Centerville Oregon

Biographical Sketch of T. J. Kirk

T.J. KIRK. – It is pleasant to see that the oldest pioneers, who bore the brunt of the settlement of the country, are now the most prosperous. Mr. Kirk came to Oregon in 1846, being at that time but a boy of seven. He lived with his father in Linn county until 1871, when he made his home in Umatilla county near the pleasant city of Centerville. Here he has been in the horse and cattle business and a pioneer in raising wheat on the uplands. He now owns a farm of fourteen hundred acres consisting of the best land … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. B. Robley

A.B. ROBLEY. – The figures which express the business of the Eastern Oregon shipping points are instructive and almost startling. Thus, by the record of Mr. Robley, Centerville shipped in 1888 seventeen thousand tons of wheat and seven hundred tons of barley. The average yield of wheat per acre of a belt of the country extending twelve miles around Centerville is about thirty bushels. The other grains and the vegetables are grown to advantage; and the fruit is a good crop. Centerville has excellent railroad facilities, being on the direct line of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company’s road, which … 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

Biography of W. T. Cook

W.T. COOK. – There may not be a million dollars at the end of the pathway of every industrious young man; but in this country there is a competency, and, what is more, an honorable business and a happy home. Mr. Cook’s career proves this. He was born in Polk county, Missouri, in1848. Being thirteen years of age at the outbreak of the Civil war, his education was neglected for the next five years; but, repairing this loss by his own exertions, he fitted himself as school teacher, and thus supported himself for three years. Coming to Oregon in 1874, … Read more

Biography of J. C. Trullinger

J.C. TRULLINGER. – There is scarcely a man in Oregon who has been engaged in more various, or, on the whole more successful enterprises than the man whose name appears above. With a tendency, possibly, to push his efforts a little beyond the line of safety, and to overcrowd himself with different schemes, he has nevertheless a substantial grip on property and business which proves his sagacity. If his love of making inventions and introducing improvements incline him to temerity, his career shows that he has a solid judgment which warns him when to put on the brakes. Oregon owes … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Eugene L. Barnett

EUGENE L. BARNETT. – This is one of the native sons of Oregon; and his career sheds luster upon his state. He was born in Linn County in 1855, and is therefore still a young man, whose greatest achievements undoubtedly lie before him. The death of his father and mother, during his early manhood, left him without home ties, and in 1881 he sought a place in the promising city of Centerville. Two years he was in the mercantile business, and upon abandoning this took up the occupation of keeping and running a livery stable. In this he has been … Read more

Biography of Charles A. Barrett

CHARLES A. BARRETT. – There is no good reason why the people of Oregon should not be as state. They are a selection from the residents of communities from all parts of American, and even from Europe, possessing the culture and intelligence of their native regions with the super-added experience of Western life. And we think that the work of settlement and development done by our people would be no discredit to any in the world. Mr. Barrett is from Maine, where he was born in 1852. After a few years in Massachusetts and also on the Pacific coast in … Read more