USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 41
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 41
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 41
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On the 8th of February, 1905, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Edith H. Marcussen, of Davenport, Iowa, and they have a daughter, Nadine Dorothy. In his political views Mr. Brown is a republican and he has taken a warm interest in the campaigns of Theodore Roosevelt, having heen state committeeman on the pro- gressive ticket during the 1912 campaign and as such exerted much of his power and influence for that party. He served as superior court commissioner of Benton county for six years, discharging his duties with ability, fidelity and circumspection, and has served as precinct and county committeeman. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Mr. Brown is a man of high purpose who has ever at heart the public welfare and is ever ready to give of his effort and service in order to bring about improvements in moral, intellectual and material ways.
AARON B. HICKENBOTTOM.
Many have been the hardships that have beset the career of Aaron B. Hicken- bottom but despite many discouragements he has succeeded and is today numbered among the prosperous orchardists of the Zillah district. When he became a resident of this locality there was practically no other family here and he is therefore num- bered among the honored pioneers. He was born in Bledsoe county, Tennessee, January 28, 1860, a son of Wesley and Millie (Perry) Hickenbottom, both natives of Tennessee. The father was a son of Aaron Hickenbottom, also a Tennessean and of an old southern family. Wesley Hickenbottom devoted his life to agricultural pur- suits and both he and his wife passed away in their native state.
Aaron B. Hickenbottom received a meager education in the public schools, as his father died when he was but eleven years of age and his mother soon afterward. and subsequently was reared in a family with which he remained until he was twen- ty-one years of age. For one and a half years he worked on the railroad and suhse- quently was a farm hand until 1883, when he made his way to Texas, which state remained his home for about three years. Thence he proceeded to California, where he spent six months and then went to Tacoma. Washington, near which city he was located for about five years. In the fall of 1891 Mr. Hickenbottom bought twenty acres of land in the Yakima valley, one and three-quarter miles northwest of Zillah, the tract being then covered with sagebrush and in an entirely undeveloped state. Little did the first settlers dream in those early days of the great possibilities that were presented here for fruit raising if only water could be brought to the land. Mr. Hickenbottom made the second contract to buy land in this neighborhood. At one time he had an additional ten acres, which he bought later, but he subsequently sold this to his son. He brought his family here in 1892 and many were the hard- ships and privations which they endured in those early days. He had to carry water from the river as he did not have a team with which to haul it. After he had made a payment on the ranch he had no money left and those first years were therefore difficult for the family. In order to get his first fruit trees he traded a pig, at four cents a pound for the dressed pork, and hauled it twenty miles to Yakima to exchange it for a few trees. He is truly a self-made man. Today he has seven acres in orchard, while the remainder of the farm is devoted to the raising of hay and under the plow. He has built a good home and suitable barns and has made many other im- provements and installed new equipment, so that his property today is considered one of the most valuable in the neighborhood.
On January 27, 1892, Mr. Hickenbottom was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Adams, a native of Nova Scotia and a daughter of A. F. and Esther Adams, who became residents of Puyallup, Washington, but both have now passed away. To this union were born six children: Fred W., who is married and is ranching tear his father's place: and Bernice, Frank H., Walter E., Elmer Adams and Ellen Louise, all yet at home.
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Mr. and Mrs. Hickenbottom are widely known anl have many friends in this district. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which they are deeply and helpfully interested, and fraternally Mr. Hickenbottom is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. He has ever been interested in development and growth along material as well as in- tellectual and educational lines and is serving as director of the irrigation district and has also been a member of the school board, while for three years he served on the board of the Water Users Association. It thus is evident that he has taken a conspicuous part in the advancement of his district, having proven through his activi- ties a public-spirited and helpful citizen who not only has given thought and effort to the upbuilding of his own fortunes but is equally interested in the growth and welfare of his community, county and state.
ARTHUR W. COFFIN.
Arthur W. Coffin is a member of the firm of Coffin Brothers, Incorporated, own- ing and controlling varions important business interests in Washington. He makes his home at Yakima and from that point superintends his important invested inter- ests. He was born in Stockton, California, in the later part of the '50s, a son of Captain Laban and Sarah Brown (Lyon) Coffin. His father was captain of The Flying Cloud, which sailed from Boston by way of California to China. He first visited California in 1848. His wife was a sister of the Doctor Lyon who put upon the market the famous tooth powder. Her father, Lemuel Lyon, was captain of a trading vessel which sailed between Boston and San Francisco and he also located at Stockton, California, about 1848. The Coffin family was established on Nantucket Island, not for from Boston, in early colonial days and representatives of the name founded the Coffin school, which is still in existence. The father of Mr. Coffin of this review was for many years a ship captain, sailing from California after his re- moval from Massachusetts, while about 1854 he went to Hongkong, China, where he engaged in the ship chandlery business. Later he brought the first troup of Chinese jugglers to the United States and displayed them all over the country, play- ing at the same theatres as Jennie Lind many times. In 1861 he and his father-in- law removed to Dallas, Oregon, where they opened a store. Their establishment was flooded during the high waters of 1862, when the waters overflowed the whole valley. In 1863 they removed to The Dalles, Oregon, where they resided for many years. In the early '70s Mr. Lyon was appointed as consul to Yokohama, Japan, and Mr. Coffin accompanied him as vice consul, while his son, Arthur W. Coffin of this review, acted as assistant postmaster of the American legation in Japan. They re- mained in that country for eighteen months, Mr. Lyon passing away in Japan. after which Captain Laban and Arthur W. Coffin returned to Oregon. Subsequently Cap- tain Coffin was appointed receiver of the land office at The Dalles and at a later period he became a resident of Portland, Oregon, where both he and his wife passed away.
Arthur W. Coffin largely acquired his education in the public schools of Oregon and upon the return of the family from Japan he entered the employ of McFarland & French, merchants at The Dalles, with whom he remained for ten years. Later he opened a store in Arlington, Oregon, which he conducted for ten years, and in 1894 he became a resident of North Yakima, where he established a general mer- chandise store under the firm style of Arthur Coffin & Brothers. Later this became Coffin Brothers, Lester and Stanley Coffin being admitted to a partnership. The general store was closed about 1908 and the Yakima Grocery Company was organ- ized. The firm of Coffin Brothers was also incorporated about 1895 and under that title they are now extensively engaged in the sheep, cattle and land business. They have a fifty thousand acre tract of land operated under the name of the Coffin-Bab- cock Land & Live Stock Company and they also have large holdings in Idaho and elsewhere. They are extensively engaged in the raising of stock, having for sale over twenty thousand head of range sheep and two thousand cattle on their fifty thousand acres of fenced land near Wenatchee, Washington. They make a specialty
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of handling the Lincoln and Romney breeds of sheep, imported from New Zealand, and they also handle full-blooded Hereford cattle. They deal in town sites, lands, city property, sheep wool, in produce, horses, cattle, grain, loans and investments and have stores and warehouses at various points in the states of Washington and Idaho. The Yakima Grocery Company is owned by the Coffin Brothers, and the business conducted under the name of the Coffin-Rundstrom Furniture Company is also controlled by Coffin Brothers. The Coffin Brothers likewise own the Dean Clothing Company, a large retail clothing concern of Yakima. They have also owned a large interest in the Yakima Valley Bank and were among its organizers. They were likewise among the organizers of the street railway company. As a young man Arthur W. Coffin aided in surveying the Yakima Indian reservation into forty-acre tracts. His business interests have constantly increased and developed and he has reached a position among the capitalists of the state. A man of deter- mined purpose, he carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. In his vocabulary there is no such word as fail. He works persistently and ener- getically, accomplishing his purposes by honorable, straightforward methods and through intense business activity, and the firm of Coffin Brothers has become a powerful one in trade circles in Washington.
JOHN B. SCHWAEGLER.
John B. Schwaegler is numbered among the prominent and successful apple growers of the northwest-a district whose fruit equals if not surpasses any that is raised in the entire country. Mr. Schwaegler was born in Buffalo, New York, Sep- tember 7, 1865, a son of Joseph and Josephine (Petrie) Schwaegler. The father emi- grated from Wurtemberg, Germany, to Buffalo, New York, in 1854 and there engaged in the butchering business for a considerable period, both he and his wife passing away in that city.
John B. Schwaegler acquired a parochial school education and started out in the business world as clerk in a dry goods store. In 1892 he turned his attention to manufacturing in Buffalo, establishing a factory for the manufacture of shirtwaists and other ladies' wearing apparel. This business he conducted successfully for thir- teen years and on the expiration of that period crossed the continent to Los Angeles, California, establishing business on Seventh and Broadway in that city under the name of El Emporio, representing an investment of over two million dollars. Mr. Schwaegler was president of the company and its largest stockholder. The company erected a building but did not open their store there. Eventually Mr. Schwaegler sold his business in Los Angeles and made a trip over continental Europe. He then again came to the new world, making his way to Canada and then traveling in the United States, spending four years in travel over the North American continent for pleasure. In 1910 he came to the Yakima valley and purchased eighty acres of land in the Selah valley and one hundred and sixty acres on the Yakima Indian reservation. He also leased six hundred and eighty acres of land on the Wenas, which he planted to wheat and grain, continuing its cultivation for two years. In 1916 he disposed of his reservation ranch but still owned the eighty acre tract, which is planted to fruit, being the largest orchard in the Selah valley. He raised pears, apples and peaches and had one twenty-acre orchard in which the trees are eighteen years old. These produce from eighteen to sixty-six boxes of apples per tree, each year, with one hundred and eight trees to the acre. In 1919 he sold his ranch for one hun- dred thousand dollars, having purchased. the same in 1910 for forty-five thousand dollars. From this place he had received handsome returns on an investment of one hundred thousand dollars, as he took from it twenty-eight thousand dollars in fruit. He owns the Oleta apartments at No. 1816 Bellevue avenue, Seattle, which is modern and up-to-date in every respect and is located in one of the best residence districts of the city. It contains thirty-two apartments.
Mr. Schwaegler has a son, Lester, who is married and who engages in orchard- ing with his father. The latter belongs to St. Joseph's Catholic church and also to the Knights of Columbus, while in politics he maintains an independent course.
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Starting out in the business world in the humble capacity of clerk in a dry goods store, he became one of the prominent figures in commercial circles on the Pacific coast. All this has been accomplished through individual effort and his life record should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what it is possible to attain when there is a will to dare and to do.
JOHN WILEY.
John Wiley, who is engaged in ranching near Wiley City, was born in Wabasha county, Minnesota, November 11, 1866, a son of Hugh Wiley, mentioned elsewhere in this work. He acquired a public school education and spent his youthful days under the parental roof, remaining with his father until the latter's death. In 1884, when a youth of eighteen years, he began working for wages and in 1892 he pur- chased twenty acres of land on the Ahtanum, upon which he built a house and barns. He has since devoted his attention to the further development and improvement of this property and he now devotes his land to the raising of hay, potatoes, grain and other crops. He has brought the land under a high state of cultivation and has a well improved property that is indicative of his careful supervision and progressive methods.
On the 16th of March, 1903, Mr. Wiley was united in marriage to Miss Lavina C. Sherman, who was born in Washington, a daughter of Arthur and Mary Sherman, who were pioneer settlers of this state. Mr. and Mrs. Wiley have become parents of five children: Mary Constance, John Arthur, Annie Irene, Helen Isabelle and Jean Margaret.
The religious faith of the parents is that of the Congregational church and in his political views Mr. Wiley is a republican. His study of the questions and issues of the day has led him to give earnest support to the party. At the same time he is interested in the material and moral progress of the community as well as its po- litical advancement and as a pioneer farmer he contributed in no small measure to the early development of the region in which he lived. He has resided in this state from early days and is familiar with every phase of the development and upbuilding of the district in which he makes his home.
GEORGE B. DASH.
George B. Dash, who is cultivating eighty acres of land on Naches Heights, was born in Lodi, Wisconsin, February 14, 1872, a son of George S. and Mary A. (Black- man) Dash. The father was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the mother is also a native of that state, but they became pioneer residents of Wisconsin. The father was a railroad man, devoting his entire life to that service. He has now passed away, but the mother is still living and makes her home in Toronto, Canada.
George B. Dash acquired a public school education in Wisconsin and he, too, turned to railroad work. He became a telegraph operator on the Chicago & North- western and was thus employed for several years at Baraboo, Wisconsin. He after- ward turned his attention to the tobacco business there and was active along that line for several years. On the 6th of April, 1908, he arrived in Yakima county, Wash- ington, and rented land on the Selah, where he lived for a year. He subsequently rented land on Naches Heights for one summer and later cultivated a rented farm on the Yakima Indian reservation for a year. Afterward he again rented on Naches Heights for two years and at the end of that time, having carefully saved his earn- ings until his industry and economy had brought him sufficient capital, he purchased twenty acres of land on Naches Heights. He has since added thirty acres to liis holdings and now owns fifty acres. In addition he also cultivates sixty acres of rented land and he has twelve acres of his place in orchards. He was one of the early settlers and is numbered among the leading citizens of that district and has done much to further its development and improvement.
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On the 21st of January, 1905, Mr. Dash was married to Miss Clara Burdick, a daughter of Stephen and Sarah (Roberts) Burdick, of Wisconsin. Her father was a farmer and railroad man of that state but is now deceased. The mother survives and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Dash in Yakima county. Mr. Burdick was an influential citizen of his community in Wisconsin, contributed much to its pioneer development and improvement and served as sheriff of Sauk county. To Mr. and Mrs. Dash have been born three children: Theresa, Dorothy and George, Jr.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Dash are supporters of the republican party and the latter is serving as clerk of the school board. Fraternally Mr. Dash is identified with the Elks Lodge No. 688 of Baraboo, Wisconsin. He is a trustee of the Commercial Association of Naches Heights and has been most actively and helpfully interested in all that has pertained to the welfare and progress of the community. His was the third residence on Naches Heights. The first schoolhouse of the district was a little shack on the Strause farm, huilt in 1911, and Grace Currey was the first teacher. Mr. Dash has always been a stalwart champion of education and has been most active in promoting the good roads movement, in installing telephones and bring- ing into the district all modern improvements which lead to the substantial develop- ment of the community along progressive lines.
THOMAS L. GAMBLE.
The life record of Thomas L. Gamble, now deceased, is inseparably interwoven with the history of Cle Elum. He was the original owner of the land upon which the town stands and he contributed much to the development of the municipality. while in public office he loyally, capably and faithfully managed public interests. He also figured prominently in the business life of the community and for a time was associated with its banking interests. With notable prescience he discerned some- thing of what the future held in store for this great and growing section of the country and, acting in accordance with the dictates of his faith and judgment, he lived to see the wonderful development of the region and to enjoy the fruits of his keen sagacity and business enterprise.
Mr. Gamble was born in Washington county Pennsylvania, March 27, 1827, a son of William and Mary (Sherrard) Gamble. The father was born in Dublin, Ire- land, in 1774 and came to the United States in 1795, when a young man of twenty- one years, settling in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where he passed away July 13, 1865. In 1813 he was sent by Colonel Craig of the United States army, stationed at Pittsburgh, with ten thousand dollars to pay soldiers in the west who were about to mutiny hecause they had not been paid. He made the journey alone, being guided hy friendly Indians. His wife was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1797 and departed this life on the 21st of February, 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Gamble , were farming people of Washington county, Pennsylvania, for many years and were numbered among the highly respected residents of that locality.
Thomas L. Gamble attended the subscription school near his father's home during the three months of winter hut in the summer seasons worked upon the home farm and at the death of his parents took charge of the farm, which he continued to successfully cultivate until 1878. He then disposed of his interests in Pennsylvania and came to the west, where he arrived with but little money, possessing, however, industry, enterprise and determination. He took up his abode at Cle Elum, Wash- ington, on the 13th of April, 1883, and was the first settler in the township. He secured government land, entering a homestead claim. Roslyn had not been started at that time. Through correspondence Mr. Gamble induced Walter Reed. a former Pennsylvania acquaintance, to come to the northwest and take up another home- stead. On the 27th of May, 1888, Mr. Reed filed the plat of the town site of Cle Elum and a few weeks later Mr. Gamble filed his plat of Hazelwood. The latter laid out one hundred acres at first, but later thirty acres was withdrawn from the town site for the use of the coal company's outside works. At a subsequent date, however, Mr. Gamble made several additions to the town, and as soon as twelve families were located in the district, he and Mr. Reed organized a school district, of which Mr.
THOMAS L. GAMBLE
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Gamble acted as the first clerk. In 1894 Mr. Gamble discovered coal on his farm and leased his land for mining purposes to the Northwestern Improvement Com- pany on a royalty basis. Large mines have since been developed which have paid a very substantial royalty to Mr. Gamble and his estate, placing the family in affluent circumstances.
It was on the 11th of July, 1905, that Mr. Gamble was united in marriage to Mrs. Margaret J. (Harbison) Lytle, who was born in Allegheny county, Pennsyl- vania, a daughter of Mathew and Jane (McCormick) Harbison, both of whom have passed away. Mrs. Gamble, however, survives and is a highly esteemed resident of Cle Elum. She is a member of the Presbyterian church and a lady of many excellent traits of heart and mind.
Aside from his other business interests Mr. Gamble was vice-president of the State Bank of Cle Elum for many years, continuing in the position to the time of his death. which occurred November 25, 1907. He was frequently called upon to serve in positions of public honor and trust. In 1889 he was elected county com- missioner and he served as road supervisor and continuously as school clerk until 1897. In February. 1902, he was elected mayor of Cle Elum and during his admin- istration established the water works and sewerage system of the town. He served as United States commissioner for four years and was also justice of the peace for many years. His political endorsement was given to the republican party and he always kept well informed on the question and issues of the day. He was an up- right citizen, loyal to every trust reposed in him, was a straightforward business man and one whose many sterling traits of character gained for him the respect and con- fidence of all with whom he was associated. As one of the earliest of the pioneers of the west he contributed in marked measure to the development of the district in which he lived and he left the impress of his individuality in unmistakable manner upon the work of advancement and improvement.
CARL AUGUST SANDER.
In the passing of Carl August Sander in February, 1910, the Yakima valley lost one of its most honored pioneers. Not only along agricultural lines but also in the line of flour milling Mr. Sander was connected with the carly history of this section and other sections of the west and his activities therefore contributed in large meas- ure toward the upbuilding of the country on the Pacific slope. During a long life, covering practically eighty-four years, Mr. Sander ever exerted his ability to good purpose and as the years passed became one of the prosperous residents of Kittitas county, owning at the time of his death about fourteen hundred acres near Ellensburg. His widow, Mrs. Olive Sander, is a native of Salem, Oregon, and therefore a trufc daughter of the west, her parents having settled in that state in the early '50s, being among those hardy pioneers who at that time made the hazardous and danger- fraught overland trip.
A native of Germany, Carl A. Sander was born in Berlin, March 12, 1826, and there he received his education, fitting himself for life's arduous duties. The year 1848, which brought to Germany and other countries great political upheavels leading to a number of revolutions which were undertaken in order to gain for the people freedom from autocratic rule and secure for them parliamentary representation, also affected the fate of Mr. Sander, who as the success of the revolution was largely un- satisfactory, decided to seek that land of freedom of which he had heard so much- America. He was therefore numbered among the famous '48ers, many of whom achieved such notable success along various lines under the Stars and Stripes. At that time he was twenty-two years of age, and, filled with high ideals, enjoying good health and willing to work, he hopefully set sail for the United States and it is grati- fying to record that his hopes were fulfilled and that his labors resulted in a sub- stantial degree of financial independence. The first two years in this country he spent in Florida, whence he removed to California, in which state he resided for an equal period. The spirit to seek out new fields, however, was still with him and before settling down he decided to investigate and visit other sections of the con-
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