USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > An illustrated history of Walla Walla County, state of Washington > Part 47
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Ever since 1868 Mr. Straight has been identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which he is quite a leader. In Walla Walla, during the month of April, 1871. he married Mrs. Alexander, who crossed the plains as a child in 1853. accompanying her parents, Mr. and Mrs. B. Robinson. Her father became a prom- inent man in the carly days of Oregon, serv- ing one term in its state legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Straight have two children: Maud, widow of Frank Foster : and Zeno K., clerk in the store of Kyger & Foster, and business man- ager for his sister, Mrs. Foster. Mrs. Straight also has one daughter. . \della, by her marriage with Mr. Alexander.
HENRY S. BLANDFORD, city attorney. Walla Walla, whose connection with the city dates back to 1885, was born in Maryland, in 1862, and in that state he was reared and edu- cated. He came west in the United States
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Signal Service, about 1881, to take charge of a station on a military telegraph line. In 1885 he was sent to Walla Walla for the purpose of establishing a weather bureau there, and the care of that bureau occupied his attention until 1890. He was, however, ambitious to become a lawyer, and accordingly devoted all his spare time assiduously to the study of that profession, with the result that in 1890 he was admitted to the bar. He then began what has proved to be a very successful career, for he is now and for some years has been considered one of the leading attorneys of Walla Walla county.
In political matters also Mr. Blandford is a leader. He was one of the delegates sent from the state of Washington in 1892 to the first National Democratic convention hield after the territory was admitted to statehood, and he was the candidate of his party for the joint senatorship of the senatorial district including Adams, Franklin and part of Walla Walla counties, but was defeated by John L. Roberts. Ile has always been awake to the best inter- ests of his home city, and was especially active in securing the water works and sewer system, which are now being successfully operated. In 1897 he was elected city attorney of the city of Walla Walla, which incumbency he still holds, and the duties of which he is very creditably discharging. Mr. Blandford mar- ried, in 1895, Marguerite Welch, a native of Walla Walla, and they are the parents of two sons, Joseph Harold and John S.
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JOHN FAUCETTE, deceased, a pioncer of 1868, was a native of Galena, Illinois, born October 6, 1831. When about fourteen he moved with his parents to St. Louis, Missouri,
where he learned the trade of a wagon-maker. As early as 1849 he crossed the plains to San Francisco, and in that city he pursued his trade for a number of years. He at length went back to his home in St. Louis and engaged in the manufacture of trunks, etc. Subsequently returning west he went into the mining regions of Montana, Idaho anl British Columbia, where a number of years of his life were passed.
Coming to Walla Walla in 1868 he there resumed his trade, also devoting a portion of his time to the ercction of some of the first fine buildings of the city. He afterward engaged in wagon-making on his own account, con- tinning in the same until 1891, when he erected the Star bakery. That completed he went into a well-earned retirement, which lasted until the date of his death, February 19, 1896. Relig- iously he was identified with the Roman Catlı- olic church. On November 6, 1872, he mar- ried Sarah A. Mosier, a native of Missouri, and they became the parents of two children, Annie J. and Geoffrey J.
Mrs. Faucette is a daughter of John H. Mosier, one of the early pioneers of Oregon, and one who was quite prominent in the po- litical history of that state, having once served as representative from his district. The Jour dle Mosier was built on his farm and named in his honor. He died in The Dalles, Oregon, in 1894.
WILLIAM A. KOONTZ .- Prominently identified with a line of enterprise of great im- portance to the traveling public, the subject of this article merits specific recognition in a compilation which has to do with the repre- sentative citizens of Walla Walla county. He is a native of the state of Ohio, born on the 3d day of January, 1857. He received a part of
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his early educational training in the public school there. but at the early age of twelve years left his father's home and started out to make his way in life, turning his steps toward the west.
He soon arrived in San Francisco, Cali- fornia, where he only remained about one month, afterward locating in Waitsburg, this county, of which he was a resident for eight- een months. He then went to Weston. Ore- gon, and passed the next year, going thence to Baker City, where he spent two years. Dur- ing this time he worked at whatever he could best succeed in. spending all of his spare time in study, and finally taking a course in the Will- amette University. His headquarters thereafter were at Umatilla, Oregon, until the year of 1878. but in July of that year he was appointed by the government to carry dispatches under General Miles during the Snake and Bannock Indian wars.
At the close of hostilities he went to Golden- dale. Washington, where he was again em- ployed by the government as one of a survey- ing party. He afterward acted as superintend- ent of a lumber mill, but finally was appointed as deputy sheriff. and served in that capacity for one term. He then took up his abode in Ta- coma, where he engaged in the grocery busi- ness, carrying on the same successfully until 1884, when he sold out and returned to Walla Walla, to accept a position as foreman of track building on the O. R. & N. R. R. Later he became superintendent of its buildings and bridges.
In 1897 he went to British Columbia. where for fourteen months he gave his attention to carpentering and mining, after which he re- turned to Walla Walla, where we now find him in charge of the Palace hotel. To those whose names appear on the register of that hostelry
he extends such hospitality as makes every guest his friend. His popularity as a first-class hotel man has secured for the house such an abundant patronage that he has been forced to annex several of the near-by rooming blocks in order to accommodate his increasing trade. He now controls no less than five large buildings, in which he maintains between one and two hundred guest chambers.
Endowed with intellectuality and discrim- irating judgment. Mr. Koontz has shown a constant interest in affairs of public nature, several times serving as delegate to state con- ventions while in Oregon, and again in this state int 1900. His standing in business and social circles, indicative of his personal popularity. is also shown in fraternal organizations, he being at the present time acting noble grand in Trinity Lodge. I. O. O. F., and treasurer of Walla Walla Encampment, which office he has held for several terms. He is also one of the managers in the Woodmen. and is supreme outer guard in the Order of Washington. He was married. on April 13. 1885. to Miss Emma Symons. a native of Minnesota, and they are the parents of one child. Edith Mary.
WILLIAM C. PAINTER .- Walla Walla county may well be proud of the number of men of spotless integrity and sterling character who have been attracted to its territory, and of the part these have borne in the affairs of coun- ty, state and nation. Dr. Marcus Whitman is of course the brightest star in the constellation of Walla Walla valley heroes, but around him cluster a great number of stars of but little less magnitude, who in their own spheres and en- vironment were equally entitled to a rank among heroic men. The man whose name
WM. C. PAINTER.
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initiates this brief and necessarily incomplete review was one in whose life and career the county and state may find reasonable cause for exultation. Mr. Painter's title to be long re- membered by the people of the state of Washı- ington in general and of Walla Walla and vicinity in particular rests not so much upon his achievements in advancing the material inter- ests of his community, though they were very considerable, nor upon his political record, though that was a clean one and of no little importance, but rather upon the pure and lofty patriotism which formed the dominating trait of his character, and upon the work which that ennobling sentiment led him to accomplish.
Mr. Painter was born in the old French settlement of St. Genevieve, St. Genevieve county, Missouri, April 18, 1830, and there the earliest years of his life were passed. His fa- ther was a member of the Painter family of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and his mother was Jean ( Moore) Painter, daughter of Major Robert Moore, a veteran of the war of 1812, and well known in the early history of Oregon. In 1850 his father and the family started for Oregon, but when the Little Blue river was reached the head of the family and two of the sons succumbed to cholera, and the mother and surviving children continued their journey westward with sore hearts. They finally came to a halt in Washington county, Oregon, where donation land claims were secured, and where William C. lived until 1863. When the Indian war of 1855 broke out, Mr. Painter was one of the first to enlist, becoming a member of Com- pany D. First Oregon Mounted Volunteers, which, it will be remembered, fought the In- dians for four days near Walla Walla city, finally routing the redskins, who retreated to the Palouse country. In this and many other fights of that war, Mr. Painter distinguished
himself for coolness and bravery. He con- tinued to follow the fortunes of his company and to share its hardships and dangers until the close of hostilities. In 1855 certain young ladies of Forest Grove Academy (now Tualatin Academy and Pacific University ) presented the company with a flag; comrades in arms voted that Mr. Painter should become its bearer; it finally came into his exclusive possession and is still carefully preserved in the Painter house- hold as a family relic and heirloom. The flag was designed by Dr. S. H. Marsh, first presi- dent of Pacific University, and "Grandma" Tabitha Brown, one of the founders of that institution, and was executed by Misses Jane Kinney, Sarah A. Ross, Caroline Brown, Mary J Stott, Mary McGhee, Jane Robinson, Mary Ellen Reed, Georgia Reed, Ellen Robinson, Gus. Mulkey (now wife of U. S. Senator J. N. Dolph) and Mrs. Kitchen. It has only twenty-one stars, and upon its field in large let- ters are inscribed the words, "Co. D, First Oregon Volls. 1855-6." In the war against the Bannock and Pah Ute Indians in 1878, Mr. Painter again assumed the role of the Indian fighter. Governor Ferry appointed him captain of a company of forty-two men, and he was assigned to duty on the gunboat Spokane, 11n- der command of Major Cress of the regular army. The first engagement in which he partic- ipated was at Long Island in the Columbia river below Umatilla, in which the whites were successful. Major Cress, in a letter written to Mr. Painter from Jefferson Barracks, Mis- souri, dated April 15, 1897. speaks very flat- teringly of the assistance rendered him by Colo- nel Painter. After this engagement, in recog- nition of his very valuable services, our sub- ject was made aid-de-camp on the staff of Gov- ernor Ferry with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and placed in command of fifty-two men. He
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was sent to eastern Oregon to assist in defend- ing the people of that region against the on- slaughts of the Indians recently defeated by General O. O. Howard, and passed south of the retreating bands to Camas Prairie with a view to intercepting their retreat. The hostiles,' being advised of his position, got around him by a circuitous route and escaped, but the colonel brought back with him to Walla Walla captured horses enough to pay the entire expense of his command. Although no battle was fought in this campaign, it was considered so hazardous that an offer of ten dollars per day for guides was not sufficient to induce any to run the risk. In his official report. General O. O. Howard, quoting Captain John A. Cress, says : "Captain Charles Painter and the forty-two volunteers from Walla Walla deserve praise for good con- duct and bravery, not excepting my Vancouver regulars an 1 Captain Gray with officers and crew of the steamer Spokane, who stood firmly at their posts under fire."
But to return to the more ordinary pursuits of life, picking up the thread of the narrative with Mr. Painter's advent into Walla Walla county in 1863, we have to record that for four years from that date he was a clerk in the employ of Flanders & Felton. of Wallula. When the senior member of that firm was elect- ed to congress in 1867, Mr. Painter took charge of the business, becoming also post- master at that point and the agent of the Wells Fargo Express Company. Eventually he re- moved to Walla Walla, that he might the better discharge the duties of an important position, that of deputy collector of internal revenue for eastern Washington, to which he had been ap- pointed. He resigned this deputyship in No- vember. 1870, but his resignation was not ac-
cepted until the following May. After retir- ing from the position, he made some unfor- tunate investments in mill property, the result of which was that he found himself at the foot of the financial ladder, but his courage and force made him master of the situation. He went cheerfully to work and continued a wage-earner until 1876, when fortune again favored him and he was appointed receiver of the United States land office. This position he retained until September, 1878, and in November of that ycar he was elected to the office of county audi- tor. So faithful and efficient were his services that the electors retained him as their choice for that office for four consecutive terms. Speaking of his final retirement, the Waits- burg Times of March 1I, 1887, says: "After filling the office of county auditor for four con- secutive terms and giving better satisfaction than any of his predecessors-in fact making the best auditor Walla Walla county ever had -WV. C. Painter steps out with clean hands and a good record to make room for L. B. Hawley, a Walla Walla bred young man fully capable of the duties of his office." The Walla Walla Statesman of the same date has this to say con- cerning him: "Auditor Painter has given up the office of auditor of Walla Walla county, that he has held so many years. . As a Repub- lican he has proved capable, efficient and hon- est, and has been very instrumental in saving the country from being imposed upon on nu- merous occasions. We do not candidly believe that a dishonest dollar has stuck to his fingers in all the years of his administration. Ile has been particular to a fault. but goes out of office with the reputation of being an honest man. 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thec ruler over many things.'"
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Upon retiring from the county service, Mr. Painter devoted his attention to farming his fifteen-hundred-acre ranch on Eureka flat, though he continued to reside in the old home on South Third street, where the family still live. Farming was his occupation until about two years before his death.
It is recorded that every public demonstra- tion of a patriotic nature saw Mr. Painter somewhere in the lead with his battle-scarred Indian war flag. When the volunteers went to the Philippines, when they returned, on Mem- orial day and other similar occasions, he and liis flag were in evidence, and should he be de- tained by any cause from participation in any stich celebration, it was a sore disappointment to all. His patriotic sentiments led him to take a prominent part in the Pioneer Associa- tion of Oregon and he always made a special effort to be present at every meeting of the organization. He was also active in the Indian War Veterans, of which he was first grand commander, and he belonged for years to the A. O. U. W. In politics, he was a stanch Republican, prominent in the councils of that party and an important factor in the political affairs of eastern Washington.
On January 7, 1864, Mr. Painter was mar- ried to Miss Caroline Mitchell, the only daugh- ter of Judge I. Mitchell, of Multnomah county, Oregon, and their children are Philip M., de- ceased. Joseph E., Charles S., Maude M., Har- rie M., Bonnie Jean, Marguerite M., Roy R., Rex M., Caroline M., and Bruce I.
Mr. Painter died of paralysis December 4, 1900. He was a pioneer, a soldier, a western nobleman-above all he was a true friend. During all that time when the crude model na- ture made was being remoulded and recast as the demands of progress and civilization dic- tated that it must, he was known throughout
all the great northwest as the personification of loyalty and honor. In the memory of his friends, and he had many, he will live forever.
MEREDITH E. STEWART, a farmer on Mill creek, four and a half miles west of Walla Walla, a pioneer of 1881, was born in Win- chester. Virginia, on October 25, 1862. He was early taken by his parents to Greenton, Missouri, where his father followed the trade of a stonemason for a few years. Later, how- ever, the family removed to Topeka, Kansas, and in that city Mr. Stewart completed his education. He came west with the remainder of his family in 1881, traveling overland, and upon arrival in this valley rented a farm and started raising hay on Dry creek.
But after a brief residence here Mr. Stewart removed to Umatilla county, Oregon, pur- chased land and again engaged in farming. He was there three and a half years, then re- turned to Walla Walla, rented another farm and remained upon it continuously until 1897, when he purchased the place upon which he now resides. He also has a homestead eleven miles west of Walla Walla, taken by him in 1898, and he is raising wheat upon this claim, while the fifty-five acres on Mill creek. his place of residence at present, are farmed to hay and fruit.
Mr. Stewart is an industrious, enterprising man, an obliging neighbor and a good citizen, and he enjoys the respect and good will of all. Fraternally he affiliates with the Modern Woodmen of America, Mountain View Lodge. No. 5096, of Walla Walla. IIe was married in this county, on February 26, 1890. to Miss Emma Ewing, a native of Walla Walla, daugh- ter of pioneer parents. They have two chil-
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(Iren. Harry E. and Pearl E. Mr. Stewart's father, William Stewart, who crossed the plains with him in the Topeka "Washington Colony." went on with the rest of the party to Puget Sound. but he has not been heard from since the first year after his arrival there, despite the fact that his son Meredith has tried several times to locate him.
Mrs. Stewart's father. Washington M. Ewing, who arrived in this valley in 1862. clied at Waitsburg on February 10. 1883. Her mother contracted a second marriage. in Walla Walla, on June 1. 1884, becoming the wife of Frederick Thiel, of Dry creek.
FRANK FOSTER. deceased .- Among those whom industry, force of character and unswerving faithfulness to the duties in hand have placed in the forefront among successful business men, the subject of this brief bio- graphical outline has merited a rank of great prominence, for his life is an exemplification of what can be accomplished by one who pos- sesses these qualities combined with natural aptitude for commercial pursuits. Mr. Foster was a son of the Pacific coast, his eyes having first opened to the light of day in The Dalles, Oregon, on November 15. 1860. Ile was, how- ever. early taken by his parents to Fort Simcoe, it Yakima county, where he resided until nine years old, and where he took the initial steps in the pursuit of a liberal education. He then accompanied his parents to Walla Walla, in the public schools of which city he spent sev- eral years more.
When he became sixteen years old he en- tered the dry goods store of Johnson, Rees & Winans, and so faithful was he to every trust, and so frugal of the wages he received, that
before he was thirty years of age he was the owner of a half interest in the business. A short time after he first became connected with the establishment his father bought the interest of Mr. Johnson, and the firm name was changed to Rees, Winans & Company. In 1889 D. T. Kyger bought out the entire business, but be- fore the year was passed Mr. Foster became the owner of a half interest, and the firm was styled Kyger & Foster. The industry and faithfulness which had enabled him to achieve this success, together with the mastery of de- tails and knowledge of the minutiæ of the busi- ness acquired concomitantly, made him master of the situation when the proprietor's respon- sibility was placed upon his shoulders, and the establishment continued to prosper and to yield gratifying returns.
Mr. Foster was also ambitious to acquire farm lands, and at the time of his death his real estate holdings consisted of four hundred acres about eight miles north of Walla Walla. a quarter-section of land in Umatilla county, Oregon, and forty acres of timber land in the mountains. He also had a fine home on Cath- erine street, Walla Walla.
In all the relations of life, and in all his dealings and associations with his fellow men. Mr. Foster's conduct was such as to win for him the respect and esteem of those with whom he came in contact, and his untimely death, which occurred February 23. 1900, was re- garded by hundreds of our citizens as a distinct personal loss, as well as a great loss to the community in general.
Mr. Foster's marriage was solemnized in Walla Walla, January 10. 1894, the lady of his choice being Miss Maud Straight. a native of the county, and a daughter of Z. K. Straight, a respected pioneer and a man who has followed the jewelry business continuously for a longer
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period of time in the state of. Washington than has any other man. Of this marriage one child, Arthur Straight, was born.
Mrs. Foster still owns the business inter- ests which her husband had at the time of his demise, and employs her brother, Zeno Straight, to assist her in the management of these in- terests.
JESSE DRUMHELLER, a pioneer of 1852, was born in Tennessee, in 1835, and there the first eight years of his life were passed. He then went with his parents to Mis- souri, locating near Springfield, where he lived until 1851. For about a year afterwards he resided in Savannah, Missouri, but in 1852 he set out across the plains to Washington with ox-teams. He located in Cowlitz county, and turned his attention to the lumber industry, but soon moved to California, where for several years he followed mining. In 1855 he came to Oregon, joined the Oregon volunteers and was sent to Walla Walla. During his eleven months' service he participated in several severe engagements with the Indians.
After the cessation of hostilities Mr. Drum- heller entered the service of the United States government, and assisted in building the gov- ernment posts at The Dalles, Walla Walla, Col- ville and Simcoe. In 1859 he located on land two miles south of the city of Walla Walla, and embarked in stock raising and general farming, a business which has engaged his en- ergies ever since until quite recently. Being an active, enterprising and progressive man, of the wealthiest and most influential farmers of the wealthiest and most influential farmers of the county. He is the owner of nearly six thousand acres of land, and in 1899 his crop of wheat amounted to about sixty-five thou-
sand bushels. Mr. Drumheller's fraternal con- nection is with the Masonic order, Blue Moun- tain Lodge, No. 13, and the Royal Arch. He was married in Walla Walla, October 8, 1863, to Martha A. Maxson, a pioneer of 1859. They have six living children : Samuel, a farmer ; Oscar and Thomas J., hardware merchants ; George, a farmer and stockman; Althea and Roscoe M.
Mr. Drumheller has taken up his residence il Walla Walla city, where we now find him living a retired life and enjoying the fruits of his well-deserved success.
WILLIAM S. SMITH, deceased .- Al- though but thirty-one years of age when sum- moned to depart this life, the subject of this brief memoir had already achieved a degree of success in the commercial world not often at- tained by men twice his years, and had won for himself a place in the confidence of those with whom he had business connections and in the esteem and respect of the community in which he lived that might well be the envy of much older men. Born in Clinton, Prince Edward Island, Canada, on January 7, 1866, he received the benefit of the excellent public-school system there established, and passed his youth under most advantageous surroundings.
Upon leaving school he engaged with his father in the flour mill industry, following that until he had attained his majority, but he thereupon removed to New Westminster, Brit- ish Columbia, where for about two years he worked as a sawyer in a sawmill.
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