Pierce County WA

Biography of Peter Dewar Forbes

PETER DEWAR FORBES. – In the gentleman whose name heads this brief memoir, and whose portrait appears in this history, we have one of the very earliest settlers of Tacoma, as well as one of her prominent business men and capitalists. Mr. Forbes was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, February 18,1845, and is the son of William and Jesie Dewar Forbes. After his school days were passed, Peter learned the trade of a carpenter and shipbuilder, becoming a master mechanic. In 1868 he came to the United States, locating in Minneapolis, where he became a well-known architect and builder, … Read more

Bowerman, Lois “Larrie” Mrs. – Obituary

Halfway, Oregon Lois “Larrie” Bowerman, 82, a longtime Halfway resident, died March 11, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. Her memorial service will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Pine Valley Presbyterian Church in Halfway. Lois was born Sept. 30, 1921, in the high altitude of Victor, Colo., to Washington Denver and Gwendolyn Honeycutt. She was the second-eldest of four girls. Lois received good grades in school and received her eighth-grade diploma in Spokane in 1935. However, the Great Depression had set in and she opted not to continue her education because she could not afford new clothes. Her … Read more

Fix, Samuel Edgar – Obituary

Samuel Edgar Fix, 80, who came to Orting in 1890 and who later built the Kapowsin School and the Eatonville gymnasium, died Tuesday [April 3, 1951] at a Puyallup Hospital. He was born in Minnesota, son of Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Fix. His father was a Civil War veteran. S. E. Fix attended schools in Minnesota and Orting, then went to Alaska in 1901, engaging in placer mining for two years. He returned to Kapowsin in 1903 to work in various sawmills. He then became a contractor and constructed many of the buildings in Kapowsin, Eatonville, Orting, and Sumner. … Read more

Fix, Cora Johnson – Obituary

Mrs. Cora Fix, 72, of Orting, passed on at her home Aug. 2 [1946] after an illness of several months. She had resided in Orting since 1889, moving there from her birthplace in Cawker City, Kas. Survivors include one daughter, Mrs. Gladys L. Berry of Orting, and two granddaughters, Mrs. Orpha Stone of Tacoma and Mrs. Shirley Rudnick of Orting. Also surviving are six great grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Orting M. E. Church. Burial will be in the Orting Cemetery under direction of the Orting Funeral Home. Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Biography of Capt. Warren Gove

CAPT. WARREN GOVE. – The gentleman whose name heads this brief biography has been a resident of the Pacific Northwest for over thirty-five years, having settled on Puget Sound in 1853, during which time he has been closely connected with all enterprises that would lend stability and success to its growth and welfare. He was born in Edgecomb, Massachusetts, July 27, 1816. the early years of his life were passed with his parents on a farm. In 1839, while yet a youth of thirteen years, he went to sea. His close application to duty, and his gentlemanly bearing, attracted the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph W. Jaensch

Joseph William Jaensch

2nd Lt. Joseph W. Jaensch is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jaensch Sr. of Alder Slope. He was born at Eatonville, Wash, on Sept 10, 1917 and attended grade school at Hurricane Creek, Alder, Reavis and Enterprise. He graduated from the senior high school at Nampa, Idaho in 1935. He took vocal lessons from Stephen Jenick for over three years and has done some singing on the radio. He worked for the Boeing Aircraft company in Seattle two years before he entered the service on April 12, 1943, receiving his first training at Santa Ana, Calif. From there … Read more

O’Farrell, Margaret – Obituary

Mrs. Margaret O’Farrell, aged 56 years, died at one of the city hospitals last evening [March 7, 1904]. She had been a well-known resident of Orting, coming there from Australia with her husband 34 years ago. A husband and five sons and a daughter survive her. The cause of her death was cancer, from which she had been suffering for more than a year. The funeral arrangements are not yet complete. Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Cooke, Alta Mae Hill Mullen – Obituary

Funeral services will be held Friday at the Buckley Undertaking Parlors, Tacoma, at 3 p.m. for an early-day Kittitas Valley resident, Mrs. Alta Mae Cooke, 77, who died Wednesday morning in Tacoma, following eight days in a hospital there. Cremation will follow the service and the ashes will be brought to Ellensburg at a later date. The family requests no flowers, but those who wish to may make a contribution to the Cancer Fund. Mrs. Cooke was the widow of the late Jay Cooke, son of the late Charles P. and Susan Cooke, valley pioneers. Alta Mae Hill and Jay … Read more

Wheeler, Abraham Lincoln – Obituary

Death came here yesterday [April 1, 1937] at noon to Abe Wheeler, seventy-three, whose 66 years of residence in the Kittitas Valley covered almost the entire period of white men’s settlements in this vicinity. The last of six children who came to the Kittitas with their pioneer parents in 1871, he died at the Ellensburg General Hospital after an illness of three weeks and following an operation performed on Tuesday. His death not only took another from the ranks of the valley’s pioneers, but separated that community’s oldest living married couple, as well. Surviving him is the widow, Mrs. Laura … Read more

Biography of Nelson Bennett

NELSON BENNETT. – Though Toronto, Canada, must be accredited as the birthplace of the distinguished personage whose name heads this brief sketch of a most active, useful and busy life, yet were his parentage and ancestry thoroughly American. On the paternal side the Bennetts were natives of Virginia, three generations back; and his mother was of the ancient and time-honored family of the Spragues of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He was born October 14,1843; and his father died when he was seven years of age, leaving a widow and six children. The family resided upon a farm; and Nelson was … Read more

Fix, George Stewart – Obituary

George Fix, 71, native of Minnesota, died Monday [May 28, 1945] at his home at Orting. He is survived by his wife, Ollie, at the home; son, Earl G. Fix, Tacoma; sister, Mrs. Grace Baker, Tacoma, and a brother, Ed Fix of Kapowsin. Services will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Orting Funeral Home, the Rev. W. O. Benadow officiating. Burial will be in Sumner Cemetery. Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Biographical Sketch of William Franklin Minton

It is with pleasure that we essay the task of epitomizing the salient points in the interesting career of the estimable and enterprising gentleman whose name is at the head of this article, and it is very fitting that such be granted space in the history of Malheur County, since he has labored here for the up building of the county and has wrought with wisdom and energy for this end, while also he has spent much time on the frontier and in other places, always, however, manifesting that same energy and capability in furthering the chariot of progress and … Read more

Nisqualli Tribe

Nisqualli Indians. A Salish tribe on and about the river of the same name flowing into the south extension of Puget Sound, Washington.  The Nisqualli Reservation is on the Nisqualli river between Pierce and Thurston counties.  The name has also been extended to apply to those tribes on the east side of Puget Sound, speaking the same dialect as the above.  Such are the Puyallup, Skagit, Snohomish, Snokwalmu and Stilakwamish.  Mitsukwick was a former Nisqualli village.  The Nisqualli made a treaty with the United States at Medicine creek, Washington, December 26, 1854, ceding certain lands and reserving others.  The Executive … Read more

Biography of Hon. Jesse B. Ball

HON. JESSE B. BALL. – Twenty miles up the Skagit river, in the heart of one of the richest timber sections of Washington, is Sterling, a thriving young city, with high hopes for the future. The founder of the place is the man whose name appears at the head of this sketch. Mr. Ball is a pioneer of 1853, having crossed the plains in that year and stopped at Downieville, where he worked a short time for a company of miners, – his only work for anybody but himself on this coast. His career has had the restless activity and … Read more

Pease, Edgar Bishop – Obituary

Edgar Bishop Pease died Sunday afternoon [August 10, 1930] at a local hospital at the age of 65 years. His home was at 6301 South Alder Street. He was a foreman at the Northern Pacific shops and had lived 31 years in Tacoma. He was a member of Afifi Temple of the Shrine; of Clover Lodge, F. & A. M., and of Whote Clover Chapter, O. E. S.; of Keystone Chapter No. 37, Royal Arch Masons and of the P. O. S. of A. and Northern Pacific Veterans’ Association and M. W. A. Surviving him are his wife, Mrs. Mattie … Read more

Fisk, Roy A. – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Roy A. Fisk Passes After Heart Attack Roy A. Fisk passed away at the hospital Monday, Jan. 29, 1940. For several years he had realized that his heart was not strong and he had been careful not to over exert himself and he felt he was improving. However, he suffered a sever attack Sunday, after doing his morning chores on the old Jacob Bauer farm south of town, and he was taken to the hospital. Funeral services will be held this afternoon at two o’clock in the Christian Church. Mr. Fisk was born at Chippewa Falls, … Read more

Meagher, Agnes – Obituary

Agnes Meagher, 85, formerly of 608 E. 5th Ave., Ellensburg, died Sunday [August 31, 1980] in Cheyenne Mountain Nursing Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. She was born in Ellensburg, Aug. 8, 1895, a daughter of the late Michael and Mary Heraty. She attended Ellensburg Normal School for one year, business college in Tacoma for two years, and worked as a legal secretary in Seattle for a number of years. She married Martin Meagher in Seattle, Aug. 21, 1929. He preceded her in death June 29, 1951. Mrs. Meagher was a member of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church. She is survived by … Read more

Biography of Rev. Cushing Eels, D. D.

REV. CUSHING EELS, D.D. – Dr. Eells was born at Blandford, Massachusetts, February 16, 1810, and was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Warner) Eells. He was descended from Samuel Eells, who was a major in Cromwell’s army, and who came to America in 1661. Cushing Eells was brought up at Blandford, became a Christian when fifteen years old, prepared for college at Monson Academy, Massachusetts, entered Williams College in 1830, and graduated four years later. The distance from his home to college was forty-five miles. Twice he rode the entire distance, – when he entered and after he graduated, … Read more

Saunders Phyllis Jane – Obituary

Cove, Oregon Phyllis Jane Saunders, 80, of Cove, died Aug. 12 at her home of natural causes. A funeral service will be Thursday at 2 p.m. at Loveland Funeral Chapel, 1508 Fourth St., La Grande. Phyllis was born Sept. 9, 1926, to Clyde and Virgie (Bell) Robinson in Tacoma, Wash., one of eight children. She was raised and educated all over the Northwest. Her father worked for Pacific Fruit and traveled throughout the Northwest, so she attended several schools. She eloped with Grant Saunders on Oct. 23, 1944, to Weiser, Idaho. After Grant returned from the Air Force and got … Read more

Biography of Hiram Doncaster

HIRAM DONCASTER. – No one seems to operate so much in the capacity of a creator as the shipbuilder. The products of his brain and hand have a life of their own, are given a name, and have their own personality. Shipbuilding on the Sound is, moreover, an important business; and the masters of this craft are men of distinction. One of these is the man whose name appears at the head of this sketch. He was born in Nova Scotia in 1838, and first came to this coast via Panama in the year 1856, mining in Plumas county two … Read more