crossed the Plains in the fifties and came to the Kittitas valley in 1872. He has served four years as county com- missioner, has been school director, and in other ways has been active in public affairs. Mrs. Price's mother's maiden name was Perry; she died in 1873. Eugene C. Price of Oregon ; Richard Price of Latah county, Idaho, and John M. Price of Montana, are brothers of W. B. Price; he also has three half- brothers-Benjamin, Leonard, and Wenn. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Price are: Guy H., Hoi- dee C., Joseph C., Ruby B., and Harry. Mr. Price is a member of the Elks and of the M. W. A. In political matters he is a Republican, attends county and state conventions and takes an active part in all campaigns, assisting his friends but not asking for office himself. He confines his business ambi- tions to his hotel and mining interests, and is rec- ognized as one of the successful and substantial citizens of Ellensburg.

WILLIAM PACKWOOD. William Packwood is one of the promising and energetic young farm- ers of the Kittitas valley. He is a native Washing- tonian, having been born on the farm where he now lives, September 23, 1879. His father, Samuel T. Packwood, was born July 4, 1842; a veteran of the Civil war, who came to Washington four years prior to the subject's birth. His mother was Margaret F. (Holmes) Packwood, a native of Missouri, in which state she was born January 27, 1843, and grew up to the age of sixteen, when she was mar- ried to Mr. Packwood. The first twelve years of William Packwood's life were spent on his father's farm, where he received his early education in the district school. At the age mentioned he enrolled in the Ellensburg academy, where he took a three years' course. Leaving school he came back to the farm and worked for his father for seven years after which, at the age of twenty-two, he went into the agricultural business on his own account.

November 29, 1899, he was married to Ten- nessee Harrell, born in the state for which she was christened, February 17, 1876. Until she had at- tained womanhood she attended school in her native state. At the age of twenty-two she came to Ellens- burg, where later she was married. Her father was Thomas A. Harrell, born in Tennessee, in Hawkins county, 1843. He is a farmer by profession, and still lives in the county of his birth. During the Civil war he was a Union soldier, and saw active

service throughout that struggle. Julia (Derrick) Harrell was Mrs. Packwood's mother. She too, was born in Hawkins county, Tennessee. In 1855, at the age of sixteen, she was married to Mr. Harrell.

Mr. Packwood's brothers are: John I., born in Missouri, 1862, now living at Cle-Elum ; Oliver F., born in 1878, and Harvey and Harry, twins, born in 1881, and Samuel T., Jr., and George W., now dead.

He had three sisters, Colorado, Elizabeth and Farnetta, the latter two of whom are dead. Colo- rado, now Mrs. G. R. Bradshaw, was born in the state of Colorado, June 4, 1874, while parents were en route to Washington.

Mrs. Packwood's brothers and sisters are: Edith, Edwin, Julia A., Rachel E., Thomas, Luther S., Laura M., Stephen and Herbert D. Harrell- all natives of Tennessee, and all living in that state at the present time with the exception of Edwin and Julia A. Harrell, who came to Ellensburg in 1902, and are now living in the vicinity of that place.

Mr. and Mrs. Packwood have one child, Delphia by name.

Mr. Packwood was reared in the faith of the Christian church, but has no definite religious con- nections. In politics he is a Roosevelt Repub- lican. One hundred and sixty acres of farm land, with some stock, comprise his principal property holdings. He is making a specialty of raising tim- othy and clover hay, of which he produces about three hundred tons per year.

CHRISTIAN HOLM resides some three miles west and half a mile north of Ellensburg, Wash- ington, and is engaged in farming and stock rais- ing. He was born in Denmark, November 25, 1861, being the second son of Peter Nelson and Elizabeth K. (Skou) Holm. His father was a Danish farmer born in 1813, and now deceased. His mother, who still survives, was born in 1823. Mr. Holm's eldest brother, Hans P., born in 1853, and his sister, Elizabeth M. S. Holm, born in 1868, live in Denmark. Mr. Holm received his early education in the common schools of his native land and worked on his father's farm up to the time he was fourteen years old. He then studied a year with the pastor and spent the succeeding year on the farm. For eighteen months he was occupied in learning the trade of a turner and then farmed once more until April 14, 1879, at which time he left home and embarked for the United States. He arrived in New York, May 3, 1879, and from there went to Nevada, where he was employed a year and one-half. In the fall of 1883 he drove a four horse team from Nevada to Washington, the trip con- suming two months. He worked for various peo- ple the first year after his arrival in Kittitas valley, then took up farming and stock raising. He has

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

been very successful in his business enterprises and now owns six hundred head of cattle on the range and fourteen head of horses. He is a frugal, hardworking, and successful citizen. He belongs to the Lutheran church and, politically, is a Repub- lican.

CHARLES H. DUNNING, who is engaged in farming, about one and one-half miles west of Ellensburg, Washington, was born in Canada No- vember 24, 1866, and was there educated. He worked on the farm until he was fifteen years old and then engaged in teaming in the mining dis- tricts. In the fall of 1886 he went to Minnesota and engaged in logging. The next spring lie moved to Washington and took up a pre-emption claim which he made his home for four years. He bought a band of sheep and for twelve years en- gaged in that industry. In the fall of 1899 he bought two hundred and forty acres of land where he now makes his home and follows farming. He is the son of Lewis T. Dunning, a Canadian farmer who has resided near Ellensburg since 1891. His mother was Margaret (Pearson) Dunning, a native of Canada. The other children were Eliza B., born in 1863; Abel B., born in 1868; John P., born in 1870, and Melinda L. Dunning, born in 1874, all natives of Canada and now living in Kittitas county, Washington.

Mr. Dunning was married in Ellensburg, Au- gust 24, 1893, to Miss Elizabeth R. Snow, daughter of Walter and Elizabeth (Parmeter) Snow. Her parents are both dead. Mrs. Dunning was born in Devonshire, England, June 30, 1864, and comes of a family which traces its descent back to William the Conqueror. She came to Washington in 1890 and made her home with her brother until her mar- riage. Her brother, Nicholas Snow, lives near Ellensburg, and another brother, Walter J., is also in the United States. A sister, Mrs. Mary E. Tapp, lives in England. Mr. and Mrs. Dunning have two children : Colas G., born July 12, 1894, and Lillian B. Dunning, born September 21, 1902. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dunning are church members. Mr. Dun- ning is an active Republican. He is an intelligent, honest and successful farmer, and his 240 acres are under a high state of cultivation. He also owns forty acres of timber land. He has just completed a fine eight-room house on the place, as a residence for the family. He is a public spirited citizen and ranks as one of the solid farmers of the county.

OLA PETERSON. Born in Sweden Marclı 22, 1853, Ola Peterson came to the United States June 8, 1870, and is now a well established mining man and liquor dealer in Ellensburg. His father was Swan Peterson, a farmer of Swedish birth, who died in 1883. His mother, Precilla Peterson, also born in Sweden, died in 1891. The first eight-

een years of Ola Peterson's life were spent in his native country on his father's farm, and fourteen years of this time was spent principally in school. Upon coming to America he landed in New York, and soon afterward going to St. Paul, Minn., lie secured employment as a deck hand on one of the river steamers. This work, however, proved too heavy for his constitution, necessitating his giving it up after a trial of two months. His next work was on the railroad in the capacity of contractor in construction work. From his first day in his adopt- ed country Mr. Peterson diligently applied himself to the study of the English tongue, which he found not difficult and soon mastered. Coming to Port- land, Oregon, in the fall of 1876, he worked as a longshoreman until the railroad between Tacoma and the Wilkeson coal mines was almost completed. He did some contracting on this road, and, upon its completion, went prospecting for mineral in the Swauk country. Mr. Peterson ran the first quartz mill in this region. In all he spent seven years in the mountains before coming to Ellensburg in 1885, when he opened a liquor store in that city; he still continues in the same business. During his career as a prospector he found a number of gold nug- gets, the largest of which was valued at $68. While he was in the Swauk country the Nez Perce In- dian war broke out. Upon the outbreak of the war the families of almost all the men in camp came to Ellensburg for safety. Only six of the miners re- mained in camp, they being supplied by the United States government with guns and ammunition with which to defend themselves. Although they were repeatedly threatened by the hostile tribes of Joseph, the miners were not molested.

May 19, 1886, Mr. Peterson was married to Augusta Strigler, born in Sweden November 12, 1868, who came to America with her parents in 1871. Her father, John Strigler, also a native of Sweden, was formerly a licutenant in the Swedish army. Bengta (Neuman) Strigler, Mrs. Peter- son's mother, came to America with her husband, with whom she still lives in the Kittitas valley. Mr. Peterson has four brothers and three sisters, all of whom, with the exception of one brother, who is a tailor in New York City, reside in the old coun- try. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have no children. He is an active worker in the rank and file of the Re- publican party and in 1890 was that party's can- didate for the office of county treasurer, but was defeated by the small margin of twenty-eight votes.

JOHN T. GILMOUR. Mr. Gilmour is a resi- dent of Ellensburg, Washington, and is following the same trade that his father followed before hin -that of a blacksmith. He was born in Hancock county, Illinois, November 5, 1840. His father, John W. Gilmour, was born in Kentucky, Septem- ber 13, 1813, and passed away in Ellensburg,

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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 190

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