USA > Washington > Asotin County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 53
USA > Washington > Columbia County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 53
USA > Washington > Garfield County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 53
USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 53
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MR. AND MRS. SIMON TAYLOR
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OLD WALLA WALLA COUNTY
owned by the Lowden Company, which was incorporated for the purpose of rais- ing horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. They have imported many costly thorough- bred animals, never sparing expense to secure the best stock, and they have done much to promote the standards of stock raising in Washington. They have high grade horses, cattle, hogs and sheep upon their place and theirs is one of the lead- ing stock ranches in southeastern Washington. Mr. Lowden has ever been a very active and enterprising man, possessed of courage, fortitude and resourcefulness -the characteristics of the true pioneer. Moreover, he is a very efficient business man, alert and enterprising and watchful of every opportunity pointing to suc- cess. His interests have ever been most wisely and carefully controlled and his sound judgment has ever stood as an important feature in his progress.
Notwithstanding his large private interests, Mr. Lowden has always found time to perform well the duties of a citizen and member of society. He served as county commissioner for seven years and was a member of the state penitentiary board which built the third wing and the outbuildings, the stables, etc., of the pen- itentiary. In spite of opposition, he succeeded with the help of others in building a jute mill at the penitentiary in order to give employment to the prisoners and in placing the mill in successful operation. He was also a member of the school board for ten years and has ever been a faithful and loyal friend of public education.
In May, 1868, Mr. Lowden was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary E. Noon, who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but was reared in California. They have become the parents of three children, namely : Marshall J., Francis M., Jr., and Hettie Irene. Mr. Lowden is a stanch adherent of the Masonic fraternity and exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. He is still very active, although he has now reached the age of eighty-six years. Old age need not nec- essarily suggest idleness nor want of occupation. There is an old age which grows stronger mentally and morally as the years go on and gives out of its rich store of wisdom and experience for the benefit of others. Such is the record of Mr. Lowden. He keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress and in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. His life should serve to inspire and encourage many others who at a much younger age grow weary and endeavor to shift to other shoulders the burdens that they should bear.
J. A. MACLACHLAN, M. D.
Dr. J. A. MacLachlan, for many years actively and successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Dayton, was born near Springfield, in the province of Ontario, Canada, in 1860. After acquiring a public school educa- tion in his native country he became a student in the University of Michigan, where he pursued his professional course, winning the degree of M. D. upon graduation with the class of 1889. He had studied the homeopathic meth- ods and following his graduation at once began a search for a suitable lo- cation. Making his way westward, he decided to establish his home in Columbia county and has since been identified with the medical profession in southeastern Washington. Through the long years of his residence in
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Dayton he has occupied a foremost place among the medical practitioners. He is extremely modest and free from ostentation but public opinion establishes his position and colleagues and contemporaries acknowledge him the peer of the ablest physicians and surgeons of the Inland Empire. He was elected to the posi- tion of vice president of the state board of medical examiners and he belongs to the Washington State Medical Society, thus keeping in touch with the trend of modern professional thought, research and investigation.
Dr. MacLachlan was united in marriage to Miss Daisy Ping, a daughter of Robert Ping, one of the well known pioneer settlers of Columbia county, and with his family he occupies an attractive home in Dayton. He belongs to the Dayton Club and has been identified with many movements looking to the welfare and betterment of his community. He stands at all times for progress and improve- ment and his aid and influence are given on the side of those activities which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. He served in 1890 and 1891 as health officer of Columbia county. He is well known as a leading member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Odd Fellows lodges, having been identified with those or- ganizations for many years.
JOHN- McFEELY.
John McFeely, of Walla Walla, has. for years been one of the city's promi- nent business men, and he is also connected with the agricultural interests of the county, being the owner of a large farm devoted to the raising of wheat. He has resided in the city for many years and has an unusually wide acquaint- ance here and throughout the county as well. His birth occurred in Fairfield, Ohio, near Dayton, March 3, 1868, and he is a son of John and Ann ( Miller) McFeely. He received his public school education in the Buckeye state and in youth learned the blacksmith trade. He then started west to seek his fortune, being convinced that there were better opportunities for advancement in the country west of the Mississippi river than in the east. For a time he lived in Kansas and then returned to Ohio, but could not be content there and removed to Portland, Oregon, whence he came to Walla Walla, Washington, in the spring of 1891. Here he found employment as a horseshoer, but in the fall of 1891 he went to Milton, Oregon, where he worked in the same line.
Subsequently Mr. McFeely returned to Walla Walla and bought an interest in the horseshoeing shop of D. Sloan, now known as the Wigwam, and then located at the corner of Second and Alder streets, where the Drumheller four- story brick block now stands. The horseshoeing business was booming and returned good profit to its owner. At length Mr. McFeely purchased the lots on the corner of Fourth and Alder streets, then known as the old Baldwin prop- erty, at that time covered with a growth of locust trees. He cleared the timber and there erected a shoeing shop, where he engaged in business for a consider- able period. Later he built a one-story brick building which he used as a shoeing shop until he erected the McFeely Hotel, which is a three-story building with basement. It is thoroughly modern in its appointments and is well patronized. lle also owns eight hundred acres of excellent wheat land in Dry Hollow, near
JOHN McFEELY
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MRS. JOHN McFEELY
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OLD WALLA WALLA COUNTY
Prescott, all under cultivation and well improved. He resides in one of the attractive homes at the edge of the city of Walla Walla, and takes a justifiable pride therein. The grounds comprise two acres and contain several cold water springs and a trout lake. The many large shade trees add much to the com- fort and beauty of the place.
Mr. McFeely was married December 9, 1899, to Miss Martha Besserer, a daughter of the Hon. Charles and Ida (Sanderson) Besserer, who are men- tioned on another page of this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Besserer were born seven children, of whom three survive, namely: Charles, a resident of Cali- fornia; Lucile, the wife of A. McAlaster, also of California; and Mrs. Mc- Feely. The latter is the mother of two children: Martha Yvonne, who was born August 5, 1903, and is now in high school; and John Miller, born Septem- ber 9, 1907.
Mr. McFeely possesses the qualities that command respect and win regard, and he has been honored by election to the office of president of the National Association of Master Horseshoers. Fraternally he belongs to the Elks, and he and his wife both hold membership in the Protestant Episcopal church. He has been quick to recognize opportunities, prompt and energetic in taking advan- tage thereof, and as the result of his sound judgment and enterprise he is now financially independent.
C. A. HOLLENBECK.
C. A. Hollenbeck is now living retired in Asotin but for a long period was actively identified with ranching in Washington. In 1912, however, he put aside the work of the farm and has since spent his days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. A native of New York, he was born in Cortland county, December 18, 1845, a son of Casper C. and Henrietta (Egbertson) Hollenbeck, who were also natives of Cortland county, New York. The great-grandfather in the Egbert- son line was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and also of the War of 1812. He passed away in Cortland county, New York, at the advanced age of ninety years. The grandfather of C. A. Hollenbeck in the paternal line was a native of Holland, and on coming to the new world settled in Cortland county, New York, where he followed the occupation of farming until his death. His son, Casper C., was also a farmer and with his family removed westward to Sedalia, Mis- souri, where he and his wife lived retired. There he passed away in the spring of 1881.
C. A. Hollenbeck acquired a public school education in New York and assisted in the work of the farm from early boyhood, taking his place behind the plow almost as soon as old enough to reach the plow handles. He left home in 1868 and made his way to Linn county, Iowa, where he resided for two years, devoting his attention to general agricultural pursuits there. In 1870 he removed to Ness county, Kansas, where he hunted buffaloes and antelope while working with the Texas cattle. He devoted eleven years to herding on the plains of Kansas and in 188I he arrived in Washington, taking up his abode in what was then Columbia but is now Asotin county. He took up a preemption claim in the Montgomery
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Ridge district and during his active identification with agricultural pursuits he accumulated thirteen hundred and sixty acres of land in Asotin county, of which he has since sold all but three hundred and twenty acres, now being cultivated and managed by his son. In 1912 Mr. Hollenbeck retired from active business life and took up his abode in the city of Asotin, where he now occupies an attractive mod- ern residence and is living retired, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in a well earned rest.
Mr. Hollenbeck was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Story, a native of Onondaga county, New York, who passed away November 1, 1917, her death being deeply regretted not only by her immediate family but also by many friends, for she was a lady of excellent traits of heart and mind, kindly in manner and gen- erous in spirit and most devoted to the members of her own household. She found her greatest happiness in providing for the comfort of her husband and chil- dren and her memory is enshrined in the hearts of all who knew her.
"I cannot say and I will not say That she is dead. She is just away ! With a cheery smile and a wave of the hand She has wandered into an unknown land, And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be since she lingers there."
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hollenbeck: Carrie, the wife of Henry Talbott, a rancher living in Asotin county ; Martha, the wife of William Me- Mullan, who has a ranch near Spokane; Ettic, the wife of Jake Blyen, who is a ranch owner at Crabtree, Oregon ; Casper J., who married Rose Miller and follows ranching in Asotin county; Frank, who married Maggie Venette and lives in Asotin county, managing the old home ranch, in addition to which he owns nine hundred acres; George H., who married Ethel M. Cannon and resides in Can- ada ; and Mary, the wife of H. L. McMillan, of Asotin county.
In politics Mr. Hollenbeck has been a republican from the days of Abraham Lincoln, whom he saw at Syracuse, New York, on his way to take the presidential chair in Washington in 1861. His has been an active and useful life in which his business affairs have been wisely directed, his efforts proving an element in the growth and progress of the section of the state in which he lives, and among its valued and representative citizens he is numbered.
JAMES P. WATSON.
Among the valued citizens of Garfield county who have been called to their final rest was numbered James P. Watson, who lived on section 33, township 13 north, range 43 east, and was closely associated with the agricultural develop- ment and improvement of this section of the state. He was born in England on the 31st of December, 1854, and was a son of Porter and Susan (Talbot) Watson, both of whom were natives of England, where they spent their entire lives. James P. Watson was educated in the public schools of his native country
JAMES P. WATSON
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OLD WALLA WALLA COUNTY
and in 1871, when a youth of seventeen years, bade adieu to friends and country in order to come to the United States. He first made his way to Kansas, where he remained for four years, and in 1875 he came west to the Pacific coast country. He did not at once make a final settlement, however, but cast around for a desirable location and in the meantime worked for wages, thus becoming a factor in the business life of the community.
In 1877 Mr. Watson took up his abode in what is now Garfield county and the following spring filed on a homestead, which he continued to own through- out his remaining days and on which his widow still lives. He was a man of energy and was ambitious to succeed. Indolence and idleness were utterly foreign to his nature. Every hour was utilized to the best advantage and as the years passed he prospered, so that from time to time he was able to add to his homestead by additional purchase until prior to his death he had become the owner of about a thousand acres of valuable pasture and wheat land in Garfield county. Mr. Watson had come to this country as a youth without money and without friends, but he employed every moment of his time to good advantage, realizing the eternal principle that industry wins. He also carefully saved his earnings and invested the money thus gained wisely and well, so that in the course of years he acquired a snug little fortune. Moreover, he was a broad reader and deep thinker and became well informed on public affairs. When he crossed the Atlantic it was to become an American citizen, not to remain a sub- ject of Great Britain, although he never lost his love for his native land. He ever felt that his allegiance should be given to the land of his adoption, under whose laws he lived and found protection, and he ever. stood for those plans and measures which sought to upbuild the community in which he resided, to advance the welfare of the commonwealth and of the country.
In 1880 Mr. Watson was united in marriage to Miss Emma I. Perkins, a native of Oregon and a daughter of John N. Perkins, who was a physician and philanthropist. Her father was a native of Ohio and crossed the plains in 1851, settling in Oregon. In 1878 he came to what is now Garfield county, establish- ing his home on the present site of Pomeroy. His grandfather, Thomas Perkins, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. The mother of Mrs. Watson bore the maiden name of Derisa A. Matsler and was a native of Ohio, where her mar- riage to Mr. Perkins occurred. She afterward made the journey across the plains with her husband to the northwest. She had three brothers-George, David and John, who served throughout the Civil war in defense of the Union. To Mr. and Mrs. Watson were born thirteen children, of whom two died in infancy, and Inez D., who married J. C. Kimble died leaving two sons, Vergel L. and Cecyl L. Those still living are as follows: Charles E., Alva N., Elsie I., James A., William C., Edna E., John P., Joseph F., Iva N. and Alma M. Most of the children are married and with their families they are all residing in Garfield county, with the exception of James A., who is now a resident of Whitman county. Mrs. Watson now has seventeen grandchildren. She is a woman of pronounced ability who has capably managed her property interests since the death of her husband, which occurred on the 5th of September, 1915.
Mr. Watson was a man of sterling character, was a devoted husband and kind and loving father. He was also an obliging and charitable neighbor and his many sterling traits of character gained for him the esteem and confidence
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of all with whom he came in contact. In politics he was a democrat until the free silver plank was inserted in the party platform, after which he became a supporter of republican principles. He never failed to earnestly espouse any cause in which he believed and his position was never an equivocal one. He expressed his opinions honestly and fearlessly and men came to know that his word was thoroughly reliable. He never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for on this side of the Atlantic he found the oppor- tunities which he sought and in their utilization won a substantial measure of success. Moreover, America gained a valued citizen and southeastern Washing- ton profited much by his efforts.
JOHN M. ROBINSON.
Among the representative business men of Garfield county is John M. Rob- inson, a well known farmer and grain dealer of Pomeroy. He comes from the middle west, being born in Missouri, September 6, 1859, and is a son of Thomas W. and Pauline ( Forshey) Robinson, the former also a native of Missouri and the latter of Ohio. It was in 1874 that the family came to the Pacific coast and after spending three years and a half in California became residents of Walla Walla county, Washington, in 1877. About a year later the father took up a homestead in what was then Columbia county but is now Garfield county, locat- ing on a farm fifteen miles southeast of Pomeroy. There the mother passed away in 1878 and he died in Pomeroy in February, 1892. Of their nine children four have also departed this life.
John M. Robinson was fifteen years of age when the family located in Cali- fornia and in the schools of that state he began his education, continuing his studies in Walla Walla county after their removal to this state. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-two years of age and then in 1881 took up a preemption claim, which is now within the city limits of Pomeroy and he still owns eighty acres of that. He engaged in farming until 1885, at which time he took twenty head of work horses to California and spent one year in that state. Hle then returned to Washington and purchased another farm, living thereon until 1892. Since then he has made his home in Pomeroy, where he bought a warehouse and has engaged in buying grain. He is now the owner of four thousand and ninety-five acres of land, all improved and under cultivation.
Mr. Robinson was married in 1881 to Miss Melinda F. McKey, a native of Kansas and a daughter of Rev. W. P. and Jane (Wilkinson) McKey, and to this union have been born seven children, namely: Walter J .; Josie May, now the wife of D. A. Taylor ; Clare Marie, the wife of P. C. Clark of Walla Walla ; Dora Bell, the wife of G. Z. Ickes, Jr .; Ruth, the wife of J. D. Lyon, Jr. ; Vernon II. and Florestine, at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson are active and consistent members of the Christian church of Pomeroy and he is serving as one of its elders. He is also prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having filled all of the chairs in Pomeroy Lodge, No. 16. In business affairs he has steadily prospered until he is now the possessor of a handsome fortune and the success that has
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JOHN M. ROBINSON AND FAMILY
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OLD WALLA WALLA COUNTY
come to him is but the just reward of his own industry, fair dealing and good management, for he is a man of good business and executive ability and sound judgment.
RICHARD D. ROBERTS.
More than a century ago Washington said that agriculture is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation of man, while Thomas Jefferson said, "The hope of the nation lies in the tillers of the soil." It is a well known fact that agriculture is the basis of all advancement and prosperity and no country reaches the highest point of its attainment if its farm lands are not properly and carefully cultivated. Among those progressive men who are now concentrating their efforts and attention upon the further development of the soil in Walla Walla county is Richard D. Roberts, who has extensive farming interests on section 13, township 9 north, range 37 east. He was born upon this farm January 6, 1875, and is a son of David and Jane (Anderson) Roberts. The father was a native of Wales and came to the United States in young manhood. He made his way westward to Illinois, where he took up his abode and there he formed the acquaintance of Jane Anderson, who was a native of that state. They were married and about 1870 they left Illinois for Oregon. After spending one year in Forest Grove of the latter state they came north to Washington and for a year were residents of Waitsburg. At the end of that time David Roberts pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres of the home farm upon which his son Richard now resides. Not long afterward he preempted an eighty-acre tract adjoining the original purchase and then bought another eighty acres, continuing to give his time, attention and energy to his farming interests until his death, which occurred in December, 1898. For several years he had survived his wife, who passed away in 1892.
At the usual age Richard D. Roberts became a pupil in the district schools and there mastered the elementary branches of learning. He afterward attended the public schools of Waitsburg and also spent one term as a student in the Waitsburg Academy. In the spring of 1898, prior to his father's death, he took over the management and development of the home farm, which he has since operated. He owns a five-sevenths interest in the home place, together with a half interest in another farm of five hundred and twenty acres in Columbia county. He also has two hundred and forty acres in the Imperial valley of California. He cultivates the home place of three hundred and thirty-five acres, the Columbia county farm of five hundred and twenty acres, of which he owns a half interest, and he leases five hundred and eighty acres, thus farming in all fourteen hundred and thirty-five acres of land in the Inland Empire. His exten- sive operations are most carefully and wisely conducted. Scientific methods underlie his work. He early realized the fact that farm interests should be as carefully systematized as a commercial undertaking and in all of his work he is methodical and progressive. His farm machinery is of the latest improved kind and there is no accessory of a model farm property of the twentieth century that is not to be found upon his place.
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In 1900 Mr. Roberts was united in marriage to Miss Myrtle Bateman, a daughter of Henry Bateman, who was one of the earliest of Walla Walla county's pioneers, first coming here in 1849 and the following year settling on a claim on Coppei creek. He was an Indian war veteran and one of the conspicuous figures in the early pioneer life of Walla Walla county. His demise occurred in Waits- burg in December, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts now have two sons, Harold and llenry.
In politics Mr. Roberts maintains an independent course, not caring to bind himself by party ties. He belongs to Waitsburg Lodge, F. & A. M .; to Touchet Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F .; and to the Ancient Order of United Workmen ; and his wife holds membership in the Methodist church. Their lives are guided by high and honorable principles and in all business affairs Mr. Roberts is regarded as thoroughly reliable as well as energetic. His life record is as an open book. He has always lived in this section of the state, has always carried on general agricultural pursuits, and although there are no spectacular phases in his career, he has ever been regarded as a substantial and valued citizen because of his loyalty to the best interests of the community and his cooperation in plans and measures which are calculated to advance and uphold civic standards.
JAMES H. BOWLES.
The consensus of public opinion names James H. Bowles among the leading citizens of Walla Walla county. He is the owner of a valuable farming prop- erty and also of a fine residence in Prescott, where he makes his home. He was born in Warren county, Missouri, November 11, 1854, and is a son of Thomas H. and Lucinda (Gibson) Bowles, the former a native of Virginia, while the latter was born in Missouri. They became the parents of eight children, six of whom survive, but both the father and mother died in Missouri.
James H. Bowles was reared and educated in the state of his nativity and had reached the age of thirty-five years when in the spring of 1889 he came to Walla Walla county, Washington. He established his home in Prescott and later he bought a farm of one hundred and eighty acres, which he has carefully and persistently cultivated, bringing the entire place under a high state of development. Upon the farm are excellent improvements and everything about the place indicates the careful supervision of a practical and progressive owner. 1 Te makes his home, however, in Prescott, where he owns an attractive residence. His business affairs have been carefully managed and his thorough reliability has gained for him the respect and confidence of all, while unfaltering energy has furthered his prosperity.
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