and favorably known. She has done much to further the interests of
the public schools and is now the principal of the Sharpstein school.
She is a native daughter of Walla Walla and the spirit of western
enterprise has found expression in her work. Her father, George
Franklin Thomas, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in the year 1815 and
when very young left home, going to the state of New York. In 1840 he
removed from the Empire state to the south and for many years engaged
in staging in Georgia and in Alabama. In 1850 he became one of the
Argonauts who sought gold on the western front, making his way to
California. After reaching that state he resumed his staging business,
which he successfully conducted, and he may well be termed the pioneer
stage man of the Pacific coast. He became the president of the Oregon
& California Stage Company, which conducted a fine line of stages from
Sacramento to Portland. After the war between the north and the south
he removed to Salem, Oregon, and on the discovery of gold in the Salmon
River mountains he placed a line of stages on the road between The
Dalles and Celilo. When the Oregon Steam & Navigation Company built a
railroad there he moved onward and started a stage line between Wallula
and Walla Walla. In 1863 he built the Thomas & Ruckle Road across the
Blue mountains and was identified for many years with the principal
mail route in this section of the country. In 1865 he was elected mayor
of the city and for many years in rotation was elected councilman. In
1874 he was the candidate on the democratic ticket for the office of
sheriff of the county and was elected over three competitors. At the
next election in 1876 he was reelected and from 1878 until the time of
his death was associated with this office. He passed away January 12,
1884, survived by a wife and six children, two sons and four daughters,
but since then the mother and two sons have passed away. The daughters
are Mrs. Thomas Durry, Mrs. Thomas Page and Miss Mary J. Thomas, of
Walla Walla; and Mrs. George M. Cosgrove, of Spokane, Washington.
The mother, who bore the maiden name of Bridget Rodgers, was born in
Ireland, June 24, 1832, and came to America in 1844, first settling in
New Orleans and later removing to California. Her death occurred in
Walla Walla, November 26, 1905.
Miss Mary J. Thomas, reared in Walla Walla, was educated in St.
Vincent's Academy and became a grade teacher in the Baker school of
Walla Walla. She has since devoted her life to that profession and
became principal of the Baker school, while later she was transferred
to the Sharpstein school, of which she is now the principal. She holds
to high ideals in her work, is constantly studying out new methods to
improve her efficiency and her own zeal and interest in the work have
inspired and encouraged both teachers and pupils under her.
JAMES F. CROPP, M. D.
For almost forty years Dr. James F. Cropp has successfully engaged in
the practice of medicine and surgery in Walla Walla, where he was also
the promoter and founder of the Walla Walla Hospital, an institution
of which the city has every reason to be proud. He has ever occupied a
prominent position in professional circles and has been instrumental
in maintaining the highest standards of activity in his chosen field,
recognizing fully the duties and obligations which devolve upon the
physician. He was born in Virginia, April 16, 1854. His father, Silas
F. Cropp, was also a native of the Old Dominion, where he followed
the occupation of farming. He married Maria Katherine Martin, born in
the same state, and both have passed away. They had a family of four
children, of whom two have departed this life.
Dr. Cropp pursued his early education in a little log cabin school in
the state of Washington, which at one time was headquarters of the army
that went to rescue General Steptoe on Steptoe Butte. The family had
come to Washington in 1872. They made their way westward to American
Falls, Idaho, driving a team of oxen across the country. They then
proceeded by stage to Portland and on to Albany and from that point
walked to Walla Walla across the Cascade mountains. From this city they
proceeded to a point near the Farmington country and there plowed the
ground upon which Farmington is built. From that point they proceeded
to Dry creek, near Walla Walla, and Dr. Cropp of this review secured
employment in the hay fields, working for Sergeant Smith during the
summer. He obtained a dugout near there and gathered a few common
school books, and in company with E. H. Nixon, now of Walla Walla,
prepared himself as best he could for educational work, after the
hours of harvesting were over. He at length secured a school, of which
Sergeant Smith was a director, and taught through the winter months.
This was a large school and he proved capable in its management and
conduct. Later he taught in various other schools through the valley,
being thus engaged until 1876, when he walked the greater part of the
distance to Portland and there secured passage on the old steamer Ajax,
on which he worked his way to San Francisco. This step was actuated by
his laudable ambition to prepare for the practice of medicine, which
he had determined to make his life work. He there entered the medical
department of the University of California, which at that time was only
a summer school. At the close of the session, in company with Charles
E. Levitt Sajous, now a famous medical practitioner and author of
Philadelphia, he started for the east. They worked their way on freight
trains and walked part of the way until they reached Philadelphia,
where they matriculated in the Jefferson Medical College, from which
institution they were both graduated in March, 1878. The determination
with which he pursued his education, making his way in spite of
seemingly almost insurmountable difficulties, is characteristic of Dr.
Cropp. He has never faltered in the performance of a task to which he
has set himself and throughout his entire life he has ever carried his
well defined plans forward to successful completion. Following his
graduation he returned to Walla Walla and in the intervening years has
continuously and successfully practiced medicine and surgery. During
this period he has also served in various official capacities of a
professional nature for the city, county and the state. He has been
physician and surgeon to the state penitentiary for six years and
since the building of the Odd Fellows Home he has been physician to
that institution. In 1890 he built the Walla Walla Hospital, which has
since been successfully conducted and from which numerous nurses of
very high standing have been graduated, doing important duty in their
professional capacity through the city, county and surrounding states,
many of them occupying most important positions in other hospitals.
While many years have elapsed since Dr. Cropp was graduated, he has
by broad reading and thorough study kept in touch with the trend of
modern scientific thought and investigation and with the progress that
is being continuously made by the profession. His ability is pronounced
and he stands not only as the dean of the medical profession in Walla
Walla but as one of its most distinguished representatives in the
northwest.
In 1879 Dr. Cropp was united in marriage to Miss Ida Hungate, a
daughter of H. H. and Mary (Duncan) Hungate and a native of California.
They have become parents of a daughter, Hallie H., who is at home. She
is connected with the Daughters of the American Revolution, for the
ancestors of Dr. Cropp served in the struggle for independence. Dr.
Cropp is thoroughly familiar with the history of pioneer development
in the northwest. On the trip across the plains, when the family were
making their way to the Pacific coast, they encountered considerable
trouble with the Indians. He has seen this entire section of the
country reclaimed for the purposes of civilization, while the work of
development and improvement has been carried steadily forward. His aid
and influence have ever been on the side of progress and improvement
and his work has had far reaching and beneficial results. His political
allegiance is given to the democratic party and fraternally he is
connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belongs to the
Commercial Club and cooperates heartily in all of its well defined
plans and measures for the welfare and upbuilding of the city. Along
strictly professional lines he has connection with the Walla Walla
County Medical Society and the Washington State Medical Society. He is
interested in their proceedings and contributes in no small measure to
the success of some of the meetings, for his judgment is accepted as an
authority upon many questions of vital importance to the profession. He
has ever held to the highest professional standards and anything that
tends to solve the intricate problem which we call life is of interest
to him.
EDWARD WILSON CLARK.
Edward Wilson Clark, one of the leading attorneys of Columbia county,
practicing at Dayton, was born in Morrow county, near Heppner, Oregon,
on the 15th of November, 1865, his parents being Oscar F. and Mary A.
(Allen) Clark, the former a native of the state of New York and the
latter of Ohio. They were married, however, in Oregon, Mr. Clark having
crossed the plains as a young man of twenty-one or twenty-two years in
1846. The mother's parents died when she was but a little child and she
made the long trip to the west with her brother, Charles Allen, who
arrived in Oregon about 1850. She continued to reside with her brother
in this section of the country until her marriage. Oscar F. Clark took
part in the Cayuse Indian war and in 1848 made his way northward and
settled on what is now the city of Walla Walla in Walla Walla county,
Washington. The previous year the Whitman massacre occurred. He became
familiar with every phase of pioneer life and bravely met all of its
hardships and privations. He was married about 1850 and for some years
lived in Corvallis, Oregon. He had been engaged in teaching in the east
and was identified with educational work for several years after his
removal to Oregon. In later years he was elected county superintendent
of schools of Benton county, Oregon, and he was also appointed the
first probate judge of that county. In 1866 he became a member of
the board of county commissioners of Umatilla county, Oregon, and he
was one of those who were most earnest and effective in securing the
establishment of the county seat at Pendleton. Indeed he was recognized
as a very prominent and influential citizen of Oregon, where he
remained until 1877, when he removed to Columbia county, Washington.
Taking up his abode in Dayton, he was soon thereafter elected justice
of the peace and served in that office for many years. His decisions
were strictly fair and impartial, being based upon the law and the
equity in the case, and that he enjoyed the full confidence of the
public is indicated by his long retention on the justice bench. Death
called him in 1898 and his widow, surviving for about a decade, passed
away in 1908.
[Illustration: EDWARD W. CLARK]
Edward W. Clark was reared under the parental roof and completed his
education in the Dayton high school. In 1886 he took up the study of
law, reading under the preceptorship of Judge M. M. Godman, of Dayton,
and in 1888 he was admitted to the bar, after which he opened a law
office in Dayton, his ability placing him, through the intervening
years, in the front ranks of the profession. He served for ten years
as prosecuting attorney of Columbia county and for five years was
city attorney of Dayton. He was also for one year city clerk and at
the present writing is a member of the board of education, in which
position he has continuously served since 1893. The public school
system indeed finds in him a stalwart champion and one whose efforts in
its behalf have been characterized by marked progress.
On the 28th of February, 1892, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss
Nellie B. Gritman, of Dayton, a daughter of Delos W. and Mary (Davis)
Gritman. Her father, who was one of the successful agriculturists and
prominent citizens of Columbia county, served for a number of years as
a member of the board of county commissioners and was widely recognized
as a man of sterling character and genuine worth. Mr. and Mrs. Clark
have a son, Roscoe L., who was graduated from Whitman College with the
class of 1915 and is now a student in the medical department of the
University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia.
Fraternally Mr. Clark is connected with Dayton Camp, No. 95, W. O. W.;
with Dayton Circle, No. 238, Women of Woodcraft; and with Dayton Lodge,
No. 3, K. P. He ranks with the leading and representative residents of
Dayton because of his loyalty in citizenship, because of his genuine
personal worth and also by reason of his professional ability. He
is a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly familiar with the
law, possessed also of comprehensive general information and of an
analytical mind. He is recognized as a formidable adversary in legal
combat but one who at all times holds to the highest standards of the
profession, his record reflecting credit upon the history of the bench
and bar of Washington.
BERT THOMAS, M. D.
Dr. Bert Thomas, occupying a leading position among the most capable
and successful medical practitioners of Walla Walla, is well qualified
in all those particulars which make for advancement in his chosen
profession. His liberal preparatory training well qualified him at the
outset of his professional career and in the intervening period he has
studied closely and read broadly, thus keeping in touch with the trend
of modern professional progress. He was born in Walla Walla county,
March 4, 1874. His father, Alfred Thomas, a native of Kentucky, was
born in 1828 and in the spring of 1870 made his way to the northwest,
becoming identified with agricultural interests in this county. Here he
spent his remaining days, covering a period of more than a quarter of
a century, his death occurring in 1896. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Eleanor Lewis, was born in Iowa and has also passed away.
Dr. Thomas of this review was one of a family of twelve children, six
of whom are yet living and all are residents of Walla Walla county. He
acquired a common school education and afterward entered the Whitman
College, from which in due time he was graduated. He next became a
student in the University of Michigan, matriculating in the medical
department, from which he was graduated with the class of 1904. He then
put his theoretical knowledge to the practical test in a year's service
in a hospital in Jackson, Michigan, and gained the broad and valuable
knowledge and experience which can never be as quickly acquired in
any other way as in hospital work. On the expiration of that period
he returned to Walla Walla, where he has since practiced medicine and
surgery, and throughout the intervening years he has maintained a
place in the front ranks of the profession. He is very careful in the
diagnosis of his cases and seldom, if ever, at fault in matters of
professional judgment. He belongs to the Walla Walla Valley Medical
Society, the Washington State Medical Association and the American
Medical Association and thus keeps abreast with modern thought,
investigation and research.
Dr. Thomas married Miss Orville Green, who was born in Walla Walla, a
daughter of W. O. and Mary F. (Young) Green, who were pioneers of this
county, having crossed the plains in 1852. Dr. Thomas belongs to the
Masonic fraternity and is a faithful exemplar of the teachings of the
craft. His entire life measures up to high standards and those whom he
has met in social relations entertain for him the warmest friendship
and regard, for his salient qualities are those which make for personal
popularity.
PATRICK O'CONNOR.
Patrick O'Connor, deceased, was an enterprising and successful farmer
and stock raiser of Columbia county and his name deserves a place upon
the pages of its history. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland,
March 16, 1850, and was reared in the land of his birth. On reaching
the age of sixteen, however, he determined to try his fortune in
the new world, for he had heard favorable reports concerning its
opportunities and advantages. On reaching American shores he at
once crossed the continent to the Pacific coast and located in San
Francisco, California, where he remained for nine years. He was there
employed in a boiler factory and at street car work. After spending
over five years in that city he came northward to Walla Walla in 1880
with the intention of returning to San Francisco but found Walla
Walla to his liking and took up his abode there. He was made section
foreman for the Union Pacific Railway and for a considerable period
was active in that connection. In subsequent years he made several
removals, living for a short time in Dayton and a short time on the
present home ranch near Starbuck. In 1896 he took up his abode on his
Columbia county farm, first purchasing forty-six acres of land. To
this, however, he added from time to time as his financial resources
permitted until at his death he was the owner of an excellent tract
of land of two hundred and sixty-seven acres, upon which he engaged
extensively in stock raising and in the growing of alfalfa. In business
affairs he was energetic and determined. He allowed no obstacles nor
difficulties to bar his path if they could be overcome by persistent
and earnest effort. He worked diligently and as the years passed on
gained a place among the substantial farmers of his adopted county,
his attention being given to general agricultural pursuits and stock
raising until his death, which occurred May 7, 1910.
[Illustration: MR. AND MRS. PATRICK O'CONNOR]
On the 30th of December, 1889, Mr. O'Connor was joined in wedlock to
Miss Mary McGreevy, who was born in Iowa and came to Washington in
1887, locating on the present site of Jackson's Siding in Columbia
county, where lived her uncle, Daniel McGreevy. Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor
had one son, Daniel A., who is now operating the home farm.
In politics Mr. O'Connor was a stalwart democrat, giving unfaltering
allegiance to the principles of his party. He served for some years
as road supervisor and made an excellent official in that connection.
In fact he was a progressive and public-spirited citizen, giving
helpful aid to all movements for the advancement of the community. He
belonged to the Catholic church, of which his widow and son are also
communicants. The family has long been well known in Columbia county
and, like her husband, Mrs. O'Connor enjoys the respect and goodwill of
those with whom she has been brought in contact.
ALBERT M. JENSEN.
Albert M. Jensen, head of the A. M. Jensen Company of Walla Walla,
was born in Denmark in 1868 and at the age of fourteen years began
work in a general store. His life has been one of continuous business
activity since that time. Coming to the new world in 1890, he settled
in Minnesota and was employed by one of the largest department stores
in St. Paul for eighteen years. He began work there as general utility
boy, was advanced to the position of salesman and later became a buyer
and department manager, and while thus engaged he made various trips to
New York and abroad for his firm.
In 1910 Mr. Jensen came to Walla Walla and organized the A. M. Jensen
Company, which then bought out the Skiles Dry Goods Company, which had
been established in 1905 on a very small scale. The floor space now in
use for the display and sale of women's merchandise is approximately
fifteen thousand square feet.
In 1897 Mr. Jensen was united in marriage to Miss Effie Byland, who
was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, and they have three children: Leon,
Everett and Gladys. Mr. Jensen is a member of the First Presbyterian
church, is a Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine
and also of the Odd Fellows lodge. In politics he is an independent
republican but has never sought or held office. His military record
covers six months' service in the Danish navy before coming to the
United States. He has taken considerable interest in civic affairs and
for several years was a member of the board of trustees of the Walla
Walla Commercial Club and served for one year as its president. He is
always anxious and willing to help wherever necessary for the good of
the city, state or country and acted as chairman and member of several
important Liberty Loan and Food Conservation sub-committees.
JOHN H. EDWARDS.
One of the well improved farm properties of Walla Walla county is
that owned by John H. Edwards, an enterprising, alert and energetic
agriculturist, whose home is on section 30, township 9 north, range
34 east. He is there extensively engaged in wheat growing and also in
stock raising.
Mr. Edwards was born in Texas, March 8, 1859, a son of John C. and
Sarah (Hillard) Edwards, the former a native of Tennessee, while the
latter was born in Alabama. They removed to Texas in 1858 and while
residing in that state the mother was called to her final rest. The
father passed away in Tennessee, having returned to his native state.
In their family were seven children, but only three of the number are
now living.
John H. Edwards was largely reared and educated in Tennessee, having
the usual opportunities and experiences of the farmbred boy. He was a
young man of twenty-three years when he determined to try his fortune
in the northwest and made his way to Walla Walla county, settling upon
the farm on which he now resides in the fall of 1883. It has since been
his home, and adding to his holdings from time to time as his financial
resources have permitted, he has become the owner of thirty-four
hundred acres of valuable wheat and pasture land. He has great broad
fields, devoted to the raising of wheat, and rich pastures, in which
are found large herds of cattle. He makes a specialty of raising Durham
cattle and he is also engaged in raising Percheron horses and high
grade hogs. He has improved his ranch with modern buildings. There is
a commodious and attractive residence, in the rear of which stand good
barns and outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock, and these in
turn are surrounded by broad fields, highly cultivated.
Mr. Edwards was united in marriage to Mrs. Margaret Woods and to them
have been born two sons. Earl J., who is a graduate of the high school,
was married in 1915 and has a son, Edwin. Eldon H., the younger son, is
also a high school graduate.
[Illustration: JOHN H. EDWARDS]
[Illustration: MRS. JOHN H. EDWARDS]
Mr. Edwards is deeply interested in the cause of education, has served
as school director, and has put forth every effort in his power to
give his sons good opportunities, thus qualifying them for life's
practical and responsible duties. He votes with the republican party
but has never been an office seeker. He and his wife hold membership
in the Christian church and are loyal to its teachings, while to its
support they make generous contribution. The conditions which he found
in the northwest gave him the opportunities which he sought and in
their utilization he has worked his way steadily upward. His handclasp,
however, is as warm for his friend in a threadbare coat as for the
prosperous business friend of his later years. He appreciates what it
means to overcome difficulties, having had his own hard times and his
own life is organized along lines that have called for a full dole
of labor with every turn of the wheel. In social intercourse he is
genial, kindly and humanly sympathetic, while his business affairs are
characterized by the most rigid integrity.
WILLIAM W. WALTER.