USA > Washington > Spokane County > Spokane > Spokane and the Spokane country : pictorial and biographical : deluxe supplement, Volume I > Part 14
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Mr. Perkins was married in Whitman county, in 1873, to Miss Jennie Ewart, daughter of Captain James Ewart. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins are parents of four children, namely: Minnie B., who in
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Don. James Allen Perkins
November, 1899, married L. L. Tower, a mining engineer, residing at Northport, Washington; Myrtle M., who in June, 1896, became the wife of Charles E. Scriber, cashier of the Second National Bank of Colfax; Stella, who is the wife of N. B. McDowell and lives in Spokane; and Sumner E. The three daughters were all educated at Mills Seminary in Oakland, California.
Mr. Perkins delivered the first Fourth of July address which was ever held in Spokane, in 1874, to an audience which was composed of people living within a radius of fifty to sixty miles from Spokane, which at that time numbered only seven families as its inhabitants. After the address a prominent lady stepped up to him and remarked: "Mr. Perkins, I wish I had the faith that you must have to enable you to paint so vivid a word picture of the great future that lays be- fore Spokane." Mr. Perkins now tells his friends that the predic- tions he made in 1874 have been realized in the Spokane of today. Even two years before this event, in 1872, Mr. Perkins was called upon to address an audience on the same day in Colfax.
With all of the varied activities of home and business life, Mr. Perkins has never been neglectful of his duties and obligations of citizenship and has been a close and thorough student of the political signs of the times. His influence and efforts have extended beyond city and county into state politics and his opinions have long carried weight in republican councils. In the session of 1879 he represented Whitman county in the territorial legislature, and public approval of his course would undoubtedly have been given him in a reelection had he not declined to again stand for office. He has been a delegate to territorial conventions, chairman of the republican county central committee, a member of the territorial committee and was one of the members of the first town council of Colfax. The appreciation of his fellow townsmen for his worth, ability and progressive citizen- ship is indicated by the fact that he has four times been chosen for mayor of Colfax and once without an opposing vote. He was an alternate delegate to the national convention which nominated James A. Garfield for the presidency and in 1892 was a delegate at large to the national republican convention which met at Minneapolis. In August of that year Mr. Perkins was strongly urged by many to allow his name to be used in connection with the candidacy for gov- ernor but he steadily refused. Many believe that he would have re- ceived the nomination had he cared for it, and a nomination at that time would have been equivalent to an election. Again his friends urged him to become a candidate for the position of United States
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Don. James Allen Perkins
senator in 1893, but he would not consent as long as Hon. J. B. Allen was before the legislature as a candidate. His ambition has not been in the line of office seeking and yet no man is more mindful of his duties of citizenship nor labors more earnestly and effectively to promote public progress. Every phase of his public as well as of his private life is above reproach and even those who hold adverse political opinions have naught to say against the man. He is natu- rally courteous and cordial and these qualities have won him friends wherever he is known, and the fact that those who have known him longest are his warmest friends is an indication of an honorable and well spent life.
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Frank T. AlcCollough
T HE part which Frank T. McCollough has taken in the upbuilding of Spokane deserves mention in the history of this city, for he was prominently con- nected with James Hill, the railroad magnate, and his interests, having charge of the donations and money which secured the right-of-way for the Great Northern Railroad through the city. In the real-estate field his operations have also been notable for he has platted and put upon the market some valuable additions and has also taken an active part in the social life of the city. Mr. McCollough was born August 30, 1868, in Flora, Illinois, and was one of the six children of W. G. and Orinda J. (Notestine) McCollough. The former was born in Mansfield, Ohio, and is of Scotch descent, his ancestors having been numbered among the early New England settlers whose arrival in America antedated the Revolutionary war. W. G. McCollough became a soldier of the Mexican war and during his business life was largely connected with railroad interests. His wife, who was born in Pennsylvania, was the daughter of a Civil war veteran who served as captain of an Ohio company. She, too, belongs to a family that was represented in the war for independence and she comes of German lineage. She is now living in Illinois but her hus- band passed away in 1896. The two daughters of the family are: Ella, the wife of W. S. Glover, in railroad service in Illinois; and Tinnie, who is the widow of J. C. Condit, and resides in Beardstown, Illinois.
Frank T. McCollough was educated in the public schools of his native state and at a very early age started out in life, becoming tele- graph operator when a boy of twelve years. He served at different places between Vincennes, Indiana, and St. Louis, Missouri, and worked his way upward through various promotions until at the age of eighteen years he was filling the responsible position of train dispatcher. In 1889 he came to Spokane to enter the Washington Savings Bank but about that time the memorable fire occurred and destroyed the plans of the institution. He then entered the Spokane National Bank but in 1890 withdrew to form a partnership with L.
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Frank U. ACollough
C. Dillman, in the real-estate business under the firm name of L. C. Dillman & Company, which connection was continued until 1897. At all times he watched with interest the progress of events and the trend of the times, having faith in the future of this section and sup- porting its interests with enthusiasm. In the meantime the Hill roads were being instituted in this district and Mr. Hill came to Spokane, the city giving him the right-of-way for five miles through its ter- ritory, the property being valued at that time from a half to three- quarters of a million dollars. A citizens' committee made Mr. Mc- Collough its secretary and as such he had charge of the money and donations and also of securing the right-of-way through the city. At that time the overland train tonnage was four hundred and eighty- three and Mr. Hill stated that he would have engines to haul twelve hundred tons or more. This seemed an increditable statement at the time but with his characteristic foresight the railroad magnate saw far into the future and now has engines hauling trains of eight- een hundred tons. It was in 1896 that Mr. Hill was in Spokane, at which time he made his headquarters at Mr. McCollough's office.
The latter continued in the real-estate business until 1898 and his efforts proved an important factor in the development of this city. He put upon the market the River Front addition and Cliff Park addition, and in the former sold in eight months property to the value of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He then pur- chased from the Northern Pacific Railroad the Cliff Park addition and began its development. His firm paid a subscription of fifty- five thousand dollars for the cable railroad to that addition. It was a part of the Spokane street railway system and is now owned by the Washington Water Power Company. Henry L. Wilson, now United States Ambassador to Mexico, was chairman and Mr. Mc- Collough a member of the committee which secured one thousand acres for a post site, and Daniel Lamont, then secretary of war, de- clared when he came to Spokane that it was the most beautiful site for an army post in the United States, outside of West Point. In 1898 Mr. McCollough turned his attention to the laundry business in which he has since been engaged, organizing the Crystal Laundry Company of which he is the secretary and treasurer. They conduct the largest laundry business in this city and have in connection there- with a dry-cleaning plant. Their business is located on the Spokane river and their plant represents an outlay of over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, comparing most favorably with many of the best laundries of the larger cities. D. R. McClure is the president
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Frank U. AlcCollough
of the firm but Mr. McCollough as secretary and treasurer is in a large measure managing the business. For many years he has been affiliated with the Old National Bank as a stockholder and is one of the owners of the Old National Bank building and a stockholder in the Union Trust Company and the Union Surety Company.
Mr. McCollough's activity in club and social circles has made him very widely known and has been the means of winning for him a very large circle of warm friends. He is a charter member of the Country Club which was organized with a small membership and held its meetings in a club house at Liberty Park. He was serving as president of the club when the traction company opened its addition in Manito Park and offered to the club fifty-two acres of land for one hundred and forty-five dollars per acre. The purchase was made and after holding this for a little over four years the club sold it at thirteen hundred and seventy dollars per acre, investing the proceeds in two hundred and forty acres in Little Spokane. At present they have a very fine club house and the organization owns its own water supply and sewage system, while the total improvements on this property aggregate one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Their building is one hundred and seventy-five feet long, was constructed to accommodate five hundred members, has thirty-two sleeping apart- ments and is altogether one of the handsomest club houses in the country, pleasantly situated just eight miles north from Riverside and Howard streets. With the exception of a single year Mr. Mc- Collough has continuously served on the board of directors since the club was organized and is now secretary and treasurer.
Mr. McCollough likewise belongs to the Spokane Club and Ro- tary Club, is a life member of the Spokane Athletic Club and a char- ter member of the Coeur d'Alene Boat Club. He likewise belongs to Spokane Lodge, No. 74, F. & A. M., is a member of the Young Men's Christian Association and a leading representative of the Chamber of Commerce, having served many times on its important committees. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and his military experience came to him as lieutenant of the Gover- ernor's Guard under Governor Richard Oglesby, of Illinois. He was held with his company in the armory for three days preparatory to being called out for duty at the time of the Haymarket riots in Chicago.
Mr. McCollough was married in Spokane, November 14, 1889, to Miss Mary A. Wolgamot, a daughter of Jolin F. Wolgamot, con- nected with mining interests in the northwest. His friends find him a
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Frank U. AlcCollough
genial, courteous and obliging gentleman. It would be difficult to place a limit upon the influence of his activities along business and social lines. He is well fitted by nature for leadership for his judg- ment is sound, his sense of justice keen and his spirit always stim- ulated by progressiveness. These qualities have placed him where he is today-in a prominent position in the business and club life of Spokane.
, M & Mckerson I and Family,
Talilliam J. Rickerson
ILLIAM J. NICKERSON, while conducting a W general real-estate business, largely handles his own properties. While he is now developing and con- ducting an extensive business in the purchasing and sale of realty he has also been most active as a fac- tor in promoting the progress and advancing the civilization which has taken Spokane and this section of the state out of the pioneer class, placing the city with all of its advantages, oppor- tunities and improvements on a par with the cities of the older east. His birth occurred near Coburg, Ontario, Canada, August 8, 1843. His father, Ephraim Andrew Nickerson, also a native of that coun- try, was descended in the maternal line from a family represented in the Revolutionary war. His mother's ancestors were from Amster- dam, Holland, and in the early colonial epoch settled on the Hudson river where the Van Rensselaers also located. She was taken pris- oner by the Indians and held in captivity for a long time but was afterward released. Her father, however, was kept as a prisoner by the Indians for seven years and her adopted brother, when captured, was killed and unjointed from his toes to his hips, the pieces of his body being thrown down before his foster father. Ephraim Andrew Nickerson, born and reared in Canada resided for a number of years in Iowa, where he filled the office of justice of the peace and school director and held other positions of public trust. It was in 1855 that he became a resident of Manchester, Delaware county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming and in following that pursuit he provided a comfortable living for his family. He died in 1892 but is still sur- vived by his wife, who is living in Spokane at the advanced age of ninety-one years. She bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Ash and was born in Canada, where she was married though she was reared in the United States.
William J. Nickerson was a young lad when the family left Canada, going first to Illinois and thence to the vicinity of Man- chester, Iowa, where the father purchased land, the family there re- siding until 1863. On the 1st of June, 1864, they went to Oakland, California, making the long trip across the plains, and William J.
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Calilliam T. Dickerson
Nickerson attended school in Alameda and afterward became a col- lege student at San Jose and Santa Clara, being graduated in the latter city in 1865. In that year he went to San Francisco, where he engaged in the shipping and forwarding business, first being em- ployed as porter for the firm of Moss, Beadle, Goodall & Perkins. From that position he was advanced through intermediate positions to that of chief bookkeeper and had general charge of the business in the office until 1874. For a short time he engaged in the commis- sion business on his own account in partnership with a man named Danzell. In 1883 he made his way to Washington and afterward to Plaza, Washington, and during the succeeding eighteen years was closely connected with mercantile interests of that place. He also served as postmaster there for sixteen years, from 1892 until 1908. Seeking a still broader field of labor he removed from Plaza to Spo- kane, where he has since engaged in real-estate and mining interests. Like most of the men who have lived in the northwest he had at different times been closely associated with mining and the life of the camps in all of its different phases was familiar to him. He went to Idaho in 1883, going over the "Jackass" trail and digging a way through the snow, being thirteen days on that trail. He purchased what was then known as the Charles Dickens mine but is now called the Idaho Knickerbocker mine, a very fine property which is now ship- ping its product. He also purchased placer mining ground .on Trail creek and was very successful in working it. In the fall of 1884 he was there joined by his wife. Conditions seemed very crude at times and yet there was a hospitality which made life enjoyable. At the first dance held there the men dressed in miner's clothes with long- topped boots, but everybody greatly enjoyed the ball. There was no school in the district and to meet this need Mr. Nickerson and others organized a school, getting up entertainments in order to meet the ex- penses. They produced such plays as "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and it is said that "dollars fairly rained upon the stage" until they had money enough to build a schoolhouse and pay the teacher. The town was then called Beaver but the name has since been changed to Delta. While at Plaza Mr. Nickerson filled the office of justice of the peace.
With advancing years and the changes in conditions Mr. Nick- erson wished to become a factor in the city life with its broader busi- ness opportunities and removed to Spokane, where he has since con- ducted a general real-estate business although much of the property which he handles he purchased outright. He is still interested in the Idaho Knickerbocker and the Royal Copper Mining Companies,
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Delilliam 3. Dickerson
of which he is secretary-treasurer. He is also interested in the Val- ley Mining Company and other mining property near Valley, Wash- ington, and he likewise owns property near Princeton, British Colum- bia, comprising twenty-four claims.
In 1872, in Solano county, California, Mr. Nickerson was united in marriage to Miss Alice E. Patterson, a daughter of Robert Pat- terson, of Solano county, formerly of Pennsylvania, and a repre- sentative of one of the old American families. They have become parents of three children: William Harley; Claude Robert; and Pearl E., who is the wife of John Moore, of Mount Vernon, Wash- ington.
While residing in California Mr. Nickerson served in the state militia for five years as a member of Company A, of the First Regi- ment of the California National Guards of San Francisco. He was also made a Mason in San Francisco lodge. In politics he is a repub- lican and has been a delegate to various county and state conventions of his party. At different times he has held local offices and was very active as a political leader in Idaho during the early days. He is now identified with the Chamber of Commerce and has ever kept in touch with the trend of modern progress, becoming a cooperant factor in the projects and movements which have brought about the present day civilization and prosperity.
Muchlin Mackean
Lauchlin MacLean
AUCHLIN MACLEAN, commencing his career as a L railroad man, in which connection he won success, and advancing from that into the real-estate field, is now a leading factor in the development and sale of irrigated lands, being today one of the best known and most prominent irrigationists of the west. He has not confined his efforts alone to Spokane and vicinity but has also promoted many other projects throughout the Inland Empire and if, as has been often stated, "that man is blessed who makes two blades of grass grow where one had grown," Mr. Mac- Lean has contributed much to general progress and has merited the prosperity which has crowned his own labors. He was born in Tyne Valley, Prince Edward Island, July 24, 1856. His parents, Donald and Sarah (Ellis) MacLean, were also natives of that island, the former born near Port Hill and the latter at Bedford, of Scotch and English descent respectively. The MacLean family went to Prince Edward Island from Mull, Scotland, and Donald MacLean became a very prominent and influential citizen there, serving as one of the three judges of that district, a judgeship in that locality being equiv- alent to a seat on the superior court bench in the United States. He was also very active in the Presbyterian church, in which he served as a deacon and treasurer for thirty years. He died in 1891 and the same year his wife passed away. Her family were shipbuilders and went to Prince Edward Island from Bedford, England. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Donald MacLean were born five sons and eight daugh- ters: William, a farmer living at Northam, Prince Edward Island; Hugh, a farmer of that locality; James Edward, an agriculturist of Tyne Valley; Dan, living on the old family homestead; Emily, the wife of Alexander McArthur, a farmer of Northam; Mary Ann, the wife of Lauchlin MeNevin, a tanner and harness manufacturer of Tyne Valley; Rachael, whose husband, Mr. Horn, is a farmer of Elmsdale, Prince Edward Island; Maggie, Mina and Minerva, all of whom married farmers on Prince Edward Island; and Mrs. Caroline McAusland and Sarah Horn, both deceased.
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Kauchlin MacLean
The other son of the family is Lauchlin MacLean, who was edu- cated in the public schools of his native isle and until he reached the age of fifteen years remained on the old homestead. He then worked as water boy for a contractor on the Prince Edward Island Railway, which was then being built, and subsequently he spent three years as a stone cutter and builder, thoroughly acquainting himself with the trade during that period. When the road was completed he had charge of a section as foreman for three years and then came to the west. He spent two years with an engineering party on the Burling- ton & Missouri River Railroad at Beatrice, Nebraska, after which he proceeded to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and obtained a position as brake- man on the Union Pacific Railroad, being thus employed for six months. Later he was promoted to the position of conductor and ran a train on that line for two and a half years.
Mr. MacLean became connected with the Northern Pacific Rail- road Company at the time when the eastern terminus of the west end of its line was just east of what is now Plains, Montana, and was one of the first conductors during its construction. Following the completion of the line he ran a passenger train on the Montana divi- sion until the company started to build its line from Pasco to Ellens- burg. He acted as conductor of the construction train connected with laying the track from Kiona to Ellensburg, after which he re- tired from railroad service. During the succeeding two years he was general agent for the Home Accident Company of San Francisco for the territory of Washington and at the end of that time formed a partnership with Major Fred R. Reed, now of southern Idaho, in the real-estate and insurance business at North Yakima, entering that field in 1886. The town was owned by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and he had full charge of the town site and all the Northern Pacific lands in that district. In February, 1890, he came to Spokane, arriving here shortly after the fire.
In this city Mr. MacLean entered the real-estate business, in which he continued for two years, but the "wanderlust" was not yet satisfied and he removed to Chelan Falls in what was then Okanogan county. There he laid out the town site of Chelan Falls, remaining at that place until the autumn of 1900, during which period he not only managed the town site and conducted his real-estate interests but also owned the hotel, the ferry boat and in addition occupied his superfluous energies in managing his stock ranch near Chelan Falls. He still owns the stock ranch of one thousand acres. In November, 1900, Mr. MacLean removed to Wenatchee and acted as agent for the Northern Pacific land department, selling land in Chelan and
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Lauchlin MacLean
Douglas counties. In 1901 he promoted the high line ditch at We- natchee, an immense irrigation project covering at that time cight thousand acres. In June, 1903, he returned to Spokane, organized the Spokane Canal Company and promoted what is now the famous Otis Orchards, one of the garden spots of the Inland Empire and destined to be one of the greatest producing centers of the north- west. He continued as president and general manager of the com- pany until April 24, 1911, and in the development of that project six thousand acres were irrigated. Since coming to Spokane he has also organized the Methow Canal Company and built the high line Canal of the Methow valley, which covers four thousand acres. Three years ago, in 1908, he formed a partnership with Harry L. Irwin, of Chicago, and purchased the Fruit Land Irrigation Com- pany at Kettle Falls and completed the last nineteen miles of ditch line. He is still president of that company, whose line waters eight thousand acres of land. In June, 1910, he bought out the Garden Valley Irrigation Company and still owns that system in Ferry county, on the west side of the Columbia river, near Kettle Falls, irrigating in that connection four thousand acres. Mr. MaeLean has closely studied the subject of irrigation and his efforts have been a most practical element in the development of the Inland Empire in the reclamation of wild lands and the conversion of arid tracts into regions of productivity. Mr. MaeLean is also well and widely known in connection with farming and ranching interests, being now president of the Sheep Creek Land Company, which planted one thousand acres in Stevens county to alfalfa and put in a complete irrigating system to cover it. On his ranch up the Columbia river which he still owns he has two hundred acres under irrigation by means of the gravity and pump system. He is also interested in other companies-all irrigation enterprises of great importance and all under development. The soil of this region is naturally very fertile and the only thing required is the water supply to make the land extremely fruitful. Recognizing these facts, Mr. Maclean has promoted many projects to bring about the desired results and his labors are attended with success. His efforts have not only brought him financial reward but have constituted a most important factor in the development of this section of the state, the entire pub- lic being thus indirectly benefited owing to the fact that emigration is constantly attracted to this section and thus values in all lines of business are advanced.
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