Walla county, is conducting his interests under the name of the
Walla Walla Hothouse Vegetable Company. He is engaged in growing and
wholesale shipping of hothouse and garden vegetables. He established
this business in 1909, with no previous experience along this line
to aid him, but he bent every energy toward acquainting himself
with every phase of the business, studying the methods of the most
successful houses of similar character in the east, and through this
method and through study he has developed an enterprise of extensive
and profitable proportions. He was born at Highland, Madison county,
Illinois, on the 4th of October, 1874, and is a son of Samuel and Clara
(Robert) Mojonnier, both of whom were natives of Switzerland and were
of French descent. They came to the United States in childhood with
their respective parents, the families establishing their homes in
Madison county, Illinois. The father was a carpenter by trade but gave
his attention largely to agricultural pursuits in Illinois. In 1886 he
removed with his family to Los Angeles, California, where he engaged in
carpentering up to the time of his death, which occurred about 1892.
His widow is still living in that city.
F. E. Mojonnier was reared at home, acquiring his education in the
public and high schools of Los Angeles. He was a youth of but twelve
years when the family removed to California. After his textbooks were
put aside he worked for some time in a grocery store in Los Angeles
and in April, 1895, came to Walla Walla, Washington, where he entered
the employ of the Walla Walla Produce Company. In 1900 he became a
stockholder of the company and was identified with the conduct of the
business until 1914, when he sold his interest in order to give his
sole attention to his present business, which he had established in
1909. At that time he had no practical experience to assist him in its
conduct, but he closely applied himself to the work and visited the
largest plants of similar nature throughout the east, and since then he
has built up one of the most modern establishments of the kind in the
country. He has three acres under glass and he is producing high grade
vegetables and, in fact, he is known as one of the leading hothouse
vegetable growers in the northwest. His business has been thoroughly
systematized, carefully managed and wisely conducted and his patronage
has grown to extensive and gratifying proportions.
On the 1st of January, 1900, Mr. Mojonnier was united in marriage to
Miss Mathilde Delepine, of Walla Walla, who was a student in the State
College at Pullman at the time of her marriage. To them have been born
three children, Claire, Harold and Elaine.
Mr. Mojonnier gives his political allegiance to the democratic party
and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day, but
has never been an aspirant for office. He is regarded as one of the
representative citizens of Walla Walla county, actuated by a spirit
of enterprise and progress in all that he does. Well defined plans
and purposes have carried him forward and each step in his career has
brought him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. He has ever been
actuated by a laudable ambition that has caused him to reach out along
still broader lines and his position in business circles is now a most
creditable and enviable one.
HON. FREDERICK STINE.
Hon. Frederick Stine, who passed away in Walla Walla in 1909, had been
a resident of the city for more than four decades and was most widely
and favorably known. He was one of the early settlers of his section
of the state and was largely instrumental in promoting the development
and upbuilding of his city. He thus gained a wide acquaintance and was
esteemed by all who knew him. He was a recognized leader in many lines
and his strength of character and excellent judgment were features that
brought beneficial results. A man of action rather than of theory,
whenever opportunity called he made ready response.
[Illustration: MRS. FREDERICK STINE]
[Illustration: FREDERICK STINE]
Mr. Stine was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, November 24, 1825.
His father was a blacksmith by trade and in 1839 removed with his
family from the Keystone state to Greene county, Ohio, settling in
Fairfield, where he engaged in farming and also followed blacksmithing.
With those pursuits Frederick Stine became thoroughly familiar, as he
assisted his father in the work of the fields or of the smithy. In
the spring of 1852, in company with his brothers, John and William,
he started for the Pacific coast. Their departure was a great event
to the family, which numbered eight sons and six daughters. Travel at
that time to the western coast was by means of wagon or by way of water
route and many months elapsed ere the journey was completed. It was
indeed a serious undertaking, much more difficult than a trip around
the world at the present time. The three brothers left St. Louis,
Missouri, on the 1st of May, 1852, and on the 2d of July arrived in
Sacramento, California. This was a record trip at the time. The train
with which they traveled numbered twenty-six men, of whom Frederick
Stine was chosen captain. The three brothers went to Marysville,
California, where they began work, but after a few days Frederick
Stine was prostrated with typhoid fever and for sixty days had a great
struggle for his life. Eventually, however, the disease reached its
crisis and it was said that he would live. When he recovered he began
business for himself, but in 1854 met with losses through fire and the
following year he removed to Yreka, California, where he concentrated
his efforts and attention upon farming and blacksmithing, thus
returning to the occupations to which he had been reared.
Selling his Yreka property on the 6th of February, 1862, Mr. Stine then
started for the north and on the 12th of May arrived in Walla Walla,
where he afterward made his home until called to his final rest. Within
four days of his arrival he had opened a place of business on Main
street and as the years passed he prospered. On the 3d of November,
1863, he went by way of Portland to San Francisco, traveling by stage
to the latter city and thence by boat and the Panama route to Ohio on
a visit to his family and his old home. On the 18th of April, 1864,
he started again for the Pacific coast and this time made the trip by
stage to Walla Walla, where he resumed blacksmithing and wagon making,
maintaining a first class shop of that kind until September 1, 1873,
at which date he retired from business. He had spent about a third of
a century at his trade and was always industrious and conscientious
in his work. In 1872 he erected the Stine House, which was the first
brick hotel in Walla Walla, and in 1880 he purchased a farm of five
hundred and sixty acres in Umatilla county, Oregon, about six miles
south of Walla Walla. This he extensively improved and cultivated and
to his holdings he added from time to time as his financial resources
increased until he held in that vicinity over nineteen hundred acres of
choice land. In 1905 his wheat crop was thirty-seven thousand bushels,
raised upon one-half of his land, the other half being summer fallowed.
His business affairs were wisely and carefully controlled, his
investments most judiciously made and his enterprise brought to him a
very substantial measure of success. The most envious could not grudge
him his prosperity, so honorably was it gained, so worthily used.
In 1870, in Walla Walla, Mr. Stine was united in marriage to Mrs.
Mary (Megrew) Silverthorn, a widow, and to them was born a daughter,
Elizabeth, who became the wife of John Casper, of Walla Walla. Mrs.
Stine was born near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1836, a daughter of
Archibald Megrew. In 1836, when Mrs. Stine was three months old, the
father removed with his family to Ohio and when she was a little maiden
of thirteen she lost her mother. In 1852 the father removed with the
children to Iowa and there his last days were passed. It was in Iowa
that Mary Megrew became the wife of John Silverthorn and they, with
others, crossed the plains in 1864, making the trip with mules and
horses and spending three months en route. They settled in Walla Walla,
where the death of Mr. Silverthorn later occurred. Mrs. Stine now
resides in a fine home on Catherine street, where for more than ten
years she has lived.
Throughout the period of his residence in Walla Walla, Mr. Stine was
an active worker for the upbuilding and development of the city. In
politics he was an active democrat and in 1869 was chosen to represent
his district in the lower house of the territorial legislature, while
in 1873 he was elected a member of the senate. He made his presence
felt there by his earnest support of all well devised plans and
measures for the improvement of the commonwealth. His keen judgment was
of great benefit in many instances. In 1865 he was chosen one of the
members of the city council of Walla Walla and during the following
year was made chairman of the council and thereafter was reelected many
times. He exercised his official prerogatives in support of various
plans and measures for the general good and his work was of great worth
to the city. Many important measures for the benefit of Walla Walla
originated with him and were carried forward to successful completion
because of his endorsement and labor. In 1868 he succeeded in having
established a Masonic lodge at Walla Walla and for ten years thereafter
acted as its master. He was also a member of the chapter and was always
an earnest worker and he labored untiringly for the advancement of
Masonic interests in this locality. When death called him in 1909 he
had been a resident of Walla Walla for more than forty-five years. His
personal qualities were such as won for him the warm regard of many and
there was sincere grief felt throughout the city at his passing.
WILLIAM THOMAS PETTIJOHN.
William Thomas Pettijohn has since 1905 resided upon his present farm
on section 2, township 9 north, range 35 east, in Walla Walla county,
and here has six hundred and fifty acres of valuable land, constituting
one of the fine farms of this section of the state. Long before,
however, he had become a resident of the county and in fact was one of
the earliest settlers. He arrived here in 1859, when but five years of
age, having been brought to Washington by his parents.
Mr. Pettijohn was born in Linn county, Oregon, July 26, 1854, a son
of Jonathan and Hannah (Warner) Pettijohn. The father was a native of
Ohio, while the mother's birth occurred in Indiana. In 1850 Jonathan
Pettijohn crossed the plains to California and after spending a year
or more in the gold fields of that state he went to Oregon, settling
in Linn county, where he was employed for some time in the sawmills
and also worked at barn building. He became familiar with all of the
hardships and privations incident to life on the frontier. He had
encountered also many difficulties while crossing the plains. The
cattle with which the party started on leaving the east died en route
and much of the distance during the latter part of the trip, their
provisions having run short, they lived for days upon flour and water.
Mr. Pettijohn traveled much of the distance on foot. After living
for a number of years in Oregon he sold his interests there in 1859
and came to Walla Walla county. He first visited the county in the
summer of that year, bringing with him some cattle, after which he
returned for his family. He entered a homestead in townships 9 and 10,
range 35 east, Walla Walla county, and thereon built a log cabin. His
remaining years were spent in that immediate neighborhood and he was
very successful. While he experienced many of the difficulties incident
to the settlement of the frontier prosperity attended him as the years
went by and he acquired three thousand acres of valuable land. From
1860 until 1866 or 1867 he was engaged in freighting with ox teams to
the Idaho mines and later he gave his attention most successfully to
the raising of cattle and horses. His business affairs were most wisely
and successfully managed and he became the possessor of a very handsome
competence, passing away June 13, 1913. His wife had crossed the plains
with her parents in 1852, at which time the family home was established
in Linn county, Oregon, where her marriage to Mr. Pettijohn afterward
occurred. She passed away in January, 1893, and in the death of these
two worthy people Walla Walla county lost an honored pioneer couple.
They were respected and esteemed by all who knew them and most of all
by those who knew them best, a fact indicative of their well spent
lives.
William T. Pettijohn spent his youthful days upon the old homestead
and acquired a district school education. In 1877 he went to Idaho,
where he used both his preemption and homestead rights in the Potlach
country, filing the first homestead right in that section. There he
remained actively identified with farming and stock raising until
1905, when he left Idaho and returned to Walla Walla county, taking up
his abode on his present home farm, which now comprises six hundred
and fifty acres of rich and productive land. In addition he owns five
hundred and sixty acres in another township. His landed possessions
are thus extensive and he is actively and prominently identified with
the farming interests of Walla Walla county. His business affairs are
carefully directed and wisely managed. He utilizes the most modern
methods carrying on the farm work and upon his place he has put many
improvements which rank his farm with one of the model farm properties
of the twentieth century in this section of the state.
On the 12th of December, 1883, Mr. Pettijohn was united in marriage to
Miss Ella Humphrey, of Idaho, and to them have been born five children,
four of whom are still living, namely: Ada, the wife of Frank Davis,
who is operating one of the farms belonging to his father-in-law;
Jonathan N., who is now operating the home farm; Ollie, the wife of
Robert L. Temple, of Prescott, Washington; and Harry Elbert, who is
in the United States army. For some, time the two sons operated the
home farm together and proved progressive young business men by their
capable direction of the interests which have come under their charge.
In politics Mr. Pettijohn has always followed an independent course
but has never taken an active part in public affairs. He has always
preferred to concentrate his time, efforts and attention upon his
private business interests and by reason of his diligence and
determination, his perseverance and his honesty he has won a very
substantial measure of success. He is justly numbered among the honored
pioneers of the northwest, having for fifty-seven years lived in this
section of the country. Born in Oregon, reared in Washington and a
resident for a time of Idaho, there is no feature of the development of
the northwest with which he is not familiar and he has lived to witness
a remarkable transformation, for the country has grown so rapidly
that the story of its development seems almost magical. The result,
however, is due to the earnest labors, the persistency of purpose and
the indefatigable energy of such men as Mr. Pettijohn, who, unafraid of
the hardships and privations of pioneer life, has utilized the natural
resources of the country and has thus placed the wealth upon a par with
the older east.
COLONEL WILLIAM HAVENS MILLER.
Colonel William Havens Miller, whose life was spent in the military
service of his country, was under all circumstances an officer and
a gentleman. He was born at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, January 31, 1849,
and on the 14th of June, 1872, was graduated from the United States
Military Academy at West Point and was assigned to duty with the First
Cavalry. While with that regiment he participated in all the Indian
wars in the Rocky mountains and on the Pacific coast and won frequent
promotion in recognition of his efficiency and gallantry. Among the
important campaigns in which he took part were: the Modoc war, which
lasted from November, 1872, until June, 1873; the Nez Percé war, from
June to October, 1877; the Bannock campaign, from June to September,
1878; and a minor engagement at Meacham's, in the Blue mountains of
Oregon, in August, 1878. He was promoted to first lieutenant in the
First Cavalry, March 4, 1879. From May, 1877, to March, 1887, he served
as quartermaster in the field and in garrison and during the greater
part of that time, or from August 15, 1878, to March 31, 1887, he
was regimental quartermaster. On the 28th of February, 1890, he was
brevetted first lieutenant for "gallant services in action against
Indians at the Lava Beds, California, April 17, 1873, and gallant and
meritorious conduct during the Modoc war." In 1896-7 he was employed
in the designing and building of Fort George Wright, a military post
at Spokane, Washington, being in charge of the work until December,
1898, at which time the post was ready for one battalion of infantry.
During the greater part of 1899 and 1900 he was in Cuba and built the
four company military post at Paso Caballos at the mouth of the harbor
of Cienfuegos, Cuba, and finished the cavalry post, Hamilton barracks,
at Matanzas, Cuba. Colonel Miller was in campaigns and garrisons in
the northwest until September, 1890, being stationed a part of the
time in northern California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Montana,
and was then appointed captain and assistant quartermaster in the
United States Army and was on duty as follows: Quartermaster at United
States Military Academy, West Point, New York, from October, 1890, to
November, 1894; quartermaster at Fort Riley, Kansas, from November,
1894, until July, 1896; constructing quartermaster at Spokane,
Washington, from July, 1896, to December, 1898; appointed major and
chief quartermaster in United States Volunteers, August 15, 1898;
division chief quartermaster at Southern Camp; Anniston, Alabama,
from December, 1898, to March, 1899; chief quartermaster, Departments
of Santa Clara and Matanzas at Cienfuegos and Matanzas, Cuba, from
March, 1899, to July, 1900; depot quartermaster, Boston, Massachusetts,
from October, 1900, to August, 1901; depot and chief quartermaster,
Department of the Lakes, Chicago, Illinois, front August, 1901, to
August, 1905; in charge of the general depot of the quartermaster's
department, New York city, from November 20, 1905, to May, 1907; chief
quartermaster, Philippine Division, Manila, from September 2, 1907, to
June 14, 1909; quartermaster at Seattle, Washington, and in charge of
the United States transport service on Puget Sound from July, 1909,
until retired at the age of sixty-four years, January 31, 1913. He was
promoted to major and quartermaster, United States Army, August 12,
1900; to lieutenant colonel and deputy quartermaster general, August
15, 1903; and colonel and assistant quartermaster general, October 31,
1909. The title was changed to colonel, Quartermaster Corps, United
States Army, by act of congress approved August 24, 1912. On the 5th
of July, 1906, he was especially commended to the secretary of war by
the inspector general of the army for efficiency. All work that was
given to him to do was well done, for, holding himself to the strictest
standards, he refused to accept anything less than the best work from
those under him, but at the same time he was scrupulously just and held
the respect of his men. He upheld the high traditions of the American
army, was a constant student of military science and kept in close
touch with the change in methods necessitated by new conditions of
warfare. To him the army was a profession that demands all a man has
to give but that makes abundant recompense in the knowledge of worthy
service rendered the nation. He had the capacity for deep friendship
characteristic of men of unusual strength of character and the place
which he held in the esteem and affection of those who knew him
intimately is indicated in the following tribute to his memory by his
friend, G. P. Monell.
[Illustration: COLONEL WILLIAM H. MILLER]
"'He was my friend, faithful and just, to me." This Shakepearean saying
of Marcus Antonius over the body of dead Caesar, best describes the
dominant characteristic of Colonel Miller's life. Faithful and just,
tender and true, might well be inscribed upon the stone that marks
the spot where he sleeps till the final reveille. These qualities,
covering all that is knightly, all that is noble, went to make up the
daily routine of the life he lived for the glory and honor of his
country. No promise that he ever made, however lightly, was too small
to be faithfully remembered and religiously fulfilled. No fault that
he observed was too great or too trivial to meet with less or more
than exact justice. Officially he had no friends; those who gave best
service were best rewarded, regardless of his personal predilections.
Looking back over the past four years of close and intimate friendship,
they seem to reflect back his past and sound out his whole life
as embodied living truth; even in his lightest moods he scorned
exaggeration as beneath the dignity of his manhood. Deeply learned in
all the intricate business of army life and regulations, quick to see
the right and wrong of any question, recognizing no middle course,
his decisions were instant and final and his reasons unassailable.
Officially he was a dignified, gallant and knightly soldier. In
private life he represented the highest type of American gentleman.
Hospitable, kindly, witty, he made those who visited his home feel that
they belonged 'right there' and his friends were part of himself. His
character, always straightforward and intensely honest, presented so
many sides and all so simple and unassuming that those who knew him
best loved him most.
Colonel Miller was married in Walla Walla, November 20, 1879, to
Miss Anna Abbott, a daughter of John F. Abbott, who was a well known
resident of Walla Walla, and a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this
work. Colonel Miller passed away at the General Memorial Hospital in
New York, April 13, 1913. To him and his wife were born three children,
of whom the eldest died in infancy. Harlan Abbott, born at Fort Walla
Walla, is now a rancher in Umatilla county, Oregon. Margaret Isabelle
is the wife of Julian Foster Humphrey, chief officer of the Transport
Crook, U. S. N.
HON. DENNIS COOLEY GUERNSEY.
Hon. Dennis Cooley Guernsey, whose history is closely interwoven with
the records of Columbia county, is now extensively engaged in the real
estate, insurance and loan business in Starbuck. He has at different
periods figured prominently as a bank official, as the incumbent in
public office in the county and as representative of his district in
the territorial legislature of 1879, and with many business interests
he has been closely associated, so that his labors have contributed in
marked measure to the material development and to the upbuilding of
the state. He was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, on the 13th of April,
1845, a son of Orrin and Sarah (Cooley) Guernsey, who were natives of
Connecticut. They removed to New Hampshire in childhood days with their
respective parents and were there reared and married. In 1843 they
migrated westward, establishing their home in Janesville, Wisconsin,
where they spent their remaining days. In early life the father was
engaged in merchandising and in later years became identified with the
insurance business.