The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 623

ERNEST A. WEBBER.

With Vancouver, British Columbia, as his destination Ernest A. Webber started
for the Pacific coast but on reaching the Yakima valley in March, 1909, found
spring and sunshine and was so pleased with the country that he remained. Today
he is the owner of an attractive residence and fine orchards in the Selah valley
which have been largely developed through his enterprising efforts.

Mr. Webber is a native of Rock county, Wisconsin. He was born April 11, 1857, of
the marriage of Andrew A. and Mary (Knispel) Webber. The father was a native of
Pennsylvania and became a pioneer of the middle west. He passed through
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early '40s and went to Chicago, making the journey
by lake. He purchased ten acres in what is now the heart of the city of Chicago
for a hundred dollars and sold it the succeeding year for one hundred and ten
dollars. In 1847 he removed to Rock Prairie, Wisconsin, and took up a squatter's
claim, improving six hundred and forty acres of land there. He afterward spent
his remaining days upon that place. About 1848 Rock county was opened up by the
government and thirty-four squatters, including Mr. Webber, agreed that every
man was to purchase only the land he had squatted upon under penalty of death,
and each has lived up to the terms of the agreement. In those early days they
hauled wheat to Milwaukee by team and sold it at twenty-five cents per bushel,
but during the period of the Civil war prices greatly advanced and he was paid
two dollars per bushel for his wheat and sixteen dollars per hundred pounds for
pork.

Ernest A. Webber acquired a public school education, completing his course in
the high school at Watertown, Wisconsin. He entered the lumber woods of Michigan
when a youth of sixteen years and subsequently was connected with the lumber
business in Duluth, Minnesota, for fourteen years. In 1905 he made his way
westward to British Columbia, where he built a sawmill at Summit Lake, there
remaining for three years. He afterward returned to Duluth and again started
for the coast to accept the position of manager of a lumberyard, but passed
through the Yakima valley in March, 1909, and found it flooded with sunshine,
with every indication of the spring. Stopping off, he was so pleased with the
district that he remained and still has his unused tickets to Vancouver,
British Columbia. He purchased ten acres of land in the Selah valley in the
spring of 1909 and erected thereon a most attractive residence and large
substantial barns, in fact he has added all modern improvements to his place,
which is planted to apples and pears. He is a leading farmer of the locality and
success has attended his efforts throughout the entire period of his residence
in this state.

On the 19th of June, 1887, Mr. Webber was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie
Musack, a native of Germany, who came to the United States in her childhood
days. The children of this marriage are: Leonard, who is working in a shipyard
at Duluth, Minnesota, and has a wife and three children; Sidney, residing in
British Columbia; Arthur, a member of the United States navy; Ruth and Jethro,
both at home; and Marie, who completes the family. They also lost their first
born, Vernie, who died at the age of five years.

In his political views Mr. Webber is a republican and fraternally he has been
connected with the Modern Woodmen of America since 1890 and is also identified
with the Royal Neighbors. He has never had occasion to regret his determination
to come to Washington, for here he has found the opportunities which he sought
and in their utilization has made steady progress. His plans have always been
well defined and promptly executed and his efforts have brought to him a
gratifying measure of success.

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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.