History of the Pacific Northwest Oregon and Washington 1889

History of the Pacific Northwest Oregon and Washington. 2 v. Portland, Oregon: North Pacific History Company. 1889.

Biographical Sketch of McDonough B. Rees

McDONOUGH B. REES. – This is a brother of the well-known pioneer, W.H. Rees, of Marion county, and has in his own right earned a wide reputation as a man of unusual force of character and enterprise. He was born in Ohio in 1831, and came to Oregon in 1854. Much of his life on this coast has been devoted to prospecting and mining. As early as 1855 he was at the Pend d’Oreille mines, and in 1856 returned to the Willamette valley amid great dangers from the Indians. After farming a few years in the Willamette valley, he went … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Matthias Spurgeon

MATTHIAS SPURGEON. – This pioneer of Clarke County is a native of Iowa, having been born in Cedar County in 1838. In his childhood he was bereft of his parents, and found a home in the family of an uncle, Mr. George Spurgeon. With this relative he came to Oregon while but a boy of fourteen, and found a home in the household of Mr. William H. Dillon. Soon after becoming of age, he spent two years in the mountains and gorges of Idaho prospecting for gold, meeting, however, with but little success. Returning to Clarke county he took up … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Matthew W. Mitchell

MATTHEW W. MITCHELL. – This representative man of Eastern Oregon was born in Missouri in 1843, and with his parents crossed the plains to the Pacific Northwest in 1852. The first winter was passed by the family at Portland; and the year following a Donation claim was selected and a home made at Looking Glass, in Douglas county. Our subject was there raised, and at Roseburg received his education. In 1866 he was so far equipped as to begin school-teaching, and for some years followed that as a profession. In 1870 he was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Stevens, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Matthew Neeves

MATTHEW NEEVES. – Mr. Neeves, a prominent citizen of Pendleton, Oregon, was born near Syracuse, New York, in 1830. He there received a common-school education and remained until he was twenty years old. Going west to Galesburg, Illinois, he made his way in that new section in the capacity of a Yankee school-master. After one year in that place he went to Platt county, and remained another year as teacher. In 1852 he was induced to join the company of the veteran pioneer Joab Powell, and arrived at Portland in October of the same year. He first turned his attention … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Matthew Bartholet

MATTHEW BARTHOLET. – This active merchant, a member of the firm of Bartholet Brothers, was born in Minnesota, of German parentage. He secured the advantages of a common-school education, and moved with his parents to Oregon in 1875, assisting them in the hotel business for four years. Coming then to Yakima City, he found employment with his uncle, Nicholas Hoscheid, he bought and conducted a remunerative business for two years; but consequent upon the building of the railroad, came to the new place and associated himself with J.C. MacCrimmon, and with him secured a very flourishing custom. In the fall … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Major W. F. Hooker

MAJOR W.F. HOOKER. – This leading citizen of Eastern Washington, whose capacity for public affairs, and whose independence in politics, have become proverbial, is a native of the Palmetto state, having been born at Hookerton, Green county, North Carolina, in 1835. Like all true Southerners, he is proud of his ancestry, his father having been a captain in the war of 1812 and twice a member of the legislature of North Carolina, and a member of the convention which formed the constitution of that state. Young Hooker was educated at Wake-forest College in his native state, and at the age … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Mahala George

MAHALA GEORGE. – Mahala George was the wife of Presley George, and was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, August 22, 1808. She is the daughter of Hugh and Rebecca Blanchard Nickerson, an old Puritan family of distinction and memorable service in the Bay state. They removed to Ohio in 1817; and in that state of great ideas and great people, on the whole the finest produced in American, Miss Mahala received her education, and gained the large ideas which naturally suited her New England mind. She is one of the mothers of our state whom Oregon could by no means have … Read more

Biographical Sketch of M. C. True

M.C. TRUE. – The proprietor of the Palace Hotel at the city of Pullman, Washington, is a native of Indiana, and was born in 1847. While but a boy, his family removed to California, locating in 1853, upon a farm. Somewhat later his father began hotel-keeping and is still the proprietor of the Suscol House at Napa. While at that place young True received a good education, and assisted in the hotel, but in 1880 sought a field of his own. He went to Moscow, Idaho Territory, and leased and ran the Barton House. Two years later he came to … Read more

Biographical Sketch of M. C. George

M.C. GEORGE. – M.C. George is the third son of Presley and Mahala George. He is a gentleman of brisk mental qualities and great force, with refined popular attainments, and an honorable reputation that extends to every corner of Oregon. He was born in Noble county, Ohio, May 13, 1849. He received his education in our own state, at the Santiam Academy and at the Willamette University. He began independent life as principal of the public schools of Albany, and subsequently of the Academy at Jefferson. He was also engaged for a time in journalistic employment; but choosing the legal … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Louis La Brache

LOUIS LA BRACHE. – Mr. La Brache was born in Illinois in 1847. His father was at that time a partner with Stephen A. Douglas in the lumber and wood business, taking large contracts. In 1862 he became a citizen of Washington Territory, locating at Walla Walla, and engaging in freighting to the mines. Three years later he was packing from Wallula to Montana. In 1866 he accompanied his father in a tramp throughout the mining districts of Eastern Oregon, and the next year was engaged as government packer in a Nez Perce war. He also served the government in … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Levi H. Cyphers

LEVI H. CYPHERS. – Mr. Cyphers, who occupies a very prominent position in Snohomish county, having served as sheriff by the choice of the Republicans as well as democrats, is a native of the Keystone state, having been born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania, in 1849. He engaged in business at his early home, but at the age of twenty-six acted upon the belief that there were better opportunities for young men at the West. He accordingly set out for the Black Hills in the fall of 1875, with the expectation of digging gold, but, upon arriving at Cheyenne, found that … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Justus Wade

JUSTUS WADE. – This gentleman, the brother of Phares E. Wade, mentioned in these pages, was born in Virginia in 1843. He remained with his parents on the farm in Iowa, receiving a common-school education, and in 1864 crossed the plains to join his brothers in the Grande Ronde valley, arriving among them with but a five-dollar greenback, which was then worth but two dollars in these parts. He farmed three years with his brothers, and returned to Iowa with eighteen hundred dollars, thinking to remain there. But the beauties of the land of which we write could not be … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Judge Hugh G. Yoakum

JUDGE HUGH G. YOAKUM. – Judge Yoakum, who enjoys a very high reputation as a man of probity and fidelity in public affairs, was born in Tennessee in 1831, and removed to Missouri in 1834. He was married in 1851. In 1863 he came to Oregon, settling in Lane county, and in 1867 made his permanent home on the Umatilla river, near the town of Nolin. The domestic circle was sadly broken by the death of his wife in 1886. But his daughter, Minnie Lee, and two sons, D.J. and H.C., still remain at the farm. In political life Mr. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph Truesdale

JOSEPH TRUESDALE. – The name Truesdale is so well known throughout Oregon as designating the captain of the plains as to need little introduction here. The son Joseph was born in Illinois in 1850, and two years later made the journey to California with his father and mother, the latter of whom died the same year; while the former returned to Illinois in 1855, taking the boy with him. Marrying again in 1856, the Captain brought an ox-team across the Rocky Mountains in 1862 to form a settlement in the Grande Ronde valley. In 1865 young Truesdale went to the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph Mallett

JOSEPH MALLETT. – The proprietor of the Penobscot Hotel, in Snohomish, Washington, indicates the place of his birth in the name of his house, Penobscot county, Maine, is his native place; and the year of his birth was 1855. At the age of twenty he came to the Pacific coast with a brother, and after a short stay in California continued the journey to the Sound, locating first in Tacoma, and after a few months finding employment at Port Gamble. At Snohomish he began by logging, and increased his means by clerking for Mr. Cathcart. Returning to the logging business … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph Blanchet

JOSEPH BLANCHET. – The farm of twelve hundred and eighty acres of fenced and improved land, belonging to Mr. Blanchet, is a sight rare even for this region of big farms. Its proprietor has been so successful in multiplying his flocks and droves, that he has been obliged to remove a part of them to Idaho. He came to Vinson in 1880; and his acquisitions have thus been the work of but a few years. He was born in Canada in 1846, and was occupied, until his removal to this coast, in draying in the cities. He has three fine … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph A. Thomas

JOSEPH A. THOMAS. – This leading citizen of Gilliam county and a “native son” of our state, was born in Douglas county, September 18, 1854. With his parents he moved to Jefferson, Marion county, in 1862, and was furnished with good educational advantages, attending upon the excellent common-school of that town. In 1874 he went into business with his father, E.N. Thomas, a merchant with headquarters at Jefferson, but also with branch houses in various other localities, and indeed much occupied in other lines, such as livestock, of which he had accumulated as many as ten thousand head in Washington … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Jonas L. Roe

JONAS L. ROE.- Mr. Roe was born at Huntington, Pennsylvania, January 10, 1852, and is the son of James Roe, a farmer and carpenter, and a captain in the state militia. In 1854 our subject removed with his parents to Iowa, and subsequently shared with them the returns of hard labor and sagacious investments. Being a bright boy, dividing his time between following the plow and attending school, and growing up a vigorous youth, he took a thorough course of study at the Kirksville, Missouri, State Normal school, and at the age of twenty-one began independent life as teacher in … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John T. Jewell

JOHN T. JEWELL. – Mr. Jewell is a member of the Cove Dairy Company. He is a native of Indiana, having been born in that state in 1836. After receiving his education there and in Illinois, he was drawn west in 1859 by the Pike’s Peak gold excitement. From that point he quite naturally came on to Oregon. His first employment was at West Portland, supplying steamboats with wood. As early as 1863 he moved to the Grande Ronde, entering into business as a freighter. Two years later he located a beautiful claim at The Cove, Oregon, and has devoted … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John S. Vinson

JOHN S. VINSON. – The proprietor of Nolin, Oregon, was born in Iowa in 1848. His father, James Vinson, was a native of Ohio, and was born in 1808. In 1852 our subject crossed the plains with his father, who located a Donation claim in Clackamas county, Oregon, and was first postmaster at the town of Needy, where he subsequently kept a store. After the wars of 1855-56 he bought largely of the volunteer scrip, which as yet has never been paid by the government. This brought the elder Vinson financial ruin, and caused him to remove to Umatilla county … Read more