An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 58

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 58

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In 1892 he was elected Justice of the Peace, an office he had filled acceptably for a few months by appointment. Possessed of excel- lent judgment, he is able to make decisions apart from any personal preference, and his rulings have given universal satisfaction. In addition to his official interests Judge Mead cultivates a small prune orchard; he has five acres planted in this fruit exclusively and takes

a just pride in its flourishing condition. He is manager of the Centralia Undertaking Com- pany, and in this capacity exhibits the same judgment and tact that characterize all his movements.

Realizing the importance that intellectual attainment must have upon the future of the nation, Judge Mead has taken a deep interest in the prosperity of the public-school system, and has lost no opportunity to add to its per- manence as one of the institutions of this coun- try. He has been a member of the School Board for three terms, and in this position has given emphasis to his sentiments npon this question. He is a stanch advocate of Republican prin- ciples, and has been prominent in the affairs of the municipal government. Ile is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has passed all the chairs of the lodge.

An important event of his life was consum- mated in his marriage to Miss Emma Holbrook. in December, 1876. Mrs. Mead is a native of Ohio. They have a family of three children: Florence, Edith and Leroy. They are all con- sistent members of the Baptist Church of Cen- tralia.

G HARLES C. ALVORD, proprietor of the "Red Barn " livery, feed and sale stables, Goldendale, Washington, has con- ducted a prosperous business here for several years. Through long experience he has become familiar with the demands of the public, and there is no better equipped barn in this section. He keeps a special line of vehicles for commer- cial travelers, and has first-class driving and saddle horses. His carriages and buggies are of the latest styles, and the entire establishment is conducted according to the most approved business methods.

Mr. Alvord is a native of the State of Illi- nois, born in Lake county, October 23, 1856. His parents, Woleutt and Sarah (Wilder) Al- vord, were natives of New York State, but later in life removed to Swift county, Minne- sota, where our subject, the eldest of the famn- ily of six children, grew to maturity. He passed his youth on a farm, and remained on the homestead until twenty years of age. Re- suming the responsibilities of life, he went from home and took up his residence in lowa, near Council Bluffs. There he was engaged in

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farming for three years, but in 1880 deter- mined to cross the continent and make his home on this coast. He first settled in Klick- itat county, and engaged in farming and stock- raising for nine years. He then came to Golden- dale and purchased the livery business of E. W. Pike.

Soon after his residence here began he was appointed Constable, and in the fall of 1892 he was elected to the office, which he still retains. He takes an active interest in the leading po- litical questions of the day, and casts his suf- frage with the Republican party. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and has been Vice-Chancellor of that body, and is at present Chancellor Commander.

Mr. Alvord was married in December, 1889, to Miss Lizzie B. Pierce, daughter of the Ilon. D. W. Pierce, of whom extended mention is made on another page of this volume.

S C. WILLIAMS, one of the thriving young farmers of Walla Walla county, Washington, was born in Miami county, Ohio, December 22, 1848. His father, John Will- iams, was a native of New Brunswick, and mar- ried Maria Calvert, who was also a native of New Brunswick, but who came to Ohio at an early day, and in 1854 to Illinois, settling in Peoria, where she lived three years and then removed to lowa, where she resided until 1864. At that time our subject's father crossed the plains with horses until he reached Boise City. where he traded his horses for oxen, and thus finished his journey. He now lives in the city of Walla Walla with his wife, both of whom are now well advanced in years. He owns a good farm of 300 acres on Mill creek. They have had a family of thirteen children, and the sub- ject of this sketch is the third child.

Our subject received only a common-school education, and remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and then went into the freighting business, going from Boise City and other points in Idaho. After being thus occu- pied, he farmned for two years and rented land, and then took up a redemption claim of 160 acres, improved it and lived there thirteen years. He then sold this farm, for which he received $4,500. He then bought 360 acres, where he now resides, paying $9,500 for the

farm. At the present time our subject owns 660 acres of fine land on Dry creek, six miles northeast of Walla Walla, ond here he has built a fine residence. at a cost of 81,500. In 1892 he raised 6,000 bushels of graiu, that being considered a very poor crop on account of the hot winds having cut it short. An average crop is from 8,000 to 9,000 bushels a year.

In the fall of 1870 our subject was married to Miss Ellen Buroker, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of David and Sarah Buroker. Mr. Williams and wife crossed the plains together when they both were children, and shared the hardships together, little thinking of the events of after years. Four bright little children have been born to them: Emma J., Effie, Jesse and Claud. Mr. Williams has now become one of the leading farmers of this county. Heis well known and full of pleasant reminiscences of other days. Some of his tales of the early sing- ing-schools and merrymakings in the then new ho-ne are very entertaining. He has now a fine herd of horses, thirty head of them, nsing many on his farm. Five acres of his land is set ont to orchard, and all the conveniences of modern farming are to be found here.

W ILLISA. RITCHIE, Spokane, Washing- ington, is one of the most successful of the high-grade architects of the Pacific coast.

Mr. Ritchie was born in Van Wert county, Ohio, July 14, 1864. His father is the Hon. John E. Ritchie, Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Allen and Shelby counties, Ohio. Young Ritchie's mother was a McCoy. Both parents were born in eastern Ohio.

The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Lima, but before he had finished the course assigned him at school he had attained sufficient knowledge as a draughtsman and left school and began the building of a home for his father upon plans he had matured while in school. He was not quite sixteen at this time. He was apprenticed to a carpenter and contractor, with whom he remained two years, during which time he pursued a course of study in architecture that had been mapped out for him by a prominent architect in the service of the government. During the next two years he devoted his time to work under the supervision

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of the above named architeet, after which he returned to his home in Lima, where he hung ont his shingle as his own master and general. He was not yet nineteen.

His first work aside from the home he had planned for his father was two dwellings and a business block at Bucyrus, Ohio. Then he planned business houses and dwellings at Del- phos, Ottawa, Columbus Grove and at other places in Ohio. He then competed with archi- tects from Dayton, Ohio, for a business block at Troy, Ohio, and while it was admitted that his plans were the best it was thought best not to award him the contraet on account of his ex- treme youth and inexperience.

He met the saine fate for the same reason on buildings he bid for at Wapakoneta and Van Wert, Ohio. This was in 1885. He had been working hard, and thought that a few weeks' vacation on the lakes would do him good, but before he was ready to leave an offer came to him from Winfield, Kansas, where he went, and contracted for the Farmers' Bank building. He found this field ripe for architectural work, and instead of staying away one month, as he had contemplated, he remained until the following December. During his stay in Kansas he re- modeled, planned and built the following struct- ures:

Central School building at Winfield, at a cost of $20,000; St. James Hotel, $20,000; Banker Eaton's residence, $10,000; Southwestern Kan- sas Methodist Episcopal College, $60,000. In this work he had to compete with architects from St. Louis, Topeka, Wichita, Parsons and Denver. All these contracts were secured within six weeks after his arrival at Winfield. This shows that not only was the character of his work good, but that his reputation had al- ready taken wings and was flying with the ra- pidity of a bird across the western plains. His office during all this time was in the room at the hotel where he boarded.

When he returned to Ohio in December it was not for the purpose of remaining there, but to clean up his business and get back to Kansas at the earliest time possible. This was aecom- plished within two weeks, and when he again reached Kansas he found work piling in upon him thick and fast, which necessitated the em- ployment of six other draughtsu en at his head- quarters and the establishing of branch offices at Wellington and Arkansas city, where five as- sistante were kept busy. During this period he

was appointed Superintendent of Architecture on the Government building to be ntilized for United States conrthouse, post office and land office, at Wichita, Kansas. The building cost $200,000. Mr. Ritchie held the above superin- tendency until May, 1889.

In the year 1886 Mr. Ritchie was appointed Civil Engineer for the city of Winfield, Kansas, and served in that capacity until forced to abandon it because of his Government contracts. This was in 1887, when all Kansas was at a red- hot heat with the boom fever. As eivil engin- eer and architeet Mr. Ritchie found his hands full, platting town sites, surveying railroads and construeting houses, besides attending to his Government contracts. He planned numerons schoolhouses during that year in all parts of southwestern Kansas, besides building two courthouses, one for Meade county and the other for Barber county: also the city buildings at Winfield.

Mr. Ritchie had acquired such a fame as an architeet that there was erected in that section of the country scarcely a prominent building in the construction of which he did rot take part, and the bank buildings, churches, colleges, hotels, opera houses, business blocks and dwellings he constructed were numerous indeed. Ile put up nearly $2,000,000 worth of buildings in one season. All at once there came a depression in Kansas, and Mr. Ritchie sought a new field. He had selected Salt Lake City as his next point, and would have remained there but for the great fire in Seattle, June 6, 1889. He landed in Seattle three weeks after the fire, and his record since that time has been a memorable one. Com- ing here an entire stranger, and being forced to compete with many older and more experi- eneed architects, he surmounted all obstacles and to-day stands in the front ranks of archi- tects on the Pacific coast. His abilities were soon recognized, and the first work of magni- tude seeured by him was the King county courthouse, a $200,000 structure, and one of the grandest buildings for that purpose on the coast. Then came the Whatcom county court- house, $75,000, two $25.000 school buildings at Olympia, high-school building at Ellensburgh, costing $40,000, and the Jefferson county courthouse, at a cost of $100,000, besides in- numerable smaller contracts.

Mr. Ritchie is a natural-born draughtsman. When a little boy his father noticed this peenl- iar gift and rendered his son all the assistance

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he eould by furnishing him with instruments for that purpose. The father's ambition was to make a lawyer of his son, but genins would out, and Judge Ritchie has the satisfaction of know- ing that while his son might have done fairly well at the bar, he stands second to no man west of the Rocky mountains as an architect.

In Marc !: , 1892, he moved to Spokane, where he is now permanently established. Sinee that time he has erected the following buildings: the Clark connty courthouse at Vancouver, Wash- ington, $40,000; Thurston county courthouse, Olympia, Washington, $115,000; a school building at Wallace, Idaho, $11,000; Prescott and Lincoln school buildings, Anaconda, Mon- tana, costing $15,000 and $25,000 respectively; and Spokane city building, $60,000. He took the first prize in competing for the Washington State building for the World's Fair. there being twenty-three architects of the State of Washing- ton in the competition.

Mr. Ritchie was married to Miss Etta Reid on his twenty-third birthday. As a coincidence it may be added that his father was also married on his twenty-third birthday, a matter the son had not thonght of at the time. Mrs. Ritchie has proven herself an able and willing assistant to her husband, and much of his success is dne to the good judgment and enthusiasm of his wife.

Mr. Ritchie is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Lima, Ohio.

H ON. JOHN A. TAYLOR, one of the pioneers of the Pacific coast, was born in Allegany county, New York, Septem- ber 12, 1825, a son of Job and Rebecca (Fish) Taylor, natives of Massachusetts. The parents moved in an early day to New York, where the mother died when our subject was young. When the latter was thirteen years of age, in 1837, the father removed to Wisconsin, where he was engaged as a millwright, carpen- ter and joiner, and remained in that State until his death, in 1842, at the age of sixty-three years.

John A., the youngest in a family of eight children, received only limited educational ad- vantages, and at the age of twenty-one years he began life on his own aceonnt. In 1852, with his wife and three small children, he started with

an ox team on that long and perilous journey across the plains for Oregon, arriving in Port- land just six months to a day from the time of starting. He had no difficulty with the Indians, and was detained only a short time by sickness. After arriving in that city, Mr. Taylor leased and condneted a sawmill two years, and then built a ferry boat on Tualitin river, afterward known as Taylor's Ferry, which he operated seven years. During that time his business had grown to such an extent that be built a toll bridge, and conducted the same for ten years, selling at a large price. Mr. Taylor was then engaged in the hotel business in Amity, Yam Hill county, until 1876; was then employed as clerk in the implement business of Ilawley, Dodd & Co., two and a half years; was with Paine Bros. three years, and with Jones & Co. one and a half years. In 1882 he was a candi- date for Justice of the Peace on the Republiein ticket, was elected by a large majority, and held that position ten years, also serving as Police Judge of Walla Walla for a time. He repre- sented Washington county, Oregon, in the Lez- islature in 1868, and represented Walla Walla county, Washington, in 1879. He owns eight residences in this city, and also a street-sprink- ling plant.

Judge Taylor was married March 22, 1846, to Miss Sarah Mc Kinsey, a native of Kentneky, whose parents were born in Virginia. To this union have been born seven children, viz .: Lu- setta, wife of Samuel Kelly, of Walla Walla; Frank K., a resident of Pomeroy, Washington; Anna, deceased, was the wife of Joseph Painter; Jennie, now Mrs. D. J. Wann, Asotin; Ella, wife of W. J. Lawrence, of Massachusetts : John, of Tacoma. Judge Taylor is an ardent Repub- lican, and has long been a member of the Ma- sonic order, Walla Walla Lodge, No. 7.

F RANK W. PAINE, one of Washington's pioneers and self-made men, was born in Somerset county, Maine, Angust 31, 1839, a son of William and Elizabeth W. (Pike) Paine, the former a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, and the latter of New Hampshire. The father, a farmer by oceupation, died in 1884, and his wife departed this life in 1872. They were the parents of six children, of whom our subject was the fifth child. His youngest brother is engaged with him in business.

B. Day

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.

Frank W. Paine was early inured to farmn la- bor, and at the age of twenty-one years he began life on his own account. Being a young man of high ambition, and not wanting to settle down in an old country, he removed to California in 1861, where he was employed as a clerk in a mercantile store one year. In 1862 he took up his residence in Walla Walla, Washington, worked for a time in a sawmill in the mountains, clerked in Dr. Baker's mercantile store one year, spent two years in mining in Idaho, resumed his old position in Baker & Boyer's store, and then took a stock of goods to Montana. After re- turning to this city, and in partnership with Governor Moore and his brother, Mr. Paine purchased the store of Baker & Boyer; later the brothers bought the interest of Mr. Moore, and the business was then conducted under the name of Paine Bros. They afterward sold their gen- eral merchandise, and embarked in the imple- ment trade, which business, after some years, they sold to Knapp, Bunal & Co., of Portland, Oregon, and the brothers are now engaged in the real-estate business in this city. The Paine Bros. erected one of the largest blocks in Walla Walla, known as the l'aine Block, and they also own several other good buildings, besides vacant property. Large tracts of agricultural land throughout the State belong to this firm.

Although our subject started out in life as a working boy, he is now a rich man, and has the prospect of living to a good old age to enjoy his hard-earned gains. He has been a member of the City Council for a number of years, served one term as Mayor of his city, and as School Director about twelve years. He was chairman of the school board which erected the large and beautiful school building of this city, which was named the Paine school, in his honor. Mr. Paine has been president of the Board of Trade of Walla Walla for a number of years. In 1887 he organized the State Prison at Walla Walla, moved the prisoners from Seatco, which is now called Bucoda, to this city, was appointed its Commissioner, and, after the election of Gover- nor Ferry, was made president of the Board of Directors, which instituted and built the jute manufactory for the prison. Under his admin- istration the prison was a model of its kind and the manufacturing of jute bags was made a financial success.

April 3, 1876, our subjeet was united in mar- riage to Miss Ida B. Issley, a native of Maine. Mr. Paine met and married his wife in Wash-

ington, District of Columbia. They have four daughters: Bessie, Josephine, Mary and Fran- ces. Mr. Paine is an ardent supporter of the Republican party, and his first presidential vote was east for Abraham Lincoln.

B ENJAMIN F. DAY .-- One of the prom- inent and representative citizens of Seattle is Mr. Benjamin F. Day, who for years has been closely identified with the city's best interests, and who has contributed largely to her material progress and improve- ment. Mr. Day was born near Oberlin, Ohio, on January 16, 1835. His parents were John and Amanda (Harmon) Day, natives respect- ively of Vermont and New York. The Day family were among the pioneer settlers of Ohio, and were prominent developers of farm, orchard and agricultural interests, and exercised a sal- untary influence upon the inceptive destiny of the young State. Our subject was one of fifteen children. Owing to the vicissitudes and mea- ger opportunities of pioneer life, his boyhood was passed in farm labor, although he aimed to improve the edneational facilities offered by the winter schools, frequently walking five miles to the little log schoolhouse, and then receiving but very modest advantages. He remained with his parents until twenty one years of age, aid- ing in the general support of the family. In 1856 he struck ont for self-support, turning his face to the great West. Hle farmed in western Ohio, Illinois and Iowa up to 1875, and then, in partnership with his two brothers, Levi B. and Edwin, the former being now a prominent stoek and grain operator in Chicago and the lat- ter a successful farmer of Ohio, purchased three sections of land (640 acres each) in Atehison county, Missouri, where they engaged in raising grain and fattening hogs and cattle for market, with our subject as general manager. Their cornfield frequently embraced 1,280 acres in one body, and the entire product would be fed upon the ranch.

Through unfortunate stock speculations, how- ever, and with health impaired by overwork upon the farm, our subject quit the ranch, in 1879, and came to the Territory of Washington, redneed both in health and finances. He spent the first winter in Walla Walla, and came to Seattle in the spring of 1880. With very lim-

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ited resources he began work in the Commer- cial Mill, but finding the duties too ardnous, and having in the meantime made some profit- able sales in real estate, he soon left the mill and devoted his attention to real-estate busi- ness, in which he has met with flattering suc-

cess. He has made several additions in the vicinity of Lake Union and has handled laige blocks of acre property in and about that local- ity. He is at present the owner of considerable improved and unimproved real estate of much value. His home place, situated in Fremont, on the Lake Union street railway line, is one of the most beautiful of the many handsome de- mesnes in and around Seattle. It comprises thirty acres of highly improved land, upon which he has erected a large and elegant resi- dence, the latter being surrounded by most beautiful lawns, diversified by parterres of pleas- ing design, the grounds being in season a ver- itable bower of roses.

Mr. Day was one of the organizers of the Washington Improvement Company, of which he served as vice-president and manager, and he took an active part in opening the first canal or waterway between Salmon Bay and Lake Washington. He has also been a promoter in every interest and enterprise which has cou- cerned the upbuilding and development of Seattle, and to-day is regarded as one of the most enterprising and public-spirited men in Seattle, enjoying the esteem and respect of all who know him. The B. F. Day Public School is a living and lasting monument to his mem- ory, as he donated twenty lots, 40x 120 feet each, to the city for school purposes, and the school was named in his honor.

Mr. Day has played a prominent and con- spienous part in the political and municipal his- tory of Seattle, as well in its material develop- ment, and as in the latter, so also in the former his energies and influences exerted for the ben- efit and general good of the city. He was elected to the city council from the third ward about 1883, and at the ensuing election was re- turned to that body by an almost unanimous vote, notwithstanding a most bitter and relent- less opposition was accorded him by the " tough " element of the city. The enmity of this element was occasioned by the stand taken by Mr. Day for all that was good and moral, and against all that was low and vicious in the affairs of the city. Ile took a firm and uncom- promising stand against the low dives and

bawdy-houses of the city, and labored devotedly and unceasingly for their abolishment. He was first elected on the Prohibition ticket, and lived up to the promises made during the campaign, and singularly enough he was the only one of that council who was re-elected at the following election, a fact which clearly demonstrated that honesty add purity in city officials command respect. For three months of his term as conn- cilman he stood alone and battled single-handed in his efforts to improve the morals of the city. He was barassed and hampered on every side. He could not seenre seconds to his motions and was thus prevented by parliamentary usages from getting many of his plans and measures before the council for consideration or record. He was chairman of the committee on gas and lights, but his bills were not allowed, the conn- cil endeavoring by this means to whip him into line. He, however, fought it out alone and single-handed, and in the end triumphed to a great extent, as, in company with other good citizens, he went to Olympia and secured from the legislature a new city charter, thereby gain- ing the support of one member of the council, who, seconding his motions, permitted Mr. Day to bring his measures before the council and upon the records. This strife was maintained throughout his entire time in the council, and he thus won the respect and esteem of all lovers of good government and clean city morals.

During the Chinese troubles in Seattle Mr. Day took a prominent part, again exerting him- self in behalf of law, order and justice, though his course was fraught with imminent personal danger, his life being at times in jeopardy.

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An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 58

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