USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 75
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 75
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. II > Part 75
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Ernest A. Webber acquired a public school education, completing his course in the high school at Watertown, Wisconsin. He entered the lumber woods of Michigan when a youth of sixteen years and subsequently was connected with the lumber business in Duluth, Minnesota, for fourteen years. In 1905 he made his way westward to British Columbia, where he built a sawmill at Summit Lake, there re- maining for three years. He afterward returned to Duluth and again started for the coast to accept the position of manager of a lumberyard, but passed through the Yakima valley in March, 1909, and found it flooded with sunshine, with every indi-
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cation of the spring. Stopping off, he was so pleased with the district that he re- mained and still has his unused tickets to Vancouver, British Columbia. He pur- chased ten acres of land in the Selah valley in the spring of 1909 and erected thereon a most attractive residence and large substantial barns, in fact he has added all modern improvements to his place, which is planted to apples and pears. He is a leading farmer of the locality and success has attended his efforts throughout the entire period of his residence in this state.
On the 19th of June, 1887, Mr. Webber was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie Musack, a native of Germany, who came to the United States in her childhood days. The children of this marriage are: Leonard, who is working in a shipyard at Duluth, Minnesota, and has a wife and three children; Sidney, residing in British Columbia; Arthur, a member of the United States navy; Ruth and Jethro, both at home; and Marie, who completes the family. They also lost their first born, Vernie, who died at the age of five years.
In his political views Mr. Webber is a republican and fraternally he has been connected with the Modern Woodmen of America since 1890 and is also identified with the Royal Neighbors. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to Washington, for here he has found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has made steady progress. His plans have always been well defined and promptly executed and his efforts have brought to him a gratifying measure of success.
CHARLES H. KRESGE.
Charles H. Kresge is the owner of seven hundred and eighty acres of valuable land in Kittitas county, of which he has four hundred acres under a high state of cultivation and the crops produced are evidence of his progressive spirit and prac- tical methods. He also makes stock raising a feature of the place and he is a man of determined character who carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He was born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania, October 29, 1865, a son of Joseph and Mary Ann (Honser) Kresge, both of whom have now passed away. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming.
While spending his youthful days under the parental roof Charles H. Kresge acquired a public school education and on attaining his majority he left the old home and made his way to the Pacific coast. Arriving in California, he there engaged in farming upon rented land until 1901, when he made his way to Kittitas county, Washington. Here he also cultivated a rented farm for a decade and during this period he also conducted a wholesale hay and grain business, building up a large trade. He also built a fine warehouse in Ellensburg and he handled as high as eight thousand tons of hay and grain per year. In 1910 he purchased one hundred and forty acres of land two miles west of Ellensburg and in 1908 he had purchased three hundred and twenty acres eleven miles northeast of Ellensburg. In 1911 he took up his abode upon his ranch. He now has altogether seven hundred and eighty acres of valuable land, of which .. . our hundred acres is under cultivation. He raises hay, grain and cattle, handling high grade stock, having a fine herd of shorthorns. He has upon his place a beautiful home supplied with all modern conveniences and every feature of his place is indicative of his progressive spirit and the enterprise which guides him in all the relations of life. His ranch is called the Springdale Farm. One of his ranch properties is devoted to dairying and upon that place he has a very fine herd of cattle and all equipments for the successful and sanitary con- duct of a dairy business.
On the 21st of July, 1892. Mr. Kresge was married to Miss Helen I. Faulkner, a native of Wisconsin. They are members of the Presbyterian church and in politics Mr. Kresge is a democrat where national questions and issues are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. In 1916 he withdrew from the whole- sale hay and grain trade and took a trip throughout the United States, motoring for nine months and driving over fourteen thousand miles, while for three thousand miles he covered the distance by rail. This was a most delightful trip to Mr. and
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Mrs. Kresge, enabling them to see much of the country and especially those points which were of most interest to them. Mr. Kresge has been a most prominent farmer of his community, a sagacious and farsighted business man and one whose well defined plans have constituted the foundation upon which he has built the super- structure of success.
CHARLES A. SCHMIDT.
A tract of thirty-six acres of wild land on the Moxee covered with sagebrush constituted the beginning of the present valuable and highly developed property of Charles A. Schmidt. The transformation that has since been wrought indicates his life of intelligently directed activity. Mr. Schmidt was born on the Atlantic while his parents were en route to America, December 25, 1866. He is a son of John and Caroline Schmidt, who took up their abode at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, where the boy was reared upon his father's farm. The father remained an active factor in agri- cultural pursuits in the east for many years and both parents passed away in Pennsyl- vania.
Mr. Schmidt of this review acquired a public school education and in early life spent a few years at work in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. He afterward engaged in farming in that state until 1900, when he came to the northwest, settling at Seattle, and from that city he made his way to Alaska, where he lived for two years. In 1902 he came to Yakima county and purchased thirty-six acres of land, at which time he at once began to develop and improve the property, converting it into a splendid ranch. In 1911 he erected thereon a beautiful cement house, constituting one of the attractive homes in this section of the county. He also has other modern im- provements and in fact there are few ranches that indicate more clearly the pro- gressive spirit on the part of the owner. He has twelve acres planted to apples and pears and his orchards are in excellent bearing condition. The remainder of his land is devoted to the raising of hay and such cereals as are best adapted to soil and climatic conditions here. Mr. Schmidt is also a trustee of the Selah-Moxee Irrigation District and has been general manager of the Selah-Moxee canal for several years. He is a very prominent, enterprising and progressive farmer and has done much to further general progress and improvement in this section of the state.
On the 16th of October, 1907, Mr. Schmidt was married to Miss Florence Cavin, a native of Indiana and a daughter of John and Ida Cavin, who became residents of the Moxee valley in 1905. The children of this marriage are Ruth, Naomi, Freida, Alice and also a son and a daughter who died in infancy. In 1917 Mr. Schmidt made a trip back to his old home in his Ford car, driving both ways. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church at Moxee City. His political allegiance is given to the republican party where national questions and issues are involved but at local elections he casts an independent ballot. He has served as a member of the school board and he is interested in all that has to do with the welfare and progress of the community in which he makes his home. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is loyal to the teachings of those organizations. Moreover, he deserves credit for the success he has achieved in life, for he is a self-made man, having been both the architect and builder of his own fortunes.
JAMES B. HARRIS.
James B. Harris, conducting an insurance agency in Yakima, was born in Mc- Kinney, Texas, December 15, 1879, a son of Wood and Louisa Harris, who were early scttlers of Texas, removing to the Lone Star state from Tennessee. The father served for four years in the Civil war as a member of the Confederate army, enlist- ing from Texas. He was a farmer by occupation and owned a large amount of land,
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conducting his agricultural interests on quite an extensive scale. He passed away in the year 1896 and is survived by his widow, who yet makes her home in Texas.
James B. Harris, after mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools, became a student in the A. and M. College of Texas and when his text- books were put aside turned his attention to clerking. The year 1902 witnessed his arrival in Washington, at which time he settled in Bellingham, where he was manager of the A. B. Clark Hardware store for four years. He next went to Tacoma, where he remained for a few years as manager for the Stone Fisher Company, home fur- nishings and crockery, and in January, 1908, he arrived in Yakima, where he en- tered the hardware business in connection with Harry Ansart, with whom he was thus associated for four years. On the expiration of that period he sold out to his partner, in 1912, and has since been engaged in the real estate and insurance busi- ness. At this period he was associated with the Yakima Valley Orchard Company but in 1913 he and Harry E. Larson bought the insurance and real estate end of the business. He now conducts a general real estate and insurance business, handling both city and farm property, and he is thoroughly familiar with property values and knows just what is upon the market. He is able to assist his clients in making advantageous purchases and sales and is doing an extensive business.
In 1910 Mr. Harris was married to Miss Leone V. Stevens, of Tacoma, and they have two children, Dorothy and Louise. Mr. Harris belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Commercial Club and of the Country Club, while his political support is given to the democratic party. Those who know him esteem him as a man of worth and his friends in Yakima are many.
LYMAN F. WITHEE.
The width of the continent separates Lyman F. Withee from the place of his hirth. Now a resident of the Selah valley of Washington, he was born in Skow- hegan Falls, Maine, May 2, 1859, a son of Hiram and Sarah (Nutting) Withee, who were also natives of the Pine Tree state, where the father followed the occupation of farming and thus provided for his family. In 1866 he removed to the middle west, establishing his home in Jackson county, Wisconsin, where he cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers who were reclaiming that district for the purposes of civiliza- tion. He there lived for a quarter of a century or until 1891. when he removed to Clark county, Wisconsin, and while there residing figured prominently in the public life of the community. He was chosen to serve in the position of county treasurer and by re-election was continued in that office for seventeen years-a most notable record of faithful service. The record of perhaps no other official in that county has extended over a longer period and none has been more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct or stainless in reputation. The death of Mr. Withee occurred about 1908 and his wife has also passed away.
Lyman F. Withee acquired a public school education and through the period of his boyhood and youth was trained to farm work, early becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. He afterwards went to Iowa and was associated with the Standard Lumber Company of Dubuque for sev- eral years but in 1908 came to the northwest, making his way to Yakima county, Washington, where he purchased twenty acres of wild land in the Selah valley, covered with sagebrush and giving little indication that it could ever be converted into valuable fruit raising land. Today, however, he has splendid apple orchards upon his place and is raising fruit of the finest variety and grade. In 1918 he erected a modern residence of attractive architecture and supplied with all the comforts and conveniences of the present-day home. He has also built a concrete warehouse. thirty by fifty feet and two stories in height, which was erected in 1917. Half of his farm is seeded to alfalfa between the trees. His place has all the appearance of being in the hands of a painstaking manager and the beautiful bungalow shows that the same care is practiced by Mrs. Withee in her duties as a housewife.
On November 15, 1882, Mr. Withee was married to Miss Emma Counrod, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of J. P. and Margaret Counrod. Mr. and Mrs.
MR. AND MRS. LYMAN F. WITHEE
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Withce are consistent members of the Methodist church and the former is a re- publican in politics but is not an office seeker. His life has been an active and use- ful one, honorable and upright in all relations, and the sterling worth of his char- acter is attested in the fact that the circle of his friends is constantly increasing as the circle of his acquaintance widens.
RICHARD CONNELL, M. D.
Dr. Richard Connell, a prominent member of the medical profession in Yakima who since December, 1915, has been county physician, is also a member of the local exemption board and its examining physician. His life record began in Allegheny, New York, where he was born April 5, 1856, a son of Martin and Johanna Connell. The father was a railroad employe who on leaving the east removed to Nebraska, his son, Dr. Connell, being at that time a youth of eleven years. Martin Connell passed away in Colorado and the mother is also deceased.
Dr. Connell acquired a public school education in Nebraska and in young man- hood took up the study of telegraphy and became an operator at the age of seven- teen years. In this way he earned the money whereby he provided for his medical education, which was acquired in the Kentucky School of Medicine, from which he was graduated in 1889. He then went to Fresno, California, and in 1890 arrived in Washington, establishing his home at Tenino, where he remained for six months. He next removed to Bellingham, Washington, where he continued for nine months, after which he came to Yakima but at that time remained for only a brief period. Later he was in Spokane county and from there went to Odessa, Washington, in 1900, remaining there until 1907 when he returned to Yakima, where he opened an office and continued his practice. His ability has brought him public recognition in a growing patronage and he keeps in touch with the advanced thought of the pro- fession. He is a member of the county and state medical societies and he is giving excellent service to the public as county physician, which office he has filled for about three years. He is also a member of and examining physician for the local exemp- tion board.
In 1877 Dr. Connell was united in marriage to Miss Lulu Pelton, of Oakland, California, and after her death he was married in 1882 to Miss Mary E. Israel, of Towa. She. too, passed away and in 1897 Dr. Connell wedded Miss Nina Hall, of Yakima. He had two children of the second marriage: Fred, now residing in Seattle; and Hazel, the wife of H. M. Chase, also of Seattle. Dr. and Mrs. Connell are rearing an adopted son, Henry, who is eighteen years of age.
Dr. Connell belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows but has little time for interests and activities outside his profession, for his duties in that connec- tion are continually making greater and greater demand upon his energies. He dis- charges his duties with a marked sense of conscientious obligation and he is keenly interested in everything that tends to promote the efficiency of the medical profession.
CARL STINSON.
Ranching interests near Sunnyside are taking up most of the time and atten- tion of Carl Stinson, who owns a valuable tract of forty acres and also rents eighty acres which he is cultivating. He was born in Sweden, January 6, 1885, a son of August and Christine Stinson, the latter deceased. The father, who is a butcher by trade, yet resides in Sweden.
Carl Stinson passed his boyhood and early manhood in his native country. where he attended the public schools and also the high school, thus acquiring sound funda- mental knowledge. At the age of twenty-one years, in 1906, he decided to emigrate to the United States in order to profit by the greater opportunities presented here and after his arrival settled in Minnesota, where he remained for a year. In 1907 he made his way to Tacoma, where he followed the carpenter's trade for two years.
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The year 1908 marked his arrival in Yakima county and for the following three years he worked in the employ of others, thus acquiring the means that enabled him to purchase twenty acres of land four miles southwest of Sunnyside, which at that time was all covered with sagebrush. The purchase of this property took place in 1911 and Mr. Stinson was the first in his section to take up agricultural pursuits. He has since bought twenty acres more and has now cleared the forty acres, which are in a good state of cultivation and from which he derives a gratifying income. He augments his annual profits by renting eighty acres, which he has also largely cleared. He is progressive and enterprising and by close attention and indefatigable industry has made his a valuable tract. He has modern machinery and facilities upon his place and the buildings are in a good state of preservation.
One the 1st of June, 1915, Mr. Stinson was married to Cynthia Graham, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Graham, who are mentioned at greater length on other pages of this work. To this union has been born a daughter, Dora Christine, while there are also two children by a former marriage of Mrs. Stinson, James and William McPherson.
Mr. Stinson is a member of the Hay Growers Association of Toppenish, where he exchanges opinions and experiences with others who are interested in a similar line of endeavor, his farm crop being largely alfalfa. In his political affiliations he is a democrat and has ever loyally supported the principles and candidates of that party. Since coming to this country he has become thoroughly Americanized and steadfastly stands for the principles which this government represents. Moreover, he is deeply interested in the progress of his district and is ever ready to lend a helping hand toward its upbuilding.
JOE WESLEY FITTS.
The ranch property of Joe W. Fitts seems to express the last word in agri- cultural progressiveness. There is no equipment or improvement of the model farm property that is lacking upon his place and his home is one of the beautiful resi- dences in the vicinity of Zillah. The life story of Joe W. Fitts is an interesting one in that it indicates what can be accomplished through determined individual effort, intelligently directed. He was born at Madison, South Dakota, June 3, 1892, a son of Frank D. and Etta L. (Hill) Fitts, the former a native of Michigan, while the latter was born in Minnesota. The father lived in Chicago until he reached his early twenties and was employed as a clerk in a bank. He afterward engaged in farming in Illinois for a few years and then removed to South Dakota, where he again entered the banking business, becoming president of the First National Bank of Madison. He remained a prominent figure in financial circles in that place for thirty-five years. Eventually his business operations sought a new field in the west. He became inter- ested in the Yakima-Zillah Investment Company in 1912 and was made its vice president. This company had two hundred acres of land a mile and a half north of Zillah and irrigated the tract by pumping water to it. In 1913 Mr. Fitts brought his family to the northwest, disposing of his interests in South Dakota, and he established his home in Yakima. In 1917 the two hundred acre tract of land was divided and he and his son Joe took one hundred and eighty-one acres of this, of which eighty-six acres has been planted to fruit. His orchards are devoted to apples, with peaches, pears and cherries as fillers. This is one of the largest orchards of the valley and the trees are all in bearing now. There is also a twenty-five acre tract planted to alfalfa, while seventy acres of the tract is still undeveloped. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Frank D. Fitts were four children: Mrs. O. R. Nichols, now of Selah; Mrs. George Gorman, living in Beloit, Wisconsin; Joe W., of this review; and Frank Leland Hill, who died at the age of sixteen years.
Joe W. Fitts acquired a public school education in Madison, South Dakota, and afterward attended the State University of Michigan. In 1914 he became a resi- dent of Yakima and through the intervening period has taken an active part in the management of the ranch which his father acquired. They have been closely asso- ciated in carrying on the business of developing the orchards and cultivating the
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fields. They have built a fine eight-room residence upon the place, supplied with hot and cold water and electric lights. They also have a large tenant house upon the ranch and they are building extensive packing sheds and a storage warehouse. In fact theirs is one of the best equipped ranch properties of the district, supplied with every modern convenience. The whole ranch has water pumped upon it for irrigation, derived from the Sunnyside canal. There are twenty horsepower electric motor pumps which supply five hundred gallons per minute. There is also a two hundred and eighty foot well for home use, which pumps water into a big tank on a high tower and thus supplies a constant flow of water into the house and barns.
On the 2d of February, 1916, Joe W. Fitts was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Clark, who was born in Colorado, a daughter of F. W. Clark, and they now have one son, Joe Wesley, Jr.
Fraternally Mr. Fitts is connected with the Masonic lodge at Zillah and his political endorsement is given to the republican party. Amid most pleasant and at- tractive surroundings Mr. Fitts is most pleasantly situated. His home, which is one of the finest places in the Yakima valley, commands a wonderful view of snow- capped Mount Rainier and Mount Adams, with a gentle, rolling country between, and the fine climate and natural resources of the district make the situation largely an ideal one.
EDWARD SMITH.
The career of Edward Smith, a prosperous rancher of the Cowiche district of the Yakima valley, is a most interesting one, for he has been engaged in various occupations in various sections of the country and therefore his life's course has brought him more experiences than fall to the lot of many. A native of Illinois, he was born in Joliet, April 1, 1862, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Sampson) Smith. The father was born in England and in his boyhood came to the United States, locating in Joliet, Illinois, in 1846. For some time he worked for others but later purchased land and became a successful agriculturist of Illinois, in which state he passed away April 19, 1875. His wife, Elizabeth (Sampson) Smith, was also born in England and was a daughter of Samuel Sampson, who removed to Illinois in 1852, becoming a prominent farmer of that state. The property which he owned is still in the family. In 1902 Mrs. Smith came to Yakima county, Washington, where her death occurred in 1909. She was a devoted member of the Methodist church, being deeply interested in its work. Her husband was a strict adherent of the republican party, was active as a school director of his district in Illinois and was respected by all who knew him as a public-spirited and substantial citizen. In their family were eight sons and two daughters, of whom our subject is the fourth in order of birth. The others of the family are: Samuel, a resident of Pasadena, California; George, who follows agricultural pursuits; William, a resident of Iowa: Joseph, who made his home in Yakima and died in November, 1918; Leonard, who is ranching in the Cowiche district; Charles, who follows the same line of occu- pation in this district; Alice, who resides in Yakima; John, who has remained a resident of Joliet, Illinois; and Maggie, who died in infancy.
Edward Smith was reared under the parental roof and in the acquirement of his education attended public school in his native state. He at first turned his attention to farming, assisting his father in that pursuit, and subsequently became a traveling salesman for the Western Union Supply Company. In 1884, at the age of twenty- two years, Mr. Smith removed from Illinois to Minnesota, and in 1886 he went to Beatrice, Nebraska, where he was for two years engaged in the livery business. He was then again on the staff of the Western Union Supply Company for a year. He removed to Tacoma, Washington, December 6, 1890, and while in that city traveled for Redmond, Reese & Crandle for some time, making trips out of Tacoma. Later he was for two months a traveling salesman in the employ of Hautelling & Company of Portland, Oregon, but since that time has given his undivided atten- tion to agricultural pursuits.
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