USA > Washington > Thurston County > Early history of Thurston County, Washington : together with biographies and reminiscences of those identified with pioneer days > Part 7
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On the 30th day of October, 1888, I finally severed my connection with the Post-Intelligencer, to enter the real estate business in partnership with Mr. Charles F. Conover. who had been associated with me on the paper for a couple of years previously. Owing to our wide acquaintance, growing out of our long connection with the paper, our new venture prospered almost from the start. We opened an office in the new Yesler block. on Yesler Avenue. That evening we gave a banquet to our late associates on the paper, the members of the edi- torial, news and business staff. and it was some banquet, too. It was given at the Occidental, which was on the site of the present Hotel Seattle.
We busied ourselves during the next 25 days in listing properties and publishing advertisements and announcements. By that time our capital was pretty well exhausted, and we had not taken in a cent. On the 27th a stranger came to the office to have some notary work done, and we charged him a dollar. We put that dollar in an envelope, marked it our first dollar. locked it in the safe and have the identical coin to this day. The next day we sold 11 lots and eight houses to the late Ursula Wyckoff for $20,000. Her son, J. V. Wyckoff, still owns four of the lots, valued at over $120,000. From that time on business was quite active and at the expiration of our first year our commissions amounted to upwards of $50,000. In the summer of 1889, we placed the Renton addi- tion on the market for Capt. W. H. Renton, of Port Blakely. and sold fifteen lots the first day at prices ranging from $700 to $1.000 each.
The next day the great Seattle fire took place, and burned our office. together with the greater part of the business por- tion of Seattle. I was in Port Blakely when I was told that Seattle was burning, and induced the captain of the steamer Success to leave a half hour earlier than schedule time for
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home. Frye's Opera House was burning when I got Seattle on the wire at Blakely. When I reached our office I was mad to find all of our furniture piled out on the sidewalk in front of the Yesler building. I demanded to know why it was not hanled to safety, and was told of the impossibility of getting teams. I rushed across the street where was the owner of teams and who had for years expressed the warmest friend- ship for me. But he said he could do nothing for us. I was very angry and went on down to Yesler's wharf, where I found a man unloading brick. I hired him for $5 to go with me to move my furniture. While standing in the wagon with him, directing where to drive, and when we left the wharf, excited men began rushing up to my driver and began shout . ing, "$50 a load, $75 a load. $100 a load," etc. The man asked me what they meant and I told him to drive on, they were all crazy. We rushed the furniture onto the wagon and I directed the man where to drive. Then I rushed to the Post- Intelligencer office, where I met the business manager and asked him if the bound files of the paper had been saved. He said they had not and would not be, as no effort would be made to save them. I notified him that I would undertake the task and would brook no interference. The fire was then burning the building between Cherry Street and Yesler Avenue. Unaided, I carried those files, four volumes at a time, up to Third and James and placed them in the custody of Mrs. Bailey Gatzert. The next day I met Mr. Hunt and asked him if he had saved his files. He replied that they had been burned with the office, and that no money could reimburse him for their loss. I then told him I had saved them for him and gave him an order on Mrs. Gatzert for their return. I judge the files which I saved of daily, weekly and tri-weekly from the beginning of the paper up to that time weighed in the neigh- borhood of a ton and a half and they were almost worth their weight in gold. The paper afterwards published the fact that the files had been saved and gave me due eredit for their preservation. The next morning the paper was published in a much condensed form and contained but two advertisements- one announcing the change of location of the Puget Sound National Bank and the other notifying the publie that Craw- ford & Conover had temporarily moved their real estate of-
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fice to 615 Union Street. A couple of days later my mother sent me word that if were going to continue to advertise our office at her home she wanted me to send some one there to show property, as customers were constantly calling and she knew nothing about the real estate business.
The firm of Crawford & Conover recently celebrated their 25th anniversary in business by moving into spacious quar- ters in our own building near the corner of Third and Pine. In a book descriptive of the thriving City of Seattle and the rapidly developing State of Washington, which we published for public distribution at an expense of $15.000, entitled, "Washington, the Evergreen State, and Seattle, Its Metrop- olis," we gave this commonwealth the soubriquet of "Ever- green State." which has since been adopted as Washington's universal and most appropiate name."
Mr. Crawford has always been a public spirited man and has performed many acts of kindness and benevolence, which has made his name entitled to honorable mention among the list of philanthropists of the State of Washington. His enter- prise of collecting funds for the erection of the monument over the last resting place of the late Princess Angeline was a praiseworthy undertaking and one which gave Mr. Crawford much satisfaction. Angeline and Crawford had for years been close tillicums, the white man frequently calling on the prin- cess to be sure she was not suffering for the necessities of life. During her latter years, after she was unable to help herself many a timely gift of money or provisions were sent by the kindly man. When the weight of years was heavy upon Angeline and it was evident she would soon join her father Chief Seattle, in the Happy Hunting Ground, Mr. Crawford asked her where she wished to take her long sleep, in the white man's graveyard or beside her father's remains. "Oh. let me be buried with my white tillicums, who have been so good to me!" and her wish was respected.
Mr. Crawford started a movement among the children of Seattle to raise a fund for the erection of a monument by 10 cent contributions. The children responded gladly, al- though the promoter of the scheme had to supply part of the expense from his own pocket. Granite from the mountain of that name in the Cascades, was employed in the handsome
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and appropriate monument which marks the resting place of the Princess Angeline, and Mr. Crawford tells that even to this day her grave is covered with bouquets of daisies and other common flowers, sometimes tied with white twine string, placed there by childish hands whose owners feel a personal interest in the spot because they had helped to build the monument.
For several years after Mr. Crawford had retired from active newspaper work the itch remained with him and a column of "Reminiscences" contributed to the Sunday edi- tion of the Post-Intelligencer, was one of the features of that paper. When Mr. Crawford had been writing these reminis- cences for several years. Mrs. Crawfod collected all her hus- band's writings in a large scrapbook and presented it to him as a valentine present. The columns of this scrapbook are replete with interesting and amusing incidents of pioneer his- tory, not only of Seattle, where Mr. Crawford has spent the greater number of years of his majority, but also of Olympia. The compiler of this book spent a most delightful evening skimming over Mr. Crawford's scrap book and listening to the author of the sketches elaborate on the printed stories and relate the circumstances which gave rise to a particular event. Such a bewildering richness of material was offered the com- piler that it was difficult to select a limited number of the most typical sketches. But among those which interested the writer most were the following :
During the Republican campaign of 1869 Selucius Gar- fielde was a candidate for Representative to Congress. In order to secure his election Mr. Garfielde, as is the custom to this day, made many pre-election promises. Candidates for office seem to have been as plentiful in those good old days as they are at this later day. Came the election and the men who had been promised a friendly word in high places worked tooth and nail for Mr. Garfielde's election, with the result that he was winner by a good majority. Rejoicing, the candidates who had pinned their faith to the Congressional Delegate, hur- ried to bring him enough endorsements and testimonials of their peculiar fitness for political jobs to which they aspired. to stuff a good-sized trunk to bursting. Garfielde suavely accepted all the papers and with smiles and promises to see
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the powers on behalf of his Washington Territory friends as soon as he arrived in the National capitol. It took a long time in those days to make the trip to Washington, D. C .. but the Olympia politicians awaited word from their political sponsor with what patience they might. Days rolled into weeks and then months rolled over the men who were impatient to be- gin on their official duties-also their official salaries. Letters were sent Congressman Garfielde, but no answer was received. Finally, quite desperate. a telegram was sent Garfielde de- manding to know why the appointments were not forthcoming "Trunk and all endorsements lost!" was the answer wired back. Mr. Garfielde had found, as do Western Congressmen ever, that when they arrive in Washington. D. C., keeping pre- election promises are not always possible. The town wit, but whether that was Francis Henry or Fred Eltze is a disputed question. drew a caricature of a mammoth trunk flying through the air and in this trunk, with grotesque expressions on their faces, which, although caricatured most fantistically, were yet plainly recognizable, were pictured the disappointed politi- cians. Although that caricature was made almost 45 years ago many of the old timers, on being shown the photograph which John Yantis made of the drawing, recognize their friends and smile over the remembrance of Mr. Garfielde's lost trunk. There were L. P. Beach, Randall Hewitt. Cherokee Smith, Judge Dennison, Rev. Whitworth. Judge Struve, of Vancouver; Elwood Evans. W. W. Miller, A. R. Elder and Hon. P. D. Moore-the latter perfectly recognizable to the friends of the present day. Struve's feet were sticking out the side of the trunk, a reference to his large extremities. In fact, the most characteristic feature of each of the men pictured in the trunk was prominently brought out and enlarged on.
During a later and still more famous campaign between Selucius Garfielde and Hon. Obadiah B. McFadden for election as Delegate to Congress in the year of 1872, Mr. Francis Henry contributed several columns of his brilliant writings each week to the Washington Standard, under the head of "Chronicles." In these contributions the most prominent men were dubbed titles which, owing either to their fitness, or the pleasing allit- eration of the words, clung to their recipients, in many in- stances, to the day of their death. As for example: Judge
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McFadden, "Obadiah. The Faithful"; Garfielde, "Selucius the Babbler": B. F. Dennison. "Benjamin the Stiff" ; T. M. Reed. ". Thomas the Good": E. P. Ferry, "Elisha the Prophet"; S. Coulter, "Samuel the Smiler"; C. B. Bagley. "Clarence the Amorons": Rev. John R. Thompson. "John the Jocky"; Mar- shal Blinn, "Marshal the Headstrong."
When Mr. Crawford was still serving his apprenticeship of printer on the Washington Standard, the proprietor. Mr. John Miller Murphy, was a candidate for the office of Terri- torial Auditor. Mr. Miller was opposed by the Hon. Jos. Kuhn of Port Townsend. The latter man being a member of the Legislature of 1873, there was occasion to put his name in type many times in each issue of the Standard during the time the Legislature was in session. Murphy, holding his grudge against his opponent, told young Crawford never to allow Kuhn's name to appear in the paper correctly spelled. The ingenuity with which the printer carried out the commands of his superior are worthy of preservation: "Cun," "Coon." "'Cune," "Kun," "Kune." "Koon," "Kunne," "Keun." "Khunne," and "Keunn" were among the variations Craw- ford managed to ring on the name "Kuhn."
While working on the daily Echo in Olympia I had as an apprentice an Indian boy named Peter C. Stanup, son of Jonas Stanup sub-chief of the Puyallup Indians.
Unusually bright and well educated, young Stanup had been converted to the Christian faith and had studied theology and preached to the Indians for six or seven years. After graduating from the newspaper business Stanup studied law and became very able in that profession. About this time the Government granted the Puyallup Indians their land in several- ty and Peter's holdings were estimated to be worth from $50,000 to $60,000.
Peter, while working for the development of the reserva- tion, against the wishes of the more ignorant Indians of his tribe, was thrown off a foot log into the Puyallup river and drowned.
During the time the late lamented John H. McGraw was a candidate on the Republican ticket for Governor of the State he was bitterly opposed by the Tacoma papers and it looked as if he would not be able to carry a single precinct in Pierce
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County. In talking over the matter, he asked me if I thought there was any chance for him to carry even one precinct in that County. I told McGraw and Mr. L. S. Hunt that if we could enlist Stanup's services we might carry the reservation precinct.
Stanup was sent for but when he arrived he told us that a strong feeling had been worked up against McGraw in all of Pierce County owing to a plank in the Republican platform favoring construction of the Lake Washington canal. How- ever. if I was willing to give the Indians a feast the night be- fore election and a talk after the feast and have U. S. officers at the polling booths so that the boys would not be interfered with by thugs from the town we might carry the precinct for McGraw. We promised Stanup all this and fulfilled our promises. When the votes were counted after the election Peter wired, "We carried the precinct for McGraw by a major- ity of one."
Peter was invited to Seattle and was an honored guest at Mr. Hunt's office while the State returns were being received. These returns showed McGraw had won by a handsome majority all over the State.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
AUTOR, LENOX AND BILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
4 . wie
REV. GEO. F. WHITWORTH AND THE FIRST CHURCH
This building, in which the Rev. Whitworth organized the First Presbyterian Church, was located on the northeast corner of Fifth and Columbia streets, and was for years used as a cooper shop.
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D. C. BEATTY
David Crane Beatty and his wife, Mary Thompson Beatty, have made Olympia their home for almost 65 years. Some. times venturing their fortunes in other places, sometimes farm- ing in the County near, once leaving Washington entirely, but always coming back to the scene of their youthful prime and vigor, and now as the shadows gather and the sun of their lives sinks low in the West, their only hope or thought is to take their final rest near the place that has spelled home to this devoted couple for well over the half century mark.
Mr. Beatty first saw the light of day in Champaign County, Ohio, the year of his birth being 1828. When nine years of age his parents took their eleven children and went to Illinois, where they settled for a good many years. Here the young David grew to manhood and learned the trade of cabinet making. He was of rather delicate health, however, and realized that a complete change of climate was advisable, so decided to take the famous advise and "Go West." The start was made from New York on December 16, 1852.
The young man took passage on the old steamer Brother Jonathan to Panama. One of the excitments of the trip was the almost daily occurrence of fire on the boat. Only the oldest and most unseaworthy of water craft was then used to bring those foolhardy enough to seek what was considered an imaginary fortune in the almost unknown West.
From San Francisco Mr. Beatty came on to Portland, Oregon, his steamer this time being the Fremont, well re- membered by pioneer emigrants. Portland was then a village, in the woods on the Willamette River, of probably two business blocks and a few scattered houses. The Winter months were spent there, but when Spring came and tales began to reach the Oregon town of opportunities for business openings in the Sound country, which was just beginning to attract the emigrants' attention, Beatty, whose health was still poor, de-
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cided to join a party of young men and take the venture.
Sixteen stalwart young men were in the party with which the young man cast his fortune. All that Mr. Beatty can remember the names of at this late day are Tom Prather, four Hays brothers and Edmund Carr.
The trip was made up the Cowlitz River in Indian canoes to the lower landing. Here the boys took the Indian trail up the river through brush so dense that many times the only possible way to get along was by crawling on their knees. When Jackson's place was reached the men were served a breakfast that. even after the lapse of these many years, re- mains fresh in Mr. Beatty's memory.
About noon the party came out on Scatter Creek. They were almost famished by this time, and were delighted to find a shack standing there in the wilderness. The owner was not around, but the door was unlocked, so they went in and searched for something to satisfy their hunger. Edmund Carr was the first to reach the rude cupboard and opened the door. Mother Hubbard's cupboard must have been a close connection to this one, for the only eatable the hungry young men could find was one cold potato on a tin plate. As this potato was only about the size of a walnut Carr appropriated it for himself. There was nothing else in all the cabin to eat, so the men had to push on to the next stopping place. Carr then called his friend Beatty aside and, dividing the diminutive potato exactly in half, gave one portion to him. eating the other himself. This was among the many acts of generosity and brotherly love that were related to the com- piler of these reminiscences that made the work one of the most delightful and inspiring experiences of her life.
As evening approached, the party of adventurers reached Bush's, where a good supper was served them and permission given the boys to roll up in their blankets on the floor of the shack, which permission was gladly accepted. In the morning the march was completed by the arrival at Tumwater. There was only the stringers of a bridge then across the Des Chutes River at this place, the crossing having been made heretofore by Indian canoes. Horses and cattle were generally taken to Tenalquot Prairie, where there was a safe ford. This bridge. under construction, was being built by Ira Ward, the pioneer
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millman of Puget Sound. The young men, single file, walked the square timbers across the river, so reaching Tumwater. Mr. Beatty's eyes grew dim as he mused. "I can see them vet, sixteen as fine young men as were ever to be seen, filing across that river which flowed swiftly beneath the single stick of timber. Of that goodly party only Tom Prather and myself are left. All the rest are long since gone." The experience of crossing the river was a new one to the prairie raised lad.
From Tumwater the trail to Olympia was taken and this place reached about noon. The very afternoon the boys reached here news was brought to the settlement that Washington had. by Act of Congress, been set aside from Oregon. Everyone was glad and believed that a great era of prosperity was about to set in for the new territory.
"When I reached Olympia there were no buildings south of Fourth Street, everywhere else stood the tall timber coming right down to the beach, the only exception being Isaac Wood's residence, a shack constructed of clapboards down on the beach at where the end of Fifth Street now is. Mrs. Simp- son Moses and Mrs. George Barnes are the names of the only white women I can remember, although there were two others when we got here.
"Edmund Sylvester and his brother had a Hall for Travelers, as they called their place, on the corner where the Old New England hotel now stands. Their 'Hall' was of split and hewn lumber. lined with cloth, and while very comfortable for those days hardly came up to its pretentious name.
"My first job was taken to split rails for Mr. Ruddle, out on Chambers Prairie. My friend Carr went with me and we found we had to first cut down the cedar trees, saw them into lengths, and then split the logs into rails. Well. I was not strong yet and too much of a tenderfoot to last long at this kind of work, so when noon came we quit and came back to Olympia.
"Our next venture was to go to Alki Point, as it is now known, but which was then held as a townsite by Charles Terry and called New York. W. W. Miller was at that time internal revenue officer for the government and offered Carr and myself passage to New York for rowing the boat to that
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place. I was fresh from the prairie country, the water was new to me and I had never rowed a boat in my life, but we accepted the offer and made out tolerably well.
"When we reached New York we found that Charlie Terry, of the firm of Lowe & Terry. loggers, was an old friend of my family, having come from the same place in Illinois. There were only three or four cabins there, but Terry had great faith in the prospect of a great city growing up there some day, so had platted the town site and laid off city lots.
"I was given work driving an ox team-familiar work it was, too-on Bainbridge Island. Carr was set to felling trees. At this time our only food for over six weeks was salmon and potatoes, but I never thrived better, and gained a pound a day, till I was quite a comfortable weight and my bad health greatly improved. For this six weeks we were out of flour and it was not till the next sailing vessel came into port that we were enabled to have a variation from our diet of salmon and potatoes.
"When Lowe sold out I returned to Olympia with him, and about the first thing I did upon my return was to build a little house for John Swan, on the corner where the Knox hotel now stands. Upon completion of this building I rented it of Swan, procured a foot lathe, cut alder trees from the swamp and began making furniture. In the early days car- penters or cabinet makers were of necessity mechanics in the true meaning of the word-not wood butchers. Though the trade was not governed by unions, the very condition compelled a man to be proficient. It was not possible then to go to the mill and get his doors and windows, his matched lumber and shingles or mouldings-all these were the work of the car- penter, whose kit of tools must include moulding planes and cther accessories now made unnecessary by modern improve- ments.
"Later I bought the corner where for so many years John Miller Murphy has had his printing office, and which I sold to him in after years. Here I built for myself a shop, and continued making furniture. I was getting a fine start, and all my prospects were of the brightest when the Indian war broke out. This put a stop to business of all kinds. Emigra- tion slacked. and the country was set back ten years. Closing
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my shop I enlisted with the first volunteer company organized to fight the Indians.
"Well, my experiences during this war would fill a small volume by themselves. Many exciting and dangerous times were before me then. I was among the soldiers engaged in the Indian fight in the Puyallup Valley. Once I was with a party of volunteers who rescued an English family of settlers from massacre in this valley. Their house was surrounded, and although the inmates had made a gallant defense, the Indians were just breaking down the door when our men came galloping up, scattering the enemy and saving the lives of the white people.
"After the White River battle and the subsequent sub- duing of the Indians on this side of the mountains, our com- pany was ordered East of the mountains, where the Indians of the Cayuse. Walla Walla and Umatilla tribes were on the warpath. We crossed the mountains through the Natchez Pass, which was wild and rough, and proved a trying ex- perience.
"Our camp was made for several weeks on Mill Creek, near Walla Walla, at the place where the Whitman massacre occurred. We had to wait here till our government supplies arrived from Portland.
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