The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 1079 

CHARLES S. MEAD, JR.

Charles S. Mead. Jr., is one of the representative young ranchers of Yakima
county, controlling extensive and important interests. His is one of the well
developed ranch properties of the district in which he lives and comprises two
hundred acres of valuable land. He was born in Butler county, Iowa, September 4,
1890, a son of Charles S. and Mary Mead, the former a native of Vermont, while
the latter was born in New fork. The paternal grandfather was Peter Mead, also a
native of the Green Mountain state, whence he removed westward to Illinois and
later became a resident of Iowa, where his death occurred. His son, Charles S.
Mead, accompanied his father to the Mississippi valley and became a successful
farmer of Iowa, where he resided until 1894, when he removed to the Pacific
coast country, becoming a resident of Yakima county, Washington. As the years
passed he acquired large land interests in the county and bought and sold
thousands of acres of land. He is now living on a ranch of one hundred and
twenty acres in the Naches valley and is regarded as one of the prominent and
honored representatives of agricultural life in Yakima county. Aside from his
farming interests he is the vice president of the Valley Bank of Yakima and he
owns both city and ranch property throughout the valley, in fact his position is
that of one of its most prominent, influential and worthy citizens. What he has
undertaken he has accomplished. In his vocabulary there is no such word as fail,
for he early recognized that when one avenue of opportunity seemed closed he
could carve out other paths whereby he could reach the desired goal. His
investments have always been judiciously made, his industry is unfaltering, and
his enterprise is one of his salient characteristics. Men who know him, and he
has a wide acquaintance, speak of him in terms of high regard, recognizing the
worth of Iris character and his ability as displayed in his business success,
which is indeed enviable.

His son, Charles S. Mead, Jr., acquired a public school education in this
county, having been but four years of age when brought by his parents to the
northwest. He afterward attended the Washington State College at Pullman, where
he remained a student for five years, and he also spent two years in Vashon
College. Through the periods of vacation and after his textbooks were put aside
he assisted his father in the ranch work and when twenty years of age became
actively associated with his father in the management and operation of the
ranch. In 1913 his father gave him two hundred acres of land adjoining Buena and
thereon he has since engaged in raising hay, grain and fruit. He also makes a
specialty of handling beef cattle, hogs and horses and he has a fine ranch, to
which he has added all modern equipment and accessories. He uses the latest
improved machinery to facilitate the work of the fields and there is no
improvement of the model farm of the twentieth century that is not found upon
his place. He has erected a substantial and attractive residence, also large
barns and three silos, which have a capacity of five hundred tons.

Mr. Plead is a member of the Elks Lodge, No. 318, of Yakima. His political
endorsement is given to the republican party but he is not an office seeker,
finding full employment for his time in his business affairs, which are wisely,
carefully, systematically and successfully conducted. The progress that he has
already made indicates that his future career will be well worth the watching.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.