USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. II > Part 92
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OTTO ERICKSON.
The builders of the state of Oregon have shown pluck and energy to a marked degree and none among them has outstripped in this respect Otto Erickson of Hills- boro. He was born in Sweden in 1869. His father, L. P. Erickson, was master mechanic in the Swedish navy yard. Otto Erickson was educated in the common schools of Sweden and came to America in 1888, arriving in Portland the same year. Here he secured employment as a stationary engineer, a trade he had learned from his father. He retained this position for a year and then became an engineer at the mines. In 1890 he entered the employment of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company as an engineer on the river, remaining with that corporation until 1895, when he went to Colorado. For seven years he worked for the Caribou Mining Com- pany and in that short time was advanced from blacksmith to millman, to master mechanic and then to superintendent. In 1902, after seven years of service, he was made general manager, a position which he held until 1911 when he was transferred to Mexico as manager of the mines in that country. Conditions were such, however, that in 1914 the mining properties of the company in Mexico were closed down, and Mr. Erickson returned to Oregon and settled at Beaverton, Washington county, where he had previously purchased a home.
Upon severing his connection with the mining company he was presented with a handsome gold watch bearing the following inscription: "Presented to Otto Erick- son by the officers and directors of Yellow Mountain Gold Mining Company in appre- ciation of his fidelity, integrity and nerve." The phrase aptly tells the secret of Mr. Erickson's success in America. He landed in this country without knowledge of the English language, but he attended night school at the Young Men's Christian Association until he had mastered the tongue. Again, finding a knowledge of book- keeping essential he took a course in accounting. So every problem which con- fronted him was mastered.
In 1914 Mr. Erickson built a blacksmith shop and the pioneer garage of Beaver- ton. The following year he became the agent for the Ford automobile and in 1917
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Hillsboro was added to his territory, while by 1918 he controlled all of Washington county. Ford service stations were established in Hillsboro, Beaverton and Forest Grove for the sale of Ford automobiles and Fordson tractors. At Hillsboro, in 1917, Mr. Erickson erected a brick garage with a floor space of ten thousand square feet divided into showrooms, accessory department, repair shops and service station. The extent of his business may be estimated from the fact that he carries a stock of parts valued at twelve thousand dollars. His garage at Forest Grove measures sixty by one hundred feet and that at Beaverton fifty by one hundred and twenty feet. During his years of service from his salary alone Mr. Erickson saved some thirty thousand dollars. His automobile business was started with a capital of thirty- five hundred dollars and on August 1, 1920, the invested capital amounted to more than ninety-six thousand dollars. The business is conducted under the corporate name of Otto Erickson & Company. Mr. Erickson is the president and owns eighty per cent of the stock, while the remaining twenty is shared by his employes who receive it as a reward for faithful service.
Mr. Erickson has never sought public office, but he was at one time prevailed upon to accept the office of mayor of Beaverton. Under his administration the streets of the city were paved and the first concrete sidewalks were laid.
In 1895 Mr. Erickson was married in Portland to Miss Augusta Anderson who died in 1906, leaving him two daughters, one of whom is now deceased while the other, Edith Marguerite, is living in Portland. In 1911 he married Mrs. Mabel Carr, a daughter of G. G. Gilmore, a California pioneer.
Mr. Erickson is a Mason of the thirty-second degree, a Shriner and an Elk. In business circles his successful career has demonstrated that any young man of pluck and energy, coupled with integrity and determination, can make good in this country and become a respected and valued citizen.
JOSEPH WOOD HILL, M. D.
Dr. Joseph Wood Hill, widely known as one of the distinguished educators of the northwest, having founded and promoted the Hill Military Academy of Portland, was born May 28, 1856, in Westport, Connecticut, and is a son of Joseph Wakeman and Ann R. (Wood) Hill. The father, who was born June 20, 1832, at Easton, Connecticut, became a merchant at Westport. He traced his ancestry back to William Hill, who came from Lyme Regis, England, in 1632, and settled at Dorchester, Massa- chusetts. He lived at Windsor, Connecticut, in 1639, and was prominent in the early history of that state, as was his son and namesake. The first William Hill was a member of the general court of Connecticut in 1639 and served as deputy from Windsor in that year and for several years thereafter. On the maternal side Dr. Hill comes from the Wood family, which is of English origin, the first representatives of the name arriving from Carlisle, England, in 1822 and settling at Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Dr. Hill prepared for college in the Selleck school at Norwalk, Connecticut. He was graduated B. A. from Yale University in 1878 and M. D. from Willamette Uni- versity in 1881. He was a member of Gamma Nu. He also served on the Gamma Nu campaign committee; rowed on the freshman crew in the fall regatta, and received several honors in college.
His entire life has been devoted to educational interests. In 1878 he became lessee and head master of the old Bishop Scott grammar school, one of Portland's oldest landmarks, founded by Bishop B. Wistar Morris in 1870. Dr. Hill continued in that position until 1887, when the school became the Bishop Scott Academy, of which he served as lessee and principal until 1901. In the latter year he severed his business connection with the school board of the Episcopal diocese of Oregon, controlling the Bishop Scott Academy, and founded the present Hill Military Academy, situated at No. 821 Marshall street. Dr. Hill had long cherished the desire of estab- lishing an academy of his own, in which he might embody and perfect his own ideas and principles of education, developed through many years of experience and the Hill Military Academy is the culmination and realization of this desire. The academy is located in a beautiful and quiet residence portion of Portland and enjoys all of the conveniences found in a large city, yet is sufficiently remote from the heart of
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the town to be free from influences that would distract the minds of the pupils from study.
The buildings are commodious and carefully planned and constructed throughout. The main building, four stories high, is 'thoroughly modern in every respect, the sanitary system is perfect and the precautions against fire have been adequately provided by easily accessible fire escapes. The private rooms for the cadets, heated by hot water and well lighted, are designed for two occupants and possess unusual facilities for comfort. The armory, two stories high, contains the spacious drill hall fifty by one hundred feet and the fully equipped workshops of the academy. During his career in Oregon as an educator Dr. Hill has had more than three thousand pupils under his charge and his "boys" can be found in every section of the northwest and in many other parts of the country at large, successfully engaged in professional pursuits or occupying responsible positions in the commercial world.
In 1910 Dr. Hill, though retaining the principalship, turned over the manage- ment of the academy to his eldest son, Joseph Adams Hill, who became its vice principal. Through the latter's wise and able management the academy has developed along the most practical lines of modern education and has become one of the lead- ing preparatory schools of the northwest, its diplomas being accepted by practically every college in the United States that accredits preparatory schools. Its military discipline is just, is administered without fear or favor and emphasizes every ad- vantageous feature of military training without encroaching upon the time reserved for studies. To the development and perfecting of the academy Dr. Hill has devoted many years of his life and the completed project of his dreams will long stand as a memorial to its founder, being the living embodiment of his high ideals and achieve- ments along educational lines. On the retirement of Dr. Hill as principal in 1918 he became principal emeritus of Hill Military Academy and his son became principal, assuming full charge of the institution.
On the 18th of November, 1878, Dr. Hill was married to Miss Jessie K. Adams, a daughter of George S. and Polly M. Adams. Mrs. Hill died February 3, 1901, at Portland. leaving three sons: Joseph Adams, who was born August 19, 1880; George Wakeman, whose birth occurred on the 28th of July, 1885, and who died when about five years of age; and Benjamin Wood, born February 18, 1890. On the 11th of February, 1902, in Portland, Dr. Hill was married to Mrs. Laura E. MacEwan, a daughter of J. C. and Martha McFarland, of The Dalles.
Dr. Hill originally gave his political support to the democratic party, but be- lieving in the gold standard severed his connection with the party in 1896 and has since been a consistent republican. He is an earnest and active member of the Portland Rotary Club and in Masonry he has attained the Knights Templar degree of the York Rite and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian. He has been a close student of governmental problems and sociological and economic conditions, and he casts his influence where reform, progress and intellectual and moral development lead the way.
His son, Joseph Adams Hill, who succeeded his father as principal, is a man of liberal education, being a graduate of the Bishop Scott Academy and the Yale Sheffield Scientific School. He has had wide experience in the commercial world, having been connected with the sales department of some of the largest steel and wire corporations in the country and he has also engaged in mining in the west. Joseph A. Hill is well equipped for the discharge of his responsible duties as principal of the Hill Military Academy and his services have been very valuable in promoting and continuing the growth and success of the institution, which is classed with the leading preparatory schools of the Pacific northwest.
NELSON H. STEWART, D. D. S.
Dr. Nelson H. Stewart, enjoying an extensive dental practice in Baker, his present professional position arguing well for further success and advancement in the future, was born in Indiana in 1880, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Harris) Stewart. The father followed farming as a life work and remained in the east until called to the home beyond.
Dr. Stewart of this review acquired a common school education in Indiana and then began preparation for the practice of dentistry as a student in the North Pacific Dental College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1903. He at once entered upon
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the active work of his profession in Portland, but later removed to Astoria and in 1911 came to Baker, where he has since enjoyed a splendid practice, save for a brief period spent in British Columbia. It was after the birth of his first child that he went with his family to Vancouver, returning to the United States following the close or the World war in December, 1918.
At Canyon City in 1916 Dr. Stewart was married to Miss Mayme A. Baisley, a daughter of Ollie and Drusa (Payton) Baisley. Mrs. Stewart and her mother are natives of Oregon, having been born in Baker county. Her father, who was born in Missouri, followed farming for a long period and later turned his attention to mer- chandising at Baker, but is now again a ranchman, living at Durkee, Baker county. The mother is deceased. Dr. and Mrs. Stewart have two children: Marion, born in Baker, in 1917; and Robert, born in 1919.
Dr. Stewart gives his political endorsement to the republican party, but has never sought nor desired office. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and also with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Baker and is highly esteemed in these organizations. He has also won a creditable place in professional circles, his ability growing with the passing years, owing to his wide study and experience.
AMOS M. ROBERTS.
Every citizen of Oregon has reason to be proud of the pioneer history of the state. Into the northwest came a band of brave, resolute men, capable and efficient, showing ready adaptibility to changed conditions and an understanding of the needs and possibilities of the new district to which they had penetrated. To this class belonged Amos M. Roberts, who became one of the earliest lumbermen in the vicinity of Port- land and who in the course of years acquired large landed interests that enabled him to leave his family in most comfortable financial circumstances. His activities, more- over, were always of a character that contributed to the upbuilding and progress of the section in which he settled. He was born at Binghamton, New York, May 15, 1834, a son of James and Sarah (Martin) Roberts. He obtained his education in the schools of his native city and there resided until he reached the age of seventeen years, when the spirit of adventure and a desire to win fortune in the Golden West led him to California in 1852. He made the trip by way of the water route, hoping to find gold on reaching his destination. He spent five years in that state engaged in mining but did not meet with the results which he had anticipated and accordingly turned his attention to other business in order to win the success which was his ulti- mate goal.
Mr. Roberts arrived in Portland in 1857 and here took up the logging business, settling on the Columbia slough near St. Johns, where he purchased a tract of land of one hundred acres. From this he cut the timber and further developed and im- proved the property, converting the once wild land into productive fields. As time passed on he became the owner of considerable property in St. Johns, making judicious investments there and maintaining his holdings at that place for more than thirty years, during which time he was successfully carrying on agricultural interests.
On the 26th of September, 1858, Mr. Roberts was married at St. Johns to Miss Susan Mary Caples, daughter of William and Harriett (Tracy) Caples, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Ohio. After the death of his wife in 1849 Mr. Caples with his children made the trip across the plains to Oregon, settling at St. Johns where he took up a donation claim and followed farming throughout his life. He also engaged in the practice of medicine, being the first physician to hang out his sign in Portland. His professional labors were of great value to the pioneer com- munity. He was a great friend of education and his friends often called him to hold school offices, being both on the school board and a director. He belonged to the Evangelical church and the sterling worth of his character was recognized by all who knew him. He continued to make his home in Oregon to the time of his death which occurred in 1889 when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-four years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were born six children: Wallace, who now resides at Warren, Oregon; Artemus G .; Minnie M., the wife of William J. Ward of Portland; Frances, the wife of Andrew J. Freum of Portland; Addie R., the wife of William C. Elliott, also of this city; and Florence V., the wife of Horace Oliver of Portland.
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In his political views Mr. Roberts was a republican who gave stalwart allegiance to the party. In an early day he served as justice of the peace at St. Johns. His position on the temperance question is indicated in the fact that he was a member of the Good Templar Society. He passed away April 15, 1910, leaving to his family not only a substantial competence but also the priceless heritage of an untarnished name. His widow since the death of her husband has successfully handled the real estate holdings and is exceptionally active and capable for a woman of her age. She has a very wide acquaintance in her section of the state, including many whose warm friendship she has enjoyed from pioneer times.
SALMON COWLES STEWART.
A man of keen business discernment and sound judgment, Salmon C. Stewart has made for himself a creditable place in financial circles of his section of the state, being now the president of the Lebanon National Bank. He was born in Henry county, Iowa, March 11, 1850, a son of James A. and Lucinda (Cowles) Stewart, natives of Ohio. The father, who was a cooper by trade, came west to Iowa in 1840, settling in Henry county, where he took up land and engaged in its cultivation and improvement. He followed farming in various parts of Iowa until 1885, when he went to Nebraska, taking up his abode in Minden, where he lived retired until his death in September, 1893. The mother survived him for five years, passing away in 1898.
Salmon C. Stewart pursued his education in the country schools of Henry county, Iowa, and afterward attended an academy at Pilot Grove, Lee county, Iowa. Upon the completion of his studies he rented land which he operated for five years, or until 1880, when he went to Nebraska and took up land in Kearney county. For two years he was engaged in the cultivation of that farm and then went to Minden, Nebraska, where he turned his attention to the real estate and loan business, which he conducted for two years. On the expiration of that period he went to Axtell, Nebraska, where he became connected with financial interests, organizing the Bank of Axtell in 1884. For twenty-seven years he served as president of that institution, which prospered under his direction, becoming one of the successful banks of that locality. In December, 1908, while still serving as chief executive officer of the Bank of Axtell, he became one of the organizers of the Lebanon (Ore.) National Bank, and on severing his connection with the Nebraska institution in May, 1911, he came again to Oregon, residing for one year in Albany. In July, 1912, he became a resident of Lebanon, Linn county, and was made president of the Lebanon Bank, which was first organized as a state bank with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars and in 1912 was nationalized. From that time forward the bank has shown a steady increase in its business and the capital stock is now thirty-five thousand dollars, its surplus and profits amount to twelve thousand, two hundred and ninety-nine dollars, and its deposits total three hundred and three thousand, seven hundred and fifty- eight dollars. Its officers are: Salmon C. Stewart, president; A. M. Reeves, vice president; and T. D. O'Brien, cashier, all of whom are enterprising, substantial and thoroughly reliable business men. In the control of the bank Mr. Stewart has dis- played marked business ability, foresight and enterprise. A man of broad experience in financial affairs he has watched every indication pointing to success and, has so directed his efforts as to inspire and win the confidence of the public. The bank is housed in its own building, a modern two-story structure of brick, a portion of which is devoted to offices. Its business has steadily grown along substantial lines until it is today recognized as one of the sound moneyed institutions of this part of the state. In addition to his financial interests Mr. Stewart is a stockholder and director in the Lebanon Investment Company and the Lebanon-Santiam Lumber Company and he is also the owner of three farms in Linn county. He is thus con- tinually broadening the scope of his activities with good results and carries forward to successful completion everything that he undertakes.
Mr. Stewart has been married three times. On the 31st of March, 1874, he wedded Miss Ellen Goldsmith and they became the parents of three children: James L., a prominent physician and surgeon of Boise, Idaho; Vallie H., the wife of T. D. O'Brien, who is cashier of the Lebanon National Bank; and Viola E., who married H. R. Shepherd of Kansas City, Missouri. The mother of these children passed away in June, 1882, after a short illness, and on the 10th of May, 1885, Mr. Stewart
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SALMON C. STEWART
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married Dora Carpenter, who also bore him three children, namely: Stanley L., who is well known in financial circles of Oregon as state bank examiner and whose home is at Lebanon; Max, who resides at home; and Nan, a resident of Los Angeles, California. Mrs. Stewart passed away October 3, 1915, and on the 10th of June, 1918, Mr. Stewart was united in marriage to Lulu Hall Lewis.
In his political views Mr. Stewart is a republican and while residing in Minden, Nebraska, he served for one year as police judge and also as justice of the peace. He is much interested in educational affairs and for one term was a member of the school board at Lebanon. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and in religious faith is a Presbyterian, the teachings of which church guide him in all of his relations in life. Mr. Stewart has had broad experience in a business way and his enterprise and energy have carried him forward to a substantial point on the high road to success. He is widely and favorably known in the locality where he makes his home, being recognized as an able financier, a representative business man and a public-spirited citizen, loyal to the best interests of the community.
EARL C. BRONAUGH.
Admitted to the bar, Earl C. Bronaugh brought to the starting point of his career certain rare qualities-a dignified presence, an earnestness of purpose and a sense of high professional standards, combined with thorough knowledge of legal principles. He early realized, too, the industry that is so essential to the careful and thorough preparation of cases and from the outset of his professional career has been most careful to conform his practice to the highest standard of professional ethics, which has been to him not a matter of policy but a matter of principle.
Mr. Bronaugh was born in Cross county, Arkansas, February 26, 1866, his parents being Earl C. and Araminta (Payne) Bronaugh, the former a native of Abingdon, Virginia, born in 1831, while the latter was born in Tennessee. They were married, however, in Arkansas and in the year 1868 removed to the northwest, establishing their home in Portland, where Mr. Bronaugh passed away on the 6th of March, 1899. His widow survived him for two decades, her death occurring on the 5th of April, 1919.
Earl C. Bronaugh was but two years of age when brought by his parents to Port- land, so that practically his entire life has been spent in the northwest. His home surroundings were those which make for the development of high character and ideals. Excellent educational opportunities were accorded him and after attending the public schools of Portland he entered the College of the Pacific at San Jose, California, and was there graduated with the class of 1888, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree, while three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. A review of the broad field of business activity, with its varied opportunities along in- dustrial, agricultural, commercial and professional lines, led him to the determination to make the law his life work and to this end he entered the University of Oregon as a law student, winning his diploma and degree there in 1890. He was admitted to the bar in June of the same year and entered upon active practice as junior partner in the law firm of Bronaugh, McArthur, Fenton & Bronaugh. With the death of Judge McArthur in 1897 and the retirement of Earl C. Bronaugh, Sr., from the firm, the remaining partners were joined by William T. Muir, leading to the adoption of the firm style of Fenton, Bronaugh & Muir. This connection was discontinued in February, 1900, at which time Earl C. Bronaugh was joined by his cousin, Jerry Bronaugh, in organizing the law firm of Bronaugh & Bronaugh, which existed until the appoint- ment of Earl C. Bronaugh to the circuit bench in December, 1907, by Governor Cham- berlain as the successor of Judge Arthur L. Frazer. He filled out the unexpired term of his predecessor and in June, 1908, was elected to the office, serving during the last year of his Incumbency on the bench as judge of the juvenile court. He was regarded as a most fair and impartial judge, basing his rulings upon the law and the evidence in the case. His term on the bench would have expired in January, 1911, but he resigned on the 1st of June, 1910, again to enter upon the private practice of his pro- fession. With his retirement from the bench a banquet was held in his honor, on which occasion a loving cup was presented to him and the president of the Multnomah County Bar Association said: "It is a remarkable fact and perhaps rightfully ap- preciated that the highest honor that can be paid to Judge Bronaugh is to recall that in the history of Oregon's judiciary, notwithstanding the multitude of judges that
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