An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 97

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 97
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 97
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 97

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Angus J., one of a family of six children, came to Klickitat county with his parents when five years old. He grew up in the county, and received his education in the public schools near the parental home, his spare time being employed on the farm. At the age of eighteen he started out in life for himself, and since that time has made his own liv- ing. He bought his present place in 1889, and has since followed the occupation of a farmer and stock raiser. Besides his own property he also rents two other farms, and he is cultivating over three hun- dred acres at present.

In Klickitat county, in Januarv, 1900, Mr. Wat- son married Miss Minnie Hamilton, daughter of Alexander and America Jane (Chamberlain) Ham- ilton. Her father is now sheep commissioner of the county, of which he is one of the early pioneers. Mrs. Watson was born in the county in 1882. Mr. Watson has a brother, Elmer R., and a sister, now Mrs. Ida Sexton, who lives near his home, also an- other brother named Fred. Mrs. Maud Richardson, wife of a Bickleton blacksmith, is also his sister, and his other sister, Mrs. Collie Harnard, makes her home in Pasco, Washington. Angus is the second oldest child, his brother Elmer being the oldest of

the family. Mr. and Mrs. Watson have one child, Alice Christine, a girl of three years. Their son, Robert A., just recently passed away. In politics, Mr. Watson does not ally himself with any party, but votes for the best man. He is an energetic young man, and is succeeding admirably.

WILLIAM C. AND ALBERT RUST are pros- perous business men of Goldendale, Washington, and are partners in a clothing, gents' furnishing goods and shoe store. They are sons of Carl C. and Minnie (Lindenberg) Rust. The elder Rust is a native of Germany, and a mason and contractor by trade. He came to the United States in 1873, and settled in Faribault, Minnesota, where he still lives. Mrs. Rust is also of German descent, and now lives with her husband in Minnesota.

William C. Rust was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1871. He grew to manhood in Faribault, having been but two years old when his parents brought him to this country. He learned the milling trade, and followed it in Faribault and Blue Earth, Minnesota, until May, 1902. While learning the trade, he was in the employ of the Old Straight River Stone Mills. Having come to Goldendale from Minnesota, he worked for the Goldendale Mill- ing Company for some time, but in February, 1904, his brother, Albert, came to the city, and the two opened their present business shortly after.

Albert Rust also grew up in Faribault, Minne- sota, attending a German school until he was thir- teen years old, then completing his education in the public schools. He began to make his own living by working in a dry goods and gents' furnishing goods store, serving as window decorator in the establish- ment. He also worked twelve months in a Marshall, Minnesota, store, at the same business.

The brothers have two sisters, named Minnie and Augusta Rust, but their brother, Charles, is now deceased. They have also two brothers living, Henry and Herman. The brothers are both single ; and William is fraternally connected with the K. of P. and Modern Woodmen of America, while Albert also belongs to the latter order. Both were brought up in the Lutheran church. and Albert still adheres to that denomination. Both are Republicans, and William took an active interest in politics while in Minnesota. He owned a farm in this locality, but has recently disposed of it. and also sold an interest in a homestead that he had held for some little time. He still owns a business lot in the best part of the city. While both are newcomers in Goldendale, the Rust Brothers have already proven their ability to win the prizes which the west has for them. They have already gained an enviable standing as business men of energy and integrity. At this writing they are erecting a brick building which they hope to occupy with their stock of goods.

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CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

GUY SHELLADY, a business man of Golden- dale, was born in Gilliam county, Oregon, in 1871, the son of John and Ella (Ricord) Shellady, the father a stockman by occupation, born in Iowa. He crossed the Plains in 1849, at the time of the gold excitement, and settled in California, where he mined for a number of years with success. Later he moved to what was then a part of Wasco county, Oregon, and engaged in the stock business. The county has been divided since, and the locality in which he then lived is now a part of Gilliam county. He was one of the first three settlers on Rock creek, in that county. A large cattle raiser, at the time of his death, in 1873, he owned a band of 3,000 head. He took part in the Indian wars of Oregon, as one of the volunteers, doing his full share toward sub- duing the troublesome redskins. His grandfather, Alexander, came from Lancashire, England, in the early days. The mother of our subject is a native of the Golden state, born in 1848, a member of a Pennsylvania Dutch family. Her parents crossed the Plains very early in the last century. She is still living, a resident of Salem, Oregon. Guy Shellady, of this review, was educated in the com- mon schools of Gilliam county. He remained at home until nineteen years of age, after completing his school training, riding the ranges and engaged in the stock business generally, shipping numerous carloads of horses to the eastern markets. In 1890 he went east, and was a resident of Detroit City, Minnesota, for a number of years. Coming to Goldendale in 1899, he opened an establishment there ; and he has ever since been numbered among the business men of that city.

In 1902, Mr. Shellady married Miss Lillian Washburn, a native of Goldendale, whose father, John Washburn, was an old pioneer of this section, and one of the first settlers in the county. Mr. Shel- lady has one sister, now Mrs. Clemma May Durbin, a resident of Salem, Oregon. In politics, Mr. Shel- lady is a Democrat. He is a well-to-do business man of this growing city, possessed of a genial, ap- proachable disposition.

JACOB RICHARDSON, United States min- eral surveyor at Goldendale, was born in Clark countv, Illinois, July 29, 1859, the son of Jesse H. and Lydia J. (Groves) Richardson. His father, a farmer and stockman, is a native of Cayuga county, New York, but of English descent. He was born in 1834, crossed the Plains to Utah in 1865, and came to Yakima county in 1866. The next year he moved into Klickitat county, took up land near the town of Columbus, and engaged in farming and stock raising. Later he moved to the Swale district and in 1894 he bought his present home. His wife, who is of German descent, but a native of Ohio, born in 1840, is also still living. Her father and brothers served in the Civil war. The subject of this article crossed the Plains with his parents at the age of six

and grew up in Klickitat county on the parental farm. Starting out with a government survey party, as chain carrier, when only eleven, he has since fol- lowed surveying in many different counties of the state, even working in the Sound country, though his principal fields of operation have been Yakima, Kittitas and Spokane counties. He specially quali- fied himself for the work about the time he became of age, making himself master of his profession. When Ife came to the county it was wild and unset- tled and overrun with stock. There was a small settlement at Columbus and a few settlers in what is known as the Swale district. Among the set- tlers at Columbus he recalls Amos Stark, Thomas Jenkins and S. H. Jones. There was no Goldendale then. In the Swale district John and Thomas Bur- gen, Alba Bunnell, Chauncy Goodnoe, M. S. Short, W. B. Walker, S. H. Fish, John Golden and Nelson Whitney were about the only ones, and there were a few settlers at Rockland, including A. S. Curtis, A. M. Gilmore, Thomas Connell, and Thomas John- son, the pioneer merchant of Goldendale. Marion S. Flower was also living near Rockland at that time. The people had an excitement almost every year over supposed Indian uprisings, but no serious trouble ever occurred. Mr. Richardson was near Rattlesnake Springs when Mr. and Mrs. Perkins were killed by the Indians, and he saw the mur- derers after they were captured. He was below Lewiston, Idaho, on government survey work at the time of the Nez Perce outbreak.

In Klickitat county, in 1878, Mr. Richardson married Miss Anna McPheeters, a native of Clark county, Illinois. Her father was James McPheeters and her mother's family name was Scott. Mrs. Richardson had come to Klickitat county with an uncle in 1876. She and her husband have one child, Arthur, now county surveyor of Klickitat county. Mr. Richardson is a member of the K. of P. and in politics, an active Republican, attending caucuses and conventions. Elected county surveyor first in the eighties, he served in that position for twelve years, and at present he is United States mineral surveyor in Goldendale. Though the owner of con- siderable realty, he still gives his time to the pursuit of the profession he so early chose, and has so as- siduously sought to perfect himself in. A man of genial nature, pleasant and approachable, he natur- ally has made many friends throughout the state, while in the county that has so long been his home his standing is most enviable.

ISAIAH McBEE. Few of the present genera- tion of Westerners, comfortably situated, prosperous and generally at peace with the world, realize at how great a cost their home has been reclaimed from barbarism. The sacrifice has been enormous and human life has been the most precious medium of exchange. Yet, withal, the priceless sacrifice made upon civilization's altar by the parents of

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Isaiah McBee must ever be his most treasured her- itage. Few pioneers came to the shores of the Columbia under more trying difficulties than did the subject of this sketch and his sisters. Isaiah McBee, of Scotch and German descent, was born in Ray county, Missouri, February 9, 1840, and is the son of Levi and Elizabeth (Ream) McBee, natives of Maryland and Ohio respectively, born in 1811 and 1815 respectively. Levi McBee was a carpenter by trade, but gave most of his life to farming. He was among Ohio's early pioneers and took up his abode in Missouri in 1836. There he reared a fam- ily and lived until the year 1852, when the richness and wonders of far-away Willamette proved too attractive to withstand and he, his wife and little children were soon westward bound. Cholera broke out in the company and before its ravages were fin- ished, both father and mother were sleeping the sleep that knows no waking upon this earth. He was stricken near Fort Kearney, Nebraska, and there buried ; his faithful helpmeet was laid at rest at the mouth of Ash Hollow, on the North Platte river, Nebraska. The seven little orphans continued their weary, lonesome way. Soon two of them dropped from the little company and were buried by the wayside. The remaining fatherless and motherless children, of whom Isaiah was one, were tenderly cared for by two paternal uncles and others of that fearless, saddened emigrant train, and in time ar- rived safely at their journey's end. Isaiah immedi- ately went to work in King's tannery, Portland, where he remained until November, 1854, when he became a resident of Vancouver, across the Colum- bia. There he worked six years at various occupa- tions. Upon the discovery of gold in the Clearwater country, Idaho, he started with a wagon train and was one of the first to reach that river with goods. Before returning, he went as far as Elk City: he wintered in Vancouver. From that time until 1872 he traveled throughout Washington and Idaho, en- gaged in freighting, next spending six vears on Pu- get sound. In 1878 he came to Klickitat county, where as early as 1860, he had assisted in surveying four townships for the government. Five vears he conducted a blacksmith shop near the No. 6 school- house, at the same time filing upon land in that local- ity. Because of his long association with the Indi- ans, he remained on his place during the Indian scare of 1878, not fearing the redskins as did many of those around him. Mr. McBee has gradually accumulated a goodly holding of farming property and is still devoted to agricultural pursuits.

He was married in 1868, but has no family at the present time, a niece, Diana Wilkes, keeping house for her uncle. Of his sisters, three are still living: Mrs. B. A. Chambreau, in Portland ; Mrs. Rebecca Knighton, in Gilliam county, Oregon; and Mrs. Caroline Beeman, in Idaho. In politics, Mr. McBee is known as a strong Republican. He owns three-quarters of a section of rich valley land eight miles east of Goldendale, and also some property in

Whatcom. With commendable generosity and a sense of appreciation, he has bestowed a 240-acre farm upon his faithful niece. Secure against want and possessing the respect and good will of all around him, this worthy pioneer of pioneers is rich in such blessings as this world can bestow.

A. I. RHODES, an industrious and competent farmer and stock raiser of Klickitat county, and a carpenter by trade, resides on liis well improved ranch eight miles southeast of Goldendale. He was born in Kekoskee, Dodge county, Wisconsin, De- cember 3, 1851, the son of Richard and Lucy (Dem- mon) Rhodes. His father, who was born in New York state in 1816, and was likewise a farmer, was a pioneer of Dodge county, Wisconsin. He enlisted in Company C, Third Wisconsin volunteers," in 1861, and later re-enlisted in the Tenth regiment, serving until 1864. His son, John, a brother of the subject of this article, who was a member of the Twenty-ninth Wisconsin volunteers, was killed in the Civil war, and Richard Rhodes, grandfather of our subject, was killed in the War of 1812. Mr. Rhodes returned to Wisconsin after being mustered out of service and remained in that state until his death, in 1882. He belonged to an old English family. His wife, a native of New York state, died when her son, A. I., was but six years old. The subject of this review grew to manhood in Wiscon- sin, attending the common schools of that state, then assisting on the farm for some time. He also learned the carpenter's trade. Eleven years of his life were spent on a farm in Blue Earth county, Minnesota, but on account of severe sickness con- tracted there, he came, in 1888, to Oregon, and settled in the Willamette valley. He bought land there and resided upon it about eight years, then, having traded it for 160 acres of Klickitat land, he removed to that county in 1896. Later he bought another tract of 160 acres, and he has also taken up a homestead, his design being to work into the cattle business gradually. During the summers he follows his trade and his boys run the place. They cultivate about 150 acres of the farm at present and are succeeding admirably in building up a valuable property. Among the improvements on the place is a splendid apple orchard. Mr. Rhodes is giving considerable attention to the breeding of Hereford cattle at this time.

December 15, 1881. in the state of Minnesota, Mr. Rhodes married Miss Mattic Stone, a native of Scott county, born in 1857. Her father. William Stone, a native of Ohio, and by occupation a mill- wright and farmer, died many years ago. Her mother, whose maiden name was Emma Misseldine, was born in England and came to this country when a small girl. She died in 1897 at the age of eightv. Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes have six children, namely, Richard. the oldest : Ruth, born November 21, 1884; Burton, born October 26, 1887: Edith, March 22,

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1889; Roy, August 4, 1891 ; Effie, March 22, 1893 ; all at home with their parents. Mrs. Rhodes is a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Rhodes displays his public spirit by serving on the school board. No one is more interested in good schools than he, and he works always to bring the local schools up to the highest possible point of efficiency. He has also discharged the duties of road supervisor for two years. He enjoys a splendid standing in his community, his neighbors speaking of him always as a good citizen, a man of strict integrity, and an approachable, courteous member of society.

ARKELLAS D. HARTLEY. Among the progressive farmers and stock raisers of Klickitat county, the man whose name initiates this article must be given a place. He resides on his farm of 160 acres eight miles east of the city of Goldendale, in rural free delivery district No. I. He was born in Franklin county, Illinois, March 1, 1860, the son of David and Amanda (Dollans) Hartley, the father a native of the Blue Grass state, born in 1837, to Scotch parents. The older Hartley, a farmer and gardener by occupation, crossed the Plains to Ore- gon in 1865, came thence to Klickitat county in 1879 and now resides in Goldendale. His brother is a Civil war veteran. His wife, the mother of our subject, is a native of Illinois, born in 1839. Arkel- las D., whose life record it is here our purpose to outline, was but five years old when he came to Oregon with his parents. He grew to the age of twenty on the parental farm in Marion county, at- tending the local common schools. When old enough to shoulder the responsibilities of life, he chose farming as his occupation and he followed it in Oregon until 1888, when he came to Klickitat county and homesteaded a quarter section of land. No sooner had he acquired an inchoative right to the property than he began energetically the task of improving it and he has resided on the place con- tinnously since. He raises grain, wheat, oats, and other farm products very successfully; fruits of various kinds and stock.

Mr. Hartley was married first in 1883, the lady of his choice being Miss Rachel Clymer, who died, leaving one child, Mary Wenona, born in Linn county, Oregon. His second marriage occurred October 6, 1886, when Miss Winnie Parrott, a native of Missouri, born in 1869, became his wife. She is the daughter of George and Martha (Ewell) Par- rott, the former a native of Cook county, Tennes- see, born February 10. 1833. Mr. Parrott is an early pioneer of Klickitat county, to whom more extended reference is made elsewhere in this vol- ume. Mrs. Hartlev's mother, who was born near St. Toe, Missouri, January 3, 1859, still lives near Goldendale. Mr. Hartley's sisters and brother are: Mrs. Laura Shank, living in Umatilla county, Oregon: Mrs. Nellie Mosier, in Klickitat county ; Mrs. Ella Mosier, a resident of Oregon City, Ore-

gon ; Mrs. Anna Current, in Goldendale ; and Frank, on the Nez Perce reservation, in Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Hartley have no children of their own, but have one adopted son, George. They are both mem- bers of the Christian church in Goldendale, and of the Grange in school district number six. In poli- tics, Mr. Hartley is a Democrat. He is a member of the school board and is doing all he can, in his locality, for the amelioration and extension of edu- cational opportunities. An energetic farmer, a good citizen and a genial, approachable man of strict in- tegrity, he stands high in the esteem and regard of his neighbors and associates.

RICHARD A. SIMMS, one of the many well- to-do and prosperous farmers of Klickitat county, resides on his well improved ranch, three and a half miles southeast of Goldendale. He was born in Clay county, Missouri, December 23, 1839, the son of John H. and Martha (Huffman) Simms. His father, a native of Stafford county, Virginia, born in 1794, and a member of an old English family, was a farmer by occupation. In 1826 he removed to Clay county, Missouri, and he died in Holt coun- ty, that state, in 1874. Having served in the War of 1812, he was a pensioner and his wife still draws a pension from the government on account of the services he rendered in that conflict. His wife was born in Missouri, in 1824, to Irish and Dutch par- ents. She still lives in Falls City, Nebraska. Richard A., of this article, grew to manhood on the parental farm near Liberty, in Clay county. He received a common school education, then followed farming until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1863 he enlisted in the Union army, at St. Joe, Mis- souri, and later he served with the Confederate forces, though he was not in favor of slavery or secession. At the close of the war he moved to Holt county, Missouri, with his father and brothers and he lived there three years, going then to Atchi- son county, where he resided until 1874. His next move was to Benton county, Oregon. There he lived for three and a half years, but in 1877 he again moved, coming to Klickitat county. He homesteaded his present place shortly after his ar- rival, and upon it he has lived continuously since. He was here during the Indian scare of 1878, but paying no attention to the excitement all around, continued at his work. He has added to his orig- inal property by taking a pre-emption claim and an eighty-acre timber culture claim, in the mountains near-by, and his realty holdings at present consist of about six hundred acres ; his home place being a tract of 360 acres of rich farming land. He raises wheat, barley and other farm produce, also an abun- dance of fruit for the market. Among the many improvements on his place is a good house with modern conveniences.

Mr. Simms has been twice married. On Decem- ber 19, 1861, he wedded Miss Mary Garner, and to

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this union ten children were born, of whom eight are still living, namely, Mrs. Luanna Lee Harris and Mrs. Emma M. Vanhoy, in Goldendale; Mrs. Dora J. Harris and Mrs. Margaret N. Hull, in the county ; John A., in Woodland, Washington; Rich- ard M., deceased; James A., the eldest son, who died September 24, 1903; Mrs. Martha G. Tallman, in Klickitat county ; Mrs. Amanda B. Chappell, in Goldendale; and Mrs. Frances A. Imlay, on the Columbus road. Mr. Simms' first wife died on the 2Ist of May, 1886, and in 1890 he again married, the lady this time being Miss Julia A. Goff, who was born in Massachusetts in 1842, and brought up in Wisconsin. Her father, Stephen Goff, a native of the Old Bay state, passed away in 1873, at the age of eighty-one. Her mother, whose maiden name was Persis Bates, was likewise a native of Massachusetts and is also deceased, having passed away in 1879, at the age of seventy-nine years and eight months. Mr. Simms is a member of the Grange in school district number six, and both he and his wife belong to the Presbyterian church. In politics, he is a Prohibitionist. A man of sterling honesty and benevolent disposition, and in all re- spects a thoroughly good citizen, he stands high in the esteem and good will of his neighbors and as- sociates.

COLUMBUS O. BARNES, one of Klickitat county's well-to-do farmers and gardeners, resides just outside the limits of Goldendale on a place of historic interest, his farm being one of the first home- steads located in the county. The original owner, a man named French, conducted one of the first stores in the county on the land in an old building still standing. The subject of this sketch was born in Washington county, Ohio, near Marietta, April 1, 1856, to the union of Owen and Catherine (Young) Barnes. Owen Barnes was born in 1822, near Barnesville, Belmont county, Ohio, where he was for many years engaged in farming and con- ducting a store. The city of Barnesville was named for an uncle, James Barnes. Owen Barnes served through the Civil war in the Seventy-seventh Ohio regiment, under Generals Thomas and Rosecrans. In 1870 he took up his residence in Indiana, but three years later moved to Butler county, Kansas, where his death occurred in 1896. He was of Scotch de- scent. His wife, who was of German and Irish ancestry, was born in Ohio in 1825; she still lives on the old Kansas homestead. When fourteen years old, Columbus O., who was the seventh child in a family of nine, was taken by his parents to Indiana, and there obtained the greater portion of his edu- cation. He remained at home until he reached his majority, then, in 1877, settled in Klickitat county, following farming and stock raising for seven years. He then sold out and returned to the Sunflower state, where he entered the mercantile business and invest- ed in farming land. However, misfortune over-

took him and he lost his entire capital. So he again came to Klickitat county, in the spring of 1889, and at once engaged in farming and road building. Suc- cess crowned his efforts. He purchased his present fine place in 1901 and has since made his home on that property, devoting his time mostly to the rais- ing of strawberries, for the production of which he has achieved an enviable reputation. There are one hundred and sixty acres in the property, through which winds the Little Klickitat.

. He was married at Goldendale on the last day of the year 1879, Miss Florence Golden, a daughter of John and Jane G. (Long) Golden, becoming his bride. Her parents, among the first company of whites to take up their abode in the Klickitat coun- try, are still living in Goldendale, of which Mr. Golden is the founder ; biographies of Mr. and Mrs. Golden appear elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have reared a family of ten children, of whom the eldest, Charles G., is dead. The next older, Harvey O., and Mrs. Clara Coffield both reside in this county. The others, Jessie L., Howard O., Aaron Clay, DeWitt L., Columbus W., Cecil (a daughter) and Florence C., are all living with their parents. Mr. Barnes has five brothers, Joseph W., Aaron W., and Cornelius C., residing in Kansas ; William L. and John H., in Ohio'; and also three sisters, Sarah E., living in Kansas ; Nancy J., in Los Angeles, California, and Ella M., in Salt Lake City.

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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 97

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