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 123

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 123
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 123

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all their lives. Both were of English extraction. Mr. Jennings, of this article, spent his first sixteen years on the parental farm, attending school betimes and acquiring the habits of thrift and industry which have stood him in such good stead in later life. He then worked in a flouring mill in New Jersey for fourteen consecutive years, removing to Illinois at the end of that long period, where another year was devoted to the pursuit of the same industry. After returning to and remaining a short time in his native state, he determined to try his fortunes in the west, and in due time he and his family had established a home on Whidby island, Washington. In 1871 he pre-empted a quarter section of land about a mile and a half from La Conner, and though it was marsh land and had to be cleared, diked and draine1 before anything could be raised on it, he lived on it for two summers and one winter, when he re- turned to Coupeville, Whidby island, remaining there until final proof had been made. In 1823 he homesteaded the eighty acres on which he now lives, and on which are most of the farm buildings. Dur- ing these carly days the pioneer farmers were com- pelled not only to labor earnestly to fight back the sea, as did the Holland Dutch, but to forego most of the conveniences and pleasures of life. There were few trails and no roads and all the comforts and luxuries which are now enjoyed in the Swin- omish country as in few other places were unknown and scarcely dreamed of. All these have come as a result of the labor and public spirit of the doughty pioneers of whom Mr. Jennings is one. The prop- erty accumulations of all the years of patient en- deavor spent by Mr. Jennings in the La Conner country include five hundred and sixty acres of the finest oat and meadow land in all that section, very favorably located and worth no one knows how much. It will certainly pay interest on an enormous sum. He raises about three hundred acres of oats annually and keeps large numbers of live stock of different kinds, but principally neat cattle, of which he now has about one hundred and thirty-five head. A fine fifteen room house, tastefully furnished and supplied with all modern improvements and conven- iences, adds immeasurably to the comfort of the home life, while excellent out-buildlings of every variety, plenty of facilities for the expeditious per- formance of all necessary work, abundance of ma- chinery, etc., unite to make the operation of the farm convenient and profitable.

In the state of New Jersey in 1866, Mr. Jen- nings married Miss Margaret, daughter of James and Martha (King) James, natives of Pennsylvania and New Jersey respectively. Mr. James was en- gaged in the hotel business in the latter state for a number of years, but eventually took up his abode in West Virginia. His wife died in New Jersey in 1867. Mrs. Jennings, a native of the last mentioned state, was educated in the local public schools, re-

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ceiving a generous intellectual culture. She is pos- sessed of an inherent refinement which all the rug- ged experiences of pioneer life have been insuffi- cient to efface in the least degree, and her love of the highest and best things in life has found ex- pression in an earnest support of her husband in his efforts to educate his children to the extent of his ability. These are Martha, Linda, Mrs. Eliza- beth O'Leary of Seattle, wife of the master me- chanic of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, Ilelen Francis. William E .. Margaret and Lewis E. One of them is a graduate of the state university, others have completed the course in Puget Sound Academy and the youngest is now passing through the curriculum of the La Conner high school.

MICHEL J. SULLIVAN is one of the pioneers of Skagit county in the sense that he was the earliest settler there and also in the sense of being the first to develop the La Conner flats from value- less marsh land sometimes covered with tide water into rich and fertile fields. In 1868 Michel Sulli- van came to the country of the Skagit and as he learned of the nature of things on the flats carried into execution his idea that with proper drainage and with control of the tides. La Conner flats would prove to be valuable farm land. It was he who first stuck a shovel into the ground in reclamation of the land from the waters of the sound and it was he who first put up dikes and who raised the first crop of grain on this land wrested from the tides of old Ocean. In fact it was this pioneer work of Mr. Sullivan which demonstrated that La Conner flats were worth reclaiming.

Mr. Sullivan is a native of Massachusetts, the son of an Irish immigrant who settled in the old Bay state and died when the subject of this sketch was a child. The mother was born in Ireland also, her maiden name being Eleanor Shay. She was the mother of six children of whom Michel J. is the only surviving one. It was the mere rudiments of an education that young Sullivan was able to get as a young man, but he was of the stamp of men who pick up bits of information and apply them as they go through life. Left an orphan in tender years, he obtained a berth as cabin boy on a ship which rounded Cape Horn and reached San Francisco one hundred and twelve days out from Boston, and at twelve years of age stood on the docks at San Francisco, wondering what was going to happen next. He obtained such employment as was open to lads of that age, keeping his eyes open and his faculties alert. In 1866 he was on Puget sound and working in a mill at Utsalady, on Camano island. Two years later he had visited the Swinomish flats. as they were called in those days, and had conceived his idea that they were good land if once cleared and protected from salt water. He first took a !

squatter's right and as soon as he saw surveyors at work filed a preemption claim and later proved up. His course was so successful that many followed him and in 1880 all the flats had been taken up. He now has three hundred and fifteen acres of fine land, with a modern house, excellent out-buildings and warehouses on the water front. He has never torn down the cabin he built during his early stay on the flats.

In 1903 in Seattle Mr. Sullivan married Miss Josephine Smith, daughter of Thomas and Kather- ine (O'llare) Smith, natives of Ireland. Mrs. Sul- livan was herself born in Ireland. After securing an education in a convent she came to La Conner to Patrick O'Hare, an uncle, who has since died. In politics Mr. Sullivan is a Republican, but with a tendency not to support nominees who are not worthy. The Sullivans are communicants of the Catholic church. This farm, the first established out of what was understood to be the worthless tide flats of La Conner, consists of three hundred and fif- teen acres of the richest land in the country. Seventy two of its acres are in hay, one hundred and sixty in oats and the balance in pasture land. Mr. Sulli- van raises some livestock, at present having ten head of cattle and nine horses. Aside from the interest manifested in Mr. Sullivan as the discoverer of the value of the La Conner flats for purposes of agriculture, he is also regarded as a man of sterling integrity and of more than the usual amount of grasp of opportunities in a business way. The homeless cabin boy on the quays of 'Frisco has be- come a leading and wealthy citizen of one of the best counties in Northwestern Washington, successful in business and respected by all.

ISAAC CHILBERG has spent twenty-five years at farming in Skagit county, though he has been a resident of the sound country since 1871, a part of which time he passed in mercantile business. Mr. Chilberg enjoys the respect of his home community and is regarded as one of the staunch people of the county. Mr. Chilberg was born in Sweden in 1842, the son of Charles J. Chilberg who settled as a pioneer farmer in Iowa in 1846 and remained there until 1863. The subsequent three years were spent in Colorado, Nevada and Oregon. The first five years on the sound were passed without his family and in 1811 he returned to Iowa and brought thein to live on a preemption he had taken up ncar La Conner. Here he continued to reside until called to his last reward in 1905 in his ninety-second year. Mrs. Hannah ( Johnson ) Chilberg was also a native of Sweden. She passed away in 1905 in her ninetieth year the mother of ten children, of whom Isaac was fourth. In Iowa Isaac Chilberg received his educa- tion and when twenty years of age went to Colorado: In 1862 he enlisted in the First Colorado battery,

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BIOGRAPHICAL

and served with that for nearly three years, being mustered out at Fort Leavenworth in 1865. Re- turning to Iowa, he remained there farming until shortly before coming to Washington in 1811. He first settled in Skagit county, then a part of What- com county, on land taken up near La Conner. Two years later he went to Seattle and engaged in the broom business, after six months removing his venture to Olympia, where he remained for two years. The year 1819 he passed at Walla Walla and in the following year rented his father's farm near La Conner and operated it for over twenty years. In 1866, just after the close of the Civil War Mr. Chilberg married Miss M. E. Ockerman, who lived but a few years. Two children were the re- sult of this union, who later in life became Mrs. Hannah F. Dunlap and Mrs. Mary Callow, both of whom are now dead. In 1883 Mr. Chilberg mar- ried Christine Nelson, a native of Chillicothe, Iowa, who had one child which lived only eighteen months, and in 1888 the second wife passed away. Mr. Chilberg is a member of the Methodist church in which he has held the office of steward for a num- ber of years. In politics he is a Republican. His life has been an exceedingly busy one filled with its joys as well as its sorrows, and now in the evening of life he has the satisfaction of knowing that he is the recipient of the confidence of all who know him and is the object of the well wishes of the en- tire community.

FREDERICK ANDERSON, a prominent far- mer and stockman residing nine miles southwest of Mount Vernon, was born in Dalsland, Sweden, No- vember 19. 1848, the son of Anders Johan and Anna ( Erickson) Swanson, both natives of Sweden, in which country the father died in May. 1901, and the mother some three years previous to that time. Acquiring his education in the common schools of his native country, and meanwhile assisting his father on the farm, Mr. Anderson spent the first twenty-two years of his life. Influenced by a friend who was then visiting his former home in Sweden, he decided to accompany him to America upon his return, to seek for himself the wonderful oppor- tunities there afforded. Landing in Quebec in 1811, he remained there for one year, going thence to Michigan where he was employed in the iron mines of Lake Superior. Two years later he located in Napa county, California, mining quicksilver for three years, and losing but three days in the entire time. Thrifty and industrious by nature, he ha accumulated a neat little sum of money when in 1822 he moved to Nanaimo, British Columbia, there en- tering the Wellington coal mines. In the terrible ex- plosion that occurred in these mines April 30, 1829, he was seriously injured, his life being despaired of for some time. That he might have the best medi-

cal skill to be found. he was sent to San Francisco. After eleven weary months he was able to take up active work again, though carrying with him for the remainder of his life the marks of his fearful ex- perience. Coming to La Conner in 1880, he rented a farm of Watkins and Walker, engaging in farm- ing, the work of his early manhood. Having pur- chased a home in Sweden for his parents, from his earlier savings, and spent all the money he had saved in British Columbia in meeting the expenses in- curred by his accident, save the sum of one hun- dred dollars, he had practically to begin at the foot of the ladder again. Possessed of rare courage and determination, he bent every energy to the task be- fore him, that of securing means to purchase a home, and six years later had the satisfaction of making a payment of fifteen hundred dollars on his present place. Year by year he was able to make the pay- ments as they came due, and now owns free of debt his fine farm of one hundred and thirty-six acres well improved and well stocked with thoroughbred cattle and sheep.

In Tacoma in 1888, Mr. Anderson and Christina Swanson were united in marriage. Mrs. Anderson, a native of Sweden, born in 1855, to the union of Sven and Maria K. Larson, both deceased, came to the United States in 1883. Three children have been born to this union, Arthur F. and Alice, both at home, and one deceased. Mr. Anderson has a brother, E. M. Anderson, living on Beaver Marsh, and two sisters, Mrs. A. J. Johnson, of Beaver Marsh, and Matilda Anderson, still living in Sweden. Fraternally Mr. Anderson is affiliated with the American Order of United Workmen. In political belief he is a strong advocate of Republi- can principles, lending the strength of his influence to every honorable means of advancing the inter- ests of his party. The cause of education has al- ways appealed very strongly to him, and during his long years of service on the school board he has advocated progress and improvement. He is a prominent member of the Lutheran church. With the evidences on every side of the prosperity that has crowned his untiring energy, it would be strange in- deed were he not enthusiastic over the opportunities afforded in this country to the industrious poor man. He has just completed the erection of a fine and commodious residence, which is modern in every respect, an ornament to the tasteful grounds sur- rounding it. Ilis earnest, upright life, commands the respect and admiration of the entire community.

OLIVER C. CURRIER, deceased. was num- bered among the respected pioneers and energetic men of Skagit county until March, 1900, when he passed out of this life. During all the years of his residence in the La Conner country he maintained a highly enviable reputation for integrity and up-

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rightness of character, and the family of which he was the head has ever been and still is counted among the elite of Skagit county's population. A farmer for many years prior to his demise, his last field of endeavor was the well known Currier home, where his widow and one son still live, but for an extended period of time in early manhood he fol- lowed the sea, and he had the splendid distinction of having served as an officer in the United States Navy during the Civil War. Mr. Currier's birth- place was York county, Maine, and the date of his birth was November 23, 1841. 11is parents, Na- thaniel and Sophia (Clark) Currier, were likewise natives of Maine, and they passed their lives in that state, following agriculture as an occupation. Ile lived on the parental homestead, assisting with the work as he was able and in term-time attending the local school until eighteen, when he went to sca. His love of adventure was to be fully gratified be- fore he should return to the life of a land man for in due time he enlisted in the navy as master's mate and he had part in some of the stirring events on sea and river which occurred during the great American fratricidal war. At the close of the strug- gle he left the navy, came around the Horn to Cal- ifornia and there engaged in the lumber business, but after he had spent a couple of years at that he returned to Maine. He was married there in 1810 and soon after went to Cloud county, Kansas, where the ensuing half decade of his life was passed. In 1876 he removed to Skagit county and resumed his farming operations, cultivating for the first five years the Alverson place, then purchasing the fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres which is the present home of the family.

Mrs. Currier, whose maiden name was Augusta M. Kimball, was born in York county, Maine, January 9, 1844, the daugther of Daniel and Rachel (Barnard) Kimball, both natives of that county and state. Her father, a cabinet maker by trade, was an ardent temperance worker, and in politics a very strong Republican. She received a good education in the common schools of her native state and in a private institution of learning. Her children are Mrs. Susan Ornes, born in Kansas, July 25, 1871, now a resident of Mount Vernon ; Mrs. Clara S. Hubbard, born in Kansas August 24, 1873, now living in Cedardale ; and Oliver D., born in Washington, August 25, 1877, at home with his mother and operating the parental farm. The family belong to the Methodist church and Mrs. Currier is an active worker in the Relief Corps. Mr. Currier, during his life time was an active Mason.

GEORGE ADIN, whose farm lies two and a half miles southeast of La Conner, is one of the highly respected and popular residents of that vi-

cinity, and is typical to a great extent of the school of fine old English gentlemen. Much of his life on the western continent has been spent in mining, but he has lived in Skagit since 1870 with the exception of one year. Mr. Adin was born in England, No- vember 16, 1831, the son of John and Annie ( Fletcher) Adin. His parents were farmers in the old country and had ten children, of whom George was fifth. Mr. Adin received his education in the English schools and remained at home until he was twenty-two years of age. At that time he deter- mined to come to America, California and her mines being his goal. He reached there in 1854 and passed several years in mining ventures. He then obtained employment as clerk in a general merchandise store and continued there for a year and a half. At the close of this employment he bought a mining claim and worked it for several years. He then heard of Washington and its many advantages and came here taking up one hundred and sixty acres of land and remained for one year, returning to California on a visit. The interests he had acquired and the high opinion he had formed of the Skagit country were sufficient to recall him after a stay of a few months. On his return he proved up on this land and has lived on the place ever since. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of good land, one hundred and thirty- three acres of it being under cultivation and very carefully attended. Of Mr. Adin's sisters three are living, Eliza, Mary and Esther; a number of the family have never left England. Mr. Adin is pros- perous in his farming operations and devotes some attention to livestock, having nine head of horses and two cows. But his chief interest is in the cul- tivation of the soil, in which he takes deep enjoy- ment. Mr. Adin is a true lover of nature, quiet in manner and studious and thoughtful in habit. Ever unselfish and guardedly considerate of others feel- ings, he holds the respect and esteem in a marked degree of his neighbors and acquaintances.

CHARLES OLSON is one of the successful stock farmers of western Skagit county and one of the respected citizens of the community. Mr. Olson Is a native of Sweden, born in January of 1865. IIis father, Swan Olson, is still living in the old country, a farmer by occupation. Mrs. Hannah (Erikson) Olson, likewise a native of Sweden, passed her entire life there, dying in 1905 at a ripe old age. Charles Olson received his education in the schools of Sweden and remained at home with his parents until he was twenty years of age, when he came to the United States and settled at Salina, Kansas, where he remained for nearly two years. He then went to California and worked in a saw- mill for one season. He came to Washington in 1889 and for the subsequent eight years worked as employe on various farms. Making up his mind to

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BIOGRAPHICAL

rent a farm and engage on his own responsibility, he leased a place near Marysville for two years, at the end of which time he sold his interest there to go to Alaska. In that territory he followed mining for half a year and returned to La Conner. For one year after his return he worked for Mrs. Conner and then leased the Alverson farm, which he operated for three years. In 1903 he leased the farm he now occupies, two and a half miles southeast of town. Two of Mr. Olson's sisters, Annie and Mary, are with him, keeping house. Erick, a brother, is in Idaho, engaged in farming. The remaining mem- bers of the family are still living in Sweden. They are: Mrs. Ida Halmer, Hendrick, John and twin brothers, August and Axel. In politics Mr. Olson is a Republican, and is acting as supervisor of his road district. Mr. Olson and his sisters attend the Lutheran church. In connection with his agricul- tural work, Mr. Olson is raising livestock, having now fifty head of cattle and fifteen of horses. The farm is well kept and in his management of it he displays industry and business qualities of a high order.

FREDERIC GAGE is one of the prosperous farmers and stock raisers of the country a short distance southeast of La Conner, where he has a modern place of one hundred and sixty acres. Mr. Gage came direct to Skagit county from England. He was born in 1850. Charles Gage, his father, was an English farmer of sterling qualities who stood very high in the minds and hearts of his home people and served as guardian of the poor. Ilis remains lie buried beside those of his ancestors for many gen- erations back. Mrs. Gage whose maiden name was Marion Johnson, is the daughter of the captain of a sea vessel. She is still living at the age of eighty-three years, the mother of nine children, of whom Fred- eric is next to the oldest. Frederic Gage received a careful education in an English boarding school and was trained to the life of an English farming gentleman. Ile remained at home until twenty-four years of age, assisting his father in the management of a farm of between six and seven hundred acres, at which time he left home to engage in farming on his own account and for eight years operated a place of four hundred acres under a leasehold. In 1881 he came to Washington territory, forwarding his house- hold effects by vessel around Cape Horn. His first venture in the new country was to lease and operate a four hundred acre tract near La Conner, which he did with marked success and profit. In 1885 Mr. Gage purchased his present place and has cleared and diked sixty acres of it.

In 1875 while still a resident of England, Mr. Gage married Miss Eleanor Louisa Wiggin, daugh- ter of John Wiggin, a leading member of the Pliar- maceutical Society of Great Britain, also Fellow of

the Royal Society of London. Mrs. Gage's mother died when her daughter was quite young. She was educated in a boarding school, and is a very ac- complished and cultured woman being conversant with German and French and the literature of those languages. She was teaching school when married at the age of twenty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Gage have two daughters, both born in England. One is Mrs. Louise R. Valentine, a resident of Seattle, the other Mrs. Edith MeNeil, whose home is on the Skagit river. Mr. Gage is a member of the Episco- pal church and at present is church warden. In pol- itics he is a Republican, though not deeply inter- ested in political or party affairs. On his farm he has thirty head of cattle and a number of horses. The Gage home is one of the cultured places of the county, savoring much of the tastes and training of the old country life. Mr. and Mrs. Gage are popular in the community and enjoy the highest respect of those who know them.

JOHN H. CIIILBERG, one of the public spirited citizens of Skagit county, has made his mark in official life and left his impress on the busi- ness community in which he has moved for thirty- four years. Mr. Chilberg's life has been one of ac- tivity in different lines, in each of which he has been conspicuous as a man of accomplishments. He was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, in 1857, and came to Wash- ington when a young man. His father, Charles Chilberg, was a native of Sweden, who settled dur- ing Iowa's pioneers days in that state, but in 1871 removed to Washington territory. He took up the land where his son now resides, and died there in 1905 at the advanced age of ninety-two years. John Chilberg commenced his education before leaving Iowa and later attended school at Olympia. He passed much of his time on the farm and in the em- ployment of others until he was twenty-one years of age when he went to Seattle determined to gain more education. While pursuing a course in the State University he supported himself by clerking in stores mornings, evenings and Saturdays. Re- turning to Skagit county, Mr. Chilberg turned his attention to farming, but was unfortunate in losing crops by floods, so in 1886, he went to Tacoma. where for some time he was in charge of a crockery and glassware store. Again coming to Skagit county, he engaged in farming until 1888 when he went to La Conner and started the first saw-mill in that place. He operated this until he received an appointment as postmaster under the Cleveland ad- ministration, then sold out. He was postmaster for seven years. In 1897 he went to Alaska and fol- lowed mining ventures for two years, returning then to La Conner, where he opened a confectionery store. This he continued until the fall of 1901. At that time, on account of the advanced age of his

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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 123

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