Prosser, William Farrand, 1834-1911

William Farrand Prosser (1834-1911) was born in Pennsylvania, where he was mainly self-educated, becoming a teacher and student of law. In 1854, he briefly moved to California to pursue a career in the mining industry before returning to Pennsylvania to enlist as a union solider in the Civil War. After the war, he settled in Tennessee, where he served in various civil and political roles. In 1879, he was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes to serve as a special agent in the Pacific Northwest for the United States Department of the Interior, and would remain a resident of Washington for the rest of his life. In 1880, he married, and briefly settled in the Yakima Valley, where he founded the town of Prosser, Washington. He was a delegate of the first Washington State Constitutional Convention in 1892, and one of the founding members of the Washington State Historical Society. He also authored a book entitled, "A History of the Puget Sound Country" in 1903.