Lockley, Fred. "History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the Sea." Vol. 3. S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928. p. 28. ANDREW A. QUARNBERG One of the foremost men in the Columbia River valley was the subject of the following article, written by Fred Lockley for the Daily Journal, a Portland paper, in which it appeared under date of December 7, 1925: "Andrew A. Quarnberg, well known horticulturist and nut specialist, is a longtime resident of Vancouver. When I interviewed him recently at his home he said: ' I was born August 16, 1849, on a farm in the province of Dalarne, Sweden, and the name of Quarnberg was originally applied to a farm in that country. I was graduated from the public schools in 1864 and that fall entered the College of Falun. Another farmer's son and I lived in an attic room, where we cooked our own meals. I went to college for the next five years. In the spring of 1869 I came to America with my parents, A. J. and Anna Quarnberg, who settled in Clay county, Dakota territory. Like most of the other settlers there, we lived in a sod house. The only wood in the house was in the doors and the window frames. The roofs of the barns and stables were made of willows and wild hay, thatched very much as the roofs are thatched in the old country. Subsequently my parents moved to Chicago and later migrated to the Columbia River valley and spent their remaining years in this region. My father died in 1897 and mother passed away later in Portland. " ' While working as a clerk I learned the English language and for five years I was employed in a hardware store; then in a general merchandise store and later in a drug store, where my knowledge of Latin proved of value. In 1872, when I was twenty-three, I was appointed deputy assessor and I assessed about one-third of the property in Clay county. The following year I went to Vermilion, the county seat, where I landed a job as clerk in a store. While I was working at Vermilion the Missouri river went on a rampage. When the ice broke up in the spring it jammed and the river spread from bluff to bluff. It overflowed all the low lands and in places was ten miles wide. It washed away many houses and fences and killed a great deal of live stock. when the flood subsided the river had formed a new channel and Vermilion, which had been located on the bank of the river, was left five miles inland. By changing its channel the river took several square miles of territory away from Nebraska and gave it to Dakota. " ' On September 17, 1876, I married Lydia M. Norelius, who, like myself, was born in Sweden. We built a cozy little home in Vermilion and this, with many other houses nearby, was swept away by the flood caused by the ice gorge in the river in the spring of 1881. Afterward we built a new house on the hill. In the spring of 1881 I started a hardware business at Vermilion in partnership with my brother-in-law, J. E. Norelius. Having a wide acquaintance, in 1884 I was elected register of deeds and county clerk. These offices I filled for three terms in succession or six years. " ' In 1891 I came to Clark county and bought a fruit farm near the city limits of Vancouver, making prune growing and nut culture a specialty. This property in Fruit valley is now a part of the city and I still own nine acres of the tract. In 1892 I was elected county commissioner of Clark county and served for six years. During that time the county bought its first rock crusher and road roller and the first unit of the Fourth Plains road was constructed and this was the first real and up-to-date macadamized road in the county. It was paid for by the district, county and state. In the fall of 1895 I became weather observer and kept temperature records for the State Agricultural College at Pullman for a year. I received no salary but the college instruments were left with me and since that time with additional instruments I have continued the work as cooperative observer of the United States weather bureau, recording the maximum and minimum temperatures; the amount of precipitation; the direction of the wind, the date of the flowering of the fruit trees and weather conditions during that period; amount of snow, sleet, hail and miscellaneous weather phenomenon each season. These records are tabulated and filed and ready for instant reference. I was also district horticultural inspector, a state office, to which I was appointed in 1909, and served four years, my territory included Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties. " ' Soon after I came to Clark county I began to experiment with filberts and walnuts. By advice of Colonel Henry E. Dosch of Portland, Oregon, I obtained my first French walnut trees from Phelix Gillet, Nevada City,California. The people of Oregon owe a large debt to Colonel Dosch for his work in introducing Persian walnuts in their state. I now have about sixty varieties of filberts on my home place. I was very well acquainted with the people from Sioux City, Iowa, who settled at Dundee, Oregon. In the Prince orchard there, which was originally devoted entirely to prunes, the owner, Z. T. Davis, after seeing my walnut trees dug up every other prune tree in every other row and planted walnut trees. It is one of the finest walnut orchards in that state and at one time was the largest French walnut orchard in the entire United States.' " Since 1894 Mr. Quarnberg has experimented with nearly seventy varieties of filberts from many parts of the world and is one of the most advanced experimenters in this country. He made two trips to Europe for the purpose of studying filberts and his treatise on "Filbert Growing for Profit in the Puget Sound Country," written for the Puget Mill Company, Seattle, Washington, as their horticultural adviser, was one of the first pamphlets written on this subject in the United States. His experiments with English walnuts have resulted in the production of a new strain, a seedling known as the Quarnberg variety, and his collections of filberts and English walnuts are regarded as the best in this country. He has prepared a number of papers on walnut and filbert growing and has gained national repute as an authority on the production of filberts and walnuts, contributing materially toward the advancement of this branch of horticultural science through his writings and experiments. Mrs. Quarnberg died in 1909, leaving a family of four children. Roland, the eldest, is assistant postmaster of Vancouver and has a wife and one child, Alice. Amy is the wife of C. J. Moss, who engages in the automobile business in Vancouver. They reside on the Quarnberg homestead and are the parents of two children: Leonard J., who is attending the Oregon Agriculture College; and Lucille, a high school graduate. Carl, the next of the family, was deputy county auditor and passed away in 1916. Ruth, the youngest child, died in 1918. Mr. Quarnberg gives his political allegiance to the republican party and conscientiously discharges the duties and obligations of citizenship. Figuring prominently in connection with the organization of the Western Walnut Growers Association, he was made one of its life members and also holds a life membership in the Oregon Horticulture Society. He has the only complete records of the Nut Growers Association in existence. He is likewise identified with the Grange. Methodical and systematic, he has compiled much valuable data of various kinds relative to the northwest and has been largely instrumental in preserving the historic old apple tree of Washington located at Vancouver Barracks, which is probably the oldest apple tree on the Pacific Coast, now living. Mr. Quarnberg has aided in pushing forward the wheels of progress in this region and, judged from the standpoint of service, his life has been notably successful. Transcriber's additional notes: Census 1880, June 14; Clay Co, Dakota Territory, Vermillion; p 3998 Andrew Quarnberg, 30, SWE, SWE, SWE, druggists clerk Lydia M, wife, 22, SWE, SWE, SWE, keeping house Roland, son, 2, Dakota, SWE, SWE 1900, June 14; Clark Co, WA; Fruit Valley Pct, p 176 Andrew Quarnberg, 50, Aug 1849, SWE, SWE, SWE, mar 23 yrs, to US 1869, farmer Lydia M, wife, 42, May 1858, SWE, SWE, SWE, mar 23 yrs, 4 children-4 living, to US 1869 Roland A, son, 22, July 1878, SD, SWE, SWE, single, farm laborer Amy N, dau, 18, April 1882, SD, SWE, SWE, single Karl N, son, 13, Sept 1886, SD, SWE, SWE, att. school Ruth E, dau, 8, April 1892, WA, SWE, SWE, att. school 1910, April 15; Clark Co, WA; Wd 4, p 209; Kauffman avenue extension Andrew A. Quarnberg, 60, SWE, SWE, SWE, Wd, to US 1869, horticulturist, owns farm free Carl N, son, 23, SD, SWE, SWE, single, deputy auditor Ruth E, dau, 18, WA, SWE, SWE, single Mary M. Norelius, sl, 54, SWE, SWE, SWE, single 1920, January 10; Clark Co, WA; Vancouver Wd 4, p 197; 3114 Kauffman ave. Andrew A. Quarnberg, 70, SWE, SWE, SWE, Wd, to US 1869, Nat. 1876, horticulturist, own farm Amy N. Moss, dau, 37, SD, SWE, SWE, married Clyde J, s in l, 36, NE, WI, OH, married, machinist, shipyard Leonard J., gr son, 15, WA, NE, SD, att. school Lucile L, gr dau, 10, WA, NE, SD, att. school ******************* Submitted to the Washington Bios. Project in January 2007 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.