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 137

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 137
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 137

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EDWARD D. SOUTHARD, now residing two and one-half miles southwest of Sedro-Woolley, has been a resident of Skagit county for fifteen years, having first located at the old town of Ster- ling. He has inherited from pioneer ancestors the perseverance and fortitude that have made success possible under frontier conditions ; also the superior qualities of mind and heart that inspire confidence and command respect. Mr. Southard is a native of Buffalo county, Wisconsin, born September 12, 1864, the son of James W. and Mary ( Hanna) Southard, natives of Pennsylvania. James W. Southard was born May 9, 1824; he spent his youth and early manhood in the Keystone state, but in the early forties began the life of the pioneer in Wisconsin. Thirty-five years later (1879) he re- moved to Grant county, South Dakota, where he farmed for eight years. At the end of this period he went to Becker county, Minnesota, remaining there until 1890, when he came with Peter his son to Sterling. Mary (Hanna) Southard was born in Ly- coming County, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1827, and after a long and useful life passed away at Sterling March 20, 1899. She came to Washington with the subject of this review and rejoined her husband at Fidalgo City.

Edward D. Southard acquired his early educa- tion in the schools of his native state, but he con- tinued his studies for some time after the family located in South Dakota, which change of residence was made in his fifteenth year. He began the ac- tive and independent discharge of life's responsibili- ties in 1886, when he filed on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Minnesota. After farm- ing the place for four years he signed a relinquish- ment to another for a consideration, having decided to locate in the Northwest, where he believed the possibilities of success to be greater for one en- gaged in agricultural pursuits than in the Minne- sota wheat region. In the summer of 1890 he started West, arriving at Fidalgo City July 19th, and at once securing employment in a saw-mill. Three months later he settled on the place that is now his home, having eventually secured it by pur- chase after the government had completed its sur- vey. The location is near the former town of Ster- ling, whose site was absorbed by the Skagit river. To the original purchase Mr. Southard has added fourteen acres, and the whole has been transformed from a forest into a valuable farm and comfortable home. Here he is engaged profitably in diversified farming and stock raising, fruit growing and dairy-

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ing. The rapid changes of the past two decades are nowhere more apparent in visible results than in this portion of Skagit county, and no farm shows more plainly the results of method and industry than that of Mr. Southard.

While the care of the details of his operations keeps Mr. Southard busily employed at all seasons, he yet finds time for attention to the public affairs of neighborhood and county, in which he is always interested. He is not a politician in an active way and has never been a seeker for political prefer- ment ; but he supports the Democratic party with his influence and vote. He has won and will al- ways holds the esteem of his fellow-citizens because of his integrity, honesty of purpose and fairness in his dealings with others; his name will always be associated with the names of those who have con- verted the forests and swamps of the Skagit into fertile fields, thus making possible the building of towns, cities, industries and homes for a happy people.

MRS. ELIZABETH JEWELL, a practical farmer a mile and a half east of Burlington, is one of the women of Skagit county who are active in the management of good farming property and have shown themselves possessed of executive ability of a high order. She was born in Sherman, Maine, in 1849, the daughter of John McCarron, a native of Ireland, who came to Canada when a lad and worked at farming and lumbering in Canada and Maine, dying in the last mentioned place in 1876 at the age of seventy-four. The mother, Mrs. Mar- garet (Kearns) McCarron, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1800 and died in Maine in 1889, the pe- riod of married life covered by Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Carron being forty-seven years. Of this union there were eight children, of whom the living are Thomas McCarron, Mrs. Rose A. Hogan, Mrs. Catherine R. Patterson, Mrs. Margaret Finnegan, Mrs. Ellen Duffy, John McCarron and Mrs. Jewell. One daughter, Mrs. Mary A. Goodwin, is now dead. Mrs. Jewell lived with her parents until her mar- riage at Benedicta, Maine, in 1877, to Charles J. Jewell, whose father, Jacob Jewell, a native of Maine, died when his son was a small boy. His mother, Mrs. Elathier (Stuart) Jewell, is still liv- ing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Charles J. Jewell was born September 27, 1850, and lived at home until his marriage. Coming to Skagit county in 1886, he located at Lyman, and he has lived at dif- ferent places in the county up to the present time and has been a factor in the development of the county. Mrs. Jewell is the mother of ten children, of whom the living are Frederick V .. Walter S., Charles E., Wallace X., Emma E., Elizabeth G. The names of the deceased are John, Harry A., John Ira and James D. Active in the management of

the farm as his mother's assistant is Walter S. Jewell, the second oldest of the living sons of Mrs. Jewell. The farm work done is general in char- acter, the fifty acres being all under cultivation. The dairy consists of five cows. Mrs. Jewell in the time since she has had the management of the farm has proved herself to have great business ability. In church affiliations the Jewells are Catholics.

GEORGE MCMILLIN, dairy farmer and breeder of thoroughbred cattle, two and a half miles northeast of Burlington, is one of the newcomers to Skagit county, but has already gained for himself a prominent place in the community. He was born in Dark county, Indiana, March 15, 1859, the son of Edward and Mary E. ( Mott) McMillin. Ed- ward McMillin was a native of Gallia county, Ohio, the son of a pioneer of that state, but later removed to lowa, where he died in 1881. Mrs. McMillin, the mother of George, was a native of Pennsylvania, of Dutch descent, the daughter of a blacksmith. She had two brothers in the Civil War. George McMillin is one of five children and the only one who is living in the West. When he was but a lad his parents removed to Taylor county, lowa, and there he received his education, attend- ing school in winter and working on the farm in summer. He left home at seventeen years of age to do for himself, and married at twenty-three. For a number of years he operated a rented farm in Iowa county in the center of the state. Early in January, 1899, he came to Skagit county and bought his present place of one hundred and forty acres. At that time seventy acres had been slashed or partly slashed, and there was an old house on the place and a very few other improvements, but un- der Mr. McMillin's management it has become one of the most attractive and valuable farms in the en- tire section.

In 1882 in Iowa Mr. McMillin married Miss Mary Alice Hartley, who was born August 15, 1861, in Allamakee county, daughter of John and Sarah Hartley, natives of England. Mrs. Hartley is still living at Tacoma. Mr. and Mrs. McMillin have one child, Martin L. Roy, born in 1887. In fraternal affiliation Mr. McMillin is an Odd Fellow; in politics a Republican. He served as constable for ten years in Iowa and was for five years mar- shal of Ladora. He began his dairy and breeding herds with thoroughbred short horns which he brought from Iowa. He has stock in the Sedro- Woolley creamery, and after separating the milk from his twenty-four milch cows disposes of his cream to that establishment. He has also dealt in horses to some extent and has disposed of eight carloads he shipped into this country. The McMil- lin farm is a part of the old Mortimer Cook hold- ing, which consisted of a whole section. Both Mr.

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and Mrs. McMillin like Skagit county far better than the lowa place and hold that with an equal amount of work better returns come to the farmer than in the prairie state. Mr. MeMillin is a genial man, a hard worker. energetic and respected by his fellows in business and in general society.

PETER SCHIMITZ, one of Burlington's popu- lar citizens, has won his present prosperity in the face of almost overwhelming adversity. He was born in Luxemburg. Germany, August 22, 1857, his parents being John and Margueretta ( Ryferts) Schmitz, also natives of Germany. The father, a dye worker, died in 1861; the mother in 18:4. Left fatherless when he was but four years old, Peter Schmitz began early to support his mother and himself, at twelve years of age hiring out to neighboring farmers, who were very willing to lend a hand to the sturdy, energetic boy. Six years later he found employment in the mines and smelt- ers of that country, proving so valuable a worker that he was retained for five years. After a year's residence in France, he sailed for America in 1880, reaching Chicago in the fall and proceeding at once to Michigan. He soon went to St. Louis, where he worked for a butcher one winter, going thence to Springfield, Illinois, the following summer. Re- turning to Michigan he worked at logging another season, then moved to Iowa, and later to Belleville, Illinois, mining in the latter state for four years. Having spent the two succeeding years in the mines of Iowa, he then went to Dakota, but failed to find a position, so was forced to walk to Livingston, Montana. He worked on the railroad there a few months, then took charge of a number of men work- ing in the Yellowstone National Park. Later, how- ever, he went once more to lowa and resided there one winter, deciding then to go to the mines of Roslyn, Washington, where he worked eight con- secutive years, at the end of which time, on account of labor troubles, he went back to Montana. A year later he came to Edison, Washington, and married a lady who had a forty-acre farm and upon this they made their home. The years that followed were full of trials and disappointments sufficient to daunt the courage of a less determined nature. Sev- eral times floods devastated the farm, destroying in a few hours the work of many months, the most severe one causing him a loss of $1,500. The stock had to be driven to the hills for safety, water was sufficiently deep all over the marsh to float an ordi- nary steamboat, and the current was so swift that fording was impossible. A neighbor rescued the family on a raft. The water did not subside for a week. Another season the flood from the melting snows in the mountains completely ruined a hay crop amounting in value to another $1,500, but not- withstanding all these reverses, Mr. Schmitz has

prospered and he now owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in a fine state of cultivation, forty acres in pasture, and a half interest in a warehouse in North Avon. Upon his home place he has built a cosy six-room house and a barn forty by seventy feet. He has his farm well stocked with fine cattle and horses.

Mr. Schmitz was married in 1896 to Annie Ma- jerus, who was born in Luxemburg, Germany, and who came alone to America. Her parents are dead, the mother having passed away in 1903 at the age of seventy-four. Mr. and Mrs. Schmitz have one child, Alfred M., born January 16, 1899. Mr. Schmitz is identified with no political party, preferring to vote each time for the man whom he considers to be the best qualified to fill the office, and as for himself he has never had any political aspirations. He and his family are members of the Catholic church. A man of recognized skill and industry, a loyal citizen and kind neighbor, he holds an en- viable position in the community.

CHARLES H. WILLIAMS, farmer and dairy- man, three miles south of Edison, has had a very interesting career which covers work as a lad in a knitting factory in Connecticut, service as a volun- teer in the Civil War, and experience as a farmer in Iowa and Washington. Mr. Williams was born in Wallington, Connecticut, in 1848, the son of David and Caroline (Chamberlain) Williams, farm- ers of the Nutmeg state, and parents of eight chil- dren, of whom the subject hereof is sixth. After attending the common schools Charles W. went to work at the age of twelve years in a knitting fac- tory, and he was employed there for the next four years, then, in the month of December, 1862, he enlisted in the First Connecticut heavy artillery, and he served continuously thereafter till the sur- render of Lee at Appomattox. The war over, he went back to his old work in the knitting factory, remaining until 1878, then going to Jowa, in which state he farmed for seven years. In 1885 he came to Washington and, locating at La Conner, put in a number of months in work at different places on the flats. The following year he filed on his pres- ent place. It was a dense forest ; no trail led to it, and it was necessary to carry in his first stove on his back. He has lived there since that time and has cleared enough to permit of the establishment and operation of a dairy business.

In 1869. in the state of Connecticut, Mr. Will- iams married Miss Ellen Crandall, daughter of Aldon B. Crandall, a native of Massachusetts, and by occupation a farmer. The mother. Mrs. Rachel (Usher) Crandall, was a native of Rhode Island, but died in Connecticut. Mrs. Wiliams was born in the latter state in 1842 and received her educa- tion there. She died December 20, 1904, leaving

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three children: Mrs. Jennie R. Cornelius, who is living on Pleasant Ridge; Charles Henry Williams, Jr., and Mrs. Mary Inman, who is living at home. In politics Mr. Williams is a Democrat. His home place consists of eighty acres of land and his dairy herd numbers twenty head. Here he is spending the remaining days of his life, in comfortable cir- cumistances, and in the full enjoyment of the re- spect and esteem of all who know him. The twenty years of his life in Skagit county have been full of earnest endeavor, entitling him to share with his fellow-citizens the honor of having developed a con- siderable section of the Northwest from its prime- val state into a region of fertile farms and comfort- able homes. His name must ever be associated with the names of those who are responsible for the won- derful progress of Skagit county.

EARL H. STEARNS, of Edison, has been identified with the agricultural interests of Skagit county since 1883, practically since the organization of the county, and is at present one of the Samish district's well-known farmers. By birth a native of the Keystone state, he was born in Wayne county, May 9, 1852, to the union of Sheldon H. and Mary J. (Monroe) Stearns, both Pennsylvanians also. The elder Stearns was born in 1822 and resided in Pennsylvania until 1855, at that time settling in Jones county, Jowa, where he spent ten years. In 1865 he removed to Linn county, Kansas, still pur- suing farming as a vocation, and four years later secured a rich claim on the newly opened Osage reservation, now Chautauqua county, Kansas. He took a prominent part in developing the new region and there resided until his death. Mrs. Stearns, the mother, was born in 1830, and is at present living in Whatcom county. The subject of this review is the second of her children and an only son. Ilis rearing and education were received in Iowa and Kansas for the most part, so that he is practically a Western product. At the age of twenty-one he commenced to do for himself, the first year operat- ing his father's farm. He was engaged in farming in Chautauqua county until 1883, at that time emi- grating to the Pacific Northwest. The Skagit coun- try appealed most strongly to him, so he rented the Byron house on the Swinomish flats. The next year he rented E. A. Sisson's farm at Padilla for a period of three years, upon the conclusion of which he went into the Samish district. purchasing fifty acres there. Three years later he soll this tract to John Harrell (now it is the property of Nick Bessner ) and made a three months' trip back to Kansas. Upon his return he bought what is known as the Cook place at the month of Joe Lar- ry's slough, and there resided until 1891. when he removed to Bay View to obtain better educational advantages for his children. In 1898 he rented

Otto Kalso's place near Whitney station, which was his home for the ensuing five years, or until the fall of 1903. He then purchased eighty acres two and a half miles south of Edison, and to this he has devoted his energies and skill since the spring of 1904. It is all in cultivation, producing oats and hay, one of the highly improved farms of the Samish and consequently of more than ordinary value and this, too, in one of the richest farming regions in the United States. The place is equipped with modern machinery, is well stocked and well improved with buildings, all denoting progress and energy on the part of the owner.

Miss Margaret A. Closson became the wife of Mr. Stearns in Chautauqua County, Kansas, in 1875. She was a native of the Hoosier state, born in June, 1854, and when a little girl lost both her father and mother by death. Grandparents reared her to young womanhood. At the age of sixteen she commenced teaching in Iowa and was engaged successfully in that calling when married four years later. Coming west with her husband she shared with him the vicissitudes of pioneer life and the successes of later years, but at Seattle, June 3, 1905, succumbed to an operation, an irretrievable loss to a devoted family and an unusually wide circle of friends. Of the four children born to this union, Mrs. Jessie Bradley, the wife of R. L. Bradley, prominent merchant of Anacortes and state representative from his district, is the oldest ; she was born in Kansas November 20, 1815. Clinton E., now living at Edison, was born in Kansas February 5, 1880; Mrs. Kathryn MeCullough, wife of Charles MeCullough, the well known Samish farmer, born April 15. 1881. is also a native of Kansas; and Claudia is one of Skagit's daughters, born May 29, 1892. Both older daugh- ters received a good education and previous to marriage taught in the public schools. A spirit of progress and culture pervades the Stearns home ; success and esteem have followed in the wake of Mr. Stearn's numerous activities, placing him among the substantial citizens of his community. llis wife and children are members of the Metho- dist church and he has been a life-long believer in the Universalist faith.

JAMES J. SULLIVAN, hop grower one mile east of Belfast, is one of the successful and pros- perous men of Skagit county, a man who has ob- tained his worldly possessions by his own energy and ability. He was born in Cork settlement, New Brunswick, April 12, 1816, the son of John and Margaret (Donovan) Sullivan, both of whom were natives of New Brunswick and died there a num- ber of years ago. Young Sullivan received a com- mon school education in New Brunswick, then in 1889 came to Edison. Washington, going to work at once for his uncle, Daniel Sullivan. He re-

SKAGIT COUNTY

mained in his employ for seven years, then leased sixty aeres of land on Jarman prairie. Seventeen acres of this land are in hops and part of the rest in hay, the two being the principal erops of the farm.

In 1900 Mr. Sullivan married Miss Phoebe Ches- sie, a native of Hanwell settlement, New Bruns- wiek, born in 1876. She is the daughter of Eph- raim and Frances (Burgoyne) Chessie, farmers of the province, until they came to Washington and settled in Skagit county, on Jarman prairie. Mrs. Sullivan is one of their seven daughters, all of whom reside on Jarman prairie or in its vicinity. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have three children: John A., Daniel L. and Phoebe L. In politics Mr. Sul- livan is an Independent, in church membership a Catholic. He raises some live stock, having eight head of draft horses, fifteen hogs and twenty-five head of cattle, some of the last named being for dairy purposes. Mr. Sullivan is an active man, one of energy and shrewdness. He is one of the popu- lar men of his community, respected by all for his excellent traits of character.

DANIEL P. SULLIVAN, living one mile east of Belfast, is one of the successful young farmers of the community and has already established him- self on a firm business footing in Skagit county as an agriculturist and stock raiser. He was born in the Cork settlement in New Brunswick, January 12, 1873, the son of John and Margaret (Donovan), Sullivan, who passed their entire lives in the gulf province and died a number of years ago. Daniel" P. Sullivan received a common school education in New Brunswick and in the summer of 1888 came to Washington, settling at Edison, where he passed eight years at work on the farm of his unele, Daniel Sullivan. At the end of that period the young man leased two hundred and eighty aeres on Jarman prairie, fifty of which are in grain, the remainder devoted to pasturage. While his chief crop is hay and oats, he raises considerable live stock. Mr. Sullivan has remained in Skagit county ever since his first coming with the exception of trips back to his old home in New Brunswick, the first in 1894 and the second in 1899.

In the latter year in New Brunswick Mr. Sul- livan married Miss Frances Chessie, born in Han- well, New Brunswick, in 1878, daughter of Eph- raim and Frances ( Burgoyne) Chessie, natives of New Brunswick and farmers there until they came to Washington. They are now living on Jarman prairie. For a few months after her marriage Mrs. Sullivan remained in New Brunswick, while her husband returned to Skagit county and arranged for their home. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have two children, Ephraim L. R. and James Wesley. In pol- ities Mr. Sullivan is a Republican, but aside from serving as road supervisor he has never held or

sought office. The family are adherents of the Catholic faith. Aside from raising crops of hay and oats Mr. Sullivan raises live stock, keeping sixty head of graded cattle, a few horses, a number of hogs, etc. Mr. Sullivan is one of the bright young men of the community, a man of energy and accomplishment, enjoying the respect of all for his innate qualities of mind and heart.

AL BENSON is one of the prosperous and successful farmers of the Edison region of Skagit county, his home place being a mile and a half south of town. He has seen some of the pioneering life of the early eighties, but in recent years has been comfortably situated on his own property. AIr. Benson was born in Norway April 13, 1869, the son of Aleck Benson, a Norwegian farmer who came to the United States in 1902 and is now living with his daughter, Mrs. Anderson. Mrs. Carrie (Sorneson) Benson, the mother, was a native of Norway and passed her entire life there. She had five children. Young Benson attended the com- mon schools, remaining at home until he was seven- teen years of age, when he determined to come to the United States. He arrived on the La Conner flats in 1884 and at once went to work on the farm of John Ball, by whom he was employed for two years, then he was engaged for successive terms of one year each by Patrick Smith and Daniel Sul- livan. Three years of work for his brother, Ben, followed; then Mr. Benson obtained a lease of a farm from John Miller. After operating this for two years he was in a position to buy a place of his own. What he chose was raw land, but he has cleared eighty of the one hundred and twenty-five acres in the tract and now has an excellent farm on which he raises oats as his principal crop. On this place Mr. Benson has lived since 1899.

In 1900 at Whatcom Mr. Benson married Miss Serena Anderson, daughter of Anders and Hannah (Nelson) Sorneson, who are still living in Norway. Mrs. Benson was born in 1874 and received her edu- cation in the schools of Norway. On her arrival in the United States she went first to Minnesota. She and Mr. Benson have four children, Agnes, Her- man, Esther and Walter. In politics Mr. Benson is a Republican and in religion the family belongs to the Lutheran church. Since he has been farming for himself Mr. Benson has exhibited good business judgment and he has become recognized as one of the successful men of the community. In live stock he has sixteen cattle and eight head of horses. It has been by the exercise of energy and economy that Mr. Benson has placed himself in the position of independence he now enjoys and his career in Skagit county is like that of many another young man coming from foreign shores, who, by strict at- tention to business, have placed themselves in a few years in an enviable position. He has the fruit of

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ANDREW S. JOHNSON

RASMUS S. JOHNSON

NELS ANDERSON

FLETCHER W. CONN

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his years of toil about him, and is also rich in the confidence and respect of those who have been his associates and co-laborers.

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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 137

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