USA > Washington > Douglas County > An illustrated history of the Big Bend country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington, pt 2 > Part 57
USA > Washington > Adams County > An illustrated history of the Big Bend country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington, pt 2 > Part 57
USA > Washington > Franklin County > An illustrated history of the Big Bend country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington, pt 2 > Part 57
USA > Washington > Lincoln County > An illustrated history of the Big Bend country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington, pt 2 > Part 57
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
Charles E. Amsbaugh began his education in the common schools of Fredericksburg, Ohio, and later came west with his parents and attended the high school at Dayton. He then learned the printer's trade with O. C. White, proprietor of the Columbia Chronicle, Dayton, Washington, with whom he remained three years. He then came to Lind, and after a short time went to Whitman county, and from that time until 1896 he worked at his trade at Col- fax, Oakesdale, Pullman and Spokane. Dur- ing the year mentioned he followed prospecting on the Twisp and Okanogan rivers, and in the fall of 1896 he went to Kaslo, British Colum- bia, where he spent the winter working at his trade. Returning, he came to Ritzville and rented the Pacific hotel, which he managed six
863
HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
months, then went to Lind and built the Lind hotel. The following four months he spent in the state of his birth, whither he went on a visit, after which he returned to Kaslo, where he was proprietor of the Slocan hotel until that hostelry was destroyed by fire, when he came to Lind, and opened a real estate business in which he is engaged at this writing. He has a quarter section of improved and highly cul- tivated land near town, and a house and lot in Lind. He is doing a good business, is popu- lar with his fellow townsmen, and is in a gen- erally prosperous condition. In 1903 he was elected to the office of city clerk and is still the incumbent of that office.
In the year 1897, Charles E. Amsbaugh was married to Sarah E. Cummings, a native of Medina county, Ohio. Her parents died during her infancy.
Politically, Mr. Amsbaugh years ago allied himself with the Republican party, in whose ranks he is still a diligent and influential worker.
GEORGE L. WING, a barber by trade, and a farmer, residing in Lind, Washington, was born in Vermontville, Eaton county, Michigan, December 9, 1877. His father and mother were Elijah and Louisa (Snively) Wing, natives, respectively, of Michigan and Indiana. The mother removed to Michigan with her parents during her early maidenhood, and was there married in the town of the sub- ject's birth. She died in 1892, but the father. who also is a barber, still lives and is in busi- ness at Three Rivers, Michigan. George Wing has one sister, Grace, married to William Glover, of Goldendale, Washington.
George attended public school in his native town until fourteen years of age, when he started out in the world to make his own way. He learned his trade in Michigan and in 1892 he came with his mother to this state. She died while here and in 1894 our subject returned to Michigan but soon came to Gol- dendale, Washington, where he followed his trade for three years, then, in 1898, he came to Ritzville, where he took a homestead which he farmed, at the same time working some at his trade in Ritzville, until January 1, 1901, when he removed to Lind and purchased a barber shop. In 1902 he sold his shop and re-
moved to his farm. In 1900 he purchased two hundred and forty acres of railroad land, making him in all four hundred acres, all of which he has under fence, and three hundred and sixty in a high state of cultivation and well improved.
Politically, he is a Democrat, and takes an active working interest in the affairs of his party.
Since taking up the business of farming the last time, Mr. Wing has made a specialty of breeding and selling thorough-bred Eng- lish fox hounds, twenty-five of which he has sold during the past two years.
SAMUEL HUTCHINSON, a prominent stockman of Adams county, residing near Lind, was born in Douglas county, Oregon, January I, 1858. He was the son of Robert M. and Elizabeth ( Hanna) Hutchinson, the former a pioneer stockman of the west, and the latter a distant relative of the late Senator Hanna. The parents' lives are more fully touched upon in the sketch of Benjamin Hutchinson, else- where in this volume.
When between five and six years of age, Mr. Hutchinson went from Oregon to Victoria and there attended the St. Louis College, a Catholic institution, until ten years of age. On March 2, 1868, he went on the steamer Del Norte, to San Francisco and soon thereafter removed to San Jose, where he attended the grammar schools until about fifteen. At this age he started in life on his own responsibility, beginning by carrying a chain for a surveying party near San Jose, California, which occupa- tion he followed two years. In 1876 he took some thoroughbred cattle to Kamloops, British Columbia, and drove a herd of twelve hundred head of cattle back to Harney, Oregon, and drifted back to San Jose in the winter of 1877. and there remained six weeks. He returned to Washington in 1878 and worked for his father at teaming for some time, then settled on land now embraced in Adams county and engaged in the stock business, which he has since followed in the same locality.
Mr. Hutchinson was married June 14, 1891. to Garrie Griswold, a native of Minnesota, and to this union three children have been born, Clara L., Ruth L. and Lois I.
.
864
HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
In matters political, Mr. Hutchinson is un- biased and liberal. He has been city marshal of Ritzville for two years, and at one time was a member of the police department of the city of Spokane.
In fraternity circles, he is known as a men- ber of the Woodmen of the World, and the Red Men.
Mr. Hutchinson has had a lease one sec- tion sixteen, township sixteen, range twenty- eight west, since 1884. This land is situated on lower Crab creek. It has fine water on it and the control of that water gives Mr. Hutchin- son abundance of out range for his horses, of which valuable animals he has now about six hundred. He also owns some property in the town of Lind, where his family resides. He is one of the principal stockholders in the Jefferson Marble, Mining & Milling Company, whose property is situated some twelve miles northeast from Colville, Washington. They have an immense deposit of marble and a thor- oughly equipped plant for the lifting of this mineral and preparing it for, commerce. He is also a heavy stockholder in the Frisco Standard, which mine has just been brought prominently to the public attention by the pro- duction of some high grade copper and silver ores.
JAMES W. HENDERSON, M. D., a prominent physician of Lind, was born in Flora, Illinois, October 6, 1871. He was the son of John D. and Frances ( Alderson) Hen- derson, natives of Pennsylvania who removed to Illinois, and later to Kansas where they farmed, and where both died.
Dr. Henderson has one brother, Clarence, and three sisters, Ida, Clema and Isabell. He was raised until sixteen, near Pittsburg, Kan- sas, where he passed through the common schools, and from there took a course in the Kansas normal school, from which he was graduated in 1890. He then taught school five years, then went to the medical college at Keokuk, Iowa, took a four years' course, and was graduated in 1899. He went from this college to the medical college in Topeka, Kan- sas, where he took a seven months' course of lectures. Seven months were then spent in Christ's hospital, after which Doctor Hender- son went to Moline, Kansas, practiced his pro-
fession three months, then came to Lind, Washington, in July, 1900, and has practiced here since.
In 1902 he was elected local health officer, and the same year he was elected county coro- ner, and in 1903 he was appointed deputy county health officer and physician, all of which positions he now fills. In matters po- litical, he is always found on the side of democ- racy, and is an active party man.
In 1897 Dr. Henderson was married to Mildred Shawger, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Shawger. Mrs. Henderson died in 1900, leaving one issue of the marriage, Phil- lip H. The doctor was again married in 1903, his bride being Rosanna Davis, whose family came from Ohio. Mrs. Henderson has one brother, Robert, and no sisters.
Doctor Henderson is a member of the Modern Woodmen and the Odd Fellows, and Mrs. Henderson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JACK McELROY is one of the richest property owners of Adams county and a lead- ing citizen and stockman of eastern Washing- ton. He resides about twenty miles south from Sprague and owns a great many sections of land. He has a thousand acres devoted to wheat and five hundred producing hay and many thousands of acres of pasture. At the present time, he is handling about five hundred head of choice well bred cattle besides about one hundred head of horses. His home is one of the most beautiful in the entire country. It is a two story six room structure of modern architectural design, well furnished and sup- plied with all conveniences, as bath, hot and cold water and so forth. He has plenty of running water in his orchard while the beau- tiful lawn that surrounds his house, gives an air of taste and thrift which make his rural abode a place of real comfort.
Jack McElroy was born in Maine, on Jan- uary 1, 1840, the son of Henry and Elizabeth McElroy. The father was born in Maine in 1812, followed ship carpentering and died in Sprague, in 1893. His ancestors were pa- triots in the Revolution. The mother was born in Maine, in 1817 and died in Adams county, in 1891. Jack McElroy was never favored with a school education and gained his train-
JACK McELROY
865
HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
ing from association in the world and careful study by himself. At the age of fourteen, he went to sea and continued almost uninterrupt- edly until 1868 on the salt way, traveling all over the world. He was on the United States steamship Mississippi, under Captain Laughlin Smith, First Lieutenant George Dewey, now the famous Admiral Dewey. He was in the blocade at Galveston, Mobile, and at the mouth of the Mississippi river. He partcipated in the general engagements at Forts Jackson, Philip and Hudson. At the latter, his ship was sunk and he was wounded, being taken prisoner. He was confined at Shrevesport and Jack- son for eleven months, then was paroled. On January 31, 1864, he was discharged from service and immediately enlisted in the Second New Jersey Cavalry, serving until he was dis- charged on July 3, 1865, the work having ended. He immediately returned to sea and finally came around Cape Horn to San Fran- cisco, in 1868. He remained in California un- til 1872, working for wages, then came to his present place, it being then included in Whit- man county, and here he has labored with al- most unbounded success since.
In 1891, at Palouse City, Mr. McElroy married Miss Mina Frazer, a native of Arling- ton, Illinois. Her father, Branson Frazer, was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, and was an instructor in various colleges during his life. He also lectured on chemistry for two years. He died in Indiana. Her mother, Martha A. (Thomas) Frazer, was born in Ran- dolph county, North Carolina, and died in Morrow, Idaho. When Mr. McElroy started in the Big Bend country, he had very little means and everything that he now possesses has been the result of his labor and business ability since that time, and he is to be classed with the very best farmers and land owners in the state of Washington.
Fraternally, he is affiliated with the I. O. O. F. and with the Masons, having passed the blue lodge and the chapter.
During the NezPerce Indian war, Mr. Mc- Elroy was scout for General Howard and was especially active at the Camas prairie fights.
EARL W. MAY, a farmer dwelling eight miles southwest from Lind, Washington, is a native of Bellefontaine, Ohio, born January
15, 1862, the son of Samuel and Mary J. (Tay- lor) May, natives of Pennsylvania. The par- ents of Mr. May removed to Ohio during the early days of that commonwealth, where they both died,-the mother in 1867 and the father in 1886. They were the parents of three chil- dren, Mrs. Floy Creviston, our subject, and James A. May.
At the early age of thirteen years Mr. May came to Oregon with his father, since which age the boy made his own way in the world. He began at once to acquire what education he could by working during the summer months and attending the district school dur- ing the winters, so that he became quite a well-educated man by the time he reached his majority. Up to the age of twenty-two he lived in Linn county, Oregon. He then went to the eastern part of the state where he en- gaged in farming for three years on the cele- brated Hank Vaughn ranch. He became the owner of eleven hundred acres of land on the Umatilla reservation, when he removed to Whitman county, Washington, where he farmed from 1890 until 1895. Thence he re- moved to Fairfield, Washington, where he re- mained until 1903, when he came to Lind and purchased a section of land near town. He farmed this for a time, and got three hundred acres under cultivation and fenced. He kept a large number of horses, and in the latter part of the year 1903 he purchased a livery stable in Lind and operated it until April 1, 1904, when he returned to the farm. He owns a section of good wheat land in company with W. E. Gage.
Mr. May is an active and influential Re- publican, and a member of Garfield Lodge, No. 51, I. O. O. F. in Garfield, Washington. He is strictly a self-made man; as a man of business he is universally considered honor- able and upright, and at the same time is suc- cessful and prosperous.
LOUIS H. HUGGINS, land owner and lumber dealer of Lind, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, October 12, 1857, the son of George W. and Frances E. (Ball) Huggins. Early in life the parents settled in Stoddard county, Missouri, where both died. The mother was a descendant from the old Harden family of
55
866
HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
Kentucky and Tennessee, one of whom was General John W. Harden, who lost a limb at the battle of New Orleans. Mr. and Mrs. George W. Huggins were parents of nine chil- dren, only five of whom lived to maturity. They are, besides our subject, J. M., Amanda J., Emily R. and Dora. The father of the fam- ily served during the Civil war in the Con- federate army.
Until arriving at his majority Louis Hug- gins attended school in Stoddard county, and at the age indicated he embarked upon the busi- ness of farming and stock raising, which he followed in Missouri until coming to Washing- ton in 1899. He located in Lind upon first coming to the state, and engaged at once in the lumber business, and also purchased a sec- tion of land near town, five hundred acres of which he has under cultivation, and all fenced. He is doing a large business in town, handling all descriptions of lumber and building ma- terial, and he also is heavily interested in city real estate.
Mr. Huggins has been thrice married. First in 1881, to Arminta Wilson, who passed away six years later, leaving two children, Arthur, with his father in business, and Myrtie, also with her father.
The second marriage of Mr. Huggins oc- curred in 1890, when Phinley Hopper became his bride. She died during the same year in which the union was made.
In 1892 Mr. Huggins was married to Monnie Sorrell, a native of White county, Ten- nessee, who died at Lind, in the year 1901. The issues of Mr. Huggings' last marriage are three in number, and all make their home with their father, Chester, William and Charles.
Mr. Huggins is an active and aggressive Democrat, a member of the Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen fraternities. He also be- longs to the Church of Christ.
DANIEL W. ZENT. city attorney, is rapidly becoming recognized as one of the leading young attorneys of the Adams county bar. He is a native of Black Hawk, Califor- nia, born February 20, 1874, the son of Daniel J. and Charlotte ( Woodruff) Zent, natives re- spectively of New York and Pennsylvania.
The early education of Mr. Zent was ob- tained in Jefferson county, Washington, he
having come to this state with his parents in 1877, and at the age of twenty years he entered Puget Sound University at Tacoma. He was compelled to seek employment at various occu- pations while acquiring his education, and in 1898 he was admitted to the practice of law. He immediately embarked upon the active practice of his profession, first in Colville, Stevens county, and in 1900 he came to Ritz- ville where he practiced law. After one year he went to Hatton, Washington, where he continued in his profession and conducted a loan business. While there he was nominated by the Republican party for the office of coun- ty attorney, but was unsuccessful at the polls. He then came to Lind, where he has since re- sided, and continues to gain in popularity.
Daniel W. Zent and Mabel Myrtle, daugh- ter of C. W. and Della (Oneil) Myrtle, were married on March 14, 1903. Mrs. Zent has one sister and one brother, Alice and Ovid.
Mr. Zent is a young lawyer of great enter- prise and promise. His legal education has been gained by hard and persistent effort, and he is what may almost be styled a self-made attorney.
CHARLES LABES. Foremost among the business men of Lind is Charles Labes, dealer in hardware and implements. He is a native of the province of Pommern, Prussia, born December 9, 1856, and the son of Charles and Augusta ( Blank) Labes, both natives of Germany. The parents came to America in 1883. locating at Fort Atkinson, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, where the father died two years later. The mother still lives, and makes her home in Milwaukee. They were the par- ents of six children, Charles, William, Fred, Augusta, Hermine, and August, who is dead. The father was a veteran of the war of 1866 against Austria.
Until arriving at the age of twenty Charles Labes attended school and assisted his father, when he enlisted in the German army with which he served for two and a half years. He came to America in 1881 and lo- cated at Oakland, Wisconsin, where he lived seven years as a farmer. He then came to Ritzville in 1888 and filed a homestead twelve miles west from Ritzville, where he farmed twelve years. He accumulated land, mean-
867
HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
while, until he owned nine hundred and sixty acres of agricultural land, and all under fence, nine hundred of which was under cultivation. He started a general merchandise store in Lind in 1897, which he conducted together with his farm until 1901, when he rented his land and sold his store. He then opened the hardware and implement business in which he is engaged at this writing. He carries com- . plete lines, about twenty thousand dollars' worth of goods, and is doing an immense business, especially when the size of his city is taken into consideration. He owns the brick building he occupies, fifty by one hun- dred and forty feet, with basement, and also a fine modern residence.
On December 20, 1876, in Prussia, Mr. Labes was married to Minnie Wadeward, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Wade- ward, natives of Germany, in which country both died. They were the parents of seven children, Caroline, August, William, Minnie, Augusta, Henrietta and Carl.
Charles Labes is at the present time a member of his city council, and is an active and aggressive Republican in politics. Both Mr. and Mrs. Labes are members of the Ger- man Lutheran church.
As a business man, Mr. Labes is progres- sive, straightforward and enterprising, and the business interests of Lind look to him as a leader in affairs of importance affecting the town.
JOHN T. DIRSTINE, who is engaged in the drug business in Lind, is a native of Lapeer, Michigan, born on May 30, 1875. The parents of Mr. Dirstine were Elias T. and Isabel (Sutton) Dirstine, also natives of Michigan. The family lived in Michigan until 1902, when they came to Lind, where the mother died, survived by the father and three children, Isaac, of Connell, Washington; Pearl, and the subject of this sketch. The father makes his present home in Lind.
After passing through the grammar school of Thornville, Michigan, John T. Dirstine took a course in Valparaiso college. At the age of fourteen he came to Hatton, Washing- ton, where he taught school for four years, when he returned to Valparaiso and was later graduated from a course in pharmacy. He
then came to Millbank, South Dakota, where he was employed in a drug store for one year, then returned to Lind and engaged in his present business in 1898. He has a handsome home in Lind, also a drug store in Connell.
In 1903 Mr. Dirstine was married to Jo- anna B. Hitchcock, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Hitchcock, natives of Muscatine, Iowa, where Mrs. Dirstine was reared.
John T. Dirstine is a member of the Odd Fellows and a prominent and active worker in the ranks of Democracy. He was elected mayor of his city in 1902, which office he still holds.
JOHN KREHBIEL is the manager of the Seattle Grain Company's warehouse at Lind, Washington, which is one of the largest warehouses in the Big Bend. In 1903 it re- ceived the second largest amount of wheat marketed in the town. Mr. Krehbiel has a handsome ten-room modern house and a large lot in town, and is in a very prosperous condi- tion. Born in Bavaria, Germany, August 31, 1865, Mr. Krehbiel was the son of Christ and Magdalena (Dester) Krehbiel, both natives of Bavaria, where they lived until coming to America. The father was an upholsterer and paper hanger by trade. The family located in Illinois, upon coming to this country, and after two years removed to Kansas, where they farmed eight years, then, in 1891, came to Washington. Here they settled on land three and one-half miles from Lind, the entire fam- ily taking land and working together until the death of the father, which occurred in 1898. The mother died two years previously. The family originally contained ten children, two of whom, Ulrich and M. M., are dead. The names of those still living are; Catherine, in Germany: Jacob, Christ, our subject, Daniel, Mrs. Mary Vogt, Mrs. Magdalena Bahler, and Mrs. Susanna Near, all of Adams county, with the single exception of Mrs. Bahler, whose home is at Spokane.
After the death of the parents as above noted, the brothers worked their land in part- nership for one year. John was then married and withdrew his share of the property, which consisted of a half-section of cultivated land, purchased one hundred and sixty acres more and went into the business of farming inde-
868
HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
pendently. He has his land all cultivated and under fence, and a young orchard growing. to which he makes an addition each year. He removed to Lind in 1903, since which time he has had his farm rented to his brothers.
In 1898 Mr. Krehbiel was married to Christina Jansen, daughter of Henry and Car- oline (Kuehl) Jensen, who were born in Ger- many and came to America in 1875, located in Iowa, and removed to a farm near Lind in 1889. Later they transferred their place of residence to Walla Walla, where they now live. They have been parents of ten children, six of whom live, August, Mrs. Krehbiel, Dora. Minnie, Fred, and Mrs. Annie Linville.
Politically, Mr. Krehbiel is a Democrat, is city councilman and a member of the school board. Both Mr. and Mrs. Krehbiel are mem- bers of the Mennonite church. They have three children, Susanna W., John F., and Hellen C.
WILLIAM B. ASHCRAFT, proprietor of the O. K. Livery, Feed and Sale Stable, Lind, Washington, although only twenty-six years of age, and despite the fact of his being left an orphan at the age of sixteen, and having to battle from early boyhood against poverty, griefs and misfortune, is now pleasantly sit- uated in a home of his own, and engaged in a lucrative business. He was born in Marshal county, Iowa, May 15, 1878. His father, James Ashcraft, a native of Pennsylvania, removed in early life to Illinois, and from that state to Iowa. He enlisted in the Civil War when eighteen years of age, and while in service contracted a disease from which he never recovered, and which resulted in his death in Iowa in 1881. Our subject's mother was Susan (Kimbral) Ashcraft, also a native of Pennsylvania. After the death of her hus- band she removed to Washington with her family, in 1884, and passed away in Spokane in 1893, leaving three children; James E., of Spokane; Eunice L., in Spokans; and the sub- ject of this biography.
From early youth Mr. Ashcraft has had to work hard for his livelihood and the only schooling he has ever received was ten years in the common schools in his native county. After the death of his mother he commenced working on a farm, and continued engaged
thus until 1899, when he came to Adams coun- ty and purchased a half-section of land eight miles north of Lind, all of which he put in an excellent state of cultivation and improvement. He tilled his soil until 1903, when he sold out, removed to Lind and purchased his present business. He has since acquired a beautiful home and nine lots of well improved town property desirably located.
In 1902 occurred the marriage of William B. Ashcraft to Nonie Seivers, daughter of Nick and Gertrude (Michael) Seivers, natives of Germany who came to America when young. The Seivers family located first in Wisconsin, and from that state went to In- diana. The father came to Washington in 1886, and later was joined by his family, when they located near Lind. Mrs. Ashcraft has two brothers and an equal number of sisters whose. names are, Nicholas, Peter, Gertrude and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Ashcraft have one child, a daughter, whose name is Maud.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.