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 194

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 194
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 194

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JOSEPH SWARTZ, founder and owner of the. Swartz shingle mills on Swarts pond, three miles sontheast of Granite Falls, is one of the highly es- teemed and able business men of Snohomish coun- ty. He came to eastern Snohomish county as a pioneer and has risen through vicissitudes to a prominent and honorable position among his fellow menl.

The career of Joseph Swartz is not only one of which his family and friends may well feel proud but it is one of unusual interest to every American and contains an object lesson quite obvious and im- portant. He was born in southern Russia, Province of Podolsk, March 15, 1860, to one of the leading families in the city of Bershad, his father having been the foremost lawyer of the community. Sovol Swartz, the father, passed away in 1905 at the age of seventy-four after a modest, unostentatious, though long and useful life. His wife, Zopha ( Ber- stenof ) Swartz, also a native of Podolsk province and of the same city, and the daughter of a promi- nent business man, is still living in Russia at the age of seventy-two. Six children were born to this union of whom Joseph Swartz is the eldest son and second child. As befitting the family's position, he was given a thorough education in Russia's public schools and later sent to the Shetamer gymnasium, or college, by which he was graduated when twenty years old. He then served six months in the regu- lar army, being exempt because of his university education from longer service as is Russian custom, after which he engaged in teaching. At this time. as a result of his broad education and inborn love of freedom, he definitely decided to leave his mother country and seek liberty and the opportunities and privileges which he thought belonged to him by im -

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migrating to the United States. He was at that time carning one hundred roubles a month, in ac- tual value worth as much as an equal number of dollars in the United States, and held a position in Russia far above the average young man. Still he i did not hesitate. With foresight characteristic of the man, he realized that in a new country his fine education would count for nothing at the begin- ning and that he would probably have to commence his new life as a common laborer. So he applied himself to the study of industrial arts for one year in the School Mechanical Industry at Shetemir, Province of Volinsk, the chief mechanic being personal friend, learning the trade of a machinist. Thus equipped and prepared to meet with formida- ble difficulties, in 1884 he bade farewell to the em- pire and sailed for the republic that was to be his future home. From New York harbor he went di- rect to Cleveland, Ohio, and there obtained employ- ment in the machine shop of Cox & Prentice, with whom he remained eighteen months. He then, with his savings, went into Pauline County, Ohio, and purchased a timbered tract and to the clearing of this devoted the next three years with unusual suc- cess. At the end of that period he sold out and opened a boot and shoe store in Kansas City, Mis- souri, where he prospered. However, fire broke out in the block and destroyed his business, and because of the non-compliance of other firms in the same block with insurance regulations, Mr. Swartz was compelled to suffer the loss of his insurance money. which was a severe blow to him. With indomitable courage he gathered what remained of his shattered property and started for the Northwest, landing in Seattle just after the great fire had swept that me- tropolis and while the stricken people were still liv- ing in tents and shacks on the ruins. Two months later Mr. Swartz came to Snohomish county and in June. 1889, took a homestead east of Granite Falls at what is known as Swartz lake. There he de- voted his activities to clearing land and market gar- dening until six years ago, when, with a partner he embarked in his present business under the firm name of Swartz & Stacey. Mr. Stacey retired from the firm in 1903, since which time Mr. Swartz has been alone in the conduct of his business. He kent the old homestead until three years ago. The Swartz shingle mills are equipped with double block machinery having a capacity of one hundred and twenty thousand shingles a day, and in a'l depart- ments employ from twenty-five to thirty-five men ten months in the year. The plant is a modern one. Mr. Swartz also maintains his own logging camp on his own property nearby. The mill site is one of the finest in this section of the county.

While a resident of Pauline County, Ohio, Mr. "Swartz was joined by Miss Mary Vinshinkof, to

whom he had plighted his troth before coming to America, she crossing the ocean alone to become his wife, the ceremony being performed in Septem- ber, 1886. She, too, is a native of Bershad, born August 12, 1869, and is the daughter of Leon and Mucy Vinshinkof, both of whom spent their entire lives in Bershad. Leon Vinshinkof was a merchant who was swept away in a cholera epidemic when forty-two years of age. Mrs. Vinshinkof is still living, residing at Bershad. Mrs. Swartz received a good education in the Russian schools. With her husband she has shared the difficulties and hard- ships incident to the founding of a new home in ? strange country, but like her husband believes the reward has been well worth the sacrifice. Four chil- dren have been born to this union : Leo, August 15, 1882; Elbert, November 1, 1888; Florence, Janu- ary 31, 1890; and Gladys, October 23, 1896. all of whom are attending school. Politically, Mr. Swartz is a student of public affairs and since he came to America to enjoy freedom, reserves to himself the privilege to vote independently. attaching himself to no political party. It is his observation that Americans all too frequently inherit party preju- dices and sooner or later return to the family fold, if they should chance to stray therefrom. As an American citizen, Mr. Swartz is contributing unre- servedly to the maintenance of good government in his adopted country, as a pioneer he has done his share toward the reclamation of the wilderness in Ohio and Washington, and as one of the substan- tial and able business men of his community he is a prominent factor in its everyday life and progress ; in short, he is the kind of man whom America wel- comes to her shores and rejoices to amalgamate with her liberty-loving, progressive citizenship.

WILLIAM 3. TURNER, an honored soklier and pioneer now residing in Granite Falls, Wash- ington, one of the original locators of that city's town site, was born in Park County, Indiana, Jan- uary 22, 1840. Ile is the son of David HI. Turner, a native of North Carolina, born in Guilford county in 1820. Going to Indiana in bovhood the elder Turner spent the rest of his life within its hounda- ries, his death occurring in 1850. The mother. Ze- rilda ( Manwaring) Turner, was born in Indiana, and died in 1859, at the age of thirty-nine. Of her four children, two are living. William M. and Mrs. Martha E. Ilanks, the latter of whom is now a resi- dent of Honolulu. Like many of the most success- ful men, William M. Turner is self-educated. At the age of twelve he was obliged to support himself by working in a flour mill, but he diligently im- proved all his leisure hours, thus securing a practi-

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cal and thorough training for the active duties of life. When the call came for volunteers in 1861, he was one of the first to respond, enlisting in the Ninth Indiana Battery, Light Artillery, under Cap- tain N. S. Thompson. His first service was ren- dered at the battle of Shiloh. During the summer of 1864 he was with General Banks on his Red River expedition, and for forty-four consecutive days was either fighting or under the enemy's fire. That he escaped from this terrible experience with- out even a scratch seems almost miraculous. While returning home on the steamboat Eclipse, he was a victim of the frightful boiler explosion that oc- curred at Johnsonville, Tennessee, in which thirty- five out of the seventy-two members of his company on board were killed. Fortunately he escaped, but with the loss of an eye. He was mustered out in Indianapolis, March 6, 1865, and at once began farming. In the fall of 1868 he drove through to Kansas, and took up a claim in Woodson county. later going to Cherokee county, where he farmed till 1880. He then resumed his travels across the continent, stopping this time at Walla Walla, Wash- ington. Two years later he sold his property there. and drove to Portland, Oregon. Going thence by boat to Toledo, he then made the remainder of the journey to Seattle with his team. After teaming two years he went to Snohomish in 1884, and hence up the river to Machias. Later that same spring he located land on the present site of Granite Falls. but being unable to reach it with a wagon, he and his family lived in Machias from April until Aug- ust, while he was cutting a road six miles in length to reach his claim. With the exception of another family that came at the same time. the nearest neighbors were at Hartford. His first cabin, made of split cedar logs. is still standing. For some time 1

his only occupation was making shingles by hand, which he hauled to Snohomish, there being no store or post-office nearer than that for six years. Granite Falls as a town, came into existence in 1890. A post-office was opened about that time and Mark Swinnerton, of Marysville, erected the first store. A school had been organized in 1888. Until 1894 Mr. Turner farmed his property, but at tha: time he platted it as part of the town site, and re- tired from active labor.

Mr. Turner was married March 22. 1866. to Martha E. Hendren, a native of Mercer County. Kentucky, born April 10, 1849. Her father. Star- ling B. Hendren, who was born in West Virginia in 1808, served during the Civil War in the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry. He also had two sons, Andrew and Starling, in the Nineteenth Kentucky Infantry. His death occurred in Kentucky in 1894. The mother, Mary (Saunders) Hendren, a Kentuckian also, died April 4, 1861, aged fifty. Both Mr. and

Mrs. Hendren came of Virginia pioneer families. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have five children: Mrs. Margaret Griffin, of San Francisco, whose husband is largely interested in Goldfields, Nevada ; John D., of Arlington, Washington : Mrs. Daisy Robe, of Granite Falls : Edward R .. of Livingston, Montana : and Walter, of Granite Falls. Mr. Turner is a prominent member of the William Hall Post. No. 100, Grand Army of the Republic, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a well known Repub- lican, loyally serving his party's interests. He was the first election inspector in Granite Falls, and held the office of deputy assessor for eight years. Mr. Turner claims the distinction of having cast the first hallot in the town. A man of splendid business abil- ity and unquestioned integrity. a hardy pioneer of undaunted courage. he enjoys the unbounded confi- dence of a host of loyal friends and acquaintances.

FRED P. ANDERSON. the well known mana- ger of the Granite Falls Co-Operative Union, was born in Dover, Maine, January 30, 1865, the son of David and Sarah E. ( Hassell) Anderson, who were also natives of Maine. The father, born in 1826. went to California in early manhood, and, having made a little fortune, returned to his native state a year later. His death occurred in 1882. The mother, aged seventy-seven, is now living with her son, Fred P .. the youngest of her five children. Mr. Anderson attended the common schools. completing his education by attending the academy in his home town one term. Leaving home at the age of eight . een. he came to Snohomish. Washington, and spent the first five years of his residence there at various employments. He then took up a pre-emption claim where Granite Falls is now located, and proved up on it by commuting in 1889. He re- mained on the claim only a part of the time for the next two years, working in logging camps in the meantime. In 1891 he entered the employ of Mark Swinnerton, who owned the first store opened in Granite Falls, and in the fall of 1893 he and W. H. Davis purchased the business. They were in part- nership until July, 1894, at which time Mr. Ander- son became the sole owner of the stock. During the financial depression of 1895 he lost this prop- erty, and also his interest in a mill that he had acquired some years previous to this time. Many a man would have been dismayed by this accumula- tion of reverses, but Mr. Anderson was not the man to give up easily. Again taking up anything he could find to do, he was able a few years later to buy a piece of land and make a new start. Later, having sold this farm, he went to Seattle. remain- ing there. however, but a few months. On his re-

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turn to Granite Falls, he accepted the management of P. E. Parminter's store, and retained that posi- tion till the business changed hands some eighteen months later. He was then employed as bookkeeper by James McCullough, of Machias, for six months. . After selling his house in Granite Falls, he moved to Chelan, Washington, only to find it less desirable as a business location than he had expected. therefore came again to Granite Falls a few months later, and worked at carpenter work and in a store until he entered the employ of the Robe, Menzell Lumber Company. When the Granite Falls Co- operative Union was formed January 30, 1905, hc was given the management of it.

Mr. Anderson was married October 2, 1891. to Minnie L. Hall, a native of Michigan, born Janu- ary 5, 1865. Mrs. Anderson came West in 1889 with the family of J. L. Sneathen. Her mother is now living with her; the father, William Hall, is deceased. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, Edith, in 1892: Wesley, in 1894; and Beatrice, in 1903. Mr. Anderson is a charter member and the present consul of Granite Falls Camp, No. 8,355, Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica. also of the Odd Fellows lodge. No. 12, at Snohomish. In political belief he adheres to Re- publican principles, but he has never desired politi- cal prominence. He is discharging the duties of his present position with characteristic faithfulness and ability, thus demonstrating the good judgment oi those who placed this responsibility upon him. His personal life and character are such as to command the respect of all with whom he is associated.

Note-Mr. Anderson passed away Wednesday morning. March 28. 1906, at Providence hospital. Everett, as the result of injuries sustained by the premature explosion of a blast at his mine near Granite Falls on the 8th of the month. The fune- ral was held at his home March 30th, under the au- spices of the Modern Woodmen of America of which order he was a prominent member.

WILL HARDING. Among the representa- tive business men and pioneers of Granite Falls, is numbered the one whose name initiates this biogra- phy. Will Harding, the well known merchant. He was born March 18, 1868, in Muscatine Count", Iowa, and is the son of Abner and Caroline ( Rip- henburg) IJarding, both of whom are natives of New York. The father, born in 1832, settled in Iowa in the early 'sixties. Responding to the call for volunteers when the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the Second Iowa Cavalry, and served four years and six months. He is now engaged in farming in Michigan, which state became his home | such an enviable reputation and won it success.

in 1820. His wife was born one mile from Niagara Falls. William Harding secured his education in the common schools of Michigan. At the age of seventeen he went to work in a saw-mill, and was thus employed until he came to Snohomish in 1590. Taking up a pre-emption claim three miles east of Granite Falls, he held it for three years and then sold out, at which time he filed on a homestead near there. owning this property five years. Snohomish was the nearest post-office, and the settlers took turns in discharging the duties of postman during those early years. Soon after Mr. Harding moved here the people of Granite Falls organized a stock company and buillt a hall. The floors were the only part of it made of sawed lumber. This ma- terial had been hauled from Getchell, a distance of six miles, over a road so rough that two hundred and fifty feet of lumber was a load for a good team During the winter months a pack train was the only means of bringing in freight, and the cost was one dollar per hundred. While still owning his home- stead. Mr. Harding embarked in the saw-mill busi- ness in partnership with T. K. Robe and Charles Last. In the course of a year he purchased Mr. Robe's interest, and later sold his entire holdings to Mr. Last. Having sold his homestead also, he bought out the dry goods establishment formerly owned by J. S. Boyd, and since disposing of his milling interests, has devoted his entire time to this enterprise. This was the first store of the kind opened in Granite Falls. In recent years Mr. Hard- ing has added a line of general merchandise to his stock. The firm transacts business under the name of W. Harding & Company, Mrs. Harding being the silent partner.

In 1890, October 19th, Mr. Harding and Flora A. Hubbard were united in marriage. Mrs. Hard- ing was born in Ensley, Michigan, August 11. 1861. Iler parents, Robert and Catherine A. (Sneathen ) Hubbard, also pioneers of Michigan, are now living in Granite Falls, having come hither in 1890, Mr. Harding was born in Pennsylvania : Mrs. Harding in Ohio, and there married. Mr. and Mrs. Hard- ing have one child, Clifton R., born August 21. 1891. Mr. Harding is very prominent in fraternal circles, being actively identified with the Foresters of America. the Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America. The Republican party claims him as a loyal member, although he does not take an active part in political matters and has never cared to hold office. His religious beliefs are sum- med up in the Golden Rule, which he has diligently practiced in his business and social life. It is this strict adherence to lofty principles, combined with a thorough and practical knowledge of the details of his business, that has established for his firm

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JOSEPHI S. ENAS, one of the honored pio- neers of Granite Falls residing one-fourth mile southeast of town, was born December 10, 1854, in the Azores islands. He is the son of Ignacio and Maria ( Souza) Enas, also natives of these islands. The father died there in 1862; the mother, in 1903, at the age of ninety-two. Leaving home in 1872, Joseph S. Enas immigrated to the United States, and made his home in Trenton, Massachusetts, for a few months. There he worked in a brickyard, at the same time employing all his leisure moments in learning to speak the English language. He then crossed the continent, and spent the following elev. en years mining in Sierra and Plumas Counties, California. His residence in Snohomish county dates from 1883 when he came hither, and, after being employed in lumber camps for a few months, took up a squatter's claim where he now lives. Land in this locality had not then been surveyed. The nearest road was at Machias, a distance of ten miles, hence he was obliged to pack in his supplies on his back. The next nine years, while proving up on his claim which was nearly all covered with heavy timber, Mr. Enas worked in logging camps. Nearly eight years elapsed before Granite Falls had a store or post-office. About this time the rail- road was built through this locality, and settlement became more general. To Mr. Enas belongs the distinction of having been the first settler to estab- lish a home in this part of the valley. His nearest neighbor lived four miles below him. Mr. Enas was one of the founders of the Union Hall of Gran- ite Falls, which was erected by a stock company. One citizen donated an acre of land, whilst others took shares at a par value of four dollars per share, two days' work constituting the purchase price of a share and the individual holdings being limited to five shares. The hall, thirty by fifty feet, was built of hewed timber, with the exception of the floor, made of sawed lumber, the material for the latter having been hauled from Getchell. The side logs, each fifty feet long, were raised by hand to a height of twelve feet. Many and diverse were the uses to which this building was put in those early days, it being church, school-house, dance hall and public meeting place all in one. In the summer of 1904 it was sold by the stockholders to the Odd Fellows lodge. It is now being used as a primary class room, the school attendance having increased so rapidly that the present accommodations are inade- quate to meet the requirements. In 1892 Mr. Enas decided to abandon farming and engage in the shingle business at Granite Falls, which he did. Owing to the general depression, which followed. the price of shingles and shingle bolts reached so low a figure that there was no margin of profit in the manufacture of them so Mr. Enas resumed

farming some two years later. He now has twenty- two acres in a fine state of cultivation, and an equal number in pasture, the rest of his eighty-eight acres being still unimproved. He is largely interested in fruit raising and dairying. Fraternally, he affiliates with the Odd Fellows, having joined in California ; in politics he is a loyal Republcan, one who is very often sent as delegate to the county conventions. His religious creed is embraced in the Golden Rule. Broadly intelligent, and possessed of sterling quali- ties, he is one of the influential citizens of Granite Falls, and holds the respect of his fellow men in all walks of life.

ULRICH SCHERRER, one of the prosperous farmers of the upper Pilchuck valley, residing four miles southeast of Granite Falls near Mensel's lake, is a pioneer of his community. Of Swiss birth, he is endowed by nature with. those sterling qualities so necessary to him who would invade a wilderness and reclaim it as have so many of his countrymen in the far West. Born November 6, 1865, at Arbon, Thurgau canton, he is the son of Jacob and Bar- bara ( Kreis) Scherrer, both of whom were natives of Switzerland. The father came of Swiss-German stock and was born in the same canton in 1834. He farmed in his native land, which he left in 1880 to settle in California, where he resumed farming. His death occurred there in 1895. Mrs. Scherrer was born in 1831. She passed away in 1896, the mother of twelve children, six boys and six girls. Ulrich Scherrer, the seventh child and the subject of this sketch, attended school from the age of six until he was twelve, spending half a day in the school room and the remaining half in an embroid- ery factory. The family was large and it was only by such assistance that the father was able to sup- port it. Ulrich worked in this factory until he was nineteen years of age, then borrowed enough money from an uncle to carry him to the great sister repub- lic across the Atlantic of whose rich opportunities for young men he had read so much. Landing at New York City, he soon made his way across the continent to San Francisco, via the Southern Pa- cific railroad and shortly afterward engaged in farming in Sonoma county. After two years there he farmed a year and a half in Sacramento county, spent a year and a half driving a milk wagon in San Francisco, then came north to Washington, arriving in Tacoma in August, 1889. Two months then passed in a brickyard at that city, upon the conclu- sion of which, Mr. Scherrer came still further north to Snohomish county and finally located a home- stead on the upper Pilchuck. eighteen miles east of Snohomish City, the claim being one abandoned bv Henry Menzel. There were no roads into the re-

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gion, only what were commonly called trails, con- sisting of a line of blazed trees through a dense jungle so thick that traveling was difficult. Hle at once commenced clearing his place, working out at anything he could find to do, mostly in nearby log- ging camps. Not until six years later was he able to confine his activities to his place, so great was the task of improving it and making it self support- ing. Bears and other wild animals were quite thick in the vicinty for many years. In fact as recently as the fall of 1905. Mr. Scherrer killed a large black bear by trapping him, bruin having destroyed con- siderable stock on Mr. Scherrer's place and on the places of his neighbors. Ile now has twenty acres cleared upon which he is raising general farming products, particularly vegetables, which he sells to surrounding logging camps ; he also keeps a herd of Jersey cows and a band of sheep. Mr. Scherrer has served his district as road supervisor and in other ways has manifested his public spirit. Politi- cally, Mr. Scherrer is a Socialist. As a hardy pio- neer who has endured the hardships incident to set- tlement on a frontier and as a successful farmer, he has done and is doing a full share toward the up- building of Snohomish county and is esteemed as one of her substantial citizens.

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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 194

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