The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 247 

WILLIAM F. ELSER.

William F. Elser is now prominently connected with the hotel business in
Grandview, Washington, where he and his wife own one of the finest hostelries
in the state, the success of the enterprise being largely due to their joint
management. However, much credit must he given to Mrs. Elser for the
establishment and successful management of the business, as it was largely
through her enterprise that Mr. Elser turned to this occupation, as he had been
largely interested in orcharding. Both are Grandview pioneers, the townsite
being covered with sagebrush at the time of their arrival and theirs being the
only house in the neighborhood. They have therefore been closely connected with
development and progress here and it is largely through their enterprise that
this town has been developed. Beginning in a small way, they have nor, attained
to great prosperity and are numbered among the most substantial citizens in
their neighborhood.

Mr. Elser was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, June 22, 1862, a son of John and
Hannah (Cassell) Elser, natives of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. The father
followed agricultural pursuits but also gave considerable attention to
shipbuilding, being a shipbuilder by trade. Both he and his wife have now passed
away.

Mr. Elser of this review was reared in Harrisburg and in the acquirement of an
education attended the public schools there, learning the carpenter's trade
after laying aside his textbooks. He later was for three years connected with
the car shops in Harrisburg, removing at the end of that time, about 1883, to
Fulton county, Illinois, where he worked on farms. There and in Knox county he
remained for four years, being employed by others. Having acquired the means to
start out independently he farmed in Knox county, Illinois, on his own account
for one year. About 1887 he removed to Barton county, Kansas, where for two and
a half years he followed the same occupation, returning at the end of that
period to Illinois, where several years were spent. For ten years he was
connected with the Glenwood Ice Company at Galesburg, Illinois, but in 1902 he
decided upon a removal to Washington, haying heard glowing accounts of the
opportunities presented here. That year he arrived in Sunnyside and at first
worked for the Sunnyside Land Company but in 1904 located on a forty-acre tract,
on which the townsite of Grandview was laid out in 1906 he cultivated this land
for about two years, at the end of which time he assisted in laying out the
town. It was then covered with sagebrush and the wonderful charges that have
transformed it into the present prosperous village are truly remarkable Mr.
Elser later bought forty acres near Grandview but two years later sold this
tract and acquired title to eight acres southeast of Grandview, while his wife
has six acres there, their combined holdings being fourteen acres. The land is
devoted to orcharding and to the raising of hay and from it Mr. and Mrs. Elser
derive a gratifying income.

In their lives the 5th of May, 1906, is a historic day, as it was on that date
that Mrs. Elser began serving three meals a week at her home, and from that
small beginning the Grandview Hotel has developed to serve fifty-two guests
three times daily. The present building was erected in 1909 and the hostelry is
one of the most popular in the Yakima valley, famous for its home cooking, its
good cheer and hospitality. Mr. and Mrs. Elser are genial hosts and have
instituted many modern improvements, making their place up-to-date in every
respect. The rooms are modern and handsomely furnished and everything about the
hotel indicates progressive management.

On December 31, 1885, Mr. Elser was united in marriage to Minnie Myrtle Dean, a
native of Knox county, Illinois, and a daughter of John and Lucinda (Pitman)
Dean. Her father passed away in Illinois in 1900, and her mother subsequently
made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Elser. She died in 1913. The father had been
quite successful in the hotel business in Illinois and it may be said that the
daughter has inherited her talent along that line from him. To Mr. and Mrs.
Elser were born four children, of whom Will Ellis, the first born, died at the
age of three months. The others are as follows: Lulu Pearl, Theo Fern and Metta
Ruth. Lulu Pearl has the distinction of being the first girl married in
Grandview. She married Charles Reese, of Sunnyside, Washington, and they have
four daughters: Evelin, Helen, Irene and Ines.

Mr. and Mrs. Elser have truly been builders of the section in which they
reside. They assisted in establishing the first schools here. At the time of
their arrival here the land was covered with sagebrush and there was only one
wagon road penetrating the wilderness. Mrs. Elser began the hotel business by
serving about three lunches per week and the genuine appreciation of her cooking
is evident from the fact that before the present hotel was built she was serving
over fifty meals three times per day. As the business grew the Grandview Hotel
came into being and today she and her husband own one of the finest hostelries
in the state as well as a richly bearing orchard, from which they also derive a
gratifying income. While in Illinois Mrs. Elser was so ill that her life was
despaired of by the doctors, who assured the family that she had but three
months to live. She was seriously affected by tuberculosis and for that reason
the family removed here. Theirs was the only house in the neighborhood and Mrs.
Elser took up the business of supplying travelers and government surveyors with
meals if they so desired, much against the wishes of her husband, who wanted her
to principally devote herself to getting well. Later she took up the proposition
as a business and subsequently decided to build a hotel, although her husband
strongly objected to the project. A twenty-room hostelry was erected and the
place has become very popular and as soon as conditions become normal again an
addition will be erected. Mrs. Elser weighed but one hundred and twenty pounds
when she came to Washington but now she is the picture of health. She and her
husband had no money to begin with, but undiscouraged, they took up their
burden. Mrs. Elser largely financing and managing affairs, and that she has been
successful is evident from the present prosperous condition of their enterprise.
Her husband has given much of his time to orcharding, while she has presided
over the hotel interests.

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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.