Prosser, Col. William Farrand.  "A History of the Puget Sound Country, Its
Resources, Its Commerce and its People."  Vol. 2.  New York and Chicago: Lewis
Publishing Co., 1903.  pp. 92-94.

FRANK S. SPRAGUE.

	Commercial travelers of to-day, who go from place to place in lordly style
and span great distances in a few hours in magnificently appointed palace cars,
will be interested to learn how these things were done in the formative period
of the great northwest.  In the biography of the gentleman whose name is given
above they will he introduced to an era, now passed away forever, when the
merchant's customers were lew and far between and reached only under the
greatest difficulties.  At the time Mr. Sprague made his first essay as a
distributor of goods, there were no railroads through Washington and adjacent
territory, the only means of communication being by way of the streams and rude
trails made here and there by the red men or their legitimate successors, the
half-wild cowboys.  Instead of ordering a lower berth and arranging for tho of
pounds of extra baggage, the traveling salesman inquired at the nearest Indian
shack for a canoe or looked for a bronco on which to load his pack.  He was glad
to get across the river, or over the in any kind of extemporized boat to visit
his lone customer, who, perhaps, was twenty miles away and by no means crowded
with neighbors.  Such were the rude beginnings and crude methods which preceded
the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Oregon Short Line through the
territory which the embraces the vigorous young commonwealth watered by the
Columbia and its tributaries, with their busy commercial marts at Tacoma Seattle
and other thriving capitals.
	In 1854 Henry Sprague and his wife, who had been Miss Margaret Foster,
determined to leave their native state of New York and seek better fortunes in
the rapidly developing state of Iowa, buying a large tract of land in Floyd
county, where Floyd Center now stands, and engaging quite extensively in
farming.  During the Civil war he was in the employ of the government, as a
builder of hospitals for the Union soldiers, but this occupation of course
ceased with the return of peace.  Mr. Sprague removed to the state of Michigan
in 1867, but only remained a year and then returned to Iowa, and located in
Cherokee, Cherokee county, where he engaged in farming, but worked mainly at his
trade of constructing flouring mills.  In 1875 he removed to Oregon, where he
spent the remainder of his days, and closed his earthly career when about
fifty-nine years old.  Henry Sprague was a member of the Baptist church,
strongly Republican in his politics, and a man of exemplary habits, as well as
excellent business judgment, and these good qualities were not lost on his son,
who became the successful merchant now under consideration.  His wife and widow
met her death in a railroad accident which occurred August 25, 1902, and at the
time of this untoward event was in the eighty-fourth year of her age.  Of their
five children three are living, and two are residents of the state of
Washington, James being a citizen of Kelso and Frank S. of Centralia.
	Frank S. Sprague was born July 15, 1858, on his father's farm, during the
first residence of his parents in Iowa in Floyd county.  Until seventeen years
old he attended the public schools and remained at home, deciding on plans of
future employment.  He was still a boy when he made his first business venture
as an employe [sic] in a hardware store at San Francisco, and remained there
long enough to master the details as well as some of the large features
connected with this branch of the mercantile business.  From California he came
up to Portland, Oregon, and from that as headquarters traveled for years all
over the Puget Sound country in search of trade for his house.  A pleasant hour
may be spent any time listening to Mr. Sprague's recital of his experiences in
those days, as a pioneer salesman in this sparsely settled section.  No
locomotive whistle awakened the echoes, nor were there any comfortable hotels at
easy stages to welcome the weary traveler.  All was raw and wild and rude, and
Mr. Sprague was glad to get from town to town in canoes rowed by the Indians,
whom he utilized as guides in his peregrinations.  His experiences, adventures
and mishaps would furnish material for an interesting serial story, but they
were such as have been rendered impossible of recurrence on account of the
subsequent rapid development of the northwest.  All this, however, proved a
valuable training for the future merchant, and when Mr. Sprague engaged in the
hardware business at Centralia, in 1888, it was not as a novice, but as an
experienced hand.  What he had learned concerning the inside of this business as
well as the special needs in this line of the population to which he catered,
enabled him to make a success of his first mercantile adventure on his own
account.  He "made money," as they say out west, in hardware, but eventually
disposed of his interests to Frank T. McNitt for the purpose of dealing in real
estate in Centralia.  He prospered in this line also, but, as often happens in
the speculative periods of new towns, he lost his accumulations in subsequent
unfortunate adventures. Occurrences of this kind, however, are looked upon as
matters of course by these resourceful westerners, and soon we find Mr. Sprague
challenging fate and fortune in an entirely new role.  In 1894 he established at
Centralia a dry-goods store, which he gave the name of "Up-to-date store," and
any one who inspects its contents and observes the methods of the proprietor is
apt to admit that the title is no misnomer.  The establishment consists of a
building thirty by ninety feet, two stories in height, and both floors are
filled with well selected stock of ladies' dress and fancy goods, and dress
furnishings of all kinds, both for men and women.  Mr. Sprague thoroughly
understands what is wanted or needed by his trade, and his long experience both
as a buyer and seller enables him to lake advantage of the market so as to
obtain the most profitable results.  It is not too much to say that he is the
most enterprising, as he certainly is the mosl popular, of all the dry-goods
merchants in or near Centralia, and his energetic methods and business skill
have enabled him to score very satisfactory financial results.  Certainly the
Up-to-date Dry-goods Store, considering that it has been in operation only eight
years, has achieved a standing in the mercial world quite complimentary to its
founder and conductor. 
	Mr. Sprague, though voting the Republican ticket, has had little time for
ral politics, and his civic services have been confined to brief membership in
the city council.  He holds fraternal relations with the Masons and Woodmen of
the World, and on the social side of life is regarded as one of the pleasanl
companions to be found in the city. In 1886 Mr. Sprague was happily married to
Miss Elvena, daughter of John Dunfee, an eastern man who gave his life to the
Union while serving as a soldier during the Civil war.  In 1902 was planned and
built the dwelling house which they now occupy, and whose contents and general
surroundings indicate more plainly than words that the inmates are people of
taste and refinement.  In this comfortable residence, one of the handsomest in
Centralia, Mr. and Mrs. Sprague are always "at home" to their friends, and here
they entertain all visitors with cordial but unostentatious hospitality. 

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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in June 2009 by Jenny Tenlen.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.