USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. II > Part 44
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FORTSON, GEORGE H., a man of tact, energy, and large adaptation to circum- stances, may well be quoted as the builder of his own fortunes and large success. He was born in Elberton, Ga., October 19th, 1860 ; received an ordinary com- mon-school education ; began reading law in January, 1882, and was admitted to the Bar in the following September. Entering into a law partnership with Frank H. Colley, he practised in Washington, Ga., for two years. After a year of various pursuits in Palatka, Fla., he migrated to Seattle, Wash., where he arrived in December, 1886, without a dime. Undismayed, he went to work in a saw-mill some ten miles from the city, but at the end of three months returned to Seattle, and found employment in an abstract office. Here he continued until January, 1889, when he obtained a position in the United States Land Office, but moved out to accommodate the Republican Party on June 1st. In November he returned to the practice of law, forming a partnership with John S. Crockett and Beriah Brown, Jr., which continued for a year. Another partnership with James F. McElroy was also dissolved in June, 1892, In March of the same year Mr. Fortson was elected City Attorney of Seattle, having previously been defeated by only one hundred and fifty-two Republican votes for the office of Municipal Judge. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and Second Lieutenant of Company B, National Guard of Washington. Few men of his age have had & wider or more checkered experience of life.
TWICHELL, FRANK A., of Seattle, the popular young Auditor of King County,
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Wash., was born in Washington County, Minn., November 15th, 1860. He was reared upon a farm, and his early educational advantages were limited. He began life on his own resources at the age of sixteen, doing farm work during the sum- mer months and attending school and teaching in the winter. In 1878 he became a clerk in the stationery store of W. P. Stanley. After serving about a year and a half in this capacity his health became impaired, and he was obliged to seek out-door employment, which he found as the driver of a delivery wagon at Has- tings, Minn. In 1883 he again entered the store of Mr. Stanley, where his indus- try and ability won for him the esteem of his employer, and he became the man- ager of the business. Closing out the store at Hastings, he came to Seattle in January, 1885, and continued in the stationery establishment of Mr. Stanley in this city. He continued to discharge the duties of this position until March, 1887, when he entered the County Auditor's office as Deputy under Lyman Wood. In this capacity his exceptional abilities were soon recognized, and under Mr. Wood's successor, W. R. Forrest, he became Chief Deputy. In 1890 he was nominated by acclamation to succeed Mr. Forrest as Auditor, and in the ensuing election he received a handsome majority. In 1892 he was again nominated by acclamation, and in November of that year was re-elected, receiving the largest vote of any candidate on the Republican ticket. In 1889 he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the City Council, and in the following year was elected to a second term. As a public official and as a private citizen Mr. Twichell is held in the highest esteem. He is one of the men of the times, one who feels the tide of local affairs, a man of the people, who acts from wholly conscientious motives, and whose ambition has never exceeded his sense of duty. In manner he is frank and candid, a man of generous impulses, and has many steadfast friends, whose loyalty he warmly reciprocates. Fraternally he is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias, being a Trustee of that order. He is also a Past Master and Trustee of Queen City Lodge No. 44, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and a member of the Grand Lodge Finance Committee of the State of Washington. In the Odd Fellows' order he is a Past Grand of Lake Washington Lodge No. 87, and of Unity Encampment and Seattle Canton ; also a member of the Rebecca Degree Lodge of Seattle.
Mr. Twichell was married January 16th, 1884, to Miss Estclle M. Stanley, daughter of his former employer. One child, a daughter, graces their union. He owns a beautiful and comfortable home in the eastern part of the city.
MITCHELL, JOHN H., JR .-- Among the younger members of the legal profes- sion in Washington, the subject of this sketch occupies a leading position. He was born in Butler, Butler County, Pa., January 27th, 1860, and is the son of United States Senator John H. Mitchell, of Portland, Ore. His preparatory edu- cation was acquired at Sunbury Academy in his native county, from which he was graduated in 1872. At the age of fourteen he entered Mount Union College, Ohio, graduating therefrom in 1878. He then finished a course in the Law De- partment of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. In March, 1881, he was admitted to the Michigan Bar, and until September of the same year continued the study of the law in an office in Canton, O. Removing to Washington in No- vember, 1881, he at once became a member of the law firm of McNaught, Ferry,
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McNaught & Mitchell, of Seattle. In the early part of 1887 Mr. Mitchell severed his connection with this firm, and established an office at Tacoma. About one year later he organized the present law firm of Mitchell, Ashton & Chapman. During the whole term of his residence in Washington he has been extensively engaged in important railroad and corporation practice. Since 1883 he has been employed by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company as its attorney in some of the most important business relating to that corporation, and in 1887, when his former partner, Mr. James McNaught, was placed at the head of the Legal Department of the Northern Pacific at St. Paul, Mr. Mitchell became the general counsel for the western divisions, comprising Washington and Idaho. On September 1st, 1892, he was placed at the head of the Legal Department of the Northern Pacific at St. Paul ; his former partner, Mr. James McNaught, having previously been made general counsel of the company, with headquarters at New York City. Mr. Mitchell is now a resident of the State of Minnesota.
At a comparatively early age Mr. Mitchell gained a place among the foremost members of his profession in the Pacific Northwest. In cases requiring the high- est order of legal talent he displayed all the skill, fertility of resources, and self- possession of a veteran lawyer. His statement of a case was always clear, logi- cal, and convincing. At a single bound he sprang into a position at the Bar, which is usually attained only after years of toilsome practice. From the time of his admission to the Bar he has had a large and varied practice.
HOWELL, CAPTAIN I. M., one of the youngest but most valued officers of the National Guard of Washington, was born at Waukon, Ia., February 13th, 1866. At the age of eleven he came to Tacoma with his parents, and after attending the public school he completed his education at the Oregon State Normal School. On bis return home he entered into partnership with his father, Hon. J. S. Howell, one of the pioneers of Tacoma and one of the most respected citizens. The firm of J. S. Howell & Son has been very successful, and to-day is one of the leading firms of real-estate brokers in the city.
Captain Howell is a young man of sterling character and abilities, and from his youth he manifested great interest in militia matters, and was one of the char- ter members of the Tacoma Rifles, the first military company in the city. It is safe in saying that no man in the State has devoted more time and money in the service of the militia of the State than has Captain Howell ; and he has worked his way, step by step, year by year, from the ranks, through all the different offices, till he stands at the head and in command of one of the best companies on the Pacific Coast.
During the great fire in Seattle, which occurred June 6th, 1889, he served with great credit with his company, as Second Lieutenant, for fourteen days, and came into prominence among the officers of his regiment as one of the most faithful and best. And on July 2d, 1891, when his company was ordered to the miner's strike at Black Diamond and Gilman, he went and served as First Lieutenant for two weeks, and made a record for himself that any young man in the State can well afford to feel proud of. And recently, by a unanimous vote of the company, he was made Captain, and has the full confidence of his men and the respect of the citizens of the community in which he resides and has lived since boyhood.
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In politics he is a staunch Republican and an active worker in his party. In business matters he never mixes one with the other, but guides each with a mas- ter hand, and stamps success on what lie undertakes. He is a true friend, a good companion, a soldier by nature, and a gentleman in the highest sense of the word.
FERGUSON, M. A., one of the founders of the town of Colton, Wash., was born August 15th, 1853, at Salmon Falls, on the Snake River, Ore. (now Idalio). His parents emigrated from Coles County, Ill., in 1853, and our subject was born while they were crossing the plains. They settled in Umpqua, Douglas County, Ore., where young Ferguson was raised on a farm and received the benefits of a substantial common-school education. In 1871 he came to Washington Territory with his parents and settled about six miles from Walla Walla, on Russell Creek. Here he followed farming until his marriage in 1876 with Miss Sallie Ostrander, of Walla Walla, when he came to the Palouse country and settled in the south- eastern part of Whitman County. The larger portion of the town of Colton is located on Mr. Ferguson's property, which he took up as a pre-emption home- stead and timber claim when he first arrived. He was one of the three chief organizers of the town, his associates being J. L. Flowers and the late J. B. Standley, and he is a large property owner in and around Colton. He has been a school director for the past six years. He is prominently identified with the orders of Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows, and is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has always been a liberal contributor to church and benevolent objects. His generous spirit has also been felt in forwarding mat- ters of public interest and improvement, nor has he been wanting in the hand of help and words of encouragement to those in less prosperous circumstances. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson have seven children, all living-Archie Raymond, Roy Sig- mond, Hugo Lynwood, Addison Ellsworth, Ida Arvilla, William Arthur, and Dora Cleo.
BAGLEY, DR. HENRY B .- Among the natives of the Empire State in Washing- ton who have made their mark in commercial and professional life the subject of this sketch is deserving of mention. During his eighteen years' residence in Seattle his reputation both in and out of his profession has grown from year to year, until at the present time it is not too much to say that he holds a conspicu- ous place among the successful medical men of Washington.
Dr. Bagley was born near Auburn, N. Y., March 12th, 1845, and is the son of Dr. Alvin Bagley, a well-known physician in New York, Ohio, and Michigan, who came to Seattle in 1872, where he died in 1885. In 1850 the family removed to Ohio, where the early boyhood of our subject was passed. He began the study of medicine under the direction of his father at an early age, and afterward pur- sued a course of instruction at the Homeopathic Medical College of Cleveland, O., graduating in 1868. The following year he took a post-graduate course in Belle- vue Hospital Medical College, New York. He was elected Professor of the Prin- ciples and Practice of Surgery in the Michigan Medical College in 1872, and con- tinued to perform the duties of that position until 1875. In the latter year he began the practice of his profession in Seattle, and from the beginning his success was such as to give him a high place among the city's ablest practitioners. His
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renown as a skilful physician and surgeon has steadily increased, and at the present time he enjoys a most extensive and remunerative practice. Among his professional brethren his talents and attainments are universally recognized and conceded to be of a high order, their recognition of his merit and ability having been shown on many occasions. In 1889 he was elected President of the King County Homeopathic Medical Society, and in 1890 was chosen President of the Homeopathic Medical Society of Washington. In May, 1890, he was appointed on the State Board of Medical Examiners.
Aside from his professional pursuits Dr. Bagley has exerted a powerful influ. ence toward advancing the material progress of the city. The various projects he has been largely instrumental in creating and successfully carrying out have been far-reaching in their wholesome effect on the prosperity of Seattle, and justly entitle him to a prominent place in the commercial and financial history of the city. His real-estate operations have been conducted with marked success, and have placed him in affluent circumstances. He has been a member of the City Council. He was one of the originators of the project to connect lakes Washing . ton and Union by a canal. He is President of the Seattle Improvement Company and a director in the Washington National Bank. The management of his various increasing private business interests has usurped so much of his time as to cause him to gradually relinquish medical practice, and he has almost wholly retircd from active professional work.
Dr. Bagley is modest and unostentatious in manner, and one whom prosperity has not changed. He has been an indefatigable worker all his life, and has fairly earned the success that has come to him. He is a man of generous impulses, and toward every benevolent enterprise cheerfully contributes. Every project to advance the interests of Seattle finds in him a warm friend. He is recognized in the community as a man of the highest integrity, and has the perfect confidence of his fellow-citizens.
Dr. Bagley was married in 1874 to Miss Kittie Sweet, of Marshall, Mich.
RUFF, SERGEANT GEORGE C., son of Samuel Frederick Ruff, was born in Bal- timore, Md., November 14th, 1844, and removed to Cincinnati in 1857. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Baltimore. After spending some time in various pursuits in Kentucky, he enlisted at Cincinnati, June 2d, 1862, for the Second United States Dragoons, and was assigned to Light Battery A, Second United States Artillery. He was actively engaged in many battles, nota- bly at Gaines Mills, June 27th, 1862 ; Malvern Hill, July 1st, 1862 ; Harrison's Landing, 1862 ; Antietam, September 17th, 1862 ; Gettysburg, July 1st, 1863 ; Cold Harbor, 1864, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox, June 2d, 1865. He was discharged at Fairfax Court House, Va., as private, and returned to Baltimore, where he remained a short time. After spending some time travel- ling in Illinois and Indiana, he enlisted a second time at Little Rock, Ark., March 16th, 1866, in Battery G, Fifth Artillery. After serving his time, he was discharged March 16th, 1869, as Corporal. He enlisted again September 21st, 1871, at Baltimore, Md., in Company D, Twentieth Infantry, and after a service of five years was discharged September 21st, 1876, as First Duty Sergeant, and was Acting Post-Quartermaster-Sergcant and Overseer from November 2d, 1873,
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until April 26th, 1876. After his discharge he returned to Cincinnati, but on April 11th, 1877, he enlisted at Newport, Ky., in Company K, Second Infantry. During this last service he was at one time Clerk for Adjutant and Commanding Officer ; later on Acting Hospital Steward, and eventually returned to the ranks. At his own request he was discharged May 25tlı, 1879, as private at Camp How- ard, Mount Idaho, Ida. Terr., thus ending a military service of thirteen years.
Mr. Ruff took up and secured a ranch on the Comas Prairie, which he after- ward sold. For the next two years he resided in Lewiston, Ida., employed in a saw-mill. In 1883 he followed the rush to Puget Sound, and for two years and a half remained at Seattle, Wash., employed in a saw-mill of the Oregon Im- provement Company, and also of the Western Mill Company. March 10th, 1886, he settled at Snohomish City, which has since been his home. Here he went to work for Blackman Brothers as salesman and tallyman, remaining with them three years and seven months. Shortly after this, while working for the Snohomishı Manufacturing Company, he met with an accident which resulted in the amputa- tion of his leg.
In political preference Mr. Ruff is a Republican. November 4th, 1890, he was elected Auditor of Snohomish County, receiving a majority of 241 votes. He was married April 9th, 1873, to Miss Phœbe A. Roark, of Miamisburg, O. They have one daughter and three sons.
MCGREGOR, P .-- Among the younger business men of Washington who have achieved success by their own unaided efforts is P. McGregor, President of the Pullman Hardware Company. He was born May 30th, 1862, at Owen Sound, Province of Ontario, and was reared on a farm. At the age of eighteen he en- tered the Collegiate Institute at Owen Sound, where he completed his education. He then went to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he was employed as clerk by the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company. In 1882 lie came to Dayton, Washı., and in company with his brothers, Archibald and John, engaged in the business of sheep- raising. August 6th, 1890, he came to Pullman, and with his brother purchased an interest in the Pullman Hardware Company, still retaining his sheep-raising business. The brothers have about seven thousand head of sheep on a ranch near the town of Pullman. Mr. McGregor owns an interest in some valuable real estate in Pullman and Olympia, Wash., Kendrick, Ida., and Portland, Ore. Coming to Washington practically without a dollar, he has, by the exercisc of sound natural judgment and great forcsight in matters of business and indomitable cnergy, accumulated in a very short space of time a fair competence. Mr. McGregor was married October 23d, 1892, to Miss Maude Taylor, of Dayton, Wash.
MERRIMAN, HOMER EDDY, Justice of the Peace, of Pullman, Wash., was born in Edinburgh, Wayne County, O., in 1862. His father, J. M. Merriman, was an Olio farmer, his mother, Harriet Merriman, being a native of the Buckeye State. Educated in the common schools of Ohio, his first occupation was that of a teacher. Coming West in 1886, he located near Ritzville, Wash., but soon re- moved to Dayton, where he re-engaged in teaching ; from thence to Colton, where he became Principal of the grammar school. The following year he was Principal at Uniontown. He next engaged in the hotel business in Farmington.
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In 1890 we find him at Pullman, Chief Clerk in the Census Office, on the com- pletion of which duty he became junior partner of the real-estate brokerage firm of Hill & Merriman. While a member of this firm Mr. Merriman was appointed Justice of the Peace of Whitman County, a judicial office which he still continues to fill. Judge Merriman is the owner of considerable property in the city, and also of stock in Adams County. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, a Republican in politics, and also Police Justice of the city of Pullman. An ener- getic young man, highly educated and efficient in office, he has a promising future and holds the esteem of his fellow-citizens.
MOODY, C. S., Cashier of the First National Bank of Mount Vernon, Wash., was born in Warren County, Ill., August 26th, 1867, and was educated in the public schools of Kirkwood, in that State. He began his business life at the age of nineteen in a bank at Kirkwood, and continued there one year, then one and a half years at Monmouth, Ill., then again in Kirkwood for a year and a half. In 1889 he came to Seattle, Wash., and became Exchange Teller in the First National Bank of that place, a position which he held for fifteen months. In the spring of 1891 he organized the First National Bank of Mount Vernon, became its Cashier, and has ever since held that position. Under his able management this bank has been remarkably prosperous, and is now one of the leading financial institutions of Skagit County. Since his connection with this bank his time and energies have been principally devoted to its affairs, and he has shown himself to possess a high order of financial ability. He is also largely interested in other business enterprises, notably the Mount Vernon Land Company, which owns a plot of twenty- six acres within the corporate limits of Mount Vernon, but it is as a banker that he is best and most favorably known. He is recognized among his associates as a progressive, public-spirited citizen, one who has the best interests of the com- munity at heart. He is a man of positive, well-grounded convictions, and is open and candid in his avowal of them. His private and public life are above re- proach, and his honesty is of the character that needs no profession, but makes itself felt upon all with whom he comes in contact. While absorbed in business, he has a social side, and for his intimate friends he has a warm and loyal attach- ment, as warmly and loyally reciprocated.
Mr. Moody was married June 4th, 1891, to Miss Mabel F. Firoved, of Mon- mouth, Ill.
MILLION, HON. E. C., a leading attorney of Mount Vernon, Wash., and the senior member of the law firm of Million & Houser, was born in Belleville, St. Clair County, Ill., February 28th, 1864. While he was an infant his parents re- moved to Fremont County, Ia., and six years later to Osage County, Kan , where they settled on a farm. Here our subject was reared, receiving his rudimentary education in the country schools near Burlingame, Kan. At the age of eighteen he began teaching school, and followed that calling for three years. Determining to adopt the profession of the law, he entered the office of Hon. William Thom- son, a leading counsellor of Burlingame, and after the usual course of study was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Kansas December 1st, 1887. After travelling through Kansas and Colorado he came to Seattle, Wash., where he
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spent some four months, At the expiration of this time his whole earthly fortune consisted of $4.75, and having previously married Miss Ella Barrow, of Ashley, Mo., it can readily be imagined that his pecuniary position was anything but an enviable one. In 1889 he settled at Mount Vernon, and with a cash capital of only $20 hung out his shingle and entered upon the active practice of his profes- sion. His course from that time to the present is well known to the citizens of Mount Vernon. Thoroughly prepared for his work by painstaking, careful study and great natural ability, he at once took high rank in his profession. His suc- cess from the first was marked, and his reputation, both in and out of his profes- sion, has grown from year to year until at the present time he holds a conspicuous place among the most successful lawyers of Skagit County. His legal abilities have been thoroughly tested in many important cases which have attracted wide attention, and in all of which he has acquitted himself with credit. Young in years and strong in determination, with unlimited love for his calling and a worthy ambition to excel, succeeding years and experience cannot fail to add new laurels to a career already brilliant. He is associated in legal practice with J. P. Houser, a young lawyer about his age, and noted for his legal acumen, under the firm name of Million & Houser. Mr. Million is a Democrat, strong in his political faith, and a zealous supporter of party principles. During his resi- dence in Washington he has taken an active part in local and State politics. In the fall of 1892 he was elected Superior Judge for Skagit and Island counties, in which position he was noted for the fairness of his decisions and displayed a high order of judicial ability. He has accumulated considerable property in Skagit County, and is one of the trustees of the Mount Vernon Post, an ably conducted Democratic weekly. Mr. and Mrs. Million have one son, a bright and promising little fellow of four years, who bears the unique name of Ten.
PAUL, C. E., of the real estate firm of Paul & Marks, is known in every section of the State as a man of undoubted integrity and extensive business abil- ity. Coming to Snohomish penniless and a stranger, he has by honorable indus- try and keen business foresight attained a position among the leading business men and substantial citizens of the city, in the growth and prosperity of which he has materially aided. He was born at Foxcroft, Piscataquis County, Me., June 18th, 1850, and received his education in the public schools of his native town. His business career began as clerk in a Foxcroft store, and after working there nearly two years he went to Bangor, Me., as clerk in a grocery store. After two years' service in that capacity he returned to Foxcroft, where for the next four years he liad charge of the tailoring establishment of C. D. Paine. At the expiration of that time he removed to Martha's Vineyard, was engaged in the lumber business there about a year, had charge of a grocery store in Boston a year, then returned to Foxcroft. After working at various occupations in the vicinity of his home for about four years he determined to come to the Pacific Coast, believing that here he would find more favorable opportunities for business advancement than in the older civilization of the East. Coming directly to Snohomish, he engaged in carpentry work, and after working at that trade for about four years, he formed a partnership with G. E. England, and embarked in the grocery and meat business. This was continued about two years, when the
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