By his ballot Mr. Demaris supports the men and measures of the democratic party and he has served as school director. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Dixie and his wife belongs to the Rebekahs, taking a very active and prominent part in its work. She is now past noble grand. They attend the Methodist Episcopal church and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.
R. C. McCAW.
When one views the great and growing cities of the northwest it seems hardly credible that any living man should have witnessed the entire development of this section of the country. Yet personal knowledge of the wonderful progress of the northwest enables R. C. McCaw to speak with authority concerning the events which have shaped its history. He was born in Linn county, Oregon, on the 11th of February, 1856, at which time Washington was still a part of the territory of Oregon and all of this vast region was practically undeveloped. Its coal deposits were untouched, its forests uncut and its wealth and natural resources awaited the demands of the white men who were yet to penetrate within its borders. The Indians far outnumbered the white settlers and the most farsighted could not have dreamed of the marvelous transformation which would take place within a few decades until today the west is not only abreast with the east in all of its advantages and its opportunities but has taken a position of leadership along many lines. The parents of Mr. McCaw were William and Sarah (Findley) McCaw, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Illinois. They were married in Illinois and in 1847 started across the plains with ox teams for Oregon, reaching Oregon City on the day of the Whitman massacre. During the latter part of the journey Mr. McCaw had suffered with fever and his attack was so severe that it burst one of his eyeballs and he was carried into Oregon City on a stretcher. Finally, however, he recovered and continued his residence in Linn county, Oregon, up to the time of his demise.
There R. C. McCaw was reared and educated, experiencing many of the hardships and privations incident to frontier life and the development of a farm under pioneer conditions. He attended the district schools but his opportunities for the acquirement of an education were very limited, as the school system had not then been developed. On his twenty-first birthday he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Gorsline, of Linn county, Oregon, who had come to the northwest with her parents in 1875, the family removing from Kansas. Following his marriage Mr. McCaw brought his bride to Walla Walla county and here they began their domestic life. For two years after his arrival he was employed as a farm hand and in 1879 he went to the Big Bend country and filed on the second homestead that was taken up in that section. There he lived for eighteen years, performing the arduous task of developing and cultivating a new farm. The work of improvement was carried on, however, year by year and he brought his land under a high state of cultivation and derived a good profit from his labors. In 1897 he sold his interests there and in February following he returned to Walla Walla county, where he purchased four hundred and thirty-six acres of land, constituting his present home farm, situated on section 1, township 9 north, range 36 east. Upon this place he has since resided and in the intervening period he has purchased more land from time to time as his financial resources have permitted and is now the owner of between eleven and twelve hundred acres, constituting one of the most valuable farm properties in the Touchet valley. He has placed splendid improvements upon his land and his farm presents a most attractive appearance with its highly cultivated fields, its well kept fences, its substantial buildings and all the accessories of a model farm of the twentieth century.
To Mr. and Mrs. McCaw have been born ten children, nine of whom are yet living, namely: William O., a farmer of Walla Walla county; Samuel E., also engaged in farming in this county; Edith M., the wife of Robert McSherry, of Toronto, Nevada; Fred L., Benjamin H. and Edward Guy, all of whom are engaged in farming in this county; Jay M., who is assisting in the operation of the home farm; and Sarah E. and Robert Glenn, both at home.
Politically Mr. McCaw is a republican, having given stalwart support to the party since age gave to him the voting privilege. He is a member of Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M., and exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. He and his wife are also consistent members of the Presbyterian church. The story of his life if written in detail would present a clear and interesting picture of the entire development of the northwest, for within his memory there has occurred a change so great as to seem almost magical. He can relate most interesting incidents of the early days and his name should be placed high on the record of honored pioneer settlers of this section of the country.
MARTIN MARBACH.
Martin Marbach, a farmer living on section 2, township 8 north, range 34 east, has been a resident of Walla Walla county for almost three decades and as the years have passed has prospered in his undertakings until he is now the owner of over two sections of wheat land. His birth occurred in Alsace-Lorraine on the 8th of February, 1863, and there he was reared to manhood, acquiring his education in the common schools of his native country.