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.

Biography of Thomas Johnson

THOMAS JOHNSON. – The gentleman whose name appears above belongs to three towns on the east slope of the Cascades, – Goldendale, Ellensburgh and Cle-Elum; and it may almost be said that in the course of their development these three towns belong to him. At least, he has been a leading and constructive spirit in them. He is a native of Canada, where he was born in 1839, and came to this coast in search of the golden fleece at Caribou in 1862. The Province, however, detained him but a year; and he came down to Rockland opposite The Dalles, … Read more

Biography of Thomas J. Shadden

THOMAS J. SHADDEN. – The subject of our sketch has reached the age of eighty years. He is a pioneer of 1842, and has seen, and had a part in, the changes of nearly half a century upon the Northwest Coast. During this time Oregon has passed from a region of savages and a few scattered settlements to a great and productive state, – one of the most promising in the Union. As the memory of this venerable pioneer passes back over his life, and traverses his many experiences, it lingers longest upon the “crossing of the plains.” It is … Read more

Biography of Thomas Guinean

THOMAS GUINEAN. – The proprietor of the Esmond Hotel, in Portland, Oregon, and one of the most popular men in his line upon the Pacific slope, was born in the city of Quebec, Canada, in 1838. In the year 1849 he was left an orphan and thrown upon his own responsibilities, and went down to Boston, but within a year left the old Puritan city and journeyed on to New York, where he took passage in the steamer California to San Francisco, arriving at the Golden Gate in the early part of 1852. He remained in San Francisco nearly one … Read more

Biography of Thomas A. Wood

THOMAS A. WOOD. – It is gratifying to observe that to a large extent those who first lived in Portland, Oregon, and took the rough blows and made the numerous shifts of the early days, have kept their position in the ranks, and as Portland has grown have become her men of wealth. Ladd, Reed, Corbett, Failing, Lewis and about a hundred others illustrate this fact, and so also does our subject Mr. wood. One so much a real-estate speculator as he should be the son of a speculator; and such we find to be the case. His father, William … Read more

Biography of Theodore C. Van Epps

THEODORE C. VAN EPPS. – Mr. Van Epps, a portrait of whom is placed among the illustrations of this work, is one of the best known men in Washington’s capital city. He was born in New Scotland, eight miles west of Albany, New York, February 15, 1847, and is the son of Charles and Angelica (Vedder) Van Epps, both of whom were born in New York of Holland parentage, his mother being a cousin of ex-President Martin Van Buren. His great-grandfather was from Holland, and founded the town of Amsterdam in New York State. At the age of six Theodore … Read more

Biography of the Blackman Brothers

ALANSON A., ELHANAN AND HYRCANUS BLACKMAN. – The father of these gentlemen, Adam Blackman, is a native of Maine; and their mother was Mary (Howard) Blackman, both of whom are still living in the town of Bradley in the above state. The history of communities and of nations is made up mainly of the acts of men who contribute towards directing to a result the efforts of the people by whom they are surrounded. This is equally true whether the actor be a Grant marshaling the legions of a grand army, a Vanderbilt, dictating a nation’s commerce, or the obscure … Read more

Biography of T. J. V. Clark

T.J.V. CLARK. – Mr. Clark, a portrait of whom will be found within these pages, is a man substantial and popular, greatly given to building up the city of his residence, and always inventing ways and means of increasing the quantity and variety of products in the surrounding country. Yakima county owes much to him for the introduction of the new grains and new machinery; and not only has he brought there improved products and methods to the notice of the farmers, but has paid them for their crops, thus giving them substantial encouragement. He is the true merchant, whose … Read more

Biography of Syrenous Burnett McCord

S.B. McCORD. – Syrenous Burnett McCord, one of the leading hardware merchants of Eastern Oregon, was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, in 1842. He went with his parents to Wisconsin when a youth, and lived there several years. At the age of eighteen he entered into an apprenticeship in a blacksmith shop in the city of Black Jack, his boss being the Honorable George W. Strong; and there he served out his time and came out a good workman. He crossed the plains in 1864, leaving with Colonel Flurney’s train. At Baldock’s ranch, in the Powder river valley, Oregon, he … Read more

Biography of Stephen S. Glidden

STEPHEN S. GLIDDEN. – Spokane Falls, Washington, has been fortunate in possessing from the first business men accustomed to large enterprises. Such a man is Mr. Glidden. He was born in Northfield, New Hampshire, in 1829, and at the early age of two years removed with his parents to Scotia county, Ohio. Upon reaching a few more years, he was taken back by his mother to his native state to enjoy educational advantages. Returning s a youth of eighteen to Ohio, he entered the store of the iron company with which his father and uncle were connected. Upon their purchase … Read more

Biography of Solomon Howard Smith

SOLOMON HOWARD SMITH. – Mr. Smith, a most generous and public-spirited citizen, and a pioneer of so early a day as 1832, was born at Lebanon, New Hampshire, December 26, 1809. He came of Revolutionary stock, his maternal grandfather having been a soldier in the war for Independence, and a relative of the Greeley family. His father was an assistant surgeon in the war of 1812, and died at Plattsburgh, New York, in 1813. The boy Solomon was afforded good advantages, receiving his academic education at Norwich, Vermont; and he studied medicine with his uncle, Doctor Haven Foster, not, however, … Read more

Biography of Solomon Emerick

SOLOMON EMERICK, – Some time before Horace Greeley gave his advice, “Go West, young man, go West,” there were hardy young Americans making tracks across the Rocky Mountains, and pushing into the fastnesses towards the pacific Ocean. “Ribs of brass and hearts of steel” had these young fellows; and they were without fear or even caution. One of these was Solomon Emerick, who was born in Ohio in 1820. He moved to Buchanan county, Missouri, in 1830, and in 1843 was on the way to the rendezvous on the border. Falling in with the pioneer Gilmore, he accepted of him … Read more

Biography of Sir James Douglas, K. C. B.

SIR JAMES DOUGLAS, K.C.B. – The first governor of British Columbia is worthy of more than a passing notice in this work. With a peculiar though undesigned poetical fitness, he first came to the land of his fame on the famous old steamer Beaver. On her he came to Esquaimalt harbor in the summer of 1849. He had gone from Fort Vancouver, where he had been head clerk, to be chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company in British Columbia. Having founded the city of Victoria, he made his home there, conducting with great ability the work of the company. … Read more

Biography of Simon Edward Josephi, M.D.

Simeon Edward Josephi was born in the city of New York on December 3, 1849. His father, Edward Josephi, was a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, but left that country with his parents for England when a boy. He afterwards came to New York, where he embarked in the jewelry business, becoming a prominent wholesale jeweler of that city and San Francisco. Returning to New York from a trip to the latter city, he was lost in the burning of the ill-fated steamer Golden Gate in 1862. The mother of Doctor Josephi is a native of England. She is one … Read more

Biography of Simeon Edward Josephi, M.D.

S.E. JOSEPHI, M.D. – Simeon Edward Josephi was born in the city of New York on December 3, 1849. His father, Edward Josephi, was a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, but left that country with his parents for England when a boy. He afterwards came to New York, where he embarked in the jewelry business, becoming a prominent wholesale jeweler of that city and San Francisco. Returning to New York from a trip to the latter city, he was lost in the burning of the ill-fated steamer Golden Gate in 1862. The mother of Doctor Josephi is a native of … Read more

Biography of Sigmund Sichel

SIGMUND SICHEL. – America is made up of the most intelligent and energetic people from all parts of the world. It is those who are alert and keen in the pursuit of information who learn of the advantages to be found in this country. And it is those who feel the impulse to stretch their limbs and operate upon a larger scale of life than the opportunities the old world afford who undergo the labors and take the risks involved in a removal across the Atlantic. This rule, which is not without its exception, is exemplified in the career of … Read more

Biography of Sigismund A. Heilner

SIGISMUND A. HEILNER. – This leading merchant, who is described as one of the most energetic, broadminded, and liberal citizens of Eastern Oregon, exhibits in his life that romance of business which has made many of the phases of Western life so fascinating to the young men of our state. He was born and educated in Bavaria, and in 1853 came to New York, repairing soon to Washington, District of Columbia, and within two years more to Crescent city, California, and Althouse, Oregon. At that point he was engaged in business, and was there during the war of 1856. As … Read more

Biography of Sidney Walter Moss

SIDNEY WALTER MOSS. – Mr. Moss is a venerable and noticeable character among the pioneers, not only for his long residence in Oregon, but for the esteem in which he has ever been held by the people. He has, in an eminent degree, that quality for which the early Oregonians have been remarkable, – liberality. He was born in Paris, Kentucky, March 17,1810. His father, Moses Moss, was a Baptist minister; and his mother, Katherine Buckford Moss, was a woman of great force and elevation of character. The young man learned the trade of stone-cutting, and in 1828 left Kentucky … Read more

Biography of Sidney S. Benton

SIDNEY S. BENTON. – This pioneer of Illinois, California and Washington is one of those facile, multiplex characters that give to our Western life its buoyancy. He was born in the first-named State in 1838, while Chicago was yet in her swamps, and his father was at that city in 1831, when it was a mere Indian trading post, and also at Galena, the home of the Grants, in 1832. His father came out to California with ox-teams amid Indians, and over the usual sage-brush plains, and the iron-stone rocks in 1849. He mined on Feather river in Yuba county, … Read more

Biography of Sarah Fairbanks King

SARAH FAIRBANKS KING (Mrs. S.A. King). – The annals of Oregon women, who performed the hard duties incident to pioneer life faithfully, patiently and well, contain no name more justly honored, or more tenderly cherished, than that of Sarah Fairbanks King. Mrs. King was a native of New York, having been born in Potter, Cayuga county, October 12, 1834. While yet in her infancy, she was taken by her parents to Michigan, then scarcely more than an outpost of Western civilization. Here she grew to womanhood, developing traits of gentleness and devotion to duty that were the distinguishing characters of … Read more

Biography of Samuel M. McCurdy, M.D.

SAMUEL M. McCURDY, M.D. – This venerable deceased pioneer of the Lower Sound, whose name will ever be held in honorable regard by the people of this coast, was born near Londonderry, Ireland, in 1805. In his youth and early manhood he was favored with the best of educational advantages, and before crossing the water to America held the degree of M.D. from Trinity College, Dublin. In 1836 he had reached St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and was engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1849 he sought to begin life anew in the Golden state, and in the spring … Read more