An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 89

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 89
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 89
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 89

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STANTON H. JONES. The distinction of having been one of the first little company of daunt- less white men to penetrate the wild Klickitat coun- try and erect on its glassy plains the first homes built in the county is a distinction of which he whose name appears at the head of this sketch may well feel proud. Few can say with truth that they came to Klickitat in 1859, yet it was in that year that this venerable pioneer cast anchor in this sec- tion and made it his permanent home. For nearly half a century he has been engaged in the develop- ment of Klickitat county and he has left his name indelibly written upon its pages of history. Ottawa county, Ohio, is his birthplace. There he was born, March 23, 1830, to the union of Livingston J. and Elizabeth (DeNoon) Jones, natives of Maryland and Ohio respectively. The father, who was of Welsh descent, immigrated to Ohio about 1825 and cleared a fine farm in one of the heaviest timbered

sections of the state. He died in 1850. Mrs. Jones was of French descent, her parents having emigrated from France to America and settled in Ohio, where she was married. She reared a family of seven children, dying when Stanton H. was a child. He attended school in Ottawa county and helped his father on the farm until the latter's death in 1850. The passing away of the parent soon caused the rest of the family to scatter in various directions, Stan- ton H. taking up the life of a sailor on Lake Erie. Two years afterward he was promoted to the cap- taincy of the vessel, which he continued to direct for two years longer. He then went, via the Isthmus of Panama, to California, and during the succeeding three years was engaged in mining. From Califor- nia he went, in 1857, to Olympia, Washington, where he worked for a time in a sawmill. He passed the summer of 1858 in the Fraser River mines of British Columbia, and the next winter in San Fran- cisco. He again followed the life of a sailor during the summer of 1859, but in the fall of that year came to Klickitat county, spending his first winter at the government blockhouse, situated about six miles west of Goldendale. The county was then unorganized and the settlers in the region could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Mr. Jones im- mediately engaged in stock raising, which he fol- lowed until 1871. Very early he filed a pre-emption claim to 160 acres of land near Columbus, proved up on the property and subsequently disposed of it to good advantage. In the spring of 1878 he built a grist-mill for Thomas Johnson, the first mill of its kind erected in the county. Joseph Nesbitt as- sisted him in this work, and Mr. Barber acted as superintendent. The mill burned in 1879, but im- mediately Johnson, Jones and Nesbitt put up an- other in its place. Two years later Mr. Johnson sold his interests to the other partners and the prop- erty was operated under the firm name of Nesbitt & Jones until 1890, when they sold to the Golden- dale Milling Company. Mr. Jones took a two months' trip to his Ohio home in 1885. He filed a homestead claim, in 1889, to a quarter section sit- uated a mile and a half northwest of Goldendale, and the year previous purchased seventy-eight acres of land only a mile and a half north of the city. This property he has since set out in fruit, there being now a five-acre apple orchard, a mixed or- chard and several varieties of berries, etc., upon it. Mr. Jones retired from active farming last year, removing to the city in September, 1903. where he expects to pass the remaining years of his life.

Mr. Jones was married in Klickitat county, June 2, 1870, the lady being Miss Harriet Boots, a daughter of Elisha and Betsey (Jones) Boots. Mr. Boots was a native of Pennsylvania and of German descent. He went to Missouri when young and in 1852 crossed the Plains to Oregon, settling in Ma- rion county. Seven years later he came to Klick- itat countv and a few vears ago removed to Cali- fornia, where his death occurred in 1902. Mrs.

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Boots was a native of Indiana; she was married in Missouri. Harriet Boots was born in Missouri in 1844 and came across the Plains with her parents when she was a child, receiving her education in Oregon. She was married at the age of twenty-six. One child has blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Jones, George W., born on Washington's birthday, 1871. Mr. Jones has been a devoted member of the Methodist church for nearly a lifetime, and has served in nearly every office of his church. He is a Republican of pronounced views, one of the old Abraham Lincoln school, and was a delegate to the first Republican convention held in Klickitat county. He was Klickitat's first assessor, serving three years, and subsequently served as county commissioner four years, filling both offices with fidelity and credit. Though he has sold most of his property, he still retains the first ranch near the city, as also some valuable city real estate. Mr. Jones is now in his seventy-fifth year, but notwithstanding his advanced age and the long life of hardships he has expe- rienced on the western frontier, is still hale and hearty, with a mind as vigorous as ever. None knows him but to be his friend and admire his char- acter.

JOHN H. SMITH, auditor of Klickitat county and one of its most widely and favorably known citizens, as well as one of its early pioneers, re- sides in the city of Goldendale. A native of Mis- souri, he was born in Scotland county, June 20, 1847. the son of William D. and Mary (Owens) Smith. The father was a native of Kentucky, born in the city of Versailles in the year 1826. His parents were among the earliest pioneers of the Blue Grass state. William D. was a millwright by trade and until 1875 operated a mill in his native state. Then he went to California, where he farmed two years, after which he went north to Oregon and settled in Clackamas county in the spring of 1877. During the next three years he followed ag- ricultural pursuits in the Webfoot state. He be- came a settler of Klickitat in 1880, following farm- ing and stock raising until his death, August 16, 1900. Mrs. Smith was likewise a Kentuckian, born in 1829. When a young girl she removed with her parents to Missouri, and in that state attended school and, at the age of eighteen, was married. Mrs. Smith survives her husband and is at present living with a daughter in Goldendale. She is of Scotch- Irish descent ; he was of Irish ancestry. John H. Smith is the second oldest child of a family of eleven children, all of whom are still living. He was reared upon the farm, receiving a good education in the schools of Missouri. With his parents he went to California in 1875 and to Oregon two years later, continuing to assist his father upon the farm. How- ever, he did not tarry long in Oregon, coming al- most directly through to the Klickitat country in the spring of 1877 and filing upon a homestead two

miles southeast of Centerville. With the exception of several years spent in the mercantile business at Centerville, Mr. Smith has assiduously devoted himself to farming and stock raising during most of the remaining years he has lived in the county, meeting with an enviable success. He opened a general store at Centerville in 1887 and conducted it until 1892, when he satisfactorily dis- posed of it. The next two years he served the county as assessor, retiring from office to give farm- ing and sheep raising more attention.

Mr. Smith was married at Centerville, February 16, 1882, to Miss Ella Sparks, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Fowler) Sparks. Mr. Sparks brought his family to Washington from Kansas in the spring of 1876, and with his wife is at present a resident of Chehalis, Washington. Mrs. Sparks was born and married in Kansas, and is the mother of ten chil- dren. Mrs. Smith was also born in Kan- sas, 1861 being the year of her birth. She received her education in the schools of Klick- itat county and at the time of her marriage was twenty-one years old. Mrs. Smith passed many years ago to her eternal home, revered by all who knew her, and leaving three children to mourn her loss : Fred A., born near Centerville, February 25, 1883, now attending the University of Washington ; Grace M., born Independence Day in the year 1886, who recently was graduated from Klickitat Academy, and Edna L., born October 30, 1888. Mr. Smith's brothers and sisters are all living, Thomas J., the eldest, in Salinas City, California ; Fred A., at Benicia, California; Edward S. at Top- penish, Washington; Mrs. Sarah H. Teel, in Spo- kane; Robert L., Ludwell B., Singleton D. and David C. all live near Centerville; Mrs. Mary A. Hamilton in Goldendale and Mrs. Emma L. Ham- ilton in Oregon City, Oregon. Fraternally, Mr. Smith is connected with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, A. O. U. W., Woodmen of the World and the Order of Washington. He is one of the most influential Democrats in this section of the state, and as an illustration of his popularity at home it is only necessary to state that he was elected to his present office in November, 1902, in one of the strongest Republican counties in the state ; he received five- eighths of all the votes cast. Besides his property in Goldendale, Mr. Smith has other large holdings, including the home ranch of 280 acres of as fine wheat land as lies in the valley. He is generally conceded to be one of the most faithful and capable officers that ever served Klickitat county. He com- mands the esteem and friendship of all who know him and is worthy in every respect to be classed. as one of Klickitat's foremost citizens.

ALMON BAKER, of the well known mercan -. tile firm of Baker Brothers, Goldendale, bears the enviable distinction of being one of Klickitat coun- ty's most successful business men and influential

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citizens. For more than twenty-five years he has been closely identified with the business interests of his home city and, with the exception of two years, has been a resident of the county since 1877. By his thrift, energy, perseverance and integrity, Mr. Baker has won his present position and is, therefore, justly entitled to the rich rewards of his success. Of English and Irish ancestry, he was born June 9, 1856, in the town of Prescott, Province of Onta- rio, Canada, the son of George and Elizabeth (Con- nell) Baker. The father was born in Ireland to English parents in the year 1824, and when twelve years old came with his folks to the United States. The family settled upon a farm in New York state. In 1848 the young man engaged in farming near Prescott and in that community resided until his death in February, 1896. Elizabeth Connell, a na- tive of Ireland, was born in 1832, crossed the ocean to Canada ten years later and was there wedded to Mr. Baker ; she is still living, near Prescott. Almon Baker remained at home on the farm, attending school in term time, until the year before reaching his majority, when he left the old Canadian home to seek his fortunes in California. There he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until August, 1877, when he came north to Klickitat county and en- tered the employ of his uncle, Thomas Johnson, at Goldendale. The young man spent the next three years in his uncle's store, and by strict attention to the work in hand, rapidly mastered the business. Upon leaving Mr. Johnson's service, he entered the store of Lowengart & Sichel, another Goldendale firm, remaining with it twelve months. However, the ambitious young clerk again entered his uncle's employ in 1881, going to Ellensburg, where Mr. Johnson owned one of the pioneer stores. In June, 1883, Mr. Baker returned to Klickitat county and commenced farming, but the following fall again returned to the mercantile business, as an employee of Lowengart & Sichel, with whom he remained this time until 1888. Then, equipped with his years of valuable experience and a knowledge of local con- ditions, he embarked in business for himself, pur- chasing a half interest in the general merchandise store conducted by William Millican. A year later Mr. Millican disposed of his remaining interest to his partner's brother, George H. Baker, thus giving inception to the present firm of Baker Brothers, one of the strongest in southern Washington. Its growth has been rapid and steady; the firm's sta- bility is one of its prominent characteristics.

At Goldendale, October 12, 1881, Mr. Baker married Miss Sarah A. Chappell. She is the daugh- ter of William H. and Mary (Leach) Chappell, both of whom are still living. William H. Chappell is a native of Kentucky, now in his seventy-eighth year. He was taken to Missouri as a child, was there mar- ried and in 1864 crossed the Plains by team to Ma- rion county, Oregon, where he engaged in farming. In 1878 he removed to Goldendale and during the next sixteen years conducted a hotel there. Mrs.

Chappell is a native Missourian, born in 1833. She was reared, educated and married in that state, her marriage taking place when she was nineteen years old. Mr. Chappell is of French descent; his wife is of German extraction. Mrs. Baker was also born in Missouri, October 12, 1862, and came across the Plains when a child. She was educated in the schools of Salem, Oregon, attending both grammar and high schools, and was married at the age of nineteen. Mrs. Baker is one of a family of nine children, two of whom, James and Ella, are dead. Four brothers, David, William, Charles and John, and one sister, Mary, live in Goldendale; the other sister, Elizabeth, resides in British Columbia. Mr. Baker is the eld- est child of the family, and has six brothers and sis- ters living: Charles, William and Mrs. Claudia Dunlap, in Canada ; George H. in Goldendale; Mrs. Anna Snyder, at Everett, Washington, and Edward, a Methodist minister, at Union, Oregon, Mr. and Mrs. Baker have two children. Fred, the elder, was born in Goldendale, December 27, 1882; Herman was also born in Goldendale, the date being Decem- ber 15, 1886. Both Mr. and Mrs. Baker are prom- inent members of the Methodist church, he having filled most of the offices in the church and having acted as superintendent of the Sunday school for twelve years. Politically, he is an active Repub- lican, and. though never an office seeker, is well known in the councils of his party. He has served one term as councilman. Mr. Baker has accumu- lated a goodly holding of property during his resi- dence in the county. At present he owns six hun- dred and seventy-five acres situated five miles south of the city, this tract all being in cultivation; two hundred and forty acres on the Columbia river in use as a stock ranch; a homestead, twelve miles north of the city, which he filed on in May, 1895; a timber claim near the homestead; six hundred and forty acres of school land in Lake county, Oregon, considerable stock and his interest in the Goldendale business. It is not going beyond the truth to say that Mr. Baker is considered by all to be one of the city's brightest business men, up- right and honorable in all his dealings, while his zealous interest in church work, public spirit and benevolence indicate his character; his popularity is widespread among all classes of law-abiding citizens.

CHARLES M. HESS, who owns, with his father, a flouring mill with a capacity of seventy barrels a day, located in the city of Goldendale, is a native of Oregon, born in Astoria on the 12th of December, 1874, the son of John M. and Minnie (Beebe) Hess. His father, who was born in Ful- ton county, Illinois, October 5, 1848, and was edu- · cated in the public schools of Iowa, removed to- Oregon with his parents at the age of nineteen. He remained at home until twenty-five years old, during this time learning the cooper's trade from

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his father, grandfather of our subject. Marry- ing then, he took up a homestead of eighty acres, on which he lived for seven years ensuing. Com- ing to Goldendale in the fall of 1883, he entered the drug business there, and he continued in the same for five years, but in 1888 he bought the mill he now has. It has, however, been improved so thoroughly since, that it would hardly be recognized as the same plant. In the year 1896 he installed the gravity system which now furnishes the city with water, and during the ensuing seven years he operated it successfully, selling out at the expira- tion of that time to the city. He has one of the finest residences in Goldendale. His wife, a native of New York state, born May 3, 1854, was edu- cated in the schools of Iowa. She married at the age of nineteen and she and Mr. Hess have had five children, of whom our subject is the oldest. Having accompanied his parents to Washington, when less than ten years old, Charles M. com- pleted his school training in Goldendale. At the early age of fifteen he began learning, in his father's mill, the trade of a miller, a task which he has successfully accomplished, having long since become a master of the craft. At present he is the owner of an interest in the mill, which he and his father operate as partners.

On the 17th of April, 1898, Mr. Hess married Miss Sarah E. Masters, the ceremony being per- formed at Goldendale. Mrs. Hess is the daughter of Thurston and Mary J. (Story) Masters, the former of whom was born in the central part of Washington county, Oregon, and is a butcher by occupation. He came to Klickitat county in the early days, and has ever since remained there. Mrs. Hess was born in Klickitat county, January 18, 1875. She was educated at Vashon College, near the city of Tacoma, taking a course in music and elocution, both of which she teaches to a limited extent at the present time. She has two brothers and two sisters, namely, David A., Thurston H., and Sylva, in Goldendale, and Mrs. Ethel Russell, in Silverton, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Hess have two children, Madalene, born April 17, 1899, and Reginald, born April 17, 1903, both in Goldendale. Fraternally, Mr. Hess is connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Artisans, the Woodmen of the World, and the Rathbone Sisters, and in politics, he is a Democrat. An industrious, ambitious young man, thoroughly conversant with his business, to which he gives close attention, he is winning his way nobly in the financial world; at the same time enjoying, among his fellow citizens, an enviable reputation for integrity and uprightness of char- acter.

JOHN J. GOLDEN, the first settler in Klick- itat county and founder of the city of Goldendale, where he now resides, is a native of the Keystone state, having been born in Westmoreland county,

March 18, 1826. He comes of pioneer American stock. The Goldens came to this country from England at the beginning of the eighteenth cen- tury and at once attained to a position of influence in the settlement. William Golden, the father of John, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylva- nia, March 15, 1797, the son of a veteran of the Revolutionary war, who served under General Washington. William Golden removed to west- ern Pennsylvania at the time when that region was still a wilderness and became one of its earliest pioneers. Subsequently he removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his death occurred. He was of English and German descent. Julia A. (William- son) Golden, his wife, of Scotch extraction, was a native of New Jersey, born in 1804. She came to Pennsylvania when a child and at the age of twenty- three was united in marriage to Mr. Golden. Mrs. Golden died in Indiana in her seventy-fourth year. One of a family of twelve children and reared upon the western frontier, the son John early became inured to the hardships and dangers of the border, and it was but natural that he should inherit the spirit which leads men to explore and conquer the wilds. Until he was twenty-three he remained at home upon the farm, attending the schools of his native state, but a few years later, when he was living in Indiana, the opportunity to penetrate through to the Pacific was offered him. Harlow Coleman, a young man who had just returned with glowing stories of California, organized a party of young men to cross the Plains to the gold fields, charging each member of the company $200 for services 'as guide. Mr. Golden and sixteen others started on the long, dangerous journey, in 1852, riding saddle horses and carrying supplies by ox teams. After being out only two days, the com- pany's horses were stolen, but, having resolved never to turn back, the two thousand-mile trip was continued on foot, six months being required to reach the Pacific. ' That was the year cholera raged, and it has been estimated that at least ten thousand people were stricken while on their way across the Plains. Finally, however, the party arrived in Cal- ifornia, September, 1852, and young Golden com- menced mining on American river. During the following winter he was taken down with fever and nearly lost his life. The next year he went to Shasta City, where he lived three years, engaged in mining and conducting a general supply store, which he had opened there in 1854. Unfortunately, in 1855 fire completely destroved his business, val- ued at $32,000, and he was left with only a little ready money and a pack-train of thirty-two mules. With his partner, J. A. Johnson, he bought a $4,000-stock of goods, opened another store and within a short time was again in prosperous condi- tion. The partners disposed of their store and mining interests in the summer of 1856 and in' the fall took a contract to furnish beef for eleven shops scattered throughout Trinity county. They made

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a success of the venture, buying cattle at five cents and selling at ten cents, without killing the stock. A year later they took a contract to deliver one thousand four hundred hogs in California, attempt- ing to fulfill it by driving overland from Oregon. But heavy snow storms overtook them at Yreka, threatening to ruin them. They averted this calam- ity by turning most of the hogs into bacon, which they sold at an enormous profit. In the spring of 1858, the partners got the Frazier river gold fever and at once started for that new El Dorado. At a point near where the city of Wenatchee stands they were attacked by Indians, but succeeded in making their escape without injury. The same fall Mr. Golden returned to the Willamette valley, via Seattle, and in Polk county was married May 17, 1859.

Three days after the wedding he started for Walla Walla in search of a suitable place to rear his home, but at The Dalles heard of the fertile re- gion across the Columbia, in Washington. So on July 9th he crossed the river, entered the Klick- itat valley, found an unsurpassed stock range, well watered and timbered, and decided to remain. With him he had a fine herd of Durham cattle, which he turned loose as soon as he was able to bring them across the Columbia. In August Mr. Golden brought his wife, his wife's family and the Tartar family into the Klickitat valley and the first permanent settlement in this region was established. These families all brought cattle with them. The first two winters were mild and the stock throve, but the third winter there were three feet of snow, and not having any shelters erected, Mr. Golden lost his entire band, with the exception of one yoke of oxen, suffering a loss of fully $20,000. Times became so hard that, with the exception of three families and Mr. Golden's, all the settlers of the valley left in 1862. Mr. Golden succeeded in secur- ing a contract to deliver one thousand cords of wood at Columbus for the use of the O. R. & N. S. S. Company's steamers and during the year 1862 fulfilled the contract, receiving ten dollars a cord. The next year he took a freighting outfit to the Bannock mines in Idaho, a journey of four hundred and fifty miles. He was four months on the road and did not return until late in the winter of 1863-4. The next summer he and his brother, Thomas, erected a sawmill on the Klickitat, five miles east of Goldendale. This was the second mill built in the county. Golden Brothers operated mills eight years, marketing most of their lumber at Umatilla, Oregon, where they opened a lumber yard in 1865 and conducted it three years, trading lumber for cattle, horses, grain, or any salable com- modity. In 1867 the first mill was sold and the brothers built another one, a mile and a half from Goldendale's site; subsequently this mill was re- moved to Kittitas county. Mr. Golden was also heavily interested in horse raising until 1875.

Mr. Golden's connection with Goldendale dates

from the year 1871, when he purchased two hundred acres of land trom L. J. Kimberland, who had filed a soldier's claim to most of the tract; later Mr. Golden filed a homestead claim to an adjoining quarter section. In the fall of 1871 a largely at- tended camp-meeting was held on this ground, and it was so successful that it was decided to build a church nearby. Mr. Golden donated twelve · lots to the church and four to the minister, having laid out a town about that time. Upon the completion of the church buildings, the settlers held a meeting and named the place Goldendale, in honor of its founder and owner. The town site was surveyed in the spring of 1872 by a surveyor Mr. Golden brought from The Dalles. Thomas Johnson ac- cepted a bonus of eight lots for the establishment of a store, I. I. Lancaster accepted another gen- erous bonus for the erection of a blacksmith shop, a postoffice was then added, followed by quick succession of hotels, churches, stores and various others constituents of a town, to all of which Mr. Golden made generous property donations.

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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 89

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