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 32
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On the 30th of June. 1904, Dr. Cunningham was united in marriage to Miss Claudia Petite, of Chicago, and they have a daughter, Margaret Claudia, born November 6, 1905. Mrs. Cunningham is a singer of note. She was at one time prima donna with the celebrated Bostonians and for the last two years has been studying grand opera in Europe with Cotogni, of Rome, as one of her instructors and was also a pupil under Professor Herman De Vries, of Paris. She made a very successful debut in grand opera in Rome, Italy, also sang before Queen Mar- guerita and received from Italian opera managers most flattering offers to return. She found that, contrary to the reports concerning the reception of American singers by the Italians, she was most favorably and enthusiastically received, her splendid vocal and dramatic power winning for her encore after encore. After singing before Queen Marguerita, whom she found very gracious and loveable, the queen presented her with a magnificent cluster of American beauties and appeared much interested in Mrs. Cunningham's replies to the queen's questions concerning her family. She has sung the principal roles in La Sonambula, Rigoletto, Traviata, Lucia and Madame Butterfly, and was asked by the Italian composer Storti to create the principal part in his new opera Venezia. She also appeared in concert in Rome and scored successes which have made her services sought by various managers. Dr. and Mrs. Cunningham have a most attractive home at No. 1722 Riverside avenue and are most prominent in social life in the city, aside from the prominence gained by the scientific attainment of the one and the artistic ability of the other.
FRANK JOHNSON.
Incontrovertible proof of the superior business ability of Frank Johnson as a building contractor is found in many of the largest, most substantial and most beau- tiful of the buildings in Spokane and this section of the northwest. He has also extended the scope of his activities to include the sale of lumber and his twofold business is now being carried on under the firm style of Frank Johnson & Son, his only son, William F. Johnson, having entered into partnership with him. A native
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of Holland, he was born at The Helder, June 5, 1845, his parents being Frank and Suzanna Johnson. The father was killed in battle in the East Indian islands in 1849, while serving as captain of a battery of the colonial troops of the Hol- land army. The mother afterward became the wife of Daniel Baker and in 1852 the family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Baker, Frank Johnson and his brother John, who is now a lamp manufacturer of Cleveland, Ohio, came to the United States. They lived for two years in New York city and then removed to Buffalo, where, after mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools and thus preparing for life's practical and responsible duties, Frank Johnson entered upon an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade. He thoroughly mastered the business, becoming an expert workman. One of the most important chapters in the record of his early manhood covers his service as a soldier of the Civil war. When but seventeen years of age he enlisted at Buffalo, on the 14th of August, 1862, in Company M, Eleventh New York Volunteer Cavalry, which constituted President Lincoln's bedyguard. His war record has been written up in the local press as follows:
"The regiment was on detail, directly under the orders of the secretary of war, to work in conjunction with the secret service department. It consisted of twelve hundred men and while part was detailed for the president's bodyguard, part was engaged as dispatch bearers to the front and on patrol duty in the city of Washing- ton, D. C. It was the duty of its members to hunt up suspicious spies and marand- ers reported on by the secret service men. They were subject to be called on at any moment, day or night. Part of their duty was to reconnoiter the bands of the enemy, constantly on the alert at the outskirts of the capital, and thwart the threat- ened kidnaping of the president and his cabinet officers.
"During the summer Mr. Lincoln took up his abode at the soldiers' home, about five miles from the city, to and from which to the White House he had to be care- fully escorted every day.
"After seventeen months on this duty there came an urgent demand for an efficient regiment of cavalry from the Department of the Gulf to clear Louisiana and the adjoining states of bushwhackers and guerrillas, in consequence of which Mr. Johnson embarked March 8, 1864, with his regiment at Alexandria, Virginia, for New Orleans, from which city he proceeded to take part in all the important engagements of the department. Mr. Johnson was in the heavy operations against Mobile, Alabama, which led to its capture April 11, 1865. His last important engagement was at Germantown, Tennessee, on the night of April 26, 1865. Mr. Johnson had a horse shot under him at Leaf river and was shot in the leg at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was mustered out at Albany, New York, but discharged at Memphis, Tennessee, June 12, 1865."
With an unstained military record Mr. Johnson returned to his home in Buffalo and continued his residence in the east until 1880, when careful consideration of the subject of a removal to the west led him to the determination that he would try his fortune on the Pacific coast. Accordingly, in 1880 he came to Spokane by way of Walla Walla and here began in the contracting and building business. At that time the city contained only a few hundred population but, because of its rapid growth, it offered excellent opportunities to the carpenter and builder and, ever recognizing the fact that the present and not the future is the time to which the individual must look for his advancement, Mr. Johnson put forth strenuous and
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capable effort to establish himself in business circles in this section of the country. For a time he was foreman of the building construction crew of the Northern Pacific Railroad, with headquarters at Sprague, and was the builder of the original North- ern Pacific depot in this city. At this time the government desired to erect Fort Spokane at the junction of the Spokane and Columbia rivers and Mr. Johnson was engaged to supervise the work under Lieutenant Colonel H. C. Merriam, who is now a retired brigadier general of the United States army. He had supervision of the entire building and to that work devoted his attention from 1882 until 1884. The enviable reputation which he had won in his chosen field of labor even in that early period of his career is indicated in the following letter:
"POST OF FORT SPOKANE, W. T., Sept. 19, 1881. To Whom It May Concern:
The bearer hereof, Mr. Frank Johnson, has been employed for the past two years at this post under my command as master builder and it gives me great pleasure to state that he has proved himself a thoroughly competent man in that capacity, as well as an honorable and reliable gentleman in every respect. He is a man of ex- cellent judgment, thorough in all work entrusted to him, and a most skillful manager of mechanics and laborers in forwarding work of construction.
I do not know his equal for the position.
H. C. MERRIAM, Lieut. Col. 2nd Inf. Brev. Col. U. S. A."
It was while engaged in government work that Mr. Johnson formed the acquaintance of the Jesuit priests, who visited the fort in order to conduct religious services for the soldiers of Catholic faith, and at the request of his Jesuit friends he designed and later erected the first Catholic church in Spokane. He also erected the first buildings of the Gonzaga College, which today is one of the most noted institutions of the entire northwest. He likewise erected the Sisters' School of Spokane and built the west wing of the original Sacred Heart Hospital. One of the most noted buildings which he erected before the fire was the three-story Keats building, which stood on the site of the present Traders Bank building. Since the fire of 1889 he has been closely associated with the improvement of Spo- kane along architectural lines and evidences of his skill and handiwork are seen in the Granite block, the Pacific Hotel, the Holley building, the Mason & Marks Company building, now Pantages Theater, and J. J. Browne's residence, which is now owned by Robert E. Strahorn. In 1908 he erected the large new office build- ing of the Washington Water Power Company. He has admitted his son William to a partnership under the firm style of Frank Johnson & Son and they not only occupy a foremost place among the building contractors of the city but are also con- ducting an extensive and profitable trade as hardwood lumber dealers, exclusively.
Mr. Johnson was married in Buffalo, New York, on the 22d of June, 1872, to Miss Louisa Luke, a daughter of John and Margaret Luke, of that city. Mrs. Johnson became very prominent in the Women's Relief Corps in the early days of Spokane and her death, which occurred in 1899, was deeply regretted by many friends as well as her immediate family. In addition to the son already mentioned there are two daughters: Margaret, the wife of Frank Pipgras; and Amelia, the wife of George Thomas. Both are residents of Spokane.
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Throughout his entire life Mr. Johnson has maintained the same spirit of loy- alty and patriotic devotion to his country that he manifested when on the battle- fields of the south and he is the composer and writer of the song "Unfurl Old Glory to the Topmast Breeze," which he completed in 1908 and which has caused him to be the recipient of thousands of complimentary letters from all parts of the United States. He belongs to Sedgwick Post, No. 8, G. A. R., and his spirit of patriotic reverence is also manifest in his membership in the Scott Keyes Memorial Associa- tion of the United States. He belongs also to the Jeffersonian Association of the United States and to the Pioneer Society of Spokane. He is a life member of the Elks Lodge, No. 228, and also holds membership with the Fraternal Order of Eagles. That he is interested in the city and its progress is indicated by his active cooperation with the projects and plans of the Chamber of Commerce, . in which he holds membership. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and from 1899 until 1903 inclusive he was a member of the city council as a representative of the third ward. He acted as chairman of the committee of judiciary legislation and was also a member of the committees of license, health and police. He exercised his official prerogatives at all times in support of what he believed to be for the public good. He has ever placed the general welfare before personal aggrandizement and the interests of the many before partisanship. In his business life he has adhered to the strictest commercial ethics and his gradual ad- vancement has been won at the cost of earnest, self-denying effort and through the exercise of superior ability that for many years has caused him to be numbered with the leading builders of the Spokane country.
ELY P. SPALDING.
Ely P. Spalding, president of the Pacific Timber Preservative Company, was born in Chicago, Illinois, April 18, 1862, his parents being William and Maria (Sedgwick) Spalding, the former a Board of Trade operator of Chicago for many years. The son entered the public schools at the usual age, continuing his studies through successive grades until he left the high school to enter business life, and for four years he was employed in his native city. He then resolved to seck op- portunities elsewhere and went to San Pedro, New Mexico, where he worked in the smelter of San Pedro & Canon del Agua Copper Company of that place. Dur- ing the three years there passed he thoroughly acquainted himself with all branches of mining and assaying. He then returned to New York city and devoted the next ten years to the brokerage business.
In 1890 Mr. Spalding again came to the west, this time settling in the Coeur d'Alene country, where he was connected with the old Sierra Nevada Mining Com- pany first as assistant assayer and then as assayer for the company. From the Coeur d'Alene district he went to Portland, Oregon, and engaged in handling min- ing properties in that state for about three years. After a year spent in Alaska he returned to the United States and was for some years an examining mining engineer, examining and reporting on properties all the way from Mexico to Alaska. In 1901 he took a bond on the Monarch mine of Monarch, Idaho, of which he is president. He is also president of the Coeur d'Alene-Norfolk Mining & Smelting
E. P. SPALDING
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Company and thus continues in close connection with mining interests, with which he has so long been identified in one capacity or another.
His efforts, too, have been extended to other lines, all of which have con- stituted features in the general development as well as in individual success. He built the Idaho Northern Railroad, which is now a branch of the Oregon & Wash- ington Railway & Navigation Company and of which he was vice president and general manager up to the time of its sale. He was also vice president and gen- eral manager of the Big Bend Water Power Company which is now a part of the Washington Water Power Company system and known as the Long Lake project. It was sold about two years ago and Mr. Spalding is now concentrating his ener- gies largely upon his executive and administrative duties as president of the Pacific Timber Preservative Company of which A. M. P. Spalding, his wife, is the secre- tary and treasurer. This company treats railroad ties at a lower expense than any other process that has been developed and there is every indication that the business will grow to be an extensive one. They have portable plants which they can put on cars and take to the place where the ties are found, thus saving the expense of having a large central plant and hauling the ties to and from that plant. In this business Mr. Spalding has an enterprise which is of a most promis- ing character and undoubtedly he will reap the success which has usually attended his efforts.
On the 5th of December, 1906, Mr. Spalding was married to Mrs. Anna M. Phillips, and they reside at the Spokane Hotel. He holds membership in the Spokane Club, the Spokane Country Club and the Inland Club and is also a member of the Elks Lodge, No. 331, at Wallace, Idaho. The salient points in his character have been close application, unfaltering industry and intelligent investi- gation of every subject that has come under his control in connection with business interests. His opinions are regarded as expert authority upon questions relating to the mining interests of the west and he has an extensive acquaintance in mining circles. Wherever known he commands the good-will and confidence of those with whom he has come in contact and is now accorded a most creditable position in the business circles of this city.
HARL J. COOK.
Not only in the electrical field of business as newspaper publisher and editor, or later as the promoter of irrigation projects has Harl J. Cook become known. His work in behalf of those interests which have their root in a broad humanitarian spirit has been most effective and beneficial and this alone would entitle him to recognition as one of the representative and worthy residents of Spokane. He was born in Salem, Iowa, July 11, 1857, and represents one of the oldest families of that state, his parents, Isaac and Mary Jane (Bishop) Cook, having located there in 1825. The father engaged in contracting and building until 1894, when he re- tired from business life and came to Spokane to live with his son Harl J. His death occurred in this city in 1909, when he had reached the age of eighty-four years, while his wife died several years before in Salem, Iowa.
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To the public-school system of his native state, Harl J. Cook is indebted for the early educational privileges accorded him. Later he had the benefit of instruction at Ackworth College, in Ackworth, Iowa, an institution conducted under the auspices of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. Later he attended Simpson Centenary Col- lege, at Indianola, Iowa, and when he felt that his educational foundation was suffi- cient to enable him to make a creditable position in the business world, he began learning the printer's trade in the office of the State Leader, at Des Moines, Iowa. He was also for a time associated with Mills & Company, publishers of law books in that city. Later he devoted a period of six years to teaching school and after- ward became associated with the Daily Capital, of Des Moines, Iowa, becoming its first city editor. He then transferred his activities to North Dakota, where in 1882 he embarked in the newspaper business, in which he continued until the spring of 1886, when he made his way to Murray, Idaho, and thence came to Spokane. At that time the Chronicle was a weekly paper, edited by H. T. Cowley; the city was growing rapidly and a daily evening paper was thought to be a necessity, so that in company with Major A. E. Routhe and H. T. Cowley, he organized a new paper and began the publication of the Evening Chronicle as its editor. About a year later he sold his interest and turned his attention to the real-estate business. He had been closely watching and studying conditions of the northwest and believed that the opportunity for improvement was ripe, becoming one of the first men to advocate irrigation in the valley, writing many articles on this subject for his paper. He later assisted in the organization of the first irrigation company of this section. This was the Spokane Valley Land & Water Company, of which he remained a trus- tee until it was disposed of to D. C. Corbin and W. L. Benham, who put the first water on the valley. Since that time Mr. Cook has largely devoted his time and energies toward the development of new conditions to the city and has thus con- tributed much to the improvement and adornment of Spokane. He has been active in the development of the Liberty Park, Altamont and Cliff Park additions, the last named being the most beautiful residential sections of Spokane. Other parts of the city have also been improved through his efforts. He seems to readily recog- nize opportunities which others pass heedlessly by, and his labors have been a tangible asset in making the city what it is today.
But while large business projects have claimed the attention of Mr. Cook, his interests have not been narrowed down to commercial activities alone. He has always been a student of life, has been quick to recognize an obligation and has never been neglectful of duty. Over twenty years ago he became one of the found- ers of the Spokane Humane Society, which owns its own home, impounds stray stock and catches and destroys unlicensed dogs. This is the only institution of the kind in the United States that is self-supporting. The present organization is: John A. Fitch, president; Harl J. Cook, vice president; and Joseph R. Ruders- dorf, secretary and manager. The work is certainly most commendable. It has its root in that broad sympathy which has feeling for every living thing. The political support of Mr. Cook is given to the republican party and his qualities of leader- ship have also made him prominent in that line, so that he was called to public office, serving as county assessor in 1895-6. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias, to the Spokane Club and the Spokane Amateur Athletic Club.
Mr. Cook has two daughters: Clara L., the wife of Dr. L. B. Williams, of Spokane; and Verna B., who is now studying architecture and interior decoration
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in Paris, where she has received high praise for her ability during the five years in which she has there prosecuted her studies. Mr. Cook has led a most active life and his business balances up with the principles of truth and honor. In fact he has always been regarded as the strongest center of the community in which he moves. It is men like these that are active factors in every idea and work, that helps to develop the success of all big cities and it is to be hoped for the civic pride and substantiality of this section that there are many more like him.
ERNEST C. WOOD.
Ernest C. Wood, civil engineer, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the 29th of July, 1866, and is a son of Charles T. and Sarah (Harris) Wood, both of whom are still living. The great-grandfather Captain Thomas Harris was a prominent citizen of Massachusetts and after the Civil war served as one of the commissioners who settled the noted Alabama claims. During one of his many jour- neys to St. Petersburg, where he was entertained by the czar, he escorted the Grand Duchess Olga to a masquerade ball. Charles T. Wood was a soldier in the Civil war where he saw much active service. He is a thirty-third degree member of the Masonic Order.
Ernest C. Wood acquired his early education in the public schools of Boston, where he was then residing, and subsequently entered a private school to acquire commercial education before entering upon his technical studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After his education in these institutions had been com- pleted he was employed as assistant superintendent of works and civil engineer at Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston, during 1886-1887. While holding this position he had charge of over one hundred men. In 1887 he came west and continually followed civil and mining engineering in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon and British Columbia, before coming to Washington nine years ago and accepting responsible positions of trust in various large enterprises. From 1905 to 1908 he was chief assistant city engineer of Spokane, and was in charge of the water works construction during the greater part of that period. He built the pump- ing plant, force mains and reservoir at Ninth avenue and Pine street, and designed and developed the original unit of the underground water supply system. Having passed the United States reclamation department civil service examination in sev- eral divisions he has been fully qualified to serve as superintendent of construction and also as construction engineer. In the engineering circles of Spokane he ranks high, and the large patronage which he enjoys attests the recognition which is given his ability, his integrity and his conscientious discharge of his duties. He is now acting in the capacity of mining engineer for the San Toil Consolidated Com- pany, of Republic, Washington. His offices in the Jamieson building indicate the large undertakings in which he is constantly engaged.
On the 3d of February, 1901, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Myra Lutes, a daughter of Luther and Sarah (Siverling) Lutes. To this union has been born one child, Clifford Cleveland, who is now deceased and interred at Fairmont cemetery of this city. Politically Mr. Wood is a progressive republican and a most active member in the political circles of the various communities in which he has resided.
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He has served as assistant treasurer in Aspen, Colorado, in 1888 and 1889, and in March, 1911, was a candidate for the office of city commissioner of Spokane. He is a firm believer in civic improvement and has done all he could to further the de- velopment and improvement of any measures instituted for the public welfare. Hon- est, broad-minded, capable and practical, his advice is frequently sought and al- ways followed in any measures regarding which he may have been consulted. His professional life has not occupied his whole attention as he is devoted to his homes, both in Spokane and Newman Lake where he resides during the summer. This latter (Owls Head) is one of the beautiful summer residences in that locality and has been so built and improved as to give Mr. and Mrs. Wood all the comforts and luxuries to which his success has entitled them.
Mr. Wood is a third degree Mason and vice president and director of the Spo- kane branch of The American Mining Congress, and in 1909 served as a delegate to the mining congress at Goldfield, Nevada, his appointment being authorized by the governor of Washington and Chamber of Commerce of Spokane.
JOHN LAFAYETTE WILEY.
Among the men who have been prominent in shaping the political history of the democratic party in Washington, is numbered John Lafayette Wiley, who is also recognized as one of the strong and able members of the Spokane bar, filling the position of prosecuting attorney at the present time. He was born in the village of Vermont, Illinois, April 5, 1870. His father, John L. Wiley, a native of Penn- sylvania, was a representative of an old New England family that settled in Amer- ica prior to the Revolutionary war. They were of Scotch-Irish descent and a num- ber of the name rendered valiant aid to the cause of liberty when the colonists at- tempted to throw off the yoke of British oppression. John L. Wiley, Sr., learned the trade of a carpenter and builder and for many years followed that occupation. He died in Spokane September 30, 1911. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Rachel Ann Haines, was also born in the Keystone state and belongs to an old New Eng- land family that settled in America during colonial days and took part in the Revo- lutionary struggle. The Haines were of both German and English descent and were connected with the Pennsylvania Quakers. Unto Mr. and Mrs. John L. Wiley, Sr., there were born three sons, the brothers of our subject being: Thomas H., who is engaged in the real-estate business in Omaha; and Harry M., who is devoting his time to the purchase and sale of property in Spokane.
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