Part 21

E. H. Leonard, who has long been known as a prominent representative of milling interests in the northwest, is now the vice president of the Preston-Shaffer Milling Company and active manager of its mill at Waitsburg. He was born in Walla Walla, May 16, 1873, and is a son of Thomas S. and Sarilda R. (Herren) Leonard. The father was a native of the state of New York, and the mother of Oregon having been one of the first white children born in that state. The date of the father's birth was April 25, 1840. He acquired a good education in the schools of that early period and in 1860 removed westward to Illinois, where for three years he engaged in teaching school, spending a part of the time also in Iowa. In 1863 he enlisted in the government service, being made a member of an organization for the purpose of rendering assistance and guidance to emigrant trains crossing the plains. On reaching the Boise river his train, feeling in comparative safety, disbanded and Mr. Leonard continued his journey to the coast, arriving in Portland, Oregon, late in November, 1863, when that now populous and progressive city was a town of but three thousand inhabitants. He afterward drifted to various points in the northwest and subsequently again took up educational work, teaching in the vicinity of Salem, Oregon, where he remained until about 1871. In the fall of that year he came to Walla Walla and in the spring of 1872 he removed to Dayton, where he has since resided. In the fall of that year he and his wife took charge of the Dayton school and in the spring of 1873 removed to a government land claim. In 1876 Mr. Leonard assisted in the organization of Columbia county and was elected the first county superintendent of schools. On the expiration of his term in that office he returned to the homestead and has since been engaged in farming. He has taken an active and important part in promoting the development of county and state along material and intellectual lines and has left the impress of his individuality for good upon the history of the community. In 1868 Mr. Leonard was united in marriage to Miss Sarilda R. Herren, a daughter of John and Docia (Robbins) Herren, who crossed the plains from Kentucky to Oregon in 1845. They settled near Salem, among the very early pioneers of that section. On her mother's side Mrs. Leonard comes of a family represented in the Revolutionary war, her great-grandfather, William Robbins, having been a participant in that struggle which led to the attainment of American independence. T. S. Leonard is one of the prominent citizens of Dayton and has for many years taken a prominent and helpful part in the development of Columbia county.

E. H. Leonard was reared to farm life and his education has been practically self acquired. He worked in his father's fields until his twenty-fifth year and in 1898 he became connected with milling operations as an employe of the North Pacific Flour Mills Company at Prescott. In March, 1900, he was made foreman of the mills and in July of the same year, when the mills were acquired by the Portland Flouring Mills Company, Mr. Leonard was made manager, which position he continued to fill until 1904. In that year he was advanced to the position of district manager with the Portland Flouring Mills Company and in that connection had supervision over the mills of Dayton and Prescott and later also of Walla Walla. He continued in that capacity until January 1, 1916, at which time, having acquired an interest in the Preston-Shaffer Milling Company at Waitsburg, he was made assistant manager and removed to Waitsburg. This company also owns mills at Athena, Oregon. At the first meeting of the directors after his removal to Waitsburg, Mr. Leonard was elected to the vice presidency of the company in recognition of his marked ability and his long experience in the milling business. There is no phase of flour manufacture with which he is not familiar and in the operation of the plants of the Preston-Shaffer Company he utilizes the latest improved machinery and the most modern processes, displaying marked enterprise in the control of the business. While thus extensively engaged in milling for nineteen years he has also continued his farming operations and now owns and operates two farms in Walla Walla county, comprising twenty-five hundred acres. He has thus become one of the prominent wheat growers of the Inland Empire. Either one of his business connections are sufficiently extensive and important to rank him with the representative business men of this section of the country. He is both forceful and resourceful and readily recognizes and utilizes opportunities which others pass heedlessly by. He is fortunate in that he possesses character and ability that awaken confidence in others and the simple weight of his character and his ability have carried him into important relations.

In November, 1900, occurred the marriage of Mr. Leonard and Miss Minnie Belle Lieuallen, of Portland, Oregon, and they have become the parents of three children: Mineta Belle, who is attending high school; Edgar Hugh, a student in the graded schools; and Joanna Jeanne.

Mr. Leonard is a republican in his political views and fraternally is connected with Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16, A. F. & A. M.; Dayton Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M.; and Walla Walla Commandery, No. 1, K. T. He also has membership with El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Spokane, and belongs to Whetstone Lodge, No. 157, K. of P., of Prescott. His record is an inspiring one, for out of a struggle with small opportunities he has come into a field of broad and active influence and usefulness. Quick discernment and the faculty of separating the important features of any subject from its incidental or accidental circumstances have been strong phases in his career. His business has ever balanced up with the principles of truth and honor. He has ever been possessed of sufficient courage to venture where favoring opportunity is presented and his judgment and even-paced energy have carried him forward to the goal of success. His quietude of deportment, his frankness and cordiality of address, with the total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, foretoken a man who is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability, right conception of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activity.

JOHN F. BREWER.

Twelve years have passed since John F. Brewer was called to his final rest, but his memory is cherished by many who knew him, as he stood as a high type of manhood and citizenship and was devoted to the welfare and progress not only of his family but of the community in which he lived. He was born in Scotland county, Missouri, November 9, 1842, a son of David and Susan (Small) Brewer, who crossed the plains with an ox team in 1853, reaching Salem, Oregon, where they established their home. Their son, John F., was then a little lad of ten years and he completed his public school training in Salem, while later he pursued a course of study in Sublimity College, some fourteen miles from Salem. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in the public schools for many years, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that he had acquired. In 1872 he removed to the Walla Walla valley, where he engaged in farming. His agricultural interests were carefully and successfully conducted and for many years he concentrated his efforts and attention upon the development of the fields. At length, however, he left the farm and removed to Walla Walla, building a handsome home on Boyer avenue. In 1876 he purchased a large tract of land east of the city and became one of the leading and extensive farmers of Walla Walla county. In 1890 he removed to Seattle, where he platted a tract of land which he called the Walla Walla addition but in this enterprise he was not successful and returned to Walla Walla, where his investments were judiciously made, his business affairs capably managed and his enterprise brought to him a very gratifying and substantial measure of success.

In March, 1872, Mr. Brewer was united in marriage to Miss Adora D. Stanton, a native of Oregon and a daughter of Benjamin and Matilda (Baldwin) Stanton. Her parents were natives of Kentucky and crossed the plains by wagon in 1852, settling near Salem, Oregon. They had a family of eleven children, of whom seven are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer became the parents of nine children, namely: John, who is manager of the Commercial Club at The Dalles, Oregon, but is now in the government service at Portland Oregon; Merton, a practicing attorney at Auburn, Washington; Ada, who has passed away; Frank, living in Walla Walla county; Maud, the wife of Charles Ulm, of Ritzville; Bertha, who is the widow of Eugene Dunbar and now lives in Anchorage, Alaska; Dora, who is the wife of Fred Snedecor, of Corona, California; Roy, who is a sergeant in the United States army with the First Illinois Infantry; and Luella, the wife of Frank Harlow, of Los Angeles, California.

Mrs. Brewer owns a fine residence on Boyer avenue in Walla Walla, where she resides, and in addition she has five hundred and twenty acres of valuable wheat land near the city and another tract of eight hundred acres in Franklin county. She is an active and prominent member of the Sunshine Club and is also connected with the Eastern Star and church organizations. Mr. Brewer left his family in very comfortable financial circumstances when death called him on the 21st of February, 1905. He was one of the valued and respected citizens of this section of the country. He took an active part in the development of Walla Walla county and never withheld his support from any enterprise that he believed would prove beneficial in any way. He was intensely patriotic and he stood for all that was progressive in relation to public affairs. He served for several terms as alderman of his city and at the time of his death was filling the position of councilman for his ward. To him belongs the honor of being the father of the paid fire department of Walla Walla, which has proven successful and satisfactory even beyond his confident predictions. Fraternally he was connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias. the ancient Order of United Workmen and the Royal Arcanum, while his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the First Presbyterian church.

His home paper, in writing of his death, said: "In the death of John Brewer, Walla Walla loses one of her best and most progressive citizens. No citizen of the town had more warm personal friends, and his demise has brought sadness to many a home. As private citizen and public official he always strove to do his full duty. He endeavored to be just to all men and he spoke ill of no one. He was broad-minded and conservative, generous and public spirited. It would be hard to find a man in the community with fewer faults and more virtues. His home life was ideal and it is no wonder that those nearest and dearest to him find it so hard to reconcile themselves to the loss of a kind and loving husband and father."

"I cannot say and will not say That he is dead, he is just away; He has wandered into an unknown land With a cheery smile and a wave of the hand; And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be, since he lingers there."

VICTOR E. SIEBERT.

Victor E. Siebert is a member of the firm of Osterman & Siebert, known as Walla Walla's foremost architects, in which connection he has developed skill of the highest degree, and his patronage is indicative of the high order of his work. He is a native son of Walla Walla, born October 3, 1884, his parents being Chris and Minnie (Nahen) Siebert, the former a native of Berlin, Germany, while the latter was born in Red Bluff, California. The father was reared to manhood and pursued his education in his native country and served throughout the Franco-Prussian war. Following that conflict, in 1875, he came to the United States, making his way to Oconto, Wisconsin, but after a brief period there passed he removed westward to Washington, establishing his home in Asotin county, where he took up a homestead claim and lived for a few years. He later removed to Walla Walla county and purchased a farm six or eight miles east of the city of Walla Walla, on which he resided for some time. He next removed to the city, where he now makes his home. He is still active in farming in a small way but in a measure has put aside the arduous duties of life.

Victor E. Siebert, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the Baker school of Walla Walla and when eighteen years of age he began the study of architecture in the office of Henry Osterman, with whom he thus remained for three years. He then went east to complete his education and entered the Boston Technical School in the fall of 1906. There he pursued a special course in architecture, attending the institution for four years. After completing his studies he entered into partnership with Peter F. McLaughlin and established business in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, under the firm style of McLaughlin & Siebert. This relationship existed for two and a half years, at the end of which time the partnership was dissolved and in the fall of 1912 Mr. Siebert returned to Walla Walla and entered into partnership relations with Mr. Osterman, his former preceptor. They are well known architects of this city, the firm of Osterman & Siebert occupying a very creditable and enviable position in professional circles. Many of the most important buildings of the northwest have been designed and erected by them and stand as monuments of their skill, their enterprise and business ability.

In 1910 Mr. Siebert was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hoelzel, of Adams, Massachusetts, and they have become the parents of two children, Henry and Gretchen. Mr. Siebert is a consistent member of Blue Mountain Lodge, No. 13, F. & A. M., and also belongs to Columbus Council of the Knights of Kadosh, No. 6, of Walla Walla, and to Oriental Consistory, No. 2, A. & A. S. R. He is also connected with El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Spokane. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He belongs to the Walla Walla Commercial Club and is one of the city's representative men, his aid and influence being always given on the side of progress and advancement, reform and improvement. He and his wife are members of the Christian Science church and their genuine personal worth has gained for them a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance. Thorough preliminary training has constituted the basis of Mr. Siebert's success in a professional way and fidelity to the highest standards of business has actuated him at every point in his career. The northwest is fortunate in having his services in connection with its important growth and development and Walla Walla is proud to number him among her citizens.

WILLIAM T. LANE.

William T. Lane is a Civil war veteran and a retired farmer who is now living in Starbuck. He was born in Tennessee, December 27, 1841, and is a son of Tidence and Rebecca (Huhn) Lane, who were natives of Tennessee. The father was killed in that state by a falling tree. The mother afterward removed to Missouri, where her last days were passed. They had a family of three children but William T. is the only one now living.

Through the period of his boyhood and youth William T. Lane remained a resident of Tennessee but in 1865, when twenty-four years of age, went to Missouri and established his home in Johnson county. In 1880 he came to Columbia county, where he rented a farm for two years and later he invested his savings in land, becoming owner of a place four miles south of Starbuck, comprising four hundred acres. He occupied that farm for twenty years, devoting his time and energies to its further development and improvement with the result that he converted it into a most valuable and productive agricultural property. At length he sold the place and settled in Starbuck, where he now resides, and through the intervening period he has lived retired, enjoying a well earned rest.

In 1870 Mr. Lane was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Oliphant, a native of Missouri, and they became the parents of seven children: Nancy E., who is the wife of C. A. Gregory; Hattie E., who is the wife of W. E. Phillips; and five who have passed away. The wife and mother died in December, 1908, and was laid to rest in the Starbuck cemetery. She left a husband and two daughters to mourn her Loss. She was devoted to the welfare of her family and had many excellent traits of character which endeared her to all with whom she was brought in contact.

Mr. Lane is a member of the Christian church. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in 1861 as a member of Company C, Sixty-first Tennessee Regiment. He was paroled at Vicksburg and came out without a scratch although he had taken part in several hotly contested battles. His life has been a busy and useful one, largely devoted to farming interests, and by unfaltering industry and determination he has advanced steadily on the highroad to success. He is one of the leading men of the valley in which he resides and is enjoying a prosperity which is the merited reward of his labors.

J. W. CLODIUS.

J. W. Clodius is a well known representative of farming interests in Walla Walla county, where he is now engaged in the cultivation of thirteen hundred acres of land. He makes his home on section 34, township 9 north, range 37 east, and his well directed energy and careful management are bringing to him substantial success. He was born April 28, 1889, in the county where he yet resides, his parents being Hans F. and Catherine (Rhode) Clodius, who came to Walla Walla county in 1881. They were both natives of Germany, where they were reared and married, and about 1870 they crossed the Atlantic to the United States, settling in Illinois, where they remained until they came to Washington. On removing to the northwest they established their home in Walla Walla county and the father acquired land from time to time until he owned thirteen hundred acres. He settled on Mill creek and about 1897 removed to the home farm, upon which his son, J. W. Clodius, now resides. There he continued to live until 1913, when he put aside the active work of the fields and removed to Waitsburg, where he is now located. He is numbered among the honored and valued pioneer settlers of his section of the state and made for himself a creditable record in business circles, for through his individual effort, persistency of purpose and honorable dealing he gained a most substantial competence.

J. W. Clodius acquired a public school education and through the period of his boyhood and youth remained at home, assisting his father in the operation of the farm. Upon the latter's removal to Waitsburg he then took charge of the home property and is now engaged in cultivating thirteen hundred acres of rich land. He is thus numbered among the leading agriculturists of the community. The methods which he pursues are most practical and progressive. He is systematic and methodical in all that he does, he employs the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of the fields and by energy and persistency of purpose is winning success.

On the 8th of November, 1911, Mr. Clodius was united in marriage to Miss Ina Mary Harkins, of Waitsburg, a daughter of James Harkins, who is now deceased. Her mother, who bore the maiden name of Anna Elizabeth Harris, is now living on a farm in Bolles Junction. She was born, reared and married in Illinois, though her husband was a native of Davenport, Iowa. Shortly after their marriage they came west and located in Lane county, Oregon, where they remained until 1898 and then removed to Waitsburg, Washington, where the death of Mr. Harkins occurred. In their family were eight children, seven of whom are still living. Both Mr. and Mrs. Harkins held membership in the Christian church. Mr. and Mrs. Clodius have become the parents of two children, Emory W. and Brenda M.

Fraternally Mr. Clodius is connected with Walla Walla Lodge, No. 287, B. P. O. E. In politics he maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment. He is yet a comparatively young man but has made for himself a most creditable position in agricultural circles and the extent and importance of his farming interests are indicative of his business ability.

THEODORE GROTE.

Theodore Grote, one of the foremost farmers of Columbia county, Washington, owning ten thousand acres of fine wheat and pasture land, was born in Germany, July 5, 1881, a son of John and Anna (Dryer) Grote, also natives of that country. In 1882 they emigrated to America with their family and took up their residence in Ohio, whence three years later they removed to Kansas. They resided in that state for three years and then came to Washington, first locating in Whitman county. In 1893, however, they removed to Walla Walla county, and there the father passed away in 1915, while the mother survives.

Theodore Grote, who is one of a family of five children, was brought to Washington when a child and in the acquirement of his education attended the common schools. In 1897 he began farming in partnership with his father and brothers, operating eighteen hundred acres of leased land. He devoted six years to that work and then removed to Canada, where for a year he was in the sheep business. He then returned to Walla Walla and purchased fifty-five hundred acres of land and leased six thousand acres. Four years later he sold his property to his brother Ben, but after a period of two years he again purchased land, becoming the owner of a valuable tract in Columbia County on section 10, township 11 north, range 38 east. He has since added to his holdings and is now the owner of ten thousand acres, of which forty-three hundred acres is wheat land and the remainder pasture land. He has a herd of six hundred head of cattle and his stock raising interests are very profitable. As a wheat grower he met with unusual success, and he is always among the first to adopt a new method or implement of value. He is systematic and businesslike in the management of his affairs, realizing that the day of haphazard, unthinking farming has passed.

Mr. Grote was married in February, 1911, to Miss Matie C. Baumann, who was born in Washington. He is an advocate of the principles of the republican party but confines his participation in public affairs to the exercise of his right of franchise. He belongs to the Elks at Walla Walla and is a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 106 F. & A. M., at Starbuck and of the Royal Arch Chapter at Dayton. His ability stands out as an unquestioned fact and it is generally recognized that he is an important factor in the development of Columbia county along agricultural and stock raising lines.

A. G. LLOYD.