History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 15

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 15
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 15
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 15

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On December 22, 1905, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Kielsmeier and Miss Ida Durham, a native of Faribault, Minnesota, and a daughter of Isaac W. and Mary (Gutcheff) Durham, who in March, 1902, came to the Yakima valley. Mr. Durham acquired ten acres of land near our subject's place, which is devoted to fruit raising.

Mr. and Mrs. Kielsmeier are members of the Christian church, to which faith they are devotedly attached. He is a member of the Grange, and his political affili- ation is with the republican party. He is one of the foremost fruit raisers and

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packers of his section of the valley and upon his place there are two packing houses, which are thoroughly equipped in order to facilitate the disposition of the fruit. In every way Mr. Kielsmeier is an up-to-date and energetic business man who ever follows honorable methods and in the course of years he has made many friends in business as well as in private life.

REUBEN A. AND ARCHIE E. HAYS.

The Hays brothers, composed of Reuben A. and Archie E., are actively identi- fied with the farming and fruit raising interests of Selah The former was born in Champaign county, Illinois, October 21, 1870, and the latter was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, February 24, 1875. Their parents were George W. and Martha Jane (Burns) Hays, who in 1876 removed from Indiana to Mattoon, Illinois, where they resided for a quarter of a century. In 1901 the family came to the northwest with the Yakima valley as their destination. They purchased thirty-five acres of land in the Selah valley and in 1908 added to this a tract of fifteen acres, making fifty acres in all. Of this place forty-five acres is planted to orchard, the family specializing in the production of apples, pears and cherries, of which they annually harvest good crops and make extensive shipments.

To Mr. and Mrs. George W. Hays were born nine children: Herman, who is a rancher living near Zillah, Washington; Reuben A. and Archie who run the old home place; Alva, who is engaged in ranching near Zillah and has a wife and one child: Lawrence., who is engaged in the fruit business in Yakima and has a wife and two children; Syvilla, the wife of Harry Morgan, a rancher living on Nob hill; Stella, the wife of Foster Barnsley, a rancher of Valley, Washington; Fay, at home; and Emma, who died at the age of two years. The mother is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church. The family is one of prominence in the community, where for eighteen years they have made their home. Throughout this entire period the Hays brothers have been identified with the development and progress of this region along horticultural lines. They were young men at the time of their arrival and at once became active factors in the development of the home place, which they are still operating. They have developed one of the leading ranches of the county, devoted to orcharding. Their land and their trees are always kept in excellent condition, scientific methods being manifest in the care of both, and the crops produced are therefore most gratifying.

Fraternally Archie E. Hays is connected with the Knights of Pythias. Both brothers vote the republican ticket but have never sought office, although in matters of citizenship they manifest a public-spirited devotion to the general good.

AUSTIN MIRES.

There are names that cannot be effaced from the pages of history; work that has left an ineradicable impress upon modern progress and future development: activity that has directed the trend of events and shaped the standards of present day life in the Yakima valley, and such has been the record of Austin Mires, lawyer and statesman, of Ellensburg. He was born in Parrish, Des Moines county, lowa, February 11, 1852, a son of John Harris and Anna (Deardorff) Mires. The father's family comes of French ancestry and the line is traced back to Peter and Catherine (Cought) Mires, who were the parents of Andrew Mires, born March 16, 1766. He' married Susanah Livingston, whose birth occurred March 10, 1769, and was a representative of one of the old colonial families. Their son, Solomon C. Mires, grandfather of Austin Mires of this review, was born in Morgantown, Virginia. April 30, 1788, and in young manhood went to Ohio, casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers in the vicinity of Zanesville. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812, participating in the battle of Tippecanoe. In his later life he removed to California, where his remaining days were passed. He wedded Mary Bates, a rela-

AUSTIN MIRES

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tive of Edward Bates, of Missouri, who was a member of President Lincoln's cabinet, and they had a family of nine children. After the death of his wife, Solomon Mires wedded a Mrs. Slaughter and they had three children. For over a third of a century he was a member of the Methodist church.

John Harris Mires, father of Austin Mires, was born in Licking county, Ohio, near Newark, January 8, 1823. At an early day he went to Iowa and after having worked on the Mississippi river for a short time as pilot on a steamboat, settled in Des Moines county, that state, where he engaged in farming until 1853. He then crossed the plains to Oregon, settling in what is now Douglas county, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until his death in the year 1886. He married Mrs. Anna (Deardorff) Byars, widow of Flemming Byars and a daughter of John and Catherine (Harshbarger) Deardorff, while the latter was a daughter of Christley and Barbary (Ammen) Harshbarger. John Deardorff, whose name was originally Dierdorff, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, April 26, 1779, and his wife was born in Virginia on the 6th of October, 1781. They were married in the Old Dominion in 1804 and afterward removed to Ohio, while subsequently they became residents of Indiana and afterward of Iowa, making their home on a farm at the Parrish post- office near Burlington, in Des Moines county, where their remaining days were passed. There Mrs. Deardorff died in 1871. By her marriage she had become the

mother of twelve children, of whom Anna, who was born in Ohio, September 18, 1817, became the wife of J. H. Mires. It is of interest to know that the ancestry of the Harshbarger family can be traced back four hundred years to Switzerland.

Mr. and Mrs. John H. Mires began their domestic life upon a farm in Des Moines county, Iowa, ten miles west of Burlington and a half mile from her father's place. In 1853, however, they made the long journey across the plains with ox teams, leav- ing their old Iowa home on the 30th of March and arriving at Milwaukee, Oregon, in September. At that time Austin Mires was a little more than a year old. In June, 1854, the parents removed with their family to the Umpqua valley and settled on a farm eight miles west of Oakland, in what is now Douglas county, the father pur- chasing the possessory right from Bob Stewart, giving him two yoke of oxen and a wagon in payment. The parents remained upon that place until called to their final rest, Mr. Mires passing away on the 3d of April, 1888, while his wife died January 15, 1894. She had been married prior to her marriage to John Harris Mires, her first husband having been Flemming Byars, to whom she gave her hand in marriage Sep- tember 13, 1838. They had five children: William Henry, born July 7, 1839; Rebecca Frances, born November 29, 1840; Mary Katherine, born October 3, 1842; Elizabeth Barton, born January 14, 1845; and David Nathan, who was born January 13, 1847. and died April 8, 1848. The husband and father passed away March 30, 1848, and it was on the 27th of March, 1851, that Mrs. Byars became the wife of J. H. Mires. This marriage was blessed with six children: Austin, born February 11, 1852; Benton, born September 26, 1853: Anna, born July 11, 1855; Margaret, born September 23, 1857; Addie, June 15, 1859; and John Solomon, February 20, 1863.

Austin Mires acquired his early education in the Umpqua Academy at Wilbur, Oregon, from which he was graduated with the class of 1876. He also attended Christian College at Monmouth, Oregon, when that institution was under the super- vision of T. F. Campbell, and later he engaged in teaching for several years in Doug- las county, Oregon. For about a year he was employed in a printing office at Rose- burg, Orcgon, and for three years was United States railway mail agent on the route from Portland to Roseburg, Oregon, when the latter was the terminus of the Oregon & California Railroad, now the Southern Pacific. Resigning that position in Sep- tember, 1880, he went immediately to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he pursued a full law course in the Michigan State University, winning the LL. B. degree on March 29, 1882. While pursuing his studies there he served as private secretary to Thomas M. Cooley, then dean of the law department of the university and chief justice of the supreme court of Michigan.

In April, 1882, Mr. Mires returned to his old home in Oregon and immediately entered into partnership with W. R. Willis at Roseburg in the practice of law. On the meeting of the state legislature in the fall of 1882 he was elected chief clerk of the state senate of Oregon and served in that capacity through the term. In the following spring he removed to Ellensburg, Washington, where he has since engaged

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in the practice of his profession. Throughout the intervening period Mr. Mires has been active in promoting the interests and shaping the policy of Ellensburg and of the valley. When the city was incorporated in 1886 he was chosen its first mayor and his service in behalf of the municipality was so satisfactory to the general public that he was reelected for a second term. When the Northern Pacific Railroad was being built through the county in 1885 and 1886 he acted as local attorney and as- sisted in securing the right of way through Kittitas county. When the Ellensburg National Bank was organized he was chosen its vice-president and attorney and served in those positions for six years. He was again called to public office when on the 14th of May, 1889, he was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention that met at Olympia on the 4th of July of that year and framed the present constitution of the state. He was made chairman of the committee on water and water rights and served also as a member of the committee on judicial article, of which Hon. George Turner, afterward United States senator, was chairman. On the 22d of July. 1890, he was appointed hy Governor E. P. Ferry, a member of the board of equalization and appeal for the state of Washington and continued in the office for three terms. This board was created by legislative act and constituted a special court, having to do with all applications for the purchase of state tide lands and also heard and determined all contests and controversies pertaining thereto. This board was abrogated by the legislature of 1894.

From President McKinley, in the fall of 1899, Mr. Mires received appointment to the position of supervisor of census for the second district of the state of Washing- ton and continued to act in that capacity while the census was being taken in 1900. Governor McBride appointed him in February, 1904, a member of the commission to draft an irrigation code for the state. He was appointed in 1904 to fill out the unexpired term of prosecuting attorney of Kittitas county to succeed his law part- ner, C. V. Warner, and at the regular election in November, 1904, was chosen to that office for the full term of two years as the candidate of the republican party. Re- fusing to again become a candidate, he retired from the position in January, 1907. For six successive years he was connected with the office of prosecuting attorney for Kittitas county. During seven terms he has served as city attorney of Ellensburg, has been city treasurer three terms and school director for one term. His official activities have covered a broad scope and at all points he has proven his loyalty to his country and her best welfare. Mr. Mires has ever been a stalwart champion of the republican party and was a warm admirer of Theodore Roosevelt and the policies which he advocated.

During all these years Mr. Mires has continued in the private practice of law and his clientage has been large and distinctively representative in character. He has followed his profession in both the superior and supreme courts of his state and has become the possessor of a law library of over a thousand volumes, with the contents of which he is thoroughly familiar. He also has in his home an extensive general library. His real estate and mining interests are valued at about twenty-five thou- sand dollars. In 1912 he served as a presidential elector, supporting Roosevelt and aiding in carrying the state for that year. His life has indeed been one of great ac- tivity and usefulness. In the constitutional convention he was responsible for article 17. section 1, Declaration of State Ownership. "The state of Washington asserts its ownership to the beds and shores of all navigable waters in the state up to and including the line of ordinary high tide in waters where the tide ebbs and flows; and up to and including the line of ordinary high water within the banks of all navigable rivers and lakes." In 1918 Mr. Mires became a candidate for the republican nomina- tion for congress but was defeated.

On the 5th of March, 1884, Mr. Mires was married to Mary L. Rowland, who was born in McMinnville, Oregon, May 24, 1862, a daughter of Jere T. and Hester E. (Simmons) Rowland. On the 8th of August, 1871, they arrived in the Naches valley of Washington and took up their abode on a squatter's claim. Mrs. Mires attended school in Oswego, Oregon, in 1872 and 1873. In 1874 the family home was established near the town of Robbers Roost, now Ellensburg, where Mr. H. H. Davies, her stepfather, took up a homestead. In 1877 Mrs. Mires made a trip oni horseback over the Cascade mountains requiring seven days and forded the Yakima river three times within that period and also forded the Snoqualmie river thirty-three

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times. On her return trip she took a steamer from Seattle to Tacoma, then pro- ceeded by train to Kalama and by steamer of Portland, Oregon, from which city she proceeded by steamer to The Dalles. From that point she traveled by freighting wagon to Ellensburg, being twelve and a half days in completing the trip. In 1880 she made another trip over the Cascade mountains on horseback, but the trails were better then and the time required was but three and a half days. Thus both Mr. and Mrs. Mires have been closely identified with the pioneer development of the north- west and have witnessed almost the entire growth and progress of this section. To them have been born three children: Anna Wanda, who was born October 14, 1885, and is the wife of Edward George, living at Olympia, Washington; John Rowland, who was born October 14, 1885, and is a graduate of the Oregon Agricultural Col- lege, while at present he is practicing the profession of civil engineering at Astoria, Oregon; and Eve Helen, who was born June 2, 1893. She is a graduate of the State Normal School at Ellensburg, Washington, and is now successfully teaching in Ellensburg.

Fraternally Mr. Mires is connected with the Masons, which order he joined at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and he also has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and with the Red Men. Such in brief is the life history of Austin Mires. Those who read between the lines, however, will glimpse the picture of pioneer life and conditions in Washington that existed during his boyhood days. He worked on the farms in the Umpqua valley, attended the rural schools, chopped wood, broke horses, hunted deer. taught school, worked in a printing office in Roseburg, cooked for the United States surveyors and served for three years as United States railway mail agent. Such experiences brought him up to the point where he entered upon the study of law and made his initial step in the practice of his profession, since which time his advancement has been continuous. Not only has he acted as an interpreter of the law in the application of legal prin- ciples to points in litigation in the courts but has aided in framing the organic law of the state and in many ways has left the impress of his ability and his individuality upon the history of Washington. He is honored wherever known and most of all where he is best known and in the community where he lives he enjoys in an unusual degree the respect, confidence and esteem of those amid whom he has lived for many years and who have been daily witnesses of his career-a career that has brought him out of humble surroundings to a place of prominence as one of the honored and representative men of the state.

E. WILBUR HEDDEN.

E. Wilbur Hedden is the owner of a pleasant home, situated in the midst of a five-acre orchard, which he also owns, and in connection with the cultivation of his property he is manager of a ten-acre orchard belonging to W. D. Cammack. Mr. Hedden was born in Orange, New Jersey, on the 27th of February, 1858, a son of Morris and Martha (Norman) Hedden. The father was a contractor and both he and his wife have passed away.

The son acquired a public school education and made his initial step in the business world by becoming actively connected with the lumber trade in New York city, where he remained for ten years. He afterward devoted three years to news- paper work in New York and subsequently spent a decade in the life insurance business in the eastern metropolis. His identification with the Yakima valley dates from 1910, at which time he made his way to the coast on a visit. He was so well pleased with the country, its opportunities and its prospects, that he purchased five acres of orchard, upon which he erected a modern residence. He has since given his attention to the further development and improvement of his place and has also acted as manager for the W. D. Cammack orchard of ten acres. He is raising apples and pears and produces fine varieties of both. He is a man of ready adaptability, which has enabled him to turn from urban interests and become a successful fruit raiser. He is now a member of the Yakima Valley Fruit Growers' Association,

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which he joined upon its organization, and he has several times served as president of his local district.

In 1882 Mr. Hedden was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary M. Crane, who passed away in 1913, leaving a son, Morris, who is a chemist with the Crown Willamette Paper Company. On the 24th of January, 1917, Mr. Hedden was again married his second union being with Miss Alice M. Young, of Minneapolis. They are consis- tent members of the Presbyterian church, doing all in their power to promote the growth of the church and extend its influence. Mr. Hedden gives his political endorsement to the republican party, being a firm believer in its principles as factors in good government. There have been no spectacular phases in his career, but he has worked earnestly and persistently since starting out in the business world, and as there has been no waste of time or opportunity in his career he has made steady and substantial progress.

JULIUS T. HARRAH.

Actuated by a spirit of enterprise in all that he has undertaken, quick to rec- ognize and utilize opportunities, Julius T. Harrah has become one of the capitalists of the northwest. His investments in this section of the country are large and promi- nent among his holdings is the Commercial Hotel in Yakima. The story of his life is the story of earnest endeavor intelligently directed and the steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible. Mr. Harrah is of South American birth. He was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on the 8th of June, 1884, a son of George and Thamazinha (Messiter) Harrah, the latter a daughter of the British ambassador to Brazil. The former was a civil engineer who went to Brazil at the age of nineteen years. He was born in Philadelphia, in 1840 and was a son of Charles J. Harrah, a prominent banker, who was the organizer of the Midvale Steel Company, was president of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, controlling the street car system of that city, and otherwise prominently connected with the business interests and development of Philadelphia. The Metropolitan Opera House of that city now stands on the site of the old family homestead.' His son, George Harrah, made the trip from Philadelphia to South America on a sailing vessel. He became a civil engineer and built the first tunnel in Brazil. He was also the builder of several railroads and erected depots at various large towns of that country. In later life he went to Havana, Cuba, where he erected a palatial residence containing fifty-seven rooms and there his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1908. He became the second largest stockholder of the two leading railways of Brazil and was other- wise prominently identified with the development and upbuilding of that country. His family numbered four children who are yet living, two sons and two daughters.

Mr. Harrah, whose name introduces this review, acquired his education largely through twelve years' study in Europe-in London, Paris, Heidelberg and other points of the old world. On coming to the United States it was with the expecta- tion of settling at Detroit, but in 1909 he made his way westward to visit the Seattle exposition. He became interested in the northwest and decided it was the best place in the world. He then began investing in this section of the country, puchas- ing orchard land, and he built a beautiful summer home with swimming pools and everything necessary for the promotion of comfort and happiness. In fact this is one of the finest summer homes of the United States. In familiarizing himself with conditions in the northwest, Mr. Harrah recognized the fact that Yakima needed better hotels. He was charged five dollars for a beefsteak at one of the hotels and he decided that this section of the country needed a better deal in hotel management and conduct if visitors were to be drawn to the city. He therefore purchased a half interest in the Commercial Hotel in 1911, the year in which it was started, and he later bought out the interest of the others and is now sole proprietor. The building was completed in that year and contains one hundred and sixty rooms, of which sixty-five are with bath. The dining room will seat five hundred and thirty-five people at one time. There is a large banquet room and fine ballroom which will

JULIUS T. HARRAH

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accommodate seventy-five couples, and there are seven excellent sample rooms. One of the interesting features of the hotel is the handsome bridal chamber. Moreover, the hotel is noted for its splendid cuisine, which makes it very popular with travel- ing men and automobile parties. Mr. Harrah is now remodeling and refurnishing this splendid hotel. In connection therewith is operated the best equipped laundry of the city and the hotel furnishes employment to about seventy-five people.

Mr. Harrah's investments in the northwest amount to over five hundred thou- sand dollars and he has extensive interests elsewhere. The town of Harrah was named in his honor and its growth as a market place is indicated in the fact that in the past year it shipped more freight than Kennewick. Mr. Harrah has developed over two hundred acres of fine land in the vicinity of Yakima and is also prominently known as a breeder of fine Holstein cattle and fine Morgan horses. The fruit pro- duced in his orchards is unsurpassed throughout the valley, seventy-six per cent of it being of extra fancy variety. His orchards are largely devoted to the raising of winesap apples.

On the 7th of June, 1906, Mr. Harrah was married to Miss Constance Raymond, of New Jersey, who was born in Massachusetts and is a daughter of Charles Henry Raymond, of New York. The children of this marriage are: George, who was born in Havana, Cuba, February 27, 1907; June, born December 9, 1910, on the ranch in Yakima county, and Jule, born June 22, 1915.

Mr. Harrah is a member of Yakima Lodge, No. 24, A. F. & A. M., and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Tacoma Consistory, No. 3. He is also a Shriner of Afifi Temple. He is a life member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is one of the largest stockholders in the Masonic Temple Association Building. He is the president of the Automobile Club and president of the Country Club and is one of the trustees of the Commercial Club. He also belongs to The Willows, a hunting club with grounds twenty miles south of Yakima. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He is an en- thusiastic motorist and has driven his cars over eight hundred thousand miles. Dur- ing the period of his residence in the northwest he has become thoroughly familiar with every phase of the development of the Yakima valley and has made valuable contribution to the work that has been done.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 15

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