USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. II > Part 52
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The principal industry of Aberdeen is the manufacture of lumber, and of the four mills there the J. M. Weatherwax Lumber Company's is the largest, having a capacity of eighty thousand feet of inch boards in ten hours, or of one hundred thousand feet of mixed lumber. This mill was established by Captain John M. Weatherwax in 1885. The company has a capital of $250,000, of which Mr. Weatherwax has a controlling interest. The other members of the company are C. B. Weatherwax, Secretary ; J. G. Weatherwax, Eugene France, and Carl S. Weatherwax. Like all other mills cutting fir, this mill has a double rotary for the main mill, with upper and lower saws, sixty inches in diameter, which are
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speeded up to from seven hundred to seven hundred and fifty revolutions ; a pony rotary with steam feed, which is faster ; a gang-edger, opening six and one half feet ; three planers, a moulding machine, re-saw, band-saw and jig-saw, and has an ample supply of power. The lumber is shipped chiefly to California ; but several cargoes have been sent to South America, Mexico, and the Sandwich Islands. In connection with the mill there is a large general store, containing nearly everything except drugs, and carrying a stock of from $20,000 to $25,000. Apart from the company, Captain Weatherwax owns between twenty and twenty- five thousand acres of land on or near Gray's Harbor that will cut from forty to sixty thousand feet of lumber to the acre, and has, therefore, at least a billion feet of good fir timber on it. Two logging camps are maintained for the mill ; but last summer three were kept running. One of the camps has a logging rail- road running from it to the mill. Most of the logs, however, are now purchased from outside loggers, and the camps will in future only be maintained to supply special lengths or keep up a regular supply if logs become scarce. The product of the mill is largely shipped in vessels in which he has an interest, and these consist of two barkentines and two schooners.
WEBB, JONATHAN E., attorney-at-law, of Tacoma, Wash., was born in the city of New York, December 2d, 1856, received the benefits of a common-school education, studied law and was admitted to the Bar, beginning to practice in 1878. He continued the pursuit of his profession in the metropolis of the East until 1889, when he removed to Washington and located at Tacoma. Here he engaged in general business until January, 1891, when he was appointed to a clerkship in the office of W. H. Hollis, Auditor of Pierce County, and acted as Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners. He was then appointed a Deputy Auditor of Pierce County and Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners by R. A. Ketner, the present Auditor. Mr. Webb was married to Miss Margaret Alice Whelan, of Aurora, Ill. One child, a son, has been born to their union. Mr. Webb is one of the rising men of Tacoma, doing his official work most faith- fully and to the entire satisfaction of his superiors, as is evident from his repeat- ed promotion and reappointment.
WEED, DR. GIDEON ALLEN, came to the Pacific Coast as a young man, and has always kept in the front rank of the advancing army of settlers west of the Rocky Mountains, having been a resident of three Territories at the time of their admission to the Union as States. He cast his lot in Seattle when it was but a village, and has lived to see his hopes fulfilled by its growth into one of the most populous and prosperous cities of the coast.
Dr. Weed comes of good Revolutionary stock on both sides. His maternal ancestors came to New Jersey among the first settlers ; and Joseph Doty, his grandfather on his mother's side, served in the War of Independence. The Weed family were among the first settlers in Stamford and Danbury, Conn., and his grandfather, Jonathan Wecd, who migrated to Lanesboro, in Western Massachu- setts, was also a Continental soldier.
Born in New Providence, N. J., in March, 1833, Dr. Weed received a good common-school education, which he largely supplemented by self-improvement.
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In 1855-56 he studied medicine in New York, and later graduated at Rush Medi- cal School in Chicago. In October, 1857, he married Miss Adaline M. Willis, of Marion, Ia., with whom his married life has been singularly happy. Their union has been blessed with two children, Benjamin and Mabel.
Early in 1858 the doctor and his wife came to the Pacific Coast by way of the Isthmus, arriving in San Francisco in February. They shortly afterward removed to Salem, Ore., where they remained for a year, during which period Oregon be- came a State. In February, 1860, they removed to California, and in the fall of 1861 were drawn by the mining excitement to the Washoe region in Nevada and settled there, the doctor continuing the practice of his profession. During the five years of his residence in Nevada the Territory was admitted to the Union and the Civil War began and ended. At a time when the new-born State hung in the balance between the Union and secession, the doctor proved himself an enthusi- astic Union man, ranging himself on the side of loyalty in the political discussions of the day, and giving his services as Surgeon, with the rank of Major, in the State Militia during the time. He left Washoe City in 1867, and during the next three years he practised first at Crystal Peak and then at Truckee, closing his residence in California with a short stay at Vallejo.
It was in November, 1870, that Dr. Weed came to Seattle, then a struggling, straggling village of scarcely one thousand inhabitants ; and with a faith in its future, based on his observation of its unrivalled location and his experience of Western cities, he liked the place and tied his fortunes to it. He has ever since resided there, always continuing the practice of medicine, even when taking a leading part in public affairs, so that he is now the oldest practitioner, in point of residence, in the city. From the first he took a leading position in his profes- sion in the State, and he has maintained it amid the rapid swelling of the ranks and the many changes incident to the growth of the community. He began early to labor for the advancement and elevation of the profession, and was one of the eleven physicians who, in 1873, organized the Medical Society of Washington Territory, of which he was a prominent and active member until the Territory became a State in 1889, and the State Medical Society was organized, into which the members of the old society were admitted as charter members. It was largely through his efforts that the King County Medical Society was formed in 1888, and he was elected its first President. He also took an active part in securing the insertion in the State constitution of a provision requiring the Legislature to make laws for the regulation of the practice of medicine and surgery, a provision to be found in the constitution of no other State. He was also active in securing the passage of a law by the Legislature establishing the State Medical Board. In short, to him is due in a great degree the respect and confidence with which the medical fraternity is regarded.
But Dr. Weed's energies were not confined to his own profession, for he was from the first one of the moving spirits in every project for the good of the city. His earnings were invested in real estate in the place which he had made his home ; and when all the power of a giant corporation was turned to blotting that place out of existence, he threw all the energy of his nature into the struggle and sup- ported every enterprise for the development of the town and surrounding country to the extent of his means and ability. Having shared in the labor of the con-
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test, he is to be congratulated on having secured a competence through the tri- umph of the cause which he championed.
The doctor has also taken an enlightened interest in public affairs, and in 1876 his fellow-citizens showed their high opinion of his integrity and ability by elect- ing him Mayor on a non-partisan ticket, a mark of confidence which they renewed in the following year. He inaugurated important municipal reforms, and gave the city so efficient and practical an administration as to win the approval of men of all parties. For ten years he was one of the regents of the Territorial University. During the anti-Chinese riots he took his stand with the friends of law and order against the clamorous mob, showing his readiness to make any sacrifice for his principles by carrying a musket in the Home Guard until the danger had passed.
While the doctor was a supporter of the Republican Party from its formation until 1884, he always maintained his independence of party dictation, and he has since the date named given his vote and influence to the Prohibition Party. In religion, as in politics, he is a man of broad views and sympathies ; for while he is a inember of the Plymouth Congregational Church, his contributions to re- ligious and charitable objects are not confined within the limits of his own de- nomination, but have been distributed among a large number of other institutions calculated to promote the wellbeing of his fellow-citizens.
The character and position held in the community by Dr. Weed cannot better be summed up than in the following passage from the sketch of him to be found in the " History of Seattle" :
" Dr. Weed is an excellent type of a good citizen. His influence is always cast for whatever will add to the city's prosperity or improve the moral or physi- cal good of his fellows. He is a man of positive views and nothing of a time- server, and his devotion to a principle he believes to be right is unchangeable. As a physician he has always enjoyed a most extensive and lucrative practice, and the success which has attended his professional labors has been highly grati- fying. Naturally retiring and of a modest disposition, he dislikes publicity of any kind, and finds his chief pleasure within his own family circle or with old and congenial friends. No man in Seattle more fully or thoroughly enjoys the confidence of all who know him than Dr. Weed. Even those who radically differ from him on political or other questions admire his integrity of character and the sincerity of purpose which has actuated him."
WEIKEL, GEORGE, farmer, of North Yakima, born in Douglas County, Ore., in 1865, is the son of John and Celesta A. (Chapman) Weikel, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Iowa respectively. The father died in 1882, the mother seven years later. Mr. Weikel accompanied his parents to the Territory in 1871. He was brought up as a farmer and stock-raiser, but has identified himself with other pursuits, being largely interested in the Cowlitz anthracite coal mines. ' He settled on his present farm when the valley where he resides was nothing but a wilderness. His farm consists of one hundred and sixty acres. He has been a very successful raiser of grain, as also of fine stock, of which he has a herd of over four hundred head. A fine orchard, yielding the choicest fruit, both large and small, and ample buildings render his place a very desirable one. It seems to lack but one further adornment, which Mr. Weikel has as yet failed to select
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-a wife, for he is still unmarried. He is a Republican in his politics, popular with his neighbors, and social in his tastes and disposition.
WEIR, HON. ALLEN .- A conspicuous figure among the self-made men of Washington is the subject of this sketch. Beginning life without educational advantages, and no other capital than a stout heart and a determination to suc- ceed, he has, as a result of his own unaided efforts, gained a prominent position in the State and become an important moulding force in the progress of affairs. The significance of this achievement needs no further comment than the mere remembrance that Mr. Weir has not reached the age of forty-a point at which most men are only well launched upon their work, with the goal of eminence yet beyond them. Mr. Weir is a native of California, having been born in Los Angeles County, April 24th, 1854. In 1860 the family moved to the Puget Sound country, arriving at Port Townsend June 1st of that year. They settled on Gov- ernment land in the Dungeness River bottom and were among the early pioneers of that region, there being only a few white families in the whole country at the time of their coming. On the farm young Allen early became acquainted with toil and acquired the rugged physical training so essential to pioneer life.
The father, John Weir, was born and reared in Missouri, his father having been a hunter and trapper for the Missouri Fur Company. John Weir was a typi- cal frontiersman, and the great tidal wave to the Pacific Slope drew him along in its alluring course. He was eager to see the new country, and in 1853 crossed the plains by ox-teams with his family from Texas to California. He found that the best lands about Los Angeles and Santa Barbara were owned in large Span- ish grants, and in 1858 pushed northward, going to the Frazer River gold mines. When he reached Victoria the excitement had subsided ; and he crossed the Sound and took up a pre-emption claim in Clallam County, as above mentioned. Two years later he was followed by his family, which then consisted of four daughters and two sons. Mr. Weir became thoroughly identified with Clallam County, and his part in the progress and development of the country was always attended with activity and lively interest. In the early troubles with the Indians, and when white vagabonds had to be driven out by vigilantes for the public safety, he was one of the foremost in protecting lives and property. He was a blacksmith, and his sons worked with him in the shop when not engaged in clear- ing the heavy growth of timber from their land. In 1866 the elder son, Marion, died ; the father was obliged to seek employment in a neighboring saw-mill, and the care of the little farm was left to Allen, then but a lad of twelve years. From this time until he was nineteen years old the duties of the farm precluded his at- tendance at school, even for a single term. Having a natural aptitude for books, and realizing his deficiencies, he devoted the long winter evenings to reading and study, with good results. At nineteen he was given his time, and set out to make his way in life alone. Determined to secure the benefits of a good education, he labored hard for two years to earn the means to pay for his tuition. In 1875 he entered the Olympia Collegiate Institute, where he pursued his studies for two years with steady, unflagging zeal. In the mean time he began to learn the printer's trade and to fit himself for practical newspaper work, making such progress that before he left school lie was performing the editorial work for a
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daily newspaper in Olympia. After completing his studies he purchased the Puget Sound Argus, at Port Townsend, and at once established himself in business there. The young editor was clear, vigorous, and incisive in his style of writing, and his success was immediate. His trenchant pen, his bold utterances, the thorough and able manner with which he discussed pending political questions soon made him known to the public, and his personal magnetism, his frank and open bearing toward those with whom he was brought into acquaintance and association, rapidly made him friends and supporters. With slender means at the start, he met and overcame all obstacles, and at the end of twelve years was enabled to sell out and retire with a comfortable competency. Under his management the Argus became a great and controlling journal, and in June, 1882, he began publishing a daily edition. This venture, the first daily ever published in Port Townsend, was successful from the start. During his residence in Port Townsend Mr. Weir was one of the city's most helpful and enthusiastic friends, active in every movement to advance the material welfare of the community. . In 1884 he became Secretary of the local Board of Trade. In the causes of religion and temperance he was especially active. Before he left school he was licensed as a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He served two years as Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars for Washington and British Co- lumbia, and was subsequently elected presiding officer by acclamation.
In politics Mr. Weir is an ardent, consistent Republican. During his entire career he has received constant tokens of the high respect and consideration of the community in which he lived. At the Territorial Legislative Council of 1879 he served as Chief Clerk of the Council, and so well did he perform the duties of that position that the completed record was filed with the Territorial Secretary sixteen hours after adjournment. He served two years as Justice of the Peace and Police Judge of Port Townsend. He served part of a term as Regent of the State University. For six years he was a member of the Territorial Board of Health, being Chairman the last two years. In 1884 he was a member of the Re- publican Territorial Convention, and the same year was nominated for the Legis- lature, but was defeated by a mere scratch, owing to the failure of a full vote in one precinct. In 1886 he was a member of the Territorial Convention, and in. the campaign which followed he delivered many speeches in the interests of his party. In 1888 he was again a member of the Territorial Convention and served as Secre- tary of that body. In that year he was elected a member of the Upper House of the Legislature by a majority of nearly a thousand in a district composed of seven counties. In the spring of 1889 he served as a member of the Constitutional Convention, and at the State election thereafter (October 2d, 1889) was elected first Secretary of State for the State of Washington, receiving a majority of nine thousand five hundred and thirty-six votes over his competitor. Mr. Weir has been three times endorsed and supported by his home county and adjoining coun- ties for the nomination for member of Congress. December 16th, 1892, prepara- tory to retiring from public office, he was admitted, upon examination, to practise law in the Supreme Court of the State ; and January 11th, 1893, upon vacating the office of Secretary of State, entered immediately upon the practise of the legal profession with a score of clients within a week thercafter. In October, 1892, at the formal opening of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, for dedi-
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cation of its buildings, Mr. Weir attended as Acting Governor of the State of Washington, accompanied by military staff. Mr. Weir served public interests with the same diligence and fidelity manifested in his own private affairs. As a public speaker he is fluent and impassioned. He is never at a loss for a word, and his words are always correctly cliosen and elegantly spoken. He is deservedly popular, and possesses the esteem of a wide circle of devoted friends. His suc- cessful and honorable career has been marked by high aims, practical duties, in- telligent action, and strict integrity.
Mr. Weir was married in November, 1877, to Miss Ellen Davis, of Dungeness, by whom he has three children.
WESTFALL, CORNELIUS F., a resident of the town of Medical Lake, Spokane County, Wash., was born in Macomb, Ill., in 1853. His father, Dr. Beverly R. Westfall, a native of Ohio, was a practising physician and farmer, but removed to the city of Spokane, where he continued to practise until his death in 1889. His mother, who was from Kentucky, died in Illinois in 1882. The subject of our sketch received a common-school education up to the age of fifteen, when he entered the Normal and Scientific College, graduating at seventeen. He taught school for a time, but abandoned it to enter an office, where he remained for two years, studying dentistry. He practised that profession in Illinois and Colorado for four years, but relinquished it to accept the position of Principal in a high school in Illinois, which he held for two years. He was then elected Principal of a college in Salem, Ia., which he filled creditably till failing health compelled him to abandon it. Removing to Spokane, he farmed for awhile, but finally set- tled at Medical Lake, secured the location, plotted and sold that town site by lots. Having disposed of the bulk of this property, he returned to Spokane, formed a partnership and engaged in the real-estate and mining-stock brokerage. A man of many vocations, but industrious and successful in all, he is the owner of two fine farms of fruit and grain in the vicinity of Medical Lake. Mr. West- fall has been twice married, his first wife, to whom he was united in Illinois, in 1872, being a Miss M. A. Cord, of Illinois. She bore him two children. His second wife, to whom he was married in 1882, is Miss Idaho Naylor, a native of Macomb), Ill. They have two children. He was elected a member of the State Legislature in 1892, and during the session represented the Fifth Legislative Dis- trict, being one of the Spokane delegation.
WHEAT, PALMER, attorney-at-law, of Pomeroy, Wash., was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1865. His father, John R. Wheat, was a Kentucky farmer ; his mother, Sophia (Palmer) Wheat, being a native of Jefferson County in that State. Young Wheat, an only child, was educated in Oregon and at Troy, N. Y., where he took a scientific course, but did not graduate. Upon the conclusion of his pre- paratory studies he located at Portland, Ore., where he remained seven years be- fore removing to Washington Territory. He read law with Mayor Morse, of Louisville, Ky., and was admitted to practice in the courts of that State. In July of 1892 he settled at Pomeroy and began the pursuit of his profession. He was married in 1890 to Miss Marie Morse, of Paducah, Ky. They have two children. Mr. Wheat is the owner of property at Starbuck. Both himself and wife are nem-
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bers of the Episcopal Church. He is a Democrat in politics, and, in a professional point of view, a rising young man, rapidly working his way up into the front rank of a Bar which, having gathered its material from all quarters of the Union, may well be regarded as the consensus of profound study and many varied gifts.
WHEATON, D., farmer, of Ellensburg, in the Kittitas Valley, was born in Indiana in 1843. His parents were natives of England, emigrated to America in early life, and settled down to farming in Indiana. Removing from thence in the spring of 1853, they crossed the plains by ox-teams with a small train of only a dozen wagons, reaching Portland in September following. In 1844 we find them in California, where they still reside. They have a family of six children, of whom our subject is the oldest. He received his early education in Oregon, where he first worked for himself. In 1863 he went to the Idaho mines, but seems to have wearied of this under-ground occupation, for in 1867 he again en- gaged in agricultural pursuits in Oregon. In 1873 he came to Washington Terri- tory and took up a homestead claim in Kittitas Valley, where he now cultivates three hundred and twenty acres, producing twenty-five bushels to the acre. He was married in Oregon in 1868 to Miss Lizzie Lineburger, of that State. They have four children. There seems to be a general sameness in the current of all these lives, to which Mr. Wheaton is no exception ; years of wandering and various occupations throughout the West all find a resting-place at last beneath the protecting wing of fertile Washington. It is a parallel to the oft-quoted dec- laration that " all roads lead to Rome"-in this instance to the Eden of the Ever- green State.
WHITCOMB, LEWIS H., jeweller, of Pomeroy, Wash., was born in Lexington, Mich., in 1859. His father, Lewis Whitcomb, was a clergyman and a native of . New York ; his mother, Laura (Hayes) Whitcomb, was also born in the Empire State. Educated in the public schools of Michigan, supplemented by a course at Ann Arbor, Mr. Whitcomb came to the Pacific Coast in 1878 and engaged in the boot and shoe trade at The Dalles in 1879. He removed his shoe business to Dayton, but after two years relinquished it for jewelry, to which he devoted some three years in Dayton before coming to Pomeroy, November 22d, 1886. Here he established himself in the same line, investing a capital of about $2000. He is also the local agent of the Pacific Express and Inland Telephone Companies. He was married in 1887 to Miss Rose E. Bonnett, of Oregon, daughter of an old pioneer of that State. They have one child, who rejoices in the pretty name of Hazel. Mr. Whitcomb has a pleasant city home, is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, a Republican in politics, and one of the substantial and popular citizens of Pomeroy.
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