USA > Oregon > Oregon, pictorial and biographical > Part 9
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Mr. Laing was married in New Zealand in 1866 to Miss Mary McDonald, a native of Scotland and a daughter of Donald and
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Agnes McDonald, who in the early years of their domestic life located in New Zealand, and there they both passed away. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Laing, of whom six are living, namely: Mary, the wife of James Hartnett, of Umatilla county; Alfred, also living in this county; James T .; Arthur, who is a resident of Spokane; W. R., of this county; and Alice B., the wife of G. D. Roe, of Boise, Idaho.
Mr. and Mrs. Laing are members of the Presbyterian church, in which faith they reared their family. In politics he is independent, strongly advocating progressive and reformatory measures and has served in the capacity of school director. He possesses many of the fine, sterling qualities of the Scotch race and to his thrift and enter- prise and incorruptible integrity must be attributed his success. His achievements have been attained through many long years of close application and unswerving determination and now in the evening of life he is enjoying ease and comfort.
Mr and Mrs John L. Heckman
John I. Stockman
J OHN L. STOCKMAN, who passed away at his home in California, February 10, 1907, was a highly hon- ored veteran of the Civil war, having rendered effi- cient service as a member of the Sixth Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, and participated in Sherman's famous march to the sea. He was born in Ohio, October 22, 1841, the son of John C. and Mary (Poole) Stockman, both of whom were natives of Ohio. In their family were three chil- dren, of whom only W. J. Stockman, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, now survives.
In 1866, after the close of the war, John L. Stockman went to California, where he resided for eleven years. Subsequently he came to Umatilla county, where he took up a claim about twenty-five miles north of Pendleton, also homesteading a timber claim and taking up six hundred and forty acres of railroad land, to which he later added until at the time of his death he owned twelve hundred and eighty acres of land. He also owned property in Pendleton. He was very successful financially and Mrs. Stockman is now supplied with a goodly competence.
On the 5th of October, 1902, Mr. Stockman wedded Miss Mary L. Bier, who was born in Ross county, Ohio, and was the eldest in a family of seven children born to her parents, Louis and Margaret Bier. The parents were both natives of Ohio and passed away in that state. Mrs. Stockman still owns the farm of twelve hundred and eighty acres, all of which is under a high state of cultivation, and she also has two lots in Portland and a beautiful residence at No. 615 Garfield street, in Pendleton. She has charge of the entire estate left by her husband and is managing it along the same careful busi- ness lines which he employed. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is much interested in charitable and beneficent work.
Politically Mr. Stockman was a republican and although he kept well informed on the political questions and issues of the day, he was never an office seeker. He was identified with the Grand Army of the Republic as a member of Kit Carson Post of Pendleton. He
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was an earnest and faithful worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, an active and industrious citizen and a man of business ability, who commanded the confidence and esteem of all with whom he was asso- ciated.
Henry Vire
Henry Rice
ENRY NICE, who is living retired at Waldport, H having accumulated a competency by many years of energetic and well directed application, is a native of St. John, New Brunswick, born February 10, 1837. He comes of a family of fishermen on the paternal side and has spent many years in that vocation. The grandfather was the most prosperous fisherman of his time in New Brunswick and shipped extensively to the West Indies. Cornelius Nice, father of our subject, was a native of New Brunswick and owned a number of vessels, being engaged in the fishing business dur- ing his entire active life. He and his father were stanch loyalists. The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Ann Betts. She was a native of New Brunswick and her father was a captain in the English army against the Colonies during the Revolutionary war. Her grandfather, Dr. Isor Betts, was a Mason of high degree in New York city and was known to be friendly to the British cause. He was taken prisoner but was released by order of General Washington and took refuge in New Brunswick. He was the owner of large land grants in Nova Scotia. The great-grandfather was one of the early settlers of Nova Scotia and his descendants were all loyal to Great Britain at the time of the war for independence.
At the age of eighteen Henry Nice began to learn the shipbuild- ing trade which he followed for three years, having previously pos- sessed advantages of attendance in the grammar schools of New Brunswick. After becoming well acquainted with his trade he built a boat of his own and entered the fishing business in which he continued for a number of years. In 1869 he migrated to the Pacific coast and worked at his trade as shipbuilder in San Francisco for ten months. He then came north to Portland and went down the Columbia river to Oak Point where he associated with Thomas Hogkins in building a fishing trap. The fish were very plentiful and for six weeks they took out as many as one thousand salmon a day. In 1873 he went to Rainier and was assisted by his cousin, Nehemiah Nice, in building a new sort of fishing trap which proved very successful, as they took out twelve to fifteen hundred salmon a day. The fish were so plentiful that prices were low and they received only a moderate recompense
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for their labor. After spending six years on the Columbia river Mr. Nice, in 1876, went to the Fraser river, in British Columbia, and en- tered into partnership with Augustus Wright in the management of the King cannery. He sold out at the close of a year and spent the next two years fishing on the Nass river, in British Columbia. After a year on Rogue river, Oregon, he was appointed superintendent of jettys at Yaquina bay, a position which he occupied to the satisfac- tion of the officials at Washington for six years. In 1888 he took up his residence at Alsea bay where there was at that time a small settle- ment with a store and a postoffice. Here he built a cannery which he operated successfully for sixteen years, the business growing from very small dimensions until it yielded a large annual income. He was one of the best informed men in the northwest as to salmon fishing and also as to all matters pertaining to the preparation of fish for the market. While engaged with his cannery he also invested in land, acquiring twenty-five hundred acres around the bay. In 1904 he dis- posed of his canning interests and retired. He has also sold most of the land but still owns about four hundred acres and is a large holder of real estate at Newport.
In 1892 Mr. Nice was married to Miss Jessie Livingston Alex- ander, who was born in London, England, and came to America with her parents when she was six years old. They have two children: Jessie L., who is now eighteen years of age and is living at home; and Henrietta, aged nine years. Politically Mr. Nice has voted the re- publican ticket ever since he became a citizen of the United States. He has never sought public office as his interest has been mainly cen- tered on his business affairs. His religious belief is indicated by mem- bership in the Episcopal church. He has for many years been iden- tified with the Masonic order and is a member of both the York and Scottish Rites and also of the Shrine at Portland. He belongs to the Elks lodge at Albany. Having early learned the great lesson of self- reliance and gained confidence in his ability to win an honorable name among his fellowmen, he bravely set forth from the land of his birth and his ambition is now realized. He ranks among the leaders in the section in which he makes his home.
Jacobtammy
Jacob Ramm
I T IS frequently the case that men who are pioneers in an undeveloped region or in the establishment of a business, who bear the hardships and trials incident to settlement in a new community or meet the dis- couragements and difficulties attendant upon the establishment and development of a new industry or commercial enterprise, do not receive the financial returns which seem to be their due. Not so in the case of Jacob Kamm. He is now one of the wealthiest residents of Portland and in his success his fellow townsmen feel that he has fittingly come into his own. His pros- perity has followed the closest application, the most unremitting in- dustry and ready utilization of opportunities that others might have enjoyed had they possessed the ability and the courage to utilize them. No history of the development of the northwest would be complete without mention of Jacob Kamm, for as one of the promot- ers of navigation interests he has accomplished for this section of the country a work the value of which can scarcely be overestimated. While he has prospered, the public at large has been a direct bene- ficiary of his labors in that his work has been a factor in opening up this great section of the country with all of its splendid natural re- sources. His history constitutes an interesting chapter in the life of the northwest.
Psychologists claim that ancestry, individuality and environment are the three-fold elements of success, representing material, ability and opportunity. The land of the Alps was the ancestral home of Jacob Kamm, who was born in Canton Glarus, Switzerland, Decem- ber 12, 1823, and to the eighty-eighth milestone he has traveled life's journey, the evening of his days being spent in one of the beautiful homes of Portland in an honorable retirement from the labors that so many years engaged his attention. His father resigned his com- mission in the Swiss army to make a home for himself and his family among the broader opportunities offered in America, but four years later, in New Orleans, yellow fever claimed him as a victim and his son, then twelve years of age, was left to face the difficulties of life alone. A sturdy, self-reliant spirit came to him from his ances- try and with this there developed in him a determination to utilize
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to its full every advantage. Already prior to his father's death he had secured a position in the office of a prominent daily paper in New Orleans and after leaving that position, which he had obtained through the influence of the foreman, who was his friend, he per- formed any task which he could secure until November, 1837, when he changed the base of his business operations to St. Louis. On the trip up the river he was robbed by a smooth-talking stranger of all of his money save ten cents. The urge of necessity therefore forced him to obtain immediate employment, which he secured as cabin boy on the Ark, a small steamer on the Illinois river. During the winter months he attended a private school. Contact with the world served to show him his own limitations and at the same time awakened his ambition. He gave every leisure moment to mastering the details of marine engineering and, becoming an expert workman in that field, was offered paying positions which in time brought to him the capi- tal that enabled him to become part owner of the steamer Belle of Hatchie, a steamboat which he ran until his health became impaired. He then sold out and for several years thereafter was chief engineer on packet boats plying between St. Louis, Keokuk and New Orleans. The requirement demanded of engineers before they were licensed was at that time very high. Mr. Kamm received his diploma from the Engineers Association of Missouri but again impaired health forced him to seek a change and, hoping that different climatic con- ditions would prove beneficial, he crossed the plains in 1849 to the mining regions around Sacramento. After a brief period he was installed as engineer on a steamboat running on the Sacramento and Feather rivers in California. The following year, in San Francisco, he became acquainted with Lot Whitcomb and it was this incident that eventually brought Mr. Kamm into such close connections with the development of navigation in the northwest. In order to install the machinery ordered for the steamer Lot Whitcomb, Mr. Kamm went to Milwaukie, a Portland suburb. While his knowledge of such work was of expert character, his sole equipment at that point was a bellows and anvil; but with the assistance of a blacksmith of the name of Blakesley, who was ingenious and painstaking, Mr. Kamm man- aged to shape the crude tools that enabled him to perform the work that he had undertaken. It was necessary also that he assemble the boilers, which had been shipped from New York in twenty-two sec- tions, and at length the Lot Whitcomb steamed out of the harbor- the first craft of the kind ever equipped in this port, Mr. Kamm be- ing behind the engines and operating the machinery until the vessel was sold and taken to California.
Caroline A. Kamm
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Jacob Ramm
From that time forward Mr. Kamm was closely identified with navigation interests of the northwest. He built the first stern wheel steamer of Oregon, the Jennie Clark, of which he was half owner with Messrs. Abernethy, Clark and Ainsworth owning the other half. This enterprise was a stupendous one for that day, for all machinery had to be brought around Cape Horn, but the work was successfully executed and the craft launched. Later he was active in the con- struction of the Carrie Ladd, also one of the first steamers on the Columbia, this vessel becoming the nucleus of the property of what was later the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which was or- ganized in 1860 with Mr. Kamm as one of the large stockholders and as chief engineer. He sold his interest in the business in 1865 to a syndicate, which in turn transferred its stock to the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company. Mr. Kamm also became one of the organ- izers, president and principal stockholder of the Willamette Steam Navigation Company, which operated extensively on the Willamette and eventually sold out to the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Com- pany. He was likewise the owner of the George S. Wright, a steamer engaged in the coast trade, running from Portland to Vic- toria and Sitka. With the settlement of Oregon and the northwest he developed his business to meet the growing demands of the time. Although on one occasion he thought to withdraw from active con- nection with navigation, he was forced to take in payment the small steamer Carrie, which was made the nucleus of the fleet of the Van- couver Transportation Company that was organized in 1874 with Mr. Kamm as president. He has continued in that connection to the present time, although he has long since retired from the active man- agement of the business. He was at one time owner of considerable stock in the Ilwaco Railway & Navigation Company and with others she was associated in building the Ocean Wave and the Norma, of the Snake River Transportation Company, which are the only boats that have passed through the famous Box canon on the Snake river with- out being wrecked. Long before the era of railroad transportation his labors had facilitated trade relations in providing means of trans- portation for the products of the northwest. The growth of a dis- trict must always depend upon this and the work of Mr. Kamm was therefore of incalculable benefit and value to Oregon and Washing- ton. Moreover, he became a factor in banking circles in Portland, subscribing largely to the stock of various banks and at one time serv- ing as vice president of the United States National Bank. His busi- ness operations at Astoria featured largely in the upbuilding of that city. He invested extensively in property and business enterprises
L. F. ADDITION
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Jacob Ramm
there until he became one of the large tax-payers of that seaport and is now president of the First National Bank of Astoria. His realty holdings include valuable property in Portland and in San Francisco.
On the 13th of September, 1859, Mr. Kamm was married to Miss Caroline Augusta Gray, a daughter of William H. and Mary A. (Dix) Gray, missionaries of the northwest of 1836 and 1838 re- spectively. Both of her parents, of whom mention is made on an- other page of this volume, were prominent in the educational and re- ligious development of the northwest. The missionary spirit brought them to this section of the country that they might spread the teach- ings of the gospel among the Indians and the early white settlers in this region. The father was also a practicing physician and a man of considerable literary ability. Unto Dr. and Mrs. Gray were born seven children, of whom Mrs. Kamm is the second in order of birth, and by her marriage she became the mother of one son, Charles T. Kamm, now deceased, who became his father's associate in navi- gation interests. He left four children: Mrs. Caroline A. McKin- non; Jacob G., now in Europe; Willis W .; and Philip S.
While the extent of the business interests which Mr. Kamm has managed is such as would preclude for many a man the opportunity for engaging in other interests, Mr. Kamm was long known among . the active workers of the First Presbyterian church and as president of its board of trustees. He contributed generously to the mainte- nance of the church, manifesting deep interest in the extension of the work. In Masonry he has attained high rank. His initiation into the order occurred in St. Louis, July 27, 1847, and following his ar- rival in this state he became one of the early members of the Mult- nomah Lodge, No. 1, A. F. & A. M., of Oregon City, but is now a member of Willamette Lodge, No. 2, of Portland. His name is also on the membership rolls of Portland Chapter, No. 3, R. A. M .; Ore- gon Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; Oregon Consistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R .; and Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
A review of his life seems to indicate that Mr. Kamm has lost no opportunity not only to further his own interests but also to contrib- ute through his business activities to the growth and development of the northwest. The sterling characteristics of the Swiss people- industry, reliability and courage-are his and they enabled him to meet the demands of our splendid western citizenship. Rich in its natural resources, the country offered him opportunities of large value. He saw them and made them his own. His knowledge and his business training, both largely self-acquired, were of the most practical character and as the years passed he developed a marked
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genius for organization that carried him into important business rela- tions. He spends his time today in superintending the details of his large business interests. Although he is unable to leave the house he daily receives reports from the First National Bank of Astoria, of which he is president, from the Vancouver Transportation Company and from his other extensive interests, and regularly gives advice with reference to their management. He occupies one of the most beautiful homes in Portland. In the period of his early residence here he purchased, in the early '60s, fourteen acres of land then out- side of the city limits. Today this tract is in the center of the great and beautiful city that has grown about it and is in itself a center of beauty scarcely surpassed. Beautiful trees and shrubs indicate the art of the landscape gardener and, though in the very heart of the city, seem in a measure to shut out the cares and activities of the out- side world that the owner may enjoy that peace and quiet which he has so worthily won and which are so rightfully his. The home with its magnificent surroundings is a most suitable environment for the honorable old age to which he has attained.
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John J. Richardson
John G. Richardson
J OHN G. RICHARDSON, who since 1891 has been a resident of Umatilla county, was born in Knoxville, Marion county, Iowa, June 13, 1865. His parents were Nathan and Mary M. (Harsin) Richardson, the father a native of Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio, and the mother of Florida. Nathan Richardson served in the Mexican war and after the close of the war came to Iowa, locating in Marion county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land near the Des Moines river. He there met and married Mary M. Harsin, who as a young girl had removed to that state with her parents. Mr. Richardson was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade and followed this line of work in connection with farming. At the beginning of the Civil war he enlisted in the Fortieth Iowa Volun- teer Infantry and was promoted from private to captain. He served for three years. Both he and his wife passed away in Marion county, Iowa, the latter on January 18, 1871, at the age of sixty years, and the former on August 20, 1878, at the age of eighty-four. In their fam- ily were eleven daughters and three sons, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest.
J. G. Richardson, being young when he lost his parents, resided with an older sister until he was able to start out in life on his own ac- count. He received his education in the public schools of Iowa and remained in that state until he reached manhood. He then went to Nebraska and later to Kansas, where he was employed on the range for three years. Afterward he was employed until 1891 in herding stock in New Mexico and Arizona. In that year he came to Umatilla county, Oregon, and has been a resident of this county ever since. Here he homesteaded land and for three years before he began working for himself he drove a bus in Pendleton. During this time he saved up one thousand dollars and then homesteaded some land in the South Cold Springs country of this county. He owned at one time over four sections of land, the last section of which he sold in 1911 for twenty- five thousand, six hundred dollars. He now lives in Pendleton and is engaged in the raising of horses. While connected with farming in- terests he was engaged principally in wheat growing, having over six- teen hundred acres of land in wheat, and sold in one year over ten
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John B. Richardson
thousand sacks of Blue Stem wheat. In stock-raising he gave especial attention to cattle and horses and had at one time over sixty head of horses.
In 1895 Mr. Richardson wedded Miss Anna B. Jackson, who was born in California in 1875, the daughter of Daniel and Mary M. Jack- son. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson have become the parents of two chil- dren: Pearl Pauline, who was born April 6, 1899; and Alton Anni- son, born June 15, 1903. Mr. Richardson is a republican in politics. He has been highly successful financially and his prosperity is due en- tirely to his own labors and keen business insight. He is well known and highly honored throughout this community.
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William f Heckman and family
William Joseph Stockman
ILLIAM JOSEPH STOCKMAN, who is living in W Pendleton, was born in Ohio, November 20, 1849, and is the son of John C. and Martha (Cunningham)" Stockman, both of whom were natives of Ohio. In their family were three children, of whom W. J. Stockman, of this review, alone survives. He was but three years of age when his parents removed to Indiana and spent the remaining portion of his minority in that state save for a brief period passed in Missouri. He pursued his education in the public. schools and then started out in life by engaging in farming, to which he devoted three years. Subsequently he went to California and after four years, or in 1877, came to Umatilla county, where he took up a homestead. He yet owns a farm of four hundred and eighty acres of highly im- proved land in Umatilla county and in addition he owns a beautiful res- idence in Pendleton at No. 623 Garfield street.
In 1869 Mr. Stockman wedded Miss Lizzie McConnell, and they became the parents of four children: Addison, a resident of Umatilla county ; Effie, who is the wife of Henry Peterson, of the same county, who operates her father's farm; and two who are deceased. Mrs. Stockman died March 22, 1888, and in 1890 Mr. Stockman married Sarah A. Williams, who has also passed away. On the 7th of April, 1895, he married Mrs. Etta Scott, a native of Randolph county, Illi- nois, who by her former marriage had two children, Glen E. and Eva L. Of this third marriage one son has been born, Joseph Lowell.
Mr. Stockman is a republican in politics and has served as road supervisor. He has always taken an active interest in educational measures and has been school director for nearly twenty years. Fra- ternally he has been a member of Helix Lodge, No. 40, U. A., but now belongs to Alfa Assembly, No. 9, of Pendleton. He is an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church and is one of the stewards. He has a large circle of acquaintances in Pendleton and is highly honored as a progressive citizen and a man who takes much interest in the public welfare.
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