Thurston County, Washington - The whole text, 1914 (part 6 of 9)

"It was in berry picking time in the Summer of 1853," said Mr. James, "and a considerable band of Indians went into camp near our place, to gather their annual supply of the wild berries which grew in great profusion in the vicinity. Soon after their arrival the chief of the band, several members of his family, and a number of the tribe, were taken down with small pox - the scourge of the frontier in those days. Now it so happened that father, mother and one of my brothers were fmmune, owing to their having recovered from the dread disease at an earlier period. Besides being one of the most progressive men, father was also one of the kindest hearted I ever knew. Consequently he, with the assistance of mother and brother Thomas, nursed the siek Indians, administering the simple remedies which he had knowledge of, and, undoubtedly saved the lives of many.

"When the disease had run its course and all were well again, the chief and head men called upon father and entered into a solemn treaty Avith him that all claims to the section of land on which was the James homestead were forever relinquished by the Indians, and should remain in the undisturbed possession of the family for all time, as far as the Indians were concerned. The chief further made a treaty of good will that Mr. James and his family would ever be protected by the Indians in the event of trouble arising between them and the settlers, who by this time had begun to arrive in considerable numbers.

"This good-will treaty was all that prevented Grand I\Iound Prairie from being selected as an Indian reservation a few years later, when Governor Stevens made the allotments of territory to the natives, instead of Black River."

In the Fall of 1853 a goodly number of emigrants came into the country, having arrived over the terrible Xatche/5 Pass. With cattle worn out, supplies exhausted, and men and women fatigued to the limit of human endurance, the fine ranges, bountiful supply of wood, land easily put under cultivation, springs of delicious water, the prospect was alluring, so they decided to settle on Grand Mound, and from that time on there was no lack of good neighbors for the pioneer family.

Among the early settlers of ^\Ir. John James w»s : B. F'. Yantis and family ; Alexander Yantis and family ; James and Charles Biles; J. W. Goodell and large family; Holden Judson. Josephine Axtel, Patterson Luark, Abraham Tilley, Arthur Sergeant and sons, while on ]\Iiami Prairie early settlers were : The Bryans, with their sons and daughters, Esther. ]\Iary. Preston and Edgar; Camby brothers, four in num])er; John Laws ; the Waddells. with their children, Robert and Susan ; the Dodge family, consisting of father and mother and children Robert, Bruce, JMarion and Samuel. Other pioneers of the neighborhood were Lnwton Case, Wm. ^Mills and family. Henry

Hale and family, Paron Qninn, Elijah Baker and wife, Olive, with their boys, James and William; Jacob Croll, S. H. French, Andrew MeCormack and family ; L. D. Durgan and wife ; Augustus Gangloff, Thomas and William Cooper, Robert Barge, and the Northcraft brothers.

James Biles built the first tannery on Scatter Creek, north of the Columbia River. L. D. Durgan and A. Gangloff started the first fruit nursery ; John Guynnup, a Mexican war veteran, started the first brick kiln at Grand Mound, and in 1858 a I\Ir. Armstrong built the first sawmill on the Chehalis River, locating a little below the present town of Oakville.

Pioneer Reminiscences 233 Albert A. Phillips

In preseuting a brief sketch of the late Albert A. Phillips, it becomes a duty, as well as a pleasure, to give prominence to the well known reputation lie enjoyed for absolute business integrity. After having been President for twenty years of the First National Bank, and upon the failure of that institution being appointed receiver, with the universal consent of the stockholders, is in itself an eloquent testimonial of the confidence in and regard for ]\Ir. Phillips by his business associates.

Albert A. Phillips was born in a small town in Ohio, in 1839, and graduated from the high school of Sandusky, when eighteen years of age. He then taught school for a few years, but at the age of 21 bade farewell to his boyhood friends and home and started AVest over the old Oregon Trail.

An elder brother, E. C. Phillips, had preceded him. and was located on Whidby Island, where he was conducting a general merchandise store. The young man clerked in this store for a year and then, hearing of rich strikes in the Idaho gold fields, decided to try his fortune there. Here he was unusually successful, and soon made a considerable stake from dealing in mining properties. Investing his modest fortune in Boise City, Idaho, he was, within a few months, completely stranded by a fire which destroyed the buildings in which he had invested. He then returned to Whidby Island, but came later to Olympia, where he was enrolling clerk with the first session of the territorial legislature. Liking the capital of the new Territory, ]\Ir. Phillips decided to locate here, his first employment after the session being that of clerk in Capt. Percival's store.

"Within a few years he was elected Auditor and Recorder of Thurston County, and enjoyed the distinction of being re-elected for seven consecutive two-year terms.

the late George A. Barnes, and when Mr. Phillips was finally succeeded as a county officer, in company with Judge Hoyt, this bank was purchased. The venture was so successful that the partners, Phillips & Hoyt, started the First National Bank and Phillips was elected President, continuing in this position until, owing to the deflation of real estate values, the bank was forced to close its doors. ]\Ir. Phillips was then appointed receiver, and how judiciously and wisely he closed up the Affairs of the institution, and how satisfied were the investors and depositors, is a matter of financial history.

]\Ir. Phillips was elected Mayor of the City of Olj'mpia on the Republican ticket, was at one time a trustee of the Asylum for the Insane at Steilaeoom, and was appointed a regent of the St*te University by Governor Ferry. After closing up the affairs of the First National, he was elected County Treasurer for two terms and was then appoiiited Assistant State Bank Examiner by Governor Meade, which position he was filling at the time of his death, on August 15, 1910.

Three children were the result of this union, Gertrude, afterAvards Mrs. Rankin ; Elizabeth, now ]Mrs. 0. ]\I. ]\Iitchell of Mt. Claire, New Jersey, and Charles K. Gertrude died several years ago. Charles lives in Seattle, but claims Olympia as his home, coming here to vote at election time.

Mrs. Phillips, a native of Wisconsin, came to Whidby Island with her parents, in 1857 The journey to the West was via Panama, and was soon after the little railroad was built across the Isthmus.

Whidby Island at that time Avas considered to be the garden spot of Washington. A very superior class of people had settled there, who were enjoying unusual prosperity for so new a section, consequently Mrs. Phillips' recollections of the islands are very pleasant, and the reminiscences contributed by that lady are exceedingly interesting.

All travel, of course, was by water, and Indians were generally hired to convey the settlers to the various points, in their canoes. For a moderate charge, the natives would take a party even as far as Seattle. Among Mrs. Phillips' most

I)leasant memories is a trip to that eit.y, taken in company with her brother-in-law and sister. The big bucks did the paddling. A camp was made at night on the beach, and the trip was comfortable and full of delight to the young people.

Another trip taken at an earlier day, which j\Irs. Phillips tells about, was not so pleasant. When she was a young girl about fourteen years of age, in company with her seventeenyear-old sister, Elizabeth, they started for a day's visit with friends in Coupeville. An Indian was hired to take them there in his canoe, the fare being 50 cents for the round trip. AVhen they were opposite a lonely place on the beach, the Indian paddled up to the shore. With his paddle in his hand, springing out of the canoe, he pushed the girls away from the shore, and, pulling a knife, which to the frightened gk'ls looked to be two feet long, began to hack his paddle to pieces, jabbering and grimacing all the while in a perfectly demoniacal manner. The girls were paralyzed with terror and at a loss what to do, drifting there alone in a canoe vrithout a paddle or means of landing. At this time another Indian paddled up to them and asked them the cause of their trouble. Upon their telling him, he directed them to look under the mat in the bottom of their canoe and find another paddle and reach the shore, which they did. The friendly Indian then went up to the one who had caused the trouble, and sternly reprimanded him. and commanded him to get back in the canoe and take the girls on to Coupeville. Indian No. 1 quieted down, resumed the journey and made no further disturbance, then nor on the return trip.

At one time E. C. Philli])s owned a farm on Whidy Island and had a couple of men and an Indian clearing some land One of the men hung his coat upon a stump, while he worked. In the pocket of the coat was $300 in $20 gold pieces. When the day's work was over, the owner of the coat threw it over his arm and went to supper. Some time in the evening he missed his money and, naturally, accused the Indian, who had been working with him, of taking it. The Siwash strenuously denied the theft. But there was no mistake. The money had certainly been in the man's pocket. None but the Indian saw the coat hanging on the stump. The money was gone. Of course he took it. Justice was swift and ini])('lu(>iis in tliose

(hi vs. A posse of "Boston" men soon assembled. Both sides of the story were told, and without delay the Indian was convicted. But a conviction, however satisfying to the loser, did not rejpay him for his vanished dollars. So the Boston men look Sir. Indian out, stood him under the forked limb of an immense tree, slipped a noose in the end of a rope over his head and began to tighten it, and told the Indian to prepare to meet his Tenanamus - God. Stoically stood the native, whose only words had been, "Me no take." It looked for a while as if the suspect would be counted among the good Indians within a few moments. But cooler judgment prevailed, and as the Siwash affirmed and reaffirmed his "no take," it was decided to let him go. The noose was unfastened and the Indian lost no time in fading away.

Years, to the number of twenty-five, passed on - the incident was long since forgotten. The farm on which the money disappeared had passed into the hands of a brother of I\Irs. Phillips, John Gillispie. One day in plowing up some new land in a freshly cleared field, he caught the glitter of something ])right. Picking up the object, he was amazed to find it to be a $20 gold piece. Gillispie then remembered the story of the loss of the $300 years ago, and searched till he found the entire amount. It had fallen from the man's pocket Avhen he flung it over his arm. and had lain at the foot of a stump all these vears.

Pioneer Reminiscences 237 Bennett Willson Johns

The distinction of having been the youngest soldier in the volunteer company enlisted to defend Seattle in the Indian war of 1855-56, belongs to the subject of this sketch, Bennett Willson Johns, who, with his father, brothers and sisters. arrived in Seattle in 1853. Early in the spring of that year the elder Johns, Bennett Lewis, with his w^ife, Elizabeth Tuttles Johns, and their large family of children, started from their old home in Tennessee, for the West.

When the emigrants reached Soda Springs, in Idaho, the wife and mother, with her two weeks' old babe, were taken down with mountain fever, and died after a few^ days' illness. The eldest daughter, Frances, who had become the wife of Alexander Barnes in the East, but who, with her husband, was also among the emigrants, was also stricken with the same disease and followed her mother within a few days. JMother and daughter sleep side by side in lonely graves in the wilderness.

OM'ing to the delays from sickness and fatigue of the cattle, snow began to fall by the time the train reached the Cascades, and before many days' travel through the mountains were accomplished, it became necessary to abandon the wagons and much of the outfit, and take pack horses with which to continue their journey. Food became so scarce that a messenger was dispatched ahead of the weary emigrants with a prayer for assistance, to the settlers of Seattle. With characteristic Western generosity, the appeal was responded to and food and comforts sent back along the trail to relieve the distress of the emigrants. On reaching Puget Sound, the father took up a donation claim in what is now King County,

After the family had lived on the claim tAvo years, the Indian war broke out and the elder Johns and tAvo sons were among the first volunteers, and were engaged in the battle of 1856 when the Indians attacked Seattle.

Among B. W. Johns' most vivid remembrances, was one morning while the family were at breakfast in their home in the suburbs of the town, where they had moved from the homestead at the time of the massacre on AVhite River, the Indians surrounded the house, driving the father and children into the toAvn. When they returned they found the house had been ransacked by the Klootchman, and all they considered of value Avas taken, including the Avinter's supply of flour.

This was a serious matter. The father and boys had raised the wheat on their OAA^n land, the father soAving in the morning as much as the boys could dig into the ground and cover during the rest of the day. Later on this AA'heat Avas harvested in the primitive way of the time, threshed Avith a flail and AA'innowed in the wind. Then the precious grain was taken by Mr. Johns and Mr. John Collins, in a flat bottomed scoav, to TumAvater, Avhere it AA^as ground into flour.

When the family arrived in Washington - then Oregon - Mr. Bennett W. Johns AA^as but a mere lad of fourteen, but even at that age he filled a man's part in the struggle which every pioneer had to participate in. After remaining Avith his father on the claim until he Avas tAA^enty years of age, he started out in life for himself. When the Frazer River gold excitement was claiming many of the pioneers of the infant terri-- tory, Mr. Johns joined the rush and mined with considerable success on Puget Sound Bar on the Frazer. Later he turned bis energies to fur trading, with much financial success.

In 1869, tired of a roving life, the young man came to Olympia, where for fourteen years he Avas engaged in the saAvmill business with his brother-in-laAv, William H. Mitchell.

In 1876, Mr. Johns purchased the fine farm on Bush Prairie which, although he sold it in later years, is still knoAvn as the Johns place. He also acquired considerable other valuable property in Thurston County and in the Cit.y of Olympia.

During Mr. Johns' life he was actively associated with the Independent Order of Odd having been Noble Grand in this fraternal organization, and was also a member of the auxiliary - the Rebekahs. He was also at one time ]Master Workman of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Both I\Ir. B. W. Johns and his wife, IMary Vertrees, have been connected with the Baptist Church since the days of their early youth.

iMary Vertrees Johns M^as the daughter of Charles IM. and Mary J. Vertrees, and was born in Pike County, Illinois. October 26, 1851. On February 25, 1872, she became the wife of Bennett Willson Johns, the wedding taking place in Olympia, at which place the young lady was a new arrival.

At one time Mrs. Johns owned and successfully superintended a book bindery in Olympia. She was also first matron of Charleston Cottage for young ladies at Ottawa, Kansas, University in 1892 and 1893. Later Mrs. Johns was assistant postmaster in Olympia for a term of seven years beginning April 16, 1898. This lady, while feminine and womanly in the truest sense of the word, is outspoken in her belief that women have an equal right with men in framing laws for the government and protection of the country, and enjoys the distinction of having been twice elected a delegate to the Republican County Convention in the '80s, when women were given the right to vote, and once elected as degelate to the Territorial Convention.

Besides her almost life-long affiliation with the Baptist Church, Mrs. Johns is Past Matron of the Eastern Star, has been three times president of the Woman's Club of Olympia, twice Noble Grand of the Order of Rebekahs, a member of the Ladies' Relief Society and president of the George II. Thomas Relief Corps.

Mrs. Johns has enjoyed extensive travel, not only through the United States, but I\Iexico and Canada, and in later years toured the European countries.

inanaged the considerable property left her. The only child born to Mr. and JMrs. Johns, Ruth V., now Mrs. A. S. Kerfoot, arrived in their home on December 5, 1874, and now makes her home in Lemon Grove, California, with her husband and an interesting family of three boys - Bennett Johns, George Franklin and Robert Arthur.

Dr. Alden Hatch Steele was an early pioneer of Oregon, coming to that State in 1849 with the 1st Rifle Regiment, U. S. A., crossing the plains to Vancouver.

He was born in Oswego, New York, the youngest of three sons of Orlo Steele and Fanny Abbey. The oldest brother. Elijah Steele was a prominent lawyer and for many years was Superior Judge in Siskiyou County, California.

Dr. Steele graduated from the Lledical Department of the University of New York in 1846. At the time he reached Oregon Territory, Oregon City was the principal town, and he settled there, marrying Hannah Hooper Blackler of ]\Iarblehead, Mass., who came to Oregon as a teacher under the protection of Rev. G. H. Atkinson, a Congregational clergyman, who had been to the Eastern States asking for volunteers for this work in the new country.

Dr. Steele had great influence with the Indians and settled many of their disputes. In 1857 he was physician in charge of the Grand Rounde Indian Reservation and again in 1870 served in the same way the Indians of Nesqually, Chehalis and Squaxon Island Reservations, then in charge of Col. Samuel Ross, U. S. A. During the Civil War, Dr. Steele was post surgeon at Fort Dalles and Fort Stevens. Oregon, and Fort Steilacoom, Wash. This last named Post was where the present Insane Asylum is now situated.

In 1869 the tro()j)s at Fort Steilacoom were ordered to Alaska and Dr. Steele, feeling he had done his share of frontier work, resigned from the army and took up his professional work in Olympia, where he built a home at the southeast corner of Franklin and Tcntli Streets and lived until his death, in 1902.

During the years spent in Oregon and Washington he held many places of trust and prominence in public affairs, and was widely known as a leading physician and surgeon all through his life. In 1852 Dr. Steele used chloroform in amputating a limb, the first used in surgery north of San Francisco.

He was mayor of Oregon City three terms and a member of the city council eleven years. In Olympia he was an earnest worker for all public improvements, helping to start the first Gas & Power Co., director for many years of the First National Bank, and stockholder in the railroad to Tenino, and the "Olympia" Hotel, built by the citizens by hard efforts t«o help keep the capital on the old historic spot. Dr. Steele was an earnest member of the Episcopal church, and was one of the committee that sent a request to New York in 1853. asking for a Bishop for the Northwest. This request was answered by the election of Thomas Feilding Scott, in 1854, as first Missionary Bishop for the Territory of Oregon, a territory then extending over the present State of Washington. He was also a member of the first convocation called by Bishop Scott, to establish the church in this new field. He was always a vestryman of St. John's Church, Olympia, and junior warden and treasurer for twenty years.

Dr. Steele was appointed by Gov. Ferry as Regent of the University, serving two terms. Also medical examiner of the territorial penitentiarj^ for six years, medical examiner of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company for twenty-five years, and for several other life insurance companies. He was an honorary member of both the Oregon and Washington Medical Societies.

Dr. Steele died at his home in Olympia, June 29th. 1902, aged 79. He left his wife and one daughter, a son having died many years before. His daughter, Fanny Orlo, married in 1878 Russell G. O'Brien of Olympia, who came to Washington in 1870 with Governor Salomon, as Assistant Collector of Internal Revenue.

He was known as the "Father of the National Guard of Washington," organizing the first company of the present militia in Olympia in 1882 and serving as Adjutant General of the State for twenty-five years. He died in Pasadena. Cali- fornia, in February, 1914. General and ^Iyh. O'Brien had three children, a daughter, Florence Blaekler, died in ISS'S; a son, E. Lloyd, who was a prominent student and athlete at the State University, where he completed his course as a Civil Engineer, died Nov. 26, 1912. The youngest daughter, Helen Steele, married George A. Aetzel, vice president oP the Olympia Door Company, and resides in Olympia. One son, Charles Alden, was born in 1912 to I\lr. and llrs. Aetzc;!.

Thos. M. Macleay

Thomas Moore Macleay was born in Willapool, on Lock Broom, in Ross and Cromarty Shires, Scotland. His family was one of the oldest and most prominent in that section and when he was a child his family moved to Richmond, Canada. In 1861, he went into business in ]\Iontreal and during the Civil War traveled through the Eastern States, buying -what produce he could and shipping to his partner. Hearing through his brother about California and Oregon, he decided to sell out and go there.

He then become interested in the firm of Corbett & Macleay Co., of Portland, who owned several large vessels and did an immense business all over the Coast and in the Hawaiian Islands.

He later visited Puget Sound and decided to cast his lot in Olympia, where he opened a wholesale and retail grocery, below Second on ]\Iain street. His stock was so heavy it caused the floor to give way so he built a new place on Main street, between Second and Third streets. His large heart was open to every new comer and he trusted them with goods for months and always had a warm corner and something to eat for everyone.

Traveling in those daj^s was very hard and was done mostly by row boat and horseback. He always had the good of the community at heart and was very enterprising. With Capt. J. G. Parker and Dr. Alden Steele, he built the first steamer, "The Messenger," that made daily trips between Olympia and Tacoma and Seattle. It was considered a wild and unheard of undertaking in those days and was a great event when the boat was launched and made her trial trip as far as Doffemeyers Point, dren. Their first home was the building where Governor Stevens opened the first Territorial Legislature, and Avhere their only son, Laclilau ]Macleay, now a prominent business man of New York, was born.

Mr. ]\Iacleay died in 1897 and as his old friend, John ]\Iiller ]\Iurphy wrote of him: "His word was as good as a bond, and his name to an obligation as safe as the paper of the Bank of England." ]\Irs. Maeleay, as a young girl, was one of a group of young people who were the life of the whole community.

In the early seventies they organized the Olympia Amateur Dramatic Club, whose members were Billy Neat, Eobert Frost, Capt. Ballard, (who afterwards founded the town of Ballard), Joe Chilberg, George Blankenship, Sam Woodruff, James Ferrj- and Professor Roberts, the ladies being Nettie Horton, Gyp Shelton, A#a Woodruff, fwho is now Mrs. Oliver Anderson, the noted authoress), Julia Shelton and Annie Frost.

They put on these amateur plays in the old Town Hall, the proceeds going for dift'erent purposes - once to paint the hall and again to build a house for a family who had been burned out.

A sketch of Thurston County's early history without at least a mention of Judge 0. B. McFadden and his family would, indeed, be like a play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out.

Born in Pennsylvania of a sturdy and well-to-do family. Judge McFadden spent the early years of his life in that state. There he was married and there his four elder children were born. In 1853 President Franklin Pierce appointed the young lawyer, who even then was beginning to attract attention by his legal attainments and tactful statesmanship, to the position of Circuit Judg'e over the newly organized Territory of Oregon. Judge McFadden made the trip to his new field of labor by water, crossing the Isthmus and coming on up to San Francisco, then by boat up the Columbia to Vancouver, which was then but little more than a trading post established by the Hudson Bay people. Court was held in the Rogue River country and the Judge would make his visits from Vancouver always on horseback, with his legal books and documents packed in his saddle bags. Soon after the formation of Washing Territory, and her separation from Oregon, Judge Mc- Fadden was appointed Chief Justice to succeed Edward Lander, who was the first Judge to enjoy that honor.

The year before his eoming to Olympia, Judge McFadden had returned to his home in Pennsylvania and yielding to the entreaties of his wife, who could no longer bear separation from her husband, brought his family back with him upon his return to Oregon. Mr. Frank P. McFadden, one of the sons, relates their experiences during their first few weeks in Vancouver. The mother and children were filled with dread and apprehension of the Indians, and before coming West had been told by their friends of the dire fate which would probably await them when they reached the wilds of Oregon. One day the McFadden boys, while playing by the banks of the river.

espied a flotilla of apparently empty canoes and small ])oats drifting down the Columbia. They rushed to the settlement, giving the alarm that the Indians were coming. Even some of the men who hastened to the river's edge to see the cause of the boys' scare thought they Avere correct, for the long string of boats were certainly approaching and it was thought that in the bottom of each canoe was lying a savage buck with his gun pointed toward them. But when the boats came near enough for thorough investigation, they were seen to be, indeed, empty, and it afterwards proved the craft had been made a few' miles up the river and were being brought down for sale among the settlers.

Another scare the I\IeFaddens experienced was one dark night after they had all retired, the mother and children were aw^akened by the most terrible yelling and screaming. Sure now that the Indians had come and were murdering everyone in Vancouver; they cowered in their beds in the dark wondering what moment their time would come. Morning broke, however, and they were surprised to find themselves still alive. ]Making their way to the nearest neighgbors they were relieved to learn that the horrid sounds had been made bj^ a pack of coyotes which had fallen upon the carcass of a horse lying in the brush not far from the McFadden home.

In 1873 Judge JMcFadden was elected a delegate to Congress on the Democratic ticket, defeating Selucius Garfielde on the Republican ticket. The next two busy years w'ere spent in Washington, D. C. Judge ]\IcFadden died in Olympia in 1875, shortly after the expiration of his term as delegate. The ]\IcFadden home, on a point of land overlooking th^ Sound, was for years one of the beauty spots of Olympia, but the march of progress has developed business establishments in the neighborhood and detracted from the loveliness of the view once to be obtained from the windows of what was, in its days, considered a mansion. In this home for many years after the death of her husband lived IMrs. JMcFadden, who finally, in 1904, sank to rest. The children of Judge and Mrs. McFadden are: Mrs. Mary Miller, of Seattle; 0. B. McFadden, Jr., Frank P. and J. Caf :\reFadden of Olympia, K. X. McFadden of Seward, Alaska, and Mrs. L. P. Ouelette, of Olympia.

Edmond And Crowell H. Sylvester

The pioneers who are the subjects of this sketch are too well known, and their pioneer experiences have been so oft related that the compiler can give but little more than a repetitiui of facts which are already history. Fishermen bold were these brothers, descended from a long line of fishermen, who made their home at Deer Isle, Maine, the spirit and love of danger and adventure was born with them. In 1846, the elder brother, Edmond, came to Pnget Sound, locating first on a claim on what later became known as Chambers' Prairie. Sylvester's nearest neighbor was Nathan Eaton, the first settler on this prairie. Sylvester had as partner a man named Smith, who selected for his claim the half section of ground where Olympia now stands. There was a mutual agreement that in the event of the death of either of the partners, the survivor should own the whole of both claims.

Sylvester and Smith, even then, had faith that a town Avould be built on the location ; indeed, the partners planned to lay out a town site themselves. To this new town they planned to give the name Smithter, combining their names.

In 1848 Smith, who was subject to epilepsy, was found dead in his boat, in which he was intending to make a trip to attend the Oregon Legislature, of which he had been elected a member. By the agreement Sylvester inherited Smith's claim and from that time on for many years the town and its development became his chief interest in life. He changed the name of the settlement to Olympia and his generosity in bestowing tracts of land to the city to be used for public purposes is well known. The beautiful little park, now known as Capital Square, but for many years called Sylvester Park, a half block of land west of the Capitol Building for the location of Olympia's first school house, and the ten acres donated to the State in Capitol Park on which are located the executive mansion

When Edmond had lived in the West about four years he sent for his brother, Crowel H. Sylvester, to join him. ]\Irs. Edmond Sylvester was escorted by her brother-in-law in her journey from the old home to join her husband.

C. H. Sylvester, upon his arrival in the territory, located upon his claim, not far from South Bay. He was the pioneer settler in this section and was obliged to cut the trail through the dense woods to reach his claim.

The first hotel this city could boast of was run by the Sylvester Brothers, a two-room shack, cloth lined, the wdiole building being but 16x24 feet in size, with bunks for the accommodation of guests.

Edmund Sylvester was one of the owners of the brig Orbit, which came here in 1849, with a party of California gold seekers, Capt. W. H. Dunham. This ship was the first owned on Puget Sound, the forerunner of the vast fleet now plying these waters.

Edmund Sylvester built his home on the block now facing the postoffice building on ]\Iain Street and for many years it was considered the finest home in Y/ashington. And when he ended this world's activities in the late '80 's. his brother Crowell Sylvester, continued to live on his valuable farm till the time of his death in the early jiart of this century.

General William Winlock Miller

F'rom teaching school in a remote village in Illinois for a monthly salary of $10 to amassing a million dollar fortune, is the record of W. W. Miller, Avhose memory is prominent in the minds of the remaining pioneers of his day.

After receiving his education in Illinois and. with patient frugality acquiring enough money to defray his expenses to the Far West, the young man arrived in Olympia in 1853, his entire fortune comprising only a few hundred dollars. With the business sagacity and perspicuity which was i\Ir. Miller's main characteristic, he at once began to invest in Olympia property, buying and selling, loaning money to those less fortunate than himself, his speculations ever attended with signal success. Mr. Miller, however, is not only to be remem- In^red as a successful business man, but also a patriot and brave soldier as well. He was one of the first to enlist in the ranks of volunteers organized for the defense of the country in the Indian Avar of 1855-56, rapidly rising from the ranks until he was finally made Commissary General and staff officer to Governor I. I. Stevens, and this executive was emphatic in affirming that much of the success in quelling the Indian disturbances was due to the able and efficient men who composed hi? staff.

Mr. Hazard Stevens, in his "Life of Governor Stevens," gives the following high praise to General W. W. Miller, as having imparted "extraordinary efficiency to the quartermasters' and commissary's departments, the most difficult of all These departments, generally kept distinct, was a single department in the service. It was General Miller who collected, largely by impressment, organized and led out into the Indian country the large ox train, which hauled out three months' supplies for the volunteers in the beginning of the campaign, without which it could not have been waged. He was distinguished by remarkable sound sense and judgment and Governor Stevens counseled with and relied upon him more than any other. And after the close of the Indian war General Miller was Governor Stevens' closest friend in the territory."

When Governor Stevens issued his order disbanding the vohmteer organization General ]\Iiller took steps to sell at public auction the animals, equipment and supplies at hand and settling the accounts. The sales of property realized $150,- 000, the articles sold generally bringing more than the original cost, and the sum realized was more than enough to defray the entire cost of the expedition. After the close of the war Governor Stevens was successful in having the territory made a separate Indian Superintendency and General W. W. Miller was appointed Superintendent General, which important position he filled with credit to himself and with satisfaction of the Governor. In politics General Miller was an unsv^^erving Democrat and took an active part in the Stevens' campaign when the latter was seeking re-election as a Territorial Delegate to Congress. Among the papers preserved by Governor Stevens was a letter written him by his friend General Miller, when the Governor was in "Washington, D. C. which reads: "I believe that National Democracy can verily keep possession of the territory. Your own prospects are good. Now that you have won a National fame, you will always be looked upon as the leading man in the Northwest, and you cannot be beaten at the next election."

General W. W. Miller secured as his bride ]\Iiss ]Mary Mc- Fadden, an undisputed belle of Olympia and two handsome sons were born to them, Winlock and Pendelton. The General's death occurred in Olympia, and his son, Pendelton, in Seattle, both being interred in Masonic cemetery.

Mrs. Miller and her son, Winlock Miller, now make their home in Seattle, although Mrs. Miller has large ]-)roperty holdings still in Olympia. Several years ago Mrs. IMillcr presented U) the city of Olympia the valuable block of land on which is now situated the Winlock Miller High School.

Christopher Columbus Simmons

To see and talk with the first white child born north and Avest of the Columbia River was one of the delightful experiences of the compiler upon one of her quests for reminiscences of old timers.

C. C. Simmons and his wife have their home in a cozy nook on the east shore of Mud Bay, where Mr. Simmons is the oAvner of valuable oyster and clam beds. Here for the past dozen years this worthy couple have lived in quiet content. Their children married and with homes of their own, frequently come to visit their father and mother, holding fast to family ties, and keeping in touch with their parents.

The coming of the Simmons family to the West has been tcld so often by abler historians that the present writer feels that a brief mention of these, among the very first seMlers in this county, will suffice here.

Col. Michael T. Simmons, of Irish ancestry, although born in Kentucky, was among the hardy immigrants who dared to venture into the totally unknown wilderness of Pugct Sound as early as 1844.

Married and with four sons, Simmons, whose indominable spirit refused to be disheartened or depressed, joined the ox train of fortune seekers, among whom were the men and women who were to lay the foundation of the magnificent development of this section of the Puget Sound country. The families who, with Simmons, finally settled in what is now Thurston County were : James McAllister and his wife, Martha, their children, George, America, who afterwards became ]\Irs. Thomas Chambers ; Martha, afterwards the wife of Joseph Brunston, and John ; David Kindred and his wife Talitha, and son, John K. ; Gabriel and Mrs. Keziah B. Johns, their sons, Lewis and Morris, and daughter Elizabeth, who married Joseph Broshears in 1852, and the Bush family, consisting of George and Isabelle J., father and mother, William Owen, Joseph Talbot, Reily B., Henry Sandford and Jackson January.

some of the other men had made the trip up the Cowlitz River to ascertain the value of the land, quality of timher and prospect for wresting a livelihood from the wilds. But in the fall of 1845 they all brought their families to the Sound. Simmons located his claim at the falls of the Deschutes River, which was then known by the Indians as "Tumchuck" - throbbing water. The Bush family took up land on the edge of the prairie, which has ever since been called by their name. Kindred's claim was just south of what is now Olympia, and the IMcAllisters v.-ere eventually located near the Nesqually Eiver. Simmons laid out the town of New Market, now TumvY-ater, and in the fall of 1846 built the first grist mill north of the Columbia. This historic mill was roughh" built of logs, with its mill stones made from flat boulders found in the stream whose waters turned the rude wheel. From this coarse, unbolted flour, the first bread from home grown wheat was made, and this bread was considered a great luxury after a diet of dried peas. and boiled wheat, Avhich had formed the staple diet before the completion of the mill.

Before coming to Puget Sound, v/hile the Simmons were wintering on the north bank of the Columbia, near Y/ashougal, the irrepressible Christopher Columbus was born. This histor^' is now continued in C. C. Simmons' own words.

"Yes, I reckon I was the first white child born in this neck of the woods, and father and mother seemed to think because I enjoj^ed this distinction I must have discovered the country, so they called me Christopher Columbus. I first saw the light of day April 10, 1845, and my birth chamber was a sheep pen "vwth a canvas stretched over the roof to keep part of the rain from mother and me. There were eleven children in our family - the boys, George Washington, David C, filarion Francis and McDonald, were older than me and crossed the plains with father and mother. Then I came next and younger than me were : Benjamin Franklin, Charlotte, filary. Kate, Charles Mason and dad's namesake filichael T. Of these children David and McDonald are dead, Marion lives in Puyallup, Benjamin F. in Seattle, Charlotte is ]\Irs. Kuntz. of Chehalis, Mary is Mrs. Holmes, living in IMassaehusetts. Kate married a man named Kantwell, Charles M. lives in Puyallup and i\Iichael in EUensburg.

"During the Indian v.ar we were all forted in the Collins blockhouse where is now Arcadia, but I was not old enough to take an active part in that trouble. I have always been poor in this world's goods and am glad of it. There is the less danger of being robbed, although I have had my chances for wealth more than most.

"One time when I was working for my uncle, Dr. Maynard, who was one of the first settlers of King County, he made me a present of a deed to 160 acres of what is now West Seattle. I held on to it for a while and then found it tot) troublesome to care for the deed and to keep the small amount of taxes paid, so I gave it back to Uncle Maynard, much to his disgust. He thought I must have very little sense not to hang on to what he knew would be very valuable at some not far-off day.

"Father died on his farm in Lewis County a long time ago and mother lived until about 24 years ago, spending her last days in Shelton. When I was nineteen years of age I was married to Asenath Ann Kennedy, who was but fourteen, and has been my true and faithful wife for fifty years of wedded happiness. Of course, we had to elope, for her parents w^ould not give consent till she was at least out of school. I rowed, one dark night, from the Big Skookum to Steilacoom, where Ann was attending school, picked her up at a point we had agreed on and then we made our way to Seattle.

"Even in those days a girl had to be at least eighteen before she could marry without her parents' sanction. Well. we hardly knew what to do. So when we got to Seattle we went to Uncle Maynard for advice. This good man considered a moment and then said to Ann 'Take off your shoes.' She did so and Dr. Maynard wrote the figures 18 on two slips of paper and put them in her shoes. Ann caught on as quick as lightning. A few minutes later we stood up before Rev. Daniel Bagley, who asked her age. 'Why, I'm over eighteen,' she said as bland as milk, and so we W'Cre married and have lived happily together.

"On August 25th, 1914, we celebrated our golden wedding at our home on ]\Iud Bay, with all of our nine children and our grandchildren around us."

Pioneer Reminiscences 255 Harvey R, Woodard

The account given by the pioneer son of a pioneer fat]ier of their early days on Puget Sound presents a photographic reproduction of the scenes and experiences which are now but a dream of by-gone days. Ah)nzo B. Woodard, senior representative of one of Thurston County's best known pioneer families tells the following:

"Father, mother and we three boys, Theodore, Delbert and your humble servant, came to Oregon in the early fifties, reaching The Dalles after a cruel, hard trip, over the Oregon Trail.

"Father's cattle were so worn out that they every one died of starvation and exposure early in the winter. He had left them to be taken care of at The Dalles, but the Avinter Avas unexpectedly severe, there was no feed to be bought and the snow covered the ranges.

"The family came on down to Vancouver before the extreme cold set in, and father tried to rent a house for us, but found that to be impossible. A piece of ground large enough to set a tent upon was rented for $10 a month, so my parents decided that where there was so much unoccupied territory - you might say all of what is now both Oregon and Washington being still unsettled, this was two much of a price to pay. Accordingly, they went a few miles out of Vancouver, and father built a little one-room affair of logs in which we could store our plunder and sleep. All that winter mother cooked our meals on an open fire made from the green wood father would cut from the forest. As the snow lay twelve inches deep on the ground we all had a pretty uncomfortable time. Up to February the Columbia was frozen so solidly no boats could come up from Portland, but as Spring came on the weather moderated and the sAvift Avater formed an open channel in the river. Father fixed up some canoes, and leaving mother and us boys at Vancouver started for Puget Sound.

South Bay. When the weather got nice and warm father sent for his family and we made the trip by water. The boat came to the landing place in connection with Fort Nesqually and there father met ns with a row boat and took us to what was to be our home for some years.

"I was but a lad, and had never seen salt water before. I was filled with admiration of the beautiful picture presented by South Bay with the dense forest coming" down to the shores of the bay and the clear, delighful looking water. We camped that night on the beach and in the morning imagine my dismay when I looked out on what seemed to me but a sea of mud. Father reassured me, however, and told me that w^as the Avay of the tide - always on the ebb and flow - and as sure as it went so surely would it come again. We lived here on South Bay for the next two or three years in peace and were beginning to feel quite prosperous. Father, with the help of us boys had cleared and planted tAvelve acres of land. We had a yoke of oxen, a cow and some pigs, and father had built a very comfortable home.

"In 1855, just as we began to reap the reward of our hard work and previous privations, the Indian war broke out. We had been hearing ugly rumors for some time, and one afternoon Owen Bush rode up to our place and told us about the killing of McAllister by the Indians. Father went on up to the head of the bay to learn all he could about whether there was real danger and found that all the settlers had already fled to Olympia. Hastening back home he hurried us all into a row boat and started for town. On the way he stopped and took ]\Irs. Knott and Mrs. Frazier in our boat.

"When we got up opposite Herbert Jeals' place, we were terrified to hear firing back of the house. Father and I were pulling the oars and Theodore was steering the boat. We struck out across the bay for the west side, expecting to see Indian war canoes take after us, in which event we knew we would soon be overhauled, for our boat was clumsy and overloaded. When we got oft' the Harstein Island point one of the worst wind storms came up I have ever experienced. I have never seen the waters of Puget Sound so rough. The waves were lashed into a fury, and ran so high that our capsize seemed imminent. ^Irs. Frazier was the worst scared v.Oiiian I ever saw. She lay in the bottom of the boat moaning and crying, not knowing whether she was to meet death at the hands of the Indians or be drowned in Puget Sound. But along toward morning we reached Olympia all safe and sound, although almost exhausted. The next day father and I Avent back home for the rest of our things and we lived all winter in Turn water.

"Eight here I want to say that after my experiences of t':at year, no talk of war time prices can scare me. Father had t ) pay $3 a bushel for potatoes, $20 a barrel for flour, $8 a keg for syrup, and there was a tradition that butter was a dollar a pound - but about that I cannot say. The Woodards didn't see any of that luxury for many a month. Our main living was potatoes, clams, oysters, ducks and always salmon. Until father built his grist mill, all our flour came around the Horn and from being for months in the hold of vessels became musty and all but unfit to eat. I have seen mother lift squirming worms out of the mildewed stuff she was obliged to use in making our bread.

"After the close of the war father went back to South Union and later overhauled and rebuilt a mill on the Sequalochen, but I spent my winters in town attending school. Among the teachers I remember in those days were Rev. Dillon and Mrs. Doyle, both fine instructors, leading their pupils along learning's path with a kind firmness that has liad its effect all through my life. Father in later years bought the old Woodard home on the West Side, where he died in 1872. Mother lived over twenty years after father's death.

"When I attained my majority I spent some years in Oregon - was there during the Civil War, and while here had my greatest piece of good luck. While living in Lafayette. T met and was married to my wife - formerly Miss Wallace. Later we returned to Olympia, where for years we have led a peaceful, uneventful life. We have had two daughters and one son born to us: Elma Amelia, now Mrs. Crawford, of Tacoma and Ada Salome, the wife of Captain George S. E. Krem. Our son Van Eugene died a few years ago."

Stephen D. Reinhart

"You must be sure to give prominent mention to the Reinhart family, and Mrs. Reinhart's father, William Cock," was frequently told the compiler when interviewing the few living men and women whose memory carried them back to their associates of sixty-five years ago.

Stephen D. Reinhart was of German ancestry, but was himself a native of Kentucky. He was educated in the State of Indiana and there was married to Miss Sarah Cock. In 1852, when the tide of immigration was strong towards the land of the setting sun, the young Reinharts, with their babj^ boy, William, started for the long and dangerous trip over the old Oregon Trail. The journey was attended with the almost incredible hardships and dangers which the immigrants were called upon to endure. The oxen became exhausted when the alkali country was reached, and finally Mr. Reinhart was obliged to separate the hind wheels of his wagon from the front ones, fit a rude tongue to these and with this miserable make-shift proceed on the journey to The Dalles.

Rafting his family and few worldly possessions to the Cascades, ]\Ir. Reinhart was here fortunate enough to secure the contract for loading a sloop bound for Portland. This put the adventurer in funds again and provided a means of passage down the Columbia to Portland. From this point the Reinharts took up the line of march for the Puget Sound country. Reaching Grand Mound Prairie the young man took up a donation claim and started a little home. Prosperity had just begun to smile upon the family, when the Indian war broke out and they were obliged to abandon their claim and seek shelter in the nearest blockhouse. Sir. Reinhart hastened to tender his services toward the defense of the country by enlisting in the rank of Washington volunteers.

After the close of the war the family removed to Olympia, Avhere Mr. Reinhart engaged in mill building, he having learned the trade of millwright in his vouth. He also at one time ran a saw mill. By this time he had acquired considerable property and built for his home the house now owned by !Mrs. Tew, on the corner of ]\Iain and Fifteenth Streets. In 1862 Mrs. Reinhart's health began to fail and they went to Grande Rounde, Oregon, in the hopes of her improvement. This move not proving of benefit, they proceeded to Napa, California. Mrs. Reinhart died a few years later at Calistoga Springs, Napa County. Mr. Reinhart then brought his children back to Oregon, where he was made Indian agent at the Grande Rounde reservation. Later, about the year 1872, Mr. Reinhart went to "Whatcom County, where he took up a claim of 160 acres of fine agricultural land which he developed with the passing of years and with characteristic energy, into one of the most valuable farms in that region. ]\Ir. Reinhart was a member of the Territorial Legislature for two terms, Justice of the Peace several terms, and at the time of his death in 1901. was enjoying an unexpired term as State Senator.

Besides the son William, who was born in the old home in Indiana, Senator and ]\Irs. Reinhart were the parents of four sons and daughters born after reaching the Coast. Of these Captain Calif S. Reinhart, Clerk of the Supreme Court, until recently president of the Olympia National Bank and Captain of Co. A., First National Guard of Washington, three times mayor of Olympia, his native city, and a sister, Mrs. Carrie Chandler, whose home is in Bellingham survive. William at the age of 23 died while returning from a sea voyage in Callao, and was buried from the steamship Great Republic.

]Mrs. Reinhart's father was the Col. William Cock, Avho is well remembered among Olympia pioneers. He was first Territoral Treasurer, serving in that capacity from 1854 to 1861 and for many years prominently connected with the business and social life of Olympia.

A Trip To Steilacoom

To the lover of Nature and seeker after historic spots there is no section more alluring than that traversed by the old militarj" road between Olympia and the old town of Steilacoom, thence on a short two miles to what was formerly the location of Fort Steilacoom, but now the site of the modern Washington Hospital for Insane.

Over roads delightfully smooth the auto glides along to the top of the Nesqually hill. The road now becomes beautiful and picturesque with the fern-decked bank on the one side and the ravine with its big trees on the other. Winding and curving the road is still a safe enoug'h one, owing to the wide turnouts at each curve. On down through the rich Nesqually bottom, over the long bridge with the river, clay white, rushing below. The ascent of the hill on the Pierce County side is gradual and easily accomplished and when the summit is reached, what a panorama is spread out. Surely in all Washington there is no nobler view than this. The broad green pastures, surrounded with a fringe of tall evergreens and the blue, sparkling waters of Old Puget Sound gleaming in the distance.

A few miles on and the site of old Fort Nesqually is reached. Although but one of the original buildings remains and in the immediate neighborhood are the squalid huts, formerly used by the employes of a powder company, this spot is full of interest to the historian.

Fort Nesqually was established in 1833 by Archibald Mc- Donald, for years a noted factor and trader of the Hudson Bay Company. For years the Indians came in large bands to this fort from their camps on Admiralty Inlet and Puget Sound, as well as from far along the Coast, with their furs and skins to barter with the Boston men. All the buildings were situated on or near the banks of Sequalachew Creek and wore of logs, the principal one being fifty-five feet long.

twenty feet wide and twelve feet Inirh. The roofs Avere of cedar bark held in place by poles and the floors were of 1 imcheon. An immense fireplace with the chimney built of sticks plastered with clay, warmed the large main room.

At one time, well within the memory of several Thurston C<mnty pioneers, Fort Steilacoom was presided over by Dr. AVilliam Fraser Tolmie. chief factor for the Hudson Bay Company.

Reaching Steilacoom the beholder is enchanted with the veliness of the view of the Sound from the town, as it t.tretches out wide and beautiful, with IMcNeils and other f.maller islanr^.s in the distance. The bell crowned stone monument, marking the site of the first Protestant Church built north of the Columbia River, and the quaint little Catholic Church, are the interesting points in this town of by-gone day,^. The tourist Avill loiter an hour in the quaint old town and then on to what was Fort Steilacoom.

The hugh pile of bricks with its iron grated wards filled with gibbering, gesticulating maniacs, the squads of the more orderly inmates in charge of their attendants working and ''esting around the beautiful grounds is. perhaps, a sight to interest the curious, but one which fills the average beholder sadness. Here the cottages which Avere ol^^icers' quarters in the days of military occupancy of the place are now used as homes for the assistant physicians, engineer and accountants, employed in the asylum. In a field adjoining are still to be seen the "Z" shaped earth works throAvn up by the soldiers of Captain Pickett's regiment. For over twenty-five years one of the attendants in the men's ward of the asylum has been INIr. Fred Guj^ot, formerly an Olympia boy, son of Julian Guyot, the pioneer jeweler of Olympia. Fred was born in Calaveras County, California, in 1851. His father, a native of Switzerland had, with his young wife, been among the gold seekers of '49. On July 4, 1859. shortly after the death of Fred's mother, the elder Guyot and his little son left San Francisco for Puget Sound. The trip was made on the steamship Northerner and was the last vo.yage of this vessel, as upon her return to San Francisco she was wrecked off the Oregon coast.

son, with other passengers, were brought to the town in a row boat, which was manned and operated for hire by the brothers ^Monzo and Theodore Woodard. Lentil a permanent boarding place could be found the new arrivals stayed at the Pacific Hotel, which was then managed by ^Irs. Warbass. The elder Guyot engaged in the jewelry and watch repairing business. Watches were sent him from all over the western part of the territory to be made as good as new again.

j\Ir. Julian Guyot died in Olympia in 1877. The younger Guyot attended the public school of the place, and remembers John and Robert Yantis, Billy Clark, Bernham Huntington, Will Eeinhart, Ben Cock, Frank Hicks, Lizzie Warbass, and Fannie Yantis, as among his schoolmates. His first Sunday School teacher was Mrs. George F. Whitworth. Mr. Guyot was appointed attendant at the asylum under Dr. Waughop, in 1889. The visitor to Steilacoom strolling through the abandoned cemetery in the rear of the huge pile of buildings and within the asylum enclosure finds plenty of food for reflection upon the unstability of human greatness. Here, underneath a mossy slab of marble with the lettering all but defaced, the wild grasses growing in a tangle within the little enclosure made of decaying pickets rest the remains of the fourth governor of the territory, Col. William H. Wallace.

Within a few feet from the grave of this honored man is standing a wooden slab bearing this inscription: "In memory of Charles ^McDonald, aged 36 years. Died at the hands of violence, 1870."

Mr. Guyot 's account of the tragic circumstances of ]Mc- Donald's death is given in his own words: "Charlie ]Mc- Donald and his partner, named Gibson, had staked out a claim not far from Fort Steilacoom, which they had worked and improved until they had developed a valuable property. i\Ic- Donald was a remarkably handsome young man with black flashing eyes, black hair, worn, as was the fashion of the time, well down over his coat collar, erect figure and gallant bearing. He was a fine figure of a man as he rode into town mounted on his spirited horse.

Now, infesting the prairie and surrounding section held forth as lawless and vicious a band of men as could be found on the frontier. The leader of these leagued rogues had cast covetous eyes upon ^McDonald's and Gibson's claim, and as v.-as so often done in those wild days took steps to secure the land by preferring the charge that the partners were what was known in the parlance of the day, "claim jumpers." ]Mc- Donald and Gibson acknowledged the subpeona served upon them and set out to appear in court to answer to the summons.

When within a short distance from the fort, where the trail wound through the woods, the men were ambushed by the gang of claim jumpers, who began pouring a rain of bullets at them. Their horses dashed forward and McDonald escaped unharmed, but not so Gibson, who was unfortunate enough to receive eight bullet w^ounds in his arms and legs, none striking a vital spot, however. JMcDonald helped his partner into the fort, where he was turned over to the army physician to have his wounds dressed. The young man then rode on into the town of Steilacoom to demand protection of the Sheriff, Ike Carson, who was, however, out of the country, as the mob well knew. Soon the gang folloAved him into town ranging themselves in line on the opposite side of the street from a saloon in which ^McDonald was standing and began to call upon him to show himself. Thinking to argue with the mob, jMcDonald stepped to the door, and said, "Now, boys, let's talk this matter over. There must be some misunderstanding and to show 3'ou that I want peace I'll throw my gun away." Suiting the action to the word he hurled his weapon into the dust of the street. Scarcely had he done so, however, when the gang opened fire. Realizing then that they would not stop short of murder, ^McDonald turned and ran through the saloon and down an alley in the rear. The men started after him in full cry, firing as they ran. Before the fugitive had gone forty feet a bullet reached its mark and he fell mortally wounded.

As he lay there in the pitiless sun, a small boy, attracted by the shots, came down the alley. Hearing McDonald's gasping cry for "water" the lad started to bring him some, but the leader of the murderers stepped out and warned the child that McDonald's fate would be his if he dared to relieve his distress, the boy shrank, whimpering away, leaving the dying man to groan aloud in his death agony.

This sister, one of a band of noble women inhabiting the nunnery, which the Catholic Church had early established in Steilaeoora, had hastened to the awful scene as soon as she heard the shots and realized that her ministrations might be needed.

''Go, sister, leave me, your life is in danger," gasped ?.Ic- Donald. "By all the powers of God, church and humanity, T dare them to interfere with me," said the Sister as she moistened the lips and straightened the limbs of the dying man. Not one of that lawless band moved a finger to prevent the sister in her work of mercy. When life was extinct ]\IeDonald 's remains were taken into the little old Catholic Church, which still stands as a shrine to the weary at the top of the hill, and tenderly prepared for burial. Not yet satisfied with their bloody work the mob started back along the road to find Gibson. The latter, after having his wounds dressed, had insisted (ui being placed in a wagon and started to town to learn the late of his partner, McDonald. Within a mile of town the mob met and surrounded the vehicle. Gibson, weak and almost fainting from loss of blood, raised himself in the wagonbed until he could snatch the revolver from the belt of the Indian driver. One shot was all he had strength for but that struck one of the mob in the leg, and had Gibson not been too overcome with the exertion to take aim correctly he would have avenged McDonald's death. The mob made short work of Gibson and shot him through the head.

Almost within the shadow of the asylum is the spot where Chief Leschi expiated his crime of the murder of Joseph Miles and A. Benton Moses at the beginning of the Indian war. This Indian had been surrendered by one of his relatives for a reward of fifty blankets. Leschi was brought to trial before a jury, among whom were Ezra Meeker and AVm. M. Kincaid. After listening to the evidence these men stood for acquittal with the result that the jury, being unable to agree, was finally discharged. At a second trial before Chief Justice Lander the Indian was convicted and sentenced to be hung. Appeal was then taken to the Supreme Court which stayed the execution for a while. The ease was this time argued l)efore Justices 0. B. :\IcFadden and F. A. Cheuoweth. The decision against Leschi by the Court was unanimous. The opinion was written by Judge IMcFadden and sealed Leschi 's doom. The date of execution was set for January 22, 1858.

Leschi was then sent to Fort Steilacoom to await the fulfillment of his sentence. Dr. Tolmie and other officials of the Hudson Bay Company took active steps to secure a pardon from Governor ]\Ic]\Iullen. but this was refused.

When the day of execution finally arrived Leschi 's friends .secured a further delay by working a clever trick. The sheriff of Pierce County and his deputy were placed under arrest by Lieutenant I\IcKibben. who had been appointed a deputy United States Marshal, the trumped up charge against the Sheriff av.d deputy being the selling of liquor to Indians. They were released from custody as soon as the hour set for the execution was passed. This action on the part of the military officers and Hudson Bay people led to intense indignation among the citizens. Mass meetings were held in Steilacoom and OljTiipia, at which Governor ]McMullen and Secretary INIason voiced the indignation of the people at the manner in which the law had been trampled on, and a series of resolutions were adopted denouncing, by name the officers of Forts Nesqually and Steilacoom and Leschi 's attorney. As the Territorial Legislature was in session an act was railroaded through both houses demanding a special session of the Supreme Court to pronounce upon the case of Leschi as it then stood.

At this special session the prisoner was resentenced for a third time and William Mitchell, then acting Sheriff of Thurston County was appointed to carry the sentence into execution. The date fixed was February 19. Captain Isaac Hays, Sheriff of Thurston County, was at this time absent from the state, so the unpleasant duty naturally fell upon the deputy. In Mr. Mitchell's words:

"On the day sot for the execution, Ed. Furst, John Head, George Blankenship, Charley Granger and myself set out on horseback and went to Fort Steilacoom, where the prisoner was turned over to me. The scaffold had been erected about a half mile from the fort and there the execution took place. Knowing that Charley Granger had been a sailor, I asked him to tie the noose about the neck of the condemned man, which he did. Leschi made a speeeli to the Indians that were tliere, but as his talk was in his native tongue and no interpreter being provided I do not know what he said. These formalities having been gone through with, I knocked the pin out from under the trapdoor and Chief Leschi was sent to the happy hunting grounds. He was undoubtedly as cruel and cunning an Indian as there was in the Puget Sound country and deserved hanging."

The scene of the closing act of the "Tragedy of Leschi" was a short distance east of Fort Steilacoom and near the north end of the lake of that name. Here the prairie sinks into a rounding depression forming a natural ampitheatre, in the center of which the gallows had been erected. The scene must have been a dismal one ; the rain drizzled down, dripping drearily from the fringe of stunted oaks which outlined the depression. ^Making a hollow square around the rude scaffold was a line of soldiers and a considerable number of Indians and settlers stood near watching the end of the tragedy.

Pioneer Reminiscences 267 The Crosby Family

Like unto a saga of old, runs the story of the coming of the Crosby family into the West. In all the wild experiences related during the compilation of this book, none were more picturesque and interesting than the history of an entire family of stalwart sons and fair daughters with their aged, but sturdy father, coming with their own ship, laden with their own goods, their children and themselves, to take their part in conquering the wilderness. 'Way back in 1846 the United States government sent Capt. Nathaniel Crosby - one of a family of sea captains - in command of the brig 0. C. Raymond, to take supplies to relieve the distress of those immigrants,, who, illy prepared, as were all too many, had joined the wild rush to seek their fortunes on the Pacific Coast.

So impressed was Capt. Crosby with the prospects of fortunes to be gained in this land of opportunities for the venturesome, that he decided to have his kinsmen join him. After sending back for his brothers to buy and fit out a brig with everything needful for a home in the West, he waited with v/hat patience he might, the arrival of his family.

Clanrick Crosby, an elder brother, bought the brig Grecian - 270 tons capacity - and the start was made in 1849. Clanrick was captain of the brig, wuth a brother-in-law, Washington Hurd, first officer and Alfred Crosby second officer. In the cabin were : Captain Nathaniel Crosby, Sr., father of Captain Clanrick and Officer Alfred Crosby, who remained in the West a couple of years before returning to his home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he died, Mrs. Clanrick Crosby, Phoebe, and their three children, Clanrick, Phoebe Louisa and Cecelia, Mrs. Elizabeth Hurd and little daughter, Ella - Mrs. Hurd was Captain Crosby's sister, Mrs. Clara Nickerson Crosby, wife of Alfred Crosby, Mrs. Mary Crosby, wife of Capt. Nathaniel, Jr., and their three children, Nathaniel, Mary L. and IMartha R., Mrs. Holmes, companion and housekeeper, and one passenger.

Mr. Converse Lilly. Before the mast were Richard Hartley, Joseph Taylor and Foster and Nathaniel Lincoln, brothers of jNIrs. Nathaniel Crosby, Jr. The Grecian arrived at Portland in March, 1850.

The two elder Crosby brothers came on to Tnmwater, Capt. Nathaniel remaining in Oregon. Among the Crosby children who made the famous trip in the Grecian w^as the little Martha, then nine years of age. That child is now Mrs. Andrew J. Burr and the reminiscences contributed by this lady were among the most interesting of the many related by pioneer men and women during the preparation of this volume. After living in Portland until she was 11 years old, her father, Capt. Nathaniel Crosby, took a cargo of spars from St. Helens, Oregon, to Hong Kong, China, the first big sticks that were ever sent from the Pacific Coast forests to the Orient. After a couple of years of wandering in various ports, Capt. Crosby, leaving his family in China, came to Olympia and loaded his ship with a second cargo of spars for China, this second load having been cut from Butlers Cove, and was the first shipment of Puget Sound timber. In Hong Kong the Crosby family remained for several years. Martha and the other children were sent to school there and the child became a young woman. Here Capt. Crosby died, the family still making their home in this foreign land. In 1861 Martha became the wife of Samuel C. Woodruff, a wealthy ship chandler of Hong Kong.

Her first child, Samuel L. Woodruff, was born there. The cholera was raging at this time in China, so the young mother brought her son to San Francisco until the danger had abated a little. While living in this city her second child, Ada, was born.

With her two little children Mrs. Wooruff came to Olympia to visit her mother and brothers. The very first steamer which came into port after their arrival here brought the news that Mr. Woodruff had died from an attack of cholera. The widow and her children continued to make Tumwater their home for the following two years. Then she met and, in due time, was married to Andrew J. Burr. The wedding took place in the old Crosby house in Tumwater and Mr. and Mrs. Burr came to Olympia to make their home.

Mr. Burr was possessed of considerable property at one time in Ol.ympia and was one of the city's leading spirits in business and political affairs. For eight years he was postmaster of the Capital City, and in his prime was quite noted for his political speaking. He at one time stumped the territory Avith Selucius Garfielde in one of the hottest campaigns known in the history of his party. He was of an extraordinarily genial and witty nature and his speeches were in great demand when there was a political strife being carried on.

Of the two children born to I\Irs. Burr by her former marriage both have become prominently known in their respective life's work - Sam Woodruff having been identified with the state institutions, formerly with the AVestern "Washington Hospital for Insane and at present the efficient superintendent of the School for Defective Youth at Medical Lake. Ada Woodruff Anderson is an authoress of more than statewide celebrity, having been the writer of several novels and magazine stories and sketches which have brought her name prominently before the literary world. She makes her home on Mercer Island, near Seattle. At one time Mrs. Anderson taught the county school at Yelm Prairie. She tells with some reminiscent pride that her teacher's certificate was presented to her upon her graduation by the late Rev. John R. Thompson.

Among IMrs. Burr's personal reminiscences is singing in the now famous choir of the Taylor Stfeet M. E. Church when she was still a mere child. Beside her in this choir, singing with all his sweet young voice stood John IMiller ]\Iurphy. This was in Portland before either the little JMartha or Johnnie Murphy came to Puget Sound.

Soon after the arrival of the Crosby family in Portland I\Iartha and her sister were invited to join some young people of the settlement on a blackberry picking expedition on a certain day of the week. As the children were anxious to get acquainted the invitation was accepted. On the appointed day early in the morning, the sisters commenced to get ready for their first social function in the West. White dresses were carefully pressed out, hair put up in curl papers and strapped slippers donned over spotless white stockings. The sisters were chagrined when their companions arrived to accompany them to the berry patch and they saw how inappropriate was their attire.

Captain Clanriek Crosby was one of the dominant spirits in Tum water for many years, foremost in every enterprise for the development and advancement of the community. He it was who presented the original plot of land for the Masonic and Odd Fellows cemeteries.

The children of Clanriek and IMrs. Crosby were Clanrick, jr., dead these many years, Phoebe Louise, Cecelia, Win, Walter and Fannie. The eldest daughter is Mrs. George Biles and the youngest girl is well known, not only in Olympia, but Seattle, and Alaska points as well, as Mrs. John Y. Ostrander.

Walter Crosby is too well known in Olympia to need any description. These two younger Crosbys were born after Capt, and Mrs. Clanriek Crosby reached Tumwater. Mrs. Biles being the oldest of the living children of Clanriek Crosby was invited to contribute her reminiscences of her early life in Tumwater. This lady was about nine years of age when the Indian war broke out and well remembers the night some friendly Indians came to her father's house and warned ]\Ir. Crosby that there was danger of an attack from the hostiles. Already the few residents of Tumwater had built the block house which stood for many years at' the end of the bridge across the Des Chutes River, but so far many of the families continued to live in their own houses.

On this particular night Mr. Crosby was inclined to be skeptical of there being any real danger, but the Indians told him to watch for the light of burning buildings, and sure enough, as soon as it was quite dark the heavens were lighted up with the flare of the Glasgow and Linklighter barns, which had been set on fire by the enemy.

That was convincing proof that the Indians were sincere in giving the alarm. Hastily rousing the children from their beds and dressing them, flight to the block house was made. The little Phoebe - Mrs. Biles - was the proud possessor of a bran new sun bonnet, wdiich in the haste of the family to get away, was left hanging on the kitchen wall. After reaching the fort, while her parents were getting the younger children settled for the remainder of the night, the little girl slipped ont in the dark and ran all alone all the way to her home to get her precious sun bonnet.

In later years, 1865, Phoebe was married to George Biles, himself the son of a pioneer. His father, James Biles, with his wife and seven children, had arrived in Tumwater in 1853.

Accustomed as was the Biles family to the comparative luxury of a Kentucky plantation, the life on Puget Sound was a striking contrast. Clams, salmon and potatoes for staples of diet, a log cabin to live in and nearest neighbors savage Indians, the prospect was not especially alluring, but with characteristic pluck and energy Mr. Biles succeeded in carving a comfortable home out of the wilderness.

The Biles family were among the very first emigrants to reach this section through the wild Natchez Pass. Before reaching this pass their train was met by Ashur Seargent. who was then acting as a guide to divert travel to the Puget Sound country.

Besides George Biles there were these children in the Biles family: James B., Kate E., now Mrs. F. M. Seargent of Seattle, S. Isabelle, now Mrs. M. S. Drew, of Port Gamble.

Snow beginning the latter part of October and falling to a depth of fifteen inches, and himself and eight children being forced to subsist on potatoes and dried salmon straight all through the winter months, was the experience of Judge B, F. Yantis and famil}', when they reached Bush Prairie in 1852.

Starting in the Spring of that year from the old home in Missouri, where, although money might be a little scarce, there was an abundance of the fat of the land for subsistence, travelling all those long, weary months over the old Oregon trail, leaving his wife and the mother of his children in a lonely grave on the sage brush plains of Idaho, with his motherless child, Fannie, an infant of but three years of age, the prospect awaiting the hardy emigrant when he reached the El Dorado of his dreams seemed cold and forbidding.

The trip, undertaken in company with a number of kinsmen and friends, had been an unusually trying experience. Besides that of Mrs. Yantis, there were many other deaths occurring in the train, owing to the appearance of black measles, a sister, Mrs. Eliza Ostrander, with her children, being among the sufferers. Judge Yantis' oldest daughter, Mrs. W. H. Pullen, with her three-year-old baby in her arms, was obliged, as were all the Avomen and children, to walk across the five miles of portage below The Dalles. This child was ill when the weary march through the hot sun was begun, and grew rapidly worse as the mother plodded along. Before the little boat was reached in which the party was to be brought on down the Columbia, the baby was dead in the distracted mother's arms. That evening a tiny grave was made by the banks of the majestic river and the party were obliged to proceed on their journey.

When the Big Sandy was reached the march was again resumed to the Cowlitz River, where Indian canoes and bateaus were employed to bring the w^eary emigrants to Cow-

]itz Landing. Judge Yantis' oxen were so exhausted by the trip across the phiins that he left them to be wintered at The Dalles. In the Spring he found that all had perished but one ox. But nothing dismayed, and with the pluck and endurance which was characteristic of the sturdy pioneers, Judge Yantis at once p^^^ceeeded to take advantage of the opportunity he saw on every hand, for bettering his financial affairs. A homestead was pre-empted out on Bush Prairie, a few miles from where Plum Station now is, and a comfortable home was fioon established.

Before the family had lived many months in their new Lome, another terrible blow was dealt them. The oldest boy, James, became a pony express rider, carrying the mail from Cowlitz Landing to Olympia. One day, being hot and dusty from the riding, he went in swimming in Barnes' Lake, and contracted inflammatory rheumatism, w^hich caused his death within a few days.

After several years spent on the homestead, Judge Yantis moved into Olympia and took a contract for carrying mail and passengers from Cowlitz Landing to Olympia. This was a two days' travel, over what has frequently been described by other pioneers as the "worst roads on earth," but the mail was always delivered with regularity, and the passengers in safety.

While living in Missouri B. F. Yantis was Judge of the Superior Court of Saline County, and after reaching the West, served in the irst Territorial Legislature. He was an unswerving Democrat and a life-long member of the Presbyterian Church, and was the first Entered Apprentice initiated in Masonry north of the Columbia River. A man of high ideals of honor and justice, Judge Yantis was held in great esteem by his fellow pioneers.

His children were: Mrs. W. H. Pnllen, who in later years became Mrs. Eichard Wood, and the mother of Oscar and Addie Wood; Sarah, who was made a girl widow when her husband of a few months, was killed at the beginning of the Indian war. It was for the killing of Moses that Chief Leschi was hung, after peace was declared. Sarah afterwards became the wife of George C. Blankenship, and the mother of George E. and Robert L. Blankenship; James II. Yantis, the lad who died on Bush Prairie ; Wm. M., Robert L., John v., Mary, who died in infancy, and Frances L., wife of Capt. J. J. Gilbert. Of this goodly family of sons and daughters the youngest son, John V. is left - the last leaf on the tree. His living children are George, Annie, Kobert, Hope, and Faith.

Reese A. Brewer

Reese A. Brewer, a well known pioneer of Thurston County, was born in Arkansas, in 1835. He came across the plains with his mother, two brothers and two sisters, and settled near Eugene, Oregon, and lived on a farm there until 1860, when he came to Washington and settled on Grand Mound prairie. in the southern part of Thurston County. Here he lived until his death in 1909.

Mr. Brewer was a member of the Territorial Legislature in the early eighties ; also a Justice of the Peace at Grand Mound for six years ; postmaster seven years, and served two terms as County Commissioner, and was Chairman of the Board when the Thurston County court house was built, which is now the west half of the present state capitol building.

Reese A. Brewer was married to Eliza A. Johnson, the daughter of another Thurston County pioneer family, she having crossed the plains from her native state, Iowa, in 1852 Mrs. Brewer died at the early age of 27 years.

Pioneer Reminiscences 275 William Billings

Among the documents and papers from which facts regarding Tliurston County's pioneers were found, none were of more service to the compiler than the scrap book formerly belonging to Theodore L. Brown and loaned to the writer by his wife, ]\Iartha. Mr. Brown realized that the actual pioneers were rapidly being called, that soon there would be none left to tell the story, so he made an effort to collect brief sketches of as many of his old friends as he could reach. Among those who complied with Mr. Brown's request for a life history was Mr. William Billings.

With characteristic modesty, Mr. Billings related only the baldest facts concerning a life rich with experience and adventure. A man who had been repeatedly honored by his government, and his fellow citizens, by appointment and election to important offices, a man who had always stood for the right, and who had never betrayed the trust of his fellow men, what an opportunity for self laudation was afforded him by Mr. Brown's request.

The compiler, respecting Mr. Billing's memory, deems "that no words of hers can be more eloquent or expressive than his own, written but a few months before his death:

"I was born in the town of Ripton, Addison County, Vermont, October 27, 1827, where I lived until I was 19 years old. Then I left home and came around Cape Horn on a whaling vessel as a hand before the mast.

"I stayed but a short time in California. Came to Oregon, landing at Portland on the 8th of September, 1849. Remained in Portland till Jnly, 1851, when I came to Olympia, then a part of Oregon. Olympia has been my home ever since. When the Indian war broke out in 1855, I joined the volunteers.

"In 1860 I was elected Sheriff of Thurston County and remained as Sheriff between twenty-three and twenty-four years. I have held the position of Deputy U. S. Marshal under United States Marshals C. E. Weed, Huntington, Hopkins, Phillip Ritz and E. S. Kearney.

"I kept all the convicts in the Territory on a contract with the Territory for nine years and was in charge of the Indians on the reservation for about five years, living among them with my family, and must say I always found the Indians good, kind neighbors.

"Now, this is all I have to say and I am glad to be done, for I am shaky, half blind and feel that my time now is very short. William Billings."

Although Mr. Billings did not elaborate on any of the events of his life, some of the incidents are too closely connected with the early history of Thurston County to be ignored.

In 1877 he contracted with the Territory to build a jail at his own expense, take all the prisoners as soon as convicted, care for, board, clothe and protect them during their confinement at the price of seventy cents each, per day, he being permitted to use their services in any way he saw fit. He built his jail at Seatco, started a cooper establishment, developed a coal mine and organized the Seatco Manufacturing Company for making sash, doors and blinds, continuing this contract mbor for a term of nine years.

At the time he served as Superintendent of the Puyallup Indian reservation there was not a white resident between that reservation and Fort Steilacoom, and for weeks at a time his family were alone among 600 Indians. That he found these Indians "good, kind neighbors," is an eloquent tribute to Mr. Billings' kindly management of the affairs of the reservation.

From 1869 to 1891 Mr. Billings was Sheriff of Thurston County, being continuously elected and re-elected on the Republican ticket, being the first man elected in Thurston County on that ticket.

Mr. Billings was married in 1861 to Miss Mary Ann Kandle of Tumwater, who died in 1868, leaving tw^o children, one of whom is Charles A. Billings, one of Olympia's prominent residents.

In 1873 Mr. Billings was again married, this time to Miss Jeannette M. Ballentyne. Five children were born to them : Frederick D., John Alden, Eunice Cleora, Laura Alice, deceased, and Laura Blanche.

The widow, with her daughter, Laura Blanche, live in their home on the corner of Ninth and Franklin Streets, Blanche being a stenographer in the State Industrial Insurance Commission.

While General Robert Houston Milroy and his wife cannot be counted among the original pioneers who fought their way, step by step, through the wilderness, their arrival in Olympia as early as 1869. to take up the important duties of Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the rapidly developing Territory of Washington, and the respect and honor with which the memories of General Milroy and his wife, IMary Armitage Milroy, are cherished in the minds of the early Olympians, surely entitle them to a prominent niche in this collection of pioneer sketches.

General Milroy 's name is remembered with the respect due to a patriot, a brave soldier and a public spirited citizen, Mrs. Milroy, with her lovely character. Christian life and womanly graces, was an inspiration towards all good to her devoted family and wide circle of friends. R. H. Milroy was a native of Washington County, Indiana, and was born in the year 1816.

His ancestry and parentage were from an aristocratic Scotch family. Indeed, the IMilroys could trace their ancestry in a direct line back to Robert Bruce.

R. H. ]\Iilroy was educated in the Military Academy of NorAvich, Vermont, where he graduated in 1843, Master of Arts, of Law and of Civil Engineering and of Military Sciences, He was valedictorian of his class. In 1850 he received a diploma from the law school of Bloomington, Indiana, which institution conferred on him the degree of B. L.

He was engaged in the practice of law when he was called upon to take part in the war with IMexico. where he rendered his country gallant service as Captain of the First Indiana Regiment. After this war he was commissioned Judge of the Eighth Judicial District of Indiana. At the breaking out of the Civil w^ar Capt. Milroy was commissioned Colonel of the Ninth Indiana Volunteers, serving under Gen. McClellan in Western Virginia, and taking part in the battles of Grafton, Philippi and Laurel Hill.

in command of the mountain department and put an effective stop to guerrilla warfare in Western Virginia. President Jefferson Davis made Milroy's order in regard to punishment of guerrilla warfare the subject of a special message to the Legislature and that body offered a reward of ten thousand dollars for General Milroy, dead or alive. Milro}' and General Butler were the only Union Generals thus honored by the Southern Congress. For his gallant actions in the battles of I\IcDowell and the second battle of Bull Run, he was made ]Ma,jor General of the second division of the Eighth Army Corps, nine thousand strong, and with McReynolds' brigade, occupied Winchester, July 11, 1863. He fought his last battle in the war against Generals Forrest and Bates on the field at Murfreesboro, and defeated their combined forces.

General ]\Iilroy resigned his command July 26, 1865, after having served valiantly in the great struggle for the upholding of the Union. After the war General Milroy was appointed trustee of the Wabash and Erie Canal Company, and from 1869 to 1874 he was Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Washington territory.

From this date to the time of his death. General Milroy was identified with Olympia and took an active interest in the growth and development of the city. He built the house on the corner of Eleventh and iNlain streets, which was the JMilroy home until after the family was broken up by the death of j\Irs. Milroy, and where General ]\Iilroy ceased his earthly labors on the 29th of March, 1890.

Of the seven children bom to General and Mrs. IMillroy only three are still living, Robert Bruce, Valerius A. and Walter J. The son Valerius or Val, as he is commonly known in Olympia, has remained faithful to his boyhood home. Coming here when but a lad of 18 years, he became a clerk in his father's office, and from there spent a few years in surveying, and learning the printers' trade. He was at one time engaged in the livery business with Mr. jM. 0 'Conner, and was appointed postmaster of Olympia by President Harrison. After the expiration of his term of office he was elected city clerk, and has since held positions of honor and trust. Val is still unmarried. Of the other sons. Robert Bruce, with his family, lives in Yakima, and Walter J. and wife live in Victoria, B. C.

John Beard Allen

He was the son of Joseph S. Allen, a prominent physician and surgeon of that town and Hannah (Beard) Allen, daughter of Hon. John Beard of the same place.

John Beard was called "the father of Montgomery County" from the fact of his having represented it for some twenty odd years in the Legislature. He was a strong figure in the early political annals of Indiana.

John Allen received his education in the common schools of his native town and at Wabash College, located there. He showed at school a great fondness and attitude for mathematical studies, also for history, especially political history.

He cared, apparently, but little for the languages and literature. During the "Morgan Raid" into Indiana and Ohio, one of the exciting episodes of the Civil war, John Allen served as a "Minuteman" until the capture of Morgan. He also enlisted in the 135th Indiana Infantry, under a call for five months service in 1863 and served over seven months. He was honorabl}' discharged from both these enlistments.