USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. I > Part 32
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The life of Mr. Richardson has been one of great activity and frequent change. Forced from an early age to earn his own livelihood, he has, by pluck and perseverance, attained thus early in life a prosperous position in the com- inercial world. He is in touch with all enterprises for the development of Pull- man and the Palouse country generally. Socially he is genial and popular, and is a member of the orders of Knights of Pythias and Good Templars.
WILKINSON, J. A., was born in Vernon, Oneida County, N. Y., September 8th, 1861, and received the benefits of a common school education in his native town. In 1877, at the age of sixteen years, he began life on his own account as delivery boy in the grocery house of John Dygert, of Oneida, with whom he remained about nine months. He then returned to Vernon and served as cleik in the general merchandise store of C. H. Phister for five years. Desiring to see something of the world, he went to Colorado, and thence in a short time to Cali- fornia. Going from place to place in search of employment, he finally reached Sacramento, where he worked during the winter of 1884 in a rolling mill. In the spring he went to Alinota, Whitman County, Wash., where he obtained em- ployment in the general store of L. M. Ringer. He remained there until the fall of 1889, when he came to Pullman and associated with F. D. Richardson, under the firm style of Richardson & Wilkinson, dealers in groceries, hats, caps, and men's furnishing goods. In July, 1890, the business portion of Pullman, includ- ing the store of Richardson & Wilkinson, was burned, and in November of the same year Messrs. Richardson & Wilkinson, together with Mr. L. M. Ringer, established the Pullman Mercantile Company, which is noticed in another part of this volume.
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Mr. Wilkinson was married July 4th, 1886, to Miss Ella Sasenbery, of Vernon, N. Y. He is a member of the Ancient Order United Workingmen, the Knights of Pythias, and the Good Templars. He was elected a member of the City Coun- cil of Pullman in May, 1890, and was re-elected in the fall of 1891. He is also Vice-President of the enterprising real-estate firm of the Pullman Land and In- vestment Company mentioned elsewhere in this volume.
DE PLEDGE, H. G. - one of the prominent young business men of Whitman County, and Cashier of the First National Bank of Pullman, is H. G. De Pledge, who was born in Newcastle, Northumberland, England, February 16th, 1860. His early education and training were received on board H. M. S. Conway, where he served for two years. He then went on board of an East Indiaman of the Waverly Line as Midshipman, and after four years in that position he returned to England, passed examination as Second Mate, and left the service at the age of nineteen years. In 1879 he came to America with Close Brothers, who founded the Plymouth colony in Le Mars, Ia. After one year at the latter place he went to San Francisco, and later made several trips to Central America. After an ab- sence of two years he returned to Iowa, and one year later removed to Portland, Ore. Here for three years he was principally engaged in civil engineering, act- ing for a part of that time as Deputy County Surveyor of Multnomah County. He came to Colfax, Wash , in 1885, and to Pullman in 1887. where he engaged in buying and shipping grain for two years. At the expiration of that time he was offered a situation as Bookkeeper and Assistant Cashier in the Bank of Col- fax, and he filled that position for about a year and a half. He then returned to Pullman, and succeeded Mr. W. V. Windus as Cashier of the Bank of Pullman, now the First National Bank of Pullman, and continues in that. responsible posi- tion. Steady and reliable in all his transactions, upright in character, sound in his views, and popular with all who enjoy his acquaintance, he is regarded in a most favorable light by the people of Pullman. He was married September 23d, 1890, to Miss Jane Crockett, of Portland, Ore. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
SNELL, WILLIAM HEDDING, was born in Mechanicsburg, Pa., July 2d, 1852, and when five years of age moved with his parents to Mount Pleasant, Ia., where he received a common school education, and then entered the Iowa Wesleyan University, where he remained until he had finished the sophomore year in the classical course of that institution. In 1868 he moved to Lincoln, Neb., with his parents, and upon the opening up of the Nebraska State University entered the junior class of that institution, and was graduated in June, 1873, receiving the degree of B.Ph. He then commenced the study of law in one of the offices of that city, maintaining himself in the mean time by teaching in the public schools. In 1874 he was admitted to the Bar of Nebraska, and a short time afterward re- moved to Georgetown, Col., where he soon established a good practice in his profession. On account of ill health he was driven from that climate, and re- turned to Nebraska, locating at Fairbury, where he pursued his chosen profes- sion. His ability and devotion to his clients' interests won for him a lucrative practice in the State and federal courts of Nebraska. In the fall of 1884 he was
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the Republican nominee for State Senator from his district, and was elected by a large majority. He was one of the most prominent and efficient members of tlie Nebraska Legislature of 1885, and in 1886 was re-elected by an increased majority ; and he again served his constituents with the same fidelity that had characterized his previous term in that body.
In March, 1888, he removed to Tacoma, Wash., and in the spring of 1889 was elected City Attorney on the Republican ticket. Before his term of office expired he was appointed by Governor Elisha P. Ferry to the office of Prosecuting At- torney, to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of Fremont Campbell, then Prosecuting Attorney, to the Bench. In the summer of 1890 he was nominated by the City Council and elected as a member of the Charter Commission to form a new charter for the city of Tacoma, In the fall of 1890 he was elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney.of Pierce County, which office he filled with dis- tinction and remarkable success. In his administration he was conceded to be a profound lawyer and a most effective advocate before a jury. With a delicate sense of the responsibilities of the office, he was always ready to dismiss an action when he was convinced of the defendant's innocence, while he would fol- low a criminal with the persistence of a bull-dog and force of an avalanche. In the fall of 1892 he was renominated by the Republican Party for the office of Prosecuting Attorney and again elected to that position.
Mr. Snell is small of stature, very pleasant in address, with the faculty of mak- ing friends. He is a member of the Commercial Club and a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias lodges.
WHITE, HARRY .- This well-known citizen of Seattle, though not among those who came to the city at the earliest day of its history to here lay the foundations of municipal and commercial greatness, is a prominent and represen- tative man of the re-enforcement that came when Seattle was about to begin lier larger growth, and to this re-enforcement much of the city's remarkable progress is due.
Mr. White was born January 5th, 1859, about five miles from Columbia Junc- tion, Louisa County, Iowa, and is the son of R. A. and Hannah E. (Newbro) White. His paternal ancestors were early settlers of the State of Virginia, and his mother was of an old Pennsylvania family. Our subject was reared on a farm, and acquired the rudiments of an English education in the district school. An attendance of three months at the Eastern Iowa Normal School completed his limited opportunities in this direction. The school of experience and self-study have been the chief means of preparing him for life's duties and struggles. At the age of nineteen he left home to make his own way in the world. His father gave him a horse, and with another young man he fitted up a team and started West. They arrived in Hamilton County, Neb., in March, 1878. Here young White rented some land, put in a small crop on shares, employing his time while not thus engaged in working for the neighboring farmers. The following winter lie taught school, and the proceeds of this work, added to the returns from his crop, netted lıim $1100. With this sum he was enabled to purchase from the Union Pacific Railroad two hundred and forty acres of land, which he put under culti- vation during the summer, and in the following winter he again taught school.
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In the fall of 1880 he was elected Assessor of his district, and was re-elected for a second term, but continued to devote his attention principally to his farm, which he brought to a high state of cultivation. In his youth he had acquired a thorough knowledge of the nursery business, and this knowledge he found an opportunity to utilize in 1883, when he connected himself with the York (Ne- braska) Nursery as Manager, which position he filled with ability and credit for three years. During this time he made several successful ventures in real-estate speculation, dealing quite largely in railroad lands, and accumulated considerable capital. Having made several trips to Seattle, and foreseeing that it must be- come one of the great commercial cities of the Northwest, in 1886 he became interested in the real-estate business here with the firm of A. E. McPhelridge & Co.
In the following year ne removed to Seattle and founded the real estate and brokerage firm of Harry White & Co., in which his two brothers, W. R. and W. H., are now partners. This venture proved a profitable one. Their business, large from the start, increased rapidly and has grown to immense proportions. Many of the most important real-estate transactions of Seattle have been consum- mated through them, and no firm stands higher in the State. They began pur- chasing large tracts of land in the city and suburbs early in their career, and for some years past they have handled their own property exclusively. The senior member of the firm has always been a conspicuous leader in enterprises calculated to promote the best interests of the city. In addition to his real-estate business he is extensively interested in several manufacturing industries. He was formerly a large stockholder in the Daily Press Publishing Company, of which he was also the President.
Mr. White has always been an ardent Republican, and during his residence in Seattle has borne a prominent part in shaping the political affairs of the city. His municipal service began in July, 1889, when he was elected a member of the City Council, being the first Republican ever elected from the First Ward. It was a most important period in the history of the city. The great fire of a few weeks previous had destroyed the most valuable portion of the city, and incidental to the rebuilding of the town there was much important work to be done by the municipal authorities. Mr. White was one of the most active and useful officials in the service of the city. A man of calm judgment, of marked intelligence, of keen perceptive faculties, abounding in sensible practical ideas and of unsullied integrity, his opinions never failed to receive the careful consideration of his colleagues. The interests of his constituents were carefully and conscientiously protected, and his entire record met with the hearty approval of the most intelli- gent, liberal-minded element of the entire community. In July, 1890, he was elected Mayor of the city. This was a magnificent compliment, and showed the appreciation in which his past services were held by the people. Under the new charter, adopted October 1st, 1890, he was re-elected for a term of two years. To the office of Mayor he brought the same energy and public spirit that had charac- terized him as a member of the Council. There was no portion of the city's affairs with which he did not at once make himself intelligently familiar ; and without any disparagement to his predecessors, it may be truthfully stated that Seattle never had a more progressive Mayor, one who better understood its wants and made provision for meeting them.
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A deservedly high reputation, both as a business man and a public officer, has been attained by Mr. White earlier in life than falls to the lot of most men. At an age when many have barely commenced their careers he is thoroughly estab- lished in the confidence and good opinion of the people, which, with his exem- plary habits and character, and the possession of unusual good judgment and business sagacity, make himn a most creditable representative of the young busi- ness men of Seattle, and one whose future, judged by his past, is bright with promise.
Mr. White was married December 31st, 1885, to Miss Anna Morrow, daughter of Colonel John Morrow, of Harvard, Neb.
HUTCHINSON, R. H., is the second son of James Sanford and Annie Harper Hutchinson, who came from England and settled in Illinois in the pioneer days of that State, where they passed through the ordeals and trials incident to fron- tier life. They were blessed by a family of eight sons and two daughters. Of these two died in infancy, four still reside in Illinois, and four are living in the State of Washington. The mother died May 11th, 1880, and the father is still living.
R. H. Hutchinson was born at the home of his mother's parents in Will County, Ill., November 24th, 1858. A few weeks after his birth his mother returned to her home in Lee County, where the early days of our subject were passed on the farm, where the conservative and home traits which characterized his future life were formed. He attended the district schools for a few years, working on the farm during the summer months after his eleventh year, and at- tending school about four months in the winter. By diligent application to his studies he managed to lay the foundation for a fairly good education, which he secured for himself later in life. On arriving at maturity he started out for himself, and after working on a farm the ensuing summer and making a few dollars over and above his wages, he attended an academy during the following winter, and in the spring passed a successful examination for a teacher's certifi- cate. The next five years were spent in teaching. He very successfully handled some of the best schools in his county and received the highest salary paid in his grade. During the last three years he taught his leisure moments and vacations were spent in the study of law in the office of Captain A. C. Bardwell, in Dixon, Ill. After passing a successful examination for admission to the Bar, he came to Whitman County, Wash., in April, 1887.
During his brief residence in Washington, Mr. Hutchinson has held many positions of honor, and has always proved himself worthy of every trust. He is at present Mayor of Farmington, and has been a member of the City Council of Farmington for several years. He spent the summer of 1889 in the Land Office of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company as First Clerk. In the fall of that year he was nominated for representative to the first Legislature of the new State of Washington, and in the following November was elected. He was justly considered as one of the ablest and most useful members. Returning home in the spring of 1890, he resumed the practice of law, and this was really the begin- ning of his career as an attorney. Notwithstanding he started in life without means and has been obliged to make his way unaided, he owns a beautiful home
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in Farmington and other valuable property. He is President of the Farmington Trading Company and the Secretary of the Farmington Hardware and Furniture Company, owning stock in both concerns. Mr. Hutchinson is regarded as one of Farmington's most reliable and trustworthy citizens, a man of perfect integrity of character, and possesses the respect and esteem of all who know him. Full of energy, and possessed of rare business ability, he cannot fail to achieve well-mer- ited success in a new and rapidly growing country, and this success will be gained in channels through which the entire community will be enriched. Socially he is genial and popular, and enjoys the esteem of a large circle of warm friends.
Mr. Hutchinson was married January 5th, 1888, at Eldena, Lee County, Ill., to Miss Ida A. Eastman, by whom he has two children, Clara I., aged four, and Robertus Ward, aged two.
BEVERLY, JUDGE JOHN, was born in Oppenheim (now Fulton) County, N. Y., June 18th, 1828, and received the benefits of merely a common-school education. He worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years of age, after which he became a clerk in a dry-goods store at Brockett's Bridge, N. Y., remaining there four years. Leaving there he served as Deputy Sheriff and Under Sheriff for six years in Herkimer County, during which time he read law. He entered the army in 1861 as Captain of Company K, Thirty-fourth New York Volunteers, serving with his company until the expiration of his term two years later. He was pro- moted to Major, and mustered out as Colonel of the regiment at Albany. He then took up the practice of the law, being admitted to the Bar in November, 1868, and practised in Chenango County. Judge Beverly was engaged in the practice of law in that county until 1877, when he sold out and came West, and with a friend engaged in railroad building. He was married January 18th, 1851, to Miss Margaret Smith, of New York, who died October 5th, 1862, leaving him two daughters, both now married, and residing at Amsterdam, N. Y., with their families.
Judge Beverly came to Washington May 1st, 1883, and spent one summer rail- road building, and in the fall of that year opened an office at Puyallup, and re- sumed the practice of the law. He was elected Justice of the Peace November 24th, 1884, of Puyallup Precinct, serving in that capacity two terms of two years each, at the end of which time, June 12th, 1890, he was elected Probate Judge for Pierce County, and in November, 1890, was elected Judge of the Superior Court. He is a member of the Loyal Legion of the United States, also of various branches of the Masonic Fraternity. Judge Beverly's characteristics as a lawyer have been a cool, dispassionate judgment, plain common sense, devotion and diligent loyalty to his chent, and thorough hard work for the mastery of the matter in hand. Upon the Bench he has won not only the confidence of the general public, but the highest respect and esteem of the Bar by his profound knowledge of the law, wise decisions, and independence of character.
ALEXANDER, ELMER E., was born July 14th, 1861, at Avoca, Iowa County, Wis. His father, Peter P. Alexander, a blacksmith by trade, was born in Broome County, N. Y., married Eliza MeClure, and died in 1882, aged sixty-two. His widow is still living, aged_seventy-four. They had eight sons and one daughter.
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The early life of our subject was spent on a farm. At the age of twenty he emi- grated to Iowa, and after spending a year in that State, removed to Central City, Col., where he soon found an occupation suited to his tastes, studying the precious minerals in their natural state. Working at whatever presented itself, he soon started farther west. Going through New Mexico, Arizona, and Cali- fornia, stopping occasionally to earn a few dollars to help him on his way, le reached Spokane February 1st, 1884, with only a few dollars in his pocket. He took up a ranch near Waterville, but the mining excitement in the Colville coun- try soon brought him to that section. He was among the first to discover new mineral deposits in the mountains of Colville, Kootenai, Okanogan, and Pend d'Oreille River countries, also on Similkameen River ; and he has contributed many interesting articles for the Spokane papers concerning the discovery and development of these districts. In 1885 he discovered the Old Dominion mine, * one of the leading silver-producing mines in the State, and in 1887 he located the Capital iron mines, a property which in 1891 shipped one thousand tons of ore and extracted two thousand tons more. The ore is of a very superior quality, and Bessemer steel may be made from it at one heat. It addition to his mining interests, Mr. Alexander is interested in farming, and owns a large ranch east of the city limits. He was among the first to locate farming lands in the Big Bend, and he has worked earnestly for the forfeiture of the unearned land grant of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which he considers was unjustly taken from the peo- ple. In 1890 he became a partner with his brother in the Union Printing Co.
Mr. Alexander is actively interested in the business development of the city, and has done much to promote its material welfare. His business judgment has been so often vindicated by results, and his integrity has become so firmly estab-
* In April, 1885, Mr. Alexander, with A. E. Benoist and one other, left the town of Embrey (now extinct) to seek the location of a rich mineral deposit said to have been found several years before by a soldier from Fort Colville, whose boasts of his rich find were ridiculed by his comrades until he was glad to throw the ore away and drop the theme. Another party-a half breed-found the ore and bronght it to his father, with the request that the latter visit the place and do some work, but nothing more was done. The "Daisy" and " Wellington" mines across the Colville Valley, about twenty miles southwest, led to the belief that the old find must be on the same line of contact in Colville Mountain. That line of contact of dolomite limestone and granite was what Mr. Alexander and his companions were seeking, and which they found April 12th, 1885. They had been to the top of the mountain, looked over the country, and concluded that the limestone did not appear in the vicinity, so decided to go to Colville in the afternoon for some supplies, and to continue their prospecting farther northwest. But they had not been travelling an hour when, secing limestone of the right nature, concluded to camp. Not leaving the trail, Benoist, who was ahead, broke off from a large boulder, without dismonnting from his horse, good-looking ore ; handing it to Alexander, he said, " What do you think of that for rich rock ?" The latter, leading his horse to a level place, rushed up to the ledge, and with a piece of float mineral, broke off a piece from the lode, saying at the same time, " Here's mineral in place." A few seconds later Benoist broke off with his pick some mineral twenty feet away on the side of the cliff. The other party was standing beside the lode, but not knowing ores from country rock, having. just ar- rived from New York, did not see it, of course. This party has boasted of being the discoverer, and in a certain newspaper interview put Mr. Alexander in the background about three hundred feet or yards. Being around the hotels, and having leisure, he always managed to meet correspondents to various news- papers, and ignored Mr. Alexander, who in those days was too modest to assert his rights. L. C. Dill- man is a friend of N. M. Hudgins, who was the book-keeper, and made up the books to suit Pat Kearney, who owned the largest interest (being a purchaser of Benoist's interest), and these books of the Old Dominion Mining Company were made to read that Mr. Alexander was in debt to the company, when actually the company owed him several hundred dollars. While Major Waters was there to look up the records, these same books were duplicated and the original perhaps destroyed, according to his report. ,
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lished, that he possesses the confidence and respect of the whole community. He was married February 22d, 1888, to Bertie E. Lewis, and has three children.
LITTLE, GILBERT F., Attorney-at-Law, of Seattle, Wash., was born, reared, and educated in the good old State of Pennsylvania, and belongs to one of the oldest families in the United States, his ancestors landing on our shores in Sep- tember, 1640. He was graduated in " honors" in 1867, and located in the State of Indiana in 1869, where he achieved marked professional and political success. In 1876 he was married to Miss Martha L. Mason, by whom he has one child, a daughter, fourteen years of age. His wife is a near relative of the late United States Senator James Monroe Mason, so well known in connection with his capture in company with Slidell while en route on the British mail steamer Trent, to fill their functions as Confederate commissioners. Since Mr. Little's arrival in Seattle he has devoted himself, as a member of the law firm of Metcalfe, Little & Jurey, entirely to the practice of his profession, in which he has been eminently success- ful. It may well be said of him that he comes to the Bar by inheritance, as his family are now, and have been since their advent to this country, eminent as lawyers, jurists, or law writers. The subject of this notice has inherited all the peculiar qualities and distinguishing characteristics of a strong, able lawyer, to which can be added a splendid personal presence, calm, reserved, dignified, and courtly ; of unquestionably high character, he is very justly regarded by the Bench and Bar of Washington and by all who know him as a very strong, reliable lawyer, especially on corporation law. Not only that, but he has achieved quite a reputation as a writer on philosophic themes, being a frequent contributor to leading papers and magazines all over this country. He is a cogent reasoner and a keen and convincing debater, and is counted as one of the most forceful, elo- quent, and fluent speakers, not only at the Seattle Bar, but on the Pacific coast.
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