An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 114

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172

USA > Washington > Skagit County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 114
USA > Washington > Snohomish County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 114

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Leaving home with a brother in the spring of 1853, Samuel L. Bell crossed the plains with an ox team from Saint Joseph, Missouri, to Fort Steila- coom, spending the winter in the Natchez pass.

Near Astoria, they saw the cabins built by Lewis and Clark when they made their famous trip, the mess room being then used as a stable. After spending a summer there, they moved to Klamath County, Oregon. Samuel completed his education by a two years' course at the Portland Academy, then prospected for some time cast of the moun- tains. He then went to California, where he resid- ed for the ensuing sixteen years, during which time he worked in a sash and door factory, as foreman. Moving north he lived in Portland a year, going thence to Seattle, still following the manufacture of sash and doors as a business. In 1883 he came to Burlington, locating the claim where he now re- sides, and he moved onto it in 1885. He contracted for the erection of the Odd Fellows' Hall in Edison, and numerous other buildings. Returning to Seat- tle in 1887, he made the sash and doors used in the construction of the First Methodist church. Two years later he again made his home in Skagit coun- ty, devoting a large amount of time to contract work. In 1890 he was unanimously nominated by the Democratic party for the office of state senator from Skagit county, but was defeated, though he polled 225 votes more than the congressman on the same ticket.

Mr. Bell has been twice married. His first wife, Mary O'Brien, was born in 1840, and died in Seat- tle December 22, 1888. In April, 1891, he and Mrs. Mary E. Natwick were united in marriage. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Mrs. Bell came to Washington in 1888. Her mother is now living in Seattle, but hier father died in 1900. To this second union two children have been born: Emma May and Bessie L., both now at home. Mr. Bell is a prominent member of the Masonic order. He owns eighty- three acres, twenty-two of which are in a fine state of cultivation. His specialty is dairying, and by wise and careful attention to its varied details, he is winning success. He is a practical, energetic farm- er, and a public spirited, progressive citizen. Dur- ing his long residence in this county he has been identified with its various enterprises, and he is re- garded as one of the substantial progressive mem- bers of the community.

ANTON LEHNHOFF, one of Burlington's most progressive farmers, was born in Lipstadt, Germany, October 22, 1857. His parents, William and Eliza (Kleinschitzer) Lehnhoff, both born in Hanover, Germany, in 1834, are now residing in New York City. Anton Lehnhoff received his edu- cation in the schools of his native country, entering the army at the age of twenty-one. His parents having immigrated to New York, he went thither in 1881, at the expiration of his required three years' service. Working in a hotel for a year, and later in a store, he then owned a fuel yard which proved to be a good investment. He sold out, started for

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the west, and after spending some time in Kansas and Texas, located in Pasco, Washington, where he found employment on the railroad and in a hotel. He became owner of a livery barn and dairy, and having decided to go farther west, shipped a car load of horses and cattle to Olympia marsh in 1888. He purchased forty acres, which he now cultivates, together with one hundred and sixty acres of rented land. Prior to taking up his permanent residence on his own ranch, he leased the Day ranch at Lyman, and lost his entire crop one fall by reason of the floods. Returning to the marsh he rented two hun- dred and eighty acres for a year, moving to his farm at the end of that time.

Mr. Lehnhoff was married in 1891 to Augusta Wagner, born in Germany, February 27, 1858. She made the entire journey from her native country to the state of Washington alone, to wed the man of her choice who was here waiting for her, and who on account of lack of funds was not able to go for her. One seeing them surrounded by the prosperity that is theirs today, would find difficulty in believing that the money to purchase the marriage license was borrowed from a friend. Her father, David E. Wagner, born in Saxony, Germany, in 1830, was a manufacturer of steel tools till his death in 1876. Anestaine C. (Mader) Wagner, her mother, born in 1834, in Saxony, is still living in her native town, Schmalkalden. Mr. and Mrs. Lehnhoff have six children : William, Ernest, Elsa, George, Ruth and May. Elsa, a little girl of nine, won the first prize at the county fair in 1904, for the best loaf of bread and cake, a fact which speaks volumes for the little maiden's culinary skill, and also for the mother's wise instruction. Mr. Lehnhoff adheres to no polit- ical party, voting each time for the man. A great admirer of thoroughbred stock, he owns the Clyde stallion, "Bobby Burns," the winner of the first prize at the Oregon state fair in 1904: the Jersey bull, "Melia Ann's Maple," registered 66,124, with the American Jersey Cattle Club. also a prize winner ; twelve head of registered Jersey stock, and sixty- three head of graded stock. He has established an enviable reputation as a breeder and judge of fine stock. Keenly alive to the ever increasing demands for thought and study along agricultural lines, he is one of the most intelligent and practical farmers of the county. Both he and Mrs. Lehnhoff are well known in social circles, and the latter is a prominent member of the Baptist church. She enjoys the dis- tinction of having at one time entertained the pres- ent Emperor of Germany and Prince Henry.

AMOS BOWMAN (deceased), founder of the town of Anacortes, was one of the observing and far-seeing men who came early to Skagit county, saw its possibilities and planned for an agricultural and commercial empire on the shores of Puget sound. Of these men of action. who were also

prophets, Mr. Bowman ranked as one of the fore- most. Ripe in experience, by profession a mining and civil engineer, skilled in geology and a jour- nalist, Mr. Bowman possessed qualifications for exploiting the new country among the people of his acquaintance on the Atlantic coast and bring- ing to the development of this part of Skagit county the aid of Eastern capital. Mr. Bowman was born in Blair, Ontario, in 1840 and after obtaining the rudiments of an education attended Oberlin University, one of Ohio's many collegiate institutions, and later the University of the City of New York. He was graduated with a degree of mining and civil engineer at the famous College of Mines at Freiburg, Germany. He also took courses in the arts at Munich. While in Europe Mr. Bowman acted as special cor- respondent of the New York Tribune when Horace Greeley was editor, and in this capacity saw service in the Crimean War. He also made a tour of Con- tinental Europe before returning to the United States. In 1868 Mr. Bowman was in charge of the state geological survey of California under Profes- sor Whitney, remaining in that service for a period of six years. Mr. Bowman visited Puget sound, en- gaged in a private capacity to survey coal lands. Later he became connected with the British Colum- bia division of the Canadian geological survey, re- maining in that service for some time. It was ow- ing to his visit to Skagit county that he first be- came impressed with the great possibilities here. He had been intimately connected with mapping the country tributary to Puget sound and had traveled extensively over it, minutely observing conditions of soil, climate and other natural endowments of the section. Especially did he feel that Ship harbor on Fidalgo island was destined to become a point of commercial activity and possibly a terminus for a transcontinental railway. So deeply impressed was he with this idea that in 1877 he purchased the land whereon is now the town of Anacortes and moved his family here, bringing house and equipment by steamer to this shore when it was a wilderness be- tween the water and the forest. Over the lintel of this pioneer home and above the door of this lonely cottage he placed this inscription :

"Ultima Thule, utmost isle,

Here in thy harbor for a while

Our sail we furl, to rest

From the unending ceaseless quest."

But Mr. Bowman was not merely sighing for "a lodge in some vast wilderness ;" his prophetic mind saw that with the powerful touch of publicity back- ed by the magic of capital, commerce would spread its wings about Puget sound and call at Ship Harbor. He erected a dock, established a print- ing office, opened a store and changed the name of his place to Anacortes, the name being but a modification of the name of his wife. Anne Curtis. Steamboats touched at the dock, the Anacortes

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Enterprise dropped periodically from the press, the store was patronized and settlers were at- tracted to the place. It was not until 1887, how- ever, that Mr. Bowman felt that the time was ripe for exploiting the settlement among his cap- italistic friends in the cast. At that time there was talk of the Union Pacific railway piercing the Puget sound country, and in response to a suim- inons Mr. Bowman journeyed to New York to negotiate with the controlling men of that rail- road with a view to the selection of Anacortes as a termintis. Two years later the result of Mr. Bowman's negotiations appeared in an arrange- ment by which in consideration of one half of Mr. Bowman's land as a subsidy the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company agreed to make Anacortes a terminus. The story of the subse- quent boom days is history, and with the enact- ment of the progress of that history went the picture which Mr. Bowman had held before his vision for so many years. The picture is reality at the present day, but Mr. Bowman did not live to see the figures leap into life. Of Mr. Bowman one writer has penned these words: "But the pioneer of great movements was destined not to live to see the complete realization of his efforts. So keen a foresight and so optimistic a character must always live in advance of his time. Inter- ested in many projects of land development, among which was the reclamation of the Sumas valley from the Frazer river, in which district he owned heavily, Mr. Bowman died at his Anacortes home in 1894, while Time, too slow for such a mortal, was hearing year by year the proof of his unerring prophecy."

HON. WILLIAM T. ODLIN, mayor of Ana- cortes and the city's well known banker, has been more or less actively identified with the public life of Skagit county for nearly two decades. Coming up the valley of the Skagit river at a time when it could only be reached by canoe, when it was traversed only by winding and sometimes almost impassable trails, and peopled only by scat- tered camps of loggers, isolated homesteaders and a few Indians, he cheerfully accepted the pioneer's life, throwing into it the faith and energy which have enabled him to make the most of opportun- ities that have since come in his way. The Od- lins were of the carliest colonial stock, the family having emigrated from England to the newly dis- covered continent in the carly part of the Seven- teenth century, the first American-born ancestors of William T. having been born in Boston in 1640. William T. Odlin is himself a native of Ohio; Dayton is his birthplace and November 2, 1866, his birthday. He is the son of Woodbridge, and Elizabeth (Thompson) Odlin. In 1855, at the age of twenty-two, the senior Odlin, also a

native of Dayton, Ohio, took up his residence in Kansas and engaged in farming. Six years later, in the beginning of the great conflict between North and South, he enlisted as a private in the Kansas "Jay Hawk" regiment, which subsequently became part of another regular command, and served continuously until the close of the war. During the progress of the war he was promoted to the rank of captain in recognition of his bravery. During a portion of the reconstruction period following the cessation of hostilities, Cap- tain Odlin served as provost marshal of Cairo, Illinois. His present home is near Sedro-Woolley, where he located in 1890. Elsewhere in this work his biography is written at greater length and more in detail. Elizabeth (Thompson) Od- lin was born in Eaton, Ohio, in 1831, and died in Sedro-Woolley December 18, 1904, greatly be- loved by all who knew her. After acquiring a practical education in the schools of his birth- place William T. Odlin began the performance of the active duties of life, finding employment after the age of thirteen in different manufactur- ing establishments. In 1887 he went to California and engaged for a year in the lumber industry of that state, coming then to the northwest in further search of permanent home and fortune. After a brief sojourn in Seattle, where he arrived in 1888, he accepted a position in the store of the Skagit Railway & Lumber Company at Sterling, a log- ging camp center on the Skagit river, assuming his duties in January, 1889. When the store was sold a year later he became bookkeeper for Davison & Millett in their mill at Woolley. Hav- ing established for himself a reputation as a man of exceptional business ability and of strictest in- tegrity, in March, 1893, he was offered the posi- tion of cashier and bookkeeper in the bank of C. E. Bingham & Company; the offer was accepted and he continued to serve the bank in this capacity until November 1, 1899. At this time he located in Anacortes and established the Citizens' bank, of which he is the cashier and also a heavy stock- holder.

Mr. Odlin was married in Sedro-Woolley in 1896, to Miss Jessie Reno, daughter of Lewis Q. Reno, a native of West Virginia, who died a number of years ago. Her mother, Amelia (Nicholas) Reno, was born in New Jersey and is still living, her present home being in this state. Mrs. Odlin's native place is Marengo, Iowa, and the year of her birth. 1869. At Marengo she attended the common schools and was subse- quently graduated from the high school; after academic work in a private school in Chicago her education was completed in the Colonel Parker school. For several years prior to her marriage she was a very successful teacher in the schools of Morgan Park, Illinois, one of the larger sub- urbs of Chicago ; she was especially interested in

WILLIAM T. ODLIN

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kindergarten work. She is a gifted writer, her short stories appearing frequently in current mag- azines ; and she has won a modest though none the less enviable reputation as a writer of children's fiction. Mr. and Mrs. Odlin have two children, who were born in Sedro-Woolley: Reno, June 26, 189%, and Richard, September 30, 1901. Mr. Odlin is a member of the Masonic order, and in politics is identified with the Republican party. He has filled with distinguishing honor many offices and positions of public trust in his com- munity. For five years he was city treasurer of Sedro-Woolley; in 1901-2 he served as a member of the city council of Anacortes; in December, 1904, he was called to the mayor's chair by his fellow citizens, and he is now president of the Chamber of Commerce. In the discharge of his varying duties and obligations, Mr. Odlin has displayed characteristic ability and abiding inter- est in the welfare of town, county and state. Be- sides his banking interests, his attention is en- gaged with real estate holdings throughout the county : these include a forty-acre ranch near Sedro-Woolley. Mr. and Mrs. Odlin are promi- nent in the social circles of Anacortes and enjoy the good will and esteem of the entire commit!i- ity.

DOUGLASS ALLMOND, an influential cit- izen of Anacortes, has been for 'fifteen years an active factor in the city's progress. He has al- ways had faith in the city's future, believing her destined to become an important commercial cen- ter. and he has had the satisfaction of seeing her enter upon her present era of prosperity, withi even larger possibilities than had been foreshad- owed by her founder. Mr. Alhond was born in Sacramento County, California, in 1863. He is the son of John G. and Lydia Dyer (Douglass) Allmond. John G. Allmond was a native of Ger- many who came to the United States in his youth and settled in western New York. He made the long voyage around Cape Horn in 1849, settled in California and engaged first in mining and afterwards in fruit culture, being one of the pioneers in that important branch of the industry now so prominent in California's commercial life. The elder Allmond passed away in 1868. Lydia Dyer Allmond was born in western New York in 1822; she is a descendant of William and Anne Mattie Douglass, who settled at Cape Anne, Mass- achusetts, in 1640. Mrs. Allmond went to Cali- fornia via the Isthmus of Panama in 1851, and for a number of years resided near Sacramento. She came to Seattle in 1882 and afterwards to Anacortes, which is now her home.

As a lad Douglass Allmond learned to operate a wood turning lathe. When thirteen years old he began to learn the printer's art, commencing as a "printer's devil." He came to Puget sound in

1882 and was one of the old guard of finished printers on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. At a later period he was engaged in the printing busi- ness in Seattle with Wm. HI. Hughes, but the memorable fire of 1889 destroyed their establish- ment. In 1882, with F. Il. Whitworth and A. H. Shroufe, he was delegated by the naval commis- sion, then visiting the Northwest for the first time with a view to establishing a naval sta- tion, to appraise the lands now occupied by the Port Orchard navy yard. It was in 1890 that Mr. Allmond located at Anacortes and, in company with F. H. Boynton, began the publica- tion of the Anacortes American. He continued at the head of that journal until 1902 when he became interested in the Anacortes Water Com- pany, of which he is now president and active manager. This company owns the water and lighting systems of the city, which under Mr. Allmond's management have been made modern and effective in all their appointments. Although necessarily much of his time has been devoted with characteristic energy to the management of his personal interests and those of his company, Mr. Allmond has found time for attention to public functions and the faithful discharge of public trusts. During Col. F. D. Huestis' term as collector of cus- toms for the District of Puget sound, Mr. Allmond was appointed deputy collector by that gentleman, and was re-appointed under the administration of C. W. Ide. It is largely due to the efforts of a very few energetic and progressive citizens, of whom Mr. Allmond is one of the leading spirits, that Anacortes has recovered from its disastrous boom- day experiences and now ranks as one of the most thrifty cities in the Puget sound basin.

MELVILLE CURTIS, a prominent business man of Anacortes, was born in New Jersey in 1849, the son of Melville and Louise (Allsopp) Curtis. His father, a native of Massachusetts, was a paper maker by trade, who came to New Jersey in 1838, there remaining till his death in 1860. The mother was born in Quebec, of Eng- lish descent and was also married there. Her ancestors moved to Canada soon after it became an English possession. Educated in Canada, Mel- ville Curtis lived at home till his father died, then, at the age of eleven, went to his mother's rela- tives in the same country. Five years later he took a four years' course in mining and civil engineer- ing at Troy, New York. Going to Nevada in 1871, he entered the employ of the Manhat Min- ing Company as assayer. After demonstrating remarkable ability and faithfulness, he was ap- pointed general superintendent of the mines, re- taining the positon until, on account of the depre- ciation in silver, the mines were obliged to close in 188%. He removed to Mendocino county, Cali-

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fornia, spent one year in the lumber business, and moved thence to Irondale, Washington, where he had charge of the Puget sound iron furnace. Having invested in property in Anacortes in 1885, he made this his home in the spring of 1890. He was elected county commissioner in 1898, serving four years. He had previously served the city as mayor for three years. Discovering an excellent opening in the wharfage business, he constructed, in 1903, the wharf which he now owns, and by strict adherence to sound principles has built up a splendid trade in coal and building supplies. He was married in California in October, 1883. Mr. Curtis' bride was Fannie B. Wright, a talented musician who received her training in New York City. Her father, James A. Wright, a native of New York, moved to California in 1848, via the Isthmus of Panama. He was one of the pioneers of California and Nevada. Her mother, Susan (Backus) Wright, was a descendant of an old Dutch family of New York, the state of her birth and marriage. Mrs. Curtis was educated in her native state, California. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis have four children: Morri, the wife of H. P. Schmidt, the well-known druggist of Ana- cortes : Louise and Alleen, born in Nevada ; Helen, born in Port Townsend. Mr. Curtis is a promi- nent member of the Masonic and Knights of Py- thias fraternities. He and his family are iden- tified with the Episcopal church. A loyal mem- ber of the Republican party, he has advanced its interests by every means within his power. Few residents of Anacortes have given so large a measure of time and attention to the growth and prosperity of the town as has Mr. Curtis, who has been a member of the city council for twelve years since its organization. He has manifested a deep interest in educational matters, especially during the four years of his service on the school board. Mr. Curtis' neighbors and friends recog- nize his sterling qualities of mind and heart, and both admire and respect him.

ALBERT L. GRAHAM, one of the most popular citizens of Anacortes, was born in Dodge County, Wisconsin, August 2, 1854. His father, Orlando Graham, born near Rochester, New York, in December, 1826, was a farmer till the call of his country for volunteers in the Civil War fired him with patriotic zeal. Enlisting in Company B, Fourth Minnesota Regiment, he was an active participant in the battle of Lookout Mountain, and in all the engagements in which General Sherman was the leader. During his service he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant solely on account of merit, and made that famous "March to the Sea" under his beloved general. Taking up his former occupation at the close of the war, he came to Washington in 1873, locating

on Fidalgo island. In 1874 Mr. Graham, asso- ciated with Amasa Everett and Lafayette Stevens, made the discovery of the well-known Hamilton coal mines on the Skagit, and during all the rail- road activities of the 'seventies and 'eighties, he was prominently identified with the promoters. As a public spirited citizen he ranked high among his fellow men contributing an unusual share to the development of Fidalgo island and the county in general. llis death occurred in December, 1901. Harriet ( JIatch) Graham, the mother, was also a native of New York, born near Rochester in 1825. After a long, useful life, she died in 1903. Albert L. Graham spent the first twenty- one years of his life acquiring an education, and at the same time, a practical knowledge of agri- culture. Coming with his parents to Washington, he took up land near Burrows bay, a part of which he still owns. During the lifetime of his parents, he shared with them the fruits of his toil, cheering their declining years with a filial devotion very rare in these modern days. He still makes his home on forty acres of the old homestead, and he also owns other property on the island. Mr. Graham has a brother, Frank A., living near Lake Camp- bell, and a sister, Carrie A., who makes her home with him. Though loyally adhering to Republican principles, he has never desired political prefer- ment at the hands of his party. He devotes espe- cial attention to fruit raising, having on his farm a fine twelve-acre orchard. The son of an honored pioneer, Mr. Graham is very familiar with the early history of this locality, possessing a fund of information that can be relied upon for accuracy. An earnest, thoughtful man, a kind neighbor and friend, he is accorded the respect and confidence of all who are associated with him, and may justly be classed as one of Fidalgo island's most public spirited citizens as was his father before him.

JUDGE GEORGE A. JOINER is one of the many men of energy and force who, stirred in their early youth with a consuming ambition, have chosen the strenuous and exacting profession of law as a fit field of labor, well knowing that while it soon relegates to obscurity the incompetent it has many prizes for men of ability and determina- tion sufficient to climb toward the top, where, it is said, there is always room. Judge Joiner has the satisfaction of knowing that whatever measure of success he has thus far attained has been fairly won by his own ettorts, circumstances in his case, especially in early life, being an opposing and not an assisting force. Judge Joiner is a son of the Empire state, born in Wolcott, Wayne county, August 20, 1861. He began life with one asset of great value, namely, a good heredity. His father, Dorous B. Joiner, was of pure Vermont stock, though born in New York, and had in his veins

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An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 114

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1906 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1172

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172