USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. II > Part 39
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
In his political views Mr. Cooper has always been a stalwart republican, casting his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He is a leader in the ranks of his party and was a delegate to the national republican convention at Chicago in 1888, which nominated William H. Harrison for president. He is much interested in the welfare and progress of his community and was elected in 1904 joint representative for Lincoln and Polk counties, serving in the 1905 session of the Oregon legislature. For two terms he served as mayor of his city, giving to the municipality a most progres- sive and businesslike administration. He has also been a member of the city council, serving as president of that body at the time the town was incorporated. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to the chapter and council, and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Christian church, while his wife is affiliated with the Methodist church. In business affairs he has ever been found thoroughly reliable as well as progressive, winning a good name as well as a substantial competence. He takes a deep interest in everything relative to the welfare of the district in which he lives and has been most earnest in his support of those projects which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. His life has ever been an upright and honorable one and his sterling worth is attested by all who know him.
HOWARD M. COVEY.
In 1905 Howard M. Covey established a small automobile business in Portland and his energy, progressiveness and business ability are indicated in the fact that he is today proprietor of one of the largest enterprises of the kind in the Pacific northwest. A native of Texas, Mr. Covey was born in Jefferson on the 19th of Novem- ber, 1875, a son of M. W. and Susan A. (Grant) Covey. The father was a soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil war, previous to which he had been a large slave- holder and the owner of an extensive plantation in the south.
It was on this place that his son, Howard M. Covey, was reared and in the public and high schools of Texas he pursued his education. On starting out in life independently he engaged in the bicycle business in Texas, there remaining until 1903,
299
HISTORY OF OREGON
when he sought the broader opportunities offered in the west to an ambitious and energetic young man. Coming to Oregon he decided on Portland as a place of residence and in 1905 purchased the business of the Lee Automobile Company, estab- lishing a small enterprise of that character. His initiative spirit, progressive methods and reliable dealings soon won for him a good patronage and his business has grown steadily from year to year until he is now conducting one of the largest automobile enterprises in the Pacific northwest. In 1911 he erected his present building-a fire- proof structure, thoroughly modern in its appointments, affording a floor space of seventy-seven hundred feet. He has the state agency for the Cadillac car and is the agent for Multnomah county of the Dodge Brothers car, giving employment to approxi- mately one hundred people. His business is arranged in separate divisions, including the sales, garage, parts, electrical and used car departments and the repair and paint shops, each of which must be self-supporting and is placed in charge of a competent man, who makes a daily report of the business transacted in his branch of work. The business is thus thoroughly systematized and conducted along the most efficient lines, resulting in substantial and gratifying returns.
Mr. Covey resides with his mother in the American apartments and his sister Edna makes her home in Dallas, Texas. His interest in the development and up- building of his city is indicated by his membership in the Chamber of Commerce and he is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Press, Golf, Multnomah, Anglers and Rifle Clubs, turning for recreation to hunting, fishing and motoring. He is one of Portland's most enterprising, progressive and aggressive busi- ness men, who in attaining individual success has also contributed in substantial measure to public progress and prosperity and his worth to the community is widely acknowledged.
A. R. JOHNSON.
Among those who have been active in directing real estate operations in Portland is A. R. Johnson, member of the Johnson-Dodson Company. He was born in Denmark, September 12, 1879, and was a lad of five years when he came to Oregon in 1884, with his parents, Christian and Catherine Johnson. His father engaged in the canning business in Astoria until his death, which occurred in 1885. He had conducted the business under the name of the Scandinavian Cannery and subsequent to his demise this was merged into the Columbia River Packers' Association. The mother survived her husband for many years, passing away in Portland in 1914.
A. R. Johnson attended the public schools of Astoria and when nineteen years of age entered the general merchandise business in connection with his brother, Fred J., opening a store at Astoria. They sold out there about eleven years later and turned their attention to real estate, with offices in the Board of Trade building in Portland, and five years later Mr. Johnson removed his office to the Northwest Bank building. He is now conducting his operations as a member of the firm known as Johnson- Dodson Company. They handle inside improved property and residences and have just closed a deal for seventy-two hundred and fifteen acres on the Columbia river, between Portland and Astoria, which they will subdivide into forty-acre tracts. This land will produce fine berries and fruits and is also good for diversified farming. This is a gigantic undertaking which they have assumed and it is hard to realize at this time the great benefits which the improvement of these small tracts will mean to the state. The district will support at least two hundred families. Already they have families settled on the property from both the middle west and the east and many others are prospective buyers. The land is being sold at thirty dollars per acre, with one-fourth down and the balance in terms to suit the purchaser, and it is generally known that the land will yield about one thousand dollars per acre annually when planted to berries. Mr. Johnson has contributed through his real estate operations in large measures to the development, settlement and progress of Portland and the surrounding country and is a most energetic and progressive business man. He attacks everything with a contagious enthusiasm that cannot fail to produce results.
In 1905 Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Minnie Lenart of Astoria. He is a member of the Commercial Club, of the Realty Board and of the Knights of Pythias. He has lived in the northwest practically throughout his entire life and is widely known in Portland and around the Columbia river district. He is actuated by a most progres-
300
HISTORY OF OREGON
sive spirit in all that he does and has handled large realty interests in Portland. His careful management, his thorough reliability and his undaunted energy bring to him the most gratifying measure of success.
C. H. RAFFETY, M. D.
For a half century Dr. C. H. Raffety was a well known Portland physician and while his professional services were of great value to many in this section of the state, he also found time to devote to civic affairs and was constantly laboring for the promotion of interests which had for their object the upbuilding and benefit of the community.
Dr. Raffety was a native of Macoupin, Illinois, born September 2, 1839, and was a lad of thirteen years when in 1852 he journeyed westward with his father, S. D. Raffety, who settled in Washington county, Oregon. In acquiring his education Dr. Raffety attended the Pacific University at Forest Grove and afterward became a student in the Willamette University at Salem. His brother, Dr. David Raffety, also of Port- land, was licensed to practice medicine soon after C. H. Raffety had completed his medical course and they entered into partnership relations, winning a prominent place among the successful physicians and surgeons of the northwest. Dr. Raffety not only engaged in the medical practice but also established a drug store soon after opening his office in Portland in 1869. He always held to high professional standards and ever kept in touch with the trend of modern professional progress, constantly broadening his knowledge by reading and research.
In 1873 Dr. Raffety was married to Miss Almeda Smith, a daughter of Captain John Smith, at one time government agent in the Warm Springs Indian reservation. Dr. Raffety was a member of the Masonic fraternity and when he passed away his brethren of the order had charge of the burial. He had always been deeply interested in civic affairs and the progress and upbuilding of his city and state and several times he was called to public office. During his term as mayor of East Portland he was appointed a member of the city water commission, in which office he served for eighteen years and was largely instrumental in having the water from Bull Run piped into the city. This alone would entitle him to the gratitude of all present and future residents of Portland, for no city is supplied with better water than that which comes from snowcapped Mt. Hood. His life was one of usefulness to his fellowmen. A modern philosopher has said, "Not the good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us, is the measure of our success," and judging by this standard Dr. Raffety was a most successful man.
DAN JOHNSTON.
Dan .Johnston, a prominent attorney practicing at Albany, was born near Virden, Macoupin county, Illinois, September 23, 1882, a son of Isaac N. and Emily F. (Chapman) Johnston, natives of Macoupin county, Illinois. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Johnston of this review was one of the earliest settlers in Macoupin county, going to that section of Illinois from Tennessee in 1830. He was a farmer by occupation and followed that pursuit in Macoupin county during the remainder of his life. He was familiar with Indian warfare, having served as a soldier in the Black Hawk war, and he was one of the worthy pioneers of his section of the state. Isaac N. Johnston, the father of Mr. Johnston, also followed farming in Macoupin county, Illinois, and remained a resident of that section of the state until death called him on the 14th of January, 1896, when he was fifty-two years of age. He was an honored veteran of the Civil war, in which he served for three years as a member of Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The mother has also passed away, her demise occurring in June, 1912, when she had reached the age of sixty-two.
Dan Johnston was reared and educated in the district schools of Macoupin county, Illinois, and then entered Valparaiso University of Valparaiso, Indiana, as a law student, receiving his LL. B. degree from that institution upon his graduation with the class of 1910. In June of that year he was admitted to the bar of Indiana and in the following month came to Oregon, where he was admitted to the bar. Opening an
DR. C. H. RAFFETY
303
HISTORY OF OREGON
office in Albany, he has here continued in practice and in the interval that has elapsed has built up a good clientele. In 1915 he was called to the office of city attorney of Albany and so acceptable were his services in that connection that in January, 1919, he was honored with reelection and also acted as city attorney of Harrisburg, Oregon, for several years. His knowledge of the law is comprehensive and exact and he pre- pares his cases with great thoroughness and care, readily recognizing the value of any point as applicable to his cause. Mr. Johnston has not confined his attention to his professional interests but has also been active in commercial lines, being secretary of the D. E. Nebergall Meat Company, which operates a packing plant and retail market. He is also secretary of the Far West Manufacturing Company, engaged in the manufac- ture of ladders, cedar chests, wheelbarrows and wood specialties.
On the 27th of May, 1910, Mr. Johnston was united in marriage to Miss Ada D. Douglas, a daughter of E. D. and Rose (Haymon) Douglas, natives of West Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston are the parents of two children: Frances Rose, who was born in December, 1914; and Robert D., born in January, 1916.
Mr. Johnston gives his political allegiance to the republican party and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Christian church. He is a Knights Templar Mason and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias lodge and the B. P. O. E., while along the line of his profession his identification is with the Linn County Bar Associa- tion. Mr. Johnston is patriotic, loyal and public-spirited and on March 5, 1904, enlisted in the United States navy, from which he was discharged March 4, 1908, as chief yeoman. During the war with Germany he rendered important and valuable service to the government in promoting the Liberty Loan campaigns and other war measures, devoting a large part of his time to that work, all personal interests and considerations being laid aside. He is a representative of America's best type of manhood and his colleagues and contemporaries speak of him as an able lawyer and one whose ability has brought him prominently to the front.
RALPH E. WILLIAMS.
For the past decade Ralph E. Williams has been a resident of Portland and his entire life has been passed in Oregon, where he has gained for himself a prominent position as a representative of the banking fraternity. He is also interested in agricul- ture, horticulture and in timber, nor is he unknown as an influential factor in political circles. He was born in Polk county, Oregon, September 14, 1869, his parents being J. J. and Alice (Eckersley) Williams. The father was born in Tennessee in 1832, and removed from that state to Missouri but became an Oregon pioneer of 1845, at which time he took up his abode in Polk county, where he homesteaded. Throughout the intervening period to his death he was identified with agricultural interests, passing away in 1915. His wife was a native of England and in the early '50s with her brother, Otho Eckersley, came to Oregon, the Eckersleys also becoming identified with the pioneers of the state. Mrs. Williams passed away in 1874.
At the usual age Ralph E. Williams became a pupil in the public schools of his native county and afterwards attended high school and La Creole Academy at Dallas, Oregon. He initiated his business career as a bank clerk in the Dallas City Bank in 1889 and since that time has made continuous progress in financial circles. In 1901 he was elected to the cashiership of the Dallas City Bank and was elevated to the presidency in 1905, since which time he has remained at the head of the institution. This does not comprise the scope of his business, however, for in 1905 he organized and was elected president of the Dallas National Bank and in 1906 organized the Bank of Falls City, of which he became president. In 1911 he removed to Portland and further extending his business connections he is now president of the Tillamook County Bank. He is active in the management of all the various banking institutions with which he is associated and is regarded as a most forceful and resourceful business man, ready for any emergency and for any opportunity. He has operated extensively in hops, timber, wheat and realty. His landed possessions include several farms in Polk county and a large wheat ranch in eastern Oregon.
In the year of his removal to Portland Mr. Williams was married in this city on the 3rd of December, 1911, to Miss Grace Moyes, a daughter of D. C. Moyes of Portland, and they have become the parents of one son and one daughter, Ralph Williams, Jr., seven years of age; and Harriet, aged four. Mr. Williams is well known in club circles,
304
HISTORY OF OREGON
belonging to the Arlington and Waverly Country Clubs, the Press Club, the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club, also to the Chamber of Commerce of Portland and to La Creole Club of Dallas. Fraternally he is a Mason and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He likewise belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and holds a life membership in Salem Lodge. He has long been reckoned with as a factor in political circles of the state, was elected in 1914 for a four years term as republican national committeeman from Oregon and in 1918 was re-elected to serve until 1922. He thus took active interest in shaping the recent campaign, which gave to the party an overwhelming victory, exceeding all others in the history of the nation. As a member of the republican national committee he was made a representative of the sub-committee to handle the national convention in Chicago and in seniority as to service is ranked by only one member. This position he has filled since 1908 and his present term expires in 1922. Through the same period he is serving as Pacific coast member of the executive committee of the republican national committee. During the 1916 campaign he was instrumental in bringing about harmonious action between progressive repub- licans and the republican organizations. The consensus of public opinion places him among the eminent men of the state.
HAROLD A. SWAFFORD.
Harold A. Swafford is well known in mercantile circles of Linn county as mill manager of the Crown Willamette Paper Company at Lebanon. Mr. Swafford is one of the sons of the state, his birth having occurred in Oregon City, February 10, 1890. His parents were James L. and Temperance (Rands) Swafford, the former born in Oregon and the latter in Stacyville, Iowa. For many years the father engaged in the real estate business in Oregon City, in which he won a substantial measure of success. He was a man of prominence in his section of the state and for several terms served as county treasurer of Clackamas county, ably discharging the duties of that office. He remained a resident of Oregon City until his death in August, 1914, when he was sixty years of age. The mother survives and still makes her home in Oregon City. The pater- nal grandfather of Harold A. Swafford was one of the early pioneers of this state. He crossed the plains with ox teams to Oregon in 1852 and took up land in Clackamas county which he improved and developed, continuing its cultivation until his demise in 1908.
Harold A. Swafford was reared and educated in his native city and on starting out in the business world became connected with the Crown Willamette Paper Company, which was at that time known as the Willamette Pulp & Paper Company. His energy, ability and faithful and conscientious service won him promotion from time to time and in June, 1919, he was made manager of their Lebanon plant, in which capacity he is now most ably serving. The company also operates plants at Camas, Washington, at Oregon City and Lebanon, Oregon, and at Floristan, California, its headquarters being maintained at San Francisco, while a printing plant is operated at Los Angeles. They are engaged in the manufacture of paper from timber and their business is a very extensive one. As manager of the Lebanon plant Mr. Swafford's position is one of large importance and responsibility, for which he is well qualified. During the fourteen years of his connection with the company he has become thoroughly familiar with every branch of the business and is thus able to direct wisely the labors of those under him. He is a man of sound judgment,| keen discrimination and energy and is most capably directing the interests intrusted to his care, his labors being entirely satisfactory to the company.
On the 20th of July, 1917, Mr. Swafford was united in marriage to Miss Ivy Ford, a daughter of Rev. T. B. and Mary Ivy Ford, natives of Arkansas. Her father entered the ministry of the Methodist church at the age of nineteen. He became very promi- nent in church circles of Oregon, continuing as a preacher of the gospel in this state for about twenty years, his labors proving a potent force for good in the localities which he served. He passed away on the 14th of December, 1919, while the mother's death occurred in August, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Swafford have become the parents of a son, Thomas James, who was born March 10, 1920.
Mr. Swafford gives his political allegiance to the republican party and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally
305
HISTORY OF OREGON
he is identified with the Woodmen of the World and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He also belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star and is a prominent Mason, being a past master of Multnomah Lodge, No. 1, at Oregon City. Mr. Swafford is a veteran of the World war, having eulisted on the 23d of May, 1917, with the Eighteenth Oregon Engineers, a specially recruited outfit, and was among the first twenty thousand to reach the other side. He was stationed in England and France and was discharged at Camp Dix, New Jersey, March 20, 1919, with the rank of second lieutenant, having rendered most valuable service to the country in its hour of need. Mr. Swafford has ever been actuated by high and honorable purposes in all relations of life and his is a most creditable record, characterized by devotion to duty, hy integrity and enterprise in business, and by loyalty in citizenship.
DONALD YOUNG.
Donald Young, former assistant district attorney of Eugene, was born at Mankato, Minnesota, July 4, 1889, of the marriage of William E. and Nettie S. (Shingler) Young, natives of Wisconsin. The father pursued a law course in the State University of Iowa at Iowa City and subsequently opened an office for the practice of his profession at Mankato, Minnesota, where he won a prominent position at the bar, being recognized as a strong and able advocate. In 1905 he was elected to the office of railroad com. missioner, in which capacity he served until 1909. That year witnessed his arrival in Eugene, where he has since resided, now living retired. The mother also survives.
Donald Young was reared and educated in Mankato, Minnesota, graduating from the high school with the class of 1907. Deciding to follow in the professional foot- steps of his father he entered the law school of the Minnesota State University at Minneapolis and was graduated therefrom in 1912. Immediately thereafter he came to Oregon, opening an office in Eugene, where he has since practiced. In 1915 he formed a partnership with Leonard L. Ray, a relationship that has been continued. The firm has been connected with a number of important law cases and its list of clients is an extensive and representative one. Like his father, Mr. Young is well versed in the law and readily quotes precedents, and his standing before the court is an enviable one. Of a logical mind, he readily combats opposing counsel in legal battle and quickly penetrates the weak points of the other side. He maintains the highest standards of professional ethics and enjoys the full confidence and trust of the public. From 1917 to 1921 Mr. Young served as assistant district attorney, his partner, Mr. Ray, filling the office of district attorney. Mr. Young has not confined his attention solely to the work of his profession but is also interested in financial affairs, being vice president of the Farmers Security Bank at Yoncalla, Oregon.
On the 1st of August, 1914, occurred the marriage of Donald Young and Miss Mildred Coffin and they have become the parents of one child, Jean, who was born April 19, 1918. Mr. Young's political endorsement is given to the democratic party and he is an earnest supported of its principles, for he believes that its platform con- tains the best elements of good government. Although one of the younger members of the profession, he has already won a place among the leading attorneys of his section of the state, and judging from his past accomplishments his future career will be well worth watching.
HON. HENRY WINSLOW CORBETT.
It seems almost impossible to write an adequate memorial to Henry Winslow Cor. bett of Portland. His entire life was actuated by a sense of duty that found expression in marked devotion to his city, his state and his country, also to the highest ideals of business and by a comprehensive recognition of his responsibilities toward his fellow. men. He never deviated from a standard which he considered right between himself and his fellows and there has been no citizen of Oregon more truly honored during his lifetime, nor whose name has been more greatly cherished and revered since death, His life record is inseparably interwoven into the history of Oregon, just as was that of his ancestors into the history of England, for he was descended from a very ancient and honorable family that furnished many men of distinction to politics, to the church
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.