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 185

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 185
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 185

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Silvana, where she had a married sister. Mrs. Lar- sen made the trip from Stanwood in an Indian canoe as far as Florence, and walked the five miles inter- vening between that place and Silvana over the roughest kind of trail. progress being impeded by brush and fallen timber. Seven years passed after Mrs. Larsen took up her home on the present ranch before there were any roads leading to it or any horses in use in this country. At the time of Mlr. Larsen's death he had sold eighty acres of his one hundred and sixty ; now fifty acres of the remainder are under cultivation and devoted to dairying. For the five years subsequent to the death of her hus- band Mrs. larsen made butter and shipped it to Seattle under circumstances. which would have daunted a less resolute woman. There were no creameries in this part of the country in those days, the ranch was isolated by reason of the lack of pass- able roads, and Mrs. Larsen had to take her dairy products by boat across the slough which lay be- tween her home and Silvana. During all these years of hard work and planning Mrs. Larsen has never forgotten the value of her education, and she has done her best to give her daughters good educa- tional advantages. The oldest daughter, Clara, is a stenographer and also a milliner. The other three, Lucy, Ida and Annie, are living with their mother, attending school. The Larsen ranch is one of the few farms in the state of Washington which are managed entirely by women. Mrs. Larsen is a woman of remarkable character and has overcome obstacles and surmounted difficulties from which some men would have shrunk back, defying the lone- liness of her situation. She is naturally proud of her success, but credits herself with having done but her simple duty. She has added considerable to the holdings left by her husband, including real estate in Everett. Mrs. Larsen's monument is her home. and her stewardship of her husband's heritage is marked by a zeal and a devotion rarely equaled.

OLE LARSON, dairy farmer one mile west of Silvana. is one of the men who have wrested their farms from the grasp of swamp and forest, 'n the pioneer work being compelled to put up with many inconveniences in order that the future might be realized. He was born in Norway July 10, 1866, the fifth of the nine children of Lars and Ingeborg ( Kollenes ) Larson, who were Norwegian farmer folk. The father died in 1889, but the mother is still living, at the age of seventy-four, in the old country. Alr. Larson attended school and lived on his father's farm until he was eighteen years of age. when he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and settled in 1885 in Wisconsin. After passing two and a half years in the Badger state working as a farm hand, Mr. Larson came to Silvana. Washington. where his brother Lars was then living. He spent

some time working on farms for others, but about a year after coming to Snohomish county took a pre- emption of one hundred and sixty acres six miles from Silvana, on which place he remained for eleven years, developing it greatly, then he sold out. He had previously purchased forty acres from his brother, all but two of which were heavily timbered. In those early days trails were the only avenues of communication, except the river, and hardships to be contended with were many, but Mr. Larson per- severed and now has fifty of his fifty-four acres of land under crop or in pasture. His farm is en- tirely devoted to dairying, at present his herd con- sisting of twenty-two cattle, which he purposes to increase as rapidly as possible to the full capacity of his farm. He has spent one season, that of 1899, in Alaska.

January 24, 1892, Mr. Larson married Miss Marnet Stinson, whose parents were among the carliest settlers on the Stillaguamish river, near Silvana. Mrs. Larson is a native of Norway, com- ing to this country and this county when six years old, and in this county receiving her education. Mr. and Mrs. Larson have three children: Lillian E., Charlotte 1. and Nelvin S. In political matters Mr. Larson is a Republican of liberal views, and the fam- ily adheres to the Lutheran church. Affable and genial, he is one of the popular men of the com- munity, successful as a dairyman, and recognized as a man of energy and business ability.

INGEBREGT STENSON. farmer, whose place lies a mile and a half south of Silvana, is one of the early pioneers of this section of Snohomish county, and he well remembers the wild condition of affairs when he started in to make a farm in the forest of the Stillaguamish valley in the seventies. Mr. Stenson is a native of Norway. He was born in 1846, the son of Jens and Mary Stenson, farmer people of their native land, who passed away about thirty years ago. Ingebregt Stenson attended schools and grew up on the old home place remain- ing there until death removed his parents. He then came to the United States and direct to Snohomish county, where he has since lived and where he has gathered a competence by his thrift and energy. He settled on his present farm soon after reaching here. Canoes furnished transportation to Stanwood, seven miles away, where was the nearest store at which provisions and supplies might be obtained. Stan- wood was also the nearest postoffice. and it was a number of years before the road was cut through between this place and Stanwood. In the early days of Mr. Stinson's farming in this county his market was a logging camp, located on land which he owns, and there he disposed of such produce as he raised. He has eighty acres of land under cultivation or fit for crop, while the remainder of his one hundred

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and sixty acres is largely pasture, Mr. Stenson is engaged in dairying extensively.

In 1822, while living in Norway, Mr. Stenson married Miss Carrie Stenson, and has seven chil- dren : Mrs. Maret Larson. Mary, Martha, Serena. John, Emma and Carrie. In politics Mr. Stenson is a Republican ; in church affiliations he is a Luther- an. Since Mr. Stenson came to the Stillaguamish valley there have been many changes. In fact, the entire landscape has changed character from a for- est to a land of smiling farms and growing fickls. In this transformation he has played his part and reaped his reward. He is in unusually good circum- stances financially, one of the solid and substantial business men of the community, interested in public affairs and respected and honored by all who know him.

ERICK O. ANDERSON, whose dairy farm is situated a quarter mile south of Silvana, is one of the men who have seen the country develop from dense forests to a rich and influential farming com- irnity. One of the changes which he notes as the chief one to his personal experience is the building of roads and the improvement of transportation fa- cilities. As he travels to-day from Stanwood he re- calls his first trip between that place and Silvana. Then it was the roughest kind of a trail imaginable, in reality not deserving the dignity of the name. Mr. Anderson was born in Norway April 10, 1861, the son of Andreas and Annie ( Hanson) Anderson, both natives of Norway. The elder Anderson came to Silvana about ten years ago, but returned to the old country in 1903. Mrs. Anderson is still living at Silvana. Erick O. Anderson left home when he was eighteen years of age and came alone to Stan- wood. He soon engaged to work near where Sil- vana now is and which was only beginning then. His trip was on foot over an almost indistinguish- able trail and through heavy forest. For two years he worked and carried the mail between Stanwood and Oso, via Arlington, and he has the distinction of being the first mail carrier on this route. He con- timed to carry the mail about four years, when the coming of the railroad furnished a competition which was fatal to the man carrier's business. An- other distinction enjoyed by Mr. Anderson is the fact of his having been the first constable at Silvana. During these years Mr. Anderson has taken up a timber claim and shortly after he left the mail serv- ice he sold his timber land and invested in the eighty- acre tract where he has since made his home. It was heavily timbered and much of it had been prostrated by wind, rendering passage over the land almost impossible. In the fifteen years he has re- sided here, Mr. Anderson has wrought great changes and now has fifty acres in crop or in pas- ture. He formerly raised beef cattle and hay, but in

recent years has devoted himself largely to dairy- ing and has twenty-five head of cattle.

Twenty years ago Mr. Anderson married Miss Annie Johnson, a native of Norway and the daugh- ter of John and Carina Johnson, who never left their native land. The mother died when Mrs. An- derson was two years of age, and she came to this country with a sister. Mr. Johnson passed away in 1901. Alr. and Mrs. Anderson have nine children : Caroline A. 11 .. Andrew, John, Alfred. Edward. Annie, Louis, George and Clarence. In politics Mr. Anderson is a Republican and has been for three years road supervisor of his home district. He at- tends the Lutheran church. In the summer of 1901 Mr. Anderson did contract work in grading roads and proved very successful at the venture. He is a man well posted on all up-to-date matters, widely read and a thoroughly competent man. He has a fine farm and a valuable one, and he has made it from what was once an almost impenetrable jungle of standing and fallen timber. Mr. Anderson is a man of great energy and application, of the timber without which no substantial fortune can be made.

STYRKER AA. ERICKSON (deceased) was one of the very earliest settlers of the Silvana dis- trict of Snohomish county, coming here when there were but three or four others on this part of the Stillaguamish river. In the pioneer days, when communication between settlements was slow and passage often difficult, Mr. Erickson suffered an experience on the bay while returning from Utsa- lady to Stanwood which nearly cost him his life and produced a lasting effect on his constitution. He was rowing across when late in the afternoon he was overtaken by a storm of such proportions that his boat was swamped. He managed to keep his hold on the boat through the entire night, and in the morning was resened by a band of Indians, who nursed him for two days before he became strong enough to make the trip to Stanwood. The expos- ure of that terrible night so undermined an unusual- ly strong physical constitution that he never full recovered. Mr. Erickson was born in Norway in Is! ! and passed his early days on a farm with his parents. At the age of fifteen he entered the em- ploy of a clergyman, doing work about the place and driving horses in return for board and educa- tim. After three years of this service he learned the trade of a cooper and followed that until 1876. when he came to the United States. On his arrival Mr. Erickson visited the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia and made inquiries about locations, llc decided to go to lowa, and in the fall of that year commenced to work at his trade in that state. He remained there two years, then came to the Pacific coast, settling at Astoria. Oregon, where he engaged in fishing. Soon after reaching Astoria, Mr. Erick-

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son took a trip to the Puget sound country and lo- cated a claim on the Stillaguamish, not far from Silvana. Later he made a second trip to the Stilla- guamish valley and located the land on which the town of Silvana has since grown up. His inter- ests in Snohomish county eventually came to de- mand so much of his time and attention that he left Astoria and settled in this valley permanently. Mrs. Erickson, who was born in Norway, her maiden name being Bertha Peterson, did not accompany her husband when he came to this country, but arrived soon after he had commenced to live on the Stilla- guamish. Mr. and Mrs. Erickson have one son, Peter R., who is living now in Seattle. The elder Erickson was a Mason and, upon his death, Novem- ber 25, 1904, the members of that organization at Everett attended the funeral ceremonies, taking charge of the arrangements. Mrs. Erickson is still living.

Peter R. Erickson, only son of Styrker A. Erick- son, was born in Norway in 1873 and reared there, attending school and living at home in the old cotin- try until the family came to Snohomish county. In 199? he left home, going to Seattle, where he took up stationary engineering, a trade which he followed until the first of the year 1905. At that time he took charge of a farm, one of his father's original properties in Snohomish county, which lies two miles east of Silvana on Pilchuck creek. At present he is residing in Seattle, having recently traded for a pleasant home there, but he still retains his farm. Mr. Erickson in 1892 married Mrs. Lucy Diamond, a native of Sarnia, Ontario, and a daugh- ter of Joseph and Matilda (Bartrand) Dennis. When Mrs. Erickson was eight years old her par- ents removed to Alpena. Michigan, where they lived' until they came to the Puget sound country in 1888. They are now residing at Monroe, in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Erickson have one child, Helen, who was born March 28, 1903. In fraternal circles Peter R. Erickson is a modern Woodman and an Odd Fellow ; in politics an independent. He has 110 church membership. but. like his father before him, follows the simple creed expressed in the Golden Rule. Highly respected and popular in the com- munity, straightforward, progressive, he is sure to succeed at anything he undertakes. The Erickson family will ever be associated closely with the his- tory of the Stillaguamish valley, and especially with that of Silvana.

DELL ROARK, of Silvana. is one of its well- known, public-spirited citizens, and in the half decade he has been in business there has been very i successful. He left the work of constructing rail- way bridges in order to make a home for himself in the Puget sound country, whose climate had proved to be very beneficial to the members of his family. Mr. Roark was born in Russellville, Cole county,

Missouri, January 3, 1870, the second of eleven chil- dren of William and Ellen (Cole) Roark. The elder Roark is a native of Missouri, still living there, now a retired farmer. The mother was born in Scotland of a wealthy family, but since coming to the United States has lost track of her relatives, not having heard from them in years. Dell Roark received a common school education in Missouri, securing his start in life when seventeen years of age, his first work being that of a bridge builder for the Missouri Pacific. He was with that com- pany for several years, leaving it to accept a position with the Edgemore Bridge Company. Mr. Roark remained with this concern for a year and a half, then returned to railway bridge construction work, going to Colorado, where he was in charge of bridge work for the Union Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande for some time. He then returned to the Missouri Pacific and continued with that company until 1897. when he came to Seattle and took charge of bridge work for the Great Northern, becoming foreman of bridge building on the Cascade and Coast line division, his particular work being as overseer of the raising of heavy Howe truss spans to position. In 1900 he resigned his position with the Great Northern and opened a liquor store in Silvana, which he has conducted ever since.

In 1896 Mr. Roark married Miss Maggie Mot- ter, whom he met while doing railroad bridge work at Garnett, Kansas. Mrs. Roark is a native of Ohio, as were also her parents. The father died some fif- teen years ago ; the mother is still living, a resident of Garnett, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Roark have one child, Claude, born at Everett in June, 1899. In connection with Claude's birth, Mr. Roark tells an interesting story of how he was raising a bridge near Silvana when a train was ordered to stop there by the superintendent of the road. by whom Mr. Roark was hustled off to Everett to greet his new- born son. Mrs. Roark had been in poor health until coming to the Puget sound country, but the climate so benefited her that Mr. Roark decided to decline an offer hie received to go to Salt Lake, Utah, as foreman of bridge construction there, and embarked in his present business. In fraternal circles Mr. Roark is an Odd Fellow and a member of the Frat- ernal Brotherhood of America, while Mrs. Roark is a member of the Christian church, Mr. Roark has a host of friends in Silvana and surrounding country.

ROBERT MAXWELL, now a retired farmer, bitt until the victim of a paralytic stroke early in 1905 one of the active and energetic men of the Trafton section of the Snohomish county, is one of the men who feel that Snohomish county is one of the best sections of the entire world in which man may make a living. The country has been good to him since he commenced operations here

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in 1890, after having passed through a great deal of ; master industry of the Sound country, is, like many the activity of life. Mr. Maxwell was born in Shelby County, Ohio, in 1836, one of the four chil- dren of James and Elizabeth (Countz) Maxwell. The father was a native of Virginia, who became an Ohio farmer early in life, but passed his later years in Indiana. Mrs. Maxwell died when Robert was but six years of age, and the latter went to live with his grandfather, in whose care he remained until 1885. In that year he entered the employ of neigh- bors as a farm hand and was engaged in that line until the Civil War broke out, when he enlisted in Company G of the Eleventh Indiana Infantry. He remained with that command only three months, then enlisting in Company B of the Seventy-second Indiana Mounted Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war, being a part of the time under General George H. Thomas in the Army of the Cumberland and participating in the battles of Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain. He was also in the engagement at Murfreesboro, in the Atlanta campaign, in Wilson's raid into Ala- bama and in the chase after Jefferson Davis in the waning days of the Confederacy. At the close of the war Mr. Maxwell returned to farm 'work in Indiana, but in 1873 went to Michigan, where he en- tered the lumber mills and remained for twelve . years, Six years at farming in North Dakota fol- lowed, and in 1890 Mr. Maxwell located in Snoho- mish county, three-quarters of a mile southeast of Trafton on the Arlington road. For eleven years he was Trafton's postmaster. He continued active farming operations until he suffered the paralytic stroke in 1905, since which time he has been unable to work. Much of his stock and implements he has disposed of since that time.

In the late fall of 1858 Mr. Maxwell married Miss Mary Spratt, daughter of Albert Spratt, a native of Michigan, and a blacksmith by occupation, who died many years ago. Mrs. Maxwell was born in 1843 and lived with her parents up to within a year of her marriage, having at that time gone to Indiana. Mr. and Mrs, Maxwell have three chil- dren, namely : Mrs. Belle Barr, Benton and Henry F. In politics Mr. Maxwell is a Republican, and fraternally he is a member of Edwin M. Stanton post, G. A. R., at Arlington. The family is affiliated with the Methodist church. Mr. Maxwell is a jovial man and has not lost the sunny disposition so fre- quently attributed solely to the young, even though age and affliction may be thought to have been suf- ficient to dispel an optimistic view of men and things. In peace and war he has lived a conquering life, and he does not propose now to surrender to despondency, though affliction has come upon him.

ALONZO W. SHAFER, the accommodating postmaster of Trafton, Washington, a retired mill man and one who since 1888 has been active in the

others who have assisted in the development of the western part of Uncle Sam's domain, a native of Canada, born in the province of Ontario August 20. 1812. His father, who was also born in Canada, the date of his advent being 1798, served in the British army during the war of 1812, being in political faith a United Empire Loyalist. He died in Michigan, whither he had moved later in life, at the age of sixty-two. The mother of our subject, Sarah (blood) Shafer, was born in Massachusetts in 1798, but having been left an orphan at the tender age of four, was taken charge of by relatives, who removed her to Canada, where she grew to womanhood. She died in 1881, leaving eight sons and daughters, of whom Alonzo W., of this article, is the youngest. He was brought by his parents to Michigan in early boyhood and there acquired a common school edu- cation, while also assisting his father in the work of the farm. At the age of sixteen he began learn- ing the machinist's trade and thereafter, until 1889. he followed that line of work assiduously and unin- terruptedly, most of the time in saw and shingle mills, which he operated under lease. In the year mentioned he set out for the grander forests of western Washington. His objective point was the town of Whatcom, whence he proceeded to Bay View, Skagit county, where he worked in a mill for a vear. During the Anacortes boom he erected a ho- tel in that town, which he operated as long as the ex- citement lasted, then he built a shingle mill at Fredo- nia. This he soll at a later date, only to erect an- other at Avon. For two years he successfully ran the latter mill, then he disposed of it and went to Friday Harbor to fit up a grist mill for a man there. This man failed utterly in his payments, so Mr. Shafer secured the mill and ran it successfully for about a year, making good profits, He next came Arling- ton, where he secured a grading contract from the builders of the Darrington branch railroad, doing well in this undertaking also; then he bought three acres where he now lives and twenty acres a half mile further north. December 10, 1902, he was ap- pointed postmaster of Trafton, an office which he still holds, and the duties of which he is discharging in a manner creditable to himself and highly satis- factory to the patrons of the postoffice. He has a wide acquaintance throughout the county, and his upright character, manifesting itself always in his various business transactions, has secured for him the confidence of all who know him, In religion Mr. Shafer is a Methodist : in politics a Republican, in- terested in public matters, as are all good citizens, but not an office-seeker. He was, however, justice of the peace in Michigan for a number of years.

Some twenty-three years ago Mr. Shafer married Mrs. Jennie Secord, who, like himself, was a native of Canada, and to them have been born two children, William A. and Sarah M., both of whom are living at Avon.

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SNOHOMISH COUNTY

THOMAS JEFFERSON, residing one-fourth of a mile south of Trafton, was born in Crockett County, Tennessee, October 10, 1859. His parents, Allan and Mary Jefferson, both died when he was an infant, leaving a family of five children, of whom he was the third. He was taken by a family named Singlton and lived with them till he was eighteen, acquiring an education in the common schools and at intervals working on the farm. Upon leaving Tennessee in 1871, he went to the Willamette valley, in Oregon. where, after being employed as a farm hand for two years, he rented a farm for himself. A vear later he migrated to Dayton, Washington, making the trip with a team, and there he followed teaming as an occupation for some time. Coming to Snohomish county eighteen years ago, he took the homestead which now constitutes his farm : the trip up the river to it being made in an Indian canoe at a cost of ten dollars. The nearest road was at Silvana, ten miles away, and it goes without sav- ing that settlers were few in the locality; indeed, settlement did not become at all general until about five years later. The nearest store and postoffice was at Florence, a distance of fifteen miles. All Mr. Jefferson's land being heavily timbered, the task of clearing it and putting it in condition to cultivate was an arduous one, but he has succeeded in getting twenty acres of it under cultivation and an equal amount in pasture. He gives his attention principal- ly to dairying, though he is a believer in diversified farming, and practices it to a considerable extent.

In 1890 Mr. Jefferson married Rachel Dennies, a native of Nebraska, born near Omaha in 1869. She received a careful education in the schools of that state, and later became one of the well-known and successful teachers of this locality, in which she taught the first term of school ever held. Her father. Thomas Dennies, having died when she was a child, her mother afterward married Mr. Lykens, now deceased. The mother's death occurred at her daughter's home in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson have four chiklren, Frank. Ethel. Flossie and Nellie. Mr. Jefferson is an influential member of the Yeo- man fraternity, but in politics allies himself to no party, preferring to take an independent stand in all matters. For the past six years he has been road supervisor of his district. Some time ago a very fortunate discovery was made, namely, that there was a large deposit of iron on his farm, five distinct ledges running half a mile through the ranch, and covering from fifteen to twenty acres to a depth of six feet. As a result of this discovery he has now a standing offer of $8,000 for the entire property, consisting of one hundred and fifty-five acres. That his well-directed efforts along agricultural lines have met with no greater success is amply explained by the fact that all these years he has been endeavoring to farm the external surface of a mine. He is a man of enviable standing in the community, and any good fortune that may come to him through 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 185

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