An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 91

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 91

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Lientenant Rumsey was married in 1866, to Miss Charlotte M. Day of Batavia, New York. Eight children have been born of this union, three sons and five daughters, all of whom reside on the corner of Short and Elliott streets, Queen Aune Ilill.

0 W. LYNCII, one of the leading furni- ture dealers in Seattle. was born in Racine, Wisconsin, December 3, 1843. His par- ents, Oliver and Sarah (Cross) Lynch, natives of New York and England respectively, of Scotch, Irish and English ancestry. They located in Wis- consin, about 1838, where Mr. Lynch followed his trade as carpenter and builder. In 1854 he crossed the plains to California, followed mining a short time, then engaging in trade and farming in the vicinity of Stockton, where he was joined, in 1856, by his family, who made the trip via the Panama route. In 1863 they removed to the San Jose valley, and in 1870 to Puget Sound and located a claim of 160 acres on Fidalgo island near Deception Pass, where he has since been engaged in agricultural pursuits. Our subject was reared upon the ranch, with but limited privileges in the line of educational advantages. When old enough to carry a gun, he began hunting through the marshes about San Francisco bay for duck and game, which occupation proved so profitable that he con- tinued it for fourteen years, spending his sumn- mers in various occupations. He began his mereantile experience in the clothing store of E. C. Dake of San Francisco in 1864, working only through the summer, while his winters were passed in hunting.

Ile was married in Chicago, in 1870, to Miss Bella M. Farnham, of Michigan. Returning to the coast, Mr. Lynch then located 160 aeres on Fidalgo island, and followed farming for five years, when, because of the ill health of his wife, he took her to San Francisco, where she

died in April, 1877, leaving two small children, Elva and Leslie. In 1879 Mr. Lynch returned to Puget Sound, locating at La Conner. He was married at Stanwood, in 1880, to Miss Constance Bradley, a native of Missouri. He then located in Seattle, following carpenter work for one year. Then, becoming clerk for Clark & Anderson, in the furniture business, he con- tinned up to September, 1882, when was formed the partnership of Lynch & Vahlbusch, which firm engaged in the furniture business, opening a small store, the present site of the Grand Hotel on Front street. There being no railroad communication with the East, all fur- niture was purchased at Portland and San Fran- cisco. After fourteen months the firm changed to Lynch & Wood and so continned until May, 1878, when Mr. Wood retired and onr subject continued operations alone. On the first of January, 1888, he sold one-fourth interest to N.A. Veline and continued under the firm name of O. W. Lynch & Co., up to the disastrons fire of Jnne, 1889, when they were burned out, entailing a net loss of $25,000. Business was resumed on the 12th of July, in a warehonse on West street between University and Spring, and there conducted until the completion of the Arlington Hotel Block, into which building the firm moved on March 1, 1890. They have sinee occupied six stories in this block, utilizing a floor space of 20,000 square feet. They carry a full line of furniture of the most noted manu- facturers of the East, among them being Berkey & Gay, the Widdicomb Furniture Company, Grand Rapids Chair Company, Phoenix Fur- niture Company and Gunn Folding Bed Com - pany, all of Grand Rapids, Michigan; also the lines of G. W. Wilkins Company, J. S. Ford, Johnson & Co., A. Peterson & Co., and Frank Winter, all of Chicago, and products from many other manufactories of Wisconsin and Indiana. Their business is chiefly by retail through the Sound district, furnishing the leading hotels of Seattle and conducting a very extensive trade.

Mr. and Mrs. Lynch have two children, Clair and Josephine.

J OHN FAIRFIELD, a well known resi- dent of Seattle, member of the Seattle bar, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, May 24, 1858, son of John and Honora (Coleman) Fairfield. The Fairfield ancestors settled in

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Massachusetts about 1780, and followed agri- cultural pursuits, with the exception of the father of our subject, who engaged in contract- ing and building. John Fairfield, the subject of the sketch, was educated in the publie schools of Boston np to his eighteenth year, when he began the study of law under the preceptorship of Hon. Henry W. Paine, and was admitted to the bar in 1879. He then followed the practice of his profession in Boston until 1881, when he removed to Dakota and engaged in the raising of cattle, with a herd ranging from 300 to 500 head. After close attention to the business, he sold his interests, and, locating at Miles City, Montana, he resumed the practice of law, con- tinuing until December, 1889, and being asso- ciated with lIon. W. A. Burleigh. In the year just noted he removed to Seattle, where he has since been engaged in a general practice. Hav- ing had considerable experience in criminal law, he has been connected with some of the most prominent criminal cases in the State, and through his ability and uniform success has built up an extended and lucrative practice. He is president of the Donohue & Fairfield Gold Mining Company, which owns a number of valuable mines under development in the Pe- shastin mining distriet in Kittitass county.

Mr. Fairfield was married in 1879, to Miss Mary Hudson of Boston, and to them have been born three children: John, Jr., Frederick and Florence. Fraternally Mr. Fairfield is a mem- ber of no orders. Politically he is a Democrat, and,carrying the same enthusiasm into a political campaign that he does into a legal contest, his presence is a forceful influence in whatever direction his sympathies and enthusiasm are en- listed.

Mr. Fairfield has been connected with news- paper enterprises of the West to a considerable extent, having been editor and proprietor of two papers.

H ONORABLE JOSEPH R. LEWIS was born in London, Ohio, September 17, 1829. His great-grandfather was a na- tive of Wales, and emigrated to Penn- sylvania at an early day. Colonel Philip H. Lewis, the father of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, but in boyhood emigrated with parents to Adams county, Ohio, subsequently

removing to London, Madison county, where he met and married Miss Abigail Melvin, a native of east Tennessee and a descendant of the IIu- guenots of the Carolinas, formerly from the province of La Vendee, France. Colonel Lewis was engaged for some thirty-odd years in hotel keeping at London. He was a large man of commanding presence and prominent in the af- fairs of the State and county. Ile served as Sheriff of his county for several terins; was several times elected as a member of the Senate and llonse of the Ohio Legislature; was well- known all over the State and had much to do in shaping the laws and policy of the State Gov- ernment. During the sessions of court Colonel Lewis' house was headquarters for the bar which in those days traveled the circuit, and during the times of court congregated about the houses and discussed the affairs of State and nation and "cracked jokes." Among the wise men were the Swans, Wilcox and Parsons, of Colum- bus; General Sampson, Mason and Anthony, of Springfield; Corwin, of Urbana; Douglas, of Chillicothe, and other distinguished lawyers of the State. In this school young Lewis acquired a desire for the law and an admiration for law- yers. Ilis mother was a large woman, active and earnest. She was a member of the Meth- odist Church for seventy-five years, and died in the faith. She was charitable and earnest in the affairs of her church, a devoted wite, a fond mother and devout Christian. Up to his thir- teenth year young Lewis attended the common schools of his native town. His father was then stricken with palsy, and not being blessed with sordid riches of life, Joseph R. was thrown up- on his own resources and worked about the towu at whatever employment he could get during the summer, and in the winter attended the academy at London. At the age of seventeen he engaged in teaching in the common schools of the county and did a great deal of general reading, besides taking up the study of law un- der the preceptorship of Honorable Richard A. Harrison, of London, now a distinguished attor- ney of Columbus, Ohio. The subject of this sketch was admitted to the bar in the circuit court of Ohio at Chillicothe in 1854, and at once proceeded to the (then) " West,"-the State of Iowa.

Arriving in that State in 1855, withont funds, he taught school four months and then pr -- ceeded to Washington, Iowa, and commenced the practice. Court was held infrequently and

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of but short duration, and to enable him to get along he engaged in the Recorder's office in that place for some two years. Ile was present at the organization of the Republican party in Iowa City in 1856, and in August following was elected as Prosecuting Attorney for Wash- ington county, and served nntil 1859, then en- gaged in active practice in Washington and sur- rounding counties. He took an active part in the affairs of the young State and worked for men and principles of the Republican party. He was in Iowa during the great Lincoln can- paign of 1860.

After the election of General Grant in 1868, Mr. Lewis' health broke down, and on April 15, 1869, he was appointed by the President as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Idaho, and proceeded to Boise City in that Ter- ritory, in May, 1869. He held court the first year in Silver City, the Owyhee Mining Dis- trict and at Boise City, and in 1870 organized a court in southeastern Idaho at Malad City, where he held two terms. May 25, 1871, he was appointed Associate Justice of New Mex- ico, but did not accept the appointment, and in the fall of that year he engaged in the practice of law in Boise City, continuing to March 21, 1872, when he was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Bench of the Territory of Wash- ington, and in April following he proceeded to Walla Walla, the first judicial district to which he was then assigned. At that time the whole of eastern Washington constituted but one dis- trict. He held court at Walla Walla and Cot- ville, and in 1872 organized other courts in the distriet. Without any effort on his part, upon January 26, 1875, he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory, and in April of the same year moved to Seattle, where he has since resided. Ile held court at Seattle, Tacoma, Steilacoom and Snohomish, and as Chief Justice of the Supreme Beneh at- tended terms of that eourt at Olympia. He served one full term of four years as Chief Just- ice, and in July, 1879, joined the bar of Seattle.

He at once entered an active and lucrative practice, and has at all times taken a great in- terest in the affairs of the city and State. IIe was active in building up the superior school system, and was earnest in defending the city against the attacks from withont. During the controversy between Seattle and the Northern Pacific Railway Company in 1885, he was

eleeted a member of the Territorial House of Representatives to look after the interests of the city and county in that body. In 1887 he re- tired from general practice, but acts from time to time as counsel in eases of moment.

In 1883 he organized the First National Bank of Yakima, and served as its president until November, 1889, when he disposed of his stock and resigned. Hle was one of the early stock- holders of the First National Bank of Seattle, aeted as attorney and for a time as president, but subsequently sold his interest. He was also one of the incorporators of Dexter, Horton & Company, bankers, in 1887, but has since dis- posed of his interest.

Judge Lewis was married in Washington, Iowa, in January, 1859, to Miss Mary A. Chap- man, a native of Iowa and of English descent. They have two children: Howard W. and Jo- seph C. The Judge retired from active practice in 1887, and has sinee been engaged in looking after his personal interests. He has been active in improving residence and business property in Seattle, and his best efforts have always been enlisted on the side of enterprise and develop- ment. During his seven years of service upon the Supreme Bench of Washington, he never missed a term of court, with one exception, when he was prevented by Indian troubles, and no decision made by him was ever reversed while he was on the Supreme Bench.

J OHN ARTHUR, member of the law firm of Arthur, Lindsay & King, of Seattle, is of Anglo-Irish descent, born in Ireland, June 20, 1849. While he was attending school in England his family suffered reverses, and to retrieve their fortune he emigrated to the United States, in 1861, to improve the oppor- tunities offered by a free and independent peo- ple.

Locating in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, he eontinned his studies, which had been well founded in the older country, and subse. quently accepted a position as bookkeeper and store clerk for a railroad contractor. Upon the completion of the work yonng Arthur entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany on the Philadelphia & Erie line, and was soon promoted to a position of trust and respons- ibility. It had been one of his youthful am-

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bitions to follow a literary life, until reversed fortune changed his plans. Subsequently decid- ing upon a legal profession, he studied law, in Erie, Pennsylvania, under the preceptorship of Hon. John P. Vincent, ex- Presiding Judge of the Erie Judicial District. Being an apt stil- dent, Mr. Arthur made rapid progress, and in due course was admitted to the bar.

Desiring a higher education, he removed to Washington, District of Columbia, and entered the law school of the Columbian University and completed the regular and post-graduate course of two years each. Upon his graduation, in the second year, as Master of Laws, he was awarded the first prize of the school in competition for producing the best essay upon a legal subject. The prize was delivered to him in the presence of the President of the United States, with his cabinet and the Judges of the Supreme Court. The presentation was made by the Solicitor- General in behalf of the Attorney-General, who complimented Mr. Arthur for his able and scholarly production, and shortly afterward moved that Mr. Arthur be permitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, which was an unusual mark of favor and inter- est. During these years of study Mr. Arthur was engaged on legal work for the Government. Upon resigning his position he was tendered the United States Attorneyship for New Mex- ico, which he declined. He entered upon the practice of law in the city of Washington, and was immediately successful; meanwhile le became an enthusiast on the Puget Sound country and resolved to remove to that favored locality.

While engaged in Pennsylvania, in 1883, in organizing a colony for Seattle, he was offered the Attorneyship for the Tacoma Land Com- pany, which he accepted and removed his family to that city. In April, 1887, he removed to Seattle, where he has since resided, and con- ducted an extensive practice in land litigation, to which branch of law he gives particular at- tention. In recognition of his ability, in 1888, he was elected Secretary of the Seattle Bar Asso- ciation and vice-president of the State Bar Asso- ciation, which offices he still holds; and he is also an active member of the Chamber of Commerce.

He was married at Philadelphia, in Decem- ber, 1880, to Miss Amy A. Lane, daughter of Honorable William S. Lane, a prominent law- yer of that city. Their only child died in in- fancy. Mr. Arthur is prominently connected

with the Masonic order, being a member of the blue lodge, Royal Arch chapter, and commandery, York rite; also thirty-second degree, Scottish rite, and of the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a decided Republican, but is no sense a seeker for political preferment. IIe is chairman of King county Republican committee and Presi- dent pro tempore of the State Board of Univer- sity Land and Building Commissioners, of which the Governor is president ex officio. Mr. Arthur takes an active interest in public affairs and through his general fund of information is frequently called upon to address public gather- ings. He is a devout believer in the future greatness of Seattle; and is still imbned with his early impressions that Washington possess- es greater natural advantages than any other State in the Union.

EORGE A. REICHI, M. D., a successful practitioner in the city of Seattle, and eminent as a specialist in treating the eye and ear, was born in Breslau, Ger- many, in January, 1846. IIis ancestry were long resident of that locality and for years have been connected with the Government service in civil positions. George A. received his prepara- tory education at the gymnasium of Breslau and then entered the university, where he pur- sued the advanced studies in literature, and also prosecuted the work in the medical department and graduated therefrom in 1869. Hle then entered the German army, during the closing months of the Franco-German war, and served until 1870, when he crossed the Atlantic ocean to New York, thence coming by the Panama route to San Francisco, California. Ile then went to the mining district of Arizona near Prescott, but the Indians were too hostile to permit the carrying on of mining operations, and he was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the United States army and stationed at Camp Verde near Prescott, where he remained about one year, then returned to San Francisco and became associated with Dr. W. Smith, a prom- inent oculist of that city, with whom he remained about twelve years. In 1877 he attended a course of lectures in the Medical Department of the University of California and received his degree from that institution. In 1884 the partnership was dissolved, and Dr.

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Reich came to the Puget Sound district. First locating in Tacoma, he remained one year, and in 1885 came to Seattle, where he has since been established in active practice as a special- ist of the eye and ear. In 1887 he made a trip to Europe to gather new ideas of treatment from the hospitals of Berlin and Breslan, and he has made frequent trips to New York city, in eon- sultation with Dr. H. Knapp, the recognized leader of the profession in this and all other countries.

Dr. Reich was married in San Francisco in 1882, to Miss Elizabeth Chissman, the land of whose nativity is England. Socially Dr. Reich affiliates with the German societies and the A. O. U. W. He is also a member of the State and Seattle Medical Societies.

As a seientific writer, the articles from the pen of Dr. Reich find ready publication in the medical journals of America and Germany, and in his profession he holds an enviable position throughout the Northwest.

C OLONEL HENRY LANDES, President of the First National Bank of Port Townsend, and one of the foremost self- made men of the Northwest, was born at a small town in Germany, October 8, 1843, but his earliest recollections are of Kentucky, to which State he emigrated with his parents when but four years of age. In Kentucky our subject grew to manhood, and while pursning his edu- cation he also developed the spirit of adventur- ous ambition, which led him, on the 1st of October, 1861, to break away from the restraints of school; and, being opposed to the principles of slavery and secession, he enlisted in Company B, Twentieth Kentucky Federal Infantry. In that regiment he served his country faithfully and well for over three years, and participating in all the principal battles from Shiloh to the capture of Atlanta, after which, at the close of his enlistment, he was honorably mustered out of service. In 1870 he pushed west until he reached the Pacific coast at San Francisco. He then proceeded to Vic- toria and thence to the Ominica gold mines of British Columbia, where he followed placer mining for about eighteen months, then re- turned to Victoria, financially " broke." There he met Boscovitz Brothers, who knew his fam-

ily in Germany; and as Mr. Landes was a man of fine physique, he was sent by Boscovitz Brothers to Nealı Bay to take charge of their trading post; in which after three years of la- borious but successful work Mr. Landes re- ceived an interest, and continned the business profitably up to 1876, when he removed to Port Townsend and there engaged in business, in which he continued two years, then sold his in- terest and engaged in private banking and the loaning of money.

In 1883 he organized the First National Bank and became its president, in which office he has since continued. He has also taken an active part in the enterprises of city develop- ment, and owns property all over the Sound country. With the organization of the Board of Trade he was elected president and served four years. In polities he is a Republican. He has served four years as member of the City Council, during which time he was many times acting Mayor. Ile served three years as City Treasurer, and three years as member of the Public School Board, and during the latter ser- vice he was actively instrumental in reorganiz- ing and grading the city schools.

In June, 1884, Colonel Landes was appointed by Governor William A. Newell to the impor- tant position of member of the Board of Com- missioners to locate the new Territorial peni- tertiary. In March, 1885, he was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury a member of the Board of Commissioners to locate Port Town- send's present Government buildings. In Sep- tember, 1885, he was commissioned by Governor Watson C. Squire, a member of the Governor's military staff, as Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In Febru- ary, 1886, he was appointed by Governor Squire a commissioner to select a suitable site for the deaf and dumb asylum.

He was one of the incorporators, and was elected Treasurer of the Port Townsend & South- ern Railway Company, which was organized in 1887 to build from the Strait of Fuea to Port- land. On the 29th of April, 1889, he was commissioned by Governor Miles C. Moore as Quartermaster-General, with the rank of Col- onel of the National Guard of Washington. On October 1, 1889, he was elected, from the dis- trict composed of Jefferson, Clallam and San Juan connties, to the first State Senate. While there he served as Chairman of the Military Committee, Tide Land and other committees. and

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took an active interest in shaping the laws of the new State. May 12, 1890, he was commissioned by Governor Elisha P. Ferry as Paymaster- General, with the rank of Colonel, National Guard of Washington. March 7, 1892, he was appointed by Governor Ferry as a member of the Board of Health of Puget Sound and was elected president of that body. April 6, 1893, he was commissioned by Governor John HI. McGraw as Paymaster-General, with rank of Colonel, National Guard of Washington.

G ENERAL WILLIAM McMICKEN, ex- Surveyor-General of the Territory of Washington and a resident of the city of Olympia, was born in Youngstown, Niagara connty, New York, January 1, 1827. His father, Charles McMicken, was a na- tive of Scotland and emigrated to the West Indies, where he followed civil engineer- ing upon the island of Tobago up to 1816, when he came to the United States and continued his profession. He was married in New York, to Miss Helen Jordon, of English descent, and re- sided in Porter until 1836, when he removed to Medina county, Ohio, and there passed the hal- ance of his life. William was educated in the schools of Ohio, and with his father learned the profession of engineering, and with an uncle the trade of cabinet-making. In 1847 he left home and went to Lake Mills, Jefferson county, Wis- consin, and purchased an interest with E. Beatty & Company, manufacturers of farm machinery. Through his connection with farmers, and re- alizing the increased values of improved farm lands, he desired to engage in that occupation, and selling his interest, in 1854, he removed to Dodge county, Minnesota, purchased 640 acres of wild prairie land and began development, making his residence chiefly at Mantorville, the county seat. He broke up 560 acres of his farm, sowing annually about 400 acres to wheat, continuing the farming operations very success- fully until 1869, when he sold ont. In 1858 he was elected Reeorder of Dodge county, and re- elected in 1860.

With the breaking out of the war he aided in recruiting Company B of the Tenth Minne- sota Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned First Lieutenant, Colonel J. Il. Baker in com-

mand. Their first service was in Missouri, un- til the Sioux outbreak in 1862, when the regi- ment was returned to Minnesota to subdue the Sioux Indians. They were subsequently for- warded to the Department of Tennessee, Six- teenth Army Corps. In 1863 he was on de- tailed service as Provost Marshal at St. Louis, and was promoted to the rank of Captain. He served under Generals Schofield, Rosecrans and Thomas, and after the battle of Nashville in December, 1864, the regiment was sent to the Department of the Gulf under General E. R. S. Canby. After the capture of Mobile, they marched through Montgomery, Jacksonville, Vieksburg, and then returning to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, they were mustered out in Septem- ber, 1865. The Captain was then appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue of the First Con- gressional District of Minnesota, with headquar- ters at Mantorville. He discharged the duties of that office for six years. The hardships and privations of the war were upon the Captain, and, owing to ill-health, in 1871 he resigned, and by the advice of his physician sought the milder and more equable climate of Washing- ton Territory. At Kalama he entered the em- ploy of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and was stationed there during the construction of the road between the Sound and the Columbia river.

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An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 91

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