In the district schools Clyde Lester began his education and says his training also came to him between the handles of a plow, for at an early age he began work in the fields and thus he divided his time between farm labor and the acquirement of a district school education. His parents removed to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1896 and at that time he entered upon an apprenticeship to the cigar maker's trade, in which he continued for nine years. It was while residing in Lincoln, Nebraska, that he was married on the 26th of June, 1907, and there he began his domestic life. Two years later he came to Walla Walla, attracted by the opportunities of the growing northwest, and here he has since made his home. In 1913 he entered into partnership with Fred M. Young, who was well established as a florist in this city, and under their management they have built up a business of very large and gratifying proportions. Their greenhouses, which are located on South Second street, are extensive. They have eight and three-fourths acres of land under cultivation, with twenty-five thousand square feet under glass. They raise the most beautiful flowers of every kind and have a very attractive salesroom at No. 19 East Main street, where are always to be found many kinds of cut flowers and potted plants to supply the retail trade.
Mr. and Mrs. Lester have become the parents of two daughters, Leah and Edna. In his political views Mr. Lester is independent and does not care to ally himself with any party nor bind himself by party ties voting according to the dictates of his judgment. He and his wife are consistent members of St. Paul's Episcopal church and in the social circles of the city occupy an enviable position. Fraternally he is connected with Walla Walla Lodge, No. 287, B. P. O. E.; Washington Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F.; the Loyal Order of Moose; the Improved Order of Red Men; the Woodmen of the World; and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The west has proven to him a profitable field of labor. He recognized the opportunities here offered and has quickly utilized them to his own advancement, while his business methods have at all times measured up to the highest commercial standards, and thus he occupies a most enviable position in the confidence and goodwill of those with whom he has been associated.
MICHAEL KENNY.
Michael Kenny, of Walla Walla, is numbered among the pioneers of the northwest and can relate many interesting incidents concerning the early days and those events which constitute the pioneer history of this section. He has passed the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey, his birth having occurred in Ireland, September 21, 1832. His parents, Patrick and Sophia (Cody) Kenny, were also natives of the Emerald isle, where they spent their entire lives, both having long since passed away. In their family were seven children.
Michael Kenny, who is the only survivor of that family, was reared and educated in Ireland and was less than twenty-one years of age when he bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed for the United States. He landed in New York, where he remained for about a year, and in 1854 he joined the regular army at Governor's Island for five years' service. He was then sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, where he was stationed for a short time, after which he was transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, remaining there for two months. In June, 1854, he crossed the plains to Salt Lake City with the First Dragoon Cavalry under command of Colonel Steptoe, spending the winter at that point. In the spring the command was sent to Fort Lane, Jackson county, Oregon, where he was stationed for a time with other companies, remaining there through 1855 and 1856 during the Rogue River war. He was then with C Troop and later was promoted to the rank of sergeant. The winter of 1856 was spent in Yamhill county. In 1857 Mr. Kenny was sent to Fort Walla Walla. He continued with the army throughout his term of enlistment, covering five years, and was honorably discharged in 1859. He had participated in some of the Indian warfare on the frontier and had done excellent work to defend the interests of the white settlers against the hostility of the red men, who resented the encroachment of the pale faces upon what they regarded as their own "hunting grounds."
After leaving the army Mr. Kenny ran a pack train between Walla Walla and Orofino, and in 1865, when on his way to Boise, the Indians captured his train, taking his twenty-eight pack animals from him and leaving him afoot without anything. He finally managed to make his way back to Walla Walla and there he engaged in the saloon business, in which he continued for seven years. On the expiration of that period he sold out and began packing for the government, devoting some time to that work. In 1878 he became associated with the police force of Walla Walla and was one of its members for ten years.
In 1875 Mr. Kenny was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Johnston, a native of Glasgow, Scotland. She was only an infant when brought by her parents to this country, the family locating in Connecticut, where they spent the winter of 1855. The following year they removed to Illinois and in 1859 came to Walla Walla county, Washington, where Mr. Johnston followed farming throughout the remainder of his life. Here both he and his wife died. In 1865 Mr. Kenny erected his present residence at No. 7 North Sixth street and has therefore witnessed almost the entire development of the city, being one of the few remaining early pioneers. He took part in all of the battles with the Indians in this part of the country.
Mr. and Mrs. Kenny are members of the Catholic church and in politics he is a democrat, having always voted the ticket since becoming a naturalized American citizen. There is no phase of pioneer life in the northwest with which he is not familiar. He can remember the time when the Indians were more numerous than the white settlers, when the great forests stood in their primeval strength, for the work of cutting the timber had not then been begun. Streams were unbridged and on the sites of many of the most prosperous and progressive cities of the northwest there were found few if any buildings. Mr. Kenny has lived to see remarkable changes, has borne his part in the work of development and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present.