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 136

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 136
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 136

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SKAGIT COUNTY

first near La Conner, then opening the first school at Avon. Her oldest son came to Washington and took up eighty acres at Fredonia. A cousin was working in the woods at Burlington for McKay & Millet, and to him young Umbarger went one day to deliver some mail. While talking with the cousin a gun slipped from a log and was discharged, the ball entering young Umbarger's throat, killing him instantly. The shock nearly killed the mother. She was forced to take charge of his claim, on which she proved up. Later she was quite successful in land speculations. In 1888 she married James Mc- Cain, an ex-soldier, who died in 1891. She lived with her stepchildren until the McCain estate was set- tled, when she returned to Avon and resided until failing health compelled her to accept a home with her son, Harlton, who had come to Washington. She died June 28, 1901.

Harlton R. Umbarger remained seven years on the Iowa farm after his mother came to Washing- ton, when he followed and did teaming for a year at Woolley; then moved to Burlington, built for himself a small house and began hauling shingle bolts for the new mill of T. L. Fox & Son. He and his mother bought eighty acres on the Olympia marsh, to which place he moved in 1895. He was unfortunate here and the place was lost under a mortgage. He returned to Burlington; then went to Whatcom county and prospected on Canyon creek, hiring out his team of horses at Burlington, where their earnings were the chief support of the family during his absence. Those horses now are pensioners on the Umbarger place, fondly remem- bered for their services in days of need. Mr. Um- barger prospected four years, during that time pur- chasing two acres at Burlington, partly on time. He cleared enough for a house which he built and has since occupied. AAt one time he would have lost his home property but for a fortunate sale of a mining claim which gave him just enough money to make the needed payment. The claim never amounted to anything.

Mr. Umbarger was married November 4, 1885. to Miss Frances E. Thomas, daughter of Daniel Thomas, an early Iowa settler, who came from Ohio. In 1891 Mr. Thomas came to Burlington and died here, March 4, 1901. Philena (Foote) Thomas, mother of Mrs. Umbarger, native of Ohio, is now living in Burlington. She has been the mother of twelve children. Mr. and Mrs. Um- barger have six children: Clarence, born August 18, 1886; Frank, born September 1, 1888; Mary P., born May 23, 1890; Ellsworth, born April 29, 1893; Bernard, born February 11, 1895, and Gol- dine, born July 26, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Umbarger are members of the Maccabees ; in politics Mr. Um- barger is a Republican and has served a term in the city council. The home farm consists of thirty- two acres, chiefly used for pasturing a herd of fine

Holsteins. Harlton R. Umbarger, since the time his mother left him on the old lowa homestead, has had a career of endeavor and disappointment, but the sagacity and determination which he inherited from his mother have enabled him to overcome all obstacles and he now is recognized as a successful man.

WILLIAM CRESSEY, Jr., one of the pros- perous young farmers near Burlington, is a native of Philadelphia, born May 17, 1812. William H. H. Cressey, his father, born in 1839, is also a native of the Quaker city, where he followed the trade of a moulder. He is a veteran of the Civil War, now living in Burlington. Rachel P. (Walton) Cressey, the mother of William, Jr., likewise was born in Philadelphia, springing from the well-known tam- ily of Walton, which is prominent in Eastern Penn- sylvania. She has had eight children, of whom William is the fourth. Mr. Cressey of this review left home when eighteen and was in Anacortes dur- ing the boom days of that town. He arrived in the city at four o'clock one morning and at seven o'clock had secured a position and was at work. Two months after reaching Anacortes he took a contract to clear land and completed the work in six months, making a good profit on the venture. He then came to Burlington, bought ten acres of timbered land and erected the house in which he is now living. The financial depression of the early nineties fell heavily on the young man and stripped him of everything but his home and his land. Years of suffering followed, one of the most trying ex- periences being when he was beaten out of land on which he had taken homestead rights.

In 1900 Mr. Cressey married Miss Maud Thomp- son, daughter of Charles Thompson, a native of New Jersey, who passed much of his life in the states of Illinois and Nebraska and later in Wash- ington. He is now living at Burlington, this state. Mrs. Cressey is a native of Illinois and during her school days there fitted herself for teaching, which vocation she followed at Clear Lake and other places in Washington until her marriage. She and Mr. Cressey have had two children, Luzelle, born October 15, 1901, who died when one week old, and Madge L., born January 19, 1903. Mr. Cressey's home farm consists of thirty acres, and is devoted largely to the growing of fruit, though he does gen- eral farming, and raises Chester White, Berkshire and Poland China hogs. He has triumphantly re- covered from the effects of the hard times. He has always taken an active part in Republican poli- tics and has the distinction of having been the first clerk of the city of Burlington. He is a man of splendid ability, capable of adapting himself with ease to whatever task is before him, and is rec-

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BIOGRAPHICAL

ognized as one of the successful and wide-awake young men of the vicinity of Burlington.

WILLIAM H. MILLER is one of the pioneer farmers of Skagit county, having resided here since 1874. He was born in Ohio January 13, 1845, the son of George W. and Margaret ( Weaver) Miller, natives of Ohio, both of whom died in Skagit county. Mr. Miller, the elder, passed away near Mount Vernon in 1890 at the age of eighty-three years, while Mrs. Miller succumbed to the dread reaper at Burlington five years later, at the age of seventy-seven .. William H. Miller is the fourth of ten children. In 1861 he enlisted for the Civil War in Company A of the First Missouri Cavalry, Cap- tain Jackson commanding. He was with his regi- ment at the battles of Lone Jack and Lexington and carried his saber all through Price's raiding in Mis- souri. He was wounded during the engagement of Mine creek, receiving a bullet in the side of the head. After being mustered out at Benton bar- racks in St. Louis, he made his home in Sullivan County, Missouri, where he worked at farming for seven years. In 1874 he came to the site of the present Mount Vernon, finding at that time only five white families on the Skagit river. About ten years were passed in various logging camps, then Mr. Miller took up land where Avon now stands, but he sold his holding in 1891 to purchase his present farm one mile east of Burlington on the railroad. The farm is all cleared and under culti- vation. Mr. Miller gives his attention chiefly to fruit raising, though he has considerable meadow and raises many vegetables.

In 1866 Mr. Miller married Miss Mary Kim- ball, whose father, David Kimball, still lives near Mount Vernon. Mrs. Miller was born in Septem- ber, 1848. She is the mother of four children, the last of whom, William, died in 1875 at the age of one year. The surviving children are Mrs. Viola A. Swauk, who lives near Burlington; Nathaniel Miller of Burlington and Mrs. Annie Bell Slater, who lives on her father's farm. Mr. Miller is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and in polities is a Republican. He has been deputy sheriff and constable of his home precinct. A man of worth and influence in the community, he enjoys the esteem of his fellow-citizens of Skagit county.

CHARLES A. LINDAMOOD is one of the hus- tling young men of Skagit county, combining farm- ing with the business of contracting in land elear- ing. He was born in Illinois March 8, 1829, and came to Washington with his father in 1890. The elder Lindamood, whose given name is Washing- ton, was born in Ohio March 8, 1837. He was a successful farmer and was one of the immigrants

who were attracted to this state soon after it was received into statehood. He is still living at Bur- lington. Mrs. Lindamood, whose maiden name was Hannah Smith, was a native of Ohio and died there in 1886, leaving five children, of whom Charles A. was the youngest. On coming to Wash- ington young Lindamood went to Avon and worked on various farms for four months. Later he bought forty acres of timber land a mile and a half south- west of Burlington and he has made his home there ever since. Ten acres are now cleared, two of which are in orchard, the remainder being given over to dairying, of which business Mr. Lindamood has made a special study, intending ultimately to develop this line of activity to a greater degree. About the first of the year 1905 Mr. Lindamood joined with G. C. Drown in the purchase of a don- key engine outfit for clearing land of trees and stumps, and since that time they have been doing a contracting business in this line.

Mr. Lindamood has never married, but finds pleasant company in the family of his brother John, who lives on an adjoining farm. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Washington; in poli- tics a Republican. His dairy stock at present con- sists of Durhams and Guernseys, in all twenty head, and he also keeps other live stock, horses, hogs, etc. He is a young man of energy and in- tegrity who is well respected and whose future holds good promise of success.

JOHN B. LOCKWOOD has a pleasant place three miles northeast of Burlington, on the road to Sedro-Woolley, where he owns forty acres of ex- cellent land. He was born in Hillsdale, Michigan, August 3, 1846, and before coming to Washington spent most of his life in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He is the son of Levi Lockwood, a native of St. Lawrence county, New York, born in 1818, who moved to Michigan and later to Wisconsin, dying in South Dakota in 1886. Mrs. Thankful (Jenkins) Lockwood, born in Vermont in 1822, was the mother of eight children, of whom John B. is the second. She died in 1880. Until he was twenty- seven years old, John B. Lockwood lived with his parents, then he married and took his father and mother into his own home. Prior to this time he had worked at threshing during the harvest sea- sons and in the woods in the winters. After mar- riage he sold the old farm in Wisconsin and moved to South Dakota, where he took three hundred and twenty acres of land, which he held for fourteen years. He resided on this place two years, then moved to Millbank, South Dakota. and went into the farm implement business, which he conducted with success for eight years, part of that time being also deputy sheriff. After disposing of his imple- ment store, he returned to Wisconsin and opened a

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SKAGIT COUNTY

grocery and meat market in Ashland. After a year and a half there he returned to Millbank and ran a livery business for three years. He spent the next four years leisurely traveling with his family through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas in quest of farm land in a milder climate than where they had lived. lle had sold his real estate before starting on this trip. He remained at some places several months, looking over the country or taking contracts, but eventually he returned to Minnesota, satisfied that what he wanted was not in any of the states he had visited. The following spring he came to Washington and purchased fifty-five acres of partly cleared land near Burlington. Of this land a spring freshet took away three acres, twelve he sold and forty he retains. His land is so rich that he does not need it all, and being an adept in intensive agriculture, he is satisfied to cultivate only four acres and says he could make a good living off the product of half that much.

In 1873 Mr. Lockwood married Miss Flora Southard, a native of Wisconsin, born in 1851, the daughter of James W. Southard, a Pennsylvanian, born in 1825, who later removed to Wisconsin. Mrs. Mary ( Hanna ) Southard, the mother of Mrs. Lockwood, was born March 2, 1821, and died in Burlington March 20, 1899. She and Mr. Southard had come to Skagit county in 1890. To Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood have been born five children: Er- nest Jay, March 12, 1875, now living in North Dakota ; James E., May 20, 1877, at home with his parents; Mrs. Winnie Brider, December 29, 1878; J. Fay, May 6, 1881; and Mrs. Genevieve Rundquist, June 18, 1883. Mr. Lockwood makes a specialty of growing garden produce and small fruit, but also carries on a small dairy business and raises poultry. In politics he is a Republican. The family attends the Methodist church, in the Ladies' Aid Society of which Mrs. Lockwood is an active worker. Mr. Lockwood is a resourceful man of energy and good business ability ; one who is actu- ated by honorable motives in all his dealings with others, and therefore enjoys their esteem and good will.

RUDOLPH PULVER, one of the foremost among the popular and successful farmers of Bur- lington, is a native of Switzerland, as were his parents, Rudolph and Katrina ( Von Kauel) Pulver. The father, born in 1820, followed farming until his death in 1888. Mrs. Pulver, born in 1819. passed away in 1871, the honored mother of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second. Rudolph Pulver, the son, was born in Berne canton June 25, 1853. He remained at home nineteen years, attending the schools of the country and acquiring a practical knowledge of farming. By the time he was twenty, however, he had served

at different times in the army, his entire time of service amounting to two years. When he left home he found employment on a farm, then drove a mail wagon four years, then accepted a position as coachnian at the Steinburg hotel, situated at the famous pleasure resort at the Jungfrau, in the val- ley of Lauterbrunner. For four years he viewed the matchless Alpine peak, resplendent with the snows of countless centuries, and he still carries with him a never-to-be-forgotten picture of its grandeur. He was married in this charming spot, and he and his wife the following spring came to New York, then to Richway, Pennsylvania, where for eighteen months he was employed in a tannery. He came to Mount Vernon in 1884 and worked for Peter Lee in Skagit City two months, then rented for two years the ranch owned by D. Storrs. At the end of this time he took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres on Olympia marsh, and during his first four years there he packed all his family supplies on his back from Mount Vernon. Few young women of to-day would be willing to make the trip which Mrs. Pulver made in June, 1886, when she went to this new home. In high rubber boots she waded three miles through the water, while her husband carried the children. It was a year and a half before she saw another woman of her own race and two years and a half before she left this home. This farm, which con- sisted of one hundred and twenty acres, was densely covered with brush, and elk, deer and bears fre- quently came to the house. Now there are one hun- dred acres of cleared land with eighty in crops. One of Mr. and Mrs. Pulver's boys was the first white child born on the Olympia marsh. During the panic Mr. Pulver sold oats for seven dollars a ton and hay for three dollars and a half a ton, but since then he has prospered. He has a fine twelve- room house and two large barns on his ranch. He devotes special attention to raising oats, hay, cattle and horses, being the owner of fifty-two head of fine Durham and Guernsey stock.

Mr. Pulver and Miss Anna Ammeter were mar- ried in 1881 in Switzerland. Mrs. Pulver was born in 1861. Her parents were Peter and Anna ( Boss) Ammeter, both natives of Switzerland, where the father was a well-known farmer, stockman and cheesemaker till his death, April 19, 1905. The moth- er died August 25, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Pulver have had eight children: Anna, born December 4, 1882; Rudolph, May 24, 1885: Fred, December 19, 1886; Peter, February 10, 1890; Mary, April 14, 1892; Edward, April 14, 1893; Lena, December 20, 1897; Frank, March 19, 1902. In fraternal circles Mr. Pulver is a prominent member of the Masonic order and the Maccabees, and in politics he is an active Republican. deeply interested in the welfare of the party. He and his family attend the Lutheran church. Mr. Pulver is one of the substantial citi-

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BIOGRAPHICAL

zens of Skagit county, surrounded by evidences of the prosperity which has rewarded his years of toil, and is also rich in the respect and esteem of the community.

France, where he spent three years. Desiring to visit the United States, he sailed for New York in 1811, going at once to Chicago, and he soon found employment twenty-five miles out of the city. Four years later he went to Iowa, thence to Dakota and Minnesota, residing in the latter state a year, at the end of which period he came to the Puget sound country. After a brief stay in Seattle and Whatcom, he located in La Conner, hiring out to John Conner to construct ditches on the Conner ranch. The following year he and a brother and two other men rented four hundred and fifty acres, and they farmed it for two years, during which they met with excellent success. Having dissolved partnership, Mr. Majerus took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, which he held for five years, selling it just prior to his removal to Samish. Ile then invested in one hundred and seventy acres of marsh land, and began the arduous task of dik- ing and improving it, making it his home for the ensuing twenty years. He still owns the property. Thirteen years ago he purchased eighty acres of school land, but in the succeeding years permitted his title to lapse, and now rents the property. Ile has it all cleared, and has been using it for raising hay, intending, however, in the near future to sow it to oats. Ile has a brother, Jake. who lives on the north fork of the Skagit river. Mr. Majerus is a loyal Republican, but has never sought any po- litical office. Ile is a prominent member of the Catholic church. A man of intelligence and good judgment, he is one of the respected residents of the county, and one of those who have won a com- petence by skillfully making use of the advantages it offered.

GEORGE A. BROSSEAU, formerly engaged in railroad work, both in the East and in the West. now a successful farmer residing between Burling- ton and Sedro-Woolley, was born in Chittenango,

New York, December 22, 1842. His father, Luke Brossean, was born in Quebec, Canada, February 29, 1820, moving to New York in early life, there owning and operating a blacksmith shop in connec- tion with a livery stable. His death occurred Sep- tember 3, 1882. The mother, Jane ( Hood) Bros- Scau, was born March 30, 1821, and died Septem- ber 12, 1891. Remaining at home the first twenty- two years of his life, George Brosseau attended the schools of the state, acquiring a practical educa- tion, of which he has made excellent use. Entering the shops of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad as car inspector, he remained for eighteen years in the employ of the road at Adrian and Grand Rapids, Michigan, establishing for himself an enviable reputation for skill and faithfulness. He started for Seattle August 29, 1888, making only

MICHIEL MAJERUS, a well-to-do farmer of of Skagit county, residing two and one-fourth miles west of Burlington, was born in Luxemburg, Germany, in November, 1842. His parents, Nicho- las and Mary ( May) Majerus, were born in the same part of Germany, and there spent their entire lives. The oldest child of a family of ten, Michel Majerus remained at home till he reached the age of twenty-four, assisting his father in the support of the family, and meanwhile attending the common schools in which he received his education. Ilis first work away from home was in a quarry in i a brief stop there, however, as he went on to Ta- coma to accept a position on the Northern Pacific railroad. Wearying of that kind of employment, he went to Coupeville, on Whudby island, renting a farm of eight hundred acres for a year; later, after a three months' visit to California, moving to Sedro. He purchased ten acres where he now lives. adding seventeen acres of timber land to his original farm some years afterward. lle now has eighteen acres in cultivation, eight of which are in orchard. lle has built a neat, convenient six-room house, a barn and fruit dryer, and otherwise greatly im- proved the ranch which he devotes to diversified farming. Mr. Brosseau has witnessed great changes in the town since he came to it. He was present at the first Fourth of July celebration hekdl here. a unique feature of which was the hoisting of a flag sixteen by forty feet, made by the ladies at the home of Mrs. Brosseau, the flagpole being a cedar tree two hundred and twenty-six feet in height stripped of all its branches. During the first stimmer the town consisted principally of saloons and dance halls. The first Presbyterian service was held in a partly furnished saloon, with a bar in the same building. The first church was built by the members of the congregation, the men making board walls and the ladies a roof of canvas, this serving as a house of worship for nearly a year. Mrs. Brosseau is the only surviving member of that carly congregation. Perhaps the most impressive sight at that time was the burning of immense fir trees, the grandeur of which can never be sur- passed by the most elaborate modern fireworks.

Mr. Brosseau and Edna Parsons were united in marriage March ?. 1820. Born in Woodstock, Michigan. December 23, 1819, Mrs. Brossean is the daughter of Hiram Parsons, a native of New York, born December 26, 1803. Hle followed farming till his death on October 2, 1850, at Woodstock, Michi- gan. Her mother, Sarah A. ( Loss) Parsons, was born in Oneida county, New York, November 10, Iso:, and died in Adrian, Michigan, March 2, 1881.

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SKAGIT COUNTY

She was the mother of five children, Mrs. Brosseau being the youngest. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brosseau, Dwight M., born Janu- ary 9, 18:1, now living at Bellingham; Frank L., born January 12, 18:3, now deceased, his death oc- curring at Grand Rapids, Michigan, November 15, 1879. Mr. Brosseau is a Democrat. He is a mem- ber of the school board, cheerfully giving his time and attention to educational matters, which he deems of such vast importance. He and his family are identified with the Presbyterian church. He is a man of sterling worth, honored and esteemed by all who come in contact with him, either in busi- ness or social relations.

FAYETTE L. JONES, a well-known farmer and stockman, residing two miles west and one south of Sedro-Woolley, was born in Waseca county, Minnesota, May 20, 1869. His father, James E. Jones, was born in England, where for twenty-five years he was connected with the navy. He came to the United States in 1861, settling in Minnesota, where he died August 7, 1905, at the age of ninety. Louisa (Brossard) Jones, the mother of our subject, was born in New York in 1845, and is still living. She bore to her husband eleven children. Fayette L. Jones spent the early years of his life at home, securing an education and assisting his father in the support of the family. Leaving home at the age of twenty, he worked for a few months on a farm, coming to Sedro in De- cember, 1890. He worked for the first two years in the woods and mills; also leased five acres of land, which he cleared during the first year, and which he held for half a decade. Eventually he re- turned to the East, expecting to make that his home, but found, as so many others do, that West- ern life has an almost irresistible charm for those who have once known it. After a few months' visit he came again to Sedro, and invested in ten acres of timber land, to which he soon added sixty acres more, and of the whole he already has twenty acres cleared and in cultivation.

Mr. Jones was married in December, 1898, to Vera E. Brosseau, born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Frank and Anna ( Moll) Brosseau. Her father was born in Chittenango. New York, in 1854, and died at Sedro-Woolley in 1897, while her mother, born in Sherrell, New York, in 1849, is still living at Clear Lake. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have two children, Leslie R., born August 18, 1900, and Marie A., August 11, 1904. Another son, Earl B., born February 15, 1903. died April 27. 1903. Mr. Jones is a prominent member of the Modern Wood- men of America. In political belief he is a Repub- lican, supporting the party in every possible way. He keeps only the best stock on his farm, fifteen head of thoroughbred Durham cattle, twenty-five

Cotswold and Lincoln sheep, Poland China hogs and several horses. He is a practical farmer, ear- nest and energetic, familiar with the various de- partments of the work, and he is meeting with the success that his efforts so richly merit.

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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 136

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