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 121

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 121
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 121

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JOHN MELKILD, general merchant and post- master of Conway, came to Skagit county direct from his native Norway in the year 1889, and has since made his home in the valley. Mr. Melkild

was born July 3, 1869, the son of Lars Melkild, who still lives on the old family farm in Norway. The mother is Ildre (Apdal) Melkild, who is also yet living in her native land. She is the mother of four children, of whom John is the only one in the United States. Until he was fifteen years of age young Melkild took advantage of the offerings of school and was in regular attendance. After that age he was able to pursue his education only for two or three months in the winter season, working on the home farm during the intervals. In 1889 he de- cided to come to the United States and suiting his action to his decision in that year settled in Skagit county. One year followed of work on farms. Then be entered upon a general contracting business, and during the decade in which he bent his efforts in that direction built dikes, dug ditches and engaged in matters of public improvement. In 1900 he re- linquished the contracting work and entered a store at Fir as clerk, relinquishing this position after two years of experience and purchasing the store and stock of F. C. Anderson at Conway. He has refitted and enlarged the place, and is now conducting one of the best and largest country store enterprises in the county.

In May of 1902 Mr. Melkild married Miss Alice Anderson, daughter of Magnus Anderson, one of the original pioneers of the Skagit valley, who is still living. She has one brother and three sisters : Frank C. Anderson, Mrs. Mamie Hammock, Mrs. Martha Abrams and Miss Mabel Anderson. In politics, Mr. Melkild is an independent Democrat, bound by no party lines. His property interests are for the most part included in his store property at Conway and some real estate in that town. It is worthy of note that Mr. Melkild, after reaching the age of manliood and after getting well into the re- sponsibilties of business life, in 1897 entered the Lutheran University at Tacoma, appreciating the superior advantages that would accrue from a bet- ter education than he had been able to acquire in youth. This incident of itself is indicative of the thoroughness, the progressiveness and the ideals of the man.

GUST PEARSON is one of the younger mer- chants of La Conner who is earning deservedly a reputation for business abilty and fair dealing to which is added not only enterprise but also thor- ough knowledge of conditions. Mr. Pearson was born in Sweden late in the year 1869, the son of a farmer of that country. The mother, Elna (Ander- son) Anderson, is still living in the old country, the mother of six children, of whom Gust is fifth in order of birth. Mr. Pearson obtained his education in his native land and remained at home with his parents until he was twenty years of age. In 1889 he came to the United States seeking better oppor-

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tunities than were offered in the old home and crossed the continent at once to La Conner. The first nine years of his life in this country were spent as a laborer, during which time he was industrious and frugal. In 1898 in company with N. A. Nelson he decided to embark in the grocery business in La Conner, buying the store property. Patronage was attracted to the new store and the young men stead- ily continued to prosper until 1904 when they were in a position to enter their new building and the firm is now enjoying one of the best trades in gro- ceries in the town of La Conner.

In 1900 at La Conner Mr. Pearson married Miss Ida Martin, daughter of Martin Martin, a Swedish farmer, who is still a resident of the old country. She came to this country to visit a sister, Mrs. P. E. Johnson, met Mr. Pearson and eventually mar- ried him. Mrs. Pearson was born in Sweden in 1873 and received her education in the schools of that country. In politics Mr. Pearson is a Republi- can. In fraternal circles, he is a member of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, being a past grand, and his wife a member of the Rebekahs. The Pearsons are members of the Lutheran church. In the business community of La Conner Mr. Pearson is recognized as a pleasant, accommodating mer- chant and a young man of ability and sterling in- tegrity.

NELS A. NELSON, a member of one of the active grocery firms of La Conner, and a man of energy and push, was born in the land of Sweden in 1864, to the union of Nels and Mary (Johnson) Nelson, who passed their lives in the old country. They were the parents of nine children, of which the subject of this writing is the youngest. Young Nelson, in an educational way enjoyed advantages not always forthcoming to every boy brought up in a large family in the old country. After attending the common schools in his district he was privileged to take a course in college, thus equipping him the better to fight the battle of life. Upon completing his schooling he returned home for a time. later seeking and securing a position as clerk in a general merchandise store in Felipstad, which he continued to fill for five years. Ambitious to better his con- dition, and understanding the circumscribed con- ditions of the man who attempts to rise in the busi- ness circles of the old world, he determined to break loose from the old moorings, and try con- clusions with fortune under the less restricted con- ditions of the United States. He bought tickets for this country and came direct to La Conner, of which he had learned through friends. Life in the land of the free he found was not to be one continued round of pleasures, and good lucrative positions were not to be found every day, so he took up the most available job that came to his hand, which

proved to be farming, and followed this life in- dustriously for six years. Of a frugal disposition he saved some money. and in 1898 he formed a partnership with Gust Pearson and engaged in the grocery business in the little city of La Conner, buying the building in which they put their stock. The effects of the five years' training in Sweden were not lost on Mr. Nelson, as is attested by the manner in which the business of the new firm has prospered. They are now doing a thriving busi- ness which is growing with each year, and they are domiciled in their own neat business house.

In 1899, in La Conner, Mr. Nelson was joined in marriage with Miss Paulina Polson, daughter of Olaf Polson, who was a native of Sweden. He came to Skagit county in an early day, took up land adjoining Brown's slough, southeast of La Conner, and prospered from the very beginning. His large farm was put in a high state of cultivation and structural improvement, and was for years recog- nized as one of the finest places in Skagit county. Mr. Polson died in 1903. Gunhild Polson, mother of Mrs. Nelson, resides in La Conner. Mrs. Nel- son was born in the old country in 1865 and came to the United States with her parents when but two years of age. She received a good education, was granted a certificate and followed teaching for a time before her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Nel- son have been born two daughters, Esther in 1901, and Winifred in 1903. Politically Mr. Nelson is Republican. At the present time he is a member of the La Conner city council. In fraternal circles he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, while in church connections he is a Lutheran. While deeply interested in public mat- ters, Mr. Nelson finds little time to devote to affairs outside of his business and town interests and the demands of his home life. He is recognized as honorable and upright and ever ready to forward any enterprise for the general betterment of condi- tions in his community.

OLOF J. WINGREN. a successful photogra- pher of La Conner, with a large and lucrative busi- ness. is a native of Sweden, born in 1871, the fourth of the six children of John and Petronella (Pear- son ) Wingren, who lived on a farm in the old home land. Mr. Wingren remained with them until fif- teen, attending the local public schools, then started to learn the trade of a blacksmith, but he seemingly did not care for the handicraft, for two years later he left the man to whom he was apprenticed and set sail for the new world, the promised land of Europeans. During the ten months after his ar- rival in Uncle Sam's domain he worked in a tan- nery in Pennsylvania, then he came west, arriving at La Conner the year that Washington was admit- ted to statchood. The ensuing year was spent in

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farm work, then two a half years were given to blacksmithing, then he opened a repair shop for guns, bicycles, etc., but though he remained in this line of work for seven years his heart was not fully in it, and not a little of liis time and attention was given to the study of the art of photography in all its branches. Eventually he decided to give his whole time and attention to it, so he opened a gallery in La Conner and began building up the splendid, lucrative business he now enjoys. A great fond- ness for his art and untiring patience in mastering its details are the secrets of his success, good work and fair treatment bringing their reward in plenty of patronage. His property interests include, be- sides his gallery and business, a fine ten-room house and other La Conner real estate, and he is rich in the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens, which is attested by the fact that he has been called to serve as councilman for the past two and a half years in the administration of the city's affairs.

In La Conner in the year 1892, Mr. Wingren married Miss Lena Swanson, whose father, Bengt Swanson, is still living in Sweden, the land of his birth, but whose mother passed away when she was but two years old. Mrs. Wingren received her edu- cation in the Swedish schools, but early in life came to the United States. She died in La Conner in March, 1905, leaving one daughter, Linnea, born in April, 1898. In fraternal affiliation, Mr. Wingren is a Woodman of the World, in politics a Democrat, while his church membership is in the Lutheran de- nomination.

HYMAN SCHEURKOGEL, one of the pio- neers who have seen the country changed from a tangled and almost impenetrable forest wilderness to a place of happy homes and well tilled, pro- ductive farms, and one who has contributed his full share toward this development, is a native of Hol- land, that land which has done so much to demon- strate the practicability of winning an empire from the sea, that land whose sons have many times proven their grit and courage and splendid mettle at home and abroad. He was born December 14, 1846, the son of Abraham and Mary (Vancouver) Scheurkogel, who were farmers by occupation. Be- ing the oldest of six children he had to help, as soon as he was able, with the work on the home place, but his parents gave him opportunity to attend the local schools and he obtained a fair education. At the age of twenty-one he embarked for the Euro- pean's land of promise, and in due time settled in Pocahontas County, Iowa, where he farmed for the ensuing nine years. In 1877 he went to California, whence, a year later, he removed to Washington, landing at La Conner, August 30, 1878. Pursuing the same plan which many other Skagit county pio- neers have followed, he worked out among the

farmers for a couple of years, learning the pecu- liarities of the country and how best to take advan- tage of them at the same time he was earning his wages. He then took up a pre-emption near Avon. For the next fifteen years he devoted himself assidu- ously to the cultivation and improvement of this farm, removing the timber from sixty acres of it. Only those who have a realizing sense of the den- sity of timber in western Washington can realize the magnitude of this task. In 1895 he sold all but twenty acres of his original claim and moved to La Conner, where he has since been living in par- tial retirement, at least from active participation in the farming industry. In addition to the twenty acres before mentioned he has some valuable realty holdings in the city of La Conner.

In 1876, just before starting for California, Mr. Scheurkogel married Miss Sarah Slosson, a daugh- ter of Oscar and Julia (Tousley) Slosson, natives of Ohio, who in the later years of their lives moved to this county, and who passed away here May 6, 1903, and October 10, 1904, respectively. Mrs. Scheurkogel was born in Iowa, February 16, 1859, and received a good education in the schools of that state, where also she taught one term, but her pedagogical career was cut short by an early mar- riage. She and Mr. Scheurkogel are the parents of one child, Mary E., born in Iowa in July, 1877, now Mrs. D. C. Hayward. The family adhere to the Baptist church, and in political faith Mr. Scheur- kogel is a Republican. He is one of the respected citizens of the county, held in high repute in each of the communities in which he has lived and wherever he is known.

PETER WINGREN, machinist and proprietor of the electric light and power plant of La Conner, is one of the young men who are bringing things to pass for the betterment of their community and at the same time establishing themselves in lucra- tive business. Born December 27, 1866, in Sweden, the son of John Wingren, a farmer, Peter Wingren attended the schools of his native land until he was thirteen years of age. At that time he was appren- ticed to the trade of machinist and had mastered it at the end of five years. Aside from a natural adaptability for the construction of machinery, he has always been a student of all lines relating to his trade, whether directly or indirectly, and to those characteristics Mr. Wingren is indebted for the suc- cess he is making. He came to the United States in 1885 and first worked at Wilcox, Pennsylvania, as engineer in a factory. He remained there for four years and in 1889 came to Seattle, becoming assistant engineer on a steamboat. Early in the year 1890 he came to La Conner and established a ma- chine shop. He noted that the town did not have electric lights and after canvassing the situation

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN F U ' CATIONS

A. S. Fillinghost

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BIOGRAPHICAL

believed that there was an opening for a plant. In 1893 he was so situated as to embark upon the venture, starting in a very small way, running the plant in connection with his machine shop. Since that time the venture has grown to its present proportions of thirty-five arc and eight hundred incandescent lights. The service is excellent and Mr. Wingren has incorporated into his plant all the new devices and equipments which go with a complete electric lighting establishment. Since 1893 he has devoted the most of his attention to the electric light estab- lishment, but he has not suffered his machine plant to lie idle and has steadily kept adding improved machinery until he is capable of handling any work demanded in the vicinity. In politics Mr. Wingren is a Democrat. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a past grand of La Conner lodge. The only relative Mr. Wingren has in this country is a brother, who is a photographer at la Conner. In Mr. Wingren the citizens of La Conner have one of the most enterprising of men, a thorough workman, a successful business man and one of whom the community has reason to be proud.

ALVINZA G. TILLINGHAST. The pioneer in any industry, the experimenter along any useful line, the trail-blazer in any direction, the prover of a new adaptability in the local soil, the man who makes two blades of grass grow where one grew before is certainly to be considered a benefactor and certainly deserves honorable mention in any work which concerns itself with local history. Such a man is A. G. Tillinghast. To him belongs the splendid distinction of having introduced into Ska- git county the valuable and growing seed-producing industry, of having proven to the world that the soil of the tide marsh flats is as superior in that as it is in the production of oats and of having won for his locality a national reputation. All this was not accomplished without a long continued effort and the exercise of much skill, not alone in experiment- ing with the soil, but in introducing its products in the marts of the country. That Mr. Tillinghast has succeeded is evidence irrefutable of his business ability and versatility.

Our subject is a scion of an honorable and somewhat noted family, whose beginnings in Amer- ica were concomitant with the beginnings of the Rhode Island settlement, the Tillinghasts coming over in 1643, and whose branches have established themselves not alone in Little Rhody, but in New York and Pennsylvania, and now on the shores of the mighty Pacific. Mr. Tillinghast, of this article, sprung from the Pennsylvania branch, and his father, Stephen, is still a resident of the Keystone state. His mother, Tryphena (Capwell) Tilling- hast, who was a native of Rhode Island, but of

French extraction, passed away in 1901. It was in the public schools of Pennsylvania that Alvinza G. took his initial steps on the road to learning, and being an ambitious youth, he did not pause in the educational journey until he had taken a course in the old University of Lewisburg, later changed in name to Bucknell University, one of the leading in- stitutions of the Baptist denomination. For a year and a half after leaving school, he worked as clerk in a general store, which employment he finally for- sook to enlist in a United States militia regiment which had been mustered into service to repel an expected invasion of the state by the Confederates. This was in 1863. As soon as discharged he re- turned to the parental home and for the eight years ensuing he worked on the farm. In 1872, however, he came to l'adilla, Washington, took a pre-emp- tion claim, and, in company with E. A. Sisson and R. E. Whitney, secured five hundred acres of land, which the three together diked, drained and brought into a state of cultivation. After a half decade had been spent in raising oats on this extensive tract, Mr. Tillinghast decided to revisit his Pennsylvania home, and before he again set foot in the state of Wash- ington five years had rolled around. On his return to Padilla he engaged in good earnest in the seed business, with which he had experimented in a small way as early as 1813, raising some cabbage, carrot, onion, radish and rutabaga seeds and dis- covering that they were of extra large size and great vitality. In 1883, he grew several acres of cabbage seed, establishing what are now widely known as the "Puget Sound Seed Gardens," and some three years later he issued his first retail cata- logue. Ile has since been engaged in developing and enlarging his industry and pushing his experi- ments in many directions and as already intimated the success which has attended his efforts has been most gratifying. In 1890 he moved his seed store to La Conner, where it has ever since been. The seasons of 1904 and 1905 each required two hun- dred acres of land for Mr. Tillinghast's seed grow- ing industry and twenty thousand catalogues are sent out annually to advertise the product, about a quarter of which bring back orders for shipments by mail. From one to three carloads are sent east each year and the writer has been informed that practically the entire supply of one variety of cab- bage seed for the whole United States comes from his gardens.

In 18:2, in the state of Pennsylvania, Mr. Till- inghast married Miss Emma, daughter of William and Alma ( Potter) Bailey, both of whom died when Mrs. Tillinghast was quite young. She obtained a good education, then engaged in teaching, in which for five years she won marked success, being the holder of a splendid position in the Scranton high school at the time she decided to abandon her pro- fession. She and Mr. Tillinghast have one child,

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Francis P., who graduated from the La Conner high school in the class of 1905. The family are adherents of the Baptist faith, and Mr. Tillinghast is quite active in the local church, of which he is a (leacon and trustee. In politics he is a Republican, taking a public spirited interest in affairs of local, state and national concern, but not ambitious for personal preferment.

NEWTON G. TURNER, one of the men who as boys learned their trade at the carpenter's bench and have reached success in the kindred lines of contracting and milling, is one of the leading mem- bers of the La Conner Lumber Company, which does an extensive business every year. He came by his interest in the lumber business very naturally, for his father, John W. Turner, who is still living at the old home in New Brunswick, is a saw-mill man. Ilis mother, Margaret (Glasgow) Turner, was a native of St. John, New Brunswick. She was the mother of five children, of whom George, born in 1864, was the second youngest. Until he was sixteen years of age our subject remained at home, attending the local schools, but at that age, having learned much of the carpenter's trade, he set out for the United States to seek his fortune. When twenty, he was in Minnesota, working at the bench or in logging camps. Five years were passed in this way, then, in 1889, he came to Gray's Harbor, Washington. where for the ensuing four years he was engaged in carpenter work, real estate transac- tions and contracting. He then turned his atten- tion in the direction of the La Conner country, of which he had heard, and soon commenced opera- tions as a contractor there. Opportunity eventually presenting itself to go into a saw-mill venture, Mr. Turner allied himself with J. C. Foster and erected the mill which he now operates. It has a daily ca- pacity of 25,000 feet. In the three years of its operation it has been a success, yielding a profit to its owners and furnishing employment to a large number of men.

In Victoria, British Columbia, in 1899, Mr. Tur- ner married Miss Cora Tingley, daughter of James and Mary (Peck) Tingley, who have been residents of Victoria for many years. Mrs. Turner is a na- tive of New Brunswick, but she received her edu- cation in the common and high schools of Victoria. She taught for several years before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have three children, all born in La Conner: Victor in 1900, Gaius in 1903 and Harold in 1904. In fraternal circles Mr. Turner is a Mason, in politics a Republican. A thorough mastery of the details of his business, gained by a lifetime of strict attention thereto, has enabled him to win an enviable success, especially since coming to La Conner, while integrity and fair dealing have gained him esteem as a citizen and member of the community.

HON. JOHN P. McGLINN. Among the many sons of the Emerald Isle who have been force- ful factors in the development of Skagit county and the Northwest, or who have in some way rendered efficient service to some part of this new state, one of the most noted is John P. McGlinn, who has several times filled high positions of public trust with unusual fidelity and ability and who, as legis- lator, has the splendid distinction of having his name connected with some of the most statesmanlike measures that have ever found a place on the stat- uites of Washington. His parents, Patrick and Catherine (Guckien) McGlinn, immigrated to the United States in 1852, bringing with them a family of eight children, of whom our subject was the sev- enth child. They settled first in Butler County, Ohio, and later in Indiana. Being but six years old when he landed in the United States, Mr. Mc- Glinn, of this article, received his educational train- ing here and became in all respects a representative American. He graduated from the academy at Logansport, Indiana, at the age of nineteen, and thereafter for some years spent his winters in teaching and his summers at work on the farm. His residence in Washington dates back to 1872. when he took up his abode in Olympia ; and when, a little later, he left that city, he did so to assume the duties of sub-Indian agent on the Lummi reserva- tion. He continued in that position, which also in- cluded charge of the Swinomish agency, for a num- ber of years, indeed until the beginning of the first Cleveland administration. In 1876 he established a hotel in La Conner, the second there, and the first in Washington which had no bar in connection. The McGlinn House, as it was called, was a popular and widely famous hotel during all the twelve years of Mr. McGlinn's management of it.

Appointed Indian agent in 1889, upon the elec- tion of Harrison to the presidency, he sold his hotel to Silas Galagher and went to Neah bay to assume charge of the Makaha reservation, taking his fam- ily with hin :. He remained there until the re-elec- tion of Cleveland once more put him out of the public service. In 1893 he moved his family to Olympia, thinking to take advantage of the public schools there established, which were said to be the best in the state at that time, but the financial de- pression compelled him to move a year later, and he took up his abode on MeGlinn island, near La Conner, where he remained continuously until 1897. He then purchased the two hotels of La Conner and consolidated them under his own personal man- agement, and he has continued in charge of them to this day.

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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 121

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