F 891 .M45 15 1911 * In! J^^^^ffl ( V ^ 7 / JOHN HARTE MSGRAW Jfltjn i^uxit Mt(&tuw 3ftt ilUmoHam 3tol}tt ^arfr iHrtero A TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORY embodying addresses delivered at various ceremo- nies, and resolutions adopted by civic, educational and commercial organizations of the Pacific Coast PUBLISHED UNDER DIRECTION OF SEATTLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SEATTLE, 1911 ft/) printers : Lowman & Hanford Co. seattle, wash. 6 NOV 3 I QQi » \A C C D 3I« Mtmavxtxm eattk Seattle, Washington, June 28, 1910. A T A meeting of the Board of Directors of ZI the First National Bank held on the 28th -* -*■ day of June, 1910, the following resolution was adopted by a unanimous vote of the Board : "John H. McGraw, who for more than twenty years has faithfully performed his duties as an officer of this Bank in the various positions of Vice- President, President and Director, and to whose abilities, strict integrity, and conscientious per- formance of those duties the growth and prosperity of this Bank are largely due, died in this city on June 23, 1910. It seems proper for the remaining members of the Board of Directors to perpetuate on the records of this Bank some expression of his work for this institution, of the deep personal loss we are conscious of in his passing away, and of our sympathy with the surviving members of his family. "Therefore, Be It Unanimously Resolved, That in the death of Governor McGraw the officers of this Bank feel that one of the highest and best types of American citizenship, one full of vigorous mental virtues, honest, able, courageous with a courage of the highest order, yet kindly, sympathetic, generous, 11 warm-hearted and lovable, has passed from our daily lives, yet leaving, with a keen consciousness of the great loss thus sustained by our State, our city, and by this institution and ourselves, as his friends and associates, a high and honorable record as a man, a citizen and official, well worthy of lasting regard and emulation. "Resolved, That after this slight tribute is placed upon the records of this Bank a copy thereof be furnished to the surviving son and daughter of Governor McGraw. "M. A. ARNOLD, "President. "THOMAS BORDEAUX, "MAURICE McMICKEN, "W. D. HOFIUS, "PATRICK McCOY, "J. A. HALL, "D. H. MOSS, "O. D. FISHER, "H. W. ROWLEY, "Directors." 12 Associate (Eljamhrra of (&am- mmz of % parifir ©oast San Francisco, California, July 1, 1910. y y TTHEREAS, The officers of the Associated I /I / Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific * ^ Coast have been informed of the death, on June 23, 1910, of Honorable John H. McGraw, former president of this organization, a man promi- nent in the affairs of the Pacific Coast, a citizen who has devoted much of his time, energy and means to the development of the Pacific Coast and the promo- tion of many vital undertakings concerning the wel- fare, happiness and prosperity of our people. Resolved, That in the removal, by death, of so prominent a factor in the affairs of the Pacific Coast as the deceased we have lost a staunch supporter, one devoted to the upbuilding of all work tending to promote the welfare of this section of the United States and the betterment of its people. Be it further resolved, That we but express the sentiment of every member of this organization when we say that the Pacific Coast has sustained an almost irreparable loss. Always patriotic in his impulses, wise in his counsels and generous in his friendships, the Associated Chambers of Commerce, in particular, has sustained a loss which it will be difficult to replace, and finally 13 Be It Resolved, That as a testimonial of our re- gard and esteem for the first president and one of the chief factors in the promotion of this organiza- tion, it is ordered that these resolutions be incor- porated in the minutes and that the Secretary be directed to send to the family a copy thereof, with an expression of our sincere sympathy in the time of their bereavement. WILLIS H. BOOTH, President. C. W. BURKS, Secretary. 14 Itafttfer GUub "WHEREAS, Almighty God, in His infinite wis- dom, has removed by death Honorable John H. McGraw, and WHEREAS, in his death the State of Washing- ton has lost its foremost citizen, and the City of Seattle its most loyal, tireless and effective public servant, and this Club its beloved President: THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Trustees of the Rainier Club, that there be and is hereby extended to the bereaved family of our late President our profound sympathy, and this testimonial of the love and esteem of all its mem- bers, as well as of their keen appreciation of his tireless devotion to the Club's welfare. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to his family by the Secretary and also spread at length on the Records of the Board of Trustees." 15 iflrottt (Ear Srtu?r to (gowrttor Att Example to Ammran f nutty A ©rtbttt? to tfj* ifett? lEx-dlntimtnr Jtoljtt 1^. itrGkaro of Hajatfingtim iSg (Eijarlra ®. £ £ 1 1 02

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c S c g d^ £ .5 a! cij 02 "d memorial 8>2vmtt Whitman (Balks*, Wtmtmbtv 15, 191II Memorial Service in honor of John Harte McGraw, member of the Board of Overseers of Whitman College, were held in the College Chapel November 15th, 1910. ORDER OF SERVICE PROCESSIONAL— Elegie - - - Russell King Miller SCRIPTURE LESSON. PRAYER. PRESIDENT STEPHEN B. L. PENROSE, PD.D ADDRESS, HON. CORNELIUS H. HANFORD, LL.D. ANTHEM — Ave Verum Mozart ADDRESS, HON. GEORGE TURNER, LL.D. ANTHEM — How Lovely are Thy Dwellings - - E. Blum RECESSIONAL— Funeral March .... Chopin John Harte McGraw was born October 4, 1850, in Penobscot County, Maine. He came as a young man to the Pacific Coast, and was elected Sheriff of King County in 1882, continuing in office until 1890. He was elected Governor of the State of Washington in 1893 and served for four years. He was presi- dent of the First National Bank of Seattle from 1890 to 1897, and of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce from 1905 until July 8, 1909. A&fcr*BH of Sfort. (&tarQt burner /AM TO SPEAK of the life and character of John H. McGraw. To deal adequately with his life and char- acter would be to write the history of Washington, State and Territory, for a third of a century. The task must be left to the historian. One dealing with the subject in the compass of an ordinary address, must content himself with 37 outlines, trusting to the knowledge of his hearers to fill in the details thus suggested. It is a melancholy pleasure to me, however, to assist, even imperfectly, in doing honor to the memory of that distinguished man. An estrangement occur- ring in 1887, springing from causes which I will not name, but in which I have long felt myself at fault, interrupted the former friendly relations of Governor McGraw and myself, and prevented any intimacy between us for many years. But even then, I honored him for his distinguished ability, his great moral and physical courage and his many recognized civic virtues. Later when the estrangement had worn away and I learned to know the personal side of his character, the mag- nanimity of his mind, the tenderness of his heart, his loyalty to friends, his justice to foes, his zeal in upholding the right at all times, I became his warm friend, and no man in all the land mourned his untimely death more sincerely than I did. I was in Europe when news of that unhappy event reached me, and in all truth and sincerity, it was many days before the heavy load of depression lifted from my mind and heart. We had parted in the city of Washington only a few weeks before, and he was then the picture of health and strength, ruddy of countenance, clear of eye, clean of limb, and upright of stature. Energy and intelligence radiated from every feat- ure of his speaking countenance. I little thought that the grim reaper had then already marked him for his own. When such a man is stricken to earth before his time, like some giant of the forest uprooted by the tempest, we feel a sense of the improvidence of nature and wonder why it should be. We know, however, that the earth is but a speck in infinity, and that the providence of the infinite embraces the entire universe, and may well assume that the same economy which employs great minds in the affairs of life employs great souls in the infinitely higher affairs of limitless eternity. All that we know for certain about this life and the next is that "We pass ; that path that each man trod Is dim, or will be dim with weeds ; What fame is left for human deeds In endless age? It rests with God." 38 Yet no man who ever lived, good or bad, perishes entirely from earth. No physical or moral impulse set in motion by nature or by man, but lives for all time in some form or power or influence, and can be traced back to its first cause. And so it is that men, in the good or bad that they do, truly live after they have ceased to live the present life. When their lives have been good, it is the sacred duty of friends to leave suitable memorials thereof, to the double end that their fame may be preserved and that future generations of men may profit by their example. As some broken column, dug up from the ruins of antiquity, serves to recall the beauty and strength of the temple which it once supported and adorned, so the deeds and achievements of great men and good men, though preserved only in fragments, serve for the reconstruction of the human personality of their doers, and lead to that admiration and emulation which it is the divine office of such deeds and achievements to evoke in the human heart. I shall be happy if any poor words of mine can help serve this office for one I felt honored to call friend for many years before his death, and whose brilliant mind and great heart enabled him to do so much that is worthy of admiration and emulation at the hands of future generations. Governor McGraw was or Irish parentage, a strain of blood which has found its highest development in the invigorating atmosphere of free American institutions a hundred fold, both in war and in peace, by the deathless names with which it has illumined the pages of American history. He was born at Barker's Plantation, Penobscot County, Maine, Octo- ber 4th, 1850. It would not be correct to say that he was born to poverty and humble station. That cannot yet be said, and I hope and believe may never be said, of any child born on American soil and inheriting the opportunities of American citizenship ; but his parents were poor and the pinch of poverty was intensified by the death of his father while he was still of tender years. The consequence was that he snatched a few months instruction at the public schools and at the age of fourteen years entered actively on the struggle of life. That has been the history of so many of our great men, great not only in material achievements, but in depth of learning and breadth of mind, and it is a fact so exceptional in the history of peoples, that it calls for passing notice. It is to be accounted for, I believe, by the genius of our institu- tions and their moulding effect on our people. For every boy, rich or poor, the gates of opportunity stand open, and there are no castes or classes. Labor is honorable and struggle for advancement commendable. The result is that every youth, without regard to birth or station, enters into the life of his community as fully as his aspirations prompt him to do, and by the time he has reached his majority, if he has improved the opportunities thus afforded, he is up to the gen- eral average in acquired knowledge and worldly experience. In other words, the average American community is in a cer- tain sense a college or university which every youth of spirit and ambition is free to attend, and from which, in the course of time, he graduates a reasonably well informed man. Read- ing and self -improvement do the rest. I do not say that this is the best training for men — I know by my own experience that it is not; that the men with such training suffer under many disadvantages — but it has produced many of our great men. The bench and the bar, the pulpit, the halls of legis- lation, the higher offices of administration, the chief magistry itself, and even the faculties of our colleges and universities, all attest the fact. Governor McGraw had this training and he became the chief magistrate of his state and its foremost citizen ever after until the time of his death, and if he had been called to national fields of usefulness, he would have met and discharged every duty and responsibility with the same distinction which marked his efforts in the narrower but not less important field to which fortune called him. After leaving home young McGraw served the usual nov- itiate of a boy in a small American town, having his own way to make in the world. We find him at seventeen clerk in a general merchandise store. Later, after attaining his ma- jority, he entered in a small way into the mercantile business on his own account, but he was not one to deal in small 40 economies, or to successfully garner small profits, and after the panic of 1873, he failed in business and was again thrown upon his own personal efforts for a livelihood. Having mar- ried in the meantime and seeing no opportunity for advance- ment in his then surroundings, he turned his eyes in this emergency to the golden West, and gathering together the scanty means left him, sailed for San Francisco, his sole possession a faithful helpmeet, a brave, hopeful and active mind and a vital energy which recognized no obstacle and acknowledged no defeat. Here on this coast he found the field for which he was born; the career which comes to men of his mould as if by right of inheritance. He embodied in his personality, more than any man I ever knew, the spirit of the West, its hope and its courage, its energy and its per- severance, its sympathy and its generosity, its trust in its imperial destiny and its confidence in the capacity of its citi- zenship to work that destiny out to a perfect realization. Such a man could not fail in the environment to which he had now transferred himself. But he did not come into his in- heritance at once, nor did he claim it immediately. Indeed, he did not know that it was his. He landed in San Francisco July 10th, 1876, and at once took work as driver of a horse car. From a casual acquaintance he learned of the better opportunities to the north, and he sailed for Seattle, landing there December 28, 1876. He at once accepted employment as clerk of the Occidental Hotel and later ventured into the hotel business himself. When his hotel burned down, leav- ing him again stranded, he became a policeman. His service was so satisfactory in that capacity that the people of Seattle elected him marshal in 1879, and elected him to the same office successively until 1882, when they promoted him by electing him to a vacancy in the office of Sheriff of King County. He was elected to the latter office for two succes- sive terms, and was defeated for a third term in 1886 as the result of causes I will mention later on. I digress for a moment to observe that it is quite evident from this recital of his early career that he was no carpet knight; that he disdained no work that was honorable, and that he slighted 41 no task to which he had once put his hand. It was these qualifications that secured him advancement in Seattle and King County and finally won him the confidence and support of the people of the State of Washington for the highest office in their gift. The occasion of his defeat for Sheriff for a third term was honorable to him and exhibited his dauntless courage and stubborn devotion to duty in a way which marked him for higher things. During his last term as Sheriff an agitation against the Chinese broke out in most of the coast cities. The Chinese were deported en masse from Tacoma, were driven from other cities by violence, and the attempt was made to drive them from Seattle. A very considerable number of the people of Seattle undoubtedly sympathized with the attempt. But John H. McGraw, as Sheriff, was not the man to stand by and see peaceable and law-abiding inhabitants of this county of any nationality driven from its limits contrary to the law of the land. He asserted and maintained the majesty of the law, and in the clash which followed blood was shed and life was lost; but no man in the county living under the law was deprived of its protec- tion. The election coming on soon after these events, the angry mob that he had foiled visited on him what it deemed a punishment and what he no doubt deemed a punishment, by electing his opponent to the office of Sheriff. But instead of being a punishment, it simply fixed on him a mark of distinction which followed him through life, and won for him a loyal support which was to carry him to the highest honors that the people of the State could bestow. Governor McGraw had studied law during his incumbency of the office of Sheriff and it is a conclusive evidence of the mental stature to which he had attained and of the esteem in which he was held by his fellows, that upon his retirement from the office of Sheriff he became a member of the law firm of Greene, Hanford & McGraw, the two seniors of the firm being Hon. Eoger S. Greene, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory and Hon. C. H. Hanford, now Judge of the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Washington, both of them then eminent 42 in the profession as they have been ever since. But he was not destined to have a career at the bar, although eminently fitted for it by training, experience, character, temperament, and natural endowments. In 1888 his friends insisted on electing him Sheriff of King County for a fourth time in vindication of his course in connection with the Chinese riots, and their plea struck a responsive chord in his breast. He was triumphantly elected and served out his term, but refused any further election. By this time he had become a state wide character, and from that day until the day of his death, he exercised a wide influence in the political affairs of the State and in all movements political or non-political cal- culated to promote its material development. In 1892 he was elected Governor, taking his seat in January, 1893, and serv- ing until January, 1897. His service in that capacity ex- hibited his usual courage and capacity. In many respects it was conspicuously brilliant. But the country had fallen on evil days. The panic of 1893 was coincident with his inauguration and the business depression which followed con- tinued and increased with each year of his four years term. When he left the office to return to his home in Seattle the country was bankrupt, and he along with it. His devotion to duty had left him no time for attention to his private affairs, and in the general ruin which had taken place his accumulations had not only been swept away, but he found himself largely involved in debt. The struggle of life was to be renewed with an added burden. The course which he now pursued was characteristic of the man. He did not wait to be lifted from his difficulties by the patronage of the public in any one of a dozen different kinds of business which he might have entered, a patronage which his distinguished ser- vice and well known fidelity to every trust would have readily commanded. The wealth of Alaska in the precious metals had then become known, and in the summer of 1897 he made his way into the unknown wilds of that country in company with a party of adventurers of like mind, determined never to leave it until he had wrested from its frozen bosom a suf- ficiency of its golden dross to rehabilitate him in the business 43 world. Here he dug and delved as an ordinary miner, taking his shift in regular order and meeting every call on his strength and courage, and they were many and great, with a fortitude that never faltered or hesitated. This I think the most magnificent chapter of his life. He did not enjoy it any more than any of us would. But it impressed him as the one way to rehabilitate himself quickly, so that he could take his place and hold up his head among his fellow citizens of Seattle and he went to the task as he had gone to every task throughout his life to which honor and duty called him. He was only moderately successful in his quest for wealth, but at the end of two years he found himself possessed of sufficient gold to pay his debts. Then he re- turned to the city that was his home, and which he loved with almost filial devotion, and paid to the last dollar, prin- cipal and interest, every creditor who could advance a claim against him. He had satisfied the call of an exacting sense of honor, but in doing so had stripped himself entirely of his hard won Alaska earnings. But that was what they were earned for, and now he could look his neighbors in the face without blushing and devote himself on even terms with the best of them to improving the unrivaled opportunities which the great Northwest offered to men with foresight and judgment united to energy and courage. From this time for- ward fortune smiled on his every effort, thus proving the universality of his mind, that it was well fitted for any field of usefulness to which he might care to apply it. I had thought at one time that he was destined to high national honors, and undoubtedly he could have achieved them if he had tried. But he seemed to have lost ambition for official distinction after retiring from the office of Governor. The burden of his official duties during that time of national distress undoubtedly wore on him, and the unfortunate result on his own private fortunes, added to his memory of the dis- comforts of office. To this is to be attributed his dislike for office and his repeated refusals to permit his friends to again bring forward his name for any, even the most distinguished, positions within the gift of the people. But he had not lost 44 interest in the great state with which his life had been so intimately identified, nor in the fortunes of friends who were more ambitions than he for political distinction. He was easily the foremost man in his party in the state at the time of his death and had been so continuously for twenty years. He thus became the Warwick of Republican politics, a position grateful to him because it enabled him to indulge his par- tiality for friends, while at the same time safeguarding the material interests of the state. To this end he became a member of all conventions of the Republican party, state and national, did not disdain service on its committees, and entered with his usual heartiness and thoroughness into the details of its campaign work. That political organization lost a giant when he pulled off his harness for the last time. And the State of Washington at the same time lost its greatest lover, its most distinguished citizen and the most potent in- dividual force for good, that it held within its borders. Governor McGraw's disinclination for office did not come from a desire for repose. He was energy incarnate up to the last, and his mind was always active in conceiving plans for the upbuilding and the advancement of the state. The great city which he honored with his citizenship, and which repaid him with a devotion that never faltered, was naturally the object of his greatest solicitude. He accepted service as the head of its commercial organizations, took the lead in promoting its local enterprises, and spent much of his time each winter, as its representative in Washington, endeavoring to secure favorable action on legislation needed for its adequate development. But there was no section of the state that he did not love and would not aid. When the movement for a Greater Whitman was inaugurated it met an instant response in his broad mind and generous heart, and no man labored harder or with more intelligence and success, to bring the movement to a successful conclusion. He was always on the ground when called, although at considerable sacrifice of valuable time, and helped to conceive and execute plans for the advancement of the college with the superb energy usual with him where his sympathetic interest was aroused. 45 Whitman College, and those who are left to struggle for its advancement, will long feel the void created by his absence. Governor McGraw came to Washington in its later pioneer period. It was already rich in historic names which will grow in honor as the state grows in years. Whitman and Stevens will live in song and story as long as the fabric of our govern- ment endures. But in their day patient acceptance of toils and privations, and heroic courage in facing ever impending danger, to the end that the American people might come into their heritage, were the prime qualities that the occasion de- manded. In the later pioneer period energy and enterprise had begun to hew things of beauty and utility from our vast but inert resources and to offer them as a beneficience to mankind and political institutions were being transformed from the vague and rough outlines of the earlier days into the accepted forms of American constitutional government, based on approved maxims of right and justice, and approved principles of constitutional limitation. The galaxy of great names which this period of our history produced I cannot enumerate because many of them are yet living realities in our midst; but I may without impropriety mention the names of Elisha P. Ferry and John B. Allen. Contemporary with the men of this period and with their compeers, living and dead, was John H. McGraw. I would not draw comparisons where all are so worthy of high commendation, but I may properly state and declare that Washington in all its history has produced no man of more commanding talent, of greater constructive genius, of more superb courage, and of greater loyalty and devotion to duty than John H. McGraw. He died, alas! at a comparatively early age, and while still in the prime of mental and bodily vigor, but his influence pene- trated deep into the grain of the complex life of the state, and his brilliant personality will stand out for all time in its history as strong and clear cut as a cameo. That such men should grace the early history of all our American commonwealths and stand out ever after more vividly than those who come after them, is but the develop- ment of natural causes. The nation has had its growth 46 westward from the Atlantic to the Pacific, building up in the process a succession of great states, each of which has had its early struggle against savage men and savage nature. The trials and dangers as well as the honors and rewards of empire building attract the bold and adventurous to the frontier, as the ease and comfort of settled society hold the timid and conservative to their places. Youth and strength, energy and courage, called to extraordinary endeavor in peace and in war, have marked the progress of the nation in its westward march. The emergency, and the men best fitted to meet the emergency, have met at each succeeding frontier, with the result that the most brilliant pages of American history have sprung from the trials and dangers, the triumphs and achievements, attending the formative period of our galaxy of commonwealths. The normal man possesses, in greater or less perfection, a brain to conceive, a will to execute, a heart to feel and a conscience to admonish and hold him in check. Some men possess the first two only. Nature sometimes presents the anomaly of one possessing the first three without the fourth. The truly great man, great both mentally and morally, pos- sesses all four in full, perfect and harmonious development. Those who were close to Governor McGraw know that, meas- ured by this standard, he was one of the truly great. His mind was as clear and flawless as a diamond, his will power as resistless as the sea, his heart as tender as a woman's and his conscience so compelling that no temptation or emergency ever drove him to a mean, contemptible or unjust act. To all these qualities he added sublime courage, ingenuous candor, generous magnanimity, and a high sense of justice to friends and foes. If he was fortunate in coming at the time he did to write his name in the history of a great state, he was equally fortunate that he possessed, more than any man among his contemporaries, the qualities of mind and heart which en- abled so many great men before him, scattered all over the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean to write their names in letters of fire on the blazing pages of history. 47 The name of John H. McGraw is there written and there, with this humble tribute, I leave it. The brave heart of our friend is cold and pulseless, but the great soul which animated him in life, the immortal spirit which clung to him as if loath to leave him even in death, these and the life work that they prompted, will live on forever through time and eternity. "These shall resist the empire of decay, When time is o'er and worlds have passed away ; Cold in the dust the perished heart may lie, But that which warmed it once can never die." AJftr*H0 of 2?ott. GL % ^anforo /T~f O ENABLE Whitman College to progress towards the I destiny to which it is called, the men of Oregon, -*- Washington and Idaho who are strong, able and patriotic must contribute to its up-building, time and mental energy as well as money, and its active promoters have been encouraged by the willing responses to the invitation extended to a number of prominent citizens to constitute its Board of Overseers. One who participated in the organization of the board and by attendance at subsequent meetings, evinced a purpose to use his talents in the service of the college, has been removed and his career terminated by death. Governor McGraw was by reason of his natural and acquired capacity, and his habitual willingness to engage in gratuitous public services pre-eminent among the useful citizens of the State of Washington. The phrase "useful citizen" is especially ap- plicable to him because it accurately epitomizes his character. He is missed in all the places where previous to his last illness, his activities encouraged and aided his associates in their endeavors to promote the public welfare. Whitman College feels the loss of a friend and helper, and to give suitable expression to the highest estimation of his worth and to per- petuate a memorial of his virtues this audience has assembled to devote a little time to the contemplation of his personality and the record of his life. 48 On the 4th day of October, 1850, in the County of Penobscot, State of Maine, John Harte McGraw was born. His parents belonged to the class of ordinary respectable New England country folks. When he was yet in his babyhood his father died and for a time his widowed mother struggled with pov- erty to support and educate her young children. During his childhood, young McGraw had the educational advantages af- forded by the country district schools of his native State. When he was 14 years of age his mother having re-married, he left the parental home and took charge of his own future. To prepare himself for a business career he took a course in a business college and became a competent bookkeeper, a good penman and generally well-informed youth, but this was not the completion of his education for in his mature years he pursued a course of study whereby he was qualified to prac- tice law and was admitted to the bar of Seattle in the year 1886, and throughout his life he was a reader and student of the best literature, whereby he became a self-educated and a well educated man. When he was 20 years of age he be- came a partner with his brother in the retail grocery busi- ness. This first business venture ended in failure during the financial panic of 1873. McGraw was then penniless but courageous and hopeful. His manly spirit was evinced by his marriage previous to his departure from his native State to make his fortune in the great West. His first employment after his arrival on the Pacific Coast was in the capacity of driver of a horse car in San Francisco. After a few months in that service, having studied the conditions affect- ing different localities he became imbued with faith in Seattle, as a desirable place for a young man to make a home and acquire a fortune. Accordingly he came to Seattle and ob- tained employment as a hotel clerk, and soon afterwards became a partner in the firm of Haley & McGraw, proprietors of a hotel. This second business venture ended in a second failure caused by destruction of the property by fire. Through- out his entire life, McGraw was an honorable and upright man, generally respected and held in the highest estimation by all who knew him well, but his good reputation and his 49 actual worth as a man did not shield him from wounds in- flicted by malignant slanderers. One of the slanders often repeated and used by prejudiced and ill-disposed persons as a weapon in political campaigns, was to the effect that the Haley & McGraw hotel was a gambling dive and that the proprietors made a practice of fleecing the patrons of the house by means of unfair gambling devices. Having again lost all of his means by the burning of the hotel, McGraw sought employment and secured a position as a police officer and he patrolled the streets of Seattle at night during the year 1879. In the year 1880 and again in 1881 he was by vote of the people, elected City Marshal and Chief of Police, notwithstanding the slander referred to which was originated to prejudice him and cause his defeat the first time he was a candidate for an elective office. The same falsehood, however, was repeated in the campaign of 1892 when McGraw was the Eepublican candidate for Governor of the State. It was last heard under the following peculiar circumstances. While McGraw was making a canvass of the State, he was on one occasion in a car on the Northern Pa- cific Eailroad surrounded by a number of gentlemen who knew him well, a stranger injected himself into the group and commenced talking politics. He directed his conversation especially in the way of denunciation of the Republican can- didate for Governor, and soon became engaged in a colloquy with McGraw himself, in which he narrated the old slander about the Haley and McGraw gambling practices. McGraw questioned him and cross-examined him to ascertain the source of his information. The stranger asserted and stoutly maintained that his statements were based upon his personal knowledge and were true. He asserted that he knew McGraw well and had seen him and had conversed with him only a few hours previous. Having completely committed himself by the vehemence of his assertions and exposed his ignorance of the identity of his questioner, the mendacious liar was of course convicted in the estimation of all who heard the con- versation, and as a purveyor of slander, he was eliminated from the campaign. 50 In the year 1882 McGraw became Sheriff of King County and continued to hold that office until January, 1887. He was defeated for re-election in 1886 when there was a popular wave of opposition to law and law enforcers which had its origin in an agitation in favor of forcible expulsion of the Chinese inhabitants in Washington Territory, in disregard of the rights of those people which our national government was by treaty obligations bound to maintain. The anti-Chinese agitation to which I have referred and the actions resulting from it, make an important chapter in the history of Washington Territory. It began as an echo of an anti-Chinese agitation which had been carried on in San Francisco by Dennis Kearney and other orators who at the time were commonly referred to as "Sand Lot Orators" because they discoursed to crowds assembled on vacant ground in San Francisco designated as the "Sand Lots." The first evidence that people in Washington Territory considered the subject seriously was in the city election of Tacoma in the year 1885, when General Sprague, the foremost citizen of Tacoma, was a candidate for the office of Mayor and was defeated by a man named Weisbach who was but little known, but who made a successful campaign by declaiming against the Chinese inhabitants and advocating their expulsion from the locality. Later in the same year an attack was made upon Chinese employed as coal miners in Wyoming Terri- tory and several of them were killed, and a few days later a night assault was made upon a camp of Chinese laborers employed as hop pickers in King County. While the hop pickers were asleep and unconscious of danger, a number of murderous conspirators approached and fired a volley into their camp, killing two and wounding others. Soon after- wards there was an assemblage at Seattle of self-appointed delegates constituting an Anti-Chinese Congress, so-called, which was managed by the Mayor of Tacoma and a visitor from California named Cronin. The Congress adopted a reso- lution, the meaning of which was that all the Chinese in- habitants of the localities represented in the Congress, should be notified to depart from the Territory on or before a speci- 51 fled date and that those remaining after said date should be compelled to go. Committees were appointed to so notify the Chinese. At that time the police force of Seattle did not exceed ten men and, of course, was entirely inadequate to subdue, or even check a riotous assault upon the Chinese in- habitants and in view of the apparent probability that there would be trouble, a number of citizens held a conference to devise means to defeat any attempt to carry into effect the un- lawful scheme of the so-called Congress, and as a result of their deliberations, public meetings were called which were attended by several hundred citizens who were organized as a posse comitatus and sworn in as deputy sheriffs prepared to act when called upon to suppress a riot. The effect of the action of the people in the different assemblages mentioned, was to create opposing factions in Seattle. One faction, in- flamed by outside agitators who appealed to race prejudice and selfishness, assumed an attitude of opposition to national authority and proposed to exert force in defiance of law and in violation of the treaty obligations of the nation, in order to remove several hundred Chinese persons from locali- ties where they had a lawful right to remain, to accomplish no better result than to inflict their unwelcome presence upon a community in another State. The men composing the other faction, took an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States and to uphold the laws of the country and to aid the constituted officers, when required, in main- taining peace and protecting all inhabitants in the enjoyment of their legal rights. There was at that time no justification in existing conditions for the proposed abuse of the Chinese, they were comparatively few in number, there being less than 500 in Seattle, and they were not competing for employment desired by white people. A few were employed as cooks and house servants by families unable to obtain other help. Most of them were doing laundry work for families of working men who would have suffered great inconvenience without their assistance for at that time there were no well equipped laun- dries operated by white people. The law and order faction was not composed of men who were enemies of their own race, 52 nor infatuated with a preference for the Mongolians. None of them favored an influx into our country of Chinese laborers, but accepting conditions as they existed, they stood for the upholding of national honor and the protection of every indi- vidual in the enjoyment of the rights and privileges guar- anteed by the laws of the country. They believed that liberty regulated by law is a boon secured to the people of this coun- try by the fortitude and the sacrifices of our patriotic an- cestors, and to be defended by the living at whatever cost. They believed also that an attack made upon the poorest or the humblest, whether citizens or aliens, in violation of legal rights, was in its ultimate effect an attack upon the principle of liberty, and therefore to be opposed as an act of hostility against the nation's life. At the time of the occurrences referred to there was un- doubtedly a large majority of the legal voters in full sympathy and active accord with the anti-Chinese agitators and their plans of action, but Sheriff McGraw was not the man to be swayed by popular clamor, he was not like many Sheriffs have been, a mere pretender as a peace officer, nor a finder of excuses for permitting violent crimes by tumultuous as- semblies. He proved himself to be a man of courage and capacity to meet an emergency and conquer opposition to official authority. In a candid report to the Governor of Washington Territory, Sheriff McGraw narrated the facts regarding his official conduct. A more concise, reliable or interesting statement cannot be made than by adopting the phraseology of that report, and in view of slanders recently circulated affecting the character and conduct of one of Sheriff McGraw's supporters, I deem it worth while to set forth the true history of the anti-Chinese agitation in Seattle in this authentic form, and therefore quote the principal part of that report : To his Excellency, Watson C. Squire, Governor of Washington Territory. Sir : In compliance with your request that I make a report to you of my official acts in connection with the anti-Chinese 53 riot and disturbances in this county during last fall and winter, I respectfully submit the following brief summary of the steps taken by me to preserve peace, and the occasion therefor : The commencement of the Chinese troubles in this county was the killing of two Chinese hop-pickers and wounding of one or two others at Squak Valley on the night of September 7, 1885, by a party of seven or eight residents of that valley. Messrs. Wold Brothers, hop growers at Squak, had engaged a gang of Chinamen to pick their hops, and were warned before the arrival of the Chinese that Chinese hop-pickers would not be tolerated in the valley, and they would be driven out if they came. However, on Saturday, the 5th day of Sep- tember, about thirty-five Chinamen arrived at Wold Bros, place and pitched their tents in the hop fields. That evening several white men and Indians, armed with rifles, visited the camp, and endeavored by threats to intimidate the Chinese and thus induce them to leave. The Chinamen did not go; and on Monday night part of the same crowd again visited the Chinese camp and fired a volley into the tents, with the result above stated. I received information of this occurrence the next day, and immediately went to the scene, accompanied by the Territorial Prosecuting Attorney, the Coroner of King County, and the Chief of Police of Seattle, and with their assistance I gath- ered all the information I could and made as complete an investigation of the affair as it was possible to make, and thereupon an inquest was held by the Coroner, at the con- clusion of which I arrested five white men and two Indians whom I believed from evidence obtained were the perpetra- tors of the outrage. These seven persons were in due form charged with the crime of murder, and were committed to my custody to await the action of the Grand Jury in the premises, and all of them, with some others, were at the October term of the District Court, in Seattle, indicted for the crime of murder in the first degree, and also for riot. At the same term of Court two of them, on separate trials for murder, were acquitted; and one other of the parties was 54 tried for riot, and convicted of the offence. These trials were long, tedious, and expensive, and I am sure that the failure to secure a more decisive vindication of the law can- not be attributed to lack of effort on the part of the officers. Myself and deputies earnestly and diligently endeavored to gather and bring to light all the material evidence that could possibly be obtained. Very soon after the outrage in Squak Valley above men- tioned, a party of Chinese laborers at Coal Creek, near New- castle, in this county, were driven from their houses in the night time by a number of masked persons, who then set fire to and destroyed the shanties from which the Chinese had fled. Immediately after being notified of this occurrence, I secured the services of three intelligent and reliable persons who were in the best positions to do so, to endeavor to detect and bring to justice all who were concerned in the commission of this offence, but all efforts to identify the parties have thus far failed. About the time of these occurrences, a general anti-Chinese agitation was commenced in this city under the leadership of one R. Jacob Weisbach, then Mayor of Tacoma, who is gen- erally supposed to be a Socialist and anarchist, assisted by one Daniel Cronin, an itinerant organizer of Socialists, and several other professional agitators. Partly on account of dull times, and partly in consequence of the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, having thrown out of employ- ment several thousand laborers, many of whom had found their way to Seattle without means to go further, these evil designing leaders were able to gather about them a strong force of unemployed and discontented people, who were will- ing to, and did, create apprehension and alarm by openly threatening to support their leaders in a movement to forcibly expel all Chinese persons from this Territory. At a public meeting held in Seattle in the latter part of September, called an anti-Chinese congress, composed of delegations from Ta- coma, Whatcom, Newcastle and a few other places, it was resolved that committees should be appointed in each locality whose duty it should be to notify the Chinese to leave the 55 Territory by the first of November. The apparent method and determination of the movement, and the general public apprehension of lawlessness likely to result from it, caused me, after consultation with the Mayor of Seattle and many other leading citizens of the county, to organize a strong force to act as a posse comitatus to aid me in suppressing any law- less attempt of the character threatened, if it should be made. Accordingly, on the night of October 3d about four hundred citizens of the county assembled in Seattle, and were sworn in as my deputies, and the following day arrangements were completed for speedily bringing this force together for effec- tive work if the necessity for it should arise. And I also made arrangements to secure the co-operation and assistance of the two organized companies of militia then in Seattle, under command of Captains Joseph Green and J. C. Haines. This work of preparation on my part for maintaining the law and affording protection to all persons entitled to it seemed for a time to overcome the determination and to change the purposes of the agitators, and served to allay the public apprehension of danger. But over-confidence on the part of the patriotic citizens led to such relaxation of vigilance on their part that the opinion became quite general that what had been done was unnecessary and unwise. This gave re- newed confidence in a corresponding degree to the agitators and the discontented element, and their work of preparation for violence went on. On the evening of November 3d the report came from Ta- coma that the forcible expulsion of several hundred Chinese persons from that place had been successfully accomplished. And within a day or two afterwards reports were received that the deserted houses of the Chinese in Tacoma had been destroyed by fire. These reports caused intense excitement here, and most of the people believed, as I did, that similar proceedings in Seattle could only be prevented by the presence of the United States military force, or an actual collision between the citizens acting as my deputies and the local militia with the turbulent element; and accordingly, for the purpose of avoiding such collision, and probable bloodshed, on the 6th 56 day of November, by telegraph, I informed you of the situa- tion, and urged you to request that a military force be sent here ; and also believing that a disturbance was liable to occur before the troops could arrive, under authority of your tele- gram to me, dated Nov. 5th, of which the following is a copy, to-wit : Dated Olympia, W. T., 5. Nov - 5 > 1885 ' To John H. McGraw, Sheriff, Seattle, W. T. I have just received following dispatch from the government : The issuance of your proclamation receives unqualified appro- bation. Follow it up with vigorous measures of precaution, and prevent violence, and federal interference not to be used except in case of extreme necessity. The extra expense of such local force as you may have to use I will recommend to be defrayed by Federal Government : (Signed) L. Q. 0. LAMAR, Sec'y. You will govern yourself accordingly, using Territorial military organizations when necessary. WATSON 0. SQUIRE, Governor. I incurred an expense of f 1,162.24 in the purchase of arms and ammunition necessary to arm and equip the citizens who had volunteered to act as my deputies. On the night of November 7th a public mass meeting was held under the auspices of the anti-Chinese agitators and being apprehensive that a disturbance might be precipitated in con- sequence of said meeting, and before the troops then expected could arrive, I caused my deputies to assemble under arms at the court house, and held them ready to act in case of an emergency during that night. The militia companies under Captains Green and Haines also at my request remained under arms during the night. On the morning of November 8th the 14th U. S. Infantry, under command of Lieut. Col. De- Russy, accompanied by your Excellency, arrived in Seattle, and thereupon all apprehension of an immediate disturbance subsided. At the time of the occurrence above narrated between four and five hundred Chinese persons were living in this county; 57 and I am now convinced from the facts I have stated and subsequent events that but for the measures adopted as above mentioned, and the determination shown by a large number of the citizens of this county to suppress any riotous or un- lawful demonstration against the Chinese, the Tacoma out- rage would have been repeated here. During the time the troops remained here, upon the sug- gestion of Brigadier- General Gibbon, between three and four hundred who had volunteered to act as my deputies were organized into three separate military companies to render them more efficient in case their services should be required after the troops should be withdrawn. These companies were armed in part with the guns purchased by me as above stated, which were Winchester rifles and double-barrelled shotguns, and in part with similar weapons belonging to the men them- selves. During the month of November fifteen of the leading agita- tors were indicted for conspiracy to deprive the Chinese of the equal protection of the laws and equal rights under the laws, under the Act of Congress known as the Ku Klux Act. After a protracted trial, which was ably conducted by C. H. Hanford, Assistant U. S. Attorney, the fifteen were all, on the 16th day of January, 1886, acquitted. I rendered such assistance as I could consistently with my position to the United States officers in the prosecution of this case. In defending themselves on this trial, the leading agitators all testified that no violence, breach of the peace, or unlawful act was intended or would be countenanced by them. They one and all protested their innocence, just as the Chicago bomb-throwers have recently protested. This line of defense, and the acquittal consequent upon it, served to allay appre- hension of danger in the public mind, and the citizens once more in fancied security ceased to heed the movements of the agitators, and devoted themselves to their private concerns, while the idle, transient population continued to agitate and devise plans for mischief; until the night of the 6th of Feb- ruary, at which time their plans for action were matured and final preparations made at a public mass meeting, which 58 was held under the management of several of the defendants in the conspiracy trial, together with a Socialist from Tacoma named M. P. Bulger. On Sunday morning, February 7th, about 9 o'clock, a mes- senger came to me and informed me that the Chinese were being forced from their homes and driven to the steamship Queen of the Pacific, to be transported to San Francisco. I immediately went to the Chinese quarter of town, and there I saw groups of men in and about different Chinese houses assisting in packing up the goods and effects of the Chinese and loading them on to express wagons, and met squads of Chinamen going towards the wharf, each squad being under the escort of three or four white men, followed by a rabble. The mob which I found in possession of the streets at this time I estimate numbered fifteen hundred, composed of the discontented element in Seattle, reinforced by delegations from Tacoma, Portland and other places. The Chief of Police was at the time disabled, and unable to attend to his official duties. The acting chief informed me that he was unable, with the small number of officers under him to disperse the mob or do anything more than endeavor to check wanton de- struction of the property and effects of the Chinese. I at this time ordered the mob to disperse ; but with no other effect than to call forth jeers from the crowd. I then informed some of the leaders that I would not permit them to carry out their designs of forcibly expelling the Chinese from Seattle, and proceeded at once to gather together my deputies and the armed military companies. Upon the issuance of your procla- mation commanding the mob to disperse, one of my armed companies attended the United States Attorney and Deputy U. S. Marshal as guard while they read the said proclamation publicly in the streets, and in the midst of a turbulent crowd, who jeered and hooted defiantly while it was being read. This outbreak was entirely unexpected at the time of its occurrence by all the people except those engaged in it, and consequently those upon whom I relied for assistance were, for the most part, not prepared to respond to the alarm given very quickly, and several hours were consumed in gathering 59 and forming the different military organizations which I have before mentioned ; but I wish to have it recorded to the credit of the people of Seattle that these men did rally with as much promptness as under the circumstances should have been expected, and that they were thenceforth steadfast and unflinching in the performance of every duty assigned them, and obedient to the orders given them. While the companies were being formed I went on board the Queen of the Pacific and interviewed a large number of the Chinese then on board of her who had been expelled from their houses by the mob, and I ascertained that they had been furnished with passage tickets by a committee of the anti-Chinese agitators, and that only those who were in pos- session of tickets for their passage had been admitted on board of the ship. I estimate that from eighty to ninety were then on board of the ship, and about two hundred others were then congregated upon the dock; and a number of indi- viduals were then going through town collecting more money to pay the fare of those to whom tickets had not been fur- nished. I informed the Chinese on the ship that they would not be obliged to leave Seattle, and that all who wished to remain would be allowed to go ashore and that they would be protected. Many of them expressed a desire to take ad- vantage of the free tickets which had been furnished them to go to San Francisco. Others preferred to remain in Seattle, but were undecided whether to go or stay. During the afternoon of that day a writ of habeas corpus was issued by the District Court to the master of the steam- ship requiring him to bring before the Court the Chinese per- sons then on board of his vessel who were alleged to be unlaw- fully deprived of their liberty. The said writ was placed in my hands, and was by me immediately served upon Captain E. Alexander, master of the steamship. At 7 o'clock the same evening Captain Alexander made a return to the writ alleging that by reason of the mob in the streets he was unable to produce his Chinese passengers be- fore the Court. Thereupon the hearing of the case was post- poned until 8 o'clock the next morning, and I was ordered by 60 the Court to assist the captain with whatever force should be necessary to bring said Chinese into Court. The several mili- tary companies and my deputies were kept on duty all night. During that afternoon and night I placed and maintained an armed guard around all the Chinese houses in the city. And during the night I placed a strong force in charge of the dock where the Chinese were congregated, which force at daylight next morning under my command escorted all Chinese then upon the dock, as well as those who had been received on board the steamer to the Court House, and remained as guard around the Court House during the hearing of the case; which re- sulted in a determination of a few of the Chinese to remain in Seattle. The larger portion of them, however, deciding to go to San Francisco on the ship, in consideration of the free passage offered them by the committee before mentioned. I then, with the men acting under my command, escorted all the Chinese back to the dock, as they all had their personal effects and baggage there, and we remained as a guard upon the wharf until the sailing of the vessel at about 12 o'clock. The vessel carried away one hundred and ninety-three Chinese passengers. Others wished to go, but the vessel was unable to take them, having reached the limit of her capacity as a carrier of passengers under the laws of the United States. From ninety to one hundred Chinese were left upon the wharf with their baggage and effects. And after it had been agreed between myself and some of those who had been officiating as a committee of the anti-Chinese element that these Chinese persons who were thus necessarily left by the ship would be allowed peaceably to return to their dwellings they started to do so, but were intercepted by several hundred of the mob who attempted to turn the procession of Chinese in the direc- tion of the railroad depot. This movement of the mob was prevented by a company of my deputies under Captain George Kinnear being quickly advanced in front of the Chinese and thereupon the crowd made an attack upon the guards and attempted to seize and wrench from them their guns. During the struggle which ensued several shots were exchanged be- tween the guards and the mob, resulting in the killing of one 61 of the assailants and the wounding of two others, and in the wounding of one of the special police officers of the city there on duty. The other military companies very quickly came to the support of Captain Kinnear, and the crowd ceased to struggle, although they refused to disperse, after being commanded to do so by me. The Chinese then went to their houses without further molestation. The attention of the angry crowd having been diverted from them to the citizen soldiers whose determination to maintain the laws of the land even at the price of their lives, if necessary, had now become manifest to all. And in my judgment the determi- nation of the mob to resume hostilities and to seek revenge by again attacking the men who were acting under my orders was equally manifest. I therefore determined to await an attack rather than to disperse the mob in the streets by attacking them. I therefore caused the several companies to be marched to the Court House as a place of rendezvous, and immediately afterwards placed sentinels in the principal thoroughfares of the city. About this time your Excellency proclaimed mar- tial law in the City of Seattle, and assumed military com- mand of the city, and my authority and responsibility in the premises as Sheriff of the county ceased, and thereafter the citizens who had acted under me continued to serve under the immediate command of your Excellency, and remained on duty day and night until they were relieved by the arrival of the 14th U. S. Infantry on the 11th of February. On the morning of the 8th a warrant was issued by one of the Justices of the Peace of the city for the arrest of a number of the leading rioters on a charge of riot, and several of them were arrested by my deputies and held to bail by the Justice previous to the proclamation of martial law. The party of Chinese who left Seattle on the Queen of the Pacific on the 8th of February, included only those who mani- fested a desire to go, and appeared to go voluntarily. Those who remained included all who stated in Court that they wished to remain in Seattle, and also some others who expressed 62 a desire to go ; and some of them did go, voluntarily, very soon afterwards. The expenses of this affair, amounting in the aggregate to a large sum, and including the amount expended in the pur- chase of arms and ammunition, has been paid by King County, and a claim for reimbursement will be made against the United States. And inasmuch as the general Government has by its treaty with China obligated itself to afford protection to Chinese residing in this country, it would seem to me that the claim of the County is just, and should be paid. And besides, whatever expenditures I have made since No- vember 5th were made in the belief that your telegram to me quoting that of the Hon. Secretary of the Interior, warranted me in expecting that the United States would assume and pay all reasonable expenses incurred by the local authorities in affording protection to the Chinese. My own time and labor, and that of my deputies, and the citizens who volunteered to assist me has been given without other compensation than the satisfaction derived from the consciousness that we were doing what at the time seemed necessary in support of a Government worthy of our services. (Signed) JOHN H. McGRAW, Sheriff of King County, W. T. Martial law prevailed in Seattle for a period of two weeks but a part of the Fourteenth infantry remained until the last indication of any purpose to molest the Chinese had van- ished. The community continued, however, to be divided into factions until a time subsequent to the elections for city and county officers in the year 1886. Those who held, allegiance to the constitution and obedience to law, to be the test of good citizenship, organized a "Law and Order League" pledged to insist upon the strict and impartial enforcement of all laws national as well as local. On that platform they campaigned in 1886 with men of the highest character as can- didates for the city and county officers. They were defeated by the superior numbers of the insurgents of that time, who were followers of orators who made the campaign denounc- ing martial law and "moon-eyed, rat-eating, pig-tailed mon- golians." McGraw was defeated for re-election as Sheriff, but, overwhelming political waves like tidal waves on the sea shore recede quickly. The people of King County became sane again and elected McGraw Sheriff at the first subsequent opportunity. During the interval while he was temporarily out of office he was admitted to the bar and practiced law as a member of the firms successively of Greene, Hanford and McGraw; and Greene, McNaught, Hanford and McGraw, and during the same period by judiciously buying and selling Seattle real estate, he acquired property which in time increased in value so as to constitute a competence in addition to providing the funds necessary to save him from complete ruin as I will presently explain. His acquisitions of property included stock in the First National Bank of Seattle of which institution he became president. By the laws of Washington Territory, Sheriffs of the dif- ferent Counties were ex-oflficio collectors of delinquent taxes. During the period of McGraw's incumbency in the office of Sheriff of King County prior to 1887, he made good use of his business education by personally keeping a set of books of account covering all of his official transactions in which he carefully entered every item pertaining to tax collections. For his pains he was given an absolute clearance from lia- bility after he had surrendered the office to his successor and after the business of the County had been experted. His later experiences connected with his second incumbency in the office were painfully different. The business of the Sheriff's office was reorganized with a special deputy charged with respon- sibility for tax collections and the keeping of accounts. At the end of the term an expert accountant was employed to check up and balance the Sheriff's accounts. He spent three months in that work and his report was accepted by the County Commissioners and McGraw settled by paying into the treasury the full amount of the balance reported to be due, which he and all concerned believed to be the true balance. Several years afterwards the County Commissioners authorized a pro- fessional accountant to ransack the records of any and all 64 officials who had been concerned in handling public money and made a contract with him by which he was to receive as compensation for his work, a percentage of all money which should be recovered as a result of his discoveries of defalca- tions. Near the close of McGraw's term of office as Governor of the State, that accountant reported to the County Commis- sioners that he had discovered a deficit of f 10,000 in McGraw's account as tax collector during his last term in the office of Sheriff. McGraw was stunned and disheartened for a time by the eagerness with which some of the newspapers seized upon the report and seemed to delight in sensational denunciation of the Governor of the State, as though he were a convicted thief. The country was then just beginning to recover from the financial panic of 1893. How to meet a sudden demand for immediate restitution of a large sum of money was a difficult problem. The expert accountant who made the re- port which was the basis of settlement after the expiration of McGraw's term of office, had died so that his explanation of the accounts was unobtainable. Whether the accountant who worked for a contingent fee juggled the figures so as to produce a fictitious balance, or whether McGraw's deputy, who transacted the business, was guilty of embezzlement has never been proved. McGraw decided to make no contest and with the aid of a few stanch friends an arrangement was made with the County Commissioners, pursuant to which he conveyed all of his property to a trustee authorized to convert any part or all of it into money to be paid into the County treasury to an amount sufficient to make up the shortage claimed. This was done and the trustee afterwards reconveyed the surplus. I have said that Governor McGraw was a well educated man. His mind was quick to perceive and he had a retentive memory, and being a constant reader of history and the best literature his mind was stored with a fund of knowledge which he made good use of. His study of history and the progress of civilization in all ages and countries, taught him that com- merce is one of the chief factors in the up-building of great cities and the expansion of national power, and that commerce responds to friendly solicitation and flourishes most in those 65 places where it finds the best facilities for the rapid and economical handling of traffic. Therefore he took a states- man's view of the importance to our State and Nation of the natural advantages of Puget Sound as a gateway of commerce and of the importance of improving the harbor of Seattle so as to make it the equal of, or superior to the greatest harbor of the world, and he became an earnest and leading advocate of the scheme of connecting Lake Washington and Lake Union with tide water by a ship canal. That project became a sub- ject of political controversy and under the dominating influ- ence and energy of McGraw and his supporters the Republican nominating convention of 1892 adopted a platform containing a declaration in favor of an appropriation by the National Government to construct that canal with locks. His posi- tion with respect to that project together with the record which he had made in other campaigns as a man of sagacity, force and executive ability directed the attention of the nominating convention to him as being the strongest available candidate for the office of Governor of the State, and he was ac- cordingly nominated. He made a thorough canvass of the State, addressing audiences in every locality, gaining confi- dence, friends and support by his personal efforts, and was elected and performed the duties of that high office with honor and benefit to the State during the term intervening from 1893 to 1897, which in a financial point of view was the darkest period in the history of our country susbequent to the Civil War. An active, intelligent mind, strong will and practical good sense were necessary to enable the chief execu- tive of the State to administer its affairs in a way to avoid disaster. These qualities the Governor possessed, of which there is ample proof. It has frequently happened in our country that scandals have been developed in connection with the erection of public buildings, through combinations of architects, contractors and corrupt officials. An attempt to inflict one of those scandals upon our State was made during Governor McGraw's term, taking advantage of an act of the Legislature authorizing the erection of a State Capitol build- ing at Olympia with a limit of cost of $1,000,000. A large 66 number of architects submitted plans for the proposed Capitol building. Power to select from the number and adopt a plan was vested in a Board of Capitol Commissioners consisting of five members. Information was communicated to the Gover- nor confidentially that a conspiracy had been formed between a majority of the members of the board and an eastern archi- tect and a syndicate of other individuals to perpetrate a fraud upon the State by the adoption of a plan for the Capitol sub- mitted by the architect referred to, and the awarding of the contract to the syndicate. To thwart the conspirators, the Governor wisely insisted upon submission of all the different plans submitted to an architect of national reputation, and the obtaining of his estimate as an expert of their respective merits. Accordingly an architect of pre-eminent ability and reputation was engaged, he examined all of the plans, and condemned all of them, except six which he recommended the board to consider and make a selection from. The plan in- tended for adoption by the conspirators, was among the con- demned and when the secret information communicated to the Governor was confirmed, by the dogged obstinacy of three members of the board in insisting upon adoption of that plan, the Governor did not hesitate to exercise his power to change the personnel of the board in time to save the State from pecuniary loss and disgrace. Again he was stung by gross slanders circulated at the instigation of the defeated conspira- tors. In a church in Chicago a minister of the gospel in a sermon stated, as though it were a fact, that the Governor received the sum of f 50,000 as a bribe and inducement for his action in preventing the adoption of a plan for a Capitol building favored by a majority of the Board of Capitol Commissioners. With courage, tact and a patriotic sense of duty, the Gov- ernor handled conditions difficult to deal with, which were consequences of hard times, and of the presence within the State of considerable numbers of unemployed laborers who at one time were organized to join other organized forces of un- employed laborers under the leadership of General Coxey to assemble as a body at the National Capitol. Serious disasters 67 were threatened in connection with strikes of employees of the railroad companies and coal miners. The Governor bravely met all emergencies and preserved peace and order and ren- dered valuable assistance in settling disputes between em- ployers and employees. At the close of his term of office as Governor, all of McGraw's property was in the hands of a trustee as I have stated. He had no business nor employment to yield an income, and his health was greatly impaired. A few months later when news of the extraordinary discoveries of precious metal in the region then known as Klondike, elec- trified the country, McGraw borrowed a little money for the necessities of his family and to provide an outfit for the jour- ney, and went to Alaska where he remained two years. He met with but indifferent success there in his quest for fortune but the journey and the time spent were fully compensated for by his restoration to robust health. When he returned to Seattle in 1899, Seattle was prosper- ing and he at once commenced a successful business career in which he continued until stricken with the fever which terminated his life on the 23rd day of June, 1910. It was during this time that he became best known as a useful citizen, for all of his time was not devoted to his own affairs. He was liberal in contributing time and earnest in endeavor to promote all public welfare projects. His neighbors and fellow citizens depended upon him and continually called for his help when a strong, able man was needed, and in many important matters he acted upon his own initiative. He was for several years the efficient president of the Seattle Chamber of Com- merce and when the commercial bodies of the cities of the Pacific Coast combined to form an association to work in com- bination for the general good of the States bordering on the Pacific Ocean, he was chosen as the first president of the Asso- ciated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific. He was a mem- ber of the executive committee and one of the vice-presidents of the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition, and devoted much of his time and energy endeavoring to promote the success of that exposition. He was the first president of a corpora- tion organized at Seattle to develop the great water power 68 of Priest Eapids and convert a large arid district on the west side of the Columbia River into a fertile and wealth-producing region by means of irrigation. At the time of his death he was president of the Rainier Club of Seattle and an active member of the Board of Overseers of Whitman College, zealous in its service and hopeful for the success of efforts being made to plant the college on a foundation which shall insure its position as the educational center of the three great States of the Northwest. Ever active and energetic, Governor McGraw's life was marked by many conflicts. He was vigorous in meeting and contending against opposition and although he was often tra- duced and misrepresented, he was personally popular through- out the State of Washington and well beloved by a host of ad- mirers. His friends do not claim that he was, and he did not pretend to be, faultless, he was self-conscious of his powers and ability, and also of his faults and limitations, and being thus self-conscious he was fortified to assume responsibilities and to act with courage and intelligence, and his character was also ennobled by charity and modesty and he was stimulated to en- deavor for self-improvement. He rejected offers of support which probably would have placed him in the position of a United States Senator, where his abilities would have com- manded recognition of him as one among the leading states- men of our time. He desired not additional political prefer- ment, his highest ambition being to occupy the position of an American citizen in private life and to be a useful citizen. 69 Joljtt % Hlr(ikaro a Sfattna iEutr Skaag to ?4*lp <©%ra $jj Ebrnnno &. Tirana IFantlty of Itnibrruttii of OTasljington Address delivered before Seattle Chamber of Commerce, June 28, 1910. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Seattle Chamber of Com- merce •' In rising to second Mr. Crawford's motion to construct a monument in his memory, I bring you a message from a walk of life somewhat different from your own. When a good man dies, thoughtful survivors find a tender solace for their grief in calling up from the past words or incidents that characterized the life just ended. We are now witnessing a splendid example of this natural human tendency in the multiplied tributes to the memory of John H. McGraw. In humbleness of spirit I wish to add a tribute, confident that it will relieve my own sense of sorrow to speak frankly to my fellow man on this occasion and hopeful that the words will find an echo in the hearts of others. From early boyhood my life has been closely tied to the University of Washington. Pack in Territorial days I remem- ber working as a freshman in the little closet of a room called the University Library. There were scarcely one thousand volumes in all and still I found one large series of the volumes had been given to the Library by John H. McGraw. He was then a policeman. Fifteen years later I had the pleasure of seeing him, as Governor, approve the act of the Legislature reorganizing the institution, giving it a new campus of three hundred and fifty- five acres, providing money for the new buildings, safe-guarding the old campus in the center of Seattle, providing a large en- dowment of one hundred thousand acres of granted lands, and, what he particularly enjoyed, making tuition free for the boys and girls of Washington. 70 Before, since, and during his term as Governor, John H. McGraw found many ways to manifest an intelligent, earnest, and efficient interest in the University. During one campaign I was waited upon by the party manager and told that the members of the faculty were to be assessed for political pur- poses. I did not know the party affiliations of the professors but I did know that they were all finding it difficult to subsist on their small salaries. In anguish I went to Governor Mc- Graw. I do not wish to recall his exact words. They were emphatic. In substance they were: "You tell the campaign committee that my orders are to keep their hands off the educa- tional institutions of this State." I delivered those orders and I am glad to say that from that day to this no campaign com- mittee of any party has tried to assess the members of the University faculty. But this kindly man took especially keen delight in helping young people to obtain good educational training, a thing he had missed in his own boyhood. No one will ever know how many he helped. I am sure there are enough of them to rear this monument if left to them alone. One day, while he was Sheriff of King County, he stopped a red-haired, freckle-faced boy carrying newspapers on the street. Putting his hand on the boy's shoulder he said : "Young man, I knew your father. I was very sorry when he was drowned in the Skagit River. I have heard something of your struggles to keep in school while taking care of your mother, sister, and baby brother. What I want to say now is that I want you to feel free to call on me if you need a friend for any purpose whatever." The boy could not speak. With tears streaming from his eyes, he hurried on with his papers, but he was no longer a boy. His life was changed. The young man knew from that hour that there was a big, strong, purposeful man, who was not only his well-wisher, but his earnest and aggressive friend. That friendship, tested and secure, endured till one, on last Saturday, saw the other pass through the tomb. I was that newsboy. For many years I have been studying and teaching history 71 with all the strength I can command. Whatever of success I may have achieved in this work, I feel that none of it is anywhere near as valuable as the results of my constant efforts to be the friend, the elder brother, to every student with whom I come in contact. I cannot analyze myself as well as another might, but it seems that all my life I have felt on my shoulder the hand of John H. McGraw and I have heard for all these years the words in which he pledged his friendship. I hope I have been as kind to some other struggling boy. Gladly, Mr. President, do I second the motion that we rear in this city a monument to the memory of John H. McGraw. 72 Reproduced from photograph taken while Governor of the State of Washington Snbutw txxfo (HammmtB frnm battle TKm&ptxpnB Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 24, 1910. "The state has lost a loyal citizen and a hard worker for the com- mon good." — Gov. Hay. "He carried this commonwealth through one of its most trying periods. He was one of our greatest public men." — Former Gov. Mead. John H. McGraw, second governor of Washington, who presided over the state's destinies from 1893 to 1897, died at 6:45 last evening at his home, 1104 First Avenue North. The struggle with death, extending over nearly four months, ended peacefully. He remained unconscious through the forty-eight hours preceding the end. Family at Bedside With him at his bedside when he passed away were his daughter, Mrs. Fred Hudson Baxter; his son, Mark T. McGraw, and his nephew, Dr. Eugene R. Kelley, who had been in almost constant attendance upon him from the first of his illness. Fred Hudson Baxter, Mrs. Sutcliffe Baxter, Mr. Baxter's mother; Mrs. Mark T. McGraw and his two grandchildren, Harriet Baxter and John Baxter, were also present. History of Illness Gov. McGraw was first attacked with neuralgia, for which he went to the springs for treatment. On his return, a fortnight later, he was no better, and his physicians, Dr. George M. Horton and Dr. Kelley, discovered what they believed was septic poisoning. Later typhoid fever developed, and this was accompanied by severe chills at night, making the case an unusual one. Makes a Good Fight Through it all Gov. McGraw battled with the energy of a man of strong will, and showed the qualities that had characterized him throughout his career of almost sixty years. Dr. Horton and Dr. Kelley finally called in consultation Dr. L. R. Dawson and Dr. Edward P. Fick, and typhoid germs were extracted from the patient's blood, with which he was later inoculated. After this experiment Governor McGraw showed signs of improvement, but later suffered a relapse, and for more than a fortnight hovered between life and death. 73 Asks Private Funeral He waged his determined struggle against the complications that set in until about three weeks ago, when he called in a few business associates and announced to them that he realized that his end was near, and that it was his wish that he be given no public funeral, but that he be buried privately and without any show of ostentation. Was Advocate of Canal The death of the former governor comes at a time when the building of the Lake Washington Canal seems about to be realized. This project he favored from the beginning of his public career. It was the chief plank in the platform upon which he was elected gov- ernor. He never relaxed his efforts, in season or out of season, to further the accomplishment of that ambition. His last public service was rendered in its behalf, when he went to Washington, early in the year, and advocated before the committee on rivers and harbors the appropriation recently authorized by congress, which assures the construction of a lock at Salmon Bay. Many Anxious Inquiries It is doubtful if the sickness of any man in the public life of the State has excited more anxious inquiries than the illness of Gov. McGraw. From the beginning the esteem in which he was held and the popularity enjoyed by him was manifested in the sincere expres- sions of good will that were expressed for him from all over the State. And these inquiries in numberless instances came from those with whom he had differed politically, but who recognized in him a man of worth and a fighter who never regretted any struggle in which he participated. Funeral Tomorrow The funeral service, which will be simple and in accordance with his expressed wish, will be held from the home tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, and will be attended only by the immediate family and intimate friends of the former governor. The body will be cremated. Rev. W. A. Major, pastor of the Bethany Presbyterian Church, will officiate at the home, and on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 a public memorial service will be held in the First Presbyterian Church. The Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers' Association, the Mercantile Association and the Charity's Indorsement Committee, will suspend their activities today, and remain closed until after the funeral. The Strawberry Festival, being held in the Chamber of Commerce, will be discontinued. Born in poverty and obscurity, John H. McGraw became clerk in a little country store, then its proprietor. Unable to withstand the fierce panic of '73, and compelled to abandon the general merchandise 74 business in which, with an older brother, he embarked three years before, he came to the Pacific Coast, worked as a horse-car driver in San Francisco, and then, drifting to Seattle, became in turn hotel clerk, hotel proprietor, policeman, city marshal and chief of police, sheriff, bank president and governor of his adopted State. John Harte McGraw, son of Daniel and Catherine (Harte) Mc- Graw, was born at Barker Plantation, Penobscot County, Me., near the Canadian border, October 4, 1850. When he was a little more than 2 years old his father was drowned in the Penobscot River. His mother was left with three small children, and, as Governor McGraw often expressed it, "poverty in abundance." Left Home at Fourteen When McGraw was 8 years old his mother married a second time. When he was 14 years old he left home because of a disagreement with his step-father, and thereafter he was compelled to rely upon his own exertions. His scant education was acquired at a few terms' attendance at a country school, but in spite of all disadvantages he succeeded in maintaining himself, and at 17 he was given employ- ment as a clerk in a general merchandise store. There he remained for three years, although it does not appear to have engrossed him entirely, for he was married October 12, 1874. During the winter of the following year the firm of McGraw Brothers succumbed to the business depression that followed the panic of '73, and John H. McGraw was once more thrown upon his own resources. After this reverse he determined to set out for the Pacific Coast. San Francisco was his objective point when he left the Pine Tree State. There he arrived July 10, 1876, and for the next few months he worked as a horse-car driver in that city. It was a casual acquaintance he met who induced and assisted him to come north to Seattle, and he arrived in this city December 28, 1876. For the ensuing several months he was employed as a clerk at the Occidental Hotel. During the next year, however, he became one of the lessees of the American House, a small hotel located near Yesler's Wharf, and he conducted the business of that hotel until the building was de- stroyed by fire in 1878. Joins Seattle Police With this last reverse a more favorable current set in. He solicited and obtained a position on the police force of Seattle, which then consisted of four men. He served one year in this latter capacity, and in July, 1879, he was elected city marshal by the people, and chosen by the city council as chief of police. 75 He continued to fill these offices by annual re-election until Feb- ruary, 1882, when he was elected sheriff of King County to fill the unexpired term of L. V. Wyckoff. He was re-elected to this position in November, 1882, and again two years later. During his third term as sheriff occurred the anti-Chinese agi- tation, with its accompanying disturbances of the peace. He promptly made known his intention to uphold the laws and maintain the peace of the county at any cost, and for this stand he incurred the hostility of those who sympathized with agitation in its lawless phase, and when he was nominated for re-election in November, 1886, he was defeated, together with all the other candidates who had been nominated for county offices by his party. Admitted to the Bar During his occupancy of the office of sheriff he had devoted much of his time to the study of the law and was admitted to the bar. Shortly after his retirement to private life he formed a partnership, in March, 1887, with Roger S. Greene, who had formerly been chief justice of Washington Territory, and C. H. Hanford, at present United States District Judge for the District of Washington, and began the practice of law. Later Joseph P. McNaught entered the firm, and the firm name of Greene, Hanford & McGraw became Greene, Hanford, McNaught & McGraw. His active practice of the law, however, covered less than two years, for as the election of 1888 approached his friends insisted that he should once more become a candidate for sheriff. They urged that it was necessary for him to do this in order that the people might have an opportunity to show that in their calmer moments they ap- proved of his course during the anti-Chinese riots, which, by his former defeat, they had appeared to condemn. He accordingly consented to become a candidate for the office, and was elected by a big majority. During this latter term the county was undisturbed by riot or agitation, and nobody had the slightest criticism to make upon Mr. McGraw's official course when he refused to become a candidate for re-election in 1890, and retired to become president of the First Na- tional Bank, of which institution he had some months before been chosen president. Still Active in Politics Meanwhile he continued his activity in Republican politics. He had been a member of the State Central Committee for several years, and the chairmanship of that was strongly urged upon him by a majority of the delegates to the State Convention of 1890. This posi- tion he refused to accept. 76 In the contest for United States Senator in 1891 he was the central figure. He led the forces in favor of the re-election of Senator Watson C. Squire, and to his faithful and intelligent leadership the success of Senator Squire was in a large measure due. Mr. McGraw's exertions during this memorable conflict for United States Senator greatly undermined his health, and he was ordered by his physicians to go to California that his health might be restored. Honored by Friends A few days before his departure he was presented by his fellow Republicans of Seattle a magnificent silver service in acknowledge- ment of his services to the Republican party. In referring to this presentation the Post-Intelligencer, on the following morning, Feb- ruary 5, 1891, said editorially: "The presentation made to Mr. John H. McGraw last evening by a number of his Republican friends was a heartfelt though necessarily inadequate expression of the honor in which he is held by his fellow citizens. More particularly an acknowledgement of his able, honor- able and successful leadership in the recent senatorial contest, it was none the less a tribute to his worth as a man and a citizen. "The present is a proper time to testify to the manner in which Senator Squire's canvass was conducted by Mr. McGraw. That his generalship was able, keen and resourceful, the result of the battle sufficiently attests. More than this, however, he was open and hon- orable in his methods, and he comes out of the fight with the respect and friendship of all fair-minded men — even of those who were among the supporters of the cause which he overthrew. Mr. McGraw, as a result, occupies an enviable position in the State of Washington." Chosen National Delegate His interest in politics still continued unabated. He was elected a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892, and in the fall of that year was elected Governor of the State of Washington, and he served the four-year term, which commenced in January, 1893. He made the campaign for Governor on a purely local platform, the State having divided politically on the issue of indorsing the con- struction of the Lake Washington Canal, a project with which he has ever since been identified, and in advocacy of which before the Rivers and Harbors Committee of Congress early this year in Washington, D. C, he rendered his last public service. Stormy Term as Governor Gov. McGraw's administration was a stormy and tempestuous one. He stood for sound money, the enforcement of the State's contracts and the payment of the State's just debts. The politicians of his 77 own party embarrassed him by the passage of extravagant appropria- tion bills, which he promptly vetoed. He cut down other needed ap- propriations to amounts he knew the State was able to pay. The legislature finally passed a deficiency judgment bill, which would have defrauded the State's creditors, and that also was vetoed. Riots were threatened in Tacoma and elsewhere at the time Coxey's army started its march. Governor McGraw led both the State Militia and the Federal troops to suppress any attempt at violence. Settled Coal Strike During his administration there was a serious and prolonged strike in the coal mines in King and Pierce Counties. Several thou- sand men were involved. It had lasted nearly three months, with the usual incidents and progression toward serious trouble on both sides. The mines were owned by the Northern Pacific Railroad. The general manager one day notified the governor that on the following Tuesday he proposed to reopen the mines, in which there had been nothing done since the strike; that he expected at least one-third of the striking miners would return to work, and closed by saying, rather peremptorily, "Send us two companies of militia to protect our men." The governor took the next train to Cle Elum, where he met the general manager and the attorney for the road. The situation was fully discussed. When he left them they were notified that he in- tended visiting Roslyn, the strikers' headquarters, for a conference with the strikers. "We will go with you," the railroad men said. "No, thank you, I'll go alone," responded the Governor. A special train was then offered, and declined, the Governor saying a cayuse's back was good enough for him. And so he went, met the leaders of the strike, and went over the whole situation with them. They requested him not to send the militia. He called their attention to the length of the strike, how it had availed them nothing. He then told them that he understood from the company that at least one-third of the strikers wished to return to work, but were deterred from doing so by the leaders. Betired Poor From Office Closing the conference, the Governor said: "When the whistle blows for work on Tuesday, and a third of the men show a disposition to go back to work, I shall be prepared to defend them with the whole State militia, if necessary. If that is not enough I shall call on the President of the United States, in accordance with the Constitution, and I guess you know what Grover Cleveland will do in that case. I want to say another thing, and that is, what I have threatened will be done if there is just one man of you who wants to return to work." 78 The leaders went into conference, and returned almost immediately with the announcement that they were ready to return to work. Governor McGraw neglected his personal business during his term of office, and at its expiration he found himself one of the most abused men in the State, and virtually a bankrupt. His term as Governor expired in January, 1897. In August of that year the Klondike ex- citement became rampant, and the Governor borrowed money enough to take him to the Golden North, whither he went literally with a pack on his back and a pick and shovel in his hand. Paid Off All Debts On his first visit to Seattle from Alaska he walked into the office of Harold Preston and placed on the latter's desk a stack of bills and coin which, when counted, showed a total of $20,020. Picking a $20 gold piece from the pile, he put that in his pocket, and said: "Harold, I'll make this $20 last until I am able to get more. But I want you to pay my creditors." He did not "strike it rich" in Alaska, but he earned there a com- petence sufficient to enable him to return to Seattle and start in the real estate business, latterly under the firm name of McGraw, Kit- tinger & Case. Many former friends who admired his pluck, ability and integrity, placed business in his hands, and his return from Alaska in 1899 was followed by the payment of nearly $100,000 of debt, so that before his decease he had again become prosperous and was rapidly gaining in wealth. Governor McGraw more than supplied the deficiencies of his early education, said a biographer, and yet, in spite of his position of in- fluence and honor among the people of Washington, a request for a sketch of his life a short time ago brought forth this modest reply: "Of a career so barren of results, not much can truthfully be said." Honors in Later Life He married May L. Kelley in his boyhood home in Maine before coming to the Pacific Coast. She died about three years ago. He is survived by a son, Mark Thomas McGraw, who has been engaged in Alaska enterprises, and is now a Deputy United States Marshal, and a daughter, Kate Edna, wife of Fred Hudson Baxter. The latter couple lived with Governor McGraw in his beautiful home, 1104 First Avenue North, corner of Prospect Street, ever since the death of Mrs. McGraw. Governor McGraw was of Irish ancestry. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he had taken degrees of both York and Scottish rites, attaining the thirty-second degree of the latter. He was president of the Chamber of Commerce from 1905 to 1909, 79 was president of the Puget Sound Realty Associates, and a vice-presi- dent of the A.-Y.-P. Exposition. He was also at the time of his death president of the Rainier Club. With the death of Governor McGraw there passes the only one who stuck it out until the end of the famous "big four," who for sev- eral years absolutely dominated the Republican politics of the State of Washington. The "big four" comprised McGraw, Leigh Hunt, who went to the Orient and got rich; George H. Heilbron, who was fatally stricken with heart failure some years ago while taking a bath in his home, and Frederick J. Grant, who was lost aboard the ship Ivanhoe, which sailed from this port and was never heard from again. Prominent Men Pay Tribute to Worth of the Former Executive Governor M. E. Hay said last night: "Although the news of Gov- ernor McGraw's death was not unexpected, it came to me as a great shock. As Governor of the State of Washington I had naturally come into close touch with his work. It was not until the opening of the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition that I became closely acquainted with Governor McGraw, and I then learned to admire him greatly. His enthusiasm as a booster for Seattle and the entire State won my admiration. He neglected his personal business to make the expo- sition a success, and he was ever ready to point out to visitors the opportunities offered in the Pacific Northwest. The State has lost a loyal citizen and a hard worker for the common good." Message From President Taft Messages of condolence poured in all day from all over the country upon the stricken household, among them a telegram from President Taft, as follows: "I greatly regret to hear of the death of Governor McGraw. He was a most enterprising and respected friend of Seattle." From Speaker Cannon "I regret exceedingly to receive the news of the death of Governor McGraw, because his services to his State were efficient, honest and patriotic," was the message received from Speaker Cannon, of the National House of Representatives. Other Messages Received United States Senator William P. Frye, of Governor McGraw's native State of Maine, now in his eightieth year, who was serving the Republican party as chairman of the Maine Republican State Committee before Governor McGraw left for the Pacific Coast, also sent a message of sympathy to the bereaved family, as did Henry Wat- 80 terson, veteran editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, while among others heard from were United States Senators S. H. Piles and Wesley L. Jones, Governor M. E. Hay, Representatives William E. Humphrey and W. W. McCredie and Theodore Wilcox, of Portland, Ore. Plans for Funeral The funeral services to be held at the family home at 2 o'clock this afternoon will be reserved for the immediate family and intimate friends, as it was Governor McGraw's expressed wish that his funeral should not be made the occasion of any public display. Rev. W. A. Major, pastor of the Bethany Presbyterian Church, who officiated at the funeral of Mrs. McGraw three years ago, will per- form a similar service today. The body will be cremated. The Pallbearers The active pallbearers will be J. D. Lowman, F. W. Baker, S. L. Crawford, James D. Hoge, John Arthur, George Boole, C. B. Yandell, Maj. F. A. Boutelle, Edmond S. Meany, C. J. Smith. The honorary pallbearers selected are Judge C. H. Hanford, Judge Thomas Burke, Governor M. E. Hay, E. C. Hughes, Robert Moran Harvey W. Scott, editor of the Oregonian; A. J. Blethen; W. W, Robertson, of North Yakima; former United States Senator Levi Ankeny; former Governor Henry McBride; Mayor Hiram C. Gill; E. W Andrews, C. H. Clarke, Roger S. Greene; former Sheriff William Cach rane; Lester Turner, W. D. Wood, D. E. Frederick, Frank McDermott J. E. Chilberg, I. A. Nadeau, Judge George Donworth, C. J. Lord of Olympia; J. S. Brace, Charles W. Darr, M. A. Arnold, R. B Albertson, J. S. Goldsmith, Jacob Furth, M. F. Backus, City Engineer R. H. Thomson and J. M. Frink. Public Memorial Services Public memorial services will be held at 1:15 o'clock tomorrow afternoon in the First Presbyterian Church. The preliminary address will be delivered by Rev. M. A. Matthews, and testimonials by Judge C. H. Hanford, E. C. Hughes and Judge Thomas Burke will follow. The following commercial, social and civic organizations have signified a desire to participate in the memorial services through their trustees and boards of directors: Associations to Participate Seattle Chamber of Commerce; Rainier Club; Seattle Golf and Country Club; Arctic Club; Commercial Club; University Club; Man- ufacturers' Association; Seattle Merchants' Association; Seattle Clear- ing House; Seattle Real Estate Association; Seattle Athletic Club; Seattle Board of Underwriters; Lake Washington Canal Association; Masonic orders. 81 In addition reservation of seats will be made for a large number of intimate friends, and all the city and county officials. It is requested that all floral tributes be sent to the home and not the church. -o- By ALDEtf J. BLETHE1V Seattle Daily Times, June 24, 1910. After the ravages of twelve weeks of typhoid fever, the physical strength of John H. McGraw — former Governor of the State of Wash- ington — fell before that grim destroyer, Death — and his spirit passed to that land from whose bourne no traveler ever returns. Possibly no other citizen has closed his career in this great Com- monwealth since Statehood with as pronounced a character — a repu- tation for vigorous effort and devotion to the best interests of both City and State, as occurred when Governor McGraw closed his eyes in death, just as the sun was passing behind the Olympics yesterday evening in the clearest of all our summer skies. Born October 4, 1850, in the good old State of Maine, but spending all his manhood life in Seattle, except the four years of his career as Governor, which, under the law, made his residence Olympia — John H. McGraw presented to the people of this State one of the most remarkable careers ever wrought out by any man coming from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast. With very limited opportunities for an early education, Governor McGraw passed through an experience in Washington that, by absorp- tion, afforded him an education broader than that which could have been obtained at Harvard or Yale in America, or the famous Oxford University of England. Indeed, the career of this man, whose "untimely taking off" will be regretted by every true citizen of the City and State, experienced a career more remarkable in detail than that which came into the life of any other public man carving out fame on the Pacific Coast since Marcus Whitman made it possible for Americans to develop the State of Washington by saving the "Oregon country" to the United States. Observe the experience: Coming to this country in his early youth, he assumed the position of an ordinary clerk — but made himself so useful to his employers that he was thought to be a member of the firm. Determined to learn the best methods of conducting municipal government, and going to the very bottom for information, John H. McGraw became a policeman — but he served with such faithfulness that he succeeded to the head of the department within a limited period. 82 Broadening out from his career as Chief of Police, he became Sheriff of King County, and filled the office so well that he was doubly- honored in the position. Passing at once into the politics of the Commonwealth, in 1892, John H. McGraw had become so favorably known that he was made Chief Executive of the State, and occupied the chair as Governor for a period of four years. It has been said by his intimate friends that he might have been one of the members of the United States Senate if he had so chosen — but he felt that that honor should go to others who had made him an equal combat for political preferment. Unfortunately the hard times, which were at their climax when Governor McGraw went out of office at the close of 1896, left him without property and without means to enter upon a business career such as he had expected to assume at the end of his political service to the State. Here again the characteristics of enterprise, perseverance and his magnificent ability to achieve results were demonstrated — for it was at the beginning of that epoch in the history when the gold fields of the North were about to empty their wealth into the lap of Seattle, and which has continued until more than two hundred million dollars' worth of the yellow metal has been received. John H. McGraw was then almost fifty years of age — and to face the rigors of Alaska and submit to the discomforts of the mining camp might have tested the courage of a man of less years. But it did not disturb Governor McGraw in the least — for he as deliberately outfitted himself for a two years' stay and went forth to reclaim his lost fortune with as much courage as he had under- taken his official positions during the twenty years prior to the day of his departure. Fortune smiled upon his efforts precisely as she does upon the efforts of all similar men — and at the end of two years Governor McGraw returned to his home, having been most successful in his hunt for gold, and was able at once to enter upon a most remarkable business career. So far as it lay within the power of the business men of this City to honor Governor McGraw in a civic way — all honors were heaped upon him. He was not only made President of the Chamber of Commerce repeatedly — but was always at the head of every important committee, especially if that committee were required to go before the Congress of the United States, Cabinet officers or even the President. In all undertakings in Seattle, whether of a receptive or an ex- ploitive character, Governor McGraw was always at the head — and never in any incident did he fail to render the highest service and secure the best results. His taking off was most untimely — for his physical strength, mental power and splendid intellectual development were all at their very zenith — and if he could have lived another decade no man in Seattle could have accomplished more for the City and State. No man of the vigorous and aggressive character possessed by Governor McGraw could possibly hew his way to personal success and at the same time fulfill the important missions which he under- took to the satisfaction of his people — without striking blows that nec- essarily made enemies. But it is fair to say that no man ever lived in Seattle who has been quicker to forget injuries — imagined or real — and extend the hand of cordial friendship than was the custom of John H. McGraw. The taking off of such a man with such characteristics and such a career necessarily creates regrets and heartburnings to an extent that the great public will never know — because those who feel the strongest and suffer the keenest are oftenest the most silent. It will not be improper, however, for the Editor of The Times, in closing this humble tribute to a great man, to say that the taking off of Governor McGraw causes the sincerest regrets — for the Editor had learned to know Governor McGraw most intimately — and to appre- ciate the splendid qualities of his character and his straightforward manliness. May his ashes rest in peace. 84 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: OCT BBKKEEPER PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, LP. 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 005 807 379 9 S OUND AKC WASHfMGTON