"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. 468. ARCHIBALD L. HERREN The above named, a retired real-estate dealer and capitalist of Seattle, has through the control of extensive property interests been the promoter of growth and development in more than one section of this country. Possessing keen discrimination, which enables him to readily recognize opportunities for colonization, having also marked energy and business capacity, his labors have proven of benefit to the localities in which he has operated and at the same. time have brought success that ranks him among the capitalists of his adopted city. Mr. Herren deserves great credit and commendation for what he has accomplished, for at the close of the Civil war he found himself destitute as the result of the exigencies of that struggle, his interests at that time having been in the midst of the country over which passed the contending armies. Mr. Herren was born at Waynesville, North Carolina, July 19, 1833, a son of Eli B. and Jane (Yarbrough) Herren, natives of North Carolina and South Carolina, respectively. He comes of an old and prominent family of the south that has been represented in all of the wars of the country from the time of the early Indian outbreaks. Representatives of the name were found among those who fought for liberty in the Revolution and for American rights in the war of 1812. They were also in the Texas revolution and when the contest arose between the north and the south two brothers of our subject joined the Confederate army. The great-grandfather of Mr. Herren was a native of Virginia, but became the founder of the family in North Carolina, where Berry Herren, the grandfather, was born. He engaged in agricultural pursuits, but Eli B. Herren, his son and the father of our subject, turned his attention to merchandising and trading, and in his business affairs prospered. In his religious faith he was a Baptist and a man of prominence and influence in his community in ante-bellum days. In the family were ten children, of whom Archibald L. is the eldest. Seven of the number are now living: A. J., a farmer of Cowlitz county, Washington; J, P., who is a millman and farmer residing in North Carolina; William A., who is engaged in farming and manufacturing at the old home in North Carolina; S. C., an attorney of Moscow, Idaho; Josephine, the wife of Thomas S. Siler, of North Carolina; and Sarah J., the wife of W. E. Miller, of North Carolina. Those who have passed away died in childhood. Archibald L. Herron was reared in North Carolina, but his educational advantages were rather meager and it has been by study at home, through broad reading and observation that he has become a well informed man. Possessing an observant eye and retentive memory he is continually adding to his knowledge facts gained in the school of experience. At an early age he became his father's assistant in the store and afterward was admitted to a partnership in the business, this relation being maintained until the beginning of the war. As a result of that terrible struggle his store, like many other enterprises of the south, was destroyed and his business utterly ruined. Two of his brothers joined the southern army but Archibald L. Herren remained true to the Union cause and upheld the supremacy of the government at Washington. He had served as postmaster of his own town and after the cessation of hostilities he took a prominent part in public affairs during the reconstruction period, doing all in his power to establish peace and to place his district in harmonious relations with the government. He was nominated on the Republican ticket for the office of state senator and filled several federal positions, including that of postmaster. He was also the chairman of the first board of county commissioners of his county after the restoration of peace. He had served as magistrate from 1855 until 1866 and was one of the five magistrates of the county constituting a "select court." While taking an active part in public affairs during the reconstruction period and rendering valuable aid to the government in public office, Mr. Herren, in business life, was doing what he could to retrieve his lost possessions. He found himself at the close of the war destitute of funds, but with commercial reputation and credit that enabled him to secure a stock of goods worth ten thousand dollars from New York city, and with this he resumed business in Waynesville, North Carolina, where he remained in successful trade until 1870. He then removed to Greenville, South Carolina, and during the next ten years became interested to a considerable extent in Texas lands and also in city lots in Austin, that state. In 1880 he returned to his old home in North Carolina. Prior to his removal from there in 1870 he had become largely interested in lands in that state and owned and controlled between fifty and one hundred thousand acres. He remained continuously in North Carolina until 1890, when he came to Seattle and after investigating the possibilities and resources of this region he organized the Puget Sound Colony Company, of which he became the president. The object of this company was to organize colonies and thus induce settlement of the Sound country. He has retained large land interests in North Carolina, but has been disposing of these since taking up his residence here, believing that the northwest has a brilliant future before it. He has made extensive and judicious investments in real estate in Seattle and now has very valuable property here, his attention being given to the supervision of his interests. On the 21st of March, 1875, Mr. Herren was married to lola Jones, a daughter of Dr. W. R. and Elizabeth (Parkins) Jones, the parents and daughter being natives of South Carolina and representatives of an old southern family of distinction. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Herren have been born eight children: Jennie, who is an artist of local prominence; Elizabeth, who is a graduate of the State University of Washington and a successful and popular teacher; Ellen, Archibald, Lyda, lola, Mattie and Maude, all with their parents. The family have a fine modern home at No. 512 Highland Drive, overlooking Lake Union from an advantageous site on Queen Anne Hill. The family attend the Baptist church, of which Mr. Herren has been a member for many years. In business circles he is regarded as a man of unusually good judgment, quick perception and decision. He yet has large interests in the south, which he supervises from this point, in addition to the management of his investments in the northwest. A little more than a third of a century ago left almost penniless as the result of conditions arising from the Civil war, he is today numbered among the capitalists of Seattle, and his life history stands in splendid exemplification of the fact that the road to success is open to all in this free land of ours and that merit, close application and sound judgment, arising from a thorough study of a business situation, are the elements necessary in gaining prosperity. ******************* Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in March 2008 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.