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 197

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 197
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 197

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Until he was eighteen years of age Mr. Iles, of this artcle, lived with his parents, then he began independently the struggle of life, his first employ- ment being log driving in Michigan. As soon as he attained his majority he accepted a position on the police force of Cadillac, that state, and he con- tinued to serve as such officer two years, retiring eventually to accept a position with a New York chemist in a wood alcohol establishment in the mountains of Tennessee. He remained there until 1887, then came to Washington and took up his present place. He had funds sufficient to sustain himself and family until his farm could be made to produce, hence he was able to devote all his time and energy to clearing and cultivating. He has ac- quired new fields to conquer from time to time and is still pushing ahead, nor does he expect to pause in his battle with timber, stumps and debris until the last acre of his extensive holdings is ready for the plow. Naturally alert and adapted to work in the woods, he has made considerable money cruis- ing timber and locating newcomers looking for land. During the winter of 1904-5 he found homes for thirty-seven settlers, for which service he received a hundred dollars each. Except while absent on a visit to Michigan in 1903, Mr. Iles has lived on his present farm since coming to Snoho- mishi county.

In the summer of 1886 Mr. Iles married Miss Cora Woodward, a native of the Peninsula state, and a daughter of Eli George and Cynthia (Parker) Woodward. Her father was a native of New York, who removed to Michigan in middle life and became a hotel keeper and liveryman at Cadil- lac, but at the time of his death in 1899 was a farmer. Her mother, a native of Indiana, died in

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Michigan in 1883, leaving two children, Mrs. Iles and Mrs. Nellie Larson. Mrs. Iles has two half- brothers. Gerome and Darwin Woodward, and one half-sister, Mrs. Ida Young. Born in Buffalo, N. Y., February 2, 1868, she was educated in the common schools of Michigan. She was married prior to her union with Mr. lles and by her former marriage has one son, Clyde. Mr. lles was also married before, the issue of his first union being one son, Theodore, while the children of his pres- ent marriage are Winnie, born December 23, 1890, and Walter Lee, born January 27. 1891. In poli- tics Mr. Iles is a Democrat, in fraternal connection a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. in church membership a Methodist. He has in his home place 130 acres of his original homestead, to which has been added thirty acres of improved farm land purchased later, while his other property in- terests include a house and two lots in Everett and three residences in Oso, which he rents. Now that he finds himself in an independent position, he plans to remove shortly to the city of Everett that his chil- dren may have the benefit of better educational in- stitutions and enjoy the other advantages of urban life.

ALFRED FRENCH, a carpenter, and one of the active and forceful young men of the county, active along many lines among which are prospect- ing, operating engines and farming, is a native of Kennebec county. Maine, born in 1866, the sixth of the eight children of Addison and Sybil French, agriculturists of Maine, which was their native com- monwealth also. The elder French died in 1905, but our subject's mother still lives in the Pine Tree state.

Alfred French, of this article, completed a com- mon school course of study, then set out, at the age of seventeen, to learn the jewelry business, but after a time his eyes failed him and he was compelled to change his occupation. Endowed with a natural aptitude and taste for mechanical work, he turned his attention to carpentering, following that until 1887. when he went to Massachusetts to accept a position in connection with an asylum. After spending a year there he passed another twelve- month or so at his home in Maine, then in 1890 came West and located permanently in the Puget sound country. His first employment was in bridge construction for the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway Company, and while engaged in that line he became impressed with the value of Snohomish county as a place for the development of fine homes and farms, so he soon took a home- stead on the Boulder river, about seven miles east

of Oso, where he lived for the ensuing seven years .. During this period he worked at anything he could get to do at odd times for subsistence, giving his major efforts to land clearing, but he never wholly deserted his trade and in time came to make it his main reliance for a livelihood again. In 1900 he was unfortunately stricken with a sickness which left him incapable of work for two years, but as soon as he had sufficiently recovered he turned to his handicraft, also to operating engines in different parts of the county and to prospecting for iron. His last contract is for the building of a school-house at Ilazel. As a result of his prospecting he is the owner of twenty-four iron claims, some of them very promising ones.

Mr. French acknowledges allegiance to no po- litical party, though he takes the interest in poli- tics, local and general, that every good citizen should and is governed in casting the ballot as much a's possible by the qualifications of the can- didates. He has never married. An excellent tradesman, an energetic worker, a respected men- ber of the community, a man who is willing always to render a just return for what he gets, he belongs to that great industrial class who are the real strength and boast of any community.

WILLIAM ALDRIDGE (deceased). Inas- much as he was an honored veteran of the civil war. a well-known pioneer of the Northwest, ind withal a man of sterling character, the death of William Aldridge was keenly felt not alone in his own immediate neighborhood but throughout the county as well. He was a native of Indiana, born in Putnam county, August 20. 1844. the son of William and Mary A. ( Moore ) Aldridge, both of whom were also born in Indiana. The father's death occurred in that state in 1864: the mother's ten years later. William Aldridge received his edu- cation in the common schools of his native state. A boy of sixteen when he enlisted in the Eighteenth Indiana volunteers, he saw active service during the last three years of the civil war. engaging in many of the most important battles, in one of which he was severely injured, making him a cripple for life. Returning to Indiana at the close of the war. he farmed there until 1828, when he moved to Lyon County, Kansas. Later he located in Elk county, near Howard, residing for several years in that part of the state. In 18sy he came to Stan- wood, Washington, and took the claim near Oso on which his family now live. He brought his wife and children in a canoe from Stanwood, a distance of nearly forty miles, the trip lasting two and one- half days. The nearest railroad was at Seattle ; the nearest postoffice and store at Silvana. Mail

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reached this remote corner of the state but once a month and the cost of transporting supplies from the store to the ranch was one dollar per hundred weight. Some faint idea of the hardships and privations of that early day may be gained by con- trasting the conditions existing then and now, but the rising generation can never fully appreciate what the reclamation of this vast wilderness cost those brave pioneer men and women. The first school was not opened in this locality until a year later, and then it was but a three months' term each year for the succeeding three years. The first postoffice, known as AAllen, was established in 1890, about the time that settlement became general here. A large majority of the homeseekers were from Kansas. For many years horses were unknown. oxen being used entirely for travel and farm work, and to Mr. AAldridge belongs the honor of having been the first man in this locality to own a horse. The rudely constructed roads were almost impas- sable in places, there being at least one such point between the ranch and Arlington where it was necessary to use a block and rigging each time in order to get up the hill. The family own all of the original homestead, consisting of one hundred and forty acres, of which forty acres are devoted to dairy interests.

In December. 1866, Mr. Aldridge and Marie Robinson were united in marriage. Mrs. Aldridge, also a native of Indiana, is the daughter of Samuel and Sarah A. ( Hardesty) Robinson, both of whom are deceased, the father having died in 1887 : the mother, who had reached the age of eighty-one, in 1904. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge, as follows: Ella N .. who was drowned in 1888; Mrs. Clara Siler, of Everett : Emma: Mrs. Etta Higgins, of Chelan, Washing- ton ; Harley, Gertrude. Oliver and Oscar. Three of the daughters are graduates of the state normal and are winning marked success as teachers. As a pioneer, Mrs. Aldridge experienced her full share of dangers and discomforts while she bravely stood by her husband's side, assisting him in every possi -. ble way. With only six other white women within a radius of five miles her life must have been indeed a lonely one, save for the absorbing attention which she lavished upon husband and children. As the latter have grown to manhood and womanhood they have appreciated her toil and care for them. Mr. Aldridge was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in which organiza- tion his presence is greatly missed. He was a re- publican, loyally supporting the party in every way while never seeking any political honors for him- self. The family is identified with the Methodist church. During his long residence here Mr. Al- dridge had won the confidence and esteem of his

many acquaintances and was one of the most popu- lar and prominent citizens of the county.

BERNARD J. DUFFY, of Fortson, is a whole- hearted man who, fearing no obstacle in nature and endowed with faith in the future, selected a place amid the forest trees of Snohomish county, and after a period of hardship consequent upon the isolation of his selection, entered upon a period of financial prosperity which has placed him in the forefront of present-day prosperous farmers of Sno- homish county. With a small beginning, barely sufficient to enable him to get his homestead under way to productiveness, Mr. Duffy has fairly won his home and his present position in the community by individual effort and personal energy and fore- thought. He was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, in 1868, the son of John and Elizabeth (Callahan ) Duffy, natives of Ireland, who came to the western continent, selected the queen's domin- ion as a home and raised their children, passing away between 1891 and 1843. Bernard was one |of six children, the others being James, Patrick. Mary, Edward and Margaret. At the time of the death of the parents the oldest sister was of an age which made her capable of managing the house- keeping of the family, and to take care of the estate an administrator was appointed. Under this regime Bernard lived until he was nineteen years of age, contributing his share toward the maintenance of the family ; then he started for the West, stopping in Minnesota and Montana, and finally, in 1890, locating on a homestead in Snohomish county, near where Fortson is now laid out. In possession of enough financial means to subsist himself for three years, Mr. Duffy then followed the plan of occupy- ing his summers in the logging camps and the win - ters in doing what work might be done about his homestead place, and this system continued until 1898. With but a little money he went in the year mentioned to Alaska to work as a miner, and after five years he returned with a goodly sum saved from wages earned in the Dawson district of the, Klondike and was thus in a position to forge for . ward with the improvement of the homestead. When Mr. Duffy first located on his farm he was seriously embarrassed because of the lack of trans- portation, but in later years, especially since the building of the Darrington branch of the railroad there has been no question about the disposition of produce.

In politics he is a democrat and in church rela- lations a communicant of the Catholic church. His farm consists of one hundred and sixty acres of land, seventy of which are cleared and under cul- tivation. His house, built of split cedar. is eight-

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BIOGRAPIHCAL

een by twenty-five feet in dimensions, with roof of similar construction, all the handiwork of the owner, and his barns are of the same material. . 1 small orchard is on the place and he keeps thirty- five head of cattle and twenty sheep, as well as horses sufficient for hauling and doing the farm work. Ultimately Mr. Duffy expects to have 1 fine dairy farm. In the community he is recog- mized as a man of ability, of excellent disposition socially, and of thrift and application in whatever ·direction he elects to operate.

JOHN A. CAMPBELL, whose farm lies a mile and a half east of Fortson on the county road, is one of the aggressive men of the community who have taken advantage of every opportunity offered and is now enjoying a modest competence. Mr. Campbell had few advantages in early life and what he has accomplished has been done only through hard, persevering work. He was born on Prince Edward's Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the summer of 1862. one of the seven sons of John and Catherine Campbell, who were of Scotch ancestry, natives of that island. The mother still survives and is living on the old island homestead. Of her sons, other than the subject of this biog- raphy, there are six-Alexander, Angus, Innocent, Marshall, Philip and Stephen ; she has one daugh- ter, Mary Jane. Until he became of age, John . 1. Campbell remained with his parents, obtaining but a meagre schooling. In 1882 he went to Manitoba and passed two years in railroad wark, at the end of that time coming to the Pacific coast and settling at Astoria, Oregon, where he spent two years at work in the woods in connection with the lumber business. He came to Washington in Isse, pass- ing the first three years at Seattle. In 1890 he came to Snohomish county and took up his present place, though for two years after coming here he spent considerable time in Seattle. He then moved his family here and commenced clearing his land. Mr. Campbell's knowledge of timber and railroad work especially fitted him for various kinds of work dur- ing the period when he was putting his farm in condition for cultivation. He worked in logging camps, managed the gang of men on the right of way when the Darrington branch of the railroad was in process of construction, and a few years ago had charge of similar work in Montana. Ile made Arlington his home for two years.

In 1888, in Seattle, Mr. Campbell married Miss Elizabeth O'Connor. only child of Patrick and Anna (McGuire ) O'Connor, who passed their en- tire lives in Ireland. Mrs. Campbell was born March 17, 1866. She came to Canada when seven- teen years of age and lived with an uncle until

she came to Seattle, shortly before her marriage. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell-Catherine, Annie M., Lillie MI .. John F. and Margaret. In politics Mr. Campbell is a Democrat and in fraternal circles a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Both Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are communicants of the Cath- olie church. Mr. Campbell has erected on his place. of which twenty aeres are under cultivation, a fine log residence with seven rooms, one of the interest- ing sights of the region. He has a herd of milch cows and stock cattle, with horses and hogs in cor- responding number. Rated as one of the substan- tial citizens of the community, wide awake. pro- gressive and honorable in all his dealings, he is in- deed contributing his full share to the upbuilding of the Puget sound country.

IRA HOLLINGSWORTH, general farmer, truck gardener and poultryman, whose farm lies one mile northwest of Hazel, is engaged in several profitable industries and possesses a valuable prop- erty, steadily increasing in worth with the passing years. Mr. Hollingsworth is overseer of the farm, an affection of the heart, caused by an injury re- ceived during the Civil War, preventing him from undertaking hard labor. Born April 28, 1838, in Indiana, he is one of four sons of Ara and Susanna ( Bennett) Hollingsworth, the father a native of Ohio and the mother of North Carolina. Both long ago passed away in Kansas. Ira Hollingsworth is the only survivor of the sons, but he has four sis- ters living-Sarah. Ruth, Eliza and Deborah. Until he was twenty years old young Hollingsworth lived with his parents. At that age he began to do for himself, for six years being in the employ of farm- ers of his neighborhood. He enlisted in the One Ilundred and Forty-eighth Indiana volunteer in- fantry toward the close of the war and served as a private until mustered out in the fall of 1865. Ile then returned home and farmed his father's homestead until the family removed to Howard County, Kansas, in 1820. A division of the county later placed Mr. Hollingsworth's residence in Elk county. Twenty years later he came to Snohomish county, locating on a homestead on the north fork of the Stillaguamish, where he has since lived. . \ large part of the place has been cleared, and in its cultivation and maintenance Mr. Hollingsworth's son llenry is the principal factor. Mrs. Hollings- worth died August 28. 1905. Mr. Hollingsworth, suffering from the effects of a wound received from a rock thrown by a Union soklier, is in receipt of a pension from the government, which is of material aid to him in his declining years.

In 1859, in the Hoosier state, Mr. Hollings-

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worth married Miss Mary Jane Jones, one of the seven children of James Marshall and Jemima (Wilson) Jones, natives of Kentucky, who late in life removed to Kansas and there died. She was born in 1840 and lived with her parents until mar- ried. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hollingsworth-Mercy M., William Henry, Newton C., Benjamin F., Emma V., Joseph B., George H., Sarah J. and James M., all living with the exception of Mercy M. and George H. In poli- tics Mr. Hollingsworth is a Republican. Members of the family are affiliated with the Christian church. The Hollingsworth farm is largely de- voted to raising garden truck and vegetables, a ready market for which is provided by the lumber camps of the vicinity. The family is one of the highly respected ones of the community, enjoying the confidence and good will of all.

PETRUS PEARSON, one of the Hazel Lum- ber Company, Hazel, Washington, is one of the active young business men of Snohomish county and has already gained a commendable reputation for business energy and executive ability. As are so many of this region's successful men, the sub- ject of this review is a native of Sweden, born Oc- tober 12, 1849, a son af Peter A. and Christina Pearson. The elder Pearson was born October 13, 1847, and spent his whole life in the land of his birth. dying in 1884. Mrs. Pearson is still living in the old country. One other son, Aaron, and a daughter, Jennie, are also still living. Young Pear- son received his education in Sweden. attending both the common and the high schools as well as taking a course in a business college, thus laying an excellent foundation for his business career. At the age of twenty-two he set out into the world to seek his fortune and a year later bade farewell to his native shores, sailing for the United States. Coming at once, in 1902, to Puget sound, he was so pleased with the outlook offered young men in the Stillaguamish valley that he purchased an eighty-acre tract of logged-off land near Hazel and commenced improving it, at the same time work- ing in the surrounding logging camps. A little later he attended the Pacific Lutheran college at Tacoma eight months and on his return to the val- ley entered the employ of McMartin Bros. as book- keeper at their milling plant. In 1904 the am- bitious young bookkeeper bought a small interest in the business and upon its reorganization into the Hazel Lumber Company became its assistant secretary. He was again promoted January 6, 1906, this time to the position of cashier, and to this work he is now giving the best of his ability and energy,

realizing the splendid opportunity that has been of- fered him.

Miss Mande Pendleton, the daughter of George and Elinor ( Lawrence) Pendleton, became the bride- of Mr. Pearson July 8, 1905. Her father was a sneeessful farmer during his life, which was termi- nated while he was a resident of Pennsylvania many years ago. Mrs. Pendleton survived him and is at present residing in Arlington. Mrs. Pearson was born March 16, 1884, and at the time of her mar- riage was living at home. Mr. Pearson is Repub- lican in his political views, which are liberal, how- ever, and is manfully assuming his share of publie responsibility, being at the present time director and clerk of school district No. 90. His lodge affiliations are with the Modern Woodmen of America. In ad- dition to his milling interests, Mr. Pearson still re- tains his eighty-acre tract of land. It is a distinct pleasure to chronicle in these biographical pages the. life of a young man so highly esteemed and so well trained to his work, one whose future appears to hold so much of promise.

JAMES R. PIERSON, a successful agricultur- ist of the Stillagnamish valley, residing a mile west of Hazel on the line of the railroad, has one of the most widely known places in northern Snohomish county. It is a landmark of the early days, so promi- nent that it is called the "Pioneer Home." Mr. Pier- son was born in Missouri February 15, 1866, the- son of William and Catherine (Maebeth) Pierson. The elder Pierson was a native of the Empire state. who went to Iowa when a young man and in 1865 took up his abode in Missouri. Four years later he went to Kansas, where he lived until 1888, then immigrating to Washington and settling on the Stil- laguamish river near Oso. There his death occurred in 1900. Mrs. Pierson was a native of łowa; her death occurred in Kansas, January 21, 1874. Two daughters, Sadie and Elizabeth, and one son, the subject of this sketch, survive their parents. James R. lived at home until his marriage, after which event his father lived with him until his death.

In 1895 Miss Linnie E. Higgins, daughter of Walter D. and Hettie ( McCormick) Higgins, was married to Mr. Pierson. Mr. Higgins is a native of the Blue Grass state, born May 25, 1833, but when quite young was taken by his parents to Missouri, where the family resided until its immigration to Texas in 1869. There Mr. Higgins engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he followed with success in the Lone Star state until 1887, in that year com- ing north to Washington. Snohomish county ap- pealed so strongly to him that he at once settled in the upper Stillaguamish valley, taking the place on'

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which Mr. Pierson now resides. Mr. Higgins and his daughter came to this vicinity alone and for a number of years kept open house with true South- ern hospitality for all travelers who chanced to come their way. He was perhaps the earliest of the pio- neers of this vicinity-at any rate, the most widely known. His name is perpetuated in Mount Higgins and in the Higgins school district. The farm, in memory of its early days, is still known as the "Pioneer Home." and there its founder is comfort- ably passing the remainder of the years allotted to him.

Mrs. Higgins was born in Missouri, July 27, 1832. and died February 8, 1876, in Texas. Of their children, Sarah, Alonzo and Dennie are dead, Mary, John and Mrs. Pierson living. The last named was born in Missouri March 28, 1822. and lived at home until her marriage. Two children have blessed this union, Myrtle and Dennie. In po- litical matters Mr. Pierson is an ardent Democrat. The Pierson homestead is well stocked with cattle and horses, including a dairy herd, and of its one hundred and thirty acres twenty-two are in a state of cultivation. Its proprietor is a man of energy and ability, one of the substantial citizens of the commu- nity and esteemed by all who know him. The old- time hospitality which has characterized the estate since its establishment still holds sway, lending an additional charm to the atmosphere surrounding it.

CHARLES E. MOORE, junior member of the firm of Montague & Moore, general merchants at Darrington, has risen from the ranks through sheer merit to his present position of influence and af- finence. One of Michigan's sturdy sons, he was born in that state February 19, 1861, to the union of George W. and Lovina P. (Newbre) Moore. there being six children in the family. The elder Moore was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1822. who there spent the first twenty years of his life. Then he immigrated to the Michigan frontier and in the Peninsula state followed his trade. that of a carpenter, until his death in 1891. Mrs. Moore was born in the Empire state in 1832 ; she is still living. a resident of Battle Creek, Michigan. Of her chil- dren, one is a daughter, Nellie, and five boys, Ilun, Whitehill, Gainer, Owen and the subject of this sketch. Charles E. remained at home until nineteen years old, then went to the Red River Valley, North Dakota, where he was engaged in farm work for his brother five years. A short visit to Michigan fol- lowed, after which he crossed the continent to the Pacific Northwest, locating in Washington in 1889 Here he worked two years in various logging camps on the sound, then settled on a claim on Deer creek. a tributary of the Stillaguamish river. Two years

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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 197

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