On the 13th of March of the same year Mr. Edmiston was united in marriage to Miss Helen E. Lacey, a native of Clackamas county, Oregon, and a daughter of Lewis A. Lacey, who was of French-Huguenot stock, his ancestors having fled to the new world because of religious persecution early in the seventeenth century. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Edmiston was an officer under Washington and Lafayette in the Revolutionary war and he lost two of his fingers in the battle of Bunker Hill. His son, Lewis A. Lacey, came to the northwest in 1852, making his way to Oregon accompanied by his wife, Leonora (Herring) Lacey, who was a native of Swansea, Wales, their marriage ceremony having been performed at Mount Morris, New York. The services were completed about fifteen minutes before they started on their westward journey to Indiana and from there they traveled with ox team and wagon to Oregon. Mr. Lacey's brother, his brother's wife and child died of mountain fever while en route and many other members of the party were buried by the side of the trail. They suffered on account of hostile Indians and the journey was a most hazardous and difficult one. On reaching the Willamette valley Mr. Lacey took up a donation claim and gave his attention to farming and stock raising, spending his remaining days upon the old homestead at Springwater in Clackamas county, where he passed away in 1899, at the notable old age of ninety-four years. His widow died on the 1st of March, 1900, at the age of seventy-one years.
Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Edmiston removed to Colfax, Washington, where for three years he was engaged in teaching school. In 1876 he took up his abode in Dayton, where for some years following he devoted his attention to teaching and then engaged in selling farm machinery. He also operated a large sawmill and was identified with various other business interests which have contributed to the material development and progress of this section of the state. Mr. Edmiston had been educated with a view to entering the ministry but subsequently turned his attention to law and pursued his reading under the preceptorship of John Y. Ostrander. In 1885 he was admitted to the bar and entered upon the practice of his profession, becoming one of the prominent lawyers of Columbia county. He then continued in active practice until a short time prior to his death, which occurred on the 8th of May, 1900. In his law practice he was long associated with Judge C. F. Miller and their friendship relations were very close. Their practice was extensive and of an important character. Mr. Edmiston was remarkable among lawyers for the wide research and provident care with which he prepared his cases. At no time was his reading ever confined to the limitations of the questions at issue. It went beyond and compassed every contingency and provided not alone for the expected but also for the unexpected, which happens in the courts quite as frequently as out of them. His legal learning, his analytical mind, the readiness with which he grasped the points in an argument all combined to make him one of the capable attorneys at the bar of Columbia county and the public and the profession acknowledged him the peer of the ablest regarding him as a jurist of exceptionally rare ability.
Aside from his professional connections Mr. Edmiston figured very prominently in the public life of the community. At one time he served as superintendent of schools of Columbia county. He first came prominently into public notice when elected a member of the upper house of the Washington territorial legislature and for many years he was a member of the state central committee of the democratic party. In 1894 he was offered the nomination for governor but refused to become a candidate. While undoubtedly not without that laudable ambition which is so valuable as an incentive to public service, he nevertheless regarded the pursuits of private life as in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts and with remarkable fidelity he labored for the interests of his clients. It is said that he never lost a case which he appealed to the supreme court. In 1886 he was prosecuting attorney of Columbia county.
Mr. Edmiston was considered the highest authority on Masonic jurisprudence in the state and was chairman of that committee in the grand lodge for ten years. He was past grand master of the state of Washington and past grand patron of the Eastern Star. There was a close relationship between him and Dr. Van Patten, who was his family physician from 1884 until his death and has continued as such to Mrs. Edmiston. They were the best of friends and while not associated together in business often consulted one another on business matters. Mr. Edmiston was leader of the choir in the Presbyterian church for many years and in this work was also associated with the Doctor and together they often took vacation trips. It was the earnest desire of Mr. Edmiston that Dr. Van Patten allow himself to be put in line for higher Masonic honors, which eventually resulted in the latter becoming grand junior warden in 1901 and grand master in 1904.
For a long period Mr. Edmiston was collecting data for a history of southeastern Washington but died before the completion of the work. He was president of the board of regents of the Washington State College at Pullman and on the day of his burial the college was closed in respect to his memory. Every business house and the schools of Dayton were also closed and the day was given over to sincere mourning by the entire community. He was buried with Masonic honors and the Grand Lodge of Washington took charge of the funeral services, the Hon. Levi Ankeny, past grand master of the state, officiating. The bar of Dayton passed appropriate resolutions and every mark of respect that could be shown, both in a public and a private way, was evidenced. He was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian church and was a teacher in its Sunday school for many years. Much more might be said in eulogy of this man, who was loved by all who knew him and whose influence was always for the betterment and uplift of mankind. His memory is enshrined in the hearts of those who knew him and remains as a blessed benediction to those who were his associates while he was still an active factor in the world's work. Mrs. Edmiston still lives in the old home in Dayton. She is a past grand matron of the Order of the Eastern Star and is now in charge of the Dayton Branch of the Red Cross, in which work she is very active, giving freely of her time and energies as well as her means and efforts to improve the conditions under which the young men of the country must serve in a military capacity. She was formerly president of the Monday Reading Club and has long been foremost in social circles and in welfare work in the northwest. Both Mr. and Mrs. Edmiston belong to that class who shed around them much of the sunshine of life.
JULES De RUWE.
Jules De Ruwe is the owner of one of the best improved farms of his section of the country, having an extensive acreage near Turner, Washington. He was born in Belgium, July 17, 1885, and is a son of Peter and Julia De Ruwe, who were natives of that land. Educated in Belgium, Jules De Ruwe acquired a good education there and in 1905, when a young man of twenty years, crossed the Atlantic to the new world, making his way direct to Washington, where he became identified with the sheep industry, conducting business on a large scale in connection with his brothers, prominently known as leading sheep men of this section of the state. They finally dissolved partnership, however, and each is now conducting his business interests individually. In the fall of 1917 Jules De Ruwe purchased his present ranch, comprising eleven hundred acres of land twelve miles north of Dayton on the Tucanon river. This is one of the best improved ranches in his part of the county and Mr. De Ruwe is now equipping it with a thoroughly modern set of buildings, in which he is installing electric light and running water. In fact, he is adding every modern equipment and comfort and his farm work is being conducted along progressive and scientific lines. His sheep are of the Rambouillet breed and are among the best to be found in the state of Washington.
On the 17th of October, 1917, Mr. De Ruwe was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Davidson, a daughter of Daniel and Ethel Davidson, of Starbuck, Washington, who were also ranch people. Mr. De Ruwe is a member of the Catholic church, while his wife holds membership in the Christian church. While he has been on this side the Atlantic for only a few years he is thoroughly American in spirit and interests, having a strong attachment for the government and the institutions of the new world. It often seems that native born citizens come by the privileges of American life too easily to appreciate them in the fullest degree. At least some of those who have sacrificed and suffered to obtain them value their blessings more highly than those to whom they come as a matter of course. Mr. De Ruwe is among the loyal residents of the northwest and in the utilization of the opportunities which have come to him he has made for himself a very creditable position among the successful business men of Washington.