Section 2, Township 9 North, Range 37 East. It Was in This Township of

Walla Walla county that he was born August 4, 1888, his parents being Marcus and Martha (Jacober) Züger, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work. He pursued a district school education, supplemented by study in the city schools of Walla Walla and by a course in the Empire Business College, thus becoming well qualified for life's practical and responsible duties. In 1908, at the age of twenty years, he began farming on his own account, operating a portion of his father's extensive land holdings, and at the present time he is cultivating between sixteen and seventeen hundred acres of wheat land, thus being one of the big operators in this section of the state. His great broad fields, a waving sea of grain, are a delight to the eye, indicating the ready response which nature makes when intelligent care and cultivation are applied to the fields.

On the 15th of September, 1908, Mr. Züger was united in marriage to Miss Lulu Edith Corkrum, a daughter of Jasper Corkrum, who was one of the early pioneers of Walla Walla county but is now residing in Alberta, Canada. To this union have been born four children, Martha Magdalene, Wanda Belle, Walter Elroy and Frances Elizabeth.

In his political views Mr. Züger is an earnest republican. Fraternally he is connected with Delta Lodge, No. 70, K. P., and with El Kinda Temple, D. O. K. K., of Walla Walla. He is also a member of Waitsburg Lodge, F. & A. M. His business attainments place him with the foremost representatives of agricultural life in this section of the state. He is alert, energetic and resourceful in business affairs, while at the same time his influence and aid are given on the side of progress and improvement. His entire life has been actuated by a spirit of advancement and he stands for a high type of American manhood and citizenship.

P. S. ALDRICH.

The time and attention of P. S. Aldrich, a resident of Walla Walla, are given to the supervision of his farming interests. He is a native of Walla Walla county, born January 6, 1877, and is a son of Milton and Sarah Ann (Stanfield) Aldrich. The father was born in New York state, and the mother in Iowa. In their youth they became convinced that there were better opportunities for advancement in the far west. They made the long journey across the plains with ox teams and located in Walla Walla county, Washington, where, after their marriage, they engaged in farming. The father passed away here in 1910, but the mother survives at the age of seventy-two years. They became the parents of three children: Dora, now the wife of F. M. Walker; Fred; and P. S., of this review.

The last named has passed his entire life in Walla Walla county and is indebted for his education to its public schools. Under his father's able direction he early became familiar with farm work and aided in the operation of the homestead until he became of age. He then began his independent career and since starting out for himself his resources have steadily increased. He now owns eight hundred acres of good land in Walla Walla county and is engaged in both wheat and stock raising, finding such a course more profitable than specializing in either industry. He owns an attractive and commodious residence in Walla Walla and is financially independent.

Mr. Aldrich was married in 1908 to Miss Mary Abbey, who was born in Clay county, Iowa, and they have become the parents of three children, Percy M., Robert W. and Hazel E. Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and do everything in their power to further its work. Mr. Aldrich supports the republican party but has never held office with the exception of serving on the school board. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Dixie and is also identified with the Elks. The same qualities which have made him popular in those organizations have gained him the goodwill of all who have come in contact with him. Eastern Washington offers the best of opportunities to her citizens but in order to gain success a man must be ready to take advantage of these opportunities and must display the characteristics of industry, determination and good judgment, all of which are strongly marked characteristics of P. S. Aldrich.

A. G. WEARY.

A. G. Weary is well known in agricultural and financial circles in Walla Walla county. He is engaged in farming on section 12, township 6 north, range 33 east, and he is a member of the board of directors of the Touchet State Bank. England numbers him among her native sons, for he was born in that country in the county of Cornwall, August 2, 1861, his parents being Edwin and Eliza (Oliver) Weary. The mother died in England in 1877, the father having come to the United States about 1870. For several years he worked in the mines of Pennsylvania and of Nevada. About 1878 he arrived in Walla Walla county, Washington, where he turned his attention to farming and, adding to his possessions from time to time as his financial resources permitted, he acquired twelve hundred and forty acres of land in the vicinity of Touchet and a tract of one hundred and sixty acres about six miles west of the town. He was also heavily interested in both the cattle and sheep industries, owning five thousand head of sheep at the time of his death. In a word he was a most progressive, enterprising and prosperous business man, owing his success entirely to well directed energy and thrift. He died July 21, 1896, while his wife had passed away in 1877.

A. G. Weary came to the United States in 1878, when a youth of seventeen years. He had acquired his education in the public schools of England, supplemented by an academic course, and after reaching the new world he worked on his father's ranch and was associated with his father in the live stock business up to the time of the latter's death. He is now the owner of nine hundred and twenty acres of rich and valuable land and is still extensively engaged in raising cattle and sheep in connection with the operation of his fields. In fact he stands as one of the foremost farmers and stock raisers in eastern Washington, and in addition to tilling his own soil he also operates six hundred and forty acres belonging to his father's estate which was willed to the children of Mr. Weary. He has been one of the dominant factors in the organization of the Touchet State Bank and was made a member of its board of directors, in which position he still continues.

On November 2, 1901, Mr. Weary was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Hesser, a native of Germany, who emigrated to the United States in young womanhood. They have two children, Edwin F. and Hilda M., both at home.

In politics Mr. Weary is a republican and he belongs to the Community church of Touchet, while his wife is identified with the Lutheran church. Their aid and influence are always given on the side of progress and improvement, of righteousness, truth and reform. Mr. Weary is a man of marked force, ability and resourcefulness. His plans are well defined and promptly executed. He recognizes and utilizes opportunities that others pass heedlessly by, and fortunate in possessing character and ability that inspire confidence in others, the simple weight of these qualities has carried him into important relations. He is today one of the foremost business men of Walla Walla county and his course has won him honor and the respect of all with whom he has been associated.

A. B. ROTHROCK.

Among the highly esteemed residents of Walla Walla is A. B. Rothrock, who is now renting his large farm and is living retired after many years devoted to agricultural pursuits. He was born in Marion county, Oregon, June 5, 1870, a son of A. B. and Lucretia C. (Cox) Rothrock, natives respectively of North Carolina and Kentucky. The father's birth occurred in 1816 and in 1839 he removed to Illinois, which at that time was still largely unsettled. In 1863 he once more moved westward, going to Iowa, and two years later he was again numbered with the pioneers, crossing the plains in that year to Oregon. He engaged in farming for some time in Marion county, that state, but in 1868 removed to Umatilla county, where he developed a large herd of cattle, becoming one of the leading cattlemen of that section. When the country became so thickly settled that the free ranges disappeared he turned his attention to wheat growing and in that connection, too, won prominence and prosperity. He was a man of such energy and such unusual soundness of judgment that he gained a position of leadership in whatever he undertook. In his later years he removed to Weston in order to give his children better school advantages and there his death occurred in 1881. His widow survived for many years, dying in 1912.

A. B. Rothrock was reared at home and after attending the district schools continued his education in the Oregon State Normal School at Weston. He received practical training of great value under his father, as from boyhood he assisted the latter in his extensive farming operations. After reaching mature years he continued to work with his father until he was about twenty-five years old, when he began farming independently, renting the home farm of four hundred acres. In 1902 he purchased three hundred and sixty-nine acres of land in Umatilla county, which he farmed in connection with the home place, the successful management of the seven hundred and sixty-nine acres of land requiring his undivided time and attention. He continued to reside upon the home farm until 1909, when he removed with his family to Walla Walla in order to the better educate his children. He continued, however, to give personal supervision to the cultivation of his farm in Umatilla county, Oregon. In 1915 he purchased the homestead and now owns about eight hundred acres of land, which he is renting, as he feels that he has earned a period of leisure. The success which he gained as a farmer was due to the same qualities of foresight, energy and close application to his work that characterize the prosperous business man and he has always felt that agriculture should be recognized as having the same status as other industries.

On the 25th of August, 1897, Mr. Rothrock was married to Miss May Steen, a daughter of Milton Steen, one of the pioneer farmers of Umatilla county. To this union have been born four children: Velma S., who was graduated from the Walla Walla high school with the class of 1917; Forrest B. and Arthur, who are attending the Sharpstein school; and James S.

Mr. Rothrock gives his political allegiance to the democratic party but has never cared to take an active part in public affairs. However, his influence has been felt as a force making for civic advancement and he has always discharged to the full all obligations resting upon him as a citizen. He belongs to Weston Lodge, No. 58, I. O. O. F., of Weston, Oregon, and the teachings of the craft have guided him in the various relations of life. His salient qualities are such that to know him intimately is to respect him for his sterling worth, and his friends hold him in the warmest regard.

DELOS H. COFFIN.

An enterprising and active business man was Delos H. Coffin, who for many years was identified with farming interests in Walla Walla county and who passed away in 1909. His life record had spanned the intervening years from 1854, and his diligence and determination had won him a substantial measure of success, numbering him among the self-made men of this section of the country. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, August 1, 1854, a son of George D. Coffin, who in 1855 crossed the plains with his family and cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Oregon. He took up his abode upon a farm and there Delos H. Coffin was reared, sharing with the others of the household in all of the hardships and privations which constitute features of pioneer life in the northwest. He also assisted in the arduous task of developing a new farm and early learned the value of industry and persistency of purpose as factors in the pursuits of life.

In 1881 Mr. Coffin was united in marriage to Miss Stella Sickler, a native of Minnesota and a daughter of James and Mary (Cook) Sickler, who were natives of Pennsylvania, whence they removed westward to Minnesota in the early '50s. In 1859 they crossed the plains with ox teams and covered wagons to Washington, experiencing all the hardships of such a trip, and eventually they reached the Walla Walla valley, where they took up their abode upon a farm which the father purchased, his land including the present site of College Place. The original home of the family was a little log cabin and they lived in true frontier style until their labors enabled them to secure many of the comforts and conveniences known to the older civilization of the east. The mother died upon the old homestead and the father afterward sold that property and removed to a farm which he purchased on Mill Creek. In their family were twelve children, of whom five are now living.

After the marriage of Mr. Coffin he began farming on his own account, purchasing a tract of school land upon which not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made. He at once began to develop the property and in the course of years added fine buildings to the place. He later purchased more land and Mrs. Coffin is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres left to her by her husband. Since his death she has acquired another tract of two hundred acres and also bought a farm of one hundred and eighty-four and a third acres near Dixie. She likewise has four acres where she now lives, on which she has erected an attractive home. Her land is all wheat land, very rich and productive, and her fields annually bring to her gratifying harvests. Mrs. Coffin manages all of the estate and displays excellent business ability and resourcefulness in controlling her interests.

Mr. Coffin departed this life in 1909. He was a consistent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was laid to rest in the Odd Fellows cemetery. He also belonged to the Fraternal Order of Eagles and took an active part in its work. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and he served as county commissioner. His was a well spent life, his career being one of activity and usefulness, and all who knew him entertained for him warm regard by reason of his many sterling traits of character. Like her husband, Mrs. Coffin is widely and favorably known in Walla Walla county and has a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of her acquaintance.

SAMUEL B. SWEENEY.

Samuel B. Sweeney, who is a well known landowner residing in Walla Walla, is a native of the northwest, his birth having occurred in Oregon, May 24, 1858. His parents, Rev. Alexander W. and Angeline (Allen) Sweeney, were born respectively in Missouri and Tennessee. In 1847 the mother accompanied her parents to Oregon, the journey being made by ox team. On arriving there Mr. Allen took up a donation claim and there the family home was established. Rev. Sweeney became a resident of Oregon in 1850 and later was married in that state. Subsequently he spent some time in California but in 1872 he removed with his family to Waitsburg, Washington, whence two years later he came to Walla Walla, where he passed away. His widow, however, survives at the advanced age of eighty-one years. They were the parents of three children, of whom two survive.

Samuel B. Sweeney attended school in both California and Oregon and in early manhood was a teacher in the old Whitman College. At length he decided to abandon that profession and turned his attention to farming, renting land until he had saved enough money to purchase a farm. He owns four hundred and eighty acres in Walla Walla county and also several smaller tracts of land and he derives from his holdings a gratifying annual income. His business affairs have been managed capably and he is now in excellent financial circumstances.

In 1893 Mr. Sweeney was married to Miss Adna Fudge, a native of Walla Walla county and a daughter of Adam and Mary (Perkins) Fudge. At an early day in the history of Oregon the Fudge family removed to that state, whence they eventually came to Walla Walla county, Washington. The father is now deceased but the mother still survives. To Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney have been born two children, Philip B. and Eleanor D., both of whom are attending the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvallis.

Mr. Sweeney was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church, and his wife is a Christian Scientist. He is a stanch republican and has taken the interest of a good citizen in public affairs but has not held office with the exception of serving as a member of the school board. He belongs to the Masonic blue lodge of Walla Walla and in his daily life has exemplified the teachings of that order. Beginning his career empty-handed, he has reached the goal of success through quick recognition of opportunity, hard work and the careful management of his affairs.

JOHN A. DANIELSON.

John A. Danielson, residing in Waitsburg, is prominently connected with farming and live stock interests in Walla Walla county. He was born in Sweden, January 7, 1862, his parents being Andrew and Anna (Anderson) Danielson, who came to the United States in 1865 and first took up their abode near Grand Rapids, Michigan. They settled on a farm there and continued to reside thereon until called to their final rest. John A. Danielson was but three years of age on the emigration of the family to the new world. He was reared and educated in the district schools and in the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, Michigan.

For one term Mr. Danielson taught school in that state and in 1884 he came to Washington, settling on Whiskey creek in Walla Walla county, where he filed on a homestead and preempted another quarter section. He afterward purchased additional land, adding to his holdings from time to time until his possessions now aggregate three thousand acres. For the past eleven years he has made his home in Waitsburg in order that his children might enjoy the advantages of the public school system of this city. He is quite extensively engaged in cattle raising as well as in general farming, running two hundred head of Hereford cattle on his ranch. He is a most progressive agriculturist and stock raiser whose interests are wisely directed and carefully managed. He cultivates his farm according to the most progressive methods and as a stock raiser pays close attention to all the scientific principles which have now become a feature of the live stock business on all up-to-date farms. He is likewise a stockholder and a member of the board of directors of the Farmers Union Warehouse Company.

On November 8, 1891, Mr. Danielson was married to Miss Louisa J. Holderman, of Columbia county, Washington. Her father, Gilderoy Holderman, came to this state from Missouri in 1879, settling in what is now Columbia county. His family joined him here in 1881. He was a Civil war veteran and his early death, which occurred October 28, 1883, was the direct result of wounds and exposure which he suffered while defending the Union cause on the battlefields of the south. To Mr. and Mrs. Danielson have been born twelve children, namely: Anna L., Jessie M., Frank, Naomi, Dewey, Cecil, Ralph, Lola, Roy, Inez, John A., Jr., and one who died in infancy. The others are still under the parental roof.

Mr. Danielson is a stalwart republican and for several years he served as a member of the school board while living on his farm and is now a member of the board of education in Waitsburg. He has never sought political office, however, but is always to be found ready and willing to give his aid and assistance to any plans and measures which tend to uphold civic standards or advance the best interests of his community. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and they are held in the highest esteem by reason of their sterling worth, their integrity and their fidelity to all measures of individual and community uplift. Mr. Danielson certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished in a business way. He started out in life empty-handed but possessed the substantial qualities of industry and determination, and upon those qualities as a foundation he has builded his prosperity. Moreover, the course he has pursued is indicative of the fact that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously.

GEORGE L. BAILEY.

Among those men who have found success in following agricultural pursuits and are now able to live retired is George L. Bailey, of Walla Walla, who was born near The Dalles, Oregon, on the 10th of April, 1874, a son of Lyman J. and Mary (Graham) Bailey. The father was a native of New Hampshire and the mother of Missouri and they were married in Salilo, Oregon. The father's parents died when he was but a boy and at the age of nineteen, in the year 1849, he crossed the isthmus and made his way to the California gold fields. However, he did not work in the mines but drifted north into Oregon and settled at Salilo, where he learned the trade of a ship carpenter. For several years he was employed by the Oregon & Washington Railroad & Navigation Company in boat building and during those years he was associated with Lew Thompson in the cattle business, Mr. Bailey working at his trade while Mr. Thompson took care of their cattle interests. In the hard winter of 1871-2 they lost most of their cattle and Mr. Bailey and Mr. Thompson then dissolved partnership and the former gave up his position in the shipyard and went to Klickitat county, where he took up a homestead. He was the first settler and built the first house near Bickleton on Alder creek, hauling the lumber for floors some sixty miles. There he engaged in the live stock business and farming, being identified with those interests up to the time of his death.

George L. Bailey, whose name introduces this review, pursued a public school education, which was supplemented by four years' study in Whitman Academy. Following the completion of his course there he went east to Boston, Massachusetts, where he attended Burdett's Business College. On finishing his studies on the Atlantic coast he returned to Walla Walla and soon afterward was united in marriage, in July, 1898, to Miss Etta Aldrich, a daughter of Newton Aldrich, one of the earliest of Walla Walla county's pioneers, having come into this section of the state from California with a bunch of cattle in 1858. He was so favorably impressed with the country and its prospects that he decided to remain and make his home. Accordingly he took up a preemption claim two and a half miles southwest of Dixie and thereon resided to the time of his death, which occurred in 1888. He was very successful and acquired large land holdings.

Mr. Bailey engaged in farming in Walla Walla county, his wife owning two hundred acres of land which she received from her father's estate, and Mr. Bailey's career as a farmer was begun upon that tract. As he has prospered in his undertakings he has purchased much other land and is now the owner of twelve hundred and eighty acres, nearly all of which is valuable wheat land. He continued to cultivate his fields until 1917 but has now rented his farm for the coming year and is giving his attention to other business interests. In wheat production he has been very successful. He has cultivated his land and cared for his crops according to the most modern methods and has annually gathered large harvests, the sale of which has added materially to his income and financial resources.

Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have become the parents of the following children, Mildred E., Dorothy A., Helen A., Gladys I., Lyman N. and Donald L. All of the children are still at home and Mildred E. and Dorothy A. are attending high school.

Mr. Bailey gives his political allegiance to the republican party and in religious faith he and his wife are Congregationalists. Both are widely known for their genuine worth. They have displayed many sterling traits of character which have gained for them warm regard and as a business man Mr. Bailey has long occupied a creditable position in this section of the state. Notwithstanding the obstacles and difficulties in his path he has advanced steadily step by step and his orderly progression has brought him to a place among the most successful agriculturists of Walla Walla county.

PHILIP YENNEY.

Philip Yenney, deceased, was for many years a well known and prominent agriculturist of western Washington. He became identified with the state in pioneer times and lived to witness the remarkable changes that were wrought as the work of development and improvement was carried forward, and with the passing years he bore his full share in the work of general progress and improvement.

Mr. Yenney was a native of Germany and came to the United States when a youth of sixteen or seventeen years and for some time worked on the Potomac river in connection with its traffic interests, while subsequently he was employed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. Later he secured a situation on a plantation in Virginia and on leaving the Old Dominion went to Iowa, where he met the lady whom he afterward made his wife, her parents having removed from Pennsylvania to Indiana and subsequently to Iowa, where they were residing at that time. In 1860 Mr. Yenney came to the northwest, which was then far removed from civilization, being cut off by the long stretches of hot sand and the high mountains that often seemed an insurmountable barrier to the traveler who would have desired to become a resident of the Pacific coast country. Undeterred by hardships and difficulties which he must meet, Mr. Yenney made his way to Washington and for some years was engaged in freighting between Walla Walla and the Idaho mines. The district into which he came bore little resemblance to the highly developed section that one sees here today. After freighting for a time he became connected with Mr. Still in the conduct of a trading post on Hangman's creek, near the present site of Spokane, a place which was then known as the California ranch. Subsequently he engaged in farming, with which he was prominently identified up to the time of his death, and as his financial resources increased he kept adding to his holdings by additional purchase until he had acquired some sixteen hundred acres of wheat land and one thousand acres of grazing land. He thus won a position among the foremost agriculturists of this state and his life record illustrates what it is possible to accomplish in the west when the individual possesses industry, determination and laudable ambition.

In early manhood Philip Yenney was united in marriage to Miss Rachael Winnett, a native of Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of the following children. John Fred, born in Iowa, June 5, 1858, came with his parents to Washington in 1860 and was educated in Walla Walla. During his active business life he followed farming in Columbia county, but died at San Diego, California, where he had gone with the hope of benefiting his health. He was three times married and left a family of seven children. His third wife now makes her home in East Walla Walla. Sarah M., the second of the family, married James McKee, of Walla Walla, and they made their home at Pomeroy. She died, leaving a husband and six children. Robert C. was born, reared and educated in Walla Walla. He was graduated in 1889 from Whitman College. Subsequently he entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he pursued a medical course and was graduated with the degree of M. D. After spending one year in hospital work he located in Portland, where he has since engaged in practice. He is now at the head of a hospital unit ready for service when the government calls. William H. and Lewis O. are represented on another page of this volume. Margaret, the youngest child, married Ernest E. Brown, of Spokane, where she now resides. Two children, Thomas J. and Anna R., died while young.

Mr. Yenney was a consistent member of the Lutheran church and died in that faith on the 28th of June, 1905. His life was at all times honorable and upright and commended him to the confidence and goodwill of those with whom he came in contact. His widow still survives him and now occupies the old family home at No. 834 East Alder street in Walla Walla. She, too, is a consistent Christian and has membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

WILLIAM H. YENNEY.

The great wheat fields of Walla Walla county and the surrounding sections of this state and of northern Oregon are always a matter of marvel to the traveler, who thinks of the west as a region of mines and of forests and little realizes what wonderful strides have been made along agricultural lines. Prominent in connection with farming interests in Walla Walla county is William H. Yenney, who superintends his operations from his city home.

He was born in this county October 17, 1869, and is a son of Philip and Rachael (Winnett) Yenney. He spent his early youth on the old home farm and was educated in the district schools and in Whitman College, which he attended for two years. After reaching adult age he continued to remain on the old homestead and cooperated with his father in the latter's extensive farming and horse raising enterprises. Since his father's death he and his brother Lewis have operated the farm in partnership and are classed among the most successful agriculturists of Walla Walla county. There is no phase of progressive farming with which they are not familiar and their thoroughly up-to-date methods produce splendid results. They have broad wheat fields and also produce other crops, while at the same time they are extensively and successfully engaged in stock raising. In the spring of 1917 W. H. Yenney removed to Walla Walla, where he now lives in a handsome new residence at No. 20 Merriam street.

At Dayton, Washington, Mr. Yenney was united in marriage to Miss Cora Edgell, a daughter of William and Sarah (Kuykendall) Edgell, of Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Yenney have been born four children, namely: Frank, who is now on the home ranch; Philip, now attending high school; and Clark and Richard, also in school. Philip Yenney is president of the champion football team of the northwest, which is the Walla Walla high school team. It has defeated all competitors in the northwest and also the Salt Lake City team.

Mr. and Mrs. Yenney are active workers on committees for the successful prosecution of the war, being prominently connected with the work of the Red Cross, the Young Women's Christian Association and the Young Men's Christian Association. Mrs. Yenney is a Member of the Methodist Episcopal church and, like her husband, enjoys the warm regard and friendship of all with whom she has been associated. Her home is noted for its warm-hearted hospitality and is the center of a cultured society circle. Fraternally Mr. Yenney is connected with Washington Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., and he gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He is regarded as one of the foremost business men of Walla Walla county and there is no phase of modern day enterprise having to do with farming operations with which he is not familiar.

LEWIS O. YENNEY.

Lewis O. Yenney, a representative farmer of Walla Walla county, is residing at No. 834 East Alder street in the city of Walla Walla. He has spent his entire life in this county, where his birth occurred on the 8th of May, 1872. He represents one of its old and prominent pioneer families, his parents being Philip J. and Rachael (Winnett) Yenney, who are mentioned elsewhere in this volume.

His youthful experiences were those of the farmbred boy. He spent his early life under the parental roof and was early trained to the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. His education was acquired in the district schools, supplemented by study in Whitman College, and on reaching manhood he became the active assistant of his father and brother in the management of extensive farming interests. For some years prior to the father's death the brothers had entire charge of the important agricultural business which he had built up. He gave to them each an interest in the farm and since his death they have continued its cultivation and improvement. It is equipped with all of the latest accessories and conveniences known to the model farm of the twentieth century. There are large and commodious buildings for the shelter of grain and stock and the latest improved machinery promotes the work of the fields.

Mr. Yenney resides with his mother and is looking after her interest, comfort and welfare in her old age, for she has now reached the age of eighty-five, having been born on the 22d of November, 1832. She is remarkably well preserved for one of her years and keeps in touch with interests and events of modern days. The fact that many of Mr. Yenney's warmest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood is an indication that his life has been an active, useful and honorable one. For forty-five years he has lived in this county and has witnessed much of its growth and development. He has seen its lands reclaimed and cultivated, its forests cut and its other natural resources utilized. As the years have passed on he has borne his share in the work of general improvement and progress, while at the same time he has conducted his private business interests in a way that has brought very substantial results, and today Walla Walla county numbers him among her leading agriculturists.

FRED GREENVILLE.

Fred Greenville, of Walla Walla, who is engaged in farming, was born in Minnesota on the 16th of July, 1860, a son of Peter and Jean (Mitchell) Greenville. The father followed the occupation of farming in Rice county, Minnesota, where he spent his entire life. Fred Greenville acquired a limited education in the common schools, but during much of the time when he should have attended school, his services were required upon the farm and his training was that of the fields rather than of the schoolroom. On reaching his twentieth year he came to Washington in 1881, settling in Walla Walla county, where he began work as a farm hand. He continued to work for wages for a number of years but in 1881 took up a homestead on the Eureka Flats, which he operated with hired help for several years. Subsequently he rented land and began farming for himself, and as his financial resources have increased, he has added to his holdings from time to time until his farming possessions now aggregate eleven hundred and twenty acres of valuable wheat land in Walla Walla county. In fact he is one of the leading wheat growers of this section of the state and cultivates fifteen hundred acres, renting three quarter sections of his land. He also leases a section and a half of land belonging to others and a quarter section on Dry creek, together with a half section in Franklin county. His life history proves conclusively that activity doesn't tire, that it gives resisting power and develops further strength. He has learned how best to conserve time and effort and to make each blow tell in the accomplishment of his purpose. His business affairs are most carefully systematized and the work of the farm is done in the same methodical manner as that of a commercial enterprise.

In 1890 Mr. Greenville was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Timm, of Paha, Adams county, Washington, by whom he has five children, as follows: Ollie, the wife of Adolphus Myers, who is employed by her father; and Ettie, Lloyd, Lola and Howard, all at home.

Mr. Greenville gives his political allegiance to the republican party and was elected to the board of county commissioners of Walla Walla county in 1908, serving in that capacity for one term. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Trinity Lodge, No. 121, and also to the encampment and the canton. He is also a member of the Walla Walla Lodge, No. 287, B. P. O. E., of Walla Walla Aerie, No. 26, F. O. E., and of the Woodmen of the World. Notwithstanding his lack of early advantages and educational opportunities, Mr. Greenville has made steady progress in his business career and his ambition and energy, which are among his most marked characteristics, constitute an example well worthy of emulation.

H. A. REYNOLDS.

H. A. Reynolds is largely concentrating his time and efforts upon general agricultural pursuits, being located on the Ransom Clark donation claim adjoining Walla Walla. He has, however, other important business connections and is well known as a progressive and representative citizen of his section of the state. He was born on the farm where he now resides, October 14, 1863, his parents being Almos H. and Lettice (Millican) Reynolds. He was reared upon the home farm and acquired his education in the public schools, supplemented by a high school course at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He afterward attended the State University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1886, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree. He then took up the study of law under J. B. Allen but failing health caused him to discontinue his preparation for the bar for a time. Later, however, he continued his reading under B. L. Sharpstein and was admitted to the bar. He then practiced law for a brief period but on account of his health gave up professional activity and turned his attention to farming that he might be benefited by the outdoor life. He has since been connected with agricultural pursuits and is now giving his time largely to the further development and improvement of the Ransom Clark donation, which constitutes one of the valuable farming properties in the vicinity of Walla Walla. He has other important business connections, however, and is a stockholder in the Farmers Savings Bank and in the Malcolm McLean Grocery Company. He also is identified with other business interests of Walla Walla, where he likewise has made judicious investments in property. In business affairs he is a man of sound judgment and keen discrimination, readily judging between the essential and the non-essential, and his efforts have been most intelligently directed and his investments most judiciously made.

In 1891 Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage to Miss Bertha C. Truesdell, of Minnesota, who was a teacher in the Whitman College. To this marriage have been born five children: Carrie, who is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College of South Hadley, Massachusetts; Charlotte, who was graduated from Whitman College with the class of 1917; Margaret, who is in her junior year at Whitman College; Harry Jay; and Allen Lynn.

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are members of the Congregational church and take an active interest in its work and in many projects which are developed for the public good. In his political views Mr. Reynolds is a stalwart republican, and while never an aspirant for office, he has been a prominent factor in the affairs of his party for years past. He was elected to the board of county commissioners as an advocate of the project of building a new courthouse and was elected on that issue. He was also a member of the board that had in charge the construction of the new courthouse and at all times his aid and influence have been given to those projects which are looking to the present welfare and the future advancement of city and county. Those who know him esteem him as a man of genuine worth. His liberal education, his public spirit, his recognition of the duties and obligations of citizenship make him one of the valued and representative men of Walla Walla county and his social qualities make for personal popularity.

GEORGE C. ALEXANDER.

Thirty-six years have been added to the cycle of the centuries since George C. Alexander became a resident of Walla Walla county. For many years he was actively engaged in general farming and still makes his home on section 12, township 6 north, range 35 east, but is now living retired, having in former years acquired a handsome competence that enables him to rest from further labor. He was born in La Fayette, Indiana, on the 18th of March, 1861, a son of Emanuel and Antha (Stretch) Alexander, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Indiana. The father was a farmer by occupation and spent the last four years of his life in the home of his son, George C., passing away in 1905.

George C. Alexander was reared under the parental roof and acquired a public school education. At the age of twelve years, however, he became a wage earner and has since been dependent upon his own resources for whatever he has achieved and enjoyed. He worked as a farm hand for neighboring farmers up to the time of his marriage, which was celebrated on the 28th of May, 1893, Miss Lillie C. Davis becoming his wife. During her girlhood days she accompanied her parents, William J. and Lucy E. (Hecker) Davis, to Walla Walla county, the removal being made from Iowa in 1885.

George C. Alexander had arrived in Walla Walla county in 1881 and after taking up his abode here worked as a farm hand until the time of his marriage, when he began farming on his own account, renting land. In 1905 he purchased his first land, becoming owner of his present home place of two hundred and twenty acres. He had enough money to make a half payment on the place and within five years he had cleared it of all indebtedness. In subsequent years he has put improvements upon it to the value of more than twenty-five hundred dollars. He has also bought eighty acres of irrigated land in Montana. Taking up his abode upon the home farm, he concentrated his efforts and attention upon its further development and improvement and in the course of years his labors worked a marked transformation in the appearance of the place, which he brought under a high state of cultivation. He still resides upon his home farm but is now living retired and rents his land, while he is enjoying the fruits of his former labor. In politics he maintains an independent course nor has he ever sought the honors and emoluments of public office. He ranks with the leading and representative men of his township and deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. He has truly won the proud American title of a self-made man, for he started out empty-handed when a youth of but twelve years and has worked his way steadily upward by diligence and determination. Whatever he has gained has been the reward of his earnest labor and his record indicates what may be accomplished in a busy life where there is a will to dare and to do. His course should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be done through persistent, earnest effort when guided by sound judgment.

D. B. STIMMEL.

Through struggles and adversities D. B. Stimmel has reached a position among the prosperous residents of Walla Walla county and is now living retired in Waitsburg. For many years he was actively connected with agricultural interests, and diligence and determination brought to him the measure of success that now enables him to rest from further labors. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, January 1, 1856, his parents being Benjamin and Charlotte (Smith) Stimmel, who were also natives of the Buckeye state, where they were reared and married. In 1861 they removed westward to Tazewell county, Illinois, and in 1879 became residents of Reno county, Kansas. There the father died in the '90s, but the mother is still living and now makes her home with a son in Oklahoma.

D. B. Stimmel was the eldest in a family of ten children, nine sons and one daughter. The duty and the burden of assisting in rearing the family and providing for their support fell upon his shoulders and as a consequence his education was limited. He could attend school only at such times as his services were not required upon the farm. He remained at home until he reached his twenty-fourth year, when in 1880 he filed on a homestead in Reno county, Kansas, and began farming on his own account. There he resided for nine years, when he determined to try his fortune in the northwest, having heard favorable reports concerning this section of the country. In the spring of 1889, therefore, he made his way to Walla Walla county, Washington, arriving in Waitsburg about the middle of May with a wife and six children and a cash capital of but fifteen dollars. Here he began working for wages, being thus employed through the harvest season, and in the fall of that year he rented a farm and began its cultivation. He was not familiar, however, with the farming conditions of this section of the country and the poor crops and the widespread financial panic of 1893 made his first few years a struggle for existence. In the winter of 1895-6 he left the farm which he had rented with an indebtedness of three thousand dollars. The following spring he went up into the Nez Percé country and engaged in hauling posts and doing other work for the Indians, in which circumstances he was reminded of the scriptural passage that "the first shall be last and the last first." He may not have liked this domination of an inferior race, but he was willing to accept any occupation or employment that would yield him an honest living. The following fall he located on a place of one hundred and sixty acres belonging to his brother-in-law and afterward purchased two hundred and forty acres adjoining that farm, assuming a mortgage of twelve hundred dollars and back taxes and interest. He paid one hundred dollars cash upon the property, which according to the terms of agreement would cost him nine dollars and sixty-five cents per acre. A year later it had more than doubled in value and recently would have sold for one hundred dollars per acre. From the time of his purchase of this property Mr. Stimmel's prosperity began. The tide seemed to have turned for him and the years brought him a substantial measure of success as a reward for his labors. At different times he continued adding to his property, acquiring two other quarter sections of land, so that his ranch came to be one of five hundred and sixty acres. A quarter section of this he afterward deeded to his two older sons upon his retirement from active business, but he still retains ownership of four hundred acres, which he rents to his sons. In 1906 he removed to Waitsburg and later erected his present handsome city residence.

In 1879, in Reno county, Kansas, Mr. Stimmel was united in marriage to Miss Hattie E. Kirby, by whom he had ten children, eight of whom are yet living: Minnie, who is the wife of Lorenzo Bly, of Alberta, Canada; Earl and Ernest, twins, who follow farming in Walla Walla county; John T., also an agriculturist of Walla Walla county; William, who operates his father's farm; Viola, who gave her hand in marriage to Ralph Lukenbihl, of Waitsburg; Millie, who makes her home with her sister Minnie in Alberta, Canada; and Albert, also a resident of Alberta, Canada. The wife and mother passed away in December, 1908, and in 1909 Mr. Stimmel was again married, this union being with Mrs. Mary J. Lynch née Lewis, of Ontario, Canada.

Mr. Stimmel gives his political allegiance to the republican party. Fraternally he is connected with Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M.; Waitsburg Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F.; and with the Woodmen of the World. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church and are people of genuine personal worth, enjoying the warm regard and goodwill of all with whom they have been brought in contact. Difficulties and obstacles have at times beset the path of Mr. Stimmel but with persistency of purpose he has continued his labors and as the years have gone on has earned a most satisfactory reward. When determination, perseverance and talent are arrayed against drawbacks, poverty and trials, the result is almost absolutely certain. The former are invincible--they know no defeat. The habits of industry and close application which he early developed have constituted the foundation of his present success.

MRS. MARY A. KIMMERLY.

For almost half a century Mrs. Mary A. Kimmerly has been a resident of Walla Walla and has therefore witnessed almost the entire development of this region. She was born in Portage, Genesee county, New York, and bore the maiden name of Miss Mary A. Nesdel. In early life she went to Minnesota, where she married Frank Kimmerly, also a native of New York, his birth having occurred in Watertown. By trade he was a millwright and erected the first flour mill in Rochester, Minnesota, which was one of the first mills built in the state. In 1869 he brought his family to Washington and here readily found work at his trade, erecting a mill at Lapwai, another at Weston and several others. He also branched out into general contracting and built many of the best residences in Walla Walla during the '70s. He erected the Stine House, where now the Dacres Hotel stands, and several other important business structures.

Mr. Kimmerly was not only prominent in industrial circles but also took an active part in public affairs, serving as deputy sheriff of Walla Walla county and also as city treasurer. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and was the first master of Rose Croix Lodge of Perfection at Walla Walla. He was generally recognized as one of the most prominent residents of the city and his death, which occurred on the 28th of July, 1878, was considered a great loss to the community. Mrs. Kimmerly still survives her husband and continues to live at the old Kimmerly residence with her two sons, E. S. and W. W., at No. 526 South Second street.

HON. CHARLES BESSERER.

Hon. Charles Besserer was the builder of the third house in Walla Walla and was prominently identified with the city for many years, especially in connection with newspaper publication. He became recognized as one of the foremost journalists on the Pacific coast and his editorials, original and trenchant, were widely read. He was born near Heidelberg, Germany, October 10, 1838, and at seventeen years of age he enlisted for service in the English army. While still a member of the army he was sent to the state of Washington, at which time Walla Walla was but a log cabin village. When his term of enlistment was over he decided to make the United States his home and he proved his loyalty to his adopted land by valiant service in the Union army during the Civil war. He ever took an active interest in government affairs and did not a little to shape public thought and action in regard to community interests. He early turned his attention to newspaper work. After having honorably served throughout the period of hostilities between the north and the south he returned to Walla Walla, where he erected the third house of the city. A few years later he went to Montana, where he resided for a brief period, but in 1873 he returned to Walla Walla, where he embarked in the grocery business. In 1875, however, he became actively connected with newspaper publication in the purchase of the Spirit of the West, a weekly paper published in Walla Walla, the name of which he changed to the Watchman. In 1885 he established the Milton Eagle and a year later he sold the Watchman. A few years afterward he purchased the Journal and the Watchman, both of Walla Walla, and for several years managed these papers successfully, but again he sold out and paid a visit to his native country. Upon his return to America he purchased the Union, the Journal and the Watchman and combined the three papers into a new publication known as the Morning Union. This he continued to own and edit until 1898, when he removed to Oakland, California. He was quite successful financially and it was his love of editorial work that caused him to continue his labors on the San Francisco and other papers subsequent to the establishment of his home in California. He was widely known because of his interesting and comprehensive editorials, which were eagerly read throughout the west. His paper was ever maintained as an independent sheet in regard to politics. He also wrote many articles of a worldwide scope for Harper's Weekly.

Hon. Charles Besserer was united in marriage to Miss Ida Sanderson, who still survives him, his death having occurred on the 2d of February, 1912, being occasioned by heart trouble. The part which he took in the early development and subsequent progress of Walla Walla well entitles him to representation in its history.

LIEUTENANT BERNARD OVIATT WILLS.

Among the native sons of Walla Walla who are rendering excellent service in the armed forces of the nation is Lieutenant Bernard Oviatt Wills, U. S. N., who is now assigned to special duty in New York city. He was born in Walla Walla, August 22, 1887, and is a son of W. H. and Clara (Oviatt) Wills, an account of whom appears in the sketch of their son, Fred Gaylord Wills.

Bernard O. Wills attended the public schools of Walla Walla and continued his study in the high school, graduating with the class of 1905. The following year he entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and in 1910 completed the required course there and received the title of ensign. He has remained continuously in the navy and has won promotion, so that although he is still a young man he now has the rank of senior lieutenant. He is now serving by assignment on the special board of patrol, with office at No. 11 Broadway, New York city, and his highly efficient work in that connection is of importance in the great task that confronts the navy in placing the defenses and the naval forces of the United States on a war footing. He is a representative young naval officer, proud of the history and traditions of the navy, thoroughly equipped by highly specialized training for the work in hand, high-spirited and yet recognizing that the high order of ability and daring found in the personnel of the navy can only be made available to the nation's service by discipline.

On the 3d of July, 1917, Lieutenant Wills was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Lee Hanscom. Although he has been stationed in the east for some time, his many friends in Walla Walla have not lost sight of him and have followed his career with great interest and pride.

MISS MARY J. THOMAS.

In the educational circles of Walla Walla Miss Mary J. Thomas is widely and favorably known. She has done much to further the interests of the public schools and is now the principal of the Sharpstein school. She is a native daughter of Walla Walla and the spirit of western enterprise has found expression in her work. Her father, George Franklin Thomas, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in the year 1815 and when very young left home, going to the state of New York. In 1840 he removed from the Empire state to the south and for many years engaged in staging in Georgia and in Alabama. In 1850 he became one of the Argonauts who sought gold on the western front, making his way to California. After reaching that state he resumed his staging business, which he successfully conducted, and he may well be termed the pioneer stage man of the Pacific coast. He became the president of the Oregon & California Stage Company, which conducted a fine line of stages from Sacramento to Portland. After the war between the north and the south he removed to Salem, Oregon, and on the discovery of gold in the Salmon River mountains he placed a line of stages on the road between The Dalles and Celilo. When the Oregon Steam & Navigation Company built a railroad there he moved onward and started a stage line between Wallula and Walla Walla. In 1863 he built the Thomas & Ruckle Road across the Blue mountains and was identified for many years with the principal mail route in this section of the country. In 1865 he was elected mayor of the city and for many years in rotation was elected councilman. In 1874 he was the candidate on the democratic ticket for the office of sheriff of the county and was elected over three competitors. At the next election in 1876 he was reelected and from 1878 until the time of his death was associated with this office. He passed away January 12, 1884, survived by a wife and six children, two sons and four daughters, but since then the mother and two sons have passed away. The daughters are Mrs. Thomas Durry, Mrs. Thomas Page and Miss Mary J. Thomas, of Walla Walla; and Mrs. George M. Cosgrove, of Spokane, Washington. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Bridget Rodgers, was born in Ireland, June 24, 1832, and came to America in 1844, first settling in New Orleans and later removing to California. Her death occurred in Walla Walla, November 26, 1905.

Miss Mary J. Thomas, reared in Walla Walla, was educated in St. Vincent's Academy and became a grade teacher in the Baker school of Walla Walla. She has since devoted her life to that profession and became principal of the Baker school, while later she was transferred to the Sharpstein school, of which she is now the principal. She holds to high ideals in her work, is constantly studying out new methods to improve her efficiency and her own zeal and interest in the work have inspired and encouraged both teachers and pupils under her.

JAMES F. CROPP, M. D.

For almost forty years Dr. James F. Cropp has successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Walla Walla, where he was also the promoter and founder of the Walla Walla Hospital, an institution of which the city has every reason to be proud. He has ever occupied a prominent position in professional circles and has been instrumental in maintaining the highest standards of activity in his chosen field, recognizing fully the duties and obligations which devolve upon the physician. He was born in Virginia, April 16, 1854. His father, Silas F. Cropp, was also a native of the Old Dominion, where he followed the occupation of farming. He married Maria Katherine Martin, born in the same state, and both have passed away. They had a family of four children, of whom two have departed this life.

Dr. Cropp pursued his early education in a little log cabin school in the state of Washington, which at one time was headquarters of the army that went to rescue General Steptoe on Steptoe Butte. The family had come to Washington in 1872. They made their way westward to American Falls, Idaho, driving a team of oxen across the country. They then proceeded by stage to Portland and on to Albany and from that point walked to Walla Walla across the Cascade mountains. From this city they proceeded to a point near the Farmington country and there plowed the ground upon which Farmington is built. From that point they proceeded to Dry creek, near Walla Walla, and Dr. Cropp of this review secured employment in the hay fields, working for Sergeant Smith during the summer. He obtained a dugout near there and gathered a few common school books, and in company with E. H. Nixon, now of Walla Walla, prepared himself as best he could for educational work, after the hours of harvesting were over. He at length secured a school, of which Sergeant Smith was a director, and taught through the winter months. This was a large school and he proved capable in its management and conduct. Later he taught in various other schools through the valley, being thus engaged until 1876, when he walked the greater part of the distance to Portland and there secured passage on the old steamer Ajax, on which he worked his way to San Francisco. This step was actuated by his laudable ambition to prepare for the practice of medicine, which he had determined to make his life work. He there entered the medical department of the University of California, which at that time was only a summer school. At the close of the session, in company with Charles E. Levitt Sajous, now a famous medical practitioner and author of Philadelphia, he started for the east. They worked their way on freight trains and walked part of the way until they reached Philadelphia, where they matriculated in the Jefferson Medical College, from which institution they were both graduated in March, 1878. The determination with which he pursued his education, making his way in spite of seemingly almost insurmountable difficulties, is characteristic of Dr. Cropp. He has never faltered in the performance of a task to which he has set himself and throughout his entire life he has ever carried his well defined plans forward to successful completion. Following his graduation he returned to Walla Walla and in the intervening years has continuously and successfully practiced medicine and surgery. During this period he has also served in various official capacities of a professional nature for the city, county and the state. He has been physician and surgeon to the state penitentiary for six years and since the building of the Odd Fellows Home he has been physician to that institution. In 1890 he built the Walla Walla Hospital, which has since been successfully conducted and from which numerous nurses of very high standing have been graduated, doing important duty in their professional capacity through the city, county and surrounding states, many of them occupying most important positions in other hospitals. While many years have elapsed since Dr. Cropp was graduated, he has by broad reading and thorough study kept in touch with the trend of modern scientific thought and investigation and with the progress that is being continuously made by the profession. His ability is pronounced and he stands not only as the dean of the medical profession in Walla Walla but as one of its most distinguished representatives in the northwest.

In 1879 Dr. Cropp was united in marriage to Miss Ida Hungate, a daughter of H. H. and Mary (Duncan) Hungate and a native of California. They have become parents of a daughter, Hallie H., who is at home. She is connected with the Daughters of the American Revolution, for the ancestors of Dr. Cropp served in the struggle for independence. Dr. Cropp is thoroughly familiar with the history of pioneer development in the northwest. On the trip across the plains, when the family were making their way to the Pacific coast, they encountered considerable trouble with the Indians. He has seen this entire section of the country reclaimed for the purposes of civilization, while the work of development and improvement has been carried steadily forward. His aid and influence have ever been on the side of progress and improvement and his work has had far reaching and beneficial results. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belongs to the Commercial Club and cooperates heartily in all of its well defined plans and measures for the welfare and upbuilding of the city. Along strictly professional lines he has connection with the Walla Walla County Medical Society and the Washington State Medical Society. He is interested in their proceedings and contributes in no small measure to the success of some of the meetings, for his judgment is accepted as an authority upon many questions of vital importance to the profession. He has ever held to the highest professional standards and anything that tends to solve the intricate problem which we call life is of interest to him.

EDWARD WILSON CLARK.

Edward Wilson Clark, one of the leading attorneys of Columbia county, practicing at Dayton, was born in Morrow county, near Heppner, Oregon, on the 15th of November, 1865, his parents being Oscar F. and Mary A. (Allen) Clark, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Ohio. They were married, however, in Oregon, Mr. Clark having crossed the plains as a young man of twenty-one or twenty-two years in 1846. The mother's parents died when she was but a little child and she made the long trip to the west with her brother, Charles Allen, who arrived in Oregon about 1850. She continued to reside with her brother in this section of the country until her marriage. Oscar F. Clark took part in the Cayuse Indian war and in 1848 made his way northward and settled on what is now the city of Walla Walla in Walla Walla county, Washington. The previous year the Whitman massacre occurred. He became familiar with every phase of pioneer life and bravely met all of its hardships and privations. He was married about 1850 and for some years lived in Corvallis, Oregon. He had been engaged in teaching in the east and was identified with educational work for several years after his removal to Oregon. In later years he was elected county superintendent of schools of Benton county, Oregon, and he was also appointed the first probate judge of that county. In 1866 he became a member of the board of county commissioners of Umatilla county, Oregon, and he was one of those who were most earnest and effective in securing the establishment of the county seat at Pendleton. Indeed he was recognized as a very prominent and influential citizen of Oregon, where he remained until 1877, when he removed to Columbia county, Washington. Taking up his abode in Dayton, he was soon thereafter elected justice of the peace and served in that office for many years. His decisions were strictly fair and impartial, being based upon the law and the equity in the case, and that he enjoyed the full confidence of the public is indicated by his long retention on the justice bench. Death called him in 1898 and his widow, surviving for about a decade, passed away in 1908.

Edward W. Clark was reared under the parental roof and completed his education in the Dayton high school. In 1886 he took up the study of law, reading under the preceptorship of Judge M. M. Godman, of Dayton, and in 1888 he was admitted to the bar, after which he opened a law office in Dayton, his ability placing him, through the intervening years, in the front ranks of the profession. He served for ten years as prosecuting attorney of Columbia county and for five years was city attorney of Dayton. He was also for one year city clerk and at the present writing is a member of the board of education, in which position he has continuously served since 1893. The public school system indeed finds in him a stalwart champion and one whose efforts in its behalf have been characterized by marked progress.

On the 28th of February, 1892, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Nellie B. Gritman, of Dayton, a daughter of Delos W. and Mary (Davis) Gritman. Her father, who was one of the successful agriculturists and prominent citizens of Columbia county, served for a number of years as a member of the board of county commissioners and was widely recognized as a man of sterling character and genuine worth. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have a son, Roscoe L., who was graduated from Whitman College with the class of 1915 and is now a student in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia.

Fraternally Mr. Clark is connected with Dayton Camp, No. 95, W. O. W.; with Dayton Circle, No. 238, Women of Woodcraft; and with Dayton Lodge, No. 3, K. P. He ranks with the leading and representative residents of Dayton because of his loyalty in citizenship, because of his genuine personal worth and also by reason of his professional ability. He is a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly familiar with the law, possessed also of comprehensive general information and of an analytical mind. He is recognized as a formidable adversary in legal combat but one who at all times holds to the highest standards of the profession, his record reflecting credit upon the history of the bench and bar of Washington.

BERT THOMAS, M. D.

Dr. Bert Thomas, occupying a leading position among the most capable and successful medical practitioners of Walla Walla, is well qualified in all those particulars which make for advancement in his chosen profession. His liberal preparatory training well qualified him at the outset of his professional career and in the intervening period he has studied closely and read broadly, thus keeping in touch with the trend of modern professional progress. He was born in Walla Walla county, March 4, 1874. His father, Alfred Thomas, a native of Kentucky, was born in 1828 and in the spring of 1870 made his way to the northwest, becoming identified with agricultural interests in this county. Here he spent his remaining days, covering a period of more than a quarter of a century, his death occurring in 1896. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eleanor Lewis, was born in Iowa and has also passed away.

Dr. Thomas of this review was one of a family of twelve children, six of whom are yet living and all are residents of Walla Walla county. He acquired a common school education and afterward entered the Whitman College, from which in due time he was graduated. He next became a student in the University of Michigan, matriculating in the medical department, from which he was graduated with the class of 1904. He then put his theoretical knowledge to the practical test in a year's service in a hospital in Jackson, Michigan, and gained the broad and valuable knowledge and experience which can never be as quickly acquired in any other way as in hospital work. On the expiration of that period he returned to Walla Walla, where he has since practiced medicine and surgery, and throughout the intervening years he has maintained a place in the front ranks of the profession. He is very careful in the diagnosis of his cases and seldom, if ever, at fault in matters of professional judgment. He belongs to the Walla Walla Valley Medical Society, the Washington State Medical Association and the American Medical Association and thus keeps abreast with modern thought, investigation and research.

Dr. Thomas married Miss Orville Green, who was born in Walla Walla, a daughter of W. O. and Mary F. (Young) Green, who were pioneers of this county, having crossed the plains in 1852. Dr. Thomas belongs to the Masonic fraternity and is a faithful exemplar of the teachings of the craft. His entire life measures up to high standards and those whom he has met in social relations entertain for him the warmest friendship and regard, for his salient qualities are those which make for personal popularity.

PATRICK O'CONNOR.

Patrick O'Connor, deceased, was an enterprising and successful farmer and stock raiser of Columbia county and his name deserves a place upon the pages of its history. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, March 16, 1850, and was reared in the land of his birth. On reaching the age of sixteen, however, he determined to try his fortune in the new world, for he had heard favorable reports concerning its opportunities and advantages. On reaching American shores he at once crossed the continent to the Pacific coast and located in San Francisco, California, where he remained for nine years. He was there employed in a boiler factory and at street car work. After spending over five years in that city he came northward to Walla Walla in 1880 with the intention of returning to San Francisco but found Walla Walla to his liking and took up his abode there. He was made section foreman for the Union Pacific Railway and for a considerable period was active in that connection. In subsequent years he made several removals, living for a short time in Dayton and a short time on the present home ranch near Starbuck. In 1896 he took up his abode on his Columbia county farm, first purchasing forty-six acres of land. To this, however, he added from time to time as his financial resources permitted until at his death he was the owner of an excellent tract of land of two hundred and sixty-seven acres, upon which he engaged extensively in stock raising and in the growing of alfalfa. In business affairs he was energetic and determined. He allowed no obstacles nor difficulties to bar his path if they could be overcome by persistent and earnest effort. He worked diligently and as the years passed on gained a place among the substantial farmers of his adopted county, his attention being given to general agricultural pursuits and stock raising until his death, which occurred May 7, 1910.

On the 30th of December, 1889, Mr. O'Connor was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary McGreevy, who was born in Iowa and came to Washington in 1887, locating on the present site of Jackson's Siding in Columbia county, where lived her uncle, Daniel McGreevy. Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor had one son, Daniel A., who is now operating the home farm.

In politics Mr. O'Connor was a stalwart democrat, giving unfaltering allegiance to the principles of his party. He served for some years as road supervisor and made an excellent official in that connection. In fact he was a progressive and public-spirited citizen, giving helpful aid to all movements for the advancement of the community. He belonged to the Catholic church, of which his widow and son are also communicants. The family has long been well known in Columbia county and, like her husband, Mrs. O'Connor enjoys the respect and goodwill of those with whom she has been brought in contact.

ALBERT M. JENSEN.

Albert M. Jensen, head of the A. M. Jensen Company of Walla Walla, was born in Denmark in 1868 and at the age of fourteen years began work in a general store. His life has been one of continuous business activity since that time. Coming to the new world in 1890, he settled in Minnesota and was employed by one of the largest department stores in St. Paul for eighteen years. He began work there as general utility boy, was advanced to the position of salesman and later became a buyer and department manager, and while thus engaged he made various trips to New York and abroad for his firm.

In 1910 Mr. Jensen came to Walla Walla and organized the A. M. Jensen Company, which then bought out the Skiles Dry Goods Company, which had been established in 1905 on a very small scale. The floor space now in use for the display and sale of women's merchandise is approximately fifteen thousand square feet.

In 1897 Mr. Jensen was united in marriage to Miss Effie Byland, who was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, and they have three children: Leon, Everett and Gladys. Mr. Jensen is a member of the First Presbyterian church, is a Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine and also of the Odd Fellows lodge. In politics he is an independent republican but has never sought or held office. His military record covers six months' service in the Danish navy before coming to the United States. He has taken considerable interest in civic affairs and for several years was a member of the board of trustees of the Walla Walla Commercial Club and served for one year as its president. He is always anxious and willing to help wherever necessary for the good of the city, state or country and acted as chairman and member of several important Liberty Loan and Food Conservation sub-committees.

JOHN H. EDWARDS.

One of the well improved farm properties of Walla Walla county is that owned by John H. Edwards, an enterprising, alert and energetic agriculturist, whose home is on section 30, township 9 north, range 34 east. He is there extensively engaged in wheat growing and also in stock raising.

Mr. Edwards was born in Texas, March 8, 1859, a son of John C. and Sarah (Hillard) Edwards, the former a native of Tennessee, while the latter was born in Alabama. They removed to Texas in 1858 and while residing in that state the mother was called to her final rest. The father passed away in Tennessee, having returned to his native state. In their family were seven children, but only three of the number are now living.

John H. Edwards was largely reared and educated in Tennessee, having the usual opportunities and experiences of the farmbred boy. He was a young man of twenty-three years when he determined to try his fortune in the northwest and made his way to Walla Walla county, settling upon the farm on which he now resides in the fall of 1883. It has since been his home, and adding to his holdings from time to time as his financial resources have permitted, he has become the owner of thirty-four hundred acres of valuable wheat and pasture land. He has great broad fields, devoted to the raising of wheat, and rich pastures, in which are found large herds of cattle. He makes a specialty of raising Durham cattle and he is also engaged in raising Percheron horses and high grade hogs. He has improved his ranch with modern buildings. There is a commodious and attractive residence, in the rear of which stand good barns and outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock, and these in turn are surrounded by broad fields, highly cultivated.

Mr. Edwards was united in marriage to Mrs. Margaret Woods and to them have been born two sons. Earl J., who is a graduate of the high school, was married in 1915 and has a son, Edwin. Eldon H., the younger son, is also a high school graduate.

Mr. Edwards is deeply interested in the cause of education, has served as school director, and has put forth every effort in his power to give his sons good opportunities, thus qualifying them for life's practical and responsible duties. He votes with the republican party but has never been an office seeker. He and his wife hold membership in the Christian church and are loyal to its teachings, while to its support they make generous contribution. The conditions which he found in the northwest gave him the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization he has worked his way steadily upward. His handclasp, however, is as warm for his friend in a threadbare coat as for the prosperous business friend of his later years. He appreciates what it means to overcome difficulties, having had his own hard times and his own life is organized along lines that have called for a full dole of labor with every turn of the wheel. In social intercourse he is genial, kindly and humanly sympathetic, while his business affairs are characterized by the most rigid integrity.

WILLIAM W. WALTER.

William W. Walter, an honored pioneer of Washington, was born in Wayne county, Indiana, September 7, 1827. He was a descendant through his mother, Rachel Doddridge, of the Doddridge family of England. The name of Phillip Doddridge is common in the Walter family and every branch of the family has one child bearing the name of Doddridge. The father, William Walter, Sr., was a Virginian who lived for a time in Maryland and afterwards became a resident of Ohio and still later of Indiana, where his son, William W. Walter, was born. When the latter was eight years of age the family removed to Iowa, which was then a wild, unclaimed country. In 1845 the spirit of emigration swept over the east and Mr. Walter, then a youth of seventeen years, was among those who desired to see the great country beyond the Rocky mountains. His father, being of a roving turn of mind, decided to emigrate. That spring all was made ready and soon they had started on that long and perilous journey. Several families of the relatives, with many others, formed a company of about sixty-five wagons and elected Sol Tetheroe, a man experienced in that line of work, as their captain. They moved in order, stood guard every night to avoid surprise, and parties of hunters were organized to furnish game for the camp. The first part of the journey was very pleasant. Dancing on the green at night and hunting big game by day was very pleasing to the youngsters at least. Buffaloes were so plentiful there was often trouble keeping them out of camp. As they traveled along immense herds would come bearing down on the train, when riders would be sent out and guns fired to turn them from their course and save the train from being run down and trampled by the huge beasts. On the eastern slope the company experienced the first Indian scare. They were in the Crow country and Indians had been in sight all day, skirting around in small parties. Late in the day several hundred Indians confronted them, yelling and beating drums and dashing wildly toward them. The emigrants thought an attack was imminent and corralled the wagons, thus making a fortification. They placed the women and children in the circle and the men made ready to fight. Then a Rocky Mountain man named Greenwood, who was acting as guide, rode out to meet the Indians and called a council. After a talk the Indians dispersed although they had intended an attack. Only the influence of Greenwood, whose wife was a Crow Indian, saved them from serious trouble. The greatest excitement on the trip was caused by a stampede of the teams. One never experiencing a stampede cannot form any idea of the terror and danger. There seems to be a sort of animal telepathy among cattle, so that at a signal from one, a thousand head will go wild in an instant. Then imagine if you can a train of sixty-five wagons with from five to ten yoke of oxen to a wagon tearing along the prairie at full speed, teams doubling, passing each other, tearing off wheels, amid the screams of children scattered along the way. Some teams ran two miles before stopping, yet with it all no one was killed, although one woman had a leg broken and several wagons were demolished. It took some time to get in moving order again and mothers were looking for their children and the babies crying for their mothers. The excitement was intense and it was an experience never to be forgotten. At length, however, the party moved on again. At Fort Hall they met Steve Meek, a brother of Joe Meek, who agreed to show them a new route to Oregon bearing more to the south, crossing the Cascade mountains near the head waters of the Willamette, thus avoiding the Blue mountains. He made the proposed route appear so feasible that they followed him, leaving the old trail near Boise, Idaho. They followed the Mathew river to the south and west and soon found themselves in a trackless desert of sagebrush, rock and sand but with little feed for the stock, and to add to their troubles they could no longer find water. They traveled on and on, sending men ahead to search for water. These men returned and reported water forty miles ahead, so that the party traveled all night to reach it. While encamped there resting, a man herding the cattle picked up a large nugget of gold and from that find originated the famous blue nugget gold find, but the spot has never been located again, at least no mine has been discovered. People starving would not remember places very well as they were more anxious about something to eat. The party forced the guide to pilot them to The Dalles, which he did. When at last they reached the Deschuttes river they were in a pitiable condition, many being sick from lack of food. There they lashed wagon boxes together for a raft and ferried over their effects, swimming the cattle. Finally they arrived at The Dalles, where they cut trees in the forest, made rafts of the logs, loaded wagons and families on them and proceeded to float down the Columbia, while the boys and younger men drove the cattle down the trails. The rafts were tied up at night and camp made on shore. It now began to rain and food was almost an unknown article. They had had no bread for weeks. Those are the hardships which try men's souls and show what stuff they are made of. When they reached the Cascades they made the portage with the teams over the muddiest roads ever seen, it requiring three days to travel six miles. Their only food until they reached Vancouver was a salmon now and then purchased of the Indians. Dr. McLoughlin came to their relief most nobly when they reached Vancouver. They afterwards moved out to the Tualitin plains, in Washington county, Oregon, and settled on as fine land as ever lay out of doors. The principal food supply that winter was boiled wheat and potatoes, with plenty of deer meat. The following year was a prosperous one and the hardships were forgotten and life in the main was a happy existence. In the fall of 1847 the news of the Whitman massacre reached that country. The people were wild with excitement and a company of volunteers was organized. All were eager to join it. Mr. Walter joined and served through the war.

In 1849 the discovery of gold in California caused great excitement and all the young men and many older ones rushed to the gold mines. Mr. Walter went in 1850. They traveled by land through the Rogue river country, where the treacherous Indian lurked at every turn. Mr. Walter had some thrilling adventures with the Indians. At one time he and a companion rode all one day and night with their guns ready for use. They saw many Indians in ambush watching them and their only theory concerning the failure of the red men to attack was the belief that there was a large party coming behind the two lone riders. The two young men lived in the open and their amusements were hunting bears, panthers and Indians. They mined on the American river, having fair luck, and afterwards remaining in California for a year returned to Oregon.

In 1856 William Walter married Miss Charity A. Marsh, a student in the Forest Grove Academy. She was a native of Michigan and crossed the plains in 1852. Following their marriage they removed to Douglas county, Oregon, where they remained a few years, and in March, 1860, arrived in Walla Walla county, Washington. After reaching Walla Walla county Mr. Walter engaged in cattle growing, in which he prospered. By 1861 he had a fine herd and was for those times a wealthy man, but an unusually severe winter came on, causing most of his herd to die. Broken in resources and in spirit, he gathered the remainder of his herd, numbering about thirty head of cattle and these he sold. He then bought a pack train of his own and became one of the earliest packers in this region and developed a business of extensive proportions in that connection. He hauled supplies to nearly all the mines in the surrounding states. Many strenuous and trying experiences came to him, for robbers were numerous and these road agents were always alert for the returning pack train to haul in the returns of the pack sales through their robbery, attaining their end, if necessary, by murder. Mr. Walter was a man of fine physique and great strength and his physical prowess often served to protect him. While the husband and father was away on his pack train trips, which often lasted for six or more months, the pioneer mother, left alone with her small children, with many hostile Indians about, had to bear heavy burdens in order to care for and protect the interests of her frontier home.

Four of their children are still living on or near the old homestead on the Touchet. The eldest, Mrs. O. M. Fine, was born in Douglas county, Oregon, July 12, 1857. Mrs. Kate W. Pettijohn was born in Douglas county, Oregon, December 18, 1858. Mrs. Fanny Dunlap was born in Walla Walla county, October 31, 1866, and John Doddridge Walter is also a native of Walla Walla county, born December 8, 1869.

W. W. Walter and his family were among the earliest settlers in the valley. At that time Walla Walla was but a little garrison town and the many flourishing towns of the present were unknown. On the Touchet, near a big spring, Mr. Walter built his first cabin of logs with a thatched roof covered with dirt. The earth served for a floor. They were very comfortable during the summer but when the fall rains set in there was trouble, for the roof would leak for several days after all was fair outside. Moreover, the snakes deemed the roof no bad place for a home and one morning while the family were enjoying their breakfast one of the reptiles caused a commotion, especially among the feminine portion of the family, by wriggling through the roof and dropping on the table. This necessitated a new roof and a trip to the Blue mountains for shakes. An Indian trail ran in front of the cabin door and on Sunday droves of Indians would pass by on their way to the home of Rev. H. H. Spalding, a half mile below, to hear him preach. The settlers also attended the services, for the sermons were spoken in English, an interpreter repeating them to the Indians. The singing of these Indians, led by Mrs. Spalding and her daughter, Amelia, will ever be a sweet memory, for their voices were soft and low. Visiting in those days meant more than a ceremonious call. A carriage was unknown in these parts and people usually traveled on horseback, even children learning to manage a horse at a very early age. People came from afar to visit and stayed for days and surprise parties and dances were frequent occurrences. In 1862, the neighborhood having become quite thickly settled, the number of children of school age demanded a school, so several of the leading citizens called a meeting to devise ways and means. They had no organized district and no public money. They went into the woods, cut cottonwood logs, drew them to a designated place and erected a schoolhouse in the dooryard of Mr. Walter. The roof was of shakes made in the Blue mountains and hauled down. The heating plant was a huge fireplace in the east end of the building, built of sod and the chimney was of sticks and mud. A log was cut out in the north wall and a row of eight by ten inch window panes fitted in and this furnished the only light except the open door. The seats were of puncheon. A subscription was taken up to pay the teacher, who was a Virginian with a very pronounced southern accent. The old elementary spelling book was the principal textbook. There are still many persons living who received their first lessons in this little log schoolhouse. Later a district was organized and a schoolhouse built a mile or so up the valley near the center of the neighborhood. The Walter family experienced the usual incidents and hardships of pioneer life. The nearest physician was at the garrison of Fort Walla Walla and a rider was sent there for aid on more than one occasion, yet altogether those were happy days. The whole wide country lay before them and everyone for miles around was friend and neighbor. Where today are seen immense wheat fields in those days there were seas of waving bunch grass. The hills were dotted with sleek cattle and horses and the ever present cayuse, or Indian pony. In those days cattle was king and times were good, although opportunities for an education were limited. Only public schools were available and very few studies were taught. The daughters in the Walter household had two winters in the Waitsburg public schools, which ended their attempt to acquire an education, although later they studied at home, especially history, rhetoric and the languages, although they had no teacher to assist them.

In 1861 the Civil war broke out, Washington's citizens had come from every state in the Union and their opinions were accordingly diversified. The patriotic contingent decided that they should have a flag, so the material was purchased and a sewing bee was held at the home of S. H. Erwin, where they made a flag, every stitch by hand. The thirty-four stars were whipstitched on the blue field and with patience and perseverance the stripes were set together. The old flag is still in existence though largely in tatters today. It has played a prominent part on the Fourth of July celebrations and is a valued pioneer memento. At the second election of President Lincoln the news was brought across the continent by pony express. Some one caught the word at Walla Walla and rode to the Touchet, stopping at each door with a shout and waving of the hat, telling the glad news and then passing on. The neighbors bore the flag to the schoolhouse, hoisted and unfurled it there, took off their hats and saluted with cheers, while the children marched around Old Glory, singing "Rally Round the Flag Boys." While the west was rejoicing over peace having been established once more the direful news was flashed over the country that Lincoln had been assassinated. Again the news was long on the way and again a rider brought in the word from Walla Walla, but there was no shout of joy or waving of flags as on the former occasion. A number of men, however, came to the schoolhouse and raised the old flag until it hung at half mast. The sturdy pioneers stood with bowed heads and solemn countenances, while the children were awed and half afraid, not knowing what it all meant.

Some time in the middle '60s the settlers conceived the idea of celebrating the Fourth of July, so the neighbors gathered at the home of Mr. Walter and proceeded to clear out a grove near the Big Spring, where they fitted up seats and a platform. People gathered from all parts of the valley, stage loads coming from Walla Walla, and Judge J. H. Lasater was the speaker of the day with "Uncle Billy" Smith, of Waitsburg, as master of ceremonies, while J. M. Hedrick read the Declaration of Independence and Jonathan Pettijohn and William Smith were also among those who spoke. A public dinner was served, all being invited to take part at one long table, and in the evening a dance was enjoyed by all. To that celebration the families came in wagons and the young people on horseback and they were among the happiest and most care-free people in the world. The people in this country went through the reconstruction period in a different way from the east and lawlessness reigned for a time. The chief offences were murder and horse stealing and as gold was discovered in Idaho and Walla Walla became an outfitting place for miners the town became infested with thieves, gamblers and gunmen. Then the Vigilantes came into existence as a protection to life and property and were very effective in ridding the country of its undesirable element. In the late '60s their work was done and the country took on a normal tone. Business enterprises were started, farms opened up where stock had previously ranged and wheat raising was begun with success. Today wheat is king and, like all of the west, stock raising has become largely a thing of the past in Walla Walla county, as have the cowboy and the Indian.

William Walter never left the home he had made for himself and family. His wife passed away December 23, 1897, and he continued to live on the old place with his youngest daughter until September 23, 1906, when he passed on. He was a man of sterling worth, a steadfast friend, doing his part in all affairs of public interest, was most hospitable in his home and he and his wife took the greatest pleasure in entertaining their friends. Their home was the gathering place for all the young people of the countryside.

While Mr. Walter volunteered to find the murderers of Dr. Whitman, whom he knew personally, he was a friend to the Indians as a whole and had some stanch friends among them, some of whom came to camp by his door until the time of his death. He attended the ceremonies at the erection of the monument to Dr. Whitman and the other martyrs and he was one of the party who buried the remains of Dr. Whitman and his wife. He became a member of the first organization of Pioneers of Walla Walla and was also a member of the Oregon Pioneers' Association. In 1880 the first railroad was built in the Touchet valley and little towns were started, among them Prescott, which became quite a railroad town with roundhouse and machine shops. It was filled with railroad men and cowboys which formed two factions, and as the town boasted three saloons and was wide open, a clash was due to come occasionally. Prescott went through all the phases of a frontier town, with gambling houses, etc., had her quota of murders and robberies until the boom dropped out, when it seemed for a time that the town was doomed to die a natural death. Then a new era came. The place began to revive, a good school was built, churches were established, the surrounding country was planted to wheat to furnish grain for one of the largest mills in the country, responsible men took hold of the business enterprises and today Prescott is one of the most thriving little towns in the county. The children of William Walter, having been reared in this valley, have seen all of the changes wrought in the last half-century. They have seen the wild, unbroken prairies developed to their present high state of cultivation and the eldest daughter, Mrs. Fine, still lives on a part of the old homestead. She is the mother of eight sons and a daughter, all grown to manhood and womanhood and all married and settled in homes of their own, with the exception of one. Mrs. Dunlap, another daughter, lives in the house in which she was born. J. D. Walter, the only son, also occupies a part of the old homestead and is mentioned elsewhere in this work. The other daughter, who in 1890 became the wife of John H. Pettijohn, is living on a homestead which was taken up in 1880 and they occupy an attractive little residence in which they expect to spend their declining years. The Walter family has indeed played an important part in the progress and development of this section of the country from the early days and the name is written high on the roll of honored pioneer settlers.

JOHN D. WALTER.

John D. Walter is a resident farmer of Walla Walla county and a well known representative of one of the honored pioneer families. He was born December 8, 1869, on the farm which he yet owns and cultivates, his parents being W. W. and Charity (Marsh) Walter, who in 1845 first crossed the plains and who are mentioned at length on another page of this work.

Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, John D. Walter became largely familiar with many of the experiences which constituted life for the pioneer. He was educated in the district schools, the first school of the neighborhood being built in his father's dooryard. He early became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops and later he engaged in the butchering business in Prescott and also devoted much time to buying and selling stock, being thus occupied for twenty years. On the expiration of that period he sold his business and turned his attention to farming on the old home place. Today he owns five hundred acres of rich and valuable land splendidly adapted to wheat raising and in addition he cultivates another five hundred acre tract which he rents, so that he is most extensively engaged in general farming. His crop is largely wheat and owing to his indefatigable energy and intelligently directed labor his efforts have been crowned with success. He is also engaged in stock raising and keeps on his place high grade cattle, horses and hogs.

In 1898 Mr. Walter was united in marriage to Miss Lula R. McSherry, a daughter of Nelson McSherry, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Walter have become the parents of four children, Ernestine O., Helen and Leila, twins, and Camille.

The family is now living in the city of Walla Walla at No. 114 Colville street. They attend the Presbyterian church and Mr. Walter belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to the Elks and Knights of Pythias lodges. In the first named he has filled all of the chairs. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but does not seek nor desire office as a reward for party fealty. His children possess much musical talent, which is being thoroughly trained and cultivated. The family, connected with Walla Walla county since early pioneer times, has always kept pace with the trend of modern day thought and progress. The work begun by the father has been carried forward by the son, whose farm is today an expression of twentieth century methods in agriculture.

A. C. SEMROW.

One who does not delve below the surface of things seldom stops to consider what an important part the architect plays in the improvement of a city. However, his labors constitute one of the strongest features in its attractiveness, and in city building in the west there has been most earnest effort put forth with a view to equalling everything that is of convenience, comfort and beauty in the older structures of the east, while at the same time modern progress adapts all building operations to modern needs. It is in this field that A. C. Semrow has labored and is now regarded as one of the most successful and capable architects of Walla Walla. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 11, 1885, a son of August and Minnie Semrow. For the past twenty-five years the father has been prominently identified with the building and contracting business, ranking very high in connection with building operations in Milwaukee.

A. C. Semrow spent his youthful days in his father's home and at the usual age became a pupil in the public schools. He mastered the lessons therein taught until he had become a high school pupil and when he left that institution he had the benefit of a course of instruction in the Milwaukee University. As early as his fourteenth year, however, he became an assistant to his father in the contracting and building business and at the same time he began his studies as an architectural draftsman. He pursued his studies in the offices of some of the leading architects of Milwaukee and of Chicago and he likewise pursued a course in the Milwaukee University. He thus became thoroughly familiar with the scientific principles which underlie his work and gained expert knowledge of every phase of the profession. In April, 1914, well qualified for his chosen calling, he came to the west, making Seattle, Washington, his destination. There he opened an office but after a year he removed from that city to Walla Walla, where he has since remained, becoming widely and favorably known in professional connections. Throughout the city are found many evidences of his skill and ability. He has had the contract for designing and erecting some of the finest structures of Walla Walla and his work has indeed added to the beauty and attractiveness of the place.

On the 9th of May, 1911, Mr. Semrow was married to Miss Frances Wiseman, of Seattle, Washington, a daughter of Richard B. Wiseman, who was one of the pioneer residents of Walla Walla, locating here when the city was a small town and when the work of progress and improvement seemed scarcely begun. Subsequently he removed to Seattle, where he is now engaged in the real estate business.

Mr. Semrow, as one of the representative young business men, has gained a prominent position in public regard, for he has come to be recognized as one who is thoroughly reliable as well as progressive and one whose word is as trustworthy as any contract.

LOGAN P. MULKEY.

Logan P. Mulkey, who was one of the most successful business men of Walla Walla, devoted his later years to the buying and selling of city properties but previously operated a stock farm of twenty-five hundred acres. His birth occurred in Corvallis, Oregon, December 24, 1853, and he was a son of Johnson Mulkey, who crossed the plains three times, an achievement the meaning of which the present generation can scarcely realize, for at the present time the journey which a half century or more ago meant months of weary traveling with the danger of attack by Indians or of an outbreak of pestilence, is now a matter of a few days and is made with the utmost comfort. Johnson Mulkey was a slaveholder in Kentucky in the early days but freed all his slaves some years prior to the Civil war, as he had become convinced that the practice of holding men and women in bondage was wrong. However, such had been his kindness to his slaves that one old mammy refused to leave the family and accompanied them to the northwest. It was in 1845 that Mr. Mulkey first came to Oregon territory and he was so pleased with conditions in this section of the country that in 1846 he returned to Kentucky in order to settle up his affairs and in 1847 he again made the long journey to the west, this time accompanied by his family. His wife was ill when they reached the Whitman home and made plans to remain there until she recovered her health while the other members of the family should continue their journey but later she decided to accompany them and did so, thus escaping massacre at the hands of the Indians, for it was only a short time later that the Whitmans were killed by the red men. Mr. Mulkey located at Corvallis, Oregon, and in the succeeding years acquired extensive farm, timber and sawmill properties, together with valuable mining interests in Idaho. He became one of the wealthy men of Oregon and at the time of his death in the winter of 1861-2 carried in his belt something more than seven thousand dollars in gold dust. He had made a trip to some of his mining properties in Idaho and on his return reached John Day, Oregon, about fifty miles from The Dalles, where he became snowbound. Anxious to reach home as soon as possible, he started overland on foot and, being weighted down by the gold dust which he carried, he became exhausted and nearly perished from the cold. His companions buried him in the snow and then hurried for help to the home of William Graham, whose sons went after him and brought him to the Graham home, where a few days later he died. This was quite a coincidence, as it was years afterwards when Logan P. Mulkey and Georgia Graham were married that the facts were discovered that it was to her father's house that the dying man had been taken. The body was buried in the cemetery at The Dalles.

Logan P. Mulkey received his education in the public schools of Corvallis, Oregon, and also gained valuable training in self-reliance and resourcefulness in the experiences which came to him in the pioneer settlement in which he grew to manhood. On starting out on his independent career he went to Pomeroy, Washington, where he became connected with the hardware business, and for twelve years he was engaged in that line. He erected one of the first store buildings in Pomeroy and was quite prominent in the early commercial life of that place. At length his health became impaired through close confinement and he sold his hardware store and bought a stock ranch of some twenty-five hundred acres seven miles from Pomeroy. For many years he gave his attention to raising stock on an extensive scale but in 1903 he disposed of his land and removed to Walla Walla, where he became a prominent operator in real estate, buying and selling city properties. He was highly successful in that business but his prosperity was not gained at the price of the failure of others, for he was never known to take advantage of any man. If he had sold a property and the purchaser found it difficult to make his payments at the time specified he was given an extension of time and his terms were made easier. Mr. Mulkey's high sense of honor and his probity inevitably won for him the respect and the warm regard of those with whom he was brought in contact and his friends were legion.

In 1885 Mr. Mulkey was united in marriage to Miss Georgia Graham, a daughter of William Graham, who was also a pioneer of the northwest, having crossed the plains from Ohio in 1852.

Mr. Graham was born in Wayne county, Ohio, in 1818, and at the age of twenty-one years married Miss Harriet Duncan. They removed to Missouri, where they spent seven years, and in 1852 started across the plains to Oregon with three wagons and twelve head of cattle. This trip was a very arduous one and while en route their money was stolen. Being a very generous man, Mr. Graham picked up all stranded travelers from other trains. He was accompanied by his wife and six children. In crossing the Cascade mountains an ox fell exhausted and by hand the wagons were lowered in order to proceed on their journey. The next morning this ox had wandered away and a man bought the wagon and brought the family to a place near Corvallis, for which Mr. Graham paid him one hundred dollars. On the journey westward nearly all provisions gave out and the men were forced to hunt in order to supply the party with something to eat. While on one of these hunting trips five Indians came and the women traded a wagon cover for flour. Mr. Graham took up a homestead near Corvallis, not far from the mouth of the Deschutes river, where he developed a fruit farm. In 1874 he came to Washington and purchased a farm one and one-half miles from Dayton, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died at the age of seventy-four years and his wife at the age of seventy. In their family were eleven children, of whom six are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Graham were both consistent members of the Congregational church and were very hospitable people, their home being always open to the travelers or newcomers of this region.

To Mr. and Mrs. Mulkey were born five children, of whom four survive, namely: Allen L., who operates a twenty-two hundred acre ranch in Walla Walla county belonging to his mother; Frances, at home; Marion, who volunteered June 1, 1917, and is now a member of Battery D, Twentieth Field Artillery, stationed at Camp Stanley, Leon Springs, Texas; and Helen, at home.

Mr. Mulkey was a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity but was not very active in the work of that organization, preferring to spend his leisure time at home. One of his strongest characteristics was his devotion to his family and to his friends and anything that he could do to add to the pleasure of those whom he loved was a source of the greatest satisfaction to him. His death occurred on the 7th of August, 1910, but his memory lives in the hearts of many.

Since her husband's death Mrs. Mulkey has personally managed the large estate and in 1914 she erected the Mulkey apartments at No. 20 Park street and the following year erected an apartment building on the site of the old family home, which had been destroyed by fire, the new building being entirely designed by her. These buildings are thoroughly up-to-date and provided with all the improvements to be found in the highest class apartments and are valuable assets of Walla Walla. In addition to looking after her interests in connection with these apartments Mrs. Mulkey gives supervision to the operation of a splendid ranch of twenty-two hundred acres which she has acquired since the death of her husband and she also owns considerable city property. She and her children are members of the Congregational church and she also belongs to the Sunshine Club and the Reading Club of Walla Walla. All movements for the moral and civic as well as the material upbuilding of Walla Walla receive her hearty support. She combines the qualities necessary to the successful conduct of large business interests with the qualities of the home maker, for she has been a devoted mother and was in the fullest sense a true helpmate to her husband.

JOHN G. PAINE.

John G. Paine, who has been actively identified with commercial, financial and agricultural interests in western Washington, was born in Mercer, Maine, July 8, 1842. He acquired a common school education in his home town, where he was reared upon a farm. Prompted by a desire to attempt something more promising than a New England farm offered, he followed Horace Greeley's advice to go west and in 1865 arrived in Walla Walla. Soon after his arrival he secured employment in the general merchandise store of Baker & Boyer, acting as a salesman in their establishment. In 1868 he entered into partnership with his brother, F. W. Paine, in the conduct of a general store and in 1871 took over the management of a branch store in Waitsburg. Six years later, having disposed of that business, he opened a branch store in Dayton and in the meantime he served as cashier of the Columbia National Bank. After a few years of confinement in indoor life, the firm having acquired several large tracts of wheat land, he undertook the development of that property and devoted several years to wheat growing. More recently, however, he has been largely interested in the development of alfalfa land and is thus prominently connected with an industry which is proving a source of wealth to eastern Washington. Mr. Paine occupies a homelike suite of rooms in the Paine building. He is widely known in the state as a most progressive business man and his enterprise has carried him into most important business connections.

OSCAR W. BRUNTON.

Well directed business activity finds expression in the life record of Oscar W. Brunton, vice president of the Dement Brothers Company, proprietors of a large flour mill at Walla Walla. He was born in Alton, Illinois, on the 15th of March, 1868, a son of David and Margaret P. (White) Brunton. The father was a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Tennessee, while their marriage was celebrated in Illinois. The former was a winding stair builder and became actively identified with business interests in Alton, Illinois, where he passed away in 1870. His widow afterward removed with her three children to Macon City, Missouri, and thence to Hannibal, that state, and in August, 1876 they came to Walla Walla, where she joined her sister, who was the wife of Rev. H. W. Egan, who was presiding over the Cumberland Presbyterian church at this place. Here Mrs. Brunton reared her children and continued to make her home until 1907, when she took up her residence with a daughter in Berkeley, California, where she has since resided. She is now in her eighty-seventh year and is enjoying excellent health, while in possession of all of her faculties.

Oscar W. Brunton was educated in the Walla Walla public schools and in Whitman Seminary. In his boyhood days he took up the study of telegraphy and mastered the Morse code while he was but a child. A brother being an operator, he was desirous of studying along that line but he never followed the profession as a means of livelihood. For some years in his youth he worked as a job printer in the old Journal office, and in 1884 he entered the employ of Dement Brothers in the Eureka flour mills. There he proved efficient, capable and trustworthy and in 1892 he had risen to the position of mill manager, while in 1896, upon the incorporation of the company, he became one of the members of the concern and continued as manager of the mills. In 1907 he was elected to the vice presidency of the Dement Brothers Company and remained as manager as well. Since that time he has given his attention to administrative direction and executive control as well as to the operation of the mills and has contributed much to the success of the business. There is no phase of milling operations with which he is not familiar and his long experience and capability constitute an important element in the growing success of their trade.

Mr. Brunton was united in marriage on the 12th of May, 1891, to Miss Alice Roberta Egbert, a daughter of Marion D. Egbert, who is now deceased, but for many years was a well known publisher of Walla Walla. Mr. and Mrs. Brunton have become the parents of one child, Margaret A., who is a graduate of the University of California of the class of 1914 and is now a successful teacher in the Le Grand (Calif.) high school.

In his political views Mr. Brunton is a stalwart republican, having been a staunch supporter of the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He belongs to the Walla Walla Commercial Club and cooperates in all of its well defined plans for the upbuilding of the city, for the extension of its trade relations and for the upholding of its high civic standards. He ranks with its foremost business men and representative residents, enjoying the goodwill and confidence of all with whom he has been associated.

HON. HARLAN D. ELDRIDGE.

A valuable farm property is that owned and operated by Hon. Harlan D. Eldridge, who is living on section 1, township 7 north, range 37 east, Walla Walla county. It is equipped with all the latest accessories and conveniences of a model farm property of the twentieth century and in its splendid appearance indicates the care and supervision of a practical and progressive owner. But while Mr. Eldridge is a representative and prosperous agriculturist, he is also a citizen wide awake to the duties and obligations that devolve upon him in connection with public affairs and has rendered active aid to his state as a member of the general assembly.

He was born in Dallas county, Iowa, April 6, 1858, and is a son of Joseph W. and Matilda (Parks) Eldridge, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Indiana. Removing westward, they settled in Iowa in 1856, taking up their abode upon a farm in Dallas county, where they remained for a number of years. Afterwards they became residents of Omaha, Nebraska, where both spent their remaining days. They had a family of three children, of whom two are now living.

Harlan D. Eldridge spent the period of his boyhood and youth in his native county and there completed a public school education which fitted him for life's practical duties and responsibilities. He received thorough training in the work of the farm and thus became well qualified for the tasks which he later undertook for his own benefit. In April, 1880, when a young man of twenty-two years, he arrived in Walla Walla county and took up a homestead north of Waitsburg, upon which he resided for ten years. On the expiration of that period he sold the property and bought his present farm, which is situated on