"Portrait & Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley Oregon." Chapman Publishing Company, 1903. p. 777. WALTER LINCOLN TOOZE Remarkable business and executive ability, a high sense of honor and of the responsibilities of citizenship, as well as the ability to recognize and utilize surrounding opportunities, has placed Walter Lincoln Tooze among the chief developing, forces of Woodburn. A native of Pittsfield, Lorain county, Ohio, Mr. Tooze was born November 25, 1860, his parents, William and Mary H. (Parkmand) Tooze, being natives of England. William Tooze came from Devonshire, England, in 1858, settling on a farm near Pittsfield, Ohio, whence he removed in 1863 to Bedford, Barry county, Mich., where he died in 1868, at the age of forty-five years. His father, John, was born in England, where he was reared, married, led an industrious life, and died at the age of eighty-eight years. Mary H. (Parkmand) Tooze died in Barry county, Mich., in 1865, at the age of thirty-six, leaving six children, all boys, who are living at the present time. Of these, Frank F. is a farmer near Wilsonville, Ore.; Henry is engaged in farming in Barry county, Mich. ; Charles is an attorney of Wilsonville, Ore.; David C. is a farmer of Bedford, Barry county, Mich.; Fred J., a graduate of Amherst College, is superintendent of schools of Quincy, Mich. Left an orphan at the age of five years, Walter Lincoln Tooze was reared by an uncle, James Tooze, of Brownhelm, Ohio, who was a graduate of Oberlin College, and a man of great learning. Notwithstanding this educational advantage, he had not a dollar when he landed in Newberg, Oregon, in 1,877, and was dependent solely upon his grit and determination for carving out his future. Like most of the successful men of the West, he began self-support as a farm hand, from which he was graduated into the more congenial work of educator, in Washington, Yamhill, and Marion counties. Frugal and industrious, he managed to increase his finances to a considerable amount, and in 1884 went to Butteville, Marion county, where he contracted a mercantile partnership with his future father-in-law, Joshua Barnes. April 22, 1888, he was united in marriage with Sadie A. Barnes, who was born in St. James, Mo., January 1, 1869, a daughter of Joshua Barnes, also born in Missouri, and who came to Oregon in 1876. Mr. Barnes located at Oswego, where he was interested in the iron mines before embarking in the general merchandise business with Mr. Tooze. In 1895 he removed to Redding, Cal., where he is at present engaged in the restaurant business. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Tooze, of whom Walter L. is a sophomore student at Mount Angel College, Ore. ; Lilla Ethel, Lamar E. and Leslie O., the two latter twins, are at home. In 1887 Mr. Tooze abandoned the mercantile business in Butteville, and for the following two years was a member of the firm of Tooze Brothers in Woodburn. The brothers bought out the general merchandise business of Mrs. J. B. Sconce, and at the end of a year Walter L. Tooze bought out his brother Charles T., thereafter continuing a wholesale produce and general merchandise business. So successful was he that he became known as the produce and merchant king of French Prairie, and much of the present prosperity of Woodburn is due to the solid foundation established by this intrepid pioneer industry. It was estimated that he handled one hundred thousand bushels of grain and fifty thousand bushels of potatoes annually, and while his first year's sales amounted to $20,000, those of 1891 had advanced to $75,000. Having attained a competence and established an enviable position in the world of finance, Mr. Tooze sold out his mercantile interests March 1, 1893, and engaged in a general brokerage and real estate business. July 1, 1897, Mr. Tooze was appointed postmaster of Woodburn, it being at that time a fourth-class office, but was advanced to a third-class office April 1, 1901. He has taken an active interest in the local and state undertakings of the Republican party, and has held many positions of trust and responsibility. He was a delegate-at-large from Oregon to the convention of the National Republican Club at Denver in 1894 ; chairman of the Marion county convention in 1892 and 1898; chairman of the Republican State Convention at Astoria in 1898; and has materially advanced the cause of several campaigns by virtue of his ability as an extemporaneous speaker. Mr. Tooze has been mayor of Woodburn, also school director, and clerk. In the postoffice he is ably assisted by William P. Pennebaker, who has been in his employ for eight years, and in whom Mr. Tooze has unbounded confidence. Mr. Tooze has added to the architectural appearance of the business portion of the town by erecting a modern and well equipped brick business block, and he also owns one of the prettiest homes in the city, where hospitality is lavishly dispensed. Mr. Tooze also owns fifty-five lots on the peninsula at Portland, which he purchased in ,1893. Two farms near Woodburn contribute a substantial income from general farming enterprises and hop culture, in the latter of which he has been remarkably successful. Fraternally, he is connected with the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Foresters of America, and the Woodcraft Circle. Mr. Tooze may well serve as an example for men who start out in life with no money, but who have unbounded confidence in ultimate success. Nearly all his undertakings have been rewarded by success, and the latent power of the man has entered into almost every movement of importance which has marked the growth of the city for many years. He is a man of fine personal appearance, is affable and approachable, and has hosts of friends who testify to his many admirable characteristics. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in July 2007 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.