History of the city of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II, Part 8

Author: Durham, N. W. (Nelson Wayne), 1859-1938. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 850

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SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE

ganized he was appointed cashier, and for a time he was also one of the directors of this institution. He has always been one of the enterprising and progressive citizens of the town, the population of which numbered only between three and four hundred when he first located here, and has been officially identified with va- rious thriving activities.

Mr. Chamberlin was united in marriage on the 24th of December, 1896, to Miss Daisy H. Moller, a daughter of C. F. J. Moller, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for many years the Danish consul at that point. They have become the parents of four chil- dren, as follows: Galord, whose birth occurred in 1898; Frederick Bishop, whose natal day was in 1900; and Will Mathews and Martha Virginia, twins, who were born in 1903. The Chamberlin home, which is one of the social centers of the com- munity, is located at No. 1017 Fourth street, this city.

Fraternally Mr. Chamberlin is identified with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, and for the past nine years has been clerk of the local camp. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason and is affiliated with the Idaho Consistory, No. 3, S. P. R. S. A. A. and El Katif Temple, Spokane. He has but recently been appointed master council of Kodash and is a trustee of the Masonic Temple Association. Political activities have always engaged much of Mr. Chamberlin's attention and during the entire period of his residence here he has been connected with the government of the city. For four terms he represented his ward in the council, and acted for a while as justice of the peace, while he was mayor for three years, assuming the re- sponsibilities of this office in 1901. That he has discharged his duties with efficiency is manifested by the length of his term. His support is always given to the men and measures of the republican party and he has several times been state commit- teeman. As he has high standards regarding the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, Mr. Chamberlin always finds the time to advance the interests of the com- munity by assisting in promoting any movement that he feels will advance the welfare of the majority of the inhabitants. He is an enthusiastic member of the Commercial Club, and is most zealous in his efforts on its behalf. At the present time he is a member of the board of directors of this organization and he is also treasurer and a director of the Coeur d'Alene Merchants Association, while his connection with organizations of a more purely social nature is confined to his mem- bership in the Inland Club of Spokane. Success has attended the efforts of Mr. Chamberlin since he located in Coeur d'Alene and he is a man who would be an acquisition to any community, not only because of his disinterested public services, but because of the capable and intelligent manner in which he directs any enterprise with which he is connected, the strength and progress of any town depending upon the resourcefulness and sagacity of its business men.

JAMES M. COMSTOCK.

James M. Comstock, whose life history constitutes a most creditable chapter in the trade annals of Spokane, is now well known in business circles here, as vice president of the Spokane Dry Goods Company and president of the Dry Goods Realty Company. It may seem trite to those familiar with his life history to say that he has advanced from a humble position to one of prominence in the business

JAMES M. COMSTOCK

SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE

world, but it is only just to record in a history that will descend to future genera- tions, that his has been a record which any man might be proud to possess. He has never made engagements that he has not kept, nor incurred obligations that he has not met, and his record at all times commands the admiration and respect of colleagues and contemporaries.

Mr. Comstock is numbered among the worthy citizens that New York has fur- nished to the state of Washington, his birth occurring in Rome, September 6, 1838, and in 1846, he accompanied his parents, George and Eliza (Paine) Comstock, on their removal to Wisconsin, which at that time was largely an undeveloped wilderness. The family settled in Summit township, Waukesha county, and there amid the usual scenes and conditions of pioneer life James M. Comstock was reared, pursuing his early education in the district schools and aiding in the work of the home farm through the summer months. He later had the advantage of educational train- ing in Carroll College at Waukesha and when the Civil war broke out he enlisted in the First Wisconsin Cavalry, which he joined on the 14th of August, 1861, his ser- vice covering three and one-half years. He went to the front as a private and was mustered out with the rank of captain. He did duty as provost marshal on the staff of General E. M. McCook, of the First Division Cavalry Corps, Army of the Cum- berland, at the battle of Chickamauga. Later he participated in the winter campaign in eastern Tennessee, in which fighting occurred nearly every day. In February, 1864, he was sent with about two hundred and fifty men from east Tennessee over the Blue Ridge mountains into the valley of the Hiwassee river to the town of Murphy, located in the southwestern part of North Carolina, and from there he was sent to old Fort Hembries for the purpose of gathering up Confederates on fur- lough. The command then returned to east Tennessee and joined Sherman's army on the campaign to Atlanta and remained with that command until the surrender of Atlanta. During this campaign he participated in the battles of Buzzards Roost, Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain and Peach Tree Creek. He accompanied Gen- eral MeCook on his raid to the rear of Atlanta and after that movement was com- missioned by General George H. Thomas to return to Nashville, Tennessee, and re- oganize, mount and equip all of the dismounted cavalry to be found in that locality. He had succeeded in getting about two hundred men when the Confederate general, Joe Whceler, came up to a point within six miles of Nashville and for a period of twenty days kept the whode northern force chasing him until they finally succeeded in driving him across the Tennessee river. Mr. Comstock's command then returned to Nashville but shortly afterward the Confederates, under the command of General Forrest, made another raid into the southern portion of the state and again the Union troops drove them back into Alabama. Mr. Comstock next rejoined his regiment at Cartersville, Georgia, whence he was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, where the term of his enlistment expired in December, 1864. He then returned to his Wisconsin home and in January, 1865, reenlisted and was recommissioned captain of Company F of the First Wisconsin Cavalry. He then went to Nashville but was unable to join his regiment, which was on campaign duty in Alabama and Georgia. .

When mustered out at the close of the war Captain Comstock settled at Ocono- mowoc, Wisconsin, where he carried on general merchandising until 1872. He then removed to Algona, Iowa, and continued in that business for eighteen years, during which period he took a very prominent part in the affairs of the city, serving for a

SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE

number of years as a member of its council, while for one term he filled the office of mayor. He also acted as a member of the school board until he left Iowa, about 1890, and was for years president of the Northern Iowa Normal school, which was located at Algona.

Mr. Comstock first visited Spokane in 1884 as the guest of A. M. Horton, who was then editor of The Chronicle. In January, 1889, he again reached this city, arriving at about 11 o'clock in the morning. Before 4 o'clock in the after- noon of the same day he had purchased property on Main street, having deter- mined to locate permanently. In July of the same year he returned here, bringing with him R. B. Patterson, with whom he had formed a partnership under the firm style of Comstock & Patterson. They opened a retail dry-goods store, renting a room in the Crescent building, on Riverside avenue, just east of the Review build- ing. Their entire stock was placed in the new building on the evening of August 3, 1889, and on the next day the entire business section of the city was destroyed by fire. The flames advanced to within a block of their new store and were there checked, leaving the establishment of Comstock & Patterson as the only dry-goods store in the city. The business grew very rapidly, the firm prospering in their undertakings, and as the country developed they extended the scope of their ac- tivities by the establishment of a wholesale department. In 1904 the Spokane Dry Goods Company was organized and took over the entire business, Mr. Com- stock remaining as vice president of the company. The retail branch is conducted under the name of The Crescent and is one of the most complete department stores in the west. From the beginning the project has proven a remunerative one and at the present writing they are erecting a large addition to the retail store. The Spokane Dry Goods Company also has a mammoth wholesale building of its own on the railroad tracks, erected a few years ago. The labors of Mr. Comstock have constituted a most important element in the growth and expansion of the trade, for his judgment is sound, his sagacity keen, and his industry and enterprise un- faltering. The officers of the Spokane Dry Goods Company are also the owners of the Dry Goods Realty Company, which owns and controls all of the property and buildings of the former organization.

On the 29th of March, 1866, Mr. Comstock was nnited in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Annis, a daughter of Chauncy L. and Lydia (Allen) Annis, of Oconomo- woc, Wisconsin. They have two children: Josie, the wife of Eugene A. Shadle, of Spokane, and May, at home. Mr. Comstock finds pleasure and recreation in several fraternal associations. He is a past commander of Sedgwick Post, G. A. R., and was assistant acting adjutant general of the department of Washington and Alaska, under Commander Norman Buck, in 1896. He is also president of the Northwestern Veteran's Association and he belongs to Tyrian Lodge, No. 96, F. & A. M. His religious faith is that of the First Unitarian church, in which he has served as a trustee for more than twenty years. The worth and value of his public services in Spokane are widely acknowledged. He served as a member of Spokane city council from May, 1894, to May, 1899, and during that time was president of the council for three years. Mr. Comstock was a persistant advocate of the use of water meters from the time he entered the city council to the close of his adminis- tration as mayor, in fact was almost absolutely alone in the advocacy of the use of meters for a number of years. At the present time the city council have adopted what Mr. Comstock advocated at that time and have come to see the wisdom and ad-

SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE

vantages of installing such a system. In May, 1899, he was elected mayor for a term of two years, during which period he instigated and, through his intelligent and per- sistent efforts, completed many improvements, such as paving Sprague and First avenues and the following streets from the Northern Pacific right of way to the river: Monroe, Lincoln, Post, Wall and Stevens, Riverside avenue having been paved while he was president of the council. The water system was greatly improved and enlarged during this period.

In 1910, accompanied by Mrs. Comstock and their daughter, he spent three months in Japan, studying the agricultural, economic, manufacturing and financial interests of the empire. During that time they visited all of the leading cities from Nagasaki on the south to Nike on the north. In his travels through Japan, Mr. Comstock noted especially the great advancement that nation is making, particularly in their economic, manufacturing, railroad and ship building interests. He found the Japanese a peaceful people and their history during the past four hundred years shows that they have had only two wars with foreign nations, one with China and one with Russia. In Mr. Comstock's opinion should trouble occur be- tween the United States and Japan, it will be the fault of the United States gov- ernment, as Japan's slogan is: "Peaceful commercial relation with all nations."

The family residence is at No. 1106 Ninth avenue and one of its attractive features is its large and well selected library. Mr. Comstock is a man of scholarly attainments and of much literary ability, and has delivered and prepared many lectures and readings. One in particular, a comparison between General Grant and Frederick the Great, has been delivered on many occasions and has awakened wide- spread attention throughout the country. He has also been a close student of Shakespeare for many years, devoting much time not only to the reading of the plays but to everything bearing upon the subject, and he claims, with many others, that Shakespeare never wrote what is accredited to him. His reading and study has at all times covered a wide range and on the social, political and economic questions of the day he keeps abreast with the best thinking men of the age. He finds his companionship among people of kindred tastes and interests. His career has been remarkably successful, chiefly by reason of his natural ability and his thorough in- terest in a business in which as a young tradesman he embarked. There is one point in his career, covering twenty-two years in Spokane, to which all the old set- tlers refer, and that is whether as a wholesale merchant or in other relations of life, Mr. Comstock has always been the same genial, courteous gentleman, whose ways are those of refinement and whose word no man can question.

LAWRENCE EVERT WORSTELL.

Lawrence Evert Worstell, who is now serving his third term as probate judge of Shoshone county, has been a resident of Idaho since he was a lad of eleven years. His birth occurred at Jacksonville, Switzerland county, Indiana, on July 13, 1878, his parents being William and Ella (Hitchens) Worstell. His father at the age of fourteen years enlisted in the One hundred and fortieth Indiana Volun- teer Infantry and went to the front in defense of his country, being discharged with the rank of corporal. Together with his wife and family, William Worstell removed

SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE

from Indiana to Denver, Colorado, in 1883, and there the mother died in 1886. Three years later with his six children the father came to Idaho, locating in Mur- ray. He was married again in 1889 to Miss Mary Ginn of Murray, Idaho. Mr. Worstell was a capable business man and was successfully identified with the furni- ture interests of Wallace and Kellogg, Idaho, until his death, on the 30th of Decem- ber, 1906.

It was in the public schools of Denver, Colorado, that Lawrence Evert Worstell was first introduced to the elements of English learning, his preliminary education being completed in the public schools of Idaho. Having decided to become an attor- ney, he subsequently entered the Leland Stanford Junior University at Palo Alto, California, from which institution he was awarded the degree of LL. B. with the class of 1903. Returning to Wallace he was admitted to the bar, but resumed his connection with commercial activities by again becoming associated with his father in the furniture business. He continued to be so identified until elected probate judge of Shoshone county, in 1906, since which time he has given his principal attention to the duties of his office. He is still connected with the furniture busi- ness, however, as president of The Worstell Furniture Company, of Wallace, and secretary of The Worstell Thornhill Company of Kellogg, Idaho.

On the 8th of November, 1896, Mr. Worstell was united in marriage to Mrs. Alice E. Duffy, of Bessemer, Michigan. Both Mr. and Mrs. Worstell are com- municants of the Episcopal church, and fraternally he belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being affiliated with Wallace Lodge, No. 331. His politi- cal allegiance Mr. Worstell gives to the republican party, believing its policy best adapted to subserve the interests of the majority. In addition to his county office since 1909, Mr. Worstell has been a member of the city council. As incumbent of the office of probate judge he has discharged his duties in a manner to meet with the general approval of the public at large, as is attested by the length of his period of service. He is held in high esteem and regard not only in Wallace but in the entire county, where he is widely known and has many friends, the majority of whom have known him since boyhood.

WILLIAM J. C. WAKEFIELD.

William J. C. Wakefield, who ranks high among the prominent lawyers of the Spokane bar, has engaged in practice in this city since May, 1889, and his con- stantly increasing ability has brought him continuous recognition in a large and distinctively representative clientage. He has concentrated his time, energies and attention upon his professional duties and the work that he has done as advocate and counselor indicates clearly his familiarity with the principles of jurisprudence and an analytical power that enables him to correctly apply those principles to the question under consideration.

While a resident of the west for more than a quarter of a century, Mr. Wake- field is a native son of New England, his birth having occurred in Ludlow, Windsor county, Vermont, on the 4th of September, 1862. The family was founded in Massachusetts during the early colonial epoch in the history of this country, and the great-great-great-grandfather, Jonathan Wakefield, of Sutton, Massachusetts,

W. J. C. WAKEFIELD

SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE

took up arms in defense of his country during the French and Indian war, serv- ing in the expedition under General Amherst against Ticonderoga and Crown Point in 1759. That the spirit of liberty was strong within him and that the same spirit was inculcated in his family is indicated by the fact that six of his sons were sol- diers in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. One of these, Samuel Wakefield, was a member of the Lexington company that at the first alarm marched on the 19th of April, 1775, out upon the little green in the center of the town to meet the British forces that demanded immediate surrender. He was a member of the company commanded by Captain Jolin Putman, attached to Colonel Ebenezer Larned's regiment, and he continued in the service until September 17, 1779. The line of descent to William J. C. Wakefield is traced down from Samuel Wakefield, through his son Samuel, who removed from Massachusetts to Newport, New Hamp- shire, Alpheus Wakefield, who was a resident of Ludlow, Vermont, and Luther F. Wakefield. The last named spent his entire life in Ludlow, where he followed the pursuits of mechanic, miller and farmer. He married Lorinda L. Place, a native of northern Vermont, and also a representative of an old New England family.

Their son, William J. C. Wakefield, acquired his early education in the district schools of Chittenden and Windsor counties, Vermont, and afterward attended the Black River Academy of Ludlow, where he prepared for college, then entering Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1885. The west with its limitless opportunities attracted him and on the completion of his college course he became a resident of Austin, Nevada, where he engaged in teaching school. The hours which are usually termed leisure were devoted by Mr. Wakefield to the study of law under the direction of Judge Mckenna of that place, and he completed his legal studies in the office of Archer & Bowden, fol- lowing his removal to San Jose, California. Early in 1889 he was admitted to the bar in San Francisco and then turned to the northwest Pacific country, decid- ing upon Spokane as a favorable location. Accordingly, in May, he arrived in this city, which has since been his home and the scene of his professional labors and achievements. In November, 1889, he formed a partnership with Judge L. B. Nash, which was maintained until the spring of 1892, when Mr. Wakefield suc- ceeded Colonel W. W. D. Turner in the firm of Turner & Forster, the style of Forster & Wakefield being then assumed. In 1905, following the death of George M. Forster, Mr. Wakefield organized with A. W. Witherspoon the present firm of Wakefield & Witherspoon, which is today regarded as one of the most promi- nent and successful in the city. Mr. Wakefield has largely represented clients who have been prominently connected with the development of eastern Washing- ton, northern Idaho and western Montana. He is well versed in all departments of the law and upon his professional service has concentrated his attention to the exclusion of all political activities. Since 1890 he has held the office of master in chancery of the United States court. He is an officer or director in many cor- porations that are active in the development of this section of the country and his relations to the northwest is that of contagious enthusiasm which has led to his support of many projects and measures of public benefit.

On the 10th of June, 1896, Mr. Wakefield was united in marriage to Miss Louise Ammann, a daughter of Arnold and Caroline Ammann, formerly of Spring- field, Illinois. They now have an interesting family of two daughters and three

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sons, Louise, Channing, Helen, Newton and William. The family are prominent socially and Mr. Wakefield is also well known in athletic circles and is equally interested in educational projects which have for their object the intellectual progress of the community. For years he was identified with the National Guard of Nevada and Washington, retiring from the latter with the rank of lieutenant colonel and chief signal officer. He is recognized as a man of well rounded char- acter whose interests are varied and who at all times keeps in close touch with the trend of modern thought and progress.

RAY M. HART.

Prominently associated with many of the business interests which have helped to boom the commercial importance of the more recently developed portions of our great northwest, Ray M. Hart has been a significant factor in the upbuilding of Coeur d'Alene. Born in Ionia county, Michigan, June 20, 1873, he acquired his education in the common schools of his native locality. When eighteen years of age he began work, securing employment with the Frank Brothers Implement Com- pany, at Colfax, Washington, and after two years was engaged as bookkeeper and cashier in the firm of Lippett Brothers, general merchants in Colfax. He remained with them five years when he removed to Bozeman, Montana, where he engaged in business in partnership with D. J. Morton, establishing a dry-goods store. Two years later the firm dissolved partnership, the store was sold and Mr. Morton re- turned to Ireland, while Mr. Hart secured a position as a traveling salesman for a wholesale dry-goods company of St. Louis, Missouri, in which capacity he continued to serve for ten years, until 1908, and during this period became financially inter- ested in a number of general merchandise stores throughout Montana, mainly at Billings and Lewistown. He is still president of the Hart Albin Company of Bil- lings, Montana, and is also interested as stockholder in a large number of banks situated in various parts of this western country. On February 9, 1909, when the Blackwell Lumber Company was organized, with headquarters at Coeur d'Alene, Mr. Hart became secretary and treasurer of this concern and in consequence came to Coeur d'Alene, where he has remained in the same capacity ever since. He is interested in many other enterprises, being a director in the American Trust Company of Coeur d'Alene and in the Panhandle Lumber Company of Spirit Lake, a director likewise in the Idaho and Northern Washington Railroad Company and in the Railway Land and Improvement Company, and a stockholder in the Port- land Cement Company of Metaline Falls, Washington. Always ready to help in any project that might aid in securing better transportation facilities for the peo- ple living in the remoter localities and in making the larger towns more easily acccs- sible to the rural dwellers, Mr. Hart was largely instrumental in securing the con- struction of the first clectric railroad in Montana, organizing the Gallatin Valley Electric Railway, a rural line running from Bozeman, Montana, of which corpora- tion he was president until the road was sold to the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railroad Company. Always alert for every chance to build up his commer- cial interests and to enlarge the sphere of his activities, he has availed himself of cvery opportunity held out to him and now is accounted one of the foremost busi-

SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE

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History of the city of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II, Part 8

Author: Durham, N. W. (Nelson Wayne), 1859-1938. 4n Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 850

Author: Durham, N. W. (Nelson Wayne), 1859-1938. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 850