development is considered worthy of honor, but that man who has a part
in the promotion of his city's interests in many fields of activity has
a still greater claim upon the gratitude of his fellow citizens, and
such was the record of Raymond Ringold Rees, pioneer newspaper man,
prominent merchant and man of affairs.
He was born in Reily, Ohio, June 17, 1833, and was taken by his parents
to Delaware, that state, where he remained until he was twenty-one
years old. During his youth he served an apprenticeship to the
printer's trade and in 1854 he came west with a brother by way of the
Isthmus of Panama, their destination being Portland, Oregon, in the
vicinity of which a third brother lived. After a short time Mr. Rees
of this review secured work as a typesetter on the Christian Advocate
and as he had the distinction of being the only man in Portland who
could set book type, he did that work on McCormac's Almanac, the
first book published on the Pacific coast. He was also employed as a
typesetter on the first issue of the Daily Oregonian, Portland's famous
newspaper. With the exception of eighteen months spent with a brother
in the Colville mines, he was identified with newspaper publication in
Portland until 1861, when he came to Walla Walla, reaching here on the
21st of November.
[Illustration: MAJOR RAYMOND R. REES]
[Illustration: MRS. RAYMOND R. REES]
Mr. Rees formed a partnership with Nemiah Northrop and established
the first newspaper in this section--the Washington Statesman. The
firm sent to Portland for a press, which arrived on schedule time,
and the first issue of the new paper appeared on November 27th. The
publishers therein made the following announcement to the public: "We
send forth this morning with our congratulations the first number of
the Washington Statesman, and respectfully solicit the attention of
the people of Walla Walla and county to its pages.... That a weekly
publication devoted to the various interests of the country, containing
all the news which may be gathered from different quarters, is
essentially needed in the Walla Walla valley we premise no permanent
resident will deny. This admitted, we have no misgivings as to the
disposition of the people to come forward and promptly sustain an
enterprise so materially calculated to further their interests as a
community." In the meantime the firm of Rees & Northrop learned that
two brothers named Smith intended starting a democratic paper in Walla
Walla and had sent to Portland for a press, which, however, reached The
Dalles just as the Columbia river, at that time the only highway, froze
over, with the result that it could not be delivered for three months.
Mr. Smith desired to become a member of his competing firm and his wish
was granted. The first subscriptions did not come in to the new paper
as readily as had been expected. Accordingly Mr. Smith made a tour
on horseback of Walla Walla county and Umatilla county and succeeded
in obtaining two hundred subscriptions at five dollars per year, the
circulation list containing the names of practically all the men of
the two counties. The Statesman was the first newspaper established
in eastern Washington, then known as the "upper country," and was a
factor of great importance in the early development of this region. Mr.
Rees was one of the owners of that journal until November, 1865, when
he sold his interest therein to W. H. Newell, and the following five
years were devoted to farming in connection with his father-in-law.
In 1870 he returned to Walla Walla and formed a partnership with H.
E. Johnson for the conduct of a mercantile business under the style
of Johnson & Rees. Two years later W. P. Winans bought into the firm
and the name was changed to Johnson, Rees & Winans. With Mr. Johnson's
subsequent retirement from the business the firm name became Rees &
Winans and so remained until 1887, when the business was sold. In the
meantime a two-story building was erected where now stands the Farmers
Savings Bank. Plans were subsequently made for the erection of the
Rees-Winans building but before construction work was begun Mr. Rees
was called by death. His widow, with Mr. Winans, however, carried out
the plans already made and the building was erected in due time and
was an important addition to the downtown section of Walla Walla. As a
merchant Mr. Rees was enterprising, progressive and sound of judgment,
managing his affairs carefully and giving much thought to anticipating
the demands of his customers. He based his success upon the firm
foundation of the best service possible and full return for all money
received.
Mr. Rees was married March 12, 1865, to Miss Augusta Ward, the only
child of Mr. and Mrs. Michael V. Ward. She was born near Chicago, in
De Kalb county, Illinois, in 1843 and in 1853 accompanied her parents
to Oregon, the journey being made by ox team. The family settled near
Lebanon, in Linn county, but the long wet season proved unhealthful and
Mr. Ward developed serious throat trouble. On the advice of a physician
he removed to Walla Walla county, bringing with him three hundred
head of cattle. That winter, however, there was an unusually heavy
snowfall and owing to the unfavorable weather conditions he lost all
of his cattle but forty-four. However, the increase in prices enabled
him to realize so much from the remaining cattle that his net loss was
inconsiderable. He bought the Lewis McMorris ranch a few miles south
of Walla Walla and operated that place for some time but at length
disposed of it. He then removed to Walla Walla and erected there the
most pretentious home in the city at the corner of East and Poplar
streets. At the time of the visit of President Hayes and party the
president and his wife were entertained at the home of Mr. Ward, as
there were no suitable hotel accommodations to be found in the city.
Mrs. Hayes insisted in helping with the house work and at her request
fried apples were served at breakfast. The democratic spirit manifested
by the president and his wife made their visit a genuine pleasure as
well as an honor. To Mr. and Mrs. Rees were born three children: Frank
W., a well known dentist of Walla Walla; Elma R., the wife of H. H.
Turner, cashier of the Baker-Boyer Bank of Walla Walla; and Lora R.,
the wife of Paul Compton, of Los Angeles, California. Mr. Compton is a
son of General Compton, who for years had command of the garrison at
Walla Walla.
Mr. Rees was a prominent democrat and for many years took an active
part in politics. He represented his district at two different
times in the state legislature; for several years served as county
treasurer, and his record as an official was highly creditable alike
to his ability and his public spirit. He was always called upon with
a certainty of response for aid in carrying out projects for the
development of Walla Walla city and county and his demise, which
occurred July 12, 1889, was recognized as a great loss to his community.
His widow survives and resides in one of the handsomest residences
of the city, in which she takes great pride, for it was built in
accordance with plans drawn by herself. After the death of her husband
she carried on the business of the estate. She is one of the honored
pioneer settlers of Walla Walla and her reminiscences of the early days
when the present rapidly growing city was a little frontier settlement
are much appreciated by the younger generation, who find it hard
to realize that conditions have changed so radically within a half
century. When she came to this region there were not more than twenty
white women in the valley and she is one of the very few of the number
now living.
JOHN H. ROMAINE.
John H. Romaine, who has been engaged in farming in Columbia county,
was born in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, April 15, 1857, a son of
Garrit Romaine, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Our
subject grew to manhood in his native state and there received a good
common school education. When twenty years old he accompanied his
parents to Washington and not long after his arrival in this state took
up a homestead on section 25, township 11 north, range 38 east. He
brought his land to a high state of development, and gained recognition
as a progressive and capable farmer. He raised both wheat and stock
and his annual income reached gratifying proportions. He added to his
holdings as the years passed until he owned fourteen hundred acres of
fine land but sold out in the fall of 1917 and purchased a ranch of
seven hundred and fifty-five acres in Umatilla county, Oregon, nine
miles south of Walla Walla, Washington, on which he expects to locate.
In 1882 Mr. Romaine was united in marriage to Miss May McKellips and
following her death married Miss Ella Davis, a daughter of Cyrus and
Nancy (Holly) Davis, natives respectively of Vermont and Ohio. They
removed to Old Walla Walla county and here her father passed away in
1910. Her mother survives and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Romaine.
The latter have become the parents of four children: Jean M., deceased;
one who died in infancy; Garrit; and Jean Henry.
Mr. Romaine gives his political allegiance to the republican party
but has never sought office, his farming interests requiring his
undivided time and attention. His wife belongs to the Congregational
church and takes much interest in its work. During the forty years of
his residence in Old Walla Walla county Mr. Romaine has witnessed a
remarkable transformation and has kept pace with the development of the
county, at all times giving his support to progressive measures.
ZIBA DIMMICK.
For a quarter of a century Ziba Dimmick has been a resident of Walla
Walla county and is now numbered among its most prosperous farmers,
being extensively and successfully engaged in the growing of wheat. His
place is situated on section 27, township 8 north, range 34 east of W.
M. He is a western man by birth, by training and by preference, and the
spirit of western enterprise finds exemplification in his life. He was
born at The Dalles, Oregon, on the 8th of March, 1868, and is a son of
H. R. and Ann (Cooper) Dimmick, the former a native of Illinois, while
the latter was born in Scotland. It was in the year of 1853 that the
father crossed the plains with ox teams, meeting all the hardships and
privations of that strenuous trip in the early days. He located first
on the Umpqua river in southern Oregon, where he lived with his parents
until the spring of 1862, when he and his wife moved to The Dalles.
His remaining days were spent in that state, and his widow, who still
survives is now a resident of Hood River county, Oregon. In her family
were ten children, of whom Ziba is the eldest son and six of the number
are now living.
Ziba Dimmick was reared and educated in Oregon, no event of special
importance occurring to vary the routine of life for him in the days
of his boyhood and youth. At the age of sixteen years he started to
work for the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company, where he
learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he worked until 1892. When
a young man of about twenty-four he came to Walla Walla, Washington,
and commenced his career as a farmer, working for different men,
until 1900, when he invested his savings in the farm upon which he
now resides. He today owns seven hundred and twenty acres of rich and
productive wheat land and has always made a specialty of raising that
crop, for which the soil and climate are particularly adapted. Success
has therefore attended his efforts, for in all of his methods he is
practical and progressive and through the summer months the broad
fields of waving grain give promises of abundant harvest in the autumn.
In addition to this property Mr. Dimmick owns one hundred and ten acres
of valuable land in Hood River county, Oregon, where he is engaged in
raising alfalfa and clover.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Dimmick is a Woodman of the World and
an Odd Fellow, politically a republican. His energy and determination
have made him what he is today--one of the prosperous farmers of Walla
Walla county, and his substantial traits of character have won for him
the warm regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact. Walla
Walla county gained a substantial citizen when he removed from Oregon
to this state, for his labors have contributed much to its agricultural
development.
FRANK S. DEMENT.
It was in the quaint and picturesque little city of Oregon City,
Oregon, that Frank S. Dement, prominent miller and grain dealer of
Walla Walla, was born November 3, 1853, a representative of one of the
oldest and most prominent families upon the Pacific coast. His father,
W. C. Dement, came to Oregon from Virginia in 1843 in the train with
Marcus Whitman. He engaged in merchandising at Oregon City, the little
town that was founded above the falls of the Willamette river, and he
was one of the four who built the railway around the falls at Oregon
City, which was one of the first, if not the first railway on the
Pacific coast. With many events which shaped the pioneer development
and later progress of that section of the country he was closely
associated. He served as captain of volunteers in the Rogue River
Indian war in 1856 and there was no phase of frontier development with
which he was not thoroughly familiar. He became a resident of Oregon
before the city of Portland was established and he lived to witness
many remarkable changes as the work of settlement was carried forward.
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Olive Johnson, came to Oregon
in 1845 and was a daughter of the Rev. Hezekiah Johnson, a Baptist
missionary of that state.
Frank S. Dement, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof,
acquired his education in the Oregon City Seminary and in early life
took up the printing business, learning the trade, after which he
engaged in general printing and in publishing of the Oregon City
Enterprise. He figured prominently in public affairs in that locality
and served as county treasurer of Clackamas county, Oregon, which
position he resigned in 1879 and removed to Walla Walla on account of
his health. In the following year he organized the Dement Brothers
Company and has continuously served as its president. He and his
partners purchased the Eureka flour mills of the firm of Welch &
Schwabacher Brothers in 1880. These mills had a capacity of one hundred
and fifty barrels daily and something of the growth of the business
is indicated in the fact that the present capacity is six hundred
barrels daily. In a word they have developed one of the most important
milling industries of this section of the state and they are also well
known as extensive grain dealers. It was Frank S. Dement who in 1882
imported the first bluestem seed wheat from New Zealand to the Pacific
northwest and it is today the leading wheat grown in this section of
the country. Through this channel and his other business activities
he has contributed in marked measure to the material development and
consequent prosperity of his section of the state. In the conduct of
his business affairs he has amassed a considerable fortune, much of
which he has invested in Walla Walla real estate, thus indicating his
faith in the future of this district.
[Illustration: FRANK S. DEMENT]
In Oregon City, Oregon, on the 1st of August, 1877, Mr. Dement was
married to Miss Frances Miller, a daughter of Captain J. D. Miller,
who was a pioneer steamboat operator on the Willamette and Columbia
rivers. To Mr. and Mrs. Dement have been born two sons: Charles F., who
is county auditor of Walla Walla county; and Frank Bingham, who is now
in the National army at Camp Lewis. He was graduated from the Shattuck
Military School of Minnesota in 1914 and was a student in Whitman
College with the class of 1918.
Frank S. Dement has long been a recognized leader in republican circles
in his county and was chairman of the county republican central
committee. He has done much to further the interests of his party,
believing firmly in its principles and recognizing the duties and
obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship; yet he has never
sought nor desired office as a reward for party fealty. Fraternally
he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a
prominent Mason, having taken the degrees of both the York and Scottish
Rites. He is a member of Oriental Consistory, A. & A. S. R., of Spokane
and of El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. For the past thirty years
he has been a very active and prominent member of the Commercial Club
of Walla Walla and is now one of its directors and the treasurer.
He stands for progressiveness in all public affairs and his efforts
in behalf of general progress and improvement have been practical,
far reaching and effective. Men who know him--and he has a wide
acquaintance--speak of him in terms of the highest regard both as to
his relationship with business affairs and in matters of citizenship.
JOSEPH LEDGERWOOD.
Joseph Ledgerwood, deceased, spent the last years of his life in
honorable retirement from business in Pomeroy, enjoying the fruits of
his former labor. For many years he had been identified with farming
in southeastern Washington and his well directed business affairs
brought to him a very substantial competence, enabling him to enjoy
all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life and also to leave
his family in very easy financial circumstances. He was born in Clay
county, Missouri, July 17, 1836, and was a son of Joseph and Rachael
Ledgerwood, who were natives of Tennessee and afterward became pioneer
settlers of Clay county, Missouri.
Joseph Ledgerwood acquired his education in the common schools of
Clay and Daviess counties of Missouri and on reaching manhood took up
the occupation of farming. In 1864, with little money to outfit him
for so hazardous and extended a journey, he started across the plains
for the Pacific coast country, and while he endured many hardships
and privations while en route, he ultimately in safety reached the
Umpqua valley, where he made a home for his family and continued to
reside until 1877. He then disposed of his property in that region and
removed to Garfield county, Washington, settling about nine miles east
of Pomeroy. There he prospered and from time to time, as his financial
resources increased, he added to his land until at his death he was the
owner of about one thousand acres of valuable farm property. In the
later years of his life he retired from active farm work and removed
to Pomeroy, where he spent his remaining days in the enjoyment of the
fruits of his many years of successful labor. For a long period his
life had been one of untiring industry and perseverance, during which
he was watchful of every opportunity and indication pointing toward
success. At all times he based his advancement upon the sure foundation
of industry and persistency of purpose.
In 1859 Mr. Ledgerwood was united in marriage to Miss Louise O'Keef,
a native of Illinois, who was a faithful helpmate to him and shared
with him in all of the hardships and privations of pioneer life, when
Oregon and Washington were still frontier states. She still survives
her husband and cherishes his memory, for he was most devoted to the
welfare and happiness of his family. To Mr. and Mrs. Ledgerwood were
born nine children, seven of whom are yet living, as follows: William
T.; J. Joseph; John T.; Lou Emma, who is the wife of W. A. DeBow, a
grain dealer of Pomeroy; Martha R., who is the widow of James B. Carter
and resides in Pomeroy; Rosa, who gave her hand in marriage to Lou
Jurgens, of Asotin county, Washington; and Clara B., the wife of Edward
Davis, of Okanogan county, Washington.
Mr. Ledgerwood was a very progressive man, public-spirited in all
that he did, and his aid and cooperation could ever be counted upon
to further public progress. He aided many movements for the general
good, and while he was never a politician in the commonly accepted
sense of the term and never would consent to hold office, he gave
earnest support to the democratic party because of a firm belief in
its principles. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was a consistent Christian man,
both he and his wife being lifelong members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Mrs. Ledgerwood occupies a handsome home in Pomeroy, surrounded
by all the comforts and conveniences which make life worth living.
REME DE RUWE.
Among the successful sheep raisers of Columbia county is numbered Reme
De Ruwe, who was born in Belgium, September 15, 1882, a son of Peter
and Julia De Ruwe, also natives of that country, where their entire
lives were passed. To them were born fifteen children. The subject
of this review is indebted for his education to the schools of his
native land, and remained at home until he was about twenty years old.
Then, in 1902, he decided to try his fortune in the United States and
located in Walla Walla county, Washington, where he at once turned his
attention to raising sheep. He has since continued in that occupation
on an extensive scale. He pastures his sheep on a ranch comprising
twelve hundred acres of land in Columbia county. The success which
he has gained in fifteen years is quite unusual, demonstrating his
ability to adapt himself to a new condition, his sound judgment and his
enterprise. His ranch is well improved and is a very valuable property.
In 1914 Mr. De Ruwe was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Kregger,
and they have a son, Marvin, and have also adopted three children. Mr.
De Ruwe casts his ballot in support of the republican party, whose
principles accord with his political beliefs. He was reared in the
Catholic faith and consistently gives his influence on the side of
moral advancement. He has gained many friends since coming to eastern
Washington, his salient characteristics being such as never fail to
command respect and win regard.
CHARLES L. WHITNEY.
Charles L. Whitney, who is living retired on section 6, township 6
north, range 36 east, Walla Walla county, is now enjoying a period of
well merited leisure made possible by his former successful labors
as a nurseryman and horticulturist. He was born in Erie county,
Pennsylvania, January 26, 1857, of the marriage of William G. and
Marcia M. (Pettis) Whitney, the former a native of Onondaga county, New
York. They removed to California in 1879; two years before their son
Charles L. had made his way to the Pacific coast, and after residing
there for one or two years they came to Walla Walla county, Washington.
Here the father, in partnership with his son Charles L., bought the
farm where the latter still resides. This place was the site of the
Sims mill, which was the first mill built in the state and possibly the
first in the northwest. The date of its erection was 1858 and there
was also a distillery operated within the limits of the farm. In the
early days pack trains, numbering one hundred animals were sent to the
outlying camps loaded with flour, bacon and whiskey, and the farm is
indeed one of the historic places of the state. The father established
the Home nursery and the son the North Western nurseries, and both
proved successful in that business. The father remained active in the
management of his affairs both as a nurseryman and as a farmer until
his death in 1912. The mother passed away in 1910.