History of Oregon, Vol. II, Part 7

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

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HISTORY OF OREGON

receiving considerable insight into political affairs, and from there he proceeded to Cleveland, Ohio, remaining in that city for about a year. As a striking contrast to the present means of locomotion it may be mentioned that he made the trip from Schenectady to Buffalo in a "line boat" of the Erie canal, occupying about a week on the voyage. Cleveland was then but a village, and farther up the lakes were Racine and Sheboygan, hopeful rivals of Chicago, then an aspiring young town, more noted for its adhesive mud than anything else. From Cleveland Mr. Bush returned to his native village, where he read law and also was engaged in editing the Westfield Standard from January 24, 1849, until July 3, 1850, likewise filling the office of town clerk, which he resigned on leaving for Oregon in July of that year, going by way of the Isthmus of Panama and arriving in Oregon City on the 30th of September.

Here he became prominent in political affairs, being chosen chief clerk of the house of representatives, and soon won recognition as a leader among democratic members of the legislature. During the session an act was passed creating the office of territorial printer, to which he was easily elected by the legislature, and this office he continued to hold by successive annual elections until the state was admitted to the Union. At the general election in June, 1858, he was elected state printer on the democratic ticket and held the office until the general election in 1864, when he was succeeded by Henry L. Pittock.

On the 28th of March, 1851, he commenced the publication of the first distinctively democratic paper in Oregon, the Statesman, being associated in the enterprise with the democratic congressman from Oregon, Samuel R. Thurston, who aided in financing the project and whose interests Mr. Bush subsequently purchased. For the next ten years he conducted the paper with marked professional and pecuniary success, during which time the government of Oregon was carried on by the Statesman and its friends, sometimes called the "Salem Clique." This autocracy was not always as kind and con- siderate of the dissatisfied and refractory among its subjects as might have been and sometimes administered justice to them untempered with mercy. But it had one supreme virtue; it generally kept shams and knaves out of office and never permitted or winked at any peculation of public funds.

During his editorial career Mr. Bush performed a great deal of labor. He started with empty pockets, but with willing hands and an active brain. Often he might have been seen at the case setting up his saucy, trenchant, sinewy editorials and spicy, pungent paragraphs, without copy. Industrious, temperate and economical beyond the average of men, he gained on the world from the first issue of the Statesman. But, though provident and thrifty in a marked degree, no taint of dishonesty or meanness in business ever touched his name. He also maintained a constant correspondence with the captains over tens and fifties and more, all over the territory, and by this means, in conjunction with the columns of the Statesman, maintaned an almost autocratic control over public affairs.

In the division of the democratic party in the presidential election of 1860, he adhered to the Douglas wing and actively supported Stephen A. Douglas for president. At the outbreak of the war he supported the Union cause and in 1862 was a member of the convention of that year which put a Union state ticket in the field. In that body he successfully opposed the appointment of a state central committee, as looking to a permanent organization, which he did not favor. At the succeeding presidential election in 1864 he supported Mcclellan. Though a party man, he was liberal in his views and would never cast his ballot in favor of a democratic candidate whom he did not consider qualified for office. In 1861 he was a member of the board of visitors at the military academy at West Point, his associates on the board being David Davis, afterwards a justice of the supreme court and a United States senator, and also James G. Blaine, then editor of the Kennebec Journal but not otherwise known to fame.

In the early '60s Mr. Bush was for four years a silent partner in the mercantile firm of Lucien Heath & Company at Salem and in 1868 he here engaged in banking in association with William S. Ladd, subsequently acquiring Mr. Ladd's interest in the business, which he continued under the old firm name of Ladd & Bush. He also became well known in manufacturing lines, having milling interests at Salem, Oregon City and Albina, Oregon.

In 1878 Mr. Bush accepted the appointment of superintendent of the penitentiary, under the belief that the institution was costing the state more than it should, and for four years continued to hold that office, accepting no salary for the first two years of his service. He managed the institution as conscientiously as though it were his own business, without reference to the "good of the party," and the result was that the

HISTORY OF OREGON

expenses were reduced from one-fourth to one-half of what they had been in former years. At the democratic convention in 1888 he was chosen chairman of the state central committee and in this position he antagonized some of the "crumb-picking" newspaper people by not subsidizing them for the campaign. One of these said to him seriously, as if the issue of the campaign depended upon it: "Mr. Bush, unless my paper is supplied with money I am afraid it will die;" to which he replied: "I think then it had better die," and the result was that it did.

In 1854 Mr. Bush was united in marriage to Miss Eugenia Zieber, a daughter of John S. Zieber, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Oregon in 1851 and was subse- quently appointed surveyor general of the territory. Mrs. Bush possessed a very attrac- tive and winning personality and was ever a faithful wife and devoted mother. She died early in life, in the year 1863, leaving a family of four children, three daughters and a son, to whose training and welfare the father was most devoted. His initiative spirit and powers of organization brought him into prominent relations and his success was due not only to his business talent but also to an unsullied reputation, which he regarded as of more worth than all the power which wealth could buy. In every relation he was true to high and honorable principles and never faltered in the choice between right and wrong, always endeavoring to follow the course sanctioned by con- science and good judgment. His work was at all times a source of benefit to the state and in his passing Oregon lost one of its honored pioneers and foremost citizens-a man who left the impress of his labors upon the northwest and its upbuilding.

His son, A. N. Bush, is a prominent banker of Salem, conducting the business established by his father under the firm style of Ladd & Bush. He married Miss Lulu M. Hughes, a daughter of John and Emma Pherne (Pringle) Hughes, honored pioneers of this state. Mrs. Hughes was born in St. Charles, Missouri, October 13, 1838, her parents being Virgil Kellogg and Pherne Tabitha (Brown) Pringle, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Vermont. For generations the Pringle family were residents of New England and the name was a most prominent and honored one in the east. In 1846 Mr. and Mrs. Pringle came to Oregon over the old trail by way of Fort Hall and the Applegate cut-off, being the first party to come on the cut-off, casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers of Salem. Here Virgil K. Pringle lived until he settled on a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres four miles southeast of the town, but afterward again took up his residence in Salem, where for many years he was prominently identified with business and public life. His wife was a woman of artistic tastes, doing notable work in landscape and portrait painting when far advanced in years. For forty-five years she was a highly respected resident of the South Salem hills and her demise occurred in 1892.

Her daughter, Mrs. Hughes, came to Salem when eight years of age, residing with her parents on the home farm, and during her schooldays she boarded with Father Leslie. She would ride into town on horseback, remaining until the end of the week, when she would return to the farm. Her education was acquired in the Oregon Institute and on the 29th of July, 1857, she was married to John Hughes, who was for many years a successful merchant of Salem. They became the parents of seven children, of whom four survive. Mrs. Hughes possessed a kindly, sympathetic nature and was widely known as the orphans' friend. She reared four orphans, two boys and two girls, and practically reared three others. She was devotedly attached to her family and home and hers was one of the most attractive and hospitable dwellings in Salem. A devout Christian, she was for many years a leader in the First Methodist church of Salem, usually entertaining the presiding bishop at her home during the church conference, when it met in Salem. She had a most extensive acquaintance throughout Oregon and knew per- sonally every governor of the state, including the present governor, Hon. Ben W. Olcott, and she was also acquainted with Father Mclaughlin. From Salem she removed to Portland, where she resided for several years, and with the history of development and improvement in the Willamette valley the name of the family has long been associated. Mrs. Hughes passed away January 4, 1921, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, and was laid to rest beside her husband in the cemetery at Salem, a large gathering of friends and old settlers being present to pay tribute to her memory.

Her grandmother, Mrs. Tabitha (Foffatt) Brown, was one of the noblest women who ever came to Oregon. She was a native of Massachusetts and following the death of her husband she engaged in teaching school in Maryland and Virginia, subsequently removing to Missouri with her family, which consisted of two sons and a daughter. In the spring of 1846, when sixty-six years of age, she provided herself with a good ox team and what seemed to her a sufficient amount of supplies for the trip and in com-

HISTORY OF OREGON

pany with her daughter and one son and also her brother-in-law, Captain John Brown, started for Oregon. She made a great portion of the trip on horseback. This was a most remarkable undertaking for a woman of her years, indicating her intrepid spirit and dauntless hravery, and Mrs. Brown gives the following graphic description of her journey across the plains:

"At Fort Hall three or four trains were decoyed off by a rascally fellow who came out from the settlement in Oregon, assuring us that he had found a new cut-off and that if we would follow him we would he in the settlement long before those who had gone down the Columbia. This was in August. We yielded to his advice. Our suffering from that time on no tongue can tell. We were carried hundreds of miles south of Oregon into Utah and California, fell in with Klamath and Rogue Indians, lost nearly all our cattle, and passed the Umpqua canyon, nearly twelve miles through. I rode through in three days at the risk of my life, on horseback, having lost my wagon and all that I had but the horse that I was on. Our families were the first to start through the canyon, so that we got through the mud and rocks so much hetter than those who followed." The canyon referred to hy Mrs. Brown was the present famous Cow Creek canyon, which within the past few years has been such a source of terror to the section hands and train crews of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The canyon was strewn with dead cattle, broken wagons, heds, clothing and everything but provisions, of which commodity they were nearly all destitute. Winter had set in. To resume Mrs. Brown's narrative: "Mr. Pringle and Pherne insisted upon my going ahead with Uncle John to try to save our lives. They were obliged to stay hehind a few days to recruit their cattle. We divided the last bacon, of which I had three slices. I had also a cup full of tea, hut no bread. We saddled our horses and set off, not knowing whether we should see

each other again." Mrs. Brown was thus thrown entirely upon her own resources, Captain Brown heing too old to be of any assistance to her, and hy evening they had caught up with the wagons that had left camp that morning. The party had had nothing to eat and their cattle had given out. The following morning Mrs. Brown divided her food with them and started out to overtake the three wagons ahead. They saw but two Indians in the distance. Captain Brown became dizzy and later delirious and fell from his horse, and with great difficulty they proceeded until night overtook them and the rain. Dismounting from her horse, which had never been ridden by a woman before and which she experienced considerable difficulty in managing, Mrs. Brown made a lean-to from her old wagon sheet, which she had used under her saddle, and assisted Captain Brown to reach this improvised camp, covering him as best she could and fearing that he would pass away before dawn. As soon as daylight appeared she saddled the horses, assisting the old captain to his feet, and just when they were about to renew their journey a man from the wagons ahead came up, saying that he had been in search of venison and that the wagons were but a half mile beyond. This small party traveled on and at the foot of the Calapooya mountains the children and grandchildren of Mrs. Brown joined them. They were many days in crossing the snow-covered mountains, not being able to advance more than a mile or two each day. By this time their supply of venison had become practically exhausted and Mr. Pringle set out on horseback for the nearest settlement. Mrs. Brown relates: "Through all my suffering on the plains, I not once sought relief by the shedding of tears, nor thought we would not live to reach the settlements."

On Christmas Day, at two o'clock in the afternoon, Mrs. Brown entered the house of the Methodist minister in Salem, "the first house," she relates, "I had set my feet in in nine months. For two or three weeks of my journey down the Willamette I had felt something in my glove finger which I supposed to be a button." This she found was a six-cent piece and a quarter, her entire cash capital, with which she purchased two needles, and traded off some old clothing to the squaws for buckskin, which she worked into gloves for the ladies and gentlemen of Oregon, realizing about thirty dollars from the sale of her handiwork. At a later period she accepted an invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Clark to spend the winter with them on the Tualatin plains, which is now the site of the city of Forest Grove. On arrivng there she saw the necessity of some sort of school and at once proposed to use the log "meeting house" for such purposes, offering her services as teacher without special compensation other than her expenses, which were met by the patrons of the school, those who were financially able to do so paying one dollar per week, which included board, tuition, washing, etc. Mrs. Brown agreed to teach this school for a year free of charge, securing as her assistant a well educated lady who was the wife of a missionary. The neighbors had collected broken knives and forks, tin pans and dishes which they could spare to equip this pioneer boarding school

HISTORY OF OREGON

and in March, 1848, the school was opened. In the following summer the number of pupils had Increased to thirty, ranging in age from four to twenty-one years, and a boarding house was erected for the puplls, who did all the work but the washing. Mrs. Brown thus became the founder of what was later developed into one of the leading schools of Oregon, the Pacific University of Forest Grove, and her work along educational linos was of Inestimable value to the state. She passed away in the late '50s at the age of eighty years, one of the most widely known and well beloved women the state has ever known. Hers was a noble, self-sacrificing life, devoted to the service of others, and her name is deeply engraved upon the pages of Oregon's history as one whose labors were of untold value in promoting the educational and moral upbuilding of the state. She was truly cast in heroic mold-a worthy type of that noble band of pioneer men and women of Oregon to whom the present generation owes a debt of gratitude which can never be fully repaid. It will thus be seen that Mrs. Bush is a representative of one of the oldest and most honored pioneer families of the state and she has every reason to feel proud of her ancestry, displaying in her own life the many admirable qualities of her forbears. She is actively and helpfully interested in all that pertains to public progress and development and is held in the highest esteem by a wide circle of friends. Mrs. Bush has in her possession the marriage banns of her great-great-grand- mother, which were published at Brimfield. Massachusetts, November 30, 1799, an heirloom to which she attaches great value.

THEODORE BURNEY WILCOX.

The history of Theodore Burney Wilcox, now deceased, is the story of earnest endeavor, guided by sound judgment and crowned by successful achievement. It is a trite saying that there is always room at the top, but to comparatively few does this condition seem to act as a stimulus for business effort. In the case of Mr. Wilcox, however, he realized that progress and success lay before him if he was willing to pay the price of earnest. self-denying effort. Throughout his entire career he fully utllized his opportunities and each day in his active life marked off a full-faithed attempt to know more and to grow more. so that in the course of years he reached a point of leadership as the principal stockholder of the Portland Flouring Mills Company. the owners of the largest flour milling enterprise on the Pacific coast.

Mr. Wilcox was born at Agawam, Massachusetts, a little New England village. on the Sth of July. 1856, and was a direct descendant of David Wilcox. who was the village physician of Hebron. Connecticut, and who had come from Wales in 1635, his brother having been one of the original settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. The an- cestral line was traced down to Henry S. Wilcox, who was also born in Massachusetts. and who there married Sarah Burney. a daughter of Thomas Burney, who came to the United States from the north of England about 1820 and settled in Webster, Massa- chusetts. The death of Henry S. Wilcox occurred in the Old Bay state in 1908. when he was eighty-seven years of age, while his wife departed this life in 1901 at the age of seventy-five. They were the parents of a son and two daughters and through the period of his boyhood and youth this son, Theodore B. Wilcox, remained under the parental roof. attending the public schools to the age of sixteen years.

Starting out in the business world he was first employed in the Hampden National Bank at Westfield, Massachusetts, and that he proved both capable and loyal is indi- cated in the fact that in 1877. when Asahel Bush of the Bank of Ladd & Bush of Salem, Oregon, and also a native of Massachusetts, found him in the Hampden Bank at Westfield he offered him a position in the Ladd & Tilton Bank of Portland. The offer was accepted and thus the young man became identified with the Rose City. He continued to net as teller in the Ladd & Tilton Bank until 1$$4, when he became con- fidential man to W. S. Ladd, occupying that position until 1893 and remaining as confidential adviser to Mr. Ladd's sons until the end of 1894. He then terminated his connection with the bank that he might give his undivided attention to the develop- ment of his flour manufacturing interests. Ten years before, or in 1884. he had organized the Portland Flouring Mills Company, taking over several properties then largely in bankruptcy. These different enterprises he combined and reorganized. putting them upon a paying basis. The stock of the company was held by Mr. Wilcox and the Ladd estate, the former becoming general manager. with W. S. Ladd as president of the company. Upon the death of the latter in January, 1893. Mr. Wilcox

THEODORE B. WILCOX

HISTORY OF OREGON

was elected to the presidency and for many years thereafter concentrated his efforts and attention upon the further development and enlargement of the business until he made it the foremost enterprise of its kind in the northwest. Ere his death a biog- rapher wrote of him concerning his business career: "Coming of a family that for generations has been connected with manufacturing interests, he has always been a believer in the efficacy of manufacturing enterprises as a potent factor in the develop- ment of a community and with this principle in mind two aims have been predominant in his work: to make the Portland Flouring Mills one of the largest and best institu- tions of the kind in the world; to promote the upbuilding of the northwest through the benefits that must accrue by the development and conduct of a large and success- ful enterprise. From insignificent proportions the business has steadily grown until it is today the most extensive of the kind on the. Pacific coast, with a daily output of over ten thousand barrels. Oregon flour bearing the name of Portland has been carried to all parts of the world, from the Amur river to the Cape of Good Hope, and from Alaska to Cape Horn. to all the Pacific islands and to various European ports. Through this development of the flour trade and the introduction of the output into all parts of the world and through the opening of new markets into which other millers have also sent their products, the interests of the farmers of the northwest have been greatly enhanced, their products commanding better prices, whereby the general prosperity has been greatly promoted. At a banquet given in Portland in honor of J. J. Hill, some time before his death, Mr. Hill, the railway magnate, said: 'Mr. Wilcox has done more than any other man in Portland through the fame of the institution of which he is the head to develop the commerce of the Columbia river and gain recognition for the northwest throughout the world.' Having spent his early life in the banking business Mr. Wilcox has always continued in more or less close connection with financial affairs and is interested in several of the leading banking institutions of the northwest, together with various other enterprises of Portland and the state. His success finds its root in his power as an organizer and his ability to unite varied and ofttimes seemingly diverse interests into a unified and harmon- ious whole. His initiative spirit has prompted him to continue beyond the paths that others have marked out into new fields where his intelligently directed efforts and appreciation of opportunity have resulted in successful achievement."

Not alone did Mr. Wilcox confine his attention to the manufacture of flour. He became extensively interested in Portland realty and was the owner of a number of the splendid business houses of the city. He was also a stockholder and director of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, a stockholder in the United States National Bank and a stockholder and director of the Ladd & Tilton Bank. His sound judgment and his cooperation were eagerly sought by business men who recognized their worth and always profited by his opinion. Whatever he undertook constituted an element in public progress as well as individual success. He was keenly interested in the development of the Columbia river for commercial purposes and realizing the im- portance of making Portland an ocean port Mr. Wilcox urged and solicited a govern- ment appropriation for removing the har at the mouth of the Columbia river, thus allowing the largest ocean going vessels to reach the Portland docks and for several years he was the president of the Port of Portland Commission. For many years he did most earnest and effective work as a member of the Portland Commercial Club in advancing the interests of the city, extending its trade relations and maintaining high civic standards. For six years he served as chairman of the executive committee of the organization. He also was prominent in organizing the Oregon Development League, acting as president for several years, the aim of which was the encourage- ment of the different communities throughout the state to advertise their own sections. This movement resulted in the formation of more than a hundred different organiza- tions, all working along the same lines.

Mr. Wilcox was twice married. A son of his first marriage survives-Raymond B., whose mother passed away many years ago. On the 18th of June, 1890, Mr. Wilcox was married to Miss Nellie Josephine Stevens, a daughter of William and Laura (Pease) Stevens, of Massachusetts. Mrs. Wilcox was a teacher in her early days and is a lady of refined and beautiful character. By her marriage she became the mother of two children: Theodore Burney, a graduate of Yale, who is now in the Ladd & Tilton Bank; and Claire, who is the wife of Cameron Squires, also connected with the same bank.

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History of Oregon, Vol. II, Part 7

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