The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 519 J. W. TAPP. J. W. Tapp, now a successful orchardist in the Tieton district, has for years been closely connected with evangelical work, having traveled over a large section of the country as a singing evangelist. He has also been a leader of note in band music as well as in choirs and has been prominent in Sunday school work in connection with the Christian church. By his efforts he has contributed largely toward directing the people to the fundamental principles of religion and has therefore wrought much good in the communities in which he has been active. He is a man of refined tastes, a close student of human nature, tender in his ministrations where help and aid are needed, yet he is vigorous and never loses sight of the goal to which he aspires, and thus is combined in him a personality that at one and the same time makes him a genial companion as well as a forceful leader. His progressiveness, faithfulness, foresight and energy have in late years been equally applied to his present task of developing one of the profitable orchards of his neighborhood. Mr. Tapp was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, April 22, 1864, a son of John and Amanda (Myers) Tapp, both natives of Kentucky. His paternal grandfather, Harvey Tapp, was a native of England and was numbered among the pioneers of the Blue Grass state. Throughout his life the father followed farming and in the '70s removed to Montgomery county, Indiana, where he continued in the same line of occupation quite successfully until death claimed him. His widow is still living at the age of eighty-four years. J. W. Tapp was reared under the able guidance of his parents. In the acquirement of his education he attended the common schools, rounding out his elementary knowledge by a course at the Ladoga (Ind.) Normal School, from which institution he was graduated. Upon laying aside his textbooks he decided upon an agricultural career as most suited to his tastes and ability and continued to engage in farming in connection with his father until twenty-one years of age. In 1893 he went to Chicago and in that city assisted in the erection of the famous Ferris wheel at the World's Fair. This completed, he turned his attention to sawmilling and also was in the lumber business, being thus occupied until thirty-five years of age, when he became a singing evangelist, having developed remarkable talent along that line. Great success attended his labors in the ten years he was connected with Brooks Brothers and others in evangelical work. In 1911 he came to Yakima county, where in the previous year he had acquired title to ten acres of land on the Tieton. Later he bought ten acres more and he now has fourteen acres in orchard, the remainder being under the plow. This property is in a good state of cultivation, as Mr. Tapp has ever followed the most progressive methods, has carefully read up on the subject of horticulture and has instituted modern facilities and equipment. Upon his farm is a fine residence, modernly equipped. The success that has come to him is due to his rare foresight, executive ability, thoroughness in regard to detail and all those higher qualities that make up the modern business man and horticulturist. In 1911 he removed to Yakima and became financial secretary, superintendent of the Sunday school and choir and was also a director of the Christian church until May, 1918. In these connections he did much toward assisting the organization and his efforts have been of the greatest benefit to the church. On the 20th of September, 1893, Mr. Tapp was united in marriage to Miss Anna Kirk, a native of Crawfordsville, Indiana, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kirk. To this union has been born a son, Horace, who is an able musician and is now serving with the United States army in Siberia, holding the rank of corporal and acting as secretary and librarian with the Thirty-first Regimental Band. Mr. and Mrs. Tapp are very prominent socially, as they are people of refinement and superior tastes. Mr. Tapp is often called upon to make use of his fine baritone voice and is much in demand as a leader of choirs, his rare musical ability being duly recognized by all who know him. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge, and he is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, while his religious faith is that of the Christian church. In politics he is a democrat but is not an active party worker, although he keeps well informed in regard to the issues of the day. The Tieton valley is to be congratulated upon having such a valuable citizen as Mr. Tapp, who has ever exerted his efforts in order to raise social as well as economic standards in his neighborhood. By his activities along various lines he has contributed to material as well as to mental and moral development and is therefore esteemed, respected and honored by all who know him. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.