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 31
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enterprise and efforts of Thomas F. Spencer, who justly deserves to be ranked among the representative merchants of the city.
In 1883 Mr. Spencer was united in marriage to Miss Minnie A. Spencer of San Francisco, and they have three children, Mabel, Genevieve and Sybil, who are with their parents at 427 Seventh avenue, in a pleasant home which Mr. Spencer built during 1907. He has always eschewed public office, and kept himself entirely free from any entangling political connections. He is, however, prominent in Masonry, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Oriental Consistory, No. 2, S. P. R. S. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce while in organiza- tions of a more strictly social character he is well known as a member of the Spo- kane Club, the Spokane Country Club, the Spokane Tennis Club and the Rotary Club. He is one of those men who are never too busy to be cordial, and never too cordial to be busy.
CONRAD WOLFLE.
Conrad Wolfle, president of the United Copper Mining Company, and also interested in the Florence Silver Mining Company, was born in South Dakota, September 27, 1871. His father, Conrad Wolfle, a native of Germany, is now liv- ing retired in Portland, Oregon, where he established his home in 1890. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Anne Mayer, was also born in Germany and is a resident of Portland. The sons and daughters of the family are as follows: Conrad, of this review; F. R., who is his associate in business; David H., professor in the high school at Bremerton, Washington; E. A., a resident of Ainsworth, British Columbia; Marie, residing in Portland; and Barbara, who married William Fredericks, of Irving county, Alberta.
While a resident of his native state Conrad Wolfle began his education in the public schools and afterward continued his studies in Oregon. He first engaged in farming, leaving home in 1889, and later he worked on the railroad, his time being thus taken up with different pursuits until 1895, when he first arrived in Spokane. He went from here to Rossland, British Columbia, where he became actively con- nected with mining interests. He worked in the mines and acquired property and again in 1897 he came to Spokane. He reported on mines all over the western country from Arizona to British Columbia, including Nevada, Idaho, Montana, California and Oregon. He organized the Golden Monarch Mining Company in British Columbia which was incorporated with Mr. Wolfle as president and man- ager; F. E. Robbins, vice president; and C. H. Claudius, secretary and treasurer. They own property in Ymir, British Columbia, and after the successful organiza- tion and development of that company Mr. Wolfle extended his efforts in other directions, organizing in 1905 the United Copper Mining Company of which he also became president and manager with W. G. Collins as vice president and Gale Smith as secretary and treasury. They own mines at Chewelah, five miles north- east of Spokane, there being ten claims in the group. Over six thousand feet of underground work has been done, including tunnel, shafts, drifts and up-raises. The deepest work is six hundred feet and the width of the orc vein ranges from six to twenty-five fect. It has copper and silver values and of the low-grade ore
CONRAD WOLFLE
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six hundred tons shipped realized ten dollars per ton, while the high-grade ore brought from one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred dollars per ton. They shipped to Granby, Northport and Trail, making shipment to the last named place owing to a shut-down of the other two. The average output is one hundred tons per day. They have just completed a one hundred-ton mill for low-grade ores and their property is well equipped with all kinds of machinery, electric plants, shops, etc. The company also owns three hundred and twenty acres of timber land ad- joining. Nearly all the work has been done on the ore and there is now being made a tunnel of thirty-five hundred feet which will give a depth of one thousand feet, and of this five hundred feet have been completed at the present writing. Mr. Wolfle is also interested in the Florence Silver Mining Company, owning property three miles north of Ainsworth, British Columbia. There are four claims contain- ing a splendid body of ore, of galena, silver and lead values. Its property is a promising one on which twelve men are now working, and shipment will begin in the spring of 1912. The United Copper Company has on its pay roll from thirty- five to fifty men and is a close corporation, the greater part of the stock being held by Mr. Wolfle, Mr. Collins and Sidney Rosenhaupt. The company has made a number of displays at the Spokane and Seattle fairs and has been awarded a num- ber of prizes for their exhibits every time they have been placed on display. The copper averages from two to three per cent in low-grade ore and in silver from eight to fifteen ounces, while in the high-grade ore the copper averages from eigh- teen to twenty-five per cent, from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty ounces in silver, and from two to five dollars in gold. The recent ore chutes now opened, however, are averaging better than those formerly worked. Mr. Wolfle is interested in other mining ventures and owns in different parts of British Columbia several large tracts of land.
On the 29th of October, 1899, Mr. Wolfle was married at Ritzville to Miss Pauline Cook, a daughter of the Rev. Cook, minister of the Congregational church. Two children were born unto them but both are now deceased. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wolfle are members of the Westminster Congregational church, in which he has served as a trustee for a number of years and in the work of which they are both actively and helpfully interested. Fraternally Mr. Wolfle is connected with the Maccabees and he is also a member of the Inland Club. His activities touch the general interests of society and he is known as a cooperant factor in many projects relating to the social, intellectual and moral progress of the community as well as to its material development. His ideals of life are high and he shapes his course in harmony therewith.
PATRICK CLARK.
Patrick Clark, one of the best known mining men of the United States, was born in Ireland, March 17, 1850. He came to America in 1870 when a young man of twenty years, going to California and later to Butte, Montana, arriving there in 1876, where he became closely associated with Marcus Daly, as foreman of the Alice mine. He later opened the Anaconda mine for Mr. Daly in the capacity of foreman and was associated with him for seven years. During the succeeding four Vol. II-15
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years he was with ex-Senator Clark, of Montana, in his mining enterprises. Watch- ful of opportunity, he came to Spokane in 1887 and opened up the Poor Man mine in the Coeur d'Alene district. He was part owner of this and acted as general manager. Later he operated at Rossland, British Columbia, where he opened the War Eagle mine in association with Messrs. Finch and Campbell of this city. The Republic mine was also opened by Mr. Clark. His connection with some of the most famous mines of the country renders further comment concerning his position in mining circles needless. He has always concentrated his energies upon his min- ing interests and has been an extensive investor from British Columbia to Mexico. In 1877 Patrick Clark participated in the battle of Big Hole of the Nez Perces war, under Senator William A. Clark as major in command, with General Gibbons as commander-in-chief.
In 1881 in Butte, Montana, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Mary Stack and they have six children, three sons and three daughters, namely: Ella, the wife of Harry Richards, of Spokane; and Rhea, Katherine, Patrick, Jr., John Francis and James Blaine, all yet at home. Fraternally Mr. Clark is connected with the Elks Lodge, No. 228, of Spokane. His record is one of the notable examples of successful achievement attained by men of foreign birth who in early manhood have sought the opportunities of the new world.
FRANK TRUMAN POST.
Frank Truman Post, of Spokane, was born on a farm near Potsdam, St. Law- rence county, New York, April 16, 1862, a son of John Fobes and Harriet (Lillie) Post. His paternal lineage is traceable to an early colonial period in New Eng- land, and one of his ancestors was Colonel Abraham Post, of Connecticut, who fought in the wars against the French and Indians. Both the paternal and maternal grand- fathers of Mr. Post, Oliver Post and David Lillie, were natives of northern Ver- mont, and, following the movement of emigration westward, went to St. Lawrence county, New York, where his father and mother were born, lived and died. His father, during the latter years of his life, was president of the First National Bank of Canton in that county.
Mr. Post received his early education in the country schools, was prepared for college in the union school of Canton, New York, and was graduated from the St. Lawrence University in the class of 1883 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In his junior year he took the Sherman Latin prize and Russell oratorical prize. He was a member of the Beta Theta Phi while at the university, and although there was then no chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa at that institution he was elected to the latter society after his graduation. His alma mater conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. Upon the completion of his collegiate course he studied law in the office of Russell, Post & Robinson at Canton and in 1885 was admitted to the New York State bar. He then took a special course of one year in the Harvard Law School. From December, 1886, to March, 1889, he practiced his profession at Lowville, Lewis county, New York. Removing at the date last named to Spo- kane, Washington, he soon became known for energy and ability in his profession. For some months in 1893 he was corporation counsel, but he resigned that position
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because of the increasing demands of his private practice. Under the firm style of Blake & Post he was in partnership with Judge Richard B. Blake until the lat- ter's death in 1900. He then organized the law firm of Post, Avery & Higgins, which still continues, occupying a leading position among the legal copartnerships of the state of Washington. Mr. Post's practice has always been in the civil branches of the law exclusively, and he has been and is the representative of im- portant interests.
Though his career has been confined strictly to this profession, he has participated somewhat actively, as a citizen, in political affairs. He is a prominent republican, has frequently figured in state and local conventions of the party, and in 1908 was delegate-at-large to the republican national convention at Chicago. He was presi- dent of the Spokane County Bar Association in 1909 and 1910, and the Spokane University Club, 1910-1911, and is president of the Harvard Club of Spokane, a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars.
He married, August 17, 1893, Mary C. Phillips, a daughter of Henry A. Phillips, of Lowville, New York. They have two children, John Phillips Post and Harriet Christine Post, twins, born April 7, 1897.
WILLIAM J. HINDLEY.
The machinery of government is of little value if the men who occupy the public offices do not have strict regard for the duties and obligations that devolve upon them. The life history of William J. Hindley, mayor of Spokane, is that of one whose allegiance to the public welfare is unquestioned. In many fields of activity he has demonstrated his reliability and capability, all of which recommended him to his fellow townsmen as one worthy of high municipal preferment and capable of administering the public affairs of a rapidly growing western city. He is still a young man, his birth having occurred, November 10, 1872, in the parish house of a Congregational church in Ontario, Canada, of which his father, the Rev. John I. Hindley, was the pastor. His mother, Mrs. Hannah (Lister) Hindley, was a descendant of the famous Lord Lister's family of England and thus William J. Hindley has back of him an honorable and distinguished ancestry. His lines of life have been cast in harmony therewith, inasmuch as he has made good use of time and opportunity and has made his labors a serviceable factor in the world's work. He was only fifteen years of age when he crossed the border into the United States and supplemented his early public-school course by study in Oberlin College, at Oberlin, Ohio. He, too, turned to the ministry and was ordained in 1893, being appointed to his first pastorate at Embro, Ontario. He afterward accepted a call from the congregation at Guelph, Ontario, and then, after preaching for nearly ten years, entered the home missionary field and in 1902 was sent to the northwest provinces and territories of Canada. While traveling in the interests of the church which he thus represented he often passed through Spokane and learned to like the city. The Pilgrim Congregational church here extended to him a call in 1903 and, accepting it, he became closely identified with the interests of the city, contributing particularly to its moral development and growth, during the eight
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years of his pastorate. On the expiration of that period he stepped from the pul- pit into politics and his labors in the latter field brought him at length to the mayor- alty. He had always held to the broader thought that the pastor's work concerns the interests of the workaday world and became prominent in all public enterprises in this city, using his influence to maintain high standards in every connection. It was the better element of Spokane's citizenship which called him to the office which he is now filling and in which connection he is giving to Spokane a businesslike administration, characterized by retrenchment in needless public expenditure and by reform and improvement along many lines. Moreover Mr. Hindley has done important work in organizing the Associated Charities of which he was the first president. He was also the probation officer of the first juvenile court here, giving his services in that direction without remuneration. He has also been chaplain of the Chamber of Commerce of Spokane.
On the 2d of October, 1895, at Bellwood, Ontario, Mr. Hindley was united in marriage to Miss Ada McKee, a daughter of James and Ada (Martin) McKee, and they are now parents of three children, Berta, Margaret and Philip Martin. Mr. Hindley is prominent in Masonry and belongs to El Katif Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has had the distinction of being the first clergyman potentate in the history of the order. He also belongs to the Elks Lodge of Spokane, No. 228, and to Imperial Lodge, No. 134, I. O. O. F. He is an attractive public speaker, hav- ing been endowed by nature with a gift of oratory, and receives calls from all parts of the Pacific coast to address different bodies upon various questions. His reading is broad and his close investigation enables him to speak with authority upon many of the vital problems of the day. His pleasing personality also adds to his popu- larity and association with him means elevation and expansion.
CHARLES WILLIAM MOHR.
The lumber industry was one of the early sources of income to the settlers of the northwest and has remained a chief feature in the progress and prosperity here. With this field of activity Charles William Mohr has been closely associated for more than a quarter of a century, now owning a lumber and shingle mill in Spo- kane. His birth occurred in Brown county, Minnesota, April 4, 1860, and he has always lived west of the Mississippi, his entire life being imbued with a spirit of western progress and upbuilding. His father, John F. Mohr, was born in Ger- many, was a farmer and carpenter, and as a young man came to the new world. Nearly all of the members of the Mohr family are professional men and are widely known. Paul Mohr has an extensive circle of acquaintances in Washington as a railroad builder and contractor and was associated with A. M. Kennan in building the Palouse road for the Northern Pacific and also the Spokane Falls & Northern road. John F. Mohr followed carpentering, did much important work in the north- west and led a life of usefulness and activity until his labors were ended in death in 1894. Two years later his wife passed away. She bore the maiden name of Henrietta Muhs and was also born in Germany. Her father was a distinguished soldier of that land and after coming to this country took an active part in sup- pressing the Indian troubles in Minnesota. Unto John F. and Henrietta Mohr
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there were born three sons and a daughter Charles W .; John A., a farmer, who divides his time between Spokane and Ritzville, and married Lizzie Schloman; Robert A., who married Edith Beneke and is an electrician for the Washington Power Company, living in Spokane; and Edith, the wife of Louis B. Stutz, who is engaged in the insurance business in Spokane.
At the usual age Charles W. Mohr became a pupil in the public schools of his native state and after putting aside his text-books he spent a few years in farming in connection with his father. Later he turned his attention to the implement busi- ness and threshing, which he followed at New Ulm, Minnesota and at Milbank, South Dakota. He also devoted a part of his time to general merchandising until 1883, in which year he came to the Pacific coast, making his way first to California, and in June of that year arrived in Spokane.
Here Mr. Mohr continued in the lumber and threshing business, operating a lumber mill and also doing threshing throughout surrounding districts. To this work he has practically devoted his attention throughout the period of twenty-eight years in which he has lived in Washington. In 1900 he extended the scope of his labors by adding a shingle mill in Spokane, which has a capacity of forty thou- sand shingles daily. The business has grown steadily and its substantial character has brought him a most gratifying return. His mill is located at the corner of Adams and Sharp avenue and his plant is well equipped. The first week in which he was in Spokane, Mr. Mohr purchased real estate, investing in property just south of the Review building and since that time he has bought and sold real es- tate more or less. Moreover, he has been an interested witness of the growth and progress of the city and relates many interesting reminiscences concerning the rapid changes which have made the city of Spokane what it is today, for it had less than a thousand population on his arrival. He can recall the time when there was nothing on the north side of the river but a few shacks and one crossed the stream by means of a little wooden bridge. Foreseeing the growth of Spokane, he has invested quite extensively in property and in addition to his mill holdings has large real-estate interests here, which return him annually a gratifying income.
While the business interests of Mr. Mohr have been of growing importance, they have not prevented him from taking active and helpful part in many move- ments and measures which have contributed to the public good and on various occa- sions his fellow townsmen have called him to public office, where he has proven his worth in positions of trust and responsibility. He has taken an active interest in politics since attaining his majority and has always been an advocate of republi- can principles. While living in Brown county, Minnesota, he served as road super- visor and for several years he has been city councilman of Spokane, having been first elected in May, 1907, while in 1910 he was reelected for a two years' term in the fourth ward. The adoption of the new commission form of government the following May resulted in the new city commissioners taking charge. He was a member of the most important council the city has ever had. During his incum- bency many measures of vital importance were passed, among these being one which provided for the construction of the Mission avenue bridge, the Olive avenue bridge, the Howard street bridge, the Monroe street bridge and two bridges over Hangman creek. It was also while Mr. Mohr was a member of the council that the whole water system, including stand pipes and reservoirs was established and nearly all street paving was done under that administration. The franchises of
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the Milwaukee and Northern Coast railroads were granted and the old city hall was sold and the new site was condemned, while plans for the building of the new sewerage system were approved. Mr. Mohr also served as city com- missioner for three years and was deputy under Sheriff Pugh during his first term. He has been a delegate to county and city conventions, only missing twice in twenty-eight years, and several times he has been a member of the city central committee and for two years was a member of the county central committee. The progressive projects of the Chamber of Commerce for municipal benefit and for the promotion of material progress in Spokane received his hearty indorsement and he is regarded as one of the valued members of that organization.
One the 25th of April, 1883, Mr. Mohr was married to Miss Laura A. Stutz, a daughter of Conrad Stutz, a tinner and hardware man of Mankato, Minnesota. . They now have four children: Jesse C., a mechanic, who is operating a shingle mill for his father; George W., who is a mechanic and is now employed as sales- man at the Standard Garage in Spokane; Frank M., who is a chauffeur with Ham, Yeardsly & Ryrie; and Rosella, at home. The family attend the Methodist church and their influence is always on the side of right, truth and justice. Such in brief is the life history of Charles William Mohr, whose progress throughout his business career has followed in the wake of untiring energy and determination.
JOHN G. CUNNINGHAM, M. D.
Dr. John G. Cunningham, a distinguished physician and surgeon of Spokane and one to whom the country owes much for his interest and practical efforts in the development of the Alaska coal fields, was born in Winona, Minnesota, De- cember 20, 1872, a son of John M. and Mary A. (Johnston) Cunningham. His father was a Minnesota farmer and is now living retired in St. Paul. Notwith- standing his eighty years he is still very active and in excellent health. The son was provided with liberal educational opportunities and received his professional training in Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1897 with the M. D. degree. He entered upon the practice of medicine in that city in connection with his brother, Dr. D. H. Cunningham, with whom he remained for a year and a half. Thinking, however, the far west would offer a better field, he came to Spokane in the fall of 1898 and here entered upon active practice. He has since remained a representative of the profession here and his ability has placed him in a foremost place as a representative of the medical profession of the northwest. He has made two trips to Europe, traveling extensively over that country, doing post-graduate work in various centers of medical learning and visiting all the leading hospitals and medical colleges of Europe and America. He specializes in surgery, is a member of the staff of the Sacred Heart Hospital of Spokane and is the surgeon of the Great Northern Railroad at Spokane.
Aside from his practice Dr. Cunningham has demonstrated his ability and resourcefulness in the field of business, in which prosperity has attended his efforts. He is the owner of large tracts of land and city property in and near Spokane and is also the owner of a large tract in the Horse Heaven country, being interested in the development of about thirty thousand acres there. He is largely responsible
DR. J. G. CUNNINGHAM
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for the development of the Alaska coal fields, being the first one to send an expert there, at his own expense, to explore and investigate the coal deposits of that country. With his associates he has spent upwards of three hundred thousand dollars in the exploitation and development of the coal mines of Alaska and in this connection displays marked courage and foresight in bringing to the attention of the world the great coal resources of the northwest. He and his associates under- took the work in a most systematic manner, planning wisely for the opening of the country, the building of roads and the development of this great industry. Dr. Cunningham is also interested with his brother, Clarence Cunningham, in the Coeur d'Alene mining district.
In his social relations Dr. Cunningham is widely known as a member of the Spokane Club, the Country Club, the Spokane Amateur Athletic Club and the Elks Lodge, No. 228, of Spokane. His geniality and his cordiality win him friends wherever he goes and he leaves the stamp of his personal worth upon all with whom he comes in contact.
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