USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 69
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JUDGE CONRAD P. OLSON.
Judge Conrad P. Olson, an eminent member of the Portland bar and formerly an associate justice of the supreme court of Oregon, was born at Clay Banks, Wisconsin, September 4, 1882, his parents being August and Mary (Finan) Olson. At the usual age he became a pupil in the public schools of his native state and afterward attended the Stevens Point Normal School of Wisconsin before entering the University of Wis- consin as a law student, there winning the LL. B. degree. Before preparing for the bar he taught school in his native state, being principal of the schools in that state for two years. He was afterward connected with the Civil Service Commission of Wisconsin and in 1909 came to Oregon, since which time he has engaged in the practice of law in Portland. While advancement at the bar is proverbially slow, no dreary novitiate awaited him. He soon demonstrated his ability to handle intricate and in- volved legal problems and as the years passed his practice became one of large extent and importance, connecting him with many notable litigated interests. In 1917 he was tendered the position of circuit judge for Multnomah county by Governor Withycombe but declined the office. In September, 1918, he was appointed an associate judge of the supreme court of the state and served on the bench until January 7, 1919. On the 3d of June of the latter year he was appointed by the supreme court code commis- sioner of Oregon and has prepared a new code of laws for the state. In addition to caring for a large private practice Judge Olson has become connected with various important business interests, being now a director of the Scandinavian-American Bank and of the Peoples Bank of Portland, also of the Sterrett & Oberle Packing Company, the Portland Rendering Company, the Union Fuel Company and the United States Mort- gage & Investment Company.
Judge OIson's professional and business connections, however, represent but one phase of his activities. He has figured prominently in connection with public interests in the state for almost a decade. In 1912 he was elected to represent his district in the lower house of the state legislature and was one of the active members thereof during the succeeding session. He received endorsement of his course in reelection in 1914 and in fact was accorded an unusually large vote. During that session he was
JUDGE CONRAD P. OLSON
Vol. III-35
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made chairman of the judiciary committee and was recognized as floor leader of the house. Then followed his election to the state senate in 1916 with the second highest vote, both at the primary and at the general election, in a large field of candidates. In the upper house he was made chairman of the roads and highway committee, which had charge of all the highway legislation, and he introduced and secured the passage of the hoom and logging bill, opening up the streams of Oregon to lumbering. As a member of Oregon's general assembly he has given the most thoughtful and earnest consideration to all the vital questions which have come up for settlement, seeking ever to promote the welfare of the commonwealth, and that the public has endorsed his course has been shown in his reelection. He studies every problem from the standpoint of the lawyer of analytical mind, accustomed to close investigation and a clear reasoning from cause to effect.
In 1910 Judge Olson was united in marriage to Miss Nellie C. Frost of Portland, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Margaret, and a son, Conrad Patrick, Jr. In politics Judge Olson has always heen a republican and in 1920 was one of the four delegates-at-large from Oregon to the national convention. He is a Mason of high rank and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Arcanum, the Foresters of America, of which he is grand chief ranger, and other fraternal orders. His interest in Portland's welfare and progress is indicated in his membership in the Chamber of Commerce. He belongs to the Laurelhurst Cluh, of which he is a director, also to the Ad Club, and along strictly professional lines his connection is with the Multnomah County and State Bar Associa- tions. Thus along varied and important lines he is putting forth his activities to the benefit of the community and commonwealth as well as to the upbuilding of his own interests, and while he has won professional prominence and distinction, his official record has at the same time heen faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation.
GEORGE BERGER, M. D.
A prominent physician of Astoria is Dr. George Berger who was born in New York city in November, 1888, a son of Charles and Ray (Munsey) Berger. Charles Berger was a well known pharmacist and chemist of the metropolis and in that city he operated a number of drug stores for many years. He achieved a substantial amount of success in his business and won the high regard of all with whom he came into contact.
Dr. Berger is indebted to the common schools of New York city for his early education and in due time, following in the footsteps of his father, he entered the Col- lege of Pharmacy from which he was graduated in 1910, with the degree of Ph. D. He then matriculated at Fordham University and in 1915 was graduated from that institu- tion, with the degrees of A. B. and M. D. From then until 1917 Dr. Berger was an interne at the Knickerbocker and Fordham hospitals, but in that year he enlisted in the World war, serving as first lieutenant in the United States Medical Corps, attached to the air service department. He was first stationed at Camp Harrison and was later sent to the Pacific for duty at the spruce camps. His service on the coast resulted in a determination to settle in this section when he should be discharged from the army. On the 4th of November he was ordered to New York for overseas duty with a corps of four thousand fliers who were booked to leave New York city for France on November 12. Arriving in New York the day the armistice was signed orders for overseas service were countermanded and he was sent to Mineola, Long Island, and five weeks later was transferred to Texas, remaining there for six weeks. At the termination of that time he was demobilized and at once started for the Pacific coast, arriving in Astoria in February, 1919. He has been engaged in the practice of his profession there ever since and hy his estimable conduct has already established a reputation as a desirable citizen and he has built up an extensive and lucrative prac- tice, his ahility as a physician being recognized hoth in and out of his profession.
In 1919 Dr. Berger was united in marriage to Miss Evelyn May Pollock, a native of Oregon, and they have become the parents of one son, George, Jr. Mrs. Berger is a consistent member of the Episcopal church and active in the club and social life of the city.
In the fraternal circles of Astoria Dr. Berger takes a prominent part, being a
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member of the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen. His practice is for the most part a general one but he soon hopes to specialize in internal medicine, especially as to diseases of the heart and kidneys. For recreation Dr. Berger turns to the great out-of-doors and both he and his wife are lovers of outdoor life and the various sports.
JAMES HOWARD HAZLETT.
James H. Hazlett, a prominent and prosperous attorney, practicing principally in irrigation laws and water rights litigation, residing at Hood River, is a native of Illinois, born at Milford on Christmas Day, 1875. He is a son of Hugh D. and Rachel O. (Slusher) Hazlett, the former of whom was a member of an Illinois pioneer family, of English descent, while the latter came from a family of Dutch pioneers of Penn- sylvania.
James H. Hazlett was educated in grade and high schools of his native town, at the Morgan Park Academy and at Harvard University, being graduated from the latter institution in 1902. Having decided on law as a profession, he entered upon a course at the Boston University Law School and was later admitted to practice in 1904 by the supreme court of Massachusetts. Following his admission to the bar, he prac- ticed for the next five years in the offices of two well known law firms at Boston, but at the end of that period, owing to the state of his father's health, he returned home and attended to his father's business interests.
It was in 1912 that Mr. Hazlett located at Hood River, Oregon, where he has since remained and has been successful in building up a large and profitable practice. He gives most of his attention to irrigation laws and to laws dealing with water rights, bringing to bear on both these a ripe experience and keen judgment. He was nominated for the state Senate in 1918, to fill the unexpired term of Senator Wilbur, and lost the election by the small margin of eighty-four votes. He has always been a consistent supporter of the democratic party and ever active in its councils, where his advice on current politics is freely sought.
Mr. Hazlett is a member of the Masonic order, a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also holds membership in the Elks and in the Knights of Pythias, and in the latter order has passed through all the chairs, being past chan- cellor commander and a delegate to the grand lodge. He is an earnest member of the Riverside church and active in its work. During the World war, Mr. Hazlett took a prominent part in the promotion of all bond drives and also served as one of the legal advisers of the draft board. Young, active and intensely public-spirited, he throws the weight of his support and influence in the direction of all civic affairs intended to advance the welfare of his adopted city.
FRANCIS A. SHERMAN.
Francis A. Sherman passed away in Portland in 1918. For several years he had been a resident of the Rose City and had enjoyed the warm regard and high respect of all with whom he had come in contact. He was born in Watertown, New York, January 31, 1865, a son of Charles A. and Caro P. (Norton) Sherman, who were natives of the state of New York. He acquired his education in St. John's Military School at Manlius, New York, after having attended a private school near Boston. When he left the military school he made his initial step in the business world at Watertown, New York, where he remained until after the outbreak of the Spanish- American war, when he was appointed traveling auditor of the Philippine islands and resided in the Orient for four years.
It was during that time that Mr. Sherman met and married Miss Anne Maryland Koch, a daughter of John A. and Katherine (Dellner) Koch, both of whom were natives of Germany but came to the United States when quite young. They were mar- ried in Cincinnati, where they spent much of their lives and where Mrs. Sherman was born and acquired her education. She was appointed by William H. Taft as a teacher in the Philippines, for she had previously given much time to the study of languages and was a linguist of ability, speaking the Spanish language very fluently. For about
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four years she devoted her time to school work in the Philippines, continuing therein until she became the wife of Mr. Sherman. In 1904 they returned to the United States, settling first in New York, where Mr. Sherman was manager for the Norfolk & St. Lawrence Railroad Company for four years. On account of failing health, however, they removed to Portland in 1908 and for ten years he was a resident of this city, pass- ing away in 1918.
To Mr. and Mrs. Sherman were born four children: Philippa Norton, who was born in the Philippines and is now a student in St. Francis Hall; George Corlis, who was born in Watertown, New York; Robert Lansing; and Francis Augustus. All are at home. The daughter, Philippa Norton Sherman, is a talented young lady who has been most liberally educated and is the author of many delightful poems of much merit. The children of the family are entitled to membership with the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, for Mr. Sherman was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His father was a distinguished jurist and a partner of Judge Lansing. The ancestral record is one of which the family has every reason to be proud and the present generation are showing many of the same distinguishing characteristics of their forefathers.
Fraternally Mr. Sherman was identified with the Masons and he was likewise con- nected with the Ad Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party, while his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Trinity Episcopal church.
TOIVO JOHANNES FORSSTROM, M. D.
Dr. Toivo Johannes Forsstrom, a distinguished physician and surgeon engaged in practice at Astoria, is conceded to be one of the foremost members of the profession, not only in his state but also throughout the Pacific northwest. A native of Finland, he was born ou the 30th of July, 1867, his parents being Gustaf and Louise A. (Polvi- ander) Forsstrom. The father held the position of postmaster of his native town, a life appointment, and one of the highest civil offices under the laws of Finland. The Polviander family were for generations either soldiers or clergymen, and in the Finnish wars of 1808-9 the maternal great-grandfather was one of his country's most dis- tinguished officers.
In the schools of his native land Toivo J. Forsstrom acquired his education, and on reaching man's estate he decided to become a physician, a profession which none of his family had adopted. After receiving a good preliminary education he entered the University of Helsingfors, from which he was graduated in 1897 with the M. D. degree. He immediately began the practice of his profession in his native town, there continu- ing until 1905, when he started on a tour of the world, his travels eventually taking him to Astoria, Oregon, where a number of his former patients in Finland were resid- ing. He found conditions here so much to his liking that he decided to become a permanent resident of the city-a decision which he has never had occasion to regret, for he is now accorded a large and lucrative practice. He never regarded his pro- fessional education as ended with the completion of his college course but has remained a close and discriminating student of the science of medicine and surgery, and that his knowledge is broad and his judgment sound is evidenced in the excellent results which have attended his ministrations to the sick. He has pursued postgraduate courses in Ber- lin and Vienna, thereby greatly promoting his professional skill and ability, and his fame has extended throughout the Pacific coast, his patients coming from all states west of the Rockies and also from Alaska. Feeling that progress should be the watchword of the profession at all times, he also keeps in touch with the great truths which science is constantly revealing through his membership in the medical associations of Finland, the Clatsop County Medical Society, the Oregon Medical Society and the American Medical Association. His education has not been confined to the mastery of his pro- fession, for he is a gentleman of broad culture, who possesses notable linguistic ability, being able to converse fluently in five languages.
In 1908 Dr. Forsstrom was united in marriage to Miss Alli Ingeborg Lauren, who is also a native of Finland. For recreation Dr. Forsstrom turns to the great out- of-doors and is a devotee of field and stream. He is a stanch supporter of all forms of athletics and in 1886 he was a contestant in the first national athletic meet held in his native land, which constituted the beginning of the International Olympian
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games of today. He is a man of advanced scientific attainments, whose pronounced ability is not only attested by his professional colleagues and contemporaries but by the general public as well, and he ranks with the foremost medical practitioners of the northwest.
ALBERT HERBERT.
One of the largest and most important nurseries in Oregon is that known under the corporate name of the Rahn & Herbert Company, of which Albert Herbert is the managing head. Mr. Herbert's knowledge of the growth of plants and bulbs was gleaned in his youth, which was spent in a nursery in Germany. He was born in that country in 1868 and came to America in 1881. Upon arriving in the new world he had little difficulty in securing employment and his first position was in Kansas City, Mis- souri, where he remained for two and a half years. The next three years were spent in Tacoma, Washington, and from there he moved to Portland in 1893. Fourteen years later, in 1907, he and his associate there purchased a nursery which grew to be one of importance. In 1911 they purchased a small plant in Clackamas county, which under the careful supervision of Mr. Herbert has grown to be one of the largest in the state. It embraces sixty thousand square feet of glass and fifteen acres of land. The company still operates the Portland establishment, which specializes in cut flowers and pot plants, and also conducts a retail store under the firm name of Niklas & Son.
Mr. Herbert has four children: Grace, who is at home; William and Louis, pupils in the Oregon City high school; and Robert, a student in the grade school at Clackamas.
Fraternally Mr. Herbert is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. He is also a member of the Oregon Florist Society and the National Association. He is foremost in all matters tending to the welfare of his community and is accounted one of the best citizens of Clackamas county.
LAUD RAYMOND RUTHERFORD.
Certain men, by their energy and activity, becomes known as "live wires" in the town in which they live, the term "live wire" meaning an active, industrious and public-spirited citizen. To this class Laud Raymond Rutherford, who conducts the Rutherford Real Estate Company, most assuredly belongs. He was born in Ohio, in 1875. His parents were Morton E. and Maggie J. (Halliday) Rutherford. The Ruth- erfords were a pre-Revolutionary New York family, and Laud Rutherford's mother was of the third generation of a Scotch family in America, by the name of Halliday. The immediate ancestors of L. R. Rutherford settled in Ohio in the early development of that state, and his father, Morton E. Rutherford, moved to Montana in 1886, set- tling in the town of Missoula. There he followed the real estate business and served as state senator from that section.
Laud Rutherford received his education in the schools of Missoula, Montana, Wash- ington State College and the Hamline University of Minnesota. After finishing his education he was associated with his father in the realty business until 1904, when he went to Spokane. Washington, where he remained but a short time. He built and operated a sawmill at Rainier, Columbia county, Oregon, in 1905 and resided in that town for five years. In 1910 he located at St. Helens and has since made this his home. He was first interested in the Columbia County Abstract Company, hut in 1918 disposed of his interests in that concern and established the Rutherford Realty Com- pany, which handles city and suburban property, and writes fire, marine and auto- mobile insurance. He was for a time vice president and for several years a director of the Columbia County Bank, and is ex-president of the Rainier Commercial Club and of the St. Helens Commercial Club. Mr. Rutherford has demonstrated his faith in St. Helens by erecting on Columbia street a handsome brick block opposite the courthouse, which embraces five store rooms and a theatre.
In 1900 he was married to Mary Josephine Allen, daughter of Joseph S. Allen of Spokane, Washington, and the niece of the Hon. John B. Allen, who has served his state both as attorney general and United States senator. Mrs. Rutherford is a social
LAUD R. RUTHERFORD
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leader and prominent in women's affairs and club work. She is president of the St. Helens Library, and since her incumbency has wonderfully increased the efficiency of the library. They have two children: Wade Alexander, and Laud Raymond, Jr.
Mr. Rutherford is a Mason, a Shriner and a Knights Templar. He is also an active member of the Interstate Realty Association. His religious connections are with the Methodist Episcopal church, and he was for several years a member of its official board. The coming of the Rutherford family to St. Helens was a distinct advantage to the city.
JOHN ALBERT LAING.
John Albert Laing, vice president and general attorney for the Pacific Power & Light Company, was born in Albany, New York, November 14, 1883, a son of John Collier and Euphemia Taylor (Cochran) Laing, the former a native of Roch- ester, New York, born in 1856, while the latter is a native of Scotland. They were married in Albany in 1879 and are still residents of that city. The Laing family is also of Scotch descent, having been founded in the new world by the grandfather, John C. Laing, who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, but came to America and died in the early '60s.
John Albert Laing, whose name introduces this review, acquired a public school education in Albany and afterward attended Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1905, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1908 he was graduated in law from Columbia University in New York city, at which time the LL. B. degree was conferred upon him. He was then admitted to practice at the bar of New York city in the same year and continued a member of the legal profession there for about three years, or until December, 1910, when he made his way to the coast. Through the intervening period he has resided at Portland and for a decade has been numbered among the capable lawyers of this city. In 1910 he was appointed general attorney of the Pacific Power & Light Company and also of the Portland Gas & Coke Company and in 1917 was elected to the vice presidency of both corpora- tions.
On the 1st of June, 1910, in New York city, Mr. Laing was married to Miss Ruth E. Fuller, a daughter of the late Albert D. Fuller and a native of the Empire state. Mr. and Mrs. Laing have a family of three children: Helen Fuller; John Collier, who was born September 4, 1915; and James Fuller Laing, an adopted son, born April 16, 1910.
Mr. Laing has always given his support to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Congregational church. He stands for all those forces which make for honorable manhood and for progress and improvement in the community. To this end he is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and an advocate of the projects of that organization for the city's benefit and upbuilding. He belongs to the Arlington Club, to the University Club, the Waverly Country Club, the Multnomah Club, the Press Club and the Progressive Business Men's Club.
DAV RAFFETY, M. D.
No history of Oregon would be complete without mention of Dr. Dav Raffety and the family of which he is a representative, for in early pioneer times they came to this state and through the intervening years the name has been closely associated with the development and progress of Oregon. Dr. Raffety was born in Missouri, February 15, 1844, and was a son of Samuel B. and Mary (Hoover) Raffety, the former of Scotch Irish descent, while the latter was of Dutch and French lineage. They became the parents of five children who were born in Missouri and Illinois and three who were born in Oregon, Dr. Raffety being the eldest of the family now living. Both of his parents lived to a ripe old age on the old homestead which they secured on coming to Oregon and greatly enjoyed the development of the country, in which they bore their full part. On the 20th of April, 1852, Samuel B. Raffety started with his family from Atchison county, Missouri, for Oregon, accompanied by the Stafford, Gulliford and Ramsey families and others, the train consisting altogether of sixty-two wagons. Mr.
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Raffety was elected captain of the train. He had about seven yoke of cattle to each of his two wagons. There was an average of about two able-bodied drivers to each wagon in the train. It was Mr. Raffety's duty to select the camping grounds each day where there was wood, water and feed and show the drivers where to head in and form a camping circle with the camp fires inside. The stock was picketed every night with a regular watch and each and every man knew his work. They crossed the Missouri at St. Joseph, swimming the cattle for the first time. Mighty preparations had been made to meet the dangers and hardships which each undaunted traveler faced. Wagon wheels, running gears and oxbows were made of seasoned hickory and the wagon beds of lighter wood were so constructed that they could be tightened and corked to use as boats, pulled by swimming horses with long ropes. They had candle coils fifty feet long, made by pulling cotton cords through melted tallow, beeswax and rosin and then coiled like a rope. Pulling out the center, the end could be lighted and over this a cup of tea or coffee could be boiled when wood or buffalo chips was scarce on the open grounds. They carried with them light tent poles fastened under the wagons, and hanging from the hind axles was the usual bucket of tar and a tin bucket for carrying water, while the farm axe was on the side of the wagon and a box at the end gate was full of necessary tools. A strong canvas was stretched over the wagon bows and inside there was a veritable curiosity shop, with pockets for motley things. The old flintlock rifle and the flintlock smooth-bore holster pistol were part of the equipment, and following the party was a good young Canadian horse that was used to help drive the loose cattle and was taught to plunge right into the river and swim across. The man carried a long rope fastened to the horns of the leading ox and after him would come the rest of the cattle and horses. It seemed that the animals were as anxious to reach their destination as the men, for often they would even swim ahead of the leader, seeming glad to get to the other side in hopes of finding better feed. When the party reached the Pawnee Indian country they were held up and had to pay a dollar and a half per wagon to insure a peaceful trip through the Indian country. This was indicated by poles across the road in two or three places before they encountered the Indian tribe with their interpreter to inform the travelers in good, plain English that they must pay or the Indians would stampede the cattle. The party crossed Kansat to Grand Island, where Mr. Raffety had in an early day plowed for the government. They then followed the North Platte to Fort Laramie, thence proceeded to Independence Rock, Devils Gate, Pilot Rock, South Pass, Green River and on to Bear River. There the Oregon trail and the California route separated, and from Soda Springs the Raffety party proceeded to old Fort Hall, then down the Snake river into Oregon by way of Huntington, Baker City, La Grande and on to the Columbia and The Dalles. They swam their cattle across the river at The Dalles to the Washington side, then drove to the lower Cascades, across again to the Oregon side and proceeded down to the mouth of the Sandy near Troutdale. At The Dalles the wagons and families were put on scows and floated down to the upper Cascades, where there was a narrow wooden railway that they portaged to the lower Cascades, then again loaded onto another scow and were towed to the mouth of the Sandy river by the Lot Whitcomb. There they hitched the cattle again to the wagons and crossed the Willamette and proceeded on to the Tualatin plain, where they arrived in the middle of the night. When daylight came they found themselves surrounded by big oak trees and grass as high as one's head, and Mrs. Raffety exclaimed: "We will stop right here, for this is the first oak we have seen since leaving old Missouri." Dr. Raffety's uncle, Jacob Hoover, was one of the first to locate on the Tualatin plain, there establishing his home in 1844. Samuel B. Raffety purchased a donation claim on Dairy creek, about eight miles north of Hills- boro, on the north side of the Tualatin plain, securing three hundred and twenty acres which is still owned by two of his sons and a daughter. As the years passed on the family continued the work of developing and improving the property until it was con- verted into a valuable farm, and the parents remained residents of Oregon until called to their final rest.
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