History of the Pacific Northwest Oregon and Washington 1889 Collections – Page 22 of 34

Biography of Daniel O. Pearson

DANIEL O. PEARSON. – One of the most respected and honored of all of Washington’s citizens is the pioneer of Stanwood whose face looks at us from the opposite page. He is one of those whose integrity and universal kindness, as well as public spirit and business enterprise, are of the truest need in laying the foundations of a community. Mr. Pearson was born at Lowell, Massachusetts, April 11, 1846. His parents were Daniel and Susan (Brown) Pearson, who now reside near Coupville, Washington. The first removal of the family was to Salmon Falls, while Daniel was yet an infant. … Read more

Biography of Daniel Johnson

DANIEL JOHNSON. – Among the pioneers of Oregon, no one bore a better reputation than the subject of this sketch, whose doors were always open to the homeless stranger, and whose memory will be fondly cherished by the many who have been sheltered and fed by him. Daniel Johnson was born in 1812 in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and at ten years of age removed with his parents to Onondaga county, New York, remaining with them some thirteen years, and doing any kind of work he could get to do. However, during the latter part of this time, he labored at … Read more

Biography of Daniel H. Lownsdale

DANIEL H. LOWNSDALE. – Mr. Lownsdale, the son of one of the earliest settlers of Kentucky, was born in Mason county, of that state, April 8, 1803. As was the custom in those days, he was married quite young – at the age of twenty-three – to Miss Ruth, the youngest daughter of Paul Overfield, the head of one of the most prominent families of Northeastern Kentucky. In obedience to the venturesome spirit inherited form his father, who had abandoned the comforts of civilization in his youth to become one of the conquerors of Kentucky, young Lownsdale, with his young … Read more

Biography of Daniel G. McKenzie

DANIEL G. McKENZIE. – This is also a pioneer who found all the lands surrounding Pullman, Washington Territory, a sea of bunch-grass. He was born in Illinois in 1842. His father, Henry McKenzie was one of the early settlers of that state, and served in the Black Hawk war, and he came afterwards a pioneer of Iowa, building the town of Winterset. As county commissioner he conceived the idea of building a county-seat, and with the two other commissioners bought one hundred and sixty-acres of land near the center of the county, sold enough lots off from it to pay … Read more

Biography of Daniel Chaplin

DANIEL CHAPLIN. – The subject of this sketch was born in Niagara county, New York, in 1823. He was educated in his native place, and became a surveyor, removing to Michigan. Honest, upright and much respected, he was one of those men of broad ideas and indefatigable energy who create prosperity for any community in which they settle. Having heard much of Oregon, its boundless resources and delightful climate, he crossed the plains in 1854, settling near Champoeg in Marion county. From there he moved to where Sheridan, in Yamhill county, now stands, and thence to Dayton, Yamhill county. In … Read more

Biography of D. W. Small

D.W. SMALL. – The career of this gentleman and his brothers, who have been associated with him in most of his enterprises, well illustrates the fact that Western life peculiarly develops versatility and adaptability. The Western man must encounter sudden and unexpected obstacles. He must adapt himself to unusual conditions. Precedent is of little use to him. He has to make his own precedents. Hence the population of the Pacific slope is peculiarly noted for a variety of talents. The people learn to go across lots to conclusions. In the fierce struggle for existence which comes in a new country, … Read more

Biography of D. A. McAllister

D.A. McALLISTER. – Mr. McAllister is a pioneer among the horse-breeders of Eastern Oregon, and has animals in his band of three hundred easily worth four thousand dollars each. He sells colts at from five hundred to six hundred dollars each. It is not always noted, but it is nevertheless a fact, that the value and service of stock of all kinds ins multiplied rather by improving the quality of the animals than by increasing the number of those of inferior grade. In one particular Mr. McAllister is peculiar among horsemen. He despises gambling, and trots or runs only for … Read more

Biography of Cyrus F. Clapp

CYRUS F. CLAPP. – This leader in the business circles of the Lower Sound was born in Piscataquis county, Maine, July 29, 1851, and was the son of Stephen and Alvina Hunt Clapp. He lived in Maine until 1865, receiving the foundation of an education at the public school and continuing his studies at Hanover Academy of Massachusetts. Still ambitious for further acquirements, he crossed the Atlantic and spent two years at the Royal Institute of Belfast, Ireland, and completed his course at Saint Andrews College in Scotland. Returning to his home in America, he soon found a business situation … Read more

Biography of Conrad G. Saylor

CONRAD G. SAYLOR – Among the pioneers to the Pacific Northwest, and especially to the “classic shades” of Yamhill county, Oregon, none enjoyed a greater measure of esteem than the gentleman whose name is the title to this memoir. He was born in Martinsville, Indiana, October 6, 1818, and in that state resided until he was twenty-two years of age, when he came west to Iowa. In the latter state he learned the brickmaking and brick-laying trades, which he followed in various sections, first as employe’, then as contractor and builder. Among the numerous buildings which were constructed under his … Read more

Biography of Col. William Williams Chapman

COL. W.W. CHAPMAN. – It has frequently been remarked, that while many men of great fame, and a deservedly wide reputation, cannot lay their finger upon a single public act that they originated, others whose names are less known can county by the score the progeny of their brains, now alive and active in the affairs of the world. Of the latter class is Colonel Chapman of Oregon. There are few men in America, even among those esteemed great, who have originated and carried to completion a greater number of particular acts of large scope and general beneficence. Many whose … Read more

Biography of Col. William H. Wallace

COL. WILLIAM H. WALLACE, – The subject of this sketch was born in Troy, Miami county, Ohio, July 19, 1811. His early life was spent in Indiana, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1835 he removed to Iowa, and was appointed, by Governor Lucas, colonel of the state troops. He was elected a member of the first legislature, and served as speaker of the house. He was thereafter elected to the council, and was president of that body. He was appointed, by President Taylor, receiver of public moneys at Fairfield, Iowa. In 1853 he removed … Read more

Biography of Col. William F. Prosser

COL. WILLIAM F. PROSSER. – This gentleman was born near Williamsport, on the west branch of the Susquehanna River, in the State of Pennsylvania, of Welsh parentage, on the 16th of March, 1834. Shortly after his birth, his father removed with his family to Cambria County in the same state, where most of his earlier years were passed in occupations usual to boys whose parents are in moderate circumstances. His early educational opportunities were limited, and were only such as were afforded by a winter attendance upon the public schools of that day, and three terms of five months each … Read more

Biography of Col. Walter Crockett, Sr.

COL. WALTER CROCKETT, SR. – The lineal representatives of many of the distinguished families of the Atlantic states have become the builders of our own communities. Such was Colonel Crockett, who was in the line of the old Virginia family that went out West to settle in the early days of Braddock’s war. The father, Colonel Hugh, was of Norman-Irish descent, and earned his rank in the Revolutionary war. His mother, Rebecca Larton, was a Knickerbocker, born at Jersey City, New Jersey. It was near Shawsville on the upper Roanoke, whither the Colonel had gone to settle, that his son, … Read more

Biography of Col. T. R. Cornelius

COL. T.R. CORNELIUS. – In view of the prominent part sustained by Colonel Cornelius in the Indian wars of our early history, as well as in our political history since, it seems best to give at length the interesting picture of his connection with those wars. This is done mainly in his own language, and hence preserves the vividness of his own recollections. T.R. Cornelius was born November 16, 1827, in Howard county, Missouri. At an early age he moved with his parents to Arkansas, and in 1845, then a youth of nineteen, came with them to Oregon. The company … Read more

Biography of Col. La Fayette Mosher

COL. LA FAYETTE MOSHER. – There is perhaps no resident of Oregon more widely known and generally respected than L.F. Mosher. He has held so many prominent positions, and is so well qualified to fill them, that it only seems a natural thing to see him in the senate, and as a justice of the supreme court. He was born in Benton County, Kentucky, September 1, 1824. So entirely did he bend his energies tot he gaining of an education, that at the age of nineteen years we find him a graduate of Woodward College, Cincinnati, where he carried off … Read more

Biography of Col. Joseph L. Meek

COL. JOSEPH L. MEEK. – As one of the remarkable mountainmen of our early age, “Jo” Meek is deserving of special mention. Aside from the class of men of whom he was one of the best types, he possessed an unusual personality of his own. This led him to so conspicuous a place in our early annals that his frequent appearance in the body of the work makes an extended notice here unnecessary. We shall present only the salient features of his remarkable career. Born in Washington county, Virginia, in 1810, he early developed a love of wandering which took … Read more

Biography of Col. John Colgate Bell

COL. JOHN COLGATE BELL. – Colonel Bell, enjoying a wide reputation from Southern Oregon to Idaho, and back again to the Pacific seashore throughout the state in which he has successively lived and made a multitude of personal acquaintances, merits a special recognition on account of his public services in official relations and in the early Indian wars of Southern Oregon. He was born at Sterling, Kentucky, February 24, 1814. His parents were from Virginia; and among his ancestors were those distinguished in the early history of the nation, his father having served with General Harrison in the war of … Read more

Biography of Col. James Taylor

COL. JAMES TAYLOR. – The immigration of 1845 was large, and furnished many of the leading men of the Northwest, among that number being Colonel James Taylor of Astoria, Oregon. Although now past eighty years of age, he is still one of the active citizens of a city which boasts of many men of energy. He is one of the fathers of the place, not only in point of time, but as owner of considerable property in the city and adjacent country, embracing the heights west of the city, which will one day be occupied with handsome residences, as they … Read more

Biography of Col. J. C. Haines

COL. J.C. HAINES. – This gentleman was born February 14, 1850, at Hainesville, Lake county, Illinois, his father being the late Honorable E.M. Haines of Illinois, who was twice speaker of the House of Representatives of that state, and for a short time acting governor, and also the author of several treatises and text books on law. He is also a nephew of Honorable John C. Haines, who was twice mayor of Chicago and for many hears a prominent banker in that city. Our subject acquired his early education in the public schools, and completed his studies at Williams College, … Read more

Biography of Col. Henry Landes

COL. HENRY LANDES. – The subject of this sketch is prominent and noteworthy, even among the foremost self-made men of the great and growing Pacific Northwest, – a section so progressive and promising that it has attracted the most vigorous minds and the ablest men throughout the country. He was born in a small town in Germany on the 8th of October, 1843. In 1847 his father and family emigrated to Kentucky, Henry being then four years old. There the boy grew almost to the years of manhood, and developed in a marked degree the spirit of adventurous ambition which … Read more