graduating from the high school at Angola, Indiana, as a member of
the class of 1901 he entered De Pauw University at Greencastle, that
state, and pursued a classical course, winning his Bachelor of Arts
degree in 1906. After leaving De Pauw he went east for law study and
matriculated as a law student in Harvard University, where he remained
until 1908. Having been admitted to practice law in Madison county,
Indiana, in 1907, he maintained an office for a time at Alexandria,
that state. He was admitted to practice before the supreme court of
Indiana in 1908, was admitted to practice in Oregon in the same year
and in Washington in 1914. In 1908 he opened an office in Freewater,
Oregon, and in 1913 he became connected with the firm of Brooks &
Bartlett in Walla Walla, that association being maintained until 1915.
Since February of the latter year he has been a partner in the firm of
Stafford & Neal and in this connection enjoys a large and lucrative
practice which is constantly growing in volume and importance. He has
filled various positions of a professional character. In 1907 he was
deputy prosecuting attorney of Madison county, Indiana, and from 1909
until 1913 was city attorney of Freewater, Oregon. In 1915 he was made
city attorney of Walla Walla, which position he yet fills, and in 1917
he became deputy prosecuting attorney of Walla Walla county and is yet
the incumbent in that office.
Mr. Neal was married in Walla Walla, November 6, 1912, to Miss Louise
Root, a daughter of F. F. and Margaret Root. In politics Mr. Neal is a
republican and an active worker in party ranks, his opinions carrying
considerable weight among the leaders of the party. He was a member
of the county central committee of Umatilla county, Oregon, from 1910
until 1912 and in 1916 was a member of the county central committee
of Walla Walla county. His fraternal relations are with the Masons,
the Elks, the Moose, the Woodmen of the World and the Knights and
Ladies of Security. He is also identified with Beta Theta Pi, a college
fraternity. Mr. and Mrs. Neal are people of genuine worth, occupying an
enviable position in social circles, and their many substantial traits
of character have won them the respect and high regard of all with whom
they have been brought in contact.
JOHN D. TAGGARD.
John D. Taggard is prominently connected with the development of
horticultural interests of the northwest. His efforts have demonstrated
the possibilities for fruit culture in Walla Walla county and he is now
conducting a successful business as an orchardist, having his place on
section 12, township 8 north, range 37 east. He was born amid the Ozark
mountains of Missouri, near the city of Springfield, June 28, 1863,
a son of Aaron and Ruth M. (Holland) Taggard, the former a native of
Missouri, while the latter was born in Tennessee. For many years they
resided upon a farm in Webster county, Missouri, but in later life the
father retired from agricultural pursuits and took up his abode in
Conway, where for some years he engaged with a younger brother in a
mercantile enterprise, being associated with that business for several
years. He died in 1910 and is survived by his widow, who yet resides in
Conway.
John D. Taggard was reared under the parental roof and the common
schools afforded him his preliminary educational privileges. He
afterward attended the seminary at Lebanon, Missouri, and also
became a student in the Mountain Dale Seminary, thus being accorded
liberal advantages which well qualified him for life's practical and
responsible duties. He left home at the age of about eighteen years and
came to Washington, where he arrived in September, 1881. He took up his
abode in Dayton, Columbia county, where he engaged in teaching at the
Alex Baldwin schoolhouse for one year. During the following year he
took the advice of friends and for the sake of his health accepted a
position on the sheep ranch of Gretman Brothers and lived in the open
for two years. He was at that time afflicted with pulmonary trouble and
his life in the open completely restored him to health. He then went
to Whitman county, where he took up a homestead six miles north of the
Snake river, and there he engaged in the cattle business, remaining
upon that place for nine years, but his business venture did not prove
profitable and he was entirely without means when he left that country.
He then removed to Waitsburg, Walla Walla county, where he engaged
in gardening and fruit growing. He was a pioneer in the commercial
apple business of the Walla Walla valley. From his boyhood days he
was a lover and a student of tree life and is today said to be the
foremost orchardist of Walla Walla county. He has studied every phase
of the question both from a practical and scientific standpoint and
there is perhaps no man in this section of the state better informed
concerning the possibilities of fruit raising in the northwest. In
1905 Mr. Taggard and his very close friend, Rev. B. Z. Riggs, rented
a twenty acre orchard of W. R. Amon and in the following year they
purchased that tract together with sixteen acres adjoining, which had
formerly been planted to trees, but the trees had been pulled out. Mr.
Taggard and Mr. Riggs immediately replanted the sixteen acre tract
and in 1907, when Mr. Riggs' health failed, Mr. Taggard took over the
interests of his partner and soon afterward admitted Albert Dickinson
to a partnership, the latter purchasing a half-interest in the twenty
acre orchard. After three years, however, Mr. Taggard became sole owner
of the orchard and the business. In 1910, in connection with others,
he planted another orchard of fifty acres. He had entire charge of
the planting and the care of the orchard, which is now in bearing
and is one of the finest to be found in the fruit district of this
section. At the present time Mr. Taggard has in course of construction
a community packing house one hundred and fifty by forty feet, which
will cost in the neighborhood of five thousand dollars and will have a
storage capacity of twenty-five carloads of fruit. He expects to pack
between fifty and sixty thousand boxes of fruit this year, which means
practically one hundred carloads. In this way the association will
be independent of the middleman and will allow the owner to hold the
fruit until the market is right. Mr. Taggard has thus closely studied
everything that has a bearing upon orcharding in the northwest and
displays sound judgment, combined with the most progressive methods, in
everything that he undertakes.
On the 4th of December, 1887, Mr. Taggard was married to Miss Rilda
Boothe, of Dayton, and they have an adopted daughter, Lillian. In
politics Mr. Taggard is a stalwart republican. In 1910 he followed
the lead of Roosevelt and became a supporter of the progressive party
and was nominated on its ticket for representative, but was too busy
to give the time to the campaign that would secure an election. His
personal popularity, however, carried weight, so that he was defeated
by only a small majority. Mr. Taggard is a member of Delta Lodge,
No. 5, I. O. O. F. He and his wife hold memberships in the Christian
church, guiding their lives by its teachings and conforming their
conduct to its principles at all times. He has been an officer of
the church for twenty years. While his efforts have brought personal
success, his labors have been of even broader reach and importance, for
his example has been followed by many others. He has demonstrated what
could be accomplished and others have taken up the ideas which he has
set forth. Today there is no feature of orcharding in the northwest
with which he is not familiar and his opinions are largely accepted as
authority by all fruit growers in this section.
EDMOND J. JOHNSON.
Edmond J. Johnson is a self-made man who has gained a substantial
position in business circles of Walla Walla as a dealer in wood and
coal. He deserves great credit for what he has accomplished, as he
started out in life empty-handed and has placed his dependence upon
the substantial qualities of industry and perseverance. He was born
in England in February, 1861, and was there reared and educated. He
had attained the age of twenty-four years when he determined to try
his fortune in America, hoping that he might find better business
opportunities on this side the Atlantic. He crossed the continent after
reaching American shores, making his way to Walla Walla, Washington,
where he worked at the butchering trade, which he had previously
learned in his native land. He followed that business for seven years
and then went to work for the city in the street department, occupying
a position of that character for fourteen years. On the expiration of
that period he turned his attention to the wood and coal trade, in
which he has since been engaged, and through the intervening years he
has built up a business of very gratifying and substantial proportions.
He also has the contract for street cleaning in the city and is leading
a most active life. Energy has ever been one of his most marked
characteristics and indefatigable effort has brought him the success
which is now his.
In 1890 Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Leona Hastings, a
native of Kansas, and they have become the parents of three children:
Susie, who is now the wife of C. Brent, of Portland, Oregon; Hazel, who
is the wife of Clem Burgman, living on a ranch in Walla Walla county;
and William, who died at the age of three months.
The family occupy an attractive home in Walla Walla and Mr. Johnson has
become the owner of some good residence properties in the city. His
political allegiance is given to the republican party, which he has
supported since becoming a naturalized American citizen. He belongs to
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has made many warm friends
in that organization. His life record should inspire and encourage
others, for he started out when a lad of eleven years and has since
been dependent upon his own resources. He early recognized the fact
that industry wins. He may never have heard of the Greek philosopher
Epicharmus, who said: "Earn thy reward; the gods give naught to sloth,"
but he knew the principle that underlies those words and indefatigable
industry has characterized him at every point in his career. Step by
step he has advanced and is now not only a substantial business man of
Walla Walla but one who enjoys and deserves the respect, goodwill and
confidence of all with whom he is associated.
JOHN WARREN LANGDON.
John Warren Langdon, one of the best known business men of eastern
Washington, prominently identified with the commercial and financial
interests and with the community life of Walla Walla, was born in New
Hampton, Iowa, December 18, 1871, a son of Warren W. Langdon, who was
a native of Illinois. The father was an expert tinner by trade and was
also connected with banking interests of the northwest for a number of
years, becoming a very prominent factor in business affairs in Moscow,
Idaho.
He was superintendent of the Walla Walla waterworks for five years and
figured prominently in connection with public affairs in this city.
His attitude in respect to his country's welfare was clearly manifest
at the time of the Civil war, when he put aside all business and
personal considerations and responded to the country's call for troops,
enlisting as a member of Company A, Ninety-fifth Regiment of the
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on the 9th of August, 1862, at Marengo,
Illinois. He served for three years and was mustered out at Camp
Butler, Illinois August 17, 1865. His wife, who bore the maiden name of
Hester M. Robinson, is also a native of Illinois.
[Illustration: JOHN WARREN LANGDON]
Their son, John Warren Langdon, acquired his early education in the
common schools of Moscow, Idaho, and afterward attended the Bishop
Scott grammar school of Portland, Oregon, where he stood at the head of
his classes, receiving the headmaster's prize for the highest standing
during the school year; his marks at this school were the highest
received by any student during the seventeen years of the school's
existence to that time, and he also received two additional prizes for
excellence in deportment and penmanship.
At the age of sixteen years he left school and was placed in the First
National Bank of Moscow, Idaho, of which his father was vice president.
Two years later he accepted a position with the Dorsey S. Baker estate
of Walla Walla, one of the richest estates in the northwest. Ten years
later, upon division of the estate, he became secretary of the firm
of Baker & Baker, a strong loan company, doing business in the Walla
Walla valley. Two years later, owing to increased personal business
responsibilities, he resigned, and at that time incorporated the Green
Investment Company of Walla Walla for the purpose of handling the
business affairs of Mary F. Green, his mother-in-law. This corporation
is heavily interested in both city and country real estate, and its
holdings are scattered throughout the state of Washington.
There is no man more familiar with property values and conditions in
this section of the country than Mr. Langdon. At the present time he
is one of the joint owners and managers of the Baker-Langdon Orchard
Company of Walla Walla, owners of a six hundred acre apple orchard
adjoining the city of Walla Walla, which is recognized as one of the
finest commercial orchard properties in the United States; is also vice
president and manager of the Green Investment Company of Walla Walla;
a director of the Baker-Boyer National Bank of Walla Walla, the oldest
bank in the state of Washington; is vice president of the Blalock
Fruit Company, owning the largest fruit and vegetable farm in the
northwest; is a director of the Northwestern Fruit Exchange of Seattle
and New York, one of the largest and most widely known fruit shippers
in the northwest, and has still other interests which place him in the
foremost rank of the business men of this section of the country.
On the 16th of September, 1897, Mr. Langdon was married to Miss
Philinda Green, who was born in Walla Walla, a daughter of William
O. and Mary F. (Young) Green, who were pioneers of the Walla Walla
valley, having crossed the plains by team at a very early period in the
settlement of the northwest. Mr. and Mrs. Langdon have become parents
of two sons: Warren Orville and John Green, both now attending Walla
Walla high school.
While most important business interests have claimed the attention of
Mr. Langdon, he has also found time and opportunity to cooperate in
plans and measures for the public good and has been a most generous
supporter of interests which are looking toward the upbuilding and
development of city and state.
The cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion and he is a
member of the board of trustees of Whitman College and chairman of
the board of directors of the Whitman Conservatory of Music. He is
also a director and vice president of the Walla Walla Commercial Club
and chairman of its agricultural and horticultural committee. Elected
president of the park board of Walla Walla, Mr. Langdon set about to
construct an ideal park for the city. The city council having set
aside a beautiful tract of forty acres owned by the city, for park
purposes, Mr. Langdon prepared, with his own hands, plans for the park,
and working in conjunction with the Woman's Park Club of Walla Walla,
assisted in developing an unusually attractive landscape, embracing
play grounds, boating lake, tiny streams and waterfalls, now known as
City Park. Recently he has prepared elaborate plans for the development
of Dreamland Park on Ninth street. He is now and for many years past
has been secretary of the board of trustees of St. Paul's School, which
was the first school for girls in the territory of Washington, and
today is recognized as one of the state's best educational institutions.
Holding membership in St. Paul's Episcopal church, he has served
for years as one of its vestrymen and as its junior warden. He is
one of the trustees of the newly organized Young Women's Christian
Association, and as the first vice president of the Young Men's
Christian Association in Walla Walla assisted materially in raising
funds for the construction of an elegant building for this association
in Walla Walla. Mr. Langdon is chairman of the membership committee
of the Red Cross in Walla Walla; vice president of the Washington
State Harvesters League; and a member of the state executive committee
for food conservation appointed by Herbert Hoover, chairman of food
conservation. Mr. Langdon is interested in art, and has done some
exceedingly creditable photographic work among the northwest Indians
and has reproduced in enlargements and panoramas historical scenes in
the states of Oregon and Washington, many of which he has personally
hand-colored. He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure
in the society of his family and friends.
He is always courteous, kindly and affable and those who know him
personally entertain for him warm regard. A man of great natural
ability, his success in business from the beginning of his residence in
Walla Walla has been uniform and rapid.
As has been truly remarked, after all that may be done for a man in the
way of giving him early opportunities for obtaining the requirements
which are found in schools and in books, he must essentially formulate,
determine and give shape to his own character, and this is what Mr.
Langdon has done. He has persevered in the pursuit of a persistent
purpose and gained a most satisfactory reward. He has endeavored to
make his life exemplary in all respects and he has ever supported those
interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity.
JOHN BACHTOLD.
John Bachtold is a well known and representative business man of Walla
Walla who is now proprietor and manager of the Dacres Hotel, one of the
leading hostelries of the city. He comes from a land that has produced
many famous hotel proprietors. In every country on the face of the
globe the Swiss have proven their capability in that field, many of
the finest hotels of every land being conducted by those who were born
within the shadow of the Alps. Mr. Bachtold was born in Switzerland
in 1865 and spent the first fourteen years of his life in his native
country. He then crossed the Atlantic to America and became a resident
of South Dakota, where he engaged in farm work for nine years. On the
expiration of that period he arrived in Washington, making his way to
Grays Harbor, where he secured a position as clerk in a hotel, thus
receiving his initial business training in the line to which he now
directs his energies. The next year he became proprietor of a hotel in
Oswego, Oregon.
In 1892 Mr. Bachtold removed to Walla Walla, where he established a
restaurant. The following year, however, he turned his attention to
other business interests, in which he was engaged for several years.
At length he took over the management of the Dacres Hotel, which is
an excellent hostelry, well equipped, while his keen interest in the
successful management of the business leads him to put forth every
effort for the comfort and welfare of his guests. He is likewise
identified with several other business concerns of the city, all of
which profit by his sound judgment and indefatigable energy. That Mr.
Bachtold is deeply interested in the city's welfare has been manifest
by his intense activity in maintaining the efficiency of the volunteer
fire department, of which he was the president. He has also been very
active in fraternal circles as a member of the Improved Order of Red
Men, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Foresters, the Eagles and
the Sons of Hermann. He is also connected with the Maennerchor, which
indicates his love of music and a cultivated taste in that direction.
Mr. Bachtold was married in Grays Harbor in 1892 to Miss Annie Schuerch
and to them have been born six children, Ida, Annie, George, John,
Edward and Walter. Mr. Bachtold has never had occasion to regret his
determination to come to the new world, for in this land he has found
the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has made
steady progress along the high road to success.
GEORGE J. GUTHRIDGE.
Walla Walla rightly takes pride in her efficient fire department, which
is highly systematized and is conducted along the most modern methods,
and as chief of the department George J. Guthridge has accomplished
work that entitles him to rank among the best fire chiefs of the
northwest. He is a native son of Walla Walla, born April 7, 1870, in
the house which he now occupies though it has since been remodeled.
His parents, Benjamin G. and Ellen J. (Goss) Guthridge, were born
respectively in London, England, and Cork, Ireland, but came to the
United States in young manhood and young womanhood. At that time the
father had been dependent upon his own resources for a number of years,
as he ran away from home when a boy and went to sea and in the next
few years visited all the principal ports of the world. It was in 1862
that he decided to settle permanently in the United States and the
vessel on which he was then sailing, on putting into Portland, Oregon,
was wrecked on the Columbia river bar, he and the negro cook being the
only persons rescued. At that time there was considerable excitement
in the northwest over the newly discovered mines in Idaho and he went
to that section, where he remained for a short period, after which he
drifted to Walla Walla. There he engaged in the restaurant business for
a time and then turned his attention to the conduct of a meat market.
He was engaged in that business for a quarter of a century and derived
therefrom a gratifying profit which enabled him to retire. Having
disposed of his private interests, he was then offered and accepted
the appointment as steward of the state penitentiary, being the first
man to hold that position after the institution had been removed
from Seattle. For seven years he filled that important and difficult
position and then retired from all active work, spending his last years
in well deserved leisure. His death occurred June 4, 1912. He had
survived his wife for many years, as she passed away July 21, 1885.
George J. Guthridge was reared under the parental roof and attended the
Catholic boys' schools of Walla Walla and also took a business course
in a night school. As a youth and young man he assisted his father in
the management of his butchering business and after the latter disposed
of his meat market the son was variously employed until 1890, when
he was appointed a member of the city fire department. He served in
that capacity for two years and then was for a similar length of time
deputy sheriff. Again he became connected with the fire department but
following an accident in 1896, which occurred when answering a fire
call and in which his leg and ankle were broken, he was for four years
out of the department. In 1900, however, he returned to the service
and in April, 1904, was appointed captain. In January, 1912, he was
appointed assistant chief and on the 1st of February, 1917, was made
chief. His long experience in the department has given him a thorough
knowledge of the needs of the service and as captain, assistant chief
and chief he has worked tirelessly and effectively to raise the work to
an ever higher standard.
On the 1st of October, 1902, Mr. Guthridge was united in marriage to
Miss Augusta Berg, who was born August 17, 1879, six miles east of
Vancouver, Washington, but at the age of ten years removed with her
parents to North Yamhill, Oregon, living there until her marriage. Mr.
and Mrs. Guthridge have become parents of six children, five of whom
survive: Eugene, thirteen years old; Francis; Albert; Leona; and Walter.
Mr. Guthridge is a republican in politics and fraternally is identified
with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Improved Order of Red
Men, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Knights of Columbus. He and
his family are members of the Catholic church and support the work of
that organization. His entire life has been passed in the west and he
is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of enterprise characteristic of
this country and has great faith in the prosperous future before it.
D. C. EATON.
D. C. Eaton, a member of the present board of county commissioners,
residing in Waitsburg, is ranked among the extensive wheat farmers of
Walla Walla county, within the borders of which he has made his home
for almost four decades and where he has acquired some quite valuable
land. His birth occurred in Rock county, Wisconsin, on the 19th of
September, 1854, his parents being Asael and Amanda (Pineo) Eaton,
who were born, reared and married in Nova Scotia. Soon after their
marriage they crossed the border into the United States, locating
first in DeKalb county, Illinois, and a few years later in Wisconsin.
Subsequently they took up their abode in Allamakee county, Iowa, and
there spent the remainder of their lives.
[Illustration: D. C. EATON]
[Illustration: MRS. D. C. EATON]