Portland Oregon

Biography of Hon. Rockey P. Earhart

HON. ROCKEY P. EARHART.- Among those whose names add luster to the roll of the inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest, none stand higher in the estimation of the public, for ability and probity, than the subject of this sketch. Mr. Earhart is a native of Ohio, having been born in Franklin county, in that state, on June 23, 1837. He acquired his education at selected schools; and his natural instincts to fit himself for a useful sphere in after life caused him to make the most of opportunities offered. In 1855, he came to Oregon via Panama, and soon after … Read more

Throop, Harold Pat Lawrence – Obituary

Enterprise, Oregon Harold Pat Lawrence Throop died May 6, 2007, at the Wallowa Valley Care Center. He was 89. Mr. Throop was born March 17, 1918, in Portland to Herrel R. Throop and Anna Throop Lynch. He grew up on the ranch of his parents, Anna and Charles Lynch. He graduated from high school there in 1936. In 1938 he moved to Cloverdale with his mother and stepfather. Prior to the start of World War II, Mr. Throop studied law at Willamette University. After serving in the U.S. Navy during the war, he returned to Cloverdale, bought his parents’ ranch … Read more

Biography of Edward James Jeffery

Edward James Jeffery was born in Oneida county, New York, April 23, 1835, and is of English descent, his parents having been born in England. During his infancy the family moved to Lenawee county, Michigan. Here he resided on a farm and obtained a limited education in the district school until the spring of 1852, when he started across the plains for the Pacific slope. In October following, after a journey of more than six months, he arrived at Placerville, California, where, until the following spring he engaged in mining. He then went to Stockton where he was employed in … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry Jones

HENRY JONES. – The subject of this sketch is a native of Dodgerville, Iowa county, Wisconsin, where he lived until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in Company C, Twelfth Regiment, and served until November, 1864. He then moved to Iowa, remaining there until October, 1873, when he came to the Pacific coast, landing in Portland, Oregon, the same month. Mr. Jones married Miss Rosetta Sexton, granddaughter of the late James B. Stephens, of East Portland, on December 15, 1880, and has one son, Harry, who was born March 16, 1885. Mr. Jones was business manager of … Read more

Smurthwaite, Paul Rey – Obituary

Paul Rey Smurthwaite, 72, a former Baker City resident, died peacefully at his home on April 5, 2006 after a battle with cancer. There will be a service celebrating his life at 11 a.m. Monday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 15555 S.W. 98th St., in Tigard. Paul was born on Feb. 24, 1934, at Baker City to Jesse Abraham and Zina Smurthwaite. He was the youngest of eight children. He grew up in Baker City where he enjoyed gymnastics, bowling, camping, fishing and hunting. He served his country as a U.S. Marine in the Korean conflict. … Read more

Biography of Capt. James M. Gilman

CAPT. JAMES M. GILMAN. – The Oregon Steam Navigation Company, now known as the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company, which is the great company of river and ocean steamers, and of the Northwestern railway system centering at Portland, has been one of the most distinctively Oregon organizations ever established. It has made Portland; and through it the great fortunes of the state have been built up. The steps in the life of this company are full of interest; and it is instructive to discover the qualities of its individual members, and what led them to the enterprise. They were worthy … Read more

Colt, Phebe Brook Mrs. – Obituary

Summerville, Union County, Oregon Eastern Oregon Pioneer Passes; Burial Tuesday Another Eastern Oregon pioneer passed on during the weekend, when Mrs. Phebe Brook Colt, a resident of Summerville for some 45 years, died in Portland Saturday. Funeral services will be held at the Summerville chapel at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug 7 with Snodgrass and Zimmerman in charge of arrangements. The services will be conducted by Rev. Paul DeF. Mortimore, of the Christian church, of which Mrs. Colt was a member. The body will arrive in La Grande tomorrow morning. Mrs. Colt was born Dec. 7 1838 at Rhysussex, England and … Read more

Lundgren, Keith Mickey – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Keith Mickey Lundgren, 89, of Boise and formerly of La Grande died Jan. 9 at his home. Mr. Lundgren was born May 6, 1917, in Osceola, Neb. As a young man growing up on the Great Plains, Keith was drawn to the romance of the railroad and the possibilities of the West. After graduating from Grand Island High School in Nebraska, he joined the U.S. Navy. He spent six years, just prior to World War II, aboard the U.S.S. Lexington traveling around the Pacific and through the Panama Canal, including several weeks searching for the lost aviator … Read more

Whiteley, Ann Marie Endicott Mrs. – Obituary

Ann Marie Whiteley, 70, died July 5, 2003, at her home after a long illness. Her memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Sister Kay Marie Duncan will conduct the service. Private interment is at Mount Hope Cemetery. Ann was born March 31, 1933, at Portland to Edward and Shirley Combs Endicott. Her childhood years were spent at Austin until her family moved to Baker City, where she completed her schooling. Ann was in one of the last classes to graduate from the old Baker High School. On February 16, 1954, Ann … Read more

Biography of Hon. James Kerr Kelly

HON. JAMES KERR KELLY. – Among the men of distinction in our state, none have held a position of eminence for a longer time than Senator Kelly. It requires stamina to stand for thirty years upon “the hard and wintry peaks of fame.” We are the more assured of eminent qualities of the Colonel when we consider that he came to this coast and started upon bed-rock. Family ties, name, favoritism, may elevate men of no ability to high positions in older communities; but in the Oregon of an early day artificial conditions did not exist. A man came near … Read more

Putnam, Dorothy – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Dorothy Matilda “Tilly” Putnam, 88, died Sunday, June 17, 1979, in Wallowa Memorial Hospital, after a stay of four days. She had been in failing health for three or four years. Two years ago she moved from Portland to Enterprise, where she was a resident of Alpine Village. She was born on Feb. 2, 1891, in Ostrander, Minn., the daughter of Olle J. and Margaretta Hager. On June 21, 1931, she was married to Harold Douglas Putnam in Reno, Nev. He preceded her in death on July 15, 1968. A homemaker, Mrs. Putnam had been a … Read more

Lee, Catherine Alexander – Obituary

A funeral for Catherine A. Lee of Pendleton, a former Portland resident, will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Grace Memorial Episcopal Church. Interment will be in Riverview Cemetery. Lee died of causes related to age Tuesday in a Pendleton care center [December 15]. She was 96. She was born April 5, 1896, in San Francisco but moved to Portland as a youngster. Her maiden name was Alexander. She was a graduate of Washington High School and married C. M. [Chester Milton] Lee on Dec. 25, 1937, in Portland. Mrs. Lee worked for the city of Portland’s Bureau of Health … Read more

History of Portland Oregon Commerce

History of Portland Oregon Commerce: Primitive Commerce – Commercial Operations of Hudson’s Bay Company – Trade Enterprises of Hall J. Kelley, Nathaniel J. Wyeth and Nathaniel Crosby – Period of Commercial Adventurers – Discovery of Gold and Its Effects on Commerce – Early Trade in Lumber – – Portland a Market for Oregon Produce – Early Sailing Vessels Which Visited Portland – Beginning of Steam Navigation – Character and Value of Portland’s Exports From 1855 to 1865 – Steamships running to Portland from 1864 to 1869 – Value of Portland’s Exports in 1866 and 1867 – Measures Which Secured Portland’s Commercial Independence – Growth of Foreign Commerce – Trade Statistics for 1870 – Period of Business Depression – Commercial Growth and Development During Recent Years – Present Character and Condition of Portland’s Commerce.

Reorganization of the Judicial System after the Creation of Oregon Territory

Judge William Strong arrived by water in August, 1850, and Judge Nelson in April, 1851. On the same ship with Strong came General Edward Hamilton, territorial secretary, who subsequently took up his residence at Portland and became an active member of the bar there. He was associated for some years with Benjamin Stark, under the firm name, Hamilton & Stark. Judge Strong’s district was the Third and was wholly included within the present State of Washington, and he took up his residence at Cathlamet on the Columbia. Chief Justice Thomas Nelson had the first district, but when the controversy about … Read more

Biography of Paul Helmer Young

Paul Helmer Young, representative of the bond department of the National Bank of Commerce at St. Louis and president of the St. Louis Junior Chamber of Commerce, is one of the most alert, wide-awake and progressive of the young business men of the city. He was born in Lander, Wyoming, July 26, 1896. He is therefore a western man by birth, training and experience and has always been possessed by the spirit of western enterprise and progress which has been the dominant element in the upbuilding of the great empire beyond the Mississippi. His father, the Rev. Benjamin Young, is … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Dr. William Proebstel

DR. WILLIAM PROEBSTEL. – Few among our early residents have been more serviceable to society than the gentleman whose name appears above. He was born in Germany in 1829, and is the son of a wine-grower. He received his primary education in the old country, and at the age of thirteen migrated to America, locating in Missouri, remaining there ten years, and receiving from the common schools the rudiments of an English education. He also took a course in dentistry. In 1852 he crossed the plains to Oregon, locating at Portland. The next spring, with two brothers, he purchased the … Read more

Millering, Frances

Frances M. Millering, 93, Hillsboro, died Nov. 15, 1989, at Forest View Care Center in Forest Grove. Graveside services were to be held at 1:30 p.m. today (Monday) in Island City Cemetery near La Grande, with the Rev. Norman Shrumm of First Presbyterian Church of La Grande officiating. Interment in the cemetery was to follow. Mrs. Millering was born April 16, 1896, in Five Points, Ore., a daughter of John and Minnie Banks Hills. Her family members were pioneer residents of the La Grande area. On Dec. 9, 1917, she married Jay M. Millering in La Grande. He died in … Read more

Belden, Augustus A. – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Augustus A. Belden, veteran of the Civil war, died at the home of his daughter at 6210 58 Ave., S.E. Portland, Oregon, September 5, 1921. He suffered from a stroke of paralysis over a year ago. Increasing weakness for four weeks caused from a fall resulted in capillary pneumonia, which was the immediate cause of his death. Mr. Belden came from a long line of English pioneers. His first ancestry traceable being Sir Francis Belden who landed in England with William the Conqueror and was knighted by him for bravery. The first families in this country … Read more

Biography of Hon. H. W. Fairweather

HON. H.W. FAIRWEATHER. – Mr. Fairweather was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, May 20, 1852. Here he received a common-school education. His father was from Essex county, New York, pure English. His mother’s parents were from Ireland, pure Irish. Our subject went to Boston in 1868, and found work as brakeman on the Old Colony Railroad. He spent 1869, ’70 and ’71 in Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota in the same line of work. He came to Washington Territory in 1871, and was employed by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company as locomotive engineer, and subsequently as chief clerk. In … Read more

Biography of Marcus A. Means

The successful career of Marcus Asbury Means, of Genesee, is an illustration of the trite saying that brains and perseverance will make their way against all obstacles. Yet it is the multiplication of this illustration in all parts of our country that makes America one of the great powers of the earth. Mr. Means may be said to have been a child of war. He was born at Seabrook, Illinois, October 16, 1862, while his father was fighting for the preservation of the Union on southern battlefields, a service in which he yielded up his life in defense of his … Read more