Portrait and biographical record of Portland and vicinity, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 57

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 57

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Very few educational advantages brightened the boyhood years of Mr. Noblitt. At eighteen years of age he secured employment in teaming and general farming. Two years later he rented a forty-acre tract in Ray county. Mo., which he purchased a year later. After two years he moved to a tract on the Missouri river in the same county, and about the same time bought out a livery business in Camden. After operating it

for eighteen months, in 1852 he crossed the plains with ox teams, spending three months and twenty-six days in the journey from the time of leaving St. Joseph, Mo., May 4, until landing was made at Eagle Creek August 28. In 1853 he took up a donation claim of three hundred and fifteen acres at Needy, Clackamas county, where he has one hundred acres under cultivation, and improved with a neat residence and substantial barns.

In addition to managing the donation claim, upon which he still resides, Mr. Noblitt has had other interests. In 1874 he was mail contractor from Portland to Salem, via Silverton, and ran the stage every day but Sunday. In 1889 he started a livery stable in Oregon City, and this he operated successfully until July, 1899, when he disposed of the property. During the Indian wars of the early days he enlisted in a company of volunteers, October 16, 1855, and served until his honorable discharge, February 7, 1856, hold- ing the rank of sergeant. He is identified with the Grange and in politics votes with the Demo- cratic party. The office of road supervisor he filled a number of years ago, in addition to which he served as deputy sheriff under Sheriffs John Myers, Hedges, Shepps, and Ganong.

March 1, 1846, in Ray county, Mo, occurred the marriage of Mr. Noblitt and Katherine Sconce, who was born in Kentucky January 18, 1822, and died July 14, 1888. Her father, John Sconce, a Kentuckian by birth, migrated to Mis- souri in an early day and engaged in farming there until his death. During the Indian wars in Florida he served in the United States volunteer army as a captain. In the family of Mr. Noblitt there were eight children, and five of these are now living. John makes his home in Molalla, Ore .: Sarah Ann died on the plains while the family were coming west and was buried near Fort Kearney; Margaret Jane, Mrs. Moreland, has had charge of her father's home since the death of her mother; Mary Emma died in Ore- gon ; Charles Robert is now in Oregon City ; Walter remains at home; and Minnie married Hal E. Burns and lives in Portland.

FRANK SCHMITT. Although but recently organized, the Frank Schmitt & Co. mill may safely be counted upon as one of the substantial and enduring business institutions of Portland, as it is owned and managed by thoroughly capa- ble men whose training in the milling business covers many years' practical experience. It was organized March 17, 1902, with a capital stock of $20,000, which has since heen increased to $40,000, and in the hands of such men as Frank Schmitt, president: J. L. Hembree, secretary ; and J. B. Carr, manager, it is safe to predict a

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brilliant future for the company. It is finely located upon a block of ground at East Eighth and Taylor streets, is two stories in height and 75x133 feet in dimensions. It is equipped with an eighty horse-power engine, one hundred horse- power boiler, besides the most modern labor- saving machinery which it is possible to find in a similar plant. There is a dry kiln and steam house in connection with the mill, where the ma- terial is prepared for the manufacture of sash, doors, windows, blinds, moulding, and all house- finishing materials, and it is universally con- ceded that the Frank Schmitt & Co. mill has a larger output than any similar mill in the city. A force of from forty to fifty men are employed in the mill.

Frank Schmitt was born near Mendota, Ill., March 20, 1858. His father, Joseph Schmitt, was a native of Bavaria, Germany, whence he immigrated to America, settling in Illinois upon a tract of unimproved government land, which he brought to a high state of cultivation, and upon which his death occurred when his son Frank was a lad of six years. His wife, who was also a native of Bavaria, and to whom he was married in Illinois, now makes her home in East Portland. To the parents were born four chil- dren, those besides Frank being Mrs. Barbara McNamee, of Portland ; and Frances and Igna- tius, who also reside here. After the father's death the family continued to reside in Illinois until 1871, in which year the mother brought the children to the west by way of San Francisco, their first stop being made at Red Bluff, Cal. From there they went by stage a distance of three hundred miles to Harrisburg, Ore., later to Salem, and finally reached Portland, where the mother purchased a block of land bounded by Ninth and Tenth, and East Pine and Oak streets. After attending school a few years the son Frank began to show an interest in and inclination for business life, and at the age of sixteen years com- menced to learn the planing-mill business. For two years he was with George Ainslee & Co., and then with Nicolai Brothers Company, where he remained for twenty-six years, beginning at the lowest round of the ladder and working his way up until he became superintendent of the mill. For ten years he had been a stockholder in the company. His resignation took effect in Febril- ary, 1902, and the following month witnessed the organization of the company of which he is now the head, and which is without doubt the finest mill in the city of Portland.

In Portland Mr. Schmitt and Miss Mary Hem- bree were united in marriage, and to them two children were born, Norman, and Malvina. Mrs. Schmitt is a native of Yamhill county, and the (laughter of J. T. Hembree, one of the early pioneers to the state of Oregon. Mr. Schmitt

holds membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen and Woodmen of the World, and in religious matters is identified with the Roman Catholic Church. Politically he uses his influ- ence in favor of the Republican party. In his character Mr. Schmitt combines those qualities of mind and heart that render him deservedly popular and secure to him the friendship of all with whom he comes in contact.

JAMES OLSON. The term self-made can in all truth be applied to Mr. Olson. When he as- sumed the responsibility of life on his own account he was empty-handed, but having a good stock of pluck, determination and perseverance in his make-up he put it to the best use possible in surmounting the difficulties that beset his path- way. As a result we to-day find him at the head of one of the largest business enterprises in Port- land, the Portland Shipbuilding Company. Mr. Olson comes of sturdy Norwegian ancestors, and his grandfather, who was an iron miner in the Norseland, lived to the venerable age of eighty- seven years. The father of James was a con- tractor and builder.

· Of the thirteen children comprised in the fam- ily, James Olson was the only one to immigrate to this country. In Skeen, Norway, which is only twenty miles distant from Christiania, the capital, his birth occurred March 29, 1850, he being the eldest child. From his father he learned the carpenter's trade thoroughly, and when, at the early age of seventeen, in 1867, he determined to come to America, he was not without a trade, albeit his pocketbook was sadly depleted. From Liverpool he took the sailer Levi, which, after a six-months' journey around the Horn, finally landed its weary burden of passengers at Port- land. Accepting the first honorable work that came to hand, Mr. Olson hired out as a farm hand, and among other things did considerable teaming. besides cutting and hauling cordwood. Continuing this employment for several years. he finally, in 1874, engaged in work which was more in keeping with his tastes, as at that time he entered the employ of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company as a carpenter, and until 1882 served the company faithfully and well. Deciding to start in business on his own account, he at once established a boat-yard at the foot of Yamhill street, where he met with merited suc- cess, but in 1889 he moved to his present quar- ters, at the foot of Meade street, where he is advantageously situated on the river, his yard having a frontage of seven hundred feet and a depth of four hundred feet. It is conceded by all to be the finest shipyard in the city of Portland, and from its docks have gone boats that plied almost all the known waters, among them being

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the Vulcan, Sarah Dixon, Flyer, Hustler, Ell- wood, Pomona, Altoona, Necata and the city dredge, besides scores of other boats. The plant is run by steam power, and an average of over fifty hands are employed to carry on the work. The company was incorporated under its present title in 1898.

Mr. Olson was married in Portland to Miss Anne Margaret Christianson, who was born in South Jutland, Denmark. Three children were born of their marriage: Marion, who is in the livery business; Maude; and Florence. In po- litical affairs Mr. Olson is in sympathy with the Republican party, and grasps every opportunity to advance the cause of the party, both by voice and vote. Among the fraternal societies he is enrolled as a member of the Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and of the latter organization he is a past officer in Fidel- ity Lodge. In 1900 Mr. Olson took his family on an extended trip through the old country. visiting the scenes of his early childhood in Norway, be- sides the many places of interest in Denmark, Germany, France and England.

JOHN M. SIMPSON has lived on his present farm of one hundred and fifty acres, four miles from Hillsboro, Washington county, since 1867, and, judging from the many evidences of thrift which greet the beholder of his prosperity, he has during this time realized many of his most san- guine expectations. Previous to settling down in a permanent Western home Mr. Simpson trav- eled extensively through California and the northwest, engaged in various occupations, and perceptibly broadened his general knowledge of men and events. He was born in Ashtabula county, Chio, July 23, 1828, and when two years old was taken by his parents to Wayne county, Mich., where his father bought a farm and lived for five years. For the following two years they lived in Huron county, Mich., going thence to Laporte county, Ind., and at the expiration of four years to Van Buren county, Mich. This terminated the earthly pilgrimage of the parents, for both of their deaths occurred in Van Buren county at advanced ages.

The gold excitement which swept over the country in '49 penetrated the confines of the Michigan farm, and upset the deliberate calcula- tions of the farmer lad, John M. Simpson, who, with three companions, started out upon what proved an adventurous jaunt across the plains. The men had four yoke of oxen between them. and February 20, 1849, turned their backs upon tried conditions in the middle west and hopefully faced the land of the western sea. They chose the northern route, and when about two hundred

and forty miles out from Salt Lake City, Utah, the oxen gave out, and Mr. Simpson was obliged reluctantly to leave his teams behind him. With a pack on his back and stout determination in his heart he sallied forth on foot to Hangtown, Cal., a distance of fourteen hundred miles, during this long tramp subsisting chiefly on pinola and dried corn meal. During this entire trip he had no coat or blanket, and at night generally slept be- neath the shelter of a bit of brush. The hard- ships of such a journey can not be appreciated by the present generation. It is worthy of note that during his journey overland he did two things that probably no other man of his day did-swam the North Platte river, and for a time worked for Brigham Young at Salt Lake City, while waiting for one of his companions. Footsore and weary he arrived within the limits of Hangtown August 7, 1849, having accomplished a really remarkable feat, and one before which the strongest man might be expected to quail.

Once in the west Mr. Simpson turned his at- tention to mining in Eldorado county, Cal., going thence to Sierra county, where he mined for ten years. He afterward spent a summer in Boise City, Idaho, and then tried his luck in the silver mines of Nevada. In the spring of 1865 he went to Virginia City, Mont., and Helena, returning thence to Boise City, Idaho, where he mined for a couple of years. After a winter in Washington county, Ore., he returned to Idaho, and in the fall of 1866 returned to Washington county and was united in marriage with Mary A. Stewart, who was born near Witch Hazel, Washington county, a daughter of Charles and Martha ( Woods) Stewart, natives of Missouri, who came to Ore- gon in 1846. At this very early day the Stew- arts were eight months in crossing the plains, and they located near Salem, spending the first winter in a log cabin, and living on boiled wheat. The following spring they took up land near Ore- gon City, but not liking that region gave up their claim and took up a claim of six hundred and forty acres about eight miles east of Hillsboro. Here they erected another log cabin, proceeded to improve and cultivate their land, and made this their home until the retirement of Mr. Stew- art to Hillsboro about 1870. Here this intrepid pioneer died in 1898, on September 3, having at- tained to eighty-one years, eleven more than the scriptural allotment. His wife died August 26, 1902, and was more than seventy years of age. Mr. Stewart was a man of leading character- istics, and among the creditable occurrences in his career was a long service in the Seminole war in 1835. Interested in education, he helped to organize schools, and was instrumental in secur- ing good highways in different parts of the coun- ty. His wife was a member of the Christian Church.

This Is. Podle

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

After his marriage Mr. Simpson bought one hundred and forty acres of land near Hillsboro, and after occupying the same for a couple of years sold his property and bought two hundred and thirty acres, upon which he lived for eight years. A still later purchase was the one hundred and fifty acres which is now his home, where he is carrying on a large dairying and general farming enterprise. He has been a Mason since 1857, is now a member of Hillsboro Lodge, and in political affiliation is a Republican. For several terms he served as road supervisor. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, Franklin A. is a farmer in Washington county: Ada P. is de- ceased ; Katie M. is the wife of Charles Johnson, owner of a saw-mill in Washington county : Emma is the wife of Thomas Bowlby; Mattie is deceased ; John M. lives in Portland, where he is engaged at his trade as harnessmaker ; and Bessie A. is living at home.

THOMAS G. TODD. The days of chivalry and knighthood can present no more thrilling story than that of our own western history. In the front rank of the columns which have ad- vanced the civilization of the northwest Thomas G. Todd has led the way to the substantial devel- opment, progress and upbuilding of Oregon, being particularly active in the growth of Forest Grove, where he still makes his home. He is numbered among the pioneers of the Sunset state, his memory going back to the time when the entire Pacific coast was but very sparsely settled, when the Indians were more numerous than the white men and the land had not been reclaimed for purposes of civilization, but remained in its primitive condition. Today Mr. Todd is the owner of what is regarded everywhere as the finest farm in Washington county.

In Livingston county. N. Y., Mr. Todd was born March 11, 1833. His father was a farmer by occupation. His mother died during the early boyhood of her son and he then went to live with relatives, with whom he remained until fifteen years of age, when he started out to earn his own living, having been prepared somewhat for the responsibilities of business life by a district school education. He was first employed on a farm at $8 per month and followed that pursuit until 1855, when he started for California. For a few years previous the tide of emigration had been steadily flowing toward the Pacific coast. Mr. Todd came by the way of the Isthmus route and arrived at San Francisco in the fall of the year. In the Golden state he followed mining until 1858 and then went to the Fraser river, in British Columbia, but shortly afterward he came to Oregon, settling first in Portland. For about three and one-half years he was employed on a

farm near that city and then went to Lewiston, Idaho, where he was engaged in dealing in hay, being the first to embark in that business in his portion of the state. He also conducted a dray- age and express business, remaining at Lewis- ton for two years. He afterward followed mining for two years at Warren, Idaho, but in 1866 returned to Portland, and after looking for a good business opening purchased an interest in the Trullinger mills at Oswego, where he re- mained for two years.

Mr. Todd then traded his interest in the plant for four hundred acres of land, the most of which was wild and covered with a native growth of timber. He now owns an extensive tract of five hundred and eighty-five acres of land all in one body, of which three hundred acres are under cultivation. He has made all of the improvements upon this place and the Groveland farm is with- out doubt the finest in Washington county. No equipment or accessory found upon a model farm of the twentieth century is there lacking. He has splendid buildings, fine stock, the latest im- proved machinery, highly cultivated fields, and his home is supplied with all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He makes a specialty of raising Holstein cattle and fine sheep and is breeding some of the finest Percheron horses in the northwest.

Mr. Todd has served for twelve years as county commissioner, exercising his official prerogatives in support of every measure for the general good. He was also school director for several years and he belongs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Grange, while in his political affiliations he is a Republican. He belongs to the little group of distinctively representative business men who have been the pioneers in inaugurating and building up the chief industries of this section of the country. He early had the sagacity and prescience to discern the eminence which the future had in store for this great and growing country, and, acting in accordance with the dic- tates of his faith and judgment, he has garnered. in the fullness of time, the generous harvest which is the just recompense of indomitable in- dustry, spotless integrity and marvelous enter- prise.

GEORGE P. WALLING, manager and pro- prietor of the most extensive carpet and rug man- ufactory on the Pacific coast, comes of a family represented in all of the important wars of the country, and also creditably enrolled among its educators, legislators, farmers and builders. He was born on a farm near Monroe, Green county. Wis., October 1, 1846, a son of J. R., and grand- son of Gabriel Walling.

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Gabriel Walling was born near Versailles, France, and when a young man came to America with his father, who served in the Revolutionary war. The grandfather was an editcator of some note, and became one of the pioneers of Illinois and Iowa. Not less patriotic than his father, he served with courage and distinction in the war of 1812, and while still in Iowa was a member of the legislature of that territory. After cross- ing the plains in 1847 he located near Oswego, on the Willamette, cleared a plantation and en- gaged in farming. The sterling traits of charac- ter which had already been recognized in Iowa were appreciated to an even greater extent in the unsettled conditions of Oregon, where there was urgent need of so strong and reliant a character. and where conservative eastern force tempered a tendency to rapid development. He served for one term in the territorial legislature of Oregon, and he afterward assisted in organizing the state, and in framing the first laws of Oregon. He was judge of Clackamas county for two terms, and was variously associated with fraternal and social organizations, including the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Walling died in Polk county, Ore.

J. R. Walling was born near Buffalo, N. Y., in 1813, and learned the carpenter's trade near Canton, Fulton county, Ill. True to the tradition of his family, he also became familiar with tented field and roar of cannon, for no more patriotic soldier donned the uniform in the Black Hawk war. His regiment was the same as that which was honored by the valor of Lincoln, the great emancipator. After the war Mr. Walling re- moved to the vicinity of Davenport, Iowa. and in 1840 removed to Green county, in time constructing the third house in the village of Monroe. He continued to live in the growing little town, and is responsible for a considerable portion of the early utpbuilding thereof. Well content with his success he returned to Fulton county in the spring of 1849. and April 29, 1854. started across the plains with his wife, arriving at Amity, Yamhill county, Ore., September 1, 1854. In his adopted western town he engaged in building and contracting, and at the same time conducted a farm and nursery, the latter espe- cially being carried on on a large scale. These combined interests yielded him a satisfactory in- come, and he was engaged thereat until his death in 1891, at the age of seventy-eight years. In his young manhood he married Mary Long, who was born in Virginia, and whose paternal grand- father, Ware Long, was born near Paris, France. and immigrated to Virginia. Mr. Long finally became a pioneer farmer of Indiana, from which state he removed to Illinois, his final home being Wisconsin. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was a member of the Baptist Church. Mrs.

Walling, who died in Yamhill county, Ore., July 21, 1900, was the mother of the following chil- dren : Gabriel, who was born in Fulton county, Ill., in 1836, became a lumber manufacturer in Linn and Polk counties, Ore., and is now engaged in jobbing and contracting in Portland; Nancy, who died in Wisconsin in 1849; William, who died in infancy; Phoebe, who is now Mrs. Bur- ton, of Lewiston, Idaho; George P .; Cynthia, Mrs. McCarthy, of Lewiston, Idaho; and Otto, who is a musician in California.

The carpet manufacturer of Portland recalls very little of his life on the parental farm in Green county. Wis., for he was but seven when he became a small member of the train of emi- grants bound for the western coast. At the little old Mount Hood schoolhouse near Amity he im- bibed such knowledge as a very busy childhood permitted, and his youth passed by uneventfully until the breaking out of the Civil war. In 1864 he volunteered in Company B, First Oregon In- fantry, and for twenty-two months served on the plains against the Indians, taking the place of the regulars who had been ordered back east. He had many thrilling adventures and many hair- breadth escapes, but escaped bodily injury, and in due time was mustered out of the service at Vancouver, Wash.

Returning to his home, Mr. Walling was ap- prenticed to a tinner at Salem, Ore., worked at his trade thereafter, and in 1871 started a tinware and hardware store in Amity. At the end of a year he removed to Placerville, Cal., engaged at the same business for three years, and finally re- moved his stock to Lodi, Cal. Upon returning to Oregon he conducted a tinware business at Newport for fourteen years, and in 1894 settled in Portland, where he became interested in the carpet business. From a comparatively small beginning, the merits of the commodities manti- factured have so increased the demand, that at the present time there is no more extensive con- cern of the kind on the coast, or in fact this side of the Rocky mountains. The custom extends all up and down the coast, and eight looms are kept busy the year 'round. In addition to carpets and rugs, the firm manufactures silk portieres five feet and more in length, and some of their car- pet is as wide as nine feet. The manufactory is located on the corner of Union avenue and Sac- ramento streets.

In Lafayette, Ore., Mr. Walling married Dora Clark, a native of Plano, Kendall county, Ill., and daughter of David Clark, a farmer who re- moved to California in 1860, and to Oregon in 1866, settling in Dayton, Yamhill county. Mr. Clark engaged first in the manufacture of agri- cultural implements, but later contracted and built up to the time of his death in Santa Bar- bara. Cal. Ile married Harriet Colburn, who

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was born in New York and died in California, and who became the mother of four children, three of whom are living: Thornton, a resident of Santa Barbara, Cal .; Mary, now Mrs. Porter, of Eldorado county, Cal. ; and Dora. Mrs. Wall- ing was reared and partially educated in Illinois, and crossed the plains with her parents, there- after attending the public schools of California. She came to Oregon in 1868. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Walling: Nora, who is now Mrs. Richardson, of Fort Stevens; Otto, who is a barber of Portland; Omar Clyde, who died at the age of ten months; Lena, who is the wife of Newton Anderson, of Portland; Walter, who is clerking in Portland ; and Mary, who died while a baby. Mr. Walling is a Republican in political affiliation, and is associated with the George Wright Post, G. A. R.

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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 57

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