USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. III > Part 76
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Mr. Stone was married in early manhood in the east, to Miss Ella B. Wells, grand- daughter of Henry Wells, the founder of the American Express Company and of Wells, Fargo & Company. They have become parents of four children: Byron F., of San Francisco; Charles W., living in Astoria; Dorothy, the wife of W. S. Kinney; and Louise, the wife of Carrol C. Seeley, both of Astoria. Since 1909 the family residence has been maintained in Astoria and throughout the intervening period Mr. Stone has taken most active and prominent part in public affairs. He was elected a member of the port of Astoria Commission at the general election in 1916 and at the first meet- ing of the Port in 1917 was chosen president. Two years later he was reelected presi- dent, continuing in the office for four years. In 1920 he was again chosen a member of the Port Commission to enter upon another four years' term, beginning January 1, 1921. His work as president won for him wide publicity and great popularity because of the efficiency with which he performed his tasks, bringing about far-reaching and beneficial results.
In addition to discharging the duties of port commissioner Mr. Stone was very active in connection with the bond campaigns throughout the World war period. He conducted all of the correspondence for more than three years with the congressional delegation in Washington and the navy department relative to establishing a naval base in Astoria, which was finally brought to a satisfactory conclusion and he is now
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chairman of the Naval Base Corporation, which will transfer through the county court the naval base site to the United States government early in January, 1921. For two years during the war activity Mr. Stone was chairman of the Astoria chapter of the American Red Cross. He conducted the united war work campaign, succeeding in raising funds to the extent of thirty thousand dollars. He is now president of the Young Men's Christian Association of Astoria and for several years has been a vestry- man and senior warden of Grace Episcopal church. His activities have thus been broad and varied, contributing to public progress and prosperity and to the moral uplift and development of the community, while as a business man his record for forcefulness and resourcefulness is known throughout the coast country.
W. M. JACKSON.
W. M. Jackson is general manager of the Columbia Harbor Development Company, with offices in Portland, and has been permanently identified with the northwest since 1912. He was born in Ohio, March 4, 1873, a son of William Liberty and Mary Gen- evera (Murphy) Jackson, both of whom are natives of Ohio. The father was born in Bucyrus and was a merchant and farmer for many years but is now living retired. He and his wife still make their home in the Buckeye state.
W. M. Jackson was educated in the public schools of Mansfield, Ohio, and in the Ohio Business College at that place, in which he pursued a full course. He came to the west in 1912 to take up his permanent abode here. He and his wife, however, had made a trip the previous year and were so pleased with the country that they decided to return. Mr. Jackson has since been connected with the real estate business and industrial development. At the present time he is greatly interested in Astoria and is instrumental in financing the Astoria Marine Iron Works, now one of the most important industries of that place. During the war the plant was used for govern- ment work and the company paid out during the war period over three million dollars for labor. Mr. Jackson has sold a large amount of water-front property which was owned by the Astoria Marine Iron Works, the proceeds of the sales being turned back to the industry. Recently they have taken up the manufacture of automobile parts for Henry Ford, having received a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar order from the Detroit automobile manufacturer. The business is rapidly developing and Mr. Jackson is recognized as one of the resourceful and enterprising business men on the coast.
While still a resident of Ohio, Mr. Jackson was married in the city of Marion, that state, to Miss Lettie M. Rubins, a daughter of Mrs. Eugenia L. Rubins, an accom- plished musician and lady of rare refinement living at Marion. To Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have been born five children. Merrill Rubins, eighteen years of age, is a graduate of the Jefferson high school of Portland and for the past two years he has been proclaimed by an overwhelming vote the "live wire" of his classroom. Helen Hunt is attending the Jefferson high school. Mary Eugenia is in her first year at the Jefferson high school. William Howard, aged seven, is attending the Alameda school. Waverly Maxine is also in school.
Mr. Jackson and his family attend the First Presbyterian church. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, also belongs to the Portland Ad Club, the Progressive Business Men's Club, the Press Club and the Civic League. He is likewise a member and supporter of the local Young Men's Christian Association. He and his family own and occupy a fine home at No. 928 East Twenty-ninth, North Alameda Park, in Portland, and occupy an enviable social position. He belongs to that class of representative and farsighted business men who have sought the opportunities of the growing west and are here building up a great industrial and commercial empire.
EDGAR DEWITT GILSON.
The career of Edgar Dewitt Gilson has been characterized by continuous progress, for, early grasping the eternal truth that industry wins, industry became the beacon light of his life. For over thirty years he made his home in Ritzville, Adams county, Washington, and was more or less prominently identified with its public affairs. In
W. M. JACKSON
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1916, however, he removed to Bend, Oregon, and he is now mayor of that town, having been elected to that office in 1920 for a four-year term.
Fortunate is the man who has back of him an ancestry honorable, and distinguished and happy is he whose lines of life are cast in harmony therewith. In the country in and around Flandria, France, the family originated and Edgar Delano was head of the house of Delano de Lannoy. The progenitor of the family in America was Richard Warren, who was on board the historic ship, the Mayflower, landing in this country in 1620. Philip Delano landed at Plymouth Rock, November 11, 1621, having crossed the ocean on the good ship Fortune, and his son married the daughter of Richard Warren, their descendants becoming prominent figures in American history. A lineal descendant, Hon. Columbus Delano, was secretary of the interior of the United States, commissioner of internal revenue and congressman from New York, and Hon, Charles Delano of Massachusetts and Hon. Milton Delano of New York represented their respective states in congress. Mr. Gilson also numbers among his honored ancestry Ulysses Simpson Grant, eighteenth president of the United States.
Edgar Dewitt Gilson was born in Middleville, Michigan, on the 26th of June, 1858, the eldest son of William Booker and Ellen J. (Skinner) Gilson. The father was a native of Dublin, Ireland, and received his education in Germany. He became an educator of note and won a great deal of prominence in that connection in Michigan, where he resided until 1866. In that year he crossed the plains over the old Oregon trail with his family, locating in the Willamette valley, in the vicinity of Albany, and for some years taught school both in Linn and Marion counties, having among his pupils in 1866 and 1867 a number of youths who in later life became prominent factors in promoting the development of the northwest.
Edgar Dewitt Gilson received but little schooling, the educational advantages in this section of the country being limited during those early pioneer days, but he was reared in a home where much value was placed upon knowledge, and possessing fine mental qualities, he has read widely and has thus acquired extensive information on a large variety of subjects, being now generally recognized as an exceptionally well educated man. While attending school he also assisted with the operation of the family ranch, located near Lebanon, Oregon, until 1877, when he went to Albany and during the years 1878 and 1879 was clerk in the St. Charles Hotel at that point. From there he went to eastern Oregon and rode the plains as a cowboy until 1883, when upon hearing of the discovery of gold in northern Idaho he determined to try his fortune at prospecting and from Centerville, Oregon, in 1884, joined the rush to Eagle and Pritchard creeks and the Coeur d'Alene mines, remaining there for a year. On the 2d of March, 1885, he went to Ritzville and for the rest of that year and the following year he served as deputy and acting auditor of Adams county and also as clerk of the Northern Pacific Railway Land Examiners. When N. H. Greene was elected sheriff in 1885 he chose Mr. Gilson for his deputy, in which capacity the latter served four years and during that period also clerked in a general mercantile store. In the fall of 1889 he engaged in the real estate and insurance business and was in- terested as well in the hardware business, being associated with D. Keller & Company. From 1891 to 1893 Mr. Gilson was actively engaged in discharging the duties of city marshal, tax collector and street commissioner and at the expiration of that period he was elected justice of the peace and police judge. He capably filled these offices until 1895, when he was again appointed deputy sheriff and served in this capacity for four years under J. A. Thompson. A year prior to the expiration of his term, in 1897, he was elected city clerk, holding this office for eight years, and in 1898 he became editor and manager of the Adams County News, now known as the Washington State Journal, in which he had a half interest, continuing to edit this journal until 1906, during a portion of which time he likewise owned the Ritzville Times. In 1899, a year after he became editor of the News, Mr. Gilson was elected county clerk and clerk of the superior court of Adams county for one term, also handling all probate matters. In the succeeding four years he devoted the greater part of his time to his newspaper work but in 1904 again entered public life, being the successful candidate for the office of sheriff. He held this position for four years, during two of which, 1906 and 1907, he was also president of the Washington State Sheriffs' Association and representative to the National Sheriffs' Association of the United States at Chicago and Minneapolis. In 1904 Mr. Gilson erected the office building bearing his name and it is one of the finest public buildings in Ritzville. For some years part of its lower floor has been occupied by the post office. In 1911 he was chosen to represent the state of Washing- ton as one of the three judges at the Pendleton round-up, held from September 14th
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to 16th of that year. The year 1912 witnessed the election of Mr. Gilson to the mayor- alty of Ritzville and he will long be remembered as one of the most efficient mayors that city has ever known. During his incumbency in that office he did much to further the development and improvement of the community and he won the great respect and confidence of his fellowmen. In 1916 he removed to Bend and organized the Gilson Land and Investment Company, of which he is still general manager. This company is composed entirely of members of his family, the officers being as follows: R. K. Gilson, president; A. B. Gilson, vice president; D. T. Gilson, vice president; E. L. Gilson, secretary; E. F. Gilson, assistant secretary; and E. K. Gilson, treasurer. They handle real estate and investments and farm loans and also do a rental and conveyanc- ing business. The company owns forty acres of land in the city of Bend and one thousand in the proximity of the city, being proprietors of Spring River and group of connecting springs and adjacent grounds. Mr. Gilson is now serving as mayor of Bend, to which office he was elected in 1920. His labors in office stand for law and order, for reform and improvement and he is prominently identified with the upbuild- ing and progress of the city in many ways.
Since boyhood numismatics have greatly fascinated Mr. Gilson and has been the principal diversion of an otherwise busy life. In this connection a contemporary writer has said of him: "He has much more than a local reputation as a numismatist, having a large and remarkable collection of gold, silver and copper coins, and also paper moneys. His copper collection contains over three thousand specimens, representing every nation in the world. Many of these have long been out of circulation and have few if any recorded duplicates. In his paper money is found Continental and Confed- erate as well as wild-cat currency. Mr. Gilson likewise has a very large and valuable collection of curios and pictures, numbering between three and four hundred pictures collected during the past thirty years. Many of these are rare and exceedingly valuable, his various collections of coins, curios, pictures, etc., being valued at many thousands of dollars. His avocation has proven a great deal of delight to him and is a source of continuous pleasure and study. He knows many prominent numismatists, whom he has met through the medium of his membership in the American Numismatic Association, and is quite well informed on the notable collections in this country and Europe."
It was in the year 1887 that Mr. Gilson was united in marriage to Miss Edith Keller, a daughter of Darvin Keller, formerly a merchant and large ranch owner of Ritzville. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gilson: Ralph Keller, who was born in 1889; Edgar LeRoy, whose birth occurred in 1891; Arthur Byron, whose birth occurred in 1893; Darvin Thompson, born in 1895; Edith Florence, born in 1898; and Wilson Theodore, who celebrated his sixth anniversary in 1911. The eldest son is now residing in San Francisco, where he is sales manager for the Pacific coast for the Southern Cotton Oil Trading Company. He is married, his wife having been before her marriage Miss Vanela Pidwell. Ralph Keller Gilson enlisted in the World war and served for fourteen months in the Fifteenth Ammunition Train at Fort Bliss. His brother, Edgar LeRoy, who is now practicing dentistry in Portland, served throughout the war in the Medical Corps. Byron, vice president of the Gilson Land and Investment Company of Bend, enlisted in the navy and served from 1917 to 1920. He is now a member of the United States Naval Reserve Corps. Darvin T. is resid- ing in Bend and Edith Florence is the wife of Floyd M. Turner and likewise makes her home in Bend. The youngest member of the family, Wilson Theodore, is a high school student.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Gilson has been a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands. He has been in public life as an official, both appointive and elective, almost continually for more than thirty years and there is not the least stain upon his name incident to any of the many trusts which from time to time have been given to his keeping. While a resident of Ritzville, Washington, he served as a member of the school board for six- teen years, acting as clerk, director and president of the board of education. In 1909, while living in Ritzville, he was chairman of the county central committee, his term expiring in 1912, and for eight years he acted as republican state committeeman for Adams county. In the general election of November, 1920, he was chosen justice of the peace for the district of Bend, which also embraces the city, for a period of six years, the term expiring in 1927. He has been prominently connected with political activities and for many years has been regarded as one of the leaders in local govern- mental affairs. While engaged in newspaper work he was one of the active members
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of the Washington State Press Association and on four successive occasions, from 1902 to 1905, was sent as a delegate to the annual meetings of the National Editorial Association. In 1904 he was elected secretary of the state organization but resigned this office the following year, as his duties as sheriff of Adams county precluded the possibility of his meeting the requirements of the former office. Mr. Gilson has many fraternal affiliations and endeavors to live up to the teachings of each and every craft. He is a Mason, formerly belonging to Ritzville Lodge, No. 101, A. F. & A. M., of which he served as secretary and senior warden, and to Zenith Chapter, No. 55, O. E. S., of which he has been secretary and past worthy patron, while at the present time he is identified with Bend Lodge, No. 139, A. F. & A. M. In 1891 he joined Ritzville Lodge, No. 58, I. O. O. F., of which he was treasurer, past noble grand, past district deputy grand master, secretary for ten years, past grand representative of four sessions and trustee, while of Zenobia Rebekah Lodge, No. 118, I. O. O. F., he served as secretary and treasurer. He is now secretary of the Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 218, at Bend, Oregon, and also belongs to Bend Rebekah Lodge, No. 208, I. O. O. F. While in Washington he acted as keeper of records and seal, master of finance, corresponding secretary, past chancellor, past grand representative and past master of exchequer of Prairie Queen Lodge, No. 36, Knights of Pythias. At present he is a member of Deschutes Lodge, No. 103, K. P., and Alpine Temple, No. 28, Pythian Sisters. He was likewise connected with Ritzville Camp, No. 5595, Modern Woodmen of America, of which he was past venerable consul, past clerk, past representative and former manager, and is now a member of Camp No. 9794, M. W. A. As a Woodman of the World he was formerly identified with Ritzville Camp No. 463, while at present his membership is with Camp No. 316 at Bend, of which he is serving as clerk. He is likewise a member of the Foresters of America and of Manzanita Council, No. 24, Degree of Pocahontas. He was a charter member of Tomanawash Tribe, No. 39, at Ritzville, Washington, trans- ferring to Deschutes Tribe, No. 69, Improved Order of Red Men, at Bend, Oregon, in 1917, and is now great junior sagamore of the order in Oregon, so that in July, 1923, by regular promotion, he will be at the head of the order. -
For the past five years Mr. Gilson has been financial secretary and a trustee of the First Methodist church of Bend and was the layman delegate to the Annual Col- umbia River conference, in session during the first week in September, 1921, at Spokane, Washington. Mr. Gilson always takes a deep interest in public affairs and has been an enthusiastic member of the Commercial Club since coming to Bend and served as its secretary the first year. He became a member of the Ritzville Commercial Club upon its organization and was president of that body in 1910-11, after which he served as secretary for several years. His cooperation is assured every movement that he feels is at all likely to promote the development of the county or its public utilities and in 1910 and 1911 he was manager of the Adams County Fair and a member of the Carnegie library board.
Mr. Gilson is without doubt one of the most popular men in the northwest, his characteristics being such as to win for him many friends. Enterprising in every venture he has undertaken, he has achieved merited success and his history should serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others, showing what may be done when energy and persistency point the way.
JOHN CLINTON VANDEVERT, M. D.
One of the most successful and prominent members of the medical profession in Oregon is John Clinton Vandevert, who has practiced in Bend since 1916. Although engaging in general practice for the most part, Dr. Vandevert specializes in gynecology and diseases of children and his high professional attainments and his sterling charac- teristics have justified the respect and confidence in which he is held by the medical fraternity and the local public.
Dr. Vandevert is a native of Arizona, in which state his birth occurred in 1887, a son of William P. and Sadie L. (Vincenheller) Vandevert. His grandfather, Joshua Jackson Vandevert was born in Ohio. The Vandeverts are an old Dutch family who came to America from Holland long before the birth of the republic. The name was originally Van Dewoort and the great-grandfather of the doctor, Jackson J. Van De- woort, was a distinguished soldier in the War of the Revolution. William P. Van-
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devert was born in Lane county, Oregon, and . was an extensive stock raiser, gaining prominence and substantial success in that connection.
Dr. John Clinton Vandevert received his early education in Bend, Oregon, to which place his father moved from Arizona. He decided upon the medical profession as a life work, with the result that he enrolled in the medical department of the Willamette University, subsequently in the medical department of the University of Oregon, and was graduated with the class of 1914, receiving his M. D. degree. He was in his twenty-seventh year when he received his degree and following his gradua- tion entered the St. Vincent hospital at Portland, where he remained during the year 1915 as junior and senior house surgeon. He took a postgraduate course the following year in Rush Medical College at Chicago and the same year returned to Bend and established offices for the practice of his profession. During the five years of his practice in Bend Dr. Vandevert has built up an extensive and lucrative patronage and has attained a prominent place among the professional men of the city of his adoption and the state at large.
On the 10th of June, 1916, Dr. Vandevert was united in marriage to Miss Harriett Louise Dolsen, a native of Oakland, California, and a member of one of the pioneer families of Oregon. The name was spelled Van Dolsen up to the time of Mrs. Van- devert's grandfather, when he had the name simplified. The Dolsen family were residents of New York from the earliest days of that state and members of that family fought gallantly in the Revolutionary and Civil wars. To the union of Dr. and Mrs. Vandevert one son, John Clinton, Jr., has been born. Mrs. Vandevert is a woman of much personal charm and intellect and is a prominent figure in the club and social circles of Bend.
Since attaining his majority Dr. Vandevert has given his allegiance to the re- publican party, having firm belief in the principles of that party as factors in good government. Fraternally he is a Mason, being a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine and he is likewise affiliated with the Elks, Moose and Eagles. In line with his profession he is a member of the medical societies of the county and state and he is likewise a member of the National Medical Association, and the pro- ceedings of those bodies keep him thoroughly informed concerning the most advanced work being done in the country. For some time Dr. Vandevert was county health officer and during the World war he was chairman of the Deschutes county medical advisory board. He is always interested in every movement for the improvement of the general welfare and he takes an active part in the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce and the Bend Commercial Club. For recreation the Doctor turns to all outdoor sports and he is now serving as president of the Oregon Trap Shooters' Club. In matters of citizenship Dr. Vandevert manifests a progressive and public-spirited interest, yet he devotes the greater part of his attention to his professional duties, which are constantly growing in volume and importance.
HON. THOMAS ALLEN MCBRIDE.
Hon. Thomas Allen McBride, who since May 1, 1909, has served as associate jus- tice of the supreme court of Oregon, is a distinguished jurist whose name is insep- arably interwoven with the judicial history of the state. His well rounded character, finely balanced mind, splendid intellectual attainments and thorough knowledge of the law have made him most efficient in the discharge of his important duties. Judge McBride comes of honorable and distinguished ancestry and is a representative of a prominent pioneer family of this state. He was born in Yamhill county, November 15, 1847, a son of James and Mahala (Miller) McBride, the former of whom was born in Tennessee in 1801, while the latter was a native of St. Charles, Missouri. Rep- resentatives of the family in the paternal line emigrated to this country from the north of Ireland about 1760. James McBride, the great-grandfather of the subject of this review, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving with the rank of lieu- tenant in the Virginia Regulars, and his wife was a sister of the mother of President Andrew Jackson. The grandfather was a native of Tennessee and became one of the early ministers of the Christian church, organizing that denomination in con- junction with Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone. The maternal grandfather, Philip Miller, was born in Pennsylvania but in an early day emigrated to Missouri. James McBride, the father, became the first superintendent of public instruction in the
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