USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. I > Part 24
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In 1879 the road was sold to Mr. Henry Villard, and in 1880 became the prop- erty of the Oregon Improvement Company. After its sale to Mr. Villard Mr. Colman was retained as superintendent of the road, which position he filled until failing health compelled him to retire. In 1876 the Yesler saw-mill, which Mr. Colman had purchased, was entirely destroyed by fire. He erected another mill near the railroad depot, which was sold with the road to Mr. Villard. After leaving the employ of the railroad company in 1883 Mr. Colman made an exten- sive European trip. Returning in 1884, greatly improved in health, he invested in coal property on the line of the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad, and in company with other capitalists organized the Cedar River Coal Company, and opened the mines of that name, which he has since operated.
Mr. Colman was married in Waukesha, Wis., in 1858, to Miss Agnes Hender- son, by whom he has two sons living.
The foregoing is merely an outline of Mr. Colman's career, and gives but a limited view of the many directions in which his active energies have found an outlet. It furnishes but a feeble idea of the man, and no insight into his marked individuality or the peculiarities which distinguish him from other men. Few men possess a greater amount of physical and mental energy, or have had a more varied experience with men or affairs. Quickly grasping any subject toward which his mind is turned, he is fertile and original in applying means to mect every emergency. Whatever he undertakes he goes at it with a determined energy which seemingly has not stopped for a moment to think of defeat. While he has been eminently successful in a personal sense, liis success has been achieved in channels which have contributed to the public good, and he has been the largest employer of labor in the community. He has large real estate invest- ments, and owns some of the handsomest and costliest structures in the city. He has a delightful social side, and finds perhaps his greatest pleasure in associating with congenial friends. His home life has been a singularly happy one. His wife, of refined and cultivated mind, has been truly a helpmate and companion, and has done her full share toward creating a happy home.
DRUM, HENRY .- Among the younger citizens of Washington, who by their energy, perseverance, and business tact have made a mark for themselves, no one ranks higher than the subject of this sketch. , Mr. Drum is in the truest sense of the word a self-made man. Without inherited capital or influence, he has fought his way from poverty and comparative obscurity, until he has attained a position among the foremost men of Washington. He is one of the representative business men of Tacoma, and has always taken a lively interest in its development and prosperity. His superior executive abilities have been long recognized, and through his well-directed energy and enterprise he has contributed much to the commercial activity of the city.
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Mr. Drum was born in Girard, Macoupin County, Ill., on November 21st, 1857. His paternal grandparents were natives of South Carolina, and emigrated to Illinois when that State was admitted to the Union, settling in Macoupin County. Their son William, born in 1831, married Mary S. McConaughy. She was born in Ohio in 1830, and died in April, 1861, leaving Henry as her only child. The father afterward married Julia F. Stewart, by whom he had two children. William Drum is still living at Girard, Ill., engaged in mercantile business.
Henry attended the public schools of his native place during his childhood, but desiring the benefits of a more liberal education, he set to work to fit himself for teaching, to acquire the means for the expenses of a college course. In 1874 he secured a school in his native county, where he taught successfully during the following winter and summer. In 1875 he entered the Illinois State University at Champaign, remaining about two years, after which he again engaged in teaching and other employments for about a year. Again entering the univer- sity, he continued his studies until he had finished the course, working during the interval to aid in defraying his expenses. In 1880 he located in Farmer City, Ill., and engaged in brick-making in company with R. J. Davis, now of Tacoma. This venture did not prove a success, and in 1881 he removed to Hebron, Neb., and again engaged in teaching. After liis first term he was offered and accepted a position in the bank of Hon. Walter J. Thompson, of Hebron, with whom he has ever since been associated. The year following they bought some large tracts of wild land in Nebraska, and engaged extensively in stock-raising, in addition to their banking interests. In the fall of 1883 Mr. Drum and Mr. Thompson visited Washington Territory, and they were so favorably impressed with the wonderful advantages and great future of the Pacific Slope, that they determined to dispose of all their interests in Nebraska and settle in Tacoma. Returning to Tacoma in the following December, they bought the Bank of New Tacoma, the oldest financial institution in the city. They at once reorganized it as the Merchants' National Bank, of which Mr. Drum became First Assistant Cashier. He was soon afterward elected Cashier, and performed the duties of that position with distinguished ability and fidelity until 1889, when he was chosen Vice-President, which position he still holds.
In 1887 he was chosen a member of the School Board of Tacoma. His fine business qualities and previous experience as a teacher enabled him to perform valuable services in this position, and the present high standard and efficiency of the public schools of the city are largely due to his efforts. He retired from the Board as its President. In politics Mr. Drum is a strong, conservative Democrat, but never has supported a corrupt official or candidate or a questionable party measure. In 1888 he was nominated and elected Mayor of Tacoma, a Republican city, over a prominent opponent ; the Republican Party at the same election giving a majority of about three hundred for all its other candidates. To this office he brought the same energy and public spirit which had characterized him in his private business. The aggressive and business-like methods used by Mayor Drum made him and his work appreciated, his characteristics being uniform courtesy, intense local pride, and unswerving justice. He inaugurated public improvements which reflect great credit on his sagacity and foresight, and entitle him to be forever remembered with gratitude by his fellow-citizens. He was a
Davis ! Iam.
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faithful public servant, and his administration was in the highest degree credit- able. He was repeatedly urged to accept a renomination, but his growing private business interests required his attention and compelled him to decline.
Upon the admission of Washington as a State, in 1889, Mr. Drum was elected a member of the first State Senate, and was the only Democratic member of that body. His manly course and fidelity to his duties won for him the esteem and respect of his constituents of both parties. He exerted a great influence upon legislation, drafting and advocating many important measures which are now on the statute books of the State. Upon the recommendation of the Governor, Mr. Drum was in 1889 appointed by the President Commissioner for Washington to the World's Fair at Chicago. In addition to his large interest in the Merchants' Bank lie is a stockholder and director in several other important financial and manufacturing enterprises, and has extensive investments in real estate in Tacoma and vicinity. Mr. Drum is a prominent Mason, and has held many important official positions in that order, including Grand Treasurer of the Grand Chapter of Washington. In religious matters he is a Unitarian, and was one of the founders of the Unitarian Society.
In November, 1884, Mr. Drum was married to Miss Jennie M. Thompson, a sister of Hon. Walter J. Thompson. They have three children : Howard, Laura, and Barbara.
Personally Mr. Drum is an unusually popular and liberal-minded gentleman. In his social relations he is genial and unostentatious. His life has been and still is a very busy one ; and if he has prospered beyond many of his acquaintances, it is conceded that his prosperity is only the legitimate reward of enterprise and earnest and honest endeavor. Of such a man the State of Washington lias a right to be proud. He commenced at the bottom of the ladder and has ascended higher than most men ever get. He has been successful for himself and family, and kind, helpful, and generous to the poor, and has contributed largely to the public good in numerous ways.
FERGUSON, E. C .- The development of the city of Snohomish has been largely the result of the personal efforts of one man, E. C. Ferguson. He was born in Westchester County, N. Y., March 5th, 1833, and enjoyed only the educational advantages of the district schools of his native place. Believing that the best chance for a young man was to be found in a new country, he left home at the age of twenty-one and came to the Pacific coast via the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in California, May 1st, 1854. There he engaged in mining and merchan- dising until 1858, and in July of that year left for the Frazer River gold fields. In November of the same year he returned to Steilacoom, Wash., and March 1st, 1860, located on the site of the present city of Snohomish. At that time an appropriation had been made by Congress for opening up a trail between Forts Steilacoom and Whatcom, and anticipating the passing of this trail, Mr. Ferguson obtained a small stock of goods and started a trading post. The appropriation giving out before the completion of the road, Mr. Ferguson with others deter- mined to open up a trail eastward over the mountains.
In August, 1860, they packed horses by way of the Skykemish River to the Similkameer, the Wenatchee, and the Columbia to Rock Creek and into the
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Okanogan mines. After his return from this trip Mr. Ferguson again embarked in the merchandise business at Snohomish, which he successfully continued until 1884, when he retired. Mr. Ferguson is recognized as the father and founder of Snohomish. He laid out the town in 1871, and from that time to the present has been a leader in every enterprise calculated to promote its growth in business, wealth, and population. His financial success has been gained in channels through which the entire community has been enriched. He owns a large amount of city real estate, is President of the Snohomish National Bank, the Snohomish Land Company, and the Snohomish, Skykomish and Spokane Railroad Company. He is a stockholder in the Snohomish Electric Light Works and the Snohomish and Everett Electric Road, and is identified with many other important enter- prises, which have felt the impress of his influence and support. Much credit is due him for securing for the city the benefits of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern and the Great Northern Railroads.
Starting out early in life with few advantages, he has by hard labor and per- severance acquired a leading position among the business men of Washington, and by a life characterized by sterling integrity has won the respect and confi- dence of the people. He has at different times held almost every position of trust in the gift of his county. He was a member of the Territorial Legislature, five terms in the Council and two terms in the House, being Speaker of the latter body one session. At present he is serving his second term as Mayor of Snohomish. He was one of the Commissioners from Washington to the New Orleans Exposition, and is at present the World's Fair Commissioner for Snoho- mish County.
Mr. Ferguson was married in 1869 to Miss Lucetta Morgan, of Olympia, Wash., by whom he has two daughters and one son. The elder daughter is the wife of. Elmer Linfest, a prominent civil engineer of this place.
JENKINS, DAVID P., a prominent resident and retired attorney of Spokane, was born in Jefferson County, O., August 25th, 1823, of Quaker parents. He, was the youngest child of Israel and Elizabeth (Horseman) Jenkins, natives of Eastern Virginia. In 1800 the father went to Eastern Ohio and bought land there, and in 1802 he moved his family to what is now Jefferson County, and resided there until his death, in 1863. The mother died in 1827. David P. spent his early youth on the farm, and attended the common schools and the Quaker seminary at Mount Pleasant, O. He began the study of law with General Samuel Stokely, at Steubenville, O., but soon moved to Cincinnati on account of better facilities there afforded for the pursuit of legal studies, and was graduated from the law school of that city in 1845. On his admission to the Bar he began practice at Lafayette, Ind. His health becoming impaired, he returned to Cincinnati, and remained there until 1847. Continued ill health compelled him to seek a more agreeable climate, and in the latter year he settled in Putnam County, Ill. Three years later he removed to La Salle County, in the same State, where he resided upward of eighteen years.
At the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed by Governor Yates as Major of the First Regiment Illinois Cavalry, so ranking from July, 1861. He was first field officer of cavalry who engaged the Confederate enemy. His first
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year of service was spent in Missouri. At the siege of Lexington he was taken prisoner, but after a short term of confinement he was exchanged, and served at New Madrid and in several other engagements. In the spring of 1863 he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fourteenth Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, then just raised. In Kentucky and Eastern Tennessee, where he served under General Burnside, he did gallant service, and at the battle of Knoxville had com- mand of a brigade up the valley east of Knoxville. He was afterward transferred to Sherman's command, and served under that great general in the famous march to Atlanta. He served with distinguished bravery under the greatest generals of the war-viz., Grant, Sherman, Pope, and Burnside. At the close of the war Colonel Jenkins resigned, notwithstanding he was offered by his commanding officer flattering inducements to remain in the service.
Settling in Knoxville, Tenn., he resumed the practice of his profession. He practised principally in the federal courts, and conducted some of the most im- portant cases in the South connected with the Civil War. In 1867 he was ad- mitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. After about four years' residence in Knoxville he removed to Logansport, Ind., where he remained until 1872. His physical condition had again become impaired by reason of too close application to his legal business, and he removed, in 1872, to Georgetown, Col. After a brief residence there he came to Washington Territory, in 1873, set- tling first in Seattle, where he practised until 1879. June 1st of the latter year he located at Spokane Falls, being the first settler north of the river.
Colonel Jenkins is extensively interested in real estate investments in Spokane, owns a farm in the Colville valley, and one half of the town site of Chewelah, also gold, silver, copper, and iron claims near the latter place. He has had a most successful career ; but the prosperity which has come to him through his enterprise, energy, and superior business ability has also had a positive influence in promoting the best interests of his adopted home, to whose development and growth he has contributed much. He is a liberal contributor to church and charitable organizations. He has given to the county a block of land for a court- house site and $1000. He donated some twenty-six acres of land for the support of a college, which was started under the name of Spokane College. This project failing, the land reverted to Colonel Jenkins, and later, when the Jenkins Uni- versity was incorporated, the same property, now estimated worth from $250,000 to $500,000, was deeded in trust to the latter institution as an endowment, the principal to remain intact.
Colonel Jenkins was married in 1848 to Miss Hannah A. Lobdell, who died in 1875. Their union was blessed with three children-Annie, who died young ; George M., a resident of Chicago ; and Emma F., wife of William H. Rice, the last two of whom are now living.
In his social relations the colonel is genial and deservedly popular, and is high- ly esteemed by a wide circle of friends. He is a charter member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Masonic Lodge.
SEMPLE, EUGENE, was born June 12th, 1840, at Bogota, New Granada, South America. His father, James Semple, of Illinois, who had been Attorney-General, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,
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Senator in Congress, Colonel of a regiment in the Black Hawk War, and Briga- dier-General of the militia of that State, was at that time the Minister of the United States to New Granada. General Semple served two years as Minister, first under Van Buren and second under Tyler, who was a relative. Eugene was the youngest child and only son of General Semple. He was five years old when his parents returned to Illinois, and spoke the Spanish language only. He spent . his life in Madison and Jersey counties until about sixteen years old, attending the country schools in winter and working on the farm in summer. Afterward he went to the St. Louis University, studied law with Krum & Harding in St. Louis, and finished his education by graduating from the law school of the Cincinnati College. As soon as he received his diploma he carried out his long-cherished intention of going to the then far-off State of Oregon, and arrived at Portland in the fall of 1863 via New York, Panama, and San Francisco. He practised law in Portland continuously, except two summers spent in the mines of Idaho and Washington, until 1868, when he engaged in newspaper work, first as a reporter and afterward as the editor of the Daily Oregon Herald, the leading organ of the Democratic Party in the Northwest. He was preceded as editor of the Herald by Sylvester Pennoyer, now Governor of Oregon, and succeeded by C. B. Bellinger, now United States District Judge of Oregon. Mr. Semple kept at the head of the Herald the motto formulated by him : " In all discussions of American policy with us Liberty goes first." The Herald was a strenuous opponent of Chinese im- migration, and an advocate of railways, claiming, however, always that their aggressive tendencies should be held in check by proper laws, so that they would be the servants of the people and not the masters of the people. It was under the leadership of the Herald that the great victory of the Democracy in 1870 was gained. The result of the victory was to make Mr. Semple State Printer, which position he held until 1874. The years from 1870-74 comprised what was known as the Holladay régime. It was the first period of railway construction in Oregon, and a furore was worked up which disturbed all the political, social, and commercial relations of the State. Mr. Semple maintained a very aggressive attitude in the Herald, demanding that the railways should be the servants of the people ; but they were the masters of the people, for the time being at least, and the Herald went down before their opposition, ruining its owners financially. The war was waged with especial fierceness around the Legislature at the session of 1872, re- sulting in several personal encounters and finally in a pitched battle, in which the Chief of Police of Portland, the President of the Senate, and one of the Senators was engaged on one side, and the State Printer on the other ; weapons were used, and the parties engaged were severely injured. At that time Ben Holladay published the Daily Bulletin in Portland, and the paper was devoted almost exclu- sively to the abuse of Mr. Semple. Every unfavorable comment on that gentle- man that appeared in any outside paper was reprinted in the Bulletin with complimentary allusions to the writer. As a result, nearly every paper in Wash- ington and Oregon took up the cry, and the atmosphere became very sultry. In self-defence Mr. Semple started a small daily paper at Salem called the Mercury. This paper was mainly devoted to attacks upon Ben Holladay and his adherents, and finally began publishing a " Life of Ben Holladay." The first chapter con- tained so many disclosures that Mr. Holladay, who was not proud of several inci-
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dents in his life, was constrained to ask for a truce. Upon his agreeing to there- after suppress all allusions whatever to the State Printer in the Bulletin the Daily Mercury was suspended, its mission having been accomplished. These two epi- sodes illustrate the condition of politics in Oregon at that time.
While State Printer, Mr. Semple printed the Code of 1874. Judge Deady was Chairman of the Code Commission, and furnished " copy" in which the name of the principal river of Oregon was spelled " Wallamet." Mr. Semple insisted that the proper way to spell it was " Willamette." The two gentlemen had pre- viously had a newspaper controversy over the matter, and now the issue was re- duced to the " personal equation." As neither would yield, and neither cared to push his opinions to the extreme, the word was left in the text " Wallamet,". and the word " Willamette" placed in brackets, Mr. Semple claiming that a printer had the right to make correction where a word was obviously misspelled.
In 1874 Mr. Semple leased a farm in Lane County, Ore., and afterward pur- chased one in Columbia County, following the occupation of his youth until 1883, when he engaged in the manufacture of cedar shingles, being the first to practi- cally inaugurate in the Northwest the great industry that is now making the State of Washington famous throughout the Union.
In 1884 Mr. Semple built the Lucia Mills at Vancouver, Wash., and became a citizen of that city. He was appointed Governor of Washington Territory by Presi- dent Cleveland, and was the candidate of the Democratic Party for the office of Governor at the first State election, running nearly six hundred votes ahead of his ticket.
While in Oregon, Mr. Semple held the office of Police Commissioner of Port- land, and was once the Democratic candidate for Mayor of that city. He also held the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court in Columbia County, and was ap- pointed Brigadier-General of the National Guard by Governor Grover, but was compelled to decline the honor on account of severe financial reverses.
While a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade Mr. Semple was the prime mover in forming the Columbia Water-way Association, designed to secure the opening of the Columbia River to free navigation, a project which he began to agitate in 1869 and has constantly agitated since.
In 1878 he offered in the Democratic State Convention of Oregon a resolution in favor of forfeiting the land grant of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and using a portion of it to build locks at the Cascades and The Dalles of the Co- lumbia. The resolution, however, was not entertained, the furore over railways not having sufficiently subsided, and the importance of an open river not then being fully appreciated. At the second session of the Columbia Water-way As- sociation Mr. Semple read a carefully prepared paper on river improvements, in which he outlined a comprehensive scheme for economically navigating the Co- lumbia River and its tributaries. He was appointed by Governor Ferry a mem- ber of the State Board of Harbor Line Commissioners, and while acting in that capacity had charge of the harbors of Seattle, Ballard, Blaine, Vancouver, Sid- ney, and Shelton.
Mr. Semple is now a resident of Seattle and a member of the firm of Semple & Hale, in active practice of law.
He was married in 1870 to Ruth A. Lownsdale, of Portland, the issue of the
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marriage being three daughters-Maud, Zoe, and Ethel-and one son, Eugene. He has been a widower since 1883, devoting himself to the care and education of his children.
Mr. Semple's family has been connected very prominently with the affairs of the Pacific coast. His father took a leading part in the "Fifty-four-forty or fight" campaign, making speeches in the Mississippi valley as early as 1842 in that behalf, and on January 8th, 1844, he introduced in the United States Senate a resolution requesting the President to give notice to Her Britannic Majesty of the desire of the Government of the United States to abrogate the treaty of joint occupation of the Oregon country. His uncle, Robert Semple, was editor of the first American newspaper printed in California, was President of the Constitu- tional Convention of that State, and founded the city of Benicia. His half brother, Lansing B. Mizner, was a pioneer of California of 1849, held many offi- cial positions, including Collector of the Port of San Francisco, President of the State Senate, Presidential Elector and Minister to Central America. His cousin, Will Semple Green, was one of the founders of the city of Colusa, Cal., and has been for thirty-five years editor of the Colusa Sun, in which capacity he has yielded a potent influence in public affairs. Mr. Green in the Sun was one of the greatest leaders of the people in the fierce " Slickens" agitation, which at one time threatened civil war between the farmers and the hydraulic miners, and has been most prominent in advocating dyking the rivers and excavating the great irrigation canals of the Sacramento valley.
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