History of Oregon, Vol. II, Part 22

Author: Carey, Charles Henry
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 780

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On the 15th of June, 1919, Mr. Freeland was united in marriage to Miss Leda Mae Henderson, a daughter of James and Myrtle (Barnes) Henderson, residents of Salem, Oregon. Mr. Freeland enlisted for service in the World war on the 28th of April, 1917, and was stationed at Vancouver Barracks with the Fourth Engineers, but owing to sickness was discharged on the 28th of November of the same year. He is a member of the American Legion and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. He was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is patriotic and public-spirited and is greatly interested in the development of his community, to which he has largely contributed through the medium of his paper, and his worth as a man and citizen is widely acknowledged.

VICTOR K. STRODE.

Victor K. Strode, who, according to the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellowmen, was ever animated by a kind, noble, affectionate spirit, passed away in Portland on the 16th of January, 1920. For almost four decades he had been a member of the bar of this city and was recognized as one of the eminent lawyers and brilliant orators of the northwest. He also displayed marked ability in the manage- ment of business affairs of importance, but that which causes his memory to be cherished and revered was a beautiful spirit that sought out the good in others and appraised each individual at his true worth.

Victor K. Strode was born in Kane county, Illinois, on the 25th of August, 1851. His youth was largely passed in Missouri and he was graduated from the State Normal School at Kirksville, Missouri. Moreover, he rounded out a thorough educational train- ing by broad reading and even in young manhood was thoroughly well acquainted with the old English authors and throughout his life kept in close touch with the vital in- terests, questions and problems of the day and, according to one of his lifelong friends, "hardly any topic could arise in a general conversation that Mr. Strode would not in some way illuminate from the vast amount of information which he had stored away in a finely constructed memory and which was always at command to serve his pur- pose." It was in 1860 that Mr. Strode went to Los Angeles, California, and later removed to Visalia, in the same state, where he taught school for about two years. On the expiration of that period he went to San Francisco, where he entered the law office of General William H. L. Barnes, an eminent representative of the bar on the Pacific coast. Mr. Strode read law under the direction of Mr. Barnes until his admis- sion to the har and for a brief period he continued in the practice of law in San Francisco but about 1879 removed to Portland and entered into partnership relations with Jarvis Varnel Beach, a connection that was maintained for many years under the firm style of Strode & Beach. In 1895 their partnership relation, but not their friendship, was severed and later Mr. Strode admitted Charles N. Wait, a son of Aaron E. Wait, to a partnership. One who knew him well wrote of him at the time of his death: "Mr. Strode's legal work was marked by great thoroughness. No one ever found him surprised; he was always prepared on his law and his facts. His conduct of a trial of a cause was accompanied by a sweetness of disposition such as is seldom given to any of the children of men. Attention to his own affairs has taken him away somewhat from the practice of his chosen profession of late years, and there are many of the younger members of the bar who did not personally know Mr.

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Strode, but the writer of this sketch has known nearly all of the lawyers of the terri- torial and of the early state days; he feels that he can affirm that he never knew one who had the love, confidence and respect of his associates to a greater degree than did Mr. Strode."

In 1887 Mr. Strode was united in marriage to Miss Kate Wiegand, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wiegand, well known and well beloved pioneers of Portland, where Mr. Wiegand acquired a large amount of property before his death at the com- paratively early age of thirty-two years. His daughter, Mrs. Strode, was born in a house then located where the Panama building now stands at the corner of Third and Alder streets, which building is now the property of his heirs. When the excavation was made for this building the roots of a magnolia tree, under the shade of which she had played in her youth, were dug out. Mr. and Mrs. Strode became the parents of three children. Charles J., the eldest, married Ethel D. Williams, a native of Port. land, and they have one son, Wayne. Victor W., the second son, was chief wireless operator in the transport service during the World war and made five trips across the ocean after having pursued a government radio course at Harvard University. He married Helen Doris Clark, a native of Portland and a representative of one of the pioneer families of the city. The eldest son, Charles J., is auditor for the Braden Packing Company of Pasadena, California, and was with the Emergency Fleet Corpora- tion during the World war. The other son of the family, Walter, has passed away. The death of 'the husband and father occurred on the 16th of January, 1920, leaving to his family the priceless heritage of an honored name and a memory which they will ever cherish because he was largely the ideal husband and father.

In his political views Mr. Strode was a stalwart democrat and for many years was a recognized leader of the party in this state. In 1892 he represented Oregon as a delegate in the national convention which nominated Grover Cleveland. He fre- quently discussed on the platform vital questions and issues of the day and one of the local papers said of him: "Judge Strode was an orator of remarkable ability and con- sidered one of the best jury advocates in Oregon. His ability to see the best that there was in his fellowmen was so conspicuous and his power to express his thoughts so wonderful that the Bar Association on most occasions delegated to him the privilege of delivering the eulogies said for departed members of the organization." Mr. Strode was deeply interested in the questions concerning the purposes of life and the destiny of man and his belief was unfaltering concerning future existence. He often remarked that the promise meant all that was said: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." His own life was an expression of the highest ideals of American manhood and citizenship. He used his time and talents wisely and well. He gained fame and honor as a lawyer, respect as a citizen and, moreover, his life proved the truth of the Emersonian philosophy that "the way to win a friend is to be one." A lifetime associate wrote of him: "It shall be to the writer of this article a matter of fond recollection that in his pilgrimage through this world to that world that is to come, it was permitted him to know in the intimacy of a friend- ship of more than forty years, the kind, the noble, the affectionate spirit that animated him, known in the flesh as Victor K. Strode.

Green be the turf above thee, Friend of my better days; None knew thee but to love thee, None named thee but to praise."

CHARLES H. FISHER.

Charles H. Fisher has devoted his entire life to the newspaper business and in this field of endeavor has won success. He is now one of the proprietors of the Eugene Daily Guard, which ranks among the oldest newspapers of the state, having been founded as a weekly in 1866. Mr. Fisher was born in Clay county, South Dakota, August 28, 1865, a son of Jesse L. and Mary L. (Turner) Fisher. The father was an honored veteran of the Civil war. He enlisted in a Michigan regiment and after serving for some time was discharged on account of disability. He afterward went to North Dakota and in 1877 came to Oregon, taking up his abode in Roseburg, where he was engaged in various enterprises during the balance of his life, following farm-

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ing, merchandising and milling. He resided in Roseburg until his death, which oc- cured in 1905. The mother survived him for five years, passing away in 1910.

Charles H. Fisher was twelve years of age at the time of the removal of his parents to this state and he attended the public schools of Roseburg, completing his education in the State University of Oregon. It was while attending that institution that he entered upon his journalisic career, being elected editor of the old Laurean Literary Society. After leaving the university Mr. Fisher taught school for a brief time and then with his meager savings purchased control of a little paper at Oakland, which he called the Umpqua Herald. After conducting this paper for a year or two he sought other fields of operation and went to Roseburg, Oregon, where he formed a partnership with Fred Flood for the publication of the Herald, which is said to have been the first semi-weekly published in the state. This was about 1887. Some time later the Herald was consolidated with the Review, at which time Mr. Fisher disposed of his interest therein, but later repurchased the journal. It was in the early days of the consolidated Review, when they were building it up first into a semi-weekly and then into a daily, that Mr. Fisher says he did his best journalistic work, and it was here that he gained confidence in his own ability to go into any town and publish a paper that the people would have to read. It is to this quality that he attributes his constant success. In 1896 the Review became a daily and soon afterward Mr. Fisher, retaining his interest, went to Boise, Idaho, for his health. There he organized a stock company and started the Evening Capital News, of which he became editor. Like all the other Fisher papers, this soon took hold and is today one of the leading dailies of Idaho. Upon regaining his health Mr. Fisher disposed of his Roseburg and Boise interests and purchased the Eugene Guard, which he conducted for a few years and then sold. He subsequently purchased the Salem Capital Journal, which he con- ducted very successfully, greatly increasing its circulation and installing modern equip- ment. While still at Salem Mr. Fisher, in association with J. E. Shelton, purchased the Eugene Guard, of which Mr. Shelton took charge, Mr. Fisher remaining in Salem until he disposed of the Journal, since which time he has devoted his attention to the conduct of the Guard in association with his partner, Mr. Fisher acting as editor of the paper, while Mr. Shelton has charge of the business details. The partners are men of broad experience in the newspaper field and the Guard is conceded to be one of the best papers in this section of the state. Its plant is thoroughly modern, equipped with all the latest presses and machinery, including three linotype machines, and it is a most interesting and valuable journal to the community in which it is published. Its news is always accurate and reliable and it has therefore gained a large circulation, which makes it a valuable advertising medium.

Mr. Fisher married Miss Effie Owens and they have many friends in Eugene and vicinity. He is one of the regents of the State University of Oregon and his fraternal connections are with the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. His political allegiance Is given to the demo- cratic party and in religious faith he is a Baptist. He has won success in the jour- nalistic field through the wise utilization of time and opportunity and he has ever held to the highest standards of newspaper publication, his aid and influence being always on the side of advancement and improvement.

BALF. M. BOND.

Balf. M. Bond, cashier of the Halsey State Bank of Halsey, Linn county, is making a creditable record in the office by the prompt and faithful manner in which he is discharging his duties, looking after the welfare of depositors and safeguarding the interests of the institution. He has liere passed his entire life, for he was born in Halsey on the 15th of February, 1891, a son of Owen and Mary C. (Keeney) Bond, also natives of this state. The father, who was born in Linn county, engaged in farm- ing and stock raising on a ranch six miles west of Halsey where he continued to reside until his demise on the 1st of February, 1913. The mother, however, survives.

In the public schools of Halsey, Balf. M. Bond pursued his education and on enter- ing the business world became an employe of S. E. Young & Son of Albany, with whom he was connected for some time. In 1912 he entered the Halsey State Bank as assistant cashier and in the following year purchased stock in the institution, becoming cashier, in which position he has since served most conscientiously and efficiently, the growth

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of the bank being due in large measure to his initiative and ability. The institution was organized in 1910, at which time a modern bank building was erected. Its present officers are: C. H. Koontz, president; D. Taylor, vice president; and B. M. Bond, cashier, all of whom are reliable and progressive business men of this section of the state. The bank is capitalized for twenty thousand dollars and has a surplus of twelve thousand dollars. Its deposits will average one hundred and eighty thousand dollars and its total resources are two hundred and fifty-two thousand dollars. Mr. Bond is also connected with farming interests, being the owner of the home farm of three hundred and ten acres, which he purchased from the other heirs. This property he rents and thereby derives an additional source of revenue.

On the 20th of August, 1919, Mr. Bond was united in marriage to Miss Esther Marie Frisbee and they have many friends in their community. Mr. Bond is a republican in his political views and has taken a prominent and active part in public affairs of his city, serving as city treasurer for three years, while for six years he has been clerk of the school board. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church and in its work he is actively and helpfully interested, having served as a teacher in the Sunday school for the past four years. His fraternal connections are with the Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, the Masons and the Eastern Star. Mr. Bond is a young man of excellent business qualifications who has already advanced well toward the goal of success and the sterling worth of his character is indicated in the fact that in the community where he has spent his entire life he is held in the highest esteem.

FREDERICK EGGERT.

The influences which shape the career of an individual are often remote and difficult to trace, but not so in the case of Frederick Eggert, a man of marked democracy of spirit, of kindly and generous disposition, of inflexible integrity and of high pur- poses. The foundations of his upright character were laid in the teachings of a sturdy, religious parentage. His father, John Heinrich Eggert, was born in Lippe-Detmold, Germany, April 18, 1811, while his mother, who bore the maiden name of Sophie Wil- helmene Freitag, was horn in Hanover, Germany, January 12, 1811. They came to America in early life and their marriage was celebrated in Detroit, Michigan, February 12, 1837. Their family numbered four sons, of whom Frederick Eggert II was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 30, 1843, his life record spanning the intervening years until he passed away on the 26th of April, 1918, in Portland, Oregon. His three brothers survive him, but other children of the family died in infancy.

Frederick Eggert was quite young when his parents removed from Milwaukee to Illinois, settling near Freeport, and there at the age of three years he suffered a long and severe attack of spinal meningitis, which left him with the handicap of a frail body, a weak heart and very limited physical strength. In the spring of 1856 the family home was established on a farm near Lawrence, the first "free-state" town in Kansas, and there his strength was strained to the uttermost in farm work, while he had less than the average meager opportunity of the youth of that day to obtain an education. When seventeen years of age his active brain, bright mind and determined will led him to decide upon a different career than that of the farmer and he obtained employment in a general merchandise establishment at Lawrence, where by diligence, unfailing courtesy and geniality he won friends whose friendship and loyalty to him have been one of his cherished possessions throughout the intervening years. His business experience constituted the basis of his later success. He was employed in a store when on August 21, 1863, while he was sleeping in a room over the store, Quantrell with his fierce Confederate raiders fell upon the town, sacked and burned it and left one hundred and sixty-five citizens lying dead in the streets, one of his employers being among the victims. Mr. Eggert, then a frail boy, was about to be shot when one of the raiders for some unknown reason interposed and saved his life and did not desert him until he had gotten him away from danger.

On the 2d of November, 1865, Mr. Eggert determined to engage in business on his own account and made his first trip on a railroad when he went to Chicago to buy a stock of goods. That he won success is not a matter of marvel, for he practiced close application, stern self-denial and rigid economy and lived an upright, honorable life that commanded for him the confidence and respect of all who knew him. In the

FREDERICK EGGERT

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midst of an active business career he never neglected his religious duties but was a faithful member and generous supporter of the First Methodist church and occupied many official positions in connection therewith.

On the 1st of September, 1873, Mr. Eggert was married to Miss Elizabeth Avery, M. D., a homeopathic physician, who was then located in Lawrence but who had for- merly been a resident of Connecticut. For forty-five years they traveled life's journey most happily together and Mrs. Eggert was then left to mourn the loss of one who had been an ideal husband in his home relations.

With the desire to secure broader business opportunities than were afforded in Lawrence, Kansas, Mr. Eggert came to the west and after testing the effect of the rainy season upon his health he closed out his business in Kansas on the 22d of Feb- ruary, 1876, in order to become a resident of Oregon. He bore with him a letter of introduction from L. Z. Leiter of the wholesale house of Field, Leiter & Company of Chicago, to Murphy, Grant & Company, the largest wholesale dry goods dealers in San Francisco, and over his own signature Mr. Leiter wrote: "Mr. Eggert's credit is good for all the goods you can persuade him to buy." Establishing a home in Albany and finding trade conditions somewhat different from those of the east, Mr. Eggert found employment with Samuel E. Young, the leading merchant of Linn county, taking charge of the dry goods department. During the six and a half years which he spent in that position his business qualifications made a lasting impression upon the pioneer residents of that place. On the 11th of November, 1882, Mr. Eggert entered into partnership relations with Mr. Young and Walter E. Turrell, under the firm name of Eggert, Young & Company, and engaged in the boot and shoe business as the suc- cessors of The Pacific Boot and Shoe Company, thus acquiring the oldest store in that line in the Pacific northwest, their location being at No. 109 First street, Portland. Although conditions were very disheartening at the beginning his indomitable courage and business methods enabled him to overcome all obstacles with success. After three years Mr. Eggert purchased the interests of his partners in the business but retained the firm name by mutual consent and ever enjoyed the lifelong friendship of his former associates in the enterprise. Later he was for a time in partnership with Walter E. Turrell and his brother, George J. Turrell, in the retail shoe business in Tacoma and Seattle and subsequently became associated with J. F. Kelly, A. Staiger and E. Rice, with whom he shared his prosperity until each in turn was able to engage in business for himself. He was at various periods connected with other important business enterprises in Portland. In 1889 he formed a partnership with Messrs. Treen and Raymond, of Seattle, Messrs. Turrell, of Tacoma and Seattle, and his youngest brother, Charles F. Eggert, who for several years had been on a farm in the Waldo hills of Marion county, and thus under the firm name of Treen, Raymond, Turrell & Company they opened a wholesale shoe business in Seattle. Their trade was increasing in substantial manner when the great Seattle fire destroyed their entire store and stock. Mr. Eggert lost heavily, not only directly but also through his interest in a local insurance company, which this and subsequent fires in Ellensburg and Spokane swept out of existence.

Immediately after the fire Mr. Eggert established his brother in the retail shoe business in the unburned district and thus founded the Eggert Shoe Company of Seattle. To his brother's four sons, who from boyhood were connected with the busi- ness, Mr. Eggert gradually sold his interest as fast as his nephews were fitted to assume responsibilities.

In 1897, for the benefit of his health, Mr. Eggert went to the Hood River valley and then purchased of Hon. E. L. Smith a portion of Beulah Land, to which he added by subsequent purchases one hundred and forty acres and built thereon a summer home on what is conceded to be the most picturesque spot in the valley, calling his place Eggermont. He planted one of the first commercial orchards, if not the first, in the Hood River valley and was a pioneer in Hood River apple culture. Because of the growth of his business which made greater demands upon his time and energies than he cared to give, he sold the place in February, 1911, to the Eggermont Orchard Com- pany.

On the 1st of November, 1892, the Eggert, Young Company removed to the Hamil- ton building on Third street, in Portland, for the firm's increasing business and clientele required more spacious and modern quarters. In due time three employes, Jordan Purvine, W. B. Brazelton and Miss N. B. Townsend, became stockholders and since Mr. Eggert's death have succeeded to the management, conducting the business as far as possible along the lines which he instituted, for during the nearly thirty-six years

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of his business life in Portland he had made for himself and the firm an enviable place as an influential factor in winning for Portland its position as a mercantile center of the Pacific coast. An excellent characterization of Mr. Eggert was given by one who had been associated with him in his office for seventeen years and he said: "Those who knew Mr. Eggert best were impressed with his democracy. Every man coming into contact with him in a business way was given a hearing and if his proposi- tion was economically sound he was received in a friendly spirit.

"A man seeking employment found in him a sympathetic listener whether or not there was a vacancy in the corps of helpers. And to any boy-struggling with poverty and trying to make for himself a place-it gave Mr. Eggert the keenest pleasure to give a helping hand. His plan for doing that was to teach him the value of money and the need for industry-two branches of knowledge seemingly neglected in this day. Once interested in a boy his movements were closely watched and great was Mr. Eggert's disappointment if his teachings were disregarded. He frequently quoted Lincoln's saying that God must have loved the common people because he made so many of them.

"Another characteristic was his cheerful and sunny disposition. Blues did not find an encouraging glance from him and they speedily took flight from any company of which he was a part. His friends came to him with a fund of funny stories and they usually took away with them an equal number in exchange; good, wholesome, laugh-provoking stories-this always in spite of failing health and ofttimes in the face of serious weakness.

"Mr. Eggert stood for inflexible uprightness, requiring the same of himself that he expected in others. Nothing less than right characterized bis dealings with men. Having struggled with poverty himself and retained his integrity, he knew whereof he spoke when he counseled men that honesty was not only the best policy but the only policy. His frequently expressed wish was that the race could realize the truth of the old Book's saying 'The wages of sin is death.'

"His very presence created a clean atmosphere in business, for he would not tol- erate nor excuse deviation from the principles he believed in and knew to be right. Possessed of good judgment and keen business insight his advice was frequently sought and always freely given. Many a widow and orphan have felt his loss as a counselor and friend; without realizing it himself, he was instinctively the friend of the friend- less. And to those he called friend he was unswervingly true. Sometimes he was im- posed upon because he never believed ill of those to whom his allegiance was given until he was forced to believe it. For those who betrayed a trust he had only con- tempt and the wrongdoer saw himself in a new and unflattering light after an interview with Mr. Eggert.

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History of Oregon, Vol. II, Part 22

Author: Carey, Charles Henry Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company Number of Pages: 780

Author: Carey, Charles Henry
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago, Portland, The Pioneer historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 780