Transcribed from "An Illustrated History of The
Big Bend Country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams and Franklin counties,
State of Washington", published by Western Historical Publishing
Co., 1904.
JOHN A. LEVEL, deputy sheriff
of Lincoln county, and residing at Davenport, the county seat, was born
in Iowa county, Wisconsin, June 5, 1856. His parents were James and
Susan (Garrison) Level. The father, a native of Cambridgeshire, England,
came to the United States when be was twelve years of age, accompanied
by his parents. They located near Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and during
the Civil War the father served in Company C, Thirty-first Wisconsin Infantry.
He was with the army two years and eight months, being wounded in battle
and returned home. He died at Randolph, Nebraska, August 3, 1903.
The mother died when our subject was five years old.
John A. Level was reared,
principally, in Wisconsin, and at the age of twenty-two he faced the world
for himself. In 1878 he was in Colorado, thence going to the Puget
Sound country, and subsequently to the Willamette valley. He was
at The Dalles, Oregon, through the summer of 1879, and the same fall he
went to Walla Walla, Washington. In February, 1880, he began working
for the Northern Pacific Railway Company, with which he continued four
years. The fall of that year he filed on a homestead seven miles
northeast of Davenport, and during the intervening six years between 1884
and 1890 he was engaged successfully in farming. Disposing of his
property he removed to Davenport, but subsequently purchased other lands
six miles from the city limits, which he cultivated until 1894. In
1896 Mr. Level became city marshal of Davenport, serving two years.
Afterward he filled the office of deputy sheriff, did teaming, conducted
a threshing machine and engaged in other employments. January 12,
1903 he was appointed deputy sheriff and disposed of his threshing outfit.
He owns a substantial home residence in Davenport. Our subject has
four half brothers, James W., Leonard A., Jonas and Joseph, and one full
sister, Sarah, wife of Daniel Donnahue, a farmer living near Davenport.
His half sisters are Alice, wife of James Waggoner; Edith, wife of Luther
Kriss; Annie, wife of George Creighton; and Helen, who is single and resides
at home with her mother, the step-mother of our subject.
October 28, 1882, near
Rathdrum, Idaho, Mr. Level was married to Ella Quinn, born at Grinnell,
Iowa, September 2, 1865. Her father, Peter Quinn, was a native of
Ireland; the mother, Delia (Munroe) Quinn, a native of Canada, now residing
in Spokane. Mrs. Level has five brothers, John, William, Peter, Edward
and Frank. She is the mother of four children, Minnie, a teacher,
and a graduate of the Davenport high school; Anna, John and Edward, living
at home. Mr. Level is a member of the I. O. O. F., A. O. U. W., M.
W. A., K. O. T. M., and the A. F. & A. M., all of Davenport.
He is a Republican, and has been a member of the city council and is now
president of the school board.