Mr. Leonard is a republican in his political views and fraternally is connected with Waitsburg Lodge, No. 16, A. F. & A. M.; Dayton Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M.; and Walla Walla Commandery, No. 1, K. T. He also has membership with El Katif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Spokane, and belongs to Whetstone Lodge, No. 157, K. of P., of Prescott. His record is an inspiring one, for out of a struggle with small opportunities he has come into a field of broad and active influence and usefulness. Quick discernment and the faculty of separating the important features of any subject from its incidental or accidental circumstances have been strong phases in his career. His business has ever balanced up with the principles of truth and honor. He has ever been possessed of sufficient courage to venture where favoring opportunity is presented and his judgment and even-paced energy have carried him forward to the goal of success. His quietude of deportment, his frankness and cordiality of address, with the total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, foretoken a man who is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability, right conception of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activity.
JOHN F. BREWER.
Twelve years have passed since John F. Brewer was called to his final rest, but his memory is cherished by many who knew him, as he stood as a high type of manhood and citizenship and was devoted to the welfare and progress not only of his family but of the community in which he lived. He was born in Scotland county, Missouri, November 9, 1842, a son of David and Susan (Small) Brewer, who crossed the plains with an ox team in 1853, reaching Salem, Oregon, where they established their home. Their son, John F., was then a little lad of ten years and he completed his public school training in Salem, while later he pursued a course of study in Sublimity College, some fourteen miles from Salem. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in the public schools for many years, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that he had acquired. In 1872 he removed to the Walla Walla valley, where he engaged in farming. His agricultural interests were carefully and successfully conducted and for many years he concentrated his efforts and attention upon the development of the fields. At length, however, he left the farm and removed to Walla Walla, building a handsome home on Boyer avenue. In 1876 he purchased a large tract of land east of the city and became one of the leading and extensive farmers of Walla Walla county. In 1890 he removed to Seattle, where he platted a tract of land which he called the Walla Walla addition but in this enterprise he was not successful and returned to Walla Walla, where his investments were judiciously made, his business affairs capably managed and his enterprise brought to him a very gratifying and substantial measure of success.
In March, 1872, Mr. Brewer was united in marriage to Miss Adora D. Stanton, a native of Oregon and a daughter of Benjamin and Matilda (Baldwin) Stanton. Her parents were natives of Kentucky and crossed the plains by wagon in 1852, settling near Salem, Oregon. They had a family of eleven children, of whom seven are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer became the parents of nine children, namely: John, who is manager of the Commercial Club at The Dalles, Oregon, but is now in the government service at Portland Oregon; Merton, a practicing attorney at Auburn, Washington; Ada, who has passed away; Frank, living in Walla Walla county; Maud, the wife of Charles Ulm, of Ritzville; Bertha, who is the widow of Eugene Dunbar and now lives in Anchorage, Alaska; Dora, who is the wife of Fred Snedecor, of Corona, California; Roy, who is a sergeant in the United States army with the First Illinois Infantry; and Luella, the wife of Frank Harlow, of Los Angeles, California.
JOHN F. BREWER
