The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 756 

RALPH CHAMBERS.

A highly cultivated farm near Cowiche stands as the visible evidence of the
industry, enterprise and progressiveness of Ralph Chambers, one of the young
agriculturists of Yakima county. He also has given considerable attention to
orcharding, having five acres in fruit. A native of Washington, he was born in
Thurston county, June 25, 1886, and is a son of George and Alla (Waddel)
Chambers, also natives of Washington. The family is among the honored pioneers
of this state, their fate and fortune being closely connected with the growth
and development of the commonwealth as out of a wilderness a great and rich
state has arisen. The grandfather of our subject, David Chambers, was born in
Ireland and came to this country in order to profit by the opportunities
presented here. Making his way to the west, he became connected with early
frontier life in Washington. George Chambers, the father, and his family came
to Yakima county about 1903 and here he bought ranch property on the Cowiche,
giving his close attention to the cultivation of that land, which he later sold,
and in 1913 removed to White Bluffs, Washington, where he is now engaged in
farming, having become one of the prominent agriculturists of that district.

Ralph Chambers was reared under the parental roof and from his parents received
his first lessons in regard to life's conduct. In the acquirement of his
education he attended the rural schools and in 1903, at the age of seventeen,
he came with his parents to Yakima county. Being old enough to begin his
independent career, he worked for wages in the employ of David Longmire for two
years. After this he farmed his father's ranch for two years as a renter and
then in 1906 bought a ranch on the Cowiche. Later he disposed of that property
and acquired a farm on the south fork of the Cowiche, comprising thirteen
hundred and sixty acres, of which ninety acres are in hay, grain, corn and
potatoes. Mr. Chambers has important live stock interests, raising horses, mules
and cattle. In 1914 he bought a twenty-five acre tract near Cowiche Station, of
which five acres are in orchard, and removed to that place in order to be nearer
the schools which his children attend. The rest of this tract is in hay. He has
always followed modern and progressive methods and upon his property has made
many up-to-date improvements, including a nice home and good barns, so that his
ranch today is a most valuable one.

On the 10th of February, 1906, Mr. Chambers was united in marriage to Katie
Livengood, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Livengood, who are more extensively
mentioned on another page of this work. To this union were born three children:
Ella Letitia, Viola May and Farrell John. The family are very prominent in their
neighborhood, where they have many friends, all of whom are agreed as to their
high qualities of character. In their home they often entertain and their
hospitality is famed throughout the countryside.

Fraternally Mr. Chambers is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and
belongs to the Elks Lodge No. 318, of Yakima. In politics he gives his
allegiance to the democratic party and while not a politician in the commonly
accepted sense of the word, he is thoroughly informed in regard to public
questions, particularly as pertaining to his locality. Not only has he assisted
in bringing about agricultural progress in his district through his activities
but he is a progressive and enterprising man, interested in upbuilding along
many lines, and is therefore to be considered one of the valued citizens of
Yakima county.

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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.