History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 30

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 30
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 30
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 30

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Mr. and Mrs. Elser have truly been builders of the section in which they re- side. They assisted in establishing the first schools here. At the time of their arrival here the land was covered with sagebrush and there was only one wagon road pene- trating the wilderness. Mrs. Elser began the hotel business by serving about three lunches per week and the genuine appreciation of her cooking is evident from the fact that before the present hotel was built she was serving over fifty meals three times per day. As the business grew the Grandview Hotel came into being and to- day she and her husband own one of the finest hostelries in the state as well as a richly bearing orchard, from which they also derive a gratifying income. While in Illinois Mrs. Elser was so ill that her life was despaired of by the doctors, who assured the family that she had but three months to live. She was seriously affected by tuberculosis and for that reason the family removed here. Theirs was the only house in the neighborhood and Mrs. Elser took up the business of supplying travel- ers and government surveyors with meals if they so desired. much against the wishes of her husband, who wanted her to principally devote herself to getting well. Later she took up the proposition as a business and subsequently decided to build a hotel, although her husband strongly objected to the project. A twenty-room hostelry was erected and the place has become very popular and as soon as conditions become normal again an addition will be erected. Mrs. Elser weighed but one hundred and twenty pounds when she came to Washington but now she is the picture of health. She and her husband had no money to begin with, but undiscouraged, they took up their burden, Mrs. Elser largely financing and managing affairs, and that she has heen successful is evident from the present prosperous condition of their enterprise. Her husband has given much of his time to orcharding, while she has presided over the hotel interests.

FREDERICK MERCY.

Frederick Mercy, engaged in the theatrical business in Yakima, was born in Newark, New Jersey, May 7, 1877, a son of Frederick and Sarah F. (Randolph) Mercy. The father was a hat manufacturer. Both he and his wife are now deceased. Frederick Mercy after acquiring a public school education started in the hat factory of his father and learned the trade, thoroughly acquainting himself with every feature of the husiness. As the years passed he developed extensive interests of that character, opening a chain of eight hat stores in New York city, where he profitably conducted his interests until 1908, when he sold out and crossed the con- tinent to San Francisco. He there opened a moving picture house and later estab- lished a vaudeville theatre. He continued in that city for three years and then came to Yakima in June, 1912. Here he purchased the Majestic Theater, which then had a seating capacity of two hundred and fifty, hut now seats eight hundred. He re- modeled and enlarged the theater, making it the second best moving picture house in Washington, and he still successfully conducts it, presenting the finest productions of filmland there. In 1915 he leased the Empire Theater, with a seating capacity of eleven hundred, and now conducts it as a moving picture and vaudeville house. In March, 1918, he built the Liberty Theater, with a seating capacity of nine hun-

FREDERICK MERCY

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dred. and completed it at a cost of fifty thousand dollars. He has a lot adjoining and expects to enlarge his theater before the end of the present year so that it will have a seating capacity of sixteen hundred, constituting it one of the largest tl:vaters in Washington. It will present vaudeville attractions and also legitimate drama. Mr. Mercy conducts a large bill posting business in addition to his theatri- cal business and is meeting with substantial success in his undertakings. His theaters are well ventilated and sanitary in every regard and every attention has been paid to the comfort of patrons as well as to the production of first-class attractions.

On the 12th of June, 1901, Mr. Mercy was married to Miss Theresa Stein, of Newark. New Jersey, and they have three children: Frederick, Jr., sixteen years of age; Edgar, two and a half years; and Paul, who is but a year old.

Mr. Mercy belongs to the Masonic fraternity, having membership in Munn Lodge No. 190, F. & A. M., of New York city, where he also attained the thirty- second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is a member of Afifi Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Tacoma. He is also a life member of Elks Lodge No. 318, of Yakima and has membeship relations with the Knights of Pythias at Yakima and with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He belongs as well to the Commercial Club, the Business Men's Association, the Country Club and the Washington Theater Associ- ation and is widely known and popular in these various organizations. His political endorsement is usually given to the democratic party, yet he does not consider him- self bound by party ties and votes independently if his judgment so dictates. He owns a fine ranch near Yakima devoted to diversified farming and his residence is one of the beautiful homes of the city. His success is the merited and legitimate re- ward of earnest, persistent effort, carefully directed. He has made a close study ol the public demand in regard to entertainment of a theatrical character and he has done not a little to educate and improve the public taste through the presentation of the finest films and the hest vaudeville attactions to be obtained on the coast.

GEORGE W. TAYLOR.

George W. Taylor owns and occupies a ranch of one hundred and ninety-seven acres in the Selah valley and the care an development of this property claim his full time and attention, while his enterprising labors are bringing to him well merited success. Mr. Taylor is a native son of Yakima county, having been born at Fort Simcoe, August 17, 1867. His parents, George S. and Nancy Rebecca (Mc- Glothlen) Taylor, were natives of Indiana and were married in Lucas county, lowa. The father served throughout the Civil war as a supporter of the Union cause, hav- ing enlisted as one of the boys in blue of Company G, Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry. When the war was won and victory perched on the Union banners he came across the country from Iowa to the Pacific coast in 1865, making his way first to Oregon, thence to the Sound and finally to the Selah valley, where he arrived in August, 1866. He took up a homestead and purchased other land until he was the owner of a thousand acres and with the agricultural development of the district he was closely associated. He became extensively engaged in raising live stock and continued his residence in the Yakima valley until his death, which occurred April 21, 1900. He built probably the first irrigation ditch in the valley and used to say that some day the hills would be irrigated. Few, however, agreed with him, thinking such an undertaking impossible. Mr. Taylor, however, had the prescience to discern much of what the future held in store for this great and growing country and to the limit of his power he aided in the development and improvement of the district and as- sisted in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the present progress and prosperity of this section of the state. He was always keenly interest- ed in the west. Born in Indiana on the 8th of March, 1832, he was a young man of twenty years when he went to Lucas county, Iowa, and was thirty-four years of age when he arrived in Yakima. From that time until his demise he was deeply concerned in the welfare and progress of his district and aided largely in the work of general development. He served as a member of the state legislature and also as a member of the state senate but refused the nomination for sheriff. He was

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killed by an accident while driving cattle in the mountains and his wife, long sur- viving him, passed away December 2, 1916. To them were born four children: H. J., who was born in Iowa in 1857 and is now living with his brother George; E. W. R., who is a miller at Prosser, Washington; George W., of this review; and Rosie, the wife of Fred Brooker, living in Vancouver, Washington.

George W. Taylor acquired a public school education and after his course was completed entered actively into the live stock business as the associate of his father and is today the owner of the ranch which his father homesteaded more than a half century ago. He today has one hundred and ninety-seven acres of land in the Selah valley, which is largely devoted to the raising of alfalfa and to the pasturing of cattle.

In 1903 George W. Taylor was married to Belle M. Parker, of Yakima, who was born in Kansas, and they now have three children, Dorothy, Robert and Fred- erick Gale. Fraternally Mr. Taylor is connected with the Yakima lodge of Elks, No. 318, and his political allegiance is given to the democratic party. He is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, of the native sons of the Yakima valley and was probably the third white child born in the valley. He has witnessed the entire growth and development of this section and has borne his full share in the work of general improvement.

WILLIS P. HUBBARD.

Willis P. Hubbard, deceased, was born in East Troy, Walworth county, Wiscon- sin, January 25, 1859, a son of Edward A. and Elizabeth (Kenney) Hubbard, both of whom were natives of New York, their birthplace being in the vincinity of Mount Vernon. They came to Wisconsin as young people and cast in their lot among the pioneers of Walworth county.

Willis P. Hubbard was accorded liberal educational opportunities, supplement- ing his public school training by two years' study in Beloit College, in his native state. In 1890 he arrived in the northwest, making his way to Cheney. Washington, and their he built the first creamery in the state, He also engaged in merchandis- ing and in the conduct of a livery stable and he retained his position as one of the leading creamery men of the northwest, at one time owning three different plants. In 1903 he removed to Yakima and purchased forty acres of wild land six miles west of the city, upon which he built a home, there residing to the time of his demise, which occurred on the 12th of December, 1910. Throughout the intervening years he concentrated his efforts and attention with excellent results upon the develop- ment and improvement of the property. Nineteen acres have been planted to fruit and the remainder of the farm is devoted to diversified farming. In its midst stands a beautiful home and there are large barns and sheds for the care of crops and fruit and in fact every facility of the model farm property of the twentieth century is found upon the place.

On the 3rd of June, 1891, Mr. Hubbard was united in marriage to Miss Nina M. Harris, a daughter of Stephen M. and Mary E. (Stoughton) Harris, the former a native of Missouri, while the latter was born in Salem, Oregon. Her father was a son of Phillip Harris, a native of New Jersey, who in young manhood removed westward to Missouri and in 1845 became one of the pioneer residents of Oregon, establishing his home in the vincinty of Portland. He built the ferry there and afterward lived near Granite Lake, where he spent his remaining days, passing away at the venerable age of eighty-one years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sally Taylor, died at the notable old age of ninety-four years. The maternal grand- parents of Mrs. Hubbard were J. A. and Frances (Townsend) Stoughton. Mr. stoughton was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, September 23, 1830, and was a son of Alexander Stoughton, whose birth occurred in Westfield in 1807. The latter went to Oregon in 1843 with the Whitman expedition taking his family with him. Mrs. Pringle, the adopted daughter of Mr. Whitman, acted as bridesmaid at the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Stoughton. The latter, who in her maidenhood was Frances Townsend, was born near Atlanta, Georgia, and was a daughter of James M. Town-

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send, who went to Oregon about 1844 with an expedition that was lost and nearly all starved while en route. Mrs. Hubbard has in her possession a feather bed which was made by her great-grandmother.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard were born two sons. Wallace Clair, who attended the Yakima high school, was for a time with the United States Indian service but is now a mill foremon at Reedsport, Oregon. He is a graduate of a business college at North Yakima and is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He married Ruth Sar- gent, of Chicago, and they have one son, Robert Phelps. Raymond Tracy, the younger son, operates the home farm. He is a graduate of the Yakima high school and married Ruth Couch, of Yakima. Mrs. Hubbard and her sons are members of the Congregational church and all are supporters of the republican party. Mrs. Hubbard is a woman of excellent business ability, wisely directing the affairs which were left to her at the death of her husband. She is a woman of many highly com- mendable traits of character and admirable social qualities and has a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of her acquaintance.

A. H. HUEBNER.

Efficiency may well be termed the dominant note in the character of A. H. Huebner. He has ever done with thoroughness whatever he undertakes and as general manager of the Cascade Lumber Company he occupies a very prominent position in industrial and commercial circles in the Yakima valley. He early realized that if one would win success, he must be willing to pay the price of it-the price of earnest, self-denying effort, of close application and persistency, and these quali- ties he assiduously cultivated as the years have passed on.

Mr. Huebner was born near Burlington, lowa, on the 1st of October, 1873, and is a son, of August and Emelie Huebner. He obtained a common school education and then became connected with the lumber business in Burlington, Iowa, as an employe of the Rand Lumber Company, with which he remained until 1906, when he came to Yakima, where he entered business circles as sales manager for the Cascade Lumber Company. In this connection he has steadily worked upward and was made general manager the same year. Through all the intervening period he has there- fore been active in control of the operation of the plant, contributing in marked measure to the success of the enterprise.

The Cascade Lumber Company was incorporated in 1902 with H. P. Svendsen of Hudson, Wisconsin, as president and organizer, A. E. Macartney, an attorney of St. Paul, Minnesota, as secretary and Robert E. Slaughter as treasurer. With the death of Mr. Svendsen in 1910, Mr. Slaughter was elected to the presidency. George S. Rankin, of Yakima, was also one of the organizers of the company and in fact was the man who interested the others in the project. The officers at the present writing, in 1918, are: Robert E. Slaughter, president and treasurer; William Carson, of Bur- lington. Iowa, vice president; C. W. Lockwood, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, secretary: and A. H. Huebner as general and resident manager. The first sawing was done in 1903 and with the growth of the business the plant was enlarged in 1906. The com- pany owns four hundred acres of land and the two mill ponds cover seventy acres, while the mill plant and yards cover thirty acres. They employ about three hundred men at the Yakima plant, which does not include a large force of woodmen employed in operation in the lumber woods. The plant cuts from thirty to forty million feet of lumber annually, handling mostly western pine. Their product is sold over the middle west save such as is cut into fruit boxes and sold in this section, one- fourth of the product being used in fruit boxes for the local trade. They also manufacture some fir lumber for building purposes. The plant is operated with steam power, the engines having about thirteen hundred and fifty horse power. They manufacture their own electricity for lighting purposes and the business has been most carefully systematized, so that practically all waste is elimi- nated. They sell all of the waste wood and burn all of the sawdust and in the methods thus adopted they have found the secret of success, which is always the accomplishment of a maximum result with a minimum expenditure of time, labor and (12)

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material. Mr. Huebner is familiar with every branch of the trade and his well directed efforts and energy are productive of splendid results. One of the effective forces for success with the Cascade Lumber Company is the splendid organization that has been built up. John Rhodes is sales manager and general superintendent and has been with the company for fourteen years, while W. T. Hines has charge of local sales and has been with the company for twelve years. Mr. Huebner has the entire loyalty of his large force of workmen, being fair and just in his treatment and ever conducting his interests on terms that are beneficial alike to employe, cred- itor and debtor.

On the 31st of January, 1900, Mr. Huebner was married to Miss Myrtle Shontz, of Burlington, Iowa, and to them have been born two daughters, Dorothy and Ruth, aged respectively fifteen and ten years. Mr. Huebner is a republican in his political views but not an office seeker, although interested in the success of the party and at no time remiss in the duties of citizenship. He belongs to Yakima Lodge No. 24 F. & A. M., and Yakima Chapter No. 22, R. A. M., and he also has membership in Modern Woodmen Camp No. 550. He is an active member of the Commercial Club, serving on its board of directors and also as its vice president, and is putting forth earnest and effective effort to advance through this organization the welfare and upbuilding of the city.

ROBERT L. MAINS.

In the death of Robert L. Mains, Yakima county lost one of its honored pio- neers and a substantial orchardist who also took a great interest in the intellectual and moral development of humanity, having given much time and effort to Sunday school and similar work. He was ever a champion of the cause of education and very active in church work and in fact any movement undertaken for the betterment of the public. He had the greatest confidence in the future of this locality and by assisting, irrigation projects and developing his land greatly stimulated prosperity here.

A native of Michigan, Mr. Mains was born near Olivet in Eaton county, Feb- ruary 22, 1865, a son of John and Lois (Walker) Mains, who were natives of Maine and became early agriculturists of Michigan, settling in that state during its pioneer epoch. Robert L. Mains was carefully reared by his parents, who instilled into him the best principles in regard to life's conduct, and in the acquirement of his educa- tion he attended public school in his native state. He then turned to farming as suited to his tastes and ambition and continued along that line in Michigan until 1884, becoming thoroughly acquainted with progressive and efficient agricultural methods. In 1884, having heard glowing reports in regard to the opportunities pre- sented in the far west, he decided to remove to this district and came to Washington, locating in Roslyn, where later he conducted the Northern Pacific Hotel. In 1891 he took up a homestead claim about five miles south of what is now Sunnyside, which district was then but sparsely settled, the nearest store being at Prosser and from there water had 'to be hauled. That this commodity was precious at that time is evident from the fact that he had to pay one dollar per barrel. He was one of the first settlers, his nearest neighbor being two miles away, while the nearest school was at Prosser, fifteen miles distant. Mr. Mains assisted in organizing a school about 1895, the building being located near his ranch. He also organized the first Sunday school and later assisted in founding the Bethany school in 1901. The Presbyterian church and Sunday school were established and Mr. Mains gave valuable assistance in starting them. At first mail had to be brought from Prosser but now delivery is much facilitated and in a comparatively few years a wild country has been developed into a garden spot and orchard. Much of this development was due to the ceaseless actiivty, energy and progressive spirit of Mr. Mains. He never lost sight of the intellectual and moral phases of life but on the contrary took a deep interest in the same, heing ever active in church work and serving for several years as Sunday schocl superintendent. A stanch champion of education, he served for years on the school hoard and his activities resulted in many improvements and facilities that

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were introduced in order to supply the children with a better and more efficient means of education. He also was a director of the Water Users Association, being thoroughly convinced of the value of irrigation. His great confidence and faith in the country were rewarded by ready returns. In his political affiliations he was a republican, stalwart and faithful in his support of the candidates and measures of that party.

On the 12th of February, 1888, Mr. Mains was united in marriage to Annie Bryant. a native of Wales and a daughter of David and Annie (Edwards) Bryant, who in 1865 came to the United States, taking up their abode in Pennsylvania, where they remained until the early '70s, when removal was made to Boone county, Iowa. The father was a taxidermist by profession and made his home in Newton, lowa, whence later he removed to Roslyn, Washington, where in 1886 he engaged in mining until 1890, when he took up a homestead on the site where Grandview now stands. Upon this place he died in 1915. His widow afterward made her home with a daugh- ter in Ellensburg, where she passed away. They were among the honored pioneers of this state. To Mr. and Mrs. Mains four children were born: Ethel married Oliver Beckes, a resident of Tacoma, and they became the parents of two children, Richard and Ralph, but the latter was drowned. Edward, who resides upon the home farm, married Bessie Martin, of Yakima. Anna is the wife of Rudolph Syverson, who is manager of the White River Lumber Company. They reside at Grandview and have a daughter, Evelyn. Mae, the youngest member of the family, is at home with her mother.

In the death of Robert L. Mains on the 4th of December, 1910, Yakima county lost one of its true and honored pioneers. Upon coming here he used all his energy, intelligence and vigor in order to plant civilization in a western wilderness and how well he succeeded is evident from the fact of his later prosperity. Moreover, the welfare of his neighbors and friends as well as humanity at large was ever near his heart and he cooperated throughout life in movements which were of great value to the community. Here he had many friends, all of whom spoke of him in terms of great respect and esteem and who acknowledged his unselfishness and kindness. To hi's family his loss was a great blow but to them his memory has remained as a benediction. Open and above board in all of his dealings, he left behind him an un- tarnished name-a possession which is truly to be more highly prized than great riches. While Mr. Mains largely lived up to high ideals, he was a man of practical mind who in his business affairs did not pursue rainbow schemes but ever followed conservative methods, utilizing modern discoveries which he found of value. He builded carefully and therefore builded wisely and well. He was a substantial man whose word was as good as his bond and he will long be remembered by all who had the honor of his acquaintance.

JOHN W. PETERSON.

John W. Peterson is well known as proprietor of the oldest drug store in Top- penish, where he has carried on business continuously for the past decade. He is a native of Sweden, where his birth occurred on the 9th of December, 1875, his parents being C. O. and Caroline (Anderson) Peterson. In 1882 the family emigrated to the United States and established their home in Stillwater, Minnesota, where the father worked at the trade of cabinetmaking to the time of his demise. In 1913 the mother removed to Seattle, Washington, where she still makes her home.

John W. Peterson, a lad of seven years when brought by his parents to this country acquired his education in the public schools of Minnesota and in prepara- tion for his chosen life work entered the Minnesota Institute of Pharmacy at Minne- apolis, from which institution he was graduated in 1895. Making his way to Minto, North Dakota, he was there employed as a clerk for a few years and in 1898 em- barked it. business on his own account at Leeds, North Dakota, where he success- fully conducted a drug store for a period of ten years. In 1908 he removed to Yakima but at the end of six months came to Toppenish, here opening a drug store which he has conducted continuously since and which is now the oldest establishment of the

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 30

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