Photo courtesy Everett Public Library

Roland H. Hartley

Son-in-law of David Clough, Roland Hartley was the other key member of the family lumber and shingle dynasty. Born in Shogomoc, New Brunswick, on June 26, 1864, Hartley was on his own at age 13, working in a northern Minnesota lumber camp. By the time he was 21, he was a bookkeeper for the Clough Brothers lumber firm of Minnesota. He married Clough’s daughter Nina in 1888 and later was secretary to his father-in-law when the later was Minnesota’s governor. During that period he was a member of the military forces of Minnesota and the governor designated him a colonel. It was a title Hartley carried with pride the rest of his life.

Hartley came to Everett in 1902 when he collaborated with David Clough and entered into enterprises on his own. Like his father-in-law, he was an outspoken advocate for the mill owners’ interests and frequently clashed with the unions. And like his father-in-law, he ventured into the world of politics. He was elected Everett’s mayor in 1910 and served until January 1912. In 1914, he was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives. After unsuccessful gubernatorial attempts in 1916 and 1920, he was elected state governor in 1924. David Clough died shortly before Hartley’s election and Roland Hartley assumed the presidency of the Clough-Hartley Company. With the pressure of his governorship duties, it appears he turned the day-to-day operation of the company over to his sons, David and Edward.

A rock-ribbed Republican, Hartley was a straight talking, but controversial, governor. He preached capitalism, opposed tax increases, and railed against anything he considered socialistic. He was re-elected governor in 1928 and then failed in 1932 to get his party’s nomination for the office. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 1936 but he lost the election. He returned to his magnificent north Rucker Avenue home where he could view the Everett bayfront. Hartley died on September 21, 1952 and was interred in Everett’s Evergreen Cemetery by David Clough’s grave site. It may be one of the few places in the United States where two former governors are in the same burial plot.