USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 66
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 66
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 66
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J. WISHARD ANDERSON.
J. Wishard Anderson is the owner of a fine orchard in the Tieton valley, to the cultivation of which he gives close attention, and is also quite successful as a jeweler, in which line he is an expert. During the summer he lives upon his ranch but in the winter season resides in Yakima, devoting that period of the year to his jewelry interests. A native of Martinsburg, West Virginia, he was born April 8, 1881, his parents being J. Wishard and Henriette (Boltz) Anderson, natives of Pennsylvania and West Virginia respectively. The father was a school teacher and later took up
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agricultural pursuits in West Virginia, where he passed away in 1881, his widow yet residing in that state.
J. Wishard Anderson, Jr., attended the public schools of his native state, round- ing out his education by a course in a business college at Bunker Hill, West Virginia, after which he entered the jewelry business at Martinsburg. Straightforward and reliable, he soon built up a good trade so that his income increased from year to year. In 1909, Mr. Anderson, after duly studying the subject and taking into consideration the great opportunities presented in the west, decided to come to Yakima county and after his arrival here bought twenty acres of rich land under the Tieton project. At that time, however, it was all sagebrush. In the passing years he transformed this tract into a productive fruit ranch, which is now planted to apples, with pears as fillers. Following the most progressive methods and having given close study to the subject, he has become one of the leading orchardists of his section and is meeting with a gratifying measure of success. In the winter months he lives in Yakima, where he owns a nice home, but in the summer season resides on his ranch. While in the city he is connected with the jewelry business, thus making use of his experience along that line.
On the 1st of September, 1909, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Wheeler, a native of Virginia and a danghter of Rev. R. M. and Agnes (Moore) Wheeler. To this union were born two children, Donald and Jean. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are valued members of the social set of their neighborhood and both be- long to the Presbyterian church, in the work of which they take a great interest.
Mr. Anderson is connected with the Yakima County Horticultural Union, being an active member of that organization. His political allegiance is given to the demo- cratic party and he is well versed on the questions of the day as regards the nation, state, county and district but is not active in public life. He readily gives his aid and support to worthy public movements and by his activities has contributed toward the upbuilding and development of his neighborhood.
ROBERT P. ROCKETT.
Among the well known agriculturists of Cowiche is Robert P. Rockett, who has a fine herd of high grade Jerseys, and is an up-to-date and experienced stockman. A native of Washington, he .was born in Vancouver, May 27, 1860, and is a son of Robert David and Katharine (Stice) Rockett, both of whom were natives of Scotland, the former born in Edinburgh and the latter in Glasgow. At the age of seven years the father went to sea with an uncle and continued as a sailor until twenty-one. He was numbered among the early pioneers of this state, for he first arrived here in 1848, in connection with the Hudson's Bay Company, coming by water. Subsequently he returned to the land of hills and heather and there was married. Later he brought his wife to America, making their way to Vancouver, Washington. In early life he had been a cook while at sea. After coming here he drove mule teams and other- wise occupied himself in order to earn some ready money. He took np government land at what is now Rockett Hill, Vancouver, and also acquired the old Ney ranch, thus becoming the owner of over four hundred acres of land. To the cultivation of this he gave his careful attention, gradually developing a valuable property, but in 1871 he was accidentally drowned. His wife had passed away in 1867. She was a daughter of Peter Stice, who had twenty-four children, the youngest of whom weighed four hundred and twenty-six pounds after reaching maturity. Mr. Stice was a pioneer of Washington and an honored veteran of the War of 1812, who died at the venerable age of ninety-six years. To Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Rockett were born two sons and two daughters, Robert P., of this review, being the oldest in the family and the only one now living.
Robert P. Rockett was but seven years of age when his mother died and four years later his father was taken from him. Therefore he was early thrown upon his own resources and attended school for only three months. However, he has since improved his opoprtunities and has learned many valuable lessons in the school of life, so that he is today a well informed man. When old enough he took up butter
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making, which trade he learned thoroughly, and in 1877, when but seventeen, went to Portland, Oregon, becoming connected with steamboating. For five years he was a fireman and while in that position he utilized every possible chance in order to improve his education, studying at night and whenever he had a leisure moment. Later he became steamboat engineer and for twenty-two years Mr. Rockett was engaged as a marine and stationary engineer. He was also connected with railroad- ing for several years, both in the capacities of fireman and engineer, and at one time was in the employ of the street car company at Portland when that company still used horses, Mr. Rockett breaking in the horses. About 1889 he bought a ranch at Hillsboro, Oregon, to which place his wife's people had gone many years before, and there he successfully engaged in the dairy business for some time. At a later period he was manager of a sawmill and still later was manager of Knapp's creamery. After this he again farmed for a short time and then returned to steamboating. He also drove a stage for one year for the Lewis River Transportation Company. For a time he was night watchman in Castlerock. Washington, and later successfully operated a sawmill. In 1905 Mr. Rockett bought a ranch and for nine years he gave his attention to the cultivation of this property to good purpose. In 1914, however, he came to Yakima county and for two years acted as manager of his brother's ranch. He then acquired thirteen and a third acres in the Cowiche district and now receives a gratifying return from this land, to which he devotes most of his attention, although he acts at the same time as janitor of the Cowiche Central school. In all of his various positions he has remained faithful to his trusts and to himself and there has been no occasion in his life which ever needs to cause him the slightest degree of regret. His land is used largely for dairy purposes as he keeps a herd of high grade Jersey cattle.
On the 28th of January, 1886, Mr. Rockett was united in marriage to Mary M. Cox, a native of Knoxville, Iowa, and a daughter of Mignon and Catherine (Mc- Conaughey) Cox, the former a native of Iowa and the latter of Ohio. Her parents crossed the plains in the days of pioneering, with ox teams, going to Hillsboro, Oregon, in 1866. There the father bought land which he successfully cultivated for a number of years, passing away in 1870. He was survived by his widow for over a third of a century, her death occurring in 1905, when she had reached the age of sixty-five years. Both parents were devoted members of the Methodist church. To Mr. and Mrs. Rockett were born five children: Robert M., a rancher in the Cowiche district, who is married and has four children: Earl Victor, deceased; Azalia, who married Charles Grove, by whom she has two children, her husband being connected with the United States reclamation service; Viola, a successful teacher; and Oliva, at home, who married Albert Hilliard, also connected with the United States reclama- tion service.
Mr. and Mrs. Rockett enjoy the high esteem and regard of their neighbors. They are devoted members of the Baptist church, being deeply interested in its work, and fraternally Mr. Rockett belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His political support has ever been given to the republican party and he has always been a public-spirited citizen, aiding in every possible way movements for. the upbuilding, growth and advancement of his district.
RICHARD WACHSMITH.
The achievement of the orchardists of the Yakima valley is a story to conjure with. It is difficult to realize when one visits this district and sees its splendid bearing orchards that only two or three decades ago the region was a tract of wild, arid land covered with sagebrush. But the efforts of progressive men, employing scientific methods, have wrought marvelous results and the district has indeed "been made to bloom and blossom as the rose." Richard Wachsmith is among the number who have contributed to this result, for since 1904 he has been identified with the develop- ment of the land in this region and is now the owner of fifty-five acres devoted to fruit raising. He was born in Cook county, Illinois, June 30, 1877, a son of August and Frieda Wachsmith, who in 1872 became residents of Cook county, Illinois, where the
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mother passed away in 1894. Ten years later the father with his two sons, Richard and Gus, came to Yakima county, Washington.
In 1907 Richard Wachsmith purchased thirty acres at Parker Heights, near Donald, and in 1918 he acquired an adjoining ten acres. This ranch is set mainly to peach trees, although it contains a small vineyard which has demonstrated that the Yakima valley can grow Muscat and Red Emperor grapes as fine as any produced in California. In 1910 he invested in fifteen acres in Fruitvale. This is largely an apple orchard although cherries, peache's, prunes and pears are also grown. A portion of this land was old orchard set to unprofitable varieties of peaches, apples and cherries, which, by means of grafting, are now, in just a few years, bringing good returns. About forty peach trees are yielding beautiful Tragedy prunes. He is one of the many orchardists who have learned by experience that it is more profitable both to the trees and pocketbook to have his orchards seeded to alfalfa than to clean cultivate them. He has a fine home upon his place, large and commodious barns, the latest improved machinery and everything that is indicative of progressive agricul- tural life and orcharding in this section of the state. He is indeed one of the promi- nent representatives of activity of that character and he deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, having started out in the business world empty-handed. His steady progress has resulted from close application, landable ambition and unfalter- ing industry and his record should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accomplished.
On the 17th of September, 1915, Mr. Wachsmith was united in marriage to Miss Livia C. Thomas, of Yakima, who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, a daughter of T. Frank and Martha Thomas. They now have four children: Ruth and Helen, twins; Richard Alon; and Livia Alice.
Mr. Wachsmith is a stalwart republican in his political views. His wife is a member of the Baptist church and both are people of the highest respectability, en- joying the warm regard of all with whom they have been brought in contact. His has been an active and useful life and he has truly earned the proud American title of a self-made man, his labors resulting in the transformation of arid lands into fine orchards which in blossom time, or when the fruit hangs heavy and ripe upon the trees, present a most beautiful and attractive picture.
CLEO M. FURRY.
Cleo M. Furry is today a successful wholesale fruit merchant of Yakima, but there were times in his career when the clouds seemed to have no silver lining, when hardships and privations confronted him on every hand and it was with the greatest difficulty that he earned enough to provide the barest living for himself and his wife. With stout heart and unfaltering courage, however, he pressed on and ultimately gained a footing in the business world. Since that time he has advanced step by step until his orderly progression has at length brought him to a position of leadership among the successful fruit merchants of the Yakima valley.
Mr. Furry was born in Ceresco, Nebraska, on the 23d of June, 1880, a son of Hiram B. and Delcenia (Smith) Furry, both of whom were natives of Iowa and at an early day became residents of Nebraska. The father was a well known horseman and farmer but has now passed away. The mother, however, is still living.
Cleo M. Furry, reared in the usual manner of the farm-bred boy, acquired a pub- lic school education and when his textbooks were put aside began farm work in the employ of others. In fact his labor in that connection enabled him to a considerable extent to pay the expenses of his school course. He afterwards became assistant telegrapher for the Burlington Railroad Company and at a later period was engaged in flour milling. He became a night miller at Harvard, Nebraska, and subsequently turned his attention to cabinet work in connectoin with an incubator factory. After leaving that position he served as a steam engineer and later he resumed the occu- pation of farming, which he followed for a year. He then came to Washington, set- tling in Klickitat county in 1902 and there securing a homestead claim. He proved up on that property and ultimately sold it, removing to the Wenatchee valley of
CLEO M. FURRY
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Washington in 1907. There he became bookkeeper for the Wenatchee Valley Fruit Growers' Association and was advanced to the position of assistant general manager. On the 1st of June, 1914, he came to Yakima as a representative of the Northwestern Fruit Exchange of Seattle and in January, 1916, he organized the Growers' Service Company, which was incorporated on the 13th of that month, with W. N. Irish as the president, Alfred H. Henry as vice-president and Cleo M. Furry as secretary, treasurer and general manager. Mr. Henry sold his interest in the business in 1917 and Mr. Furry then became vice-president and general manager, while Harry Irish is treasurer and assistant secretary. In 1916 a building was erected, seventy by one hundred feet, and they have frostproof storage for thirty carloads of fruit. They are conducting an extensive business as fruit packers, shippers and buyers. During 1917 they purchased a warehouse at Selah that is fifty by one hundred feet and one story in height. It is frostproof and has a capacity of twenty-five cars. At Henry- boro, Washington, they built a warehouse one story and basement in height and fifty by one hundred feet. This is also frostproof and has a storage capacity of fifty cars. At Zillah, Washington, they built another warehouse similar to that at Henry- boro, and in 1917 they handled about five hundred and fifty carloads of fruit in all. It was in that year that they built the warehouse at Taylor, Washington, a structure fifty by one hundred feet and one story in height. Here they have a packing and assembling house with capacity for thirty cars. Their apples are handled under the "Skookum" brand, with individual brands of "Pom-Pom" and "Potlatch," and their pears and other fruits are handled under the name of "Gro-S-Co." Their products are marketed all over the world and their apples are sold by and through the North- western Fruit Exchange of Seattle. In 1917 their sales showed an increase of three hundred per cent. tonnage over the sales of 1916. Their plants are all modern in con- struction and equipment and they have over two thousand five hundred acres under signed contract for the fruit raised thereon. The business has now reached exten- sive and gratifying proportions and Mr. Furry has won a position among the fore- most wholesale fruit men of Washington. All days in his career, however, have not been equally bright, for at times he has seen gathering the storm clouds which have threatened defeat. However, he has managed to turn defeat into victory and prom- ised failures into success. He was married when he was quite young and he and his wife have worked together. While they were homesteading in Klickitat county they lost every cent which they had. Instead of progressing, that district went back. A sawmill in which Mr. Furry was employed, was burned and they saw months with hardly enough to eat. Moreover, Mr. Furry became ill with rheumatism, from which he suffered for two years. The second baby was born while he and his wife were alone in a little log cabin. Mr. Furry cut wood, which he traded to the settlers for barely enough upon which to subsist. He could earn only fifty cents per day. Their place was situated seventy-five miles from Yakima. He heard about the advantages of the Yakima valley and tried to make the trip with old horses and a worn-out wagon, but the roads were impassable and after two weeks in the mountains he was obliged to give it up and return. Later Mr. Furry made the trip on foot all the way and he was so weak that it was four days before he reached his destination. He did not have a cent, and after looking for work for days he got a job at picking apples. In this way he earned four dollars, which he sent to his wife. He could get no more work, so that he returned and lived all winter on fifteen dollars. Then in the spring he sold the homestead for enough to get to the Yakima valley. That move was the turning point in his career and gradually he has progressed step by step, each for- word step bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. Undaunted courage, pluck, energy and honesty-these have been the salient features in the winning of his present-day prosperity. He has made his way in the world unaided from the age of thirteen years and his life record should indeed inspire and encour- age others, showing what may be accomplished through individual effort.
It was in 1901 that Mr. Furry was married to Miss Tima Moore, of Harvard, Nebraska, and to them have been born three children: Melvin Hiram, fifteen years of age; William Allan, aged eleven; and Cleo M., a lad of ten.
Mr. Furry is an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, loyally fol- lowing its teachings. He belongs to Yakima Lodge No. 24, F. & A. M .; Yakima Chapter, No. 21, R. A. M .: Yakima Commandery No. 13. K. T., of which he is past (21)
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eminent commander for the year 1917-18; the Yakima Lodge of Perfection; the Rose Croix Chapter; the Yakima Council of Kadosh; and Tacoma Consistory, No. 3, S. P. R. S. He is also identified with Afifi Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His mem- bership relations extend to the Modern Woodmen of America, the Yeomen, the Yakima Commercial Club, the Yakima Gun Club and the Automobile Club of West- ern Washington. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he and his wife attend the Christian church. Throughout his career he has held to certain high standards which have made him a man whom to know is to respect and honor and the most envious can not grudge him his success, so honorably has it been won and so worthily used.|
GEORGE H. BEAVER.
In 1914 George H. Beaver came to the Yakima valley and purchased the O'Dell barber shop at Toppenish. He afterward erected a building and continued to carry on business along that line until 1917, when he sold out and turned his atention to the automobile trade. He organized the Central Automobile Company with quarters on Toppenish avenue. He handles the Auburn and Oakland passenger cars and also Federal trucks and he sells the Fisk and Federal tires. He carries a full line of auto accessories and his business has reached a very gratifying and substantial figure owing to his close application, his progressive business methods and his earnest desire to please his patrons.
In 1905 Mr. Beaver was married to Miss Rose Mitchell, of Ellensburg, Wash- ington, where Mr. Beaver had engaged in barbering from 1902 until 1905, during which time he formed the acquaintance of the lady whom he made his wife. They have become the parents of four children, Melvin, Margaret, Arnold and Jack.
Fraternally Mr. Beaver is connected with the Elks lodge, No. 318, of Yakima and also with the Yeomen, the United Commercial Travelers and the Occidentals. In politics he is a republican and for two years he filled the office of chief of police of Toppenish but has not been desirous of holding public positions. He is a charter member of the Commercial Club and interested in all the plans of that organization for the benefit of Toppenish. He has worked earnestly and persistently and the success he has achieved is the direct result of his efforts.
JOHN G. OLDING.
John G. Olding, whose identification with farming interests in Kittitas county dates from pioneer times and who is still the owner of an excellent ranch, although he is not engaged in its cultivation at the present time, was born in Nova Scotia on the 24th of July, 1844, a son of George and Jennie (Roy) Olding, the former also a native of Nova Scotia, while the mother was born in Scotland. The ancestral line is traced back to William and Mary (Gillies) Olding, who were the parents of Nicholas Purdue Olding, whose birth occurred in Southampton, England, March 13, 1751. He left his native land and went to the West Indies as a young man, and at the time of the Revolutionary war he became a lieutenant in the English army but afterward joined the American army. At the close of hostilities he went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he entered upon the practice of law, devoting his attention to the profession to the time of his death. He became an eminent member of the bar there and in his later years was known as "the grandfather of the bar." He also became an extensive landholder, having one thousand acres at Oldings Point. He was the father of Johin Olding, who in turn was the father of George Olding and the grandfather of John G. Olding of this review. George Olding became a farmer and spent his entire life in Nova Scotia.
John G. Olding acquired a public school education and in his youthful days fol- lowed farming in connection with his father. He early became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. Later he became a carpenter
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and followed that trade in Nova Scotia until 1867, when he crossed the border into the United States and made his way to Virginia City, Nevada. There he engaged in mining for three years and eight months, after which he spent one summer in Walla Walla, Washington. In the fall of 1871 he arrived in the Kittitas valley, where he has now made his home for forty-eight years. He took up a homestead six miles from what is now the city of Ellensburg, but at that time the little western hamlet was called Robbers Roost. Mr. Olding made the journey to this place with wagon and ox teams and was one of the first settlers of the district. There were many Indians in the neighborhood-in fact they outnumbered the white settlers- and there was every evidence of frontier life. Game was to be had in abundance and all of the hardships and privations of the frontier were to be met. Mr. Olding first built a little log cabin which had a dirt floor and roof, but this was later burned and a better one erected. In true pioneer style he began life in this section of the country. The first fall he went to Walla Walla for supplies with an ox team-a distance of one hundred and forty miles. One day his wife was told that he would not be back for a year, but on that day he arrived at his home, having made an especially quick trip. He turned his attention to market gardening and was quite successful in the production and sale of vegetables. He obtained three hundred and twenty acres of government land, which he has converted into an excellent ranch property. On this he has engaged in raising grain and hay and his crops have brought to him a substantial financial return. He now rents the place and it provides him with a gratifying annual income.
In November, 1868, Mr. Olding was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Love, a daughter of David and Elizabeth (Cameron) Love, both of whom lived and died in Nova Scotia. The children of this marriage are six in number: Eva, who is now the wife of Eck Shaw and resides in Ellensburg; Nettie, who gave her hand in mar- riage to Jack M. Galvin, a rancher living in Kittitas county; Lida, who is the wife of James J. McGuire and lives in Seattle; Anna, the wife of Henry Mitchell, who is engaged in ranching in the Kittitas valley; Margaret, who is the wife of A. M. Hall and makes her home in Ellensburg; and Mamie, the wife of John Tiseck, of Seattle.
In his political views Mr. Olding is a republican but has never been an office seeker. He has always concentrated his efforts and attention upon his farming in- terests and his place is known as the Pioneer ranch, being most appropriately so termed by reason of the fact that he has for so many years resided in this section, his memory a connecting link between the primitive west, with its hardships and difficulties, and the progressive present with its opportunities.
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