History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 59

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 59
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 59
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 59

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of the mountain, rolling over three and a half times ere at length it landed in a deep ditch filled with water. Mr. Jongejan and his family were in the car. His son Thomas had a leg broken, while the daughter Jane had one of her ribs broken. Mr. Jongejan was badly cut about the head. The family certainly very narrowly escaped death and it is impossible to determine how they managed to escape with their lives. The water was five feet deep in the ditch. William and Jane were caught under the car in the water but managed to extricate themselves. It seemed a miracle that the results were not more serious. The account of the accident was written up in all of the papers and people came for miles to see the place, for the car rolled sixty feet down the mountain side and was badly broken, but it seemed that a kind Providence interferred to save the lives of those who were riding in the machine at the time. Mr. Jongejan deserves great credit for what he has ac- complished in a business way since coming to the new world. His capital was very limited at the time when he crossed the Atlantic but he possessed ambition and energy and his wife, too, constantly encouraged him to put forth his best efforts. As the years have passed their united labors have brought about most ex- cellent results, Mrs. Jongejan wisely directing the affairs of the household, while Mr. Jongejan has carefully and successfully managed the work of the farm until he is now numbered among the men of affluence of his community.

WILLIAM HATTEN.

Farming and fruit raising have been a profitable source of income to William Hatten, who is a prominent agriculturist of the Tieton district. A native of West Virginia, he was born in Wayne county on the 6th of February, 1851, and is a son of Edmund and Mary (Hines) Hatten, also natives of that state. The paternal grandfather, Phillip Hatten, who was born in England and was a veteran of the War of 1812, died in West Virginia. The parents of William Hatten, being much impressed with the excellent opportunities offered by the middle west, removed to Minnesota, in 1865, at the close of the Civil war, locating in McLeod county. Dur- ing the conflict the father had espoused the Union cause, taking his place among the rank and file of the northern army in order to keep the Stars and Stripes afloat oved all the republic. After spending some time in McLeod county he took up a homestead near Fort Ripley, in Morrison county, Minnesota, and there both parents subsequently passed away.

William Hatten was reared amid the refining influences of a good home, re- ceiving in his early life valuable lessons from his good parents. His book knowl- edge was acquired in the public schools of his neighborhood and when old enough he began to assist his father with the farm work. He subsequently followed agri- cultural pursuits independently in Morrison county, Minnesota, but in October, 1906, came to Yakima county, Washington, and for five years worked for wages. In 1911, having acquired the means to do so by carefully saving his earnings, he bought eighteen acres of rich land on the Tieton and of this four acres are in or- chard, the remainder being under the plow. He has made a number of valuable improvements, has instituted good machinery and has erected substantial build- ings and a fine home, everything about the place indicating a progressive rancher of the twentieth century. He is not afraid to try out new ideas and has thoroughly studicd climate and soil conditions here, so that he has become one of the leaders in his occupation. His income is now steadily increasing and his prosperity is as- sured.

In 1883 Mr. Hatten was united in marriage to Miss Ella May Straw, a native of Morrison county, Minnesota, and a daughter of Calvin and Sophia Straw. By a former marriage Mr. Hatten had two children: Elsie, deceased, and Luella, the wife of Fred Spalding, of Sunnyside, by whom she has one child. The children of the second marriage are: Libby, who married Joseph Quadt, a rancher in the Tie- ton district; Sophie, who married Wallie Jennie, a rancher of Island county, Wash- ington. by whom she has four sons; Howard, who operates a sawmill on the Tieton and who married Zoe Slavin; Harold, who married Helen Knoll and is at home,

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assisting in the work of the ranch; and Mila May, also at home. Mr. and Mrs. Hat- ten and their family are well known in their neighborhood and enjoy the highest respect. They have many friends in Yakima county, all of whom speak of them in terms of appreciation.

In his political views Mr. Hatten is a prohibitionist, believing thoroughly in the enforcement of this measure as a means of bettering humanity. He has deeply studied economic and social conditions and is thoroughly versed in the issues of the day but is not an office seeker, preferring to give his undivided attention to his private interests. There is great credit dne him for what he has achieved, as he began life without special advantages and now is numbered among the substantial residents of his neighborhood. He is therefore entitled to the honorable appellation of a self-made man, having demonstrated in his life's course energy, honesty, fore- sight, ability and adaptation-qualities upon which his success has been built.

PETER J. ESCHBACH.

It is a trite saying that there is always room at the top, but many there are who do not seem to comprehend this or who do not possess the enterprise and initiative which enable them to reach an advance position in business circles. Peter J. Eschbach, however, turning his attention to contract work at the age of thirty-eight years, has become one of the foremost representatives of this line of business in the northwest. He is now a member of the Nettleton, Bruce & Eschbach Com- pany, which has had some of the most important contracts for railroad and tunnel building and for the building of water power plants. The story of his life is the story of earnest endeavor, leading to substantial success and prosperity.

Mr. Eschbach was born in Minnesota, December 17, 1862, a son of John P. and Barbara Eschbach, the former a farmer by occupation, and both now deceased. The son acquired a public school education and through the periods of vacation worked in the fields, becoming thoroughly familiar with all the phases of farm life. In 1884 his father removed with the family to the Yakima valley settling in the Ahtanum, where his remaining days were passed. With the work of the old homestead Mr. Eschbach of this review was closely associated until he reached the age of twenty-eight years. He then purchased a farm for himself in the Naches and gave his attention to its further development and improvement untl he reached the age of thirty-eight, when he started in the contracting business on his own- account. He has since conducted business interests of this character to the amount of millions of dollars and the firm with which he is connected now has an invest- ment of more than three hundred thousand dollars in equipment. The officers of the Nettleton, Bruce & Eschhach Company are: Peter J. Eschbach, president; Clark M. Nettleton, of Seattle, secretary and treasurer; and J. M. Bruce, of Seattle, vice- president. The company has its main office in Seattle, with a branch office at Yakima. This company succeeded to the business of the Eschbach-Bruce Com- pany in 1912 and they in turn were successors of the firm of Case & Eschbach, which was organized in 1902 by N. H. Case, who became secretary of the firm, and Peter J. Eschbach, president. These two gentlemen were residents of Yakima. They organized their business to engage in railway contract work and began the building of the North Coast Railway. During the construction of this line, J. M. Bruce and C. M. Nettleton bought the interest of N. H. Case and the firm was re- organized as the Eschbach-Bruce Company, which built eighty-seven miles of the grade. The Eschbach-Bruce Company, in which Mr. Eschbach was associated with J. M. Bruce and C. M. Nettleton built the line through the Palonse canon, the heaviest grading on the entire road. They were eighteen months in building seven and a half miles of the road and the contract price was over eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the seven and a half miles. In the conduct of the work they established fourteen camps in that district and there were five tunnels in a mile and half. They employed on an average fifteen hundred men for fourteen months. Later the Nettleton, Bruce & Eschbach Company built the Cedar River dam for Seattle at a cost of more than a million dollars. This dam is more than

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one hundred and eighty feet wide on the bottom and rises to a height of one hun- dred and ninety feet. The width at the top is twenty feet and the length is four hundred and fifty feet. It is of solid masonry, a spillway built through solid rock on one end, with an outlet tunnel seven hundred and fifty feet long lined with rein- forced concrete. The water is then piped five and a half miles and is used for power, while the reservoir is used for storage. They employed an average of two hundred and fifty meu on this job. At the same time the company put in a four hundred thousand dollar sewer at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,, and also had the contract for a steam shovel job on the Canadian Pacific Railroad at Revelstoke, for which they received two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. They were awarded the contract for twenty-five miles of railway grading on the Canadian Northern on Vancouver island and they have executed many other important contracts of a inost extensive nature. They are now building a railroad which is the Grace Harbor branch of the Oregon Western Line, in connection with which they are putting in seven bridges. One of these has four spans and another eight spans, with eight miles of grading. The bridges extend from two to eight spans. The company is now driving eight tunnels for the Naches-Selah Irrigation District, one tunnel having been just completed. These tunnels will be from seven hundred to nineteen hundred feet in length. They also will be lined with concrete and there will be two and a half miles of canal. Such contracts indicate the nature of the business accorded the Nettleton, Bruce & Eschbach Company, ranking with the foremost contractors on the Pacific coast, and all this has been accomplished by Mr. Esch- bach since he reached the age of thirty-eight years. He has since done many mil- lion dollars worth of business and has also been active in the development of sev- eral hundred acres of land, building his own ditch through the property. He had a great number of teams and he not only put through that project but was also given a contract to help build the Wapato ditch by Robert Strahorn, who later promoted the North Coast Railway. Mr. Eschbach then went ahead with the railroad work, interesting Mr. Case, another farmer, in the project. Later Mr. Nettleton and Mr. Bruce purchased Mr. Case's interest in the business, the former being a financier, while Mr. Bruce is a contractor. Thus was formed the present firm, of which Mr. Eschbach is the active directing head, managing the actual work of the company.

In 1891 Mr. Eschbach was married to Miss Elizabeth Brecht, of Minnesota, and they became parents of two daughters and a son: Alida, who died at the age of nine years; Cyril, twenty-two years of age, who is manager of his father's ranch; and Florence.

The family are communicants of St. Joseph's Catholic church and Mr. Esch- bach is identified with the Knights of Columbus. He also belongs to the Benevo- lent Protective Order of Elks and has membership in the Commercial Club. In politics he is a republican, but it is a self-evident fact that he has not been an active participant in political work owing to the extent and importance of his mammoth contracting interests. Since entering the contracting field his labors have been a most important element in the development and improvement of the state. He has been connected with some of the most important building projects in the field of railway operation and the value of his labors can scarcely be overestimated. He undertook this work with the thoroughness that has ever characterized him in all that he has done and steadily progressing, he ranks with the foremost contractors of Washington.

HOWARD B. AMES.

Howard B. Ames, an orchardist of Selah, who is also interested in mining prop- erties in Alaska, comes to the northwest from Peterboro, New Hampshire, where he was born on the 2d of August, 1874, the width of the continent therefore sepa- rating him from the place of his birth. He is a son of Marshall K. and Jennie (But- man) Ames, the former also a native of Peterboro, New Hampshire, while the latter was born in Milan, Ohio. Her death occurred in the year 1876. Marshall K. Ames had gone to Michigan as a young man, and he and his wife were on a visit in

HOWARD B. AMES

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New Hampshire at the time of the birth of their son Howard. In 1875 the father removed to Russell, Kansas, and built the first flour mill in that section. The fam- ily were there residing at the time of the mother's death. Later Mr. Ames went to Colorado, where he took up his abode in 1883 and entered the mining business. He still makes his home in Denver.

Howard B. Ames was but nine years of age when he began assisting in the mines through vacation periods. His education was acquired in the public schools and at the age of fourteen years he accompanied an uncle to the Puget Sound country. They made their way to Seattle and he continued his education in the public schools of that city. He afterward attended the University of Washington, where he pur- sued a course in mining engineering, and while still a resident of Seattle he made his initial step in the business world by securing a position in the Washington Na- tonal Bank of Seattle. In 1898 he went to Juneau, Alaska, where he was employed for a year and then made his way to the Yukon, where he worked for wages. In 1903 he went to Nome, Alaska, where he purchased property, and in his investments in real estate there he won substantial success. Again taking up the banking busi- ness, he became manager of the Bank of Cape Nome and was identified with both banking, and mining interests for a considerable period. In 1909 he returned to Seattle and in 1910 he came to Yakima county. Here he purchased eighty acres in the Selah valley on the Yakima river and has the entire tract planted to apple orchards. The successful management of his business in this connection has made him one of the prominent orchardists of the region. His orchard is highly developed along practical lines, his place being equipped with all the modern facilities for handling fruit on a commercial basis. He still has his mining interests in Alaska and goes to that country bienially to superintend his business affairs there. A. F. Guinan, also an orchardist of Selah valley, is associated with our subject in dredge mining at Nome, Alaska.

On the 10th of August, 1904, Mr. Ames was married to Anna Brown, a daughter of Amos and Annie (Peobles) Brown, of Seattle. Her father was one of the pioneers of the Puget Sound country, and her mother, with her sister, a Mrs. McIntosh, came to Seattle by sailing vessel around Cape Horn at an early day. She came west to teach school. Their children are three in number: Marshall, thirteen years of age; Donald, aged seven, and a baby girl.

Mr. Ames has always given his political allegiance to the republican party and was one of the organizers of the Young Men's Republican Club of Seattle in the early days. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons. In' the latter he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Arctic Club of Seattle and to the Arctic Brotherhood and the "pioneers of Alaska." He was one of the pioneers of Alaska, being among those who at an early date penetrated into the far northwest to develop its mining interests and take advantage of the business opportunities offered in its development along various lines. His experiences have been broad, varied and interesting. There is no phase of the development of the northwest with which he is not familiar and he has been actively connected with progress in Washington. He is now a prominent representative of orcharding in the Yakima valley and is today the owner of valuable property of that kind near Selah.

MRS. A. E. ORMSBY.

Mrs. A. E. Ormsby, the owner of ranch property in the vicinity of Outlook, is a native of Ohio and a daughter of John Alfred and Elva (Brown) Wright. Her father was born in Frederick county, Maryland, on the 10th of December, 1839, and the mother's birth occurred in Ohio. The paternal grandfather, Albert Wright, was a native of Virginia. John Alfred Wright enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company E, Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He ren- dered valuable aid to his country and after his military services were no longer

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required he took up the occupation of farming in Ohio and later followed the same pursuit in Missouri.

His daughter, Mrs. Ormsby, acquired her education in the public schools of Missouri and in that state was married to Solon Ormsby, who there passed away in 1896. It was in May, 1911, that Mrs. Ormsby became the owner of ranch property in the northwest, purchasing forty acres two miles northwest of Outlook. She has erected an attractive residence upon this place, together with barns and outbuild- ings, and she rents the ranch to her brother, James Wright, who is cultivating it in the raising of hay, corn and potatoes.

Mrs. Ormsby's father lives with her upon the ranch, but her mother passed away on the 18th of July, 1914. John A. and Elva , (Brown) Wright became the pa- rents of five children: Arthur is a machinist residing at Macomb, Illinois, and is married and has five children; Mrs. Ormsby is the second of the family; Charles, who follows ranching near Outlook, wedded Rosie Guder and has two children, Eva and Ruth; Jessie, a trained nurse, is the wife of Samuel Enoch, who follows ranching in the same locality; James is also a rancher, renting the land from his sister, Mrs. Ormsby, he married Sadie Roady, a native of Kansas, and they have three children, Jessie Margaret, Glen and Bruce. A nephew of Mrs. Ormsby, Elvyn Allen Wright, the son of her eldest brother, became chief gunner on a warship and has been on active duty during the war. The boat on which he was doing duty was torpedoed, but he escaped.

Mrs. Ormsby and her father are members of the Methodist church and he gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He is a well preserved man and of most lovable character. He has long traveled life's journey, being now in the eigh- tieth year of his age, a man whose well-spent life has ever gained for him the high- est respect of all with whom he has been associated.

HENRY SCHUT.

Only a few decades ago the Yakima valley was a tract of wild land, largely sand and sagebrush, but enterprising men saw its possibilities and progressive citizens have established their homes within its borders, transforming it into most productive fields and orchards. Actively engaged in this work is Henry Schut, who was born in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, July 31, 1879, a son of John and Jean- nette (Van Hull) Schut, both of whom were natives of Holland, whence they came to the new world in the '70s, making their way into the interior of the country until they reached Wisconsin. After living in that state for several years they re- moved to Sioux county, Iowa, in 1881, and there the father rented farm land. He continued to engage in general agricultural pursuits in that locality for twenty years and in 1901 he came to Yakima county, Washington, and purchased ten acres on the Moxee, a tract of wild land covered with sagebrush. To look upon this place one could scarcely believe that it would ever produce anything, but progressive meth- ods, indefatigable effort and energy soon converted it into a productive farm, to which the father added many improvements. He resided thereon to the time of his death, which occurred July 26, 1917. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in 1892.

Henry Schut, whose name introduces this record, acquired a public school edu- cation in Iowa and through the period of his boyhood and youth assisted his father in the work of the farm. In fact he was thus engaged until 1903, when he started out in life independently by purchasing five acres of wild land. To this he after- ward added ten acres more, which, however, he later sold. In the fall of 1917 he invested in a twenty-acre tract and now has a good property. Three and a half acres of his land is planted to apples and pears and he is one of the progressive orchardists of the community. He raises splendid fruit owing to his care of the trees and the thoroughness with which he cultivates his land. The remainder of his farm is devoted to the raising of hay, corn and other cereals. He also has a few cows upon his place and altogether his is one of the desirable farm properties of the locality.

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On the 26th of October, 1905, Mr. Schut was united in marriage to Miss Anna Swier, a daughter of D. and Alice Swier, who came to the Moxee in 1901, where the father purchased a tract of wild and undeveloped land, which he converted into a good farm. To Mr. and Mrs. Schut have been born four children: Richard William, eleven years of age; Jeannette Alice, seven years of age; Emily Melinse, aged four, and Kenneth Henry, who is in his first year.

The family are members of the First Reformed church and are people of sterling worth, enjoying the high esteem and warm regard of all with whom they have been brought ine contact. They are worthy representatives of the people of Holland birth or nativity who have contributed so largely to the improvement and settlement of the Yakima valley.

WALLACE L. CROWELL.

Wallace L. Crowell, conducting a feed mill at Wapato, was born in Rahway, New Jersey, in 1857, a son of Joseph T. and Electa Crowell, both of whom passed away in New Jersey. The father was editor of a paper at that place and was also prominent in political circles. He served as city treasurer of Rahway and was called by his fellow citizens to act as their representative in the United States senate.

Wallace L. Crowell acquired a business college education and also attended Rutgers College. In young manhood he engaged in farming and was also em- ployed in his uncle's carriage factory. In 1876 he went to California and in 1881 arrived in Lincoln county, Washington, where he proved up on a homestead, resid- ing in that locality until 1913, when he removed to Wapato. Here he purchased a farm and also leased land for five years, devoting his attention to general agricul- tural pursuits. In 1916 he also established a feed mill at Wapato and after two years sold his farm.

Mr. Crowell is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has membership in the Farmers Union. In politics he maintains an independent course, never seeking nor desiring political preferment but giving his time and attention to his duties of citizenship as well as to business affairs. He is enterprising and progressive, accomplishing what he undertakes, and is numbered among the rep- resentative business men of Wapato.

THEODORE E. BROCKHAUSEN.

Theodore E. Brockhausen, a well known merchant of Prosser, is a member of the firm of Brockhausen & Hoch, which business was established in 1911. He was born in Lansing, Iowa, March 16, 1878, his parents being Dr. B. and Louisa Brockhausen, the former a physician and surgeon by profession. They now make their home in Freeport, Illinois.

Theodore E. Brockhausen was reared under the parental roof and in the acquire- ment of his education attended the public schools of his native state, rounding out his learning by taking a course in the Wisconsin Business University at La Crosse. Being thus well prepared for life's arduous and responsible duties, he started out in his business career as a clerk in a dry goods house and continued along that line in the middle west until he came to the state of Washington in 1898, making Spokane his objective point. He was in the employ of others until 1905, when he came to Prosser, and he and Paul Hoch established a bakery and lunch counter, which they successfully conducted until 1911. Careful management and high business principles guided them in this enterprise and they derived a gratifying return from their investment. In 1911 they established a grocery store, which has since been conducted under the firm name of Brockhausen & Hoch. Mr. Brockhausen's ability has been an important factor in the success of the business, which is conducted according to the highest plane of busi- ness standards. The customers are treated with great politeness and all their wants are

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 59

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