Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 28

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 28

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Dr. Flinn has been a life long experimenter with the wild plants and native shrubs of the state, as well as seedling fruits, and is the orig- inator of the Flinn cherry, which is one of Ore- gon's finest fruits. Being one of the earliest of the large cherries, a free bearer, good keeper and a fine shipping variety, it will prove of great com- mercial value to the state. The doctor has spent a considerable part of his time during the past two years in sending, free of cost. buds and scions of the Flinn cherry to different parts of the world, in order to distribute the variety as widely as possible.

The eldest of eight children, Dr. Flinn was born in Westchester county, N. Y., June 1, 1841, and spent his early childhood in Auburn, Cayuga county, N. Y. At the age of sixteen he accom- panied the family to Dodge county, Wis., set- tling near Columbus and aiding in clearing a farm from the forest. His mother came to Ore- gon when advanced in years, and died at The Dalles in 1901, at the age of eighty-two. One of his brothers, W. D., a graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, and a major in the Twenty- third Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil war, engaged in practice at Redwood Falls, Minn., until his death in 1899. Another brother, P. H., is a railroad contractor and lives at The Dalles. The third brother, T. C., is also connected with Oregon railroads. Two sisters, Annie and Mag- gie Flinn, reside at The Dalles, Ore. One sister, Mrs. Julia Johnson, lives at Danville, Wis., and another sister. Mrs. Mary Townly, lives at Co- lumbus, Wis.

Coming via New York and Panama to the Pa- cific coast in 1863. Dr. Flinn spent a year in San Francisco and vicinity, and meantime continued the study of medicine, which he had begun in Wisconsin. About the same time he tried his luck in the mines of eastern Oregon and Idaho. The life of a miner, however, seemed to him to possess too great an element of uncertainty to be desirable. and after some experience in that line he turned his attention to the cattle business. Later he became a student with Drs. Carpenter and Chase, who were members of the faculty of the medical department of Willamette Univer-

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sity. In 1871 he was appointed surgeon for the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, and for five years remained in that agency, meantime taking advantage of a leave of absence to complete his medical education in Willamette University, from which he received the degree of M. D. in 1872. Upon resigning his position at the agency in 1875. he removed to Vancouver, where he practiced until December, 1877, and then settled at Gervais, Marion county, Ore., where he built up a large practice, and also served as council- man and mayor, and for seven years as school director. In 1884 he was elected to represent Marion county in the Oregon state legislature. where he took an active part in the session of 1885 and the special session of 1886. Meantime he had removed from Gervais and temporarily. until the completion of his term of office. he es- tablished his home in Salem. Two months later. on the completion of the work of the special ses- sion, he came to Portland, in 1886, and has since continuously practiced his profession in this city. Immediately after removing to this city he was elected professor of physiology in the medical de- partment of the University of Oregon, a position which he filled with the greatest efficiency and success until 1901, when he resigned the chair. Since then he has devoted his attention wholly to his large and important practice in Portland, where he has his office in the Logus building. East Washington and Grand avenue.

Upon the organization of the State Medical Association of Oregon, Dr. Flinn became one of its charter members and at one time held the of- fice of vice-president. His marriage took place at The Dalles in 1871 and united him with Amanda McCorkle, who was born on the plains while her parents were crossing the country to Oregon. She was a granddaughter of Capt. John Smith, who was appointed Indian agent at the Warm Springs Reservation by President Lincoln in 1861 and served until his death in 1882. In politics Dr. Flinn is a Republican, a firm believer in party principles and platform. During his legislative experience, in the session of 1885, he introduced a medical bill, but it failed of passage by one vote. Two years later it was modified and in its amended form passed the legislature. This was the bill that, as slightly amended. is now known as the state medical law, and governs the practice of medicine and surgery in the state of Oregon. In its essential features it is the bill prepared by Dr. Flinn, who deserves credit for the pioneer work of interesting the people and the legislature in this important measure.

C. F. LOUIS FLOSS. A tract of one hun- dred and twenty acres of land in Multnomah county is the treasured possession of C. F. Louis

Floss, and here is conducted a paying and prac- tical general farming and stock-raising enter- prise. Under the well directed energies of the owner fifty acres have been relieved of their burden of timber, seed planted, and expected harvests gathered.

Were Mr. Floss deprived of the opportunity of farming he would not be at a loss for a means of livelihood, for he is a practical baker by trade, an occupation destined to be in demand until the end of time. He was born in Germany. January 4. 1845, and had the early training which falls to the lot of the average youth of Teutonic ancestry and birth. At the usual time, also, at the age of fourteen, he departed from the family shelter and apprenticed himself to learn a trade. The baker's trade appealed most strongly to him, and he diligently applied him- self to learning it in all its details. At the age of seventeen years he completed his trade and during the following two years he traveled through Germany and Switzerland, working at his trade in the different cities. Ambitious by nature and far sighted by instinct, he emigrated to America in 1873, and at Camden, N. J., worked at his trade for a short time. He there- after lived and labored in St. Louis until 1880, during which year he came to Portland, Ore., and in the fall of the same year located on the farm which he now owns and works. He has displayed public spiritedness in all his dealings with his adopted country, and may be counted on to further any just and worthy effort at im- provement. A Democrat in political preferment, he is yet very liberal in his tendencies, and be- lieves that principle rather than party should prevail in local and national elections. He is the friend of education, and has rendered effi- cient service as a member of the school board, and clerk of the same, for the past seventeen years.

J. A. FISHER. Although Mr. Fisher's farm is not as large as a great many in his vicinity, yet upon his five acres he has done excellent work, literally bringing order out of chaos, as when he purchased the land in 1872 it was heav- ily covered with timber. His birth occurred in Germany, in the year 1826, and in his native land he was employed in a hotel when a boy, at an early age starting out on his own account. It is a custom in the old country for all the sons to learn a trade, and in this Mr. Fisher was not an exception. At an early age he learned the confectioner's trade, and this he found of value, when, later on, it was necessary for him to look for employment. In 1848 he immigrated to America, following the example of many an- other young man anxious to take advantage of

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the broader opportunities offered here than are to be found in the Fatherland. Not being par- ticularly impressed with the city of New Or- leans, at which he first landed, he proceeded to St. Louis, and was there engaged at his trade, in addition to conducting a confectionery store. Quincy, Ill., next attracted his attention as a good location, and there he also opened a bakery and confectionery establishment. Hearing of the wonderful advantages of the far west, how- ever, he was not content until he had seen and tasted for himself, and in 1856 we find him in San Francisco. Going to Portland six months later, he ran a boarding house for one year, but later cmbarked in a line with which he was more familiar, opening a confectionery store, and sub- sequently adding a bakery. Engaging in this line of endeavor until 1872, he then purchased his five-acre tract near Mount Tabor, before alluded to. It was a discouraging sight when he saw it the first time, and judging from its prosperous appearance today all will agree that he is due much praise for results obtained.

While in Quincy, Ill., Mr. Fisher met the lady who was destined to share his joys and sorrows, and was there married to Ann Mary Kaiser in 1853. She was born in Switzerland, June 2, 1823, and immigrated to America in 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have four children, named in the order of their birth as follows: August, Charles, Martha Lauretta and George W. The family are identified with the German Reformed Church and Mr. Fisher is a Republican in his political sentiments. The family name was for- merly spelled Fischer.

GEORGE GRAHAM. Although living a retired life in Cornelius, a thriving little town of Washington county. George Graham has experi- enced the satisfaction of conducting a farm for many years in this well-favored locality, and has won a competence by reason of well-applied en- ergy. He was born in Montclair, N. J., July 25, 1815, and is the son of George Graham, a native of Scotland, and a weaver by occupation during his entire active life. The father was a fairly successful man, and at his trade was reckoned an expert. In his young manhood he married Mary Murray, who was born in Scotland, and who died shortly after the birth of her son, George. The father had two other wives, and reared a large family of children.

Soon after his mother's death George Graham was taken into the home of a Mr. Egbert, where he remained until about sixteen years of age. He then qualified as a carpenter, having finished which trade he removed to New York City at the age of eighteen, and there found employment at carpentering for a couple of years. While

in the east he was united in marriage with Sarah J. Ogden, with whom he returned to New Jer- sey, which continued to be the family home for nine years. At Elkhart, Ind., Mr. Graham farmed for about nineteen years, and later lived and farmed in Kansas for ten years.

In 1883 Mr. Graham became associated with Oregon, where he bought his present farm in Washington county, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, which was disposed of at a profit in 1896. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Graham, of whom George H. died in New York, and Frederick is still living in Cor- nelius. Mr. Graham is a stanch Republican, and has filled several positions of trust and honor in the community. He is a fine type of the man developed by his own strength and natural apti- tutde, and is entitled to the praise and esteen so gladly bestowed by his favored fellow-towns- men.

J. M. GREEAR. On both the paternal and maternal side of his family J. M. Greear traces his descent from Revolutionary sires, who cour- ageously followed the fortunes of Washington in support of Colonial independence. He was born in Grayson county, Va., November 27, 1851, and is the second youngest of the four children born to William and Leanza (Pugh) Greear, the latter of whom was born in Virginia, a daughter of a Virginia farmer, and grand- daughter of a Revolutionary hero. William Greear was also born in Virginia, and was a son of Shadrach, a soldier in the Revolution. A merchant during the greater part of his active life, William Grcear removed to Texas when his son J. M. was eight years of age, and settled upon a new farm, where he raised grain and stock. With the need of his services in the Civil war he enlisted and became captain of a Texas regiment under Gen. John Morgan. He was destined never to return to his family and farm in Texas, for after being captured in Ohio, he died at Fort Douglas. With him in the serv- ice was his son J. T.

At the age of eleven J. M. Greear became the practical head of the desolate family in Texas, who were left without other resource than a barren, partially developed farm. He remained thereon until 1876, and during that year re- moved to near Henrietta, Clay county, Tex., where he bought a farm and engaged in the cat- tle business until 1879. In Texas he also en- gaged in the mercantile business in Bellevue, and at the same time bought and sold cattle with considerable success until his removal to Hills- boro, Ore., in 1889. In his adopted state Mr. Greear engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1891, in which year he became interested

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in the Climax Milling Company, an outgrowth of the Red Jacket Mill, established in 1884, and incorporated under its present name in 1888. Since 1891 he has been head miller and manager, and the business is by far the largest of its kind in Hillsboro, and one of the largest in Wash- ington county. The capacity of the mill is one hundred barrels a day, and the commodities turned out are graham and whole wheat flour, breakfast foods, and the Moss Rose Brand of wheat flour, the latter of which brings the best price of any flour manufactured in the Willa- mette Valley. Mr. Greear and his son are the two largest stockholders in the milling com- pany. In connection with the mill Mr. Greear owns a ranch two and a half miles west of Hills- boro, which is devoted to grain raising.

A Prohibitionist in politics, Mr. Greear has attained to some prominence in local political undertakings, and has been a candidate for state senator. He is fraternally associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past noble grand; the Rebekahs; and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which he is past master workman. While in Texas Mr. Greear married Bettie L. Bridges, a native of Virginia, and of this union there have been born four children : J. Claude, a partner with his father; R. L., apprenticed to his father at the milling trade; Pearl; and Harold. J. Claude is a young man of much promise, receiving his education at the State Agricultural College and the Portland Business College, and fills the posi- tion of secretary of the Climax Milling Com- pany, in which he is a stockholder. He is fra- ternally identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, Lodge No. 61. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which J. M. Greear is a trustee.

ISAAC H. GOVE. Like all the pioneers of 1849 who were drawn to the Pacific coast by news of the discovery of gold, Mr. Gove has many interesting memories of those days. As a boy, his home was in the remote eastern part of this continent. Born in Limington, York county, Me., November 2. 1828, he spent the years of his early youth on a farm there, and at the age of fifteen began to work at the carpen- ter's trade in Portland, Me. His remuneration for one summer's work was only $5, although he was to have received much more, and with this meager sum he returned home and entered school. In the spring of 1844 he went to Bos- ton by boat and there served three years' ap- prenticeship at the carpenter's trade, receiving $10 per month and board in return for his serv- ices. The first two winters he returned home and attended school. The year of 1848 found

him in Hadley, Mass., where he was em- ployed during the construction of the dam on the Connecticut river. Returning to Boston, he went from there to Reading, where he was em- ployed at his trade.

The fall of 1849 found Mr. Gove joining a party of men bound for California. By paying $150 he was given passage around Cape Horn to San Francisco in the ship Marcia Cleaves, of which William Tracy was captain. After a voy- age of one hundred and ninety-one days he reached his destination, only to learn that two days before the city had been destroyed by one of those devastating fires which were so com- mon in those early days. The necessity for the immediate reconstruction of buildings furnished him prompt work at large wages, and often he was paid as high as $to per day. Had it not been for a severe illness he would have accumu- lated a large sum, but the expenses thus entailed reduced his earnings materially. During the summer of 1850 he came on a sailing vessel to Portland, Ore., spending forty-two days on the water. Here he found only a few small stores, some rude dwellings and a post office occupying a rude log cabin at the corner of Washington and Front streets. His stay in Portland was of short duration as he continued on to the resi- dence of Samuel S. White, two miles from Ore- gon City, where he worked at his trade during the winter, in company with two other men with whom he was acquainted. His next location was Salem, where he took a contract to enclose a hotel, known as the Marion House, and owned by John Ford. A few months later, after the completion of this contract, he started for the, mines, being accompanied by a companion, Charles Howard, who made the trip with him around the Horn. Providing themselves with an outfit in Portland, consisting of two yokes of oxen, mining tools and cooking utensils, etc., they started for the mines, but on reaching Rose- burg they sold out and both returned to Salem. Later Mr. Gove purchased another supply con- sisting of a pack horse and a horse to ride, and went to Shasta. He visited various mines in Oregon and the Sacramento Valley of Cali- fornia, and for a short time was in Reading. The summer and winter of 1851-52 were spent about six miles from Marysville, Cal., on the Yuba river, where he was engaged in farming. and in December. 1851, was similarly employed on the Bear river ; while there he met with quite an exciting incident that came near ending his career. It seems there had been two or three days of heavy rain and the Bear river was a raging torrent. As it was raining, work on the farm had been laid aside and the gentleman for whom he was working. Colonel Lewis. asked him to go across the river to a blacksmith shop

Cosas. Ho. Gaylord"

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and have some repairs made on a plow. In company with a companion, Harry Hodgins, the two men started to cross the river in a log dug- out that might be safe in smooth waters, but in the swollen torrent it was far from being a seaworthy craft. The swift current drove them into a bunch of brush, which turned the boat across the stream and in an instant both of the men were floundering in the icy waters of the Bear. Luckily the accident occurred near a tree. Mr. Gove was a good swimmer and caught hold of Harry Hodgins, bringing him to the tree, and both drew themselves up into the lower branches. It was an awful position to be in, as the icy waters had chilled them to the bone, and apparently there was no way in which they could reach shore or make themselves heard by a chance passerby, but that was their only chance for life, as no man living could have breasted that current and swam to shore, so they both began calling for help at the top of their voices. Continuing for about an hour, first one would cry out and then the other. At last they were heard and two men started out from the shore in a good sized boat and soon they were once more on terra firma, thankful that they had been rescued from what at one time seemed sure death.

Returning to Portland in the fall of 1852, Mr. Gove found employment at his trade. From 1855 to 1860 he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness in this city, and then went to Lewiston, Idaho, where he carried on a feed yard one stim- mer, in company with Thomas Todd. On re- turning to Portland he engaged in contracting and building until 1880, when he settled on his present farm, near Sylvan, Multnomah county. . On this homestead, in 1858, he had married Miss Orpha T. Humphrey, whose father. Homan Humphrey, took up the land from the govern- ment in an early day. As a result of this union nine children were born, the following of whom are living : Alice, Olive, Howard, Arthur, Sum- ner and Winnifred. The second marriage of Mr. Gove was solemnized in 1896, at Monrovia, Cal., and united him with Miss Rosina F. Young, by whom he has two children : Evadna V. and Rosina M.

The home place consists of eighty acres of partially improved land, in addition to which Mr. Gove has another tract of sixty acres in Wash- ington county, besides owning real estate in the city of Portland. Since 1875 he has been a mem- ber of the Baptist Church of Portland. In poli- tics he votes with the Republican party. In the summer of 1866, he returned to his old home in the east for a visit. He was in the city of Port- land, Me., on July 4, when the great fire which destroyed that city broke out. His people were

all living at that time, but they have all passed away since with the exception of one sister, who makes her home near the old homestead.

CHARLES HOWARD GAYLORD, secre- tary of the Portland Hotel Company and one of the most widely known hotel men in the state of Oregon, is a representative of one of the oldest colonial families in New England, founded in this country by William Gaylord, who came from Hull, England, in 1630, and established a home in the wilderness of Connecticut. From this pioneer the line of descent is through Walter. Joseph, Benjamin, Levi, Jedediah, Harry Nelson and Charles Howard. Levi, paternal great- grandfather of Charles H. Gaylord, served with distinction in the Revolutionary war, his origi- nal commission, now in the possession of the subject of this sketch, having been written by Benjamin Franklin and signed June 10. 1776, by John Hancock. In 1777 he was commissioned ensign by Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, and in 1780 became a captain in the state militia of Connecticut. His son. Jedediah, Mr. Gaylord's paternal grand- father, removed from Connecticut to Delaware county, N. Y., in 1785, and in 1790 bought the farm of John Harper, the founder of Harpers- field. Delaware county, upon which his death occurred in 1846, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife, formerly, Lydia Newcomb, also a mem- ber of a very old New England family, died in 1844. Jedediah Gaylord was not less patriotic than his sire, and improved the opportunity to serve his country in the war of 1812.

Upon the old John Harper farm in Delaware county, N. Y., Harry Nelson Gaylord, father of Charles H., was born May 17, 1814. He was reared to farm work, and knew no other occupa- tion : and the same farm continued to be culti- vated by his industry up to the time of his retirement to Belleville. Jefferson county, N. Y., where his death occurred March 15, 1890. He was a Republican in political preference, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. His wife, Phoebe (Smith) Gaylord, was born in Harpers- field, N. Y., April 2, 1817. a daughter of Ezekiel Smith, a native of Connecticut, who in early life followed the sea. He became one of the pioneer settlers of Delaware county, N. Y., where he married Elizabeth Dunshee, who survived him by many years. Mrs. Gaylord, whose death occurred February 16, 1879, was the mother of but two children, of whom the younger, Henry Arthur, principal of the academy at Belleville, N. Y., died March 11, 1890.

Upon the completion of his preliminary studies in the public schools of Harpersfield, N. Y.,

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where he was born February 15, 1840, Charles H. Gaylord attended the academy at Stamford, N. Y., after which he taught school three winters, his summers being spent in work on the home farm. His mercantile experiences began in 1862, at which time he engaged in the flour and feed business at Oswego, N. Y. After eighteen months he entered a dry goods store, and in this business he was interested for seven years as cashier and bookkeeper. For seven years there- after he conducted a grocery business in Oswego. Removing to Kansas City, Mo., in 1878, he spent a year there as clerk in the auditing department of the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Gulf Railroad. In 1879 he removed to St. Joseph, Mo., where, from May 23, 1879, to May 22, 1889, he was con- nected with the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad Company, for three years as clerk and for the last seven years of his term of service as storekeeper. This post was resigned to accept that of supply agent for the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, with head- quarters in Portland; and in this capacity he served for six months, or until the removal of the general offices of the company to Omaha, whither he did not desire to go. He continued to remain in Portland, however, and in April, 1890, was elected secretary of the Portland Hotel Company, at the time of the opening of the hotel owned by that company, which, by the way, is one of the handsomest and best-equipped hotels in the United States. Each succeeding year he has been re-elected to this important and responsible position, for the performance of whose duties he is eminently qualified by nature and experi- ence, possessing, as he does, the geniality. good- fellowship, knowledge of human nature, business sagacity and tact necessary for the successful entertainment of the traveling public, whose demands are growing greater year by year.

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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 28

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