Part 39

The family occupy an attractive home in Walla Walla and Mr. Johnson has become the owner of some good residence properties in the city. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, which he has supported since becoming a naturalized American citizen. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has made many warm friends in that organization. His life record should inspire and encourage others, for he started out when a lad of eleven years and has since been dependent upon his own resources. He early recognized the fact that industry wins. He may never have heard of the Greek philosopher Epicharmus, who said: "Earn thy reward; the gods give naught to sloth," but he knew the principle that underlies those words and indefatigable industry has characterized him at every point in his career. Step by step he has advanced and is now not only a substantial business man of Walla Walla but one who enjoys and deserves the respect, goodwill and confidence of all with whom he is associated.

JOHN WARREN LANGDON.

John Warren Langdon, one of the best known business men of eastern Washington, prominently identified with the commercial and financial interests and with the community life of Walla Walla, was born in New Hampton, Iowa, December 18, 1871, a son of Warren W. Langdon, who was a native of Illinois. The father was an expert tinner by trade and was also connected with banking interests of the northwest for a number of years, becoming a very prominent factor in business affairs in Moscow, Idaho.

He was superintendent of the Walla Walla waterworks for five years and figured prominently in connection with public affairs in this city. His attitude in respect to his country's welfare was clearly manifest at the time of the Civil war, when he put aside all business and personal considerations and responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting as a member of Company A, Ninety-fifth Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on the 9th of August, 1862, at Marengo, Illinois. He served for three years and was mustered out at Camp Butler, Illinois August 17, 1865. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Hester M. Robinson, is also a native of Illinois.

Their son, John Warren Langdon, acquired his early education in the common schools of Moscow, Idaho, and afterward attended the Bishop Scott grammar school of Portland, Oregon, where he stood at the head of his classes, receiving the headmaster's prize for the highest standing during the school year; his marks at this school were the highest received by any student during the seventeen years of the school's existence to that time, and he also received two additional prizes for excellence in deportment and penmanship.

At the age of sixteen years he left school and was placed in the First National Bank of Moscow, Idaho, of which his father was vice president. Two years later he accepted a position with the Dorsey S. Baker estate of Walla Walla, one of the richest estates in the northwest. Ten years later, upon division of the estate, he became secretary of the firm of Baker & Baker, a strong loan company, doing business in the Walla Walla valley. Two years later, owing to increased personal business responsibilities, he resigned, and at that time incorporated the Green Investment Company of Walla Walla for the purpose of handling the business affairs of Mary F. Green, his mother-in-law. This corporation is heavily interested in both city and country real estate, and its holdings are scattered throughout the state of Washington.

There is no man more familiar with property values and conditions in this section of the country than Mr. Langdon. At the present time he is one of the joint owners and managers of the Baker-Langdon Orchard Company of Walla Walla, owners of a six hundred acre apple orchard adjoining the city of Walla Walla, which is recognized as one of the finest commercial orchard properties in the United States; is also vice president and manager of the Green Investment Company of Walla Walla; a director of the Baker-Boyer National Bank of Walla Walla, the oldest bank in the state of Washington; is vice president of the Blalock Fruit Company, owning the largest fruit and vegetable farm in the northwest; is a director of the Northwestern Fruit Exchange of Seattle and New York, one of the largest and most widely known fruit shippers in the northwest, and has still other interests which place him in the foremost rank of the business men of this section of the country.

On the 16th of September, 1897, Mr. Langdon was married to Miss Philinda Green, who was born in Walla Walla, a daughter of William O. and Mary F. (Young) Green, who were pioneers of the Walla Walla valley, having crossed the plains by team at a very early period in the settlement of the northwest. Mr. and Mrs. Langdon have become parents of two sons: Warren Orville and John Green, both now attending Walla Walla high school.

While most important business interests have claimed the attention of Mr. Langdon, he has also found time and opportunity to cooperate in plans and measures for the public good and has been a most generous supporter of interests which are looking toward the upbuilding and development of city and state.

The cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion and he is a member of the board of trustees of Whitman College and chairman of the board of directors of the Whitman Conservatory of Music. He is also a director and vice president of the Walla Walla Commercial Club and chairman of its agricultural and horticultural committee. Elected president of the park board of Walla Walla, Mr. Langdon set about to construct an ideal park for the city. The city council having set aside a beautiful tract of forty acres owned by the city, for park purposes, Mr. Langdon prepared, with his own hands, plans for the park, and working in conjunction with the Woman's Park Club of Walla Walla, assisted in developing an unusually attractive landscape, embracing play grounds, boating lake, tiny streams and waterfalls, now known as City Park. Recently he has prepared elaborate plans for the development of Dreamland Park on Ninth street. He is now and for many years past has been secretary of the board of trustees of St. Paul's School, which was the first school for girls in the territory of Washington, and today is recognized as one of the state's best educational institutions.

Holding membership in St. Paul's Episcopal church, he has served for years as one of its vestrymen and as its junior warden. He is one of the trustees of the newly organized Young Women's Christian Association, and as the first vice president of the Young Men's Christian Association in Walla Walla assisted materially in raising funds for the construction of an elegant building for this association in Walla Walla. Mr. Langdon is chairman of the membership committee of the Red Cross in Walla Walla; vice president of the Washington State Harvesters League; and a member of the state executive committee for food conservation appointed by Herbert Hoover, chairman of food conservation. Mr. Langdon is interested in art, and has done some exceedingly creditable photographic work among the northwest Indians and has reproduced in enlargements and panoramas historical scenes in the states of Oregon and Washington, many of which he has personally hand-colored. He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and friends.

He is always courteous, kindly and affable and those who know him personally entertain for him warm regard. A man of great natural ability, his success in business from the beginning of his residence in Walla Walla has been uniform and rapid.

As has been truly remarked, after all that may be done for a man in the way of giving him early opportunities for obtaining the requirements which are found in schools and in books, he must essentially formulate, determine and give shape to his own character, and this is what Mr. Langdon has done. He has persevered in the pursuit of a persistent purpose and gained a most satisfactory reward. He has endeavored to make his life exemplary in all respects and he has ever supported those interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity.

JOHN BACHTOLD.

John Bachtold is a well known and representative business man of Walla Walla who is now proprietor and manager of the Dacres Hotel, one of the leading hostelries of the city. He comes from a land that has produced many famous hotel proprietors. In every country on the face of the globe the Swiss have proven their capability in that field, many of the finest hotels of every land being conducted by those who were born within the shadow of the Alps. Mr. Bachtold was born in Switzerland in 1865 and spent the first fourteen years of his life in his native country. He then crossed the Atlantic to America and became a resident of South Dakota, where he engaged in farm work for nine years. On the expiration of that period he arrived in Washington, making his way to Grays Harbor, where he secured a position as clerk in a hotel, thus receiving his initial business training in the line to which he now directs his energies. The next year he became proprietor of a hotel in Oswego, Oregon.

In 1892 Mr. Bachtold removed to Walla Walla, where he established a restaurant. The following year, however, he turned his attention to other business interests, in which he was engaged for several years. At length he took over the management of the Dacres Hotel, which is an excellent hostelry, well equipped, while his keen interest in the successful management of the business leads him to put forth every effort for the comfort and welfare of his guests. He is likewise identified with several other business concerns of the city, all of which profit by his sound judgment and indefatigable energy. That Mr. Bachtold is deeply interested in the city's welfare has been manifest by his intense activity in maintaining the efficiency of the volunteer fire department, of which he was the president. He has also been very active in fraternal circles as a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Foresters, the Eagles and the Sons of Hermann. He is also connected with the Maennerchor, which indicates his love of music and a cultivated taste in that direction.

Mr. Bachtold was married in Grays Harbor in 1892 to Miss Annie Schuerch and to them have been born six children, Ida, Annie, George, John, Edward and Walter. Mr. Bachtold has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for in this land he has found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has made steady progress along the high road to success.

GEORGE J. GUTHRIDGE.

Walla Walla rightly takes pride in her efficient fire department, which is highly systematized and is conducted along the most modern methods, and as chief of the department George J. Guthridge has accomplished work that entitles him to rank among the best fire chiefs of the northwest. He is a native son of Walla Walla, born April 7, 1870, in the house which he now occupies though it has since been remodeled. His parents, Benjamin G. and Ellen J. (Goss) Guthridge, were born respectively in London, England, and Cork, Ireland, but came to the United States in young manhood and young womanhood. At that time the father had been dependent upon his own resources for a number of years, as he ran away from home when a boy and went to sea and in the next few years visited all the principal ports of the world. It was in 1862 that he decided to settle permanently in the United States and the vessel on which he was then sailing, on putting into Portland, Oregon, was wrecked on the Columbia river bar, he and the negro cook being the only persons rescued. At that time there was considerable excitement in the northwest over the newly discovered mines in Idaho and he went to that section, where he remained for a short period, after which he drifted to Walla Walla. There he engaged in the restaurant business for a time and then turned his attention to the conduct of a meat market. He was engaged in that business for a quarter of a century and derived therefrom a gratifying profit which enabled him to retire. Having disposed of his private interests, he was then offered and accepted the appointment as steward of the state penitentiary, being the first man to hold that position after the institution had been removed from Seattle. For seven years he filled that important and difficult position and then retired from all active work, spending his last years in well deserved leisure. His death occurred June 4, 1912. He had survived his wife for many years, as she passed away July 21, 1885.

George J. Guthridge was reared under the parental roof and attended the Catholic boys' schools of Walla Walla and also took a business course in a night school. As a youth and young man he assisted his father in the management of his butchering business and after the latter disposed of his meat market the son was variously employed until 1890, when he was appointed a member of the city fire department. He served in that capacity for two years and then was for a similar length of time deputy sheriff. Again he became connected with the fire department but following an accident in 1896, which occurred when answering a fire call and in which his leg and ankle were broken, he was for four years out of the department. In 1900, however, he returned to the service and in April, 1904, was appointed captain. In January, 1912, he was appointed assistant chief and on the 1st of February, 1917, was made chief. His long experience in the department has given him a thorough knowledge of the needs of the service and as captain, assistant chief and chief he has worked tirelessly and effectively to raise the work to an ever higher standard.

On the 1st of October, 1902, Mr. Guthridge was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Berg, who was born August 17, 1879, six miles east of Vancouver, Washington, but at the age of ten years removed with her parents to North Yamhill, Oregon, living there until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Guthridge have become parents of six children, five of whom survive: Eugene, thirteen years old; Francis; Albert; Leona; and Walter.

Mr. Guthridge is a republican in politics and fraternally is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Knights of Columbus. He and his family are members of the Catholic church and support the work of that organization. His entire life has been passed in the west and he is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of enterprise characteristic of this country and has great faith in the prosperous future before it.

D. C. EATON.

D. C. Eaton, a member of the present board of county commissioners, residing in Waitsburg, is ranked among the extensive wheat farmers of Walla Walla county, within the borders of which he has made his home for almost four decades and where he has acquired some quite valuable land. His birth occurred in Rock county, Wisconsin, on the 19th of September, 1854, his parents being Asael and Amanda (Pineo) Eaton, who were born, reared and married in Nova Scotia. Soon after their marriage they crossed the border into the United States, locating first in DeKalb county, Illinois, and a few years later in Wisconsin. Subsequently they took up their abode in Allamakee county, Iowa, and there spent the remainder of their lives.

D. C. Eaton acquired his education in the public schools of Iowa and in 1877, when a young man of twenty-two years, he left the parental roof to make his own way in the world. Journeying westward to the coast, he spent a year or more in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon, and in the spring of 1878 came to Walla Walla county, Washington. Here he was engaged in the stock business for seven or eight years and about 1886 he turned his attention to farming, which has claimed his time and energies continuously since. Success has crowned his efforts in the intervening years, he now being numbered among the extensive wheat growers of Walla Walla county.

On July 15, 1886, Mr. Eaton was united in marriage to Miss Melvina Sickler, of Waitsburg, who is a native daughter of Walla Walla county, her father, Daniel Sickler, having crossed the plains in an early day. They have become the parents of six children, five of whom survive, namely: Clarence, who is a graduate of the State Agricultural College at Pullman of the class of 1910 and who now operates one of his father's ranches; and May, Marcia, Gladys and Ruth, all of whom are attending the State Agriculture College at Pullman.

Politically Mr. Eaton is a stanch republican and in 1898 he was elected to the board of county commissioners, in which connection he made an excellent record and to which office he was again chosen in the November election of 1916, so that he is again serving at the present time. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16, A. F. & A. M.; Dayton Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M.; Walla Walla Commandery, K. T.; and El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Spokane. His is a highly creditable record and he well deserves mention in this volume as one of the foremost farmers and representative citizens of the county.

FRED GAYLORD WILLS.

Fred Gaylord Wills was born August 24, 1884, in Arlington, Oregon, a son of W. H. and Clara (Oviatt) Wills. The father was born in Plymouth, England, and when twenty-one years of age came to the states, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1879 he made his way to the Palouse country to buy sheep and after spending the winter at Endicott came to Walla Walla. He considered this locality as the most desirable that he had seen and accordingly decided to make it his permanent home. He was married at Walla Walla to Miss Clara Oviatt, who was born in Akron, Summit county, Ohio, and resided there until the early '80s, when she came to Walla Walla and made her home with a sister until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Wills have watched with great interest the development of what was a mere hamlet to a prosperous and up-to-date city of over twenty-five thousand inhabitants and they have at all times done their full share in contributing to its upbuilding.

Fred Gaylord Wills attended the public schools of Walla Walla, Whitman Academy at Walla Walla, the Rindge Manual Training School at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the University of Washington at Seattle, which in 1908 conferred upon him the degree of LL. B. It had been his intention to devote his life to the legal profession but being offered a position in July, 1908, a short time after his graduation, he entered the employ of the First National Bank of Walla Walla as messenger. In 1910 he was appointed deputy clerk of the superior court of Walla Walla county and while holding that office in addition to discharging his duties in that capacity he was employed in the First National Bank, working there after the hour of closing at the clerk's office. In 1912 he went to Seattle and for a short time engaged in the real estate business there, after which he went to Tacoma, where he turned his attention to accounting, which profession he has since followed. In 1916 he returned to Walla Walla and he has met with gratifying success here. His acquaintance among the business men of the city and his excellent business and official record were important factors in his obtaining the appointment of city clerk. He understands thoroughly the principles of finance and accounting, and his work gives uniform satisfaction.

Mr. Wills was appointed city clerk on the 20th of January, 1917, and his prompt and capable performance of his duties has won for him the commendation of the citizens. He has always given careful study to the questions and issues of the day and has been a stanch supporter of plans and projects calculated to promote the civic interests of his city and county. The greater part of his life has been passed in Walla Walla, and his genuine personal worth is indicated by the fact that those who have been intimately associated with him since boyhood are his stanchest friends.

On the 16th of June, 1917, Mr. Wills was married in Walla Walla to Miss Dorothy Frances Drum, who was graduated from the University of Washington with the A. B. degree and who from 1914 to 1917 was assistant librarian of the public library at Walla Walla. Her father, Henry Drum, was appointed warden of the state penitentiary by Governor Lister in 1912 and still holds that office.

WILLIAM LAMBIE.