USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > An illustrated history of Walla Walla County, state of Washington > Part 65
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Mr. Singleton then went to Baltimore. and in 1856 again enlisted for service on the Pa- cific coast, believing the change would benefit his failing health. He came via Panama to Vancouver, where he was stationed ten months. His company afterwards took part in the war against the Yakima Indians and had several sharp engagements with them in the Cascade mountains. The whites were led by Captain Winder and the Indians by Chief Camiachan. After subduing the Indians, Captain Winder's command built a fort and remained in the Cas- cades about a year. afterwards being trans- ferred to The Dalles. Oregon, and thence in the spring of 1857 to Fort Walla Walla. Here Mr. Singleton remained in the service until 1861, when he was honorably discharged.
While he was serving as a soldier here the Indians of several tribes joined in their hostile efforts to prevent Captain Mullen opening an emigrant and military road across the Rocky and Cœur d'Alene mountains to the Columbia river. Mr. Singleton was in the command of Colonel Steptoe which met the allied savages in the memorable engagement of Steptoe Butte. which lasted several days. The whites, being largely outnumbered, suffered a disastrous de- feat and were driven back to the Snake river in great disorder. In this engagement Mr. Single- ton had a very narrow escape from death. He became separated from his comrades. in the re-
JOHN SINGLETON
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
treat, and after wandering around nearly all night came upon a squad of friendly Nez Perce Indians, who conducted him to the Clearwater river, ferried him across and directed him to the camp of his company, who had reported him to his wife as dead. Colonel Wright soon came up from The Dalles with a thousand men and, reinforced by the troops at Walla Walla, began an active campaign against the Indians. In a short time he had scattered, cap- tured or killed the entire force. Some were hanged in the mountains, but the most noted leaders were brought to Walla Walla, where seven of them were hanged in public in the rear of the garrison. During his service in Fort Walla Walla Mr. Singleton did most of the work of keeping the records of the post, in the performance of which duty he was com- pelled to use the old-fashioned quill pen.
Mrs. Singleton had purchased a squatter's right of Captain Pierce, and to this, on being discharged from the army. Mr. Singleton re- paired. We may mention that the money re- ceived for this right by Captain Pierce enabled him to open the Oro Fino mining district, of which he was the first prospector. Mr. Single- ton died on the farm December 28, 1893, but Mrs. Singleton still resides on the old home place, which is now within the city limits of Walla Walla. She is seventy-four years of age, but has the clear mind and vivid memory of a person many years younger. Six chil- dren were born in the Singleton home : Cath- erine, widow of Thomas Tierney, and a resi- dent of San Francisco; Frank E. ; William H., deceased ; Elizabeth; Eudora M., a compositor on the La Grande Sentinel ; Esther Belle, wife of J. W. Brooks, an attorney of Walla Walla. Mr. and Mrs. Singleton always held to the Catholic faith.
OLIVER DEWITT .- It is hardly possi- ble to overestimate the magnanimity, force of character and wealth of worth which have made the pioneers of Walla Walla county, taken as a class, the recipients of the esteem and honor of all in whose bosoms a sincere love for the heroic finds lodgment. Possessed of all the characteristics which made the Puritan fa- mous, except the deep-seated religious fervor, and not wholly devoid of that, they were su- perior to that honored race in the breadth of their sympathies and charity.
To affirm, therefore, that our subject was a pioneer and that a very early one, is in itself almost equivalent to an assertion of his strength of purpose, integrity and real grandeur of char- acter, it being only necessary to add that the gentleman in question is a worthy representa- tive of the honored class to which he belongs.
Mr. Dewitt made his advent onto the stage of this life in the good old state of Ohio, the date of his birth being January 7, 1847, but shortly after his fifth year had been completed he was removed by his parents to Iowa, in which commonwealth he received his educa- tional discipline. When only seventeen years old a desire to try his fortunes in the west took hold of his being, and on the anniver- sary of the nation's birth, 1864, we find him in Walla Walla valley, having traversed the trail of many moons behind a pair of patient oxen. His first home in the county was at a point about six miles nearly due west of Walla Walla, and the first industry which engaged his energies was freighting, a business which he followed uninterruptedly until 1878. He then decided to try a line of enterprise which would allow him to enjoy the comforts of home life, so turned his attention to farming and stock raising. He purchased a tract of
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land about eight miles north of the county seat, to which he has added betimes since until he is now the possessor of a fine farm of five hundred acres. His industry and energy have worked out for him an abundant indus- trial success, his property interests including not only his farm, but considerable city realty and a share in more than one of our most promising mines.
Mr. Dewitt has been several times called upon to perform the duties of local and county offices, and in 1887 the electors of the county testified to the confidence and esteem in which they held him by nominating him as their representative to the territorial legislature.
In his fraternal affiliations he is identified with Washington Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., on whose charter his name may be found.
On May 31, 1874, in the city of Walla W'alla, Mr. Dewitt was married, the lady who became his wife being Miss America .\. Roff, a native of Missouri. The issue of their union is four children, namely: Ella, wife of G. E. Hobbs; Harry E., in Umatilla county, Ore- gon ; Arthur C .; and Essie R., wife of Clifford Hughes, of Walla Walla. The family reside in a comfortable and elegantly furnished home at 601 East Sumach street. Mr. and Mrs. Dewitt affiliate with the Methodist Episcopal church of Walla Walla.
REV. P. B. CHAMBERLAIN, deceased, one of the earliest pioneer missionaries of the coast, was born in Barre, Vermont, October 16, 1824. He attended the public schools of his native town and later the academic school at Derby, Vermont, receiving his professional training in the theological seminary of Ban- gor. Maine, from which institution he grad-
uated in 1855. He began his ministerial labors in Oregon as a home missionary of the Con- gregational churches, having come to the Pa- cific coast via Panama in the fall of 1855.
Taking charge of the First Congregational church of Portland, Mr. Chamberlain contin- ued to serve as its pastor for the ensuing eight years, then, after traveling and teaching for about a twelvemonth, he came to Walla Walla, where he set vigorously to work to establish a church. He erected, entirely at his own ex- pense, a building suitable in every respect for a place of worship, but it was destroyed by fire in 1866. The citizens of Walla Walla then built the present church and presented it to him, but he afterwards deeded it over to the Congregational Association.
For sixteen years our subject labored faith- fully and zealously for the spiritual and moral elevation of Walla Walla, and the good that he has done can never be fully known this side the great beyond. On October 31, 1889, lie was called to his reward.
Mr. Chamberlain was married in Derby. Vermont, on August 16, 1855. to Miss Alice E. Abbott, a native of Hatley, Quebec. They became parents of four children : Alice C., wife of Ira Small, a farmer near Lewiston; Felicia H., wife of Dr. A. L. Willis, of Walla Walla; Mary E., a graduate of Whitman Col- lege and a teacher ; and Edward P., deceased.
Mrs. Chamberlain was herself a very prom- inent missionary lady in pioneer days. She was brought from her native province to Der- by, Vermont, while quite young, her parents desiring to get away from the Canadian re- bellion of 1837, and she became a schoolmate of Mr. Chamberlain's at Derby, Vermont. After completing her course there she taught in Vermont and New Hampshire about eight years .. She and Mr. Chamberlain started for
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Portland on their wedding day, and she shared his journeys and his labors thenceforth to the time of his death.
Finding no schools in Walla Walla at the time of their arrival, Mrs. Chamberlain at once prepared to educate her own children at home, and the residents, learning of this, de- sired her to do what she could for some of theirs also. Soon the attendance became so large that a more commodious building was required, and they removed to the church, which had been so constructed that it could be used for school purposes also without incon- venience. After the fire, above referred to, the school was conducted in the building in which Mrs. Chamberlain now resides, until eventually removed to the building on Whit- man College grounds, now known as "Ladies' Hall."
After its removal the school was named for the first time, its appellation being Whit- man Seminary. The Rev. P. B. Chamber- lain was its first superintendent, and Mrs. Chamberlain was one of its first teachers. They watched over the infant institution care- fully, guarding it as a tender plant, until some of its most trying times were passed, then turned it over to Father Eells. This is in brief the origin of the now far-famed Whit- man College. Mrs. Chamberlain is certainly to be congratulated on the grand results which have followed from her humble efforts to "do what she could."
JOHN L. RESER. deceased, a pioneer of 1863, was born in the state of New York in 1823. Hle was early taken to Michigan, in which state and in Illinois he was reared and educated. In 1845 he removed to Missouri, and he was engaged in farming in that state
until, in 1863, he started across the plains to Walla Walla county, during which trip he lost his daughter, Mary, on the North Platte river. He took a homestead here and again began farming, but did not, however, devote his entire time to that pursuit, giving much attention to other duties. An intensely philan- thropic man, he labored with might and main for the good of his fellows, taking a very active interest in church and educational work. Dur- ing a part of his time he was a local preacher, and part of the time he traveled in the same calling. For several years he was county su- perintendent of schools, and discharged the duties of that office with characteristic faith- fulness and ability.
Mr. Reser was married in Illinois in 1841, to Miss Clarisa Callaway, a native of Mary- land. and they became parents of thirteen chil- dren, namely : William, Leah Ann, Elvira, Susan, Henry, Louisa, Augusta, Edward L., James, Julia, Mary, John and Laura. Of these Susan, James and Laura are buried in Walla Walla, Elvira at Kingston, Missouri, and Henry at Memphis, Missouri. Mary, as above stated, died on the trip across the plains, and the remainder of the children are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Reser sleep in the Walla Walla cemetery.
EDGAR A. DORRIS, a pioneer of 1878. was born in Illinois May 2, 1862. He lived there seven years, then resided in Kansas and Missouri until 1878, when he started across the plains with teams to Washington. His party was surrounded by Indians on the Snake river and besieged for a month. After relief arrived Mr. Dorris came to Walla Walla, where he worked on a farm for W. P. Sturgis, Tom Evans and Mr. Jones for two and a half
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years. He afterwards engaged in farming for himself, near by, following that occu- pation uninterruptedly until 1891, when he removed to the Palouse country. He farmed there two years, then went to Harrison, Idaho, to become engineer of a saw-mill in that town. He was in the lumbering industry until 1896, when he came to Walla Walla again and turned his at- tention to railroading. For a short time lie was one of the partners in the Fourth street fish and poultry market.
Mr. Dorris is a man of enterprise and ability. and possesses the faculty of succeed- ing in whatever he undertakes. He is quite a lodge man, being connected with both the M. W. A. and the I. O. R. M. On Decem- ber 25, 1887. he was married in Walla Walla to Miss Leola Estonp. a native of Umatilla county, Oregon, whose father, Mitchell Estoup, came west in an early day as a member of the American Fur Company. Mr. and Mrs. Dorris are parents of five children. Ida L., Rena A .. Elzata. Alice and Oscar L. Mrs. Dorris' father is a native of France, about sixty-seven years of age.
SERGEANT JOHN C. SMITH, farmer, a very early pioneer of the west, was born in New Jersey. in 1828, and in that state the first eighteen years of his life were passed and ais education obtained. In 1846 he sailed with his uncle, an employee of the American Fur Com- pany, to the Pacific coast. He lived in Cali- fornia for a time, but in 1848 he came north to Oregon, whence he soon departed into the mining region of California again. He was there until 1850, reaping very rich harvests, and making money at times with well nigh in- credible rapidity.
Returning to Oregon Sergeant Smith en- gaged in raising horses and cattle, but, in 1853, he removed to Walla Walla, where he con- tinued his former business of rearing mules, cattle and horses. He purchased land in this vicinity, and now owns six hundred or seven lunindred acres. Of late years he has given his attention to raising wheat and hay mostly, though he still raises some stock, especially thoroughbreds. He has long been a prominent man in the county, working earnestly for its welfare, and twice representing it in the legis- lature. Indeed, he was one of the men to whom Walla Walla county owes its organiza- tion.
Being so long a resident on the Pacific coast he has, as we might expect, experienced his share of Indian warfare. He participated in the Rogue river and Kayouse wars, earn- ing the title of sergeant in the latter struggle. Prominent alike in peace and war, in the days when the country was in a state of barbarism and in the days since civilization has brought its blessings to the wild west, Mr. Smith de- serves and receives the applause and good will of the country he has so efficiently helped to redeem.
In fraternal affiliations our subject is identi- fied with the Oregon Pioneer Association, and with the Indian War Veterans. He married, in Walla Walla, in 1865, Amanda Sheets, also a pioneer of a very early date, and they have eight children .--- John .\ .. Della, Marguerite, Edward, Mabel, Bessie, Hattie and Genie.
JONATHAN PETTYJOHN .- This ven- erable pioneer and respected and influential citizen of Walla Walla county was born in Ohio in 1827. He lived there until ten years
J. C. SMITH and J. PETTYJOHN
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old, then accompanied the remainder of the family to Illinois, where he remained until 1849. In that year he moved further west. and the following year hie came on to Cali- fornia, crossing the plains by ox-teams. After residing in the Golden state for a twelvemonth, he came north to Oregon, whence, in 1859, he removed to Prescott, Washington, where his home has ever since been. He homesteaded a quarter section of land, also availed himself of his pre-emption and timber culture rights. securing by this means four hundred and eighty acres from the government.
By making good and skillful use of the land thus acquired, he so augmented his wealthi as to enable him to purchase more, and he kept adding to his holdings from time to time un- ti! he became the owner of a mammoth three- thousand-acre farin. Unlike many Walla Walla county ranchmen, he has given little or 110 attention to wheat culture, confining his atten- tion almost entirely to the more attractive and under favorable circumstances more lucrative business of rearing cattle and horses. In this industry he has been unusually successful.
In the early days it was quite common for Indian scares to spring up in different parts of the valley, and the thoroughly terrified people would leave their homes and farms and fly for refuge to Walla Walla, remaining until the real or imaginary war-clouds had cleared away. At all such times, Mr. Pettyjohn and his family were among the few who refused to become refugees until they were sure that the necessity for flight existed, and the fact that they are alive and well to-day is pretty good evidence that they were never seriously mis- taken in their reading of Indian character and their penetration of Indian intentions.
While Mr. Pettyjohn has not been as active as some in political matters, he has sometimes 30
assumed the role of political leadership, and at such times has exhibited rare sagacity, acumen and skill. He was once the nominee of his party for representative in the territorial legis- lature, but was not on the victorious side. At one time also he held the important local office of justice of the peace. It may be of interest to mention in this connection as indicating the extent of our subject's connection with Pacific Coast matters, that he three times voted on the question of adopting or rejecting constitu- tions for proposed new states, in each instance voting in the affirmative, the constitutions of California, Oregon and Washington all being recipients of his support at the polls. Mr. Pettyjohn gave evidence of his public-spirit and interest in what he conceived to be for the general welfare, by suing out an injunction restraining the county commissioners from vot- ing a bonus of three hundred thousand dollars to a proposed new railroad, and he proved to all who are cognizant of the facts in the case that he is a man who "stands four square to every wind" by refusing a large sum offered as a species of bribe to induce him to raise the injunction.
In 1853 was solemnized the marriage of our subject and Miss Hannah Warner, a na- tive of Indiana. Mrs. Pettyjohn died in Janu- ary, 1892, after having borne him eight chil- dren, seven sons and one daughter.
BREWSTER FERREL, a pioneer of 1864, was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, August 22, 1838. When quite young he was taken by his parents to Athens county, where he took the initial step in his education. In 1853 the family removed to Wayne conuty, Iowa, and here Mr. Ferrel completed his com-
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mon-school course. On attaining his majority he engaged in farming on his own account. following that occupation there until twenty- five years of age.
Coming then across the plains to Walla Walla county, Mr. Ferrel homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land eight miles cast of town on Russell creek, which he still owns. It forms the nucleus of his fine twelve- hundred-and-fifty-acre farm, on which he is now raising crops of wheat and barley. He is also the owner of a one-thousand-acre tract of pasture land, and upon this he indulges his fancy for raising thoroughbred Jersey cat- tle. He also owns thirty acres just beyond f'ie Walla Walla race course, and one hundred and twenty acres in Oregon, besides some real estate in Seattle.
When it is remembered that Mr. Ferrel started without means, a mere mention of his various properties comeys some idea of his thrift. energy and ability, for he has wrought his own way in the world entirely unaided. The fact that he served as school director for thirty years is conclusive evidence that he is « firm believer in the utility of education. We may mention in passing that Mr. Ferrel at one time harvested with a Haynes Hauser ermmmned harvester one thousand and eight sacks di wheat in ten hours, thereby winning the distinction of beating all other known Ước ris
Our subject was married in lowa, on his twenty third birthday, to Miss Caroline Bott. " nove of Zanesville, Ohio, and they have -điện c nl rên : Thomas J .. a farmer: Rosalie E. W. W. S. Barnett: Seth A .. on the - man: David B., managing the wheat fre: prep W. also on the farm: Fidelia C. wie vi Charles Maven and Minnie M.
WALLACE R. COPELAND, a farmer residing six miles southeast of Walla Walla. is a son of the west. having been born in Yam Hill county, Oregon, in 1800. When two years old he was brought by his parents to Walla Walla, and here he was reared and educated. He worked on his father's farm from the time of his leaving school until he became twenty-two years old, then rented a farm and started to cultivate the soil on his own account. Six years later he bought the place he had previously rented-four hundred and sixteen acres on Cottonwood creek-and to this he has since added two hundred and forty acres of pasture land purchased from the government. He also owns a halt interest in another tract of one hundred and ninety acres. .At present he is engaged principally in raising wheat and barley, but he also gives considera- ble attention to thoroughbred Clyde horses and thoroughbred Durham cattle. He is now the owner of twenty head of cattle and twen- ty-five horses.
Mr. Co peland is an energetic, thrifty man and a prosperous, well-to-de farmer, while as a man and a citizen his standing in the com- munity is of the highest. In Walla Walla county, in 1884. he married Miss Augusta Kaseberg, a native of Ohio, and to their union have been born five children. Henry. Laura. Li Lie. Ella and Edwin, the last four of whom are all attending the public school.
JOIN AA. BEARD .- Prominent among three whose industry and toil have wrought the industrial and agricultural development of this county is the man whose name forms the caption of this brief and necessari'y incom- pete artic'e. He possesses the sturdy man-
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1
hood and great native daring which form the most striking characteristics of the true pio- neer, and is not lacking in any quality of heart or mind essential to the typical advance agent of civilization.
Born in Illinois on February 14, 1854, he spent the first eleven years of his life there, afterward coming with his parents over the long trail to the Walla Walla valley. The re- mainder of the family engaged in farming ou a place five miles southeast of the city of Walla Walla, but our subject turned his mind to freighting. From the year 1866 until the advent of the year 1876 he drove a ten-mule team almost constantly, but in the latter year he took a pre-emption in Columbia county and engaged in farming, to which, in 1879. he added stock raising also. In 1889 he re- tired from the farm temporarily, came to Walla Walla, and later became a member of the Walla Walla Dressed Meat Company, con- tinuing in that until 1898, in which year he sold out his interest and again engaged in farming and handling stock. He is the owner of a fine farm of three hundred and sixty acres on Dry creek, and resides in a comfortable and handsomely furnished home on East Su- mach street, Walla Walla, the title to which is in him.
Mr. Beard is a prominent man in frater- nal circles, having passed through all the chairs in Trinity Lodge, I. O. O. F., of which he is a charter member, and being also actively identified with the K. of P. and the United Artisans.
Near the city of Walla Walla, on October 8, 1876, the marriage of our subject and Miss Clarinda AA. Wood was solemnized. Mrs. Beard is a native of Iowa, and a pioneer of this county, having been brought here by her parents in 1863. She is a very active lady in
social circles, and a prominent member of Beehive Lodge, D. of R., all the chairs of which have been occupied by her.
Outlining the life of Mrs. Beard's father briefly, we may say that he was born in Ten- nessee January 11, 1809, and grew to man's estate and married there, afterward removing to fowa, in which state he lost his first wife. He married again, and by his second wife, Mrs. Beard's mother, who died May 31, 1900, he had eleven children, six of whom are liv- ing. He passed away in this county on August 3. 1877, and Mr. Beard's father died in Day- ton March 17, 1891.
HON. P. M. LYNCH, deceased, a pio- neer of 1861, was born in Gault, Canada, in 1834. He came to the United States in 1858. locating in Nevada City, California, where for two years he followed mining. He then removed to Portland, Oregon, and engaged in blacksmithing and carriage making, a trade which he had learned in his native town. About a year later he removed to Walla Walla and opened here the first carriage making shop in the city. However, he did not confine his attention to that business alone, but also en- gaged in pack freighting to the mines of Sil- ver City, Florence and the Oro Fino districts. also maintaining a hardware store in Walla Walla, on Main street, between Second and Third streets. llis freighting business grew until he was encouraged to add three ten-mule wagons to his train.
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