History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 55

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 55
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 55
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 55

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In 1883 Mr. Huss was united in marriage to Miss Dorcas Jane Graham, a native of Missouri, and to this union were born ten children, all of whom are living with the exception of one. William, who is married and has three children, resides at Ellensburg; Katharine married Harrison Houser, a rancher of the Kittitas valley, and they have two children; Edward, deceased, was a successful rancher of the Kit- titas valley; James is married and is connected with the sawmill business; Mary married Lee Purden, who is with the United States expeditionary force in France,

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and she is now residing in Yakima; Nanna is the wife of James Roach, who is ranch- ing near Tacoma, and they have nine children; Frank is married and follows farm- ing in the Kittitas valley; Oscar is at home; Bird, who is married and has one child, also follows farming in the Kittitas valley; Ray Anthony, who is married and has three children, is a resident of Ellensburg.

Mr. and Mrs. Huss are highly respected in Ellensburg, all who know them speaking of them in terms of the highest regard. In his political affiliations he is a democrat but not an office seeker, preferring to perform his citizen's duties in a private capacity. However, he has ever been ready to give his support to worthy public movements and by developing a valuable property has himself contributed to the upbuilding and growth of his section.

GEORGE KER.

George Ker is numbered among the substantial citizens that Scotland has fur- nished to the state of Washington. He was born in that country on the 26th of February, 1861, a son of John and Marion (Balfour) Ker, who spent their entire lives in Scotland. where the father was professor of mathematics in Glasgow University and ranked with the distinguished educators of that country.

George Ker had the liberal educational training of Glasgow University. from which in due course of time he was graduated. He had attained his majority when in 1882 he bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed for America, attracted by the opportunities of the new world. He first made his way to Pennsylvania but in 1883 removed to Texas, where he resided until 1886. In May of that year he arrived in Yakima. and. turning his attention to the cattle business, was therein successfully engaged until 1892. In the latter year he purchased eighty acres of land four miles east of Yakima and planted it to hops, since which time he has been successfully engaged in the cultivation of that crop. He also manages the affairs of the Moxee Company. which owns fifteen hundred acres of land on the Moxee, twelve hundred acres of it being under cultivation., One hundred and eighty acres of the tract is planted to hops and the remainder is in hay, grain and pasture. Mr. Ker is thus very extensively identified with agricultural interests in the valley and displays marked enterprise and notable progressiveness in the conduct of the business interests under his care. In 1892 upon his own place he erected a fine residence and also built large barns and has a most modern equipment.

In 1893 Mr. Ker was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Wheeler, a native of North Carolina and a daughter of Junius Beal Wheeler, military instructor at West Point. Her death occurred April 5, 1915. The only child of that marriage was a son, John, who died in 1900.

In the year 1898 Mr. Ker went to Alaska and returned in 1900, after spending two winters in the far north. He is now a member of the Sour Doughs, an organization formed of people who have been residents of Alaska. He also belongs to Yakima Lodge No. 318, B. P. O. E., and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. Alert and energetic, wide-awake to every opportunity offered in the business world along the line in which he engages, he has so directed his efforts and energies that success in substantial measure is now his and he is ranked with the leading bus- iness men of his section.

EDWIN M. CONDON.

Edwin M. Condon, a merchant of Toppenish, is conducting business under the firm style of the E. M. Condon Company and specializes in Indian trading. In the conduct of his business he displays the spirit of western enterprise which has been the dominant factor in the upbuilding of this section of the country. He is a western man by · birth, training and preference. He was born in Yakima, February 25, 1884, and is a representative of old pioneer families of the northwest. His father, Harvey

GEORGE KER

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HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

C. Condon, was born on the Hood river in Oregon and was a son of Thomas Con- don, one of the pioneer attorneys of The Dalles. After attaining man's estate Harvey C. Condon took up ranching near Tacoma. He married Emma McIteeny, who was born in Boise City, Idaho, and removed to Walla Walla, Washington, when pioneer conditions existed throughout the state and there her stepfather took up government land. Mr. and Mrs. Condon now make their home in Toppenish.

Edwin M. Condon, after mastering the branches of learning, taught in the grades at Yakima, continued his education in the high school at Vaughn, Washing- ton, from which he was graduated. Later he pursued a business course in Seattle and afterward was engaged in logging on the Sound as timekeeper. In 1913, how- ever, he returned to Yakima and was employed by the Yakima Grocery Company for a year. On the 1st of September, 1915, he arrived in Toppenish, having accepted the position of manager with the firm of L. M. Tyrrell & Son. He continued in that connection until the 1st of September, 1917, when he purchased the business and assumed the firm style of the E. M. Condon Company. He is now enjoying an ex- tensive trade in dealing with the Indians, handling a full line of goods salable to them, including wearing apparel and groceries. He receives the patronage of the Indians from throughout the northwest and has a large acquaintance among them. His business methods are thoroughly reliable and the red men know that they can trust him in the slightest particular.

Mr. Condon gives his political allegiance to the republican party, which he has supported since attaining his majority, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks lodge No. 318, of Yakima. He has a wide acquaintance in this part of the state and is accounted one of the alert, energetic young business men whose future will be well worth the watching.

IRVIN J. BOUNDS.

Irvin J. Bounds, an active member of the Yakima bar, is a native son of the city in which he is successfully practicing and his life record stands in contradistinc- tion to the old adage that a prophet is never without honor save in his own country, for in the city of his birth Mr. Bounds has won a creditable place and a large client- age. He was born September 17, 1881, a son of P. A. and Ella (Davern) Bounds. The father was one of the pioneer settlers of Oregon, having crossed the plains to that state with his parents during his boyhood days. He became a stock man and cattle raiser and is still active in that line. Some years ago, however, he became a resident of Washington and the Yakima valley has long numbered him among its representative citizens. While prominently known as a stock man, he is also a director of the Yakima National Bank.

Irvin J. Bounds attended the Sisters school of North Yakima, being one of the three boys who were students in that institution. He afterward continued his edu- cation in the high school of Tacoma and later became a student in the University of Santa Clara at Santa Clara, California, from which he was graduated in 1903 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. Anxious to gain still broader educational training, he then matriculated in Stanford University, where he pursued a course in political economy, which he completed with the class of 1905. His preparation for the bar was made in the Harvard Law School and he is numbered among its alumni of 1908. Thus with most liberal educational advantages, he returned to his native city and entered upon active practice in connection with H. J. Snively. His progress has been continuous. While giving his attention to general law practice, he is also the owner of a fine fruit ranch, which he regards rather as a diversion than as an occu- pation. With the passing years he has witnessed the marvelous development and upbuilding of his section of the country and belongs to a family that has taken prom- inent part in empire building in the west. His father was in early times a mail car- rier and Indian scout.

On the 12th of January, 1914, Mr. Bounds was united in marriage to Miss Laura T. Taylor, a daughter of O. P. Taylor, of Seattle, and they have one child, Betty.

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Fraternally Mr. Bounds is connected with the Elks and is a past exalted ruler of the lodge. He belongs to the Country Club, of which he is a trustee, and he gives his political allegiance to the democratic party but has never been an aspirant for office. He has membership in the county and state bar associations and of the former was at one time treasurer. Unhampered by custom, precedent and useless convention- ality, he is associated with those men of the west who have builded a great empire in this section of the country. The learning of the east and the enterprise and opportunities of the west form a wonderful combination and, realizing the advantages and possibilities of this section of the country, Mr. Bounds has contributed to its remarkable growth and at the same time in his professional career has made for him- self a most enviable name and place.

WILFRID R. DUFFIELD.

Wilfrid R. Duffield has not only wisely and successfully directed his business interests in the attainment of prosperity but has also worked earnestly for the im- provenient of conditions bearing upon the development of farming interests in this region and has thereby contributed to the progress and prosperity of his fellowmen. He was born at Great Yarmouth, England, September 18, 1875, a son of Isaac Robert and Caroline (Pettengill) Duffield, who in later life crossed the Atlantic to Canada, where the father lived retired from business.

Wilfrid R. Duffield obtained a public school education and on crossing the border from Canada into the United States took up his abode at Granger, Iowa, in 1893. There he secured employment as a farm hand at a wage of fifteen dollars per month and thus he made his initial start in the business world in the United States. Seven years later he was married and continued to engage in farming in Iowa until March, 1910, when he made his way to the Pacific northwest with Yakima county as his destination. On reaching this district he purchased thirty-five acres of land in con- nection with Edwin Drake and began the improvement of the place, each building a house thereon, besides barns and other necessary buildings that form features of progressive farming. They have since been identified in their business interests, and Mr. Duffield, in addition to his own property, is farming fifteen acres of land belonging to Mrs. Drake, thus having charge of fifty acres in all. He has twelve acres of his place planted to fruit and among the attractive features of his farm are his apple and pear orchards and his vineyards, for he is successfully engaged in raising grapes. The remainder of his land is given to the raising of alfalfa and cereals. He likewise has a fine dairy upon his place and keeps graded and full-blooded Holstein cattle and also raises a large number of high-grade hogs. All branches of his business are proving profitable owing to the fact that he displays sound judgment in the conduct of his affairs, possesses unfaltering energy and is at all times untiring in his work.

On the 30th of August, 1899, Mr. Duffield was married to Miss Lucy Andrews, who was born at Granger, Iowa, a daughter of William Andrews, the latter a son of Nathan Andrews, who settled in Iowa in pioneer times, taking up government land when the work of progress and development had scarcely been begun in that state. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Duffield are Constance, Raymond, Faye, Leland, Kenneth and Russell.

Fraternally Mr. Duffield is an Odd Fellow and has filled all of the chairs in the local lodge. He is also active in the work of the Grange and was the first master of Moxee Grange, No. 112, which was organized in 1911. He continued to act as master for three years and largely promoted the work and usefulness of that or- ganization. In politics he is a democrat where national questions and issues are in- volved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He has served for five years as a member of the school board in his district and was its chairman for three years. The cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion and one who is willing to put forth every effort to promote the interests of the schools and raise the educational standards of the community. He has also served as president of the Moxee District of the Yakima County Fruit Growers Association and his aid and

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influence are always on the side of progress and improvement. He was for three years a director of the Moxee-Selah Canal and is a most prominent and influential resident of his part of the valley. He has done most earnest and effective work on behalf of good roads and his position as a public-spirited citizen has never been questioned. He is now chairman of the Moxee District of the Federal Farm Loan Association and he has done much good work in connection with the Liberty Loan and War Savings Stamps drives.

RICHARD M. JOHNSON.

Richard M. Johnson concentrates his attention upon farming but to a consider- able extent is living retired at the present time, having won substantial success through years of former business activity. He was born in London, Ohio, in 1864, a son of Thomas and Sarah (Townsend) Johnson, both of whom passed away in the Buckeye state, where the father had followed the occupation of farming as a life work.

Richard M. Johnson acquired a public school education and when his textbooks were put aside learned the carpenter's trade and for nine years was engaged in con- tracting and building in Ohio, after which he removed to Alabama, where he spent eleven years in the same line of business. In February, 1906, he came to Washing- ton, settling at Wapato, being among the first residents of the town. He has leased and owned land, bought and sold property and has farmed as high as two hundred and forty acres. He now cultivates a tract of eighty acres and makes his home in Wapato. He is recognized as a man of business enterprise whose labors are crowned with successful achievement. For a time he was local manager of the fruit and produce firm of Robinson & Company, acting in that capacity from 1913 until they sold to the Charles H. Lilly Company, He continued with the latter until the 1st of January, 1918, but farmed much of that time and is now devoting his entire atten- tion to general farming.

In 1884 Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Miranda Clark, of London, Ohio, and they have seven children: Inez, the wife of J. W. Rutland, residing in Wapato; Edna, the wife of C. H. Morrison, also of Wapato; Lloyd, who is with the Eighth Regiment of United States Marines; Clark, a member of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Corps of the First Machine Gun Replacement Battalion of the United States Marine Corps, now with the Army of Occupation in Germany; Ersel, deceased; Clyde, who died at the age of sixteen years; and Earl, who is twelve years of age.

Mr. Johnson is a member of Wapato Lodge, No. 171, A. F. & A. M., of which he was the organizer in 1907 and served as its first master. He filled that chair for three terms. He also belongs to the Royal Arch chapter and the Knight Templar commandery and in his life exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft, which is based upon a recognition of the brotherhood of mankind and the obligations thereby imposed. In politics he is an independent democrat, for while he usually votes with the party, he does not consider himself bound by any party ties. His religions faith is that of the Presbyterian church, to the teachings of which he is loyal. His worth as a man and citizen is widely acknowledged and throughout the community in which he resides he has gained the warm friendship of many.

MARIO CHIOSTRI.

Mario Chiostri, actively identified with ranching interests near Outlook, was born in Italy, November 12, 1864, a son of Leopold and Zoraide Chiostri, who spent their entire lives in Italy, where the father was engaged in business as a druggist. The son pursued a university course in Italy and, coming to the new world in 1885, made his way to Chicago, where he resided for twelve years. He afterward spent four years in Minnesota, where he engaged in the wholesale fruit, tobacco and confectionery business, having his establishment at Austin, that state. The year 1901 witnessed his arrival in Yakima county, where he and his twin brother, N. P.

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Chiostri, became owners of fifty-seven acres of land three miles north of Outlook, for which they paid thirty-two and a half dollars per acre. It was at that time all covered with sagebrush and there was little indication that it would ever be con- verted into rich and productive fields, but owing to the labor and care bestowed upon it by the owners, it is today worth more than three hundred dollars per acre. Up to the time of his arrival in Yakima county Mario Chiostri had never been upon a farm, but the thoroughness which he displays in everything that he undertakes enabled him readily to master the work that devolves upon him in this connection. He hired men to clear and seed the land and he has since given his time, energies and supervision to the further development and improvement of the farm In 1903 he built a good residence upon his place and also substantial and commodious barns Six acres of the land is planted to fruit and his orchards are in excellent condition. The remainder of the land is devoted to the cultivation of hay, corn and other crops and he also raises registered Holstein cattle. His is a fine ranch, splendidly devel- oped, and is the visible evidence of his life of well directed energy and thrift.

His brother still owns a half interest with him in the ranch but is a daughtsman in the United States Reclamation Service at Yakima. He is a civil engineer by pro- fession and continued to work along that line in Chicago until September, 1918. He had done engineering work and surveying over California and Washington in the '80s. In Chicago, Mario Chiostri devoted two years to the study of art in the Art Institute of that city and his leisure hours are devoted to painting. He possesses a high degree of skill in that connection, combined with the love of art which is so characteristic of the Italian people. He has traveled extensively over the world and has made a most valuable collection of paintings-the work of European artists. The brothers have a sister in Italy, Ines Chiostri, who is a writer of note.

Fraternally Mr. Chiostri is connected with the Masons, belonging to the lodge and chapter at Sunnyside, and is also identified with the Grange. In politics he main- tains an independent course. Viewed from a business standpoint, he may well be termed a self-made man and a successful rancher, but he has never regarded the accumulation of wealth as the sole end and aim of his life. He has found time and opportunity for those things which are of cultural value and his highly developed artistic sense enables him to enjoy to the fullest the beauties of nature. His is there- fore a well balanced character and one that gleans much of the joy of life.

THOMAS J. REDMON.

Thomas J. Redmon, inventor and manufacturer, who is now giving his time largely to the manufacture of an irrigation pipe which he perfected and placed upon the market, is thus closely associated with the industrial interests of Yakima. He is numbered among the citizens that Illinois has furnished to the valley. his birth hav- ing occurred in that state in 1865. his parents being Peter G. and Rosa A. Redmon. who in the year 1872 left Illinois and removed to northwestern Missouri, where their remaining days were passed, the father there devoting his attention to the occupa- tion of farming in order to provide for the support of his family.

Thomas J. Redmon obtained a public school education supplemented by study in the Military Naval Academy at Oxford, Maryland. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he successfully followed for seven years, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He next entered the hardware business at Craig, Missouri, where he remained until 1890, when he came to Yakima and for two years was employed in this city in connection with the hardware trade. Subsequently he entered the grocery business and continued active in the commercial circles of Yakima until 1897, when he took a drove of horses to Missouri, after which he was upon the road as a traveling salesman for ten years, selling whips. In 1899 he built a steam automobile, his inventive genius culminating in this form. He used the car for seven years, being the first traveling salesman in the United States to own and use a motor car. He had never seen an automobile at that time and designed the entire machine. He designed a chain exactly like the weed chain and he drove his car one hundred thousand miles. He afterward designed

THOMAS J. REDMON

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a four-cylinder gas car in 1902 and attempted to organize a company to build the car but could not do it, as men with capital laughed at him, not believing that the motor car would ever come into general use. The blue prints of his car show it to be almost a duplicate of the Ford. Mr. Redmon then entered the hardware trade in Idaho, where he remained for a short time but in 1910 returned to Yakima and began the manufacture of irrigation pipe after designs of his own invention. Studying on the question of irrigation, he invented and patented a lock joint pipe for irrigation purposes and now manufactures this in Yakima, employing from thirty to forty men and selling the product all over the west. He also conducts a large automobile trans- fer business.

In 1892 Mr. Redmon was married to Miss Belle Dunn, who passed away in 1894, and in 1906 he was married again, his second union being with Dora Read, of Yakima. They have become parents of three children: Fred G., Dorothy and Thomas D.

Mr. Redmon is a Mason and belongs also to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is likewise a member of the Commercial Club but in politics maintains an independent course. Nature endowed him with mechanical ingenuity and he has developed his powers to a high point of skill and efficiency, resulting in the development of new and progressive ideas which have taken tangible form in inventions and his attention and energies are now given to the marketing of one of these inventions, which is proving of great value to the western country.

MAHAN BROTHERS.

Among the best known automobile firms in their part of the state is that of Mahan Brothers of Prosser, composed of E. H. and W. B. Mahan. They not only maintain a very large garage and a general repair shop but have the agency for the Ford cars, tractors and trucks, the Federal trucks, and also sell the Studebaker machines. An indication as to the extent of their business is the fact that in 1917 the overturn exceeded one hundred thousand dollars.

E. H. Mahan was born in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1879, a son of William R. and Emma (Sparr) Mahan. The father was one of the early pathfinders of the west, over which he traveled when a young man. He participated in the Modoc war and during that time had "Captain Jack" under his care. In 1879 he removed to Bozeman, Montana, and thence in 1881 to Red Lodge, where he was the first white settler. There he remained for twenty-two years, or until 1903, engaging in the stock business and being very successful along that line. He sold out in that year and spent the winter in the south but in 1905 came to Prosser, having been elected to the office of sheriff of Benton county. He died while in office and his wife has also passed away.

For five years E. H. and W. B. Mahan were engaged in the hardware business but at the end of that time they sold out. E. H. Mahan served as deputy sheriff under his father and next with his brother for the full two terms, proving himself a fearless, faithful and capable official. Upon the death of the father W. B. Mahan succeeded him in the office of sheriff and so capably did he discharge his duties in this connection that he was subsequently reelected. E. H. and W. B. Mahan later entered the garage business, which they now have made such a successful and profitable enterprise.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 55

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