Clark County WA Archives Biographies.....Bennett, Guy 1878 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com and June 20, 2009, 2:00 pm Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company GUY BENNETT, proprietor of the Bennett Hardware Company of Vancouver, has made an excellent business record and has attained, not only a very satisfactory measure of material success, but also the confidence of the people of his community, among whom he is regarded as a progressive, honorable and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Bennett was born in Scholls, Oregon, in 1878, a son of J. R. and Sarah (Scholl) Bennett. The father came west in 1852, locating at Tigard, Oregon, then called Tigardsville, where he took up a donation land claim but later sold it and moved to Scholls. In early days he followed farming here, but in the late '60s and early '70s operated a sawmill, being one of the pioneers in that line. His death occurred in 1888. Sarah Scholl was born in Scott county, Illinois, March 12, 1833, and was a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Cowbick) Scholl. Peter Scholl was born in Clarke county, Kentucky, October 2, 1809, and died November 23, 1872, while his wife was born in Champaign county, Illinois, May 7, 1808, and died February 1, 1872. Their marriage occurred on August 21, 1828. Peter Scholl, who was a grandnephew of Daniel Boone and served in the Black Hawk Indian war, brought his wife and family of eight children to the coast in 1847, settling at Scholls, which place was named in his honor, and there he took up a donation land claim. He operated the ferry at what became known as Scholls Ferry. Mrs. Sarah (Scholl) Bennett, who died February 19, 1883, was married twice, her first husband having been Charles J. Merrell, who died November 16, 1857. On February 22, 1859, she became the wife of J. R. Bennett. By her first marriage she had two children and had five children by her second marriage. After his mother's death, Guy Bennett was sent to Vancouver to live and in the public schools of this city he received his early educational training, attending the old Central school. After leaving school he fired a donkey engine for a short time and then worked for the Honeyman Hardware Company at Portland, by whom he was employed in the repairing of bicycles. During the period from his tenth to thirteenth years he lived in eastern Washington, where he became personally acquainted with "Wild Goose Bill," one of the noted characters of that day and locality, and he went to school with his children. After the subsidence of the bicycle trade, Mr. Bennett was transferred to the hardware department of the Honeyman store, in which he worked until 1905, when he took a trip to the Orient as an oiler on a steamer, the round trip being made simply for the experience. In 1906, in partnership with William King, he bought a store at Newberg, Washington, which they ran for three years under the firm name of the King & Bennett Hardware Company. Mr. Bennett then sold his interests there and, coming to Vancouver, bought the hardware department of the Crawford-Marshall Company. This was one of the early stores of Vancouver, having been established by E. G. and W. P. Crawford, who soon afterward admitted F. N. Marshall as a partner, when the firm became the Crawford-Marshall Company. They first conducted a grocery store but later added all lines of general merchandise excepting dry goods. Subsequently the different departments were sold and the firm continued the hardware business until February, 1910, when it was sold to Mr. Bennett, who is doing business under the name of the Bennett Hardware Company. The business was first located in the Crawford-Marshall building at Fifth and Main streets, but in 1922 Mr. Bennett moved to his present location at 905-07 Washington street, where he has a fine, well arranged store room, fifty by one hundred feet in size. He carries a full line of hardware, building material, paints, oils, household hardware and radios and through his square dealing accommodation and courtesy has built up a large trade. In 1913 Mr. Bennett was united in marriage to Miss Frances L. Henry, whose family was early established in North Carolina, having located in this country prior to the Revolutionary war. Her grandfather celebrated his one hundredth birthday in 1927. To Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have been born four children, James R., Robert, Barbara Jane and Thomas. Mr. Bennett is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce, and has been a member of the Multnomah Club of Portland since 1898. Mrs. Bennett is a member of the Grange and the Mothers Club. Mr. Bennett is everywhere spoken of as a citizen of worth, possessing many sterling traits of character, and he commands the good will of all who know him, as he is a man of cordial and friendly manner and has lived a consistent and upright life in all of its relations. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Pages 915-916 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/clark/bios/bennett46gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wafiles/ File size: 5.5 Kb