USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. II > Part 67
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In 1888 Mr. Catching was married in Portland to Miss Ida N. Iler, a daughter of David C. Iler, a resident of Clackamas county, Oregon. In his political views Mr. Catching is a republican and fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Washington Lodge, No. 46, of Portland and also to the Odd Fellows lodge of this city. During the World war he took a prominent part in promoting the various Liberty Loan drives and his loyalty and patriotism have never been questioned. Through con- centrated effort and close application he has won success and as the owner and manager of one of the city's leading hostelries he is contributing in substantial measure to the prestige and business development of Portland. He is widely and favorably known throughout the Pacific northwest and many are proud to call him friend, for he is a man whom to know is to esteem and to admire.
BERNARD ALBERS.
The career of Bernard Albers, former president of the Albers Brothers Milling Company and proprietor of the United States Mills of Portland, was from many stand- points a remarkable one. A few years after holding an obscure position in a local feed mill he had risen solely through his own unaided effort to a place of responsibility and trust in the industrial world and at the time of his death ranked as one of the success- ful and most enterprising business men in his line of trade in the northwest. He was likewise recognized as an unexcelled expert in the milling business.
Mr. Albers was born in Lingen, Germany, in the principality of Hanover, March 6, 1864, and was the eldest of nine children born to John Herman and Theresa (Voss) Albers, both also natives of Hanover, Germany. John Herman Albers was a grain merchant in Lingen for many years. He came to Portland in 1896 and here died the following year. His wife, whose father was a miller, died in her native land ..
Bernard Albers after becoming established in the milling business took in several of his brothers, but it is a well known fact that Bernard was the organizer and leading figure in the enterprises that he fathered and promoted. After graduating from the gymnasium at Lingen, Mr. Albers familiarized himself with the grain business con- ducted by his father; and the thorough training received under this experienced mer- chant was undoubtedly responsible to a large degree for the success which rewarded his mature efforts.
In 1887 Mr. Albers came to America and for two years was employed by the firm of Hulman & Company, wholesale grocers in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1889 he came to Portland and for four years was employed by the feed concern of. Rogge & Storp. In this connection he established a foothold in the business world of Portland and in 1893 inaugurated an independent business as head of the firm of Albers & Tuke. This
BERNARD ALBERS
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business was begun on modest lines and scarcely prophesied the immense cereal busi- ness done by the firm of which Mr. Albers was the active head.
The increase in trade was such that in order to meet the requirements for the growing demand for their products new quarters were soon found necessary. So in 1898 Mr. Albers built a commodious milling establishment at the corner of Front and Main streets, called the United States Mills, and in 1899 added to his responsibilities by the purchase of the Merchant Roller Mills, which he utilized for the manufacture of rolled oats and other cereals. Later purchase was made of the Peerless Pure Food Company plant, which was dismantled and consolidated with the above mills. An im- portant adjunct to that business was the feed and hay enterprise located at Front and Lovejoy streets, with warehouse and splendid shipping facilities, including a dock one hundred and fifty by two hundred and sixty-five feet in dimensions. The hay business proved a source of large revenue and a hay compressor turned out an average of one hundred tons per day. The firm had the government contract for all shipments of hay to the Philippine Islands during the war with Spain and in 1901 shipped for the govern- ment to these islands thirteen thousand tons. The local hay establishment was aug- mented by a hay compress plant at Forest Grove, established by Mr. Albers in 1900, which had a capacity of two hundred tons per day.
The Albers & Schneider Company was incorporated in 1895, with Mr. Albers as president and manager. The enormous cereal output which was developed under the capable management of the head of the concern permitted of shipments to all parts of the east as well as the intermountain Pacific states and British Columbia. The United States Mills had a capacity of two hundred barrels of rolled oats and one hundred barrels of other cereals daily. The Cascade Cereal Company of Tacoma, of which Mr. Albers was president and held the controlling interest, produced one hundred and fifty barrels of rolled oats and one hundred and twenty-five barrels of flour daily. The Seattle Cereal Company, in which Mr. Albers held the controlling interest, had a capacity of two hundred barrels of rolled oats per day. These great concerns, all developed and brought to their high standard of efficiency under the guiding hand of one man, illus- trate what is possible where there is a willingness to labor and deal falrly with your fellowman.
Mr. Albers had no extraordinary advantage, coming to America without means, but had the qualities that make for success everywhere honor, honesty and ambitlon. On March 1, 1903, the concern of which he was head was re-incorporated under the name of Albers Brothers Milling Company.
Mr. Albers first married Herminie Sommer and to them were horn three daugh- ters: Agnes, now Mrs. Daniel P. Hogan; Theresa; and Herminie. He was marrled the second time in April, 1902, to Miss Ida Wascher, daughter of William and' Marie Wascher, and of this marriage three children were born, namely: Bernard and Alfred, students in the Columbia University; and Ernest. Mrs. Albers had five nephews in the World war, one being killed in action.
Mr. Albers was a representative of the best citizenship of Portland-a striking type of the self-made man. He was a thorough believer in his adopted country and its laws and customs and in the great northwest he found opportunity for the display of his talents and the results were the attainment of a splendid success. He passed to the great beyond March 4, 1908, leaving to his widow and children not only worldly means but an untarnished name.
FRED HIRAM MILLS.
For nearly thirty years Fred Hiram Mills has been practicing law in Klamath Falls. He is thoroughly familiar with every phase of his profession, having devoted practically his entire life to this line of activity, and closely studies all points relative to the litigated interests under his direction, his deductions heing at all times logical and his reasoning sound and convincing. A native of Michigan, his birth occurred in that state in 1865, a son of Hiram Wallace and Sarah (Robinson) Mills. The Mills family became residents of New York state prior to the Revolutionary war and they were also among the early pioneers of Ohio. Hiram W. Wallace located in Michigan in 1828, and there engaged in the stock business, becoming prominently known in that connection throughout the state. At a later day he moved to Cali-
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fornia and Fred Hiram, whose name initiates this review, returned to Michigan to make his home with his grandparents.
Fred Hiram Mills received his education in the Michigan schools and in due time entered Ann Arbor University, from which he was graduated in 1889. The fol- lowing year he located in Klamath Falls, established offices for the practice of the legal profession, and has been active in that connection for nearly thirty years. In the year of graduation he was admitted to the har of Michigan and the follow- ing year to the Oregon bar, in 1904 to the district courts and in 1909 to the court of appeals. He occupies a high place at the Oregon bar and a brother lawyer says of him: "His mental eye is clear and accurate. He has a faculty for sifting the true and real from the false and his mind always goes to the gist of the question."
In 1900 Mr. Mills was united in marriage to Miss Mattie E. Lee, a daughter of J. P. Lee of Columbia county, Tennessee. Her parents located in Klamath county in 1887 and her father passed away in Klamath Falls in March, 1921. Mr. Lee was well known throughout the county which he had served for over seventeen years as county assessor and his death left a void in the community which it will be hard to fill,
Mr. Mills gives his political allegiance to the republican party but has never desired political preferment as a reward for party fealty. Mr. Mills is a very success- ful lawyer, having early manifested ability in solving intricate legal problems, and he has remained a close student of the principles of jurisprudence. He is enjoying an excellent practice and is heing retained in the larger and more important cases in the courts of the state and the federal courts.
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ALBERT T. HAWES.
One of the leading manufacturing enterprises of Portland is the California Plating Works, of which Albert T. Hawes is at the head. He is an enterprising young business man who has devoted his entire life to this branch of activity and is deserv- ing of much credit for what he has accomplished, for his success is the direct outcome of his persistency of purpose, undaunted energy and laudable ambition. Mr. Hawes was born in Toronto, Canada, April 4, 1890, and comes of illustrious English ances- try, his great-grandfather having at one time served as lord mayor of London. The Hawes family is an old established one in Canada, representatives of the name settling in that country at an early period in the history of its development. Mr. Hawes' paternal grandfather became one of the pioneers of Canada, locating on what is now the site of the city of Toronto. Disliking the foggy weather prevalent in that city owing to its location on Toronto bay, an inlet of Lake Ontario, he sold his hold- ings for a couple of barrels of flour, moving to higher ground, and the property which he once owned is now worth millions of dollars. His son, Ezekiel Hawes, married Annie Mary Twydale, a daughter of John Twydale, and they became the parents of the subject of this review.
In the public schools of his native city Albert T. Hawes pursued his early edu- cation, leaving Toronto at the age of thirteen years. His first work on starting out in the business world was in connection with the plating business and he has since continued along that line of activity, gaining an expert knowledge of the trade. Upon coming to Portland he entered the employ of the Oregon Plating Works and at the end of three years purchased the business, with which he has since heen connected, covering a period of fourteen years. He is now conducting his interests under the name of the California Plating Works and his close application, progressive methods and reliable dealing have constituted potent elements in the development of his present extensive patronage. The company employs a large force of skilled artisans and has won an enviable reputation for the excellence of its output. In addition to gold, silver, nickel, brass and copper plating it also does galvanizing and brass polishing for the shipyards and has recently entered upon the manufacture of silver- ware, the output including fine tea sets, fruit baskets, bread trays, etc., theirs being the only factory making these articles on the Pacific coast.
On the 25th of August, 1914, Mr. Hawes was united in marriage to Miss Anna Fay Haefer, a daughter of John Haefer, one of the pioneer settlers of Washington, his home being at South Bend. Mrs. Hawes passed away July 12, 1920, leaving a lit- tle daughter, Emma Maxine, who is now two and a half years old.
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In politics Mr. Hawes is independent, voting for the man whom he regards as best qualified for office without regard to party affiliation and in religious faith he is a Methodist. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons and he is also a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce, actively supporting the plans and measures of that body for the development and advancement of the city. He possesses the enter- prising spirit that has been the dominant factor in the rapid and substantial up- building of the northwest and quickly recognizing and utilizing the opportunities which have come to him he has steadily advanced until he now occupies a position of prominence in manufacturing circles of this section of the country. He is a man of strict integrity whose business activity has ever balanced up with the principles of truth and honor and Portland regards him as one of her valued and representative citizens.
HON. HENRY L. BENSON.
Judge Henry L. Benson since 1915 has occupied the bench of the supreme court. He was born in' Stockton, California, in 1854, a son of the Rev. Henry C. Benson, a native of Ohio. The father became a minister of the Methodist church and in 1852 went to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He had married Matilda M. Williamson, a native of Kentucky, and both passed away at San Jose, California, his demise occurring in 1897, while his wife was called to her final rest in 1903. They became the parents of a large family, nine children reaching mature years. Hon. Frank W. Benson, the brother of the subject of this review, was for many years a lead- ing figure in public affairs of Oregon, serving as secretary of state and later being governor.
Henry L. Benson acquired his professional education in the University of the Pacific at Santa Clara, California, and was admitted to the bar in San Francisco in 1878. For two years he followed his profession at San Jose and in 1880 came to. Douglas county, Oregon. Locating for practice at Grants Pass in 1892, he there remained until 1898, having in 1896 been elected a member of the state legislature from the first district and serving during the session of 1897. In the following year he was elected circuit judge of the first district, which position he filled until 1915, and while residing. in Grants Pass he had been called to the office of district attorney, acting in that capacity from 1892 until 1896.
In 1876 Judge Benson was united in marriage to Miss Susie E. Dougharty, a native of Contra Costa county, California, and they have become the parents of five children.
BENJAMIN F. SWOPE.
Benjamin F. Swope, attorney at law of Independence, Oregon, where since 1909 he has practiced his profession, was born in Nodaway county, Missouri, January 12, 1866, a son of Thomas W. and Helen Swope, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Missouri. The father followed farming in Missouri until 1892, when he re- moved to the northwest, settling in Clackamas county, Oregon, where he purchased land in the vicinity of Oregon City. This he cleared and developed, adding many im- provements thereto and continuing active in its cultivation until his demise in 1910. The mother's death occurred in Missouri in 1890.
Their son, Benjamin F. Swope, was reared in Missouri and his education was ac- quired in the public and high schools of Maitland, that state. In 1892, when a young man of twenty-six years, he accompanied his parents on their removal to Oregon, where for a time he engaged in teaching school, also following that profession in the state of Washington. Desirous of becoming a member of the legal fraternity he then entered the law department of the State University of Oregon and on the 4th of October, 1893, was admitted to the har. He first opened an office in Oregon City, where he remained for four years and then removed to Toledo, in Lincoln county, continuing in practice there for twelve years, during which period he served for four years as county judge and for seven years was deputy district attorney. His next removal took him to Prineville, Oregon, where he likewise was called to public office, being appointed assist-
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ant district attorney, but at the end of six months he resigned and in 1909 opened an office in Independence, where he has since remained, being now accorded a large and representative practice. He is a strong and able lawyer, clear and concise in his pre- sentation of a cause, logical in his deductions and sound in his reasoning, while in the application of legal principles he is seldom at fault. For the past ten years he has served as municipal judge, recorder and city attorney for Monmouth and Inde- pendence and is giving excellent service in those connections, the worth of his work being widely acknowledged.
On, the 1st of February, 1894, Mr. Swope was united in marriage to Miss Grace Holmes of Oregon City, and they have become the parents of two children, namely: Cecil A., who is practicing law in association with his father; and Bessie H., who is a teacher in the public schools of Eugene.
In his political views Mr. Swope is a stanch republican, loyally supporting the principles and candidates of the party. His fraternal connections are with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Rebekahs, the Eastern Star and the Masons, and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Baptist church, of which he is serving as treasurer. His high professional standing is indicated in the fact that he has been frequently called to serve in a public capacity and no trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree. He has always stood for progress and improvement in matters relating to the upbuilding of town, county and commonwealth and he ranks with the public-spirited citizens and able lawyers of Polk county.
BENJAMIN H. BOWMAN.
When a young man of twenty-five years Benjamin H. Bowman became a resident of Oregon and for many years made his home in Portland, contributing to the business development and progress of the city. Even before making his way to the Pacific coast he had had broad experiences in life, for he had served in the Union army and at every point had stood the test of character. He was born in West Falmouth, Massa- chusetts, August 30, 1842. He was but twenty years of age when he responded to the call of President Lincoln for troops to aid in the preservation of the Union, joining the Thirty-third Massachusetts Regiment with which he was on active duty for three years. He participated in the battle of Chancellorsville and many other important en- gagements that led up to the final victory which crowned the Union arms and on three different occasions he was wounded.
Mr. Bowman thus knew much concerning the stern realities of life when he left New England to try his fortune in the rapidly developing empire of the Pacific north- west. Arriving in Oregon he took up his abode in Salem and became secretary for the Joe Holman Oil Mill and also secretary for the Robert Kinney Flour Mill, occupy- ing those positions for several years. In 1883 he removed to Portland and established the First National Bank of East Portland which was the first banking institution of East Portland. In this enterprise he was associated with the Breyman Brothers of Salem and Summerville and Breyman of Prineville, the bank being located on Union avenue and Washington streets. Mr. Bowman continued active in the management and control of the bank until 1896, when he sold his interest therein and practically lived retired throughout his remaining days. He was also the owner of and developed a fine farm of one hundred and eighty acres, largely planted to fruit and situated about twelve miles from Portland, between Fairview and Gresham. He took great delight in improving and developing that property and made it one of the excellent farms of this section of the state.
In 1871 Mr. Bowman was united in marriage to Miss Aurora Watt, who was born in Missouri in 1843 and came across the plains with her parents in 1848. She attended school in McMinnville, also was a pupil in a Sisters' convent in Portland and for several years taught school in Oregon. Mr. Bowman belonged to the Masonic fraternity while his wife held membership in the Order of the Eastern Star. His political alle- giance was given to the republican party and he was a firm believer in its principles. His death occurred July 20, 1919, when he was in the seventy-seventh year of his age. For more than a half century he had lived in Oregon and had taken a deep interest in all that pertained to the welfare of the state and in various ways had contributed to its progress and substantial upbuilding. His friends, and they were many, bear
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testimony to his good qualities and the high regard uniformly entertained for him. Mrs. Bowman, with her husband has toured Europe, visiting all of the historic places and many points of modern interest as well and they motored in 1916 from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, going to Newport on the Pacific to start, so that the trip would be from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Mrs. Bowman resides in Portland, where she is widely known, having an extensive circle of friends here.
ELMER ELSWORTH COOVERT.
Elmer Elsworth Coovert, who for many years was a distinguished member of the Portland bar, and who was closely associated with the promotion of prohibition inter- ests in Oregon made valuable contribution to the world's work, and thus left behind him a name that is honored and a memory cherished by all with whom he was asso- ciated. A native of Indiana, he was born in Logansport, April 2, 1863, and came to Oregon with his parents, Ernest Johnson and Elizabeth (Fudge) Coovert, in the year 1875, the family settling at Dayton, where the father secured three hundred and twenty acres of land, on which he engaged in farming until his death. He was a native of Ohio and was a descendant of the Cooverts who settled originally upon the site of Harlem, New York. He died when his son Elmer E. was fourteen years of age, and his wife, a native of Indiana, passed away about 1914. They were parents of four children: Jasper W .; Martin Luther; Catherine, deceased; and Elmer Elsworth. The eldest son is with the Warren Paving Company in Portland, while Martin Luther is an optician in Vancouver, Washington.
The third son, Elmer E. Coovert, obtained his education in the schools of Oregon, after studying to the age of twelve years in his native state. He passed the teacher's examination when seventeen years of age and later followed the profession of teaching in the rural districts of Yamhill county, but regarded this merely as an initial step to other professional labor, for it was his desire to become a member of the bar and while engaged in teaching he devoted his leisure time to the reading of law. He was ad- mitted to practice at Salem, Oregon, when twenty-one years of age. Prior to this time he had gone to Astoria, Oregon, where he entered the law office of C. W. Fulton and there also did newspaper work while reading law. Following his admission to the bar, he located in Vancouver, Washington, and became associated with D. P. Bal- lard, with whom he continued for a short time and then opened an office independently in 1877, continuing in active practice in that place until 1896.
In the latter year Mr. Coovert moved to Portland, Oregon, where he opened a law office, becoming a member of the firm of Coovert, Miller & Stapleton, while later Ralph Moody was admitted to the partnership. This connection was maintained until 1912, when the firm was dissolved and Mr. Coovert became the legal and financial advisor of Simon Benson, devoting his time exclusively to professional work of that character. He was long regarded as one of the eminent representatives of the Oregon bar, his ability being of a superior order because of his comprehensive study of the principles of jurisprudence, combined with an analytical mind that enabled him to determine readily the salient and vital points in every case.
On the 20th of October, 1887, Mr. Coovert was married to Miss Margaret Baker, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of Daniel Boone and Nancy (McCollum) Baker, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. Her father went to Vancouver, Washington, in 1870, and settled on one hundred and sixty acres of land, devoting many years to agricultural pursuits. He died six years ago in Portland, where the mother of Mrs. Coovert still makes her home. Her father was a veteran of the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. Coovert were born two sons: Lynn Baker, thirty-two years of age, married Martha de Bevoise of Portland, who passed away leaving a son Gabrielle; and Dean Johnson, twenty-three years of age, who married Alice M. Green of Portland. Mrs. Coovert is a talented woman, who was of great assistance to her husband in his labors, Mr. Coovert always deferring to her judgment. Fraternally Mr. Coovert was a thirty- second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine, and he also held membership with the Knights of Pythias. His political endorsement was given to the republican party and he was very active in politics for many years. He made a thorough study of the liquor question and composed the draft of the federal prohibition bill which was introduced by Senator Worth and which headed the legislation in the national congress. The bill was strenuously fought by the prohibitionists as they wanted a
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