Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II, Part 58

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 918


USA > Washington > Asotin County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 58
USA > Washington > Columbia County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 58
USA > Washington > Garfield County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 58
USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > Lyman's history of old Walla Walla County, embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, Volume II > Part 58


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Mr. Chandler was married in 1901 to Miss Ada Fowler, also a native of England, and they have five children, namely: John F. and Ruth, both of whom are high school students; Dorothy; Theodore W .; and Elizabeth.


JOHN CHANDLER


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Mr. Chandler has supported the republican party since acquiring the right of franchise and for a considerable period served on the school board in Whit- man county. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Epis- copal church and its work receives their hearty support. Their residence is one of the attractive homes of Walla Walla and it is known for its cordial hos- pitality.


JOSEPH W. TONER.


Joseph W. Toner, who is successfully farming in Walla Walla county, was born in Vermont, April 22, 1875, a son of Daniel and Bridget (Ferrell) Toner. The father was born in Vermont and the mother was a native of Ireland, but they were married in the Green Mountain state, where they resided until called by death. To them were born seven children, of whom five survive.


Joseph W. Toner was reared at home and as a boy and youth attended the public schools. In 1892, when seventeen years, he came to Walla Walla, Wash- ington, and for some years engaged in dairying. He now, however, gives his attention to general farming. He owns thirty-seven and a half acres of finely improved land within the city limits of Walla Walla and has refused nine hun- dred dollars an acre for the place.


Mr. Toner was married in 1895 to Miss Permelia C. Hammond, a native of Walla Walla and a daughter of Williamn R. and Permelia Hammond. To this marriage have been born seven children: Helen, the wife of Milton Carter ; Mil- dred, Edward and Mary, all high school students; Daniel, Jeanie and Ferrell.


The family attend the Presbyterian church and contribute to its support. Mr. Toner holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Walla Walla and is popular in that organization. In political belief he is a dem- ocrat and he is now capably serving as a member of the school board.


JOHN A. BAILEY.


For thirty years John A. Bailey has resided upon the Pacific coast and since 1898 has made his home in Walla Walla, where he is now actively engaged in business as the president of the Lumber & Fuel Company. He was born in Col- chester county, Nova Scotia, January 10. 1862, a son of Alexander and Jane (Fer- guson) Bailey, both of whom were natives of that country, where the father passed away, while the mother is still living there. They had a family of four children, all of whom are still residents of Canada with the exception of John A.


The last named was reared and educated in his native country, pursuing a public school course, and in 1883, having attained his majority, he left home and crossed the border into the United States, taking up his abode in Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained for a brief period. The west attracted him, however, for he believed that its opportunities were limitless and in 1887 he crossed the country to California. There he remained for about two and one-


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half years, after which he went to Portland, Oregon, and there resided until his removal to Grays Harbor. He came to Walla Walla, Washington, about 1898, and here took up the business of contracting and building, which he fol- lowed successfully until 1916. He then became connected with the Lumber & Fuel Company, of which he is now the head, and in this connection he is con- ducting a business of extensive and gratifying proportions.


In Los Angeles, California, in 1887, Mr. Bailey was united in marriage to Miss Christina M. Bailey, who, though of the same name, was not a relative. She, too, was born in Canada, where her mother, one sister and two brothers still re- side, and by her marriage has become the mother of a daughter, Edith M., who is now the wife of Clarence G. Ludwigs. She is a graduate of the high school of Walla Walla and also of the Washington State University. Mrs. Bailey and her daughter hold membership in the Presbyterian church and are prominent in the social circles of the city. Mr. Bailey is identified with the Masonic fraternity and has taken all of the degrees of the York and Scottish rites and has crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise be- longs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, which he has supported since becoming a natural- ized American citizen. Opportunity has ever been to him the call to action and in his business career he has so wisely utilized his opportunities that success in sub- stantial measure has come to him. With him every day must mark off a full- faithed attempt to know more and to grow more. He early recognized that where there is no advancement there has been no effort, and putting forth earnest and persistent effort, he has passed many others who perhaps started out ahead of him on life's journey. He is stable in purpose, quick in perception, swift in de- cision, energetic and persistent in action; and thus he has made for himself a most creditable position on the stage of business activity in Walla Walla.


J. H. COYLE.


The business upbuilding of a city is attributable not to one individual but to the combined efforts of many. However, there are some who occupy positions of leadership in their respective lines-men well trained in a given field and whose intelligently directed efforts produce substantial results that work not only for their own benefit but constitute a most important force in general business progress and prosperity. Such a man is J. H. Coyle, the president and man- ager of the Walla Walla Mill Company, and thus prominently identified with the milling interests of Walla Walla. He was born in Crawford county, Wis- consin, December 5, 1859, a son of J. B. and S. A. (Lemons) Coyle. The father was a native of Ohio, while the mother was born in Wisconsin, and they became the parents of four children, two of whom are now living.


J. H. Coyle of this review spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the state of his nativity and is indebted to its public school system for the educa- tional opportunities which he enjoyed. He early began learning the miller's trade, which he followed in Minnesota, leaving his native state when eighteen


J. II. COYLE


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years of age. Hle continued a resident of Minnesota until 1897, when he came to Walla Walla county, Washington, and purchased what was known as the old McKennan mill. Since that time he has been identified with the milling interests of Walla Walla and is today at the head of an important enterprise of this character. After some years he admitted his son, J. D. Coyle, to a part- nership in the business, which has been incorporated with J. H. Coyle as the president and manager and J. D. Coyle as the secretary. Their mill has a capacity of seventy barrels. The plant is splendidly equipped with the latest improved machinery and the most modern processes of flour manufacturing are utilized, so that the output is of excellent quality, insuring a ready sale on the market.


In Minnesota, in 1887, Mr. Coyle was united in marriage to Miss Emma Buehler, a native of Wisconsin, and they have become the parents of eight children : John D., who is associated with his father in business; Velma, the wife of A. W. Hancock; W. F .; Vida; Clarence, who has passed away ; Victor ; Emma; and Erma. The parents attend the Methodist Episcopal church.


In his political views Mr. Coyle is a republican and has served on the school board for a number of years but has never sought strictly political office. Frater- nally he is connected with the Masons and the Odd Fellows and exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit of these organizations. His has been an active and useful life fraught with good results. His business affairs have been success- fully and wisely managed and he is now the owner of six acres of land, upon which is a fine property. His milling business has become one of the important productive industries of Walla Walla and his colleagues and contemporaries in business circles speak of him in terms of high regard, not only by reason of the success which he has achieved but also owing to the straightforward busi- ness policy which he has ever followed.


EMERSON E. WOODS.


Emerson E. Woods, who resides on the old Woods homestead on section 9, township 9 north, range 37 east, is one of the alert and enterprising young farmers who have chosen agriculture as a life work because of their recognition of its many possibilities. He was born in the township in which he still resides on the 12th of February, 1893, and is a son of Joel and Viola M. ( Hull) Woods, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. He received a good education in the Waitsburg public schools and also received thorough training in farm work under the guidance of his father. When he was twenty-two years old he began his in- dependent career, renting six hundred and sixty acres of land, which he has since operated. In December, 1916, he also took charge of the Woods home- stead of five hundred and fifty acres on which he now resides, and although he has only reached the middle twenties he has proved his capability as an executive, ably managing the operation of the twelve hundred and ten acres. It is needless to say that he utilizes the most improved methods and the latest implements in his work, and that he gives careful study to the markets.


On the 22d of December, 1915, Mr. Woods was married to Miss Estella H.


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Hazelton, of Waitsburg, a daughter of Thomas and Leona (Parker) Hazelton, pioneer settlers of Walla Walla county, both now deceased. Mr. Woods votes the republican ticket but has not otherwise been active in public affairs, pre- ferring to concentrate his energies upon his farming interests. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and his religious faith is that of the Chris- tian church. He is a typical western man, self reliant, enterprising and confident of the future, and he has thoroughly identified his interests with those of his county and state.


.


BYRD COYLE.


Byrd Coyle, a well known dairyman and substantial farmer of Walla Walla county, was born in Lebanon, Oregon, February 7, 1860, and is a representative of a very old and prominent family of that state. His father, James B. Coyle, was born in Peoria, Illinois, March 4, 1832, and throughout life followed farm- ing. In 1852 he crossed the plains with ox teams and located in Oregon, where he made his home until coming to Walla Walla county, Washington, in 1866. Here he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land, to which the family have since added from time to time until now the home place comprises five hundred and sixty acres. The father died on the 29th of April, 1901, but the mother of our subject is still living and continues to reside on the home farm. She bore the maiden name of Jane Summers and was born in Iowa, August 23, 1841. She was only five years of age when she crossed the plains with her parents in 1846, her father being captain of a large company traveling with ox teams. They reached the Whitman Mission in Oregon so late in the fall that they resolved to spend the winter of 1846-7 at that place and there Mrs. Coyle attended the school conducted by Dr. Whitman, who was killed in the Whitman massacre the following fall. In the spring of 1847 Captain Summers proceeded with his family to Lebanon, Oregon, where Mrs. Coyle grew to womanhood and was married. She is today one of the oldest settlers of the Pacific northwest and is thoroughly familiar with the entire development of this region.


Byrd Coyle is one of a family of ten children, nine of whom are still living. Two sons are now residents of Canada and a daughter lives in Kennewick, Washington, but the remainder are all living in Walla Walla county. Here Byrd Coyle attended the district schools and his early education was supple- mented by a course at Whitman College and later at the Oregon State University, where he was a student for two years. After putting aside his textbooks he engaged in railroad work for several years and then spent three years and a half in Alaska, but in November, 1900, he returned to Walla Walla county. His father died soon afterward and he and his brother Charles have since had charge of the home farm, which they have operated with most gratifying suc- cess. In connection with general farming they give considerable attention to the dairy business, having a creamery upon his place and selling both milk and butter, and they furnish employment to from twenty-five to forty men.


On the 27th of June, 1916, Byrd Coyle was united in marriage to Miss


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Lenora Stewart, a native of Virginia and a daughter of Moore Stewart. They are earnest and consistent members of the Congregational church, and Mr. Coyle is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a democrat and takes a deep and commendable interest in public affairs.


H. D. CONOVER.


H. D. Conover, who is farming extensively in Columbia county, Washing- ton, is now financially independent, although he began his carcer empty-handed. He is a western man by birth as well as preference, as he was born in Linn county, Oregon, March 28, 1859, a son of W. S. and Margaret (Crawford) Conover, both of whom were born in Indiana. In 1852 both came to Oregon as members of a train of emigrants journeying by ox team. They were married in Oregon and remained residents of that state until called by death. To them were born two sons, the brother of our subject being O. M. Conover, of Waitsburg.


H. D. Conover attended the district schools in his early boyhood, but in 1872. when but thirteen years, came to Washington and found work on a stock farm. He was so employed until he was thirty-five years old, since which time he has followed agricultural pursuits independently. He now operates fourteen hundred acres of land, growing large crops of grain annually and also raising some stock. His long experience and his keen powers of observation have taught him the most effective methods of carrying on his work and he manages the business phase of farming excellently and as a result receives a good return on the cap- ital invested in his holdings.


Mr. Conover was married on the 6th of December, 1885, to Miss Rachel Mckinney, a native of Washington county, Oregon, and they have three chil- dren : Lettie A., the widow of J. W. Roberts; Henry M., a prosperous farmer ; and Louise, the wife of F. P. Kinder, of Waitsburg, Washington.


Mr. Conover belongs to Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 70, to Occidental Lodge, No. II, A. O. U. W., and to the Woodmen of the World. His political belief is that of the republican party and its candidates reecive his support at the polls. He is respected wherever known for his strength of character, his enter- prise and his unquestioned integrity, and his personal friends are many.


WILLIAM M. WEATHERFORD.


William M. Weatherford, president of the Weatherford-Wallace Company. of Dayton, conducting a loan, real estate, insurance and abstract business, was born in Columbia county, the 4th of October, 1879, a son of Francis M. and Harriett A. Weatherford, who were pioneer residents of Oregon and Washington, having crossed the plains with ox teams at a period when that was practically the only method of travel between the east and the west. The father is now the owner of an extensive farm in Columbia county and is one of the leading citizens of


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the district. He has served as a representative of the county in the state legis- lature and has otherwise been prominently connected with public affairs.


In the public schools of his native county William M. Weatherford pursued his early education and afterward became a student in the Portland Business College of Portland, Oregon, from which in due course of time he was grad- uated. He was reared to the occupation of farming and after his textbooks were put aside devoted his attention for a time to general agricultural pursuits, but thinking to find other business activities more congenial and perhaps more profitable, he concentrated his efforts upon the banking business for a period. Later he became identified with the insurance, mortgage loan and real estate business and his efforts have since been directed along those lines. At the pres- ent time he is at the head of the Weatherford-Wallace Company, of Dayton, as its president and is thus conducting a profitable loan, real estate, insurance and abstract business.


On the 2d of June, 1906, Mr. Weatherford was united in marriage in Walla Walla, Washington, to Miss Roselle M. Carpenter, a daughter of G. W. and Mary A. Carpenter, the former a druggist of Waitsburg, Washington. Mrs. Weatherford was born in Olympia, Washington, and acquired her education in the public schools of this state and in the Washington State College at Pullman. Her mother is one of the descendants of John Quincy Adams. To Mr. and Mrs. Weatherford has been born a daughter, Marybelle. Mr. Weatherford sup- ports the Congregational church and he gives his political allegiance to the den- ocratic party. He has membership with the Knights of Pythias and with the Masons and in his life exemplifies the beneficent spirit upon which these organ- izations are founded. He is likewise connected with the Dayton Commercial Club and he stands for progress and improvement, advocating all those interests which have to do with the welfare and upbuilding of the city in which he makes his home. He has always lived in Washington and the spirit of western enterprise has found expression in his life. There has been nothing spectacular in his career but his course has been marked by that steady advancement which follows persistent and earnest effort, and his substantial traits of character have won for him the kindly regard and goodwill of his associates in both business and social life.


MARTIN CAMPBELL.


No history can surpass in picturesque detail the life record of Martin Camp- bell, who as prospector and miner is familiar with the development of the Fraser river country and who as farmer and miller has been closely associated with the progress and upbuilding of Walla Walla county. He is now living retired, en- joying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. He has passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life's journey, his birth having occurred in Flemington, New Jersey, February 13, 1833, his parents being Daniel and Charlotte Campbell, who were also natives of New Jersey, the town of Campbellsville in that state being named after the paternal grandfather, Martin Campbell. His father was miller by trade and for several years operated a mill on the Riarton river. Both he and his wife spent their entire lives in New Jersey.


MARTIN CAMPBELL


MRS. MARTIN CAMPBELL


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Martin Campbell was reared under the parental roof and pursued his educa- tion in one of the old-time subscription schools of that early period. When but seventeen years of age he went to sea and on the vessel on which he shipped was the captain's wife and little daughter. Shortly after they sailed away the little girl fell overboard and Mr. Campbell jumped in and rescued her. He was then taken out of the forecastle and given a birth in the cabin, while the captain's wife made it her duty and pleasure to look after his education and to her he owes much of his early intellectual development. In 1856, after sailing round Cape Horn, he landed at San Francisco and made his way up through the Puget Sound country. He began work in the mills of the Fort Gamble Lumber Com- pany and in 1858 was attacked by the mining fever, which it is said some time or other gets everyone who resides in the vicinity of a developing mining district. Accordingly he went to Victoria, British Columbia, where he fell in with some of the clerks of the Hudson's Bay Company and through them he learned of the gold dust that was being brought down from the Fraser river. The Indians had scratched the gold out with sticks and brought it to the Hudson's Bay Com- pany. Although forbidden by Governor Douglas of British Columbia, Mr. Camp- bell raised a company and began prospecting for gold up the river. returning that fall. In the spring of 1860 he made an overland trip to the Similikameen country in British Columbia and while crossing the mountains lived on rice and sugar. There is scarcely an experience which comes to the prospector and the miner with which he is not familiar. He met all of the hardships and privations incident to such a life and, like many another, he did not gain the fortune for which he was striving in that way, although in later years he made for himself a most substantial place in business circles. In the fall of 1860 he crossed the border into Washington and spent the winter at Fort Colville. In the following spring he engaged in prospecting on the Pend Oreille river and later engaged in prospecting and mining on the Columbia river, thus spending his time until 1863.


In that year Mr. Campbell came to Walla Walla county and through the fol- lowing two years was variously employed. In 1865 he turned his attention to farming, making a specialty of the raising of wheat, which he hauled to Wallula, seliing it for from thirty-five to fifty-five cents per bushel. He was afterward a member of the firm of Coyle & Campbell. millers, and for several years, engaged successfully in the milling business in Walla Walla. In recent years he has disposed of his farm holdings but still owns various city properties, from which he derives a very gratifying annual income. His investments have been judiciously made and his sound judgment is manifest therein.


In 1869 Mr. Campbell was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Ernest, who came to Walla Walla county from Iowa in 1862. They are well known as a most honored pioneer couple of the northwest. The experiences which have fallen to the lot of Mr. Campbell would rival any tale of fiction and he can speak with authority concerning the phases of development and progress in this entire section of the country. He came here when the red man largely held dominion over the northwest, regarding its great forests as his hunting ground and its streams as his especial place for fishing. But the country, rich in its natural re- sources, beckoned the progressive man of the east-the man who is not afraid to face danger, hardships and privations in order to aid in reclaiming this great region for the purposes of civilization. To this class belongs Mr. Campbell and Vol. 11-29


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the work which he has done in the development and upbuilding of the west en- titles him to more than passing notice. He has left his impress upon the work of progress and improvement and his reminiscences concerning the early history of the country are most interesting.


JOHN D. JONES.


John D. Jones is an important factor in the industrial circles of southeastern Washington as he is president of the Self-Oiling Wheel & Bearing Company of Walla Walla, many of whose products are manufactured under patents which he has taken out. He was born in Wales, November 15, 1863, a son of Richard N. and Ellen Jones, who in 1881 emigrated to Canada. For a year they resided in Montreal and then removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they have since made their home.


John D. Jones was educated in the public schools of his native country and in the night schools of Minneapolis. When he accompanied his parents to the United States at the age of nineteen years he entered the shops of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. When fifteen years old he had apprenticed himself to the machinist's trade in Wales and during his residence in Montreal he worked in the shops of the Grand Trunk Railway. While there he assisted in putting the first air pump on an engine on the Grand Trunk system. For several years he was connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railways and was the first machinist to be employed by the latter road in Minneapolis. In the fall of 1888 he came to the Pacific northwest, entering the shops of the Oregon-Washington Railway & Navigation Company at The Dalles, and later he worked at various points along their system. On severing his connection with that road he engaged in the butchering and restaurant business in La Grande, Oregon, after which he went as far east as Marshalltown, Iowa, where he was employed by the lowa Central Railway. However, after his life in the west he found the east too restricted and unenterprising and again came west. He entered the shops of the Oregon-Washington Railway & Navigation Company at Portland and was later transferred to the Umatilla shops. In 1895 he left there and came to Walla Walla, where he entered the employ of Gilbert Hunt. Subsequently he was appointed master mechanic of the Washington & Columbia River Railroad under Joseph McCabe and about that time was also appointed chief engineer of the state penitentiary by Governor Meade, which appointment, however, he refused to accept. He became superintendent of the Mill Creek Railway and held that position during the time that its track was changed from narrow gauge to stand- ard gauge. In addition to his other railroad experience he has at times served as an engineer and ran one of the first narrow gauge engines that entered Walla Walla, it running on the old Dr. Baker railway.




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