JOSEPH GROTE.
The farming interests of Joseph Grote would be termed mammoth even in this great west where agricultural interests are on the whole conducted on a most extensive scale. He is now operating sixty-two hundred and eighty acres of land in Columbia and Walla Walla counties, making his home on section 22, township 11 north, range 38 east, of the former county. His long experience and his extensive operations enable him to speak with authority upon everything connected with farming in the west at the present day. He recognizes fully the possibilities and the opportunities of the country and what he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of the innate powers and talents which are his. Mr. Grote is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Piqua on the 7th of April, 1885, his parents being John and Anna Grote, both of whom were natives of Germany, where they were reared and married. In 1881 they came to the United States and after a residence of nine years in Ohio made their way westward to Washington, the family home being established in the Palouse country, where Mr. Grote remained, however, for a period of only two years. He then came to Walla Walla county, where he purchased a ranch north of Prescott and there he successfully engaged in farming to the time of his death. For a number of years prior to his demise he resided in the city of Walla Walla and from that point superintended the operation of his ranch. He died October 14, 1915, and is survived by his widow, who is now making her home in southern California.
Joseph Grote, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the district schools near his father's farm and in the city schools of Walla Walla. After reaching young manhood he continued to assist his father in the development of the fields until 1909, when he started out to engage in farming independently, entering into partnership with his brother Theodore. They gradually increased their operations in extent and importance until their interests placed them at the head of the leading agriculturists of Columbia county. In 1914 the partnership between the two brothers was dissolved and Joseph Grote retained twenty-three hundred acres of their holdings. In addition to this he operates four hundred and eighty acres of school land in the township where he resides and he leases and operates the Sharpstein ranch in Walla Walla county, containing thirty-five hundred acres of land. He has thus become one of the foremost agriculturists of the northwest. He plants twenty-five hundred acres to grain each year and harvests mammoth crops.
In 1917 Mr. Grote was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Baumann, a daughter of F. A. Baumann, a retired farmer of Walla Walla. In politics he maintains an independent course, not caring to bind himself by party ties. He is not remiss in the duties of citizenship, however, but stands for progress and improvement in public affairs and reaches out along helpful lines in recognition of the needs and opportunities of county and state. He is an enthusiastic advocate of the great northwest, and well he may be, for in its opportunities he has found the path to success and is today numbered among the men of affluence in southeastern Washington.
JOHN ADKINS GROSS, M. D.
There is much that is inspiring in the life record of Dr. John Adkins Gross, who for many years was prominently associated with the agricultural development and activity of southeastern Washington, acquiring extensive landed possessions which he converted into rich and productive fields. His worth as a man and citizen was widely acknowledged and there are in his life record many chapters worthy of consideration.
Dr. Gross was born in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, July 30, 1840, a son of Dr. Oren and Jane (Snow) Gross. He was reared and educated on Cape Cod. In his youth he studied navigation and also taught school for a time but at the age of twenty-three years enlisted in 1863 as a member of the Forty-third Massachusetts Infantry for service in the Civil war, remaining at the front until the close of hostilities. He became corporal of his company and while he did not engage in any of the battles between the north and the south his service was of a hazardous nature, such as scout duty and running boats loaded with provisions past blockades, etc. He ever manifested the utmost loyalty to the nation's starry banner and the cause for which it stood and with a most creditable military record returned to his home.
Soon after leaving the army Dr. Gross went to New York city, where he engaged in carpenter work until the panic of 1873 swept away all his investments. He then crossed the continent to San Francisco, California, where he lived for two years. He afterward went to Astoria, Oregon, and was in that city and in Portland until 1879, when he came to Walla Walla. Here he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for several years. He taught at Frenchtown, riding back and forth from Walla Walla. When he had saved enough he secured a homestead in Umatilla county, Oregon, and kept adding to his landed possessions until he had over eleven hundred acres, which he brought under a high state of cultivation. He afterward purchased a ranch of twenty-five hundred acres near Starbuck, Washington, all of which has been planted to crops and has been improved with very substantial and commodious buildings. In a word his labors wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of the place and also in its value and he won recognition as one of the foremost agriculturists of this section of the state.