History

Biography of Thomas J. Holmes

Well remembered by all of the older citizens of Portland and prominently identified with the earlier political and commercial history of the city was Thomas J. Holmes. He was born in Diss, county of Norfolk, England, March 3, 1819, and was a son of William and Mary A. Holmes. His father was a mechanic, who, with the hope of improving his fortunes, migrated to the United States with his family in 1830, and settled in New York City. At this time, Thomas, a bright, robust lad of eleven years, began life’s battle for himself. He secured a position with a … Read more

Biography of J. P. O. Lownsdale

There are few business men more favorably known in the metropolis of the Northwest than the gentleman of whom we write. His operations in real estate have been of the most reliable character, and the services that he has rendered the city in calling attention to her advantages have been very great. In his personal character he has maintained an integrity worthy, not only of the highest commendation, but of the imitation of young men. He was born in Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana, January 1st, 1830, the son of Daniel H. Lownsdale, the early owner of the central part of … Read more

Biography of S. G. Reed

S. G. Reed, of Portland, one of the city’s most useful and progressive citizens, was born at East Abington, Massachusetts, April 23d, 1830. His early education was received in the public school of his native town, but he afterwards attended a private school and academy. He came to San Francisco, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, in the spring of 1852, and in the following autumn came to Oregon, where he has ever since resided. He was a clerk in the mercantile house of W. S. Ladd & . Co., from the fall of 1855 until the 2d day … Read more

Biography of James K. Kelly

For many years James K. Kelly has been a prominent man in the legal and political history of Oregon, and has left upon the annals of this section of the Union the impress of his personality. In positions of honor and trust he has maintained an exalted standard of excellence and according to the dictates of his conscience and judgment his influence has been cast for the agencies he believed to be conducive to the true interests of the people. A fitting record of the part he has borne in many important events during his long residence in Oregon, very … Read more

Biography of Donald MacLeay

MacLeay, Donald, was born at Leckmelm, Ross Shire, Scotland, in August, 1834, and comes from an honorable ancestry. He was educated under a private tutor and at the academy in his native town. At the age of sixteen he accompanied his parents to Canada, settling on a farm near the village of Melbourne in the province of Quebec. At the age of twenty Mr. Macleay began his business career in partnership with George K. Foster, a merchant at Richmond. Mr. Foster was a man of large means and of excellent business capacity and had much to do in moulding the … Read more

Biography of Van B. Delashmutt

Delashmutt, Van B., the present Mayor of Portland, was born in Burlington, Iowa, July 27, 1842. Ten years later the family came to the infant territory of Oregon, and settled on a farm in Polk county, in the Willamette Valley. The monotonous life of a farmer’s boy illy suited the naturally adventuresome disposition of young DeLashmutt, and at the age of fifteen he went to Salem, where he secured employment in the office of the Salem Statesman, as an apprentice to learn the printers’ trade. With characteristic earnestness and energy the apprentice served three years, and at the end of … Read more

Biography of Henry D. Green

Green, Henry D., for many years a prominent figure in the commercial affairs of Portland, was born in Tompkins county, New York, October 16, 1825. Shortly after attaining his majority, in 1853, he came to Oregon and established himself at Astoria, in partnership with W. Irving Leonard. This firm purchased the mercantile business house of Leonard & Green, which was established at that point in 1850, by John Green and H. C. Leonard, at that date the only mercantile house, except the Hudson Bay Company’s trading post, at the mouth of the Columbia river. He remained at Astoria until 1856, … Read more

Biography of John H. Mitchell

For a quarter of a century the subject of this sketch has been one of the most prominent figures in the political history of Oregon. Becoming a citizen of the State soon after it was invested with the sovereign dignity of statehood, he at once became an active man in the political arena, and so rapid was the growth of his influence that within six years he had served a term with distinguished credit in the State Senate, and was the choice of a large body of his party associates for the highest office the State had to bestow. This … Read more

Biography of William Strong

The name of William Strong is thoroughly associated with the judicature both of Oregon and Washington. His marked characteristics are indelibly impressed upon the system of law of both States, especially that of the latter. To long and distinguished service as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and in the ex-officio character of Judge of, the District Courts in both States while they were Territorial Governments, must be added his connection with their legislation and also his brilliant career as a law practitioner, for over a generation, in all the Courts of both States. He was born at St. Albans, … Read more

Biography of William Wallace Thayer

The typical Western man is popularly conceived as a man of liberal ideas, of generous and hospitable instincts, imbued with a spirit of adventurous enterprise, and withal hardy and courageous. He is not punctilious in minor questions of etiquette or inclined to make much of mere forms and ceremonies. He is a friend to his friends, a man of sterling integrity and of firmness of character developed by habits of self-reliance. Such men are the State builders whose names and deeds are a part of the history of the newer States of the American Commonwealth. Every western community contains individuals … Read more

Biography of W. S. Ladd

It is seldom throughout the incipient stages of growth, down to a period covering many years in the development of a progressive commonwealth, that to any one man is accorded a foremost place by general consent. New countries, in these latter days of steam and electricity, develop often with rapidity; new issues are met by new leaders, while those who laid the foundation of society rarely retain their hold on affairs for any extended period of time. In this, however, Oregon has been an exception to the rule, and the career of William Sargent Ladd is a conspicuous example of … Read more

Biography of J. B. Montgomery

This well known citizen, though not among those who came to Portland at the earliest day of the city’s history to lay here the foundations of municipal and commercial greatness, is a prominent and representative man of the reinforcement that came when Portland was just beginning her larger growth; and to this reinforcement much of the credit of the city’s remarkable progress is due. James Boyce Montgomery was born at Montgomery’s Ferry, on the Susquehanna river, in the State of Pennsylvania, twenty-five miles north of Harrisburg, on the 6th of December, 1832. He went to school until he was sixteen … Read more

Biography of George H. Williams

Judge Williams, alone among the citizens of Oregon, has had the distinction of occupying a place in the highest councils of the nation-in the cabinet of a president. He was also regarded by President Grant as the man most fit and able to hold the position of Chief Justice of the United States. The bitter struggle following his nomination to this supreme position is well remembered for the sectional feeling displayed and the dissent of certain members of the senate which led the Judge to withdraw his name. It is not the intention, however, to recall the personal contests of … Read more

Biography of Frank Dekum

For many years the subject of this sketch has occupied a commanding position in the commercial and financial history of Portland. His career and achievements forcibly illustrate what may be accomplished by one who pursues earnest purposes and makes right use of his opportunities. Coming to Portland before it had outgrown the limits of an insignificant hamlet, he has grown with its growth until to-day he is one of the leading men of finance in the metropolis of Oregon. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, November 5, 1829. At the age of eight years he accompanied his parents to America, … Read more

Biography of Solomon Hirsch

There is something inspiring in the record of a busy and useful life; something stimulating in the details of a career that is marked by a generous and beneficent purpose; something worthy of emulation in the success that has been wrought by unselfish means. Such has been the record of the gentleman whose name is the title of this biography, and so thoroughly have the varied lines of his efforts been blended with the agencies which have been conducive to the material progress of the Pacific Northwest during many years that no history of this portion of the Union, and … Read more

Biography of Earl C. Bronaugh

Bronaugh, Earl C., one of the most prominent attorneys of the State, was born in Abingdon, Virginia, March 4, 1831. He secured his educational advantages in his native town prior to reaching the age of twelve years, when with his parents he moved to Shelby County, Tennessee. They founded a new home in the woods and endured all the privations of pioneer life at that early day. Here Mr. Bronaugh spent six years of his life, assisting his father in the support of the family, after which becoming imbued with the desire to read law he entered the office of … Read more

Biography of Erasmus D. Shattuck

Judge E. D. Shattuck was born in Bakersfield, Franklin County, Vermont, December 31, 1824. He spent his boyhood and youth on a farm and was prepared for a collegiate course at Bakersfield Academy. In 1844 he entered Vermont University, pursued the full classical course and graduated in 1848. While in college he was dependent upon his own resources for means to prosecute his studies, and during vacations and some part of term time he taught school in the country or had private classes in the village. Notwithstanding these disadvantages and interruptions he completed the college course in the prescribed time … Read more

Biography of Joseph Schoewaiter Smith

Joseph Schoewaiter Smith, was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1824. His ancestors at an early day emigrated from England and Wales and settled in New Jersey and their descendants are now scattered all over the United States. At the age of eight years he accompanied his parents to Clermont County, Ohio, and three years later to Vermilion County, Indiana. He received such education as a farmer’s boy of ambition could receive at that day in a pioneer neighborhood. During the summer he worked on the farm and in the winter attended such schools as the county afforded. He … Read more

Biography of Rodney Glisan, M.D.

Rodney Glisan, physician of Portland, son of Samuel and Eliza Glisan, was born at Linganore, Frederick County, Maryland, January 29, 1827. His ancestors were among the first English settlers of Maryland. He was graduated in the medical department of the University of Maryland, in 1849, and after passing a severe competitive examination before a medical board, was appointed a medical officer of the United States Army, in May, 1850. Having served in this capacity for about eleven years on the plains, and in Oregon during her Indian wars, he resigned his commission and settled in Portland, where he has ever … Read more

Biography of Joseph Alfred Strowbridge

Strowbridge, Joseph Alfred, was born in Montour county, Pennsylvania, in 1835, the third child of Phillip Moss and Elizabeth K. (Smith) Strowbridge. His father was a farmer who soon after Joseph’s birth, moved with his family to Marion county, Ohio. Here the youth of our subject was passed. His educational advantages were mostly confined to the district school, but with the assistance of an aunt who resided with the family he made rapid and substantial progress in his studies. So well prepared was he that at the early age of fourteen years, he taught a school near his home, and … Read more