"A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of the City of
Seattle and County of King, Washington." New York and Chicago: Lewis Publishing
Co., 1903.  p. 652.
 
SAMUEL F. RATHBUN

     Samuel F. Rathbun can be called one of the representative citizens of
Seattle. His term of office as city treasurer has but recently expired, he
having been elected to that position in March, 1900, the result of the choice of
his fellow townsmen. He has resided in Seattle since February, 1890. He was born
near Fishkill on the Hudson, in Dutchess county, New York, April 17, 1858. The
family came to America from England prior to 1650, and settled in Connecticut.
Samuel R. Rathbun, the father of our subject, was born in Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, and was a well known woolen manufacturer carrying on business
along that line throughout his life. In his political views he was a Whig and
afterward became a Republican, he and his son Samuel being the only ones of the
family connected with the Republican party. The father was a warm personal
friend of former United States Senator George F. Edmunds, and in 1856 did
campaign work throughout Vermont with that gentleman. This was the only time
that he ever actively engaged in political work. He was a man of influence and
prominence, however, in business circles, and his opinions were considered as
authority on everything pertaining to woolen manufacture. His brother Milton was
a soldier in the war of the Rebellion and died in France in 1864 from disease
contracted in the army. Samuel R. Rathbun was united in marriage to Mary L.
Hawley of Colchester, Vermont, in the year 1836. She is descended from
Revolutionary ancestry. Her grandmother, as is recorded in the history of
Vermont, refused to give bread to a number of English soldiers who demanded of
her what she was cooking, and when they threatened to take the bread she seized
an axe and drove them all from the house, after which she was unmolested by the
British troops. Samuel F. Rathbun is the eighth in order of birth of a family of
nine children. His sister, Mrs. C. W. Smith, is the wife of the city librarian
of Seattle, and she and her brother are the only representatives of the family
in the northwest. The father died at the age of seventy-six years and the
mother's death resulted from an accident when she was fifty-one years of age,
although her family were noted for their longevity.
     Samuel F. Rathbun pursued his studies in his native state and was graduated
in the high school of Auburn, New York. He was afterward associated with banking
interests for ten years and when he first came to Seattle continued in the same
line of business activity. In 1886 he began to work his way westward and visited
the greater portion of the central part of the country from Manitoba south to
Oklahoma. He was one of the parties who participated in the first city election
held in Oklahoma City. Elreno had but five people within its borders at that
time. His destination, however, was the coast, and at last he started for the
Sound country, arriving in Seattle in February, 1890. During the first three
years which he spent in this city he was connected with the Washington Bank,
after which he returned to the east for his wife. Shortly after his marriage he
brought his bride to Seattle and turned his attention to merchandising. He
carried on business until appointed deputy city treasurer in 1896, and in 1000
he became city treasurer, so that he was connected with the active management of
the position for six years. When he assumed the office there were only three men
employed in the department, but owing to the rapid growth of the city, business
has steadily and constantly increased so that ten men are employed regularly,
and so great is the volume of business that it is almost impossible for them to
attend to it, the increase being more than three hundred per cent. Understanding
every detail and department of the work. Mr. Rathbun carefully superintended
everything connected with the office and controlled affairs in a way that
indicated his excellent business ability and executive force, and made his
services or the greatest value to the city. No more faithful custodian of the
public exchequer could be found, and he well deserved the honor which was
conferred upon him by his election to the office. He is one of the active
workers in the Republican party in this city and has attended many of its
conventions and been a prominent factor in Republican councils for twenty-three
years, both in New York and in Washington.      
	On the 31st of March, 1891, Mr. Rathbun was united in marriage to Luella
Wilkinson, a daughter of V. B. Wilkinson, a merchant of Auburn, New York, He
erected his own residence here on Fourteenth avenue north, and has become
interested in other real estate investments and dealings. He belongs to the
Independent Order of Foresters and the Chamber of Commerce. He attends St.
Mark's and St. Clement's church, his wife being a member of the latter. Mr.
Rathbun is a popular and valued representative of the Elliott Bay Yacht Club and
is an ex-commodore of the Northwest International Yachting Association. He also
belongs to the Seattle Kennel Club and has been connected with all matters of
interest in the athletic line, being an ardent sportsman and appreciative of the
need of such relaxation from business cares as an aid to health. He has carried
on scientific investigations in natural history and is one of the best
ornithologists of the northwest. He is a member of the American Ornithologists'
Union, a high distinction, and is authority concerning everything in this line
on the Pacific coast. He has contributed to the literature of the association,
being the author of the first list of land birds of western Washington ever
compiled, and is a correspondent of the Smithsonian Institute. While in New York
he was volunteer fireman for eight years and was foreman of a crack company. He
is a man of distinguished and forceful individuality, of broad mentality and
most mature judgment, and is leaving his impress upon the scientific world as
well as upon the public life of his adopted city. During the years of his
residence in Seattle he has become a factor in its development and upbuilding
and in the promotion of enterprises which add not alone to his individual
prosperity but also advance the general welfare and prosperity of the city which
he makes his home. In manner he is most cordial and genial, and has a deep and
abiding interest in his fellow men. These qualities render him a most popular
citizen, and it would be difficult to find one who has more friends in Seattle
than Samuel F. Rathbun.   

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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in April 2008 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.