HERMAN C. ACTOR.
A most interesting and eventful career was that of Herman C. Actor, who passed the last years of his life in the restfulness and the quietude of the farm. He was familiar with every phase of frontier life in the northwest and four times he was wounded by the Indians in the early struggles for supremacy between the white race and the redskins. He came to this section of the country when the work of progress and improvement seemed scarcely begun and when the red men were yet more numerous than the white settlers. Only here and there some venturesome spirit had penetrated into the wilderness of the Pacific northwest to establish a home and if possible utilize the resources of the country in the attainment of a competence or a fortune.
Mr. Actor was born in Ohio, September 18, 1832, and had passed the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten at the time of his demise. In fact, he had reached the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey and was the only survivor of a family of nine children when he passed to the Great Beyond. His parents were Herman and Margaret (Daterman) Actor, both natives of Germany, who had crossed the Atlantic to the new world in 1828 and established their home in Ohio, where they continued to reside until their deaths.
It was in that state that Herman C. Actor spent the days of his boyhood and youth and acquired an education in such schools as were available in that early day. He went to Missouri in 1852, when a young man of twenty years, and there remained for a year. He then entered the employ of the American Fur Company and purchased furs for that concern at their fort for two years. It was in the fall of 1855 that he came to Walla Walla, Washington, in company with Governor Stevens, and for one year he acted as one of the governor's guard. Later he was in the employ of the government for some time and while thus engaged was four times shot by the Indians, sustaining three wounds in the leg and one in the shoulder. Wild as was the life of the northwest and undeveloped as was the country, he felt the spell upon him and determined to remain, eager to take active part in the improvement and progress of this section. He purchased a farm where Dixie now stands and cultivated his land there for some time, but afterward disposed of that property and purchased the farm on which he died, on section 23, township 8 north, range 37 east, comprising four hundred acres. With characteristic energy he bent his efforts to the cultivation and improvement of the property and in the course of years his labors wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of the place. He carefully and wisely utilized his fields and as the years passed his crops multiplied and brought him a substantial competence, permitting him the well earned enjoyment of the comforts of life.
In 1858 Mr. Actor was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Davis, a native of Iowa, and they became the parents of six children: Margaret, who is the wife of George La Rue; Mary, the wife of Lincoln Kenwine; Louisa, the wife of P. Collinwood; Frank; George; and Arthur. The wife and mother died in 1908 and was laid to rest in the Dixie cemetery, her death being the cause of deep regret to her many friends and great sorrow to her family. Only recently Mr. Actor was also gathered to his fathers and with him there passed away one of those sturdy pioneers who had carried the banner of the white man's civilization into the wilds of the west and who planted well for the coming generations to reap.
Mr. Actor belonged to the Masonic lodge at Dixie and gave his political allegiance to the republican party. He never sought office but was public spirited and served as a member of the school board to good purpose. He was a self-made man who owed his success to his industry and perseverance alone. He met many hardships and difficulties incident to pioneer life and encountered many obstacles such as always are factors in a business career, but he did not allow himself to become discouraged and with resolute will pushed forward and in the span of his life he won for himself an honored place as one of the substantial men of the county. He was one of its venerable citizens, respected by all, and his worth to the community was widely acknowledged. While he has gone to the Beyond, his work lives and his memory is enshrined in the hearts of all who become cognizant of his sterling character.
H. F. CLODIUS.
Since the winter of 1882-3, H. F. Clodius has resided upon the Pacific coast and through more than a third of a century has been identified with farming interests in Walla Walla county. He is now living retired in Waitsburg, although he still owns valuable property holdings, constituting some of the best farm land in this section of the state. He was born in Germany on the 10th of November, 1847, and is a son of Claus H. and Catherine M. (Biernstein) Clodius, both of whom spent their entire lives in Germany. His paternal great-grandfather, Christopher Clodius, removed to that country from Denmark. The father was one of the prominent farmers of his section and was a man in affluent circumstances.