The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 537

OWEN B. CRONKHITE.

The fine home of Owen B. Cronkhite was built in 1917 and stands on an excellent
ranch property of twenty acres which he purchased ten years before. Through the
intervening period he has concentrated his efforts and attention upon the
further development of his property and now has excellent orchards which bring
forth large crops. Mr. Cronkhite camel to the northwest from Iowa, for he was
born in Jones county, that state, November 26, 1870, a son of Levi G. and Ellen
(Cronkhite) Cronkhite, both of whom were natives of Indiana. The father was a
veteran of the Civil war and after faithfully serving his country in defense of
the Union he removed to Iowa about 1866 and there purchased land. Later he sold
that property and established his home in Marshall county, Minnesota, in 1880.
He again became identified with farming and was busily engaged in tilling the
soil until death terminated his labors in 1903. His widow survived him for about
six years, passing away in 1909.

Owen B. Cronkhite acquired a business college education after completing his
public school course and through vacation periods he worked with his father on
the old homestead and continued to assist him until he attained his majority. He
was then ambitious to engage in business on his own account and purchased a farm
of four hundred and eighty acres which he planted to wheat, having one of the
valuable farms of that character in his section of Minnesota. He continued to
make his home in that state until 1907, when he sold his interests there and
came to Yakima county, Washington. Here his investment in land made him owner of
twenty acres in the Selah valley, of which ten acres was already planted to
orchards. He now has the entire tract in fruit and is successfully raising
apples, pears, prunes and other fruits. Nearly the entire tract is also seeded
to alfalfa. He has greatly improved the property since taking possession
thereof, adding good buildings and fences. In 1915 he erected a fine barn and
this was followed in 1917 by the erection of his attractive modern residence.

On the 9th of April, 1891, Mr. Cronkhite was married to Miss Minnie E. Sanders,
a native of Minnesota and a daughter of William H. Sanders. Their children are:
Earl, who resides on his father's ranch and has a wife and four children; Emma,
the wife of Horace Hall, of Seattle; LeRoy, who is a lieutenant of the One
Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment now in France; Leone, living in Seattle; Edwin
and Ray, at home; and Donald, four and a half years of age, who completes the
family.

The religious faith of Mr. and Mrs. Cronkhite is that of the Methodist church
and fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In
politics, however, he maintains an independent course, voting for men and
measures rather than party. His activities are directed along business lines
with the result that success in substantial measure is attending his labors.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.