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 66
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 66
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 66
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 66
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Besides his original homestead Mr. Sinclair has a quarter section of land, and has each year about two hundred acres sown to wheat.
Mr. Sinclair is prosperous in his business, and is regarded as an honest and industrious tiller of the soil. Politically, he votes the Re- publican ticket, though he is not by any means a radical, nor is he an active party man.
JOHN W. SMITH, merchant, postmaster and townsite proprietor of the town of Key- stone, formerly known as Harriston, Adams county, Washington, is a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, born in July, 1856, son of George and Sarah (Greennail) Smith, na- tives of Alsace, Germany. His parents came to the United States about the year 1843, set- tled first in New York and later in the state of Pennsylvania.
John W. Smith in his youth had very little opportunity to acquire an education, but he managed to gain a great amount of knowledge by his own efforts so that one to transact busi- ness or converse with him would class him as a man of finished education. He worked for his father until becoming sixteen years of age, when he went to Pittsburg and took work at nine dollars per week,-the top wage for boys -and in 1878 he learned the blacksmith's
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
trade. Upon leaving Pennsylvania, he went to Ohio, and from that state to Illinois, where he conducted his first blacksmith shop in Elwood. He again went to Ohio, and was there married to Ellen Akins, in 1879. His wife was the daughter of David Akins who married a Miss Snyder. From Ohio he removed in turn to Michigan, Nebraska and Oregon. In the latter named state he located in the Willamette valley, and came from there to Spokane county in 1882. He settled in Rockford, where he opened a shop which he sold in 1887, and in 1889 he erected the first brick block in the town. He was on the first city council of his town and was a delegate from Spokane county to the constitutional convention in 1889. From Rockford he went to Whitman county and pur- chased a grist mill. Later he removed to Wi- nona, where he bought and was proprietor of a hotel until coming to his present locality in 1901. Here he acquired title to the townsite and established a postoffice.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been parents of five sons and an equal number of daughters, Ida E., Elmer W., Cora, deceased, Minnie M., Harry J., William D., Maggie E., Pearl L., Hiram Z. and Charles L. Mr. Smith is an active Republican, and in fraternity circles is a prominent member of the Odd Fellows and Masonic orders. He is a strong type of the self-made man; regarded by his neighbors as a frugal, conscientious and honorable citizen, with more than ordinary business ability. He is widely known and has almost as many friends as acquaintances.
JOHN F. KOCH. One of the influential Russians of Adams county is John F. Koch, a farmer living three miles northeast of Ritz- ville. He was born in Saratov, Russia, No- vember 23, 1865. His father, Henry J. Koch, is a Russian of German descent, and is still liv- ing in Russia. His mother also a native of Russia, has long since been dead. Henry J. Koch is the father of three children by his first marriage and five by his second.
After the completion of his education Mr. Koch worked on his father's farm until the year. 1892, when he came to Ritzville. After working for about one year on different farms
he took up a homestead, built a small house and in two years had all his quarter section of land fenced and under cultivation. He added to his land, buying another quarter section in 1896, and in 1898 the three hundred and twenty acres where he now lives. In 1901 he sold his homestead and the land he bought in 1896, and in 1902 he built a fine home and accompanying buildings on the remaining tract.
In 1884 John F. Koch was married to Christine M. Bauer, only child of William and Anna ( Meier) Bauer, natives of Russia, where they died. To this marriage seven children have been born : Fred, Anna E., William, Ru- dolph, Cora, Martha and Philip, all of whom are living with their parents.
He is a liberal in politics, and a member of the Congregational church. He is a popular man, not alone among his countrymen of Adams county, but with the entire neighbor- hood where he lives.
CHARLES E. OLSON was born in Page county, Iowa, January 7, 1876. He at- tended district school in his native state, also in Adams county, where he came with his par- ents, Charles and Emma C. (Nelson) Olson, in 1884. Charles Olson worked with his fa- ther until becoming twenty-two, when he started making his own way. In 1897 he pur- chased a half section of land from the railroad company, all of which he now has fenced and under cultivation, improved by a fine modern house, good outbuildings and an excellent or- chard. His home lies six miles north and two miles east of Ritzville.
Mr. Olson's parents were born in Sweden and came to the United States when young. After coming to Washington they settled on a homestead near where the son now lives. Here the father died in 1895, and Mrs. Olson still lives. They were parents of five children. Charles E., Nels J., Anna M., Helen A. and Nellie.
Charles E. Olson was married in 1900 to Edith S. Griffith, daughter of W. C. and Anna (Wall) Griffith. native Californians, who . came to Washington in 1888 and settled at what is now known as Griffith's postoffice. They were parents of six children.
The only issue of the marriage of Mr. and
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
Mrs. Olson is a son, Clarence F., living with his parents. Mr. Olson is a liberal in his po- litical views, and a good citizen.
ANDREW W. OLSON is a well-to-do farmer living three miles northwest of Lind, Washington. He was born in Sodermanland, Sweden, December 10, 1863, the son of Olaf and Johannah ( Peterson) Larsen, both natives of Sweden, where they still live.
Mr. Olson has a common school education which he obtained in his native country. At the age of fifteen he left school to work on a farm. Five years later he came to the United States, locating in Cook county, Illinois, where he lived five years working at the stone ma- son's trade. In 1899 he left Cook county for the west and settled in Spokane, where he re- mained one year, then came to Lind and located on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. This land he improved and as time went on, he added to it three hundred and twenty acres, making his realty holdings total four hundred and eighty acres of good, well-watered land in one body, all improved and under cultivation. In 1903 Mr. Olson, after harvesting four thou- sand bushels of wheat, sold this land for ten thousand five hundred and sixty dollars and has now bought a half section six miles north from Ritzville, which he is improving and re- siding on at present.
Mr. Olson has two brothers, Eric A., and Charles D., and two sisters, Sophia and Josie. In politics he is a Democrat, taking an active interest in the affairs of his party. The family are members of the Lutheran church.
ELJA L. BRADLEY is a prosperous farmer making his home three miles northeast from Wheatland, Adams county, Washington. He is a native of Wilson, Niagara county, New York, born November 19, 1861, the son of Nathan Benjamin and Ovelia (Cardinel) Brad- ley, natives, respectively, of Niagara county, New York and Montreal, Canada. During the Civil War the elder Bradley was a musician in the famous Army of the Potomac under General McClellan. The grandfather of our subject, N. B. Bradley, was a merchant sailor
on the Atlantic coast and among the West Indies. Later in life he settled at the Rice Lakes, north of Hamilton. He died at the age of eighty-four at Wilson, Niagara county, New York. His wife died at the age of eighty-two. She was of Welsh and her husband of English descent. The mother of our subject was of French ancestry. She died at the age of forty-two at Centerpoint, Linn county, Iowa, leaving a family of children as follows, George F. M., Mrs. Adelia Whipple, Mrs. Mary Haskins, our subject, and Mrs. Alice Veeder. The father was again married, his second wife being in maiden life Clarinda Carpenter. This union was blessed with one child, Mrs. Alverette Jones.
Mr. Bradley accompanied his father to Illinois, when a boy, from that state to Kansas, thence to Harrison county, Missouri, where the father died. Following the death of his father, Mr. Bradley went to the southeastern part of Iowa where he was engaged in stock buying. Later he travelled through Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and California, engaged more or less in mining and in various other occupations. He reached the last named state in the spring of 1883, and the following fall he went to Puget Sound and settled in Lewis county. Here he purchased a tract of railroad land, and engaged in working in the woods on salary and at the same time cleared his own land.
On January 1, 1885, occurred the marriage of Mr. Bradley to Ella H. Dixon, a native of Yamhill county, Oregon and daughter of Eli- jah F. and Elizabeth E. (Goodrich) Dixon, mentioned elsewhere in this history. Mrs. Bradley departed this life in Spokane on March 14, 1901, leaving two children, Edna M., aged sixteen and Boyd B., aged six years. One child, Gertrude is dead.
In 1892 Mr. Bradley came to Whitman county, farmed in that county until 1899, then went to Spokane and engaged in the employ- ment business until 1902, when he came to Adams county and filed on his present home- stead. He improved his homestead and pur- chased the adjoining quarter-section and leased one section of school land, all of which he has under cultivation. His own land is well in- proved and is a very desirable farm in every respect
MR. AND MRS. ELJA L. BRADLEY
RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. ELJA L. BRADLEY, BUILT BY MR. BRADLEY IN 1898.
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
Mr. Bradley is a member of the K. O. T. M. of Ritzville, and of the First M. E. church of Spokane. His departed wife was also a member. of that church. Mr. Bradley is a man of wide western experience, and has endured his full share of the hardships of this life in gaining his present home. In 1904 Mr. Brad- ley was the regular Republican nominee for assessor of Adams county and was elected by a handsome majority. He served in the same capacity in Thurston county in years gone by and is well fitted for the duties incumbent upon him.
In this connection it is interesting to men- tion a trip that Mr. Bradley took in the spring of 1881. It will be remembered that at that time the fierce Apache Indians were on the war path. From the foot of the grand canyon of the Colorado river, to Fort Yuma, on the Southern Pacific railroad, Mr. Bradley took the entire trip in a canoe. His course lay right through the country infested with the blood thirsty savages, and he had experiences enough of a thrilling nature to fill a volume.
JACOB LUITEN, whose residence is on a farm five miles north of Ritzville, was born in Glencoe, McLeod county, Minnesota, March 5, 1878, the son of Herman and Mary (Krinze) Luiten, natives of Germany, who came to the United States about the year 1865. They Io- cated in Minnesota soon after reaching Amer- ica, where they farmed for twenty years, then sold their interests and came to Washington in 1887, and located a homestead ten miles north of Ritzville, where they now live on a well- improved and desirable farm. Herman and Mrs. Luiten are parents of eight children : John, Henry, Balthasar, Jacob, Herman, Agnes, Gerhard and Fred.
Mr. Luiten received his early education in his native county in the country school house. He came west with his parents in 1887, and attended school in Adams county after arriv- ing here, thus managing to acquire a fair amount of book knowledge. Until becoming of age he worked for his father, but at the age indicated he purchased a quarter section of cultivated land from his father, since which time he has been engaged in tilling the soil on his own responsibility. He combines. the business of cattle raising with that of farming,
and in 1901 he purchased another quarter sec- tion of land, thus he now owns a full half sec- tion, all of which is tillable and in cultivation, and all well improved, as to buildings, and so forth.
Mr. Luiten is a member of the Congrega- tional church. He is regarded as being a young man of high principles, and of great promise.
CARROLL A. LEE is a farmer residing one-half mile south of Ritzville. He was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, November 12, 1863, and in early life removed to Highland county, Ohio, where his education was ac- quired in the district schools. Upon attain- ing his majority he started in life on his own responsibility and came west to Tacoma, where he stayed only a short time. Then he went to Oregon, and from there came to Ritz- ville in 1885 and went to work as a section hand on the railroad. Later he worked as a clerk in a store in Ritzville, and in the spring of 1886 he took employment on a ranch on Cow creek. He soon filed on a homestead, and bought a well driller which he operated with success and profit until he sold his claim in 1898. He then purchased for six dollars an acre the home where he now lives, consisting of a half section of choice agricultural land, and in 1903 he refused fifty dollars an acre for the same property. His farm is improved with a large twelve-room house, an excellent barn, and a choice orchard.
Mr. Lee's parents are B. F. and Nancy J. (Skillman) Lee, natives of Ohio, in which state most of their lives were spent. B. F. Lee is a farmer by occupation, and is a second cousin of General Robert E. Lee. His wife is a sister of Dr. Evan Skillman, a physician of note, and her family includes many other learned people. Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Lee came to Ritzville in 1893, and are now living with our subject. They have had, besides the sub- ject of our sketch, five sons and three daugh- ters, William, deceased, O. M., Govner, de- ceased, Frank O., Jennie, Sylvia, R. H., and Emma.
Carroll A. Lee was married, 1903, to Lottie L. Simpson, daughter of John and Martha (Key) Simpson, natives of North Carolina. Her family came to Missouri in 1886, and from there to Washington in 1898, locating near
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
Ritzville. In 1903 the parents returned to North Carolina, where they now live, taking with them between ten and twelve thousand dollars which they cleared while farming in Adams county. They were parents of the fol- lowing children: Alice, Richard, Eliza, Lottie C., Cole, Daisy, John, George, Jessie, Mary, and James.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee have been parents of three children, Clara E., Rettia E., and Laura L.
Politically, Mr. Lee is an active Democrat. He has repeatedly held the office of deputy sheriff of Adams county, and was once the nominee of his party for the office of sheriff, but was unsuccessful at the polls. He is a member of the K. of P. fraternity, where he has served two terms in the grand lodge. He also holds membership in the Red Men order.
WELLS E. GAGE, a business man of Lind, Washington, was born in Weaver, Minnesota, on July 19, 1867. John Gage, his father, was a native of Vermont and descended from the old Gage family which has been prominent in the professions and in public life, since colonial days. Lyman Gage was one of the well known men of this family. Our sub- ject's mother, Eleanor (Probosco) Gage, was born in New Jersey, of a prominent colonial family. The father of our subject was many years a railroad contractor and then owned an eleven-hundred-acre farm in Minnesota, where this son was reared and educated. When twenty years of age, Wells E. went to North Dakota and operated a warehouse and elevator for two years. Next we find him in Latah
county, Idaho, in the same business and for twelve years he followed it at Genesee. In April, 1898, Mr. Gage was mustered in with Company D, Idaho Volunteers, as first lieu- tenant, having been in the company for three years previous. His regiment sailed from San Francisco for the Philippines on June 27, 1898. Upon entering Manila, they had an engage- ment with the Spanish and on February 5, 1899, were under fire from the insurgents. He was in service for eighteen months and al- though frequently under fire, never received a wound and kept his health. On July 31, 1899, his regiment sailed for San Francisco, and after being honorably discharged our subject went to the Coeur d' Alene country and wrought in the mines for a few months. Then he returned to the warehouse business, locating at Lind, Washington, in July, 1901. With three asso- ciates, he purchased a township of land and he now owns seventeen hundred acres in Adams and Franklin counties.
On July 15, 1891, at Colton, Washington, Mr. Gage married Kittie Maynard, who was born in McMinnville, Oregon, the daughter of John and Mary (Merchant) Maynard, natives of Indiana and Oregon, respectively, and now living in Colton, Washington. The father came to the Pacific coast in 1861 with his pa- rents. To this union, four children have been born: Zetta, aged twelve; Gertrude, ten; Eleanor, four ; and Eugene W., who died when eighteen months old. Mr. Gage has four brothers, James E., Charles A., Warren, and Herbert, and two sisters, Mrs. J. B. Schaffer and Mrs. Frank S. Towner. Mrs. Gage has two brothers, Thaddeus and Jay.
Mr. Gage is a Republican and a substantial and highly esteemed citizen.
Palouse Falis 1978+
PALOUSE FALLS, FRANKLIN COUNTY
PART V
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
CURRENT EVENTS-1805 TO 1902.
It was in 1805, at the time of the Lewis and Clarke expedition, that Franklin county was first visited by white men. At that period it was a veritable wilderness, giving little evi- dence of the magnificent resources which have since been developed. In the autumn of 1805 the famous exploring party, headed by Cap; tains Lewis and Clarke, came to the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers, the most southern point of Franklin county. They had come down from above the present present site of Lewiston, Idaho, where they had left the chief settlement of the Nez Perce tribe of Indians. Not far below here they had built canoes and "on the morning of October 7th, the whole party had started down the Kooskooskee, now the Clear- water river, and after entering the Lewis, or, Snake river, had gained the mouth of that stream at a place called Wallow Wallow."
Of this period in their long and eventful journey Lieutenant Symons, in his report to the United States government, says :
"Captains Lewis and Clarke found the In- dians of this country (at the mouth of Snake river), very much affected with sore eyes which they ascribed to the glare of the sun on the desert and rivers and the prevailing sand-blow- ing winds. It is interesting to know that they
took advantage of this fact and procured plenty of horses and provisions from the Indians in exchange for the surgical operations which they performed and the medicines which they gave the Indians, especially the much desired eyewater, from which their patients found great relief. Their journal says :
"We were by no means dissatisfied at this new resource for obtaining subsistence, as the Indians would give us no provisions without merchandise, and our stock was now very much reduced. We cautiously abstained from giv- ing any but harmless medicines, and as we could not possibly do harm, our prescrip- tions, though unsanctioned by the faculty, might be useful, and were therefore entitled to some remuneration.
"It was only by utilizing this source of rev- enue, after their stock in trade was exhausted, that the distinguished explorers were able to make their way back to the regions of civili- zation."
It was in November, 1883, that Franklin was set off from Whitman county and duly or- ganized. The organic act which passed the Territorial legislature of that year is as fol- lows :
"An act to create and organize the County of Franklin.
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
"Sec. I. Be it enacted by the legislative as- sembly of the Territory of Washington: That Franklin county shall be and consist of all that territory of Whitman county bounded as fol- fows, to-wit : Beginning at a point where the mid-channel of the Snake river intersects that of the Columbia river and running thence up the Columbia river to a point where section line between sections 21 and 28, township 14 north, range 27 east, Willamette Meridian, Washing- ton Territory, strikes the main body of the Co- lumbia river on the west side of the island; thence east on said section line to township line between ranges 27 and 28, east ; thence north on said range line to north boundary of town- ship 14; thence east on said north boundary of township 14, to the Palouse river ; thence down said river to the mid-channel of Snake river; thence down said Snake river to the place of beginning.
"Sec. 2. That J. W. Schull, C. M. Mc- Bride and D. W. Owen are hereby appointed commissioners of said county of Franklin.
"Sec. 3. That the county commissioners above named are hereby authorized within twenty days after the approval of this act, and upon ten days notice, to qualify and enter upon the discharge of their duties as such commis- sioners, and are hereby empowered to appoint all necessary county officers, required to perfect the organization of said county. And the coun- ty commissioners aforesaid, sheriff, auditor and the other officers appointed shall hold their of- fices until the next general election, and until their successors are elected and qualified accord- ing to law.
"Sec. 4. That the justices of the peace, constables, road supervisors, and other pre- cinct and school officers heretofore elected and qualified and now acting as such residing in that portion of Whitman county which is, by the provisions of this act, included in the coun- ty of Franklin, shall continue in such office un- til the next general election and until their successors are duly elected and qualified.
"Sec. 5. That all taxes levied and collected for the year. 1883, on the persons and property within the boundaries of Franklin county as hierein described, shall be collected and paid to the treasurer of Whitman county; the said Franklin county to receive no part nor parcel thereof; nor shall the county of Franklin re- ceive any part of the property of Whitman county : Provided, that nothing in this act shall deprive the county of Franklin of its just pro- portion of the school money.
"Sec. 6. The county auditor of Franklin county is hereby authorized to take transcripts of all records, documents, and other papers on file or of record, in the office of the auditor of Whitman county which may be necessary to perfect the records of Franklin county. And for this purpose the auditor of Franklin county shall have free access to the records in the office of the auditor of Whitman county, free of cost to the said county, and the certificates of the correctness of said records shall have the same legal effect as if made by the auditor of Whitman county.
"Sec. 7. That all suits that have been com- menced and are now pending in which Whit- man county is a party, shall continue to be pros- ecuted or defended by said Whitman county; said Franklin county shall not be liable for any judgments or costs, nor receive any benefits or emoluments from any such suit or suits.
"Sec. 8. The county of Franklin is hereby attached to Walla Walla for judicial pur- poses.
"Sec. 9. The county of Franklin shall re- main with Whitman county for legislative pur- poses, unless otherwise provided for by a gen- eral apportionment bill.
"Sec. 10. That the county seat of Frank- lin county is hereby located at the town of Ainsworth until the next general election, when the question of county seat shall be submitted to the vote of the people, and the place receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared the permanent county seat of Franklin county.
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HISTORY OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY.
"Sec. II. This act shall take effect and be in force on and after its passage and approval. "Approved November 28, 1883."
In 1897 Mr. A. A. Batcheller wrote and published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the following concise description of Franklin coun- ty. It appears that the present preliminary chapter is a suitable place in which to introduce it:
The county contains an area of 785,500 acres, and comprises the most southerly portion of the great Columbia plain at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers. It forms nearly a three-sided figure, bounded partly on the west and partly on the south by the Colum- bia river, partly on the south and southeast by the Snake, on the east by the Palouse river ; on the north by Adams and the northwest cor- ner of the county touching Douglas county.
"The soil is composed of a volcanic sedi- mentary deposit, covered with sage brush and bunch grass. The land lies at different eleva- tions, in benches of several thousand acres each, commencing at the junction of the two rivers at an elevation of 334 feet above sea level, and rising to an elevation of about 1,000 feet at the north line of the county. The lower, or southern portion of the county is composed of a light colored soil of a sandy nature, and when irrigated settles down into a dark, heavy loam exhibiting great richness in the production of fruits and vegetables. This portion of the county has proven to be pre-eminently suited for the raising of large crops of fruits and vege- tables, of large size and superior quality when irrigated. Apples, pears, peaches, prunes, plums, cherries, nectarines, quinces, apricots and all small fruits grow finely and come into bear- ing very early. The rainfall for the southern portion of the county, including all precipita- tion, is an average of eight inches per annum. The northern portion of the county is better adapted to raising grain, being a heavier and darker-colored soil than the southern portion.
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