An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 47

Author: Hines, Harvey K., 1828-1902
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1056

USA > Washington > An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 47

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board of directors; is vice-president of the Big Bend National Bank of Davenport, Washing- ton; and is president of the Missoula Mining Company, whose properties are at Murray, Idaho.

Mr. Drumheller was married in 1868, to Miss Susie Warren, a native of Tennessee, by whom he had three children: Jerome, born in 1869; Albert, in 1871; and Lulu H., in 1883. The mother of these children died in Spokane in 1888, and he was subsequently married to Miss Nellie Powell, a native of Oregon. They have one child, born in 1890.

Mr. Drumheller is a prominent member of the Masonie fraternity, have taken all the higher degrees of that order. Ilis political views are thoroughly in accord with Democratie prinei- ples. Ile is, indeed, one of the leading men of his community and is valued for his many ster- ling qualities.

H W. WHEELER, president of the Com- mercial National Bank of Seattle, was fittingly prepared for the position he so ably ocenpies by a long experience in banking and financial transactions. Following is a brief sketeh of his life:

II. W. Wheeler was born in Manitowoc, Wis- consin, in October, 1850, son of Albert and Mary J. (Grisam) Wheeler, natives of Vermont and of English and Scotch deseent. John Wheeler, the progenitor of the family in Amer- iea, came to New England from the " Mother Country" with the Puritans, and his deseend- ants have been connected with agriculture, com- merce, and mereantile affairs. Albert Wheeler was reared as a merchant, but departed from this line of pursnit in 1847, when he removed with his family to Wisconsin and engaged in the manufacture of lumber. In 1867 he inoved to Alden, Iowa, and returned to mercantile life and stock farming.

HI. W. Wheeler was reared under Puritanic precepts in habits of thrift, economy, honesty and integrity. He was educated in the academy at Prairie du Sae, Wisconsin, and at the age of eighteen years entered upon his financial career as a clerk in the First National Bank at Iowa Falls, remaining in that institution abont eigh- teen months. Deciding to come to the Pacific Coast, he arrived in November, 1869, at Santa Barbara, California. Then he spent three years

in travel along the coast, accepting such oppor- tunities for clerking or teaching school as the country afforded, as, having only twenty-five eents in his pocket upon his arrival, personal effort was immediately necessary in providing the necessaries of life. Having arrived in Ore- gon in 1871, he was indneed to teach a school in Whitman county, Eastern Washington, this being the first school taught in that county. At that time not a foot of land had been surveyed North of Snake river, it being considered unfit for any purpose except that of grazing.

In 1873 Mr. Wheeler settled at Engene, Ore- gon, and as a elerk connected himself with the sash and door factory, operated by Abrams Bros., continuing with them about two years, after which he purchased a farm in the Willa- mette valley and engaged in the stock business, keeping fine graded sheep, and horses. After being thus engaged about two years, he sold out and moved to Pendleton, Oregon, where he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. In the fall of 1879 he established the house of Wheeler Bros., of which he was the head, wholesale and retail dealers in hardware and and agricultural implements, and built up an extensive business, which increased to the ex- tent of demanding in 1884 a wholesale house in Portland, Oregon, which with numerous agen- cies was eontinned up to 1888. Mr. Wheeler practically withdrew from the management of this establishment in 1886, to organize the Oregon & Washington Territory Railroad, which, as secretary and manager, he operated np to the spring of 1888, when, having constructed and equipped fifty-five miles of road, he severed his connection with the enterprise.

IJe then came to Seattle to rest and reenper- ate, at the same time looking for profitable in- vestment. Associating himself with a few gen- tlemen from North Seattle, he organized the State bank known as the Bank of North Seattle, which opened its doors for business Mav 1, 1889, with a capital stock of $50,000, Mr. Wheeler becoming president of the bank. On the first day of the following October they re- incorporated as the Commercial National Bank and increased their capital stoek to $100,000. In December, 1890, they remove l to the Burke Building, to be nearer the business center, and upon the completion of the New York Block they removed to their present quarters in it, in February, 1892, where they transact a general banking business, offering every possible accon-

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modation to their financial patrons. Mr. Wheeler is also president of the Blaine National Bank of Blaine, Washington, with a capital stock of $50,000, being the first and only bank of that eity. He is a director of the Marine Savings Bank of Port Townsend, with a capital of $50,000.

Mr. Wheeler was married in Pendleton, Ore- gon, October 13, 1880, to Miss Arminta Cole, of Marshalltown, Iowa. They have two chil- dren, Ernest and Miriam.

Mr. Wheeler takes up his financial work with the flush of enthusiasm, occasioned by his pre- vious success in every enterprise undertaken, more particularly, however, from his fancy to a financial career, to which he has given great thought and research. He is the author of an article upon "Our Future Banking System," which was originally published in the columns of The American Banker and has since been issued in phamplet form, receiving wide circu- lation and favorable criticism. He is also the author of a treatise on the subject of silver as money, known as “ Bi-metalism an Impossibil- ity," and a most complete paper on the finan- cial troubles of 1893, known as " Our Present Financial Depression : its Causes and Remedies," aa well as many other important papers, treat- ing on the subject of finance, all of which have met with hearty approval by students of politi- cal economy, from whom he has received many flattering compliments.

J OHN MANWELL, a Clarke county farmer, was born in Kosciusko county, Indiana, March 16, 1852, his parents being William and Elizabeth (Shumaker) Manwell, both natives of Ohio. The Manwells are of French ancestry, the first emigration to America antedating the Revolutionary war, in which struggles the great- grandfather of our subject participated.

Mr. Manwell, whose name heads this brief sketch, is the fifth of the eleven children of his parents. The family removed to Buchanan county, Iowa, and thirteen years afterward to Cherokee county, Kansas, and after three years there back to Iowa, where they remained until 1871, when they came to Washington. They now live some thirty-six miles northeast of the city of Vanconver. The farm consists of 160 acres, twenty-five under cultivation, and includes

a nice little orchard. Mr. Manwell devotes his farm mainly to the rearing of live stock, and to some extent to dairying. The residence is beantifully located in a valley and directly at the base and under the shadow of Tuin-tum mountain.

In his political views Mr. Manwell is a Re- publican. Ile is now a member of the Board of School Directors of District No. 71.

He was married May 2, 1899, to an estimable widow, Mrs. Phobe Tenant, nee Fuller, a native of the State of New York, and they have one son, John Harrison, born May 5, 1891. By her former marriage Mrs. Manwell has three chil- dren: Myrtle, Nolan and Pearl Tenant.

0 SKAR HUBER, civil engineer, is one of the most popular and rising young men of Spokane. He has made a legion of friends by his jovial and amiable characteristics, while his strict attention to business, and his superior ability have won for him a most envi- able reputation.

Mr. Huber was born in the canton of Saint Gall, Switzerland, in 1859, fifth in the family of J. J. and Barbara Huber, natives of that country. His father was one of the Supreme Judges of the canton of Saint Gall for thirty- one years, also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and at this writing is Mayor of the city of Wallenstadt. His mother died when he was five years old.

Mr. Huber was educated in his profession at at the Polytechnical School of Zurich, Switzer- land, and subsequently attended lectures in the Polytechnical School at Paris, France. These world-renowned institutions of civil and hy- draulic engineering have produced some of the greatest engineers known to the present time. After a thorough course at these universities Mr. Huber came to America in 1880 to assist in the improvement of the Mississippi river near St. Louis, where he was engaged under the United States engineers. He then received the distinction, in the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army, to serve as Topographical Engineer in the Military Department of Ari- zona, and in that capacity accompanied Generals Crook and Miles against Geronimo and Natchez into Mexico. He took part in the battles and encounters with the red men, but when the

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military headquarters of that department were transferred to Los Angeles he resigned his position and there entered private business as civil engineer. He appreciated the faet that the Northwest afforded better opportunities for his profession, and, after two years' residence in that city, removed in 1889 to Spokane. Soon afterward he was elected City Engineer and at the expiration of his term was re-elected. Under his direction many of the public improvements in this city have been made, namely, the Mon- roe street bridge and the Division street bridge, and he had charge of the sewer and water sys- tem now under contemplation. He was en- gineer of the Northwestern Industrial Exposi- tion, and was also the consulting engineer in the construction of the water-works at Taeoma and various other hydraulic undertakings. Mr. Huber is recognized as one of the ablest and most highly educated civil engineers in this section of the country. He is now doing a private engineering business, under the firm name of Maxwell & Huber. Ile is a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Huber was married in 1892, to Miss Sherlock, daughter of William Sherlock, one of the oldest and most prominent eitizens of Port- land, she being a native of that city.

G ENERAL JAMES B. METCALFE, though not a pioneer of the State of Washington, has won a place in its his- tory in the past decade which embraces the representative men of the present day, as to him has been universally conceded a distin- guished position at the Seattle bar.

A phase of romance surrounds the ancestry of our subjeet, which we briefly portray. Tradition states that the name Metcalfe originated with a sturdy Saxon named Oswald, who was famed for his bravery in the field and chase. While engaged in the pursuit of an unseen animal be- lieved from his bellowings and threshing about in the forests to be a monster, the companions of Oswald turned back while he forced the ani- mal to break eover, and the "monster " was changed to an enormous calf; and thereafter the brave hunter was called Oswald Metcalfe.

His descendants emigrated to New England among the Puritan settlers, and from that source Oren Metealfe the father of our subject sprung.

He emigrated to Mississippi about 1838 and was there married to Miss Zuleika R. Lyons of the eity of Natchez in that State. She came of distinguished Irish ancestry, her grandfather coming to the United States about 1798. From this union James B. was born, in Adams county, Mississippi, January 15, 1846. Ilis father owned a large plantation and was quite promin- ent in the politics of the county, serving fifteen years as Sheriff. James B. was primarily in- structed by a private tutor and then attended the publie schools up to the breaking out of the war. Inheriting the courage of his ancestry, though but a lad of fifteen years he eulisted in the Confederate service, joining the Tenth Miss- issippi Cavalry. His first service was in de- fense of Mobile, Alabama, acting as a eommiss- ioned officer of his company, and he remained in active service until the close of the war. Ile was paroled at Jackson, Mississippi, by General E. R. S. Canby, in 1865.

He then returned to his old home in Mississ- ippi, and bravely took up the task of retrieving the shattered fortunes of his family and creating a new future for himself. For eight years he worked most industriously, a part of the time in mercantile pursuits and later in a banking house in Natchez. At the latter place he com- meneed reading law during his leisure moments, in the office of Hon. Ralph North, who after- ward enjoyed for many years distinguished ju- dicial honors. The opportunities for advance- ment in the South at this period scemed too eircumscribed for one endowed with General Metcalfe's impulse and ambition, and in 1873 he came to San Francisco, California, where for about one year he was employed in the Pacific Bank. Ile then entered the law office of Bart- lett & Pratt, and at the end of one year of faithful study he was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of California. At this time the above firm dissolved and the copartnership of Pratt & Metcalfe was organized.

He soon distinguished himself and was at- taining a commanding position, when in Janu- ary, 1883, business matters called him to Seattle, and he became so impressed with the future of that city that he determined to link his fortunes with its destiny, and took up a per- inanent residenee in May following. Here his reputation had already preceded him and his ability soon became conspicuous. After praet- ieing alone for three or four years, he formed a copartnership with Junius Rochester, under the

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firm name of Metcalfe & Rochester. For some two years they were associated together, being employed in many of the most important cases tried in the Territory. It was during this period that general Metcalfe won, perhaps his greatest victory as a jury lawyer. It was in the homicide case of Washington Territory vs. Miller, which is formed extensively reported in Volume 11I of the Washington Territory Reports. This case attracted wide attention and for two and a half years was before the courts, every inch of the ground being contested, and the final ac- quittal of their client was regarded as one of the most brilliant victories in the history of crim- inal cases in the Northwest.

In 1887 Generol Metealfe was appointed by Governor Semple the first Attorney General of Washington Territory, in which office he served with honor and eredit until the admission of the Territory as a State. During the great fire of June 6, 1889 he suffered the entire loss of his law library, which was one of the most valuable private collections in the city. Almost before the fire had ceased its destructive work he e- cured the lease of a lot on Third street where he has since erected a three story business block, known as Temple Court. In this building was established a copartnership with C. W. Turner and Andrew F. Burleigh under the firm name of Metcalfe, Turner & Burleigh. Mr. Burleigh subsequently withdrawing the firm of Metcalfe & Turner continued to May, 1891, then dissolved by mutual consent and in June, 1892, the co- partnership of Metcalfe, Little & Jury was or- ganized and is continued as one of the leading law firms of the city giving particular attention to corporation and commercial law. Not alone · to his profession has General Metcalte devoted his energies, but to every enterprise which con- duced to the npbuilding of Seattle. During the period of the anti-Chinese agitation via Seattle, he was Lientenant of Company D, Nat- ional Guard and was in active service through- out this memorable crisis of the city's history. He was one of the originaters and active pro- moters of the parent cable line of Seattle known as the Yesler Avenue Line, running from near the bay to Lake Washington. In the Demo- eratic politics of Washington he has been one of the most able expounders of Democratic principles and received high eulogies from the local press.

He possesses the qualifications essential to an effective public speaker. He is a man of fine

presence, has a strong and flexible voice, fertile imagination, fluent command of langnage, which accompanied with an earnest impassioned de- livery never fails to arrest and hold the atten- tion of his hearers. He was married in 1877, to Miss Lonise Boarman of San Francisco, and is the father of two sons, Thomas Oren and James Vernon. Socially, he affiliates with the A. O. U. W. and Uniformed Rank, K. of P., being Colonel of the First Regiment, U. R., K. of P., Washington. General Metcalfe is a charter member of Seattle Division No. 1, Uniformed Rank, Knights of Pythias, which has won re- nown over numerous prizes as a crack regiment. Ile is a member of the Grand Lodge, Jurisdic- tion of the State of Washington, K. of P., and is Colonel of the First Regiment of Uniformed Rank, K. of P.

General Metcalfe is possessed of great per- sonal bravery, which was strikingly demon- strated on one unusually cold night in Febru- ary, 1887, when he resened a friend and companion from death by drowning. The friend, Hon. D. M. Drumheller, of Spokane Falls, and the General were attending the Territorial Legislature at Olympia, on the above occasion, and in boarding a steamer on the docks, the deck of which was covered with ice, the friend slipped and fell overboard. Without an instant delay or preparation General Met- calfe plunged into the ice-cold water of the Sound and at the risk of his own life saved that of his companion.

J JOHN B. BLALOCK, one of the leading citizens of Spokane, was born in Sevier county, Tennessee, in 1856, a son of James and Massie (Kear) Blalock, natives also of Teu- nessee. The father, a farmer by occupation, still resides in that State, and the mother died twenty years ago. The grandparents on both sides were early settlers of Tennessee.

John B., the fifth child and eldest son in a family of seven children, was reared on a farm, and edneated in the country schools. In 1878 be removed to Oregon; later settled in Walla Walla, Washington, and afterward in Spokane Falls, which was then a small village of forty people and a few cabins. He had learned the trade of shoemaker, and immediately, with small means, opened a shop with a bankrupt

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stock of goods brought from Colfax. He rap- idly extended his business, and in 1888 had a trade amounting to $40,000. In that year he sold his stock to M. D. Doland, from Walla Walla. In 1880 he purchased the present site of the First National Bank, on the corner of Riverside and Harvard avenues, for $330, and in 1886 erected a three-story building, which he rented to the bank for $300 per month. Soon after the fire he sold this property for $40,000, and subsequently bought a lot, 101 x 155 feet, corner of Sprague and Stevens streets, for 868,000, and immediately began the erection of the Blalock block, 101 x 82 feet, six stories and ' a cellar. This is one of the finest blocks in the eity, contains all the modern improvements, steam heat, electrie light, elevator, etc., is líand- somely furnished, and is valued at over $200,- 000. Mr. Blalock also owns other choice city property.

Ile was married in 1885, to Miss Mattie Hyde, a native of Wisconsin, and a sister of S. C. Hyde. To this union has been born one son, Shirl, aged seven years. Mr. Blalock is a thirty- second degree Mason, and was made the second member of that order of Spokane Lodge, No. 34, in 1880.

J AMES MONAGIIAN, one of the earliest and most prominent settlers of Spokane, was born in county Cavan, Ireland, in 1840, the youngest of four children born to John and Mary Ann (Riley) Monaghan, the mother hav- ing been born in the same county and the father in county Monaghan. The father was a stone- mason by trade, and both died in our subject's infancy. The latter was reared by his maternal grandparents, and educated in the national schools .. At the age of sixteen years he joined, in New York, his brother Robert, who had come to this country when a young man, and graduated in medicine. James was employed as his clerk until 1858, and in that year came to the Pacific coast, by way of the Isthmus, reach- ing Vancouver in May, of that year. He was first engaged in ferrying on the Des Chutes river, in Oregon, one year; worked on the steamer, Colonel Wright, the first steamer on the upper Columbia river, until in September. 1860; took charge of a ferry on the Spokane river, twenty miles below Spokane; later pur-

chased the ferry, and in 1865 built at that place a bridge, which is still in nse. In 1869 Mr. Monaghan went to Walla Walla for a short time, and the following year purchased an in- terest in a store at Chewelah, Washington, also buying from the Indians a farm on which a part of the town site is now located. Ile still owns this property, which has become very valnable. In 1873 he removed to Colville, where he was engaged in merchandising nntil 1879, then went with the United States troops to the month of Foster creek, and the following spring to Chelan. During the year of 1880 he took supplies by boat from Colville to the month of Foster creek. Mr. Monaghan next eame to Fort Spokane, where he engaged in contracting for Government supplies, and also served as Post- master and post-trader of that post from 1882 to 1885. In company with C. B. King he erected the first private boat on Lake Cœur d'Alene, running from Cœur d'Alene to Old Mission during the gold excitement. In 1884 these gentlemen laid out the town site of Cœur d'Alene, Idaho, of which our subject still owns a large part; in the following year the latter moved to that place to manage his various en- terprises; and in 1857 came to Spokane. In 1889 he erected his present residence, and also owns other city property. He organized and is now president of the Spokane Cab & Transfer Company, president of the Spokane Savings Bank, director of the First National Bank, and was one of the first City Commissioners, but resigned that position in 1892. Politically, he affiliates with the Democratic party.

Mr. Monaghan was married in 1870, to Mar- garet MeCool, a native of Ireland and a daugh- ter of Robert McCool, who removed to Walla Walla, Washington, in 1859. To this union has been born five children: John Robert, born in Chewelah, Washington, and now a naval cadet at Annapolis, Maryland; Margaret, Ellen, James, and Agnes. The family are members of the Catholic Church.

A LFRED G. WILSON, manager of the Western Revenues, Loan and Investment Company, of Spokane, was born in west- ern Pennsylvania, in 1850, the second of four children born to William F. and Sarah J. | (Hitchcock) Wilson, natives of Ohio, The

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father was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church for fifty years, preaching in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where he was well-known and prominent in church affairs. IIe was the founder of Methodism in that Territory, served as Presiding Elder, and his death occurred in 1890. The mother still resides in northern Ohio. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a native of Connecticut, but removed to Trumbull county, Ohio, in an early day. Hle had five sons, all of whom became ministers of the Methodist Church. The maternal grand- father, James Hitcheoek, a native of Massaehn- setts, came West in an early day, and was a minister of the Methodist Church.

Alfred G. Wilson, our subject, was educated at Mt. Union, Ohio, and also in the Drew Theo- logical Seminary, at Madison. In 1876 he be- gan preaching in the Methodist Church, at Broeton, New York, where he remained one year: at Fairview, Pennsylvania, one year; Gleneoe, Minnesota, three years; Red Wing, that State, two years; Cleveland, Ohio, on Euclid avenue, two years; then at St. Paul, Minnesota; again at Glencoe two years; and then came to Spokane, Washington, where he was pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Chureh two years. Having for some time en- tertained views not in strict harmony with what is taught in the Methodist Church, Mr. Wilson accepted a call to the First Unitarian Church of Spokane, where he remained two years, and then, wishing a respite from his long ministerial work, he accepted his present position. With the valuable aid of our subject the religious work of this eity has greatly prospered. Not only has he been a strong worker for the interest of his own church, but everything which could improve the moral and religious condition of the classes received his hearty co-operation. Mr. Wilson has also completed literary work, and for two years was editor of the Advance and Republican, of Red Wing. In addition to his other interests he owns a home at Ross Park and other eity property. He is Seeretary of the South Bonanza Mining Company, and also owns mines in Washington.

Mr. Wilson was married in 1876, to Miss Carrie E. Ensign, who was a native of Forest- ville, New York, and who died in 1879. She left one ehild, Mead, who died at the age of six years. In 1881 our subject was united in mar- riage to Miss Salome Gardner, a native of Cleveland, Ohio. They have three children;

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An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 47

Author: Hines, Harvey K., 1828-1902 Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1056

Author: Hines, Harvey K., 1828-1902
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1056