Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 2

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, The Chapman Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1622

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

land Lodge No. 55, and the Scottish Rite Ma- sons of Portland.

The marriage of Professor Pratt was solem- nized in Portland July 14, 1874, and united him with Sophia C. Taylor, who was born in Ohio. She came to Portland in 1853, joining her father, Peter Taylor, a native of Scotland and a pioneer inhabitant of this city. Her education was re- ceived in the schools of this city, and early in life she engaged in teaching. Professor and Mrs. Pratt have their home at No. 611 First street, and are the parents of six children, name- ly: Douglas L., Irving H., Martin T., all of whom are engaged in business in Portland; Jo S., who is a clerk on a transport in the Pacific squadron of the United States navy; Allyne Francis and Gertrude S. The three eldest sons enlisted in Company H, Second Oregon Volun- teer Infantry, for service in the Spanish-Amer- ican war, and were soon sent ( 1898) to Manila, where they rendered efficient service as soldiers, being fortunate in retaining their health in spite of the trying tropical climate. On their return they all engaged in business in Portland, where they now reside.

It will be observed by a perusal of this brief sketch of important events in the busy life of Professor Pratt that his career has been one of great utility. His long period of service in Port- land as an educator has been characterized by marked success, a consensus of the opinion of those who have closely watched his record be- ing that no incumbent of the office of superin- tendent of the city schools has done more than he to elevate the standard of the schools. As a citizen he has proven himself progressive and public-spirited, giving freely of his time and in- fluence to the work of promoting those move- ments intended to enhance the intellectual, social and industrial prestige of the community in which he has spent the most active years of his life. Personally he possesses an abundance of those qualities of mind and character which tend to endear a man to those with whom he comes in daily contact, and the people of Portland who have learned to know him best are steadfast in their allegiance to and devoted in their friend- ship for him.

ASAHEL BUSH. The career of Asahel Bush, pioneer journalist and banker, of Salem, illustrates in a striking degree the possibilities of the Northwest during the first half-century of its development. The citizenship of Oregon probably affords to-day no more conspicuous ex- ample of the self-made man of affairs, no bet- ter or more worthy type of American citizenship, than is to be found in the subject of this neces- sarily rather brief memoir. A record of the

salient points in his career, illustrating the vari- ous steps he has taken onward and upward to the attainment of the unquestionable and un- questioned position as the foremost citizen of the Willamette valley should, and undoubtedly will, prove a source of inspiration to the ambi- tious young men of the present generation whose aspirations lie along lines of a nature more or less similar to those pursued by Mr. Bush dur- ing the days preceding the period since which his position in the commercial world has been assured.

The ancestral history of Mr. Bush, both lineal and collateral, is distinctly American. The founders of the family in the New World emi- grated from England in 1630, and from that time to the present men bearing that name have lent their best efforts toward the promotion of the welfare of the country, placing America first in their affections and interests. In 1650 rep- resentatives of the family moved from the state of Connecticut, where they had resided for more than twenty years, to Westfield, Mass. Aaron Bush, grandfather of Asahel Bush, was a farmer of New England, where his entire life was spent. Asahel Bush, his son, father of the pioneer of whom we are writing, was born in Westfield, Mass., also carried on agricultural pursuits in that state. In public affairs he was prominent and influential, and served as selectman of his town and as a representative in the Massach1- setts State Legislature. He was a believer in the Universalist faith, and a man of broad mind and liberal views. In early manhood he wedded Sally Noble, a native of Westfield, Mass., whose ancestry may also be traced back to England. Asahel and Sally (Noble) Bush became the pa- rents of six children, but two of whom are now living.

Asahel Bush, whose name introduces this me- moir, was the fifth child in order of birth, and the only one who located on the Pacific coast. He was born in Westfield, Mass., June 4, 1824. was reared in that town, and completed his lit- erary education in the Westfield Academy. At the age of seventeen years he moved to Sara- toga Springs, N. Y., where he was apprenticed to the printer's trade in the office of the Sara- toga Sentinel. Here he was employed for about four years, during which time he learned the details of the trade, it having been his original intention to make newspaper work his vocation. As he grew to maturity his views of life broad- ened, and he determined to make his life more useful by mastering the law, thereby equipping himself more fully for the struggle which he realized lay ahead of him. With this ambi- tion dominant in his mind, he returned to his native state and began the study of the law in Westfield under the direction of William Blair

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and Patrick Boise, being admitted to the bar of Massachusetts in 1850. Judge R. P. Boise of Salem, a nephew of Patrick Boise, who had pre- viously been a student in his uncle's law office, was a friend of Mr. Bush, and the aspirations of the two young men about this time tended in the same direction, both arriving at the con- clusion that the well-nigh boundless resources of the then new and undeveloped Northwest of- fered to them broader opportunities than the East. Accordingly they decided to put their fortunes to the test in the territory of Oregon, whither a tide of immigration was then flowing. Soon after having been admitted to the practice of his chosen profession, Mr. Bush started for Oregon by way of the Panama route, leaving New York City as a passenger on the steamer Empire City, bound for Aspinwall. He made the journey across the Isthmus on a boat poled up the Chagres river and on the back of a mule over the mountains, and re-embarked on the steamer Panama, which, after stopping for a short time in the harbor of San Francisco, pro- ceeded northward to Astoria. At that point Mr. Bush took a small boat up the Columbia and Willamette rivers to Portland. A short time afterward he located at Oregon City, where he established a newspaper, which he named the Oregon Statesman, for the publication of which he had had a printing press shipped from the East around the Horn. The first issue of the States- man appeared in March, 1851. Mr. Bush con- tinned to be editor, proprietor and publisher of this pioneer newspaper until 1853, when he re- moved his office to Salem, there continuing in journalism until 1861. The business evidently appealed to him as more fascinating and satis- factory than the practice of the law, for by this time he had abandoned the idea of engag- ing in the practice of his profession.

In 1861 Mr. Bush sold his newspaper, which thereafter was known as the Union. In 1867 he engaged in the banking business in Salem as a member of the firm of Ladd & Bush, his part- ner in this enterprise being the late W. S. Ladd of Portland. This relation was sustained until 1877, when Mr. Bush purchased the interest of his partner. For the past twenty-six years he has retained control of the institution and has been actively engaged in the conduct of its affairs, and through his individual efforts he has made it one of the strongest banking houses in the Pacific Northwest. In 1867 he erected the commodious brick structure now devoted to the purposes of his business.

Mr. Bush has further contributed to the im- provement of the city through the erection of a number of stores and other buildings. He is a stockholder in and president of the Salem Flour- ing Mills, in which he has been interested for

many years. In company with Mr. Ladd and others he purchased this enterprise several years ago and equipped the plant with roller process machinery. When the mill was destroyed by fire it was immediately rebuilt, and there is now a modern mill having a daily capacity of four hundred barrels. He is also financially inter- ested in the Salem Woolen Mills, is the owner of the Salem Foundry, and for some time was a stockholder in the old Oregon Steam Naviga- tion Company, the predecessor of the present system known as the Oregon Railroad and Navi- gation Company. In addition to these enter- prises, in which much of his capital has been profitably invested and to which he has devoted no inconsiderable portion of his time and energy, he has, at various times, been identified with other local enterprises which have helped to es- tablish the city of Salem on a sound manu - facturing, commercial and financial basis.

In his political views Mr. Bush is a Demo- crat who has always remained firm in his be- lief in the principle of free trade. He has taken an active part in the promotion of the welfare of his party in Oregon, and probably no other man has accomplished more for the general well- being of the Democracy of this state than he. · For several years he was a member of the Dem- ocratic State Central Committee, of which he served for a time as chairman. In 1892 he was sent as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, on which occasion Grover Cleveland was nominated for the presidency for the third time. For eight years he served as Territorial Printer for Oregon, the first and only man to hold that office. He was appointed one of the board of visitors to the United States Military Academy at West Point, N. Y., filling that post in 1861, when two classes were gradu- ated for the purpose of providing officers for the army in the Civil war. For many years he was a regent of the Oregon State University, but resigned the office; and at the time of its incorporation was a trustee of Willamette Uni- versity. He is a member of the Oregon His- torical Society, and in religious faith is a Uni- tarian. In 1902 he was made a member of the Board of Directors of the Lewis and Clark Cen- tennial Exposition to be held in Portland in 1905.

In 1854 Mr. Bush made a trip to his old home in Massachusetts by way of the Panama route, returning to Salem the same year. In 1861 he made a second trip by the same route, and in 1865 he crossed the plains to the East by stage, returning home by way of the Isthmus.

The marriage of Mr. Bush occurred in Salem in October, 1854, and united him with Eugenia Zieber, who was born in 1833 in Princess Anne, Princess Anne county, on the Eastern shore of

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Maryland. Her father was a native of Phila- delphia, and her mother of Maryland. Her family crossed the plains in 1851, settling in Oregon City, but afterward removing to Salem. John S. Zieber, her father, became surveyor- general of Oregon in 1853, filling the office for one term. Mrs. Bush was a graduate of the Moravian Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa., and was a lady of superior culture and refinement, pos- sessed of many graces of character. She died in Salem in 1863, leaving four children : Estelle, who is a graduate of the school in which her mother received her education; Asahel N., a graduate of Amherst College, class of 1882, now a partner of his father in the banking business; Sally, a graduate of Smith College at North- ampton, Mass .; and Eugenia, who is a graduate of Wellesley College.

It is difficult to place a proper estimate upon the services of Asahel Bush to the state of Ore- gon, and particularly to the community in which he has been for so long a period a most potent factor. Thoughtful men who have watched the progress of the state for the past four or five decades are generally agreed that there is liv- ing to-day no other individual whose personal- ity, sound judgment in affairs of finance, trade and commerce, broad-mindedness, thoughtfulness for the welfare of the community at large, and unselfish and disinterested desire to witness the most economical utilization of the partially de- veloped resources so abundant throughout the country in which he was a pioneer, has made, and is yet making, so marked an impress upon the trend of events in the state. For many years his strong guiding hand has been felt in nearly all important undertakings throughout a large expanse of territory within the borders of the state, and his judgment has been sought and deferred to by hundreds of men in all walks of life. A common expression in local commercial and manufacturing circles has been: "Ask Mr. Bush what he thinks about it." His integrity has always been above reproach, and his motives in all his operations have never been questioned. Honored and respected by all who have learned to know him, and well-beloved by those who have been favored by an intimate acquaintance with him, he is now-in his eightieth year- recognized as the foremost citizen of the Willa- mette valley, if not, indeed, of the entire state of Oregon.

Such, in brief, is the life history of Asahel Bush. Those whose discernment enables them to read "between the lines" and who are famil- iar with the history of the state, will readily realize the nature of the environments which surrounded him in the early years of his resi- dence here, and what courage and fortitude, as well as enterprise and energy, it required to

face the pioneer conditions of the Northwest and establish large business interests here upon a profitable basis. In his undertakings, however, he has been greeted with such a measure of suc- cess that his methods naturally prove of pro- found interest to the commercial and financial world. Yet there is no secret in connection with his advancement, for his success has been at- tained through earnest and conscientious effort, guided by sound judgment and keen foresight, supplemented by principles of honorable man- hood.

HON. JOHN B. CLELAND. About 1650 the Cleland family, who were strict Presbyteri- ans, removed from Scotland to Ireland, and there, in County Down, Samuel Cleland was born and reared. Before leaving that county he was made a Mason and subsequently rose to the rank of Knight Templar. About 1812 he settled in Orange county, N. Y., where he im- proved a farm near Little Britain. In his old age he joined his son's family in Wisconsin and there spent his last days. His son, James, a native of Orange county, became a pioneer of 1846 in Wisconsin, where he settled near Janes- ville, in Center township, Rock county, on the West Rock prairie. Like his father he took a warm interest in Masonry and in his life has exemplified the lofty principles of the order. During his active life he maintained a deep in- terest in politics and was a local leader of the Democratic party. For some years past he has been retired from agricultural pursuits and now, at eighty-two years of age, is making his home in Janesville. His wife, Isabella, was born in county Down, Ireland, and died in Rock county, Wis., in 1879. In early childhood she was brought to this country by her father, John Bry- son, who settled on a farm in Orange county. Of her marriage there were five children, and three sons and one daughter are now living, the eldest of these being Judge John B. Cleland, of Portland. The others are: Mrs. Mary Fisher, of Janesville, Wis .; Samuel J., a farmer near Emporia, Kans .; and William A., of Portland, a well-known attorney.

On the home farm in Rock county, Wis., where he was born July 15, 1848, Judge Cleland passed the years of early boyhood. He attended the country district schools, the grammar and high schools of Janesville, and later Carroll Col- lege in Waukesha. At the expiration of the junior year in college he entered the University of Michigan in 1869 and was graduated from the law department March 29, 1871, receiving the degree of LL. B. Admitted to the bar of Michi- gan, then to that of Wisconsin, and soon after- ward to that of Iowa, in July of 1871 he settled

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

at Osage, Mitchell county, Iowa, where he was a practicing lawyer and justice of the peace. In 1876 he was elected district attorney of the twelfth judicial district of Iowa, comprising eight counties, and this position he held from 1877 to 1885. In the fall of 1884 he was elected circuit judge of the twelfth district by a large majority. A constitutional amendment two years later abolished the circuit courts, and he was then elected district judge, which position he resigned in 1888 on removing to Fargo, N. D. After two years as a practitioner in Fargo he came to Oregon in 1890, since which time he has been a resident of Portland. The appoint- ment as circuit judge came to him in January, 1898, from Governor Lord, to succeed Hon. L. B. Stearns, resigned, as judge of one of the de- partments. The nomination for this office was tendered him in June, 1898, and at the following election he received a flattering majority, im- mediately thereafter entering upon his duties for a term of six years.

In Center township, Rock county, Wis., Judge Cleland married Ellen J. Cory, who was born in that county, her parents having been pioneers from Orange county, N. Y. They are the par- ents of four children, namely: Laura Josephine, Bessie Isabella, Earl James and Mattie Ellen. Mrs. Cleland is identified with the Congregation- al Church and a contributor to religious and philanthropic movements.

The eminent position held hy Judge Cleland among the attorneys and jurists of Oregon is indicated by the high honor they conferred upon him in electing him to the presidency of the State Bar Association. No jurist in the entire state is more highly esteemed than he, and none enjoys to a fuller degree the confidence of the people in his impartiality, intelligence and sagacious judg- ment. By his previous experience on the bench in Iowa he had gained a thorough knowledge of the duties of a jurist and was therefore qualified to assume the responsibilities devolving upon him. With him partisanship sinks into the back- ground, yet he is a loyal Republican and since boyhood has never swerved in his allegiance to the party. Socially he is associated with the University Club and Multnomah Athletic Club. Like his father and grandfather, he maintains a constant interest in Masonry. While in Iowa he was made a Mason in Osage Lodge No. 102, where he served as master for two terms. In Osage Chapter No. 36 he served as high priest, while his connection with the commandery dates from his admission to Cœur de Leon Command- ery, K. T., of which he was eminent commander for seven years. At this writing he is a member of Portland Lodge No. 55, A. F. & A. M .; Port- land Chapter No. 3. R. A. M., and Oregon Com- mandery No. I, K. T., of which he was emi-

nent commander for two terms. During his res- idence in Iowa he was senior grand warden of the Grand Commandery, and since coming to Oregon he has enjoyed similar honors, having been grand master of the Grand Lodge in 1898- 99 and grand commander of the Grand Com- mandery of Oregon during the same year. The Shrine degree he received in El Zagel Temple, N. M. S., Fargo, N. D., and he is now affiliated with Al Kader Temple, N. M. S., of Portland. His Consistory degree has been given him since coming to Portland, and he has also attained the thirty-third degree here.

Aside from his connections with bench and bar, fraternal and social organizations, Judge Cleland has a host of warm personal friends in every walk of life. His commanding presence makes him a conspicuous figure in even the larg- est concourse of people. In physique he is stal- wart and well-proportioned, about six feet and four inches tall, and possessing a dignified and judicial bearing, yet with a kindly and genial courtesy that wins and retains deep and lasting friendships.

WILLIAM A. CLELAND. During the years of his residence in Portland Mr. Cleland has established a reputation for accuracy of knowledge and breadth of information in matters relating to his profession, that of the law. For this he was well qualified through the advantages derived from an excellent education. While his early advantages were limited to the district school near the home farm, in Rock county, Wis., where he was born June 22, 1855, yet his teach- ers were thorough and, finding him to be ambi- tious, delighted to aid him in securing a satis- factory start. When thirteen years of age he became a student at Milton and two years later went to Beloit, where he completed the prepara- tory department and in 1872 entered Beloit Col- lege. In 1874 he matriculated as a junior in Princeton University, from which he was gradu-' ated in 1876, with the degree of A. B. His alma mater in 1902 conferred upon him the de- gree of A. M.

Immediately after graduating Mr. Cleland en- tered the law office of his brother, Judge John B. Cleland, at Osage, Iowa, where he combined the duties of clerk with the study of law. Two years later he returned to Wisconsin, where he re- mained until after his mother's death. In 1879 he went to Fargo, N. D., where he continued his law readings and acted as clerk. Admitted to the bar in 1881, he opened an office in Grafton and a year later formed the firm of Cleland & Sauter. While continuing the office at Grafton, in January of 1889 he became a member of the firm of Miller, Cleland & Cleland, of Fargo. In

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1890 he came to Portland and with his brother, John B., formed the firm of Cleland & Cleland. Since the accession of his brother to the circuit bench in 1898 he has continued alone.

Always a believer in Republican principles, Mr. Cleland served as chairman of the county and district central committees while living in Dakota. Socially he is a popular man, number- ing a host of friends and well-wishers, an active participant in the affairs of the Commerical Club and a welcomed guest in the most select circles of the city.

Belonging to a family conspicuously promi- nent in Masonry, he has shared the general in- terest in that order. While living at Grafton, N. D., he was made a Mason in Crescent Lodge No. II, in which he served as master from December of 1887 to December of 1888. February 6, 1884, he was initiated in Corinthian Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., at Grand Forks, N. D. February 18, 1885, he was made a member of Grand Forks Commandery No. 8, K. T., from which he was demitted March 5, 1890, to Oregon Comman- clery No. I, K. T., of which he is past eminent commander. In 1889 he became a Shriner in El Zagel Temple, N. M. S., at Fargo, and since May 26, 1891, has affiliated with Al Kader Tem- ple, of Portland. He is also associated with Portland Lodge No. 55, A. F. & A. M., and Portland Chapter No. 3, of which he is past high priest. In June of 1902 he was elected grand priest of the Grand Chapter of Oregon, which responsible position he has since filled with char- acteristic enthusiasm and success.

HENRY FAILING. At the time of the death of Henry Failing of Portland, C. A. Dolph, as chairman of the sub-committee appointed to draft a suitable memorial, submitted the following sketch of his life, which was adopted by unani- mous vote of the water committee at its regular meeting, December 20, 1898, and ordered spread upon the records of the proceedings of the com- mittee : Henry Failing was born in the city of New York January 17, 1834. He was the second son of Josiah and Henrietta (Ellison) Failing, the first son having died in infancy. His father was a native of Montgomery county, in the Mo- hawk valley, in the state of New York, and was descended on the male side from the German Palatines, who settled that part of the province in the early part of the eighteenth century. His mother was an English woman, with a strain of Welsh blood in her veins, and came to the United States with a brother and sister about the begin- ning of the nineteenth century. Josiah Failing was reared on the farm of his parents and re- mained at home until a young man, going to New York about 1824. There he was married,

June 15, 1828, to Miss Henrietta Ellison, daugh- ter of Henry Ellison, of York, England, and Mary (Beek) Ellison, a native of New York. She was born in Charleston, S. C., whither her parents had gone shortly after their marriage. Mr. Ellison died suddenly when his daughter was hardly a month old, and the widow, with her fatherless infant, returned to the home of her parents in New York, where her daughter grew to womanhood. The Beeks were descended from the early Dutch settlers of the province, coming over from Holland before the transfer of the colony from the Dutch to the English more than two hundred years ago. Nathaniel Beek, father of Mrs. Ellison and grandfather of Mr. Failing, did service in the cause of independence during the Revolutionary war, in the Ulster county regi- ment of New York militia.

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Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 2

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago, The Chapman Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1622

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago, The Chapman Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1622