The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 276

F. A. WIGGINS.

F. A. Wiggins is the president of the Washington Nursery Company, conducing the
largest nursery business in this state. Twelve years of determination and energy
have brought Mr. Wiggins to his present enviable position in his company, for
step by step he has worked his way upward, utilizing the opportunities which
have come to him and making the best possible use also of his time and talents.
He was born near Toronto, Canada, in 1869, a son of Robert and Eliza Wiggins,
who in 1871 crossed the border into the United States, establishing their home
in Kansas. In 1903 they came to the northwest, settling in Oregon. The father
devoted his life to farming until 1918, when he was called to the home beyond.
His widow survives and is living in Portland, Oregon.

F. A. Wiggins acquired a public school education in Kansas and became connected
with mercantile interests. In 1888 he removed to Salem, Oregon, where he was
identified with commercial pursuits as a dealer in dry goods and farm
implements. In 1906 he came to Toppenish and purchased an interest in the
Washington Nursery Company, of which he was made vice-president and sales
manager. He has since been identified with this enterprise and in 1916 was
elected to the presidency. The Washington Nursery Company was organized in 1903
by A. W. McDonald, who retained the presidency until his retirement in 1916,
when Mr. Wiggins succeeded him in that position, also continuing as manager. The
other officers are: W. L. Shearer, vice-president, and C. J. Atwood, secretary
and treasurer. This company grows fruit, shade and ornamental trees and also
farms two hundred and seventy-five acres of land in all, having one hundred and
fifty acres in nursery stock, while the remainder is devoted to hay and grain.
The main office is at Toppenish, where employment is given to from twenty to
fifty people. The product is sold all over the west, from British Columbia to
Arizona, and theirs is the largest nursery in the state. At one time they had
four hundred and twenty-five acres in nursery stock and in one year prepared and
planted four and a quarter million apple trees, which they sold in a period of
two or three years. They now conduct a big but conservative business and they
are represented by a sales force of from one hundred to one hundred and
twenty-five men over the west. They handle all kinds of fruit trees such as grow
profitably in the west and they are now giving much attention to the
development of the ornamental and landscape branch of their business. They have
always maintained the highest standards in the character of the nursery stock
which they have handled and propagated, and anything that comes from the
Washington Nursery Company is known to be of worth. Their name is accepted as a
synonym for high grade goods and for straightforward dealing.

In 1894 Mr. Wiggins was married to Miss Myra Albert, of Salem, Oregon, and they
have a daughter, Mildred, who is now a student in the State University.
Fraternally Mr. Wiggins is connected with the Masons as a member of Toppenish
Lodge No. 178, A. F. & A. M. He likewise belongs to the Commercial Club, of
which he has been president for two years. His political endorsement is given to
the republican party and for six years he served on the city council,
exercising his official prerogatives in support of all plans and projects which
had to do with the upbuilding of the city, and the advancement of its civic
standards.

Mr. Wiggins, with others, has been active in getting legislation through
congress for the development of the Yakima reservation, the promotion of its
irrigation system and other practical means of assisting the Indians to get
their rights. He has worked for their allotments of land, whereby, more than
four thousand allotments have been made, giving to each man, woman and child a
separate tract, usually eighty acres, but in some instances one hundred and
sixty acres, depending upon the location and the availability of water for
irrigation. The Yakima reservation comprises one of the richest agricultural
districts of the northwest, splendidly adapted for crop production because of
the absence from frost and the possibility for early planting. Mr. Wiggins has
been untiring in his efforts to promote development in this section and has done
most effective work for Toppenish, the main trading point of the reservation, as
a member of the Commercial Club.

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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.