The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 625

CHARLES A. SCHMIDT.

A tract of thirty-six acres of wild land on the Moxee covered with sagebrush
constituted the beginning of the present valuable and highly developed property
of Charles A. Schmidt. The transformation that has since been wrought indicates
his life of intelligently directed activity. Mr. Schmidt was born on the
Atlantic while his parents were en route to America, December 25, 1866. He is a
son of John and Caroline Schmidt, who took up their abode at Newcastle,
Pennsylvania, where the boy was reared upon his father's farm. The father
remained an active factor in agricultural pursuits in the east for many years
and both parents passed away in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Schmidt of this review acquired a public school education and in early life
spent a few years at work in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. He afterward
engaged in farming in that state until 1900, when he came to the northwest,
settling at Seattle, and from that city he made his way to Alaska, where he
lived for two years. In 1902 he came to Yakima county and purchased thirty-six
acres of land, at which time he at once began to develop and improve the
property, converting it into a splendid ranch. In 1911 he erected thereon a
beautiful cement house, constituting one of the attractive homes in this section
of the county. He also has other modern improvements and in fact there are few
ranches that indicate more clearly the progressive spirit on the part of the
owner. He has twelve acres planted to apples and pear, and his orchards are in
excellent bearing condition. The remainder of his land is devoted to the raising
of hay and such cereals as are best adapted to soil and climatic conditions
here. Mr. Schmidt is also a trustee of the Selah-Moxee Irrigation District and
has been general manager of the Selah-Moxee canal for several years. He is a
very prominent, enterprising and progressive farmer and has done much to further
general progress and improvement in this section of the state.

On the l6th of October, 1907, Mr. Schmidt was married to Miss Florence Cavin, a
native of Indiana and a daughter of John and Ida Cavin, who became residents of
the Moxee valley in 1905. The children of this marriage are Ruth, Naomi, Freida,
Alice and also a son and a daughter who died in infancy. In 1917 Mr. Schmidt
made a trip back to his old home in his Ford car, driving both ways. He and his
wife are members of the Congregational church at Moxee City. His political
allegiance is given to the republican party where national questions and issues
are involved but at local elections he casts an independent ballot. He has
served as a member of the school board and he is interested in all that has to
do with the welfare and progress of the community in which he makes his home. He
belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and is loyal to the teachings of those organizations. Moreover, he
deserves credit for the success he has achieved in life, for he is a self-made
man, having been both the architect and builder of his own fortunes.

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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.