USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 11
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GEORGE WASHINGTON WEIDLER.
The beautiful city of Portland with its ramifying industrial and commercial inter- ests is not the outgrowth of the efforts of a single individual but of the combined labors of various progressive and representative business men, who at an early day became identified with the northwest and saw the possibilities for the development of a city of importance on the Willamette. Among this number was George Washington Weidler and as the years passed he became an active factor in railroad building, in manufacturing and in the development of various public utilities, his life work thus becoming one of signal usefulness to the community. He was the fourth child and third son of Dr. Isaac Carpenter and Catherine (Gealbaugh) Weidler and was born at Mechanicsburg, Upper Leacock township, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1837. His father, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth Weidler, was born October 3, 1803, and passed away on the 31st of January, 1885. He practiced medicine in Upper Leacock township for fifty-five years and his grave was then made in Heller's churchyard on the New Holland turnpike, where four generations of the family are buried. His wife, Catherine (Gealbaugh) Weidler, was a daughter of Anna and Frederick Gealbaugh and was born March 7, 1807, while her death occurred May 15, 1848. Her mother was born in 1779 and bore the maiden name of Carpenter, while the family name was originally Zimmerman. The death of Mrs. Anna Gealbaugh occurred in 1865, she having survived her daughter Catherine for a number of years.
In the acquirement of his education George W. Weidler attended the schools of Mount Joy and of Strasburg, Pennsylvania, but when still quite young made his way to St. Louis where he engaged in clerking in a hardware store, which afterward became the Richards Hardware, the largest enterprise of the kind in the city. Subsequently he occupied a position as freight clerk on a steamboat running from St. Louis to New Orleans and in 1855 was given charge of a train of mule teams going to Salt Lake with merchandise for the firm of Livingston, Bell & Company, in whose store he afterward acted as a clerk for about three years. Later Mr. Weidler became a sutler at Fort Bridger and subsequently was made agent for the Overland Stage Company. Following the establishment of the pony express he was appointed agent thereof and general manager under Ben Holliday and he acted as stage agent for the line extending to Virginia City during the days of gold mining there. When Mr. Holliday disposed of his stage line in 1864 Mr. Weidler was made purser on steamers ruuning from San Francisco to Mayland, lower California, thus serving during the time of the Mexican revolution, which ended in the execution of the emperor, Maximilian.
Mr. Weidler first came to Portland, Oregon, in 1866 as purser on the Sierra Nevada
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from San Francisco, occupying that position for two years, when in 1868 he was ap- pointed general agent for all the steamers owned by Ben Holliday that plied between Victoria and San Francisco and later made trips to Sitka, Alaska. Mr. Weidler con- tinued to act as agent until the Holliday interests were taken over by Henry Villard for the German stockholders. Mr. Weidler then turned his attention to finishing the building of the railroad line between Salem and Portland in 1869 and thereby saved to Mr. Holliday his land grant. When the line was completed he organized the Willamette - Steam Mills Lumbering & Manufacturing Company, continuing the mills that had been used in building the railroad, the plant having at that time the largest capacity for sawing lumber in Oregon and was later increased. This, however, constituted but one phase of Mr. Weidler's activities, for his cooperation was continuously sought in other fields and he became an important factor in establishing the first street car service in Portland, in establishing the electric light plant of the city and also in organizing the first telephone company. He differentiated readily between the essential and the non- essential in business affairs and possessed marked ability in coordinating seemingly diverse elements into a unified and harmonious whole.
On the 1st of October, 1879, Mr. Weidler was married to Miss Hattie Louise Bacon, a daughter of C. P. Bacon, a prominent stockman of Oregon. The ancestral line of the family is traced back to 1650. Nathaniel Bacon was the eldest son of William Bacon who was born in Stretton, Rutland county, England, and emigrated to the new world in 1649, settling at Hartford, Connecticut, where he resided with his uncle, Andrew Bacon. In the fall of 1650 he joined a company organized for the planting of Mattaseck, now Middletown, and afterward became a leading and influential citizen of that place and a large landholder there. Upon the death of his uncle he received by the terms of his will handsome legacies. The Bacon family was represented in the Revolutionary war. The line of descent comes down from Nathaniel through Henry, Charles C., William and Seth Bacon. Mrs. Weidler's mother came around Cape Horn to the Pacific coast and carried with her letters for Captain Couch and Captain Flanders from their families. She also made three trips to the Sandwich, now the Hawaiian, islands. The Bacon family has always been characterized by patriotic loyalty to the country and was not only represented in the Revolutionary war but also in the War of 1812 and in the Mexican war. To Mr. and Mrs. Weidler were born seven children: Mabel, Hazel, Gladys, Harold, Leslie, Clara and Doris, but the son Harold died in infancy and Doris in early childhood. Gladys became the wife of E. A. de Schweinitz on the 26th of July, 1911, and on the 14th of February, 1912, Leslie married Stanley Gnion Jewett, while on the 25th of June, 1914, Clara became the wife of Andrew Dickinson Norris.
The family circle was broken by the hand of death when, on the 19th of September, 1908, Mr. Weidler passed away. He had suffered a paralytic stroke in August, 1905, and was never again in robust health. He was a republican in his political views and in religious faith an Episcopalian. His life was one of intense and well directed activ- ity and each year's labors constituted a valuable contribution to the progress and business development of the section in which he located. He watched with interest the growth of Portland and through his business activities met the needs of the rapidly developing city by supplying public utilities and otherwise recognizing the demands of public life. He belonged to the Arlington Club and was a member of the Commercial Club, assisting heartily in the work of the latter organization for the city's substantial improvement. He lived to see marvelous changes as the development of the west pro- gressed. He came into the great western country when it was a wild and largely un- settled region and he lived to see his adopted state take rank with the most progressive states of the older east, and the part which he played in bringing about this result was a most important one.
DAVID HORNE.
For many years David Horne, now living retired in Pendleton, has been prominent in the agricultural circles of Umatilla county. He is one of the early pioneers of the west and of Oregon, being one of this state's successful adopted sons. His birth occurred on Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, December 8, 1839, a son of Henry and Mary (Enman) Horne, the former a native of England and the latter of New York state. When a young man Henry Horne came to America and settled on Prince Edward Island. There he followed farming until 1848, when he removed to Janesville, Wis-
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consin, where he engaged as a ship carpenter, having learned that trade while in Eng- land. In 1849 he crossed the plains, locating in the vicinity of Sacramento, California, and he became a miner in Placer county. Later he resumed his carpentering and con- tracting at Sacramento, in which line of business he continued until 1858 when he went to Frazier river, British Columbia. This was during the gold rush and he was em- ployed in the building of a steamboat. The death of Henry Horne occurred in Clinton, British Columbia, about 1875 or 1876. While residing on Prince Edward Island he was married to Miss Mary Enman and her death occurred in Hudson, Wisconsin. Her father, Thomas Enman, took up land on Prince Edward Island at an early date and later in life he presented each of his sons with a farm there. Both Mr. and Mrs. Enman passed away on the island.
The boyhood of David Horne was spent in Wisconsin where he received his educa- tion and resided until 1860, when he crossed the plains, locating at Atchison, Kansas. While there he drove an outfit to Salt Lake City, Utah, for wages. Cattle were used to draw the wagons and seventy-seven days were required to make the trip. Some time later Mr. Horne and several other men set out on foot for Carson City, Nevada, paying thirty dollars for the transportation of their baggage and food necessary for the journey. On arriving there they cut shingles but in the spring engaged in mining. In the fall of 1861 Mr. Horne set out for Florence, Idaho, but because of the great snowfalls was forced to abandon the trip. He then returned to Carson City and there obtained employment with A. B. Gardner, hauling wood from Washoe valley to a half- way house, and he also hauled lumber and liquor to Reece river, where Mr. Gardner had established a hotel. He worked in the hotel for some time and then drove an overland stage between Dry Creek and Sulphur Springs, in Nevada. In the spring of 1866 he drove a stage from Helena, Montana, to Deer Lodge, and previously he had driven on the Fort Benton road. For one and one-half years he drove for the Wells- Fargo Company at Carson City. He drove on all of the main stage routes and con- tinued in the business until 1874 when he took some stock from Umatilla to Cayuse Station, Oregon. On the Ist of April, 1877, Mr. Horne bought the Union hotel at Uma- tilla, which he conducted until the fall of 1882. He then moved to Pendleton and con- ducted the F. A. Lord house until the spring of 1894. For the following three years and nine months he ran the Pendleton hotel and in 1891, during the sale of Indian lands, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres. After retiring from the hotel business he engaged in stock raising, achieving a substantial amount of success in this venture. He rented some land on the reservation and then purchased four hundred and eighty acres south of Pendleton, which is now being farmed by one of his sons. Mr. Horne also owns another ranch, consisting of seventy-three acres. He has retired from active farm and business life and is residing in his fine home in Pendleton.
On the 22d of November, 1877, Mr. Horne was united in marriage to Miss Emma Mead, a daughter of Albert Mead, and a native of Racine, Wisconsin. To their union three children have been born: Enman R., Blanch, and David A.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Horne the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party, having firm belief in the principles of that party as factors in good government. When Mr. Horne first came west the country was in a wild and uncultivated state and in the growing towns there was much crime and outlawry. He has seen it grow into a country dotted with prosperous and progressive communities and he has been one of the prominent factors in this development. He is widely known throughout the county and state and is readily conceded to be a repre- sentative citizen.
HERBERT R. FIELD.
Herbert R. Field, president of the Highway Automobile Company, might well be termed a "live wire" in the common parlance of the day, or in more dignified language a dynamic force in the business circles of central Oregon. His enterprising and pro- gressive methods are well known to the people of Hood River, where he has made his home from early manhood. His parents are Charles F. and Ella (Eychaner) Field, the father being one of the leading orchardists of the county, coming to Oregon from Illinois and casting in his lot among the pioneer settlers of the Hood River valley.
Herbert R. Field was educated in the graded and high schools of Monroe Center, Illinois, and completed a course in Brown's Business College at Rockford, that state.
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For two years following his graduation he was employed as a bookkeeper in the middle west and upon the removal of his parents to Oregon he, too, came to Hood River, where his father purchased an apple orchard, while the young man established a tire shop and vulcanizing business in the city. Under his competent management and guidance the business grew apace and after seven years was taken over by a newly organized company, operating under the name of the Highway Auto Company, of which he is the president. The company in 1919 erected at a cost of thirty thousand dollars one of the finest garages on the Columbia River highway. It is located at the corner of Fifth and Oak streets in Hood River and is a concrete building one hundred by one hundred feet and two stories in height, with entrance directly from the street to both floors. It is fitted with every device and convenience known to the modern garage and is a marked improvement to the thoroughfare. The other officers of the company are: C. S. Field, vice president; H. B. Nesbit, secretary; and J. L. Stewart, manager. The company acts as agent for the Lexington cars, the Atterbury and Tageol trucks and tractors, the Goodrich, Kelly-Springfield and Firestone tires and carries a full line of accessories. Herbert R. Field, the dominant force in this important business enterprise, is a progressive young American, who is also foremost in all good works of citizenship. During the World war he volunteered for the service of his country and was on active duty in France with the American Expeditionary Forces for twelve months. He is a member of the American Legion and thus is aiding in promoting principles of true Americanship just as surely and as effectively as he did when wearing the khaki uni- form on the fields of France. He belongs also to the Hood River Commercial Club and is thus identified with every movement for the upbuilding and benefit of the city. He is very popular and is a young man of much business promise.
WILLIAM WALTER EVERHART.
Among the prominent men of Clackamas county is William Walter Everhart, who is cashier of the First National Bank at Molalla. He is conceded to be the best informed banker in the Willamette valley as to value of property, knowledge of liens and moral risk as well as the standing of customers, and he has been untiring in his efforts to aid in the upbuilding of the state and community.
A native son of Oregon is Mr. Everhart, who was born in Clackamas county in December, 1875, near where the town of Molalla is now located. His parents were John and Kate (Houk) Everhart and they came to Oregon in 1874 from northern New York, where both families had long been residents and pioneers of that state. The father, John Everhart, was a popular citizen of New York state and held many offices of im- portance and trust. He was a farmer by occupation but has now retired and is engaged in the mercantile business in Portland and Oregon City, where he is well known and respected.
William W. Everhart received the best elementary education afforded and worked on his father's farm until he was twenty years old when, after engaging at various occupations, he purchased about sixty-one acres of land at Molalla and this land he still owns and operates. In 1916 Mr. Everhart was elected county assessor of Clackamas county and so successfully filled the position that in 1918 he was re-elected to succeed himself. In 1919 he resigned that office to accept the position of cashier of the First National Bank of Molalla. Previous to its enlargement and before it became a national institution this bank had been operated as the State Bank of Molalla. Mr. Everhart still holds the position of cashier and he has won for himself the high regard of all those with whom he has been associated. Perhaps no man in all his section of the state has done more for the upbuilding of his community than William Everhart. He has devoted himself unselfishly to public service and Molalla has had no more efficient and progressive mayor than Mr. Everhart, who was the first mayor of that town, which office he filled for five years. For two years he held the office of supervisor and for twelve years the office of school director, always having taken an active interest in the moral and intellectual development of the community. Besides the positions of importance already named Mr. Everhart served the county as assessor for a period of three years. Whatever office Mr. Everhart has held he has devoted to it his time and energy and has always been an enthusiastic boomer for his home town, county, and state, and to every enterprise undertaken to further their progress in any way he has for many years given cheerfully of his time and money.
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In the year 1898 Mr. Everhart was united in marriage to Miss Annie Engle, a daughter of Samuel Engle, one of the pioneer farmers of the state. He owned consid- erable land in the vicinity of Molalla and the best portion of the business section of that town is located on the Engle claim, and the bank building of which Mr. Everhart is the cashier occupies the corner of the claim of Samuel Engle.
In fraternal as well as in business circles Mr. Everhart is active, belonging to the Odd Fellows and the Elks. He is also a member of the United Artisans and the Grange, and Mrs. Everhart, who is also active in club and social life, is a member of the Grange and the Artisans. Mrs. Everhart has always been ready to help in every undertaking of the community and was of much service to the Red Cross during the World war. Mr. and Mrs. Everhart have one daughter, Reva, who is a student at the high school, and coming from the best of the Oregon pioneer stock she has all the characteristics of her ancestors. The names of the Engle and Everhart families have meant much in the upbuilding of Clackamas county and Molalla is fortunate indeed in having Mr. Everhart and his family as citizens.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM HENRY POPE.
The waterways of Oregon have proven an abundant source of revenue to many of the farsighted men of the pioneer days, but little time being lost after their emigra- tion before taking up the possibilities which lay before them. One of these was Wil- liam Henry Pope, now deceased, who, however did not begin this work upon his arrival in the west, for he was then but eleven years old, but rather grew into it as he approached maturity and cast about for remunerative employment. It was in 1881 that Captain Pope withdrew from his commercial interests and became associated with the boating business on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, and in his chosen work he attained to a large degree of success, becoming a noticeable figure among the river men. From Oregon City, an early home, he removed to Portland and purchased a comfortable and pleasant home at No. 441 West Park street, in which he resided until his demise on the 9th of June, 1915, being numbered among the prominent and influential men of this city.
The Pope family came originally from England, the grandparents, Charles and Mary (Chown) Pope, born respectively December 18, 1781, and July 31, 1779, being the first American emigrants. The death of both occurred in New York, the former on February 22, 1864, and the latter October 4, 1854. Of their seven children six were born in Plymouth, England. Maria, born October 13, 1805, died March 5, 1873, in New York; Charles, the father of our subject, was born in Plymouth, August 23, 1807. Wil- liam died in infancy. Ann, born September 10, 1811, was married in New York to George Abernethy, January 15, 1830, and her death occurred in New York, April 30, 1884, her remains being interred in Oregon City, Oregon, of which state her husband was the first provisional governor. His death occurred in Portland. They became the parents of two children: William, born September 16, 1831, married Sarah Gray and made his home in Astoria; while Anne, born April 19, 1836, was married in Oregon City, June 8, 1859, to Colonel H. C. Hodges, U. S. A., who then bore the commission of lieutenant. They make their home in Buffalo, New York. The fifth child was Mary, born March 8, 1815. She married Nelson Pitkin of Payson, Illinois, October 10, 1838, and died April 23, 1849, in Davenport, Iowa. She was the mother of three children, two sons having died in infancy. The surviving child, Mary, was born in Payson, Illinois, January 7, 1841, and became the wife of G. C. Ferris of Syracuse, New York. Joseph, born May 2, 1817, married Martha Hull of Pike county, Illinois, and died seventy miles west of Fort Laramie, July 1, 1849, while crossing the plains. The youngest of this family was Thomas, who was born in New York, July 20, 1820. He lived in Quincy, Illinois, for many years, when he came to Oregon City, spent five years and then returned to Illinois, passing away in that state in 1900.
It was in 1818 that the father brought his large family to America, and here engaged in the work of a mechanic, though two of his sons, Thomas and Charles, became actively interested in merchandising. In New York city Charles Pope married Sarah E. Archer on the 21st of November, 1832. She was a native of that state, born in Novem- ber, 1812, the representative of a sturdy, long-lived family, and through the represen- tation of George Abernethy he was induced to bring his family west and thus become a part of the western advancement. The voyage was made on the bark Calouma, a
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period of one hundred and fifty-three days being required to round the Horn and land them safely in the new country they were seeking. Immediately after landing and locating his family Mr. Pope engaged in a general merchandise business in partner- ship with Joseph Ralston at Oregon City, later moved to Fort Simec, still later lived in Portland, then again returned to Oregon City, and was there engaged in the hard- ware business, under the name of Pope & Company. This establishment is still con- ducted under that name. His death occurred there June 11, 1871. Mr. Pope's education had been a thoroughly practical one and it had enabled him to make a success of hls business, combined with the application which marked his character. He became a very prominent man in Oregon City, serving for one term as city treasurer, which office he was holding at the time of his death. In the Methodist church he found his religious home and aimed in all conscience to live up to the tenets of his faith. His wife died in September, 1893, in her eighty-first year, and but one other of her father's family, Amanda Baxter of New York, was then living. Of the family born to Mr. Pope and his wife there were seven children: Charles Wesley was born in New York, September 27, 1833, and he was married in Oregon City, Oregon, May 14, 1862, to Hattie Pease; this son became a hardware merchant of Oregon City and so continued until his death, which occurred by drowning in the Clackamas river, March 28, 1877, and his wife later made her home in Portland. They were the parents of four children, namely: Ada Piggott and Mary Hemenway, both deceased; Charles Wesley of Oregon City; and Bertrand, who died in Spokane, Washington, at the age of twenty-two years. Mary Sophia was the second child and was born January 2, 1836, in New York city, and on the 12th of September, 1860, she married Dr. R. H. Lansdale, now deceased, and she passed away at Olympia, Washington, in 1896, leaving three children: Minnie Aldridge, of Seattle, Washington; Anna Root of Seattle, Washington; and Charles of Olympia, Washington. The next in order of birth was William Henry of this review. Thomas Albert, born November 18, 1842, was married June 1, 1871, to Laura E. Warner and they now make their home in Oregon City, where he engaged in the hardware business. Three children have been born to them: George, deceased; Etta the wife of Franklin T. Griffith of Portland Oregon: and Laura, the wife of C. R. Griffith, brother of Frank- lin T. Griffith. Ann E., the fifth child, was born in 1846 and became the wife of W. B. Laswell of Canyon City, her death occurring November 25, 1868. Sarah Eveline, born May 1, 1848, was married to George A. Steel, February 18, 1869, and they reside in Portland. He was at one time state treasurer. Georgiana, the youngest member of the family, was born in Oregon City, November 11, 1852, and on the 25th of September, 1872, married Judge J. W. Meldrum, their home being on the farm near Oregon City or Meldrum station. She is still living there. They had three children: Charles; Thomp- son; and Eva, who has passed away.
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