Mr. Farrish was united in marriage to Miss Content V. Bean, who was born April 14, 1847, in Union county, Wisconsin, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. G. Bean, who were pioneers of Washington. On removing westward from Wisconsin they settled for a time on the Walla Walla river, where the father conducted a shingle mill. The marriage of Mr, and Mrs. Farrish was celebrated in Plover, Wisconsin, on the 31st of March, 1869, and to them were born seven children: William Thomas, born in Port Edwards, Wisconsin, February 14, 1870, and now a resident of Walla Walla, married Georgia Bradley and to them were born four children. Frank A., born in Port Edwards, Wisconsin, December 16, 1873, is now a resident of Anatone and operates the sawmill there. He married Nellie Smelcer and to them were born three children who are living and one who died in infancy. Harry H., born in Port Edwards, Wisconsin, April 16, 1876, and now ably conducting the home ranch, married Carrie Evans and they have two children: Gervais, who died in infancy; and Colin. The younger children of this family were all born in the same house although in different counties, owing to the various divisions which were made in the counties at that period. Arthur, who was born in Columbia county July 7, 1878, is now conducting his father's interests in the lumber business and lives at home. Grace was born in Columbia county June 25, 1880, and is the wife of George N. Ausman, a prominent rancher of Asotin county and a son of one of the early and honored pioneer settlers mentioned elsewhere in this work. They have six children. Robert Bruce was born July 14, 1883, and now occupies a homestead ten miles from the town of Asotin, in Asotin county. He married Maud Trent and they have become the parents of two daughters. Edith, born August 8, 1886, in Asotin county, is the wife of E. R. Downen, who served two terms as county treasurer and is now county assessor, and they have two sons. The wife and mother passed away in Asotin, November 14, 1906, and her death was the occasion of deep and widespread regret, for she had endeared herself to many with whom she had been brought into contact. She was a consistent member of the Methodist church, to which Mr. Farrish also belongs.
In politics he is a staunch republican and represented his district in the state legislature in the first, second and third sessions after Washington was admitted to the Union. He was made a Mason in Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, in 1852 and holds membership in the Royal Arch Chapter in Lewiston. He is the only living charter member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Anatone.
FREDERICK J. FLEISCHER.
Frederick J. Fleischer occupies a central place on the stage of business and political activity in Prescott. Important public and private interests have been controlled by him to the benefit of the public and he well deserves the position of leadership which is accorded him. He is vice president and the cashier of the First State Bank of Prescott and is now serving as mayor of the city. He was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on the 16th of May, 1871, and is a son of John A. and Elizabeth (Miller) Fleischer. His paternal grandfather, Knute J. Fleischer, was of German descent on his father's side, although of Norwegian birth, and he came to the United States as Norwegian consul.
John A. Fleischer, father of Frederick J. Fleischer, was born in 1846 and was but five years of age when brought by his parents to the new world, so that he was reared in Madison, Wisconsin, where the family home was established. He was a youth of seventeen when, in response to the call of the country for troops to service in the Civil war, he enlisted in a Wisconsin regiment and through the following two years rose to the rank of second lieutenant. The war having ended, he was then honorably discharged and returned to Madison, Wisconsin, where he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Miller, a native of that city, the wedding being there celebrated in 1868. They began their domestic life in Madison, where they continued to reside until 1872, and then removed to Pelican Rapids, in Otter Tail county, Minnesota, where the father secured a homestead and engaged in farming for thirty-four years, being thus ranked for more than a third of a century with the representative and honored residents of that part of that state. In 1906 he came west and settled first in Lewiston, Idaho, where he remained for five years, and after a year or more spent in Seattle and in Portland he came to Prescott, Washington, where he has since resided. He is now living retired, enjoying the fruits of his former toil, for his years of indefatigable industry and perseverance have brought to him a substantial competence that enables him to rest from further labor.
Frederick J. Fleischer, whose name introduces this review, was reared upon the home farm in Ottertail county, Minnesota, with the usual experiences of the farmbred boy. He supplemented his public school training by a business course received in Dixon, Illinois, and until his twenty-seventh year remained upon the home farm, assisting his father in its cultivation through the summer months, while in the winter seasons he engaged in teaching. In 1898 he accepted a position as bookkeeper in the J. P. Wallace State Bank of Pelican Rapids and three years later he became one of the stockholders in the bank and was made a member of its board of directors. He was also elected cashier of the bank, in which position he continued to serve until 1906, when he sold his interest in that institution and came to the west with his father, making his way to Lewiston, Idaho. On the 1st of January, 1907, he went to Moscow, Idaho, to accept the cashiership of the Moscow State Bank. During the following year the bank changed hands and in January, 1908, Mr. Fleischer went to Spokane, Washington, where he resided until the 1st of August of that year, when he came to Prescott. On the 1st of January following he purchased stock in the First State Bank and assumed the cashiership. This bank had passed through some severe financial reverses and the task of rebuilding it devolved upon Mr. Fleischer. How well this task has been performed is told in the present condition of the bank's affairs. When he took charge the deposits amounted to about thirty thousand dollars. Today and for several years past the deposits have averaged about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and the affairs of the bank are in splendid condition in every way. Mr. Fleischer brought to his work long experience, keen sagacity and notably sound discrimination and his close application and careful management have brought most satisfactory results.
On the 26th of June, 1901, Mr. Fleischer was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte G. Hicks, of Milnor, North Dakota, and to them have been four children, of whom three are living, Ernestine Lois, Frederick J. and Hugh Warren.
Mr. Fleischer is a republican but not a narrow partisan. On the contrary he is a man of broad and liberal views, but is unfaltering in his allegiance to a principle in which he firmly believes. He has served as a delegate to the republican state conventions of Minnesota on two different occasions and he was city treasurer of Pelican Rapids for a number of years. Since coming to Prescott he has also been called upon to fill positions of public honor and trust by his fellow citizens, who recognized his splendid ability as a business man and desired that the city might benefit by that ability. He was made a member of the city council, in which he served for a number of years, and for two years he has been mayor of Prescott. His administration is businesslike and progressive. It has resulted in bringing about various improvements and while he avoids all useless expenditure he also equally avoids that retrenchment which blocks public progress. In a word his sound judgment discriminates between the essential and the non-essential in regard to municipal affairs just as surely as it does in relation to the interests of the bank, which has grown so steadily under his direction.
Mr. Fleischer is well known in Masonic circles, holding membership in Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M.; Walla Walla Chapter, No. 1, R. A. M.; and Washington Commandery, No. 1, K. T. He is also identified with El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Spokane, and he belongs to Whetstone Lodge, No. 157, K. P., of Prescott, in which latter he has held all the chairs. He and his wife are members of the Order of the Eastern Star at Waitsburg and both are actively identified with the Federated church of Prescott, taking an active and helpful interest in all that pertains to the improvement and upbuilding of their city along material, intellectual, social and moral lines. Without invidious distinction Mr. Fleischer may well be termed one of the foremost men of Prescott, loyal to every interest of general benefit, while his course in private affairs marks him as a man of high honor.