History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 116

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 116
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 116
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 116

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HISTORY OF 'YAKIMA VALLEY

chascd in 1915, which is devoted to diversified crops, seventy acres being planted to fruit. This end of the business is under the management of John Koraski. The officers of the Pacific Fruit & Produce Company are: George Youell, the president and treasurer, and a resident of Portland; and Lloyd Garretson, vice president and secretary. Under the direction of these men an immenze business has been built up and developed that covers much of the Pacific coast country north of San Francisco. There is no phase of the fruit and produce business with which they are not thor- oughly familiar, from the time of production in the orchard until the sales are com- plcted in the eastern markets.

In 1896 Mr. Garretson was married to Miss Sophia Margaret Rommerman, of Tacoma, and they have three children: James Warren, nineteen years of age, a member of the United States army, now in France, who was a student in the Uni- versity of Washington; Helen May, aged fifteen; and John, a lad of nine years.

Mr. Garretson belongs to Yakima Lodge, No. 318, B. P. O. E. He is also a mem- ber of the Yakima Country Club and of the Yakima Commercial Club, of the Yakima Valley Business Men's Association and the Traffic and Credit Association and of the last named was one of the organizers. He is likewise a trustee and the treasurer of the Fruit Growers' Agency.

KNUTE IVERSON.

Among the substantial citizens furnished to America by the land of the midnight sun is Knute Iverson, whose birth occurred in Norway on the 14th of June, 1867, and who is now a well known rancher in the Zillah district of Yakima county. His parents were Iver and Hilda Iverson, both now deceased. The father followed car- pentering and also engaged in farming.

Knute Iverson obtained a public school education in his native country and was a young man of nineteen years when he bade adieu to friends and home and sailed for the new world, taking up his abode in Minnesota in 1886. Two years later, or in 1888. he came to Washington, scttling in Tacoma, and in 1901 he removed to Lester, Washington, where he engaged in the dairy business. In 1906 he arrived in the Yakima valley, where in 1903 he had purchased sixty acres of land a quarter of a mile southwest of Buena. Here he entered the dairy business and also engaged in the raising of hay and various crops. He likewise raises some pears upon his place. He had eighty acres on the Yakima Indian reservation at one time and pastured there- on one hundred and seventy-five head of fine cattle, which, however, he sold in 1918. In 1911 he built a fine home upon his ranch near Buena and is most comfortably and pleasantly situated in life.

In 1891 Mr. Iverson was married to Miss Ellen Strom, a native of Norway, and they became the parents of three children, of whom two have passed away. The surviving son, Ungell, now twenty-six years of age, has taken a course in civil engi- neering in the State College at Pullman, Washington, and for two years gave his attention to the work of the Agricultural College there. He is now a member of the United States army.

Krute Iverson has membership with the Woodmen of the World and is also connected with the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company. In politics he is a re- publican. His time and attention, however, are mostly given to his business affairs and the thoroughness which he has displayed in the conduct of his interests has heen a dominant element in the attainment of gratifying success.

CHARLES R. PADDOCK.

As one visits the splendid orchards of Washington, with their immense yield, it is almost impossible to realize that only a few short years ago it was believed that fruit could not be successfully raised in the Yakima valley or in this part of the state. With the development of the fruit growing interests many prominent and progres-

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sive business men have come to the front. Among this number is Charles R. Paddock, now a wholesale fruit dealer of Yakima, who has developed interests of large ex- tent and importance. He is winning well merited success and his position as a representative business man of Yakima is indeed an enviable one.

Mr. Paddock is a native of Colby, Clark county, Wisconsin. He was born in 1880, of the marriage of Chester and Mary (Russell) Paddock, who in the year 1882 removed with their family to South Dakota and settled at Volga, where the father took up the occupation of farming. There he continued to reside until 1902, when he came to the northwest, establishing his home in Seattle. He died in Yakima, while his wife departed this life in Tacoma.

Charles R. Paddock, after acquiring a public school education in South Dakota, came to Washington in 1901 and for a year was employed in a sawmill in Seattle. He afterward became associated with J. P. Warner & Company in the fruit busi- ness and still later was with the American Produce Company. In 1906 he arrived in Yakima and entered the employ of the Yakima County Horticultural Union in the capacity of bookkeeper. His fidelity and capability in that connection led to his promotion to the position of manager in 1909 and he so continued to serve until the early part of 1912. Ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he then entered the brokerage field, organizing the firm of C. R. Paddock & Company in 1914. This was incorporated on the 1st of July, 1918, and offices which were or- iginally established in the Yakima Trust building were removed in 1917 to 13 South First avenue, where the company has a warehouse fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, together with commodious office space. They do a brokerage and shipping business in fruit and produce and have built up a patronage of gratifying propor- tions.

In 1910 Mr. Paddock was married to Miss Pearl L. Kelly, of Yakima, a daughter of William and Martha (Strickland) Kelly. Mrs. Paddock was born in Oregon and her people were pioneer residents of that state, whence they removed to Yakima in 1906. To Mr. and Mrs. Paddock has been born one son, who is affectionately called Billy,

Mr. Paddock is a well known Mason, belonging to Yakima Lodge, No. 24, F. & A. M., also to the Lodge of Perfection up to the Consistory, which is the thirtieth degree. He likewise has membership in Elks Lodge, No. 318, of Yakima and is en- rolled among the representatives of the Yakima Country Club and the Yakima Com- mercial Club. In politics he maintains an independent course and his religious views are indicated in his attendance at the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the Young Men's Christian Association and also of the Home Guard and he is intensely interested in everything that is truly and patriotically American. He cooperates heartily and willingly in every effort to promote public progress and improvement and to raise the standards of citizenship. At the same time he has been a progres- sive, wide-awake and alert business man who has accomplished his purposes and wor a position among the successful merchants of the west. He is a man of de- termined purpose who never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his plans. He has ever recognized that if one avenue of opportunity is closed he can carve out other paths whereby to reach the desired goal, and his determination and energy have carried him over many obstacles and difficulties.

HORACE A. CROCKER & SONS.

The remarkably rapid development which Washington has experienced in con- tradistinction to other western states is largely due to that sturdy element which is represented by the local agriculturists. These mostly came from the middle west and here have found the opportunities which in a more thickly settled section were de- nied them. Among these men who have made good here is Horace A. Crocker, a well known and prosperous rancher, who owns a valuable property three and a half miles west of Grandview, which is devoted to general agricultural pursuits. He and his sons have developed a farming property of the highest class and his substantial home and commodious barns bespeak the industry which has been bestowed upon the place.

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A native of Dane county, Wisconsin, Horace A. Crocker was born February 10, 1848, and is a son of John Russell and Jane (Lester) Crocker, the former born in New York and the latter in Michigan. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Crocker, was a native of New York and was numbered among the early pioneers of Dane county Wisconsin, where for many years he followed the trade of a shoemaker but also farmed to a considerable extent. Throughout his life the father followed the latter occupation in Wisconsin but his death occurred at the home of a daughter in Minnesota. The mother passed away in Wisconsin.

Horace A. Crocker was reared amid pioneer conditions in the middle west and in early life experienced the hardships connected with such a life. In the acquirement of an education he attended the rudimentary schools of his neighborhood but in 1879. having become thoroughly acquainted with all farming methods then in opera- tior in his native state, he removed to Wadena county, Minnesota, where he bought land, and in that state he continued to engage in agricultural pursuits for thirty ycaro. The year 1909 marked his arrival in Yakima county, his family accompany- ing him, and here he at first rented land, which he cultivated until 1915, when his sons bought a ranch three and a half miles west of Grandview, comprising twenty acres, in the management and operation of which he is now active. They raise corn, potatoes and hay and everything about the place indicates twentieth century enter- prise. There is a good house and barn upon the place and the most modern farm machinery and equipment can be found there.

On the 1st of February, 1870, Mr. Crocker was married to Miss Amelia Page, a native of Waterford, Wisconsin, and a daughter of David and Tryphosa (Tubbs) Page, who were natives of New York and became early pioneers of Wisconsin. Both parents are now deceased. The father was for many years engaged in agri- cultural pursuits in Racine county. To Mr. and Mrs. Crocker were born the follow- ing children: William Wyatt, who died at the age of thirteen months; Irvine Elmer, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Alva Adelbert, who was born August 28, 1877, and is a rancher; Roxcey, the wife of Leonard Nickerson, a rancher of Yakima county; and Clinton George, who was born in Minnesota, December 1, 1885, and is ranching with his brother, Alva A.

Mr. Crocker and his family occupy a position of high esteem among their fellow citizens, having proven themselves industrious, thorough business men who do their part in the world. The family are socialists, being strongly imbued with the prin- ciples of social equality underlying that party. The father, although now seventy years of age, is still vigorous and active and has had his full share in raising the value of the farm property which is owned by him and the family. They are the best of neighbors, helpful and obliging, and have made many friends since coming here.

FRIDOLF NELSON.

Fridolf Nelson, a Yakima manufacturer of prominence, connected since 1914 with the Nelson Manufacturing Company, was born in Sweden, March 6, 1872, a son of Nels Nelson and Maria (Johnson) Nelson, who are still residents of Sweden. The son obtained his education in the schools of his native country and came to the United States in 1893, making his way to Chicago, where he lived for seven years. In 1900 he went to Alaska, where he remained for eight years and during that period was largely engaged in mining at Nome.

Mr. Nelson then returned to the States, making his way to Seattle, and in con- nection with two others he purchased three-quarters of a section of land a mile west of Wiley City. Later, however, he sold most of this to a Swedish colony. He and his partners organized the Jupiter Investment Company and handled the land, which they settled with people of their own nationality and thus developed one of the progressive colonies of the district. Mr. Nelson, making his home in Yakima, became interested in the Nelson Manufacturing Company, which was organized in 1914 by John Nelson, who had invented the Nelson fruit grader. He was joined by Fridolf Nelson and the machine was perfected in 1914. after which patents were

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secured. They began the manufacture of the machine on South Sixth avenue, whence a removal was made to First street, South, in 1915. They started to sell the machine in 1915 and in the spring of 1916 a removal was made to First avenue and A street, where they rented a two-story building forty by eighty feet. They manufacture two-unit machines which sell at four hundred dollars, each machine having a capacity of from ten to twelve hundred hoxes of fruit per day. They employ seven men and are meeting with success because of the excellence of their grader, which is unsurpassed by any other device of the kind on the market. The floor space required is twenty-nine feet and four inches by eleven feet and six inches and the machine will accurately grade apples, pears and peaches, being absolutely the only machine that will grade pears as well as other fruit. This machine has received the highest award at the Washington state fairs. It is so constructed that one grader determines the size of each piece of fruit by weighing, after which it is gently dropped into the cups from the elevator and the fruit is caught in a canvas bag and then drops lightly to the canvas bottom of the bin, the longest drop being only six inches. Thus all bruising is eliminated. The graders are made of the best possi- ble materials and the machinery runs very smoothly and quietly. A variation from one ounce to one and one quarter pounds is obtainable, and when once the rail is set there is no variation. The Nelson machine has received the endorsement of many of the most prominent fruit packing concerns of the northwest. The demand for the machine is constantly growing and the business is thereby increasing.

On the 24th of September, 1911, Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Mathilda An- derson, who was born in Sweden and was a resident of Seattle. They have one child. Herbert, born December 8, 1912. Mr. Nelson has never been active as a lodge man or as a club member but has concentrated his efforts and attention upon his business interests with growing success. He has shipped his machines to New Zea- land and all over the west and such is the growth of the business that he is unable to supply the demand.

GEORGE B. LONGMIRE.

The name of Longmire has long been honorably connected with successful agri- cultural accomplishments in the Yakima valley and George B. Longmire of this review is among the younger farmers who are carrying on this high reputation in his neighborhood. A thoroughly western man of western ideas, imbued with western energy and western purpose, Mr. Longmire was born in Yakima county March 8, 1886, a son of Mr. and Mrs. David Longmire, who are more extensively mentioned on other pages of this work.

George B. Longmire was reared under the parental roof and the first lessons of life were carefully instilled by his loving parents during his early boyhood. In the acquirement of his education he attended the public schools near his father's farm and when old enough took up farm labor, continuing with his father upon the ranch until 1906. There he acquired a good fundamental knowledge of the methods of agriculture, becoming theoretically as well as practically acquainted with the best way of handling a farming enterprise. In that year some land was left to him by his mother, to the cultivation of which he gave his immediate and resultant atten- tion, winning success through his industry, energy and foresight. So well did he succeed that he was enabled to buy additional land and now owns one hundred and twenty acres, all of which is under cultivation, while he also holds title to three sections of land in partnership with his brothers. This property is largely used as range. He raises hay and also grain to some extent and has been especially successful in the cattle business, specializing in full blooded Shorthorns and Hereford sires. He now runs over one hundred head of cattle, his herd representing a snug little fortune.

On the 18th of March, 1908, at the age of twenty-two George B. Longmire and Goldie Shepherd were united in marriage. She is a native of Washington and a daughter of Asbury Shepherd, who came to Yakima county about 1903 and now resides at Selah. Mr. and Mrs. Longmire have two children: Dorothy, aged eight; and Marjorie, seven years of age.

GEORGE B. LONGMIRE

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In his political affiliations Mr. Longmire is a democrat but does not consider himself bound by party ties, preferring to exercise his own judgment by supporting the candidate whom he regards as best fitted for the office to which he aspires. He has not only prospered individually and built up a substantial competence for him- self, which is evident from his fine ranch, his excellent home, the modern buildings and all other improvements upon his property, but he has ever given of his time, effort and means toward the support of movements of a public nature, discharging his duties as an American citizen appreciatively and conscientiously. Many are the friends whom he has made in Selah and all who know him esteem him as a reliable, trustworthy young man who has seriously set himself the task of making an honor- able career.

O. K. CONANT.

O. K. Conant, widely known as the efficient secretary and treasurer of the Yakima County Horticultural Union, his cooperation being considered a most valuable fac- tor in promoting the interests of the organization, was born in Plainfield, Illinois, in 1868, a son of A. E. and Elizabeth (Filbrook) Conant, both of whom were na- tives of Maine. They removed to Illinois in 1853 and there the father devoted his life to the occupation of farming, but both he and his wife have now passed away.

O. K. Conant supplemented a public school education by attendance at Val- paraiso University of Indiana and the University of Wooster, of Wooster, Ohio, and through the period of his later youth and early manhood he followed farming in Illinois. He was thus identified with its agricultural interests until 1906, when he made his way to the Yakima valley and purchased seventy-two acres of land four miles west of the city of Yakima. He still has sixty-five acres of that tract, of which fifty acres is planted to fruit, including apples and pears. He makes his home thereon and is situated in the midst of most attractive and pleasant surroundings. He be- came secretary and treasurer of the Yakima County Horticultural Union and in order to prosecute his duties in that connection he drives into Yakima each day. The Union was formed to promote and protect the shipping and other interests of the horticul- turists of the valley, to encourage fruit raising and to direct and manage the sale of fruit. The business has been thoroughly systematized and splendidly developed and as one of the executives of the Union Mr. Conant is taking a very active and helpful part in formulating and prosecuting its plans. He is widely recognized as a man of notable sagacity and progressiveness, nor does he stop short of the success- ful fulfillment of any plan which he makes.

In 1899 Mr. Conant was married to Miss Bessie Flagg, of Plainfield, Illinois, and they have two adopted children, Ralph and Neal. The religious faith of the family is that of the Presbyterian church and the political belief of Mr. Conant is that of the republican party. His activities, however, are mostly concentrated upon his important business affairs and in addition to his other interests he is a director of the Yakima Valley Canal Company. He is justly proud of the Union and what has been accomplished in that direction. He early recognized the value of concerted effort in promoting the interests of horticulturists and his work for the Union has been far-reaching, effective and valuable.

JOHN L. BEDELL.

Important ranching interests near Grandview claim the attention of John L. Bedell, who was born in Alabama in May, 1858, and in 1878 went with the family to Tennessee. In 1880 removal was made to Kansas, and he located in Cherokee county, taking up railroad land. There he farmed for two years, selling at the end of that period. He then worked for wages on farms in Missouri and also in the mines there but subsequently went to Illinois, where he was engaged in the latter line of work until he came to the state of Washington, locating in Roslyn in March. 1889. There

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he again engaged in mining and so continued until 1890, when he took up a home- stead in the lower part of Yakima county about five miles southeast of the present townsite of Sunnyside. To get an idea of the conditions which he had to face at the time of his arrival it may be mentioned in this connection that he had to pay at that time five dollars for having a barrel of water hauled from the Yakima river. Prosser was then the nearest market and it was therefore necessary for him to travel a dis- tance of fourteen miles in order to do his shopping. He was among the first settlers of his part of the county. In fact there were only two other families who were living at that time within range of his farm. Water for irrigation was not avail- able until 1907 and here Mr. Bedell made his home for seventeen years until irriga- tion came about. In the beginning he had one hundred and sixty acres of land but gradually he has sold all of this except a tract of thirty acres, which is now in a high state of cultivation, and he raises corn, potatoes and alfalfa. He has one of the finest farms in the neighborhood, the property having become valuable en- tirely through his own labors. Following progressive methods, he has succeeded to a very gratifying extent and has erected a fine home.

On the 25th of June, 1883, Mr. Bedell was married to Miss Carrie Wilson, a na- tive of Rock Island, Illinois, the ceremony being performed in Port Byron, that state. To this union were born the following children: Amy O., at home; and Orange B., who married A. C. Tribble, a resident of Tacoma, Washington.

Mr. Bedell is a valued member of the Baptist church and in his political affili- ations is a republican. He served for some time as postmaster of Ronald, Wash- ington, near Roslyn, holding that position for four years prior to coming to his ranch. He was also a member of the school board there and has served as a member of the local school board of district No. 35, for ten years, the cause of education ever finding in him a stalwart champion. For two terms, or four years, he served as trustee of the Water Users Association and also has been commissioner of drain- age district, No. 9, for four years. At this writing he is master of Wanita Grange, in which organization he has many friends and where he exchanges his views and experiences in regard to local ranching conditions. All who know him respect him as a loyal citizen who is thoroughly devoted to public interests and ever ready to lend a helping hand in order to promote worthy public enterprises. While he has at- tained individual prosperity, he has never lost sight of his duties as a citizen and, moreover, has led a blameless life in all of his private connections so that not the least shadow of evil or suspicion falls upon his career. In fact those who have known him longest esteem him highest and are most appreciative of his honorable quali- ties of heart and mind.

JOHN NELSON.

John Nelson is a prominent Yakima manufacturer and inventor whose skill and ingenuity, combined with the recognition of a need among fruit growers, led to his invention of the Nelson fruit grader, which has been placed upon the market and is now being rapidly sold. Mr. Nelson is a native of Sweden. He was born May 15, 1860, and is a son of Johannes and Lisa (Anderson) Nelson, who came to the United States in 1878 and located at Dassel, Minnesota. The father was a farmer by occupa- tion, devoting his life to that pursuit until his labors were ended in death. Both he and his wife passed away in Minnesota.

In his youthful days John Nelson learned the carpenter's trade, which he fol- lowed at various points in Minnesota, remaining a resident of that section of the country until 1909, when he removed to Yakima and soon afterward purchased a fruit ranch near Selah. There he still makes his home and is engaged in the rais- ing of apples and pears. He has well developed orchards, in which he utilizes the latest scientific discoveries for the care and protection of the trees and for handling the crops. In the course of his business he recognized the necessity of a good fruit grader and on the 25th of December. 1913, after carefully considering and thinking over the matter, began the work of inventing the Nelson fruit grader, which he brought to perfection. He then organized the Nelson Manufacturing Company of Yakima

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 116

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