The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 5 JAMES ROBERT LINCKS. From sagebrush to fine bearing orchards, thus is told the story of the life activity of James Robert Lincks, who has developed wild and arid land of the Yakima valley into rich horticultural tracts. Judged by a financial measurement, his life record indicates the steps that have brought him from a point of most limited financial resources to success, and the story is one which should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what can be accomplished through individual effort. Mr. Lincks is a native of Kentucky, his birth having occurred in Laurel county, March 29, 1867, his parents being John and Susan (Stivers) Lincks. The father was a merchant and sawmill man who also followed the occupation of farming and became one of the leading and representative citizens of Laurel county. Both he and his wife have passed away. James R. Lincks is indebted to the public school system of his native county for the educational opportunities which he enjoyed and which qualified him for life's practical and responsible duties. In early life he followed general work and then, attracted by the opportunities of the growing west, made his way to California in 1889 and for two years was employed in the mines. He next entered the cattle business in that state but lost his money through that investment and through illness. On the 3d of July, 1898, he came to Yakima and followed various lines of hard work on ranches, in ditching, etc. In 1899 he purchased ten acres of land in Fruitvale on time and at the end of a year sold half of it for enough to pay for the balance. In 1900 he sold the remainder for a thousand dollars, after which he and Fred Parker purchased twelve hundred and forty acres of wild land in Fast Selah for eight hundred dollars. Mr. Lincks took charge of this and began its improvement. Later he traded his interest for an eighty-acre tract in Fruitvale, twenty acres of which was tinder cultivation. The railroad paid him fifteen hundred dollars for a right of way through his property. He then purchased another farm of twelve acres, which was covered with sagebrush, paying five hundred dollars down, with six years to pay the balance of three thousand dollars. He afterward traded his eighty-acre tract for a machine shop in Yakima and three thousand dollars cash and then rented the shop for a few years. About 1907 he sold his twelve-acre tract for ten thousand dollars cash, this indicating the notable changes which his labors and cultivation had wrought. He afterward took a trip through California, Texas, New Mexico and on to his old home in Kentucky, and while there his wife died. He subsequently returned to Yakima and purchased six acres of his old twelve-acre farm, for which he paid six thousand dollars. He next traded this six-acre tract and his machine shop for an orchard of forty-four acres in the Naches valley, valued at twenty-two thousand dollars. After living thereon for a year he disposed of that property for twenty-five thousand dollars and bought five acres in Fruitvale at eleven hundred dollars per acre and built thereon a home valued at thirty-five hundred dollars. He also bought eighty acres of wild land in the Tieton and cleared and cultivated that tract but sold a part of it in 1918. He still has twenty-four acres of irrigated land on the Tieton, with fifteen acres planted to orchards. He also owned at one time a half interest in fifty-two acres in Selah but after holding it for two years sold out. He makes his home in Fruitvale and is numbered among the representative business men and successful orchardists of that section. On the 31st of December, 1896, Mr. Lincks was married to Miss Gertrude Haworth, a native of Indiana, who when twenty-one years of age became a resident of California, in which state she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Lincks. Her death occurred in Kentucky in June, 1907, and she left a husband and son to mourn her loss, the latter being Hubert Lincks, now eighteen years of age. In 1913 Mr. Lincks was again married. his second union being with Ella Thomas, of Yakima. He and his son are members of the Christian church, while his wife holds membership in the Congregational church. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party but he is not an office seeker. His record is the storv of successful achievement. His investments have always been judiciously made and have brought to him good financial returns. His labors have greatly enhanced the value of properties which he has owned, thus enabling him to sell to advantage, and his business affairs have been most wisely- and carefully conducted. He early' recognized the fact that industry constitutes the key- that unlocks the portals of success. In his career there have been few idle hours, and opportunities which others have passed heedlessly by he has utilized to the benefit of his own fortunes and also for the welfare of the community, for his labors have ever been of a character that have contributed to public progress and prosperity as well as to individual advancement along financial lines. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.