USA > Washington > Asotin County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 40
USA > Washington > Columbia County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 40
USA > Washington > Garfield County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 40
USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 40
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GEORGE L. BAILEY.
Among those men who have found success in following agricultural pursuits and are now able to live retired is George L. Bailey, of Walla Walla, who was born near The Dalles, Oregon, on the 10th of April, 1874, a son of Lyman J. and Mary (Graham) Bailey. The father was a native of New Hampshire and the mother of Missouri and they were married in Salilo, Oregon. The father's par- ents died when he was but a boy and at the age of nineteen, in the year 1849, he crossed the isthmus and made his way to the California gold fields. However, he did not work in the mines but drifted north into Oregon and settled at Salilo, where he learned the trade of a ship carpenter. For several years he was em- ployed by the Oregon & Washington Railroad & Navigation Company in boat building and during those years he was associated with Lew Thompson in the cattle business. Mr. Bailey working at his trade while Mr. Thompson took care of their cattle interests. In the hard winter of 1871-2 they lost most of their cattle and Mr. Bailey and Mr. Thompson then dissolved partnership and the for- mer gave up his position in the shipyard and went to Klickitat county, where he took up a homestead. He was the first settler and built the first house near Bickle- ton on Alder creek, hauling the lumber for floors some sixty miles. There he en- gaged in the live stock business and farming, being identified with those interests up to the time of his death.
George L. Bailey, whose name introduces this review, pursued a public school education, which was supplemented by four years' study in Whitman Academy. Following the completion of his course there he went east to Boston, Massachu- setts, where he attended Burdett's Business College. On finishing his studies on the Atlantic coast he returned to Walla Walla and soon afterward was united in marriage, in July, 1898, to Miss Etta Aldrich, a daughter of Newton Aldrich, one of the earliest of Walla Walla county's pioneers, having come into this section of the state from California with a bunch of cattle in 1858. He was so favorably impressed with the country and its prospects that he decided to remain and make his home. Accordingly he took up a preemption claim two and a half miles south- west of Dixie and thereon resided to the time of his death, which occurred in 1888. He was very successful and acquired large land holdings.
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Mr. Bailey engaged in farming in Walla Walla county, his wife owning two hundred acres of land which she received from her father's estate, and Mr. Bailey's career as a farmer was begun upon that tract. As he has prospered in his undertakings he has purchased much other land and is now the owner of twelve hundred and eighty acres, nearly all of which is valuable wheat land. He continued to cultivate his fields until 1917 but has now rented his farm for the coming year and is giving his attention to other business interests. In wheat pro- duction he has been very successful. He has cultivated his land and cared for his crops according to the most modern methods and has annually gathered large harvests, the sale of which has added materially to his income and financial re- sources.
Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have become the parents of the following children, Mil- dred E., Dorothy A., Helen A., Gladys I., Lyman N. and Donald L. All of the children are still at home and Mildred E. and Dorothy A. are attending high school.
Mr. Bailey gives his political allegiance to the republican party and in religious faith he and his wife are Congregationalists. Both are widely known for their genuine worth. They have displayed many sterling traits of character which have gained for them warm regard and as a business man Mr. Bailey has long occu- pied a creditable position in this section of the state. Notwithstanding the ob- stacles and difficulties in his path he has advanced steadily step by step and his orderly progression has brought him to a place among the most successful agri- culturists of Walla Walla county.
PHILIP YENNEY.
Philip Yenney, deceased, was for many years a well known and prominent agriculturist of western Washington. He became identified with the state in pioneer times and lived to witness the remarkable changes that were wrought as the work of development and improvement was carried forward, and with the passing years he bore his full share in the work of general progress and improvement.
Mr. Yenney was a native of Germany and came to the United States when a youth of sixteen or seventeen years and for some time worked on the Potomac river in connection with its traffic interests, while subsequently he was employed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. Later he secured a situation on a plantation in Virginia and on leaving the Old Dominion went to Iowa, where he met the lady whom he afterward made his wife, her parents having removed from Pennsylvania to Indiana and subsequently to Iowa, where they were resid- ing at that time. In 1860 Mr. Yenney came to the northwest, which was then far removed from civilization, being cut off by the long stretches of hot sand and the high mountains that often seemed an insurmountable barrier to the traveler who would have desired to become a resident of the Pacific coast country. Undeterred by hardships and difficulties which he must meet, Mr. Yenney made his way to Washington and for some years was engaged in freighting between Walla Walla and the Idaho mines. The district into which he came bore little
MRS. PHILIP YENNEY
PHILIP YENNEY
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resemblance to the highly developed section that one sees here today. After freighting for a time he became connected with Mr. Still in the conduct of a trading post on Hangman's creek, near the present site of Spokane, a place which was then known as the California ranch. Subsequently he engaged in farming. with which he was prominently identified up to the time of his death, and as his financial resources increased he kept adding to his holdings by additional pur- chase until he had acquired some sixteen hundred acres of wheat land and one thousand acres of grazing land. He thus won a position among the foremost agriculturists of this state and his life record illustrates what it is possible to accomplish in the west when the individual possesses industry, determination and laudable ambition.
In early manhood Philip Yenney was united in marriage to Miss Rachael Winnett, a native of Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of the following children. John Fred, born in Iowa, June 5, 1858, came with his parents to Wash- ington in 1860 and was educated in Walla Walla. During his active business life he followed farming in Columbia county, but died at San Diego, California, where he had gone with the hope of benefiting his health. He was three times married and left a family of seven children. His third wife now makes her home in East Walla Walla. Sarah M., the second of the family, married James McKee, of Walla Walla, and they made their home at Pomeroy. . She died, leaving a husband and six children. Robert C. was born, reared and educated in Walla Walla. He was graduated in 1889 from Whitman College. Subsequently he entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he pursued a medical course and was graduated with the degree of M. D. After spending one year in hospital work he located in Portland, where he has since engaged in practice. He is now at the head of a hospital unit ready for service when the government calls. Wil- liam H. and Lewis O. are represented on another page of this volume. Margaret, the youngest child, married Ernest E. Brown, of Spokane, where she now resides. Two children, Thomas J. and Anna R., died while young.
Mr. Yenney was a consistent member of the Lutheran church and died in that faith on the 28th of June, 1905. His life was at all times honorable and upright and commended him to the confidence and goodwill of those with whom he came in contact. His widow still survives him and now occupies the old family home at No. 834 East Alder street in Walla Walla. She, too, is a consistent Christian and has membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
WILLIAM H. YENNEY.
The great wheat fields of Walla Walla county and the surrounding sections of this state and of northern Oregon are always a matter of marvel to the traveler, who thinks of the west as a region of mines and of forests and little realizes what wonderful strides have been made along agricultural lines. Prominent in con- nection with farming interests in Walla Walla county is William H. Yenney, who superintends his operations from his city home.
He was born in this county October 17, 1869, and is a son of Philip and Rachael (Winnett) Yenney. He spent his early youth on the old home farm Vol. II-20
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and was educated in the district schools and in Whitman College, which he at- tended for two years. After reaching adult age he continued to remain on the old homestead and cooperated with his father in the latter's extensive farming and horse raising enterprises. Since his father's death he and his brother Lewis have operated the farm in partnership and are classed among the most successful agriculturists of Walla Walla county. There is no phase of progressive farming with which they are not familiar and their thoroughly up-to-date methods produce splendid results. They have broad wheat fields and also produce other crops, while at the same time they are extensively and successfully engaged in stock raising. In the spring of 1917 W. H. Yenney removed to Walla Walla, where he now lives in a handsome new residence at No. 20 Merriam street.
At Dayton, Washington, Mr. Yenney was united in marriage to Miss Cora Edgell, a daughter of William and Sarah (Kuykendall) Edgell, of Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Yenney have been born four children, namely: Frank, who is now on the home ranch ; Philip, now attending high school; and Clark and Richard, also in school. Philip Yenney is president of the champion football team of the northwest, which is the Walla Walla high school team. It has defeated all competitors in the northwest and also the Salt Lake City team.
Mr. and Mrs. Yenney are active workers on-committees for the successful prosecution of the war, being prominently connected with the work of the Red Cross, the Young Women's Christian Association and the Young Men's Christian Association. Mrs. Yenney is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and, like her husband, enjoys the warmi regard and friendship of all with whom she has been associated. Her home is noted for its warm-hearted hospitality and is the center of a cultured society circle. Fraternally Mr. Yenney is connected with Washington Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., and he gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He is regarded as one of the foremost business men of Walla Walla county and there is no phase of modern day enterprise having to do with farming operations with which he is not familiar.
LEWIS O. YENNEY.
Lewis O. Yenney, a representative farmer of Walla Walla county, is resid- ing at No. 834 East Alder street in the city of Walla Walla. He has spent his entire life in this county, where his birth occurred on the Sth of May, 1872. Ile represents one of its old and prominent pioneer families, his parents being Philip J. and Rachael ( Winnett) Yenney, who are mentioned elsewhere in this volume.
His youthful experiences were those of the farmbred boy. He spent his early life under the parental roof and was carly trained to the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. His education was acquired in the district schools, supplemented by study in Whitman College, and on reaching manhood he became the active assistant of his father and brother in the management of extensive farming interests. For some years prior to the father's death the brothers had entire charge of the important agricultural business which he had built up. He gave to them each an interest in the farm and since his death they have continued its cultivation and improvement. It is equipped with all of the
WILLIAM H. YENNEY
MRS. WILLIAM H. YENNEY
NY
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OLD WALLA WALLA COUNTY
latest accessories and conveniences known to the model farm of the twentieth century. There are large and commodious buildings for the shelter of grain and stock and the latest improved machinery promotes the work of the fields.
Mr. Yenney resides with his mother and is looking after her interest, comfort and welfare in her old age, for she has now reached the age of eighty-five, having been born on the 22d of November, 1832. She is remarkably well preserved for one of her years and keeps in touch with interests and events of modern days. The fact that many of Mr. Yenney's warmest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood is an indication that his life has been an active, useful and honorable one. For forty-five years he has lived in this county and has witnessed much of its growth and development. He has seen its lands reclaimed and culti- vated, its forests cut and its other natural resources utilized. As the years have passed on he has borne his share in the work of general improvement and progress, while at the same time he has conducted his private business interests in a way that has brought very substantial results, and today Walla Walla county numbers him among her leading agriculturists.
FRED GREENVILLE.
Fred Greenville, of Walla Walla, who is engaged in farming, was born in Minnesota on the 16th of July, 1860, a son of Peter and Jean ( Mitchell) Green- ville. The father followed the occupation of farming in Rice county, Minne- sota, where he spent his entire life. Fred Greenville acquired a limited education in the common schools, but during much of the time when he should have at- tended school, his services were required upon the farm and his training was that of the fields rather than of the schoolroom. On reaching his twentieth year he came to Washingon in 1881, settling in Walla Walla county, where he began work as a farm hand. He continued to work for wages for a number of years but in 1881 took up a homestead on the Eureka Flats, which he operated with hired help for several years. Subsequently he rented land and began farming for himself, and as his financial resources have increased, he has added to his holdings from time to time until his farming possessions now aggregate eleven hundred and twenty acres of valuable wheat land in Walla Walla county. In fact he is one of the leading wheat growers of this section of the state and cul- tivates fifteen hundred acres, renting three quarter sections of his land. He also leases a section and a half of land belonging to others and a quarter section on Dry creek, together with a half section in Franklin county. His life history proves conclusively that activity doesn't tire, that it gives resisting power and develops further strength. He has learned how best to conserve time and effort and to make each blow tell in the accomplishment of his purpose. His business affairs are most carefully systematized and the work of the farm is done in the same methodical manner as that of a commercial enterprise.
In 1890 Mr. Greenville was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Timm, of . Paha, Adams county, Washington, by whom he has five children, as follows: Ollie, the wife of Adolphus Myers, who is employed by her father; and Ettie, Lloyd, Lola and Howard, all at home.
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Mr. Greenville gives his political allegiance to the republican party and was elected to the board of county commissioners of Walla Walla county in 1908, serving in that capacity for one term. Fraternally he is identified with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Trinity Lodge, No. 121, and also to the encampment and the canton. He is also a member of the Walla Walla Lodge, No. 287, B. P. O. E., of Walla Walla Aerie, No. 26, F. O. E., and of the Woodmen of the World. Notwithstanding his lack of early advantages and educational opportunities, Mr. Greenville has made steady progress in his busi- ness career and his ambition and energy, which are among his most marked char- acteristics, constitute an example well worthy of emulation.
H. A. REYNOLDS.
H. A. Reynolds is largely concentrating his time and efforts upon general agricultural pursuits, being located on the Ransom Clark donation claim adjoin- ing Walla Walla. He has, however, other important business connections and is well known as a progressive and representative citizen of his section of the state. He was born on the farm where he now resides, October 14, 1863, his parents being Almos H. and Lettice (Millican) Reynolds. He was reared upon the home farm and acquaired his education in the public schools, supplemented by a high school course at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He afterward attended the State University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1886, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree. He then took up the study of law under J. B. Allen but failing health caused him to discontinue his preparation for the bar for a time. Later, however, he continued his reading under B. L. Sharpstein and was admitted to the bar. He then practiced law for a brief period but on account of his health gave up professional activity and turned his attention to farming that he might be benefited by the outdoor life. He has since been con- nected with agricultural pursuits and is now giving his time largely to the further development and improvement of the Ransom Clark donation, which constitutes one of the valuable farming properties in the vicinity of Walla Walla. He has other important business connections, however, and is a stockholder in the Farm- ers Savings Bank and in the Malcolm McLean Grocery Company. He also is identified with other business interests of Walla Walla, where he likewise has made judicious investments in property. In business affairs lie is a man of sound judgment and keen discrimination, readily judging between the essential and the non-essential, and his efforts have been most intelligently directed and his invest- ments most judiciously made.
In 1891 Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage to Miss Bertha C. Truesdell, of Minnesota, who was a teacher in the Whitman College. To this marriage have been born five children : Carrie, who is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College of South Hadley, Massachusetts; Charlotte, who was graduated from Whitman College with the class of 1917; Margaret, who is in her junior year at Whitman College ; Harry Jay ; and Allen Lynn.
Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are members of the Congregational church and take an active interest in its work and in many projects which are developed for the
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public good. In his political views Mr. Reynolds is a stalwart republican, and while never an aspirant for office, he has been a prominent factor in the affairs of his party for years past. He was elected to the board of county commissioners as an advocate of the project of building a new courthouse and was elected on that issue. He was also a member of the board that had in charge the construction of the new courthouse and at all times his aid and influence have been given to those projects which are looking to the present welfare and the future advance- ment of city and county. Those who know him esteem him as a man of genuine worth. His liberal education, his public spirit, his recognition of the duties and obligations of citizenship make him one of the valued and representative men of Walla Walla county and his social qualities make for personal popularity.
GEORGE C. ALEXANDER.
Thirty-six years have been added to the cycle of the centuries since George C. Alexander became a resident of Walla Walla county. For many years he was actively engaged in general farming and still makes his home on section 12, town- ship 6 north, range 35 east, but is now living retired, having in former years acquired a handsome competence that enables him to rest from further labor. He was born in La Fayette, Indiana, on the 18th of March, 1861, a son of Emanuel and Antha (Stretch) Alexander, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Indiana. The father was a farmer by occupation and spent the last four years of his life in the home of his son, George C., passing away in 1905.
George C. Alexander was reared under the parental roof and acquired a public school education. At the age of twelve years, however, he became a wage earner and has since been dependent upon his own resources for whatever he has achieved and enjoyed. He worked as a farm hand for neighboring farmers up to the time of his marriage, which was celebrated on the 28th of May, 1893, Miss Lillie C. Davis becoming his wife. During her girlhood days she accompanied her parents, William J. and Lucy E. (Hecker) Davis, to Walla Walla county, the removal being made from Iowa in 1885.
George C. Alexander had arrived in Walla Walla county in 1881 and after taking up his abode here worked as a farm hand until the time of his marriage, when he began farming on his own account, renting land. In 1905 he purchased his first land, becoming owner of his present home place of two hundred and twenty acres. He had enough money to make a half payment on the place and within five years he had cleared it of all indebtedness. In subsequent years he has put improvements upon it to the value of more than twenty-five hundred dol- lars. He has also bought eighty acres of irrigated land in Montana. Taking up his abode upon the home farm, he concentrated his efforts and attention upon its further development and improvement and in the course of years his labors worked a marked transformation in the appearance of the place, which he brought under a high state of cultivation. He still resides upon his home farm but is now living retired and rents his land, while he is enjoying the fruits of his former labor. In politics he maintains an independent course nor has he ever sought the honors and emoluments of public office. He ranks with the leading and repre-
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sentative men of his township and deserves much credit for what he has accom- plished. He has truly won the proud American title of a self-made man, for he started out empty-handed when a youth of but twelve years and has worked his way steadily upward by diligence and determination. Whatever he has gained has been the reward of his earnest labor and his record indicates what may be ac- complished in a busy life where there is a will to dare and to do. His course should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be done through persistent, earnest effort when guided by sound judgment.
D. B. STIMMEL.
Through struggles and adversities D. B. Stimmel has reached a position among the prosperous residents of Walla Walla county and is now living retired in Waitsburg. For many years he was actively connected with agricultural interests, and diligence and determination brought to him the measure of suc- cess that now enables him to rest from further labors. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, January 1, 1856, his parents being Benjamin and Charlotte (Smith) Stim- inel, who were also natives of the Buckeye state, where they were reared and married. In 1861 they removed westward to Tazewell county, Illinois, and in 1879 became residents of Reno county, Kansas. There the father died in the 'gos, but the mother is still living and now makes her home with a son in Oklahoma.
D. B. Stimmel was the eldest in a family of ten children, nine sons and one daughter. The duty and the burden of assisting in rearing the family and pro- viding for their support fell upon his shoulders and as a consequence his educa- tion was limited. He could attend school only at such times as his services were not required upon the farm. He remained at home until he reached his twenty-fourth year, when in 1880 he filed on a homestead in Reno county, Kansas, and began farming on his own account. There he resided for nine years, when he determined to try his fortune in the northwest, having heard favorable reports concerning this section of the country. In the spring of 1889, therefore, he made his way to Walla Walla county, Washington, arriving in Waitsburg about the middle of May with a wife and six children and a cash capital of but fifteen dollars. Here he began working for wages, being thus employed through the harvest season, and in the fall of that year he rented a farm and began its cul- tivation. He was not familiar, however, with the farming conditions of this section of the country and the poor crops and the widespread financial panic of 1803 made his first few years a struggle for existence. In the winter of 1895-6 he left the farm which he had rented with an indebtedness of three thousand dollars. The following spring he went up into the Nez Perce country and engaged in hauling posts and doing other work for the Indians, in which circum- stances he was reminded of the scriptural passage that "the first shall be last and the last first." He may not have liked this domination of an inferior race, but he was willing to accept any occupation or employment that would yield him an honest living. The following fall he located on a place of one hundred and sixty acres belonging to his brother-in-law and afterward purchased two hundred
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