Part 60

James P. Seitz spent the first fifteen years of his life in the state of his nativity and then came with his parents to Washington. He supplemented his public school training by a high school education and also attended Whitman College. He thus became well qualified for life's practical and responsible duties. He was reared to farm work and has never sought to change his occupation, for he finds farming congenial and has made it profitable as a result of his indefatigable energy and close application. He first rented the old homestead and later he purchased the property, which is situated on sections 9 and 10, township 6 north, range 36 east. His farm comprises three hundred and twenty acres in the valley between the foothills and constitutes a desirable, beautiful and valuable property, for it has been highly improved. In fact it is one of the finest farms in this section of the state. Substantial buildings furnish ample shelter for grain and stock. Mr. Seitz has erected a large, modern, circular barn, for which he made the plans, and he also did much of the work of construction himself. He even cut and sawed the timber and in this and other ways did much toward completing the structure. He has also erected other buildings upon his farm, including one containing the large engine which is the motive power for his machinery, drill forge, electric dynamo, etc. His residence is as complete and modern as a city home and is a monument to the enterprise and progressive spirit of the owner. Everything about his place is kept in good repair and fences divide the farm into fields of convenient size, so that the work is carried on more advantageously. He utilizes the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of plowing, planting and harvesting, and in wheat production he displays the most progressive methods in handling the crop, which is a very large one, as the soil is excellently adapted for the production of that cereal. He is also successfully engaged in stock raising. He is a man of pronounced business ability in his chosen line of endeavor and is constantly seeking out new methods which will promote his interests and augment the productiveness and the general value of his farm.

On the 8th of April, 1903, Mr. Seitz was united in marriage to Miss Adina Chambers, a native of Washington and a daughter of Joseph and Mollie (Bulen) Chambers, the former a native of Missouri, while the latter was born in Dayton, Washington. They had a family of two children, Mrs. Seitz and Richard Chambers, who is now a soldier in the United States army. To Mr. and Mrs. Seitz have been born seven children: Lydia V., Helen, John P., May, Ina, Ara and Earl.

Mr. and Mrs. Seitz attend the Presbyterian church and are people of genuine worth, enjoying the confidence and goodwill of all with whom they have been associated. Mr. Seitz belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, his membership being in Lodge No. 121. In politics he maintains an independent course, voting for the candidate whom he regards as best qualified for the office without considering party ties. He is actuated by a patriotic desire to stand for all that tends to promote the best interests of the community and of the commonwealth and his cooperation can always be counted upon to further various movements and measures for the public good.

SMITH F. HENDERSON.

Smith F. Henderson, a prominent brick and cement contractor of Walla Walla, was born in Pennsylvania, January 28, 1849, a son of R. S. and Margaret (Keys) Henderson, who were born in the Keystone state, of Irish descent. Both passed away in Pennsylvania and three of their ten children are also deceased.

Smith F. Henderson spent the days of his boyhood and youth under the parental roof and received the usual educational advantages, attending the public schools. In 1875, in early manhood, he went to California but three years later came to Walla Walla, where he has since remained. He has always followed the brick and cement contracting business and his thorough knowledge of the principles of construction in those materials and his scrupulous fulfillment of every detail of his contracts have enabled him to build up a large patronage. He has erected many of the better buildings in the city and ranks as one of its leading contractors. He holds title to an excellent building, from the rental of which he derives a gratifying profit.

Mr. Henderson was married in 1880 to Miss Katherine Root, who was born in Tennessee, but who has resided in Walla Walla since the early '60s. To them have been born four children, of whom three have passed away, one son, Arthur G., surviving.

Mr. Henderson gives his political allegiance to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Methodist church, to which his wife also belongs, and of which he has served as chairman of the board of trustees. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in which local lodge he has filled all the chairs, and with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His integrity, his public spirit and his business ability are generally recognized and his personal friends are many.

O. M. RICHMOND.

O. M. Richmond, a well known resident of Walla Walla, owns twelve hundred acres of fine land in Walla Walla county and derives a gratifying profit from its rental. He was born in Illinois, July 12, 1860, a son of Andrew J. and Mary J. (Lane) Richmond. The father was born in Ohio but for a number of years resided in Illinois. In 1880 he came to the Pacific northwest and took up his home in Oregon, where both he and his wife passed away. All of their six children survive.

O. M. Richmond was a student in the public schools of his native state and thus obtained his education. He was nineteen years of age when he accompanied his parents on the long journey across the plains and he assisted his father in developing the homestead. He continued to farm in that state until 1913, when he came to Walla Walla, where he has since resided. He purchased land in Walla Walla county and now owns twelve hundred acres but rents it to others, preferring to live retired. He has gained the success which is his through industry and sound judgment and the rest which he is now enjoying is well deserved.

Mr. Richmond was married in 1889 to Miss Nellie Preston, who was born in Illinois and is a daughter of William and Margaret (Hatch) Preston, natives of Illinois. In 1879 the Preston family removed to Oregon and for a number of years resided on a farm in that state. The father died in Oregon and the mother subsequently came to Walla Walla and is now living with Mr. and Mrs. Richmond. The latter have two daughters: Gladys, the wife of O. Taylor, of Walla Walla county; and N. Bernice, who is a graduate of Whitman College and is teaching music.

Mr. Richmond belongs to the Baptist church and seeks to further its work in every way possible. In politics he is a democrat and has served capably on the school board. Fraternally he belongs to the Artisans. Although he has resided in Walla Walla for only a few years he has already won the sincere friendship of many, his salient characteristics being such as invariably command respect and regard.

ALVIN G. BAUMEISTER.

Formerly as a clothing merchant and later in the real estate and insurance field Alvin G. Baumeister has made for himself a most creditable position in the business circles of Walla Walla, where he has been conducting his interests as a member of the firm of Shaw & Baumeister. He is a native son of the city in which he resides and the course which he has pursued throughout his entire life has been such as to commend him to the confidence, goodwill and high respect of all with whom he has been associated. He was born in this city January 23, 1883, and is a representative of one of its oldest and most honored pioneer families, his parents being Max and Alvine (Schweiker) Baumeister, of whom more extended mention is made on another page of this work.

Alvin G. Baumeister began his education in the schools of Walla Walla, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. On the 1st of February, 1905, when he was a young man of about twenty-two years, he was united in marriage to Miss Myrtle E. Wilson, a daughter of P. H. Wilson, one of the prominent farmers of Walla Walla county and one of its well known pioneer citizens. With a good education and now with a home for which to provide, Mr. Baumeister seriously took up the duties of life and in the year of his marriage became identified with the commercial interests of Walla Walla, establishing and conducting a clothing and furnishing goods store. He carried on the business with growing success for about three years or until 1908, when he disposed of his store and removed to Seattle. He remained for nine months in that city and was employed in a clothing store, but upon his father's death in 1909 he returned to Walla Walla and became his successor in the real estate and insurance business, in which he has been engaged until recently. He had one of the large agencies of this character and negotiated many important realty transfers. He thoroughly understands property values and has handled business interests of importance in this line. He also had a well organized insurance department, representing a number of the most reliable companies, and he wrote a large amount of insurance. Thus his interests were profitably managed and his course illustrates what may be accomplished by serious endeavor. Recently he has sold his insurance business in Walla Walla and has now identified himself with a new organization, established in St. Louis, Missouri. This new company is to be known as The Liberty Insurance Corporation of which all capital is to be invested in liberty bonds.

Mr. Baumeister also figures prominently in fraternal circles. He has membership in Walla Walla Lodge, No. 7, A. F. & A. M.; in Walla Walla Chapter, No. 1, R. A. M.; in Washington Commandery, No. 1, K. T.; in Oriental Consistory, A. & A. S. R., of Spokane; and in El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., also of Spokane. His name is likewise on the membership rolls of Trinity Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., and of the encampment, and he belongs to Walla Walla Lodge, No. 287, B. P. O. E. He likewise belongs to the Commercial Club and is a member of the Walla Walla Golf Club--associations that further indicate the nature of his interests. In politics he is a republican, well versed on the questions and issues of the day and believing firmly in the principles of his party, yet he does not seek nor desire office, preferring to concentrate his energies and attention upon his business affairs. He ranks with the leading and representative business men of Walla Walla, where his entire life has been passed. His record is a commendable one, for at all times his course has displayed no esoteric phase. In all things he is open and aboveboard and an analyzation of his career shows that it is close application and indefatigable energy which have placed him in his present enviable position in real estate and insurance circles.

EDWARD BAUMEISTER.

In Saxe-Weimar, Germany, on June 24, 1848, was born the subject of this sketch. His father, Ernest Baumeister, was a native of Erfurt, Germany, and came to the United States in 1854, bringing his family. Settlement was made in New York state and so thoroughly did the elder Baumeister identify himself with the interests of the country of his adoption, that upon the breaking out of the rebellion, he promptly enlisted in a New York regiment of volunteer cavalry and served with distinction and valor until the last conflict at Fredericksburg when he was wounded and soon gave his life for his country. He had married Miss Charlotte Schroeder, also a native of Germany.

Our subject was but a lad when his father died and the same spirit that pervaded the breast of the ancestor, was found well planted in the heart of his son. He, too, has taken up the cause of his country in a determined and loyal way, championing those measures and principles which are for the upbuilding of our free institutions. After attending the common schools of New York until he was twelve years old, he accompanied his brother, Max, to California. For two years he served an apprenticeship there as a barber and in April, 1863, he and his brother moved to Washington and settled in Walla Walla where for nineteen years they followed the barber trade. Then selling out they engaged for two years in the real estate and insurance business.

In 1885 Edward Baumeister moved to Lewiston and accepted a position in the general store of John P. Vollmer & Company. For seven months he served faithfully there and in the fall of 1885, came to the town of Asotin, then located farther up the river than at present. Mr. Baumeister selected the place where Asotin now stands and opened a fine general merchandise establishment. This general store was, for many years, the commercial center of the county. The upper rooms of the building were used for lodge and court room purposes. During the panic of 1893-5, the firm practically financed the county. Much of the grain and live stock of the county was bought by the company and shipped away. At one time, several hundred horses were driven by the firm back to Missouri and Illinois. During these years, the store acted as the bank and financial clearinghouse of the county and in 1900, the first bank in the county was opened in connection with the business. In 1908, the general store was sold but the bank was retained, and is still doing a leading business in the county.

In addition to the property already mentioned, Mr. Baumeister has extensive holdings in real estate in Asotin county as well as in other places in Washington and Idaho and is considered one of the wealthy and substantial men of the state.

In political matters, Mr. Baumeister has been a life long republican and it can be said that throughout his public career he has shown the same care and painstaking effort in public matters as that which brought him success in his own business. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow, having joined that order in Walla Walla, in 1869. At the present time, January, 1918, he is the only man living who was a member at the time of his initiation in Enterprise Lodge, No. 2. He was the first representative from the Grand Encampment of the then territory of Washington, to the Sovereign Grand Lodge, which met that year at Minneapolis. He is also a charter member of Riverside Lodge, No. 41, of Asotin, and a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, at Lewiston, Idaho.

Edward Baumeister is practically the father of Asotin county and has been for many years one of the leading men of the state. For two terms, he represented Asotin, Garfield and Columbia counties in the state senate and for fifty-four years he has been associated with every financial, political and social movement in southeastern Washington. He has been personally acquainted with every governor of the territory, and the state, up to the present time except the first four. For thirty-two years, he has lived and labored in Asotin and been intimately associated with every step in the growth of the county and city. Throughout all these years, Mr. Baumeister has borne an unblemished reputation for honesty, kindness and genuine goodness. At the time of this writing he is undoubtedly the best known and best loved man in Asotin county. He is a striking example of what can be accomplished by courage, optimism and persistency in spite of the handicap of lack of scholastic training and financial resources. He is, in fact, a self made man who has done a good job. His life is thus an example worthy of imitation by every young man, and this, in the opinion of the writer, is about the highest praise anyone can be given.

Although now seventy years of age, he is still an active and progressive citizen. At the present time, he is president of the local commercial club, chairman of the Red Cross war fund and the thrift stamp and war saving certificate fund of the county. All these public interests he carries in addition to his regular duties as president of his bank.

At College Point, New York, May 3, 1870, Mr. Baumeister married Miss Elizabeth Miller. They will soon celebrate their golden wedding and it may be truthfully said of Mrs. Baumeister that her interests in the development of the Inland Empire, have been as great as those of her husband. She is widely known, interested in every good movement and many a cause has been aided by her during her life as a pioneer woman.

To Mr. and Mrs. Baumeister were born two children: Anna C., wife of Dr. Stephen D. Brazeau of Spokane; and Alletta W., wife of W. L. Thompson, president of the American National Bank, of Pendleton, Oregon. Mrs. Baumeister has been, for many years, a member of the Protestant Episcopal church and a liberal supporter of all benefactions. Though not directly allied with the church, Mr. Baumeister exemplified in his life, many of the virtues of the Christian, and really tries to carry out, in his life, the principles of righteousness.

MORDO McDONALD.

Mordo McDonald, one of the prominent men of Walla Walla county, is not only successfully operating large tracts of land but is also active in public affairs, his energy and capability enabling him to accomplish much. He was born in Stark county, Illinois, February 18, 1863, the son of John and Jane (Grant) McDonald, both natives of Scotland, the former being born in the village of Sheldaig, Apple Cross parish, in the northern part of Scotland, July 10, 1823. The parents were reared and married in their native country and the father followed the career of a sea captain. In 1857 they came to the United States and, continuing their journey, traversed the continent as far as Stark county, Illinois, where they located. The father farmed there until 1863, when he removed with his family to the far west, crossing the seemingly illimitable plains with one yoke of oxen and one yoke of cows, which they milked every day on the journey. Under the most favorable conditions the long trip overland to the coast was fraught with many hardships, but the difficulties of the journey were increased by the fact that the father broke his leg on the second day out. However, he was confined to his bed but eighteen days, and then he was able to walk on crutches. At length Oregon was reached and he took up a homestead not far from the town of La Grande. He brought the place under cultivation and met with gratifying success in his farming operations, continuing to reside upon the homestead. He passed away November 17, 1903, and his wife died two years later, November 16, 1905.

Mordo McDonald was but an infant when brought by his parents to Oregon and was reared at home with the usual experiences of the boy brought up in pioneer surroundings. His education was that afforded in the district schools but he received thorough training in farming through assisting his father. In early manhood he was associated with his brothers and his father in the operation of the home place. When he was twenty-five years old he and his five brothers bought a tract of land, which they cultivated in addition to operating the homestead. This partnership was maintained until 1895, when Mr. McDonald of this review removed to Walla Walla county, Washington. For a year he conducted a butcher business in partnership with Chris Ennis, and then, with three other men, went into the horse business, furnishing eight thousand horses to the government for service in the Philippine islands. He became interested in raising horses and for a number of years devoted his time to that work, becoming well known as a horse dealer and breeder and confined his business entirely to handling government horses. In 1908, however, he gave up that work and began cultivating his present home farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 8, township 6 north, range 36 east. He raises the crops best suited to the soil and climate of this section and receives a good profit from his labors.

On December 24, 1889, Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Belle Cameron, a daughter of Alex Cameron, who came to Oregon on the same emigrant train of which the McDonald family were a part. To this union were born two children: Jessie, the wife of W. C. Marsh, a resident of Los Angeles, California; and Hector, at home. The wife and mother died in 1906 and on June 2, 1909, Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Florence Halvor, of The Dalles, Oregon.

Mr. McDonald is well known as an active worker in the republican party and in the fall of 1906 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, in which connection he made a record creditable alike to his ability and public spirit. For several years he served as chairman of the republican central committee and at one election in that period every man on the ticket was successful with the exception of the candidate for constable, who was sick in the hospital and was, therefore, unable to canvass the county. Mr. McDonald was a member of the board that had charge of the Walla Walla county exhibit, held in Portland, and the fact that the exhibit won many prizes is proof of the energy and efficiency which the board brought to their task. The other members were, Dr. N. G. Blalock and C. L. Whitney. Mr. McDonald's fraternal connections are with Blue Mountain Lodge, No. 13, A. F. & A. M.; Walla Walla Chapter, No. 1, R. A. M.; Washington Commandery, No. 1, K. T.; and El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Spokane. He is thoroughly western in spirit and interests and has full confidence in the prosperous future in store for Washington.

JOHN B. DUNHAM.

No matter in how much fantastic theorizing one may indulge as to the cause of success, he must eventually reach the conclusion that prosperity is the outcome of persistent effort and indefatigable industry combined with close application. This statement finds verification in the life record of John B. Dunham, a prosperous stock dealer now residing in Walla Walla. He was born in Logansport, Indiana, November 13, 1842, a son of John and Matilda (Griffin) Dunham, both of whom were natives of the Hoosier state, where they were reared and married. The father, attracted by the discovery of gold in California, was among those who made their way to the Pacific coast over the Isthmus route in 1849. He was reasonably successful in his search for the precious metal and in 1850 he returned to Indiana with the rewards of his labor. Soon afterward he removed to Champaign county, Illinois, where he was engaged in farming up to the time of his death.