USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. II > Part 20
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JUDGE HARRY H. BELT.
Judge Harry H. Belt, circuit judge of the twelfth judicial district, comprising Yambill and Polk counties, has the distinction of being the youngest judge elected to the circuit court bench in the state. He is one of Oregon's native sons, for his birth occurred at Salem, November 24, 1883, his parents being John D. and Nellie ( Hackle- man) Belt, the former born in Missouri and the latter in Oregon. In 1853 the father accompanied his parents on their journey across the plains with ox teams. The family located at Salem, where the grandfather took up land and cleared and developed it, placing many improvements on his property. He was also a physician and in addi- tion to cultivating his farm practiced his profession at Salem, continuing active along those lines during the balance of his life. His son, John D. Belt, on starting out in the business world engaged in the drug business, becoming proprietor of a store at Salem and later conducting an establishment of that character in Dallas. In the man- agement of his business interests he won a substantial measure of success and is now living retired at Forest Grove, Oregon. The mother also survives and they are highly esteemed residents of their community. He is a democrat in his political views and strictly adheres to the principles of that party, steadfastly supporting its measures and candidates.
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Harry H. Belt attended the public schools of Dallas and later became a student at the State Normal school at Monmouth, Oregon, from which he was graduated with the class of 1903. Subsequently he taught school for three years in Yamhill county, and so excellent was his record as au educator that he was called to the office of super- intendent of schools of Yamhill county, which office he capably filled for three years, when he resigned in order to devote his entire attention to the study of law. While teaching he had devoted his leisure hours to mastering the principles of jurisprudence, his uncle, Judge George H. Burnett, now serving as judge of the supreme court of Oregon, being his instructor. In 1906 he was admitted to the bar and then entered the office of Oscar Hayter, a prominent attorney of Dallas. While well grounded in the principles of common law when admitted to the bar, he has continued through the whole of his professional life a diligent student of those elementary principles which constitute the basis of all legal science and this knowledge has served him well in many a legal battle before the court. Judge Belt's ability as a lawyer soon won recognition and he was called to the office of circuit judge of the twelfth judicial district, being at the time of his election the youngest judge chosen to that office in the state, the territory over which he originally had jurisdiction comprising Yamhill, Polk and Tillamook counties. The last named county, however, is not now included within the boundaries of the twelfth judicial circuit, which comprises Polk and Yamhill counties. At the close of his six years' term Judge Belt was reelected without opposition and is now the incumbent in the office. He has made a record over which there falls no shadow of wrong nor suspicion of evil and his native sense of justice as well as his knowledge of the law have made him an able presiding officer over the tribunal of which he has charge. His decisions indicate strong mentality and careful analysis, his ability being based upon a finely balanced mind and splendid intellectual attain- ments.
On the 3d of July, 1907, Judge Belt was united in marriage to Miss Martha Pald- anius and they have become the parents of two children, George L. and Myra, who are attending school. Mrs. Belt is a member of the Church of Christ, Scientist. In his political views the Judge is a republican and a stalwart supporter of party principles. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit underlying these orders. He possesses a high sense of duty and honor and never swerves from the course which his conscience dictates as right. He has a wide acquaintance in this section of the state and the sterling traits of his character have established him high in public regard.
H. HIRSCHBERG.
H. Hirschberg, president of the Independence National Bank, at Independence, Oregon, is bending his energies to administrative direction and executive control, and actuated at all times by a spirit of unfaltering enterprise, has contributed in large measure to the success of the institution, which is one of the old and substantial banks of the county. He never sacrifices high standards to commercialism and his record is proof of the fact that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously. Mr. Hirschberg was born in Germany, November 26, 1853, and is a son of Hyman and Sarah Hirschberg, who were also natives of that country and there spent their entire lives. The father engaged in merchandising and both parents passed away in 1873, dying within six months of each other.
Their son. H. Hirschberg, was reared and educated in his native land and there learned the tinner's trade, which he followed in Germany until 1870, when he sought the opportunities offered in America to an enterprising and energetic young man and crossed the Atlantic, landing in New York city, where he worked at his trade and also followed other occupations until 1872. In that year he came to the west, arriving in Portland, Oregon, in April and remaining in that city until the 12th of August, when he removed to Independence, establishing the first tin shop in the town. This he con- ducted for two years and then engaged in general merchandising in connection with his brother, an association that was maintained until 1886, when they disposed of their interests and H. Hirschberg entered banking circles, establishing a private bank, which he conducted until January 7, 1889. He then organized the Independence National Bank, of which he has since served as president, with C. A. Mclaughlin as the vice
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president and Ira D. Mix as cashier. The bank is capitalized for fifty thousand dollars, has a surplus of fifteen thousand dollars and deposits amounting to four hundred thou- sand dollars. In 1890 Mr. Hirschberg erected a modern bank and office building which the bank has since occupied. The equipment is thoroughly modern and everything is done to safeguard and protect the interests of depositors. Moreover, the business of the bank is conducted along lines which constitute an even balance between conserva- tive measures and progressiveness and at the same time the policy of the bank extends to its patrons every possible assistance commensurate with the safety of the institu- tion. Mr. Hirschberg is a man of splendid executive ability and his administrative direction and enterprising spirit have been important elements in the successful conduct of the institution. On first coming to this county he invested in farm land and has since added to his original possessions, now owning fifteen hundred acres in one body, in addition to other farm property in the county. He is extensively interested in the growing of hops and in 1920 raised from three hundred and fifty acres, a crop valued at one hundred and eighty-three thousand, seven hundred and twenty-eight dollars. He has seventeen hop houses on his land and all modern equipment necessary for the proper production of hops and in this enterprise he is associated with Mr. Mclaughlin, the work being done on shares. He has also become the owner of business and resi- dence property in Independence and Portland, as well as in other parts of the state, and is extensively interested in timber lands in Benton county, owning sixteen hundred and eighty acres, which contain eighty million feet of yellow fir. He is likewise the owner of forty-eight thousand acres of land in the state of Sonora, Mexico, and he is one of the most extensive land holders in Oregon. He is a keen and intelligent busi- ness man with a rapid grasp of details and a shrewd discrimination in investment and whatever he undertakes he carries forward to a successful termination.
In his political views Mr. Hirschberg is independent, voting for the man whom he regards as best qualified for office, regardless of party affiliation. He is not affiliated with any church but contributes liberally to the support of all denominations. For the past twenty years he has been state treasurer of the State Grange, and fraternally is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World, the Rebekahs, the Eastern Star and the Masons, belonging to the Scottish Rite Consistory and to the Shrine in the last named organization. In the control of his business interests he dis- plays marked ability and energy, regarding no detail as too unimportant to receive his attention, and at the same time controlling the larger factors in his interests with notable assurance and power. His initiative spirit and notable ability have carried him into important relations and his activities have constituted an important element in the general development and upbuilding of this section of the state. For fifty years he has been a resident of Polk county and is widely and favorably known in the locality in which he makes his home, being recognized as a progressive business man and a public-spirited citizen, loyal to the best interests of the community.
W. H. BEHARRELL.
W. H. Beharrell, manager of Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, has been identified with Portland's industries for many years, and has been twenty-six years with the firm he now represents. He was born in New Albany, Indiana, March 2, 1854, and is the son of Henry and Sarah J. (Daniel) Beharrell. The former was a native of England, while his mother was born in Indiana and is now living in Portland at the age of ninety-three. His father died in Portland at the age of seventy-seven. He was in the implement business while in Indiana but following his removal to Portland in 1878 lived a retired life, free from business cares.
W. H. Beharrell preceded his parents to the Pacific Coast, first making his home in San Jose, California, where be then entered the employ of James A. Clayton, a real estate dealer of that thriving city. In April, 1874, he came to Portland which was then but a village. After a year spent in various pursuits, among them working as a longshoreman, he went into the storage and wharfage business. After a limited time he accepted a position with the Oregon Furniture Manufacturing Company, one of the pioneer industries in that line, later rising to the position of president of that com- pany, from which he retired to accept the position he now holds.
The Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company are the largest chair manufacturers
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in the world, having headquarters at Boston, Massachusetts. They have recently pur- chased the plant of the Oregon Chair Company. They are large employers of labor, having at Portland in their combined establishments a large force of skilled mechanics. From this plant they supply the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Mon- tana, Alaska and British Columbia.
On January 15, 1876, Mr. Beharrell was married to Miss Eliza Richards, a native of Penzance, England, who came to America with her parents in 1872. To this union have been born six children, four of whom are living.
His connection with one of Portland's largest institutions entitles him to recogni- tion, when considering the growth of Portland, her industries, or any historical chron- icle of the early citizens of the Oregon country.
JOS. F. WESELY.
A man of keen business discernment and sound judgment, Jos. F. Wesely has made for himself a creditable place in business circles of Scio as the proprietor of a well appointed mercantile establishment, and for the past five years he has also acted as local express agent. He was born in New York City, New York, June 20, 1873, a son of John and Frances (Young) Wesely, natives of Bohemia. The father was a marble cutter by trade and in 1870 he emigrated to the United States, thinking to find better business opportunities in this country. For three years he resided in the eastern metropolis and then removed to the middle west, establishing his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the end of three years he left that state and in 1877 went to Kansas, where he took up a timber claim of one hundred and sixty acres. He cleared and developed his land, continuing its operation for many years, and it was there that he passed away in 1904 at the age of fifty-three years. The mother, however, survives and now resides in Scio. She reared a family of fifteen children, of whom five sons and five daughters are living.
Jos. F. Wesely pursued his early education in the district schools of Kansas, his first lessons heing received in a sod house, while subsequently he was graduated from the Ellsworth schools. In order to secure the money for his academic course he clerked for two years in a grocery store and then entered the normal school at Salina, Kansas, where he pursued a preparatory course in business and a course in teaching. He also entered upon the work of the scientific course, which, however, he was obliged to discontinue, owing to ill health. Subsequently he engaged in teaching in the district where he had attended school, remaining a teacher in that locality for a period of seven years. Mr. Wesely is a well educated man of marked linguistic ability, convers- ing fluently in the Bohemian, German and English languages, and as an educator he was very successful, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he had acquired. In the year 1898, in company with his uncles, he came to Oregon and for a year was in their employ. He then became connected with the flax industry at Scio, remaining for a year, after which he went to Salem, where he also followed that line of work for a year. Returning to Scio, he engaged in general merchandising in partnership with his brother, John Wesely, an association that was maintained for four years, when the business was divided, Mr. Wesely's brother becoming the owner of the stock of dry goods, while Mr. Wesely took over the grocery establishment, which he has since conducted. He is very careful in the selection of his goods and his known reliability, enterprising methods, reasonable prices and courteous treatment of patrons have secured for him a large patronage. For the past five years he has also acted as local express agent and he likewise has farming interests, owning and operating a tract of fourteen acres just outside the city limits. The land is rich and productive and from its cultivation he is deriving a substantial addition to his income. He is an energetic and farsighted business man and in the conduct of his varied interests he is meeting with most gratifying success.
On the 30th of June, 1908, Mr. Wesely was united in marriage to Miss Rose L. Sticha and they have become the parents of four children, namely: Maximilian, aged eleven years: Frances R., who is nine years of age; Angeline, aged two; and Stanley, who died in April, 1913, at the age of seven months.
In his political views Mr. Wesely is independent, voting for the candidate whom he deems best fitted for office without regard to party affiliation. He has taken a prominent part in the public affairs of his community and for five years has served
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as city treasurer, while for thirteen years he acted as school clerk, the cause of public education ever receiving his stalwart support. His fraternal connections are with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Wesely has led a busy, active and useful life, employing every oppor- tunity to advance, and he deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, for he started out in life empty-handed and his present prosperity is the direct outcome of persistency of purpose and undaunted energy. He is a public-spirited and progressive citizen, whose sterling worth has won for him the high regard of all who know him.
HON. JAMES KNOX WEATHERFORD.
Hon. James Knox Weatherford, a distinguished member of the Oregon bar prac- ticing at Albany, was born in Putnam county, Missouri, in March, 1850, his parents being Alfred H. and Sophia (Smith) Weatherford, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. In an early day the father removed to Illinois, in which state his marriage occurred, and shortly afterward he went with his bride to Missouri, pur- chasing land in Putnam county. This he improved and developed and he was later called to public office when Putnam county was organized as a separate county. He was appointed by the governor as the first county judge and at the next general election was elected clerk of the county, which position he held until his death in 1856. He was a man highly respected in this community. The mother's death occurred in 1862. James K. Weatherford was reared and educated in his native county to the age of thirteen years and in 1864 started for Oregon in company with a Mr. Morgan, a friend of his father. For a time Mr. Weatherford engaged in driving ox teams in eastern Oregon and then secured employment in a woolen mill at Brownsville, in Linn county, where he remained until the mill was destroyed by fire in 1865. He then returned to the eastern part of the state and resumed his former occupation of driving oxen, being thus engaged until the fall of 1865, when he again became an employe in the woolen mills, working under Tom Kay. He continued to work in the mills for three years and in 1868 went to Corvallis, Oregon, where he enrolled as a student in the Oregon Agricultural College, from which he won his A. B. degree upon gradua- tion with the class of 1872. While attending college he resided in a small dwelling which he had erected at a cost of seventy-five dollars and in order to defray the ex- penses of his tuition he worked in the harvest fields during vacation periods, but was still eight hundred dollars in debt at the time of his graduation. For six months he engaged in teaching school and in 1874 he was elected county school superintendent, occupying that position for two years, during which time he bestowed certificates upon many who later were numbered with Oregon's most prominent men, among whom were United States Senators George E. Chamberlain and C. W. Fulton. In the mean- time Mr. Weatherford had engaged in the study of law and in September, 1876, he was admitted to the bar. He opened an office in Albany and during the intervening period of forty-five years has here continued in practice, having associated with him as partners at various times such distinguished members of the profession as Judge W. C. Piper, D. R. Blackburn, ex-attorney general of Oregon; United States Senator George E. Chamberlain, Ex-Senator O. P. Coshow of Roseburg, J. Fred Yates, county judge of Benton county, Oregon; Gale S. Hill, ex-district attorney of Linn county ; R. C. Cooley of Enterprise and A. K. McMahan of Albany, and J. R. Wyatt, who is his present partner and Mark V. Weatherford, also a member of the firm. Mr. Weather- ford of this review has specialized in the practice of criminal law, in which he has been very successful, having won a state-wide reputation. He is an adept trial lawyer and has probably defended more men held for murder than any other attorney in the state. He is the possessor of the largest private law library in the Willamette valley, if not in the state, which is of invaluable assistance to him in his legal work. Mr. Weatherford is also the owner of extensive realty holdings. He owns the store and office building in which his office is located, also his fine residence at No. 505 Mont- gomery street, and several of the large business blocks of the city, including the Rolfe Theater building. He likewise has large farming interests in Linn county aud timber holdings in Lincoln county and for a number of years has been associated with the. woolen mills at Salem, his activities thus covering a broad scope.
Mr. Weatherford gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and in 1876 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, where he served
HON. JAMES K. WEATHERFORD
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for two years and was then made speaker of the house. He likewise served for three terms as state senator, was the nominee for secretary of state and twice ran for congress but was defeated. In 1885 Mr. Weatherford was appointed a member of the board of regents of the Oregon Agricultural College and for the past twenty years has been its president. At the time of his graduation the college consisted of but one small wooden building, but as a member of the building committee he has been influential in securing the erection of a number of fine buildings. He has ever been much interested in the cause of public education and for over forty years has served on the Alhany school board, doing everything in his power to advance the standards of the schools. For one term he also was mayor of Albany, giving to the city a businesslike and progressive administration. He is prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past grand master. He is likewise identified with the Masonic order, holding membership in the lodge, chapter, commandery and shrine, and he also is connected with the Eastern Star. During the war with Ger- many he gave indisputable proof of his patriotism and devotion to his country.
In February, 1877, Mr. Weatherford was united in marriage to Annette Cottle, at that time a resident of San Jose, California, hut a native of Linn county, Oregon. They have two children: Realto L., who resides at Corvallis and is operating his father's farm at Harrisburg; and Alfred B., who is connected with the internal revenue office at Portland.
JOHN W. OGILBEE.
A notably successful career is that of John W. Ogilbee, who since 1883 has been engaged in the real estate business in Portland, while for a period of twenty-seven years he has occupied his present offices in the Hegele building. He has an intimate know- ledge of the worth of all real estate in his locality and is considered an expert in placing valuations upon property. A native of Ohio, Mr. Ogilbee was born in Belmont county in 1846, a son of Robert and Mary Ann (Stonebreaker) Ogilbee, the former horn in the north of Ireland of Scotch-Irish parentage, while the later was of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. In 1849 the family removed to Iowa, where the father followed farm- ing and John W. Ogilbee was reared on a farm, acquiring a common school education. On entering the business world he hecame clerk in a store and was thus employed until 1871, when he removed to Oregon, taking up his residence in Portland. He first secured a situation in a grocery store at the corner of First and Madison streets, con- ducted by S. A. Stansbury, one of the pioneer merchants of the city. Through the exercise of industry and economy he at length accumulated sufficient capital to engage in business independently and in 1878 established an enterprise which he conducted for a few years and then sold, removing to The Dalles, where for three years he operated a grocery store. In 1883 he returned to Portland and entered real estate circles, and has continued in that line of activity, having occupied his present quarters in the Hegele building for twenty-seven years. He is regarded as one of the most enterprising and reliable real estate operators in the city, being now accorded a large patronage. He has negotiated many important realty transfers, operating largely in the Sellwood dis- trict, and through his activity in this field has contributed in marked measure to the development and upbuilding of the city. He is a man of strict integrity and in busi- ness matters his judgment has ever been found to be sound and reliable.
In 1868, while a resident of Iowa, Mr. Ogilbee was united in marriage to Miss Agnes E. Laubach, whose father, Rev. Abram Laubach, devoted his life to the ministry as a representative of the Methodist denomination. In 1871 he was sent as a missionary to Port Townsend, Washington and in his later years engaged in publishing the Christian Advocate in partnership with Isaac Dillon, the plant being located in Portland. He was untiring in his labors in behalf of the church and his efforts met with well deserved success. Mrs. Ogilbee was born in Virginia and reared in Ohio and by her marriage she has become the mother of three sons; W. Earl, J. Ray and Paul A.
As one of the few surviving veterans of the Civil war Mr. Ogilbee is deserving of the highest honor and respect. At the outbreak of hostilities between the north and south he was residing in southern Iowa and there engaged in guerrilla warfare before enlisting with the Forty-fifth Iowa Infantry, with which command he served under General Grant and Sherman until the close of the war, when he received his honorable
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