USA > Washington > Lincoln County > An illustrated history of the Big Bend country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington, pt 1 > Part 60
USA > Washington > Adams County > An illustrated history of the Big Bend country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington, pt 1 > Part 60
USA > Washington > Douglas County > An illustrated history of the Big Bend country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington, pt 1 > Part 60
USA > Washington > Franklin County > An illustrated history of the Big Bend country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington, pt 1 > Part 60
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I. Irby was born in Vancouver, Washing- ton, on June 21, 1857. being the son of Hon. Charles S. and Margaret ( Burchfield) Irby. The father was a native of Tennessee and came to Vancouver in 1852, bringing his family, which was one of the very first to settle there. He operated as a stock raiser and buyer and gained excellent success until 1862, when the hard winter of that year swept away his hold- ings largely. He gathered together what was left and bravely made another start in life and was later again the favored recipient from Dame Fortune. Twice the people where he resided chose him to represent them in the ter- ritorial lgislature and he was a leading figure in the house. To this gentleman and his brave and faithful wife, there were born seven chil- dren, named as follows: Amanda, wife of T. E. Jennings, of Spangle; Catherine, wife of J. M. Goodwin, of Yakima, Washington ; John. who died in 1866; Ira I., who is the immediate subject of this article; J. D., of Spokane;
Laura, wife of Henry Cruse; and Lucy, who died in infancy.
The gentleman of whom we now have the pleasure of speaking had the good fortune to be a son of the Evergreen State, which legacy, in those days meant something. He was reared in the surroundings of a frontier home and his educational training was received from the schools that existed then, and from studious personal research with a well informed father. When he was eighteen, he came with his par- ents to the Big Bend country and settlement was made not far from where Irby station is now located. He engaged in stock raising with his father, and from that time until two years since, he was one of the prominent men in the whole Big Bend country. Mr. Irby gained this distinction, not by putting himself for- ward, but by manifestation of genuine business ability, by carefully maintaining his upright principles and by conserving the best in- terests of the country with an energy and sagacity that could but win approval and secure the success that he deserved. Two years since Mr. Irby desired to retire more from active life in the stock business and sold a portion of his interests and removed to Spokane. He purchased the Ross Park gro- cery business at the corner of Montgomery and Hamilton, which is now handled under the incorporate name of Irby & McCollough with excellent patronage. Mr. Irby desired espe- cially to open a business for his son, who is also in the store.
The marriage of Mr. Irby occurred when Miss Letitia, daughter of William Bingham, became his bride. Mr. Bingham was a native of New York state and one of the first pioneers of Washington, coming as early as 1842 and being one of the first settlers in the Walla Walla country. To Mr. and Mrs. Irby, three children have been born, William L., aged nineteen ; Francis, and Edna. Mr. Irby is affiliated with Spokane Lodge, No. 228, B. P. O. E.
By way of reminiscence, it is interesting to note that when Mr. Irby came to the Big Bend, the nearest postoffice was at Walla Walla. When Chief Joseph's war hordes swept the country, Mr. Irby and all his people were forced to leave their residence and seek shelter in fortifications. This was in 1877. Our subject has seen all phases of pioneer life
IRA L. IRBY
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
and it has developed a man of substantial qualities, worth and energy. He could recite many interesting accounts of early days and the times when Spokane was yet unknown and the country a wild roaming place for savages. He is a worthy son of the foremost state of the northwest and such as he are they who have made Washington deserving of recognition by a nation, through their arduous labors and con- tinued faithfulness. Generations yet to come will read of these pioneers, and their deeds will be recalled with pleasant memories, for they builded broad and deep the foundations of this great state and fostered the industries which today are making her really famous. All credit and honor be given to these brave men and women, who fought back the savages, and reared their humble homes in the wilds, there to remain and wrest from stubborn Nature the key to her choicest treasuries, which have been so lavishly opened to the later homeseekers. To these men of brawn and brain be the dis- tinction and in the gates let their works praise them.
FRANK P. HARDIN. Born September 16, 1852, in Knox county, Tennessee, reared on a farm near Knoxville, where he received a finished grammar school education, and where he himself taught school for a time, Frank P. Hardin, in 1876, came to Hollister, California, and took up work on a farm. Three years later he came by wagon to Colfax, Washington, bought land and engaged in farming. In 1883 he sold out and came to his present location where he settled on a tract of unimproved land. His present holdings in real estate consist of thirteen hundred acres of tillable land, and one hundred acres of timber and pasture, all in one tract. His residence is a modern ten-room house, with up-to-date conveniences. He has a large barn, a number of good outbuildings, and all the modern implements, stock and farm equipments to be found nowadays on the best regulated farms. Among his implements may be mentioned one of some rarity,-a twenty- horse, sixteen-foot cut, combined harvester.
Mr. Hardin is the son of John and Sarah ( Gallaher ) Hardin, natives of Tennessee. His grandfather. Benjamin Hardin, was a veteran of the War of 1812. John Hardin lived and died on the old Tennessee farm, his death oc-
curring in 1863, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. The mother, also died in that year. Our subject was the youngest of seven children, who, besides himself, were: Mrs. Mary Smith, deceased: George, near Colfax; Amos M., in California; Mesdames Malvina Prater and Ann Christian ; and Joseph, still living in Tennessee.
Mr. Hardin was married to Mattie Rogers, born and reared near Bloomington, Illinois, De- cember 3, 1883. Mrs. Hardin prior to her marriage had come west with her parents. To this union three children were born, George, Richard M., and Tillie R., who were left motherless by the death of Mrs. Hardin, Jan- mary 17, 1895. She was ever a devoted wife and mother, and a stanch member of the Pres- byterian church.
Mr. Hardin was married a second time, Jan- uary 27, 1897, to Julia Browder, a native of Loudon county, Tennessee, and daughter of Samuel and Mary (Smith) Browder. Iler father is still living in Tennessee, but Mrs. Browder is dead. The second marriage of Mr. Hardin has been blessed with two children, Oscar P., deceased, and Mary Ellen.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Hardin are members of the Presbyterian church, and Mr. Hardin is a member of the I. O. O. F., which society he joined in Knoxville twenty-eight years ago, of the K. of P., and of the W. O. W.
JOSEPH B. PHILLIPS, a well-to-do farmer and merchant of Davenport, was one of the many, who, in former days, crossed the plains with horses and wagon, arriving in the northwest with no means save the conveyance and team which brought him. Born July 1. 1862, in Benton county, Arkansas, he was the son of William C. and Lucinda ( Graham ) Phillips. Mr. Phillips, senior, was a native of Alabama. He early migrated to Arkansas, from which state he served in the Union army during the Rebellion. His death occurred in 1881. Mrs. Phillips, now sixty-eight years of age, was born in Indiana, and lives at the old home in Arkansas. Their children are, Joseph B. Phillips, the subject of our sketch, Benjamin W. : Mrs. Deborah Bartin ; and Cole C. Phillips.
Mr. Phillips grew up on a farm, in the county of his birth, where he received the edu- cation common to farmer lads, and where, at
23
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
the age of twenty, he taught school and farmed. On March 3, 1884, he was married to Josie Matherly, who was born in Page county, Iowa, November 24. 1860. Mrs. Phillips' father, John Matherly, a native of Kentucky, who served in the Civil War on the union side, is living at Moscow, Lincoln county, Washing- ton. Her mother, Elizabeth ( Edwards) Math- erly, also is living.
In the fall of 1885, after traversing Colo- rado, Wyoming and Idaho, in search of a good location, he took a preemption near the present town of Moscow, afterward changing the filing to a homestead. A large crop and good prices in 1897 brought him excellent profits. In this year he sold his Moscow homestead and bought a farm about two and one half miles north- west of Davenport. He now has four hundred and eighty acres, all good grain land, four acres in fruit, besides two residences, comfort- able and modern. The one in the city of Daven- port is an especially convenient home, being supplied with all late equipments.
In the early part of February, 1904, Mr. Phillips, having purchased a brick building suit- able for the purpose, entered the business world as a grocer.
Mr. Phillips is a man active in educational matters, a member of the A. O. U. W., and of the A. F. & A. M., both lodges of Davenport. He is the father of six children, Earl E., Ethel, Eugene, Eva, Orlin, and Elsie.
CHARLES CORBIN, a farmer residing three miles northwest of Larene, is a native of Ypsilanti, Michigan, born July 14, 1856, and was a member of a family of nine chil- dren, four of whom are living. Their names are Adelbert, Charles, Mrs. Jennie Westbrook and Julia.
Our subject was reared on a farm, and on June 2, 1882, was married at Hesperia, Michi- gan, to Josephine Witte, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, born January 1, 1863. For several years following his marriage, Mr. Corbin was engaged in railroad work at Butler, Indiana, and in January, 1891, he removed with his fam- ily to Lincoln county, Washington. They lived on a farm six and one half miles northeast of Davenport until the spring of 1898, when Mr. Corbin purchased his present home. He has
two hundred and twenty-seven acres of land, the most of which is suitable for the cultiva- tion of grain and the remainder is covered with timber. He has a select orchard, containing all varieties of fruit trees, that covers ten acres, a fine berry garden, and in every respect a first- class rural home. His farm is well supplied with buildings, and implements and stock with which to carry on his business. His home is ideally located for the culture of fruit and vege- tables.
Mr. Corbin is a member of the W. W., while he, his wife, and his son, Harry all belong to the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. and Mrs. Corbin have two children : Harry Howard, born May 1, 1886; and Ray Waterman, born May 7, 1897.
Charles Corbin was the son of Lafayette Corbin, a native of New York state, who in his early boyhood assisted his father in bringing a flock of sheep from Vermont to Washtenaw county, Michigan, settling in that county at a point thirty miles from Detroit. Mr. Corbin was an early settler here, and later in Oceana county, Michigan, where he died in 1898. Charles Corbin's mother is Catherine ( Earl) Corbin, now seventy-four years of age, and living in Oceana county.
The parents of Mrs. Corbin were George and Henrietta (Wolf) Witte, both natives of Germany. Mrs. Witte is living with Mrs. Cor- bin, and is now sixty-nine years of age. Mrs. Corbin has one brother, George, living at Twisp, Okanogan county. There were originally eight children in her family, of which number Mrs. Corbin and George Witte are the sole survivors.
OLE OLSEN, a prominent Davenport farmer, was born in Norway, near Bargen, April 23, 1852, the son of Ole and Bertha Olsen, and the second of a family of eight children.
In the spring of 1867 he came with his pa- rents to Quebec, Canada, and from that coun- try to St. Paul, Minnesota. His father re- moved soon afterward to Douglas county, Minnesota, where he was one of the first to locate a homestead, and where he lived until his death. Ole Olsen, our subject, followed raft- ing on the Mississippi river for a year, when he engaged in construction work for the Southern Pacific railroad between Shrevesport, Louis-
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
iana, and Dallas, Texas, and was also for a time in Kansas and Nebraska. He came to San Francisco in the spring of 1875, and spent a year in California then came to Puget Sound, and from that section to Walla Walla, where he worked on the construction of the old Baker and Boyer railroad. He later went to Lewis- ton. Idaho, where he worked for wages, and to near Genesee. Idaho, where he took a pre- emption. In the spring of 1880 he came to where Davenport now stands, and filed a home- stead ten miles north of that point. He was cne of the first settlers in this county. thus had one of the first chances at the open land and se- lected an exceptionally desirable tract. H came here with three yokes of oxen, and for two years followed breaking prairie land and log- ging. He was the first farmer to thresh a crop of grain in this vicinity, and built the first barn in this neighborhood. the lumber for which he hauled from the vicinity of Medical Lake. He makes a 'specialty of raising grain.
December 30, 1885, at Sprague, Washing- ton, Ole Olsen was married to Matilda M. Kartak, a native of Bohemia, daughter of Thomas and Antonia ( Porak ) Kartak, who are now living in Sprague. This union has been blessed by three children : Oscar Edgar, aged sixteen years; Arthur Thomas, fourteen ; and Nellie M., eleven.
Mr. Olsen has a comfortable home in Dav- enport where he resides during the school year in order to give his family the advantage of the Davenport schools, but in summer the fam- ily resides on the farm.
He is a member of the Loyal Americans franternity, and a well-to-do and highly re- spected citizen.
FREDERICK BEIELER, a farmer resid- ing two miles northwest of Larene, is a native of Switzerland, born December 28. 1849. He was the son of Christian and Anna Beieler, both natives of the same country as himself, and he has one brother, Christian, of Missouri, and one sister, Catharine Barwarth, also of Mis- souri.
Mr. Beieler attended school in his native country until sixteen years of age, and at the age of seventeen he came to the United States. landing at New York, after which he lived a year each in the states of Illinois and Indiana,
then went to Missouri. In this state he lived in various places, but mainly in Cass county, where he was engaged in farming for a number of years.
Frederick Beieler was married, April 6, 1876, to Mary M. Graham, a native of Cass county, where the marriage took place. Mrs. Beieler was the daughter of Aquilla and Mary (Wheeler ) Graham, the former, who is de- ceased, was a native of Missouri, and an early pioneer of Cass county, and the latter a native of Tennessee, is now living in Cass county in her eighty-third year. The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Beieler are, Thomas, Jacob, Hiram, Andrew and Mrs. Jane Benjamin, all of Cass county, except the first two named, who are liv- ing respectively, in Oklahoma, and Linn coun- ty, Kansas.
In the spring of 1883 Mr. and Mrs. Beieler came to Lincoln county, and filed a homestead upon their present home. There were few set- tlers in this vicinity at the time of their advent, and they experienced many difficulties and hard- ships in getting a start here. Mr. Beieler now owns two hundred and forty acres of land. one half of which is good agricultural land, the balance timber and pasture. He has good build- ings and improvements, a choice eight acre orchard and an abundance of water for all purposes.
To Mr. and Mrs. Beieler have been born three children : Fannie M., wife of Arthur Rut- ter, Douglas county; Walter F., married to Cora Teal, near Davenport : and Maggie, wife of Eustice Mansfield, of Douglas county.
JOHN HEID, son of John and Elizabeth Heid, was born at Heidelburg, Province of Baden, Germany, December 20. 1849, grew to manhood on a farm in his native country, where he also learned the carpenter's trade, and in the spring of 1870. sailed for the United States, in company with his brother Conrad, now of Cass county. Missouri. He has another brother in America. George, near Larene.
Upon arriving at New York the two set out for Cass county, Missouri, where they were to meet a friend, but their money gave out at St. Louis, where they were compelled to take work to earn enough to carry them on to their destination. Upon reaching Cass county, it was but a matter of a short time until Mr. Heid
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
was farming for himself, and in the spring of 1880 he came by way of San Francisco and Portland to Walla Walla, where he worked for a time on salary. In October, 1880, he located his present homestead one and three fourth miles west of Larene, and the following spring moved upon it and has remained here ever since that time. Having but very scant means at his command, he was forced to put up with many hardships and inconveniences and live in a crude log cabin for a number of years until he got a start, but he is now one of the wealth- iest farmers in the county. He owns four hun- dred acres of agricultural land and one hun- dred and eighty acres of timber, and pasture. He has all good improvements, a fine house, a large barn and an excellent orchard.
John Heid was married to Della E. Taylor, a native of Illinois, October 15, 1882. She was the daughter of Benjamin and Eunice ( Whit- ney) Taylor, and with them traveled exten- sively over the states of Minnesota, Nebraska, and California, and came to the vicinity of Larene in 1881, where the parents both died. She has two sisters, Mrs. Ida Sanders, of La- rene, and Mrs. Edith Moore, of Cheney.
To this union have been born three chil- dren : Harry E., a student of the Washington Agricultural college at Pullman; Emma E., and George K.
Hr. Heid has always been an active and lib- eral worker in school matters and is regarded as being one of the most trustworthy and use- ful citizens of his locality.
JAMES McCALLUM, who lives on and cultivates a farm one half mile south of Larene, is a native of Argyleshire, Scotland, born Jan- uary 12, 1844. His father and mother were Jolin and Agnes McCallum, both lifelong resi- dents of Scotland. His brother and sisters are, Mrs. Maggie Reed, Mrs. Janet McCoag, Mrs. Flora McNeil, Mrs. Mary Stalker, who died in Australia, and Archibald.
James McCallum grew to manhood on a farm in his native country, and there was mar- ried, May 25, 1869, to Janet McKerrall, who was born in Scotland, March 22, 1844. Im- mediately after the wedding ceremony was per- formed the couple boarded a steamer bound for the United States, arrived in New York, and
from that city came direct to Macoupin coun- ty, Illinois. Mrs. McCallum is the only child ever born to her parents, Godfrey and Janet (McEachran) McKerrall, both of whom died when she was a child, and she was raised by her uncle and aunt, Archibald and Isabella (McMillan) McKerrall.
Mr. and Mrs. McCallum lived on a farm in Illinois until the spring of 1884, when they came to Davenport and purchased three hun- dred and twenty acres of railroad land, where they now live. Mr. McCallum also has three quarters of a section of timber land on Hawk creek. His agricultural land is all well im- proved and in a high state of cultivation. He has a good house, large barn, good outbuild- ings, etc., with plenty of implements and stock to successfully carry on his business.
Mr. and Mrs. McCallum are members of the Presbyterian church at Larene, of which Mr. McCallum is an elder ; and Mr. McCallum is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities in Illinois.
To Mr. and Mrs. McCallum have been born four children : Jessie Ann, born April 24, 1870, and now the wife of James A. Slater; Agnes Isabel, born April 29, 1876; John Godfrey, born September 20, 1881, and died in infancy ; and James D., born September 29, 1886, in Lincoln county. The first three were born in Illinois.
JAMES A. SLATER was born in the Shet- land Island, September 2, 1863, and came to Illinois with his parents, John and Margaret Slater, as a child, and for nine years made his home in Chicago, where his father worked at the carpenter's trade, and then removed to a farm in Kankakee county, Illinois. The father and mother are now living a retired life in Hersher, in the above named county and state. The brothers and sisters of Mr. Slater are, Charles, William, George, Mrs. Maggie Avery, Frank, and Mrs. Agnes Topliff.
James Slater was reared on a farm, and in early manhood came to Davenport, worked for a salary for a time, then located the homestead where he now lives. He was married. June 14, 1893, to Jessie McCallum, a native of Ma- coupin county, Illinois, daughter of Jamies and Janet (McKerral ) McCallum, a sketch of whose lives is to be found elsewhere in this history.
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Mr. Slater has in cultivation his own one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he has a handsome house, good outbuildings and improvements, and five quarter sections of land which he rents, a total of about nine hundred and sixty acres which he is farm- ing. His farm is well supplied with animals and implements, and he is making a success of the business. He is a member of the Macca- bees, and the W. W .; and both he and Mrs. Slater are affiliated with the Presbyterian church of Larene.
To Mr. and Mrs. Slater have been born four children, George E., Glen A., Annie J., and Agnes A.
Mr. Slater is one of the substantial and highly respected citizens of Lincoln county.
EZRA W. McLEAN, a farmer whose home adjoins the city of Davenport on the northwest, was born near Lockport, New York, April 20, 1848. His father, William McLean, was a native of Scotland, and his mother, Mary ( Alderman) McLean, of England. Ezra McLean is a member of a family originally comprising eighteen children, most of whom grew to maturity and twelve of whom are living.
In his early life Ezra accompanied his pa- rents to Fond Du Lac county, Wisconsin, and at the age of seven he left home and went to Adams county, Wisconsin. There he worked on a farm until seventeen then returned to Fond Du Lac county, and remained until reaching his majority when he went to Blue Earth coun- ty, Minnesota. In 1871 he went to Cotton- wood county, Minnesota, where he was a pion- eer homesteader, being the second to file on land in Delton township, of which township he was one of the organizers. He followed farming here, and was instrumental in building the township up to its present status. His first residence there was a "dugout." and many hard- ships and vicissitudes were endured. While a resident of Blue Earth county. November 2. 1876, he was married to Hattie F. Thomas. Mrs. McLean was born in Blue Earth county, August 23. 1857, and was the daughter of William and Harriet (Wheaton) Thomas, the former a native of Canada, and a Minnesota pioneer, and the latter a native of Providence.
Rhode Island, and both now deceased. Mrs. McLean is the only survivor of four children. She can trace her ancestry back nine genera- tions to Robert Wheaton, who came to Massa- chusetts about the year 1630.
Mr. McLean when seventeen had no means, but a strong physique, which latter fact is at- tested by his walking forty-five miles in one day while making a certain journey. He was always a hard-working man, and in time built up a first class home. In June, 1901, he came to Davenport, Washington, to look over the coun- try, with which he was so pleased that he pur- chased his present home, returned to Minne- sota, sold his interests there and brought his family to Davenport the following spring. He now owns one hundred and forty acres where he lives, a fine modern house, and all the im- provements on his farm that money and good taste could suggest. He also has four hun- dred acres of grain land four miles west of Davenport.
Mr. McLean is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America, of Windom, Minne- sota, and both he and Mrs. McLean are mem- bers of the Baptist church, of which church at Davenport our subject is a trustee.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. McLean ai seven : Hattie May, wife of Willit G. Parson, at Madelia, Minnesota; William T., married to Clara Gowan, Alberta, Canada ; Chester W .; Arthur W., married to Etta Goans, in Coulee City. Washington; Percy R., a graduate from the Blair Business college, of Spokane; George Ervin : and Frances Ella.
MARION F. SETTERS. M. D., is a phy- sician of high standing in Lincoln county, where he formerly practiced, as well as in Spokane, where he now has offices in partnership with Dr. J. G. Cunningham in the Fernwell block. Born in Milan, Missouri, June 5. 1870, the son of Peter and Ellen E. Setters, Marion F. Set- ters came with his parents at the age of nine to the vicinity of Reardan, Washington, where he was reared on a farm, and received a gram- mar school education. At the early age of eighteen he began teaching, thus procuring the means to take him through the business college at Spokane, and later the state normal school at Cheney. After attending the latter institu-
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