C. A. Ratcliffe

Charles Albert Ratcliffe

Charles A. Ratcliffe

Dates of Term:

1911—1912

For eighty years the C.A. Ratcliffe Company was a popular and respected part of the Cheney market. It was owned by the Ratcliffe family from 1884 until 1964 when it was sold to Don Helm and Ron Rehn.

Born to Lynn and Margaret Ratcliffe on July 16, 1854 in Wheeling, W. Virginia, Charles Albert Ratcliffe and his family moved to Iowa to make their home in Lansing. In his teens he attended schools in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, then returned to Lansing to enter the lumber business. Seven years later Charles moved on to Denver, Colorado to continue in the lumber industry for another three years before heading to Portland, Oregon to work in the Northern Pacific Railroad auditor’s office for a year.

Charles came to Washington Territory in 1884 as a representative of the Frank Brothers implement company in Cheney. At the time he was engaged to marry Louise Anne Bressler of Illinois, but after seeing the primitive country here he wrote his fiancée a letter, still treasured by the family, in which he declared, “I cannot in good conscience ask you to come here to live as it is over-run by wild Indians.” He had witnessed an Indian man hanged from a tree behind the present Christian Church. However, Louise was not a timid soul, and the 30-year-old Charles returned to Belleville, Illinois to marry her on December 24, 1884. The couple traveled back to Cheney via St. Louis and Chicago to make their home here for the rest of their lives.

Charles and Louise had six children, all born and raised in Cheney: Frederick Lynn, Benjamin Charles, Ruth Elouise, Louise, Kent E. and Mark Albert.

Several successful years of managing the implement company encouraged Charles to buy out the Frank Brothers and enter into the business for himself selling farm machinery, as well as a variety of building and fencing materials. The business was located on E Street at the corner of Second. The C.A. Ratcliffe Company enjoyed a prosperous trade which drew in farmers from a wide radius around Cheney. They also sold wagons and buggies.

In 1892, the company was the dealership for J.I. Case. They added John Deere products in 1894, both were established names in farm equipment. In 1907, his eldest son, Lynn, joined the business bringing fresh new ideas, one of which was obtaining the Ford automobile dealership in 1912. A newspaper article later described the elder Ratcliffe’s trepidation at such a venture. He was certain the “horseless carriage” would never replace the horse, and predicted young Lynn would “lose his shirt” on the eleven touring cars he ordered. It is now history how well those cars sold, three more ha to be ordered to meet the demand that first year. They were purchased not only by city people but by farm families as well, the beginning of change in the social structure of rural communities. Those automobiles had breath-taking speeds of up to 25 miles per hour, reducing the travel time between outlying districts and town. C.A. Ratcliffe constructed a new building on Second and Normal Avenue in 1917. In 1949, the company held a grand re-opening event to show off their new “modern” showroom and garage. By 1983 the Ratcliffe Ford Company was the third largest dealership in the state and one of the oldest Ford agencies in the nation.

Although the wild Indians Louise had been warned about were not as wild as he stated, there were several threats of Indian uprisings in the late 1880s. In the early years, Charles took an active part in preparations to defend the city and its citizens should one actually materialize. Fortunately, those defenses were never needed.

Aside from the pressures of business, Charles Ratcliffe was an interested and willing participant in community and civic affairs. He represented the Cheney area in the state House of Representatives in 1905, and served at various times as assessor, school clerk, school director, and city councilman. At the age of 57, he was elected to the office of mayor in 1911 for a one-year term.

One of Mayor Ratcliffe’s first duties was to appoint A.E. Clawson as City Attorney and J.C. Addington as City Marshal, the latter was paid $75.00 a month.

An investigation of the city water supply revealed the urgency for a new well. On October 11th, city officials decided to go ahead with digging an additional well, the work to be done on a day labor plan, diggers to be hired at $3.00 a day. Two shifts were used at the start, but as the year advanced, another shift was added so that digging went on around the clock. Bonds were issued in the amount of $9,000.00 to pay for the project. In the meantime, all water users were prohibited from carrying water for use outside the city limits. All homes and businesses were required to install meters and pay for part of their cost and installation. This ordinance was enforced to the letter.

Charles Ratcliffe’s leadership skills were tested when fire once again destroyed the Normal School on April 24, 1912. Normal School President Noah Showalter, city government, and the community came together to find spaces for the teachers and students to resume classes. Only one day of classes was lost to the disaster as businesses and churches opened their buildings, and creative means were found to share or replace lost books and materials.

Many small items were on the agenda for the mayor and city council, such as matters of horses standing on the street and chickens running loose. The city already had a chicken ordinance, therefore the city Marshal was instructed to see it was carried out. The offending chickens were to be confined to pens on their owners’ property. The city also passed an ordinance in 1912 setting a speed limit of eight miles per hour for trains within the city limits and twelve miles per hour for automobiles and motorcycles.

The continuing growth of Cheney was demonstrated in a communication from the Spokane County Auditor which listed the valuation of the city of Cheney in 1911 as $527,486.00.

Years of service to his community ended for Charles A. Ratcliffe when he was 77 years of age. He died on May 12, 1931 leaving his sons, Lynn, Kent, and Mark to carry on the Ratcliffe Company.

His Honor, The Mayor; Ellen McIntosh Proctor and Joan Mamanakis