Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 26

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 26

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SAMUEL J. CRAFT. Previous to coming to Oregon in 1881, Samuel J. Craft had an extend- ed experience as a miller in Illinois and Iowa. and had tested the possibilities of several middle western states. Reared on a farm in Lycoming county, Pa., where he was born September 17. 1838, he left the paternal homestead when seven- teen years of age, and near Genoa, De Kalb county. Ill., worked on a farm by the month for three years. At Chillicothe, Peoria county, Ill .. he learned the miller's trade and subsequently followed the ealling eighteen years in Illinois and Iowa, during that time owning at least two mills.

Having disposed of his milling interests, Mr. Craft removed to Kansas in 1878, but after an

experiment at farming on pre-empted land for about three years decided that the road to wealth and happiness lay in other portions of the coun- try. He became associated with Oregon in 1881, having crossed the plains by team, after which he located on rented land near Mount Tabor. Two years later he rented the farm of Mrs. Hen- nessey, which contains about twenty acres, and upon which he has set out and caused to repro- duce many kinds of fruit and berries. Person- ally he is the owner of twenty acres of land on the Base Line road, all of which is cleared and utilized for general crops, with the exception of about one acre.

March 24, 1859. Mr. Craft was united in mat- rimony with Victoria A. Wing, of which union there have been born two children. of whom Henry A. is a resident of Mount Tabor, and Carrie M. is the wife of Alexander Barrell. In politics Mr. Craft is a Democrat, and he is re- garded as one of the capable and enterprising members of his community.

O. F. COOKE. So closely has Mr. Cooke been identified with the commercial interests of the village of Sylvan that he is considered one of the leading men and successful manufacturers of this portion of Multnomah county. On com- ing to Oregon he settled at Sylvan and bought a stock of groceries, embarking in business at a location where he remained for six years. Dur- ing 1892 he removed to his present site, having purchased the building here, and since then he has conducted a general mercantile business, carrying in his store about $5,000 in stock. The management of this store does not represent the limit of his activity, for since 1897 he has also been interested in the manufacture of brick, hav- ing in that year embarked in the business with Reynolds & Kenzie. With his brother. J. W. Cooke, in 1898 he bought the brick yards, and the two have since continued together in the manufacture of a high-grade quality of brick. In 1901 our subject became interested in the Portland Clay Company, of Portland.

Near Salt Lake City, Utah, Mr. Cooke was born August 14. 1869. At one vear of age he was taken to Omaha, Neb., by his parents, and from there to Sioux City, Iowa, thence to South Dakota, where his father took up a homestead claim : later the family returned to Iowa. About 1876 they came west to Oregon, settling in Port- land. but soon removed to Idaho in order to take up a government claim. A later place of resi- dence was Walla Walla. Wash., where O. F. Cooke was educated in the public schools and Empire Business College. His acquaintance with the responsibilities of life began when only twelve years of age, at which time he secured employ-

J. P. Firmly

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ment on a farm. He was promised $2 per week, but at the expiration of three weeks his en- ployer cheated him out of his wages. With the enthusiasm of youth, however, he did not allow this disappointment to discourage him, but at once went to another farm, and thereafter, until twenty years of age, worked for farmers and ranchers. Next he bought and sold land around Walla Walla and also worked in grain elevators. For three years he engaged in buying grain for J. Q. Adams & Co., of Seattle, the principal places of purchase being Gravells, Fairfield and Parker, Wash. On resigning this position he came to Oregon and settled in Sylvan, where he lias since made his home. After coming to this town he established domestic ties through his marriage, in 1900, to Miss Ollie Gateley. It has never been his desire to hold office, but under the administration of President Mckinley, he acted upon the suggestion of his friends in the Repub- lican party and made application for the office of postmaster. The position was tendered him and filled efficiently by him during the balance of that administration.

J. P. FINLEY. The writer who seeks to portray the life and advancement of a people- no matter how far he may be under the control of theories pointing otherwise-must at last come to the individual and seek his best material in the lives and records of those by whom the works he would describe have been performed. Thus biography becomes not merely a side light to his- tory, but the very essence and vitality of history itself. In the story of the man of affairs you tell that of his times as well. Viewed thus it does not need to be said that the true story of Portland cannot be told without proper reference to the men whose varied lines of effort have touched almost every material interest of the city as well as many reaching far beyond its boundaries.

It is no exaggeration to say that the undertak- ing establishment of J. P. Finley & Son in Port- land, is not only the finest on the Pacific coast, but nowhere in the United States can there be found a place embodying the many original ideas to be found here. In the conduct of his business Mr. Finley has drawn his inspirations from the most successful concerns of the kind in the world, and his own special aptitude and regard for all that is tactful and elegant have contributed their quota to at least environing a more or less gloomy occupation. To the obliteration of this phase of his business, Mr. Finley has devoted his best energies and deepest thought, with the result that his recently completed building at the corner of Third and Madison streets is all that is typi- cal of all that is thoughtful, considerate, tactful and elegant.

A native of Missouri, Mr. Finley was born in Saline county, near Jonesboro, December 30, 1844. The family was established in this country by his grandfather, Asa William Finley, who was born in the north of Ireland, and came to the United States with his father in an early day. The family settled, first in Virginia, and later removed to Missouri. Here Asa William Finley owned a large farm on which he carried on general farm- ing and stock-raising the balance of his life, passing away in 1860. He was a Presbyterian and a man of fine character. While still a resi- dent of Virginia he was married and to him was born James W. Finley, who became father of the personal subject of this review. In 1852 the father gathered together his possessions, outfitted and started across the plains for California, accom- panied by his wife and seven children, the ox team bringing them to the desired destination at the expiration of six months' time. The family found a home on the farm two and one half miles south of Santa Clara, where the father farmed and raised stock and where he died in 1865. He married Margaret Campbell, who was born in Kentucky, a daughter of William Camp- bell, a native of Virginia, who had settled first in Kentucky and then in Missouri. William Campbell's brother settled in Oregon in 1846 and the same year William, him- self, went to California, as did also Wallace Finley, both locating near Santa Clara, where the former died at the age of ninety-six years. Mrs. Finley, who died in 1852, of mountain fever, was the mother of seven children, as follows : Rev. William A., formerly president of the col- lege at Corvallis, Ore., and later holding the same position in the college of Santa Rosa, in which place he is now living a retired life; New- ton G., of Berkeley, Cal. ; Sarah J., now the wife of Rev. Joseph Emory, a presiding elder in southern California, and at one time an instructor in the college at Corvallis ; J. P., next in order of birth ; Hugh McNary, a farmer of Benton county, Ore., and a graduate of Corvallis College; Anna E., the wife of Dr. T. V. B. Embree, of The Dalles, Ore., and James B., a railroad man of Wadsworth, Nev.

J. P. Finley was seven years of age when his parents emigrated westward to the Golden state, and he was therefore educated in his adopted state, studying at the public schools and at the Pacific Methodist College. At the age of sixteen years he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade in San José. He also took a course in mechanical drawing. After a short time spent as a journeyman he began business on his own account. From the first his efforts were rewarded with success and he became one of the leading contractors and builders of central California, and between 1870-74 constructed many of the

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most handsome residences of the state, also num- erous public buildings. About this time, 1870, he also became interested in the furniture and undertaking business in Santa Clara, in partner- ship with C. C. Morse, who later became known the world over as a seedsman. In 1874, in part- nership with J. P. Pierce, they took up the lumber business, engaging in the manufacture of sash, doors and all building appliances on an extensive scale. This later enterprise was conducted in Santa Clara, and the Enterprise Mill & Lumber Company of which Mr. Finley was made superin- tendent and general manager, became one of the largest and best known in the state. Later this company was merged into the Pacific Manufact- uring Company. In 1879 there was added to the business the manufacture of caskets and general undertaking goods. So successful did this ven- ture prove that at the suggestion of Mr. Finley, a branch house was opened in San Francisco in 1880. At this time the California Casket Com- pany was formed, W. P. Morgan purchasing one- half the stock, while the stockholders of the Pacific Manufacturing Company purchased the other half. The establishment of this new concern was found necessary in order to meet the demands of the constantly increasing trade, which had been so well founded by the industry and business sagacity of Mr. Finley. After this enterprise was securely established, Mr. Finley devoted his time to traveling through the state. In 1881 he made his first trip for the firm in Oregon, Wash- ington, British Columbia, Nevada and Utah, and this. as Mr. Finley had prophesied, was the beginning of an unusual era of prosperity. As time passed and the trade in this section increased, it was found necessary to establish a branch house in Portland, and in 1886 the Oregon Casket Company was incorporated and warerooms were opened on Fourth street, between Flanders and Gleason streets. This Mr. Finley was placed in charge of and for the following six years he devoted his whole time and attention to the inter- ests of the firm in this section of the northwest.

About 1890, Mr. Finley's partner, Mr. Pierce, with whom he had been associated for a number of years, met with reverses, and owing to that and failing health the interest owned by the Pacific Manufacturing Company in the Califor- nia Casket Company was sold to a Mr. Morgan. In 1892, owing to a disagreement between Mr. Finley and Mr. Morgan's manager, Mr. Finley withdrew from the management of the Oregon Casket Company, and also disposed of his inter- est in the Pacific Manufacturing Company, thus severing his connection with two of the leading business concerns of California, which he had practically organized and placed upon a substan- tial and paying basis, for while he was not the moneyed end of the enterprises, it was largely

to him that success was due. It was he who did the planning and it was he who advised the branching out and to him is due much of the credit for the extensive business now transacted by the company, both in California and Oregon.

It was in December, 1892, that the foundation for his present business was laid. A firm under the style DeLin, River & Finley was formed for the purpose of transacting a general undertaking business. This partnership was continued for over a year, when Mr. River was retired from the business, having been unable to put up the neces- sary amount of money to carry his share of the obligations. Following this the style of the firm was DeLin & Finley, but in a short time Mr. DeLin sold his interest to C. R. Reiger, and in 1896 the firm became known as Finley & Reiger. Financially Mr. Reiger was not in shape to keep up his interest and in a short time Mr. Finley became the sole owner, continuing as such until he took in his son, thus changing the name of the firm to J. P. Finley & Son, as it stands today. While most of Mr. Finley's time has been given to the management of his undertaking interests he has branched out in other lines and is now the president of the Black Rock Coal Company, oper- ating in Moro county, Ore.

As before stated, Mr. Finley has recently com- pleted a building at the corner of Third and Madi- son streets. In all respects this is the most com- plete building of its kind in the United States. Being a practical workman himself, Mr. Finley drew his own plans and personally superintended the erection of the same. Many new and original ideas are to be seen throughout this model plant. The chapel is one of the most handsome to be seen and by an ingenious arrangement of curtains and an alcove it is possible to shield the mourners who do not desire to be seen by the people in attendance. This is something that is greatly appreciated by those who shrink from the gaze of the public in their hours of affliction. The morgue, with its cement floor and modern ap- pliances, is fully up-to-date, while the embalming room is fitted to meet all the requirements of a constantly increasing business. Adjoining the chapel is an elegantly appointed room in which relatives and sorrowing friends can sit with the departed one if so wished. The basement is fitted up into three show rooms where all styles and priced caskets can be seen. In addition to the roomy reception hall and private office is a beautiful Turkish room, where absolute privacy is assured to those who wish. The second story of the building is arranged for living apartments, where Mr. Finley and his foreman reside. From this brief description one cannot realize the com- pleteness of the place. Everything that human mind can contrive to relieve what in most cases are very somber surroundings can here be found,

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and to the inventive mind and ingenuity of Mr. Finley is due all.

As a stanch defender of the men and measures of the Republican party, Mr. Finley has for some years been before the public, though he is in 110 sense of the word a politician. His first official recognition occurred in 1898, when he ran on the Mitchell Republican ticket for coroner, and while he was defeated by a small majority, the disap- pointment was more than made up for in 1902, when he was elected on the Republican ticket to the same office by the overwhelming majority of five thousand votes, his assumption of office taking place July 7, 1902. Since then much favor- able comment has been made on the manner in which he has conducted the cases that have come before him. In his building is a room which is furnished with all necessary conveniences for holding examinations, etc. As a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Portland Board of Trade, Mr. Finley can at all times be found working to further the interests of his adopted city. He is ever found on the side of right and never withholds his support from any movement calculated to prove of benefit to the welfare of the city. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of the World, the Artisans, the Royal Tribe of Joseph, the Eagles and the Order of Lions.

JAMES FRANKLIN DAVIES. For nearly thirty years J. F. Davies lias been connected with the hotel interests of the city of Portland, being so engaged for a longer period of time than any other man in the city, and to say that he has met with success in his efforts is unnecessary in the light of results. He is the son of one of the sturdy pioneers of the early days, his father be- ing James Davies, whose name is well known through his participation in the growth of the then wilderness country. He was born in Penn- sylvania, January 10, 1800, and was educated in the subscription schools of his native state. In young manhood he moved to Ohio and engaged in farming until 1830, when he located in Indi- ana, there employed in the prosecution of his trade, which was that of a carpenter and joiner. He built and operated a saw mill at Jamestown, a town which received its name from his own,

and was prosperous in his work in the middle west, but having read much of the Lewis and Clark opening in the northwest, he decided to cast in his fortunes with a new land as he had done once before. They outfitted with ox-teams and all that was required on the long and dan- gerous journey which must be made before they could enter upon the work of cultivation and im- provement, leaving their home in 1852, and com- ing via Fort Hall, Umatilla and The Dalles, driving the stock over the mountain trails, and at the last named city constructing a raft where- with to cross the Cascades, the passage occupy- ing two weeks, after which they came by flat- boat to Portland. He then took up a donation land claim of one hundred and sixty acres and purchased a like amount of land in Washington county, which was entirely unimproved. He set to work with the energy and determination, which were a large part of his character, clearing the timber from the land and entering upon gen- eral farming. His death occurred there in 1880.

The first wife of Mr. Davies was Mary Rich- ardson, who was born in Ohio and who crossed the plains with him to the new home in Oregon. But the trip proved too much for her and one of the sacrifices which Mr. Davies made for the sake of giving his strength to the upbuilding of the state was the death of his wife, which oc- curred in 1853, in Washington county, about six months after their arrival. They had twelve children, five of whom were living at the time of the journey, and besides James Franklin of this review, were as follows: Mrs. John B. Kellogg ;

Mr. Finley was united in marriage in 1869, to Miss Catherine Rucker, who was born in Mis- souri, and crossed the plains in 1852. As a result of this marriage three children have been . Rachel, wife of James McKay, of Beaverton, born : Anna L .; Arthur L., who is associated with his father in business; and William L., a student at the University of California and pros- pective graduate of 1903.

Washington county ; Henry, a farmer and stock- man of Forest Grove, who was also at one time a soldier in the regular army and spent three years in the Indian country ; and Melissa, wife of David Smith, also of Beaverton. For a second wife Mr. Davies married Mrs. Ann Boyles, a widow with three daughters, namely: Mrs. Trullinger, of Astoria ; Mrs. Lewis, and Mrs. Noble.

With nothing to insure his success in the new country, as all the stock which he had brought with so much difficulty across the plains dicd. Mr. Davies yet rose to a position of modest independence, financially, and became a power in the social and moral life of the community in which he had made his home. He was very materially interested in the public schools of Oregon, assisting in organization and giving liberally of his means to their first support. Re- ligiously he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he officiated as dea- con, and in the building of Ames Chapel, which was put up on his farm, he gave generously. He was a Whig until the formation of the Re- publican party and he then endorsed the prin- ciples of that party which but followed out the

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course of the first. Though influential in this work he never aspired to official recognition, pre- ferring the quiet life of an unassuming farmer. Fraternally he was a charter member of Good Samaritan Lodge, I. O. O. F., organized in 1853, the second in the state.

James Franklin Davies was born in Elkhart, Steuben county, Ind., January 8, 1845, and was seven years of age when the journey was made west. He received his education principally in the district school in the vicinity of their home in Washington county, when sixteen years old, attending for a time the old academy at Portland. He then returned home and assisted his father in operating the farm until he was twenty-one, when he again came to this city, engaging in saw mill work for two years, and with the earn- ings for this period he attended and graduated from a commercial college, anxious to fit himself for a position in the business world. He then entered upon a clerkship in the grocery of V. B. Delashmut, where he remained a year, after which he began upon the work in which he was to pass so many years of his life. His father conducted a hotel for some time in Indiana and it was in this employment that he now became engaged, for a year acting as clerk, when he shipped as steward in a sailing vessel bound for China and Manila, and later to New York City. This trip occupied eleven months and gave him a wide range of vision of the world, following which, in 1873. he clerked for a year in a hotel in Belfast, Me. At the close of that period he became second steward on a steamer which plied from Portland, Me., to New York City, remain- ing for a season, when he returned to the Pa- cific coast by steamboat, via San Francisco, thence to Portland, the scene of his first efforts. He accepted a position as clerk in the National Hotel and in 1877 occupied the same position in the St. Charles. The following year he was able financially to purchase an interest in the National Hotel and there he remained for six- teen years. In the meantime, in conjunction with J. B. Kellogg, he had established the Mer- chant's Hotel, which very soon acquired the rep- utation of being the best in the state. In 1895 he and Mr. McCauley leased the St. Charles Hotel and in 1899 purchased the building and formed a partnership with Captain Belcher, with Mr. Davies now acting as president of the as- sociation. In December „Captain Belcher dis- posed of his interest to a Mr. Blaine.

The marriage of Mr. Davies occurred in 1866 and united him with Miss Jane Noble, and one child was born to them, both mother and child dying in the fall of 1867. In December, 1883, he was again married. Laura Fowler becoming his wife. Their one daughter is Arline. born in July, 1885. and is being educated in St. Helen's

Hall. Mr. Davies and his family now make their home at Fourteenth and East Morrison streets, where he built a residence in 1901, though he had owned the property for the past twenty years. In politics Mr. Davies is, like his father, a Re- publican, and is also like him in the fact that he has never cared for political recognition. He is a member, fraternally, of Hassalo Lodge, I. O. O. F., having joined the order in 1872. Mrs. Davies belongs to the Rebekahs, and religious- ly both herself and daughter are members of the Episcopal Church, which is liberally supported, as are general movements of the city by Mr. Davies.

FERDINAND DRESSER. The Pacific northwest, with its rapid development, offers vast possibilities to the men who have in their make-up the characteristics which have shone forth in the great men of the age. 'Tis true that while many have succeeded many more have failed, when at the start all were surrounded by practically the same environments. The man who took advantage of the opportunities as they were presented was the one who today has reached a position of affluence. When Ferdi- nand Dresser started upon his business career in Portland, it was without the influence of wealth or friends. He began at the bottom as a sales- man in a grocery store, and that his labors have been well rewarded is the result of his own well directed efforts. Equipped with but a fair com- mon school education and a very limited busi- ness experience, he entered upon his career with a stout heart and a firm determination to suc- ceed; perseverance was his capital. Obstacles were encountered and overcome. Gradually he has forged ahead, until today he is at the head of the largest retail grocery business in Oregon, while the entire northwest contains few stores equal to the one conducted under the firm name of F. Dresser & Co.

A native of Missouri, Mr. Dresser was born in Osage, Osage county, May 31, 1856, son of Ber- nard and Annie (Spielbush ) Dresser, both na- tives of Germany. Bernard Dresser emigrated to this country when a youth, having spent a few years farming in the country of his nativity. On reaching America he settled in Osage county, Mo., where he resided until 1864, in which year he located in Kansas City, and the following year engaged in freighting between that city and Santa Fe with ox teams. This did not prove to be a very profitable venture and in 1867 he located in Shawnee, Kans., where he opened a grocery store. After some years he returned to Kansas City and there followed the grocery busi- ness until 1876, in which year he migrated to Oregon. The first three years of his residence

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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 26

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