The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-03-16
THE OLD UNIVERSITY.
How II Was Bnilf and the Men
Who Built Ii.
n WAS WAY OUT IN TIE WOODS
a Trail Had 10 Open the Way From
the Present P.r-tofsice The Du-
fie@ or the Old He'll.

Thi-ty~foar YEARS ago saturday IN. erss
work on the old state university was con-
nsenee1. and 81 fte aId-sirners who fsr
aissi~fi materials fer the bfsiidfng and
rsose wh1 6ld the manual labor. many
ia;sr srsafsE into prominence, bat Fos~ only
a few srf lsft. the majority ~ che h@rtsy
raosteers having been gathered 10 their
fathers. At the firne fsse old university
Was built there was MACH more talk
about fsa site being "osIf tn the coaB~
try than there haz been concerning the
new site on wfieh the university that IL
row being constructed on the shsres Of
Union has. When the old university was
built th. university hoard OF commits
slonsgs consisted OF Rev. Daniel 5aRiey.
John Webster and Edmund Carr, the first
- president Of the hoard. tseing saperin-
fen5ent in charge Of the work. In those
days the unbroken forest commenced
where the sostoffice now stands and IL
VAS necessary 20 cut a trail through the
woods to the school. Later. la order is>et
the building and grounds could be seen
from the bay. the timber on the plateau
where the Plymouth Congregational
church and the residences Of Angus Mac
ksntosh and Dexter Horton now stand
was cut down and tn. ground partially
cleared.
Thirfy-thrse years ago Thursday the
old tell In the university was placed In
position. and every day since that time II
has called the students 10 school, has
been In tie secret Of she pranks OF many
3 niischicvops schooiboy and has at all
times been identified with the early hts
tory OF the city. Long before the day OF
lighthouses and bouys II was customary
10 ring the bell at Intervals in f0ggy
weather 20 warn what few steamers and
coasters happened to be In these waters
OF their approach 10 land. 1t also served
the purpose of warning the people In
cases Of fire. The bell was also rung at
the time OF the hanging Of Payne. How
ard and Sullivan IN 1sss. when the ex-
O high pitch by the continued acts OF
plumber. lawiessness aud murder.
Clarence n. Bagiey. who was identified
with the building OF the university and
WAS one OF the first men 10 help break
the ground for the site of the building.
said yesterday
-Forty-eight persons were employed on
tho work and nearly all the lumber for
the building was secured from the mills
1t Port BlakeIey and Port Madison, while
the white pine for the finishing, siding.
doors. sash. etc. came from a mill at
Eeabeck on Hood canal. 1 have been
looking over the books my father kept
~ that time and Ind the names of many
persons whom all oid-timers viii remem-
her. I found the entry relating to receiv-
ing 1000 brick from Capt. IT, III. Roeder.
the price being 1850 per thousand. while
lime was 50 per barrel and cement $50
per barrel. Another entry shows that
seven gross OF ordinary wood screws cost
In that early day Ss.5s. Capt Roeder Is
now a resident OF Whatcom county.
The wages then were not very high. the
ordinary workmen receiving s. and ST.
per day and the carpenters and masons
q per day.
ron the 10th of March John Pike and
his son Harvey pike began To clear the
ground for the buildings and 8 few days
later James Crow and myself COM
Ynenced. The Pixies cleared the acre Of
ground In the southeast corner and We
cleared the acre just adjoining, so that
we four gruhked the land on which tho
principal building now stands. All the
trees were cut down and the land leveled
oa. and the trees which now grace the
grounds started from seeds and CON-
menced TO grow up few years later and
are now about g years old. Among she
men who helped clear the lard were:
Hillory Butler. John Carr. W II. Hyde.
Edward Richardson, l.. Hoigate. III. A.
Atkins. Jim Hunt. l.. b. Andrews.
l.. Pinkham. Ira woodin, Or. Josiah Set
tlc. parmelee Il Dudley. and OF that num-
Der there are now dead Carr. Hyde. Hoi-
gate. Atkins and parmeiee & Dudley. Mr..
Crow Is now living at Kent and owns
good deal OF property there. Mr.. Carr
was a relative of tho Hanfords. Mr.. Hol-
gate was n brother OF the Holgate who
was Killed in Seattle during the Indian
war, being shot dead while standing at
the door OF the fort. He was an uncle OF
the Hanfords. MIR. Atkins was mayor Of
the town at one time.
.iR. King. who dressed the Flagstaff. Is
not among the living. The Transfers who
did most of the hauling were fIiliory But
Ter. Thomas Mercer and ID. II. Ward, all
of N,som are stili living. William White
was blacksmith here then and did good
deal OF work on the building. He Is low
living In California and is weli-so-do. but
his son IL sun resident OF
Seattle, Thomas Russell was the
contractor for putting up the frame
OF the university building. He died
some tln,e since and OF his estate there Is
left the Russell House. and his family Is
well known. John Dodge and John T.
work. both OF whom are ROW dead. bat
they have children who stili like in this
city. The stone for the foundation was
secured from Port Orchard and the lime
safnc from Victoria, being secured here
a. large cost.
George Austin. who raised the nag
stan ard put the top on. has been dead
\
Denny & Go. kept stoses In those days
and furnished the nails. hardware and
general msrchs asiise, Mr.. Horizons store
waz where abe hank now stands aud the
store OF Yesler. Denny 4 90. Was where
the National Rank Of Commerce now
stands. l.. V. Wyckoff. the father OF Van
WyckofY. who Was sheriff of the county
for many years, did considerable hauling
aud Drawing he Is also dead Frank
Matthias vas carpenter and did \ good
deal OF the finishing work He died tn
California and hts heirs have since been
fighting for his estate. IL. NcA. Jeag kept
O stove and hardware store aud furnished
the stoves for the building he Is now
dead and there has been a contest over
seme Of his property in the famous Hili
tract tu this city.
IN c. Beatty AMI r. II Realty. not
relatives. were beth carpenters The
farnier Is now living cn farm near
olympia and the latter Is in the insane
agxiurn AZ StciiaCooas. Ira Noe,sin ~ Stlli
alive AMI Is the founder ~ woot,invills
In IN early days Mr.. NoCdin aud his
father owned the coly faanery in the
country. witch vas heated at the corner
az South Fourth street and Yesler avenue.
then Mitl street. n J. Cars whose narae
appears as n carpenter. lives az Edge.
water. lie was ths postmaster az the
fown for many years. q. q Shorev and
a y netdn As Shorey & Ise LIN. fur.
riskcd the desks fer the several roogus
and also made tne columns that grace
the front entrance 81 the huiisiine Mr.
1fef.In has for many years sseen a rest
dent % Portland and Is known as the
3unsor member OF the undertaking farfa og
Holman e sAs LIN.
''ftunaber & tiynss furnished some OF
the materials used IN the construction
George " Harris, auditor ~ The Lake
Shese rssaa. - stsrxon 81 Mr.. Plumber