HERBERT A. GARDNER.
Indefatigable enterprise and concentration of purpose have been salient features in winning for Herbert A. Gardner the creditable and honorable position which he occupies in business circles of Walla Walla and the Inland Empire. He has long been active in the conduct of the mercantile house now conducted under the name of Gardner & Company, Incorporated. This is one of the largest and finest commercial interests of Washington and is largely a monument to the business enterprise and progressive methods of him whose name introduces this review.
Mr. Gardner was born in Charlotte, Maine, June 6, 1860, so that the width of the continent separates him from his birthplace. He brought eastern enterprise and ingenuity to the west with its limitless resources, and the combination has wrought splendid results. His parents, Amos A. and Louisa M. (Jackman) Gardner, were also natives of the Pine Tree state and descendants of Stephen Gardner, who was one of the founders of Hingham, Massachusetts, and who later served his country in the Revolutionary war. The father, who was a farmer and shipbuilder, devoting his life to those two pursuits, died in Illinois, while the mother departed this life in Maine. In their family were eight children, of whom four are living, three being residents of Seattle, namely Mrs. L. M. Kent, Amy B. and Mrs. P. Pitt Shaw.
Herbert A. Gardner is indebted to the public school system of his native state for the educational opportunities which he enjoyed in youth and which prepared him for life's practical and responsible duties. He has always devoted his attention to mercantile pursuits and this concentration of purpose has undoubtedly been one of the strong elements in his growing success. He has not dissipated his energies over a wide field but has thoroughly mastered whatever he has undertaken, and long experience, well developed powers and unfaltering energy have brought to him notable success. For twenty-five years he was associated with the Schwabacher Company of Walla Walla and at length, in connection with others, he purchased the business, which has since been reorganized under the name of Gardner & Company, Incorporated. They own and control one of the largest and finest mercantile houses in the section of the country which covers southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. Mr. Gardner has been president of the company since its incorporation. His long experience in mercantile lines has splendidly qualified him for the duties and responsibilities which devolve upon him in this connection. He has not only become familiar with the best methods of purchase and of sale but also closely studies the market in every particular bearing upon his trade and he is now bending his efforts to administrative direction with the result that the business of the house has steadily increased. He has always been careful to surround himself with a corps of efficient assistants in the office and he has held to the highest standards in the personnel of the house, in the character of goods carried and in the business methods followed. In a word, he has made the firm name a synonym of progressiveness and of honorable dealing.
On the 28th of September, 1886, Mr. Gardner was married to Elizabeth Hungate, who died February 25, 1896. She was a native of California and a daughter of Harrison H. and Mary (Duncan) Hungate, the former deceased, while the mother is still living, making her home in Walla Walla. To Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were born three children: Geneva Hungate, who is the wife of W. J. Steele, of Walla Walla; Ward H., who married Irma Coleman and has one child, Shirley Elizabeth; and Elizabeth, at home. On the 23d of May, 1906, Mr. Gardner was again married, his second union being with Miss Anna M. Siler, who was born in Simcoe, Canada.
Fraternally Mr. Gardner is identified with the Masons, the Elks and the Odd Fellows and in his life exemplifies the basic principles which underlie those organizations. He is also identified with the Commercial Club. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and for fifteen years he has served as a member of the board of education. While a most active and progressive business man, he has ever recognized his duties and obligations as well his privileges of citizenship and has cooperated in many well defined plans and measures for the public good, standing at all times for progress and improvement in relation to civic affairs and the welfare of the commonwealth.
L. NEACE.
L. Neace, deceased, was an early settler of Walla Walla county and was for years one of its leading stock raisers. He was born in Germany, September 27, 1835, and there received his education. When only twelve years old, however, he came to America and settled in Pennsylvania. For some time he worked in a sash and door factory in that state and later removed to Kansas City, Missouri, whence in 1857 he went to Oregon, crossing the plains by ox team. After remaining in Oregon for one winter he went to California and a few months later went to Fort Benton. In the latter part of 1859 he came to Waitsburg, Washington, and turned his attention to stock raising, as Walla Walla county was then chiefly devoted to that business. He owned a large tract of land and was very successful in the management of his affairs, gaining financial independence. He was a factor in banking circles, being for thirty years president of the National Bank of Waitsburg, which under his direction enjoyed the entire confidence of the community and a steady increase in deposits.