MRS. HENRY A. JOHNSON
Henry A. Johnson spent his youthful days in Canada and acquired his education as a public school pupil there. In 1865 he removed to the middle west, settling in Champaign county, Illinois, where he resided for a decade. In 1875 he made his way to the Pacific coast and located in California, where he spent two and a half years upon a farm. In 1877 he arrived in Walla Walla and in May, 1878, he purchased a herd of cattle and came to Starbuck. He rented a farm for several years but during that period carefully saved his earnings until his industry and economy had brought to him a capital sufficient to enable him to purchase land. He then invested in property which he owned for a time but afterward sold that farm. His wife, however, owns eleven hundred and twenty acres near Starbuck, which is excellent valley land, devoted to the cultivation of hay, fruit and vegetables.
In August, 1909, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Mrs. Nancy A. Pearson, a native of Restigouche county, New Brunswick, and a daughter of Robert and Mary Ann (Reid) Watson. Her father was born in Scotland, but her mother was a native of New Brunswick, where they were married. To them were born eight children in New Brunswick and two others were added to the family after their removal to California, Mrs. Johnson being the oldest. It was in 1868 that they came to the Pacific coast and settled in Rio Vista, California, where Mr. Watson owned and operated a ranch and where both he and his wife died. They have three sons still living: William, of San Jose, California; and R. W. and Alex M., both of Great Falls, Montana. Their daughter, Nancy A., was married in Rio Vista to J. S. Pearson and in 1878 they came to Dayton, Washington, being among the pioneers of that locality. Two years later they became residents of Starbuck. Mr. Pearson died at Spokane in 1908. The children born of that union were: Charles W., now an extensive wheat farmer of Eureka flats, Walla Walla county; Margaret J., deceased; Sadie M., the wife of a prominent physician of Sacramento, California; Marian E., whose husband is a prominent railroad man of Spokane; Florence P., the wife of an eminent physician of Sacramento; Robert G., also a prominent physician of that city; and Joseph N., a rancher of Marysville, California. All of the children were given excellent educational advantages, attending colleges in this state and finishing their course at the University of Washington. Charles was one of the first children to attend public school in Starbuck, Mr. and Mrs. Pearson with one or two others having organized the first school district in 1880, before the village of Starbuck had been started. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson now spend their winters in California but during the summer months occupy the ranch at Starbuck, where they have a beautiful and attractive home located on a knoll overlooking the Tucanon river which is modern in every respect, being lighted by electricity and supplied with all conveniences.
Mr. Johnson is prominent in Masonic circles, belonging to Starbuck Lodge, No. 106, F. & A. M., in which he has filled all of the chairs, and both he and his wife are connected with the Order of the Eastern Star. In politics he is a stalwart republican and has served as justice of the peace and as mayor of Starbuck, while for several years he has been a member of the school board. His public duties have been discharged with promptness and fidelity and he has manifested marked capability in the performance of every task that has devolved upon him. During the long years of his residence in Washington he has contributed much to the upbuilding and progress of his section of the state and has always stood for advancement, reform and improvement.
JOHN HUNTINGTON, M. D.
Dr. John Huntington, enjoying a lucrative practice at Starbuck, was born April 14, 1860, at the old home at Monticello, Washington, being the third son of Harry D. and Rebecca J. Huntington, who were early pioneers of western Washington. They had crossed the plains with ox teams in the year 1848 and on the journey met Joseph Meek conveying the news of the Whitman massacre to Washington. Mr. Huntington with his family spent the first winter at Oregon City and in the following spring removed to his donation claim, situated at the mouth of the Cowlitz river, on which was located a warehouse of the Hudson's Bay Company. There the pioneer town of Monticello grew up and was made memorable by the fact that the first convention was held there to organize the territory of Washington. It is a pleasing memory to Dr. Huntington to know that he as well as others of his brothers and sisters were born in the same house in which that convention was held. His father was a member of the first territorial legislature and his brother, Chandler Huntington, was a member of the first state legislature. Dr. Huntington attended the Territorial University, from which institution he won his Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation with the class of 1885. He was there a classmate of Professor Meany of the State University and of Charles V. Piper, who taught for many years in the Washington State College and for the past decade has been connected with the agricultural department of the United States government at Washington, D. C.