USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. I > Part 54
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KINCAID, CAMPBELL M., attorney-at-law, of Colfax, Wash., was born in Mis- souri in 1841. His father, William M. Kincaid, also a lawyer, was a Kentuckian ; his mother was also a native of that State. Youngest of a family of seven chil- dren, young Kincaid was educated in the public schools of California, to which
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State he had removed with his parents in 1849. On completing his common- school education he entered the University of the Pacific at Santa Clara, taking the full classical course and graduating in 1861. He read law with Tilden & Wilson, of San Francisco, and was admitted to the Bar in 1873 ; removed to Portland, Ore., and practised until 1878, when he came to Washington and located at what is now the city of Colfax, where he resumed his professional pur- suits, in which he has been actively engaged ever since 1881. Judge Kincaid was Probate Judge of Whitman County for two terms, an office which he filled with distinguished ability. He was also nominated by the Democrats in 1892 for the office of Superior Judge. He married in 1869 Miss Medora Arnold, a native of Missouri, but then residing in California. They have five children. The Judge is a member of the United Workmen and Farmers' Alliance, has a fine farm near the city, and is regarded as a man of business probity and intellectual strength, whose books are not merely casual but intimate acquaintances.
KINCAID, W. H., farmer, of Pullman, Wash., was born in Illinois in 1844. His father, G. W. Kincaid, was a Kentucky farmer ; his mother was Lydia (Smith) Kincaid. Educated in the district schools, young Kincaid emigrated to California, the goal of so many golden and, alas, too often disappointed hopes, in 1864 and engaged in mining for two years. Returning East he passed two years in Iowa, thence to Omaha, Neb., where he found employment with the Northern Pacific Railroad till 1869. He then removed to White Pine, Nev., and for three years tried mining again, which he then relinquished to become a stock-breeder. In 1876 he came to Washington, locating at Walla Walla, where he devoted him- self to farming. He was married in 1879 to Miss Christina Kempad, a native of Utah. They have five children. Mr. Kincaid is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and a Republican in his political belief. One of the oldest settlers in the community where he dwells, he enjoys the regard and confidence of his neighbors as a man who is possessed of many estimable traits of character.
KINETH, JOHN H., merchant, of Orting, Wash., a highly successful and enter- prising business man of that thriving place, was born at Whidby Island, Wash., October 28th, 1864. In those days the common schools, now so thoroughly sys- tematized, were probably far less influential in teaching the " young idea how to shoot" the target of after life than they are at present. Young Kineth probably realized this when he divided his time between the acquisition of such instruc- tions as they could afford and the practical duties of farm work upon the parental acres, where he did his share of labor up to the age of fourteen. He then served a two years' apprenticeship in the Washington Iron Works at Seattle. Eight years of steamboat life followed, during which period he worked as an engineer on the Puget Sound lines, a pursuit which he relinquished in 1889 to enter his present avocation, general merchandising in Orting, where he has built up a pros- perous and remunerative trade. He was married in December, 1886, and has one son. Mr. Kineth is a man of reputation in the community where he resides, and is an active member of the Odd Fellows.
KING, SELAH S., Cashier of the Everett National Bank, was born in Michigan, November 28th, 1846. Until the age of seventeen he attended the common
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schools of his native county, and then enlisted in the Nineteenth United States Infantry, Army of the Tennessee, serving faithfully until the spring of 1865, when he was honorably discharged. The close of the war found him at Battle Creek, Mich., where he attended the high school for about eighteen months, and then entered Olivet College, at which institution he remained for a year and a half, leaving it to teach school in various localities. In the spring of 1870 he went to Wichita, Kan., remaining there until his departure for Oregon in 1887. Here he located at Portland and engaged in the loan business with the Lombard Invest- ment Company until 1889, when he removed to Tacoma, taking charge of the same company's interests for Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. He continued this until the spring of 1892, when he went to Everett and assisted in the organi- zation of the Everett National Bank, of which he is the Cashier. He was identi- fied with the Lombard Investment Company while in Wichita, being its chief examiner and travelling auditor. He was married on Christmas Day, 1872, to Miss Auna J. Mosher, of Kansas. One child, a boy of fifteen, graces their union. Nowhere, perhaps, save in America, could an example be found of a young man returning from serving during a long and bloody war in the field and then settling quietly down to an academic life, becoming once more a student and at length a teacher himself, and passing from thence to a position of trust in a financial insti- tution, and all this without friction or sense of strangeness in so doing.
KIRBY, WILLIAM A., of Waitsburg, Wash., was born in Indiana in 1852. His father, David Kirby, was a Kentucky farmer, his mother being a native of Indiana. Third in a family of seven children, his rudimentary education was obtained in the public schools of his district, but he was in reality almost self- educated, like many others of his class, who achieve success where men of larger acquirements have most lamentably failed. In 1862 he went to Iowa and engaged for six years in farming. He next became a railroad engineer, a calling his fail- ing health did not permit him to continue. He was married in 1872 to Miss Emma Teel, a native of Oregon. They have two children. Ella, the elder, sus- tains an enviable reputation as a public-school teacher in Enterprise, while Rosa, the younger, is still attending to her studies. Mr. Kirby is prosperously placed as regards worldly possessions, owning his pretty city home and other valuable realty. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a Repub- lican in his political faith. He is a man of progressive ideas, and in ardent sym- pathy with the best interests and advancement of the community at large.
KLINE, R. L., of New Whatcom, Wash., Assessor of Whatcom County, was born August 7th, 1858, in Cambria County, Pa., and received the benefits of a practical common-school education. At the age of eighteen years he began the struggle of life, going into the coal mines of Clearfield County, in his native State, where he spent seven years as a coal-miner. He then became the Super- intendent of the Blaine Run Colliery, and continued to discharge the duties of that position until the fall of 1885, when he determined to try his fortunes in the Pacific Northwest. Resigning his position, he came directly to New Whatcom, Wash., where he has ever since resided. In November, 1890, he was elected County Assessor of Whatcom, and so satisfactorily did he. perform the duties of
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that position, that in 1892 he was re-elected to the same office, and is now serving his second term. He is a conscientious and capable public official and a highly esteemed citizen. He was married September 27th, 1881, to Miss Etta Gates, of Pennsylvania. Two children grace their union, one son and one daughter.
KLOEBER, J. S., M.D., a skilful and popular practitioner of Seattle, Wash., was born in Baltimore, Md., March 1st, 1862. He graduated with honor from the Lynchburg (Virginia) Academy in 1880. Returning to Baltimore, he attended the Medical Department of the University of Maryland, taking his medical degree therefrom in 1885. Determined to thoroughly perfect himself in the profession of his choice, he took a post-graduate course at the same school. He remained in Baltimore until 1887, beginning his practice in the hospital of the university. From thence he removed to Washington, D. C., in 1887, and remained for a year pursuing his profession. He then passed a year in the Chicago College of Dental Surgery until January of 1889, when he resigned his position in that city to locate in Seattle, where he has ever since been engaged in active practice. The doctor was elected to the House of Delegates of Seattle in October of 1892, and upon the reorganization of that body became its President. He married on August 2d Miss Mattie P. Walker, of Lawrence, Kan., a niece of ex-Senator Pomeroy of that State. Dr. Kloeber is an active member of the Masonic fraternity, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and Knights Templar.
KRETZER, PHILIP L., a substantial citizen of Ritzville, Wash., was born in Pennsylvania in 1854. His father was a native of Germany, by trade a miner and mechanic, and his mother, Caroline (Neeb) Kretzer, was also of German birth. Young Kretzer, the eldest of seven living children, was educated in the public schools of Iowa, but for the most part was self-taught. Locating in Iowa, he began life as a machinist, becoming the senior member of the firm of Kretzer, Finley & Co. Selling out his interests in this concern, he came to Washington and located at Ritzville, where he engaged in well-drilling and the sale of imple- ments, being also in charge of the land interests of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, which he still retains. He was married in 1877 to Miss Lydia E. Sherrod, of Iowa, daughter of Joseph Sherrod, an esteemed citizen of that State. They have two children. Mr. Kretzer has held the offices of Mayor of Ritzville, President of the Board of County Commissioners of Adams County, and member of the Democratic State Central Committee. He is well situated as regards worldly goods, being the owner of improved city property, business blocks, and the finest residence in Ritzville.
KRIBS, LEWIS W., Postmaster of Roslyn, was born in Guelph, Canada, but removed early in life with his parents to Illinois. His father, Paul Kribs, was a Pennsylvania millwright ; his mother, Sarah Van Buren, was a native of New York, and related to the " Sage of Kinderhook," who so wisely filled the Presi- dential chair. Educated in the public schools of Elgin in the highest English branches, young Kribs emigrated to California and began life there in 1861, engaging in mining, both in the Golden State and also in Nevada, where he erected mills and remained five years. Returning to California, he located in
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Valejo, working as a mechanic. He afterward removed to Los Angeles, where he was interested in steam-heating and railroad-building. He next went to Port- land, Ore., and thence, after a brief stay, to Seattle, Wash., where he became a builder, erecting the home to hold that factor of progress, the first printing- press of that excellent journal, the Intelligencer. After two years' stay at Seattle he removed to Tacoma, putting up the first business houses occupied in that city .. Settling permanently at Roslyn, he built and operated a leading hotel, but was burned out in 1889, and afterward devoted himself to the book and stationery business. He was appointed Postmaster in 1891, and efficiently fills that office. Mr. Kribs was married at Puyallup in 1874 to Miss Ella Hocker, a native of Pennsylvania. He is Justice of the Peace, and was at one time a member of the City Council. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Past Grand of that order. He is a Republican.
KRIBS, ROLLAND H., millman, of Dayton, Wash., was born in Wisconsin in 1869. His father was A. H. Kribs, a Canadian and a skilled mechanic, and his mother, Mary E. Kribs, was also from the provinces. Educated for a time in the public schools of his native State, the subject of our sketch came to Wash- ington in 1883 with his parents, who located at Dayton, and here it was that he finished his studies and engaged at an early age in milling flour. His care and experience soon enabled him to superintend understandingly the business of his choice. The Phoenix Mill, erected in 1891, is one of the largest and best equipped in Eastern Washington, involving the investment of some $10,000 in capital to complete the plant, yet the business and its profits are constantly increasing with the growth of the surrounding country. Its costly machinery and furnaces are under the personal care and supervision of Mr. Kribs. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Uniform Rank, and a Democrat in his polities.
KUHN, HON. J. A., of Port Townsend, a gentleman who has filled many trusts in the public service with marked ability and singular acceptance, was born near Gettysburg, Pa., September 1st, 1841, and was educated in Tuscarora Academy, Pennsylvania, and Calvert College, Maryland. He moved to Missouri at the age of nineteen, then to Omaha, Neb., where he remained six years, engaged in freight- ing, having crossed the plains eleven times with cattle. In 1866 he crossed the plains to Stockton, Cal., where he disposed of liis outfit and went by steamer from San Francisco to Portland, Ore., making the journey from there to Puget Sound overland, arriving at Port Townsend, his present place of residence, in November, 1866. His first venture here was in the dairy business. Later on he opened a photograph gallery, devoting his leisure hours meanwhile to the study of law. In 1871 he was admitted to the Bar and at once engaged in active prac- tice. He was elected Justice of the Peace for three consecutive terms, and served as School Director and Clerk for twelve years. In 1876 he was elected Judge of Probate for Jefferson County, and was re-elected in 1878. He served seven terms in the Territorial and State Legislatures of Washington. He has also served two terms as Mayor of Port Townsend, in 1882 83 and in 1889-90. Judge Kuhn has now retired from practice, his extensive private interests requiring all his atten- tion. In politics he is an active Democrat, having been largely instrumental in .
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organizing that party in Washington. He has served eight years as a member of its National Committee. Fraternally his record is an eminent one, having held the office of Masonic Grand Master for Washington in 1882. He is at present Special Deputy for the A. A. and S. R. of the Southern Jurisdiction for Northern Washington and Alaska. He was one of the organizers of the Port Townsend and Southern Railroad Company, of which he was for three years the President. He is President of the Hotel and Improvement Company, and also of the Port Townsend Foundry, and Vice-President of the Gas Company. He has done much for the progress and upbuilding of Port Townsend, and is generally esteemed in that city and by all who know him as a public-spirited citizen and sagacious business man. He is a bachelor.
KUNZ, ANDREW E., farmer, of Parker's Bottom, near Yakima City, born in Germany in 1856, was the fifth son in a family of eight children born to Jacob and Maria Kunz. He came to America with his parents in the spring of 1858, and located in Waukesha County, Wis., where they resided for some years. He came to the Puget Sound, but after a residence of one year changed his home to the Yakima Valley, where for five years past he has lived upon his tine farm of one hundred and sixty acres, ten acres of which blossom with the favorite crop of that region, the hop. His thrifty orchard embraces no less than one thousand fruit trees of various kinds, all thriving and splendidly productive, showing what a farmer can do who from boyhood was brought up and educated to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Kunz is still unmarried.
KURTZMAN, FREDERICK, Treasurer of Franklin County and a well-known business man of Pasco, was born in Monroe County, O., in 1856. His father was a native of Germany ; his mother, whose maiden name was Barbara Schell, was born in Pennsylvania. Seventh in a family of ten children born to his parents, the public-school teachings of his native State prepared young Kurtzman: for the practical lessons-oftentimes the hardest-of his after life. He became a boatman on the Missouri, but four years of this occupation suggested the greater advantage of a wider field. Coming to Washington Territory in 1881, he engaged for seven years in various callings, finally becoming a merchant at Ainsworth, and after the collapse of that town removing his business, in which he has invested a capital of $7000, to his present location at Pasco, Wash ... Mr. Kurtzman was married in 1888 to Miss Grace Brayman, of Vermont, but whose girlhood was passed in Wisconsin. He is possessed of both city and suburban property, and was elected to the position of County Treasurer in 1884 for a period of six years. In 1892 he was again elected to the same office on the Democratic ticket.
LABEREE, O. G., a prosperous farmer and stockman, of Ellensburg, was born in Canada in 1864. His parents were also natives of that province, the father having been born in 1838; and the mother. in 1843. . His father, who was an im- porter of fine cattle, both from Scotland, and Spain, was at the time of his decease, in : February, 1892, the proprietor of the famous East View. Stock Farm, near Quebec, where he raised blooded stock, breeding both horses.and cattle, whose progeny his son continues to handle. Our subject was educated in Massachusetts,
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being a graduate of the high school of Winchendon in that State, and afterward of a business college in New York. He has travelled thoroughbred stock of his own raising through every section of the Union, and will take a shipment of cattle in the coming year to Honolulu as an experiment. He settled in the Kitti- tas Valley in 1886, purchasing with his partner, R. H. Pope, who remains on their Canada farm, eight hundred acres, which is their stock-raising ground. They have also a cattle ranch in the Okanogan Valley, not to mention a private race- track, the only one in Kittitas Valley. Mr. Laberee hopes to find certain Hamil- tonians of his raising make a reputation for speed. Besides his stock-breeding he holds an interest in two mines in Washington-gold and silver, He was married at Olympia, Wash., in August, 1887, to Miss J. Clark, who was born in the capital city in 1865. They have two children. The parents of Mrs. Laberee were early settlers of Olympia, crossing the plains in 1852. Her father died in 1877, greatly regretted by his business associates.
LAMAR, JOHN and JOSEPH, brothers, of Eureka, and both stockmen of Walla Walla County, Wash., were born in Tennessee, their parents being natives of that State. Receiving their early education in the region of their nativity, they devoted themselves to farming. In 1847 they migrated to Missouri, and from thence to California, allured by the gold excitement of 1849, where they became prospectors and workers in the mines. In 1869 they went to Oregon, then became stock-raisers in Montana, and finally settled in Walla Walla County, Wash., buying land ten miles west of Prescott, which produces twenty bushels to the acre. Still unmarried and devoted to each other, these brothers carry on their business successfully. It is not often that the fraternal relationship is so strong or so lasting as in the case of the Lamar brothers, exhibiting as it does a lifelong partnership of common migration and congeniality of taste, business, and home location, a tie which seems to grow and strengthen with their advanc- ng years,
LANDES, COLONEL HENRY, President of the First National Bank of Port Townsend, is a gentleman who has filled many trusts, both civil and military. He was born in Floss, Bavaria, October 8th, 1843. His parents emigrated to the United States and settled in Kentucky, and our subject received his education in Louisville, that State. He enlisted at the age of eighteen, at the breaking out of the Civil War, in the Federal Army, serving through the struggle for the suprem- acy of the Union, during which he participated in many battles, seeing much service with the Twentieth Kentucky Infantry, under General Sherman, and was honorably discharged. In. 1870 he left home to: become a mining prospector in British Columbia, but without special success. He then went to Washington, where he was appointed and for six years held the position of Indian Agent at Neah Bay Reservation. In 1876 he removed to Port Townsend and engaged for two years in mercantile pursuits, and afterward in private banking. He was elected President of the Port Townsend Board of Trade, holding that position for four years, but declining another term. He was a City Councillor for four years, three years School Trustee. In 1884 he was appointed by Governor Newell a member of the Board of Commissioners to locate the Territorial Penitentiary, and
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in March, 1885, he was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury a member of the board to locate the Federal buildings at Port Townsend. In September, 1885, he was made a member of Governor Squire's military staff, as Assistant Adjutant-General, with rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In February, 1886, he was one of the commissioners to locate a site for an asylum for the deaf mutes, blind and feeble-minded youths of Washington. In 1887 he was an incorporator and was elected Treasurer of the Port Townsend and Southern Railroad Com- pany. April 29th, 1884, he was commissioned Quartermaster-General, with rank of Colonel, of the National Guard of Washington. In 1889 he was elected first State Senator for the counties of Jefferson, Clallam, and San Juan. May 12th, 1890, he was made Paymaster-General of the National Guard, which position he still holds. He was appointed a member of the Puget Sound Board of Health in March, 1892, and was elected its President. In 1883 Colonel Landes founded the First National Bank of Port Townsend, was elected and still remains its Presi- dent. Though a gallant soldier, he has surrendered to superior charms, is mar- ried, and has three children living. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Masons, Odd Fellows, and Ancient Order of United Workmen. A life so filled with acknowledged private success and eminently satisfactory per- formance of many official duties speaks for itself, needing no comment from the biographer.
LANE, ISAAC NEWTON, was born in Schuyler County, Ill., April 20th, 1845. In the spring of 1853 he left home with his uncle and aunt to cross the plains by ox-teams. After a toilsome journey of six months they arrived at Oregon City. Starting with about sixty head of cattle, they lost all on the journey except a pair of horses, a yoke of oxen, and three cows. They settled in Polk County, near Independence, and Isaac attended school in Monmouth. In 1861 he came to Pacific County, Wash., and after working in various places until 1869 he took up a homestead claim on the Nasel River, about twelve miles from its mouth, where he still lives, engaged in farming, stock-raising, hunting, and trapping. Mr. Lane's beautiful home, called Livingstone, is situated at the head of tide-water on the Nasel. Here he has two hundred and fifty acres of the very best land. He intends to found a town at this point in the near future, and will soon have the frontage of his place plotted and placed in the market for sale. This would make one of the most attractive ,pleasure resorts on the coast ; it is a veritable sportsman's paradise, abounding in large and small game and trout-fishing, and being easy of access. Mr. Lane is a bachelor and lives on the homestead alone. He is a public-spirited citizen, foremost in promoting the best interests of his county and State, and is esteemed and respected by all who know him. He is a relative of the first Governor of Oregon, his father and Governor Lane being cousins. He served as Coroner of Pacific County for eight years, and in Novem- ber, 1888, was elected Justice of the Peace for Nasel Precinct.
LANGAN, JAMES, who unites the occupation of the farmer with that of a breeder of fine horses, finds a field for cultivation and pasture for his stock three miles north of Rockford, Wash. Mr. Langan, whose parents were natives of Ireland, first saw the light in St. Louis, Mo., in 1856. His father and mother,
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who lived to a good old age, emigrated to America when quite young, and settled in Wisconsin. The education, if such it may be called, of young Langan was literally picked up, as lie only attended school a few winters. Leaving home at the age of twenty-one, he went to Nevada, where he engaged in mining and re- mained three years. From thence he shifted to California, still searching for the hidden treasures of the mine. In 1879 he exchanged the Golden for the Ever- -green State, the darkness of the mine for the sunshine of the open air and Spokane County, where he located on his present farm. He is a Catholic, a strong Demo- crat, and still unmarried. Of the three hundred and twenty acres which he owns all are cultivated except fifty, where the timber is still standing. Half a century of blooded stock, some of the famous Black Hawk breed, gambol over his pastures, with milch cows enough to suggest a well-supplied dairy.
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