In November of 1854, the library was relocated to a small wood-frame building on Fourth and Main Street. Territorial Librarian B.F. Kendall had the structure built specifically to hold the library materials, the law insisting that it be housed “as convenient as possible to the house occupied by the legislative assembly.”
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
[The Territorial Librarian profiles were compiled by Sean Lanksbury, Mary Schaff, Kim Smeenk, and Steve Willis] Born ca. 1825, Pennsylvanian “Harry” Crosbie was elected to the first three territorial legislative sessions (1854-1855) as a member of the House representing Clark County (then known as Clarke County), where he had been District Court Clerk. In his capacity as a House member he was also on the first Commission on Education. In the 2nd Session he served as Speaker of the House….