Missouri

Biographical Sketch of William R. Boothe

WILLIAM R. BOOTHE. – This gentleman, a conspicuous figure in Eastern Oregon, was born in Missouri in 1846. He was raised on a farm, and received a fair education. At the age of eighteen, he crossed the plains to Grande Ronde valley with his father, the Reverend L.J. Boothe. For three years after his arrival, he was engaged in freighting. In 1868, he purchased a homestead right in The Cove and engaged in stock raising and farming, where he still resides and now owns nine hundred and twenty acres of land, of which three hundred and sixty are in one … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Jeremiah W. Borst

JEREMIAH W. BORST. – The subject of this sketch was born in Tyoga county, New York, in 1829. At the age of four years, he removed with his father’s family to Indiana, and was reared on a farm. The days of his youth were spent in Missouri, with a return to the Hoosier State. In 1850, he crossed the plains with ox-teams for the gold fields of California, and dug for the precious metal five years. In 1858, he came north to Washington Territory, finding a home on Snoqualmie Prairie, since famous as the location of the great ranch of … Read more

Biography of Hon. Charles Miner Bradshaw

HON. CHARLES MINER BRADSHAW. – The present efficient collector of customs of the Puget Sound district, a portrait of whom appears in this work, is a gentleman who has worked his way from the lowest rung of the ladder until he now stands at the front rank in his chosen profession, as well as having acquired a recognized position among the men who lead public opinion and form institutions and states. Mr. Bradshaw was born in Bridgewater, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1831, – the son of Salmon and Sarah F. Schurz Bradshaw, and is a lineal descendant of John … 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 Hon. James Abner Bennett

HON. JAMES ABNER BENNETT. – Our subject was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, on March 17,1808. His birthplace was a farm; and here he remained with his parents until 1830, when he moved to Boone county. He resided here for three years, and then removed to Jackson county, Missouri, near the town of Independence, and in 1839 again removed to Platt county. The following year, 1840, he was married to Miss Louisa E.R. Bane, of Weston, Missouri. Here Mr. Bennett remained, following blacksmithing and conducting a livery stable. He also acted as justice of the peace until the year 1842. … 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

Biographical Sketch of William M. Blakeley

WILLIAM M. BLAKELEY. – The subject of this sketch, a prominent citizen of the rapidly developing upper country, was born in Missouri in 1840. In 1846 he crossed the plains with his father, who located near the present site of Brownsville, Linn county, Oregon, where he still resides. Mr. Blakely was here favored with the educational advantages afforded by the public school, and assisted his father on the farm until 1860, when he moved to a point near the present site of Prescott, on the lovely Touchet river, in Washington Territory. In the spring of 1861 he tried his fortune … Read more

Biography of J. R. Bayley, M.D.

J.R. BAYLEY, M.D. – Doctor Bayley, to whom has fallen an unusual portion of public labor and honor, was born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1820. His mother dying, he was cared for by his grandmother, through whose liberality he received an ample education. In 1839 he moved to Clay county, Missouri, but two years later returned to Ohio, and in 1847 began the study of medicine in South Charleston with Doctors Skinner and Steele. He also attended the medical school at Cleveland in 1849, and the next year studied at the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati. Upon graduating from this … Read more

Biography of William J. Hill

William J. Hill has one of the responsible positions connected with the Santa Fe Railway at Arkansas City. He is master mechanic at that division headquarters and handles the large force of men employed in the immense yards and shops of the railroad at that point. Mr. Hill had been long in the railroad service in the mechanical department, beginning when a boy with the Chicago & Alton in Illinois. He was born at Bloomington, Illinois, August 20, 1863. His father was William Hill, a native of London, England, where he was born in 1834. He spent his early life … Read more

Biography of Hon. William R. Downey

HON. WILLIAM R. DOWNEY. – There are few men who are more familiarly and favorably known to the old pioneers of Puget Sound than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. His father was a Revolutionary hero, having followed General Washington in the battles waged by the colonists for freedom from the oppression of Great Britain. Mr. Downey was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, March 6, 1808. At the age of three years he accompanied his parents to Hopkins county, and while living there received his education. On February 12, 1829, he was united in marriage to Miss Emily S. … Read more

Biography of William D. Green

William D. Green has for thirty years been one of the substantial business men of Holton and he represents a family that were among the very earliest settlers of Jackson County. Mr. Green was for a long time a merchant but for years had been looked upon as a reliable real estate man in his city. A native of Jackson County, Kansas, where he was born January 22, 1863, he is a son of Simpson and Matilda (Roach) Green, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. They came to Kansas in the spring of 1857, locating in Straight Creek Township … 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 Capt. James J. Crow

CAPT. JAMES J. CROW. – Mr. Crow, a portrait of whom will be found in this work, is one of the early pioneers of Oregon, as well as one of the early and substantial residents on White river. He was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, April 5, 1842, and is the son of George and Mary E. (Howdeshell) Crow, both of whom were pioneers of the above state. In the summer of 1848 his parents, with their family of five children, started to cross the plains to Oregon; but, on reaching the Missouri river, it then being late in the … Read more

Biography of Hon. George A. Neeley

Hon. George A. Neeley, of Hutchinson, is one of the younger men of Kansas, but had already gained distinction both in the law and business and as a valiant fighter for the cause of advanced principles in public affairs. Mr. Neeley came into special prominence not only in Kansas but over the nation during his two terms as congressman from the “Big Seventh” district. He was elected on the democratic ticket. In 1910 he was a candidate for the office against the redoubtable E. H. Madison. Madison was elected, but died in September, 1911, before finishing his term. At a … Read more

Biography of Will Shackelford Thompson

Will Shackelford Thompson has as much as any other citizen during the past twenty years identified himself with those activities which spell the vital and pulsing commercial life of the City of Hutchinson. He possesses that quality so much valued in any community of putting himself in line either as a leader or co-operator with movements and enterprises that are considered essential to the general welfare. Mr. Thompson’s main business at Hutchinson had been as an insurance man. The Thompson family seems to have been generally inclined in that line of work, his father and several of his brothers having … Read more

Biography of Claude Lathrop Cole

Claude Lathrop Cole, principal of the Reno County High School at Nickerson, had been identified with educational work and administration in Kansas for the past four years, but his teaching experience covers almost twenty years and in a number of the Middle Western states. Wherever he had been it had been the testimony that Mr. Cole had been successful in giving vitality and increased efficiency to the schools under his direction, and such had been the character of his work that he deserves the name educator as an appropriate means of distinguishing him from one who merely teaches or administers … Read more

Biography of Byron Jennings Carver

Byron Jennings Carver, who served as county attorney for Miami County from 1913 to 1917, had not only proved his ability on many occasions as an able lawyer, but also as a forceful man of affairs and one who is willing to fight for his convictions and his position as to right. Mr. Carver had a hard struggle to get into the legal profession, being a poor young man and having to teach and struggle along at the same time that he was studying and qualifying for the bar. He is a native of Indiana, having been born at Franklin … Read more

Biography of Walter R. Long

Walter R. Long has spent a very busy and influential career in Kingman, where he is the present postmaster. Most of his life had been spent in this county, and when not in public office he was a farmer and business man. Mr. Long was born in Chariton County, Missouri, February 10, 1875. His ancestors were Scotchmen who came to Virginia in colonial days. His father, Gabriel Long, was born in Virginia in 1833. He grew up in his native state, and when a young man removed to Chariton County, Missouri, where he married and where he engaged in farming. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of E. P. McDaniel

E.P. MCDANIEL. – E.P. McDaniel, the junior partner of Cowles and McDaniel, was born in Missouri in 1839, and was raised on his father’s farm. In 1856 he emigrated to Kansas, where he engaged in farming and trading. In 1861 he crossed the plains to Portland, Oregon, and engaged in work at his trade of carpenter. In 1863 he came to Grande Ronde valley, and was engaged in packing, clerking and in the livery business. July 4th, 1865, he was married to Miss Fanny Cowles, and the next spring joined her uncle in conducting the farm, upon which they planted … 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