USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. II > Part 46
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Ross, D. M., of Puyallup, Waslı., farmer and hop-grower, was born in Mercer County, Pa., August 22d, 1825, and removed at the age of ten with his parents to Delaware County, O. In 1839 he began life for himself on a farm in Linn County, Ia. In 1851 he removed to Oregon and settled on the Columbia, near the mouth of the Cowlitz, farming and logging in different places until 1862. Securing a donation claim, he attended the same year the first court ever held north of the Columbia River, and was instrumental in the work of dividing Ore- gon from what is now known as the State of Washington. Mr. Ross was mar- ried in October, 1848, to Miss Eliza Jane Stewart, of Linn County, Ia. Two boys and three girls are the result of this union. Mr. Ross is an ardent Prohibitionist, having taken a deep interest in this movement since the age of seventeen. He recollects that in crossing the plains to the Pacific Coast in 1851 the party with
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which he travelled made so rapid and successful a trip that they were known as the " Telegraph Train." He took up the claim where he now resides in 1863. It is located south of the Puyallup Indian Reservation. He finds it well suited to farming and hop-growing, both of which, notwithstanding his advanced age, he still pursues with great success.
Ross, CHARLES H., real-estate dealer and hop-grower, of Puyallup, Wash., may fairly claim to have begun life in a position of eminence, having been born upon the summit of the Blue Mountains September 3d, 1851, in an emigrant wagon en route to the Pacific Coast. He obtained the rudiments of an education in the public schools of Oregon. In 1863 he removed with his parents to Pierce County, Wash., where for one year he assisted his father, D. M. Ross, on his farm, and then became a student in a business college at Portland. After his graduation from this institution he engaged for two years in the grocery business, and since then has devoted his entire time to hop-growing, market-gardening, and dealing in real estate in Puyallup and its vicinity. He was married in 1883 to Miss Emma Knox, of Portland, Ore. Two children, a boy and a girl, have been born to them. In 1893 he was appointed to a position on the State Board of Horticulture for four years by Governor John H. McGraw, of Washington, having always taken a lively interest in the horticultural interests of the State.
ROWELL, FRED RICE, attorney-at-law, of Seattle, was born in South Thomas- ton, Me., December 29th, 1856. He received his rudimentary education in his native town, and then entered Colby University, at Waterville, Me., from which institution he was graduated in 1881, with the degree of A.B. He then became a student with the law firm of A. P. Gould & J. O. Robinson, of Thomaston, and was admitted to the Bar in 1883. Entering the office of Hon. D. N. Mort- land as chief clerk, he served in that capacity for one year, resigning his position to enter into partnership with J. O. Robinson, with whom he continued to prac- tise law until May, 1888, when he removed to Seattle, Wash., and immediately resumed practice. In 1891 Mr. Robinson also came to Seattle, and their partner- ship was renewed and still continues. Mr. Rowell was married in South Thomas- ton in January, 1885, to Miss May Florence Stetson, of that town.
RUBLE, WALTER, merchant, of Pullman, Wash., was born in Oregon in 1855. His father, William Ruble, was a Virginia planter, his mother, Ruth (Russell) Ruble, being a native of Indiana. Young Ruble, one of a family of ten, was educated in the public schools of Oregon, and was also a student at Christian College, Monmouth, Ore., taking a scientific course and graduating in 1875. Locating at Salem, Ore., he taught school for seven years, then removed to South- ern Oregon, where he became a prospector and miner, following that occupation for some years with varying success. Coming to Washington in 1888, he located at Pullman and devoted himself to merchandising and the real-estate business. He is also serving as administrator of the McBride estate. He was married in 1883 to Miss Laura G. Starbuck, a native of Oregon, and has a family of four children. Besides his pleasant residence in the city, Mr. Ruble is largely inter- ested in real estate. He has held various local offices, and is a member of the
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Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A Republican in his politics, he enjoys the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens.
RUSSELL, DONALD G., M.D., physician and surgeon, of Spokane, Wash., was born in Morrisburg, Ont., February 27th, 1863. He took his medical course at Queen's University, Kingston, Ont., graduating in 1885 with the degrees of M.D. and C.M., filling the position of House Surgeon to the Kingston General Hospital one term, which position was awarded by competitive examination. He began the active practice of his profession at Castlewood, S. D., where he remained for a year and a half. He then went to Great Britain, where he spent about a year in the hospitals of London and Edinburgh, receiving the triple qualification of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Returning to the United States in 1889, he settled at Spokane, Wash., in April of that year and actively engaged in practice. His course from that time to the present is well known to the citizens of Spokane. Thoroughly prepared for his work by painstaking, careful study and an extended experience, he at once took high rank in his profession. He is the local surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad. He is a hard worker in his profession, thoroughly appreciating the fact that the physi -- cian who fails by severe application to keep abreast of the constantly changing conditions pertaining to the practice of medicine and surgery must be content to occupy a secondary position.
RYAN, WILL A., Clerk of the Superior Court, was born in Chicago, May 9th, 1863. He received a common-school education in Evansville, Ind., where he also obtained the rudiments of a business education and learned the trade of a printer. At nineteen he began his career as a newspaper man, which profession he followed with varying fortune as reporter, editor, and proprietor of newspapers in Iowa, Dakota, and Washington. At the time of his election in 1892 he was city editor of the Tacoma Daily News. He married Miss Kate A. Warner, a teacher in the public schools of Evansville, Ind., in 1884. He has made a faithful and efficient public officer.
RYDSTROM, ARVID, civil engineer, and President of the Board of Public Works of Tacoma, was born in Central Sweden May 5th, 1857. Receiving the benefits of a good education in the high schools of his native country, he after- ward graduated from the School of Civil Engineering, taking the full course of three years, and receiving his diploma in 1877. He then engaged in railroading until 1881, in which year he emigrated to America, going to Montana, where he found employment as a civil engineer with the Northern Pacific Railroad, and continued in that capacity with the Northern Pacific Railroad and Canadian Pacific Railroad until 1885. In 1886 he went to Sweden and spent a year. Re- turning to America, he filled different positions in his professional work until the summer of 1887, when he engaged as a contractor on the Great Northern in Montana until August of that year. Going thence to Tacoma, he entered the employ of the Northern Pacific as Assistant Engineer until the spring of 1892, when he was appointed to the responsible position of President of the Board of
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Public Works of the city of Tacoma, a duty which he is still engaged in discharge- ing. Mr. Rydstrom was married July 3d, 1886, to Miss Anna Stonefield, of St. Paul, Minn.
SACKNITZ, JOHN, furniture dealer and undertaker, of Pomeroy, Wash., was born in Germany in 1845. Educated in the common schools of Germany, Mr. Sacknitz came to the United States in 1865 and established himself as a cabinet- maker in Minnesota. He afterward removed his business to Wisconsin, and from thence made successive changes to St. Louis, Fort Scott, Osage Mission, and Cal- ifornia, where he discontinued cabinet-making to work in the railroad shops. We find him next in Los Angeles, then in San Luis Obispo, where he devoted himself to the occupation of undertaker. Four years later he came to Washing- ton and settled at Pomeroy, where he continues to unite the furniture trade with the burial of the dead, and has invested a capital of $4000. He is, therefore, fully prepared to serve the living or provide for those who have passed beyond the pale of mortal transactions. Mr. Sacknitz was married in 1887 to Miss Ellen Kent, of California. Two children grace their union. He is possessed of valu- able city property, is a member of the Knights of Pythias and a Republican in his political preferences, and, withal, highly respected as a worthy and responsi- ble citizen.
SANDER, CARL A .. , farmer and dairyman, of Ellensburg, Wash., was born in Germany in 1842. His parents were of the same nationality, the father having been born in 1818 and the mother a year later. His father was a farmer in that country, where he died in 1889, leaving a wife and five children, of whom the sub- ject of our sketch was the eldest ; his mother died in 1890. Young Sander received his early education in the land of his birth, where he also served an apprenticeship to a miller, a business which he followed until he emigrated to America in 1865. He reached New York December 24th, and went immediately to Florida, where he engaged in milling. In 1867 he visited Kansas, where he pursued the same avocation. Having no encumbrance, he walked across the plains in 1868 to Ari- zona, packing his own blankets and provisions. In 1869 we find this sturdy traveller in California, again trusting to that never-failing motor, "shanks' mare." He seems to enjoy this exercise, for he then walks up to Alaska, attracted by the gold excitement, where he stays a year with very poor success. In 1870 we find him a miller at The Dalles. In 1871, grown weary of rambling, he set- tles down in Kittitas County and takes up a homestead claim, and now owns one thousand acres in that fertile region, some two miles north of Ellensburg, where he built a mill in 1871, which was burned in 1889. In that year he built the city water-works of Ellensburg-what can he not do ?- and since then has followed fine stock-breeding and dairying-not the first man, by the way, who has gone from water to milk-though in this instance there is no reason to connect the fluids. Among other acquisitions he possesses a thoroughbred stallion of great value-who shall say hereafter that " a rolling stone gathers no moss" ? Mr. Sander was married in North Yakima in 1880 to Miss Clemon, a native of Ore- gon, born in 1863. They have four children. Mr. Sander is a Mason. His fam- ily are members of the Lutheran Church.
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SAWYER, W. P., of Yakima City, farmer on Parker's Bottom, was born in Boston, Mass., in 1851, the second son in a family of six born to Humphrey and Barbara (Perry) Sawyer. In 1856 he removed with his parents to Wisconsin, where he remained until 1871, when he went to Stillwater, Minn., and engaged in the hardware business. In 1889 he again migrated with his parents, going to North Yakima and establishing himself in the same business as before, which he finally disposed of, and settled on his present farm of one hundred and fifty-seven acres. He has sixty acres in hops and- twenty-five in orchard, principally in prunes. His place is beautified and rendered more valuable by an elegant strip of timber which fringes the river bank. He proposes also to engage largely in the dairy business. The site of his residence is a commanding one, overlooking a large extent of country. He was married in 1883 to Miss Alice M. Brown, daughter of an extensive grain and cattle dealer of Grinnell, Ia., and who is also connected with the Merchants' National Bank of that place. They have two children. Mr. Sawyer is a Republican.
SAYLER, W. H., farmer and stockman, located in Whetstone Hollow, near Dayton, Wash., was born in Iowa in 1863, being the oldest of a family of six children born to Frank and Mary (Henderson) Sayler, of Iowa. Leaving home when but a boy of fourteen, he engaged in his present pursuit, but being recalled by the death of his father, he rented and worked the paternal acres for two years, then removed to his present farm in Columbia County in 1883, where he has ever since resided. He farms on a grand scale, having no less than fourteen hundred acres, one thousand of which are under cultivation, growing all kinds of the smaller grain. His orchard numbers 700 bearing trees, with an abundance of small fruits. He is, moreover-as every thrifty farmer should be-a raiser of blooded stock. Add to this a commodious home residence, with all needed ac- cessories, and it leaves little to be desired to round out a happy and successful country life for its fortunate possessor. Mr. Sayler was married in 1883 to Miss Sarah E. Demaris, daughter of James Demaris, a leading merchant of Dixie, Walla Walla County. Three children grace their union. Mr. Sayler is a Popu- list in politics, and an influential member of the Farmers' Alliance.
SCHNEBLY, DAVID J., editor and proprietor of the Ellensburg Localizer and a pioneer of Kittitas County, Wash., was born in Maryland in 1818, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Schnebly, both natives of that State. He entered into the newspaper business in 1845 at Mercersburg, Pa., where he finished his education, and has been connected with that business almost continuously ever since. In 1850 he was a " newspaper man" in Oregon City, editorializing the first journal ever published in Oregon-the Spectator. He soon became its proprietor, and united editorial work with farming. In 1854 he renews its publication, which, possibly owing to the youngness of the country, seems for a time to have been suspended, and continues it for a year. He then sold out to Dr. Adams, the paper becoming the Argus, under which name it continued to exercise its many eyes in the public service for a triplet of years. Mr. Schnebly then came to Washington Territory and became a stock-raiser at Walla Walla ; but the bitter winter of 1861-62 destroyed his herd. He was next a rancher at the mouth of
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the Touchet until 1872, when he removed to Kittitas County. In 1883, with the editorial spirit still strong within him, he gave up farming and established the Localizer, a lively and enterprising sheet, which he still. controls, and devotes to the development of the best interests of Ellensburg and its vicinity. He cele- brated July 4th, 1889, by being burned out in the great fire of that day ; but with characteristic energy renewed publication immediately. He has one of the best and most thoroughly equipped newspaper plants in the county, and his office on Main street holds not only a genial editor, but all that may conduce to journal- istic success. It is known as the Localizer Block, and is one of the finest struc- tures in the city. Unlike most scribes, Mr. Schnebly is possessed of both urban and suburban realty, or, as the " Wild West" graphically expresses it, is " well fixed" in the matter of worldly goods. He was married in 1851 at Linn City, Ore., to Miss Margaret A. Painter, of Missouri, a daughter of Judge Philip Painter, a leading jurist of that State. They have a family of three living chil- dren, all of whom are married and occupy prominent places in the social world. Mr. Schnebly is a Republican, a man of marked ability, and well read, not only in graver matters, but in the general literature of the day.
SCHNEBLY, CHARLES P., farmer and stockman, of Kittitas Valley, near Ellens- burg, Wash., was born in Oregon in 1855. His father was a native of Maryland, born in 1818 ; his mother from Missouri, born in 1833. Mr. Schnebly, senior, came to the Pacific Coast in 1850, locating at Oregon City, where he took charge of the Oregon Spectator, which was the first journal ever published in that State. In the fall of 1861 he removed to Walla Walla and entered the employ of R. R. Reece in an editorial capacity, and remained with this gentleman for several years. In 1872 we find him in the Kittitas Valley, where he soon afterward became the proprietor of the Localizer, then the leading paper in Ellensburg, which still exists. The subject of our sketch, Mr. Charles Schnebly, received his early edu- cation in Walla Walla. His first occupation was teaming from that place to Lew- iston. In 1874 he came to the Kittitas Valley, and tried farming and stock-rais- ing, and later to Eureka Flat. In 1888 he returned to the valley, and bought land eleven miles east of Ellensburg. He now owns and cultivates six hundred acres, which give an average yield of thirty bushels to the acre. He was married in Walla Walla in 1883 to Miss Louise Kopke, a native of Germany, born in 1862, who emigrated to America in 1872 with her parents. They have four children.
SCHNEBLY, P. H., of Ellensburg, farmer and stockman in Kittitas Valley, was born in Oregon in 1852. His father was a native of Maryland, born in 1818, and was educated in Mercersburg, Franklin Co., Pa .; his mother, from Missouri, born in 1833. His father entered into the newspaper business in 1845 at Mer- cersburg, and has been connected with that business almost continuously since. He came to Oregon City in 1850, where he took charge of the local paper, and after various changes finally settled in the Kittitas Valley, where he is the proprietor of the Localizer. Of the six children born to his parents, young Schnebly was the eldest. He received his early education at Forest Grove, Ore., then went to Walla Walla, where he teamed and farmed. In 1871 he removed to Kittitas, where he took up land ten miles northeast of Ellensburg,
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where he now owns three hundred and sixty acres. He was married in 1878 to Miss Eliza Cook, who was born in Oregon in 1860. They have seven children. Mr. Schnebly is a raiser of blooded stock, and takes great pride in his herd of thoroughbred short-horn cattle. Washington has no more worthy or valuable members of her growing population than her farmers and stockmen. They are the bone and sinew of her commonwealth, and of this class Mr. Schnebly is a creditable specimen.
SCHULLER, MICHAEL, farmer, of North Yakima, South Side Nachess, was born in Wisconsin in 1863, the fourth in a family of twelve children born to Michael and Mary (Shields) Schuller, both of whom were natives of France. Young Schuller received such education as the common schools of his native State could supply, and engaged in farming. Some years ago he came to Washington Terri- tory and settled in Yakima County, where he has ever since resided. He was married in 1891 to Miss Ann Slavin, daughter of Andrew Slavin, a prominent farmer of Minnesota. They are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Schuller is a Democrat, and very naturally interested in the success of that party.
SCOTT, B. S., dental surgeon, of Ellensburg, is a native of Virginia, having been educated in Massachusetts, and enjoyed the superior advantages of the pub- lic schools of that State, taking the higher English branches. His father, Sylves- ter Scott, was a native of Massachusetts and an accomplished teacher of that State ; his mother, Lydia M. (Mosley) Scott, being of English descent. Dr. Scott entered the Philadelphia Dental College, graduating with honor from that insti- tution in 1881. He began the practice of his profession at Salt Lake City with a leading practitioner, and so continued until 1883, when he removed to Billings, Mont., where he worked at dentistry for seven years. We next find him in Tacoma, where he tarried but nine months before settling in Ellensburg, where his dental parlors attract many visitors wlio desire to avail themselves of the doc- tor's well-known skill. He was married at Salt Lake City in February, 1882, to Miss Emma Reinsimar, of Utah. They have one child, a daughter. The doctor is a man of property, a close student of his profession, ever ready to avail himself of approved methods and new discoveries. He is a high Mason, and in politics a Democrat, having acted as Secretary of the Democratic committee. He is, moreover, a man of fine literary attainments, a contributor to the Dental Cosmos and other professional publications, having had much experience as a newspaper correspondent and general writer. He is Vice-President of the State Dental As- sociation.
SCOTT, ELMON, was born at Isle La Motte, Grand Isle County, Vt., November 6th, 1853. He resided in his native town until 1864, when he removed with his parents to a farm in Chester, Eaton County, Mich., where he remained until twenty-one years of age. He attended the public school, high school, and acad- emy in that vicinity. He began the study of law at Charlotte, in the same county, and was admitted to the Bar in 1877. In October, 1881, he removed to Washing- ton Territory, and in January, 1882, located at Pomeroy, Garfield County. He served one term as City Attorney of Charlotte, Mich., and several terms as Mayor of Pomeroy. He is the youngest member of the Supreme Court Bench.
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SCOTT, W. T., attorney-at-law, of Seattle, Wash., was born in Union County, Ky., October 30th, 1848. He received his early education at Brandenburg, Ky., and in 1864 removed to Indiana, where he entered the University at Bloomington, where he remained three years, graduating in the Law Department in 1869. He then studied law in the office of Judge Gresham, of Indiana, and in 1870 was admitted to the Bar, and began practice in that State ; in 1875 he went to York, Neb., and pursued his profession there until 1890 ; was elected to the Legislature of that State in 1878-79, and to the Mayoralty of York for three successive terms ; was also Prosecuting Attorney for York County. While in the Legisla- ture he served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House ; canie to Seattle, Wash., in June, 1890, and immediately resumed practice, becoming a member of the present firm of Wiley, Scott & Bostwick. Mr. Scott was married in Indiana December 8th, 1871, to Miss Sara J. Miller, of that State. Three children grace their union-two sons and a daughter. Fraternally Mr. Scott is a brother of the Masonic order and a Knight Templar.
SEAL, C. F., of Port Townsend, Wash., Cashier of the Merchants' Bank, was born at Millersburg, Pa., October 1st, 1856. He was reared on a farmi and at- tended the common schools of his native place. At the age of thirteen he went to Tyrone, Pa., where he learned the printer's trade, which he followed for seven years at that place. In 1876 he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad Company as clerk at Altoona, Pa., and was transferred to Philadelphia one year later. In January, 1883, he resigned his position with the railroad com- pany and migrated to California. In April of the same year he reached Portland, Ore., where he found employment in tlie Engineering Department of the North- ern Pacific Terminal Company, with whom he remained until January 1st, 1884. The next two years were spent in contracting and building at Portland. In Octo- ber, 1885, he entered the banking house of Ladd & Tilton, at Portland, and con- tinued until November, 1889, at which time he came to Port Townsend and took charge of the Merchants' Bank as Cashier. Mr. Seal possesses a high order of financial ability, and under his efficient management this bank has largely increased the volume of its business. He is a most worthy representative of Port Townsend's business community, and is recognized as one of its most valuable citizens. He has won an honorable name for energy, reliability, and integrity, and his future, judged by his past, can hardly fail to be one of prosperity and honor. He is a. member of Oregon Commandery, Knights Templar, of Portland, Ore. Mr. Seal was married December 24th, 1889, to Miss Margaret A. Humphreys, of Liverpool, England, by whom he has one child, a daughter.
SERVICE, WILLIAM, banker, of Farmington, Wash., was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1856. His father, Alexander Service, was also a " canny Scot," and his mother, Mary (Brice) Service, was from the north of Ireland. Educated in his own land and in the schools of Ohio, Missouri, and Washington, young Ser- vice had no reason to complain of any want of diversity in his mental training. Upon completing his studies he engaged in banking and railroading in Missouri, removing some years later to the Territory of Washington. He located in 1881 in Walla Walla, and for nine years thereafter was a railroad man. In 1891 he
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took charge of the Bank of Farmington, with a paid-up capital of $50,000, and he is at present the Cashier of that institution. He was married in 1883 to Miss Sarah A. Reynolds, of Missouri. Two children have been born to them-both daugliters. Mr. Service has filled the post of City Treasurer for two years, and represented the municipality in various official capacities. He is personally inter- ested in many business enterprises within the corporate limits, and has a fine farm without its borders as well as improved realty. He is a Master of Farmington. Lodge, Masonic, of Farmington, and a member of the Royal Arch Chapter of Colfax, and Walla Walla Commandery, Knights Templar, and Mystic Shrine, Spokane. In politics he is a Republican. He has done much by his shrewd busi- ness common sense and sound progressiveness to advance the best interests of the community.
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