he settled on a farm at the town of Gaston in Washington County, and devoted sixteen years to the work of draining and converting the disease breeding swamp of Wapatoo Lake—a thousand acres—into a fruitful and beautiful farm. In this work, as in all others, he was most efficiently supported by a faithful and energetic wife, who in addition to the duties of home and household, devoted her time and means to the improvement of the neighborhood. She established the first Sunday school in the south part of Washington County, starting the school in the first warehouse at Gaston railroad station: and subsequently, in company with Mrs. Eunice Brock (still living) raised the money and means to erect the Gaston Union church—the first church building on the railroad between Forest Grove and McMinnville. (Mrs. Gaston's maiden name was Narcissa Doddridge Jones, born at St. Clairsville, Ohio, in 1836, and passing away at the family home in Portland, November 11, 1898.)
In 1896, Mr. Gaston disposed of his farm and returned to Portland where he now resides on Portland Heights, devoting his time to a fruit farm on the Columbia river opposite the town of Hood River, and to the management of a great manufacturing enterprise in Lake County—the development of the soda-borax deposits of Alkali Lake.
During his career, Mr. Gaston has been an editor, connected with a number of political and agricultural journals; notably the Daily and Weekly Bulletin of Portland, a competitor of the Oregonian in the years 1870 to 1875; with several agricultural journals, his taste for farming and country life leading him in that direction; and also as editor and proprietor of "The Farmer's Journal," which was substantially the founder and defender of the Populist political party in Oregon. While always taking an interest in politics and public affairs, he has never been an office holder, and only once a candidate for office, being the Populist candidate for the office of justice of the supreme court in 1894; the election resulting in 40,450 votes for the Republican candidate. 26,135 for the Populist candidate, and 18,625 for the Democratic candidate. Outside of journalism and contributions to monthly magazines, Mr. Gaston's literary work is limited to "Portland, its History and Builders," a volume of 700 pages and two volumes of biographies of Portland builders, published in 1911, and this present work, "The Centennial History of Oregon," both issued by the same publishers.
