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 62
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 62
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 62
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 62
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As a young bov Mr. McMillan attended the common schools of Scotland, and at the age of ten he started in life as a cattle herder in Inverness shire, which occupation he followed one year. He then became an apprentice to a cousin who was a blacksmith and at the end of three years he had mastered the trade and procured a certificate of qualification. He then engaged in working at the trade, and soon went to England. From England he went to Ire-
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
land, where he worked at his trade a short time, when he returned to Scotland, and came to America in 1887. He located first at Philadel- phia, where he did blacksmithing for three months, then came to Washington and located in Adams county in 1888. For four years after coming to this county he worked on the farm of an uncle, then went to Kamloops, Brit- ish Columbia, where he worked at the forge four months. From Kamloops he went to Colorado, where he spent eighteen months in a shop, going in turn to Portland, Oregon, then after three months, to Spokane, where he fol- lowed blacksmithing between two and three years, then. went to Medical Lake and to Sprague, remaining in Medical Lake four months and in Sprague six. In 1898 he started his present business at Washtucna, where he is doing well and recognized to be a workman of unusual ability.
Mr. McMillan owns a quarter-section of farming' land six and one-half miles from Washtucna all of which is fenced, but cultivated only in part. He also owns his own lot and building in town where his business and home are situated.
On February 27, 1904, Mr. McMillan was married to Caroline Whitthall.
W. J. SUTTON was born on September 29. 1865, at Dryden, Michigan. After com- pleting the high school course, he entered the Eastern Michigan Normal School, graduating in the normal course in 1886 and the commer- cial course in 1887. In August, 1887, he came to Adams county, Washington, and later in the same year located a homestead and tree claim eight miles east of Hatton, a section of the country now known as Michigan Prairie. Since that time, Mr. Sutton and his brother, B. L. Sutton, have been interested in farming and have evinced their faith in the future of Adams county by adding to their landed hold- ings, until now they own one of the most ex- tensive wheat farms in the state. In the fall of 1887, Mr. Sutton was elected principal of the Cheney public schools and organized the first graded school at that place. After serving three years in this position, he was elected as- sistant principal of the Cheney State Normal School and one year later, was promoted to the
principalship, which position he held until 1897. During his term of office, the school underwent many trials and discouragements. First be- cause of the burning of the Benjamin P. Cheney Academy building, the first home of, the normal school, and later, by the executive veto of its maintenance appropriation. For two years, the work of the school was con- tinued without state aid. During this time the management of and the standard of the work done in the school was such that the following legislature not only appropriated money to cover the deficiency- created during these two years, but made a liberal appropria- tion for the future maintenance of the school; and in addition to this the same legislature, largely through Mr. Sutton's efforts, appropri- ated sixty-five thousand dollars for a normal school building. The present magnificent structure is the result of this appropriation.
In March, 1897, Mr. Sutton was married to Miss Nellie G. Hutchinson, of Auburn, New York, who had been a member of the faculty of the Mankato State Normal School, Mankato, Minnesota, and for six years principal of the training department of the State Normal at Cheney. They are now living in their beautiful home just outside of the city limits of Cheney. On their home farm, which consists of about eight hundred acres of fine prairie land, is one of the best apple orchards in eastern Washing- ton.
For the past five years Mr. Sutton has given his whole attention to the interests of his Cheney and Adams county farms. Fraternally, he is a thirty-second degree Scottish rite Mason, a Knight Templar, a Shriner and an Odd Fellow.
JOHN C. SULLIVAN is a farmer living two and one-half miles northwest from Fletcher, Adams county, Washington. He is a native of Pike county, Illinois, born in 1843. He received a good country school education, to gain which he was compelled to walk a long distance to attend school in a primitive log cabin. At fourteen years of age he engaged in working for wages on a farm. Returning home, he gave to his mother all the money he had earned, then started west to gain another start in life. He came to Walla Walla, Wash- ington, in 1860, remained three months, then
W. J. SUTTON
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
went to Bannock City, Montana. He worked mining for two years, and in all remained in Montana four years, then returned to Wash- ington and engaged in freighting with a yoke of oxen between Walla Walla and Lewiston. Idaho. Two years later he engaged in the well- digging business in Garfield county, and during the same year he became a volunteer soldier against the Crow Indians on the Platte river. Previous to this time, however, during the years 1861-62 and '63, he was a government scout on the Western plains. He came to his present locality in 1887, filed on a homestead, which he now owns, and has subsequently acquired con- siderable agricultural land. He has his real estate all fenced and under cultivation, and each year he raises a great deal of wheat. Also he has some live stock. He is a careful, in- telligent farmer, and knows how to make the business pay.
During his military service, Mr. Sullivan had many narrow escapes from death at the hands of the savages against whom he was arrayed. In 1861 he was captured by them and kept a prisoner for eighteen months, or until he made his escape by a clever piece of strategy.
Politically, John C. Sullivan is active and not influenced by any party, although it is in other fields of life than politics that he is best known. The only office he has ever held is that of school director, which position he has filled for some years. The parents of Mr. Sul- livan were J. C. and Maggie Sullivan, natives of Ireland, who came to the United States when young and settled in Illinois, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
ROY V. ROGERS is a prosperous young farmer residing three-fourths of a mile east from Fletcher. He was born in Pike county, Illinois, May 25, 1881, and was the son of Charles F. and Kate (Baker) Rogers. Both parents are natives of Illinois, where they lived until 1889, when they came to Adams county, Washington. In 1903 they removed to Cal- ifornia and are still living in that state. They have been parents of four children : Roy, Claud, deceased: Leslie, who lives with his parents, and Lloyd, also with his parents in California.
Before coming to this state Mr. Rogers at-
tended school at New Hartford, Illinois, and continued his education after arriving in Adams county. Until 1903 he was employed by his father on the farm. During the year mentioned he rented the farm, since which time he has been cultivating it for himself. The farm contains four hundred and eighty acres and is all under cultivation. Mr. Rogers also owns ten head of draft horses.
On July 15, 1903, occurred the marriage of Roy V. Rogers to Ethel Lucy, daughter of Henry and Thula (Davidson) Lucy, natives of Missouri, in which state they lived until coming to Washington and locating in Adams county, where they now live. They have been parents of five children : Eugenia, married to J. F. M. Clever ; Rowen; Ethel, and Anna and Ralph, the two latter being twins.
Mr. Rogers is a Republican and takes an active working interest in the affairs of his party. Mrs. Rogers is a member of the Chris- tian church.
Mr. Rogers is one of the most promising young business men of Adams county, and is a man highly respected and well-liked by all who know him.
EDWARD GASKILL lives in the town of Leone, Adams county, Washington, and his business is that of a farmer. He was born in Holly, New Jersey, November 18, 1844, son of Joseph and Hanna (High) Gaskill, both also natives of New Jersey, who during their lives lived also in the states of Michigan, Iowa and Kansas. In the last named state, in Mont- gomery county, both died, the father at the age of eighty-nine and the mother aged eighty- six. The father was a farmer. Both parents were descended from old English stock, and the father's father, Ebenezer Gaskill, served as a soldier during the Revolution.
Mr. Gaskill was educated in the grammar schools of the states of New Jersey, Michigan and Iowa, and at the age of twenty-two he began work on a farm for salary. He then followed sailing on the Mississippi river for a brief space of time, after which he purchased horses and engaged in breaking sod in Illinois for three years. In 1887 he came to Washing- ton and filed on a homestead where he now lives. He also purchased eighty acres of rail- road land, to pay for and improve which he
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
was forced to work among various farmers for wages. In 1893 he bought eighty acres more and four years later a half-section, all of which he has improved and under cultivation. During the past five years he has also bought and sold, as a matter of land speculation, sev- enteen sections of land. His present land is among the choicest in the Big Bend.
Mr. Gaskill has been thrice married. In 1875 he was married in Kansas, which union was blessed with one child, Nettie. The wife died in 1881, and our subject was again mar- ried, by which marriage two children, Mary and Oscar, were born. In 1886 the second wife departed this life, and in 1898 Mr. Gaskill took for his third helpmate Etta Start, daugh- ter of John M. and Hannah ( Worden) Start, natives of New York, in which state Mrs. Gaskill also was born. The father of Mrs. Gaskill was a railroad man, and during his life lived in the states of New York, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Kansas. He was prom- inently identified with the construction of the railroad connecting Cold Water, Michigan, with Chicago. The mother died in Kansas in 1898 and the father in 1900. They were par- ents of six children: Eugene W., Jane A., Fannie M., Hanna, Clarence J. and Mary H.
Of the children of Mr. Gaskill, the first born is married to W. Kirkpatrick, and is living in Ritzville; Mary is married to Walter Noun, Garfield, Washington, and Oscar is with his father.
Politically, Mr. Gaskill is a Democrat. He has for a number of years been a member of his school board, and is a prominent member of the Church of Christ.
JAMES F. WEST is a prominent young farmer residing nine miles northeast of Wash- tucna. He is a native of Clay county, Missouri, where he lived' until coming to Washington with his parents at the age of twelve years. He attended school to a limited extent in his native state, and continued his education after coming here until he attained a fair common school education. When eighteen years old he engaged in farm work in the employ of his uncle, James Kennedy. a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume, and remained thus engaged until 1900, when he was married
and settled on the farm where he now lives. He filed on his land as a homestead, and has since come in possession of three hundred acres in addition upon which he raises some stock but his principal income is derived from his wheat crop, of which he raises as high as six thousand bushels per year.
Mrs. West, in maiden life, was Mary P. Dempsey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. Demp- sey. Her mother is now dead, and her father is residing in British Columbia.
Mr. West was born on October 16, 1874, the son of Madison and Bettie (Kennedy) West, natives of Kentucky. . The parents came to Missouri early in life, and there the father died in 1886. Upon the death of her husband, the mother came to Washington and located in Adams county, where she is now living, aged sixty-four.
Mr. West has two sisters, Mattie L. and Annie. He also has two sons, Charles M. and James F. In political opinion, he is a Democrat and takes an active interest in the affairs of his party.
GEORGE LUCAS is doubtless the oldest settler of Adams countv. As early as 1866, he selected the place where he now lives which is twelve miles northeast from Washtucna. From that time until the present, he has made this his home and is well known all through the Inland Empire. From the time of his lo- cation until 1894. he kept an inn and his place was on the old Colville road and the Mullan military right of way, well known by all the old pioneers, and he entertained travel from all parts of the country. He has given his at- tention to raising hay largely, since coming here and has been prosperous, having a com- petence sufficient for the needs of his life although he retires from business. Mr. Lucas has determined to spend the golden years of his life in the place where he has won success, being satisfied that this is one of the favored regions of the great west. All the old timers will hail with delight a sketch of Mr. Lucas, since they have all received good cheer at his fireside and are acquainted with the genialty and kindliness of that gentleman.
George Lucas was born in Donegal county, Ireland on December 22, 1833. the son of John and Nancy Lucas, natives of Ireland. The
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
parents continued to reside in the Emerald Isle until their death. Our subject received his education there and remained under the parental roof until twenty-two years of age, at which time he started in life for himself. His first move was to come to the land of the free, landing at New York in 1855. He made his way thence, via the Isthmus to San Fran- cisco and was soon delving in the golden sands of the Sunset State for the fortune that he believed awaited him there. For seven years, he continued engaged thus, then came north. In 1862, we find him in the famous Salmon river diggings and for four years, he wrought there. Next he spent sometime among the mountains of Montana, whence he journeyed to his present location, being the right of a squatter. He fixed up the place in good shape and was known as a first-class host all through the years of pioneer travel and in the last de- cade. All supplies had to be drawn from Walla Walla and so Mr. Lucas had to maintain freighting outfits together with other parapher- nalia to handle his trade successfully. In ad- dition to the industries above mentioned, Mr. Lucas gave considerable attention to handling horses and cattle and would turn off as high as three hundred head in a year.
Mr. Lucas has two brothers and four sis- ters, Daniel, William, Mary, Elizabeth, Han- nah and Rebecca, deceased.
Politically, Mr. Lucas is a strong and act- ive Republican and has shown a marked inter- est in these affairs and keeps himself well posted on the issues of the day. In religious persua- sions, he belongs to the Episcopal church.
In 1897, Mr. Lucas took a trip back to Ire- land and spent eight months in seeing old friends and acquaintances, then bade farewell to his childhood scenes, well satisfied and contented to remain in his western home. He has won the respect and admiration of all who know him and has perhaps as wide a circle of ac- quaintances as any man in this portion of the state.
ANDREW J. BURKHART resides about ten miles northwest from Washtucna and de- votes his attention to farming and stock rais- ing. He was born in Newton county, Missouri, on July 31. 1854. the son of J. D. and Louis? (Parsons) Burkhart, natives of Indiana. The
father settled in Missouri in 1838 and was there married. That state was his home until 1874, then he moved to Kansas, where he re- mained until 1885. At that time, he journeyed to Dayton, Washington where his death oc- curred. The mother still lives in Adams coun- ty, where she owns a homestead. They were the parents of the following named children : Eliza, deceased ; Madison L .; our subject ; John W .; Anna M., married to O. Nichols: Grant; Lulu M., married to L. Lake in Dayton; Charley; Lydia, married to C. Slocum; Camp- bell, deceased; Sigle. The parents were de- scended from German ancestors who settled in America among the very first emigrants in colonial days. Our subject's education was received in Newton county, Missouri, and was very limited, owing to the fact that the war broke out about the time that he was ready for school. His father was a member of the state militia and he well remembers the dangers and trying times of those days of internecine con- flict. He remained with his parents until twenty-four vears of age and then began farm- ing for himself. In 1883, he came to Dayton but not liking the country so well there, he journeyed on to Adams county where he se- cured a homestead, the place where he now lives. During the hard times of the early nineties, he continued steadily at farming but like many others, was unable to make any money. Later, he began to prosper and has secured other land besides his home place, hav- ing two well improved farms of about one section each. Nearly a thousand acres of this land are under cultivation and produce abund- ant returns of wheat. He is known as one of the prosperous and thrifty men of Adams coun- ty and has shown himself thoroughly competent to conduct the large business he is now con- trolling. In addition to grain raising, he handles from fifty to one hundred head of stock each year and has some nice graded animals.
In 1878, Mr. Burkhart married Miss Sarah Rinker, the daughter of Levi and Jemimah (Merriman) Rinker, natives of Kentucky and Indiana, respectively. They settled in Grundy county, Missouri, in early days and there lived until 1886, when they transferred their resi- dence to Kansas, where the father died in 1902 and the mother still lives, being in Cherokee county. They were the parents of four chil-
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
dren, Mrs. Burkhart, Dorothy, Permilia and Henry. To Mr. and Mrs. Burkhart thirteen children have been born: Bennie; Alexia, the wife of Philip Watkins, of Adams county; Henry K .; John N .; Myrtle D .; Robert H .; Ralph; Arthur; James K ..; Eddie and Freddie, twins; Andrew J. and Sybil.
Politically, Mr. Burkhart is an adherent of the Republican party and takes a deep interest in local affairs and in general politics. He is well informed on the questions of the day and a progressive man.
Fraternally, he is affiliated with the A. F. and A. M.
WILLIAM C. WHITTALL, a pioneer on the Pacific coast of 1857, lives on a farm three miles northeast of Washtucna. During the year mentioned he came by way of the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco, and soon thereafter went to work in the mines of California. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fourth Regular Cavalry and was engaged in warfare against the Indians until mustered out of ser- vice at San Francisco in December, 1865. Having learned the millwright trade from his father, he then engaged in that work until the following year, when he bought a California farm and tilled the soil for three years. In 1872 he engaged in the drug business at In- dependence, Oregon, four years later disposed of it to enter the hotel business in that town, then in 1877 he engaged in working at the carpenter trade. He came to Walla Walla during the year of 1877, where he followed carpentering until coming to Adams county in 1889. After removing to this county he made a homestead entry on his present farm and engaged in the stock business, which he fol- lowed with success until 1893, since which time he has devoted his attention more to farming though he still keeps some live stock. He has one hundred and sixty acres of land, all under cultivation and in an advanced state of im- provement.
Born in Quincy, Illinois, March 1, 1836, William C. Whittall was the son of George and Caroline (Brattain) Whittall, natives of England. The parents of Mr. Whittall came to America when young, settled first in Illinois, and spent the remainder of their lives in that state and Iowa. The mother died in 1844,
leaving a family of five children, of whom our subject was the eldest, and later the father married a second time by which marriage he reared a family of seven children. He died in 1879.
William C. Whittall was educated in the common schools of Farmington, Iowa, and at the age of seventeen he left school to engage in farm work. This he followed until attaining his majority, when he came west as stated in a preceding paragraplı.
In 1866, Mr. Whittall was married to Marie C. Burns, daughter of William and Rachel (Ford) Burns, the father of Scotch and the mother of French descent. The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Whittall are: Robert, Jane, John, Margaret, David, William E., Marietta, Annie, James H. and Phy.
To Mr. and Mrs. Whittall have been born three children : Mary, married to John McMil- lan, Adams county ; George B., Whitman coun- ty ; and Millie, married to E. K. Lloyd, of Col- fax, Washington.
Mr. and Mrs. Whittall are members of the Episcopalian church, and Mr. Whittall holds membership in the G. A. R., F. and A. M. and the I. O. O. F. fraternities.
JAMES M. KENNEDY is a well-known stock man residing on Cow creek, four miles north of Hooper postoffice, Adams county, Washington.
Born in Madison county, Kentucky, Jan- uary 12, 1830, he was a son of Thomas S. and Evaline (Hawkins) Kennedy natives also of Kentucky, in which state they lived until 1842, when they removed to Clay county, Missouri, and later to Clinton county, where they died. The father was a blacksmith and wagon maker by trade, and was survived several years by the mother, who lived to an extreme old age. They were parents of nine children, Nancy, James M., Esther, Sarah, Elizabeth, Ebenezer, Martha, Thomas S., and one who died in infancy.
James M. Kennedy was born on soil made historic by the life and activity of Daniel Boone, and he had for his early neighbors a great many old inhabitants who had been in- timately associated with that great pathfinder. Until arriving at the age of twenty, Mr. Ken-
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
nedy attended the common schools, both of his native state and Missouri, and at the same time assisted his father with his work. He left home to make his own fortune at the age mentioned, and was one of the historic "forty-niners" of California, he having crossed the plains with a train of ox teams during the year 1849. The train, which was known as the "Hell Town Train," and commanded by Captain George Goddard, started out from Missouri with pro- visions to last two years, and experienced many trials and adversities before finally arriving at its destination, viz., the gold fields of the "Golden State." Here Mr. Kennedy engaged in placer mining until 1858. He served through the Modoc Indian war of 1857, and in 1858 he started for the Fraser river mining region, where he mined until 1861, when he went to the Cariboo district and there mined until 1864. He was always considered a "lucky" miner and during his operations made a great amount of money. For putting through one ditch, while engaged in placer mining in California, he re- ceived twelve thousand dollars, and in 1864 he received nine thousand dollars in return for his work in British Columbia. After leaving British Columbia, he, in partnership with Henry Haws, purchased for sixteen thousand dollars, a pack train of one hundred and thirty animals. This he brought to Kootenai, Idaho, where he sold his interest in the train and open- ed a store. He remained here until 1868, when he went to Walla Walla and engaged in the sheep business. He drove his sheep to the Montana markets, disposed of them and dealt for several years in beef cattle. He came to his present locality in 1877 and purchased thir- teen hundred head of cattle, a quarter-section of railroad land and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres more. Here he lived five years, when, in 1880, he filed a homestead claim on the land where his residence now stands. Sub- sequently he has continued to add to his hold- ings in land until he now owns eight thousand acres. All of his land is fenced and cross fenced,-a total of thirty miles of fence being in use on his land. In addition to his own land he leases for pasturage three sections of school land. He at one time owned three thousand head of cattle, but during the winter of 1881-82 he lost heavily, since which time he has raised on an average of only between five hundred and six hundred head. He has one of the greatest
hay ranches in the state, harvesting each year about six hundred tons of hay. He keeps a large herd of horses, has first-class farm build- ings on his ranch and an excellent orchard. Cow creek divides his farm, so that every month in the year his meadows are kept well watered by a running stream.
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