History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 119

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 119
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 119
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 119

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old, leaving his widow with three children. She never remarried but devoted her attention to her children, to whom she gave liberal educational advantages. She afterward lived in Minneapolis with her son Edward for a number of years but later returned to Hartford, Connecticut, where she passed away in 1914 at the advanced age of ninety-three years.

Edward B. Fitts was reared by his mother and obtained a public school educa- tion in Hartford. He made his initial step in the business world in connection with the retail meat trade and in 1872 he left New England for Minneapolis, where he conducted a meat market until 1878. He then removed to Bismark, North Dakota, where he resided for five years. While upon the western frontier he drove stage. hunted buffaloes and went through all the experiences of pioneer life in North Dakota and Montana. In 1882, however, he returned to Minneapolis and was engaged in the meat business there for twenty-two years. In 1904 he came to Yakima county, Washington, and he conducted a meat market at Toppenish for a year and a half. He afterward spent nine months at Prosser, Washington. In the meantime, however, he had purchased ten acres of land near Buena, which he sold in 1917. He also took up a homestead six miles east of Zillah, which he likewise later sold. He opened the first meat market at Zillah and conducted the business there for four years, when he disposed of his interests in the town and engaged in butchering on his ranch on the hill for a year. He afterward removed to the ranch owned by his wife, comprising forty acres a half mile west of Buena. He now has one acre planted to fruit, while the remainder of the land is devoted to the raising of hay, corn and other general farm products. He likewise conducts a small dairy business. A fine home has been erected upon the farm and all modern improvements have been added to the place, making it a valuable property, from which he yearly gathers fine harvests.

In 1882 Mr. Fitts was married to Miss Ida Hill, a native of Connecticut and a daughter of William and Phoebe Hill. Mrs. Fitts passed away in Minneapolis in 1902. There were two children of that marriage but the younger, Rosa, is deceased. The son, Joel Archer, is residing in Chicago, where he is employed as an electrical engineer. He is married and has two sons. On the 5th of December, 1911, Mr. Fitts of this review was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Lorena (Woods) Walker, who resided in the Yakima valley, having removed to the Pacific coast from Missouri. By her former marriage she had five children. Carl, who is ranching on the Yakima Indian reservation, is married and has two children; Mrs. E. W. Cox is married and resides near Buena; Captain Wesley W. Walker is now with the United States marines in France; Claude, who served on the Mexican bor- der, is now a corporal in the United States army in France; Lorene is at home.

Mr. and Mrs. Fitts attend the Baptist church and in politics he maintains an in- dependent course, voting for men and measures rather than party. He has led an active and useful life and his energy and determination have brought to him a sub- stantial measure of success. Both he and his wife are highly esteemed in the Yakima valley, where they now reside, and the hospitality of the best homes in their section of the county is freely accorded them.

C. A. SMITH.

C. A. Smith, editor and proprietor of the Yakima Valley Farmer, an agricultural publication which he is successfully conducting, was born in Cheboygan, Michigan, on the 15th of March, 1878, his parents being Edwin and Mary (Wheelock) Smith. The father was a lumberman and in 1883 left Michigan for the northwest, settling in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, where he is now living retired.

C. A. Smith of this review, putting aside his textbooks at the age of sixteen years, entered the newspaper field by securing a position in a newspaper office at Kingston, Idaho. In 1898 he published the Idaho State Tribune at Wallace, Idaho, and later he pursued a business course in Heald's Business College of San Francisco. In Sep- tember, 1900, he removed to Butte, Montana, where he became secretary for the Western Labor Union, and in 1905 he entered the cigar selling business, in which he continued for two years. On the expiration of that period he became identified

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with the purchasing department of the Anaconda Mining Company and so con- tinued from June, 1907, until May, 1911, when he was made chief clerk. His next position was that of first assistant treasurer of the city of Butte, in which capacity he served until 1913, when he was elected a member of the city council. He was afterward engaged in the advertising business until October, 1914, when Mayor Duncan of Butte was ousted from office and Mr. Smith was elected to serve as mayor for the remaining period of the term, covering seven months. Thus he continued as the chief executive of that city until May, 1915. After retiring from office he re- moved to the Yakima valley and purchased the Tribune, a paper published at Top- penish. This he continued until 1917, when he bought the Yakima Valley Farmer, which was established on the 1st of December, 1917, as successor to the Freeman's Farmer, which had been launched in Missouri by Leigh R. Freeman, who was a pio- neer settler of the Yakima valley, coming across the country with ox team in the '70s. He located in the city of Yakima and afterward removed his building to North Yakima when the new town was started. He brought forth the Freeman Farmer as . a monthly publication, with a circulation that extended throughout the northwest. It was published as a general agricultural paper by Mr. Freeman until his death, which occurred in February, 1915. His wife and daughter afterward conducted the paper for two years, at the end of which time Mrs. Freeman was called to her final rest and in 1917 the paper was sold, Mr. Smith becoming proprietor. This is the oldest publication in Washington. Mr. Smith is the manager and editor as well as the owner of the paper, which is now published weekly and has a circulation of over thirty-five hundred. It is the only farm paper issued in the Yakima valley. It pre- sents everything of interest to the farmer concerning the cultivation of the land and the development of the crops and is a most progressive journal, proving of great value to the farming people of the community. The Yakima Valley Farmer is unique in that its publisher insists that it is a "farmers' paper" instead of the ordinary "farm paper." The publication and its publisher are especially active in furthering farmers' organizations, giving particular attention to the marketing feature, which Mr. Smith insists is the weakest link in the nation's agricultural system, and which must be solved before the farmers of the country can assume the position of dignity and influence to which their economic importance entitle them. The shop is supplied with all modern printing equipment, including the latest improved presses and other machinery, and he employs from three to six people. He also does a large amount of job printing, catalogues and other work of that kind.

On the 3d of July, 1902, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Bessie E. Hughes, of Butte, Montana, and they have one daughter, Helen, now fifteen years of age.

BARNEY E. BAKER.

Barney E. Baker is the owner of a fine orchard property comprising eighteen acres of land on Sclah Heights and this is devoted to the raising of apples, prunes, peaches and pears. He has been very successful in the conduct of the business and what he has already achieved indicates that his future career will be well worth watching.

Mr. Baker is a native son of Pennsylvania. He was born in Millport, that state, on the 3d of July, 1882, a son of H. D. and Mary (Warner) Baker, the former a native of New York, while the latter was born in the Keystone state. The father became a farmer and also engaged in the lumber business, cutting his own timber. In 1901 he crossed the continent to Yakima county and purchased thirty-two acres of land on Selah Heights, the tract being all covered with the native sagebrush when it came into his possession. He still retains twenty-one acres of the purchase and has eight acres planted in orchards. The remainder is devoted to diversified farm- ing and both branches of his business are proving profitable for he wisely and ener- getically carries on the work and continues the propagation of his orchards and the production of his crops according to most progressive methods. In 1893 he was

BARNEY E. BAKER

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called upon to mourn the loss of his wife. Subsequently he wedded Agnes R. Baker and they still occupy the old home farm.

Barney E. Baker, after acquiring a public school education, assisted in the cul- tivation of the home place, early becoming the active assistant of his father in that line of work. His residence in Yakima county dates from 1901. He purchased thirty- one acres of land on Selah Heights and cleared it of the sagebrush with which it was covered. It was naturally arid, as indicated by the fact that sage was almost the only thing that grew upon it, but he plowed it and began its improvement. In 1904 he sold that property to his cousin, Earl Baker, and afterward went to Rupert, Idaho, taking up his abode on Snake river, where he purchased eighty acres of wild land which he devoted to general farming. He also opened a blacksmith and carriage shop, which he conducted until 1916, when he sold his property there and returned to Yakima county. Here he invested in eighteen acres of land on Selah Heights and has since engaged in the raising of apples, prunes, peaches, pears and other fruits, having a fine orchard.

On the 22d of November, 1906, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Cora R. Craver, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Peter Craver, who, removing westward, took up his abode in Mankato, Minnesota, during the girlhood days of Mrs. Baker.

Fraternally, Mr. Baker is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, of which he has been a member since reaching the age of twenty-one years. He is now affiliated with Selah Lodge No. 312, I. O. O. F., of which he is a past grand. His wife is a member of the Christian church. Politically he maintains an independent course and along business lines he is identified with the Yakima County Horticultural Union. He is a man who has traveled broadly, thus greatly promoting his knowledge, and his mind is stored with many interesting reminiscences of his journeys. During 1903 he took a trip to Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world in order to see the countries and he has traveled to a great extent over the United States. He is ever interested in matters of public concern, in the welfare of his community and of his fellow townsmen, and he stands for all that is progres- sive in citizenship.

A. BERT WILCOX.

A. Bert Wilcox is the owner of important ranching interests in the Yakima val- ley. He makes his home in the city of Yakima, from which point he directs his agri- cultural interests. He was born in Wales on the 23d of August, 1868, a son of C. P. and Anna Maria (Mckinstry) Wilcox, both of whom are natives of New York, and they were on a visit in Wales when their son was born. The father was a contractor and followed that pursuit in order to provide for the support of his family. In the year 1872 he left the east and removed to Minnesota, where he resided for more than a decade, and in 1886 he arrived in Washington. He lived in the Sound district until 1889, when he came to Yakima. He had been prominent in the lumber business in Minnesota and had established and successfully conducted thirteen yards in that state. He is now living retired, for well earned rest has crowned his years of intense and well directed activity. Putting aside business cares, he is now enjoying the fruits of his former toil, having a comfortable competence that supplies him with all of the necessities and many of the luxuries of life. For several years he lived in Yakima but he and his wife now make their home in Pasadena, California, to which place they removed in 1908. While in Yakima, Mr. Wilcox developed considerable property in the city and contributed in no small degree to its development and im- provement.

A. Bert Wilcox supplemented his public school training by study in Hamline University at St. Paul, Minnesota, and in January, 1890, he arrived in Yakima, after which he purchased wild land on the Parker bottom. This he developed into a fruit ranch and has a fine orchard of eighty acres. He now rents his ranch, having re- moved to Yakima in 1910, since which time he has made his home in the city. He was connected with the Yakima Transfer & Storage Company for three years and did a successful business in that connection but at the end of that period sold out.

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He has bought and sold several properties and business interests but has practically retired. However, he is still the owner of two excellent ranch properties, from which he derives a gratifying annual income.

On March 1, 1899, Mr. Wilcox was married to Miss Grace A. Goodwin, a daugh- ter of J. W. Goodwin, who was the first white settler in the Cowiche valley. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox have become the parents of a son, Kenneth B., seventeen years of age and now a high school student.

Mr. Wilcox is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and also with the Knights and Ladies of Security. His political endorsement is given to the republican party but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him, as he has always preferred to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his business affairs. His judicious investments. his keen sagacity and his unfaltering purpose have been the salient elements in attaining the success which he now enjoys.

ELMER E. HOLT.

Elmer E. Holt, who was the first settler on the Outlook project near Sunnyside, ie now one of the prosperous ranchers of that section of Yakima county and today has a highly improved property that came into his possession as a tract of wild land covered with sagebrush. His identification with the northwest dates from 1902, but he is a native son of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Clinton, that state, on the 28th of September, 1866. He is a son of Alexander and Salena (Rowland) Holt, the former a native of Kentucky, while the latter was born in Indiana. The father was a son of Willis Holt, who was also born in Kentucky and went with his family to Iowa, casting in his lot among the pioneer settlers of that state. It was in Iowa that Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Holt were married and there the father devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. His wife's people were also pioneer settlers of that state. The death of Alexander Holt occurred in April, 1918, and his widow now resides at Fulton, Illinois. They had removed from Iowa to Whiteside county, Illi- nois, when their son Elmer was but three years of age and there he was reared and educated, pursuing a public school course. After his textbooks were put aside he took up the occupation of farming in connection with his father and was thus en- gaged until he reached the age of twenty-two years. He afterward turned his atten- tion to sawmill work and later was engaged in railroading for thirteen years as a brakeman and conductor on the Chicago & Northwestern, being connected with the freight service.

In 1902 Elmer E. Holt arrived in Washington and took up a homestead. He proved up on the property and transformed it into a good farm, of which he remained owner until 1909, when he sold and came to Sunnyside, working for the United States Reclamation Service for five years. In 1915 Mr. Holt purchased forty acres of land two and a half miles north of Sunnyside-a tract of sagebrush giving no indication that it might be at some future date a valuable and productive farm property. Mr. Holt became the first settler on this part of the Outlook project. He now has his land all cleared and he raises hay, corn, potatoes and sugar beets, annually producing large crops. In 1916 he built a nice home upon his place and has a splendidly im- proved property.

On the 22d of November, 1894, Mr. Holt was united in marriage to Miss Susie Skare, a native of Hamilton county, Iowa, and a daughter of Sjure and Bertha (Johnston) Skare, who were born in Norway. They emigrated to the United States as young people, abont 1864, and Mr. Skare became a successful agriculturist of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Holt have four children, as follows: Clarence, who was born October 13, 1895; Mae, the wife of Glen Campbell, who is engaged in ranching near Sunny- side; George, whose birth occurred April 16, 1903; and Cecil, whose natal day was January 1, 1911.

Fraternally Mr. Holt is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also with the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he has filled all of the offices. He votes for men and measures rather than for party. The cause of edu- cation has found in him a stalwart champion and he has served on the school board.

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He is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is much interested in the moral progress of the community. In a word he stands for all that has to do with the improvement and upbuilding of the district in which he has made his home and his labors have been a contributing factor to its substantial development.

C. JOSEPH DA VISE. .

C. Joseph Da Vise, manager for the Yakima Rex Spray Company, with office in the city of Yakima, was born in Wales in 1868, his parents being George and Roberta Da Vise, the former a miner, but both have now passed away. The son was gradu- ated from the Imperial College of Science with the class of 1890 and for three years was a student in Yale University, where he pursued the scientific course. Later he was in the government service in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and other states, being employed as entomologist and plant pathologist until 1908, when he came to Yakima. He then accepted the position of directing manager for the Rex Company in the northwest. The Yakima Rex Spray Company was established in 1907 as a branch of a chain of Rex plants which had been founded by the Rex Company of Omaha, Nebraska. The Yakima plant covers two and a half acres of ground. The buildings are sixty by one hundred and forty feet and three stories in height and basement. The company has its own railway sidings and is engaged in the manufacture of lime, sulphur and oil sprays. The capacity is from eight to ten thousand barrels of spray per year, with a six months' run and employment is given to fifteen people in Yakima. The product from the Yakima plant is sold throughout the territory from Ellensburg to Walla Walla and this plant has its own tank car distribution and also truck dis- tribution for supplying local demand. They have established numerous local sta- tions with steel tank storage. H. C. Kilgour is the local manager at Yakima, with Mr. Da Vise as the directing manager of the northwestern plants, which include plants in Wenatchee, Washington, and Payette, Idaho. The broad scientific train- ing and the previous experience of Mr. Da Vise well qualify him for the responsible duties which he has assumed in this connection. His labors are of an educative as well as of an executive character and he is doing much to bring about a thorough understanding of the use and value of sprays in connection with the development of the orchards of this section of the country.

On the 20th of July, 1908, Mr. Da Vise was married to Miss Alice Newton, of Kansas City. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being a charter member of the lodge at Guthrie, Oklahoma. He is identified with several organizations of a scientific nature, including the American Chemical Society and the American Entomological Society. He belongs to the Yakima Coun- try Club and to the Arctic Club of Seattle, to the Western Automobile Club, the Inter- state Highway Association, the American Automobile Club, and the Yakima Good Roads Association, of which he is an executive member. He is also a member of the National Evergreen Highway Association. He has motored all over the world and is a most enthusiastic champion of the good roads movement. His winter seasons are devoted to travelogue work as a lecturer in the interests of the national parks and he is a personal friend of Stephen T. Mather, director of the National Parks. Actuated in all that he does by a progressiveness that is continually reaching out to broader fields and larger opportunities, his life work has been of great benefit in con- nection with the horticultural interests of the state and also in the way of awakening the public interest and public conscience concerning public needs and opportunities.

HOLT CALVERT.

Among the successful agriculturists of the Wenas district is Holt Calvert, who has a fine property near Selah, comprising one hundred and sixty acres. He was born at St. Joseph, Missouri, March 5, 1860, a son of Frank and Bettie (Calvert) Calvert, natives of that state. The Calvert family was originally established in Ken-

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tucky, where the grandfather, Lewis Calvert, was born and thence they migrated as pioneers to Missouri, removing to that state with ox teams. . The grandfather as well as the parents, all of whom followed the occupation of farming, died in Mis- souri.

Holt Calvert was reared and educated in his native state, early in life becoming acquainted with agricultural methods. In 1885, however, he decided to make a re- moval to the state of Washington in order to profit by the conditions presented in a less thickly settled country. He at first located in Ellensburg and there remained a year. At the end of that period he came to the Wenas valley and acquired seven hundred and twenty acres of land, to the cultivation of which he devoted his atten- tion until 1910, when he sold out and acquired another tract of one hundred and sixty acres on the Wenas, located about three miles south of David Longmire's farm. All of this land is now under cultivation and Mr. Calvert every year harvests valu- able crops of hay and grain, deriving a substantial income from his labors. His farm is in a most desirable location and there are several fine springs to be found upon the property. He has followed the most progressive methods, has instituted the most modern equipment, and is now numbered among the most substantial agriculturists of his district.

On November 25, 1891, Mr. Calvert was united in marriage to Miss Ida Cleman, a native of Yakima county and a daughter of Clifford and Sarah Cleman, pioneers of this county. The father for many years followed agricultural pursuits very success- fully but is now retired. His wife has passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. Calvert five children have been born: Robert, at home; Edward, who is a rancher on the Wenas and is married and has one child; Mabel, the wife of Herbert Miles, who is also ranching on the Wenas; Millie, who married Carl Longmire, likewise a rancher on the Wenas; and Lottie, at home.

Mr. Calvert has ever taken a great interest in public improvements and readily gives of his time, efforts and means in order to promote progress and prosperity in his locality. Politically he is independent, voting according to his judgment with- out considering party affiliations. There is much that is honorable and commendable in his life, as he is a self-made man and through his own efforts has attained pros- perity. He is loyal in his friendships, dependable in his business transactions and conscientious in his citizenship and in many ways has therefore set an example to a younger generation as to what in every respect constitutes a successful career.

WILLIAM F. AMONETTE.

William F. Amonette, who in 1917 established Motor Inn, of which he is presi- dent, has since successfully conducted that business in Yakima. He was born in Tennessee on the 5th of May, 1883, a son of John and Katherine (Boring) Amonette. The father is now deceased, but the mother survives and makes her home in Kelsey. Texas.

William F. Amonette, after acquiring a public school education, learned the ma- chinist's trade in the railway shops of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company and afterward was employed by the Union Pacific Railway. He came to the north- west in 1900, making his way to Oregon, and subsequently was in the service of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company. He took up automobile work in Tacoma in 1915 and in 1917 came to Yakima. On the 11th of June of that year he joined with three others in establishing the Motor Inn and after successfully conducting the business for a time Mr. Amonette purchased the interests of his partners in the concern and is now sole proprietor. It has a frontage of seventy- five feet. In the new quarters he has excellent equipment and facilities for the con- duct of his business. which has been steadily growing and has already reached grati- fying proportions.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 119

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