History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 115

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 115
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 115
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 115

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YAKIMA COUNTY HORTICULTURAL UNION.

The Yakima County Horticultural Union is an institution which has had much to do with the history of development in the Yakima valley. An organization was effected in June, 1902, known as the Yakima Horticultural Union and was incorporated under the name of the Yakima County Horticultural Union in 1903. It was organized by Edward Remy, who saw the necessity for and benefit of such an organization, believing that the interests of the fruit growers must be protected and knowing that much could be accomplished in the way of development along horticultural lines through concerted effort. The first officers of the company were: W. L. Wright, president; Edward Remy, treasurer; R. O. Bacon, vice president; J. M. Brown, secre- tary; and L. B. Kenyon, trustee. M. N. Richards succeeded Mr. Wright in the presi- dency in 1905 and he in turn was succeeded by W. N. Irish in 1909. In 1913 W. M. Nelson became the president and Mr. Richards was again elected to that office in 1917, followed by Edward Remy, who was chosen the chief executive in 1918. Mr. Remy had been a member of the board since the organization was effected and is well qualified for his position as chief executive.

Ir 1905, R. O. Bacon was succeeded in the vice presidency by E. G. Peck and in the same year Mr. Remy was reelected treasurer and J. M. Brown the secretary. In 1906 W. N. Irish was elected secretary, with Mr. Remy continuing in the office of treasurer. In 1907 there was no change in the official personnel of the Union and on the 9th of May, 1908, the same officers were reelected. In 1909, however, W. N. Irish became the president, with W. M. Richards as vice president, Edward Remy as treasurer and E. G. Peck as secretary. E. E. Samson was made manager and so con- tinue 1 until the spring of 1910, when he was succeeded by C. R. Paddock, who served until 1912, when E. E. Samson was recalled to the office and continued until 1915. Fred Eberle then assumed the position and is still manager. The election of offi- cers brought no change in the board in 1910, and in 1911 W. N. Irish was chosen president, with W. M. Nelson as vice president and E. G. Peck as secretary and treasurer. In the election of 1912, W. N. Irish was continued in the presidency, with W. M. Nelson as vice president and O. K. Conant as secretary and treasurer. The last named still fills that position. In 1913 W. M. Nelson was elected president, with W. M. Richards as vice president, and there was no change in the list of offi- cials in 1914. In 1915 LeRoy Pease was elected vice president, but otherwise the board remained the same. In 1916 W. W. Scott became vice president and in 1907 he was succeeded by Edward Remy.

When the Union was organized in 1902 offices were opened in the J. M. Perry warehouse. In 1903 a removal was made to C street and First avenue, North, and in 1907 the Union erected its present stone building at the corner of A' street and

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North First avenue, a building that is fifty by one hundred and seventy feet. In 1914 a warehouse was built at Naches that is fifty by one hundred and fifty feet and one story in height with basement. In 1915 a second warehouse, fifty by one hundred feet, was built at Selah and in 1916 a one-story warehouse, fifty by one hundred feet, was erected at Wapato. In the same year an addition was built to the Yakima establishment. This is two stories in height with basement and is fifty by one hundred and seventy-two feet. It contains a cold storage plant. In 1917 the Union purchased the Yakima Fruit Growers' Exchange on West Nob Hill, a building one hundred by one hundred and fifty feet, also enlarged the Selah building with a two- story and basement brick structure fifty by one hundred and twelve feet. A warehouse fifty by one hundred feet was built at Tieton and in 1918 its capacity was increased by putting a basement underneath.

The Yakima County Horticultural Union is a corporation that handles fruit and produce for its stockholders and it has three hundred and fifty members. The shipments in 1918 amounted to more than fourteen hundred cars. There is a wait- ing list of those who would become members, many wishing to enjoy the service an.1 benefits of the organization. There are packing plants at all the warehouses, with gravity conveyors, and the plants are supplied with electric power and the most modern equipment of all kinds for the handling of fruit and produce. Each grade, size and variety of fruit is pooled and sold together. The company has earned a surplus of forty thousand dollars and has paid six and seven per cent dividends. The main object is to sell the growers' products at the best prices but not to make big dividends. The Union has established the Blue Ribbon brand and the Red Ribbon brand The products are sold all over the United States and Europe and anything bearing the name of the Yakima County Horticultural Union may be taken as of high standard quality. Only the best growers are admitted and the Union is formed of only the best men in the valley. It has done a great work for the development and protection of horticultural interests and is a most valuable element in horti- cultural progress in this section of the state.

ALBERT A. MCDERMID.

Albert A. MeDermid is the owner of a valuable ranch property near Harwood. He secured one hundred and sixty acres of arid land covered with sagebrush. The building of the Tieton canal supplied water and Mr. McDermid supplied the energy, enterprise and determination necessary to make this productive land, producing large crops. He has gained for himself a place among the substantial agriculturists and hortieu!turists of this section of the state.

A native of Minnesota, Mr. McDermid was born in Nicollet county on the 14th of September. 1862, a son of Peter H. and Adeline (Kennedy) McDermid, the former a native of Canada, while the latter was born in Ohio. They became pioneers of Minnesota, where the father took up government land and with characteristic energy began converting the wild tract into rich and arable fields. The mother died in Minne- sota but the father afterward came to Yakima county, where his last days were passed.

Albert A. McDermid ohtained a public school education and afterward learned the carpenter's trade, becoming a thorough workman. In 1889 he arrived in Yakima county and for a considerable period followed his trade. He opened a carpenter shop and did a large amount of contract work in this section, but recognizing the possibilities for progress along agricultural and horticultural lines, in 1897 he rented land and in 1898 purchased twenty acres on South Nob Hill. He planted ten acres of this to orchard and devoted the remainder to the raising of hay. He owned that property until 1918, when he sold it. About 1904 he had taken up a homestead ahove Harwood, on the Tieton. It was a tract of wild and undeveloped land covered with the native sagebrush and his place of one hundred and sixty acres gave little indica- tion that it would soon become a profitable and productive tract. Later, however,

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the Tieton project went through and with a plentiful supply of water Mr. McDermid has converted his place into one of the finest ranches in the valley. He has a com- fortable residence upon his place, with all necessary barns and outbuildings, and he has ten acres of his land planted to pears, while the remainder is devoted to the raising of hay and grain. His crops are satisfactory and his labors arc constituting the basis of a desirable success as the years pass.

In 1891 Mr. McDermid was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Dunham, who was born in Nicollet county, Minnesota, a daughter of Jesse and Frances (Clark) Dun- ham, the former the owner of a flour mill there. The father died in Minnesota, after which his widow came to the northwest. and spent her last days in the home of Mr. and Mrs. McDermid. By the marriage of this couple have been born seven children. but Donald, their firstborn died in 1917 at the age of twenty-five years. The others are: Bernice, at home; Robert, also with his parents; Kenneth and Frances, who are attending high school; Warren; and Gordon. The family spends the winter months in Yakima in order that the children may have the opportunities afforded by the excellent schools of that city.

Fraternally Mr. McDermid is connected with the Masons and also with the Modern Woodmen of America and his religious faith is that of the Congregational church Politically he maintains an independent course, voting for men and meas- ures rather than for party. In the early days of his residence here he was a sergeant in the Home Guard. The greater part of his life has been devoted to agricultural and industrial interests, however, and at the present time he is concentrating his efforts and attention upon the latter line of activity with notable success. It is an arduous task to convert wild land into productive fields, but this work Mr. Mc- Dermid has accomplished and his labors have been amply rewarded. His life illus- trates what can be done through determination and energy, and his example of un- faltering industry and thorough reliability in business affairs is one well worthy of emulation.

WILLIAM L. BAKER.

William L. Baker is now the owner of excellent orchards, but the land that came into his possession was a wild tract covered with sagebrush. His labors are thus manifest in the results which have been achieved. The record of his life is the story of earnest endeavor and should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what can be accomplished through individual effort.

Mr. Baker was born in Cocke county, Tennessee, on the 15th of April, 1862, a son of John and Margaret (Netherton) Baker, who after residing for a considerable period in the south removed to the northwest in 1876, taking up their abode in Doug- las county, Oregon, where the father engaged in farming for about eight years. In 1884 he removed to Lewis county, Washington, where he secured a tract of govern- ment land and began the development of a farm. Thereon he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1897, while his wife passed away the previous year.

William L. Baker acquired a public school education and followed farming in connection with his father from the time when he put aside his textbooks until he had reached the age of thirty-seven years save that in the meantime he took up a homestead in Lewis county, which both farmed. In August, 1898, William L. Baker came to Yakima and for a time was associated with the Yakima Hardware Company in the plumbing and roofing department, working in that connection for twelve years or until 1910. That he was an efficient workman, thoroughly capable and reliable, is indicated in the fact that he was so long retained in the position. At length, how- ever, he determined to engage in business on his own account and resigned his position, after which he purchased forty acres of sagebrush land on Selah Heights. At a subsequent period he sold twenty acres of that tract. He now has fifteen acres planted to apples and pears, with a few peaches, and his orchards are in excellent bearing condition, bringing forth fine varieties of fruit, for he was most careful in the selection of his nursery stock. He has built a nice home and has added other

MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM L. BAKER

RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM L. BAKER

191.

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HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

modern improvements to his place and his is today one of the pleasing ranch prop- erties of the section in which he lives.

On September 4, 1896, Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Mrs. Martha Jones, a native of Kansas and a daughter of Walter and Elizabeth Crabtree. Her mother was born in Georgia and her father in Missouri. In his political views Mr. Baker is a democrat and is conversant with the leading questions and issues of the day but has never been an office seeker. His attention has always been fully occupied by his business affairs and his life has been one of industry and determination, resulting in the attainment of a substantial competence.

JOHN HENRY LEUNING.

John Henry Leuning, who since 1910 has resided in the Yakima valley, where he is now devoting his time and energies largely to horticultural pursuits, was born on the 2d of December, 1886, in Illinois, a son of D. G. Leuning, mentioned at length on another page of this work. While spending his youthful' days under the parental rooi he attended public schools of South Dakota and in 1910, when a young man of twenty-four years, he arrived in the Yakima valley, where he has since made his home thereon and has since given his attention to the further development and im- home thereon and has since given his attention to the further development and im- provement of the place. He now has six acres in apples and pears, while the re- mainder is pasture and plow land, upon which he raises various crops best adapt, ' to scil and climatic conditions here.

On the 9th of March, 1913, Mr. Leuning was married to Miss Inez V. F a native of Iowa and a daughter of C. C. and Prudence Hedges, who came to Wash- ington in 1894, settling in Seattle, whence. they removed to the Yakima valley in 1900. Her father then bought nineteen acres of land near Buena and has since car- ried on ranching in that locality but his wife has passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. Leuning have been born four children, Ernest Francis, Hazel Margaret, John El- wood and Raymond Glenn.

Mr. Leuning and his family are members of the Christian church of Zillah and in politics he maintains an independent course. He is a progressive young man who has made for himself a creditable place in business circles and in public regard as well.

LEE POLLARD.

Lee Pollard, whose identification with the agricultural development of Yakima county has been of considerable worth, makes his home in the vicinity of Grandview. He was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, March 12, 1865, and in 1900 came to Washington, settling at Roslyn, where he engaged in mining- coal. In 1901 he took up a homestead of eighty acres near where Grandview now stands. The tract was all covered with sagebrush. It was wild land just as it had come from the hand of nature. He brought his family to this place and at once began its development and improvement. He has since sold ten acres but retains the ownership of seventy acres, which is devoted to the raising of corn, potatoes and hay. He also engages in rais- ing hogs to some extent and he likewise conducts a dairy business. In addition to the improvement of his own property he cleared, grubbed and fenced eighty acres belonging to Dr. P. B. Wing, now a resident of California, and erected thereon good buildings such as are necessary in the equipment of a modern ranch property. This place adjoins his own.

In 1888 Mr. Pollard was married to Miss Jennie Jenkins, who was born in Page county, Virginia, October 30, 1865. They have become the parents of eight children. Henry, who has a wife and three children, is now engaged in mining at Roslyn, Wash- ington. Arthur, who has a wife and seven children, is a miner and motor driver at Roslyn. Mary Magdalene is the wife of James Brooks, a resident of Tacoma,

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and they have seven children. Charles Edward is the next of the family. Sarah Elizabeth is the wife of Thomas Blalock, a resident of Yakima. Harry, Isaiah and Douglas are all at home. The family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death. All of the children have been given good public school education. The son Harry took up three hundred and twenty acres of government land on Squaw creek and is improving it, doing dry farming. The daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, also has a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres adjoining her brother's property.

The family attend the Baptist church and Mr. Pollard gives his political endorse- ment to the republican party. He is a successful pioneer rancher and has won sub- stantial prosperity in his farming operations. He has contributed in substantial measure to the upbuilding of the valley as well as to the upbuilding of his indi- vidual fortunes. He started here with a cash capital of a dollar and a half and had a family of wife and eight children. His industry and determination have enabled him to steadily advance and his record shows what a man can do through persis- tency of purpose and undaunted energy. He is always dependable and reliable, a mian of his word, and those with whom he has had business associations know that he is straightforward in all dealings. He is now pleasantly situated and enabled to enjoy all of the comforts of life.

REUBEN HAY.

Reuben Hay owns and occupies a ranch of forty acres two and a half miles north- east of Sunnyside. This property has been in his possession since 1912, but he did not take up his abode thereon until 1914. His birth occurred in Gallia county, Olio, November 4, 1863, his parents being Hamilton and Elizabeth (Shaw) Hay, both of whom were natives of Gallia county. The father was a son of Reuben and Margaret (Aleshire) Hay, who were natives of eastern Virginia and became pioneer settlers of Ohio, taking up their abode in Gallia county in 1817. The maternal grandparents were Ward and Jenny (Ward) Shaw, who also became pioneer residents of the Buckeye state. Hamilton Hay was a farmer by occupation and devoted his entire life to that pursuit. During the period of the Civil war he served as a member of the Home Guards. Both he and his wife passed away in Ohio, the latter on the 3d of September, 1873, while the former survived until 1898. They were prominent and well known farming people of that locality, enjoying the high respect of all who knew them.

Reuben Hay, whose name introduces this record, acquired a public school educa- tion in Ohio and also attended the normal school for a few terms. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed from 1884 until 1917. He taught in the schools of Ohio until 1901 and then made his way to Seattle, Washington. For a year he was a teacher at Enumclaw, Washington, and for three and a half years was principal of the schools at Preston, this state. He was then appointed principal of the Parental school at Tacoma, where he remained for seven and a half years, and in 1914 he removed to Sunnyside, teaching at Waneta as principal of the school there for three years. In 1914 he settled upon his ranch which he has purchased in 1912, becoming owner of a tract of forty acres pleasantly located two and a half miles northeast of Sunnyside. Upon this place he raises hay and corn, also sugar beets and conducts a small dairy.

On the 25th of August, 1889, Mr. Hay was married to Miss Effie Larrimer, who was born in Chambersburg, Gallia county. Ohio, a daughter of William and Nancy (Ross) Larrimer. The record of their children is a most interesting one. Raymond, their eldest son, born March 3, 1891, enlisted in the Two Hundred and Eleventh Regiment of the Canadian army in 1916 and that he might render active service to the world in the effort to prevent militarism from becoming the dominant power. He saw active service throughout the entire struggle from the time of his enlistment until the armistice was signed and was wounded at Passchendaele, Belgium, on the 6tlı of August, 1917. For six months he was in a hospital in England and after he had somewhat recovered remained in that country, taking care of the sick and wounded and replacement soldiers. He became a sergeant and was active in recruiting work. He went to Europe on the Olympic and returned on the same boat, receiving an

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HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

honorable discharge on the 28th of January, 1919. By trade he is a machinist. Charles, the second son, born February 11, 1893, has been farming the home place since it was purchased by his father. Larry, born March 6, 1896, enlisted in Company C of the Second Washington Regiment, One Hundred and Sixty-first United States In- fantry, on the 27th of March, 1917, and later was in the Ninth Infantry Regulars. He left Long Island on the 13th of December, 1917, and went into action in June, 1918. He was gassed on the 3d of July, 1918, and after being sent back to his regi- ment at Soissons was hit by eleven pieces of shrapnel, being severely wounded and sent to the hospital. Recovering, however, he returned to active service and was all through the campaign of 1918 until again badly wounded on the 3d of October, 1918, by a shell. He had been advanced to the rank of corporal. Emory, born Oc- tober 23, 1898, enlisted in March, 1916, in the Two Hundred and Eleventh Battalion of the Canadian Infantry, and reached France in December of that year. He was also made a corporal and has been at the front throughout the whole war. He has been engaged in railway construction, spending most of the time in No Man's Land. Teddy the next of the family, is deceased. George died in infancy. Clayton, born May 10, 1909, completes the family.

Mr. Hay is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America and in politics maintains an independent course. He is interested in all those activities which have to do with the welfare and progress of his community and the state at large, and his progressive citizenship and interest in democracy are indicated in his giving to the cause three stalwart sons whose heroic service constitutes a most brilliant page upon the family history.

FRED EBERLE.

Fred Eberle, manager for the Yakima County Horticultural Union, was born in Dekalb county, Missouri, November 7, 1877, a son of George and Mary (Strong) Eberle. The father, a farmer by occupation, removed to Doniphan county, Kansas, in 1887 and still makes his home there. The son, then a lad of ten years, continued his education in the public schools of that locality and afterward had the benefit of instruction in a business college at St. Joseph, Missouri. Early in his business career he spent four years with the Wells Fargo Express Company in southern Kan- sas and in Oklahoma and in December, 1904, he arrived in the Pacific northwest, making his way to Seattle, where he resided until May 29, 1905, when he came to Yakima. Here he entered into association with the firm of J. M. Perry & Com- pany and in 1906 and 1907 was with the Ryan-Newton Company, wholesale fruit dealers. From 1908 until 1910 inclusive he was with the Yakima County Horticul- tural Union as a traveling salesman and from 1911 until 1913 was the northwestern representative at Yakima for the C. H. Robinson Company of Grand Forks, North Dakota. In August of the latter year he became assistant manager of the Yakima County Horticultural Union and in February, 1915, was advanced to the position of general manager. This is a gigantic concern, controlling, directing and protecting the interests of the leading fruit raisers of this section of the state. The organiza- tion is formed of the most prominent horticulturists of the Yakima valley and has an immense plant in the city of Yakima, with warehouses and branch establishments at various other points. As general manager Mr. Eberle is bending his efforts to ad- ministrative direction and executive control and is in close touch with every phase of horticultural life and development in the northwest. He is the vice president of the Yakima Valley Traffic & Credit Association, a fact which indicates his familiar- ity with all that has to do with shipping interests.

On the 4th of October, 1964, Mr Eberle was married to Miss Cassie E. Hub- bard, of Kirksville, Missouri, and they have one son, Gordon. Mr. Eberle belongs to Yakima Lodge, No. 24, F. & A. M., and passing up through the York Rite has become identified with Yakima Chapter, No. 21, R. A. M., and Yakima Commandery, No. 13. K. T. His wife attends the Presbyterian church and in social circles they are prominently known. Mr. Eberle also belongs to the Yakima Commercial Club and to the Yakima Valley Business Men's Association and is interested in every

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HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

project put forth to benefit the city and valley in its extending trade relations. Polit- ically Mr. Eberle is a republican, loyal in his support of what he believes to be for the best interests of community, commonwealth and country, He is alert to every opportunity opened in the ramifying branches of trade, is actuated in all that he does by a spirit of progressiveness and his initiative has carried forward the organiza- tion which he represents to a point where it has become a most dominant factor in the trade conditions of the northwest affecting horticultural interests.

LLOYD GARRETSON.

Lloyd Garretson, prominently known as a wholesale fruit man of Washington, conducting business in Yakima under the name of the Pacific Fruit & Produce Com- pany of Portland, has developed interests of extensive proportions, constituting an important element in the commercial activity of the city. Yakima is the center of the shipping for this company, while the home office is located at Portland and the jobhing trade taken care of from that point, hy his partner, George Yonell. The work of the Pacific Fruit & Produce Company entitles the officers to more than passing notice as representative business men of the northwest, among them, Mr. Garretson. He was born in Iowa in 1872, a son of James W. and Lucy S. (Monday) Garretson, who were natives of Pennsylvania and of Virginia respectively. They be- came residents of Iowa in the '50's, and the father then worked at the carpenter's trade, which he had learned in early life. He remained in the middle west for a long period but in 1890 removed to the Pacific coast, settling in Tacoma, Washington, where both he and his wife passed away. Their son, Lloyd Garretson, acquired a public school education in Iowa and when a youth learned the carpenter's trade under his father, with whom he worked until attaining his majority. Subsequently to the removal of the family to the northwest he purchased a retail grocery store in Tacoma, at 42nd and Stephens streets and there continued in business until 1894. when he organized the Pacific Fruit Company of Tacoma, for the conduct of a small retail business of that character. With the development of his trade hc transformed his interests into a wholesale business and in addition to fruit con- ducted a general market. In 1895 he was joined by George Youell in a partnership and under their combined direction the business grew rapidly and was incorporated in 1906. Mr. Garretson remained in Tacoma until 1903, when he removed to Yakima to take charge of the interests of the business at this point, Yakima being the seat of the head shipping office, while Portland has the home office, and the jobbing trade is cared for at that point. The business had been organized under the name of the Pacific Fruit & Produce Company of Tacoma in 1894, with the head office at Portland, while in 1902 the branch house at Yakima was opened, at which time the company utilized the warehouse of the Pioneer Lumber Company. In 1906 they built a warehouse at No. 5 North First avenue-a one-story brick structure. This was enlarged in 1910 by the addition of a basement and a cold storage plant. In 1915 they purchased the Perry building adjoining and thus secured a space one hviidred by one hundred and eighty feet. The building is two stories in height with basement and there is cold storage equipment for eighty cars. The company has its own boxing and shipping plants and has established a branch house at Selah Washington, where they have a warehouse seventy-five by one hundred feet. This was opened in 1917. In 1913 they established a warehouse at Zillah, thirty by seventy feet, and they also have two warehouses at Grandview, conducted under the name of the E. T. Blew Company, which were established in 1916. Their warehouse at Kennewick, established in 1915, is fifty by one hundred feet and their warehouse at Wenatchee, established in 1914, is one hundred hy one hundred feet with basement. In 1917 they further extended their equipment by securing a warehouse at Hanford, fifty by seventy feet, one story in height with basement, and at Wapato they rent a warehouse during the summer months. During 1917 they handled fourteen hun- dred car loads of fruit. Their business not only covers the Yakima valley but many outside points and in all they have forty branches in Oregon, Washington and Cali- fornia. The company farms three hundred acres of land, half of which they pur-

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 115

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