USA > Washington > Spokane County > Spokane > History of the city of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 10
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JAMES MONTGOMERY PERRY.
Among the retired ranchmen of Spokane county who deserve prominent men- tion in this work should be named James Montgomery Perry, who located at Cheney thirty-four years ago and is, therefore, one of the pioneers of this section. He was born in New York state, April 20, 1846, and is a son of Oren and Margaret (Tabor) Perry. The father died in 1852, when his son James was six years of age, but the mother survived until 1901.
James M. Perry received his early education in the public schools of the Empire state. After leaving school he worked on a farm and continued there until twenty years of age. He then went to Holley, New York, and secured employment in a flour and feed store. After giving up this position he came westward to Nebraska, where he applied himself to farming for seven years. Believing that the Pacific coast presented more favorable inducements, he removed to California, remaining, however, only a short time in that state. He next became a resident of Oregon and worked in a sawmill for two years. In 1877 he arrived at Cheney and took up a preemption claim of one hundred and sixty acres. Subsequently he purchased tracts of eighty, two hundred and forty and four hundred and forty acres respec-
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tively, thus becoming the owner of nine hundred and twenty acres of land in Spo- kane county. He applied himself successfully to farming until 1905, when he dis- posed of a portion of his land and bought property in Cheney. On account of ill health he retired from active operations and has since made his home in town. In 1910 he sold four hundred and forty acres but still retains two hundred and forty acres, which he rents to other persons.
On March 4, 1874, Mr. Perry was married to Miss Marie C. Salisbury, a daugh- ter of Ackland Salisbury, whose ancestors were pioneers of New York state. Mr. and Mrs. Perry are the parents of one child, Grace, who is the wife of L. C. Van Patten. In politics Mr. Perry supports the republican party. He has been an active worker in its behalf and has attended many county conventions at Spokane. He belongs to the Masonic order, and has served as chaplain of the lodge at Cheney. He was also for many years a member of the Commercial Club of Cheney.
He has witnessed many changes in eastern Washington. When he located in Spokane county the country in this region was largely uninhabited except by In- dians and wild animals, and settlers were often in danger from outbreaks of the savages. Twice Mr. Perry and his family were forced to leave Cheney on account of Indian scares, going the first time to Spokane and the second time to Colfax and on to Walla Walla. Conditions have changed,-the railroad, the telegraph and the wonderful conveniences of an inventive age assisted in the rapid march of progress and today Spokane county is within ready access of the best markets and the peo- ple enjoy all the desirable comforts and luxuries of modern life.
Mr. Perry showed rare public spirit at the time when the bill for the support of the State Normal school was vetoed, when he with a number of others signed notes to prevent the school from closing until the state appropriation could be made. His daughter is a graduate of that school. Mr. and Mrs. Perry became members of the Methodist church in 1884, and ever since have been very prominent in church and temperance work. Both have served as officers in the church, and Mrs. Perry is an officer in the Ladies' Aid Society. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, as is her daughter and her son-in-law, having lately been elected sec- retary of the local Masonic lodge. It is largely to the pioneers that the people of eastern Washington owe the blessing they now enjoy and no one of that noble class is more sincerely respected than James M. Perry.
WILLIAM S. LEWIS.
William S. Lewis is a practicing attorney in Spokane and is the author of various historical articles pertaining to eastern Washington. He was born at Hamden, Delaware county, New York, July 21, 1876, and in 1881 came to the west with his parents, William A. and Fannie B. (Shaw) Lewis who in that year brought their family to Washington. William S. Lewis, then a lad of eight years, entered the public schools here and passed through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school. He afterward became a pupil in the Leland Stanford Junior University of California, where he pursued the study of law and following his re- turn to Washington was admitted to practice before the bar of this state in 1898. He has since followed his profession and is now associated with his brother, Marshall
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L. Lewis. They have been accorded a good clientage, which is indicative of the fact that their work in the courts is satisfatcory to those who employ them. They are careful and painstaking in the preparation of cases, and strong argument and logical deduction are features in the presentation of their causes before court or jury.
On the 16th of January, 1911, William S. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Hildegarde J. Johannessen, a daughter of Carl J. Johannessen, of this city. Mr. Lewis is a man of considerable literary ability, as is evidenced by the historical articles which he has written pertaining to the history of eastern Washington. In politics he has always been a republican and is now allied with the progressive wing of the party, but has never been a candidate for office, preferring the retire- ment of private life to the publicity of the political field.
OLIVER NELSON BELL.
Oliver Nelson Bell is one of the well known real-estate dealers in Colville, hav- ing for the past six years been identified with L. M. McFarland in the operation of the Colville Land Company. He is a native of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Belknap, Davis county, that state, on the 10th of November, 1858, his parents being Charles R. and Sarah A. (Scoles) Bell. When he was a youth of sixteen the family residence was changed to Salem, Oregon, while two years later they became citizens of Latah, Washington. Here the mother passed away in 1891, but the father is still living in Hamilton, Montana, having attained the venerable age of seventy-five.
Reared in the country Oliver Nelson Bell devoted the winters of his boyhood and youth to the acquirement of an education in the common schools, first in Iowa and later in Oregon, while in summers he worked on the farm. After the mastery of the common branches he gave his undivided attention to agricultural pursuits, remaining under the parental roof until he was twenty-two years of age. He then left home to begin his independent career and going to Latah, Washington, filed on a timber claim, afterward a homestead and then bought railroad land until he owned a section. He and his father bought the first threshing machine north of Colfax. They did the first threshing on the Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation and were there before the new mission was built by Old Cataldo or Josette. Mr. Bell and his father also constructed the first wagon road across what is now known as Rock Creek valley, running from Latah across the reservation to Farmington, landing on Coeur d'Alene lake. For eight years thereafter he devoted his energies to the cultivation of his land and the raising of stock, withdrawing from these pur- suits to engage in the livery business, in connection with which he also dealt in real- estate. He was a resident of Latah until 1898, with the exception of a brief period in 1884, during the mining excitement, when he went to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. After closing out his interests in Latah, Mr. Bell again took up his residence in this state, locating at Bossburg, where he engaged in the livery and stage business, which occupied his attention until 1905, and compelled him in the interest of the business, to travel extensively in both British Columbia and Washington. Upon leaving Bossburg, Mr. Bell came to Colville where he has ever since been located. During the period of his residence here he has met with good success in the pursuit
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of his business; which has developed in a most gratifying manner and is among the thriving ones of the town.
Mr. and Mrs. Bell attend the Methodist Episcopal church, while they devote much time and money to promoting the temperance cause in this county, Mr. Bell having been one of the most prominent factors in abolishing the liquor traffic in his community. He and his wife both take an earnest interest in all movements tended to promote the moral and intellectual welfare of the community, while he is a gener- ous contributor toward all church and charitable work whether under the auspices of his own denomination or that of some other. They have one son, Hugh M., at- tending the North Western University at Shenandoah, Iowa. Mr. Bell belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and the Stevens County Pioneer's Association, while in politics he is a democrat; although he takes a helpful and active interest in all munic- ipal affairs, he has not been an office seeker, but on the contrary has consistently declined to accept any public honors at the hands of his constituency. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, by the principles of which organization he has always striven to direct his life in both his public and private relations. Mr. Bell's efforts have been rewarded in a substantial way and in addition to his thriving business and property interests he is a stockholder in the New Golden Crown Mining Company, in the First Thought mining district in this county. His interests are thoroughly identified with those of Stevens county in the development and upbuilding of which he freely gives his aid and cooperation.
HENRY C. ADAMI.
Henry C. Adami, residing in Wallace, is the superintendent of the sampling works of the Federal Mining & Smelting Company. His birth occurred in Helena, Montana, on the 28th of April, 1879, his parents being Henry and Elizabeth (Maas) Adami. About 1870 the father emigrated from Germany to the United States, set- tling in Helena, Montana, where he did a freighting and real-estate business. Going back to the fatherland, he was there married and then again crossed the At- lantic and returned to Helena, where he continued in the business of rock quarry- ing and acquired considerable real estate. He still makes his home at Helena, and has attained the age of about fifty-eight years.
Henry C. Adami obtained his education in the grammar and high schools of Helena and after putting aside his text-books secured employment as a bookkeeper. In 1897 he began the study of assaying, chemistry and mining engineering with Braden Brothers of Helena, with whom he remained for two years. On the expira- tion of that period he became assayer and chemist for Thomas Cruse, of the cel- ebrated Bald Mountain mine at Marysville, Montana, but resigned at the end of eight months to take the position of assistant assayer for the Peck Concentrating Company of East Helena, Montana. In a short time he was made the chemist of the concern, with which he remained for eight months, then becoming timekeeper and top foreman at the Gagnon mine in Butte, Montana, under the supervision of William Ward. After thus serving for another period of eight months he became identified, in 1901, with the Northwestern Sampling Works at Wallace, Idaho, then owned and operated by G. D. Potter and C. M. Witloff. In May, 1902, these gentle-
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men sold their plant to the Mine Owners' Association, with which Mr. Adami continued as chief assayer. In October, 1902, when the Mine Owners' Association sold the plan to the American Smelting & Refining Company, our subject remained therein, acting as assayer and chemist for the Mine Owners' Association and M. E. Fisher, representing the American Smelting & Refining Company. In October, 1903, the American Smelting & Refining Company sold the plant back to the Mine Owners' Association and Mr. Adami was appointed its superintendent. In the spring of 1906, when the Federal Mining & Smelting Company acquired all the interests of the Mine Owners' Association, including the sampling works, Mr. Adami continued to do all the assaying and also superintended the operation of the plant, making all settlements for ore at that place. From that time to the present he has remained a valuable and trusted representative of the company.
On the 8th of June, 1904, Mr. Adami was united in marriage to Miss Rowena McDiarmid, a daughter of J. C. McDiarmid, of Wallace, Idaho, who was one of the early pioneers of the Coeur d'Alene district, coming to Murray, Idaho, with the first gold rush. During the troublesome times in that district he served as deputy sheriff under Angus Sutherland. Mr. and Mrs. Adami have one daughter, Dorothy, who was born in 1907.
COLONEL WILLIAM R. ABERCROMBIE.
Colonel William R. Abercrombie, military commander, scientist, explorer and promoter of various important business projects which have been of almost in- calculable value in the development of the northwest, was born at Fort Ridgely, Minnesota, August 17, 1857. His father, General John J. Abercrombie, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, was a graduate of the West Point Military Academy of the class of 1822 and after fifty-five years' service in the United States army retired in 1877. He won distinction and honors in connection with service in the Indian wars, participating in the Seminole and the Black Hawk wars, also the Mexican and the Civil wars. In the last named he passed through all of the grades from that of second lieutenant to general officer. Through previous generations this military trait has been traced, the family being descended from Ralph Aber- crombic, of the English army, who settled in this country after the battle of Ticonderoga. Of the three sons of General John J. Abercrombie two served in the army and one in the navy. The eldest son, J. J. Abercrombie, who became captain of artillery, is now retired and is living in Chicago, where he is conduct- ing a brokerage business. Ensign F. P. Abercrombie, who was in the volunteer service, is now division superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The two daughters are: Mrs. W. E. Goodman, living at Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia; and Mrs. John Cole Rutherford, of Park, New Jersey.
Colonel William R. Arbercrombie, whose name introduces this review, was edu- cated in Queen's county, Long Island, New York, pursuing his course in Flower Hill Academy. He became connected with the United States army at the age of nineteen years and was commissioned second lieutenant in the Second Infantry by General Grant in March, 1877. In July of that year he came to the Pacific coast to take part in the Nez Perce war. He went from Atlanta, Georgia, to San
COL. W. R. ABERCROMBIE
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Francisco, thence by boat to Portland and by river steamer to Lewiston, from which point he marched to Spokane Falls. Here in October the regiment was divided and Company E, of which Colonel Abercrombie was then second lieutenant, took its station at Fort Colville. Two companies built log cabins there while another company went to the Palouse country and the remainder of the troops went to Coeur d'Alene. In 1878 Colonel Abercrombie took part in the Bannock Indian war and the following year was quartermaster of an expedition into the Moses country in what is now known as the Great Bend, and encamped at the mouth of Foster creek on the Columbia river through the winter of 1879-80. In the spring of the latter year he proceeded by boat down the Columbia river and began building a post at Lake Chelan. Owing to the roughness of the country that post was afterward abandoned in the fall of 1880, and Colonel Abercrombie was ap- pointed to duty at the month of the Spokane river, where he acted as quarter- master and commissary.
In 1882 trains began running to Fort Coeur d'Alene and with many of the events which have marked the upbuilding of this section of the country since that time Colonel Abercrombie has been closely associated. In 1882 he was detailed to take the census of Indians on the Colville and Moses reservations, and in 1883 he made a survey of Pend d'Oreille river and Pend d'Oreille lake to the forty-ninth parallel and in 1884 commanded his first expedition into Alaska, locating the Copper river delta. Two years later he conducted an expedition and made a survey of the Priest river country and from 1886 until 1896 was stationed at Fort Omaha, Ne- braska. He participated in various Indian campaigns throughout the west and was called out for active duty at the time of the riots in Chicago, in Butte and in other places. In 1897 he was stationed at Fort Harrison, Montana, and made surveys between the forty-seventh and forty-ninth parallels, and from the one hundred and ninth to the one hundred and eleventh meridians, which included the Miras Indian reservation and other public lands. In 1898 he was quartermaster of the Reindeer train which was attached to the expedition for the relief of des- titute miners in the Yukon country in Alaska, and after the completion of that work, in the same year, he commanded the Alaska exploration expedition, No. 2, for the exploration of the Copper river valley with a view to discovering and lo- cating an all-American route from tide water on Prince William's Sound to the international boundary between Canada and the United States, and Belle Isle and the Yukon river.
In 1889 Colonel Abercrombie commanded the Copper river exploration ex- pedition operating from Port Valdez, Alaska. He discovered and located an all- American route from Port Valdez to the Tanana river, and the same year was appointed chief engineer of the department of Alaska and construction engineer of the trans-Alaskan military road. From 1899 until 1901 he was engaged as constructing engineer of the trans-Alaskan military road from Valdez to the Yukon river, covering four hundred and eighty miles, and in 1902 he was acting engineer- ing officer of the department of the Columbia at Vancouver Barracks, Washington. In 1903 he was in service in the Philippine islands and in 1905-6 was on recruit- ing duty in the northern part of the state of New Jersey. In 1907 he was com- mander at Fort Reno, Oklahoma, and in 1908 was on foreign service in the Philip- pine islands, while in 1910 he was commander at Fort Wright, at which point he retired from active service and came to Spokane to make his home. He continued
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in active military duty for thirty-three years, spending ten years, summer and winter, in tents. He is now connected with mining projects, having owned min- ing property since 1884. This is located at Cornucopia, Oregon, and he is also chief engineer of development in the Willapa Harbor, in Pacific county. He has gold and silver bearing properties and the company is now operating a twenty stamp mill. Colonel Abercrombie is also interestd in the Willapa-Pacific Town- site Company, the town site being located in Willapa county, at the mouth of the Willapa river about two miles south of South Bend. His long and varied experi- ence in engineering work during his connection with the army well qualifies him for important duties that are now devolving upon him in this connection.
Colonel Abercrombie was the first soldier that came into the town of Spokane and the first man he met in the settlement was James Glover. The Indians had been dancing and making merry for a week before his arrival. Being a good fisher- man he obtained promise from the commanding officer, General Wheaton, allow- ing him to go ahead of the command so he could fish. At that time there were only about three houses in the town and these mere shacks. In front of one was sitting a big, handsome fellow who called to the colonel as the latter went by, and he noticed that the man did not look very happy. His expression changed, how- ever, to one of joy when in response to his question as to how many soldiers were behind the Colonel he was informed that there were about seven hundred. The man was Mr. Glover and Colonel Abercrombie afterward learned that he had not slept for several nights and it was a question when the sun went down whether he would ever see it rise again, for the Indians were getting excited and were showing marked signs of hostility. Colonel Abercrombie became well acquainted with the early settlers including James Monaghan, Cowley, Dumheller, Gray, Yetson, Post and a host of others, and it was this that induced him finally to settle in Spokane. As he said, he "learned to know these men as one only can in days when their worldly possessions were represented by a sack of flour and a slab of bacon." It is in such days when privations are great and hardships are many that the real nature of the individual is seen and in those pioneer times men learned to know each other for what they were really worth in character and ability. It was because of the strong friendships which he formed in those early days that Colonel Abercrombie returned to Spokane to make this city his home.
It was on the 13th of October, 1886, in New York city, that Colonel Aber- crombie was married to Miss Lillian Kimball, a daughter of General A. S. Kimball, of the United States army, under whom he had served as department quarter- master at Vancouver Barracks, Washington, when the General was chief quarter- master of the department of the Columbia. Mrs. Abercrombie is a Daughter of the American Revolution. By her marriage she has become the mother of two daughters, Frances K. and Clara De Normandy, both of whom are now students at Brunot Hall.
Colonel Abercrombie's club relations are extensive and indicate his high stand- ing in the different localities where he has resided for any length of time. They are also indicative of the nature of his interests. He belongs to the National Geo- graphic Society, the Geographic Society of Philadelphia and the Explorers Club of New York, of which he is a charter member. He is likewise a charter member of the Army and Navy Club of New York, is a member of the Arctic Brotherhood of Alaska, the Army and Navy Club of Manila, the Spokane Club, the Spokane
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Country Club, the Officers Club of Fort Wright, the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania, the Tillicum Club of Valdez and the Wanderers Club of Hong Kong, China. His have been thrilling experiences which can never come to one whose interests are confined to a single locality or whose efforts are concentrated along a single line of business. In fact, in purpose and in activity he has reached out over con- stantly broadening fields, meeting with such experiences as have caused him to place a correct valuation upon life and its contacts. He has preserved a splendid balance between the physical, mental and moral development and his friendships are largely with those whom experience and ability have raised above the ordinary level of life.
JACOB STITZEL.
Some men are born with ability so comprehensive that they succeed in anything they undertake. They have a clear discernment, a wise discrimination and a well balanced judgment not possessed by ordinary individuals. They inspire confidence in others and when they need assistance in any undertaking it is forthcoming. They do not seem to be hampered by difficulties to which others bow and they appear to be the natural leaders in their respective communities. To this class belonged Jacob Stitzel, of Colville, now deceased, who was for twenty years United States court commissioner and served in many important public and private positions of honor and trust. He was a native of Pennsylvania, born at Gettysburg, in 1831, a son of John and Sarah (Smith) ยท Stitzel.
In 1837 he removed with his parents to Carlisle, Ohio, and at the age of ten years secured employment in a store, where he continued for three years. Later he occupied similar positions at Addison and Troy, Ohio. He possessed very limited advantages of education at the public schools but he was a man of fine powers of ob- servation, which in a large measure compensated for his early lack of educational training. At the age of eighteen, desirous of seeing the world and yielding to the gold excitement, he started for the Pacific coast and it was on this journey that he undertook his first great responsibility. A thousand people about to leave the Missouri river found themselves without a leader and a vote resulted in the selec- tion of Jacob Stitzel as commander of the expedition. Although he had not yet arrived at the age of manhood, he accepted the position and discharged his duties during the long and toilsome journey over the plains and across the mountains in a way that indicated these hardy pioneers had made no mistake in selecting a beard- less youth as their leader. He arrived at Sacramento in September, 1849, and for fourteen months engaged in mining on the American river with fair success. In October, 1850, he attended the first meeting of California pioneers at San Fran- cisco, and during the same month came north to Astoria and made the trip from that place to Portland in a rowboat. Soon afterward he associated in business with Judge Platt of Oregon City and also took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres in Clackamas county. After spending six years farming he re- moved to Portland and engaged in mercantile pursuits, being identified from 1861 to 1866 in the lumber business. In 1864 he was elected sheriff of Multnomah county and was reelected two years later, serving four years. After retiring from
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