Templin, John

CISSNA, KILPATRICK, PETTIBONE, TEMPLIN

Posted By: Pat Ryan White (email)
Date: 6/20/2009 at 07:18:06

JOHN TEMPLIN
John Templin, harbor master of Whatcom and one of the leading feed and grain merchants of that city, doing business under the style of the Templin Feed company, was born at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, March 6, 1869, and is a son of Hugh and Mary E. [Kilpatrick] Templin. Hugh Templin is a native of Indiana and now residing at East Sound, Washington, aged sixty-four years, engaged in a general merchandise business. The mother was born at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and is a daughter of Judge E. Kilpatrick, of Iowa, who was appointed under President Lincoln to the land department at Washington. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Templin, namely: Edgar, of East Sound, aged thirty-six years; Harry, with the Pacific C. S. S. Company, aged twenty-six years; Karl, East Sound, aged twenty-one years; Ralph, East Sound, aged sixteen years; Jessie; and our subject. All but Harry and John are at home and engaged in business with their father.

John Templin was educated in the public schools of Mount Pleasant, being graduated from high school at the age of eighteen years. After graduating he worked as assistant storekeeper at Keokuk, Iowa, for the Burlington company branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad for two years. In 1889 he went to Kansas City and worked in a wholesale lumber office as a clerk for one year. At that time he returned to Mount Pleasant, and there remained until 1891, when he came west to Fairhaven, reaching the city April 15th. His family followed later that same year. After arriving in Fairhaven he began contracting and street grading with his brother Edgar, who had been in the city for a year, continuing this connection until 1894. His next connection was with the Gage Clothing Company, and he remained in that establishment about two years. An opening was then offered, and he and Charles Cissna embarked in "The Fair", a department store, he acting as head bookkeeper, and continuing in this position for three years. In 1899 he opened a wholesale grain and feed business at the city dock, and November 1 he was forced to open another warehouse on Elk street to accommodate the volume of his trade, which extends throughout the county. The business is conducted under the name of Templin Feed Company, and it is fast becoming one of the leaders in its line. On January 1, 1900, Mr. Templin was appointed harbor master by the council, the duties of which office he is still satisfactorily discharging.

On May 23, 1898, he was married to Jessie Pettibone, a daughter of A. W. Pettibone, an abstractor of Whatcom, and a native of Ripon, Wisconsin. One child, Grace, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Templin, but died in infancy. In politics Mr. Templin is a Republican, and always takes an interest in local affairs. The success which is attending the efforts of Mr. Templin is but the just reward for his years of conscientious and painstaking labor, and he has not only firmly established himself in the confidence of the community, but also in the good will of the people, and made many friends on account of his excellent traits of character.

[History of the Puget Sound Country [Washington State]-1903]