Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 23

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 946

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 23

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In Portland, May 1, 1883, occurred the mar- riage of Mr. Lewis and Ella M. McPherson, a native of Linn county, Ore., and a daughter of W. A. McPherson. The latter settled in this state about 1850, and at one time filled the office of state printer. His death occurred in 1891. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, one of whom, Herbert Wayne, died at the age of two years. Those living are Edith, Ione and Wade Vernon. In the Cumberland Presbyterian Church Mr. Lewis is a ruling elder, and is also a teacher in the Sunday school connected with that society. In his political views he is a stanch Republican. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Wood- men of America, and the Woodmen of the World. He was also a charter member of Abernethy's Cabin No. 1, Native Sons of Oregon.

Mr. Lewis belongs to the class of men who have shown by their unselfish interest in public affairs that they are warmly devoted to the pro- motion of those movements whose tendency is to help to give Oregon rank among the most pro- gressive, prosperous and inviting commonwealths of the Union. His public spirit lias been abund- antly manifested on many occasions, and the fact that Oregon is the state of his nativity un- doubtedly explains, in a measure, the extreme heartiness of his desire to co-operate with others,

on all possible occasions, in advancing the mater- ial interests of the state and the community in which he makes his home.

CYRUS A. DOLPH. The genealogy of the Dolph family in America is traced to Balthazar De Wolf, who was born about 1620, resided for some years in Wethersfield, Conn., but removed to Lyme, that state, in 1664. By his wife, Alice, whom he married in 1645, he had six children. The oldest of the family, Edward, was born in 1646 and died in 1712, after having been a life- long resident of Lyme. By his wife, Rebecca, Edward De Wolf had four sons, viz .: Simon, born in 1671; Charles, 1673; Benjamin, 1675; and Edward, Jr. The line of descent is traced through the second son, Charles, who spent the active years of his life in Middletown, Conn., and died there in 1731. His wife, Prudence, died ten years after his demise. Their son, Joseph De Wolf, born in 1717, lost his life in the battle of Louisburg, 1757, while fighting in the colonial army during the French and Indian wars. By the marriage of Joseph De Wolf and Tabitha Johnson there was born a son, Abda, through whom the line of descent is traced. In- heriting the patriotic spirit of his father, Abda enlisted in the French and Indian wars and later, when war was declared with England, showed his zeal for liberty and independence by serving in Colonel Whiting's Albany county regiment, New York troops. At the time of the conflict with the French his sympathies being with the English, he and a number of his cousins de- cided to Anglicize their family name by changing it to Dolph. This was the origin of the present mode of spelling.

The marriage of Abda Dolph united him with Mary, daughter of Nathaniel and Ruth Coleman, of New Haven, Conn. Their son, Joseph, was born in Fairfield, Conn., June 6, 1767, engaged during his active life as a teacher and surveyor, and died December 21, 1827. The lady whom he married, Elizabeth Norton (born 1772. died 1839), was a daughter of Joseph and Martha Norton, the latter in turn a daughter of Jabez and Elizabeth ( Allen) Norton. Botlı Joseph and Martha Norton were descended from Nicholas Norton, of Weymouth, Mass. ( 1636-60). Dur- ing much of his life he made his home at Ed- gartown, on Martha's Vineyard. It is said that of the thirteen hundred and fifty-six inhabitants of Edgartown in 1790, one hundred and seventy- four of these were Nortons. Probably as many others were descendants of Nicholas in the female line, making three hundred and forty- eight descendants in the one hundred and thirty years. The progenitor of the family, Nicholas Norton, by his wife, Elizabeth, had a son, Ben-

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jamin, whose son, Nicholas, married Martha Daggett, and their son, Jabez Norton, was the father of Mrs. Elizabeth ( Norton) Dolph. Little is known concerning the first Nicholas, except that he was born in 1610, and died in 1690, after having for years made his home at Weymouth and then at Edgartown. Mention has been made of one of the Norton descendants, who married a member of the Daggett family. This family traced its lineage to John Daggett, of Weymouth, who died in 1642. By the marriage of John Dag- gett to Bathsheba Pratt, there was a son, Thomas, who married Hannah Mayhew, and their son, Joshua, married Hannah Norton, daughter of Isaac and Ruth Norton. Joshua and Hannah Norton had a daughter, Martha, previously mentioned as the wife of Nicholas Norton.

Through the wife of Thomas Daggett the family is brought into relationship with the May- liew family, of colonial fame. The founder of this family in America, Thomas Mayhew, was born in England in March of 1592. In 1641 he obtained a grant of Martha's Vineyard and the neighboring islands, and the next year settled at Edgartown, whose inhabitants were then Indians. With him came a few Englishmen and they in turn were joined by others from their native land. However, the population still consisted almost wholly of Indians. During King Phil- lip's war, when the savages became hostile and killed the white settlers all over New England, such was the influence of Thomas Mayhew over the red men of his islands that they remained quiet and peaceful, though they might easily have killed the few white men, had they so desired. After a long and honorable service as governor of the island, Thomas Mayhew died in March of 1682. His son, Thomas, was a missionary to the Indians, and so greatly beloved by them that even many years after he perished at sea in a ship- wreck he was seldom named by them without tears. Other members of the family also became prominent, especially Experience (born · 1673. died 1758), Zacharialı (1717-1806) and Jonathan (1720-1766), the last-named distinguished as a theologian and patriot.

The genealogy is traced from Joseph and Eliza- beth (Norton) Dolph to their son, Chester V. Dolph. who was born at Whitehall, N. Y., on Lake Champlain, February 14. 1812. and died November 3, 1869. His wife was Elizabeth V. Steele (born 1813. died 1884). whose parents were William Steele (1785-1868) and Rachel Vanderbilt ( 1795-1883). William Steele was a son of John B. and Grace Seville ( Brown) Steele. Rachel Vanderbilt was a daughter of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Rodman) Vanderbilt, her father being a member of one of the most noted pioneer families of Staten Island, in New York.

In the family of Chester V. Dolph were four sons, namely : Joseph Norton, deceased, late United States senator from Oregon ; Cyrus Abda, the subject of this narrative; and William V., who is living at the old home in New York, and John Mathew, an educator of note now living at Port Jervis, N. Y. Cyrus Abda Dolph was born on his father's farm near Havana, Chemung (now Schuyler) county, N. Y., September 27, 1840. The name of Abda was given him in honor of his forefather, Abda Dolph, who was born in Bolton, Mass., in 1740, and served with distinction during the Revolution, as did also a brother, Charles, to whom congress voted the thanks of the country for military services. As a boy Cyrus A. Dolph assisted in the work of the farm during the summer and attended the village school during the winter. At the age of eighteen he began to teach school, which occupation he followed from 1859 to 1862.

During the progress of the Civil war the Indians on the western plains took advantage of the disturbed condition of the country to harass emigrants seeking to settle in the west. So serious did the condition become that con- gress, during its session of 1861-62, made an appropriation to provide military escort for emi- grants crossing the plains to Oregon. In the spring of 1862 the two brothers, Joseph Norton and Cyrus Abda Dolph, enlisted in a company known as the Oregon Escort and assisted in bringing a train of immigrants across the country to Oregon and Washington, after which they received an honorable discharge at Walla Walla, and thence came to Portland. In 1866 he was admitted to the bar and took up active practice of the law. Ever since then he has ranked among the leading professional men of Port- land. In June, 1869, without solicitation on his part, the Republicans nominated him as city attorney, and he was elected by a large majority, serving the full term of two years. During a temporary absence from the city, in 1874, he was nominated by the Republicans for the state legislature, but declined the honor, as he did two years later, when the nomination for the state senate was tendered him. In 1891 he was urged to accept the appointment of circuit judge of the northern judicial district and was unanimously endorsed by the best citizens of the northwest. However, feeling that an acceptance of the high honor would mean a life work and thus inter- fere with other plans, he declined the position. Notwithstanding his refusal to accept official posi- tions, he is a stanch Republican and always gives his support to the men and measures of the party. For many years he was a member of the water works committee, and at this writing he is regent of the University of Oregon and presi- dent of the board of trustees of the Portland

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Library Association. Associated with a num- ber of other citizens, he organized the Security Savings and Trust Company, of which Hon. H. W. Corbett .was president up to the time of his death.

Nor do the movements and organizations hitherto mentioned represent the limit of Mr. Dolph's activities. He was one of the founders of the Portland Savings Bank and the Commer- cial National Bank of Portland. For some years he has held the office of president of the North- ern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon, and has also been financially interested in the Ore- gon Improvement Company. Besides acting for years as a director of the Oregon & Califor- nia Railroad Company, in 1883-84 he was re- tained as general attorney for the corporation. From 1883 to 1889 he was a member of the di- rectorate of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company. In 1883 Henry Villard, then presi- dent of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Com- pany and the Northern Pacific Railroad Com- pany, selected Mr: Dolph as general attorney of the first-named corporation and consulting attorney in Oregon for the latter company. These positions he has filled with efficiency and in a manner indicative of his high legal talent. The many important and intricate questions that have arisen in relation to these two great con- cerns he has handled with dispatch and decision, disposing of them to the entire satisfaction of the officers and stockholders of the companies.

June 24, 1874, Mr. Dolph married Eliza Car- cinell, a native of Canada, and daughter of Charles Cardinell, of French-Huguenot ancestry. They became the parents of four children, namely: Joseph N., Hazel Mills, William Van- derbilt and John Mathew Dolph.

Beginning in law practice in Portland, Mr. Dolph has since continued professional practice in this city, where, at different times, he has been associated as partner with a number of the brightest minds connected with the bar of this city and state. In 1883 he became the senior member of the firm of Dolph, Bellinger, Mal- lory & Simon. Ten years later the title was changed to Dolph, Mallory, Simon & Guerin, the other members of the firm being Rufus Mallory, Hon. Joseph Simon and John M. Guerin, all men of note, distinguished in the annals of the law in their home city and state, and forming, in their association, a partnership of legal talent of exceptional strength, character and ability.

HON. JOSEPH NORTON DOLPH. The life which this narrative sketches began near Watkins, N. Y .. at a village then known as Dolphsburg, October 19, 1839, and came to a close in Portland, Ore., March 10, 1896. (See

preceding sketch for the genealogy of the Dolph family). The intervening years represent a period of great activity and high honors. Into the life of the boy at an early age there came high aspirations for the future, and these ambi- tions were associated with the west, in which he had become interested through reading in the New York Tribune Fremont's "Military Expedi- tion to the Pacific Coast," Washington Irving's "Astoria." and Dr. Elijah White's account of mis- sionary life in Oregon. The way did not at once open for him to seek a home in the north- west, and meantime, at the age of eighteen, he began to teach school, which occupation he fol- lowed for eight years. His leisure hours were devoted to the study of law with Hon. Jeremiah McGuire at Havana, N. Y., and in 1861 he re- ceived admission to the bar.

The hoped-for opportunity to locate in the west came in the spring of 1862, when he and his brother enlisted in Captain Crawford's Company, known as the Oregon Escort, raised under an act of congress (1861-62) for the purpose of protecting the immigration of that year against hostile Indians. As orderly sergeant of this company he crossed the plains, receiving an hon- orable discharge at Walla Walla, Wash. His service during the expedition was so satisfactory that the following year, when the same captain was again detailed to accompany an expedition of similar character, he endeavored to secure the services of his former orderly, but the latter had other plans in view, and so declined.

In the spring of 1863 Mr. Dolph formed a partnership with John H. Mitchell, which con- tinted until the latter was elected to the United States senate. Meantime, in October of 1864, Mr. Dolph was elected city attorney. He pre- pared and proposed important amendments to the city charter, which were afterward adopted, and he also revised for publication the ordinances of the city. In January of 1865 President Lincoln appointed him United States district attorney for the district of Oregon, and this position he held until 1866, when he resigned it to take his seat in the state senate. During the session of 1866 he served in that body, again taking the seat in the session of 1868, but a contest arising he was deposed by a strict party vote. However, the confidence maintained in his ability by the people was exhibited in 1872, when he was returned to the senate by an in- creased majority, after which he rendered effi- cient service in the two succeeding sessions. A still higher, though strictly party, honor came to him in 1866, when he was chosen chairman of the state Republican central committee, and his service of two years in that capacity proved be- yond a doubt that he was one of the greatest lead- ers of his party in the northwest. Not only was he

G. W. SHAVER.

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an eloquent advocate of party principles, but was also a man of remarkable executive ability, thus admirably qualified to direct the functions of an important committee. Perhaps no service ren- dered his party was greater than that in connec- tion with the meeting of the electoral college at Salem in 1876. After Governor Grover had given the certificates of election to Cronin, Mr. Dolph advised the course adopted by the Repub- lican electors, and on the spot drafted the papers which were by the electoral commission adjudged sufficient to establish the election of Messrs. Odell, Cartwright and Watts. Thus the papers drafted by him secured the return of Dr. Watts as Re- publican elector and thereby decided the vote of Oregon in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes for president.

During the early days of Mr. Dolph's experi- ence as an attorney he acted as counsel for the Oregon & Central and the Oregon & California Railroad Companies, and also as counsel for Ben Halliday, who was then running his steamships from Portland to San Francisco, and was also constructing the Oregon & California Railroad. When Mr. Mitchell was elected to the United States senate in 1872 he retired from the firm, and thereupon Mr. Dolph took into the firm as partners Judge E. C. Bronaugh, C. A. Dolph and Joseph Simon. For some years he was retained as attorney for the Oregon Steamship Company, the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, the Oregon Improvement Company, the Oregon Transcontinental Company. and other corpo- rations organized by Henry Villard, whose name is so indissolubly associated with the de- velopment of the northwest coast. He was also the adviser of the officers of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company at Portland, attorney for various minor corporations, also president of the Oregon Improvement Company, and vice-presi- dent of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Com- pany and the Oregon Transcontinental Company.

The highest honor of Mr. Dolph's life came to him in 1883, when he was chosen to succeed Hon. Lafayette Grover, Democrat, in the United States senate. Assuming the duties of his position, he was at once placed on the committee on public lands and claims. In 1886 he was chosen chair- man of the committee on coast defenses. The committee on commerce also received the benefit of his wide experience. Measures presented by him in the interests of navigation have become laws and have proved invaluable in the develop- ment of our country's maritime interests. As a member of the committee on foreign relations, he also proved himself an astute statesman. In 1889, at the expiration of his first term, he was elected to succeed himself, without opposition, by the two legislative houses, and during his second term held practically the same committee rela-

tions as during the first. In every respect he proved himself a patriot and an able statesman, and his retirement from the senate in 1895 was a source of regret to his colleagues in that body, as well as to the people of his home state. Dur- ing the twelve years of his official service he made his home in Washington, where he and his wife (formerly Augusta E. Mulkey) enter- tained on a liberal scale and with the greatest hospitality, extending a hearty welcome not only to people of that city, but to visiting friends from the Pacific coast. Since his death, Mrs. Dolph has continued to make her home in Washington.

In closing this résumé of Senator Dolph's career, mention should be made of his fraternal relations. In 1876 he was elected Most Worthy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F., State of Oregon, which position he filled for one year. Nor was his identification with Masonry less conspicuous, for in that body he was, in 1882, elected Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Oregon, and in this office he showed the same tact, executive ability and wise judgment characteristic of him in other positions. In physique Senator Dolph was stalwart, of im- posing appearance, grave in demeanor and earn- est in expression, which physical attributes were but the outward expression of high mental quali- fications and unsullied honor.

GEORGE WASHINGTON SHAVER. One of those to whom the finding of gold on the coast opened up vistas of vast possibility was George Washington Shaver, erstwhile farmer, who crossed the plains in a party with ox teams and wagons in 1849, intent upon wresting from the earth sufficient riches to enable him to carry out many ambitious projects. He was born in Camp- bell county, Ky., March 2, 1832, and in the south- ern state received as fair an education as his father's many responsibilities permitted. While still a young man he removed to Missouri, and while here became enthusiastic on the subject of the coast.

That Mr. Shaver was successful in life was due partially to his failure as a miner, else he had remained longer than a year in California, and this state might never have benefited by his noble and capable citizenship. Arriving in Ore- gon in 1850, he settled in the Waldo Hills, Mar- ion county, from which place he removed to southern Oregon, where he again tried his luck at mining. February 2, 1854, found him in Port- land, where he married Sarah Dixon, daughter of a pioneer of that section, and with whom he returned to his farm in Marion county. Here four children were born to them, and six more were born after their removal to Portland in 1860, settling in what is now known as the Eliza-

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beth Irving addition. During his early residence in Portland Mr. Shaver found an outlet for his energies in the wood business, whose possibili- ties he seemed to appreciate more than any other at that time, and upon which he embarked with a great deal of enthusiasm and expectation of success. For many years he furnished the steam- ers plying between Portland and San Francisco with all the wood used in their business, and he further branched out and furnished the wood for river boats and barges. Large portions of the forests that reared their densely crowded trees in the primeval days disappeared under the necessity for providing timber to these boats, and Mr. Shaver probably denuded more acres of land during his busy career than did any other man of his time.

In time Mr. Shaver became president of the Shaver Transportation Company of which his son, Capt. James W., was treasurer and manager, and thus was greatly enlarged his field of ac- tivity. His death, which occurred October 26, 1900, removed from accustomed haunts one of the most useful of the founders of the commer- cial greatness of Oregon. He was not only a man of sound business judgment and capacity for observation and action, but in his character he embodied all that is excellent and of good report. No worthy cause but profited by his generosity and large heartedness; no friend but was benefited by his counsel and assistance. To the end he retained in increasing measure the confidence of all with whom he was ever associat- ed, and to his family and friends left the heritage of a good name, and the dignity of a small for- tune.

CAPT. JAMES W. SHAVER. The Shaver Transportation Company occupies an altogether unique position among the large developing forces of the great northwest, and has had much to dlo with shifting from one place to another the products of the dense forests for which Oregon is famous, and for placing the output of the great mills in their respective localities of use- fulness. No more familiar sights greet the ob- server on the Columbia and Willamette rivers than the heavily loaded barges, puffing tow boats, in advance of stealthily gliding rafts of logs, and other craft calculated to promote the clear- ance of the enormous water business of the state.

Capt. James W. Shaver, the present head of the Shaver Transportation Company, was born in Waldo Hills, within five miles of Silver- ton, Ore., October 2, 1860. To his father, Capt. George W. Shaver, is due the organization of the transportation company. At the time of his death in October, 1900, he was survived by his wife, formerly Sarah Dixon, who was

born in the east, and who still lives at the old home in Portland. Of the ten children who grew to maturity in this household, four sons and four daughters are living: John R., sheriff of Clackamas county, and living in Oregon City; Alice, Mrs. Wittenberg of Portland ; James W. : Lincoln, captain and chief engineer in Multnomalı county ; George M., interested in the transporta- tion company, and who spends his summers in Alaska; Delmar, a captain in the employ of the company ; Pearl, Mrs. George Hoyt of Portland; and Susie, Mrs. A. S. Heintz, of Portland.

Locating in Portland with his parents when six years of age, Capt. James W. Shaver nat- urally received his education here, and at an early age became interested in his father's enterprises, which then consisted of a livery business in East Portland, as well as a large cord wood concern. They had a wood yard in East Portland and at the Shaver dock, and at this early stage of pro- ceedings were of immense importance in the wood business of the day. In 1880 Mr. Shaver embarked in the boating business, and with Henry Corbett and A. S. Foster bought out Mr. Bureau, continuing business under the name of the Peo- ple's Freighting Company. The firm inaugurat- ed its activities by running the steamer Manzan- illa, and Mr. Shaver became captain of the boat and manager of the company, which operated be- tween Portland and Clatskanie. Soon afterward the father joined the company and Mr. Corbett stepped out, having previously purchased the in- terest of Mr. Foster. At this time, June 10, 1893, a re-organization was effected, under the name of the Shaver Transportation Company, the father being president, and the son secretary and treas- urer. In 1889 the G. W. Shaver was built and called after the father; this useful little craft was one hundred and forty feet long. The Sarah Dixon, named after the mother, took its place among other boats on the rivers in 1892, and after that the Manzanilla was sold, the Shaver and Dixon doing all the work of the company. About 1900 the Shaver was sold, and the same year a tow boat called No Wonder was purchased for towing logs. The next year, in 1901, the firni built the Henderson, also used for towing pur- poses, and these boats are in constant use, among other undertakings towing for three of the larg- est mills here. For many years Mr. Shaver acted in the capacity of captain for the company, but of late years has devoted his time to manag- ing the business, and is still secretary and treas- urer. He of course has a captain's license, and is remarkably familiar with all phases of river life in this state. The offices of the firm are located at the foot of Washington street.

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Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 23

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 946

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 946