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 157

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 157
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 157

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BIOGRAPHICAL

i. m. and in 1904 he established the Snohomish Creamery. His practical knowledge of the pro- ducing end of the business, coupled with his com- mercial experience, has resulted in building up a trade for which his modern establishment has already proved inadequate to the demands made upon it. He is turning out an annual trade of about $60,000 and furnishing a ready market for producers. Mr. Philipsen is contemplating doub- ling the capacity of his plant, placing a steamer on the river for the more convenient collection of raw dairy material from the farmers along the river and otherwise developing to the utmost the possi- bilities of the situation.

Before leaving his native land Mr. Philipsen married Miss Josephine Unruh, daughter of Ernest Unruh, a native of Denmark, though now a resi- dent of Germany. To Mr. and Mrs. Philipsen have been born five children, of whom Ernest and an unnamed infant have died, Jerry, Ernest and Chris- tina are still living. Mr. Philipsen is prosperous in his line of business, a man energetic and with faculties alert to possibilities, a characteristic evi- dent in his taking advantage of an undeveloped dairy situation in Snohomish.

FRED SCHAFER, harness manufacturer and dealer of Snohomish, is one of the men who came into this part of the country in the early days. Though he is comparatively a young man, it may seem a little startling to the reader to understand that Mr. Schafer's introduction to the Puget Sound country came only after he had trudged across the crest of the Cascades from Ellensburg. then the western terminus of the Northern Pacific rail- road. Mr. Schafer was born in the far south of Germany, on the borderland of the country of the Alps, in February of 1866, the youngest of nine children of John G. and Dorothy (Apperspach) Schafer, farmer folk of the southern part of the Fatherland. Young Schafer received his educa- tion in the common schools of his native land and accompanied the members of his family to the United States in 1881. When fifteen years of age he became apprenticed to the trade of harness maker at Holgate, Henry County, Ohio, then the home of his parents. Four years later he left Hol- gate, on the lookout for a location for himself. Ile visited different parts of the country, working at his trade. until in 1886 his attention was called to the rapidly developing resources of Washington. The Northern Pacific railroad had not been con- structed further west than Ellensburg and at that point Mr. Schafer joined a band of travelers bound for the sound on foot. He took up a preemption claim some six miles from Snohomish, and for four years alternated between farming, developing his own holding and working for the railroad. In 1890 he accepted a position in Comegy's harness

shop in Snohomish, purchasing the establishment five years later. He has conducted the business ever since, enlarging and advancing with the growth of the community.

In June of 1891 Mr. Schafer married Miss Til- lie Peck, a native of Germany and daughter of parents who passed their entire lives in the old country. Four children were born to the union, two of whom, John and Edward, survive. Mrs. Schafer passed away late in the year 1898. In November of 1901 Mr. Schafer married Miss Emalie Johnson, a native of Minnesota and daugh- ter of natives of Sweden who are still living in the Prairie state. To this union one child has been born, named Clara. In politics Mr. Schafer is af- filiated with the Republican party, though he is not active in its councils. In fraternal circles he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, of the Foresters of America, of the Woodmen of the World and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in each of which organizations he is active. Mr. Schafer is one of the energetic busi- ness men of Snohomish, a man of integrity and enjoying the confidence of the commercial people of the city and surrounding country.

GEORGE M. COCHRAN, proprietor of the Snohomish Hardware Company, is one of the lead- ing merchants of the city and a man of varied ex- periences from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He came to the Pacific Northwest in 1883 and has since that time been actively engaged in commercial pur- suits. Mr. Cochran was born in Aroostook County, Maine, June 28, 1863, the third of seven children of Henry P. and Addie ( Keaton) Cochran, also natives of the Pine Tree state. The elder Cochran is of Irish extraction. The greater part of his life has been passed in the mercantile business, but he was a pioneer miner in California to which state he came first by the isthmus route in 1852, and again in 1863. He is now living in Tacoma. Mrs. Cochran prior to her marriage was a school teacher in her native state. George M. Cochran received his early education in the common schools and later took a course at Houlton Academy. When fifteen years of age he entered a drug store in Houlton for the purposes of studying the profession of drug- gist and learning general business principles. Dur- ing the last year of the four which he passed in this store, he filled the position of prescription clerk. In 1882 went to Boston and attended the Massachu- setts College of Pharmacy, also at the same time serving as prescription clerk in the store in which he worked. In 1883 he came to Ellisport, Idaho, where he remained but four months, ultimately set- tling in Montesano, Chehalis County, Washington, where in company with E. A. Lancaster he en- gaged in the hardware business for two years. At the end of that period Mr. Lancaster died, and

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his interest in the establishment was acquired by Mr. Cochran's brother. In 1898 the business was removed to Snohomish, and established as the Sno- homish Hardware Company, the brother being in charge, as Mr. Cochran had received appointment as deputy county treasurer in Chehalis county in the previous year. The deputyship continued until 1901, in which year Mr. Cochran came to Sno- homish and took charge of the business. In the same year C. N. Wilson purchased the interest of Mr. Cochran's brother, the new firm continuing the business as the Snohomish Hardware Company, under which style the establishment is now known, though in 1904 Mr. Cochran acquired Mr. Wilson's interest and is now sole owner of the store.

At Montesano, in 1887, Mr. Cochran married Miss Laura Campbell, daughter of Angus and Mag- gie (Singleton) Campbell, natives of Illinois. The father died when Mrs. Cochran was a child, but the mother is still living, a resident of Chehalis county. Mrs. Cochran was born in Mount Ster- ling, Illinois, and received her education there. She passed away in 1894, leaving two children: Alta, and Ralph C., now in the high school at Snohomish. In 1897 Mr. Cochran married Miss Retta Baker, daughter of William and Amanda (Young) Baker, natives of Kentucky who came to Washington in the 'seventies. The father is still living at the home of his daughter. Mrs. Cochran is a native of Illinois, but came with her parents to this state when a child. She received her education in the common and high school and also in the State Normal school at Ellensburg. To Mr. and Mrs. Cochran two children have been born, Lyall W. and Neil M. In fraternal circles Mr. Cochran is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and of the Encampment, also of the Rebekahs. and he has held the chair of noble grand in its sub- ordinate lodges. Mrs. Cochran is also a Rebekah and a past grand of that auxiliary order. In poli- tics Mr. Cochran is affiliated with the Democratic party. Though one of the comparatively new men in Snohomish business life Mr. Cochran has already made for himself a place high in the esteem of the business people and the public of the city.

CHARLES E. SPRAU, one of the proprietors of the Penobscot Hotel, the leading hostelry of Snohomish, is among the hustling citizens of that city, a well known hotel man of the county, and a popular citizen. He was born in Ohio in the closing days of 1865. December 20th, the son of Jacob and Julia (Burgdoerfer ) Sprau, natives of the Buck- eye state and of German ancestry. Two years after the birth of the subject of this biography the Sprau family removed from Ohio and settled on a farm in Michigan, where Charles E. Sprau received his education, together with his brothers and sisters. Jesse M., Roy A., Arthur B., Effie, Nina and

Ethelyn. The young man remained at home. . s- sisting his father on the farm, until he was twenty- four, at that age coming to the Puget sound coun- try and engaging in work in the saw mills for three years. In 1894 Mr. Sprau returned to his old home in the Peninsula state for a few months and then set his face once more toward the Pacific coast. He came to California and for two years was in the employ of the Kern County Land Company at Bakersfield. In 1896 he was once more in Snoho- mish county, working in the mills and at various occupations, at which he continued for three years. In 1899 he opened a cigar and confectionery store in this city, which he conducted with good success for five years, at the end of which period he formed a partnership with C. Gosch and leased the Penob- scot, the leading hotel of the city. The house has been popular with the traveling public, and under the energetic management of its present proprietors has steadily grown in the esteem of its patrons. Mr. Sprau is popular with all classes of the travel- ing and home public and largely because of this fact the business enjoys a liberal patronage of local and transient guests. In politics Mr. Sprau is a Re- publican ; in fraternal affiliations, a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Foresters of America. He is a man of liberal views, endowed with exec- utive ability, unquestionably lending his influence toward the betterment of every condition bearing on his home city and the state in general.

T. VENZEL URBAN, one of the leading mer- chant tailors of the city of Snohomish, within fifteen years has established a lucrative business in the manufacture of men's wearing apparel and at the present time enjoys a large list of patrons who place every confidence in his skill. Mr. Urban was born in Bohemia in the autumn of 1861, the son of Joseph Urban, who became a widower shortly after the birth of the subject of this biography. The elder Urban was born in 1807 and during his long life, which continued until 1888, was a farmer ex- cept when called to positions in the public service, where he was held in high esteem because of his marked ability. The other children of the elder Urban are: Joseph, born March 21, 1859 ; Frank, born in 1857: Mary, now Mrs. Frank Audel, born 1864-all living in Bohemia.

T. Venzel Urban received his education in the common schools of his native country, but at the age of fourteen left school and home and went to Vienna, Austria, where he began his apprentice- ship in the tailor trade. He passed five years in the Austrian capital, during one of which was in busi- ness on his own account. Returning to Bohemia, Mr. Urban passed two years there and in 1881 he came to the United States, settling in New Prague, Minnesota, where he worked in a tailor shop for three months. He then removed to Rice county,

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in southern Minnesota, and followed farming for six years. A short time was then spent in New Prague, after which he went to Duluth, on Lake Superior, where he worked at his trade for more than a year. In 1889 he came to the Puget sound country, and after spending a few months at his trade in Seattle, located in Snohomish, where he has ever since resided. For a time after coming here Mr. Urban was an employe of a tailoring es- tablishment, but he had not been here a year when he purchased the interests of his employer and he has since managed the business himself, establish- ing an excellent reputation as a practical, thorough tradesman and energetic business man.

In Letcher, South Dakota, November 21, 1892, Mr. Urban married Miss Annie Merleen, who, though a native of Texas, was a daughter of parents who were natives of Bohemia. Mr. and Mrs. Mer- leen are now living in Minnesota. To Mr. and Mrs. Urban have been born four children : Mary, Frank, Lawrence and Charles. In fraternal circles Mr. Urban is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Foresters, while Mrs. Urban is a mem- ber of the Royal Neighbors of America. Mr. Urban is regarded with favor by the citizens of Snohomish, not only on account of his sterling qualities as a tradesman and business man, but also because of his personal characteristics of affability, honor and integrity.

HON. WOODBURY B. SINCLAIR (de- ceased) was one of the pioneers of Snohomish city and county and a man widely known and highly respected throughout the entire Puget sound region. His career in this county was of such prominence and his contributions to the development of Sio- homish county were so many and of such effect that no history of the county would be complete without adequate reference to him. Mr. Sinclair was born in Kenduskeag, Maine, August 5, 1826, attended the common schools and the high school of his na- tive town, and after completing his schooling learned the trade of cooper. In 1851, when twenty- five years of age, Woodbury Sinclair was attracted to California by the glowing reports which followed the discovery of gold. In 1855 he came to Puget sound and in company with others built a saw .mill at Seabeck, Kitsap county,-the first in that section of the sound country. In 1861 he came to Cady- ville, now included in Snohomish, and opened a trading post for the exchange of supplies for the furs and cranberries of the Indians. Trade was in a very crude condition and often Mr. Sinclair re- ceived from the settlers home-made shingles, or "shakes," which in turn he forwarded to Victoria, where they were exchanged for merchandise and supplies. From Mr. Cady, who had given his name

to the early settlement, Mr. Sinclair purchased a re- linquishment to 160 acres where the city of Sno- homish is now situated. The name of the town was then changed and Mr. Sinclair platted his land into lots. In company with Mr. Clendenning, Mr. Sin- clair built the steamer "Tappy," the first steam craft to ply the waters of the Snohomish river. Traffic, by means of the boat, between Snohomish and other ports, soon became so extensive that additional carrying facilities were required, and the steamer "Chehalis" was purchased in Portland. Much diffi- culty was experienced in bringing the boat from the Oregon metropolis because no pilot could be found who understood navigating the course, espe- cially that portion of it commencing with the Strait of Fuca. This difficulty, however, was eventually overcome and the boat put in commission. From 1866 to 1870 Mr. Sinclair served in the territorial legislature. He was appointed custom house in- spector under Selycious Garfield and continued in that office until his death in 1872. His body was the first to be interred in the Snohomish cemetery, which is located on a part of the 160 acres which he had secured from Mr. Cady. Mr. Sinclair was the first Mason in Snohomish. He always labored un- selfishly for the upbuilding and for the progress of the town and the surrounding country. He was the possessor not only of rare and enviable qualities of mind and heart, but also of a comprehensive knowledge of men and affairs. In business mat- ters his judgment was rarely at fault and present prosperous conditions are but a fulfilment of his early prophecies.

GEORGE W. SHAW, agent at Snohomish of the Northern Pacific Express Company, and mem- ber of the firm of Shaw & Hodgins, dealers in school supplies, stationery, wall paper and general notions, is one of the pioneers of the city, in which he has been a business factor since 1888. Mr. Shaw was born in the Canadian gulf province of New Brunswick, January 23d, 1862, being the son of Alexander and Elsie ( Giberson) Shaw, both of whom were born in New Brunswick. The elder Shaw was of Scotch descent, springing from one of the old families of the province. He was engaged at milling and lumbering for many years in the East, being a large operator at Hartland and Car- fisle until fire destroyed his establishment in 1893, when he came to Snohomish to make his home with his son. Mrs. Shaw also came from one of the old families of New Brunswick of Scotch and Eng- lish extraction. She is the mother of thirteen chil- dren, of whom the living are: George W., Maria, Clara, Mary, Ruth, Colby, Donald and Lee. Mrs. Shaw makes her home with the subject of this biography. From his earliest days George W. Shaw was connected with his father's business in-

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terests. When but a lad he was bookkeeper for the elder Shaw in his lumbering and milling business and as he became older was his father's general assistant. They operated the mill in the summer and carried on a logging business during the win- ter months. In 1886 Mr. Shaw came to the Puget sound country and for two years worked in a saw mill at Seattle. He came to Snohomish in 1888 and opened a music store, later establishing his present business. In sharp contrast is the Snohomish of to-day with what it was when Mr. Shaw first saw it. Rather than take the longer route by the river from Marysville, Mr. Shaw walked over the trail. The river provided the only means for transportation and no such thoroughfare as Front street, now the principal business street of the city, was thoughit of. In recent years it has been a matter of regret with Mr. Shaw that he did not at once take up Jumbering, but to his eyes at that time the methods in vogue were so different from what he had known and the means seemed so primitive that he decided that there was a better field for himself than en- gaging in that industry. He had been carefully trained to the business and thoroughly understood it, and had he then not been turned aside by condi- tions as he viewed them at that time, he would have undoubtedly been one of the factors in the lumber industry of Snohomish county.

On New Year's Day, 1890, in Seattle, Mr. Shaw married Miss Louise M. Noble, danghter of Issacher and Caroline (Thomas) Noble, natives of New Brunswick. Mr. Noble was a blacksmith by profession, a man of high principles and respected because of the nobility of his impulses and his deeds. He passed away in 1872. Four of his six children are living: Edwin, William, Mrs. Shaw and Ida. To Mr. and Mrs. Shaw one son has been born- Varian R .- who first saw the light on New Year's Day, 1892. In politics Mr. Shaw is a Republican. In addition to the Snohomish store, Shaw & Hodg- ins have a store of similar stock at Everett. Mrs. Shaw is the proprietor of a millinery store at Sno- homish and is recognized as an active business woman of exceptional ability. Mr. Shaw is one of the most highly respected citizens of Snohomish and a man of most excellent qualities of mind and heart, preeminently of solid business capacity.

ARTHUR C. KNIGHT, proprietor of the racket store at Snohomish, a place where is kept a general line of men's and women's furnishings and notions, is a man who has seen the city, a spot in the wilderness alongside of the river, pointed out in the days agone as a stopping place for canoes and other river craft, grow into the city of Snoho- mish, as she is known to-day. It was in November of 1885 that Mr. Knight first saw Snohomish, then a hamlet and with no promise of growth to its pres-

ent importance. At that time Mr. Knight preferred lumbering in the woods near Port Gamble to re- maining in the settlement. Mr. Knight was born in Monson, Maine, April 11. 1862, the fourth of seven children of Amos and Lois (Hall) Knight, both of whom sprang from old-time families of the Pine Tree state. The elder Knight was born in Oxford county in 1827 and became a man active in public affairs and a selectman of the town of Mon- son. Of his seven children Arthur is the fourth, the three others living being: Peleg W., Dora M., and Lois H. Arthur C. Knight grew to manhood in his native town and attended the schools there, but when twenty years of age entered the employ of a general merchandise establishment, where he remained for three years. He came to Snohomish in 1885 and became clerk in a general store. A year later Mr. Knight was at work in the woods near Port Gamble. A few months later he oper- ated a dairy, but returned to Snohomish in 1887, engaging in logging and lumbering. The latter half of the year 1889 found him in the meat and butcher business. He then entered lumbering and remained in that line of business activity until in 1898 he went to Alaska in the column of gold seek- ers who filed over the passes into the Klondike country, ultimately making his way to the sands of Nome's seashore. In the fall of 1900, having been absent from Snohomish two and a half years, he returned and for the three years following reën- tered the lumbering business. Early in 1903 he purchased the business of Frank Moody and has since conducted it along lines of success from both a business and personal viewpoint. In fraternal circles Mr. Knight is a member of the Foresters of America and of the Brotherhood of American Yeo- men. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Knight is one of the men who has seen many changes in life since he first saw Snohomish, but has invariably kept abreast of the business and social growth of the community. He is a thorough gentleman, courteous to all and popular with his fellows. while enjoying as a member of the community a position high in the esteem of all.

BENJAMIN THOMAS, now farming three miles south of the city of Snohomish, but in former years a contractor and builder, is one of the men who have seen much of business in widely separated parts of the globe. Carpenter, contrac- tor and farmer are the three words which indicate his life's work, and in each of the trinity of branches of industry he has been successful. Mr. Thomas was born in southern Wales in 1867, the fifth of six children of Thomas and Elizabeth ( Jones) Thomas, both of whom are descended from Welsh families which date back to the days even beyond the Tudors. Both the father and the mother are

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stitt living, residents of Wales, the parents of six children, four of whom are still living: Thomas, John, Benjamin and Mary, the last named being in South Africa. Until nineteen years of age Ben- jamin Thomas led the life of the usual lad of South Wales, attending the common schools and learning from his father the arts and business methods of the carpenter and contractor. After leaving the land of "soft Llewellyn's lay," Mr. Thomas lo- cated in Los Angeles, California, and worked at the carpenter's bench for some months, ultimately going to San Francisco. Fifteen months later he was in Seattle, working at carpentering and con- tracting. In 1891 he came to Snohomish county and bought some land, following his trade of car- pentering also. Then the unusual happened to Mr. Thomas. He started on a trip to his old home in Wales, fully expecting that he was starting on a mere vacation which had as its chief points the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago and the land of his birth. He did not return, however, until he had made a circle of half the circumference of the globe. Fate willed that Mr. Thomas was to go to South Africa during the Boer-English war and engage in contracting. He was in the chief cities of the country-Pretoria, Cape Town and other centers-engaged in engineering and construction work, rather than as a belligerent. The trip was successful financially, and after returning to his native land with his family, Mr. Thomas again set his face toward the slopes of the Puget sound coun- try. In 1900 he was in Everett engaged in con- tracting, being in charge of the erection of some of the chief buildings of that city, notably the Amer- ican National bank building and the Colby block. In 1904 he purchased his present farm of forty acres and is now engaged in farming eight acres, devoted to fruit raising, and attending to a general contracting work.

In 1891 at Snohomish Mr. Thomas married Miss Gwen Morgan, daughter of Morgan and Hannah (Williams) Morgan, both of whom are natives of Wales. Morgan Morgan has for a number of years been a resident of Snohomish county and is now a retired farmer of the vicinity of Snohomish. Of recent years Mr. Thomas has been engaged in real estate speculation in Everett property, dealing in improved city lots and also property which is in demand. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been born six children: T. Edwin. M. Glyn, David Tyssil (deceased), W. Ellis, Myfanny and E. H. Llew- ellyn. In politics Mr. Thomas is a Republican and in fraternal circles a member of the Elks. He is a man of wideawake nature, quick to see an oppor- tunity, endowed with the happy gift which impels a man to take chances and at the same time to weigh carefully the possibilities of conservative specula- tion. Mr. Thomas is one of the substantial citizens of Snohomish county, respected highly by his asso-

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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 157

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