History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 74

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 74
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 74
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 74

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own eighty acres of land in partnership. Elmer is a lieutenant in the aviation service of the United States army in France. Charles makes his home with his uncle, Charles W. Suver. The family is widely and favorably known in this section, where they have lived since pioneer times. Mr. Suver enjoyed the high respect of all who knew him and his many substantial traits of character gained him a circle of friends that was almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance.

WALTER H. JOHNSON.

Walter H. Johnson is the owner of the Council Crest orchard, one of the finest in the state. In the midst of his ranch he has erected a fine home of the bungalow type and is most pleasantly and attractively situated there. His life record is the story of intense and well directed activity, bringing him into close and prominent connection with business interests and public development and progres's in the vari- ous sections in which he has lived. He was born in Abingdon, Iowa, March 10, 1865, a son of Thomas and Parley (Hyatt) Johnson, the former a native of New York, while the latter was born in Indiana. Thomas Johnson was a son of Thomas P. and - (Wagner) Johnson, who came from England, settling in Connecticut about 1815. The Wagner family had been established on American soil prior to the Revolu- tionary war and representatives at first fought with the English, but becoming con- vinced of the righteousness of the American canse, left the English army and joined the colonial forces. The maternal grandfather of Walter H. Johnson was Green- berry Hyatt, who was of Welsh descent. He was a soldier of the Civil war and one of the pioneer settlers of Kansas. The wife of Thomas Johnson had three brothers who were soldiers of the Civil war and all were killed when at the front. Thomas Johnson devoted his life to the occupation of farming in Iowa, having removed to that state in 1853, at which time he took up his abode near Osceola in Clarke county, while later he became a resident of Jefferson county. In 1881 he removed to Colorado and took up the business of fruit growing near Denver, where he passed away July 20, 1902. His wife had departed this life in Iowa. Their family numbered eight children, of whom Mr. Johnson of this review is the third in order of birth. His brother, Frank T. Johnson, has been judge of the district court of Denver for the past twelve years and is now engaged in the private practice of law in that city. He has been very prominent in public affairs there, doing much to improve civic con- ditions, and among the notable evidences of his public spirit was his abolishment of gambling in Denver. Another brother, Samuel W., is now district attorney of the first judicial district of Colorado and is accounted one of the distinguished members at the bar of that state.

A youth of sixteen at the time of the removal of the family to Denver, Walter H. Johnson there continued his education, which had been begun in the schools of Iowa, and supplemented his public school training by attendance at the University of Denver. He was afterward graduated from the Central Business College of Denver with the class of 1903 but in the meantime had made his initial step in the business world, for upon leaving the University of Denver in 1885 he entered a hard- ware store in Billings, Montana, where he remained for four years. On the ex- piration of that period he returned to Denver, where he established a grocery and market on his own account, conducting the business until 1893, when he sold out. From 1894 until 1896 he was at Fort Collins and then became canal superintendent at Montrose, Colorado, in which position he continued for four years. Returning to Denver in 1900, he was chief clerk for the assignee of the Colorado Savings Bank until 1902 and afterward filled the office of deputy assessor until 1903. In the latter year he became fire inspector of Denver, serving in that capacity until 1906, when he turned his attention to the building business, in which line he was active until 1908.

That year witnessed the arrival of Mr. Johnson in Yakima and in 1909 he pur- chased land on Naches Heights. He has since bought and sold over two hundred and forty acres of fruit land on Naches Heights but did not improve the property. He invested, however, in twenty acres of land for a home and has planted it to apples and pears. His apple trees are set thirty-two feet apart and three pear

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trees have been planted to each apple tree. He also has a cherry orchard and his trees are in excellent bearing condition. They have never been touched by frost and his is today one of the finest orchards of the valley, known as the Council Crest orchard. Much of the time Mr. Johnson has lived in Yakima but at a recent date has erected a commodious and beautiful bungalow upon his ranch and is now occupying it. His wife is the owner of the Nob Hill apartments in Yakima.

It was on the 28th of June, 1893, that Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Annie Ellen Jones, who was born in Corwen, North Wales, a daughter of John Prichard and Ann (Edwards) Jones, both of whom passed away before their daugh- ter was ten years of age. It was a cousin of Mrs. Johnson who established the town of Wales, Wisconsin. At the age of fifteen Mrs. Johnson became a resident of Minne- sota, making her way to the home of friends there in 1888. In 1889 she became a resident of Omaha, Nebraska, and in December, 1890, arrived in Denver, where she met Mr. Johnson, who sought her hand in marriage. They have become the parents of three children. Manly M., a graduate of the Yakima high school and the Uni- versity of Washington at Seattle, is now connected with the treasury department of the Seattle Hardware Company. Keplar Barth is a senior student in the University of California at Berkeley, where he is pursuing a course in architectural engineering. He was graduated from the Yakima high school with valedictorian honors in 1914, having completed the four years' course in three years. Martha E., a graduate of the Yakima high school in 1916, pursued post-graduate work in 1917 and is now a student in the University of Washington at Seattle.

The parents are members of the Christian Science church. Mr. Johnson gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and is one of the active workers in its ranks. Twice he has been the party's candidate for the office of county assessor. Formerly he was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Knights of Pythias but has not continued his connection with those organiza- tions. He has written many scientific articles upon engineering and other questions and his literary work constitutes his recreation. He is a lover of the west-a big, broad-minded man who loves the big opportunities of this section of the country. Opportunity is ever to him a call to action-a call to which he has made ready response.

ALEXANDER B. HOLDEN.

Many are the valuable citizens whom Scotland has furnished to the United States and among them is Alexander B. Holden, a native of the land of hills and heather, who now owns a highly improved ranch near Mabton. Mr. Holden was born August 10, 1873, of the marriage of David and Margaret (Burrell) Holden, also natives of Scotland. When but a year old he was brought by his parents to Illinois, in which state the family settled in 1874, the father there working in the coal mines. About seven years later, in 1881, removal was made to Leadville, Colorado, and there the Holden family remained for many years. Carefully saving his earnings, the father then decided to take up agricultural pursuits in Nebraska, where he was engaged in farming until 1912, when he came to Yakima county and here- he is still following the same line of work, renting land and being quite successful in his undertaking. His wife passed away in 1905.

Alexander B. Holden received his education in the state of Colorado, of which he became a resident when but eight years of age, attending the public schools of Leadville. After laying aside his textbooks he decided to follow in his father's foot- steps and turned to mining but later changed his occupation, taking up farming upon his removal to Nebraska. Having heard many favorable reports in regard to the opportunities maintaining in the northwestern Pacific country, he decided in 1903 to come to Yakima county, where for the first two years he worked for wages, thus acquiring the means which enabled him to buy forty acres of land five and a half miles northwest of Mabton. This property was formerly owned by his father- in-law. who bought it as wild land in 1903, Mr. Holden assisting him in clearing the tract. The place now is a modern twentieth century ranch and every up-to-date

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facility and equipment can be found thereon. Mr. Holden has ever been progressive in his methods and as the years have passed the farm has increased in value. In 1916 he erected a new home, a model of its kind, and he also has substantial out- buildings and barns. He largely gives his attention to general farming, raising al- falfa, corn and potatoes.

On the 12th of December, 1895, Mr. Holden was married to Bertha McKnight, a daughter of George and Mary McKnight, who in 1903 came to the Yakima valley from Nebraska. Both have now passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. Holden were horn two children, Mildred Mae and Clifford Alexander, but the latter died at the age of about two years.

The parents are members of the Presbyterian church, in the work of which they take an active and helpful part. In politics Mr. Holden is a democrat but has never aspired to public office although he is thoroughly informed in regard to the questions and issues of the day and is ever ready to give his support to valuable measures undertaken on behalf of the progress and upbuilding of his community and dis- trict. Fraternally he is a member of the Royal Highlanders, thus maintaining con- nection with other men of Scotch birth and extraction. He has many friends in Yakima county and all who know him speak of him in the highest terms of sincere appreciation and esteem.

ALONZO A. BOWMAN.

Alonzo A. Bowman, a successful orchardist of . Wapato, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, June 30, 1861, a son of Henry and Harriett (Mckinney) Bowman, both of whom were natives of the Buckeye state. The paternal grandfather, Daniel Bow- man, was born in Pennsylvania and became a pioneer settler of Ohio, as did Stuart McKinney, the maternal grandfather, who was a native of Maryland. Henry Bow- man spent his entire life in Ohio, where he passed away in 1882, and his widow after- ward came to Yakima, Washington, where her death occurred in August, 1917.

Alonzo A. Bowman acquired a public school education in his native state and also attended Muskingum College at New Concord, Ohio. In 1885 he traveled over Minnesota, Dakota and Nebraska looking for a suitable location for the family, and in 1886 they bought land near Hastings, Nebraska, the mother and her six other children joining him there. The latter remained with the family at Hastings for four years and the mother and one of her daughters continued to reside there until 1898. In 1889, however, Alonzo A. Bowman went to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he took up the painter's trade and also dealt in real estate, remaining in that place for three years. He afterward removed to Palo Alto, California, where he entered the livery business, spending three and a half years in that place. He then returned to Ne- braska, where he continued for a short time but subsequently went to Cripple Creek, Colorado, and engaged in mining in that state until the fall of 1901, when he came to the Yakima valley and again engaged in the painting business at Yakima. He later bought a wall paper and paint store, which he conducted until 1909, when he sold the business and purchased twenty-six acres of land on Parker Heights. He planted this to orchards and now has twenty-three acres devoted to the raising of apples, peaches and pears, one-half of it being in peaches. He has his own packing plant and every equipment for the care, packing and shipment of his fruit. He has remodeled the house and has converted the place into one of the attractive homes of the district.

On the 26th of June, 1907, Mr. Bowman was united in marriage to Miss Lois J. Zediker, a native of Manchester, Iowa, and a daughter of Dr. James F. Zediker, who came to Yakima in 1901. Fraternally Mr. Bowman is connected with Yakima Lodge, No. 24, F. and A. M., and is a worthy exemplar of the craft. He also be- longs to the Yakima Commercial Club and is interested in all of its projects for the welfare and upbuilding of the district in which he lives. His wife is a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Bowman gives his political allegiance to the republican party but has never been an office seeker. He gives his undivided attention to his business affairs and is justly accounted one of the successful orchardists of his community. He belongs to the Yakima County Horticultural Union and he studies

MR. AND MRS. ALONZO A. BOWMAN

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closely every question that has to do with the subject of fruit raising in the north- west. He follows the most progressive and scientific methods in the care and propa- gation of his trees and in the handling of his fruit and the results achieved have been most satisfactory.

JOHN W. ELLISON.

John W. Ellison is a well known business man of Thorp, where he is conducting a grocery and meat market and also engages in the packing and shipping of fruit. He was born near Thorp, February 10, 1886, a son of John C. and Amy A. (Childs) Ellison, the former a native of Kansas, while the latter was born in Pennsylvania. The father came to the Kittitas valley as one of its pioneer settlers, arriving in the year 1876. The mother came about 1882 with her father, the trip having been made overland from Nebraska. Mr. Ellison took up a homestead and purchased other land. upon which he lived to the time of his death in 1898. His widow survives and now makes her home in Seattle. John C. Ellison was the owner of four hundred acres of land under cultivation and he also leased other land, being extensively en- gaged in farming and stock raising. He was, moreover, a man of considerable influence in regard to public affairs and served as county assessor in 1896 and 1897. He did not ally himself with any political party but maintained an independent atti- tude and gave his aid and support where he believed he could further the best inter- ests of the community. He was a prominent citizen, highly respected for his sterling worthi and his loyalty to duty.

John W. Ellison acquired a public school education, supplemented by study in a business college at Seattle. Upon the death of his father he took charge of the home ranch but afterward turned his attention to commercial pursuits, entering the meat business at Thorp in 1908. He now conducts a large and well appointed grocery store and meat market, putting forth every effort to please his patrons, and in addition he also does a fruit buying and packing business. Both branches of his activity are bringing to him well deserved success.

On the 7th of February, 1906. Mr. Ellison was united in marriage at Manchester, lowa, to Miss Mary Etna Frank, a daughter of L. P. Frank, who removed from Manchester to Thorp, Washington, the following year. Mr. and Mrs. Ellison have become parents of one child, Marie.

Mr. Ellison belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and to the Woodmen of the World, while in politics he has been a democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He is a progressive young merchant of his town who has readily recognized and improved his opportunities and is today a leader in com- mercial circles in Thorp.

WILLIAM H. PURBAUGH.

William H. Purbaugh has performed the arduous task of converting a tract of sagebrush into highly cultivated fields and is today the owner of a valuable ranch property of thirty-three and a half acres near Grandview. Attracted by the oppor- tunities of the northwest, he made his way to this section of the country from Ne- braska, where he had located in young manhood. Pennsylvania is his native state and he was born on the 26th of January, 1859, a son of Philip and Annie (Miller) Purbaugh, both of whom spent their entire lives in Pennsylvania, where the father followed the occupation of farming.

After mastering not only the branches of learning taught in the public schools but also the best methods of tilling the soil while spending his youthful days under the parental roof, William H. Purbangh went to Nebraska when a young man and there followed the carpenter's trade for fifteen years. He also engaged in farming in that state, purchasing and cultivating eighty acres of land. Eventually, however, he sold his property there and in 1905 arrived in Yakima county, Washington, where (24)

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he purchased thirty-three and a half acres of land lying east of Grandview. This was all wild land covered with a native growth of sagebrush and giving little indi- cation that it could be converted into anything of value. With characteristic energy, however, Mr. Purbaugh took up the task of clearing it and making it a productive tract. He has since improved the farm according to the most modern and scientific methods, has a good house upon it and substantial barns and is successfully engaged in the raising of hay and live stock. For his crops and for his stock he finds a ready market and thereby is materially increasing his annual income.

In 1899 Mr. Purbaugh was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Moore, a daughter of W. F. and Eliza Moore. The children of this marriage are two sons, Frank and Harold, both at home. In politics Mr. Purbaugh is not a partisan but casts an in- dependent ballot and supports those measures which he deems of value to the com- munity in which he lives. He can be counted upon to further plans for the public good and he stands for all those interests which are of worth as factors in individual uplift and community progress.

WILLIAM F. McNATT.

William F. McNatt, owner of the Yakima Trout Farm and an expert in the science of raising fish, has the largest private hatchery in the state and his place is fast be- coming famous. Mr. McNatt is one of the native sons of Washington who through- out his life has been familiar with the state, its opportunities, advantages and possi- bilities. He was born in King county, August 8, 1862, a son of Francis and Ann (Burns) McNatt, the former a native of Knox county, Tennessee, while the latter was born in Ireland. The father's birth occurred in 1820 and he was of Scotch parentage. In 1851 he crossed the plains to Oregon and in 1852 made his way to the Puget Sound country, settling on the present site of Seattle. He was employed in timber woods for a few years and afterward took up government land, which he cleared and improved, his property being now included within the corporation limits of Seattle, and of the old home property William F. McNatt and his brother still own forty acres in the suburbs of that city, where the father continued to make his home until his death, which occurred in 1903. His wife had passed away the previous year. She had made her way to the Puget Sound country with a brother in 1860, traveling around Cape Horn from New York. Not long after her arrival in the northwest Francis McNatt sought and won her hand in marriage and they became the parents of three children: Mary Ann, who died at the age of twenty- two years; William F .; and Robert N., now living in Calgary, Canada.

William F. McNatt can remember when there were only three or four families in Seattle and in fact he has witnessed the greater part of the settlement, growth and development of the state, being among the oldest of its native sons. He ac- quired a public school education, supplemented by two years' study in the Uni- versity of Washington. In young manhood he followed farming in connection with his father and afterward devoted a few years to the sawmill and lumber business. Subsequently he became manager of the Meadow Brook ranch, east of Seattle, being in charge there for three years, and in 1903 he removed to Yakima county, where he cultivated six hundred and forty acres of land on the Yakima Indian reservation for nine years. On the expiration of that period he retired from business life, but indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature and after four years, or in 1914, he bought twelve acres in the Lower Naches and developed the Yakima Trout Farm, which produces about four million tront for distribution in the streams of Yakima, King and Lincoln counties. He planted one million two hundred and fifty thousand trout for Yakima county in 1918. He also raises four hundred thousand trout for table use for the leading hotels and residents in Seattle and other cities. He is developing and enlarging this business constantly. He uses spring water for the fish which he keeps at an average temperature of fifty-four degrees. He has built large cement tanks and is conducting the business along the most modern scientific methods, having made a careful study of everything connected with fish hatching and raising. There are only three private fish hatcheries in Washington

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and that of Mr. McNatt is the largest. Because of the high standards which he maintains in connection with every phase of the business he produces fish of the highest grade and the place is fast becoming known throughout the country. Mr. McNatt has built a beautiful home upon his ranch and has planted a five-acre orchard to English walnuts. He first visited the Yakima valley in 1882, before a railroad had been built to the district, helping to drive cattle across the country at that time. His present ranch was first taken up as a tract of government land in the '50s by John Nelson because of the fine springs upon the place. It is Mr. McNatt's plan to develop a fine park and amusement grounds, with public fishing grounds, a charge being made for the fishing privilege. In the execution of his plans he will develop one of the finest places of the kind in the world.

On the 12th of July, 1890, Mr. McNatt was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Dewey, a native of Indiana, who came to Washington in 1889, settling in Seattle, where their marriage 'was celebrated. In politics Mr. McNatt is an independent republican, for while he usually supports the principles of the party, he does not hesitate to cast an independent ballot if his judgment so dictates. He is a splendid type of the western pioneer-the man of courageous spirit who recognizes the op- portunities of the west and does not hestitate to take a forward step when the way is open. There is no phase of Washington's development and upbuilding with which he is not familiar. He has witnessed its growth from early pioneer times and yet when one secs the great and growing cities of Washington, it seems hardly possible that all this has occurred within the memory of any man who is now living. In Mr. McNatt's early boyhood, however, Seattle was but a tiny hamlet of a few homes, while the surrounding forests stood in their primeval strength. His fortunes have increased with the growth and development of the country and the utilization of his opportunities has placed him in the front rank among the honored and typically representative men of the west.

ERNEST A. WEBBER.

With Vancouver, British Columbia, as his destination Ernest A. Webber started for the Pacific coast but on reaching the Yakima valley in March, 1909, found spring and sunshine and was so pleased with the country that he remained. Today he is the owner of an attractive residence and fine orchards in the Selah valley which have been largely developed through his enterprising efforts.

Mr. Webher is a native of Rock county, Wisconsin. He was born April 11, 1857, of the marriage of Andrew A. and Mary (Knispel) Webber. The father was a native of Pennsylvania and became a pioneer of the middle west. He passed through Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early '40s and went to Chicago, making the journey by lake. He purchased ten acres in what is now the heart of the city of Chicago for a hundred dollars and sold it the succeeding year for one hundred and ten dollars. In 1847 he removed to Rock Prairie, Wisconsin, and took up a squatter's claim, im- proving six hundred and forty acres of land there. He afterward spent his remain- ing days upon that place. About 1848 Rock county was opened up by the govern- ment and thirty-four squatters, including Mr. Webber, agreed that every man was to purchase only the land he had squatted upon under penalty of death, and each has lived up to the terms of the agreement. In those early days they hauled wheat to Milwaukee by team and sold it at twenty-five cents per bushel, but during the period of the Civil war prices greatly advanced and he was paid two dollars per bushel for his wheat and sixteen dollars per hundred pounds for pork.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II, Part 74

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