Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 44

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History
Number of Pages: 992

USA > Washington > Chelan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 44
USA > Washington > Ferry County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 44
USA > Washington > Okanogan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 44
USA > Washington > Stevens County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 44

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PETER DUNN, residing near Dunn Postoffice, Stevens county, is a native of Ire- land, born March 17, 1850. At the age of seven years he was left an orphan, and when thirteen years old came to New York city, subsequently living in various portions of the state. While still a young man he bought and sold cattle.

In 1889 he came to Washington, and lo- cated his present home, on Dunn creek, Stevens county, being the first settler in that vicinity, the stream being named after him. He owns one hundred and sixty-eight acres of land, all fenced, has a good house, barn and out- buildings, and is profitably engaged in the stock business. He has a band of full-blooded Durham cattle, a number of hogs and a small flock of sheep. He cultivated seventy-five acres, which is well irrigated. Mr. Dunn came to his present location with limited means, but is now prosperous and independent. He has never worked for a salary, but since early

youth has generally been engaged in business on his own account.

He is a bachelor, an enterprising citizen, and manifests a lively interest in local affairs.

FRANK ELLIOTT came to Stevens county in 1892, and is at present most favora- bly located on Hunter creek, seven miles east of Hunters, at Alyea, engaged in diversified farming. He was born in Harrison county, Missouri, January 16, 1860. His father, Colonel Thomas D. Elliott, is a native of Ken- tucky, born January 6, 1820. In 1850 he was freighting across the plains for the government, and during this time he participated in a num- ber of skirmishes with hostile Indians. He was married in 1845, his wife dying six years later. In 1854 he was united in marriage to Mary Duncan, the mother of our subject. Colonel Elliott enlisted in the confederate serv- ice as a private, but rose by merit to become the colonel of the regiment, and served under Gen- eral Marmaduke. It is claimed that he is, at present, the oldest Free Mason in the four states of Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Waslı- ington. In 1858, at the period of the trouble between the United States government and the

Mormons, Colonel Elliott served as guide for a company of soldiers who took six hundred head of beef cattle across the plains. At Salt Lake he was introduced by Brigham Young to sixty of the latter's wives. Among his hunt- ing exploits in California was the killing of three grizzly and two brown bears, and one California lion. Colonel Elliott has been in every state in the union. For the past ten years he has been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which denomination his wife has been a member since she was seven- teen years of age. Colonel Elliott is now eighty-four, and his wife seventy years of age.

Our subject, Frank Elliott, was married December 8, 1887, to Emma Duncan, daughter of William H. Duncan, both natives of Ken- tucky. Her mother was Martha E. Duncan, and both of her parents are dead. She came west with her brother, Avery J., now residing in Whitman county, Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott came to their present home in 1892, and settled on Hunter creek. Here he has one hundred and sixty acres of land, a fine

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house, barn and orchard, the land being well irrigated and very productive. They have seven children, Alpha E., wife of D. H. Dun- ham, Albert E., Lee Roy, Frances H., Georgia E., Charles R., and Mary E.

SAMUEL L. BRECHBILL, one of the most successful farmers and stockmen of Stev- ens county, resides at Alyea, on Hunter creek, six miles east of Hunters. He was born in In- diana county, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1849. His father, John, a native of Maryland, was by trade a miller, but largely interested in agri- cultural pusuits. He died in 1862. The mother, Mary A. (Wagner) Brechbill, was a Pennsyl- vanian, and our subject's great-great-grand- father, George Clymer, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

When a child our subject went with his parents to Richland county, Ohio, and thence to Monroe county, Missouri. Here, in 1864, he enlisted in the confederate service, Jack- man's Brigade, and was in a battle on the Mis- souri river, and a number of serious skir- mishes. He was at the surrender at Shreve- port, Louisiana, and the last engagement in which he participated was on the Big Blue river, Kansas. He received a sabre wound in Missouri, and a gunshot wound in the Big Blue fight. He still carries the bullet. In Sep- tember, 1871, he was married to Martha Fre- mont, a native of Kentucky, who died in Feb- ruary, 1882. Her parents were Michael and Louisa (Wilson) Fremont. Four children were born to them of whom three are living, Henry and Charles, now attending school in St. Louis, and Mrs. Louisa M. Smith, of Belle- ville, Ohio.

Mr. Brechbill came west in 1882, going first to Spokane, Walla Walla, and a number of other points in Washington, seeking improve- ment in his health. In September, 1884. he lo- cated on his present homestead, there being at that period but a few settlers in his vicinity. He has one hundred and sixty acres of land, nearly all fenced, and watered by an irrigating ditch heading in Hunter creek. He raises con- siderable hay and feeds a fine band of cattle. He came to this locality with but little capital, but is now in excellent circumstances. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and highly esteemed in the community in which he resides.

WILLIAM S. HILTS, postmaster of Al- yea, Stevens county, resides on a favorably lo- cated homestead five and a half miles east of Hunters. He was born in Clackamas county, Oregon, December 20, 1853. His father, David Hilts, was a native of Canada, who crossed the line into the United States in 1851, and settled in Knox county, Illinois. In 1852 he was married to Indiana Maxwell, a native of Indiana, who became the mother of our sub- ject. With ox teams the young couple made the perilous trip across the plains, in the spring of 1853, and in the fall of that year arrived in Clackamas county. In 1864 they settled in the Grande Ronde valley, and he erected the first store building in the town of Union. He died there in 1889, in the sixty-fourth year of his life. His widow is now Mrs. I. Wills, living in Spokane, in her seventy-second year.

In 1873 our subject went to the famous Gallatin valley, Montana, and the following year he made a prospecting trip up the Yellow- stone valley to the Big Horn country, but ow- ing to the hostility of the Indians the expedi- tion was compelled to return. The mining ex- citement of 1876 led him to the Black Hills. On this expedition his company had a number of fights and skirmishes with hostile redmen, losing one man and having three wounded, of the latter our subject being one. For eighteen months he followed mining with fair success, and then returned to the Gallatin valley.

On January 17, 1878, William S. Hilts was married to Miss Cora Thompson, a native of Wisconsin, born in 1858. Her father, Ben- jamin Thompson, was born in Canada, came to the United States when quite young, and was one of the first miners in Alder Gulch, Mon- tana, in 1864. At present he is engaged in stock-raising in Madison valley, Montana. Her mother, Elizabeth, is a native of the Keystone State, now residing with her husband in Mon- tana.

In 1886 our subject removed to Bozeman, Montana, and in 1888 came to Washington and located on Hunter creek, where he now re- sides. For two years he was at Springdale, Stevens county, in the mercantile business. They have had twelve children, of whom the following are now living in Stevens county, namely : Mrs. Lizzie I. Avenel, Mrs. Cora M. Sandvig, Joe Wesley, Ida Irene, Altha Pearl, William T., Mrytie B., David B., Blanche,

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Robert E. Fraternally Mr. Hilts is a member of the Maccabees ; politically a staunch Repub- lican, and for eight years has held the office of constable. He owns two hundred and forty acres of land, of which eighty acres are under cultivation. He is one of the prosperous resi- dents of the valley.

JAMES C. REILLY, diversified farmer, fruit-raiser and stockman, near Hunters, Stevens county, was born in Dublin, Ireland, December 13, 1838. He has led an active, energentic life, and is now located on one of the most eligible homesteads in his vicinity. His father, Philip Reilly, was a hotel keeper, in Ireland, and went to Australia in 1850, accom- panied by three brothers and one sister of our subject. His mother was Mary Reilly.

James C. remained in Ireland until 1856, when he came to this country landing at New Yory city. He at once secured employment in the extensive department store of A. T. Stewart, which at that time had a national reputation, being the pioneer house in this line of business. He was in the dry goods depart- ment for a short period, going thence to Toronto, Canada, where he was with the Mer- rick Brothers, as clerk. Removing thence to Savannah, Georgia, he enlisted, in 1861, in Company K, First Georgia Volunteers, con- federate service, and assisted in erecting the guns at Fort Pulaski and Tybee Island, at the mouth of the Savannah river. He participated in the battle of Manassas, Williamsburg, the seven days' fight at Richmond and in a number of other important engagements and skirmishes with the federal troops. He was with General Lce at the historical surrender at Appamattox. At the close of the war he came west to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and engaged in the hotel business, at which hostelry many of the promi- neat politicians, capitalists and public digni- taries registered.

He came to Washington in 1884, and lo- cated his present home in Stevens county. On September 20, 1873. he was married to Malissa Lackroy, a native of Coosey county, Alabama. Her father, Hosea, was born in North Caro- lina. Her mother. Mary ( Short) Lackroy. was born in Georgia and is still living at Hot Springs, Arkansas, aged eighty-six years.

At the period our subject located in Stevens county there were but few settlers on the Columbia river between the mouth of the Spokane river and Ricky Rapids. He now owns and cultivates one hundred acres of land on Hunters creek, which runs through his place.

Since a boy Mr. Reilly has taken an active interest in politics, and in this country was first a Democrat, then a Populist, and is at present a pronounced and intelligent Socialist, well read and thoroughly informed on all important questions of political economy. He has been an extensive traveler in Europe and the United States, and after the Civil war he made a tour of South America, crossing the Straits of Magellan. He is highly esteemed by all ac- quaintances, and numbers many warm friends in the community in which he resides.

RALPH EMERSON OVERMYER, a prosperous farmer and stock-raiser, near Hun- ters, Stevens county, was born at Lindsey, San- dusky county, Ohio, May 16, 1870. His pa- rents, Henry H. and Margaret A. (Walker) Overmyer, were also natives of the "Buckeye State." The father served with distinction through the Civil war, is now prominent in G. A. R. circles, is an Odd Fellow and a Mason. The mother is a native of Port Clin- ton, Ottawa county, the daughter of David and Nancy Walker. Her father, George Wag- ner, died a few years since in Sandusky county, worth over two million dollars, accumulated in face of the fact that he could neither read nor write. He was one hundred and seven years old at the time of his death. She now resides in Ohio.

In 1884 our subject left home. His father insisted that he should adopt a profession, but he declined to do so. preferring to learn a trade. He first went to Michigan, thence to Toledo, Ohio, where he learned the trade of a wheelwright, and returned home. This was in 1887. The following day he left for Spokane, Washington, but fell ill on the way, and arrived in that city with but two dollars and fifty cents in cash. Soon afterwards he came to the vicinity of Hunters, secured a homestead, and subsequently traveled as agent for a fruit tree firm.

January 2, 1898, he was married to Clara

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HISTORY OF NORTH: WASHINGTON.

Maud Runyon, a native of Fort Buford; Da- kota, and twenty-one years of age. Her father was M. B. Runyon, a mining man, and her mother Mary I. (Radspiner ) Runyon. Mrs. Overmyer's grandfather, John M. Runyon, is over eighty years of age, stout and hearty, and her great-grandmother, Mrs. Runyon, is now living in Kentucky, a centenarian. Two chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Over- myer, Clara Maud and Margaret Angelica.

Our subject has two hundred acres of land, nearly all fenced, substantial residence, barns and plenty of water for irrigating purposes. He ·has an orchard of two hundred trees, four of which came from his father's nursery in Ohio. He is proprietor of the Santiago mine, near Hunters, upon which there are about thirty- three thousand dollars worth of improvements. It carries gold and silver, mainly the latter. One thousand tons of ore, now on the dump, will average ten dollars to the ton. He also controls other valuable properties. Coming here with no capital, he is, at present, one of the most substantial citizens in the vicinity. He owns an interest in the People's Telephone Company, between Sedonia and Hunters.

Mr. Overmyer is a public spirited, enter- prising citizen, and one who has won the con- fidence of the community in which he resides.

Mr. Overmyer is giving considerable at- tention to raising poultry, having ten acres fenced for the purpose, two large modern poul- try houses, and from four hundred to five hun- dren fowls. He is the most extensive poultry raiser in the county.

LEWIS WALLACE JENNINGS, who is now living a retired life in Hunters, is one of the substantial men of the section and since 1900 has identified his interests with this place. . He owns one of the most tasty and comfortable residences in Hunters and has an abundance of spring water piped into it from "a beautiful spring up the mountain. . He was born in Rolersville, Ohio, on March 22, 1844, the son of General Lewis and Lorhama ( Hollaway) Jennings. The father was a general in the Mexican war and William Jennings Bryan is his nephew. He lived in Ohio until 1854 then came to Decatur county, Iowa, where he died in 1870. The mother was a native of Pontiac,

Ohio, and died when our subject was five. Lewis was the youngest of thirteen children and remained with his father until July 16, 1862, when he enlisted in Company H, Twenty-sixth Iowa Infantry, being sworn in at Clinton. . He was with Sherman and was soon taken sick and sent home on a furlough. When able to do guard duty he was left to guard Davenport, Iowa. At Vicksburg, he was taken captive and in the fall of 1863, at the Black river in Mississippi, he was discharged on account of disability.

On February 22, 1864, Mr. Jennings mar- ried Miss Margaret, daughter of William and Clista (Barenger) Inman. She was born in Ohio on February 18, 1845. Twelve children . have been the fruit of this union : William, an engineer in Lewiston; Francis N. and Albert, farmers near Hunters; Ada, wife of C. Davis, son of "Cashup". Davis, of Whitman county ; Mary B., wife of S. Britton, a merchant of Wil- bur; Robert Lee, near Hunters; Amanda. de- ceased; Lulu, wife of Theodore. McMeekin, near Bissell; Andrew, of Wilbur; George . W., deceased : James, near Hunters ; Charles, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings were married in Sandusky and then farmed in Iowa until 1876. In that year came a trip via San Francisco and Portland to Colfax, Washington. . . In Whitman county, Mr. Jennings farmed and faced the Indians, refusing to leave his home when the others flocked to town. He continued there with good success until 1900, when he sold and removed to his present abode. Mr. Jennings has the distinction of building the first hotel in Pullman, the same being where the Artesian house now stands. Mr. Jennings is a member of the I. O. O. F. and has passed the chairs.

JAMES HUNTER; from whom the village of Hunters is named, is the oldest settler on the Columbia between Spokane river and Rickey rapids, thirty miles above here. He is a real pioneer in the true sense of the word and is a man of excellent qualifications, both of cour- age, and physical powers, while in his walk he has ever manifested sound principles. He was born in Nova Scotia, on July 27, 1829, the son of James and Mary ( Hunter ) Hunter, natives of Scotland, and dying in 1829 and 1850, re- spectively. James never saw his father as that

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personage was buried three months before this child was born. In his native place, James was educated and reared and in 1847 went to Bos- ton, thence to New Bedford and there shipped on a whaling vessel. He sailed the seas in every direction, visited various ports of the earth, saw the island where the famous Robinson Crusoe was stranded, and in 1850 came through the Golden Gate in time to see San Francisco go up in smoke. He worked there for two years, later helped to catch wild horses in the San Joaquin valley and then mined in Butte county. He also followed teaming and farm- ing some.

In 1860, Mr. Hunter married Miss Martha Cleveland, in Butte county and to them were born five children : Mrs. Mary Slown, deceased ; Mrs. Adelade Williams, of Chico, California ; Mrs. Cora Treger, of Hunters; James Wilbur, of Hunters; and Mrs. Helen Brooks of Fruit- land. In 1880, Mr. Hunter came to his present place, locating his land on August 22, 1880. He was the only settler within thirty miles of this place. Three other men came with him, packing their provisions and blankets on cay- uses from lake Chelan, but he was the only one who stayed. He had twenty-five dollars and a cayuse and thus we may well know the hard- ships endured, the arduous labors performed. and the real stamina required to stay and build a home in this wild country. All goods had to be freighted a hundred and more miles and only Indians were to be seen about. Four years after locating Mr. Hunter's wife and children came to him and on April 26, 1895, he was called to mourn the death of his beloved com- panion.

On January 7, 1899, Mr. Hunter married Mrs. Louisa Fields. By her first marriage Mrs. Hunter has one child. James W. Mann, of North Park, Colorado. By her second hus- band, she has four, David R. Fields, of Black- hawk, Colorado; Mrs. Mary E. Doran of Lead- ville: John H. Fields, of Blackhawk; Mrs. Hattie O'Leary, of this county. Mrs. Hunter's father and mother, Hiram and Susana Carpen- ter, are living in this county, the former aged eighty-one and the latter seventy-six, both be- ing hale and hearty. Mr. Hunter has twenty- two grandchildren and his wife ten. Mrs. Hun- ter is superintendent of the union Sunday school and is a worker for the advancement and upbuilding of the community. Mr. Hunter has

a good farm, well improved and valuable. He set out the first orchard in this section and has always been progressive and active. He is a stanch Republican, and voted for Abraham Lin- coln twice.

RODERICK D. McRAE, M. D., needs no introduction to the people of western Stevens county, as his uprightness, his faithfulness and his ability in his practice, commend him to an appreciative public and although he has not en- joyed the distinction of having grown gray in the practice of medicine yet, still he has a large practice and the confidence of all. He was born in Glensandfield, Ontario, on August 6, 1864, the son of John and Anne (McLeod) McRae, natives also of Ontario. Our'subject received the benefit of the world renowned schools of Ontario. His mother died in 1864. aged twenty, and the father died in the same year. He was born in 1824. Our subject was an only child and went to live with his uncle, Donald McRae, after the loss of his parents. He made the most of the excellent training in educational lines and from the early days of life he was inclined toward the medical profession. He availed himself of every opportunity to receive knowl- edge on this line and although he was forced, as many of the worthy young men who after- wards achieve fame and fortune, to work his own way along, he nevertheless received a good course at the medical college and in the spring of 1890 he came to Spokane to pursue his studies further under the tuition of Dr. Theo- dore Coverton, formerly professor of sanitary science and hygiene in Trinity Medical College. Later Dr. McRae was with Dr. H. J. Whitney in Davenport. Having successfully passed the state examination, our subject later came to Hunters and opened an office. He located here first in 1896 and since that time has been con- stantly building up a practice which is large and lucrative at the present time. Dr. McRae lives in the village of Hunters, where he owns an acre of valuable ground, upon which he has a good residence, a barn and also an office building which latter is so arranged that it is suitable for carrying a good stock of drugs ; the doctor handles supplies for the people in connection with his practice. He has tele- phone connection in his office and is a man who keeps abreast of the advancing science of medi-

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cine. Dr. McRae was elected coroner of Stevens county in 1902.

On February 2, 1897, Dr. McRae married Mrs. Louise (Peltier) Brandamore. Mrs. McRae was born in New Orleans. Dr. McRae is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the W. W.

PETER J. LANG is well known as one of the earliest pioneers of the western part of Stevens county, and also as a man whose labors have always been for the development of the country and its upbuilding, especially in the educational line. He has a good place of one quarter section, nine miles southwest from Fruitland, which is improved with residence, barns, orchards, and so forth, and which is de- voted to general crops and the support of stock.

Peter J. Lang was born in Prussia, Ger- many, on September 15, 1856, the son of Kas- par and Gertrude (Saners) Lang, also natives of Germany. The father's father, Nicholas Lang, was a lieutenant of the Guards under Napoleon and participated in the battle of Waterloo. He served from early manhood until forty in the military and four of his five sons followed the same life. Our subject's father turned from that and followed civil life. Our subject came with his parents to New York in 1869, there being nine children. They were all soon in Blue Earth county, Minnesota, where the father farmed and our subject went to clerking in a store and during school season was diligent in the pursuit of knowledge. The result was that he was well educated. He was salesman for some of the leading merchants in Mankato and then taught school. His father died in 1900, aged eighty-three, but the mother still lives there aged eighty-three. Our subject has eleven brothers and sisters.

In Murray county, Minnesota, on Novem- ber 15, 1883, Mr. Lang married Miss Lettie A., daughter of Charles W. and Arizina (Hall) Sargent. The father was born in Ver- mont, served in the Civil war from Minnesota and is still living in that state. The mother died in 1873. Mrs. Lang was born in Plain- view, Minnesota, on June 25, 1865. Three days following his marriage, Mr. Lang started with his young bride to the west. A short time was spent in Spokane and then they came direct to his present place, and here he has labored

since. He taught the first school of this sec- tion, beginning it in January, 1865. When they settled here his finances were limited and he had to freight his supplies from Spokane. But steady labor and careful management have placed him in prosperous circumstances and he is one of the leading men of this community. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. · Lang : Orlie N .; Arizina, wife of Roscoe Sher- wood, of Lincoln county ; Georgia A .; Marton E .; Clarence E .; Eugene B., and Irene C. Previous to her marriage, Mrs. Lang taught school.

LOUIS TROGER. Among the earliest pioneers of the Fruitland country we are con- strained to mention the subject of this article, a prosperous farmer and stockman living about two miles northwest from Fruitland, where he has a half section of land, from which he has made a good success in the years of his labor here. Louis Troger was born in Iowa county, lowa, on October 16, 1854, the son of Andrew and Catherine Troger, natives of Germany. Our subject was reared on a farm, educated in the common schools and in 1874, in company with his brother, Henry, set out for the west. They landed in Plumas county, California, and there he wrought on a farm until 1878, when he returned to Iowa to visit his parents. The following year he joined his brother in Cali- fornia and in 1880 they came to the vicinity of Wilbur, it being then in Spokane county. At Davenport there was but one small house. The brothers settled north from Wilbur and there wrought farming and raising stock for two years. They then determined to explore the country of the Columbia valley farther north and in their journeyings came to the place where our subject now lives. They de- cided to locate and he took a homestead as did his brother. Since then, Mr. Troger has added a quarter section by purchase from the railroad and he now has a fine farm. It is well watered by springs and wells for house and stock pur- poses and a good irrigating ditch, made at a large cost, brings plenty of refreshment to the bounteous crops of clover, alfalfa, timothy, corn, and so forth which annually reward the well bestowed labors of our subject. He has a residence, barn, and hay sheds erected, be- sides various other improvements and is one

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Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 44

Author: Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History Number of Pages: 992

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History
Number of Pages: 992