Archives West Finding Aid

Henry B. Elder was born in Kentucky and later moved to Grays Harbor County, Washington. He married Camille Struever on November 17, 1902. He worked for the railroad in Aberdeen and later managed a cemetery. He was active in the Knights Templar, serving in various offices, including Grand Generalissimo and Grand Commander for the State association.

Albert Lee Palmer was born in Rensselaer, N.Y. and later moved to Nebraska, where he married in 1870. He then moved to Seattle, where he practiced law and served as a judge.

LeRoy Pratt was the vice president of Garretson, Woodruff & Pratt, a wholesale dry goods firm. He was later treasurer and general manager of Peoples Store and also served as secretary of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce. When his wife, Elizabeth, died of typhoid fever in 1907 at age 38, Pratt retired from Peoples and devoted himself to investing. He was the treasurer of American Casualty Company, an insurance company formed in 1907; the company's plan was to own and operate hospitals and staff them with their own corps of doctors.

William Rinehart was born at Clark’s Hill, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. He was raised on a farm and educated at Farmer’s Institute, a Quaker school located eight miles from La Fayette, Indiana. At the age of eighteen, he crossed the plains, driving an ox team, and entered the gold mines at Downieville, California on August 25, 1854. In March, 1856, he moved to Josephine County in southern Oregon, arriving during the Rogue River Indian war; he assisted in the protection of the settlers by helping build stockades. In 1859 he left the mines and worked at the A. B. Mcllwaine general store in Sailor Diggings, now the town of Waldo. At the start of the Civil War, the regular troops were withdrawn from the different military posts in eastern Oregon, leaving the settlers unprotected. In December, 1861, Rinehart assisted in recruiting Company F, First Oregon Cavalry, at Kirbyville, Oregon, and was mustered in as its First Lieutenant, January 2, 1862. In April 23, 1862, he was made Regimental Adjutant; Captain December 22, 1863, and Major of the First Oregon Infantry, June 24, 1865, serving in the latter capacity as commandant of Fort Klamath until it was garrisoned by regular troops, August 25, 1866. After the close of his military career, he returned to the mercantile trade. In 1870, he ran for state senator, but was defeated by a close vote. He was postmaster at Canyon City from 1869 to 1874 and Indian agent at Malheur, Oregon, from 1876 to 1882. In December, 1882, he moved to Seattle where he worked in the grocery business and in real estate. He was a councilman from the First Ward in 1884-85, and in 1888 was elected a member of the territorial legislator. Before he was able to serve, the territory was admitted as a state. Under the first election for state officers, he was elected state senator. After his first term, he accepted the position of commissioner of public works.

Born in England, Halford enlisted in the United States Navy in 1869. He was serving on board U.S.S. Saginaw, when she ran aground near Midway Atoll on October 29, 1870. Halford was one of four sailors who volunteered to sail the ship's boat 1,500 miles to Honolulu for help, along with Lieutenant John G. Talbot. After great suffering and 31 days at sea, the party reached Kauai Island December 19, 1870. In attempting to land through the heavy surf, all but Halford were drowned; however, he managed to reach shore and bring help to his shipmates. Halford received the Medal of Honor for his bravery and served until 1910, when he retired. Promoted to Lieutenant on the retired list, he returned to the Navy in 1917.

Ruth Nixon was the daughter of John C. Nixon and Mary Nixon. She married Robert Hilton on July 21, 1917; they had two daughters, Anne and Patricia. She divorced Hilton on June 24, 1938 and married Ralph B. Scarborough.