HON. HARRISON CLOTHIER. – The subject of this short sketch was born in Corinth, Saratoga county, New York, on the 9th of July, 1840, and is the son of Ebenezer K. and Lucy Clothier. He remained in the place of his birth until 1868, with the exception of three years spent in New Jersey and in Troy, New York. Then he put into execution the advice of Horace Greeley, and emigrated to Wisconsin. After a short time there he journeyed on to Minnesota, where he devoted his time to farming in the summer and teaching in the winter. In 1872 he began merchandising in Farm Hill, Minnesota, under the firm name of Clothier & Divine. There he continued for two and a half years.
In May, 1875, he started for Oregon, stopping for a short time in San Francisco on the way, and going first to the Sound, where he worked at harvesting during the summer at La Conner. Then pursuing his original design, he came on to the Webfoot state, and established himself first as “the village master of a little school” on Howell Prairie. In November, 1876, Mr. Clothier went to Mt. Vernon, and there united with Edward g. English in a merchandising business, having a capital of less than fifteen hundred dollars, and founded the town of Mt. Vernon in March, 1877. The firm has continued in business to the present time, and is now one of the largest in all the land of the Skagit. Besides his mercantile interests, Mr. Clothier with his partner owns a large tract of timber land in Skagit county.
In politics Mr. Clothier is a Democrat, and in 1880 was elected auditor of Whatcom county, which at that time included all of Skagit. His personal popularity is evinced by the fact that at the election he secured all but sixteen of the one hundred and fifty-two votes cast in his precinct. In 1886 he was chosen probate judge of the county, a position which he still holds.