Pacific County WA Archives Biographies.....Howerton, Joseph A. February 24, 1864 - ************************************************ 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 Wakley iwakley@msn.com February 14, 2011, 1:01 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 925 - 926 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company JOSEPH A. HOWERTON. The people of the western part of Pacific county, Washington, are under a great debt of gratitude to Joseph A. Howerton for his persistent and determined efforts to establish local telephone service, which he accomplished, often in the face of obstacles which would have discouraged one of less mettle. However, success eventually crowned his labors and today he is at the head of an extensive and prosperous business. On May 22, 1923, there appeared in the Portland Daily Journal the following article, written by Fred Lockley, after an interview with Mr. Howerton: "Joseph A. Howerton has been city clerk of Ilwaco, Washington, for the past thirty years and has been on the school board thirty years, all of which goes to show that he can qualify as a pioneer of Ilwaco. "'Did you ever read E. W. Howe's novel, "The Story of a Country Town"?' asked Mr. Howerton. 'He speaks of the town as "Twin Mounds," but in reality the town he is talking about is Atchison, Kansas. I was born at Atchison, February 24, 1864. I got a job as devil in a printing office. The first year I received one dollar and a half a week and boarded myself. Then they raised my pay to two dollars and a half a week. I worked at my trade there seven years and learned to be an all-around printer. For more than two years I was assistant foreman of the Western Newspaper Union at Kansas City. I also worked at the case on the Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Times. "'I came to Oregon in 1888. I landed a job as a compositor on the Oregonian and later I worked for twenty-one dollars a week for Baltes, the printer. Late in the fall of 1888 I came to Ilwaco. In 1890 I started the Ilwaco Advance. J. L. Stout was running the Seaview hotel in Seaview in those days, for Ilwaco was one of the principal seaside resorts along the coast. The old steamer "T. J. Potter" used to bring passengers from Portland to Ilwaco. About the only other hotels in those days on the North Beach were the Driftwood inn and Tinker's hotel. Seaborg had a cannery here, and Chabot, a Frenchman, had a cranberry bog. There was also considerable logging done. "'I ran the Advance two years, when I sold out and went to Fort Wrangell, Alaska, where I stayed until 1895. I was in the fishing business there. At that time the canneries paid one cent apiece for "pinks" and ten cents each for the spring run of "reds." Probably you know the "reds" better as the king salmon. Their average weight is thirty to forty pounds, though I saw a fisherman bring in a load once in which were two king salmon each of which weighed eighty-four pounds. He got ten cents apiece for them. "'In 1895 I came back to Ilwaco and started a furniture and hardware store. I own and operate the telephone system here now. Some years ago I took a contract to build a farmers' telephone line, which was three miles long. I lost thirty-nine dollars on the contract. This made me mad, and I determined to play even on the deal; so I bought the three-mile line and extended it to Chinook. There wasn't enough business on that short line to make any money; so I extended the line from Megler to Oysterville, so that now I have one hundred and four miles of line on the peninsula here, with two hundred and seven instruments. Business phones pay three dollars and a half a month and residence phones one dollar and a half a month. Losing that thirty-nine dollars resulted in my building up a profitable industry for myself, and something greatly needed here on the peninsula.'" In 1894 Mr. Howerton was united in marriage to Miss Margaret M. Hawkins, who was born on Sauvies island, near Portland, Oregon, and is a daughter of William and Margaret M. Hawkins, the former born in England and the latter in Lauder, Scotland, on April 6, 1840. In 1869 they came to the United States, and to them were born eleven children, nine of whom are living, namely: W. B. and R. A., Ilwaco, Washington; John B. and J. R., who live in Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Janette Babler, of Ilwaco; Mrs. Margaret M. Howerton; Mrs. A. Carmichael, of Vancouver, Washington; Ed T., of Ilwaco; Ben F., of Washougal, Washington; and Norman and Mrs. Belle Yeaton, both of whom are deceased. William Hawkins was engaged in the meat business in Portland for several years, but sold his interests there and moved to Ilwaco, where he bought a farm, to the cultivation of which he devoted his attention during the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1889. He was survived many years by his widow, who died on August 24, 1928, at the of eighty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Howerton are the parents of two children, Norman A., born in Ilwaco June 28, 1902, graduated from the high school at this place, attended the Oregon Agricultural College one year and is now in the real estate and insurance business in Ilwaco. James Raymond, born in Ilwaco, August 7, 1907, graduated from the Ilwaco high school, is now a telegraph operator and is associated with his father in the telephone business. Mr. Howerton is a member of Ilwaco Lodge, No. 99, A. F. & A. M., and Ilwaco Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., of which he is past noble grand. He has always shown a keen interest in everything concerning the welfare and progress of his locality and served thirty years as city clerk of Ilwaco and the same length of time as a member of the school board, his service in both offices being ended only by his resignation. He is entitled to great credit for his success in building up the telephone system of which he is the head, for his early efforts in extending the line were marked by the hardest kind of work. He recalls that in the early days he often carried his telephone instrument and a spool of wire on his back for miles through the woods, as there were at that time practically no roads in the neighborhoods to which he extended his line. He now owns a telephone building, has a modern and up-to-date equipment, and for the past eighteen years has also operated the Western Union Telegraph Company's business in this place, the telegraph line being in the telephone building. Mr. Howerton's hobby is collecting old coins, as well as rare new coins, and he is reputed to have the second largest and finest collection in the state of Washington, one of his coins bearing the date 1288. Mr. Howerton owns a comfortable and attractive home in Ilwaco, is one of his community's most progressive and public-spirited citizens and is held in high regard by all who know him. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/pacific/bios/howerton222gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wafiles/ File size: 7.2 Kb