Hon. Dennis Cooley Guernsey, whose history is closely interwoven with the records of Columbia county, is now extensively engaged in the real estate, insurance and loan business in Starbuck. He has at different periods figured prominently as a bank official, as the incumbent in public office in the county and as representative of his district in the territorial legislature of 1879, and with many business interests he has been closely associated, so that his labors have contributed in marked measure to the material development and to the upbuilding of the state. He was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, on the 13th of April, 1845, a son of Orrin and Sarah (Cooley) Guernsey, who were natives of Connecticut. They removed to New Hampshire in childhood days with their respective parents and were there reared and married. In 1843 they migrated westward, establishing their home in Janesville, Wisconsin, where they spent their remaining days. In early life the father was engaged in merchandising and in later years became identified with the insurance business.
Dennis C. Guernsey, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the Janesville schools, completing a high school course. He was a youth of but sixteen years when the Civil war broke out and in the fall of 1863, when but eighteen years of age, he enlisted for service and was assigned to duty with Company E of the Twenty-second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, which became a part of the Second Brigade, Third Division, of the Twentieth Army Corps, commanded by Colonel Joe Hooker. He was with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea and after returning to Washington, following the close of hostilities, the members of Sherman's command were recruited and formed the temporary division of the Fourteenth Army Corps, which was sent under Jeff C. Davis to Louisville, Kentucky, Van Dorn of the Southwestern Department having not yet surrendered. They were mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, on the 18th of July, 1865, and later Mr. Guernsey returned to Janesville, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the insurance business. Three years afterward, or in 1868, he went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he became a dealer in wood and coal, continuing in that business until 1870. In January, 1871, he was appointed an officer of the reform school at Waukesha, Wisconsin. In the meantime, however, following his return to Janesville, he had done other military service. Major General Starkweather, who had gone out with the First Wisconsin as colonel and who rose to the rank of major general of volunteers, took command of the Milwaukee Light Guards, of which he had been captain at the outbreak of the war. Mr. Guernsey joined the Light Guards and was with that command at the inauguration of Governor Fairchilds at Madison in January, 1869. After spending a few months as an officer in the reform school in Waukesha, Wisconsin, he again went to Janesville, where he accepted a position with a hardware firm as bookkeeper. The lure of the west, however, was upon him and on the 14th of October, 1871, he turned his face toward the setting sun and on the 9th of November reached Walla Walla, having traveled by rail as far as Keton, Utah, and thence through Boise, Baker, LaGrande to Walla Walla by stage. After spending ten days in that city he proceeded to Dayton, the town having been platted only a few days before, and on Mr. Guernsey's arrival there were but two buildings in the town, one being the residence of J. N. Day, while the other was known as the "red store," the property of Kimball & Day. On the 1st of December Mr. Guernsey succeeded Ralph Kimball in the store and was employed by the firm until the fall of 1874, when he became a partner in the business under the firm style of Day, Guernsey & Company. In the fall of 1875 he withdrew from that organization and formed a new company, entering into partnership with F. G. Frary, superintendent of the Dayton Woolen Mills, and A. H. Reynolds, of Walla Walla, who was the only banker this side of The Dalles. The new firm was organized under the style of D. C. Guernsey & Company. In 1876 Mr. Frary and Mr. Reynolds withdrew and Mr. Guernsey was joined by H. H. Wolfe under the firm name of Guernsey & Wolfe. He thus continued active in merchandising in Dayton until 1880, when he sold out. From the beginning of his residence there he took active part in the upbuilding and progress of the new town.