USA > Oregon > Oregon, pictorial and biographical > Part 7
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Mrs. UU. D. Gray
tions here to be found, but one of the elements in Oregon's splendid citizenship of today is found in the gentle influence and consecrated lives of those eastern bred women. History contains no more thrill- ing story than the records of the lives and military records present no account of greater fearlessness in the face of danger than is con- tained in the life story of Mrs. W. H. Gray, who in 1835 came as a missionary to the Oregon country. Her Christian work was
"A labor loved and followed to the goal. A faith so sure of the divine intent It dignifies the deeds of daily life."
In her maidenhood Mrs. Gray bore the name of Mary Augusta Dix. She was of English lineage and came of the same ancestry as Dorothy A. Dix, the philanthropist. She was born at Ballston Spa, New York, January 2, 1810, and was one of a family of seven daugh- ters who were reared in a Christian home amid refined associations. Her parents took an active interest in church work and it was no unusual thing to see them with their seven daughters seated in the church choir, the mother and daughters dressed in white. The first break in the happy home circle came in February, 1838, when W. H. Gray of Utica, New York, sought the hand of Mary Dix in mar- riage. He had recently returned from the Oregon country, where he had gone in 1836 with Dr. Marcus Whitman and Rev. H. H. Spalding as secular agent of the missions they went to establish. She was to be not wife alone but colaborer in this mission field. Not long before the death of Mrs. Gray her daughter, Mrs. Kamm, said to her: "Mother, I have often wondered how, with your education and surroundings, the refinements of life you were accustomed to and your personal habits, you could possibly have made up your mind to marry a man to whom you were a total stranger so short a time be- fore and go with him on such a terrible journey thousands of miles from civilization into an unknown wilderness, exposed to countless dangers. Mother, how did you do it?" After a few moments' pause her mother replied with earnestness and solemnity: "Carrie, I dared not refuse. Ever since the day I gave myself to Jesus, it has been my daily prayer, 'Lord, what will thou have me to do?' When this question, 'Will you go to Oregon as one of a little band of mis- sionaries to teach the poor Indians of their Savior?' was so suddenly proposed to me, I felt that it was the call of the Lord and I could not do otherwise."
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Mrs. Uu. D. Gray
This was the motive that led Mrs. Gray to sever home ties and go with her husband in the work of consecrated Christian service to the far west. By steamer and stage coach they traveled west- ward until they reached Independence, Missouri, where they were joined by the Rev. Cushing Eells, Rev. Alkanah Walker, Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Smith and Mr. Rogers, who were also to become work- ers in the missionary field. They planned to make the journey on horseback-a difficult undertaking as well as an arduous one in that day when the streams and rivers in the west were unbridged and when little more than an obscure trail marked the way to the coast. The Indians were a constant menace and often surrounded their camp, standing around like great dogs and sometimes even fol- lowing the party all day. They carried with them tents which served as shelter at night while a buffalo robe and oil cloth blankets consti- tuted their beds. At times their blankets would become heavy with rain and their clothing in the morning would be as damp as when they took it off the night before and when darkness came upon them they pitched their tents, spread the robes upon the ground within and then the piece of oilcloth. The saddles and loose bag- gage were arranged neatly about on the walls inside and rolled up blankets served for seats. In the center of the tent a table was spread for the evening meal. At night the cries and howling of wild animals could be heard. When day broke, about 3:30 in the morning, all were astir; the animals were turned out to feed, break- fast prepared and eaten, the dishes washed, the repacking done, morning prayers were said and they were ready for the journey of another day. They had traveled for one hundred and twenty- nine days after leaving Independence, Missouri, when on the 29th of August, 1838, they reached Whitman mission, where they were joyously greeted by Dr. and Mrs. Whitman and Rev. and Mrs. Spalding, who had been anxiously awaiting them. Mr. and Mrs. Gray became the assistants of Rev. and Mrs. Spalding, who were in charge of the mission at Lapwai. Mrs. Gray earnestly under- took the task of teaching the Indian women and children and soon was instructing a band of fifty or more natives whom she taught under a pine tree until a log schoolhouse could be built. It was a primitive structure with puncheon seats and earth floor. There Mrs. Gray continued her labors until November, 1842. Her well trained voice proved a potent factor in her work. When she first joined in the singing at family prayers Rev. Spalding realized what a power her voice would be in his Sunday worship and requested her to take charge of that part of the service. The Indians, too, were
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Mrs. TU. D. Gray
visibly impressed by her singing and spoke of her as "Christ's sis- ter," and told the tale of her music long afterward. No doubt the awakening powers of her voice, coupled with her rare sweetness of character, had much to do with bringing about the great revival among the Nez Perce Indians. Several hundred made confessions of religion and the influence was at least in a degree lasting, for years after Mr. Spalding left that field the Indians in many of the lodges continued to read the Bible, to sing hymns, to pray and re- turn thanks at their meals.
In November, 1840, the Gray family came to the Willamette valley, Mr. Gray having severed his connection with the missions to accept the appointment of secular agent for the Oregon Insti- tute. The journey to the coast was one of untold hardships, the parents, their son and two daughters floating down the Columbia to Clilo in a bateau belonging to the Hudson Bay Company. Be- lieving that the trail would be safer than the turbulent waters of the Columbia near the cascades, Mr. Gray arranged that he and his family should proceed on the backs of Indian ponies, but when they were deep in the mountains they encountered a severe snow storm (which not only imperiled their lives but rendered further travel impossible. Some of their Indian guides were then sent to Fort Vancouver for help. At the Columbia the red men found a canoe in which they proceeded down the river and when Dr. Mc- Laughlin heard that a woman and little children were snowbound in the mountains he at once sent a boat manned by Hudson Bay Company men to their relief. Mrs. Gray's calm faith and belief that all would yet be well served to keep up the courage of the others and as the relief party were making their way up the Columbia, there came to them upon the wings of the wind the strains of a song that she was singing. Thus they directed their course to where the little party were imprisoned. They returned with the family to the river bank where embarkation was made for Fort Vancouver.
From that time forward the work of Mr. and Mrs. Gray proved a strong force in advancing the religious development of Oregon and also the temperance and educational work. Their home was the center from which radiated social and reform movements. In 1846 they assisted in forming on Clatsop plains the first Presbyterian church in the northwest. The strongest influences in life are often the most intangible and who can measure the work of this noble couple who were never contented with second best but chose those things which are highest and holiest. Every movement or measure for the promotion of truth, justice and righteousness received their
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Mrs. T. D. Gray
support and many such found their impetus in their home. In 1870 they returned on a visit to their old home in New York, going from Portland to San Francisco and thence across the continent by rail, accomplishing in a few days a journey to which they had devoted months when they made their way on horseback to the Pacific coast thirty-two years before. It has been said of Mrs. Gray that her presence was gentle and dignified. Many there are yet who bear testimony to the nobility of her character. She possessed a pure spirit and strong soul and was so pacific in her disposition that under the severest tests she remained calm and self-possessed. Her last words were a prayer that her husband, children and friends might join her in the Father's house not made with hands. She passed away at her country home, the Clalskanie farm, December 8, 1881, when nearly seventy-two years of age, survived by her husband and seven of the nine children born unto her. The high sensitiveness of her nature was tempered by a serenity that had its root in an un- wavering faith. She never faltered when she believed that the work before her was that which her maker intended that she should do. Of a most quiet, refined nature, her life was a restraining power to the spirit of lawlessness which is too often an element in a new com- munity where an organization of society and of government has not been effected. While her words carried weight and influence, the beauty of her own Christian life and spirit constituted a still stronger power for good.
M a tackett
Captain Mellie Albertus Hackett
APTAIN MELLIE ALBERTUS HACKETT, as C president of the Columbia Digger Company, has be- come so well known in Portland and the northwest that he needs no introduction to the readers of this volume. His life, especially in more recent years, has been devoted to the utilization of the natural re- sources of the state and his efforts have been of incalculable benefit to the section at large.
It was on the 20th of April, 1857, near Lawrence, Kansas, that Captain M. A. Hackett was born and spent his youthful days in the home of his parents, Nathan and Lavina (Thurston) Hackett. He was only four years of age when the family removed from Kansas to Colorado and was a youth of twelve years when they started across the plains by wagon train to California, where the father engaged in farming until 1872. That year witnessed his arrival in Oregon.
Captain Hackett accompanied his parents on their removal to this state and has largely made his home here from the age of fifteen years. He was first employed in a salmon cannery until nineteen years of age, during which time he familiarized himself with various depart- ments of the business until he was able to take charge of a cannery that he built for the firm of Hepburn & Jackson, on Woody Island. He afterward took charge of a cannery for John Kiernan and Everding & Farrel, at Pillar Rock, Washington, and continued in close connec- tion with the salmon canning industry until 1881, when he came to Portland. Here he built the first ferry that operated on what is now known as the Albina ferry route, continuing in charge for some time. He was also interested in the Jefferson ferry, which he operated for fifteen years, and likewise owned and ran the Selwood ferry. He was connected with this business until the Madison bridge was made a free highway and the support of the ferries naturally fell off. He then took the machinery of the Jefferson street ferry, using it in the build- ing of the steamer Hattie Belle, which ran on the Columbia river in the service of the government. Later he sold that vessel and com- manded the steamer H. C. Grady, running between Portland and Astoria for a year.
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Captain Mellie Albertus Dackett
On the 24th of March, 1899, Captain Hackett organized a company under the name of the Columbia Digger Company, and they engaged in diking tide lands in the vicinity of Astoria for a year. This was the first undertaking in the state of Oregon where the work was done by machinery. The purpose was to reclaim the lowlands and also to dig canals for the government. Still operating under the name of Columbia Digger Company, Captain Hackett opened a sand and gravel business at the foot of Ankeny street in April, 1903. Since establishing the enterprise over one hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars have been spent in improvements for the business in docks, dredges, etc., and the company has today one of the best equipped plants for the conduct of the sand and gravel business in Portland. The officers of the company are: M. A. Hackett, president; Earl Hackett, secretary; and V. D. Hackett, a director. The enterprise was incorporated on the 24th of March, 1889, and the undertaking is now one of the most extensive and important of this character conducted in the northwest.
In August, 1879, Captain Hackett was married to Miss Emma Jeannette Crapper, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of Dorsey S. Crapper, who at the time of his daughter's marriage was living in Port- land. Four children have blessed this union: Captain Earl A., Ver- non D., Hattie Belle, and Margaret. The two sons are associated with their father in business and the elder is a member of the Commer- cial Club of Portland. Captain Hackett belongs to the local camp of the Woodmen of the World. His extensive business interests have made him well known in this part of the country and his efforts have been a factor of large value in the development of the northwest in re- cent years. In establishing and commanding this undertaking he has. displayed keen interest and a marvelous recognition of opportunities.
& w Shaver
Captain James TUI. Shaber
N Captain James W. Shaver is found a repre- I sentative, in the second generation, of the Shaver family which is closely identified with the develop- ment and progress of the northwest. He has made his home in Portland almost continuously since the time he reached the age of six months, and, for a long period has been associated with navigation interests as the head of the Shaver Transportation Company. This company owns and operates its boats and Captain Shaver as its secretary and treasurer devotes his attention to the management of its interests which are of great importance, and have reached extensive proportions. It is true that he entered upon a business already established, but in accelerating its activities and enlarging its scope he has dis- played notable individuality and business ability as manifest in his powers of organization and also in his correct solution of difficult navigation problems.
A native of Oregon, Captain James W. Shaver was born at Waldo Hills, within five miles of Silverton, October 2, 1859. His father, George Washington Shaver, was born in Campbell county, Kentucky, March 2, 1832, and received a fair education in the schools of that state. He was a young man at the time of the removal of the family to Missouri, and it was while living in that state that his keen interest in the west and its future prospects was awakened. At- tracted by the discovery of gold in California, he crossed the plains with a party who traveled by ox teams and wagons in 1849. They made the long and tedious journey across the plains and through the mountains and at length their eyes were gladdened by the sight of the green valleys of California. A desire for gold drew him to the west, but he did not meet with the success which he had anticipated in his search for the precious metal, and his failure in mining ven- tures in California led him to turn his attention to southern Oregon, where he likewise tried mining for a time. On the 2d of February, 1854, George W. Shaver arrived in Portland and in this city was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Dixon, daughter of a pioneer, and he removed with her to a farm in Marion county. While they were living upon the farm four children were born to them and others
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Captain James del. Shaber
were added after the family became residents of Portland in 1860, their home at that time being established in what was known as the Elizabeth Irving addition. Their children were as follows: John R., who was sheriff of Clackamas county and was shot in the per- formance of his duties, dying at Oregon City; Mrs. Alice Witten- berg, of Portland; James W .; Lincoln, who is captain and chief en- gineer of the Shaver Transportation Company; George M., who is a partner in the same company; Delmar, who is actively interested in its management; Pearl, the wife of George Hoyt, of Portland; and Susie, the wife of A. S. Heintz, also of this city.
The father of our subject engaged in business as a dealer in wood and for many years furnished that commodity to the steamboats which plied between Portland and San Francisco and also supplied the wood used as fuel on river boats and barges. Thus one by one timber tracts of Oregon were cleared and Mr. Shaver probably cut more acres of timber land than any other man of his time. He was interested in the transportation business also, as carried on by way of the rivers and became president of the Shaver Transportation Com- pany, of which his son, James W., is secretary and treasurer. The death of George W. Shaver occurred October 26, 1900. A contem- porary biographer said of him: "He was not only a man of sound business judgment and capacity for observation and action, but also in his character embodied all that is excellent and of good report. No worthy cause of Portland but profited by his generosity and large- heartedness; no friend but was benefited by his counsel and assist- ance. To the end he retained in increasing measure the confidence of all with whom he was ever associated and to his family and friends he left the heritage of a good name."
Captain James W. Shaver, the second of the surviving sons of the family, was only six months old when his parents became resid- ents of Portland, so that his education was acquired in the schools of this city. He was still quite young when he became interested with his father in the conduct of a livery stable in East Portland and the management of a large cord-wood enterprise which embraced a wood- yard in East Portland and also at the Shaver dock upon the river. At that time the sale of wood for fuel was one of the important in- dustries, as it was used on all steamboats and transportation lines. This naturally drew the attention of Captain Shaver to the boating business, in which he embarked in 1880 in partnership with Henry Corbett and A. S. Foster, purchasing the business of Captain Charles Bureau and conducting the undertaking as the Peoples Freighting Company. He became manager of that company and also captain.
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Captain James do. Shaber
of the Manzanilla, a river boat plying between Portland and Clat- skanie. Not long afterward G. W. Shaver, his father, purchased the interest of Mr. Foster in the business and Mr. Corbett withdrew, after selling his interests to G. W. Shaver and his son. The business was then reorganized on the 10th of June, 1893, under the name of the Shaver Transportation Company, with the father as president and the son as secretary and treasurer. In 1889 they built a boat which was called the G. W. Shaver, and in 1892 they placed upon the river the Sarah Dixon, named for Captain Shaver's mother. Later the Manzanilla was sold, while the Shaver and Dixon per- formed all the work of the company until 1900, when they disposed of the Shaver. The same year, however, a towboat called No Won- der was purchased for towing logs and in 1901 the firm built the Henderson, also used for towing purposes. They built the new Dixon and the Wanna in 1906 and the new Shaver in 1908, bought the Cascades in 1909, and built a one hundred horse power launch, the Echo, in 1910. The company has a towing contract for twelve of the mills of Portland and its crafts are continuously seen upon the Columbia and the Willamette rivers, performing an active and im- portant part in the clearance of the enormous freight business of the state, transporting the output of great lumber mills to their respec- tive destinations. For a long period James W. Shaver was captain for the company but in later years has devoted his time to the busi- ness management, the firm having offices at the foot of Davis street. Familiar with every phase of river business, his carefully formulated plans are resultant factors in the achievement of success and have placed the Shaver Transportation Company in a conspicuously prom- inent position among the representatives of river interests in the northwest. He is also president and part owner of the Clatskanie Transportation Company.
Mr. Shaver was married in Portland in 1886 to Miss Annie Scholth, a representative of one of the pioneer families of the state. He belongs to the Woodmen camp and affiliates with the democratic party in national politics, but his interest and activity have chiefly centered upon his business affairs which, carefully guided, have reached a considerable magnitude. Captain Shaver is a member of the Port of Portland Commission. Among those familiar with his history he bears an unassailable reputation for business integrity, his record conforming at all times to the highest standard of business ethics and presenting no esoteric phase.
Car Chaque
Willard Hart Chapin
ILLARD HART CHAPIN, who since October, W 1889, has made his home in Portland and through the course of orderly progression has reached a prom- inent place in real-estate circles, having since March, 1907, been engaged in this field of business with excellent success, was born in Livonia, Livingston county, New York, September 1, 1862. He is descended from old American families. His great-grandfather, Elijah Chapin, responded to the call to arms when, on the 18th of April, 1775, Paul Revere rode through the New England village awakening the Minute Men with the news that the British were on the march. With his com- rades he went forth in battle array and served until American inde- pendence was achieved. Levi Green, another grandfather of Mr. Chapin, served in the Saratoga campaign during the Revolutionary war and was afterward a government pensioner. His great-grand- father, Joseph Hart, of Hopewell, New Jersey, was a private in Cap- tain William Tucker's company of the First Regiment of Hunter- don county, New Jersey, and served throughout the war for independ- ence. Orange Chapin, the grandfather of Mr. Chapin, was a soldier in the War of 1812 and his father, Willard Slocum Chapin, served throughout the Civil war, being mustered in at Portage, New York, in August, 1862, as a member of the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry. He went to the front as first ser- geant, was promoted to the rank of captain and was breveted major after the close of the war. His regiment was engaged at Chancellors- ville and at Gettysburg and later on was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland. After participating in the campaign around Look- out Mountain he went with Sherman to the sea and faced the enemy in a number of noted engagements. During his active business life he followed merchandising. His wife bore the maiden name of Cath- erine Hart.
In the graded schools of his native town Willard H. Chapin pur- sued his education and was graduated in 1881. From the age of thirteen years he had sold papers and conducted a newsstand in his father's place of business, but could not see anything beyond that kind of a life in the village. He saw that his home locality offered
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Maillard Dart Chapin
absolutely no opportunities beyond gaining a bare living, many of his school friends had left and he realized that it was his only hope of making his way along the path of success. Accordingly he first went to Rochester, where for about six months he was employed as a clerk in a dry-goods store. In March, 1882, he removed from Rochester to Olean, New York, where for four years he filled the office of assist- ant postmaster, but with the election of President Cleveland he was requested to resign, after which he clerked in a retail shoe store for a year. In March, 1887, he went to Chicago, where a friend had secured for him a position in the office of C. M. Henderson & Com- pany, at that time the largest wholesale shoe house in the west. Two years of very strenuous labor there undermined his health so that he went to Emery county, Utah, and, thinking that outdoor life would prove beneficial, spent one summer on a cattle ranch, where he did his share in the work-cooking, riding the range, punching cattle, branding, etc. It was a summer of hardships, out all day on the range in sun or in rain, then rolling up at night in a blanket with a saddle for a pillow. Before the season was over there came days of snow and sleet, and his experience on a Utah range was one of hardships.
In October, 1889, Mr. Chapin came to Portland, where he has made his home continuously since. For five and a half years he was connected with the firm of Blake, McFall & Company and later spent three years in the commission house of Richet, Roberts & Bell. He was afterward secretary for the W. B. Glofke Company, a wholesale commission firm, for about nine years and then, withdrawing from that connection in March, 1907, embarked in the real-estate business, in which he is still engaged and in which he is finding ample scope for his energy and adaptability-his dominant qualities. Already he has secured a good clientage in this connection and has negotiated many important realty transfers. He is now president of the Chapin- Hulow Mortgage & Trust Company, an organization with a capital of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, doing a general real-estate business, home building, mortgages and insurance. This company is one of the largest and best known concerns in Portland.
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