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 52
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GLENN B. DERBYSHIRE
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sisters: Mrs. Harriet Pratt, a widow, who is now living with the mother; and Mrs. Orilla Babcock, residing on a farm near the old home place.
Glenn B. Derbyshire acquired his education in the public and high schools of Addison, Michigan, and in Hudson Business College, completing a course there in the fall of 1894. Thinking to enter upon the practice of law, he became a student in the law office and under the direction of the firm of Bird & Wood, at- torneys at Adrian, the senior partner becoming afterward attorney general of Michigan. After reading law for a year Mr. Derbyshire secured a position with the Page Woven Wire Fence Company, with which he was connected for six years as bookkeeper. He then became interested in life insurance as district manager of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company of Boston, having jurisdiction over four Michigan counties. Later he was for a time connected with the Adrian State Savings Bank but thinking that the far west offered better busi- ness opportunities he severed his connection in his native state and on the Ist of May, 1902, arrived in Spokane, where he became bookkeeper for the lumber manufacturing firm known as the Holland-Horr Mill Company. He was after- ward made estimator for the company and so continued with this firm for about seven years. He then turned his attention to the printing business as a partner of the Pacific Printing Company, with which he was connected for two years and subsequently he became interested in the real-estate firm of H. M. Howard & Company.
Since his election to the office of county clerk Mr. Derbyshire has devoted his entire attention to the duties of that position. He was made the democratic candi- date and polled a large vote on the 8th of November, 1910. From early man- hood he has always taken an active part in politics, has served on election boards, was a delegate to county conventions in Michigan, and was secretary of the central committee of his county in 1896 during the free silver campaign.
The pleasant home life of Mr. Derbyshire had its beginning in his marriage at Hudson, Indiana, on the 8th of August, 1894, to Miss Anna M. Platt, a daugh- ter of William Platt, one of the pioneer settlers of Adrian, Michigan, who is now deceased. Their only child, Naomi, is a student in the Spokane high school.
Mr. Derbyshire has an interesting military record, covering three years' service as a member of Company B, First Infantry Regiment of the Michigan National Guard. He is a well known figure in fraternal circles, being especially prominent in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He joined that organization in Adrian, Michigan, and now holds membership in Mt. Carlton Lodge, No. 103, of Spokane; Unique Encampment, No. 32; Canton Spokane, No. 2, of the Patriarchs Militant; and Hope Lodge, No. 38, of the Order of Rebekahs. He has been honored with office in these different organizations, being a past grand of Mt. Carlton Lodge, past chief patriarch of Unique Encampment, and past commandant of Canton Spokane No. 2. In 1906 he was representative to the grand lodge of the state of Washington and the same year was made district deputy grand master. He has also been district deputy grand patriarch of the encampment and in the spring of 1910 was deputized by the grand patriarch to institute Abraham Encampment at Newport. Washington. In 1908 he was appointed assistant adjutant general of the Second Brigade Patriarch Militant for the department of Washington and still holds that commission with the rank of major. His work in the Odd Fellows society has made him widely known throughout the order in this state and among
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its membership he has many warm friends. He is also connected with the Hoo Hoos, his number being 14,089. He is a member of Spokane Lodge, No. 161, Loyal Order of Moose and is a member of the Inland Club. His religious affilia- tions are denoted by his attendance at the Christian Science church. He never holds narrow nor contracted views of life but maintains the position of a pro- gressive citizen who has faith in the future and is ever willing to cooperate in movements for general progress and improvement.
JOSEPH R. ROBERSON.
Since his arrival in Spokane on the 2d of June, 1890, Joseph R. Roberson has engaged in the real-estate and mortgage loan business, and the fact that he has operated in this field for twenty-two years is an indication that his labors have been effective forces in the attainment of success. Almost the width of the conti- nent separates him from his birth place, for he was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, November 10, 1855. His parents, Thomas and Charlotte (King) Roberson, were also natives of the same county, and the mother died within ten miles of her birth place in June, 1906. She had long survived her husband, who passed away in 1858. He had devoted his life to farming and was of English descent, although the establishment of the family in the United States antedated the Revolutionary war. Following the death of her first husband, Mrs. Roberson became the wife of Thatcher Trimmer, of Hunterdon county, New Jersey. The children of her first marriage are: Joseph R .; Jeremiah K., who is living in Quaker- town, New Jersey; Thomas C., of Everettstown, New Jersey; Fletcher, of Byron, Wisconsin; Margarette, the wife of Miller T. Hartson, who was at one time post- master of Spokane but is now living in Tacoma; and Elizabeth K., who is the widow of Sylvester S. Robbins, of Flemington, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, who is now residing in Spokane. There was a son of the second marriage, Newton K. Trimmer, who is now living in Pittstown, New Jersey.
Joseph R. Roberson is indebted to the public schools of western New Jersey for the educational privileges he enjoyed but his opportunities were somewhat limited, owing to the fact that he left home at the age of eleven years to accept a position as farm hand and was thus employed until nineteen years of age. He then entered a general dry-goods store at Clinton, New Jersey, where he remained for a year in the employ of Huffman, Smith & Duckworth. He afterward sccured a position in the dry-goods store of H. G. Scudder & Company, at Trenton, New Jersey, with whom he remained for two years, when he removed to Brooklyn, New York, and spent a similar period in the service of the T. M. James Dry Goods Com- pany. His next position was with the house of A. T. Stewart & Company, of New York city, with whom he continued for three and a half years, after which he was with James McCreary & Company, prominent dry-goods merchants of the me- tropolis, for eight and a half years.
Mr. Roberson resigned his position with the latter firm to come to Spokane, leaving New York in May, 1890, and reaching his destination on the 2d of June. He at once opened offices in the Symons block, on the corner of Howard street and Sprague avenue, and engaged in the real-estate and mortgage loan business, and
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has continued in that business from that day until the present time, occupying the same offices continuously. He has operated along conservative lines and makes his investments largely in property in the neighborhood of Riverside avenue and How- ard street, especially in connection with the mortgage loan business. He buys and sells property and owns choice real estate on Second avenue and South Howard streets, together with other properties in different districts of the city. He has built up a nice mortgage loan business, his clients being principally from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Vermont, although he also rep- resents clients who are living in the middle west. He has been a close student of the real-estate market and its conditions and has therefore been able to make judic- ious investments which have resulted profitably for himself and those whom he represents.
Joseph R. Roberson was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Elizabeth Gunn, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, on the 24th of July, 1906. They are members of the Eman- uel Baptist church, in which he is serving as deacon and in the work of the church they take an active and helpful part. In his political views he is a stalwart republi- can, interested in securing the best men for office and indorses the progressive poli- cies of this party. His nature is somewhat optimistic but his decisions are always based upon sound judgment resulting from thorough understanding of the situation. He is a believer in the future of Spokane, judging from the tendency of the times and regards it as a city of opportunity. With faith in its possibilities he is labor- ing earnestly to promote its interests and welfare, and his faith has found justifica- tion in what has already been accomplished as evidenced in the growth and improve- ment of the city and in the substantial fortunes which have here been won. He has himself prospered as the years have gone by, working his way upward to a creditable position among the real-estate representatives in Spokane.
WILLIAM H. McCOLOUGH.
William H. McColough, extensively connected with operations in real estate and president of the Sterling Heights Land Company, has become recognized as one of the prominent business men of Spokane, belonging to that class of representative American citizens who in furthering individual interests also aid general progress. He was born in Nova Scotia, on the 14th of October, 1854, and is a son of James and Mary (Higgins) McColough, the latter having died in 1886.
William H. McColough received his education in the public schools of Nova Scotia and after laying aside his text-books, accepted employment in various clerical positions in his native town. Later he served his time as an apprenticed carriage painter and for about a year was engaged in following that vocation in Nova Scotia before removing to Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1879. In that year he went to Winnipeg and made that city his home until he left for Crookstown, Minnesota, a year later. In Crookstown he engaged in contracting and real estate until 1883, when he removed to Seattle, Washington, where he engaged in growing hops. He resided in that city until 1896, the year which witnessed his arrival in Spokane. Here he has followed contracting until 1900, when he assumed the posi- tion as agent of this territory for the Ohio Varnish Company. For five years he
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acted as salesman for this company and for three years following, he held a similar position with the Fisher-Thorson Company, of Portland, Oregon. During these years he became thoroughly acquainted with the territory of this section and also had the opportunity of meeting many of its prominent men. After leaving the em- ploy of the Fisher-Thorson Company he purchased an interest in the Sterling Heights addition and he has since been engaged in the real-estate business, acting as president of the Sterling Heights Land Company. In the real-estate business he has become a prominent factor, handling extensive property interests and pro- moting many transfers. Through the openings he has received in this line he has used every opportunity to encourage the establishment of industries and the im- provement of property, thereby contributing in substantial measure to the city's growth and prosperity. In all connections he has displayed keen business discern- ment and he has improved every advantage that has come to him for advancement in the business world.
Mr. McColough has been twice married. On the 17th of December, 1879, he was married in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Miss Eva J. Weaver. To this union five children were born, Ina, Ford, Ella, Lizzie and William. Mrs. McColough died July 29, 1906. His second marriage occurred on the 5th of April, 1908, in Spo- kane, Washington, when he was wedded to Mrs. Addie May Oakes, who is a mem- ber of the Oakes family which was so largely connected with the silver mines and smelting industries at Nelson, British Columbia. Mr. McColough has always advo- cated the principles set forth in the policies of the republican party and has been most active in political circles, having at one time received the nomination for state senator. He has earned an unassailable reputation for the integrity of his methods, which are open at all times for investigation, and in his business undertakings he has proven that his foresight in the future expansion and greatness of Spokane was not misplaced.
WILLIAM S. THYNG.
The work of mining in the northwest is in its pioneer stage, with limitless oppor- tunities ahead, and the ability and energy of many progressive young men are being called forth by the advantages offered in this field. Among Spokane's citizens con- nected with the task of developing the rich mineral resources of this section of the country is William S. Thyng, now well known as a mining engineer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, March 30, 1873, the only son of Charles H. and Anna Gould (Fogg) Thyng, the former a native of Exeter, New Hampshire, and the latter of Cleveland, Ohio. The mother was a daughter of William Perry Fogg, who for a considerable period was editor and proprietor of the Cleveland Herald, now the Plain Dealer. Her great-grandfather served with the French in the war of 1755, known as the French and Indian war. The Fogg family was founded in America by ancestors who came from Exeter, England, and settled in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1636, while subsequently they founded the town of Exeter, New Hampshire. The Thyng family is also of English lineage and was established on American soil when this country was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Brit- ain. Charles H. Thyng is now living in New York, where he is engaged in the
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publishing business. His wife, however, died in 1894. The only daughter of the family is Mrs. Frederic D. Steele, now living in Nutley, New Jersey.
William S. Thyng was educated in Columbia University, where he graduated with the degree of Engineer of Mines in 1896. During the early period of his professional career he did special work in the Missouri lead mines in St. Francis county and in the Michigan copper district, being afterward engaged in mine sur- vey work at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. On leaving the east he accepted a posi- tion as professor of mining engineering in the Washington State College at Pull- man, entering upon his work as instructor in that institution in 1899. Four years were devoted to teaching and on leaving Pullman he came to Spokane, where he has since followed his profession. He has done expert work in connection with mines throughout the northwest, including British Columbia, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada. He organized the Roselle Mining Company, which developed the Tungsten mine in Stevens county, Washington, a valuable property now being operated by German parties. On its organization Mr. Thyng became vice president and general manager of the company and is still its secretary. It is located in the Deer Trail camp and has been extensively developed. The mill has a capacity of five hundred tons per month and the ore concentrates 30 to 1. The plant is now running at its full capacity.
Mr. Thyng is also interested in the Pondera Group Mining Company, Incor- porated, its headquarters being in North Dakota. They own property on Pend d'Oreille Lake and Mr. Thyng is the consulting engineer. They have copper and gold values in the twenty claims of the group, which are now under development. Mr. Thyng has also made investment in the Lone Star Copper Mining Company, which owns property in the Newport district in Stevens county, Washington, which is now under development. He is secretary and engineer of this company and is also consulting engineer for a number of other properties. For some time he has made a specialty of steel hardening metals such as tungsten, vanadium and molyb- denum.
On the 10th of September, 1900, Mr. Thyng was married to Miss May Clayton Hume, a daughter of Thomas Hume, of New York, and a representative of a fam- ily of English descent that was represented on the Tory side in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Thyng is eligible as a member of the Union Society of the Civil War, He gives his political allegiance to the republican party but is not an active worker in its ranks. His energy and ability have placed him in his present creditable posi- tion as a mining engineer. His time has been given almost exclusively to profes- sional duties and allied interests and he has won recognition as one whose knowl- edge and ability have long since passed the point of mediocrity.
WILLIAM H. SHIELDS.
William H. Shields, city superintendent at Spokane for the Mutual Life Insur- ance Company of New York, with offices in the Old National Bank building, was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, on the 8th of August, 1865, his parents he- ing John M. and Isabel (Wilson) Shields, who arrived in the northwest in 1888 and were thereafter residents of Spokane until called to their final rest, the father's
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death occurring in 1893, while the mother, surviving him for about fifteen years, passed away in 1908. In the family were three children, all of whom came to Spokane with their parents, these being as follows: William H., of this review; Thaddeus M., now a resident of Tacoma, Washington; and Callie, who passed away at Spokane in 1894.
Spending his youthful days in his native state, William H. Shields pursued his education in the public schools of Indiana and Jefferson counties of Pennsylvania and also pursued a partial academic course. He afterward engaged in teaching for several years at Punxsutawney and did good work in the educational field, im- parting clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He was a young man of about twenty-three years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to the northwest and after reaching Spokane he engaged in the real-estate business, both immediately before and after the fire of 1889. In 1891, however, he turned his attention to life insurance and for five years was connected with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For fif- teen years he has been a representative of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York and has had charge of their business in Spokane throughout this entire period. He is a man of great personal attraction, genial and cordial, and is one of the most successful insurance representatives in the west. In the year 1910 he made the highest record for the northwest by personally writing more insurance than any other had ever done in this section. He is wide-awake and energetic, and recognizes the fact that in this day of close competition the man who progresses must be alert and watchful of every opportunity. Moreover, he has the ability to present his subject clearly and convincingly, and thus has been enabled to place a large amount of business on the books of the company.
On the 1st of January, 1890, Mr. Shields was united in marriage to Miss Matie McGarey, a native of Brookville, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Enoch and Mar- tha (Campbell) McGarey, of that place. Two children have been born of this union, Joseph M. and Kathleen. Mr. Shields belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is interested in its various projects for the exploitation of the resources of this country and for the improvement and development of the city in many ways. He holds membership with the Rotary Club, but outside of business hours his attention is chiefly given to the work of the First Presbyterian church, in which he holds mem- bership. He is serving as one of its elders and takes an active and helpful interest in the various departments of the church work, putting forth every effort in his power to promote its growth, extend its influence and make it a potent, forceful factor in uplifting mankind, and thus promoting the civilization of the race.
LARS G. HEIBERG.
Lars G. Heiberg as proprictor of the Chicago Hotel has done much toward keeping hotel service in Spokane up to the high standard that the traveling public now demands. He was born in Norway, March 8, 1861, and his parents, Gulbrand Larsen and Angusta (Ourdal) Heiberg, were also natives of the same country. The father is a retired farmer now living in Spokane but the mother died in 1889. The brothers and sister of our subject are: Erling and Emil, both living in Spo- kane; and Marie, the wife of M. Bergeson, also of the same city.
L. G. HEIBERG
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In his youthful days Lars G. Heiberg was a pupil in the schools of Norway but in 1882 left the land of the midnight sun and come to Minnesota, then a young man of twenty-two years. He remained there for three years and came in the sum- mer of 1885 to Spokane. In the fall, however, he went to Murray, Idaho, where he remained for fifteen months, and upon his return to Spokane began dealing in ice, which business he carried on until May, 1888. He then turned his attention to hotel-keeping at the corner of Post street and Second avenue, leasing the building for one and a half years. He removed from there to Second and Madison streets and on the Ist of May, 1891, to Brown and Riverside, there conducting the Norden Hotel, under which name his hotel business had always been conducted. In 1899 he erected his present hotel on Washington and Main avenue, calling it the Chicago Hotel, and it has since been in successful operation. There are ten rooms on the first floor with one hundred and thirty-three rooms on the three floors above. The building is a four-story brick structure and on the ground floor there are five full store rooms and a smaller one. Mr. Heiberg has been steadily improving his hotel which is today thoroughly modern and up-to-date in every respect. He has invested between twenty to twenty-five thousand dollars in improvements and he spares no effort or expense in making the hotel attractive to the traveling public, knowing that satisfied patrons are his best advertisement. He is also connected with financial in- terests in the city as one of the directors of the Scandinavian Bank, which he aided in founding in 1907.
Mr. Heiberg has been married twice. He was first married in Norway and had two children: Hans L., now a farmer in the land of the midnight sun; and Marie, the wife of R. K. Solled, chief clerk in the Chicago Hotel. On the 1st of January, 1905, in Spokane, Mr. Heiberg wedded Hannah F. Anderson. In politics he is a republican and has attended city and county conventions, acting as a delegate to the Ellensburg convention. He belongs to Spokane Lodge, No. 228, B. P. O. E .; the Scandinavian Brotherhood of America; and The Fram and Sons of Norway, Nor- wegian societies. Outside of these organizations, which cultivate the fraternal and helpful spirit, he is identified with the Chamber of Commerce, being in entire sym- pathy with its purpose of promoting the upbuilding and exploiting the advantages of this city.
WALTER Q. WEBB.
Walter Q. Webb, keeping in close tonch with the progress which has been most notable in the practice of medicine during the past twenty or thirty years, is today numbered among the alert and successful physicians and surgeons of Spokane. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, July 14, 1863, a son of John and Malinda J. (McWharter) Webb, the former of English and the latter of Scotch descent. The father was born in Kentucky and at the time of the Civil war espoused the cause of the Confederacy, meeting death in the three days' battle of Gettysburg in 1863. His widow long survived him and passed away in 1899. In the family were three sons: Dr. Walter Q. Webb, of this review; Dr. C. Webb, a practicing physician of Republic, Washington ; and Chester Edwards, an attorney of Detroit. Vol. II-25
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When Dr. Walter Q. Webb had decided upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he made the best possible use of his opportunities for qualifying for active practice and after graduating from the Omaha Medical College, now the Uni- versity of Nebraska, he did post-graduate work in Rush Medical College, of Chicago, and the Bellevue Medical College, of New York city, also acting as interne in the Bellevue Hospital. He won his professional degree in 1885 and the same year came to Spokane, where he has since engaged in practice, his labors being attended with excellent success. From the first he has been accorded a liberal patronage and his work has been highly satisfactory, displaying a marked degree of skill and ability in ministering to the needs of his patients following the careful diagnosis of his cases. He has done considerable professional service in a public capacity, being first chairman of the board of health under the old charter, which went into effect in 1891 and was voted out in 1911. He has several times served as county phy- sician, his incumbency in that office covering the term 1893-4 and again 1910-11. He has also been examining physician for the Eagles and for the Elks and in addi- tion to his membership in those orders he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Foresters of America and the Red Men. He has keen apprecia- tion for the social amenities of life and finds genuine pleasure in the companionship of people of similar tastes and interests.
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