Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 11

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman publishing company
Number of Pages: 1064

USA > Oregon > Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.. > Part 11

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and in 1892 he was a delegate to the national con- vention held in Minneapolis, Minn. For two terms he served as city attorney for Astoria. In 1878 he was elected state senator, and served two years. Again elected to the state senate in 1890, he served from 1891 until 1893, in the meantime helping to re-elect Senator Mitchell as United States senator, and serving in 1893 as president of the senate. In 1898 Mr. Fulton was elected state senator, and served in the special session of that year, and in the sessions from 1899 until 1001, in the latter year being again president of the senate. In 1902 he was re-elected state sen- ator, and in the biennial session of 1903 was elected United States senator, and took the oath of office March 5, 1903, at a special session of the United States senate.

Mr. Fulton married, in Astoria. Miss Ada Hobson, who was born at Clatsop Plains, a (laughter of John Hobson, who came to Clatsop county with the first wagon train of emigrants to cross the plains, arriving in 1843. Mr. and Mrs. Fulton have one child, Frederick C. Fulton. Fraternally Mr. Fulton is a member and past exalted ruler of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

IRA F. POWERS, SR. The long and promi- nent association of Mr. Powers with the com- mercial affairs of Portland, together with his high character as a man, his kindness as a friend and his liberal, philanthropic spirit, gave him a place of influence and honor among his fellow-towns- men and caused the news of his death, which oc- curred September 8, 1902, to be everyhere re- ceived with regret. The family of which Mr. Powers was a member was established at Little- ton, Mass., very early in the history of America, and the lineage is traced back in England as far as the twelfth century. In 1683 the letter "s" was added to the original name of Power, thus giving it its present form. Many generations continued to reside in New England, but finally Levi Powers migrated from Vermont to Balls- ton, N. Y., where he married Mary Frost. Among their children was Ira F. Powers. Sr., who was born at Au Sable. Clinton county, N. Y .. in 1831. From the age of twelve he was self-supporting. However, though he had little opportunity to acquire an education in schools, he gained a broad fund of knowledge in the great school of experience, and few men of his day had a more thorough business education than he, though it was wholly self-acquired. When news came of the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia, he came to the coast via Cape Horn, and

though his faith in mining was not great, he fol- lowed the general trend of emigrants, and ex- perimented as a miner, the result being suffi- ciently satisfactory to induce him to remain in the occupation for about thirteen years. Mean- while he prospected in various parts of Cali- fornia and Idaho.

The spring of 1865 found Mr. Powers in Portland, where, in partnership with A. Bur- chard, he engaged in the second-hand furniture business, continuing the same profitably until all was lost in the fire of 1875. Meantime, in 1872, he had embarked in the manufacture of furniture under the firm title of Donly, Beard & Powers, their plant being located at Wills- burg. During 1875 he started a factory on Water street near the foot of Montgomery, but later removed the plant to South Portland, where he had a tract of three acres. In 1893 the business was incorporated under the title of the Ira F. Powers Manufacturing Company, with himself as president, and this position he held until his death. In the meantime he had other interests of an important nature, chief among these being his connection with the banking bus- iness, his membership in the Chamber of Com- merce and the Manufacturers' Association, his work as a builder of the Morrison street bridge and also as a stockholder in the Madison street bridge. Fraternally he was a charter member of Pilot Peak Lodge, I. O. O. F., but allowed his membership in this body to lapse in later years. He was also connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In Masonry he was first a member of Gold Run Lodge, F. & A. M., in California, and later of Harmony Lodge No. 12. of Portland, in which he officiated as treasurer for twelve years. After coming to Portland he also became associated with Portland Chap- ter No. 3. R. A. M .; Oregon Commandery No. I, K. T., and Al Kader Temple, N. M. S. In politics he was a pronounced Republican.

In disposition he was large-hearted and gen- erous, and was one of Portland's most philan- thropic citizens, a friend to the needy and es- pecially kind to homeless boys. It is said that at times he had as many as five such boys in his own home, doing all he could to train them for positions of usefulness and honor in the busi- ness world. Largely through his efforts the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society was organized in Portland, and in many other ways he was en- abled to help those who were homeless and friendless.

The first marriage of Mr. Powers occurred in 1860 and united him with Minnie Wilson, who died four years later, leaving a son, Frederick, now living in Maine. In 1870 he was again married, his wife being Mary Sullivan, who was born in New York City and came with her par-

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ents, D. and Jessie Sullivan, to the west in an carly day, later accompanying her mother from California to Oregon. She died in 1875, leaving an only son, Ira F., Jr. The last named was born in Portland, in 1872, and at seventeen years of age entered his father's store, where for three years he studied business methods and the de- tails of that special enterprise. For a year he engaged in the furniture business at Lagrande, Ore., after which he traveled as salesman for Heywood Bros. & Wakefield Co., his route com- prising Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Washing- ton. While as a commercial traveler he was successful, yet it was his father's wish and his own desire to enter into business for himself, and, accordingly, in August, 1902, he resigned from the road and became secretary of the Ira F. Powers' Manufacturing Company. Upon the death of his father he succeeded to the pres- idency of the concern. His furniture establish- ment is situated at No. 190 First street, where both a wholesale and retail business is con- ducted, and where four floors, 50x100 feet, fur- nish ample space for storage and exhibit pur- poses. The sales are not limited to Portland, but extend throughout the entire northwest. To supply the constant demand for extension and center tables, the manufacture of which is the firm's specialty, modern machinery has been in- troduced, until now the plant, operated ten hours a day, has a capacity of about fifteen hundred tables per month.

In many of his business and fraternal connec- tions Mr. Powers has followed the example of his father. He is identified with the Manufactur- ers' Association, the Portland Board of Trade, Harmony Lodge No. 12, A. F. & A. M., and is likewise a member of the Commercial Club and the Multnomah Athletic Club. In politics he is a stanch adherent of the Republican party. It is his ambition to maintain the high standard of business honor and intelligence established by his father and to increase the volume of business transacted by the concern of which he is the head. In succeeding to the business, he has be- fore him the example of his father to stimulate him to an increased ambition, knowing that he cannot better honor his predecessor in business than by keeping all of his transactions above crit- icism and sustaining the high reputation already gained by the company.

HON. JOSEPH S. HUTCHINSON. On the arrival of Joseph Hutchinson from York- shire, England, he took his family to Iowa and settled near Dubuque, but soon removed to Shullsburg, Lafayette county, Wis., and there

supplemented the tilling of a farm by work as a lead ore smelter. His life was protracted to the advanced age of eighty-seven. His wife had died of cholera during their residence in Iowa when forty-six years old. At the time of cross- ing the ocean their son, Christopher, was a small boy, and hence his early recollections were prin- cipally of frontier scenes in Iowa and Wisconsin. Following in the footsteps of his father, he took up work in lead ore smelting, and continued in the same, in various towns, until about 1881. While living in Grant County, Wis., he served two terms in the state legislature. From Wisconsin he went to Oregon, and in 1897 began prospect- ing in Dawson, Alaska, later going to Nome, where he staked a rich claim, but through a fraud- ulent entry in the land office he was defrauded of what was justly his. Thereupon he returned to Portland.

While living in Wisconsin Christopher Hutch- inson married Susan Oatey, who was born near Land's End, Cornwall, England, and came to America with her father, Samuel Oatey, settling in Shullsburg. After a time as a salaried employe in lead mines, he was promoted to the position of mine superintendent in Cuba, later returning to Wisconsin. In the family of Christopher Hutchinson there were four sons and two daughters, all of whom are in Oregon,. Joseph S. being the third son and fourth child. He was born in Shulls- burg, Wis., July 7, 1868, and attended the gram- mar and high school of his native town. After completing his schooling he learned the barber's trade. In 1891 he came to Portland, where he took up work at his trade. On the organization of the Barbers' Union, in October, 1899. he was chosen its first president. It was through his instrumentality that the union was organized and placed upon a solid basis ; it has proved a wise step, and many have profited by the sick benefits offered. Death benefits also are given.

In Portland, December 1, 1895, Mr. Hutchin- son married Lelah Hendershott, who was born in Marion county, Ore., and by whom he has two children. Howard and Corrine. Fraternally he is connected with the Maccabees and the An- cient Order of United Workmen, and is also counselor of the Order of Pendo. Politically he is a stanch Republican, loyal to his party and a worker for its success. In 1902 he was nomin- ated on the Republican ticket as a member of the legislature representing Multnomah county and was duly elected, since which time he has served in that capacity to the satisfaction of all con- cerned. March 6, 1903, he was appointed license inspector in the office of the city auditor, which, under the new charter, comes within the civil service regulations.

Newton!

Lark.

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

HON. NEWTON CLARK. A varied, event- ful and interesting career preceded the coming of Hon. Newton Clark to Portland in 1889, his chief incentive in thus selecting this city for his home being the better to fulfill his important re- sponsibility as grand recorder of the Grand Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Work- men of the state of Oregon, a position which he has maintained with special distinction, and for a longer time, than any other man in the state.

A native of McHenry county, Ill., Mr. Clark was born May 27, 1837, and is a son of Thomas L. and Delilah ( Saddoris) Clark, and grandson of Richard Clark. The latter was born in Ohio, and served in the war of 1812 under General Harrison. At a later date he settled in Indiana, still later taking up his residence in McHenry county, Ill., whence he removed to the farm near Baraboo, Wis., and there the remainder of his life was spent. Thomas Clark was born in In- diana, and in time followed the family fortunes to Illinois and Wisconsin. In 1863 he removed with his own family to Golden City, Colo., where he farmed at the foot of Table mountain until coming to Oregon in 1877. The journey hence was via the overland trail, and was accomplished with horse teams and wagons, the travelers halting at a farm on Hood river, in Wasco county, where Mr. Clark died, at the age of eighty-one years. His wife, who was born in Ohio, was a daughter of Henry Saddoris, an early resident of McHenry county, Ill. Mrs. Clark, who lives with her son Newton, her only child, still retains her bright faculties, and takes a great interest in the career of her son.

After completing his training in the public schools of Baraboo, Wis., Newton Clark gradu- ated from Bronson Institute at Point Bluff, and thereafter taught school for a couple of years. This peaceful occupation was interrupted by the demand for his services in the Civil war, and he was mustered into Company K, Fourteenth Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, at Fond du Lac, in September, 1861. This well-known regiment participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Inka, Holly Springs, Champion Hill, the siege of Vicksburg (at which place Mr. Clark veteran- ized), the Red River expedition under General Banks, Sabine Cross Roads, Yellow Bayou, the siege and battle of Mobile, and the battle at Fort Blakely and Spanish Fort. Having charge of the headquarter's train of Maj .- Gen. J. B. Mc- Pherson, who commanded the Seventeenth Army Corps at the siege of Vicksburg, he had the pleasure of furnishing the United States flag which was floated from the cupola of the court- house in the capitulated citadel on the morning of its surrender upon that memorable Fourth of July. After the capture of Mobile Mr. Clark was placed on guard duty at Montgomery, Ala.,

and was thus employed until his mustering out at Mobile, in the fall of 1865. At Corinth he was promoted and commissioned second lieutenant of his company, and was afterward promoted to the position of quartermaster and first lieutenant of the regiment, serving thus until the close of hostilities.

Following his military services Mr. Clark en- gaged in farming on the paternal farm near Baraboo, Wis., and in 1869 removed to Dakota as a government surveyor, where for seven years he was engaged in running township and sec- tion lines over the greater part of the territory, now called North and South Dakota. He had his own corps of assistants, and while surveying also managed to engage in farming with consid- erable profit. He was identified with many of the pioneer undertakings in the great Dakotas, and among other things to his credit built the first frame house in Minnehaha county, now in Soutlı Dakota, and which was located two and a half miles from Sioux Falls, but now adjoins the city limits. Mr. Clark served for one term in the territorial legislature which met at Yankton in 1875, and he was chairman of the county com- missioners of Minnehaha county for three years. Clark county, S. D., was named in honor of Mr. Clark.

In 1877 Mr. Clark joined his father at Fort Laramie and with him came overland to Oregon. the journey taking from the middle of June until the Ist of September, from the Fort to Hood River, Oregon. Here Mr. Clark bought one hundred and sixty acres of school land, combin- ing farming with surveying, and eventually was employed by the government to survey section and township lines in Oregon and Washington. This occupation proved a hazardous one, and dur- ing the seven years spent mostly in the Cascade mountains, he was often obliged to carry his food on horseback, and when the exceeding roughness of the roads made this impossible he had to carry it on his back. This life gave him an intimate knowledge of the Cascade mountains and he was a member of the first party of white men to visit the interesting Lost Lake lying northwest of Mt. Hood. The great glacier, lying on the eastern slope of Mt. Hood, known as the Newton Clark Glacier, bears his name.

In April, 1889, Mr. Clark was appointed to his present high office of grand recorder of the Grand Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of the state of Oregon, and soon after- ward took up his permanent residence in Port- land. He still owns the Hood River farm, which. however, is rented to other parties.

In Baraboo, Wis., Mr. Clark married Mary Ann Hill, a native of Edinburg, Scotland, and who was reared in Wisconsin, a daughter of William Hill, who served in a Wisconsin regi-

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ment during the Civil war. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark, of whom Lewis is a civil engineer in Portland; Grace, Mrs. Dwinnell, resides in Baraboo, Wis .; and Jeanette is assistant recorder to her father. Mr. Clark became identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen in 1881, in which year he be- came a member of Riverside Lodge No. 68 at Hood River, and still retains said membership.

He served as master workman, and was an active member of the Grand Lodge previous to his present appointment. He served as representative to Supreme Lodge at Sioux Falls with the degree of honor. In Masonic circles he is also well known, and is still a member of the Minnehaha Lodge No. 5, of Sioux Falls. As a member of the Grand Army of the Republic he is identified with Canby Post No. 67, of Hood River, of which he is past commander, and ex-aide on the depart- ment staff. A stanch Republican, he has never interested himself in political undertakings fur- ther than to cast his vote. Mr. Clark is a mem - ber of the Commercial Club, and his wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

ADOLPH A. DEKUM. With the inspira- tion and encouragement afforded by the success- ful career of his father, the late Frank Dekum, and with an enthusiastic faith in the future of Portland, his native city, Adolph A. Dekum has conducted expanding and important business in- terests. In Portland, where he was born Febru- ary 28, 1865, he received the advantages of study in the grammar and high schools, and then gained his initial experience in the hard- ware business through a clerkship with the Honeyman Hardware Company. During 1888 he embarked in business with his brother, Otto C., under the firm name of Dekumi Bros., the two conducting a wholesale and retail hardware trade at No. 245 Washington street. In 1895 he bought his brother's interest and has since conducted the business alone, his present loca- tion being Nos. 131-33 First street, where he has a double store, fitted with all the heavy ware, tins, shelf goods and hardware needed by the retail trade.

In addition to the management of his ex- tensive business, Mr. Dekum acts as trustee of his father's estate, having entire charge of the same. Both the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade have the benefit of his member- ship and keen business and progressive spirit. His marriage, in Warren, Ohio, united him with Linda E. Andrews, who was born in that state and graduated from the school of her native town of Warren. Her father, Francis Andrews, was a large stock and wool buyer of that place. In politics Mr. Dekum votes with the Repub-

licans. He is a member of the Native Sons of Oregon and of Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club. Actively identified with the Taylor Street Methodist Episcopal Church, he has promoted its welfare through his intelligent and faithful service as a member of its board of trustees.

JUDGE ARTHUR L. FRAZER, one of the eminent jurists of Portland, was born in Polk county, Ore., November 22, 1860, a son of John A. and Sarah (Nicklin) Frazer, natives respec- tively of Kentucky and West Virginia. John A. Frazer was an educator during the greater part of his life, having qualified therefor at Hanover College in Indiana. He engaged in teaching in Kentucky, and in 1854 crossed the plains with ox teams, settling in Polk county, where he im- proved a place, and combined the occupations of small farming and teaching almost up to the time of his death in Salem, in July, 1866. Al- though born in a Democratic community, his father was a strong anti-slavery man, and the son profited by his enlightened example. As a Republican he was well known in Polk county, and represented it in the state legislature in 1864. On the maternal side Judge Frazer comes of colonial ancestry, the Nicklin family being closely allied with that of General Washington. John H. Nicklin, the father of Mrs. Frazer, was an early settler of Iowa, and an immigrant to Oregon in 1852. He settled on Salt Creek, Polk county, where he built the pioneer sawmill of the county, conducting the same with considerable success. Afterward he built a mill in Salem, where is now located the old Kinney mill, and his death occurred while carrying on this latter industry. Mrs. Frazer, who died in March, 1866, four montlis before her husband, was a relative of Mrs. Lamberton, of Hillsboro, and was the mother of four children, two of whom are living. Of these, Hough N. is clerk of Gil- liam county.

Left an orphan at the age of five years, the youth of Judge Frazer was characterized by a hard struggle for existence, especially after leaving the home of his uncle in Salem, at the age of eleven. For some time he lived among strangers, worked hard on farms, and was brought face to face with the serious and respon- sible phase of life. As happens sometimes in most unexpected manner, this lonely youth be- came known to a Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Buffum, very early settlers in the state, having come here in 1845. These people of resource and large heart proved benefactors indeed, and through their instrumentality the possibilities of life were opened up to a receptive and keen intelligence, and what is better a grateful one. Through the influence of Mr. Buffum the lad was sent to the

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

state university at Eugene, where he displayed studious traits, and from which he graduated with the degree of A. B., in 1882. Thus started on the highway of worth-while things, the way was opened for the study of law, for which he had long entertained a preference, and at the same time he acted in the capacity of principal of the Amity school. In 1883 Mr. Frazer entered the law office of ex-United States Senator James K. Kelly, at Portland, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1884. For a few years following he practiced law in the office of Mr. Kelly, and after the removal of the latter to Washington, conducted an independent practice.

In 1898 Mr. Frazer was elected circuit judge of the fourth judicial district of Oregon, and as- sumed control of the office in July of the same year, succeeding Judge Shattuck, of department I. Judge Frazer is noted for his equitable rul- ings, his large grasp of general law, and his in- variable fairness in all matters that come under his jurisdiction. He is a member of the State Bar Association, the Oregon Historical Society, and the Native Sons, Abernethy Cabin No. I. In Portland he became identified with the Will- amette Lodge A. F. & A. M., and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ar- tisans, and the Knights of the Maccabees.

In Portland Judge Frazer married Dora Francis, a native of Clackamas county, and daughter of Stephen D. Francis, who was born in the state of Massachusetts. Mr. Francis removed from Massachusetts to Ver- mont, from there to Illinois, and to Clackamas county, via the plains, in 1854, locating eventually in Mt. Tabor. Mrs. Frazer, who was educated in Portland, is the mother of four children, the order of their birth being as follows: Kenneth Francis, born in 1890; Genevieve, born in 1892; Dorothy, born in 1895; and John Hough, born in 1900.

HON. RUFUS MALLORY. Ever since the carly days of American settlement the Mallory family has been identified with the history of our country, the original immigrant, Peter Mallory, having crossed the ocean in 1643 and settled in New Haven, Conn. From him descended David Mallory, a native of Connecticut and a lifelong resident of that state, from which he went fortli to do service in the colonial army at the time of the Revolution. In recognition of his services therein the government donated to him a land warrant in Missouri, which was afterward lo- cated by his grandson. His son, Samuel, was born in Oxford, Conn., August 9, 1782, and in early life settled at Coventry, N. Y., later going to Allegany county, that state, and finally to Steuben county. With the exception of a short

period devoted to seafaring he made agricul- ture his occupation. In religion he was a de- voted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His death occurred August 19, 1854, at Greenwood.

The wife of Samuel Mallory was Lucretia Davis, who was born in Oxford, Conn., and died in Greenwood, N. Y. Her father, Col. John Davis, a native of that state, of Welsh extrac- tion, served with such valor in the Revolution- ary struggle that he was promoted to the rank of colonel. In times of peace, as in times of war, he was a leader among men, and he left the im- press of his personality upon his locality in such imperishable memory that the anniversary of his birth is still celebrated at High Rock Grove, where he lived. Nine children comprised the family of Samuel and Lucretia Mallory, of whom the following survive : Augustus, of Hepp- ner. Ore., now more than eighty-three years of age: Mrs. Maria Slocum, of Heppner, who is eighty-two years of age; Mrs. Hallock, who is seventy-nine, and Mrs. Abigail Wallace, seventy- five, both of Heppner ; Homer H., of New York ; and Rufus of Portland. The last named was born at Coventry, Chenango county, N. Y., June 10, 1831. and as a boy attended district schools in Allegany and Steuben counties, af- terward studying in Alfred University. From the age of sixteen he alternated teaching with attending school, and in this way paid for what schooling he received, in the meantime taking up the study of law.

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Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 11

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman publishing company Number of Pages: 1064

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman publishing company
Number of Pages: 1064