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 25
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REV. JOHN W. SELLWOOD. This well known and widely loved pioneer minister of Ore- gon was born near Mendon, Ill., July 22, 1839, and was the son of Rev. James R. W. Sellwood, an Englishman by birth and for years an Episco- pal rector, holding pastorates in Mendon, Ill., and Grahamville, S. C., thence coming to Oregon as early as 1856 and becoming the first rector of St. Paul's Church in Salem. During the last years of his life, owing to failing eyesight, he was forced to relinquish ministerial work, and thereupon retired to a farm near Milwaukee, later settling in Portland, where he died.
Few opportunities came to the boyhood of John W. Sellwood other than those obtained by his own determination and industry. The eldest of five children, he early proved himself the mainstay of his parents and their comfort and assistant. Nor was this merely the case in mat- ters material, but especially so in spiritual affairs. From an early age his mind turned to thoughts of God, and he cherished an ambition to follow in his father's steps as a missionary and minister of the Gospel. When he was yet young his father removed to Grahamville, S. C., and in 1856, with a brother, John, decided to respond to the urgent appeal of the then bishop of Oregon, Thomas F. Scott, who needed missionaries to labor in this then frontier field. The two started together and en route were the victims of a bloody riot at Panama, from which they barely escaped with their lives. The children, too, werc with them and endured all the horrors of those hours of danger. When the groans of the wounded and the dying were to be heard on all sides, the eldest son, John W., solemnly conse- crated himself to the work of the ministry, and the decision then made was never regretted. On the other hand, in the midst of hardships, toil, privations and vicissitudes, he yet called it his greatest glory that he might preach the glorious Gospel of the Christ.
In due time the family arrived in Oregon, but the uncle had been so seriously wounded in the massacre that for months he was unable to enter upon his work, but on regaining his health he took charge of Trinity Church, Portland. Rev. James R. W. Sellwood meanwhile went to Salem, where he became rector of St. Paul's Church. His son, John W .. pursuant upon his resolve to enter the ministry, gave himself to preparation for the work, and in 1862 was ordained deacon in St.
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Paul's Church, Oregon City, three years later being advanced to the priesthood in St. Stephen's Chapel, Portland. At the same time (July, 1865) he was united in marriage with Belle J., daughter of Rev. James L. and Frances ( Brown) Daly, natives respectively of Dublin and county Sligo, Ireland, and of Scotch extraction. For the purpose of engaging in educational work James L. Daly went to Australia, and for some time remained in Sydney. On account of ill health he came to California, but, not finding the social environment desirable, went to Honolulu, where he opened a school. Ill health again forced him to relinquish his work and in 1853 lie came to Portland under Bishop Scott, taking up missionary work, in which he proved an ef- ficient and consecrated laborer. His life was prolonged to the age of almost eighty years, when he died in Portland in 1895, five years after the death of his wife. Of their ten children four are living. Mrs. Sellwood was born in Aus- tralia and received her education in Punahou College, Honolulu. Born of her marriage is one son, John J., who is a graduate physician of the University of Oregon Medical College and now practicing in the village of Sellwood, founded by his great uncle.
Immediately after his marriage Mr. Sellwood became rector of St. Paul's Church in Oregon City, in addition to which he extended his work to Butteville, Salem, Mount Pleasant schoolhouse, Clackamas Station and Canemah, a little town one mile from Oregon City. As a result of his work a large Sunday school was built in Oregon City and a chapel erected in Canemah at a cost of $800. For two years he was superintendent of schools of Clackamas county, and during that time visited even the most remote schools and sought to elevate the standard of education here. it has been said that no missionary seemed to throw greater enthusiasm into his work than did he and certainly none enjoyed the work to a greater degree. His ministry was a source of constant joy to him. He was never happier than when preaching to his parishioners and trying to aid them in their spiritual life. No toil was too great that would promote the cause of Christ and the church in the particular field which he had chosen as his scene of labor. His love for Christ led him to love every created being. None was too lowly to be excluded from his sympathy, and none too high to be aloof from his affection. Each one of his congregation had a special place in his heart. His work was so full of delight to him that other occupations seemed uninteresting in comparison. Many hardships and privations he had to face and more than once Sorrow was his companion, yet never, through all of his life. did he lose faith in his Creator and never did he lose faith in the ultimate success of the work
in which he engaged. The humble successes that came to him were received with a grateful heart.
Though stanch in his allegiance to the Protes- tant Episcopal Church, Mr. Sellwood was not a bigoted churchman. On the other hand, he pos- sessed a broad and catholic spirit and saw the good in all, ever praying for the reunion of a divided Christendom. As a preacher he was earnest and forcible, never led aside into sensa- tional subjects, but clinging closely to "Christ and Him crucified." A text was chosen only after careful and prayerful deliberation, and the subject matter of the sermon was presented after much prayer. When before his people he lost himself so wholly in his subject that no trace of self-consciousness could be discerned. Indeed, he forgot himself in the message he was to de- liver.
After fifteen years of labor in Oregon City Mr. Sellwood accepted the pastorate of St. David's Church in East Portland, where the last ten years of his busy life were passed. From a small con- gregation, St. David's has grown into a large and well organized parish, and this happy result is largely due to his efforts in those days of small beginnings. While he was pastor of that flock, on Christmas eve of 1899, after a day of severe illness, he insisted upon speaking to the children at their Christmas exercises, saying, when his family protested, "I feel I must look into their dear, bright faces once more." The next day he again went to the church, hoping to administer the holy communion to his loved con- gregation, but he was taken with a chill and was carried from the church, never more to enter it in life. Weeks of pain and illness were met with his accustomed cheery and bright patience, and finally, March 12, 1890, with the parting words upon his lips, "All is peace," he entered into the unknown. A large concourse of those who loved him attended the funeral services, where Bishop Morris, in the memorial sermon, paid a deserved tribute to his years of patient and self-sacrific- ing toil. The organizations with which he had been connected passed resolutions of respect. The bishop and clergy of the diocese of Oregon adopted resolutions bearing testimony to his goodness of heart and gentleness of spirit. Other organizations who took similar action were St. David's Vestry, Women's Guild of St. David's parish, Daughters of St. David's, Young Men's Guild of St. David's Church, St. Paul's parish in Oregon City and the convention of the diocese. Since his death his wife, who had been his constant and successful co-laborer in the min- istry, has devoted herself largely to missionary work in the Protestant Episcopal Church in Oregon, and is now registrar of the diocese of Oregon, and is also the diocesan secretary of the Women's Auxiliary.
C. J. Candiani
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CHARLES FERDINAND CANDIANI. Cav. Charles Ferdinand Candiani, M. D., has been identified with the medical fraternity of Ore- gon for more than a quarter of a century, and during the years of his practice in Portland his splendid equipment for his professional labors has become widely recognized among his fellow- practitioners and the laity. In connection with the practice of his profession he has for some time represented the Italian government in Ore- gon and Idaho as consul.
Dr. Candiani was born in Casale, Morfirato, Italy, August 20, 1845, and is a member of an ancient Venetian family whose lineage has been authentically traced back through more than eight centuries. Among the many claims to dis- tinction surrounding the noble and romantic his- tory of his house may be mentioned the fact that five of the Doges of Venice were recruited from its ranks, and lived in all the splendor of their exalted station in the magnificent palace on St. Mark's Square. In Casale, Count John Can- diani d'Olivala, father of Dr. Candiani, owned a large and valuable estate, the ancestral castle now being in possession of his son, Count Camelo Candiani, admiral of the Italian navy and senator of the kingdom. Count John Candiani, who died in 1872, was survived until 1878 by his wife, Countess Eleanore ( Bougeovani) Candiani, a daughter of Count Allesander, a nobleman claim- ing both French and Italian lineage. In the fam- ily of Candiani there were but two sons of the present generation, of whom the subject of this memoir is the youngest.
Like most Italian youth of noble birth, Dr Candiani was the recipient of exceptional educa- tional advantages, all of which he improved with due appreciation of their importance. From the oversight of a private tutor he passed to the University of Turin, from which he was first graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1867 he was graduated from the medical de- partment of that university with the degree of . doctor of medicine. Following this he took a post-graduate course in the medical department of the University of Naples, from which he like- wise was graduated, and the following year (1869) concluded his college studies by a course in the School of Medicine in Paris. Returning to his native country, he was soon appointed to the post of surgeon of the Eighth regiment, Grenadiers of the Guard, with a commission as first lieutenant, and for eight years thereafter served in all the various camps of the Italian army. These experiences, with which American physicians and surgeons are so rarely equipped. have been of incalculable benefit to him from a professional standpoint.
With this splendid medical training, Dr. Can- diani came to America in 1875, crossed the con-
tinent to Portland, bringing with him a colony of his countrymen, thirty men and two women, nearly all of whom are in this state at the present time. Immediately after his arrival, he pur- chased a large farm near Dayton, Yamhill county, where he combined fruit farming and the prac- tice of his profession for about five years. After disposing of this large responsibility he engaged in practice at Cascade Locks, soon after the con- struction of the four and one-half million dollar locks was begun, and remained there until after their completion, a period of nearly ten years. From that point he came to Portland, where he has since been continuously engaged in the prac- tice of medicine and surgery, but at the same time maintaining outside interests of consider- able importance, including some mining property in the Blue River district. As proof of his faith in the continued prosperity of his adopted home, he has made heavy investments in town and country property.
January 27, 1902, Dr. Candiani received at the hands of his former sovereign, Victor Emanuel, a commission as Italian consul for Oregon and Idaho ; and it is maintained that no more capable or worthy representative of his sunny land could have been selected to look after the interests of that government in this section. In his political preferences he is a Republican. Fraternally he is identified with the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Knights of the Maccabees, in which he is ex- amining physician. He is also a member of and examining physician for the three Italian societies, Colombo, Mazini and the Druids. His wife, who was formerly Stella Hansen, was born in Bergen, Norway, and came to Oregon with her parents at the age of thirteen years.
Personally Dr. Candiani is a man of great culture and refinement ; and in his American citi- zenship he combines the practical traits character- istic of the individuals of his adopted country with the rare courtesy and grace of the Venetian noble. In addition to the time and thought he has devoted to research in the realm of thera- peutics and surgery, he has enjoyed a broader reading along other lines, and is regarded as a gentleman of very superior intellectual attain- ments.
J. D. CHAPMAN. No name in Sellwood carries with it greater weight than does that of J. D. Chapman, identified at present with an ex- tensive real estate business, and regarded as one of the prime movers in the original and subse- quent development of the town. Were first im- pressions of paramount importance Mr. Chap- man had gone elsewhere for western opportuni- ties, for after starting up a promising furniture
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business in 1883, and getting a fair start in the then embryonic community, fire, which is no respector of persons, destroyed his plant, and left him practically adrift upon a shallow finan- cial stream. Thereafter he worked for a year in the Baker City gold mines for L. W. Nelson, but rheumatism interfering with this kind of work he again returned to Sellwood, and the same year, in 1886, helped to incorporate the city. At the same time he was appointed street commissioner for a year, and then elected city recorder, an office maintained uninterruptedly for all but one year until it was absorbed into the city of Portland. As an active Republican he has also been school clerk for eight years, and served as justice of the peace during his terin as city clerk. In December, 1901, he was appointed superintendent of Sellwood station, a suburban Portland office, and he also fills the office of notary public. At present his real estate operations are conducted in all parts of the town, and with his partner he has worked up a large business and enjoys consequent large financial returns.
A native of Macoupin county. Ill., Mr. Chap- man was born October 16, 1843, and comes of a family long identified with North Carolina. His father, John R., was born in North Carolina, and came to Illinois with his father, Richard, who settled in Madison county, and after two years ยท removed to Macoupin county, where he bought a hundred and sixty acres of land. John R. Chap- man, who was a local Methodist Episcopal preacher for many years, settled on land near that of his father in Macoupin county, where he combined the occupations of preaching and farming until two years before his death, at the age of fifty-two, when he was stricken down and continued to be an invalid for the rest of his days. The mother of J. D. Chapman, Charity Kennedy, was also born in North Carolina, and went to Indiana with her parents, where her father, Absalom Kennedy, settled for a time but eventually made his home in Macoupin county, I11. Of the six sons and five daughters born into the family of John R. Chapman, all attained maturity, and nine are now living, J. D. being the fourth oldest.
The breaking out of the Civil war found Mr. Chapman with a fair common school education, and a practical knowledge of farming and gen- eral business. In 1862 he enlisted in Company I. One Hundred and Twenty-second Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, and as a member of the Army of the Tennessee he participated in several im- portant battles, among them that of Fort Blake- Iv. He was mustered out of service at Mobile, Ala., and discharged at Springfield, Ill., July 12, 1865. From that year until his father's death he carried on the home farm. In 1872 he en-
gaged in a general merchandise business in Witt, Ill., and while thus employed became prominent in general town affairs, was postmaster for eight years, his salary the first year being $12, but as time passed the revenue of the office increased and at the expiration of his term of office the income had increased to $30 per month. He was also express and railroad agent. In 1881 he came to Portland, and in partnership with J. B. Knapp engaged in a commission business on First street, between Main and Madison, but sold out at the end of a year. and was employed by a real estate firm for a year. Thereafter be- gan his connection with Sellwood, of which he is now one of the most prominent and enterprising citizens.
While living in Macoupin county. 1H., Mr. Chapman married, in 1871, Lenora Wood, a na- tive of Illinois, and daughter of William Wood, born in South Carolina, and a miller and mer- chant by occupation. Mr. Wood removed to Illi- nois at an early day, where he conducted a store with marked success, and where he died at the age of sixty-two years. His brother was a strong Abolitionist, and had helped to under- ground the negroes out of the country. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Chap- man : William Russell; Charity R. ; Mand, wife of A. H. Christopher, manager and owner of the Olympia Opera House. Olympia. Wash .; and Roy, a resident of Seattle, Wash.
FRANCIS CHALMERS. Only the best and most progressive along agricultural lines is as- sociated with the name of Chalmers, represented in Washington county by father and son, both of whom have embodied particular aptitude and high moral principle, and have utilized to the full the resources which have come their way. Of sturdy Scotch ancestry, Francis Chalmers was born at New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. November 18, 1851, his father being a native of the same part of the country. A farmer by oc- cupation, and an extensive Short-horn raiser. the elder Mr. Chalmers with his eldest son, Alex- ander. came to Oregon in 1870 and purchased nine hundred and sixty acres of land in Wash- ington county, upon a portion of which his son Francis now lives.
This property is a part of the old Ben Cor- nelius donation claim and here Mr. Chalmers made many fine improvements, his long experi- ence in Scotland fitting him for speedy results and the best possible headway. This highly hon- ored farmer and most estimable man was killed by a bull on his farm in 1890. leaving behind him many friends, and an enviable reputation for in- tegrity and general worth. His family, for which he returned to Scotland in 1871, consisted of his
Edward Sherman
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wife and seven children, three sons, Alexander, William and Francis, having come to Oregon in 1870.
Francis Chalmers remained on the home farm until his marriage, his education having been re- ceived in the public schools of both Oregon and Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His wife, Adeline Amanda Hanley, is a native of Canada, and of this union there were born five children, Walter, Francis, Elizabeth, Esther and Olive, the latter of whom is deceased. At the present time Mr. Chalmers owns one hundred and twenty-seven acres of land, one hundred and ten of which are under cultivation. He is engaged exclusively in the dairying business, and has twenty of the finest Jersey cows in the country. This farm, located six miles northeast of Forest Grove, is one of the best equipped in the country, the im- provements having been made according to the latest and best plans. The neatness and con- venience of this model dairy could not be ex- celled in any part of the country, and the genial and very popular owner is certainly to be con- gratulated upon his well-earned success.
In many senses of the word Mr. Chalmers is entitled to an honored place in this community. He is broad-minded and liberal, and is virtually the head of all worthy efforts at improvement and advancement. As a member of the school board he has advanced the cause of education, and as a member and elder in the Presbyterian Church he exerts a wide influence for morality and right living. In Sunday school work he is also prom- inent, filling the office of superintendent and bringing the school to a high state of usefulness and general efficiency during his ten years of active service. In politics he is independent. with strong proclivities toward Prohibition, though reared in the ranks of the Republican party.
EDWARD EHRMAN. The above named gentleman is one who at a very early age was thrown upon his own resources, and while his efforts have been crowned with success, it is a result that is the natural outcome if one but follows the policy adopted by Mr. Ehrman when it became necessary for him to decide as to what he would do with opportunities as they have been presented to him. In youth he was surrounded by environments similar to those of many, and that he has passed others in the great struggle for supremacy in the world of business. is due entirely to his own ability, his perseverance, his honesty and his strict attention to his own busi- ness interests. A native of Baltimore, Md., Mr. Ehrman was born March 18, 1854, and is one of the seven children born to William and Rosa
( Bettman) Ehrman, natives respectively of Licht- enfels and Bekunstadt, Bavaria. William Ehr- man immigrated to this country in about 1840, and settled in Baltimore, where he engaged in the mercantile business, which he followed up to the time of his death. His wife, who is still living, is a resident of Baltimore. She is remotely separated from most of her children, as all of her sons and one daughter are on the coast. Of her sons, M. Ehrman is at the head of M. Ehrman & Co., of San Francisco, wholesale grocers and also interested in the store here; Joseph is one of the partners of our subject, and S. W. is a partner of the same concern, the three residing in San Francisco.
The business life of Mr. Ehrman began at the age of thirteen years, when he secured a position as errand boy in a retail dry goods store in Bal- timore. Two years later he became associated with the firm of Elliott Brothers, cotton mer- chants, with whom he remained until 1873. Becoming convinced that the far west, where the work of developing was going forward, would offer more chance for promotion than the developed east, Mr. Ehrman decided to migrate, and in the last year mentioned he joined his brother in San Francisco, who at that time was engaged in the wholesale grocery business. Accepting a position at the very bottom Mr. Ehrman started in to learn the ins and outs of the business. By strict attention to whatever was assigned him to do and by perseverance he went forward step by step, until he mastered all the details of the grocery business. It was in Feb- ruary, 1886, that Mr. Ehrman came to Portland, and in partnership with Mr. Mason, an old mer- chant of the city, formed a company under the name of Mason, Ehrman & Co. The firm opened a store at the corner of Front and Ankeny streets, where they remained until removal was made to the corner of First and Burnside streets. There they continued in business until 1893, when they removed to their present location at the corner of Pine and Second streets. Five floors of a building, 100x100 feet, ground dimensions, are devoted to the use of the firm. Warehouses are located on Fourteenth and Kearney streets, the ground floor dimensions being the same as the store building. In 1898 Mr. Ehrman was called upon to mourn the loss of his partner, Mr. Mason, who passed away in March of that year. Upon the death of Mr. Mason, Mr. Ehrman and his three brothers purchased the interest of his late partner and they became sole owners of the business, which from a small beginning has devel- oped into one of the largest wholesale grocery houses in the northwest. In addition to the grocery department, Mr. Ehrman has added a very complete line of cigars and tobaccos. The territory covered by the concern is a large one
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and includes Oregon, Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Idaho.
In the city of his birth, Mr. Ehrman was united in marriage with Miss Nettie Rider, also a native of Baltimore, and a daughter of S. Rider, a dry goods merchant during his entire life. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ehrman : Mason and Emily. As a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Portland Board of Trade, Mr. Ehrman is in a position to help any movement that has for its object advancement and he is ever found ready and willing to do all in his power to further the inter- ests of his adopted city. Socially he is connected with the Concordia Club, an association organized for purely social purposes, and the Commercial Club. Fraternally Mr. Ehrman is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Aside from these organizations he is variously associated with benevolent and charitable organizations, and is a generous contributor toward all agencies for the uplifting and help of those in need. The position of Mr. Ehrman among the business men of the Pacific northwest is an enviable one. He belongs to that class of men the world calls "self- made." Mr. Ehrman has succeeded. and the people of Portland are proud of his record. He has never neglected his obligations as a citizen. and at no time has he been called upon but what he has responded. His great faith in Oregon's future was manifested by the interest he has taken in the Lewis and Clark Exposition. He was one of the original incorporators and com- missioners, but after the plans were well under way, he discovered that to continue would be too much of a drain on his time and therefore re- signed. In closing this short review we will state briefly that Mr. Ehrman commands the respect and confidence of Portland and the west- ern business world. He is a typical example of the business man of the coast to whom its best development is chiefly due.
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