Klickitat County WA Archives Biographies.....Cravens, P. H. 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 27, 2009, 6:58 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     P. H. CRAVENS, one of the owners of the Cravens & Emstrum Hardware 
Company at White Salmon, is a man of business experience and mature judgment, 
and since coming to this city has won a high place in the estimation of his 
fellow citizens, who have found him honorable and fair in all of his dealings. 
Mr. Cravens was born in Marion county, Iowa, and is a son of Frank and Sarah 
(Barnhart) Cravens, the former a native of Iowa and the latter of Ohio, and 
both are still living in Iowa, where the father is successfully engaged in 
farming.

     Mr. Cravens was educated in the public schools and the junior high school 
at Dallas, Iowa, after which he took a business course in Drake University, at 
Des Moines, Iowa. Remaining in that city, he went to work for the Crane 
Company, dealers in plumbing supplies, being employed in the office. He was 
with that concern for four years and in 1911 came to the coast locating in 
Portland, where for six months he was with the Crane Company. In the fall of 
that year he came to White Salmon and bought seven and a half acres of timber 
and brush land at Husum, Klickitat county, and proceeded to clear off most of 
the land, which he planted to strawberries. He lived on that place until 1920, 
when he returned to Iowa, where he remained about a year, when, the lure of 
the west proving irrestible, he came back to White Salmon and went to work for 
the White Salmon Hardware Company. He was made manager of the store in 1924, 
holding that position until 1926, when he and U. I. Emstrum bought the 
business, which they have since conducted under the name of the Cravens & 
Emstrum Hardware Company. They carry a full line of heavy and shelf hardware, 
guns, fishing tackle, sporting goods, house furnishings and utensils, paints, 
oils, drain tile, Hardy spraying machines and John Deere farming machinery and 
implements, and under their progressive management the business is enjoying a 
steady and healthy growth. The firm also owns its own building.

     On September 10, 1913, Mr. Cravens was united in marriage to Miss Hazel 
Vigus, a daughter of Thomas and Gertrude (Law) Vigus, the former a native of 
Kentucky and the latter of Pennsylvania. Mr. Vigus was a harnessmaker by trade 
and followed that occupation in Kansas and Iowa. In 1911 he came to Klickitat 
county and bought seven acres of brush and wood land, which he cleared and 
planted to strawberries, and there he resided until his death, in 1926. His 
widow is still living on the home place. Mrs. Cravens was born in Kansas and 
was about three years old when the family moved to Iowa, in the schools of 
which state she received her education. She accompanied her parents on their 
migration to Klickitat county and remained at home until her marriage. She is 
an active member of the hardware company, keeping the books and attending to 
the office work, and also waiting on the trade, particularly the women 
customers. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Women's 
Club and has shown a deep interest in the social and civic affairs of her 
community. Mr. and Mrs. Cravens have a son, Warren H., who was born in Husum, 
Klickitat county, on December 1, 1914, and is in grammar school.

     Mr. Cravens is a member of White Salmon Lodge, No. 163, A. F. & A. M., 
belonging also to the chapter of Royal Arch Masons and to the Order of the 
Eastern Star. He is a member of the city council and since coming to this city 
has evinced a commendable interest in the welfare and prosperity of the 
community. His uniform courtesy and accommodation have favorably impressed his 
patrons, while his integrity and his consistent conduct have gained for him 
the sincere respect of all who know him.


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 576-577

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