Clark County WA Archives Biographies.....Elwell, John H. 1864 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com September 19, 2009, 11:02 am

Source: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

      JOHN H. ELWELL.  To John H. Elwell belongs the distinction of being the 
dean of the real estate men of Vancouver, having been engaged in that line 
here almost continuously for over forty years. A good business man, 
progressive and enterprising in his methods, he has done important work in the 
development of his city and has met with well deserved prosperity. Mr. Elwell 
was born in Indiana in 1864 and is a son of Hiram and Julia (Perkins) Elwell. 
The mother was born in Ohio and died in 1925. Hiram Elwell was a native of 
Indiana and became a minister of the United Brethren church, in which calling 
he served in his native state until 1890, when he came to Washington and 
entered the ministry of the Presbyterian church. He filled a number of 
important pastorates here, remaining in the active ministry until 1905, when 
he retired. He had preached for forty-five years and was honored and beloved 
by all who knew him. His death occurred January 1, 1919.

     John H. Elwell secured his educational training in Indiana, attending the 
public schools and a seminary there, and then engaged in teaching school. In 
the meantime he had taken up the study of law under Judge M. D. White, a 
former member of congress, at Crawfordsville, Indiana, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1886. He had intended to devote his life to the legal profession, but 
in 1887, on his arrival in Vancouver, he changed his plans and turned his 
attention to the real estate business. In 1889 he was elected county clerk of 
Clark county, being the first incumbent of that office after the admission of 
Washington to statehood, and afterwards was elected a justice of the peace and 
judge of the city court, which offices he held for a number of years, during 
which he had retained his real estate office, and built up a large business. 
In the subsequent years he has handled a vast amount of city and country 
property. He now handles real estate, fire and automobile insurance, bonds and 
a general brokerage business and in these lines has been very successful. He 
put on several of the older additions to the city of Vancouver, the largest of 
which was the Armada Park addition, which is now the center of the residential 
district, and in which others were interested with him, though he was the 
active agent. Mr. Elwell’s only absence from his regular business here was 
from 1916 to 1919, when he was with Clark Savage in the office of commissioner 
of public lands at Olympia.

     In 1889, in Vancouver, Mr. Elwell was united in marriage to Miss Ida O. 
Leverich, an adopted daughter of B. N. and Anna R. Leverich, the former now 
deceased. Her father, D. L. Russell, was a member of the territorial 
legislature of Washington, and was prominent in the affairs of his day. Mr. 
and Mrs. ElweIl have two children: Lillian J., who is the widow of the late C. 
A. Watts and resides in Vancouver, and Dorothy P., who is the wife of Mark A. 
Postlewaite, of Southgate, California, and has a son, Mark E. Mr. Elwell is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed through the chairs, 
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Chamber of Commerce, in the 
operations of which he has taken an active part. He is widely and favorably 
known, being recognized as a man of sterling worth who in every relation of 
life has exemplified the highest standard of manhood and citizenship. A man of 
keen business discernment and sound judgment, he has ever been honorable in 
all of his dealings and has enjoyed the confidence of all who know him.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 284-285

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