Judge Washington I. Warrey. This gentleman is widely known as an intelligent and worthy citizen of Sherbrooke, Steele County and his labors as county judge of Steele county are beyond criticism. He is outspoken and generous and is always found standing on the side of right and justice, and working for the interests of his fellowmen.
Mr. Warrey was born in Rensselaer County, New York, August 23, 1855, and he and his younger sister were the only children born to Robert and Hannah (Carver) Warrey. The father had been married previous to his union with our subject's mother, and was the father of three children by his first marriage; and the mother of our subject, by a previous marriage to a Mr. Simmons, was the mother of three children, the family thus consisting of eight children. When our subject was a child the family removed to Binghamton, New York, where the father worked at contracting and building. He was an architect and designer, and also worked at practical carpenter work, and during the Civil war was in charge of the force of pontoon and bridge builders. He died when our subject was nine years of age, and the lad soon went to live with a farmer for two years, and in 1867, after the death of his mother, he took up his residence with an uncle, who was appointed his guardian. When seventeen years of age he became apprenticed to the mason's trade, but he was possessed of a desire for a more liberal education, and when nineteen years of age he accordingly entered Delaware Literary Institute at Franklin, New York, where he remained four years. He worked his way through this institution, but his studies were continually interrupted by several terms of school which he taught in the village and country. He descended from a family of educators. A number of his mother's near relatives were prominent among the leading professors in Amherst College and other universities of the east. His ambition, however, was to perfect himself for the practice of law. He went to Wyandotte, Kansas, in 1880, and worked at carpenter work and later joined the police force, studying law in the meantime, but this double duty was undermining his health and he again began the carpenter work and became foreman of a crew for the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad Company, building station and section houses. He did not gain in health, and in August, 1884, went to Fargo, North Dakota, and worked at carpenter work there for a short time and then located in Steele County, North Dakota. He taught school several winters in Steele and Cass counties, and in the spring of 1885 filed a claim to land in Broadlawn township, and until 1893 he was engaged in contract work with headquarters at Hope. He purchased a building at Sherbrooke in June, 1893, and began hotel keeping and also established a livery barn, and in 1897 also engaged in the general merchandise business, in which work he is now engaged, and is a successful business man.
Our subject was married, in 1888, to Miss Rose L. Wallace, a resident of Page, Cass County, North Dakota. Four children have been born to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Warrey, as follows: Victor I., Edward R., Lillian E. and Washington I. The public record of Mr. Warrey is worthy of note. He was elected county surveyor in 189o, and while serving thus was also deputy sheriff of Steele County, and in 1894 was elected county judge and is now serving his third term, and since taking up his residence in Sherbrooke has twice served as deputy sheriff. He is prominent in secret society circles and holds membership in the following orders: Masonic, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Modern Woodmen of America. In political sentiment he is a Republican, and is a man of deep thought and deservedly popular with the people. A portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Warrey appears on another page.
Source: Compendium and History of North Dakota 1900 Page 198