and is a lady of many excellent qualities. Mr. Rockhill belongs to
Dayton Lodge, No. 136, I. O. O. F. His political allegiance is given to
the republican party and in 1915 he was called upon to represent his
district in the state legislature, of which he proved an able member,
carefully considering the vital and significant problems which came up
for settlement and throwing the weight of his influence where he felt
that the public good could best be conserved or promoted. For several
years he has served on the school board and the cause of education
finds in him a stalwart champion. He is a self-made man whose business
advancement is attributable entirely to his own well directed efforts.
Not only has he progressed in a financial way but has also come to
be recognized as one of the prominent and influential citizens of
Columbia county, where for almost a half century he has made his home,
therefore witnessing the greater part of the growth and development of
this section of the state. Great indeed have been the changes which
have occurred during this period and Mr. Rockhill is numbered among the
worthy pioneer settlers.
W. E. SPROUT.
W. E. Sprout is regarded as among the foremost business men of
Starbuck, where he is engaged in general merchandising and he also
is president of the Bank of Starbuck. He was born in Grundy county,
Missouri, on the 31st of January, 1861, a son of Francis M. and Sarah
(Winters) Sprout, the former a native of Indiana, while the latter was
born in Ohio. They were married in Grundy county, Missouri, to which
place they had removed in boyhood and girlhood with their respective
parents. Following their marriage the father turned his attention to
farming in Grundy county, but at the time of the Civil war he put
aside all business and personal considerations to espouse the cause
of his country, serving for a year and a half in the Civil war. He
was wounded in the battle of Shiloh, losing his right arm. His first
wife had died when their son, W. E. Sprout, was an infant of but four
months and three years later the father married Miss Sophia Newland.
He continued his residence in Missouri until 1888, when he removed to
Hutchinson, Kansas, where he was engaged in farming until the death
of his second wife in the year 1905. Since that date he has lived
retired in Hutchinson, where he still makes his home, being now in the
eightieth year of his age.
W. E. Sprout acquired but a limited education, his opportunities
being such as the district schools afforded. When not busy with his
textbooks he worked in the fields and thus early received the training
which well qualified him to begin farming on his own account when he
attained his majority. He carried on general agricultural pursuits in
Grundy county for three years and in 1884 he came west to Washington,
settling in Dayton, where he spent two years as a farm hand, working
for wages. In 1886 he invested in land, becoming owner of a farm on
the Tucanon, a half mile outside the city limits of the town site of
Starbuck. Upon that place he engaged in general farming and stock
raising, which business claimed his time and attention until the
year 1892, when Starbuck was made a railroad division point and Mr.
Sprout then established a butchering business in the village. This
was largely done in order to find a profitable market for his cattle.
Eight years later, in 1900, he bought out the mercantile business of
A. L. O'Neil of Starbuck and has since been prominently identified
with the commercial interests of the town. For eight years he carried
on the business independently and then, in 1908, organized the Sprout
& Barnhart Mercantile Company, which was incorporated with Mr. Sprout
as the president and W. H. Barnhart as the secretary and manager of
the company. In 1907 Mr. Sprout was also the dominant factor in the
organization of the Bank of Starbuck, of which he became president and
has since served in that connection. He is thus actively identified
with the financial interests of the county and has made the Bank of
Starbuck one of the strong and thoroughly reliable moneyed institutions
of this section of the state.
In 1890 Mr. Sprout was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Wooten, a
native of Columbia county, Washington, and a daughter of W. S. Wooten,
who came to this state from Missouri about 1878 and still makes his
home in Dayton. Mr. and Mrs. Sprout became the parents of one child,
who has passed away, and the wife and mother died in January, 1906.
Two years later, in April, 1908, Mr. Sprout was again married, his
second union being with Miss Ida Hukill, a native of Walla Walla and a
daughter of Allen Hukill, who was one of the early pioneers of Columbia
county, taking up a homestead in this section of the state shortly
after his arrival in Washington, when the entire region was largely an
undeveloped section. To the second marriage of Mr. Sprout has been born
one child, Allen M.
In his political views Mr. Sprout is a republican and served as the
first mayor after the city of Starbuck was incorporated. He also
served for a number of years as a member of the town council and ever
exercised his official prerogatives in support of well defined plans
and measures for the general good. He likewise served on the school
board and the cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart
champion. Fraternally he is connected with Tucannon Lodge, No. 106, F.
& A. M., of Starbuck, and also with Starbuck Lodge, No. 158, I. O. O.
F. He has recently disposed of his landed possessions but Mrs. Sprout
still owns her homestead which she entered prior to her marriage. Mr.
Sprout belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and its teachings have
been the guiding force in his life, making him a man among men, honored
and respected by reason of his sterling worth, his patriotic loyalty
in citizenship, his integrity and progressiveness in business and his
faithfulness in friendship. In his public offices he has displayed
the same spirit of enterprise and recognition of opportunity that has
marked his business career, and Starbuck has profited much by his
labors.
LESTER LEE ROBISON.
Lester Lee Robison, one of the foremost agriculturists and most
extensive sheep growers of Walla Walla county, has in his own name
three thousand acres of wheat land and seventy-five hundred acres of
grazing land. His home is on section 34, township 8 north, range 35
east. His birth occurred in Dayton, Columbia county, Washington, on
the 13th of April, 1884, his parents being Andrew M. and Theodosia
(Fall) Robison, the former born in Austin, Texas, March 16, 1854,
and the latter in Sidney, Iowa, on the 7th of September, 1857. It
was in the year 1872 that the mother came to Washington with her
parents, the family home being established near Dayton in Columbia
county. Andrew M. Robison made his way to this state in the winter of
1876-7, when a young man of twenty-two years, and after his arrival
he secured a contract with the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in
construction work. Later he bought stock throughout this section,
furnishing meat for the railroad construction gangs, which numbered
about seven thousand Chinamen. Subsequently Mr. Robison took up his
abode near Dayton and engaged in farming and in the stock business,
being recognized for a number of years as one of the extensive stock
buyers of this section of the state. In the fall of 1897 he removed
to Walla Walla county, locating on Dry creek, four and one-half miles
northwest of Walla Walla, where he acquired extensive farm lands,
owning at the time of his death some twenty-eight hundred acres. He
was widely recognized as one of the influential and leading citizens
of southeastern Washington and was a prominent representative of the
Masonic fraternity. His demise occurred on the 21st of October, 1907,
but his widow survives, making her home in Walla Walla, where she has
an extensive circle of friends.
Lester L. Robison acquired his education in the city schools of Walla
Walla and also attended the State Agricultural College at Pullman,
Washington. After putting aside his textbooks he worked with his father
until 1907, when he started out independently as an agriculturist,
taking charge of his father's large holdings, which he has managed
with marked success to the present time. The property in his own name
embraces three thousand acres of wheat land and also some seventy-five
hundred acres of grazing land. Moreover, he has been heavily
interested in the stock business for a number of years and is one of
the foremost sheep growers of Walla Walla county.
On the 11th of September, 1907, Mr. Robison was united in marriage
to Miss Elsie Riffle, of Walla Walla, her father being Elihu G.
Riffle, who was one of the earliest pioneers of this county. Mr. and
Mrs. Robison have a daughter, Laura Lee. Politically Mr. Robison is
a democrat and fraternally is identified with the following Masonic
organizations: Blue Mountain Lodge, No. 13, F. & A. M.; Walla Walla
Chapter, No. 1, R. A. M.; the Knight Templar Commandery; Oriental
Consistory, A. & A. S. R.; and El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He
also belongs to Walla Walla Lodge, No. 287, B. P. O. E. A young man of
enterprise, ambition and ability, he has ably carried forward the work
of his honored father and his career bids fair to be one of continued
achievement.
JAMES G. WOODEND.
James G. Woodend was one of the prominent farmers of southeastern
Washington for many years and won a substantial measure of success
by reason of the careful manner in which he developed his fields and
managed his business affairs. He was a native of England and came
to America when a young man of twenty-seven years. He did not tarry
on the Atlantic coast but made his away across the country and took
up his abode in Columbia county, Washington, at Starbuck. Here he
occupied the position of section foreman for nineteen years and on
the expiration of that period turned his attention to agricultural
pursuits, purchasing a farm which he at once began to further develop
and improve. Year after year he carefully tilled the soil and his
plowing and planting, with the careful cultivation of his fields,
brought to him substantial harvests which sold at a good figure. He was
thus busily and successfully engaged in general farming up to the time
of his death. In the intervening years he had added to his holdings as
opportunity offered until he had become the owner of sixteen hundred
acres of land which is still in possession of his widow, the greater
part being wheat land. He was regarded as one of the most prominent
men in the valley and his life work indicates what can be accomplished
in the way of wheat production in this section of the state. Moreover,
his history shows clearly what can be attained by honorable purpose and
indefatigable energy.
In 1886 Mr. Woodend was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Bellingham,
a native of England, who came to America in the same year. To them
were born six children: Isabel, the wife of F. F. Kent; Anna M., who
is living in Spokane; Robert G., who follows farming; Thomas S., at
home; Marguerite V., the wife of A. J. Burke; and Mildred A., who is a
student in the high school at Spokane.
[Illustration: JAMES G. WOODEND]
The death of the husband and father occurred on September 21, 1915, and
his remains were interred in the Starbuck cemetery. He left a widow and
six children to mourn his loss, his demise being also a matter of deep
regret to his many friends who sincerely esteemed him. He possessed
many sterling traits of character, was thoroughly reliable in business,
was public spirited in citizenship, held friendship inviolable and was
devoted to the welfare and happiness of his wife and children. Mrs.
Woodend still owns and manages her farm property and in fact has added
to the sixteen hundred acres left by her husband, making an additional
purchase of six hundred and twenty acres, also in Columbia county, so
that she now owns over two thousand two hundred acres of valuable land
in this section of the state.
M. B. WINCHELL.
M. B. Winchell, who is engaged in general merchandising in Touchet,
Walla Walla county, ranks with the foremost business men of this
section of the state. A spirit of progress and enterprise actuates him
in all that he undertakes and his course has been characterized by
a determined purpose. He has ever recognized the fact that when one
avenue of success seems closed there can always be marked out another
path that will lead to the desired goal. Alert and energetic and
thoroughly reliable, his position among the business men of Walla Walla
county is indeed enviable. A native son of Washington, he was born at
Lyons Ferry on the 28th of March, 1888, his parents being Hezekiah and
Alice L. (Palmer) Winchell. The father was a native of Michigan and
the mother of the state of New York. They were married, however, in
Minnesota, where the father was identified with timber interests for a
number of years. In 1883 he brought his family to the west, settling in
Walla Walla county, Washington, at which time he filed on a homestead
near Lyons Ferry but resided thereon only long enough to prove up on
the property. He then took up his abode in Waitsburg and for twenty-two
years the family lived in or near that town. The father was engaged in
farming during this time. He died in 1905, at the comparatively early
age of fifty-six years. The sons in the family continued to make their
home with their mother, her death occurring on the 5th of June, 1917.
Mr. and Mrs. Winchell were worthy pioneer people of this section of the
state and contributed much to its development and progress.
M. B. Winchell pursued his education in the graded schools of Waitsburg
and also in the Waitsburg Academy, while subsequently he spent three
terms in the Waitsburg high school, which he attended in the winter
seasons. In fact his attendance at school was by no means continuous,
but he utilized every opportunity to promote his education by entering
school whenever he could. His father met with financial reverses and
thus Mr. Winchell of this review was obliged early to start out in
the business world and provide for his own support. He also earned
the money that enabled him to continue his education. After finishing
his course of study in the graded schools he devoted two years to
work before he entered the academy and there was also a period of
two years between his academic course and his high school course. In
the meantime, however, he was learning many valuable lessons through
experience. He was employed during the summer months and he made every
spare hour count. He continued farm work and subsequently turned his
attention to the grain business, becoming manager of an elevator when a
youth of but seventeen years. This elevator was located at Alto, and he
subsequently managed elevators at other points for the same company,
a fact which is indicative of his capability and of his faithfulness.
It is recognized that the best way to learn to do a thing is to do
it. Habit brings accuracy and power grows through the exercise of
effort. Labor does not tire--it gives resisting force; and all of these
facts Mr. Winchell demonstrated in his life. He studied every task
that came to his hand and from each new experience learned valuable
lessons which have proven of worth to him in later years. He learned
to correctly judge men and read character, while at the same time he
was acquainting himself with commercial methods. While engaged in the
grain trade he bought and shipped grain on tonnage during the winter
months and attended school when there was no grain to ship. In other
words he improved every opportunity to promote his knowledge as well
as to advance his material interests. In 1914 he entered the employ of
the Allen Grocery Company in Waitsburg and there laid the foundation
for his mercantile success. In 1916 he took up his abode at Touchet and
became one of the dominant factors in the organization of the Quality
Stores Company, having stores at Touchet, Lowden and Waitsburg. He
became the manager of the establishment at Touchet, which at the last
inventory showed a stock of over thirty-one thousand dollars value,
while annually he does a business of from seventy-five to eighty-five
thousand dollars. This is a splendid establishment to be under the care
of a young man who had to fight his own way, make his own way through
school unaided and at all times rely upon his own resources. In the
parlance of the present day, he is a live wire, or in other words he
has the dynamic force which makes things move. An opportunity is to him
a call to action and the call is never neglected.
On the 22d of September, 1912, Mr. Winchell was united in marriage to
Miss Alberta Williams, of Walla Walla, by whom he has two children,
Zilpha Alice and Ruth Emily. Mr. Winchell maintains an independent
course in regard to politics, voting for men and measures rather than
for party. Fraternally he is connected with Delta Lodge, No. 75, K.
P., of Waitsburg, and also with the Ancient Order of United Workmen,
while both he and his wife hold membership in the Community church
of Touchet. He is interested in all that pertains to the material,
political, social, mental and moral progress of the community. In a
word his aid and influence are given on the side of advancement and
improvement, and with him each day must mark off a full-faithed attempt
to grow more and to know more.
WILLIAM C. WOODWARD.
William C. Woodward, a resident farmer of Columbia county, Washington,
was born February 13, 1862, within the boundaries of the county where
he still resides and which has been his home throughout the intervening
period. He is a son of Albert and Oral Woodward, of whom mention is
made in connection with the sketch of his sister, Mrs. Mary Nichols,
on another page of this work. He spent his youthful days under the
parental roof and divided his time between the acquirement of an
education and work in the fields. His early training under his father's
direction acquainted him with the best methods of tilling the soil
and caring for the crops, so that valuable experience aided him when,
on attaining his majority, he started out in the business world for
himself. He began farming and has since been identified with general
agricultural pursuits, owning valuable property which he has brought
under a high state of cultivation, so that year after year his fields
return to him good harvests that bring him a substantial income.
In 1891 Mr. Woodward was united in marriage to Miss Nora Davis, a
native of Oregon and a daughter of Daniel and Isabella (Laughlin)
Davis. Mr. and Mrs. Woodward have become the parents of six children:
Albert D., S. M., O. H., L. S., H. L. and Sarah Alice. The parents are
members of the Christian Science church and in his political views Mr.
Woodward is a republican. He has served as county commissioner for two
terms and has made an excellent record in his devotion to the public
welfare. He has also been a member of the school board and the cause
of education finds in him a stalwart champion. He has many sterling
traits of character, is thoroughly reliable as well as enterprising in
the conduct of his farming interests, is progressive in citizenship and
loyal in friendship. In fact, he is most faithful to every cause which
he espouses, does not hesitate to express his honest convictions and
his position upon any important question is never an equivocal one. A
resident of what is now Columbia county for fifty-five years, he has
been a witness of practically its entire growth and development and is
justly numbered among its worthy and honored pioneer settlers.
JOHN ROBERTSON.
John Robertson, who follows farming on section 25, township 11 north,
range 41 east, in Garfield county, was born in Prince Edward Island,
Canada, on the 30th of November, 1866, but since 1882 has been a
resident of Washington and through all the intervening years has been
identified with its agricultural development. His parents, John and
Mary (Steel) Robertson, were also natives of Prince Edward Island and
were of Scotch parentage. In 1873 they removed with their family to
California, settling in the Livermore valley, where the father's death
occurred four years later, and in the fall of 1882, Mrs. Robertson with
her four sons and one daughter came by team to Washington, where they
proceeded to make a home for themselves. There was a strong family bond
between the brothers, mother and sister and they held all of their
interests jointly for many years, the brothers cooperating in their
farming enterprises, and as a consequence all of them prospered. The
mother is still living and makes her home with her son John, whose
filial love and devotion repay her for the care which she gave to him
in his youth.
John Robertson pursued a district school education in California,
to which state he was taken by his parents when a lad of but seven
years. He was a youth of sixteen when the family home was established
in Garfield county, Washington, and here in connection with his three
older brothers he began farming. Early in the '90s he homesteaded
eighty acres which adjoins his present home farm, but he continued to
engage in business in connection with his brothers until 1902, since
which time he has followed farming independently. As the years have
passed on he has prospered in his undertakings by reason of his close
application and indefatigable energy and, making judicious investment
in real estate, is now the owner of five hundred and sixty-five
acres of excellent farm land and is regarded as one of the prominent
agriculturists of his section of the state.
J. M. CRAWFORD.
A notable example of successful personal achievement is the history of
J. M. Crawford, president and general manager of the Tum-a-lum Lumber
Company of Walla Walla. Since making his initial step in the business
world his career has been marked by an orderly progression that has
brought him forward step by step until he now occupies a most prominent
position in the commercial and manufacturing circles of the northwest.
He was born in Smithfield, Ohio, June 3, 1865, and is a son of Dr. J.
B. Crawford, who was engaged in the practice of medicine in Gillespie,
Illinois, for many years. In 1910 he came to Walla Walla and here
passed away in 1915 at the age of eighty-eight years.
J. M. Crawford spent his early life in the states of Illinois, Nebraska
and Kansas. At the age of twenty-two years he was employed by the
Badger Lumber Company of Kansas City and remained with them from 1887
to 1890, acting as line yard manager for western Kansas at a salary
of fifty dollars per month, but he found his work very congenial. In
1889 he was married in western Kansas to Miss Martha Cox and they began
their domestic life in a humble way, their first home being made in
a lumber shed of the company, and here their oldest son was born. On
starting in business for himself Mr. Crawford purchased a stock of
lumber from the Paddock Lumber Company of Raywood, Illinois, and thus
he laid the foundation for his present successful business.
In 1904 Mr. Crawford came to Walla Walla and formed the
Whitehouse-Crawford Company by purchasing the control of a company from
its original owners and later bought out those still interested in the
business, so that today it is an entirely new corporation. In 1908 his
brother, Joseph F. Crawford, came to Walla Walla and is now general
manager of the company. They own a plant devoted to the manufacture of
interior trimmings, showcases, bank and store fixtures, in addition
to which they deal extensively in lumber, this being one of the most
important industries of Walla Walla. The plant covers a block and a
half on North Second street and forty men are employed throughout the
year in the manufacture of a product which finds a ready sale on the
market.