Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 22

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 22

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Of Teutonic ancestry, Mr. Bates was born in Lee county, lowa, November 21, 1851, and lived among the home surroundings until his seven- teenth year. His father, Nicholas, was born in Germany, and came to America with the grand- father Bates, locating in Iowa when that part of the country was yet a territory. Nicholas farmed for many years in Iowa, but spent the last fifteen years of his life with his son, Hon. George W. He married Matilda Harris, a native of Illinois, and member of an old southern fam- ily. Mrs. Bates died in lowa in 1868. Of her six children a daughter and three sons are liv- ing. Of these, one son, J. W., is a bridge- builder, at present operating near Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, and William is a resident of San Francisco.

At the age of seventeen George W. Bates started out upon an independent career, and from the bottom learned all about railroading and railroad building, finally completing his instruction with laying track and bridge build- ing. In 1874 he identified himself with the San Francisco Pacific Bridge Company, and engaged in building bridges and docks, and was sent by the same company to Portland in 1880, intending to remain for three months. The business chances represented in this town appealed to his largeness of perception with considerable force. and in due time he found himself a part of the moving forces around him. He constructed the dock for William Reed in 1880, and while asso- ciated with .A. S. Miller & Son contracted for building the bridges between Roseburg and Ash-

mitlownawilly

173

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

land, on the California & Oregon Railroad. He was associated with Lee Hoffman for eight vears, or until 1890, and during that time put in piers and steel bridges all through Oregon. The bridge across the Columbia river at Pasco, most of the snow sheds and the bridge on the Cascade division, and many kindred constructions in dif- ferent parts of the state, are due to his prac- tical grasp of an enormously interesting and responsible occupation. However, building bridges required frequent absences from home, and often called for deprivations and exposures to extremely trying and inclement weather, so after contributing to an unusual degree to the promotion of bridge building in the state Mr. Bates decided to engage in some occupation more concentrated and less wearing.

With others similarly interested, Mr. Bates purchased the little water plant in Albina and organized the Albina Light and Water Com- pany. From a very small beginning the plant was enlarged and modernized, and made to con- form to the most pressing needs of this part of the city. An electric lighting system was intro- duced all over Albina and East Portland. for which valuable franchises were secured. In December, 1891, was begun a deal with the Portland General Electric Company, which was carried through in January, 1892, and by the terms of which the company disposed of their electric lighting business for $200,000. January I, 1902, the water business was also sold for a like amount. When Mr. Bates first bought the water plant it was realizing $350 a month.

At the present time Mr. Bates is engaged in banking in Portland, and has under his super- vision the Bank of Albina, incorporated in the spring of 1893; the Multnomah County Bank, and the Albina Savings Bank. During the panic of 1893, having plenty of money on hand from the sale of the water works, he used it to enable the Savings Bank to maintain its credit, and he also bought the other two banks. The banking business is incorporated under the firm name of George W. Bates & Co. He built his pres- ent bank building in 1896. Mr. Bates is also interested in the laundry business, and in 1894 incorporated the Union Laundry Company, of which he is president, and which is one of the largest laundry enterprises in the Northwest. The present building was erected in 1902 on the corner of Second and Columbia streets, has three floors, and is 60 x 100 feet ground dimen- sions. The Diamond Vitrified Brick Company, near Vancouver, is another enterprise in which Mr. Bates is interested, and of which he is presi- dent and a director. This is a very large plant, and its brick are shipped over all the country. For some years he owned the Parker Mill, and

during that time organized the Albina Saw Mill Company, of which he became president, and managed to work up the affairs of the mill to a high standard. This plant was disposed of in 1899, in response to the more pressing demands upon the time of Mr. Bates.

As a Republican Mr. Bates has rendered the same kind of service to his party which has char- acterized his many business enterprises. He represented Multnomah county in the state sen- ate during the sessions of 1897-99, and was ap- pointed police commissioner by Mayor Frank, but resigned from the same. Mayor Mason also appointed him police commissioner, and he was appointed to the same office by Governor Geer upon the passage of the new charter. He is a member of the Commercial Club, and attends the Presbyterian Church, of which his wife is a member. Mrs. Bates was formerly Miss L. M. Menzies, who was born in Oregon, and whose father. Capt. James Menzies, owned a home near Sandy, and was a pioneer of that district. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bates, Lloyd, George W., Jr., and Bruce Adler.

MILTON W. SMITH. The success which has encouraged the efforts of Mr. Smith in the practice of law is another indication of the abil- ity possessed by the native sons of Oregon. Born at Aurora, this state, July 15, 1855, he owes his education to our schools, where his keen natural gifts were broadened by contact with teachers of intelligence and superior ability as educators. In 1878 he received the degree of A. B. from Pacific University, one of the oldest institutions of the west, and three years later the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by his alma mater. Im- mediately after graduating he took up the study of law in the office of Judge Deady, of the United States district court, at Portland, and continued his readings until he was admitted to the bar in March of 1881. During August of the same year he established himself in practice and has since won his way to an eminent rank among the attorneys of his home city.

In addition to professional practice, Mr. Smith has officiated as treasurer and a director of the Portland Library Association since 1890, and at this writing is chairman of the book committee managing the library. Since 1894 he has acted as a director of the Multnomah Law Library and during all but three years of this time has been its, president. Ever since his graduation he has maintained his interest in his alma mater and is keenly alive to the advantages offered to the young by this pioneer college. In his desire to promote its welfare, he accepted the position of secretary of its finance committee and a director of the university, which offices he now fills. At

174

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

one time he held office as president of the Alumni Association. However, it is not higher educa- tion alone that commands his interest and en- thusiastic allegiance. In the education of the little children, in seeing that their feet are plant- ed in the right direction when they ascend the hill of learning, his interest is keen and con- stant. Indicative of this fact is his efficient ser- vice as vice-president of the Portland Free Kin- clergarten.

As a director Mr. Smith is connected with the Columbia & Northwestern Railroad, running from Lyle, Wash., to Klickitat, same state. The Arlington and University Clubs number him among their members, and he is also actively as- sociated with the State Bar Association. His marriage, which was solemnized in Portland, united him with Alice Sweek, who was born in Oregon, her parents, John and Maria Sweek, having come from Missouri in 1852 and settled in the vicinity of Portland. Since the death of Mr. Sweek his widow has continued to make her home in the same locality. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Smith are Ruth, Josephine and Marion. As yet Mr. Smith has not identified himself closely with politics, though he is a firm believer in Republican principles. His inclina- tions are toward his profession rather than pub- lic life or political service. Keenly alive to the opportunities offered by the law, it has been his ambition to keep in touch with its progress and important decisions rendered bearing upon the people or the lands of Oregon. One of his lead- ing characteristics has been conservatism, as op- posed to the recklessness sometimes evinced by the enthusiastic and daring. This conservative spirit, however, is not a bar to progress, but leads him to the exercise of great caution in pro- nouncing opinions, so that a decision, when once given, is seldom changed, thus lending added weight to his counsel and advice on subjects per- taining to the law.

FRANK RIGLER. During a very early period in the settlement of Pennsylvania mem- bers of the Rigler family crossed the Atlantic from Germany and identified themselves with the pioneer families of William Penn's colony. When the Revolutionary war came on John Rig- ler enlisted in the colonial army and held rank as captain under "Mad" Anthony Wayne. In- spired by the example of his brother, the captain, Andrew Rigler, then a mere boy in years, offered himself to his country and went to the front to fight for independence. Little is known con- cerning Andrew Rigler, but it may be judged, from his faithful service in the army, that he was a man of courage and high patriotism. His son, Jacob, a lifelong resident of Pennsylvania,

was by occupation a farmer, stock dealer and nurseryman, and died at eighty-four years of age.

Next in line of descent was Hon. Henry Rig- ler, who was born and reared in a suburb of Philadelphia, became a large stock dealer, and for a time served in the Pennsylvania legislature. Originally a Whig, on the disintegration of that party he allied himself with the Republicans. In religion he was a Presbyterian. At the time of his death, which occurred in Philadelphia in 1894, he was seventy-nine years of age. His wife, formerly Mary Castor, was born in Phila- delphia and died there in 1901, when seventy- nine years of age. She was a member of an old Quaker family that settled in Pennsylvania with William Penn and was a daughter of a Mexican war soldier, who lost his life while taking part in the battle of Monterey.

In the family of Hon. Henry Rigler there were ten children, all of whom attained ma- turity, and five sons and three daughters are now living, Frank being the sixth in order of birth and the only member of the family on the Pacific coast. He was born in Philadelphia Jan- uary 9, 1855, and as a boy lived in the parental home near Frankford arsenal, attending the Cen- tral high school, from which he was graduated in 1872. His first employment was in the city engineering department, after which he engaged in railroad engineering in Kansas for six months. On his return to the east, in 1875, he began to teach in Bucks county, four miles from Doyles- town, where he continued for two and one-half years. His next position was that of vice-prin- cipal of the Boys' Grammar school in Philadel- phia. After a year in that position he relin- quished his work on account of throat trouble. Hoping that a change of climate might prove beneficial, in January, 1879, he came to the coast, settling in Polk county, Ore., where lie taught at Buena Vista a short time and then became principal of the Independence school. In 1882 he was elected superintendent of schools of Polk county and for a term filled that posi- tion with marked ability. On retiring from office he became superintendent of the Walla Walla schools, where he remained for eighteen months. From there, in December, 1885, he came to Portland as principal of the Park school, where he remained until the expiration of the school year of 1887-88. Leaving Portland, he accepted a position as superintendent of the Ore- gon City schools, where he remained until 1891. On his return to Portland he accepted the prin- cipalship of the Harrison street school, and con- tinued in that capacity until June of 1894, when he was chosen principal of the high school.

.An acceptable service of two years in the high school was followed by Professor Rigler's elec-

Johnm Jewis

177

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tion as city superintendent of schools in June, 1896, and he has since devoted his time and thought to the discharge of his duties. Under his supervision there are thirty school buildings, with three hundred and twenty teachers and an enrollment of thirteen thousand and three hun- dred pupils. The oversight of so many teachers and pupils is no slight responsibility, yet it is one that he has ably maintained, and through his acceptable service he has won the confidence of those best adapted to estimate judicious and systematic educational work. He is interested in the National Educational Association, has been a member of its National Council, and was for- merly a director for Oregon in the organization. Almost continuously since 1882 he has been a member of the state board of examiners of teachers. The State Teachers' Association num- bers him among its leading workers, and in the office of president, which at one time he held, he was enabled to materially promote the wel- fare and success of this body. His interest in educational matters extends into institute work, and as an instructor in county institutes he is favorably known throughout the state, into all parts of which he has gone to aid in bringing before the teachers plans of vital importance for the prosperity of our public schools. For a number of years he served as president of the Schoolmasters' Club, in which he was a charter member. Owing to the nature of his profession and its constant tax upon his mental and phys- ical powers, he has not identified himself with political affairs, in which indeed he has taken no part whatever aside from casting a Repub- lican vote at local and general elections.

During his residence in Walla Walla, in 1884, Professor Rigler married Lena Koehler, who was born in Iowa, and is a graduate of the Cedar Falls Normal School in that state. Born of their marriage are two children, named Evelyn S. and Howard.

JOHN MARION LEWIS. In John M. Lewis, treasurer of Multnomah county, we find a native of the state who has given abundant evidence of the possession of the qualities essen- tial to a trustworthy, capable and thoroughly safe servant of the public. He traces his lineage back to old families of Virginia and Tennes- sec. His paternal great-grandfather, Fielding, was born in the Old Dominion in 1767, but at an early age removed to North Carolina and from thence to East Tennessee, where the grand- father, also named Fielding, was born in 1811. Some time prior to the year 1830 the latter re- moved to Wabash county, Ill., and thence to Missouri, and finally came to Oregon in 1852. The family, which included his son, James P.

Lewis, father of John M., started across the plains with an ox-team in the early summer of 1852, and were six months in reaching their destination, a point near Brownsville, Linn county, Ore. They crossed the Snake river at a point near the site of Huntington, followed the general course of that river down to its junction with the Columbia, thence down the Columbia valley to the mouth of the Willamette, and thence up the Willamette to Linn county. The voyage, at the best fraught with peril, was in this case characterized by peculiarly sad features. Moun- tain fever and cholera broke out in the party, and the bodies of four of the family were left in graves along the route, victims of the ravages of these maladies. Lucinda ( Moore) Lewis, wife of Fielding Lewis, died on the banks of Snake river near Birch creek; Charles Wesley, a son, died on Burnt river; Marion died at the Upper Cascades, and Mary Ellen died on the Oregon side of the river opposite Vancouver barracks.

Upon his arrival in Oregon James P. Lewis entered land in the forest, which he at once began to clear and improve for a home for his family. Subsequently he removed to Althouse, Josephine county, where he purchased a farm upon which he still resides and where for two terms he served as county assessor. November 29, 1853, he was united in marriage to Tennessee T. Tycer, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. H. H. Spalding, who came to Oregon with Dr. Marcus Whitman in 1836. Tennessee T. Tycer was born in Linn county, Mo., a daughter of Lewis Tycer, a native of Nashville, Tenn., and an early settler of Linn county, Mo. The family of the latter came either from Virginia or North Carolina, and was of French descent. Lewis Tycer settled in Oregon in 1853, crossing the plains with his family. The house which he erected near Brownsville after abandoning his original cabin home, and in which he died at. the age of seventy-seven years, is still standing.

Of the nine children born to James P. and Tennessee (Tycer) Lewis, three sons and three daughters are now living. George W. is sheriff of Josephine county, and James E. is a farmer in that county. John M. Lewis, the subject of this sketch, was born in Linn county, Ore., September 20, 1855. Until 1872 that county was his home, but in that year he accompanied the family to Josephine county, attending the common schools and aiding in the duties of the farm during the summer, and later on engaging to some extent in mining during the winter. In 1881 he arrived in Portland, and at once set about to improve his education. In 1882, after taking a course in the Portland Business College, he secured a position in the government employ, having charge of the mailing division in the Portland postoffice under

178

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Postmaster George A. Steel for about three years. When a Democratic official, C. W. Roby, assumed charge of the office, Mr. Lewis continued to fill his post for eighteen months, or until he found it necessary to retire on account of the inroads upon his health caused by the confining nature of his work. For three years after relinquishing his position in the postal service he was in the employ of the H. R. Duniway Lumber Company in East Portland as lumber inspector. From 1888 to 1890 he was a member of the city council of East Portland. In the latter year President Harrison appointed him postmaster of East Port- land, a post he filled until the consolidation of the cities of Portland and East Portland, when the office was discontinued. Later he was made superintendent of Station A, which was estab- lished in place of the old office in East Portland, and filled the place under Postmaster Steel until the close of the latter's second term. In 1894 he entered the county treasurer's office as deputy treasurer under A. W. Lambert, holding the position two years; and was then reappointed to the same office by Ralph W. Hoyt, serving for four years more. This was followed by his nomi- nation and election to the office of county treas- urer, the duties of which he assumed July 7, 1902, for a term of two years.

In Portland, May 1, 1883, occurred the mar- riage of Mr. Lewis and Ella M. McPherson, a native of Linn county, Ore., and a daughter of W. A. McPherson. The latter settled in this state about 1850, and at one time filled the office of state printer. His death occurred in 1891. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, one of whom, Herbert Wayne, died at the age of two years. Those living are Edith, Ione and Wade Vernon. In the Cumberland Presbyterian Church Mr. Lewis is a ruling elder, and is also a teacher in the Sunday school connected with that society. In his political views he is a stanch Republican. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Wood- men of America, and the Woodmen of the World. He was also a charter member of Abernethy's Cabin No. I, Native Sons of Oregon.

Mr. Lewis belongs to the class of men who have shown by their unselfish interest in public affairs that they are warmly devoted to the pro- motion of those movements whose tendency is to help to give Oregon rank among the most pro- gressive, prosperous and inviting commonwealths of the Union. His public spirit has been abund- antly manifested on many occasions, and the fact that Oregon is the state of his nativity un- doubtedly explains, in a measure, the extreme heartiness of his desire to co-operate with others,

on all possible occasions, in advancing the mater- ial interests of the state and the community in which he makes his home.

CYRUS A. DOLPH. The genealogy of the Dolph family in America is traced to Balthazar De Wolf, who was born about 1620, resided for some years in Wethersfield, Conn., but removed to Lyme, that state, in 1664. By his wife, Alice, whom he married in 1645, he had six children. The oldest of the family, Edward, was born in 1646 and died in 1712, after having been a life- long resident of Lyme. By his wife, Rebecca, Edward De Wolf had four sons, viz .: Simon, born in 1671; Charles, 1673; Benjamin, 1675; and Edward, Jr. The line of descent is traced through the second son, Charles, who spent the active years of his life in Middletown, Conn., and died there in 1731. His wife, Prudence, died ten years after his demise. Their

son. Joseph De Wolf, born in 1717, lost his life in the battle of Louisburg, 1757, while fighting in the colonial army during the French and Indian wars. By the marriage of Joseph De Wolf and Tabitha Johnson there was born a son, Abda, through whom the line of descent is traced. In- heriting the patriotic spirit of his father, Abda enlisted in the French and Indian wars and later, when war was declared with England, showed his zeal for liberty and independence by serving in Colonel Whiting's Albany county regiment, New York troops. At the time of the conflict with the French his sympathies being with the English, he and a number of his cousins de- cided to Anglicize their family name by changing it to Dolph. This was the origin of the present mode of spelling.

The marriage of Abda Dolph united him with Mary, daughter of Nathaniel and Ruth Coleman, of New Haven, Conn. Their son, Joseph, was born in Fairfield, Conn., June 6, 1767, engaged during his active life as a teacher and surveyor, and died December 21, 1827. The lady whom he married, Elizabeth Norton (born 1772. died 1839), was a daughter of Joseph and Martha Norton, the latter in turn a daughter of Jabez and Elizabeth ( Allen) Norton. Both Joseph and Martha Norton were descended from Nicholas Norton, of Weymouth, Mass. ( 1636-60). Dur- ing much of his life he made his home at Ed- gartown, on Martha's Vineyard. It is said that of the thirteen hundred and fifty-six inhabitants of Edgartown in 1790, one hundred and seventy- four of these were Nortons. Probably as many others were descendants of Nicholas in the female line, making three hundred and forty- eight descendants in the one hundred and thirty years. The progenitor of the family, Nicholas Norton, by his wife, Elizabeth, had a son, Ben-

179

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

jamin, whose son, Nicholas, married Martha Daggett, and their son, Jabez Norton, was the father of Mrs. Elizabeth ( Norton) Dolph. Little is known concerning the first Nicholas, except that he was born in 1610, and died in 1690, after having for years made his home at Weymouth and then at Edgartown. Mention has been made of one of the Norton descendants, who married a member of the Daggett family. This family traced its lineage to John Daggett, of Weymouth, who died in 1642. By the marriage of John Dag- gett to Bathsheba Pratt, there was a son, Thomas, who married Hannah Mayhew, and their son, Joshua, married Hannah Norton, daughter of Isaac and Ruth Norton. Joshua and Hannah Norton had a daughter, Martha, previously mentioned as the wife of Nicholas Norton.

Through the wife of Thomas Daggett the family is brought into relationship with the May- hew family, of colonial fame. The founder of this family in America, Thomas Mayhew, was born in England in March of 1592. In 1641 he obtained a grant of Martha's Vineyard and the neighboring islands, and the next year settled at Edgartown, whose inhabitants were then Indians. With him came a few Englishmen and they in turn were joined by others from their native land. However, the population still consisted almost wholly of Indians. During King Phil- lip's war, when the savages became hostile and killed the white settlers all over New England, such was the influence of Thomas Mayhew over the red men of his islands that they remained quiet and peaceful, though they might easily have killed the few white men, had they so desired. After a long and honorable service as governor of the island, Thomas Mayhew died in March of 1682. His son, Thomas, was a missionary to the Indians, and so greatly beloved by them that even many years after he perished at sea in a ship- wreck he was seldom named by them without tears. Other members of the family also became prominent, especially Experience (born 1673, died 1758), Zachariah ( 1717-1806) and Jonathan ( 1720-1766), the last-named distinguished as a theologian and patriot.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.., Part 22

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