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 164

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 164
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 164

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In 1886 Mr. Heide married Agnes F. Hauser, daughter of John Hauser of Godfrey, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Heide are parents of five children. all of whom are living. The family own a beautiful home on Rucker avenue, Everett. In fraternal affilia- tion, Mr. Heide is a member of the time-honored Masonic order and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is not a little proud of the fact that his splendid professional success has been won by fair and honorable means, that he has conquered life thus far with worthy weapons, and that while

winning a place in the front rank of an exacting and difficult calling he has also won and retained a. high reputation for integrity and moral rectitude.

ALEXANDER KEAY, now serving his second term as city treasurer of Everett, has been identi- fied conspicuously with the growth of Port Gard- ner's metropolis from the fall of 1891 when Swal- well's first addition was thrown open to the army of people congregated to begin the work of build- ing a great city. Mr. Keay was born at Blairgourie, Perthshire, Scotland, February 1, 1862. His father, Alexander Keay, a Highlander, was a native of Perthshire, also, who lived and died in his native land. He was a farmer, one of the prominent men of his section and politically influential in the Lib- eral party. His death occurred in 1889 at the age of sixty-three. Catherine ( Fraser) Kcay, the moth- er of Alexander Keay, still living on the old home- stead, is a Lowlander, born in 1831. Her father was a prominent farmer of his district and to-day the family owns a valuable estate of more than 1,000 acres, considered an unusual holding in Scot- land. The subject of this sketch received his edu- cation in the parish schools of Glenshee and at the age of eighteen began to make his own way in the world. His first work was as shipping clerk in the office of Kummond Luke & Company, Dundee, whose employ he entered in 1880. With this firm he remained four years, during which he decided to follow book-keeping as a profession and in the succeeding years held various positions in that capacity in both Scotland and America. In 1889 he came to Canada, locating at Vancouver, British Columbia. He visited Seattle and other points on the sound, but did not cross the border until 1890. A year later, in the fall of 1891 he accepted a posi- tion with Geddes & Hall, managers of the River- side wharf in the budding city of Everett, and sub- sequently he himself leased the wharf from W. G. Swalwell and conducted a hay, grain and feed store in connection with it. So it was that he saw Ever- ett's pioneer days, witnessing the leveling of forest and jungle on the beautiful peninsula and the grad- ual building of the present substantial, growing city upon the site. Mr. Keay became secretary-treasurer of the McGhie Dressed Beef Company in 1900 and held that position until his election as city treas- urer in the fall of 1904. So well did he serve the city that he was again called to the treasurer's of- fice in December. 1905, and in that important capacity is making a record for fidelity, integrity and thoroughness which is winning for him golden opinions.

Miss Any McGhie, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Snook) McGhie, was united in marriage to Mr. Keay in 1896. Samuel McGhic, a native of Scotland, born in 1828, is still living, his home be- ing at Superior, Wisconsin. He became one of On-

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tario's carly pioneers and during his active life was engaged in farming. Sarah Snook was born in England in 1831 and when a child accompanied her parents to Ontario, where her father followed farming. Mrs. Keay was born at Elmwood, On- tario. She came with her brothers, Norval and John McGhie, to Everett in 1893, they founding the McGhie Dressed Beef Company, one of the large meat firms of this section of Puget sound. Two children have been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Kcay: Alexander Norval, June, 1892; and William McGhie, December, 1905. Mr. Keay is affiliated with the B. P. O. E., K. of P., W. O. W. and the Tribe of Ben Hur ; Mrs. Keay belongs to the Presbyterian church. Mr. Keay is one of the influential men of his party, the Republican, as he is in the public life of the community in which he has lived so many years. The Kcay home at the corner of Norton avenue and Thirty-second street is among the most inviting, hospitable homes in the city rendered the more attractive by the sterling personal qualities of the owners and hosts.

HON. JOHN C. DENNEY, who recently re- tired from the superior court bench of Snohomish county after an aggregate service of ten years. extending over a period fraught with litigation of more than ordinary importance, bears the distinc- tion of being one of the ablest jurists in the state. His long judicial service has been an honorable one in every particular, marked by eminently fair deci- sions covering a wide range and commanding not only the approval of the bar but winning him the confidence of the general public.

The founder of the American branch of the Denney family was John Denney, the great-grand- father of Judge Denney. This ancestor came to America in colonial times and fought three years with the liberty-loving colonists to throw off the English yoke. After the Revolution he settled in Pennsylvania, first following his trade, that of a tailor, then engaging extensively in the tannery business and in the manufacture of flour. lle was a man of marked ability and great energy, whose fitness for leadership was so generally recognized that he represented Green County, Pennsylvania, in the legislature for eighteen years. His son, also named John, was a successful farmer and stock- man. John Denney the third. father of Judge Den- ney, was born in Green County, Pennsylvania, but was taken by his parents to Ohio while still in child- hood, the family settling in Carroll county. He became one of the pioneers of Delaware county and pursued farming, stockraising and other lines of business with great success during his entire life. In 1865 he left Ohio for lowa. remained there in- til 1869 ; he then moved to Indiana, where his home remained until his death in 1889. Hle was a Whig in politics, and though actively interested in public

affairs, never consented to be a candidate for office. His wife bore the maiden name of Sarah Taylor and was of English birth, born in Manchester in 1811. She came with her parents to America when only fourteen years old, Troy, New York, becoming her home. Her father was a manufac- turer of cotton and woolen goods. She was mar- ried to John Denney in Carroll County, Ohio. Her death occurred at Valparaiso, Indiana, in 1903. The father, John Denney, passed away at the age of seventy-seven.

John C. Denney was born November 18, 1852, in Delaware County, Ohio. He received his early education in the common schools of Ohio and In- diana, later attended high school and finished his literary education at the Northern Indiana Normal school. Upon leaving that institution he at once began the study of law at Newcastle, Indiana, pur- suing his studies in the office of a friend, until ad- mission to the bar in 1828. From Indiana he then removed to Rooks County, Kansas, and hung out his shingle at Stockton, which was his home for ten years. He left a lucrative, established practice there to seek the greater opportunities offered young men by the rapidly developing Northwest, locating in July, 1888, at Snohomish, then the county seat. The law firm of Humes, Headlee & Denney was soon organized, one of the strongest in this section and one of the leading firms on Puget sound in those days. The senior member, Mr. Humes, was shortly called to the bench of King county, and in March, 1891. Mr. Denney himself was appointed superior judge of Snohomish county by Governor Ferry, occasioned by the organization of a new judicial district. In 1892 Judge Denney was elected by his fellow citizens to serve a full term, retiring with an enviable record January 1. 1892. The fa- mous county seat contest between Everett and Sno- homish was waged in the courts during this term of office, calling for an unusual nicety of judgment in its adjudication. The firm of Denney & Hulbert. the junior partner being Robert A. Hulbert, prac- ticed during the next four years or until January, 1901. when Judge Denney was again called to the Snohomish county bench, over which he presided four years with his usual satisfaction. Since re- summing private life he has been associated with Judge Emory, their offices being in Everett. Their clientage is one of the largest in this section, be- speaking in strong terms the strength of the firm. Judge Denney is also interested to some extent in. the development of the mineral resources of the Cascades.

The marriage of Miss Harriet M. McNceley to Judge Denney was solemnized December 31, 1829. at Stockton, Kansas. Her father was a native of the Buckeye state, who followed farming there until his death. Her mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Lawry, was also a native of Ohio. Mrs.

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Denney was born September 20, 1861, in Tuskaros County, Ohio. Three children have blessed the union of Judge and Mrs. Denney: Arthur A., born September 21, 1881 ; Robert G., September 5, 1889 ; and Charles G., September 12, 1900. Both Mr. and Mrs. Denney are affiliated with the Masonic order,. while the Judge is also connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Maccabees and the B. P. O. E. Mrs. Denney is a member of the Methodist church, which he attends and supports, and she is identified promi- nently with the leading women's clubs of the city. The Denney home on Colby avenue is one of the handsome residences of Everett and is the social center of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances drawn thither by the genial, broadly sympathetic qualities and the culture of its hospitable owners. The Judge is not only one of the foremost citizens of his county and section of the state to-day, hon- ored repeatedly by one of the most important public positions that a man can hold and doing honor to it, but he is a pioneer lawyer of this region to whom success has come because of integrity, native abil- ity and a love for the profession of his choice.

HON. ALBERT W. McINTIRE, ninth gov- ernor of the state of Colorado, now and for several years past a citizen of Washington, prominently identified with the mining interests of the Cascade range, was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Janu- ary 15, 1853, and comes of distinguished American ancestry. His father, Joseph Phillips McIntire, was of Scotch descent anciently, while the mother, Isa- bella A. (Wills) Melntire, traced her lineage back to the Wills family of Cornwall, England. The first of the McIntires to cross the Atlantic came to this continent with Lord Baltimore in the seven- teenth century and assisted in the establishment of the colony which later became Maryland. When the time came for the little federation of colonies to break away from the mother country and set up an independent government, the MeIntires cast their fortunes with the patriots and became as zeal- ous in behalf of their own government as they had been when subjects of England's kings and queens. In Heitman's Ilistorical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, Thomas McIntire, great-grand- father of Albert W. of this biography, is listed as entering the Third Pennsylvania Battalion, January S, 1776, as an ensign. The same year he was wounded, taken prisoner, and after being held nearly a year, was exchanged. He immediately became a lieutenant in an independent Pennsyl- vania company and served as its captain from March 8, 1779, to his discharge in May, 1782. Cap- tain Thomas McIntire was repeatedly commended for his bravery and his military successes against the Wyandots in western Pennsylvania and the confederated savages in the Wyoming valley of eastern Pennsylvania, in letters of Colonel Brod-

head, in command at Fort Pitt (site of Pittsburg), to General Washington, which are preserved in the archives of Pennsylvania. The great-grandfather of Albert W. McIntire on the maternal side of the house, Joseph Phillips, served in the War of the Revolution successively as major, lieutenant- colonel, and colonel of New Jersey Militia from June, 1776, until August, 1780. The Wills family was established in America by James Wills, who came over with his five sons in 1790 from Belfast, Ireland, after retiring from business as a linen manufacturer. His son, James Wills, Jr., a grad- uate of Jefferson College, class of 1805, and at the time of his death at the age of thirty-thirec, state's attorney of Allegheny County ( Pittsburg), Penn- sylvania, was the grandfather of Albert W. Mc- Intire.

Joseph Phillips McIntire was born December 1, 1820, at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and in that state spent his entire life, which he devoted to industrial pursuits with notable success. He early entered the mining business and was one of the prominent early coal operators in the Pittsburg dis- trict. He died in 1894 at the age of seventy-four. Mrs. McIntire, mother of Albert W., was a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, born May 1, 1818. She attained to a venerable age, living until February 8, 1903, her death occurring while residing in St. Louis, Missouri, with one of her children. Brought up in the strictest sect of Calvinism, she was never- theless broad and liberal in her religious views, teaching her children that character and conduct and service were the safest passports to happiness in this world and the next. With an unusual bent toward scientific reading and a more thorough edu- cation than usual for women in those days, she was an inspiration and a guide to her son's early studies and all his after life.

Thus richly endowed, mentally and physically. and carrying in his blood the zeal, originality and fervid love for America's peculiar institutions which are the heritage of every true born American youth, Albert W. MeIntire began life very auspi- ciously in his home city. After finishing his pri- mary education in the public schools he prepared for college at Newell's Institute, in Pittsburg, and entered Yale in the fall of 1869. Four years later, with the class of 18:3, he received his degree of A. B. and at once entered the law school from which he was graduated in 1815, receiving the degree of L.L.B., and the same June was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Connecticut. The following November, having been admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, he commenced practising in Pittsburg which continued to be his home until December. 1876. That year he came west to Den- ver, Colorado. Although the capital city of a brand-new state, Denver in 1876 was little more than an overgrown stock town, bearing but slight

HON. ALBERT W. MCINTIRE

IDA NOYES McINTIRE, M. D.

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOK TILDEN FOUNDATION

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BIOGRAPHICAL

resemblance to the present magnificent metropolis, noted throughout the world for its symmetry, beauty and stability, Making Denver his head- quarters during the next few years he traveled extensively, hunting, fishing and prospecting, over the then wild, dangerous region of western Colo- rado. In 1818 he became interested in mining by purchase of a fractional part of the Little Chief mine on Fryer Hill, Leadville, then in the initial stage of its wonderful career as a mining camp. He was highly successful in this venture, the Lit- tle Chief proving one of the heavy dividend pay- ers of the carlier period. In this connection it may be mentioned that he took a special course at the Sheffield Scientific School in 1879-80, and has been frequently engaged in mining since, chiefly in Colo- rado and Mexico.

In 1880 he became a resident of the San Luis valley in the southern part of Colorado, there en- gaging on an extensive scale in the stock business. His ranch was situated near the towns of La Jara and Alamosa, and contained the historic site of the stockade built by Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, U. S. A., in 1806, when he was captured by Spanish troops and carried off to Mexico. In the San Luis valley, though a very young man, Mr. MeIntire was soon accorded a welcome by his American and Mexican fellow citizens, and it was there his powers of leadership were first strongly manifested. As foreman of a grand jury composed of Ameri- cans, Mormons and Mexicans, the young ranchman broke a long reign of lawlessness on the border be- tween Colorado and New Mexico, by securing the indictment in 188? of twenty-six criminals of the worst type. Because of the peculiar racial condi- tions existing at the time in that section of the state, the work of this grand jury was really a notable one and indicated a high degree of cour- age on the part of the jury's members, and had the result of making life and property safe in that region ever afterward. The residents of Conejos county elected their lawyer-ranchman judge of the county court in 1883 by a unanimous vote, he being named for the position by both Republican and Democratic parties without opposition to his can- didacy, and at the age of thirty he took his place on the bench. In 1886, upon the expiration of his term, he refused re-election and formed a law part- nership at Alamosa, participating in the trial of a number of locally important cases.

The next call to public service came to Judge McIntire in 1889, when he was appointed to ad- judicate the water rights of the San Luis valley, consisting of four counties. His work in this connection showed such marked ability and fair- ness that it won him legal honors. After two years of continuous hearings with more than two thou- sand witnesses, he prepared a decision affecting title to water rights in which there were three hun-

dred and seventy-one separate decrees, allotting water to irrigate thousands of farms, and which declared existing state statutes unconstitutional. The state's most eminent lawyers and every other special judge engaged in the work differed from Judge MeIntire and the litigation was carried up to the highest courts at enormous expense. Ten years later the supreme court sustained the original decree of Judge McIntire, reversing numerous cases throughout the state. Governor Routt in 1891 appointed him judge of the Twelfth Judicial District. It is worth noting that during his period of service on the bench in only one case was a de- cision of his reversed by a higher court, and in no instance was his interpretation of the constitution ever successfully questioned. His decisions are marked by unusual simplicity in reading correctly the basic principles of constitutional law, by clear- ness and conciseness in statement, and level-headed reasoning. His temperament is judicial rather than argumentative and to this fact perhaps must be ascribed more than to anything else his success on the bench and in the executive positions he has occupied.

As the campaign of 1894 approached, the Re- publicans of Colorado turned to Judge MeIntire as their candidate for governor, despite the asser- tions of the latter that he would not accept the nomination if accorded him because he preferred the bench and his ranch, if he should decide to con- tiune in public life upon the conclusion of his term. Perhaps the reasons why the public's call at last forced him to surrender to its will are most clearly set forth in the following editorial mention which appeared in the Denver Republican immediately fol- lowing his nomination by acclamation for governor by the Republicans in September, 1894: "The se- lection of Judge MeIntire was especially well con- sidered. He is an educated, well-balanced, prac- tical man upon whose escutcheon there is no blot. His ability is unquestioned and his character above reproach. He is not a hack politician nor a crank. and at this juncture such a selection is especially opportune." Still another press comment by one of the leading papers of southern Colorado, the Alamosa Independent, printed after the nomination, indicates very clearly the standing of the judge among the people with whom he had been asso- ciated continuously since 1880. Speaking of Judge Melntire, the Independent says: "Ile is especially qualified by reason of huis eminent fitness, his educa- tion, his honesty, his freedom from all forms of prejudice, his Americanism, his morality, his firm- ness which is tempered by a kind and manly na- ture. And above all, a character which knows no stain. These are attributes which mold and make this man and fit him for the highest office within the gift of the people."

Judge Melntire was elected sixteenth governor

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of Colorado in November, 1894, by the largest ma- jority ever given a candidate in that state for the chief executive office, the vote being: McIntire, 93,502 ; David H. Waite, Populist, 24,894. By the former's election a reign of Populism in its radical form was ended. This campaign also marked the entrance of women into state politics. At the be- ginning of his administration, Governor Mentire announced to the legislative leaders that they miist not appropriate an amount in excess of the reve- mutes of the state unless they intended to pass over his veto and further, he personally revised the es- timates made, cutting down their figures to meet his own views. The result of this sensible policy was that at the close of his term the outgoing handed over to the new administration a balance of fifty thousand dollars after having met all ex- penses, a record unequalled in the history of Colo- rado. In April, 1895, Governor McIntire was called upon to adjust the difficulties arising from the lynching of several Italians by miners at Wal- senburg, and so creditably did he handle this com- plication that he perhaps averted trouble between the United States and Italy and received the per- sonal thanks of the Italian minister, besides com- mendatory mention in President Cleveland's last message. About a year later Colorado was sud- denly thrown into an intense and dangerous ex- citement by reason of the great Leadville strike. Dynamite was used by the strikers with appalling effect at the Robert Emmett and the Coronado mines and a reign of terror in the district was in- stituted. In response to a call, Governor McIntire ordered the militia to the scene, and inaugurated a policy of handling such situations that won for him golden opinions throughout the country, espe- cially did it fit the peculiar conditions existing in a state where the struggle between capital and labor had been exceedingly bitter. By supporting the civil authorities with troops, not supplanting ; by the maintenance of law and order at any cost : by firmly setting his power against the bull-pen scheme of controlling men, by refusing to allow the depor- tation of American citizens, and by his tactful, ju- dicions, but firm stand between the warring fac- tions, he finally forced a peaceful settlement and established a peace between capital and labor at Leadville which has to this day remained unbroken. In Denver, he broke the power of the local ring of politicians, and in fact throughout the entire period of those two years filled with trouble and unhappi- ness all over the country, he steered the ship of state with courage, skill and a conscientious re- gard for his obligations to the public, though fought at almost every turn by designing politicians. Even the Rocky Mountain News, a bitter political enemy, commended him highly for the reforms he insti- tuted in that city, and the press generally ultimately conceded his ability and absolute fearlessness in !

standing for what he considered right and best. His state papers were universally commended by the press as models of clearness, conciseness and grasp. The dominating principle that appears to have guided Governor MeIntire's administration, as in fact one of his most noticeable traits of char- acter, is his deep seated judicial temperament, not weakened by an exaggerated sense of technical de- tails but founded upon a broad, practical love of justice. Upon entering office in 1895, he an- nounced that he did not desire a re-election and would not accept a re-nomination. To this reso- Iution he remained steadfast.

At the close of his administration in 1897, find- ing his health impaired by close confinement and overwork. the Governor sought its restoration by his favorite remedy, life out of doors. He spent the next two years principally in the mining re- gions of Colorado, Arizona, southern California and Mexico. Having lived at high altitudes for nearly a quarter of a century, he decided to try sea-level, New Haven and other points on the At- lantic coast, and finally Cleveland being visited. For a time Cleveland promised so well that he took up the practice of his profession there, being ad- mitted to the Ohio bar and becoming partner, for a time, of C. N. Sheldon, Esq., one of the leading personal injury lawyers of that state. After about a year of exacting work in the preparation and trial of cases with marked success but with the ac- companying confinement and strain, a warning collapse at the close of a long trial led to a vaca- tion in the Sault Ste. Marie and Lake Superior region, and finally to a migration to Washington. Puget sound appealed so strongly to him and agreed with him so well that in December, 1900, he located in Everett, and that city has since been his home. Since taking up his permanent residence here, he has interested himself deeply in the devel- opment of the mineral resources of the Cascade rang, particularly in the development of exten- sive copper lodes on Foss river, and has par- ticipated modestly in the general upbuilding of the community. The Foss River Consolidated Copper Company, of which he is president and general manager and of whose stock he owns a controlling interest, owns important mineral property in King county. As an illustration of his characteristic progressiveness. it is note- worthy that the governor found leisure to spend nearly three months of the winter of 1906 in spe- cial study in geology and mining at the well equipped school of mines of the University of Washington. As a member of the Everett Chan- ber of Commerce, Governor McIntire is on occa- sion an active worker, while from his able pen have issued many valuable articles on the mineral resources of the Cascades and occasionally on timely topics of local importance. He is in the

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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 164

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