S. F. Atwood, who is doing excellent work as principal of the Dayton high school, was born in Johnson county, Missouri, January 29, 1885, a son of Wiley C. and Indiana (Freeman) Atwood, natives respectively of Virginia and Iowa. Both, however, were taken as children to Johnson county, Missouri, and there they were reared and married. The father engaged in farming there until 1893, when he went to Bates county, that state, whence in 1896 he removed to Ellensburg, Washington. In his new home he resumed the work of tilling the fields and he is now engaged in agricultural pursuits in Benton county, where he has lived since 1913. In that year he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife.
S. F. Atwood attended the district schools of Missouri in early boyhood and continued his education in the Ellensburg schools, graduating from the high school in 1902. He prepared for teaching in the Ellensburg State Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1905, and the thorough professional training which he there received well fitted him for the performance of his duties as principal of the North Street school of Ballard, Washington, which position he held for three years. At the end of that time he matriculated in the University of Washington at Seattle, but withdrew from that school in his senior year on account of his mother's illness. In December, 1909, he was called to Dayton as principal of the high school and has ever since served in that capacity, his continuance in the position indicating his efficiency. He regards teaching as being as truly a profession as the law or medicine and believes that one intending to devote his life to educational work should prepare as thoroughly as the physician or lawyer. He has remained a constant student of educational methods and is always willing to adapt to the needs of his school any new plan which has proved of value.
Mr. Atwood was married in 1910 to Miss Anna Laura McMillan, of Seattle, and they have four children, Dorothy Jean, Violet Claire, Florence May and Stanley Freeman, Jr.
Mr. Atwood endorses the principles of the democratic party and supports its measures at the polls and in 1916 was its candidate for county superintendent. He belongs to Occidental Lodge, No. 72, F. & A. M., of Seattle, and is also a member of the Inquiry Club of Dayton. Both he and his wife attend the Congregational church and can be counted upon to further movements having as their object the moral advancement of the community. He has not at any time kept himself aloof from the everyday interests of life but has been a factor in the development of Dayton along various lines.
WILLIAM MARTIN.
Among Walla Walla county's venerable and highly respected citizens is numbered William Martin, a retired farmer who is now living in Hill township. Moreover, he has lived on the Pacific coast for sixty-five years and is familiar with every phase of its growth and development from Indian fighting to the latest methods of crop production. He was born in Indiana, September 30, 1833, and is a son of Jesse and Catherine (Harris) Martin, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Kentucky. At an early date they became residents of Indiana and afterward established their home in McLean county, Illinois. In 1844 they removed to Missouri, where they resided until 1857, when they started across the plains for California, whither their son William had preceded them. They located in Thurston county, Washington, and there continued to reside until called to their final rest. They had a family of ten children but only three are now living.
William Martin was reared and educated in Missouri, where he resided until 1852, when at the age of nineteen years he came to the Pacific coast country. He outfitted with an ox team and wagon and started upon the long journey to California, attracted by the discovery of gold on the Pacific coast and the business opportunities which it opened up. He was six months in crossing the plains and then concluded to locate in Oregon, but after spending three months in Oregon City went to Thurston county, Washington, where he was employed in a sawmill for three years and a half. On the expiration of that time he took up a claim. Upon that land, which was entirely wild and undeveloped, he built a little log cabin with a clapboard roof and began life there in true pioneer style, experiencing the hardships and privations incident to the settlement of the frontier. Upon that place he lived for several years and his labors wrought a marked change in its appearance, for he broke the sod, tilled the fields and in course of time gathered good harvests. He afterward purchased more land in that locality. The years were fraught not only with much hard labor but with other experiences of pioneer life. In 1855 and 1856 Mr. Martin was engaged in fighting the Indians and became familiar with all of the treacherous methods of Indian warfare. Later he concentrated his efforts upon farming and as the years passed his labors were crowned with a substantial measure of success.
On December 14, 1856, Mr. Martin was united in marriage to Miss Ann E. Yantis, who was born in Missouri in 1840 and by whom he had five children, as follows: John F.; J. A.; Catherine, who is the wife of L. H. Koontz, of Pasco, Washington; William E.; and one who died in infancy.
It was in 1872 that Mr. Martin brought his family to the Walla Walla valley, where he has since lived, covering a period of forty-five years. Here he was engaged in the stock business until 1880 and then removed to Walla Walla and turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. In 1886 he entered a railroad office at Wallula, where he remained for nine years, and at the end of that time located on a ranch on Snake river, living there for three years. The following year was spent in Walla Walla and he next owned and occupied a ranch on Hudson Bay in Oregon for three years. On selling that place he returned to Washington and has lived in Touchet since 1901. He purchased a store in Touchet which he carried on for some time but at length sold that property and retired from active business life, so that he is now enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. He owns seven acres of land in the village of Touchet, upon which he has a comfortable and attractive residence and is now pleasantly situated there.