D. B. STIMMEL.
Through struggles and adversities D. B. Stimmel has reached a position among the prosperous residents of Walla Walla county and is now living retired in Waitsburg. For many years he was actively connected with agricultural interests, and diligence and determination brought to him the measure of success that now enables him to rest from further labors. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, January 1, 1856, his parents being Benjamin and Charlotte (Smith) Stimmel, who were also natives of the Buckeye state, where they were reared and married. In 1861 they removed westward to Tazewell county, Illinois, and in 1879 became residents of Reno county, Kansas. There the father died in the '90s, but the mother is still living and now makes her home with a son in Oklahoma.
D. B. Stimmel was the eldest in a family of ten children, nine sons and one daughter. The duty and the burden of assisting in rearing the family and providing for their support fell upon his shoulders and as a consequence his education was limited. He could attend school only at such times as his services were not required upon the farm. He remained at home until he reached his twenty-fourth year, when in 1880 he filed on a homestead in Reno county, Kansas, and began farming on his own account. There he resided for nine years, when he determined to try his fortune in the northwest, having heard favorable reports concerning this section of the country. In the spring of 1889, therefore, he made his way to Walla Walla county, Washington, arriving in Waitsburg about the middle of May with a wife and six children and a cash capital of but fifteen dollars. Here he began working for wages, being thus employed through the harvest season, and in the fall of that year he rented a farm and began its cultivation. He was not familiar, however, with the farming conditions of this section of the country and the poor crops and the widespread financial panic of 1893 made his first few years a struggle for existence. In the winter of 1895-6 he left the farm which he had rented with an indebtedness of three thousand dollars. The following spring he went up into the Nez Percé country and engaged in hauling posts and doing other work for the Indians, in which circumstances he was reminded of the scriptural passage that "the first shall be last and the last first." He may not have liked this domination of an inferior race, but he was willing to accept any occupation or employment that would yield him an honest living. The following fall he located on a place of one hundred and sixty acres belonging to his brother-in-law and afterward purchased two hundred and forty acres adjoining that farm, assuming a mortgage of twelve hundred dollars and back taxes and interest. He paid one hundred dollars cash upon the property, which according to the terms of agreement would cost him nine dollars and sixty-five cents per acre. A year later it had more than doubled in value and recently would have sold for one hundred dollars per acre. From the time of his purchase of this property Mr. Stimmel's prosperity began. The tide seemed to have turned for him and the years brought him a substantial measure of success as a reward for his labors. At different times he continued adding to his property, acquiring two other quarter sections of land, so that his ranch came to be one of five hundred and sixty acres. A quarter section of this he afterward deeded to his two older sons upon his retirement from active business, but he still retains ownership of four hundred acres, which he rents to his sons. In 1906 he removed to Waitsburg and later erected his present handsome city residence.
MR. AND MRS. D. B. STIMMEL
In 1879, in Reno county, Kansas, Mr. Stimmel was united in marriage to Miss Hattie E. Kirby, by whom he had ten children, eight of whom are yet living: Minnie, who is the wife of Lorenzo Bly, of Alberta, Canada; Earl and Ernest, twins, who follow farming in Walla Walla county; John T., also an agriculturist of Walla Walla county; William, who operates his father's farm; Viola, who gave her hand in marriage to Ralph Lukenbihl, of Waitsburg; Millie, who makes her home with her sister Minnie in Alberta, Canada; and Albert, also a resident of Alberta, Canada. The wife and mother passed away in December, 1908, and in 1909 Mr. Stimmel was again married, this union being with Mrs. Mary J. Lynch née Lewis, of Ontario, Canada.
Mr. Stimmel gives his political allegiance to the republican party. Fraternally he is connected with Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M.; Waitsburg Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F.; and with the Woodmen of the World. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church and are people of genuine personal worth, enjoying the warm regard and goodwill of all with whom they have been brought in contact. Difficulties and obstacles have at times beset the path of Mr. Stimmel but with persistency of purpose he has continued his labors and as the years have gone on has earned a most satisfactory reward. When determination, perseverance and talent are arrayed against drawbacks, poverty and trials, the result is almost absolutely certain. The former are invincible—they know no defeat. The habits of industry and close application which he early developed have constituted the foundation of his present success.