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 48
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On the 5th of February, 1909, in Omaha, Mr. Marischal was married to Miss Mary Shackleford, a daughter of Clark B. and Anna Shackleford. In politics Mr. Marischal gives his allegiance to the democratic party. After a careful study of the platforms offered by the different political parties he has become thoroughly convinced that the democracy offers policies which will be most conducive in estab- lishing good government. He holds membership in the Inland Club and is one of its most influential members. His life has been one of continuous activity, in which has been recorded due recognition of labor, and today he is numbered among the successful citizens of his county. His interests are thoroughly identified with those of his section of the state, and at all times he is ready to lend his aid and co- operation to any movement calculated to benefit this region or advance its wonderful development.
PROFESSOR A. VAN HOLDERBEKE.
Professor A. Van Holderbeke, a recognized authority on horticultural questions and who for four years occupied the position of commissioner of horticulture for the state of Washington and has done more for the advancement of fruit culture in the state than any other individual, was born in Belgium, March 18, 1862. His father, Johan Van Holderbeke, was a farmer and horticulturist and when his son
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Professor Van Holderbeke was but eight years of age made him a present of a farm, largely devoted to the raising of fruit, and which the new owner afterward used exclusively for the cultivation of fruit and flowers. In the meantime as a boy he had pursued his education in the normal school until graduated therefrom and. had then entered the University of Ghent in Belgium, where he was graduated from the horticultural department in 1888. While pursuing his university course he en- gaged in teaching school and afterward for several years lectured throughout his native country on horticultural topics. In 1896 the agricultural yearbook of the United States recognized the horticultural schools of Belgium as the most advanced in that field in the world.
Professor Van Holderbeke carried on various experiments upon his farm in Belgium in addition to the production of fruit and flowers until 1892, when he turned his property over to his brother and came to the new world, since which time he has been a resident of the state of Washington. He first located in Tacoma, where he engaged in flower culture for two years. For a time he was proprietor of splendidly equipped greenhouses in that city, in which he raised all of the flowers which he handled and in that direction built up a reputation second to none in the northwest. He afterward removed to Snohomish and began the raising of garden products, being the first to raise tomatoes by the acre on a commercial basis in western Washington. He published his method of maturing tomatoes in western Washington and now hundreds of acres are devoted to that vegetable according to the plans and ideas set forth by Professor Van Holderbeke. He also raised celery as a commercial proposition and cach year he did some pruning and also carried on horticultural pursuits in Snohomish. In 1898 he was appointed horticultural in- spector of Snohomish county and occupied the position for three years. In the meantime his ability was becoming widely recognized as his knowledge was put to the practical test by others and it was seen that his methods would produce excellent results. His constantly growing reputation naturally suggested him for the position of state horticulturist, to which he was appointed by Governor Rogers on the 1st of April, 1901, and in that year he received his certificate as horticulturist from the Washington State College at Pullman. As commissioner of horticulture it was his duty to investigate horticultural possibilities all over the state and in consequence he came into contact with and gained a knowledge of all varieties of fruit and local- ities, so that he knows by practical experience and observation which are the most successful varieties in their adaptation to locality and soil. Professor Van Holder- beke has organized every county horticultural society in the state of Washington and transformed the Inland Horticultural Society into the State Horticultural Asso- ciation of Washington. This was largely accomplished through his individual ef- forts at the time when he was state horticultural commissioner. He made it his duty to visit every county in the state twice a year and to closely examine the pos- sibilities of fruit production. For three years he acted as judge of all the fruit for all the county and state fairs. He is thoroughly conversant with every kind of apple grown and has learned the "signs" of trees and how to treat and develop them un- der all conditions. He continued as state horticulturist for four years, or until 1905, when he came to Spokane, where he entered the service of L. M. Maclean as horticultural instructor for the Spokane Canal Company, and for three years was busily engaged in developing their orchards.
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On the expiration of that period Professor Van Holderbeke embarked in busi- ness on his own account, establishing the Van Holderbeke Nurseries, and was at the same time engaged in looking after the holdings of prominent capitalists. He represented three companies in his supervision of eleven sections of land on the Milwaukee railroad, about twenty minutes ride from East Columbia, and at the present writing he is engaged by several companies as horticultural adviser. In addition to the interests already mentioned Professor Van Holderbeke has a few private projects in Idaho at Kennewick.
On the 13th of November, 1900, occurred the marriage of Professor Van Holder- beke and Mrs. Emily Dumas. He is a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters and of the Chamber of Commerce and cooperates in various projects for the general welfare and improvement of Spokane as well as along the lines in which he has always been especially interested. From the outset he has been a close student of all the scientific principles which underlie his work, has kept in touch with the in- vestigations and reports that are being made in all parts of the country, and his sound judgment enables him readily to discriminate between the essential and the non-essential in the development of Washington as a fruit-raising district. His work is of inestimable value to the state and through the dissemination of knowl- edge he has indirectly contributed thousands of dollars-a sum which will naturally increase-to the wealth of Washington.
DAVE E. ZENT.
The firm name of Dave E. Zent & Co., Inc., is a familiar one in real-estate circles in Spokane. Its president is Dave E. Zent, of this review, and his asso- ciate officers are George Yokom, vice president and treasurer, and Edgar E. K. Schmitt, secretary. Their operations cover the entire northwestern country ex- tending into Montana, British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho and Washington. Close application and indefatigable energy have developed Mr. Zent's business powers and placed him in a creditable position in real-estate circles although he is yet a young man, having only passed the twenty-eighth milestone on life's journey. He was born in Jefferson county, Washington, February 11, 1884, and was one of a family of ten children whose parents were Daniel J. and Lottie (Woodruff) Zent, the former born in Buffalo, New York, and the latter in Pennsylvania. The family had its origin in France and the grandfather was with Napoleon in his wars and campaigns and was taken prisoner at Moscow. He became the founder of the family in the new world and his son Daniel was born at Buffalo, New York. He served for four years as a soldier in the Civil war with the Second Cavalry of Colorado Troops. He was one of the trail blazers of the west, cross- ing the plains in 1874 and settling at Walla Walla. He afterward removed to Pendleton, Oregon, where he suffered heavy losses by fire started by the Indians under Chief Joseph on one of his raids. At different times in his life he fol- lowed various kinds of business, including farming and merchandising. He died in November, 1908, and is still survived by his widow, who lives at Pasco. She was descended from General Hyde, of Revolutionary fame, and belonged to a family of English origin. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Daniel J. Zent were born five
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sons and five daughters: Dave E., of this review; Frank P., deputy collector of customs, stationed at Everett, Washington; Daniel W., an attorney of Good- ing, Idaho; Judge W. W. Zent, practicing law in Spokane; George W., a resident of Pasco; Ida, the wife of T. F. O'Leary, of Oak Harbor, Washington; Carrie, the wife of James Kerr, of Midway, British Columbia; Kate, who married Robert Riggs, of Pasco; Etta, the wife of Thomas Wood, of Walla Walla county, Wash- ington ; and Lottie, who wedded E. T. Dell, of Usk, Washington.
Dave E. Zent has always been a resident of the northwest, pursuing his edu- cation in the common schools of Colville and in the high school of Ritzville. He afterward studied law in the office of Judge Zent for two years and then en- tered the abstract business as manager of the Adams Abstract Company of Ritzville, with which he continued for three years. Upon coming to Spokane he began deal- ing in real estate in connection with the J. H. Tilsey Company and in July, 1909, he started in business on his own account, opening an office in the Paulsen build- ing. In the early part of 1911 he removed to 115 Wall street and is now operat- ing under the name of the Dave E. Zent & Co., Inc., with the officers previously mentioned. They conduct a general real-estate business, handling land all through the western country, their operations extending not only into Montana, Oregon and Idaho but also into British Columbia. Mr. Zent is interested in several addi- tions to the city of Spokane and has also made investment in irrigation projects which are doing much for the development of this part of the country.
On the 7th of June, 1905, Mr. Zent was married to Miss Myrtle A. LeMaster, a daughter of W. A. LeMaster, of Tacoma, a contractor and builder who be- longs to one of the pioneer families of the west and is of French descent. Mr. Zent holds membership with the Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias, the Inland Club and the Chamber of Commerce, associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and activities outside of the field of business. He has recognized that unfaltering industry is the basis of success and is winning his advancement along that line.
PAUL A. PAULSON.
The life history of Paul A. Paulson is in miniature the history of the north- west with its periods of progress and development, its difficulties caused by finan- ciał panics, its efforts to resume activity and its ultimate success and triumph. Mr. Paulson is now numbered among the capitalists of Spokane and is largely in- terested in the mineral resources of the northwest.
He was born in Denmark, June 18, 1855, the son of Mads and Mary (Krag) Paulson, who were also natives of Denmark, the mother dying there during the boyhood of her son Paul. The father served in the war of 1848-1850 between Denmark and Prussia as an officer in the Danish army and aided in winning the victory for the Danish troops. In the early '60s he came to the United States, settling in Wisconsin. He was prominent in his home community and served for several terms as county commissioner. While in Denmark he had followed the business of carriage manufacturing and brought with him some means when he
P. A. PAULSON
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came to the new world. This he invested in farm lands in Wisconsin and gave his attention to agricultural pursuits to the time of his death, which occurred in 1904.
Paul A. Paulson has one brother living in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and there are also four half-brothers, two of whom are in Tacoma, where they are en- gaged in business under the name of the Paulson Brothers Company. A sister, Mrs. Carrie L. Hathaway, is the wife of the general manager of the Mutual Life Insurance Company for California, Nevada and the Hawaiian Islands. A half- sister, Miss Mary Paulson, is residing in Tacoma.
Paul A. Paulson was quite a young land when the family crossed the Atlantic and in the public and high schools of Wisconsin he pursued his education, to which he has added since leaving school by reason of his broad reading. He was reared upon a farm and in early life learned the carpenter's trade. In the latter part of 1876 he left his home in the middle west and at the age of twenty- one years traveled over the Union Pacific Railroad to San Francisco, which was then in its palmy days. The Comstock and other famous mines were large pro- ducers and stock speculation was a large part of the business, stock speculators being very numerous there. There was great excitement caused by the manipula- tion of stocks by the large holders and it was seldom on receiving the morning papers that one did not see accounts of one or more suicides of men and women who had been unsuccessful in their investments in mining stock. Mr. Paulson, however, did not have the mania for stock speculation but began work at the carpenter's trade, which he followed for a few months in San Francisco. He had previously read much concerning Oregon, however, and regarded that state as his destination, leaving San Francisco for Portland in 1877. The city then claimed a population of ten thousand but had considerably less, and what is now the heart of Portland was then covered with a dense forest. He became well acquainted with many prominent old residents who figured in the history of the northwest.
Early in the spring of 1878 Mr. Paulson with two young companions followed the tide of emigration from the Willamette valley to what was called "east of the mountains," in Washington Territory. Some of the Willamette people sold their farms and in prairie schooners traveled east of the mountains to where there was less rain. In Portland Mr. Paulson frequently heard mention of Lewiston and Walla Walla, which were already good-sized towns, and also of Colfax and Spokane Falls, which were just springing into being. He made his way to the district east of the mountains, with a view to looking over the land, journeying by boat from Portland to the Lower Cascades, at which time the Oregon Steam- boat Navigation Company, composed of W. S. Ladd, Sim Reed, Captain J. C. Ainsworth and R. R. Thompson, controlled the boat traffic. This was a good strong company, very prosperous, and their boats were well built, modern river steamers. Between the Lower and Upper Cascades a short portage rail- road had been built which transported passengers and freight around the Cascades where are now found government locks. At the Upper Cascades freight and passengers had again to be transferred by boat to The Dalles. Mr. Paulson ferried across the Columbia at The Dalles and walked over the hills between the river and the Klickitat valley to the present site of Goldendale, where was located an Indian camp. He and his companions each bought a pony there and then rode in a northeasterly direction to Yakima. At that time there was nothing at the town but the Indian reservation, the agency having a flouring mill there. Vol. II-23
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There were a few stock-raisers scattered through the county and on the present site of Bickleton they came across a stock-raiser named Dodge, who had lived there for several years like a hermit. He was the owner of fifty fine brood mares but there was no market for horses and cattle, save what could be driven to the Columbia river and transported to Portland or points on the Sound. However, while at Dodge's place Mr. Paulson met a cattle buyer from Chicago, named Lang, who was buying up several hundred head of steers for which he paid twenty dollars per head. His plan was to drive them to Cheyenne on the Union Pacific and thence transport them by rail to Chicago. The stockmen of the northwest believed he would never reach his destination but were glad to sell their steers at twenty dollars per head. Mr. Lang, however, prospered in his venture and re- turned for more cattle, becoming the first cattle shipper to eastern markets and the pioneer of a great and growing industry.
Mr. Paulson continued on his way to Spokane Falls, looking for good land. Accustomed to the black prairie soil of the middle west, the timber, volcanic rock and gravel around Spokane did not appeal to him from an agricultural standpoint. He could not see how settlers who had taken up land would ever make a living. The people of Spokane seemed somehow to be dependent upon water power for the development of the city but there was no railroad and none in contemplation, and when Mr. Paulson asked what they could do with their water power, the only answer was that it would drive a sawmill. He did not like the rolling hills of Palouse county and returned to Portland but was there only a short time before the Nez Perce Indian war broke out. On the trip to Spokane Falls he had fre- quently met Indians and noticed that they seemed surly and cross, and the few white settlers whom he encountered said that they feared that the Indians were going on the warpath. With the outbreak of hostilities the militia company of Portland was called out and Mr. Paulson relates that many of the young men of the company employed as clerks or in other positions in Portland were very scared when they found that they must go out against the red men.
For a time Mr. Paulson was employed in the car shops of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company at Kalama. Coal had just been discovered at Wilkeson and a road was being constructed from that point to Tacoma. The company built two hundred coal cars, in which work Mr. Paulson was actively engaged. He then returned to Portland and with a partner took contracts for and built several houses. He was afterward employed in the sash and door factory of J. C. Car- son, with whom he remained three years. He then engaged in business on his own account, forming a partnership with Sylvester Pennoyer, afterward governor of Oregon, and who at that time owned a lumber mill in the south part of Portland. After two years Mr. Paulson sold his interest to his partner and removed to Tacoma, where was situated a small town that was, however, growing rapidly. He organized a company called the Tacoma Lumber & Manufacturing Company, of which he was the chief owner. This company manufactured lumber, sash and doors and other building material and also wooden ware. They greatly enlarged their plant to meet the rapid growth of their business and employed as many as two hundred and fifty men, not including the logging crews in the woods. They were burned out twice but rebuilt. As fast as Mr. Paulson made money he in- vested it in timber lands on the Skagit river and with Henry Drum, W. J. Thomp- son and Byron Barlow, bought a large tract of land in the Skagit valley near the
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site of Sedro Woolley, and also in the vicinity of Sterling and Burlington, and in Sterling the company conducted a large mercantile store. They also built and operated several steamers on Puget Sound, including the Skagit Chief, Henry Bailey, the State of Washington, and the Fair Haven, owned by Nelson Bennett, and named after the town of Fair Haven, now Bellingham, Washington, of which place Mr. Bennett was the parent as its chief and pioneer promoter. The steamer became a part of their fleet, and Mr. Bennett one of the shareholders and directors of the company. The four steamers plied between Tacoma, Seattle, Bellingham and way ports for many years and some are still in operation.
As the years passed by and opportunity offered Mr. Paulson bought large tracts of timber land in Lewis and Thurston counties and later in British Columbia, mainly on Vancouver Island. He continued to figure as one of the most prominent business men of Tacoma and aided largely in the upbuilding of the city, serving for many years as one of the directors of the Chamber of Commerce. He was also a stockholder in the Tacoma Woolen Mills; was one of the chief owners of the Tacoma Box Company; and was interested in various other business projects. He acted as chairman of the building committee at the time the Chamber of Com- merce erected its new building and spent much time in its supervision. The wide- spread financial panic of 1893 brought him heavy losses, for nearly all of the Tacoma banks failed and anyone who had been doing a large commercial business suffered severely thereby.
About that time many of the Spokane people went into the hills prospecting and the Rossland camp on Trail creek was started, while at the same time the Slocan district in British Columbia was opened up. Mr. Paulson made a trip into British Columbia to look over some of the mines and, like most of the others, became interested in several prospects. He engaged, however, in the lumber business in the Kootenai country and made some money. Later he removed with his family to Spokane and purchased a large amount of timber and meadow lands from the Canadian Pacific Railroad on its Crow's Nest Line a short time after the building of that branch and organized the International Lumber & Mercantile Company, of which he is the chief owner and of which he was president for several years. The company has a large mill and owns a vast amount of timber tributary to the Crow's Nest branch of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, near the town of Kitchiner.
Immediately after the completion of the road Mr. Paulson learned of the coal measures in the Rocky mountains along that line at what is commonly known as the Crow's Nest Pass. He made a trip into the country, covering the eastern part of British Columbia and the western part of Alberta and purchased from the government the property which is now owned by the International Coal & Coke Company. Mr. Paulson organized the company and developed the mine, so that it became a large shipper. He has in his control much of the stock of the com- pany, which has a capacity of two thousand tons per shift of eight hours. The company also manufactures coke and in addition to this Mr. Paulson is also in- terested in other coal lands and coal mines in British Columbia. He is likewise numbered among the owners of valuable water-power sites in this state, both in the Inland Empire and near Puget Sound, and is one of the stockholders of the Big Bend Transit Company, which owns water power on the Spokane river.
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In Tacoma Mr. Paulson was married to Miss Anna K. Anderson, the daughter of C. Anderson, an old settler of Walla Walla. For a number of years Mrs. Paulson was a successful school teacher in Oregon. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children: Clara Arney, who is the wife of Charles W. Mason, chief clerk in the superintendent's office of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company at Tacoma; and Chester R., who is assisting his father. Mr. and Mrs. Paulson attend the Unitarian church.
Mr. Paulson gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, in which connection he cooperates in public projects tending to promote the welfare of Spokane and exploit its interests. While not all the days in his career have been equally bright, his record on the whole has been characterized by continuous progress. At times in his commercial ex- perience he has seen the gathering of clouds that have threatened disastrous storms but his rich inheritance of energy and pluck have enabled him to turn defeats into victory and promised failures into brilliant success. His strict integrity, business conservatism and sound judgment have always been so uniformly recognized that he has enjoyed public confidence to an enviable degree. Because of a well balanced mind and a sterling character he has been enabled to see the silver lining to many a cloud that to others would look hopelessly black, and to overcome obstacles which to many would appear insurmountable.
FRANCIS M. GOODWIN.
There are times in the lives of every individual when heroic action and courageous spirit are needed. In the great majority of cases these are unheralded and perhaps never become known to the world, yet the case demands as firm and unfaltering a spirit as is displayed by the soldier upon the field of battle. Fre- quently such test of character comes to the attorney who must seemingly, as it were, defy public opinion and risk arousing the opposition of those in power in the performance of his professional duties. Such a test came to Francis M. Goodwin when as special assistant to the United States attorney general he was instrumental in prosecuting the land fraud cases in Idaho. His labors . connected with the case have become a matter of history, bringing him prominently before the public in his fearless defense of duty. At the present writing he is prac- ticing law in Spokane, where he located in the fall of 1907.
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