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 148

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 148
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 148

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Miss Hannah Chisholm and Mr. Minkler were married in 1873, and they have eight children : Mand, John, Garfield, Birdsey, Mattie, Edith and Ethel,-twins, and Elmer. Mr. Minkler is a member of the Knights of Pythias and a Mason. Throughout his residence in Skagit county he has been a man upon whom the Republican party al- ways relies. He was a member of the first state legislature in the winter of 1889-90, served two terms in the 'eighties as county commissioner, and has been delegate to most of the county and state conventions. He is considered one of the best business men in the county, conservative, farseeing and shrewd, and personally he is unusually popular. His name must ever be honorably associated with those of the sturdy characters who, with unfalter- ing courage and determination, have for more than a quarter of a century battled with nature in her swamp and forest strongholds, bringing order out of chaos, making fertile the waste places, and changing the crooked trails into broad avennes that now front the homes and institutions of civilization, pass through picturesque villages and towns, and lead to the populous centers of commerce, industry and erudition. To such men as Mr. Minkler the Northwest must ever owe an honest debt of grati- tude.

HENRY HURSHMAN, merchant of Lyman, who has made a marked success of his business dur- the fifteen years he has been in Skagit county, re- calls the time when there was not population enough up the river to warrant a mercantile ven- ture of any kind. He was born in Springfield, Illi- nois, April 13, 1862, the son of Charles Hurshman, a German who came to America from the old coun- try and engaged in the meat business. The elder Hurshman, during the Civil war, had a contract with the government to furnish meat to the soldiers at Camp Butler, Springfield. He still is living at the advanced age of seventy-seven. Of his mother

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Henry Hurshman remembers but little, for she died when he was a small boy, and the remarriage of his father, coupled with the boy's going to live with one John Lutz, obliterated from his memory much that he knew of her. He was the youngest of five children, the living now being widely scattered. He remained eight years at the home of Mr. Lutz, at- tending school and working on a farm. At eighteen he commenced railroading, his first work being as fireman running out of Springfield. Mr. Hursh- man was an ambitious youth, and during the seven years he was in railroad work he attended the night classes of a business college, ultimately completing a regular course. He came west in 1889 and after stopping a short time in Seattle, moved to Skagit county the same year, settled at Hamilton, and took a contract for clearing a part of the site of the pro- jected town. The roads were bad and he endured many hardships on the trip in, carrying his blankets on his back and in places wading knee deep through mud and water. While working on this contract at Hamilton he took up two claims near the town- site and began improving them. Later he sold these and opened a confectionery store at Hamilton and then a general merchandise establishment at Lyman, but he still claims Hamilton as his place of residence and votes there. He has, however, sold some of his interests in the latter town in recent years. He owns the business and building at Ly- man and still holds the building he occupied when in Hamilton. He believes in Skagit county and its great resources and thinks there is no better place anywhere in the world for a man of moderate means who is capable of taking advantage of the opportunities offered. In politics he is an active, enthusiastic Republican.

MRS. MARY MARTIN, in the years that she has operated a farm a mile and a half west of Ly- man, has demonstrated that a woman is competent to manage an agricultural industry and earn the respect of the business community. Mrs. Martin is a native of Belgium, having been born there May 13, 1854, the daughter of Joseph Paradise, who died when his daughter was twelve years of age. Of her mother, she recalls nothing, having been reared by a brother. Mrs. Martin is one of five children, the others being Joel, Alexander, John and Felice. After her father's death, the girl lived with a brother until she came to the United States and Chicago a quarter of a century ago. She re- mained in Chicago for three years, at the end of which period she came to Skagit county and set- tled at Hamilton for two years; but has lived on the present place for a score of years.

In 1876 she was married to Clement J. Martin, from whom she has been separated for three years. In the separation Mrs. Martin retained the farm and Mr. Martin the stock, the members of the fan- ily making their home with their mother. Mr. Mar-

tin has since remarried and is living in Alberta, Canada. Mrs. Martin has had seven children, one of whom is dead. The living are Frank, Jennie, Jule W., Josephine, Maggie and Sylvia. In politics Mrs. Martin's sons are Republicans. Frank is a member of the Knights of Pythias. The family at- tends the Catholic church. The farm consists of 115 acres of land, 20 of which are cleared, the re- mainder being in pasture. Mrs. Martin has distinct recollection of the early days on this place, of the clearing made with oxen, of the lack of roads and of the entire absence of facilities of the modern kind. She is an energetic woman, full of resources and of business capacity not uncommon in women of foreign birth. She is honored by her sons and daughters and respected and admired by the entire community.

ALEXANDER ROSS, a farmer, stockman and raiser of registered short horns three miles west of Lyman, was attracted to Skagit county through an early connection in San Francisco with David Bat- ey, one of the pioneers of the upper Skagit valley. Though in those pioneer days he acquired interests here, he did not make Skagit county his home until 1892. He was born in Ross shire, Scotland, in 1853, the third of seven sons of Alexander and Tinne Ross, Scottish farming people, now dead. But three children remain : Donald in Ross shire, David, near Sedro-Woolley, and Alexander. As a boy young Ross passed the life of a Scottish farm lad and at the age of sixteen years was apprenticed to the trade of carpenter. At twenty, having served his term, he came to the United States, and in May, 1812, was at the carpenter's bench in San Francisco. In connection with his work he went to the Ha- waiian Islands and helped erect mills for Claus Spreckels, then sugar king. For twenty years Mr. Ross alternated between San Francisco and Hono- lulu and the other islands of the Pacific group, but in 1892 he came to La Conner and on the advice of his old friend, Mr. Batey, took up his present place, then all in timber. Leaving his brother in charge of his Skagit county interests, he has made frequent trips to San Francisco. On one occasion he im- ported from California five head of registered short- horns, the first thoroughbreds of that breed to be brought here. They cost considerable money, but the venture has proved highly successful and he has imported a number of registered bulls, the en- tire series of importation resulting in a very choice collection of cattle. He has also imported some Percheron mares for the purpose of raising draft horses. Mr. Ross is the owner of 140 acres of land, and has recently sold 200 acres, retaining pas- ture rights on the latter tract. In fraternal circles he is an Odd Fellow and a past grand ; in politics he is a Republican and has represented his section in the county conventions. Mr. Ross is a man of considerable means, thoroughly reliable and re- spected in his community.

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PETER W. TRUMAN, a farmer and dairy- man, living a short distance east of Lyman, has demonstrated what a man with only $300 to start with can do in comparatively few years, in Skagit county. By energy, thrifty and constant application to his work, he has accumulated considerable prop- erty and now is considered well to do in his com- munity. He was born in Cheshire, England, Janu- ary 26, 1864, the oldest of the seven children of James S. and Jane (Wright) Trueman. As a lad he worked in a cotton factory four years, then at the age of twelve he went to work in a stone quarry. In 1883, he crossed the Atlantic to Belleville, On- tario, and there he worked for the railroads a few years, later engaging in farming. Early in the year 1888, he came to Seattle, Washington, but eventu- ally selecting Skagit county for his future home, he went up the Skagit river and took land twenty miles above the mouth of Baker river. There were only two white women there at the time, and settlers were few. Four years later, having proved up on his place, he came down to Lyman and commenced work in a logging camp, four miles below the town. After being thus engaged for three years, he mar- ried, moved to Lyman, and began work in a shingle bolt camp. In 1898 he purchased land in the vicin- ity and a year later built the house upon it, in which he now lives. He afterward bought the place ad- joining his original Lyman property on the south, and he has since gradually drifted into cattle rais- ing and dairying on his pleasant farm of eighty- eight acres. A firm believer in selected stock, he keeps a fine Jersey bull at the head of his herd, while his hogs are splendid Berkshires, and all his livestock is the best obtainable. He also has a fine young orchard.

In 1895 Mr. Trueman married Mrs. Emma Ries, widow of Nicholas Ries, who bore to her first hus- band four children, Clara, Josie. Ernest and Albert. The Trueman children are three, namely, Fred, Ruth and Jean H. Mr. Trueman is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Modern Woodmen of America, while the family are adherents of the Episcopal church. In politics he is a Republcan, ac- tive in primaries, caucuses, and assemblies, having missed only one of the county conventions of his party in eight years. He has been justice of the peace four terms : is clerk of the school board, and was an active and potent factor in the organization of the Hamilton high school district. The True- man family is one of the most popular and highly respected in the community.

AUGUST W. SCHAFER, manager and cash- icr of the Bank of Hamilton, is one of the men who have a firm belief in the future of eastern Skagit county and in the speedy development of the re- sources of the country tributary to Hamilton ; and Mr. Schafer's carcer in the banking business at this point substantiates his willingness to abide by that

belief. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 18:5, the son of August Schafer, one of the prominent educators of the Badger state. The elder Schafer was born in Germany, but came to the United States when a young man. He soon be- gan his career as a teacher, first serving in the country schools and later in the city schools. He served as principal of several of the schools in Mil- waukee, also was an instructor in the business col- lege there. He died in 1898 at the age of fifty-two years. The mother, Mrs. Dorothy (Gabel) Schafer, is a native of Wisconsin, of German descent, and is now living with her son at Hamilton. Young Schafer in his boyhood days attended the common schools and later took a course in the college at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, supplementing it with a course in a business college. He then became clerk in a drug store in Milwaukee and continued so em- ployed for two and a half ycars, leaving to enter the office of a large manufacturing establishment in that city. In 1893, the year of the World's Columbian Exposition, he went to Chicago and filled a clerical position in the offices of the Pullman Palace Car Company. A year later he came west to Hamilton, Washington, where he had acquaintances, and his visit resulted in his accepting a position as clerk in the bank of I. E. Shrangher & Company. In 1896, on the election of Mr. Shraugher as county at- torney and his removal to Mount Vernon, the man- agement of the bank was left in Mr. Schafer's hands. A year later the institution went out of business, liquidating all indebtedness, the entire work of settlement devolving on Mr. Schafer. Called back to Wisconsin by the sickness and death of his father in 1899, Mr. Schafer filled out the un- expired term of his father as an instructor there and settled up the business of the estate. Upon re- turning to the West he took an active interest in forming the bank known as that of J. Yungbluth & Company, acquiring an interest in the institution and becoming its manager and cashier.

In 1899, Aliss Cora Bemis, a native of Michigan and the daughter of Charles E. Bemis, a shingle manufacturer, became the bride of Mr. Schafer, and to their union two children have been born, Dor- othy, April 17, 1900, and A. Donald, in November, 1901. In fraternal affiliation, Mr. Schafer is a member of the Foresters and Improved Order of Red Men. His public spirit and the position he oc- cupies among his neighbors are clearly evidenced by the fact that he has served as city clerk, council- man and mayor ; member of the school board and its chairman. At present he is clerk of the board of the union high school district. With J. H. Smith and James Cochrane he has helped to push the high school proposition to the front and he is still main- taining his position as a champion of the project. He believes that the resources of the Hamilton dis- trict, outside of its known extensive mines, are am- ple to maintain and increase the business of the

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town. Mr. Schafer is one of the highly respected, successful and influential citizens of Hamilton and the upper Skagit country.

GEORGE A. HENSON, the popular mayor of Hamilton, is one of the "Native Sons of Califor- nia," born July 25, 1856, in the placer diggings at the historic "old Sutter's mill," where his father was mining at the time. He is, however, as proud of the state of his adoption as he is of the place of his birth. His father, William T. Henson, was a native of Kentucky, of German descent, but his for- bears had lived in the Blue Grass state for several generations. He was one of those brave men who crossed the plains in 1849. He returned later to Kentucky for a wife, but soon was in California again, and he spent the rest of his days in the Gold- en state, passing out of life there in 1898, at the age of seventy-four. Mrs. Mary (Allen) Henson, the mother of George A., a native of North Caro- lina, of French descent, passed away in 1884. George A. Henson was born and raised at Auburn, Placer county, California, the heart of the country which produced the gold excitement of '49. He was educated at Placerville, known in the old gold- seeking days as Hangtown, and was reared in the atmosphere of mines and mining, with the excep- tion of the years of his life between seventeen and twenty-two, when he learned the trade of machinist in the Union Iron Works in San Francisco. After this he had charge of the mine machinery in El Do- rado for a time, then he went to the big Mayflower mine in Placer county, where he remained in charge of the pumps and machinery until 1889. In that year he came to Skagit county as machinist for the Skagit-Cumberland Coal Company of San Francis- co, which was operating coal mines near Hamilton. by Mr. Henson, who is now superintendent of the The machinery was brought by boat and installed mining operations of the company in this county.

In 1894 Mr. Henson married Mrs. Delia Par- burry, a native of Amador county, California, but of German descent. Her maiden name was Ludekin. To this union has been born one son, George A. Henson, Jr. Of Mr. Henson's father's family there remain Miss Mary Henson ; Mrs. Louise Thompson, wife of an attorney of Portland, Oregon; and three brothers, William, Charles and Henry, living in California. By her first husband Mrs. Henson had three children, Louis, Callie and Claude. Mrs. Hen- son, who is one of the most popular women of Northwestern Washington, in 1905 received an ap- pointment as one of the hostesses of the Washing- ton State building at the Lewis & Clark Exposition. In fraternal circles Mr. Henson is an Odd Fellow, his membership being in a California lodge ; in poii- tics he is a Democrat. He was elected county com- missioner in 1902 for the long term, overcoming by his personal popularity a large normal Republi- can majority. He was one of the organizers of the

Citizens' Bank of Anacortes, in which enterprise he was associated with W. T. Odlin and Dr. M. B. Mattice of Sedro-Woolley, but he has had little to do with its management, which is left largely to Mr. Odlin, though he furnished much of the capital upon which the bank started business. Mr. Hen- son is one of the substantial citizens of Skagit county, and one who has contributed much to its progress.

JAMES J. CONNER, coal operator and owner of coal and iron lands in the Skagit valley, is one of the oldest settlers in Skagit county, and has done much to develop the resources of the territory. He feels that the opportunities are by no means ex- hansted by the great influx of people who have come here since he did, but believes that the resources of Skagit have been only touched as yet. Mr. Con- ner is a native of Ireland, born in 1842, the son of John O'Conner, also a native of the Emerald Isle, who came to the United States in 1843 and began railroading. He was with the Philadelphia & Reading road for thirty-five years, with headquar- ters at Conner's, near Schuylkill, which was named for his father. Mrs. Nora (Shanahan) O'Conner, the mother, has long been dead. James J. Conner was but a year old when his parents came to this country, and he was left at home with his grand- mother for three years, coming with her to Pennsyl- vania in 1846. He grew to manhood in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, and received his education there. At sixteen years of age he went to railroad- ing, and followed that until in 1863 General Lee's army began its invasion of Pennsylvania. A year before young Conner had tried to enlist but was re- jected. He did manage to get in a short-enlistment term in Maryland, but had not had enough of fight- ing, and was about to enter the navy, when deterred by his uncle. Instead, he went to Colorado, and a year later was in the Third Colorado, fighting In- dians, under Colonel Sivington. The expedition was against the Sioux, Cheyennes and Arapahoes, about 780 of whom were killed before the close of the trouble. Mr. Conner then engaged in mining until 1868, when he passed west along the line of the Union Pacific into Utah, doing a merchandise business. Later he went into the hotel business and served the first meal in the station at Ogden on Christmas Day, 1869, feeding over 300 persons, it being a grand Christmas dinner, the favor of the railroad company. In 1870 Mr. Conner came to the Puget Sound country, reaching La Conner in February. His cousin, J. S. Conner, was there at the time, having purchased a trading post and put in the first real stock of goods. Mr. Conner took up 160 acres of land as a preemption, and in 1872 laid out the town of La Conner, selecting the name in honor of his cousin's wife, Mrs. (Louise) A. Conner. A year later Mr. Conner erected the first hotel in the place, and it was also the first hotel in

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what has since become Skagit county. Between 1874 and 1877 Mr. Conner ran a trading vessel on the sound, and entered into partnership with John Campbell, the first man on Skagit river to stay there with a stock of goods. A man named Barker had opened a store about one mile above where Skagit City now stands, but had been killed by the Indians. This store was later removed to the site of Skagit City, on Mr. McAlpin's land. They gave the name to the settlement. Mr. Conner soon bought out Mr. Campbell's interest and in turn was bought out by Daniel Gage in 1876. During these years Mr. Conner kept hotel at La Conner and managed his trading vessel. He also became interested in the coal mines near where Hamilton now stands, and in 1815 took up homestead and mineral claims there. He grubstaked the men who discovered the Ruby Creek mines in 1878-9-Charles von Pressentin, Frank Kohn, Frank Scott and two others whose names have escaped Mr. Conner's memory. He remained in active management of the La Conner hotel business until 1879, when he removed to where Hamilton now is to look after his coal in- terests. These deposits were the first bituminous coal to be discovered in the Puget Sound country, the exact date of their discovery being in 1873, whereas the Wilkinson mines near Tacoma and Carbonado were discovered a few months later. The first shipments of Mr. Conner's coal were made in 1880 consisting of about 100 tons to down the river points, transportation being by canoes, three tons to a canoe. On tests it showed up excellent as black- smiths' coal, and has since proved to be satisfactory for this class of work. For three days in 1881 it was used in the Seattle gas furnaces and proved reasonably satisfactory for the manufacture of il- luminating gas. In 1887-8 Patrick McKav of San Francisco, through his agent, F. J. Hoswell, leased Mr. Conner's mines, and at a later time made an at- tempt to obtain permanent possession of them in the name of the Skagit-Cumberland Coal Company. Mr. Conner resisted these attempts and threw the mines into court, and the result was a prolonged litigation and the closing of the mines. An adjustment has been reached, and it is probable that the deposits will be reopened shortly. There are about 3,000 acres of coal land here, the Skagit-Cumberland peo- ple having about 870 acres and the Conner associa- tion about 2.100 acres. At one time the iron hold- ings could have been sold to a Michigan company to good advantage and the coal output could have been contracted to the Union Pacific, but for the litigation. Mr. Conner sent 3,000 pounds of his iron-ore to the Chicago Exposition in 1893, which Prof. Cherry submitted to a working test and pro- nounced to be superior for the manufacture of steel to all other deposits in the United States, save one. Mr. Conner shipped 400 tons of his ore to Irondale in 1902, and in May of 1905 sent specimens weigh- ing 2,850 pounds to the exposition at Portland.

The deposits are in two grades of both coal and iron, and now that litigation has been settled, the property awaits development and the influx of some capital.

In 1887 at Coupeville Mr. Conner married Miss Annin M. Kinith, a native of Portland, Oregon, daughter of Jolin and Jane (Carter) Kinith. Through her mother, Mrs. Conner is a member of the Carter family, which at one time owned a large portion of the land on which the metropolis of Ore- gon now stands. Mr. and Mrs. Conner have six children: Preston J., Ernest J., Mabel N., Cora, Charles and Bessie. The Conner family attends the Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Conner is a Republican and for five years previous to 1903 was postmaster at Hamilton, receiving his appointment from President Mckinley. He has served as a member of the school board. In fraternal affiliation, he is a member of the La Conner post of the Grand Army of the Republic. His financial interests all center in the reopening of the coal and iron mines at Hamilton, and he overlooks no opportunity to exploit their value, which is generally considered very great. No citizen of Skagit county probably has been more closely identified with its pioneer his- tory, with the development of its resources and its material progress, than has James J. Conner.

JOHN R. BALDRIDGE, liquor dealer and rancher of Hamilton, has been in Skagit county since 1885, with the exception of two years spent in Alaska during the height of the gold excitement in the northland, where he did well. On leaving Alas- ka he came back to Hamilton and he has been in active business here ever since. Mr. Baldridge was born in Floyd county, Kentucky, in September of 1865. His father, William Baldridge, was also a native of the Blue Grass state, hut came to Skagit county in the late eighties and is still living at Ham- ilton. The mother, Mrs. Phoebe J. (Beverley) Baldridge, a native of Virginia, died at the age of forty-five years, leaving nine children, of whom the subject of this review is the oldest. John R. Bald- ridge's life was spent on the old Kentucky farm and in attendance on the schools of his native state, until he was twenty years of age, when he came with his parents to Skagit county. The elder Baldridge took up a homestead up the river, which subsequently was taken as a part of the townsite of Hamilton. The town was laid out in 1889, at which time it boasted only of a store, but the operations of the coal company contributed to the rapid development of the new town, and soon there were 1,500 people there. The senior Baldridge disposed of much of his holding during the boom days, and in the spring of 1890 the junior Baldridge opened up a livery business, which he continued to manage for five years. He went to Skagway, Alaska, in 1896, in time to participate in the rush of a year later. In two years he had cleared up what he considered

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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 148

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