USA > Oregon > Multnomah County > Portland > Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present > Part 15
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In fraternal relations Mr. Earhart was very prominent, having been made a Mason in 1863 and had held every office in the gift of the fraternity. In 1872 he was elected grand secre- tary of the Grand Lodge, serving until 1878, when, in recognition of past services in that body. he was elected to the high and honorable position of grand master and re-elected in 1879. He was also sovereign grand inspector and at- tained the thirty-third degree in the Scottish Rite in Oregon. He assisted in the organization of the first commandery of Knights Templar estab- lished on the north Pacific coast, and served for four years as eminent commander, and upon his retirement he was presented with a handsome Masonic jewel. At the time of his death he was grand commander of Knights Templar of the state. Religiously he was a member of the Con- gregational Church.
CAPT. GEORGE H. FLANDERS. A little more than a decade ago the city of Portland was called upon to give up one of the men whose character has truly left an ineradicable impres- sion upon the moral, social and commercial life of that city : whose purity of thought, word and action has placed him as one apart from the large number of those who gave their strength and manhood to the upbuilding of the west ; who. though long passed away, is still remembered by the many friends who loved him and the many
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John W. Meldrum
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who knew his worth through the kindness which he had shown them in the day of their need. Captain Flanders lived a life of such usefulness, intelligent, practical and Christian, giving freely of all wherewith he was blessed, in every busi- ness enterprise earnest for the advancement of the growth of the city but ever guarding his own honor and that of the community, the word be- ing the key note to the blamelessness of his en- tire life. A brief sketch of his life is herewith given, his participation in the early history of the city numbering him as one of the representative citizens.
George H. Flanders was born in Newbury- port, Mass., December 25, 1821, the representa- tive of an old New England family, the English ancestor having come to that state in 1640. There the father, John, was also born. From his earli- est boyhood Captain Flanders followed the sea, engaging in manhood in foreign trade, and finally he turned his eyes toward the western states, a splendid faith in their future justifying the removal here. In the year 1848 he came with his brother-in-law, Captain Couch, in a ves- sel of his own named "Palos," around the Horn to San Francisco and a little later became a resi- dent of our city, where he remained throughout the remaining years of a long and useful life, closely identified with the business interests of the city and the development of her resources. It is a fact worthy of note that Captain Flanders never revisited his home in the eastern states, so entirely content did he become in the life and interests which were his as a citizen of this section. He was first connected with Captain Couch in the building of the wharf which extended from Ankeny to Davis street and was known by the names of the two men, and Captain Flanders also built the Greenwich wharf. For several years he was engaged in the mercantile business here and in transportation between Portland and San Francisco, and also owned one-fourth of the Couch donation land claim, now known as Couch addition to the city. In connection with Captain Couch he built the first Masonic temple in the city, located at the corner of Front and Burnside streets, this being one of the first brick buildings here erected. One of the most important positions which the cap- tain filled was that of United States hull inspec- tor, succeeding to this upon the death of Captain Couch, and maintaining honorably and creditably the same for the period of ten years, at the ex- piration of that time resigning.
In fraternal relations Captain Flanders was a member of the Masonic order. belonging to Wil- lamette Lodge, and in religion he was a consci- entious member of Trinity Episcopal Church, in which he officiated as vestryman until his death, which occurred November 22, 1892. He married
Maria L. Foster, born in Winthrop, Me .. also blessed with the ancestry of a sturdy Puritan family, and she now makes her home in the old home in this city.
HON. JOHN W. MELDRUM. From an early period in the history of America the Mel- drum family has been identified with its growth, and it is a noticeable fact that its members have been associated with the pioneer element. Will- iam Meldrum, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, settled in Kentucky as early as 1804. while that state was yet in its infancy and unredeemed from the wilderness. At a later date he became a pioneer of Illinois, settling near Carrollton. where he passed the remaining years of his busy life. John, a son of this pioneer, was born in Shelby county, Ky., in March, 1808, and became a stonemason and builder, following that occupa- tion both in Illinois and Iowa.
As early as 1845 the Meldrum family started on the long and difficult journey across the plains. The family consisted of John Meldrum, his wife, Susanna Depew (Cox) Meldrum, and their four children. Starting from Council Bluffs, Iowa, in April, they followed the Platte and Green river route, and landed at Oregon City in October, 1845. The third in order of birth among the children was John W, who was born near Burlington, Iowa, December 17, 1839. From the age of six years he has been a resident of Oregon. Almost his earliest recollections are therefore of the far west, with its pioneer en- vironment and sparsely-settled communities. The hardships and privations incident to opening up a home in the wilderness he experienced while yet a boy, and in his later years he has looked back upon the past with a keen appreciation of the changes which time has wrought in our pop- ulation. improvements and well-being. His edu- cation was such as the early schools of the state afforded, but has been supplemented by self- culture and habits of reading and close observa- tion. His father had a claim near Ilwaco, Wash., and for a time he remained there, assisting in clearing the land, but about 1856 he returned to Oregon City. The next few years witnessed a number of changes in his life. For a time he taught school, for two years read law, and for four years worked in the Florence and other mines.
About 1865 Mr. Meldrum's attention for the first time began to be turned to surveying. For a period of twenty consecutive years, excepting only one year, he was employed as United States deputy surveyor, and meantime worked in every part of Oregon, as well as in Idaho. In 1888 he was elected county surveyor of Clackamas county, and two years later was honored with
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the office of county judge, which officer was at that time ex-officio chairman of the board of county commissioners. In this position his knowledge of engineering was brought into prae- tical use in the betterment of the county roads, then everywhere in a deplorable condition during all except the summer months of the year. Realizing that no permanent improvement could ever come under the labor tax system of working the roads, then employed. he devoted his ener- gies to the abolishment of that system, and the substitution of the money-tax system in his county. But it was not until the middle of his term, in 1892, when a new commissioner, R. Scott, of Milwaukee, whose ideas on road build- ing coincided with those of the judge, came into the board, that it was possible to make the change. As soon as practicable thereafter the change of systems was made, and although con- siderable opposition was encountered at first, especially in the country distriets, it soon became evident from the amount of actually permanent improvement already accomplished on the county roads that the new system of working the pub- lic highways was much better and it has been employed in the county since that time. The result has been greatly improved roads, the bene- fits of which the people, from actual experience, have learned to appreciate, and many who at first opposed the change now bless the judge who was instrumental in bringing it about.
The judge has a comfortable country home on the banks of the Willamette river, one-half mile below the mouth of the Clackamas river. On September 25, 1872, in Oregon City, the mar- riage of the judge and Miss Georgiana Pope was solemnized. Mrs. Meldrum is a native of Ore- gon City, and a niece of Governor Abernethy. They are the parents of three children, namely : Charles E., of Oregon City ; Eva S., a teacher in the high school of the same place; and David T., a student at Cornell University.
During 1898 Mr. Meldrum was appointed special agent for the general land office, exam- ining surveys in Nevada and Wyoming, where he remained for ten months, filling the duties of his office. In 1902 he was elected county sur- veyor of Clackamas county, which office he is now filling. The experience of his past surveying expeditions adapts him admirably for his present position, and he is filling it to the satisfaction of the people of the county. Since 1869 he has been associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is also a member of the En- eampment, besides having filled the chairs in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which he is still a member. For ten years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Oregon City, in the work of which he is warmly interested, as well as being
a generous contributor to its maintenance. From the time of casting his first vote he has been a stanch Republican, and was one of the four dele- gates-at-large from Oregon to the St. Louis convention which nominated MeKinley and Hobart. He is a member of the Pioneer Society and the Oregon Historical Society, and is at all times interested in anything pertaining to pioneer days in Oregon.
ROBERT C. KINNEY was a son of Samuel Kinney and a nephew of Gov. William Kinney of Illinois. He was born in Belleville, St. Clair county, Ill., in 1813, of Kentucky parentage. He pre-empted a traet of land on the banks of the Mississippi river which he thought eligible as a site for a future eity. Here he built a hotel and wharf and laid out a town, and ran a boat between this point and St. Louis. Thus he be- came the founder of Muscatine, and a pioneer of lowa. For a time he engaged in the flouring and sawmilling business, and also read law with. Judge Hastings, a prominent member of the early bar of San Francisco. In 1847, accompanied by his family he crossed the plains via the Platte route and Oregon trail, making the journey with ox teams. Near Lafayette he took up a donation claim under the territorial laws of Oregon.
Attracted by the news of wonderful gold mines in California he joined the throng of adventur- ous spirits, who have since rendered that state and epoch brilliant by their achievements in many fields, and during a part of 1848-49 shared their hardships and their fortunes. Returning to his farm in the latter year he devoted himself to its improvement for a time, but re-entered the milling business in 1859 by the purchase of the McMinnville mills, and finding the business profitable and to his taste, added the purchase of the flour mills at Salem in 1875 and removed thither with his family. This enlargement of his business called for branch offices in Portland, San Francisco and Liverpool, England. To this Salem milling company belongs the credit of chartering the first vessel for the shipment of flour from Portland to Liverpool, China, Hin- doostan and elsewhere in the Orient, and to Montevideo in South America. In the manage- ment of this growing and profitable business Mr. Kinney found his sons to be capable and successful lieutenants, and hence the business which they pioneered has grown to its present importance. But these growing interests did not withdraw Mr. Kinney's attention from his duties as a citizen. and his sterling sense and sound judgment were called for by his fellow citizens to aid in the convention which framed the first constitution for Oregon.
Through his marriage to Eliza Bigelow. R. C.
الكميـ
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Kinney became connected with the founder of the city of Milwaukee, Wis. Mrs. Kinney was born in Nova Scotia, and at an early age ac- companied her father, Daniel Bigelow. to Illi- nois, thence to Wisconsin, where Mr. Bigelow engaged in sawmilling. The little mill which he operated became the nucleus of a village, which he called Mil-waukee.
In the family of R. C. Kinney there were eight children who attained mature years, and of these three sons and three daughters are now living. Mrs. Mary Jane Smith is a resident of Astoria. and her sons, Senator J. H. Smith and A. M. Smith, are prominent attorneys of the same place. Albert W. Kinney, who was in the mill- ing business with his father, died in Salem in 1882. This son, together with William S. and M. J. Kinney, continued in the business pro- jected by their father, and William S. Kinney was the president and manager of the Clatsop Sawmill Company until the time of his death in 1899. Augustus C. Kinney, the Astoria physi- cian so well known as a specialist in tuberculosis, was among the first advocates of the germ the- ory of the origin of this disease. and had come to be recognized in this country as an authority in this field before the demonstrations of Koch of Germany removed all doubt by the discovery of the tubercular bacillus. His well consid- ered articles in medical journals and before medical societies had before that attracted much attention from medical men and now a large practice in his special field is a part of his reward. Alfred Kinney, a younger brother and a physician and surgeon in general practice lives in Astoria, where he stands high in his profes- sion. Mrs. Josephine Walker lives in San Fran- cisco, and Mrs. Eliza Peyton, wife of Dr. J. E. Peyton. lives in Redlands, Cal.
MARSHALL J. KINNEY, the fourthi son of R. C. Kinney, was an infant when the family came to Oregon in 1847. He was educated in the public schools of the state and in the Mc- Minnville Academy. After the completion of his education he entered into the employ of his father, where he soon mastered the details of the business. In 1868 he went to San Fran- cisco to take charge of a branch office there. Though barely twenty-one years of age the busi- ness, running into many hundreds of thousands of dollars per annum, and extending across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, was conducted with such good judgment as to command the con- fidence of his business associates of all classes in San Francisco, as well as the entire approval of his father in Oregon.
The death of his father, in 1875, and of his
older brother soon after, and the consequent sale of the Salem mills, recalled him to Oregon, where, in 1876, he became interested in the salmon pack- ing business in Astoria. Through his enterprise there was built up what was at the time the largest salmon cannery in the world. Not satis- fied with the methods of canning then in vogue, he introduced improved machinery and methods, and in this way brought the business up to a high plane of activity and success. About seventy-five thousand cases were packed an- nually, and the Kinney brand of salmon be- came known in every part of the world. In ad- dition to his Astoria business, he established canneries at Chilcoot and Cape Fox, in Alaska. and started the cannery at Fairhaven, Wash., of which he is still president.
In addition to his canning interests, which con- tinue to be large and valuable, for twenty years or more Mr. Kinney has engaged in the lumber manufacturing business with his brother, Will- iam, president of the Clatsop Mills Company. The mills have a large capacity, manufacturing lumber from the timber fields of Oregon. The company owns valuable tracts on the Columbia river and in the coast counties, which are es- pecially adapted to the purpose of the concern. In 1899 Mr. Kinney removed his office to Port- land, where he has since made his home and his business headquarters.
Mr. Kinney is a life member of the Occidental Lodge of Masons in San Francisco. Among the other organizations with which he is connected are the Oregon Pioneer Association, the Oregon Historical Society, and others of a similar na- ture. In San Francisco he married Margaret Morgan, who was born in that city and died there, leaving a daughter, Harriet M. His second mar- riage united him with Narcissa White of Penn- sylvania, who gained a national reputation through her distinguished services in the cause of temperance. ( An account of the life of Mrs. Kinney will be found in the following sketch. )
NARCISSA WHITE KINNEY. If we were asked to characterize Narcissa White Kinney we would write: The grand law of her being was to conclude whatsoever she undertook. No mat- ter what its difficulties nor how small its worth. she held to it until she had mastered every de- tail, finished it, and made the result of it her own. Carefully she studied the matter in hand and with indomitable energy, perseverance and skill carried forward to completion the ideas she evolved and finally crystallized into living prac- tical issues. Hence, whatever she did bore the ineffaceable impress of her personality.
Mrs. Kinney came of good stock. She was Scotch-Irish by inheritance, and for grit and
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grace there seems to be no better combination. Her ancestors on both sides hail from "bonnie Scotland," but stopped on their way to America, for several generations, in the North of Ireland. Her mother's maiden name was Wallace, and family records show that she was a direct de- scendant of Adam Wallace, who was burned at the stake in Scotland for his religion. The thrilling account of his steadfast faith and tri- umphant death has been handed down to us through the sombre records of "Fox's Book of Martyrs." At his death his two sons, David and Moses Wallace, fled to the North of Ire- land, whence Narcissa's grandfather, Hugh Wal- lace, emigrated to America in 1796 and located in the western part of Pennsylvania. Her father's ancestor, Walter White, suffered mar- tyrdom for his religion during the reign of Queen Mary, and four of her far-away grand- fathers-two on each side of the house-fought side by side at the battle of the Boyne.
Mrs. Kinney's father, George W. White, was a Christian gentleman of high moral character much respected by all who knew him. He was an intelligent man, a deep thinker, well posted in the literature of the day, in history, and es- pecially in the sacred scriptures. He realized the advantages to be derived from a liberal edu- cation and labored hard to give his children the very best attainable in that early day. He spent the greater part of his life on a part of the old homestead taken up by his father. At seventy years of age he was suddenly killed in a railroad accident which occurred near his home in 1883.
The mother, Susanna Kerr Wallace, was born in Ireland and came to America with the family when eighteen years of age. She was a woman of strong personality, very energetic and full of resources, deeply pious, and carried her religion into her every-day life in such a way as early to impress her children with their need of spirit- ual guidance. She was the mother of eight children, one boy and seven girls, all of whom honored their father and their mother in their lives. The youngest daughter, Maria, from early girlhood longed to become a missionary to the foreign field, and finally gained the con- sent of her parents to study medicine and so prepare herself for the work of a medical mis- sionary. After graduating from a medical school in New York City, she took up work in the slums of the city for one year as a prepara- tion for the foreign field. In 1886 she sailed for India under the board of the United Presby- terian Church, and on reaching her destination began work in Sialkote. In a few years she formulated plans, raised funds, and founded a medical hospital therc, which has proven an inestimable blessing to the afflicted and diseased women and children in that benighted land, and
is considered by the church as a powerful factor in civilizing and christianizing those depraved and ignorant heathen. After eight years of arduous labor, Dr. White returned to America broken in health, with but little hope of ever being able to return; but after several years her health was restored, and in 1902 she again sailed for India to devote the remaining years of her life to her chosen work.
Narcissa White, the subject of this sketch, was born in Grove City, Pa., in 1854. She was the sixth daughter, the youngest of the family but one. She received her primary education in the Grove City public schools, and was later graduated from the State Normal School of Pennsylvania, with high honors, distinguishing herself as a writer and speaker and showing such marked ability as a teacher that she was immediately elected principal of the training school in Edinboro, Pa. She labored here for some time and was sent out through the state to organize county institutes, where she gave instruction in chart work and elocution. So en- ergetically did she prosecute her work that her health gave way and she was laid aside for two years.
During these years the great temperance cru- sade was in progress, and its outgrowth, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union-which has now become such a powerful organization- was in its incipiency, but was claiming public attention. Miss White, among others, became in- terested in the movement, and after studying carefully its aims and methods, became pro- foundly impressed with the need and importance of its work and felt it her duty to work under the auspices of that organization. With her, a duty known was a duty performed. She at once joined the white ribbon ranks, was elected presi- dent of the Grove City Union, and in a short time county president, then state superintendent of scientific temperance instruction, and in that position did an immense amount of work. She visited county institutes and gave instruction in the scientific teaching of the effects of alcoholics and narcotics upon the human system, in such a logical way as to elicit warm commendations from educators generally. All this work was gradually preparing her for the larger field she was soon to occupy. In 1880 she was called to the platform exclusively. She was made a national lecturer and organizer. and in that capacity visited every state and territory in the Union, also Canada and British Columbia.
During these years Narcissa White had de- veloped wonderfully. Naturally she possessed a keen, logical mind. a most persuasive manner, a quick, sparkling wit and a charming person- ality. Her face was handsome and expressive, one that would attract attention among the
1.B Huston
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crowds. She had a lofty, graceful bearing and a fine physique. Her address was dignified, without a suggestion of haughtiness. She was gracious to everyone, yet without a trace of superiority. Her success as a platform orator was remarkable. She had developed into one of the most brilliant speakers in the entire coterie engaged in reform and educational work and was sought far and near and everywhere hailed with delight. Her presence was mag- netic ; her voice, which she had carefully culti- vated, was clear and penetrating, so flexible and sympathetic that she swayed her audience at her will. She brought to the platform such intense enthusiasm that it was contagious, and impelled her hearers to give assent to her earnest plead- ings.
As a champion of truth and righteousness and in shaping and carrying forward the great re- forms of her day, she had no mean part. Her great heart was stirred to its very depths by the wrongs inflicted upon defenseless women and children by the liquor traffic, and her deep sense of right and justice was outraged by the protection the traffic received from our national and civic government, so she threw her whole soul into the battle for prohibition and her strong personality and burning eloquence left their im- press upon every community she visited in our great commonwealth.
Miss White twice visited the Pacific coast in the interest of temperance and did most effective work in Oregon and Washington, particularly in securing temperance legislation. During these tours she met and formed the acquaintance of Marshall J. Kinney, at that time the proprietor of several of the largest fish canneries on the Columbia river. Mr. Kinney's family was among the pioneers of Oregon, known all over the coast. The father and five stalwart sons have been identified with many of the large in- dustries which have attracted immigration to the northwest. In 1888 Miss White left the lecture field to become the wife of Mr. Kinney, and came to Astoria, "the city by the sea," to make her home. Here she soon found many avenues for work, and her fertile brain, ever active, among other things developed plans for elevating and christianizing the hundreds of fish- ermen in the employ of her husband. Mr. Kin- ney, being in full sympathy with all her work, gave her free rein, and she opened a mission and taught those ignorant men and women- many of them Russian Finns-new ideas of life. She opened to them the Scriptures and led many of them to the feet of the Master.
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