History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 106

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1138

USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 106
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 106
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 106

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DAVID J. KELLY.

The ranch property of David J. Kelly is pleasantly and conveniently situated a mile and a half east of Sunnyside and comprises a tract of eighty acres of land now highly cultivated. He has been a resident of Washington since 1879 and comes to the northwest from Kentucky, his birth having occurred in McLean county, that state, on the 14th of September, 1856, his parents being Benjamin and Mary (Baker) Kelly, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, the former of Irish descent. Ben- jamin Kelly took his family to Moultrie county, Illinois, in 1862 and there carried on farming until his death. On his removal to the north he had liberated his slaves and at the time of the Civil war was a stanch supporter of the Union cause, but did not go to the front for active military duty. His wife, however, had three brothers who were soldiers in the Union army.

David J. Kelly obtained a public school education and in 1877, when twenty-one years of age, went to Kansas, where he lived until 1879 and then, attracted by the opportunities of the northwest, made his way to Washington. He first settled near Walla Walla, where he purchased a wheat ranch and there engaged in farming until 1906, when he sold out and for a year thereafter was a resident of Seattle. In 1907 he came to Sunnyside and in connection with T. C. Williams purchased eighty acres of land a mile and a half east of the town. He has since conducted an extensive dairy business, which he carries on along the most modern, progressive and scien- tific lines. Everything about his dairy is thoroughly sanitary and his products find a ready and profitable sale on the market. He has fifty head of registered Holstein cattle and he sells some of his stock for breeding purposes. His place is called the Roselawn Stock Farm and in addition to his cattle he raises registered Hampshire hogs. His principal crops are potatoes, corn and hay.

On the 20th of March, 1885, Mr. Kelly was married to Miss Mary Demaris. who was born in Walla Walla, Washington, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (White) Demaris, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Iowa. They crossed the plains to Walla Walla in 1863, casting in their lot among the earliest of the pioneer settlers of that district, where the father engaged in ranching until his death. He was a well known, prominent and highly honored citizen. By trade he was a stone mason and his life was ever a busy, active and useful one. He passed away at the venerable age of eighty-six years. To Mr. and Mrs. Kelly have been born three children: Blanche, the wife of Vasco Y. McCorkel, living in Seattle; Ray, who was in the United States Reclamation Service for several years and now resides in Olympia, Washington; and Grace, who died at the age of eighteen years.

Mr. Kelly is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. having filled all of the chairs in the local lodge, while in 1900 he served as a represen- tative to the grand lodge held in Seattle. His wife is identified with the Daughters of Rebekah and was representative of that order at Spokane in 1901. In his politi- cal views Mr. Kelly is a republican but has never been an office seeker. He is inter- ested in the success of his party, however, because of his firm belief in its principles as factors in good government. He has always preferred that his public service should be done as a private citizen and he supports all measures for the general

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good. His time and attention, however, are mostly given to his ranching interests and by reason of his close application and indefatigable energy he has gained a sub- stantial measure of success.

EDWARD L. MAINS.

Edward L. Mains, actively engaged in the cultivation of a ranch of seventy- eight acres not far from Grandview, is numbered among Washington's native sons, his birth having occurred at Roslyn, December 11, 1891. He is a son of Robert L. and Annie (Bryant) Mains, more extended mention of whom is made on another page of this work. He acquired a public school education and was graduated from the high school of Grandview with its first class in the year 1910. He farmed with his father until the latter's death and he now has thirty-seven acres of his own and also cultivates his mother's place, thus devoting his time and energies to the further development and improvement of seventy-eight acres in all. Upon the ranch he raises hay, corn and potatoes, producing large crops of each, for which he finds a ready sale on the market.

On the 26th of February, 1916, Mr. Mains was married to Miss Elizabeth B. Martyn, a native of England and a daughter of David and Johan Martyn. Mr. and Mrs. Mains attend the Presbyterian church and fraternally the former is identified with the Foresters, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. His time and energies, however, are given in undivided manner to his ranching interests and he is possessed of the spirit of enterprise that has been the dominant factor in the development and upbuilding of the west. When opportunity has come he has recognized it and eagerly utilized it and he has won a creditable place as a successful rancher in his part of the county.

JAMES C. STEENSEN.

James C. Steensen is living retired in Yakima but is the holder of valuable ranch property in various sections of the country. He was born in Schleswig- Holstein, Germany, March 9, 1868; a son of Stephen and Margaret Steensen, who came to the United States in late life and passed away on this side of the Atlantic. The father was a miller and for some time operated a mill at West Salem, Wisconsin.

James C. Steensen was a lad of eleven years when he crossed the Atlantic with an uncle to New Orleans, where he remained for two years, and for a similar period he resided at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He'next went with his uncle to South Dakota, where he resided for three years and at the age of eighteen he became a resident of Wisconsin. In the meantime he had served an apprenticeship to the drug trade, but afterward he worked with his father in the milling business until he reached the age of twenty-four years, when he was married and removed to Hills, Minnesota, where he opened a drug store which he successfully conducted for a number of years, there continuing until the fall of 1909, when he came to Yakima, although he still retained his investments in the drug business in the east. In the meantime he had been dealing in farms and in 1905 had visited the Yakima valley, purchasing a ranch near Selah. He now has fifty acres there planted to fruit and thirty acres in hop vine- yards. He also owns a ranch of one hundred and seventy acres devoted to the raising of stock as well as to the production of crops. This, too, is located near Selah and he likewise owns several other large ranch properties. He has an eighty- acre ranch on the Tieton, devoted to grain and alfalfa, and he has eight hundred acres in North Dakota and Minnesota. His investments have been most judiciously placed and his property interests have returned to him a substantial and gratifying income. In Yakima he owns a beautiful home, having purchased a residence which he remodeled and made thoroughly up-to-date in its equipments and appointments. It is situated at No. 206 North Naches avenue.

On the 1st of September, 1891, Mr. Steensen was married to Miss Alma F.

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Darrow, a daughter of Alonzo and Sarah J. (Demary) Darrow, the former being a cousin of Clarence Darrow, a well known lawyer of Chicago. Her great-great-grand- father in the paternal line was a Revolutionary war soldier and Mrs. Steensen is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Steensen have a son, Mark Darrow Stephen, twenty-five years of age, who is a member of Company E of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Infantry, doing active duty in France. He has pursucd a high- school education and also a course in Pullman College.

Mr. Steensen belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is prom- inent in Masonry. He has membership in Yakima Lodge No. 24, F. & A. M .; Yakima Chapter No. 21, R. A. M .; Yakima Commandery, K. T .; the Consistory, S. P. R. S .; and Afifi Temple of the Mystice Shrine. In politics he is independent and his re- ligious faith is indicated by his attendance at the Presbyterian church. He is widely known in Yakima as a progressive business man and loyal citizen and one who well merits the success that has come to him as the years have passed.

LUCIAN D. HUMPHREY.

Lucian D. Humphrey is one of the leading fruit growers and packers of Yakima county. He has developed extensive and important interests and his activities have contributed to public progress and improvement as well as to individual success. He was born in Knox county, Illinois, December 8, 1854, a son of Samuel Warren and Harriet (Herald) Humphrey. The father died in Missouri in 1873 and the mother afterward came to Washington, where she passed away in 1890. The family had removed to Missouri in 1868 and were identified with farming interests there.

Lucian D. Humphrey acquired a public school education in Missouri and in California, for at the age of nineteen years he left the former state and made his way to the Pacific coast, where he worked on a ranch for eighteen months. He afterward cultivated a rented farm for two years and then again attended school for seven months. In 1879 he came to Washington and took up three hundred and twenty acres of land near Spokane, which he developed, adding many improvements thereto. He resided thereon until 1892. when he came to Yakima county and purchased twenty acres three miles southwest of the Yakima depot. This was an unimproved tract. He has since built two houses here with barns and other improvements, but one of his large barns was destroyed by fire a few years ago, necessitating rebuilding. About 1902 he purchased another twenty-acre tract three miles west of Yakima. which was also undeveloped. He has a fine residence on each place and also a large and well equipped packing house, and his total acreage in fruit amounts to thirty- five acres, planted to apples, pears, cherries, peaches, etc. He has packing plants and storage plants upon each place and his fruit ranches are splendidly developed properties. He gives close study to the subject of fruit raising and knows the kinds that will produce the best crops in this section. In his earlier years Mr. Humphrey was also engaged in the sawmill business on the coast in the early days, cutting timber for the Northern Pacific Railway Company when it was being built into Washington. He has thus led a busy, useful and active life and his enterprise and unflagging industry have constituted the foundation upon which he has built his success.

In 1883 Mr. Humphrey was married to Miss Ferba A. Glazebrook, of Illinois. a daughter of John Glazebrook, who came to Washington in 1874. Her father was a veteran of the Civil war, having served for three years in defense of the Union cause. Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey were the first couple married in Lincoln county, Washington. Their children are two in number. Harry R., a graduate of a high school and of a business college and now farming a part of his father's land, married Edith Bowles and has three children: Lewis. Margaret and Virginia. Homer W. married Iva Sweet. He is also a high school graduate, completed a course in civil engineering in the Pullman College of Washington and is now with the United States reclamation service.

Mr. Humphrey is a member of the Yakima County Horticultural Union. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he has filled the office of road

LUCIAN D. HUMPHREY

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supervisor. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Yakima Lodge, No. 24, F. & A. M. and he is also identified with the Modern Woodmen and the Yeomen, while his wife is a member of the Christian church. He has steadily worked his way upward, careful at all times to conform his practice to high business standards and ethics, and the success he has achieved through individual effort should serve to inspire and en- courage others, showing what may be accomplished when one has the will to dare and to do.

JOHN DIEM.

John Diem, engaged in the harness business in Yakima, was born in Switzerland on the 21st of October, 1862, a son of John and Eliza Diem. The mother passed away in her native country and the father afterward came to the United States in 1863. Arrived in the new world, his sympathies were with the federal government in its efforts to preserve the Union and he enlisted for service in the Civil war. He afterward returned to Switzerland and passed away in that country. He was a son of John Diem, who had come to the United States about 1860 and who after the death of his son John brought his grandson, John Diem of this review, and his sister Eliza, to the United States, rearing them in Payson, Utah. He was a tanner by trade.

John Diem, whose name introduces this record, was educated in the schools of Switzerland and of America and in his youthful days took up the tanning business in connection with his grandfather. He afterward entered the harness-making bus- iness on his own account at Payson, Utah, in 1884, and in 1886 removed to Park City, Utah, where he conducted a harness shop until 1909. He then came to Yakima and purchased the harness business of T. R. Fisher at No. 26 South Second street, where he has since been located. He manufactures all of the harness which he sells, does all of the strap work and displays marked skill and ability in this line. He also employs two men and he carries a full line of harness, saddles and all goods of that character.

On the 12th of October, 1892, Mr. Diem was married to Miss Mabel Krigbaum, of Park City, Utah, and they have two children: Ira J., living in Seattle; and Francis E., who is in the Hospital Corps with the United States navy.

Mr. Diem is a Mason of high rank, having membership in Yakima Lodge No. 24, F. & A. M .; Yakima Chapter No. 21, R. A. M .; Yakima Commandery No. 13, K. T .; and Afifi Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His political support is given to the republican party and that he is active in behalf of the business development of the community is indicated in his membership in the Yakima Valley Business Men's As- sociation and in the Yakima Commercial Club. He is a self-made man-one whose industry has been the foundation upon which he has builded his success. He early learned the value of unwearied effort and perseverance, and carefully directing his labors as the years have gone by, he has reached a place among the substantial busi- ness men of his adopted city.

CHRISTOPHER G. VAN BELLE.

The life of industry and perseverance which Christopher G. Van Belle has led is manifest in the excellently improved ranch of eighty-one and a half acres which he owns not far from Sunnyside. An air of neatness and thrift pervades the place- an air that is characteristic of the people of Holland, for it was in that beautifully clean little country that Christopher G. Van Belle was born on the 3d of April, 1871, his parents being John and Coba Van Belle. The mother is now deceased, but the father still resides in Holland at the advanced age of eighty-one years.

The son acquired a public school education in his native country and was a youth of nineteen years when he bade adieu to friends and family and sailed for the United States. He made his way to Sioux county, Iowa, where he lived for four (36)

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years and afterward spent one year in Snohomish county, Washington. In 1895 he came to Yakima county, where for three years he engaged in the cultivation of rented land and then bought a relinquishment on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres a mile and a half northeast of Sunnyside. This was all covered with sage- brush, but he cleared the place and has since continued its development, converting it into highly productive fields. He has sold a portion of his land, retaining eighty- one and a half acres upon which he raises various crops best adapted to soil and climate, including hay and corn. He also makes a specialty of raising full-blooded Holstein cattle. He has built a good residence upon the place, also put up sub- stantial barns and a silo and in many ways has greatly improved the property.

On the 15th of May, 1902, Mr. Van Belle was united in marriage to Miss Bas- tiaantje den Hartigh, who was born in Holland and came to Washington in October, 1901, upon leaving her native land. Mr. and Mrs. Van Belle are the parents of six children: John, Paul, Coba, William, Johanna and Archie. They also had twin sons, Archie and Clause, who died in infancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Van Belle attend the Presbyterian church and he gives his politi- cal support to the republican party. He is numbered among the pioneer ranchers of the district in which he makes his home and has lived to see remarkable changes in this section, for at the time of his arrival it was largely a barren tract covered with the native growth of sagebrush; but with the incoming of the settlers the land has been taken up and transformed into most productive fields. Gardens and orchards and fields of waving grain, beautiful homes, substantial churches and schools dot the surrounding country and indicate that the work of progress and civilization is being carried steadily forward. Mr. Van Belle has always contributed to the work of general development and, moreover, in the conduct of his business affairs he has indicated what it is possible to accomplish through individual effort.

THOMAS McKIVOR.

Thomas McKivor is the owner of a fine home that stands in the midst of a fifty acre ranch six miles west of Yakima. He has won a substantial and enviable position among the business men of this section of the state by reason of inde- fatigable energy and unfaltering perseverance. He was born in Huron county, On- tario, Canada, in 1862, a son of Edward and Alice (McCarty) McKivor, both of whom have departed this life. The father had devoted his attention to the milling business in order to provide for his family.

While spending his youthful days under the parental roof Thomas McKivor acquired a public school education and in his boyhood started out to earn his own living in Manitoba in connection with railway construction work. He was em- ployed along that line until he reached the age of forty-five years and was con- nected with various important construction projects in Canada. He came to the United States about 1886, entering the employ of the Great Northern Railroad Company, and assisted in its building from Devils Lake, North Dakota, to Seattle. In 1898 he spent eight months in the Klondike. He was with the Northern Pacific Railway Company for a number of years, but desirous of engaging in business on his own account, turned his attention to ranching in 1912, locating upon the place on which he now resides. In 1911 he had purchased this property, which is pleasantly and conveniently situated about six miles west of Yakima, and he has here an ex- cellent tract of fifty acres, of which thirty-two acres is planted to apples, while the remainder is devoted to the raising of hay and other crops. The ranch is splen- didly improved and his fine home stands as a monument to his progressive spirit and undaunted enterprise. He never allows obstacles or difficulties to bar his path if they can be overcome by persistent and honorable effort and he has ever recog- nized the fact that when one avenue of opportunity seems closed he can carve out other paths whereby he may reach the desired goal.

Mr. McKivor first came to the Yakima valley to assist in the work on the Sunnyside canal but afterward left the district. For sixteen years before establish- ing his home in Yakima county he had resided in Seattle and he still owns a beauti-

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ful residence there and other property. As a contractor he built many miles of railway throughout the west and also engaged in construction work of various kinds. His has been a most active, busy and useful career and his labors have constituted an important element in the substantial development and progress of the northwest.

On the 28th of March, 1900, Mr. McKivor was married to Miss Sarah Clark, who was born in Lowell, Nebraska, a daughter of T. J. V. and Margaret Nancy (Mann) Clark. Her father was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and came to Yakima county with his family in the spring of 1884. He was a graduate of the Rock Hill College of Mary- land and a veteran of the Civil war. Later he served as one of the government scouts in Nebraska. With his removal to the northwest he became one of the first merchants of Yakima and with the pioneer development and progress of the town he was closely associated, aiding in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the later prosperity and advancement of the city. He was the first mayor of Yakima and was called upon to represent his district, comprising Yakima and Kittitas counties, in the legislature during the last year of Washington's existence as a territory. He afterward returned to Maryland, and he passed away in that state on the 3d of August, 1892. In his death Washington lost one who had long been a valued, honored and representative citizen. His wife survives and is still living in Oregon.

To Mr. and Mrs. McKivor have been born five children: Alice; Victor, who died at the age of two years; Thomas; Winfield; and Margaret. Mrs. McKivor is a mem- ber of the Catholic church, and fraternally Mr. McKivor is connected with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he never maintains an equivocal position in relation to any important question, but stands fearlessly by his honest convictions. He is a man of genuine worth, loyal in citizenship, progressive and enterprising in business and faithful to the ties of friendship.

GEORGE F. MESSER.

Arriving in the Yakima valley in December, 1908, George F. Messer purchased thirteen and a half acres of land a mile and a half north of Buena. Gray with the sagebrush that has always been the only crop produced by this soil until the work of cultivation is begun by man, Mr. Messer resolutely took up the task of developing the property, which is now valuable by reason of the orchards upon it. His has been an active and useful life. He is separated from the place of his birth by the width of the continent, for he is a native son of Rutland county, Vermont. His natal day was April 30, 1843, his parents being Richard and Alzina (Benson) Messer, who were also natives of the Green Mountain state. The paternal grandfather, Richard S. Messer, was likewise born in Vermont and was a representative of one of the old colonial families. The maternal grandparents were Freeman and Sarah (Barnes) Benson, the former a veteran of the War of 1812. In the year 1847 Richard Messer took his family from New England to Portage county, Wisconsin, where he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits for some years and then went to Arkansas, where his death occurred. His wife died in South Dakota, in the home of their son George.

Following the removal of the family to Wisconsin, George F. Messer acquired a public school education in that state and in young manhood devoted his attention to logging and to railroad work. Subsequently he bought land in Minnesota, where he followed farming for a number of years, spending twenty-three years altogether in that portion of the country. He afterward went to Brown county, South Dakota, where he carried on farming for eight years, and in December, 1908, he arrived in the Yakima valley and became the owner of a tract of land near Buena, which, as pre- viously stated, was wild and undeveloped when he acquired possession of the place. He sold a part of the thirteen and a half acres to his son but still retains eight and a half acres, all of which is planted to fruit-apples, pears and cherries.

On the 17th of October, 1875, Mr. Messer was united in marriage to Miss Esther Hostetter, a native of Fillmore county, Minnesota, and a daughter of Jacob and

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Amelia (Brobst) Hostetter, who were pioneer settlers of that state and there con- tinued to reside until called to their final rest. Mr. and Mrs. Messer have become parents of nine children, as follows: Ernest, who married Miss Della Bruner and is successfully engaged in ranching; Charles, who also devotes his attention to ranching and who married Miss Merle Bruner, by whom he has five children; Elsie, who gave her hand in marriage to Drew Terwillegar, of Yakima; Alton, who married Miss Mabel Davis and is a rancher and stockman of Nebraska; Iva, who died at the age of twenty-three years; Pearl, at home; Lnella, the wife of James Albert Sim- mons, who is engaged in ranching; and Alma and Alpha, who are yet under the parental roof.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 106

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920 Publication date: 1919 Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1138

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1138