Weythmanj  
 
 

Transcribed from "History of North Washington, an illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties", published by Western Historical Publishing Co., 1904.

     JAMES L. WEYTHMAN, one of the enterprising, broad-minded and progressive farmers of Chelan county, resides in a beautiful home, surrounded by all the conveniences of ranch life, a few miles from Monitor, Washington.  Kansas is the state of his nativity, and the date of his birth, January 7, 1860.  His parents, John B. and Frances (Smith) Weythman, were natives of Germany.  The father came to this country early in the '30s and located at New Orleans, Louisiana.  In the Mexican war he participated, as scout, and died in Kansas, August 12, 1889. The mother had previously passed away in 1863.
     Until the age of twenty-one our subject worked and attended school in Kansas. In 1882 he went to Washington, rented a farm near Vancouver, which he continued to work three years.  In 1885 he came to the Wenatchee valley, and filed on a quarter section of land, his present home, located on what is known as "Brown's Flat," and first settled by our subject and three Brown brothers, elsewhere mentioned.  He has a fine bearing orchard, and last season sold eight hundred boxes of fruit.  His home is a handsome, two-story house, surrounded by an extensive lawn.  He has wintered as many as fifty head of stock.  Our subject has five brothers, Louis, Benjamin, Charles, George and Joseph S., and four sisters, Julia Silvers, Rosina Gordon, Mary Ingersoll, and Ellen Raife.
     At Ellensburg, Washington, March 4, 1891, Mr. Weythman was married to Mary Elizabeth Boyle, born near Clayton, Adams county, Illinois, January 15, 1862.  Her father; Charles Boyle, a native of Kentucky, is of Irish descent, but the family is an old Kentucky, one, dating back many generations.  At present he lives at McComb, Illinois.  The mother, Mary (Donaldson) Boyle, was also a native Kentuckian.  She died when Mrs. Weythman was eight years old.  The latter has one brother and two half brothers, Charles, and John and Henry C.  To Mr. and Mrs. Weythman have been born five children, Bessie, Chester, John, Ruth, and Leslie.  Our subject is a member of the A. 0. U. W., being Past Master Workman, and of the M. W. A.  Both himself and wife are members of the Degree of Honor.  Politically, Mr. Weythman is a Republican, though not an active worker in the party.  He is an excellent citizen, highly esteemed and ever alert to the welfare of the community in which he resides.
     By way of reminiscence it is interesting to note that Mr. Weythman was obliged to pack his household goods to his present place on horses and only then could he reach his claim by fording the Wenatchee river several times.  He remarks that jackrabbits and coyotes were the only settlers when he arrived.  He was accompanied by G. W. Brown, mentioned elsewhere in this volume and the two spent the first winter in a small log cabin and he gives the bill of fare as follows, bacon, beans, coffee, and sour dough bread.  However, they were enabled to bag considerable game, as deer was plentiful and the winter passed pleasantly.  He and Mr. Brown erected the first wheel to raise water out of the Wenatchee river, and although the same has been in use for thirteen years, it is still raising water for their orchards.