early life under the parental roof and was early trained to the best
methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. His education
was acquired in the district schools, supplemented by study in Whitman
College, and on reaching manhood he became the active assistant of his
father and brother in the management of extensive farming interests.
For some years prior to the father's death the brothers had entire
charge of the important agricultural business which he had built up.
He gave to them each an interest in the farm and since his death they
have continued its cultivation and improvement. It is equipped with all
of the latest accessories and conveniences known to the model farm of
the twentieth century. There are large and commodious buildings for the
shelter of grain and stock and the latest improved machinery promotes
the work of the fields.
[Illustration: WILLIAM H. YENNEY]
[Illustration: MRS. WILLIAM H. YENNEY]
Mr. Yenney resides with his mother and is looking after her interest,
comfort and welfare in her old age, for she has now reached the age
of eighty-five, having been born on the 22d of November, 1832. She is
remarkably well preserved for one of her years and keeps in touch with
interests and events of modern days. The fact that many of Mr. Yenney's
warmest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood is an
indication that his life has been an active, useful and honorable one.
For forty-five years he has lived in this county and has witnessed
much of its growth and development. He has seen its lands reclaimed
and cultivated, its forests cut and its other natural resources
utilized. As the years have passed on he has borne his share in the
work of general improvement and progress, while at the same time he has
conducted his private business interests in a way that has brought very
substantial results, and today Walla Walla county numbers him among her
leading agriculturists.
FRED GREENVILLE.
Fred Greenville, of Walla Walla, who is engaged in farming, was born in
Minnesota on the 16th of July, 1860, a son of Peter and Jean (Mitchell)
Greenville. The father followed the occupation of farming in Rice
county, Minnesota, where he spent his entire life. Fred Greenville
acquired a limited education in the common schools, but during much
of the time when he should have attended school, his services were
required upon the farm and his training was that of the fields rather
than of the schoolroom. On reaching his twentieth year he came to
Washington in 1881, settling in Walla Walla county, where he began
work as a farm hand. He continued to work for wages for a number of
years but in 1881 took up a homestead on the Eureka Flats, which he
operated with hired help for several years. Subsequently he rented
land and began farming for himself, and as his financial resources
have increased, he has added to his holdings from time to time until
his farming possessions now aggregate eleven hundred and twenty acres
of valuable wheat land in Walla Walla county. In fact he is one of
the leading wheat growers of this section of the state and cultivates
fifteen hundred acres, renting three quarter sections of his land. He
also leases a section and a half of land belonging to others and a
quarter section on Dry creek, together with a half section in Franklin
county. His life history proves conclusively that activity doesn't
tire, that it gives resisting power and develops further strength. He
has learned how best to conserve time and effort and to make each blow
tell in the accomplishment of his purpose. His business affairs are
most carefully systematized and the work of the farm is done in the
same methodical manner as that of a commercial enterprise.
In 1890 Mr. Greenville was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Timm,
of Paha, Adams county, Washington, by whom he has five children, as
follows: Ollie, the wife of Adolphus Myers, who is employed by her
father; and Ettie, Lloyd, Lola and Howard, all at home.
Mr. Greenville gives his political allegiance to the republican party
and was elected to the board of county commissioners of Walla Walla
county in 1908, serving in that capacity for one term. Fraternally he
is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to
Trinity Lodge, No. 121, and also to the encampment and the canton.
He is also a member of the Walla Walla Lodge, No. 287, B. P. O. E.,
of Walla Walla Aerie, No. 26, F. O. E., and of the Woodmen of the
World. Notwithstanding his lack of early advantages and educational
opportunities, Mr. Greenville has made steady progress in his business
career and his ambition and energy, which are among his most marked
characteristics, constitute an example well worthy of emulation.
H. A. REYNOLDS.
H. A. Reynolds is largely concentrating his time and efforts upon
general agricultural pursuits, being located on the Ransom Clark
donation claim adjoining Walla Walla. He has, however, other
important business connections and is well known as a progressive and
representative citizen of his section of the state. He was born on the
farm where he now resides, October 14, 1863, his parents being Almos H.
and Lettice (Millican) Reynolds. He was reared upon the home farm and
acquired his education in the public schools, supplemented by a high
school course at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He afterward attended the State
University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of
1886, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree. He then took up the study
of law under J. B. Allen but failing health caused him to discontinue
his preparation for the bar for a time. Later, however, he continued
his reading under B. L. Sharpstein and was admitted to the bar. He then
practiced law for a brief period but on account of his health gave
up professional activity and turned his attention to farming that he
might be benefited by the outdoor life. He has since been connected
with agricultural pursuits and is now giving his time largely to the
further development and improvement of the Ransom Clark donation, which
constitutes one of the valuable farming properties in the vicinity of
Walla Walla. He has other important business connections, however, and
is a stockholder in the Farmers Savings Bank and in the Malcolm McLean
Grocery Company. He also is identified with other business interests
of Walla Walla, where he likewise has made judicious investments
in property. In business affairs he is a man of sound judgment and
keen discrimination, readily judging between the essential and the
non-essential, and his efforts have been most intelligently directed
and his investments most judiciously made.
In 1891 Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage to Miss Bertha C.
Truesdell, of Minnesota, who was a teacher in the Whitman College. To
this marriage have been born five children: Carrie, who is a graduate
of Mount Holyoke College of South Hadley, Massachusetts; Charlotte, who
was graduated from Whitman College with the class of 1917; Margaret,
who is in her junior year at Whitman College; Harry Jay; and Allen Lynn.
Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are members of the Congregational church and
take an active interest in its work and in many projects which are
developed for the public good. In his political views Mr. Reynolds is
a stalwart republican, and while never an aspirant for office, he has
been a prominent factor in the affairs of his party for years past. He
was elected to the board of county commissioners as an advocate of the
project of building a new courthouse and was elected on that issue. He
was also a member of the board that had in charge the construction of
the new courthouse and at all times his aid and influence have been
given to those projects which are looking to the present welfare and
the future advancement of city and county. Those who know him esteem
him as a man of genuine worth. His liberal education, his public
spirit, his recognition of the duties and obligations of citizenship
make him one of the valued and representative men of Walla Walla county
and his social qualities make for personal popularity.
GEORGE C. ALEXANDER.
Thirty-six years have been added to the cycle of the centuries since
George C. Alexander became a resident of Walla Walla county. For many
years he was actively engaged in general farming and still makes his
home on section 12, township 6 north, range 35 east, but is now living
retired, having in former years acquired a handsome competence that
enables him to rest from further labor. He was born in La Fayette,
Indiana, on the 18th of March, 1861, a son of Emanuel and Antha
(Stretch) Alexander, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was
born in Indiana. The father was a farmer by occupation and spent the
last four years of his life in the home of his son, George C., passing
away in 1905.
George C. Alexander was reared under the parental roof and acquired a
public school education. At the age of twelve years, however, he became
a wage earner and has since been dependent upon his own resources
for whatever he has achieved and enjoyed. He worked as a farm hand
for neighboring farmers up to the time of his marriage, which was
celebrated on the 28th of May, 1893, Miss Lillie C. Davis becoming his
wife. During her girlhood days she accompanied her parents, William J.
and Lucy E. (Hecker) Davis, to Walla Walla county, the removal being
made from Iowa in 1885.
George C. Alexander had arrived in Walla Walla county in 1881 and after
taking up his abode here worked as a farm hand until the time of his
marriage, when he began farming on his own account, renting land. In
1905 he purchased his first land, becoming owner of his present home
place of two hundred and twenty acres. He had enough money to make a
half payment on the place and within five years he had cleared it of
all indebtedness. In subsequent years he has put improvements upon it
to the value of more than twenty-five hundred dollars. He has also
bought eighty acres of irrigated land in Montana. Taking up his abode
upon the home farm, he concentrated his efforts and attention upon its
further development and improvement and in the course of years his
labors worked a marked transformation in the appearance of the place,
which he brought under a high state of cultivation. He still resides
upon his home farm but is now living retired and rents his land, while
he is enjoying the fruits of his former labor. In politics he maintains
an independent course nor has he ever sought the honors and emoluments
of public office. He ranks with the leading and representative men of
his township and deserves much credit for what he has accomplished.
He has truly won the proud American title of a self-made man, for he
started out empty-handed when a youth of but twelve years and has
worked his way steadily upward by diligence and determination. Whatever
he has gained has been the reward of his earnest labor and his record
indicates what may be accomplished in a busy life where there is a will
to dare and to do. His course should serve to inspire and encourage
others, showing what may be done through persistent, earnest effort
when guided by sound judgment.
D. B. STIMMEL.
Through struggles and adversities D. B. Stimmel has reached a position
among the prosperous residents of Walla Walla county and is now living
retired in Waitsburg. For many years he was actively connected with
agricultural interests, and diligence and determination brought to
him the measure of success that now enables him to rest from further
labors. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, January 1, 1856, his parents
being Benjamin and Charlotte (Smith) Stimmel, who were also natives of
the Buckeye state, where they were reared and married. In 1861 they
removed westward to Tazewell county, Illinois, and in 1879 became
residents of Reno county, Kansas. There the father died in the '90s,
but the mother is still living and now makes her home with a son in
Oklahoma.
D. B. Stimmel was the eldest in a family of ten children, nine sons
and one daughter. The duty and the burden of assisting in rearing the
family and providing for their support fell upon his shoulders and as a
consequence his education was limited. He could attend school only at
such times as his services were not required upon the farm. He remained
at home until he reached his twenty-fourth year, when in 1880 he filed
on a homestead in Reno county, Kansas, and began farming on his own
account. There he resided for nine years, when he determined to try his
fortune in the northwest, having heard favorable reports concerning
this section of the country. In the spring of 1889, therefore, he made
his way to Walla Walla county, Washington, arriving in Waitsburg about
the middle of May with a wife and six children and a cash capital
of but fifteen dollars. Here he began working for wages, being thus
employed through the harvest season, and in the fall of that year he
rented a farm and began its cultivation. He was not familiar, however,
with the farming conditions of this section of the country and the
poor crops and the widespread financial panic of 1893 made his first
few years a struggle for existence. In the winter of 1895-6 he left
the farm which he had rented with an indebtedness of three thousand
dollars. The following spring he went up into the Nez Percé country
and engaged in hauling posts and doing other work for the Indians, in
which circumstances he was reminded of the scriptural passage that
"the first shall be last and the last first." He may not have liked
this domination of an inferior race, but he was willing to accept any
occupation or employment that would yield him an honest living. The
following fall he located on a place of one hundred and sixty acres
belonging to his brother-in-law and afterward purchased two hundred and
forty acres adjoining that farm, assuming a mortgage of twelve hundred
dollars and back taxes and interest. He paid one hundred dollars cash
upon the property, which according to the terms of agreement would cost
him nine dollars and sixty-five cents per acre. A year later it had
more than doubled in value and recently would have sold for one hundred
dollars per acre. From the time of his purchase of this property Mr.
Stimmel's prosperity began. The tide seemed to have turned for him and
the years brought him a substantial measure of success as a reward for
his labors. At different times he continued adding to his property,
acquiring two other quarter sections of land, so that his ranch came to
be one of five hundred and sixty acres. A quarter section of this he
afterward deeded to his two older sons upon his retirement from active
business, but he still retains ownership of four hundred acres, which
he rents to his sons. In 1906 he removed to Waitsburg and later erected
his present handsome city residence.
[Illustration: MR. AND MRS. D. B. STIMMEL]
In 1879, in Reno county, Kansas, Mr. Stimmel was united in marriage to
Miss Hattie E. Kirby, by whom he had ten children, eight of whom are
yet living: Minnie, who is the wife of Lorenzo Bly, of Alberta, Canada;
Earl and Ernest, twins, who follow farming in Walla Walla county; John
T., also an agriculturist of Walla Walla county; William, who operates
his father's farm; Viola, who gave her hand in marriage to Ralph
Lukenbihl, of Waitsburg; Millie, who makes her home with her sister
Minnie in Alberta, Canada; and Albert, also a resident of Alberta,
Canada. The wife and mother passed away in December, 1908, and in 1909
Mr. Stimmel was again married, this union being with Mrs. Mary J. Lynch
née Lewis, of Ontario, Canada.
Mr. Stimmel gives his political allegiance to the republican party.
Fraternally he is connected with Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M.;
Waitsburg Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F.; and with the Woodmen of the World.
He and his wife are members of the Methodist church and are people of
genuine personal worth, enjoying the warm regard and goodwill of all
with whom they have been brought in contact. Difficulties and obstacles
have at times beset the path of Mr. Stimmel but with persistency of
purpose he has continued his labors and as the years have gone on has
earned a most satisfactory reward. When determination, perseverance and
talent are arrayed against drawbacks, poverty and trials, the result
is almost absolutely certain. The former are invincible--they know no
defeat. The habits of industry and close application which he early
developed have constituted the foundation of his present success.
MRS. MARY A. KIMMERLY.
For almost half a century Mrs. Mary A. Kimmerly has been a resident of
Walla Walla and has therefore witnessed almost the entire development
of this region. She was born in Portage, Genesee county, New York, and
bore the maiden name of Miss Mary A. Nesdel. In early life she went to
Minnesota, where she married Frank Kimmerly, also a native of New York,
his birth having occurred in Watertown. By trade he was a millwright
and erected the first flour mill in Rochester, Minnesota, which was one
of the first mills built in the state. In 1869 he brought his family
to Washington and here readily found work at his trade, erecting a mill
at Lapwai, another at Weston and several others. He also branched out
into general contracting and built many of the best residences in Walla
Walla during the '70s. He erected the Stine House, where now the Dacres
Hotel stands, and several other important business structures.
Mr. Kimmerly was not only prominent in industrial circles but also took
an active part in public affairs, serving as deputy sheriff of Walla
Walla county and also as city treasurer. He was a thirty-second degree
Mason and was the first master of Rose Croix Lodge of Perfection at
Walla Walla. He was generally recognized as one of the most prominent
residents of the city and his death, which occurred on the 28th of
July, 1878, was considered a great loss to the community. Mrs. Kimmerly
still survives her husband and continues to live at the old Kimmerly
residence with her two sons, E. S. and W. W., at No. 526 South Second
street.
HON. CHARLES BESSERER.
Hon. Charles Besserer was the builder of the third house in Walla Walla
and was prominently identified with the city for many years, especially
in connection with newspaper publication. He became recognized as one
of the foremost journalists on the Pacific coast and his editorials,
original and trenchant, were widely read. He was born near Heidelberg,
Germany, October 10, 1838, and at seventeen years of age he enlisted
for service in the English army. While still a member of the army he
was sent to the state of Washington, at which time Walla Walla was but
a log cabin village. When his term of enlistment was over he decided
to make the United States his home and he proved his loyalty to his
adopted land by valiant service in the Union army during the Civil
war. He ever took an active interest in government affairs and did not
a little to shape public thought and action in regard to community
interests. He early turned his attention to newspaper work. After
having honorably served throughout the period of hostilities between
the north and the south he returned to Walla Walla, where he erected
the third house of the city. A few years later he went to Montana,
where he resided for a brief period, but in 1873 he returned to Walla
Walla, where he embarked in the grocery business. In 1875, however, he
became actively connected with newspaper publication in the purchase
of the Spirit of the West, a weekly paper published in Walla Walla,
the name of which he changed to the Watchman. In 1885 he established
the Milton Eagle and a year later he sold the Watchman. A few years
afterward he purchased the Journal and the Watchman, both of Walla
Walla, and for several years managed these papers successfully, but
again he sold out and paid a visit to his native country. Upon his
return to America he purchased the Union, the Journal and the Watchman
and combined the three papers into a new publication known as the
Morning Union. This he continued to own and edit until 1898, when he
removed to Oakland, California. He was quite successful financially
and it was his love of editorial work that caused him to continue
his labors on the San Francisco and other papers subsequent to the
establishment of his home in California. He was widely known because of
his interesting and comprehensive editorials, which were eagerly read
throughout the west. His paper was ever maintained as an independent
sheet in regard to politics. He also wrote many articles of a worldwide
scope for Harper's Weekly.
[Illustration: CHARLES BESSERER]
Hon. Charles Besserer was united in marriage to Miss Ida Sanderson, who
still survives him, his death having occurred on the 2d of February,
1912, being occasioned by heart trouble. The part which he took in the
early development and subsequent progress of Walla Walla well entitles
him to representation in its history.
LIEUTENANT BERNARD OVIATT WILLS.
Among the native sons of Walla Walla who are rendering excellent
service in the armed forces of the nation is Lieutenant Bernard Oviatt
Wills, U. S. N., who is now assigned to special duty in New York city.
He was born in Walla Walla, August 22, 1887, and is a son of W. H. and
Clara (Oviatt) Wills, an account of whom appears in the sketch of their
son, Fred Gaylord Wills.
Bernard O. Wills attended the public schools of Walla Walla and
continued his study in the high school, graduating with the class of
1905. The following year he entered the United States Naval Academy at
Annapolis and in 1910 completed the required course there and received
the title of ensign. He has remained continuously in the navy and has
won promotion, so that although he is still a young man he now has
the rank of senior lieutenant. He is now serving by assignment on the
special board of patrol, with office at No. 11 Broadway, New York city,
and his highly efficient work in that connection is of importance
in the great task that confronts the navy in placing the defenses
and the naval forces of the United States on a war footing. He is a
representative young naval officer, proud of the history and traditions
of the navy, thoroughly equipped by highly specialized training for the
work in hand, high-spirited and yet recognizing that the high order of
ability and daring found in the personnel of the navy can only be made
available to the nation's service by discipline.
On the 3d of July, 1917, Lieutenant Wills was united in marriage to
Miss Lucy Lee Hanscom. Although he has been stationed in the east for
some time, his many friends in Walla Walla have not lost sight of him
and have followed his career with great interest and pride.
MISS MARY J. THOMAS.