The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 745 JAMES H. SCHOLES. To see James H. Scholes busily employed in the development of an excellent fruit ranch in the lower Naches valley, one would scarcely dream that his has been a most eventful career; yet his life experiences have made him familiar with pioneering in the west and with residence in Honolulu, the Philippines and in India. He was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, November 21, 1843, and has therefore passed the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey. His parents were Meshach and Caroline (Gannon) Scholes, both of whom were natives of England, whence they came to the new world in childhood, settling in Massachusetts. The father worked at calico printing in the mills of Fall River as a boy and later engaged in the coopering business. In 1847 he removed to Chicago, where he worked at the cooper's trade, and later he established a grocery store at Chillicothe, Illinois. At a subsequent period he devoted his attention to farming in Marshall county, Illinois, taking up that work in 1851. He afterward lived upon another farm but later resumed work at coopering in Lacon, Illinois. Again he became a resident of Chillicothe, where he resided to the time of his death, both he and his wife passing away at that place. James H. Scholes acquired a public school education and was a youth of but eighteen years when in response to the country's call for troops he enlisted in 1862 as a member of the Fifty-third Illinois Regimental Band. He later joined Company L of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry in 1863 and with that command served until the close of the war. He was a member of the brigade band in the cavalry. He participated in the battle of Shiloh and other engagements and after the close of hostilities he returned to Chillicothe. Illinois, where he engaged in the drug business for a few years. In 1871 he went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he followed the cooper's trade for a few months and for six years he engaged in railway work. He afterward spent several years in the employ of a wholesale grocery firm in Kansas and for five years was in office work, after which he went upon the road as a traveling salesman, thus representing the house for several years. In 1888 he came to the northwest, settling at Tacoma, where he engaged in various lines of business, and in 1898 he went to Honolulu for the purpose of establishing a branch commission house in that city. Changing his plans, however, he continued his journey to Manila in the Philippines and afterward entered the cattle trade at Burma, India, and for one year there he was engaged in the construction of an irrigation canal for the government. He was also engaged in mining and prospecting in India, traveling to a point one hundred and forty miles from the Thibet border. His experiences in these foreign lands were broad, varied, interesting and sometimes exciting. In 1908 he returned to the United States but subsequently went back to Rangoon, where he lived for a year. He then again became a resident of Tacoma, Washington, and in 1910 took up his abode in Yakima county in order to develop a fruit ranch that his daughters had purchased. Mr. Scholes has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1866 but is not active in the order. He has ever given his allegiance to the republican party. His has been an unusual and varied career and his memory is stored with many interesting reminiscences of his travels and experiences in foreign lands. His four daughters are now the owners of a fine fruit ranch in the lower Naches valley, which he is helping to develop and on which they reside, and he is among the highly esteemed and substantial citizens of the region-still active in the business world, although he has now passed the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.