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Category: WSL 160

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Benjamin F. Yantis, 1873-1875

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Benjamin F. Yantis, 1873-1875

 Benjamin Franklin Yantis, 1873-1875 From the Desks of the Central Library Staff Born Mar. 19, 1807 in Garrard County, Ky., B.F. Yantis emigrated to Missouri in 1835, where he became the Superior Court Judge of Saline County. In 1850 (some sources say 1852) he was part of an overland party to the Oregon country that was an ordeal even by pioneering standards. His wife was included among the several deaths in the group. Judge Yantis ran a stage line to…

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Oh, the places you’ll go!

Oh, the places you’ll go!

From the desk of Sean Lanksbury. PNW & Special Collections Librarian As the Washington State Library nears its 160th anniversary, the staff here have been reflecting on the movement, growth, and development of the Library’s collections  and services from the Territorial up through this modern era – and the impact these factors have had on life of Washingtonians. Follow us over the next few weeks as we trace the movement of the original Territorial Library Collection, which not only lives on at the…

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Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Isaac Van Dorsey Mossman, 1870-1873

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Isaac Van Dorsey Mossman, 1870-1873

Isaac Van Dorsey Mossman, 1870-1873 From the Desks of the Central Library Staff “We doubt not,” said the Daily Pacific Tribune, “that Mr. Mossman will make an efficient and faithful librarian” when the fourth Territorial Librarian for the year 1870 was named. He was born Aug. 8, 1830 in Centerville, Indiana. Mossman arrived in Oregon City Oct. 20, 1853 as part of the Miller Party. Isaac took part in the 1855-1856 Indian War, holding the rank of Corporal and fighting…

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Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Champion B. Mann

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Champion B. Mann

Champion B, Mann   From the Desks of the Central Library Staff Longtime Olympia political fixture, C.B. Mann was born Nov. 2, 1844 in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Mann attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and graduated from Portland Business College before arriving in Olympia in March 1870. He was assigned to the position of Territorial Librarian and served from Aug. 1 to Nov. 6, 1870. C.B. initially held the occupation of school teacher in Oregon and was chosen school district…

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Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Sylvester Hill Mann, 1870

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Sylvester Hill Mann, 1870

From the Desks of the Central Library Staff He was born May 6, 1817 in upstate New York. Raised in Pennsylvania, Mann was a soldier in a volunteer unit during the Civil War in 1862-1863. His occupation as a Methodist minister took him all over the Pacific Northwest. The Mann family arrived in Oregon’s Willamette River Valley via the Isthmus route in 1864. By 1870 Rev. Mann was sent to Olympia, where he found himself appointed to fill out the…

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Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians- Woodruff, Chapman, Shelton and Mabie 1866-1870

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians- Woodruff, Chapman, Shelton and Mabie 1866-1870

Samuel Nelson Woodruff, 1866 From the Desks of the Central Library Staff He was born Mar. 6, 1829 in Ohio. His journal during the 1852 overland trip to Olympia is now in the University of Washington’s collection. He married Samantha Packwood in Feb. 1854 and set himself up as a farmer. Woodruff was listed as “Town Marshall” in a July 1864 edition of the Pacific Tribune, an early territorial paper out of Olympia. His year-long term as Territorial Librarian was…

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Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Thomas Taylor, 1862 & John Paul Judson 1864

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Thomas Taylor, 1862 & John Paul Judson 1864

Thomas Taylor, 1862 From the Desks of the Central Library Staff Although no oath of office record exists today, Taylor was apparently Librarian in 1862. The March 29, 1862 issue of the Washington Standard includes this Library Notice: “All persons having books belonging to the Territorial Library will please return at once, or the by-laws will be put in force. Thos. Taylor, Ter. Librarian.” He quite probably was the same aged Thomas Taylor who was born Oct. 17, 1793 (some…

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Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – James Clark Head, 1860 – 1861, 1863, 1865

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – James Clark Head, 1860 – 1861, 1863, 1865

From the Desks of the Central Library Staff (Head served three nonconsecutive terms as Territorial Librarian.) J.C. Head was born in Washington County, Ky. in 1810. His family apparently lived in Illinois before their arrival in Olympia, Aug. 18, 1853. A carpenter by trade, Head also was made a Justice of the Peace and in 1856 presided over the case of the accused murderer of Leschi’s brother, Quiemuth. Bion Kendall was the attorney for the defense, Elwood Evans the prosecutor….

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Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Andrew Jackson Moses, 1859

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Andrew Jackson Moses, 1859

From the Desks of the Central Library Staff Called “a family of rascals” by one historian, the Moses brothers (Simpson, A.B., and Andrew, a native of South Carolina) along with Elwood Evans, came from Ohio to Olympia 1851 via the Nicaragua route. Simpson had been appointed the Collector and Andrew became a merchant on Main Street (Capitol Way). He had the instincts of an information professional when he ran this notice in the Feb. 5, 1853 issue of the Columbian…

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Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Urban East Hicks, 1858

Profiles of Washington Territorial Librarians – Urban East Hicks, 1858

From the Desks of the Central Library Staff Urban Hicks, the man with the paradoxical name, was born May 14, 1828 in Missouri where he learned the printing trade in the towns of Paris and Hannibal. Coming to Oregon Territory in 1851 as part of the Ruddell Party, he lived in several places before settling in Olympia. Hicks held a variety of local offices, including County Clerk and Assessor. Served with distinction during the Indian War of 1855-1856, rising to…

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