USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 33
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F. N. DERBY
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son, Alaska, as representative of the mining interests of Salem business men. While in charge of their interests he worked in the mines on Houker creek, losing a thirty thous- and dollar commission for the sale of the mine owing to the fact that he was unable to complete the transaction without the signature of the man who owned the controlling interest in the property, which signature could not be obtained because of the man's intoxicated condition at the time. Mr. Derby spent a year in that part of the country, during which time he had many interesting experiences. He visited an adjoining mine on Houker creek and while in the five hundred foot drift with eight hundred feet of earth over him a tree trunk three feet through by four feet long, which had been cut from a tree with an ax, was taken from the roof of the drift, and from the floor of the drift was taken nearly a keg of old Russian shoe nails free from rust and also a mastodon ivory tusk. The drift followed the bed of an old stream, the flow of which had been literally cut off by the mountain in pre-historic times, and thus were unearthed three mysteries of the frozen north. Mr. Derby is the owner of a fine home on South High street in Salem and is now living largely retired, devoting his attention to the super- vision of his various interests and dealing to a limited extent in real estate.
On the 14th of October, 1878, Mr. Derby was married in Iowa to Miss Marion A. De Long, who was born in March, 1860, a daughter of Theodore De Long. To this union have been born three children: Arthur N., an electrician of Portland, who married Corinne Sheldon, by whom he has two children, Catherine and Marion; Nellie, who is the wife of Fred Collins, of Portland; and Ulva, who married Claude H. Morse, of Salem.
In politics Mr. Derby was a firm democrat until 1900, in which year he resigned his position as chairman of this congressional district and cast his presidential vote for William Mckinley. He has since given his political allegiance to the republican party. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and is also identified with the Modern Wood- men of America, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. His activities have been of a varied nature, and as a cooperant factor in many projects for the public good he has contributed in no small degree to the upbuilding and im- provement of his district. His has been a life of diligence and determination and success in substantial measure has come to reward his labors.
JOSEPH COULSON HARE.
Joseph Coulson Hare is a retired lumberman residing at Portland. He was for many years actively, prominently and successfully connected with the lumber trade but is now giving his attention to the supervision of Holyrood farm, a valuable prop- erty of three hundred and fifty acres lying just outside the city limits of Hillsboro. It was at Hillsboro that his birth occurred on the 15th of June, 1863, his parents being William Davenport and Henrietta (Schofield) Hare. The father was born in Wheel- ing, West Virginia, September 1, 1834, being the eldest son of the Rev. and Mrs. Joseph Hare, representatives of an old English family. The latter, Frances Ellen Hare, of Astoria, was born in Virginia and was a direct descendant of the Davenport family of that state. She passed away at Astoria in December, 1915, at the notable old age of one hundred and four years, being the oldest living person in Oregon and possibly in the entire northwest, her birth having occurred at Winchester, Virginia, February 5, 1811. Her father, Judge Davenport, who belonged to one of the most distinguished families of Virginia, removed to Ohio and there continued to make his home for many years. He was the son of a prominent Virginian who at one time was a member of the supreme court of the state and for three terms represented his district in the United States congress. Judge Davenport was reared in a slaveholding com- munity but came to the realization that the practice of slavery was wrong and with his removal to Ohio he liberated his bondmen. However, many of them had become greatly attached to the Davenport family and followed him to Ohio. His daughter, Mrs. Frances E. Hare, was the mother of four sons who served with the Union army throughout the Civil war. Mrs. Hare, who for many years was a most honored resident of Astoria, was born before John Jacob Astor started his expedition westward to found a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia and Abraham Lincoln was little more than an infant at the time of her birth, while Henry Clay was then speaker of congress and James Madison was president of the United States.
Her son, William Davenport Hare, in company with Jesse Edwards, came to Vol. 111-17
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Oregon in 1853, traveling by way of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and arriving at Portland in the fall of that year. Mr. Hare secured a position as purser on the steamboat Fashion and was connected therewith for three years, acting at times as pilot and as captain. In 1857 he was assigned to the duty of copying the records of Washington county which had been annexed to Multnomah county by legislative enactment. Following the con- clusion of that task he was appointed auditor of Washington county and in 1858 he was elected to the position of county clerk, in which capacity he acceptably served for six years. In 1864 he was admitted to the bar and opened a law office in Hillsboro, where he entered upon the active practice of the profession. Prior to this time, or in 1859, he had married Miss Henrietta Schofield, a sister of Benjamin Schofield, of Cornelius, Oregon, and also of Judge Schofield, who at one time was on the supreme court bench at Springfield, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. William D. Hare were born seven children: Thomas, who died in early manhood; Joseph Coulson; Mrs. Frances E. O'Connor of Hillsboro; Mrs. Martha Mann of Cornelius, Oregon; Mrs. Henrietta Morgan, the widow of George Morgan and a resident of Hillsboro; Mrs. Ruth Pruyn, deceased; and William G., who is an attorney. Mrs. Hare passed away in 1890 and Mr. Hare was again married in 1893, his second union being with Miss Mary A. Anthony, who is also now deceased.
William D. Hare figured prominently in connection with the public life of the community for many years. In 1870 he was elected to the state legislature and in 1872 was made one of the presidential electors who cast a vote for Grant. He did active campaign work throughout the state during that year and was a brilliant orator, recognized as one of the best extemporaneous speakers in the northwest. Appointed to the position of collector of customs at Astoria he filled that office for eight years and from 1882 until 1886 represented Washington county in the state senate, giving careful consideration to all the vital questions which came up for settlement and leav- ing the impress of his individuality upon the legislative work of that period. He was also a well known Mason, having been initiated into the order in Tualatin Lodge in 1862, while in 1871 he was chosen grand master of the Masonic order of Oregon. He was also prominently connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and several times was one of the state executives and was supreme representative to the national convention of the society. He was a student of life, its values and its op- portunities and he made his record one of signal service and benefit to his fellowmen. His own conception of life and death is summed up in a memorial which he delivered in the state senate in 1885, in paying tribute to the late Hon. Henry Warren, who was state senator from Yamhill. On that occasion he said: "The stoics tell us that death is oblivion-that human affection only bids us o'er the tomb of our departed friends plant the sprig of acacia and blooming flowers. The moderns, however, tell us to do all this and also build monuments of marble to their memory and upon these monuments write epitaphs, but the best epitaph that can or will be written will be the deeds and acts of a life. Death is not oblivion-'tis only the opening of a better and higher life. Men in this life build their own characters and the highest aim of every man should be so to order his own life that when the end comes it can truly be said of him: 'He lived a life void of offense towards God and man.'"
Joseph Coulson Hare acquired his early education in the schools of Hillsboro and afterward studied in the Pacific University. In early manhood he became identified with the Inmber industry which he has made his life work. For many years he con- tinued in the business, building up a trade of very substantial proportions. In 1917 he retired from the lumber industry and has since given his time to the management of his ranch, which lies just outside of Hillsboro and is a splendid tract of land of three hundred and fifty acres, known as Holyrood farm. It is most highly cultivated and equipped with every modern improvement known to the model dairy farm of the twentieth century. At all times Mr. Hare holds to high standards and in the conduct of his dairy farm has set a pace which many others have followed.
In 1883 Mr. H .re was united in marriage to Miss Elinor Grace Bothwell, a daugh- ter of James and Rhoda (Harris) Bothwell, who were natives of Scotland and of Mis- souri, respectively. Her father was a member of the Bothwell family of Holyrood house of Scotland, crossed the plains in 1856, becoming a resident of Portland, while Mrs. Bothwell made the trip to the northwest in 1845 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Harris. Her father built one of the first ferries at the old Harris bridge and was prominently identified with all public work and projects in an early day. To Mr. and Mrs. Hare has been born one son, Dr. William B. Hare, who is now a
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prominent practicing physician of Portland. At the time of the war he enlisted. He afterward received notice from Washington, D. C., that he had been commissioned junior assistant surgeon in the navy. He took up his station at Mare Island, Cali- fornia, where he remained until the armistice was signed, leaving an extensive and lucrative practice in order to serve his country. He is a Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He received his early education in the grammar schools of Hills- boro and of Portland and his professional training was obtained in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of which he is an alumnus.
Joseph C. Hare of this review is a Mason and also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and while living in Hillsboro he served as the first mayor of the place. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church. His interests and activities are broad and varied and he has given active and helpful support to many measures which have contributed to the material, intellectual, social, political and moral progress of the state.
FRED WESLEY FALCONER.
Fred Wesley Falconer, wool grower and banker of Pendleton, Umatilla county, was born in Adams county, Iowa, February 3, 1879, a son of Reuben T. and Nancy J. (Homan) Falconer. His father was born in Belmont county, Ohio, while the mother was a native of Indiana. Reuben Falconer received his education in Ohio but when a young man went to Iowa, where he engaged in farming until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Falconer were married in Iowa and were prominent and respected citizens of the community in which they resided. They were consistent members of the Baptist church and were active in the affairs of that organization.
Fred W. Falconer spent his boyhood days in Iowa, where he received a good education in the common schools and in due time entered the Corning Academy. He was a great football player and as the result of an injury to his eye, which he received while playing in one of the games, he was forced to withdraw from school and on the 26th of March, 1899, he came west, making Elgin, Oregon, his first stop. He arrived in that town with a capital of but forty-nine dollars and in order to save stage fare walked to Enterprise, Oregon, a distance of fifty miles. He carried a grip weighing forty-five pounds the entire journey. On reaching Enterprise he obtained work and later became an employe of William Makin, a well known sheepman. The following year Mr. Falconer entered into partnership with Mr. Makin and in 1900, after four years of hard labor and the surmounting of many difficulties, they made a success of the venture. At the end of five years he bought out the interests of Mr. Makin and from 1905 to 1913 he was in the sheep business alone. In 1913 he became asso- ciated with J. H. Dobbin, of Enterprise. For three years he continued in this associa- tion and then divided all sheep and other partnership property. Mr. Falconer then bought the L. C. Johnson sheep ranch and equipment, the Frank Kernan sheep ranch and equipment, the J. Ray Johnson sheep ranch and equipment and the Olin Reel ranch and equipment, this purchase involving twelve thousand acres and twenty-five thousand sheep and making Mr. Falconer one of the most extensive sheepmen in this part of the country. He operated these rauches until 1918, when he bought the con- trolling interest in the Enterprise State Bank and the following year bought the con- trolling stock in the First National Bank of Joseph. The Enterprise Bank has a capi- tal of fifty thousand dollars and a surplus of fifteen thousand dollars, while the First National Bank has a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars and a surplus of twenty thousand. In June, 1920, Mr. Falconer purchased the Cunningham Sheep and Land Company, consisting of twenty-four thousand and ninety-six acres and thirteen thousand six hundred and forty-four thoroughbred Ramboulet sheep, for which he paid five hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars. This ranch is located in the vicinity of Pilot Rock, Umatilla county. Mr. Falconer is now making Pendleton his head- quarters and there he maintains his offices. Aside from the interests already men- tioned Mr. Falconer is a director in the Bankers Mortgage Corporation of Portland, is a stockholder in the Columbia Basin Wool Ware House Company of Portland and is a director and stockholder in the Stock Growers and Farmers National Bank of Wal- lowa, Oregon. He is likewise a stockholder in the Lostine State Bank of Lostine, Oregon. The interests of Mr. Falconer are many and varied and to each of them he devotes an enormous amount of energy.
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On the 29th of December, 1910, Mr. Falconer was united in marriage to Miss Jose- phine Weidert, a daughter of John and Julia Weidert. Mrs. Falconer was born near Helix, Oregon, and her parents were early settlers of this state. Her father is one of the largest wheat men of the community in which he resides and is now living at Walla Walla, Washington. One child, Fred Wesley, Jr., has been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Falconer.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Falconer the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party, being a firm believer in the principles of the party as factors in good government. He is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Falconer is readily con- ceded to be one of the most active, influential and valuable business men of Pen- dleton. In the course of years he has helped to build up large and successful interests devoting his attention and energies to the management of those interests, which, owing to his keen discernment and capable control, have grown to be of the largest pro- portions.
HON. WILLIAM PAINE LORD.
High and well merited honors came to William Paine Lord, who for three terms was a judge of the supreme court of Oregon, who served his state as governor and who was United States minister to the Argentine Republic. He was born in Delaware in 1838. Liberal educational opportunities were his. He was graduated from the Fair- field College of New York with high honors and afterward took up the study of law. His young manhood was spent in that stirring period which preceded the Civil war and when Fort Sumter was fired upon he watched with interest the progress of events and in the spring of 1862 enlisted in a battalion of Delaware cavalry, winning rapid pro- motion to the rank of captain of his company. He was ever a man of fine soldierly bearing and inspired his men with much of his own courage and zeal. He was steadily advanced, becoming major of his regiment and soon afterward led his men into the famous campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. His superior officers ever spoke of him in terms of highest appreciation and praise and those who served under him gave him their loyalty and love. When at last the war was over Judge Lord returned to his home in Delaware to resume his legal studies in the Albany Law College, from which in due time he was graduated with a most creditable record.
It was the intention of Judge Lord at once to enter upon the active practice of law, but his services were in demand elsewhere. He was offered a lieutenancy in the regular army and decided to accept it. Soon afterward he was assigned to duty on the Pacific coast and a little later the United States purchased Alaska from Russia and he was dispatched to the newly acquired territory, where his command took formal possession of the immense tract which had been thus acquired. When his duty was completed there Judge Lord determined upon carrying out his original plan of becom- ing a member of the bar and returned to the States. In search of a favorable location he visited Salem and there met Colonel N. B. Knight, who had been a companion in arms with him and was also a representative of the legal profession. The two deter- mined to enter upon a partnership relation and the firm became one of the most promi- nent practicing at the bar of Oregon, their business connection continuing until the election of Judge Lord to the bench.
At different times high political honors came to Judge Lord, who in 1878 was elected on the republican ticket to represent Marion county in the state senate. He served for one session and then resigned to accept the republican nomination for judge of the supreme court. In 1880 he was elected to that position and was made chief justice. He soon proved himself the peer of the ablest members who have ever sat in the court of last resort in Oregon. His opinions are monuments of judicial soundness and his entire record was one which reflected credit and honor upon the judicial history of the state. In 1882 he was reelected to the supreme court and at the close of his second term of six years was again chosen for the office in 1888, at which time he polled the highest vote ever cast for any candidate in the state of Oregon. He ever regarded public office as a public trust and it is a well known fact that no trust reposed in Judge Lord was ever betrayed in the slightest degree. He possessed comprehensive knowl- edge of the principles of jurisprudence and his mind was naturally analytical, logical and inductive. He studied every case that came before him with thoroughness and
HON. WILLIAM P. LORD, SR.
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his decisions were the embodiment of justice. In 1895 he was elected to the office of governor of Oregon and for four years remained as the chief executive of the state, his administration in that position being one of notable fairness and businesslike qualities. From 1899 until 1903 he was minister plenipotentiary and envoy extra- ordinary from the United States to the Argentine Republic. He was also one of the commissioners appointed to codify the laws of Oregon and Lord's Oregon Code was the result of much labor and considerable care upon his part.
It was in 1880 that Judge Lord returned to the Atlantic ( ast, going to Baltimore, Maryland, where he was united in marriage to Miss Juliette Montague, who was born in Massachusetts. They hecame the parents of three children: Elizabeth; William P., an attorney of Portland, mentioned elsewhere in this work; and Montague who was in the Hawaiian Islands in the sugar business at the time of his father's death.
Judge Lord passed away February 18, 1911, in Oakland, California. Well descended and well hred he was the soul of honor, was the possessor of tact, kindliness and courtesy and in every way measured up to the highest standards of manhood and citi- zenship. His name deserves a foremost place upon the pages of Oregon's history, for he contributed much to the work of shaping its judicial record and its public policy. He studied carefully every question of vital concern to the state and he left the impress of his individuality and high ability for good upon the records of the commonwealth.
WILLIAM P. LORD.
William P. Lord, widely known as one of the leading representatives of the Port- land bar, was born at Salem, Oregon, August 22, 1885, a son of Hon. William P. Lord, who was the ninth governor of the state and for three successive terms of six years each a member of the supreme court.
William P. Lord of this review pursued his early education in the schools of Salem and afterward attended the Willamette University, from which he was graduated in 1908 upon the completion of a law course, for he had decided to follow in the pro- fessional footsteps of his father and become a member of the bar. He first worked at the compilation of the code on the editorial staff for two years and the existing codes are known as Lord's Oregon Laws, his father having been appointed by the state legis- lature to prepare the state code. In this work William P. Lord therefore became actively associated and continued the work after his father's demise. In 1913 he re- moved to Portland, where he entered into partnership with Dan E. Powers, an associa- tion that was discontinued in 1914. Mr. Lord then entered upon the practice of law independently and has since continued in the general work of the profession. He has heen accorded an extensive clientage of important character and is recognized as a man of great ability. In addition to his activity at the har Mr. Lord organized the La Bish drainage district near Salem, which opened up over two thousand acres of beaver dam land, the largest beaver dam land in the world. This was accomplished in 1912. The land had been in litigation for many years, but Mr. Lord succeeded in settling the claims and in this connection also did a great work for the country. He is likewise the owner of one of the largest onion farms in the state, located at Lake La Bish.
In 1917 William P. Lord was united in marriage to Miss Wiebka Scherner, a native of Portland, and they occupy an enviable position in social circles. Mr. Lord is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and, like his father, is recognized as a man of splendid ahllity and influence and possessing a record that in every way is unassailable.
H. OLIVER T. DICKENSON.
Prominent in the agricultural circles of Umatilla county is H. Oliver T. Dicken- son, who is operating one hundred and twenty-eight acres of well improved land near Athena. He is a native son of Oregon, his hirth having occurred in Roseburg, Douglas county, on the 1st of June, 1872, a son of John B. and Naomi C. (Banks) Dickenson. The father was born in Virginia, where he spent his boyhood and in 1849 went to California in search of gold. He made that trip overland with mule teams and under- went many hardships. He was an active participant in several of the Indian wars.
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Until 1854 he was engaged in mining in California, but during that year he came to Oregon, locating in Polk county, where he took a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres, improved it, and there resided for a period of eight years. Again taking up mining John B. Dickenson removed to Florence, B. C., and subsequently to Canyonville and Peace river in Alberta. At the latter place he operated a pack train outfit. In 1871 he was united in marriage to Miss Naomi Banks and they homesteaded land near what is now known as Athena. The homestead consisted of eighty acres, which he brought to a high state of cultivation and later proved up on an additional eighty, operating the land until his death at the age of eighty-one years. Throughout his life John B. Dickenson was a stanch democrat and he was fraternally identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife was born near Little Rock, Arkansas, and her parents brought her across the plains in 1853, when she was six months old. Eight months was spent on this journey, the party following the Oregon Trail, and they were rafted down the Columbia river by friendly Indians. The stock was driven around the river and the Banks family located in Corvallis, Polk county, Oregon, the father taking a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres, which he improved and on which he resided for a number of years. The father of Mrs. Dickenson then removed to Douglas county and there preempted land, which he operated for some time and subsequently acquired a homestead of eighty acres near Athena, where he resided until his death. The death of Mrs. Banks also occurred on this homestead. Mr. Banks was a member of the democratic party and his religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Dickenson is still living, making her home at Athena. She is now seventy years of age and she is enjoying robust health.
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