USA > Washington > Spokane County > Spokane > History of the city of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume III > Part 15
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As the years passed Judge Cullen progressed in his profession until he occupied a position of distinctive precedence and prominenec. In 1876 he beeame a part- ner of Colonel W. F. Sanders, one of the most distinguished members of the bar of the state. Later he was associated with George F. Shelton and afterward with Governor J. K. Toole. all distinguished representatives of the legal frater- nity in the northwest. He likewise served as division counsel for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company from the time its line entered the state of Montana in 1881 until it was reorganized in 1897. As its chief representative in Montana he passed through many exeiting periods in its history, from the time when General Grant drove the golden spike at Gold Creek. Montana, through its many vicissitudes. ineluding in its later years the troublesome seizure of trains by the Coxey army and the great sympathetic strike of 1894, which completely tied up its property, and finally through its passage into the hands of receivers and its final sale to the present reorganization.
Professional service, which also brought Judge Cullen into more than loeal prominence. was his work as general counsel for F. Augustus Heinze during the long legal contest which he waged with the Amalgamated Copper Company for many years at Butte. Montana. resulting finally in victory for his client. The judge was one of the organizers and a large stockholder of the Powell Sanders wholesale grocery company of Spokane.
The politieal offices which Judge Cullen filled were always directly or indi- reetly in the path of his profession. being connected with framing or with the in- terpretation of the law. He was the first attorney general of the state of Mon- tana and also its first adjutant general. In polities he was a recognized supporter of the democratic party but felt that his professional duties should be precedent to all else and thus took comparatively little aetive part in politieal work. A eon- temporary biographer has written of him: "In his ehosen field of mining law few men were his equals and he has left a deep imprint upon the mining laws and decisions of the country. His ability was recognized by the publie and the pro- fession and was the outeome of close study. thorough preparation of his eases, keen analysis of faets and the logieal application of the law. Before a court or jury he entered easily and naturally into an argument; there was no straining after effeet, but a precision and coolness in statement. an aenteness and strength in argument which few possessed, marked him as of a mind trained in the severest sehool of investigation and to which analytical reasoning was habitual. Sueh decisions as Blaek vs. Elkhorn Mining Company and Lewis vs. Northern Paeifie Railroad Company, in the supreme court of the United States, were from their beginning great legal battles and were fought by him on points which were then new in the history of litigation then existing in this country. For a period of
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twenty-one years he conducted for the Montana Mining Company, the owner of the famous Drum Lumnon mine at Marysville, Montana, the bitter litigation ex- isting between it and the St. Louis Mining Company of Montana, and in the end fell a victim to his ardor in fighting this litigation. The last trial of this case, in Helena, Montana, where he conducted it, lasted for a period of over three months, in the year 1905, and he wore himself out during the course of this trial, although on account of his rugged health the effects of exhaustion did not disclose themselves for a long time to come and not until he was before the supreme court of the United States, in arguing this case for the Montana Mining Company in December, 1907. when he was stricken down by an attack of heart disease from which he never recovered."
Judge Cullen spent the last few years of his life in Spokane, to which city he removed with his family in 1899, and here entered into partnership with F. M. Dudley. under the style of Cullen & Dudley, a connection that was maintained un- til his life's labors were ended. He was always very devoted to his family, and his was a happy home life which had its inception in his marriage, in 1868, in Helena, to Miss Corlin V. Stoakes, who was a native of New York, a descendant of the Lawrence family and a daughter of Clarence B. Stoakes, for a long time a promi- nent attorney of New York city. Mr. and Mrs. Cullen became the parents of five children, of whom three are yet residents of Spokane. The mother of these chil- dren died on the 18th of January, 1911.
He considered no effort on his part too great if it would promote the hap- piness and welfare of his wife and children and his was a nature that shed around it much of the sunshine of life. His friends, and they were many, found him a most congenial companion and one, too, with whom association meant expansion and elevation. Death came to him in September, 1908, and thus passed from the scene of earthly activities one who had long been prominent in the northwest. Success and honors came to him in merited recognition of his personal worth and ability. lle was recognized as the peer of the ablest members of the bar in this section of the country and his life was rich in all the traits of honorable manhood and citizenship.
WILLIAM J. DOUST.
William J. Doust, chief of police by appointment of Mayor Pratt in October, 1910, and also president of the Caseade Laundry, and secretary and treasurer of the Spokane Laundry, has made a creditable record in both commercial and official circles. Mr. Doust was born at Syracuse, New York, November 21. 1857, his parents being William and Sarah (Green) Doust. The father, who was a mer- chant of that city. passed away a number of years ago. Spending his youthful days in his parents' home, William J. Doust was sent to the public schools, pass- ing through consecutive grades to the high school, and when his school life was ended entered business circles in the operative department of the New York Con- tral Railroad as fireman on a locomotive.
In March. 1879. Mr. Doust went to Leadville. Colorado, where he remained for ten years, engaged in mining. His residence in the Spokane country dates
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from 1887 and for twelve years following his arrival he was engaged in ranching, having taken up a homestead claim at what is now known as Green Bluff, sixteen miles northeast of the city of Spokane. Throughout the period of his residence in this district he has been more or less actively connected with public affairs and at different times has been called to office. In 1889 he received an appointment as clerk of the board of county commissioners, which position he filled for sixteen months. He then turned his attention to general merchandising at Hillyard and continued in that position until clected sheriff of Spokane county on the republi- can ticket. in 1901. His first term of service received indorsement in reelection in 1903, so that he served in all for four years, retiring from the office as he had entered it, with the confidence and good-will of all law-abiding citizens. He next engaged in the laundry business in which he is still interested. He is today presi- dent of the Cascade Laundry and is also identified with the Spokane Laundry as its secretary and treasurer, while in the Pearl Laundry he is a stockholder. The excellent record which he made in the sheriff's office naturally drew to him the attention of Mayor Pratt when a chief of police was appointed. and in October, 1910, Mr. Doust was named for the position. He has thoroughly organized the department and is doing everything in his power to maintain law and order and free the state from all criminal acts.
On the 6th of December. 1879, Mr. Doust was married at Leadville. Colorado, to Miss Kittic P. Shoudy, a daughter of Henry and Ellen Shoudy, of Syracuse, New York. They have five children: Edwin H., now manager of the Cascade Laundry; William J., manager of the Pearl Laundry ; Minnie E., living at home ; Kittie, the wife of Claude McDonald, of Spokane : and Walter, who is still in school.
The family attend the Central Baptist church and reside in a pleasant home at No. 1018 Montgomery avenue. Mr. Doust has many fraternal relations and in the different organizations to which he belongs is popular. His membership is in Tyrian Lodge, No. 96. F. & A. M .: the Elks Lodge. No. 228: the Modern Wood- men of America ; the Woodmen of the World; the Ancient Order of United Work- men ; and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is likewise a member of the . Inland Club. Those who know him find him approachable and genial and he is never an unwelcome guest save where there is something to be found that will not bear close investigation and scrutiny. He regards a public office as a public trust and it is well known that no trust reposed in William J. Doust has ever been betrayed.
EDGAR G. TAYLOR.
Where irrigation is the paramount question of the day relative to the develop- ment of the vast acreage in the Inland Empire. it is interesting to know something of the pioneer work accomplished by real-estate men in that line. In this con- nection due relative precedence must be given to Mr. Taylor. whose efforts have been largely the means of placing upon the market and putting under water much of the land of this district that is now of great valuc. This, too, has been the means of adding largely to the population of Spokane and its adjacent territory. In no region of the northwest today are there found more attractive and better
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improved irrigated tracts and none more productive than those of which Mr. Taylor has had charge or has been interested in. He had the prescience to discern what the future had in store for this great and growing country and. seeing the possibilities for its development through the process of irrigation, he has put forth most effective effort to secure the introduction of an irrigation system that shall be adequate to all needs. He has operated continuously in the real-estate field since coming to Spokane, having taken up his abode in this city in April. 1900.
His birthplace was in Mowersville, Pennsylvania, and his natal day was January 14, 1862. He was reared upon the home farm of his father. Samuel Taylor, who represented an old New England family of German descent. His mother. too, who bore the maiden name of Mary Ann Sentman. was born in the Keystone state and was of German lineage. She died in the year 1876. Samuel Taylor, the father. in addition to his farming interests became a stockholder in the Lurgin Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he was one of the organ- izers and directors, and also acted as adjuster for the company until his death. Unto him and his wife were born five sons and three daughters: Edgar G .; W. S .. a lawyer of Los Angeles, California; John M., who is living on the old home- stead at Mowersville, Pennsylvania; Robert H., a Presbyterian minister living at Ash Grove, Missouri; Frank E., who is preaching for the Presbyterian church at Tusculum. Tennessee: Clara. the wife of J. F. De Haven, a farmer of Mowers- ville, Pennsylvania ; Mary E., the wife of A. O. Bishop, a retired farmer of Cham- bersburg. Pennsylvania : and Emma J., the wife of Mr. Kyle, also a retired farmer of Chambersburg.
In the old Pine Grove school at Mowersville, Pennsylvania, Edgar G. Taylor pursued his education and upon the home farm he received practical training in the work of the fields, continuing to assist his father until 1881, when, at the age of nineteen years. he left home and went to Marshalltown, Iowa. He was em- ployed upon a farm near Haverhill, lowa, from June until December and then returned to Pennsylvania. entering the employ of the Geiser Manufacturing Com- pany of Waynesboro, that state. He served an apprenticeship as a machinist in that employ from 1882 until 1885 and in December of the latter year returned to Marshalltown, where for two years he was employed as a machinist by the lowa Barbed Wire Company. Subsequently he removed to Dubuque. Iowa, where he remained for two months as machinist for the Iowa Iron Works Company. In the fall of 1887 he went to Boone, Iowa, as machinist for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company and in December. 1887, accepted the position of foreman of the branch lines that centered at Carroll. lowa. Subsequently he was promoted to the position of division foreman of the Chicago & Northwestern at Council Bluffs. Jowa. continuing at that point until Inne. 1895, when he was appointed master mechanic for the western lowa division of the Chicago & Northwestern. acting in that capacity until the Ist of February, 1900.
In April of the latter year Mr. Taylor came to Spokane and at once entered the real-estate field, in which he has since carried on his operations. He entered into partnership with J. T. Cochran, with offices in the Mohawk block, and in 1902 he formed a partnership with C. L. Glenn, making a specialty of farm lands tributary to Spokane. In 1904-5 he operated alone under the firm name of E. G. Taylor & Company and in 1906 secured the ageney of the Spokane Canal Com- pany. representing the Otis Orchards in the Spokane valley. He purchased and
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also sold all of the land for that company and since taking charge has located over three hundred families in that part of the distriet. The rapid settlement of the region has led to the establishment of schools and churches, while commercial clubs, literary societies and kindred organizations have been formed and all of those things which contribute to progress along social, intellectual, material and moral lines have been instituted. In December. 1909. Mr. Taylor merged his business with the firm of Becher & Thompson and with C. F. Young, sinee which time he has been vice president of the Spokane Valley Irrigated Land Company, which has made a specialty of handling Spokane valley lands, including property at Pasadena, West Farms, Otis Orchards. East Farms. Greenacres and East Green- aeres. Their combined efforts have located over six thousand people in the Spo- kane valley. Altogether they have thirty-five thousand acres in their control, on which they expect to locate fifty thousand people. Seventy-five per cent of the land sold is being improved, orchards have been established which are now a com- mercial feature and comfortable modern bungalows have been built. displaying the most attractive styles of architecture of this class. There are now over a thousand acres in bearing orchards, producing from three hundred to five hundred dollars an acre annually. When all the land is improved it will be capable of returning from seventeen to twenty million dollars annually and all this has been done in eight years in the transformation of a barren desert. The water supply is fur- nished from Newman. Fish and Liberty lakes and the Spokane river at Postfalls and all is under the gravity system. Within from five to ten years this land will all be sold and will have been brought under a high state of cultivation. It is capable of yielding products that sell from one hundred to three hundred dollars per aere between trees while they are coming into bearing. The distriet has be- come settled by a class of people who are now permanently located and are find- ing happiness and prosperity in their new homes. They are people who have known the comforts of the east and represent the highest social and intellectual in- terests. The automobile is largely used in place of the carriage and all of the conveniences of life are to be found among the people who are occupying these districts. Prior to the time that the irrigation system was extended to the land it: required ten acres to produce the feed for one horse or one cow and the valuation was ten to fifteen dollars per acre. Since water has been provided the products bring from one hundred to three hundred dollars per acre, whereby it has been made possible for a family to be comfortable and live well upon five acres. The average amount. however, is ten acres to a family.
In June. 1889, at Carroll. lowa, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Niswonger, a daughter of M. L. Niswonger, one of the leading merchants of that place. He was of German descent and was a soldier of the Civil war, going to the front with a Pennsylvania regiment. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have become the parents of two sons and two daughters: Lynn E., who is with the Liberty Park Grocery Company; Lee E., who is with the Ornamental Iron Works. of Spokane; and Marie and Margaret, who are students in the high school. In his political views Mr. Taylor has always been a republican. while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He holds membership with the Chamber of Commerce and for some time was a member of the board of managers of the 150,000 Club. He was also treasurer of the Otis Orchards Commercial Club for some time and is a man of aptitude in business so that his cooperation is a valued
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factor in public projects which have for their object the welfare and progress of the entire district. Keen insight has always enabled him to recognize possibilities and ambition has prompted him to utilize them to the best advantage, so that his labors have brought him substantial and well merited success. Spokane has every reason to number him among her representative citizens.
HIRAM ROTHROCK.
When one reviews the history of pioneer life and experience in the west he is continually reminded of the old saying that "truth is stranger than fiction." Like every individual, Hiram Rothrock passed many days in prosaic devotion to his business and yet in his active career he had many interesting and sometimes thrilling experiences incident to travel and residence in a frontier country. While living in the Spokane valley he devoted his energies to farming which he continued to follow until about two years prior to his death, when he removed to the city of Spokane. He was born in Lewiston, Pennsylvania, January 20, 1840. and died on the 16th of October, 1901. His parents were the Rev. Abraham and Mary (Bashore) Rothrock. the former at one time a well known bishop of the church. The son attended the public schools of his native state until he reached the age of sixteen years, when he removed to Dixon, Illinois, and soon afterward entered upon preparation for the ministry as a student in Mount Morris Academy. Ile also attended Dixon College for a short time, after which he returned to Pennsylvania and, still with the thought of entering upon a professional career, studied medicine and dentistry at Hiram College and later at Williams College. About that time he removed with his parents to Lawrence. Kansas, where his father settled upon a farm.
Hiram Rothrock was there living at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war and on the 20th of August. 1862. aroused by a spirit of patriotism, he enlisted at Lawrence as a member of Company A of the Ninth Kansas Cavalry, going to the front urder Captain Earl and later serving under Captain Steel as a member of the Second Division of the Seventh Army Corps. He participated in the battles of Kane Hill. Pea Ridge and numerous other engagements, everywhere acquitting himself with honor and courage, and following the cessation of hostilities was mustered out at Devall Bluff, Arkansas, June 21. 1865. His father was shot on the 21st of August. 1863, by Quantrell. during the raid which that famous guer- rilla made on Lawrence. Kansas. He survived for five years but his death was the effect of the wound received at that time.
When the war was over Hiram Rothrock rejoined the family at Lawrence and divided his time between the practice of his profession, stock-raising and the various duties of farm life. continuing his residence in that locality until April. 1878.
While living in the Sunflower state Mr. Rothrock was married at Lawrence, Kansas, in 1867, to Miss Suzannah Raffe, a daughter of William and Nancy (Bassler) Raffe, both of whom were of old Virginia and Pennsylvania families. .Her grandfather. John Raffe, was born in Jamestown, Virginia, and was a soldier in the War of 1812, while her great-grandfather, William Ballinger, won distinction by his valorous service in the Revolutionary war. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rothrock
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were born four children: Edward. who married Mary Hadley, of San Francisco, and who for many years has been identified with the Chronicle; Ethel, a well known school teacher of this city: William H. and Elwood, both deceased.
Continuing his residence in Kansas until 1878, Mr. Rothroek then started with his family and a party for California, reaching Calistoga in the early part of April, of that year. On the 20th of May they started on an overland trip to the north. passing up the Saeramento valley and up Pitt river and eventually reaching central Oregon, where they arrived after a seven weeks' trip, having passed through the territory of hostile Indians three days before the massaere at Warm Springs and Umatilla. For a brief period Mr. Rothrock and his family remained at The Dalles and for a short time rested in Walla Walla and Colfax before coming to Spokane. Here he homesteaded one hundred and sixty aeres of land seven miles southwest of Spokane and devoted his energies to general agricultural pursuits, becoming one of the substantial farmers and valued citizens of his community. His labors wrought a splendid transformation in the appearance of his farm which he converted into rieh fields that annually returned to him a substantial income. There he resided until 1899, when he retired to quiet life, making his home there- after in the city until his demise.
Mr. Rothrock voted with the republican party where national questions were involved but east an independent local ballot, regarding only the capability of the candidate in eity and state eleetions. His hearing was largely injured during the war and he always hesitated to enter into any publie service, yet his influence was always on the side of progress and improvement. However, he served as overseer of the poor, as school director and as township trustee for many years. His honesty was proverbial and he was a faithful member of the Brethren ehureh in his earlier days, while later he attended services of the various denominations. He was essentially a home man and at his own fireside was ever a hospitable host. doing everything to contribute to the pleasure and comfort of his guests. His character and reputation were above reproach and when we review the honorable record of such men as Hiram Rothroek we are reminded of the words of the im- mortal Lineoln, who said: "There is something better than making a living- making a life."
FRANCIS A. POMEROY, M. D.
A successful physician and a publie-spirited and enterprising citizen, Dr. Fran- cis A. Pomeroy, of Cheney, has demonstrated his ability and enjoys the entire confi- denee of the community, where he has made his home for twenty-seven years past. He belongs to the type of men who add courage and dignity to their vocation and are rightly looked upon as leaders wherever they are known. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, January 10, 1819, he is a son of F. M. and Irene V. (Haskell) Pome- roy. The mother died in 1857, when her son Francis was eight years of age, but the father, who was one of the pioneer men of the west, survived until 1902, passing away at an advanced age.
Francis A. Pomeroy possessed good advantages of education in the public sehools of his native city. Later he decided to devote his attention to the practice
DR. F. A. POMEROY
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of medicine and. having made the necessary preparation, he matriculated at Rush Medical College of Chicago, Illinois, remaining one year and was graduated from the Long Island College Hospital of Brooklyn, New York, in the spring of 1883, after a two-years' attendance. Having inherited the pioneer characteristics of his father, he came to Washington and located at Cheney in 1884. He successfully engaged in practice until 1893 and in 1893 and 1894 went to London, England, and pursued a post-graduate course under masters of medicine and surgery in the great hospitals and institutions of that city. Returning to his adopted town, he renewed his practice in 1891 and has continued as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of this section since that time. In 1890 he established a drug store, which he con- ducted in his own name for seventeen years, when he admitted a partner. and the business has since been managed under the title of the Cheney Drug Company. It is now one of the most flourishing drug concerns in the county. Dr. Pomeroy was also one of the organizers of the Cheney Briek Company and at present is the president of the company, the other officers being C. A. Ratcliffe, secretary and F. M. Martin, treasurer. They manufacture a building briek which is sold all over the district, and their capacity is fifty thousand per day. The Doetor takes a warm interest in public affairs and has at various times served in the city council, as mayor of Cheney and as member of the school board of district No. 20. He is also inter- ested in mining and is the owner of various tracts of land in Spokane county.
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