USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
Mr. Ingels has no taste for public office save where his services can benefit the com- munity. He is a member of the Dufur school board and of the Dufur water commission and is a director of the state vocational training commission. He was made a director of the Farmers Union, is president of the Wasco Union Elevator and president of the Wasco County Live Stock Association. He cooperates with every plan and measure that tends to promote progress and improvement in his locality and state. He is a Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine and is also a member of the Arctic Brother- hood. He is uniformly regarded as a valuable acquisition to Wasco county and the state of Oregon and his neighbors are warm in his praise as a business man and as a citizen. His activities have indeed been a valuable element in connection with public progress and it will be long ere the interests which he has instituted reach their full fruition in the world's work.
ROBERT J. STEWART.
Robert J. Stewart, a leading building contractor of Portland, has been awarded many important contracts, having constructed a number of the city's most substantial public buildings and also numerous private residences here, his lahors proving a val- uable element in the upbuilding of the municipality. He was born at Black Point, on Prince Edward's island, Canada, January 22, 1855, and is a son of Dougal and Flora (Mckinnon) Stewart, both of Scotch descent, the father a farmer by occupation.
In the district schools of his home locality Robert J. Stewart acquired his educa- tion, the nearest schoolhouse being two miles distant from his home. He assisted his father in the operation of the farm until sixteen years of age, when he learned the car-
45
HISTORY OF OREGON
penter's trade and in 1877 went to St. Johns, New Brunswick, where he worked at his trade until 1888. On the 7th of July of that year he arrived in Portland and for a time there followed carpentering, subsequently going to Vancouver, Washington, as an employe of a Mr. Goss who had a government contract for the erection of some buildings in that city. After completing his work there Mr. Stewart returned to Portland and engaged in business independently as a contractor and builder, gradually working up a good trade in that connection. He is an expert carpenter and is thor- oughly trustworthy, executing contracts promptly and living up to the letter as well as the spirit of an agreement. He has been awarded many important contracts in the city, building the cordage works at Fourteenth and Marshall streets for W. B. Ayers and the Worcester building for the Corbett estate. For practically twenty years he was engaged in work for the Corbett and Failing families, prominent pioneer residents of this city for whom he erected the Hamilton-Corbett, the Failing and the Newstatter buildings and George Lawrence and Company's building on First street. Among others for whom Mr. Stewart erected and remodeled buildings may be mentioned the late Henry Hewett who at that time was a leading insurance man of Portland and an intimate friend of the subject of this review. He also did work for the O'Shea brothers and erected the annex to the Portland hotel, in addition to many private residences in all parts of the city and adjoining districts. His business has reached extensive and profitable proportions and he has become recognized as one of the leading building contractors of Portland.
In the Rose City, in 1895, Mr. Stewart was united in marriage to Miss Mary Anderson, a native of Scotland and a daughter of William Anderson. Mrs. Stewart passed away in October, 1915, leaving a son, Robert Alexander, who is now attending the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvallis.
In his political views Mr. Stewart is a republican and in religious faith he is a Presbyterian. Fraternally he is identified with Hassalo Lodge, I. O. O. F., and his interest in the welfare and advancement of his city is indicated by his membership in the Chamber of Commerce. In his business affairs he has made steady progress, his capable management and indefatigable industry constituting the basis upon which he has builded his prosperity. His powers of organization and his executive force have enabled him to develop a business of extensive proportions and his record is written not only in terms of success but also in terms of enterprise, energy and perseverance. He is regarded as one of the leading citizens of Portland and his progressiveness has been a potent element in its continued development.
WESLEY WOODSON BOSCOW.
A native son of Oregon who has materially aided in the up-building of his state and county is W. W. Boscow, who was born in Washington county in 1866. His pater- nal ancestors were natives of the Isle of Man and were prominent in the shipping business. Emigrating to America in 1845 his grandfather purchased a farm in Illinois where Peter Boscow was born. The latter married Rebecca Cray, a daughter of an old family of Ohio pioneers, and removed to Oregon, settling upon a farm near North Plains in Washington county, where their son Wesley Woodson Boscow was born. For forty years Peter Boscow, now retired, has been school clerk of this township and has held many other offices.
Wesley W. Boscow was educated in the grade schools of Washington county and assisted his father on the farm during most of his boyhood. He inherited a sturdy constitution and a stout heart and in 1898, braving the rigors of the far north, he set out to seek his fortune in Alaska. As a clerk in a Skagway store and later in the post office at Nome he remained in Alaska until 1901. Upon his return to Oregon he was connected with a general merchandise business until 1912 when he established his present enterprise. His store, the only clothing establishment in Hillsboro, is situated on Main street in the best business section of the town. He occupies an area twenty- four by one hundred feet on two floors and carries a full assortment of men's and boys' clothing, shoes and furnishings. The men of Washington county assuredly have no reason to go to Portland for wearing apparel, since Mr. Boscow's stock is at all times complete and up-to-date. In addition to his clothing establishment Mr. Boscow owns thirty acres of valuable land within the limits of Hillsboro.
Mr. Boscow married Mercedes Wilson, a daughter of W. B. Wilson, a pioneer farmer
46
HISTORY OF OREGON
of Washington county. Like her husband she is justly proud of being a native of Oregon. Before her marriage she was a teacher in the schools of Washington county. She is an active church worker and has a host of friends. There are no children.
Mr. Boscow has no fraternal affiliations. His political achievements have been limited to membership in the Hillsboro city council for three years. In a business way he is a member of the Hillsboro Commercial Club and has served on its board of directors. He is also a member of the Oregon Merchants' Association and has proved himself in every respect one of the potent upbuilders of the state of his birth.
WILLIAM EDWARD WELCH, M. D.
Dr. William Edward Welch, engaged in the practice of medicine in Rainier, was born in Missouri in 1861. He is the son of Dr. John and Ann E. (Clements) Welch, who came to Oregon by ox team in 1863. His father was a well known dentist and practiced his profession in Portland and Oregon City until his death in 1905.
William Edward Welch was educated in the common schools of Oregon City, the University of Oregon, and Rush Medical College at Chicago, from which latter institu- tion he was graduated in 1886 as M. D. He first took up his practice in Oregon City and in a short time was tendered the position of District Surgeon for the Santa Fe Railway Company, so he moved to Kansas, where he remained for fifteen years. While residing there Dr. Welch built up a lucrative practice, besides acting as surgeon for the Santa Fe Railroad and the Kannsas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad. In 1905 the lure of the west called him and he returned to Oregon, taking up his work at Rainier, Columbia county. Since his return he has built up a large practice and has come to be regarded as one of the prominent and able physicians of the state.
In 1888 Dr. Welch was married to Miss Adaline L. Smith of Chicago, who died in 1918. Mrs. Welch was an invalid for more than twenty years and his ceaseless devo- tion to his wife was one of the outstanding traits in the character of the Doctor.
Dr. Welch is a man of strong and independent characteristics, positive, somewhat aggressive and thoroughly fearless. He is an earnest believer in the Golden Rule, which he endeavors to follow in his everyday affairs and expects the same fair treat- ment from those with whom he has dealings. He has served as mayor of Rainier, chair- man of the water commission and city health officer. In politics he is a democrat and has been chairman of the Democratic County Committee. He is foremost in all civic enterprises, a large stockholder in the State Bank of Rainier, a member of the Commer- cial Club and of the Portland City and County Medical Association. Dr. Welch is much respected in and out of his profession and his forceful character is admired by a host of friends. He is a most interesting and well informed conversationalist and an optimist in every way except in those things which foster hypocrisy.
HARRY BURNHAM EVANS.
One of the prominent bankers of Clackamas county is Harry Burnham Evans, who came west in 1913 and settled in the Willamette valley, where he immediately became interested in banking affairs. He was born in the state of Maine, forty-nine years ago, his birth having taken place in 1871, in Portland. His father was William Evans, who engaged in the carpet manufacturing business. His mother, Frances Burnham, was a descendant of an old New England family, as was his father, and her family came to America as early as 1630. Among her ancestors was Nathaniel Burnham, who served in the Revolutionary war. For many generations the Burnham family have been bankers.
H. B. Evans is indebted to the public schools and high school of his native town for his education and when but a youth he removed to Lincoln, Nebraska, and entered the banking business. An uncle of Mr. Evans was president of this bank and under his watchful eye Mr. Evans learned the banking business from the bottom to the top of the ladder. For twenty-two years he remained in the Nebraska bank, passing from one position to another until he reached the position of cashier. It was this close appli- cation to his banking interests and thorough mastering of this work that made him the successful banker that he is today. In 1913 he decided to remove farther west and
47
HISTORY OF OREGON
subsequently settled in the Willamette valley of Oregon, quick to realize the many opportunities it offered. He purchased an interest in the State Bank at Canby and became its cashier. In 1914 he assisted in the organization of the First National Bank at Canby, of which institution he was elected cashier and still holds that position, to the entire satisfaction of the bank and its patrons. Upon his resignation as cashier of the Canby State Bank the stockholders of that institution, loath to lose his services entirely, elected him vice president and at every election held since that time he has been reelected to that position.
In the year 1898 Mr. Evans was united in marriage to Miss Catharine Brooks, a daughter of H. D. Brooks, who was a native of New York but who came to Lincoln, Nebraska, at an early date, thereby becoming one of its pioneer and highly respected citizens. He also served in the Civil war. One daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Catharine, who is a senior at the University of Washington, and a young woman of much promise. Mrs. Evans is a prominent woman in her community, being very active in club circles and a recognized social leader of Clackamas county. She has always been interested in anything pertaining to the moral and intellectual growth of the community and to that end was a former executive of the Parent-Teachers' Association.
Although it is necessary for Mr. Evans to devote the most of his time to his bank- ing interests he has yet found time to do his full duty as a citizen, has served Canby as a member of the city council for five years and is chairman of Group 1 of the Oregon State Banks, which organization embraces the banks of several counties. Fra- ternally he is affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows and is one of Oregon's most progressive and active upbuilders. As a banker he occupies a high place in Clackamas county and as a citizen he is universally esteemed.
HORACE W. OGILBE.
There is no class of men whose contribution to the development and upbuilding of a new region is more distinct and valuable than is that of the civil engineer, who is called upon to face difficult and complex problems in his constructive work and whose labors must be the forerunner of various other activities. In this connection Horace W. Ogilbe made for himself a prominent name and place. He came to the northwest during the era of pioneer settlement and for many years was prominently associated with the business life of Portland and the northwest, contributing in large measure to the jetty and harbor development of the Oregon coast and working as well on the Cascades, locks and canals. He likewise executed many private contracts aside from his government work and his efforts were at all times an important feature in Oregon's upbuilding.
Mr. Ogilbe came to the coast country from Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Germantown, that state, September 3, 1853, his parents being Samuel B. and Louisa (Williams) Ogilbe, both of whom were natives of Germantown and were of Welsh descent. Horace W. Ogilbe acquired his education in the public schools of his native state and in the Pennsylvania University, from which he was graduated. He afterward went to Europe, where he studied for about two years, thus gaining still broader knowl- edge concerning his chosen profession. Upon his return to America he made his way to California, where he had a seat on the stock board. He became actively connected with important interests in that state, being associated with Flood, Comstock & O'Brien as a mining engineer until 1879, when he came to Portland and was made assistant under Colonel Wilson who had charge of rivers and harbors. Among his first activities after reaching Oregon was his government work on the Cascades at The Dalles and later he was engaged in coast work. About 1881 he opened an office in the Ainsworth Bank building in Portland, where he remained for several years, during which time he was accorded and executed many important contracts and also did important work as consulting engineer. He was engineer for the firm of Leonard & Green when they changed their pumping station to Rivera and he also was engineer on the location and construction of the Narrow Gauge Railroad and did civil engineering work for the Northern Pacific on the Stampede Pass in 1880 and 1881. In 1903 he established an office in San Francisco as mining and consulting engineer and he spent many years in professional work in Mexico and in Alaska as representative of the American Tin Mining Company, remaining through one winter in Nome. In 1912 he gave up his
48
HISTORY OF OREGON
office and retired to his home on Palatine Hill in Portland, spending his remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest, death coming to him very suddenly.
It was on the 16th of November, 1881, that Mr. Ogilbe was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Holman, a daughter of Charles and Mary E. (Huntington) Holman. They became the parents of two daughters: Belle, who is now the wife of Carl V. Taylor of Palatine Hill, Portland; and Catherine, a teacher of language in the Franklin high school.
Mr. Ogilbe was a representative of the Masonic fraternity in early life. In politics he was a true blue republican, giving unswerving allegiance to the party and its prin- ciples. Of the Episcopal faith he attended St. Stephen's chapel, now the pro-cathedral, and passed away in that belief April 28, 1920. Throughout his entire life he had dis- played many sterling traits of character. He had made wise use of his time, talents and opportunities and had risen to a high position in his profession. He was, more- over, a man of kindly nature and genial disposition whose life illustrated the truth of the Emersonian philosophy that the way to win a friend is to be one.
ALFRED A. AYA.
Alfred A. Aya, is vice president and general manager of the Peninsula Industrial Company, a holding company for the Swift interests in North Portland. He makes his home in the city of Portland and there is perhaps no man in Oregon who is better informed concerning the resources and possibilities of the state, or has contributed in more direct measures to Oregon's advancement in this connection. He was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, June 15, 1879, and is a son of Louis Aya, who was born in Bavaria, and was brought to the United States by his parents in infancy, the family home being established in Fountain City, Wisconsin, while later a removal was made to Minnesota. Louis Aya was married to Miss Amelia Bronnenkant and in the year 1889 he removed to the northwest, settling in Eugene, Oregon, where he passed away in 1914.
Alfred A. obtained his early education in the schools of Winona, Minnesota, and afterward attended a private school in Eugene, Oregon. He then sought to make the practice of law his life work and was graduated in 1903 from the law department of the University of Oregon with the LL. B. degree. This same year he was admitted to the bar, beginning the practice of law in the office of Cicero M. Idleman, in Port- land, opening his own office in Portland in 1905, but after devoting six years to active practice he withdrew in 1909, having become connected with industries which required his full time. In 1905 he became interested in irrigation and other development work in central Oregon and is now vice president and general manager of the Peninsula Indus- trial Company, president of the Peninsula Drainage Districts Numbers 1 and 2, director in the Kenton Traction Company and Peninsula Terminal Company, and manager of the Kenwood Land Company, all being largely Swift interests in North Portland. His business qualifications and abilities are pronounced. He loses sight of no detail, is a good organizer, is very thorough, original and resourceful. There are few men who have equal knowledge concerning the resources and possibilities of Oregon. He has made a careful and thorough study of the state's various industrial activities and has acquired a fund of information of which he has made good use in bringing to Oregon some of its most important industries. He has likewise been instrumental in keeping before the public the need of the state for more industries and a greater population, that its growth and development may be continuously promoted. Mr. Aya is the president and general manager of the La Pine (Oregon) Townsite Company. Mr. Aya founded this town, which is situated in central Oregon, in 1910. At that time it was one hundred and twenty-five miles from a railroad. From 1909 to the fall of 1918, when he returned to Portland, he devoted practically all of his time to the development of that section of the state and recognizing the need of bringing more settlers to Oregon it was then that he became instrumental in organizing the State Chamber of Commerce to take up the work. He has been a most important factor in the Portland Chamber of Commerce, as well as in the State Chamber, of which he is a director. He was one of the first to realize the importance of encouraging and building up tourist travel through Oregon. It is largely through his efforts that so much progress has been made along this line. His success as a factor in Oregon's upbuilding is attributable to his thorough knowledge of the state, for he has at all
ALFRED A. AYA
Vol. 111-4
51
HISTORY OF OREGON
times been a conscientious student and is able to impart his fund of information in a way that commands attention and interest. He is a clear, logical and convincing speaker and at various times he has written for different publications. He seems to see at a glance what it takes most men a long time to comprehend and he can picture his thoughts and observations on paper in a clear and logical manner.
On the 22nd of June, 1914, in Portland, Mr. Aya was married to Miss Grace M. Honeyman, a daughter of Thomas D. Honeyman, president of the Honeyman Hard- ware Company, and they have become parents of two children: Barbara, horn April 9, 1915; and Roderick Honeyman, born September 17, 1916. Mr. Aya is a stalwart republican in his political views and his religious faith is that of the Catholic church. He belongs to the Knights of Columbus and has membership in the Waverly Country Club, the Portland Ad Club, the Portland Press Club and the North Portland Manu- facturers Club, of which he is president. He has been quite active in political circles and during the World war took a most helpful part in all war work. His splendid qualities of manhood and citizenship have won him admiration and high regard and everywhere he is spoken of in terms of confidence and respect.
HON. MELVIN C. GEORGE.
Hon. Melvin C. George is now living retired in Portland but for many years ranked with the able lawyers and jurists of the state, his activity at the bar gaining him a prominence that made him the peer of the ablest representatives of the pro- fession in the northwest. A native of Ohio, his birth occurred near the village of Cald- well, in Noble county, May 13, 1849. He is a son of Presley and Mahala (Nickerson) George, the former a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, while the latter was born in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Both, however, were reared in Ohio and both were de- scended from old Colonial families that through successive generations have taken active and helpful part in shaping the history of the localities with which they have been connected. When America attempted to throw off the yoke of British oppression Jesse George, the grandfather of the Judge, enlisted with the Virginia troops under command of Captain Radican and later was under command of Captain William George, the company being assigned to the regiment commanded by Colonel Thomas Merriweather. It was on the 1st of September, 1778, that Jesse George joined the Con- tinental forces and he continued with the army until the republic was permanently established. He afterward made a journey of exploration to the northwest with a company of Virginia troops and was so pleased with the country through which he passed on his campaign that he determined to locate west of the Alleghany mountains and became one of the pioneer residents of Ohio. In recognition of his military service he was granted a pension of thirteen dollars and fifty cents per year by Lewis Cass, then secretary of war, and there is now in possession of Judge George a copy of an application made by his grandfather for an increase in the pension, which be regarded as inadequate compensation for his years of service and the hardships which he endured during his military experience.
When quite young Presley George, father of the Judge accompanied his parents from Virginia to Ohio and was reared in the latter state. There he wedded Miss Mahala Nickerson, whose father, Colonel Hugh Nickerson, was born in Massachusetts in 1782 and became a resident of Ohio in 1809. He won his title as commander of a regiment of militia in the second war with England. His wife bore the maiden name of Rebecca Blanchard. On the maternal side the ancestral line can be traced hack to an early period in American history. Colonel Hugh Nickerson was a son of Thomas and Dorcas (Sparrow) Nickerson and a grandson of Thomas Nickerson, Sr., while the latter's father and grandfather both bore the name of William Nickerson and the senior of that name was the founder of the family in the new world, having sailed from Norwich, England, on the ship Jobn and Dorothy, which dropped anchor in Boston harbor on the 20th of June, 1637. In the Sparrow line the ancestry is traced back to Elder William Brewster, who came to the new world as one of the Mayflower passengers and was one of the founders of the Plymouth colony. Among the ancestors in the Sparrow line was also Governor Thomas Price who was a passenger on the ship Fortune which reached Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621 and who afterward became governor of Plymouth colony.
While Presley George and his wife were residents of Ohio they lost five of their
52
HISTORY OF OREGON
eight children by scarlet fever and diphtheria. With their three surviving children they soon afterward started down the Ohio river and made their way to St. Joseph, Mis- souri, where they secured ox teams and started across the plains for Oregon. They endured many hardships and privations while en route but after six weary months of travel reached their destination and for several weeks were encamped at East Port- land, the site of which at that time contained but three houses. Mr. George began farming near Lebanon, in a heavily timbered district. After a few years he removed to another farm in the same locality and there carried on general agricultural pursuits. He passed away at the age of eighty-two years in the home of his son, Melvin C. George, and his wife had also reached an equal age when her death occurred in the home of her son Melvin in Portland. They were both consistent followers of the Baptist faith and Mr. George was a whig in early manhood, hecoming a republican following the dissolution of the former party. The three sons of the family who survived were: Hugh N., who became a teacher, journalist and attorney of Albany, Oregon, and in 1864 served as presidential elector from this state, carrying the vote of Oregon to the national capital in support of Lincoln, his death occurring in 1871; J. W., who passed away in Seattle in 1895, having served as United States marshal in Washington for a period of seven years; and Melvin C., of this review.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.