History of the Pacific Northwest Oregon and Washington 1889 Collections – Page 15 of 34

Biography of Hon. James G. Swan

HON. JAMES G. SWAN. – Hon. James G. Swan was born in Medford Massachusetts January 11, 1818.He came to San Francisco via Cape Horn in 1850. He came to Shoalwater Bay in 1852, which was then a part of Oregon, and remained till 1856,when he went East as private secretary to Governor Isaac I. Stevens, Delegate to Congress at Washington, District of Columbia. He returned to the territory in 1858, and settled in Port Townsend. In 1862 he was appointed teacher in charge of the Makah Indian Agency at Neah Bay, and remained till 1866, having charge of the government … Read more

Biography of Hon. James B. Sperry

HON. JAMES B. SPERRY. – The striking difference between a savage and a civilized community is the multiplication of different industries in the latter. The most of our interest in life arises from the interdependence of many persons, each supplying some single necessity of all the rest. The man who makes flour for the people of Heppner, Oregon, is Mr. Sperry. He built his mill with a capacity of seventy-five barrels in 1885, from means realized by the sale of his band of fourteen thousand sheep, which he drove to Montana to market. He is one of the substantial men … Read more

Biography of Hon. James B. Reavis

Much interest attaches to the life and work of an attorney such as Mr. Reavis, whose chief endeavor both privately and professionally has been to realize a high degree of public justice. He is a man whom the people feel safe in having by; for they can trust his sagacity and integrity, knowing that he is thoroughly incorruptible by any influence, corporate or otherwise. He is one of the men of whom both unscrupulous politicians and monopolies have a wholesome fear. Glancing at his ancestry, we observe that he came honestly by these rugged qualities, being in lineal descent from … Read more

Biography of Hon. James Abner Bennett

HON. JAMES ABNER BENNETT. – Our subject was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, on March 17,1808. His birthplace was a farm; and here he remained with his parents until 1830, when he moved to Boone county. He resided here for three years, and then removed to Jackson county, Missouri, near the town of Independence, and in 1839 again removed to Platt county. The following year, 1840, he was married to Miss Louisa E.R. Bane, of Weston, Missouri. Here Mr. Bennett remained, following blacksmithing and conducting a livery stable. He also acted as justice of the peace until the year 1842. … Read more

Biography of Hon. Jackson L. Morrow

HON. JACKSON L. MORROW.- It is not so uncommon a thing in this land of a great future for a man to lay out a town or build a city; but there is, we believe, but one man in the state who may be called the maker of a county, and whose name is perpetuated in its designation: that man is Jackson L. Morrow, of Heppner, Oregon, whose sketch is here presented. This honor was worthily bestowed upon him at the instance and almost insistence of his neighbors, in recognition of his privations and labors in settling up the region, … Read more

Biography of Hon. J. J. Browne

HON. J.J. BROWNE. – The broad-minded citizenship which looks to personal advantage only through the general prosperity, and makes the public weal and growth occupy the first place, is the best guarantee of a great future. This Spokane Falls enjoys. None of her citizens is more fully impressed with this theory of metropolitan attainments than he whose name appears above. Mr. Browne was born at Greenville, Ohio, in 1843, and was educated for the law at the Michigan University. Coming to this coast, he remained four years at Portland, practicing law. He also served as superintendent of public schools. In … Read more

Biography of Hon. J. H. Rinehart

HON.J.H. RINEHART. – Mr. Rinehart, whose portrait appears in this volume, is one of the pioneers of Eastern Oregon, and the proprietor of the Mammoth Anna-Lulu Flouring mills. He was born October 1, 1836, in Adams county, Illinois, and moved to Mahaska county, Iowa, in 1845. In 1854 he crossed the plains with his parents to Oregon and located with them at Eugene. In 1855 he left the parental roof and, although but a boy of eighteen, sought the gold fields of Northern California, where he remained a year and a half, and returned to Oregon soon after the close … Read more

Biography of Hon. J. A. Strowbridge

HON. J.A. STROWBRIDGE. – Mr. Strowbridge, universally known as one of the leading business men and philanthropists of Portland, Oregon, was born in 1835 in Monteur county, Pennsylvania. With his parents he early made a home in Ohio, receiving the substantial home training of very careful christian parents, and gained thereby the habits of thrift, industry and enterprise which have made him uninterruptedly successful through life. He was also afforded excellent advantages at school, and prepared himself to enter the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware Ohio, with a view to studying law. When but a lad of fourteen he was … Read more

Biography of Hon. J. A. Perkins

HON. J.A. PERKINS. – It is a pleasure to see that this widely known and universally respected citizen of Colfax, Washington, the father of the place, is an Oregon man, having crossed the plains to his Western home in Benton county when but eleven years of age. He thus received his education and the impetus of his life on this coast, although he was born in Illinois. In 1861 he came to Walla Walla county, and in 1870 to the Palouse, taking up a claim upon unsurveyed land at the site of Colfax; for the whole region was yet a … Read more

Biography of Hon. Isaac Ingalls Stevens

HON. ISAAC INGALLS STEVENS. – Governor Stevens was born at Andover, Massachusetts, March 18, 1818. He graduated from West Point in the class of 1839, of which he stood at the head, and immediately thereafter was commissioned second lieutenant of engineers. In 1840 he was promoted to a first lieutenancy. In the war with Mexico (1846-1848) he served on the staff of General Scott and for gallant and meritorious services at Contreras, Churubusco and Chapultepec earned the brevet rank of major. He was severely wounded in the capture of the City of Mexico from the effect of which he suffered … Read more

Biography of Hon. Hiram D. Morgan

HON. HIRAM D. MORGAN. – This gentleman, whose portrait appears in this history, and who is so well known up and down the Sound, has had a varied pioneer life since 1853. He is a native of Ohio, having been born at Mount Ayre in 1822. During his boyhood, his parents moved to Marion and other portions of the state; and in the course of his development he learned the carpenter’s trade, which has ever been a great reliance to him. In 1846 he came out to Oskaloosa, Iowa, and in 1853 became one of the Davis party to cross … Read more

Biography of Hon. Hilory Butler

HON. HILORY BUTLER. – Mr. Butler is the son of Roland and Luc Emery Butler. He was born in Culpepper county, Virginia, on March 31, 1819. He resided on his father’s farm, where he was born, until he was twenty-one years of age, when he came to Lexington, Missouri, with a neighbor’s family, and followed farming until 1852. In April of that year he started across the plains in company with his wife, with the train known as the Hays and Cowan train, and arrived in Portland in September of the same year. After spending the first winter in Portland, … Read more

Biography of Hon. Henry W. Corbett

HON. HENRY W. CORBETT. – The reminiscences of the early pioneers of the Pacific Northwest must ever posses a peculiar interest for all who can look back to the days when the wigwam of the Indian was seen on every hand, and when the old log cabins of the founders of this great section of the union were few and far between. Pioneers of civilization constitute no ordinary class of adventurers. Resolute, ambitious and enduring, looking into a great and possible future of the undeveloped country, and possessing the sagacious mind to grasp true conclusions, and the indomitable will to … Read more

Biography of Hon. Henry Rinehart

HON. HENRY RINEHART. – The retiring registrar of the United States land-office at La Grande, Oregon, is one of the representative men of the state, having come hither from Iowa in 1854, his native state, however, being Illinois, and the time of his birth 1842. His first home in Oregon was in Lane county, near Eugene, where his father, Lewis Rinehart, settled on a Donation claim; and it was there that he received a liberal education. In 1861 he seized the opportunities presented in the Inland Empire, spent the year 1861 at Walla Walla, and in 1862 crossed over the … Read more

Biography of Hon. Henry L. Yesler

HON. HENRY L. YESLER. – There are two very distinct types of men – those that think, and those that act. One of the former class finds his satisfaction in reaching a conclusion. One of the latter class finds his satisfaction in performing a deed. The man of thought must of necessity act more or less; but his acts are characterized by hesitation, doubt, or perhaps carelessness. He may be borne along by the activity of others, his choice of this or that being overruled by the general stream of the world’s or the community’s business. His performances may turn … Read more

Biography of Hon. Henry Blackman

HON. HENRY BLACKMAN. – Mr. Blackman, as mayor of Heppner, Oregon, occupies a responsible and eminent position. His first election to the office was in 1887, during his absence at Salem, where he was still perfecting the articles of incorporation for the town. He was re-elected in 1888 by a heavy majority (100 to 41), and was re-elected for the third time in 1889 unanimously, there being no opposition. At all times the tickets were nonpolitical, although the mayor is a Democrat. The issue was upon general improvements, and a general policy of progress. The town was laid out upon … Read more

Biography of Hon. Harrison Clothier

HON. HARRISON CLOTHIER. – The subject of this short sketch was born in Corinth, Saratoga county, New York, on the 9th of July, 1840, and is the son of Ebenezer K. and Lucy Clothier. He remained in the place of his birth until 1868, with the exception of three years spent in New Jersey and in Troy, New York. Then he put into execution the advice of Horace Greeley, and emigrated to Wisconsin. After a short time there he journeyed on to Minnesota, where he devoted his time to farming in the summer and teaching in the winter. In 1872 … Read more

Biography of Hon. H. W. Fairweather

HON. H.W. FAIRWEATHER. – Mr. Fairweather was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, May 20, 1852. Here he received a common-school education. His father was from Essex county, New York, pure English. His mother’s parents were from Ireland, pure Irish. Our subject went to Boston in 1868, and found work as brakeman on the Old Colony Railroad. He spent 1869, ’70 and ’71 in Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota in the same line of work. He came to Washington Territory in 1871, and was employed by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company as locomotive engineer, and subsequently as chief clerk. In … Read more

Biography of Hon. George W. Tibbitts

HON. GEORGE W. TIBBITTS. – A portrait of Mr. Tibbitts is placed among the illustrations of this history. He was born in Acton, Maine, January 22, 1845, and is the son of Daniel and Mary (Witham) Tibbitts, and was the youngest in a family of fifteen children. When our subject was but one year of age, the family suffered the irreparable loss of their mother; and at the age of four years George was placed with an aunt in West Milton, New Hampshire, with whom he remained until he was fifteen years of age. He then went to Great Falls, … Read more

Biography of Hon. George H. Williams

HON. GEORGE H. WILLIAMS. – Judge Williams alone among the citizens of our state, and of the Pacific coast, has had the distinction of occupying a place in the highest councils of the nation, – in the cabinet of a President. He was also regarded by President Grant as the man most fit and able to hold the position of chief justice of the United States. The bitter struggle following his nomination to this supreme position is well remembered for the sectional feeling displayed and the dissent of certain members of the senate which led the Judge to withdraw his … Read more