USA > Oregon > Portrait and biographical record of western Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present.. > Part 24
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158
186
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
tation of the two hotels which he conducted had extended for a great distance on the Pacific coast, the service and accommodation being such as to delight the heart of the traveler. Follow- ing closely his withdrawal from his former in- terests came the appointment of Game and For- estry warden.
In Portland, in 1866, occurred the marriage of Mr. Quimby, uniting him with Miss Amelia M. West, the daughter of Col. W. G. West, a pioneer of the west. He established the Wells- Fargo route between Portland and California, and died while in the employ of this company, passing away at the home of Mr. Quimby in Portland. Mrs. Quimby was born in New York state, receiving her education in New York and California, and is now fifty-seven years old. Since 1882 their home has been at Fourteenth and Johnson streets, where Mr Quimby put up a house when it was a heavily timbered tract of land and no streets in the vicinity. Their chil- dren are six in number, one of whom died in in- fancy, the others being as follows: Elmer W., a scenic artist and traveling salesman, his home with his parents, as he is still unmarried ; Daisy, the wife of L. Q. Swetland, of Portland, their one daughter being Florence E .; Lottie, the wife of Harry Taylor, of White Horse, Alaska; and Polly and Daniel, both of whom are unmarried. All were born in Portland and received their ed- ucation in the public schools of this city. As a Republican in politics Mr. Quimby has had many offices tendered him but he has not cared to ac- cept, as his business interests have engrossed all his time, though he takes an active interest in all public matters, and is a liberal supporter of every worthy movement, and especially has he warmly advocated the improvement of public thoroughfares. Fraternally he is a member of Hope Lodge, A. O. U. W. In religion he was reared in the faith of the Baptist Church.
HON. JOHN McCRAKEN. There are few men now living whose arrival on the Pacific coast antedates that of Mr. McCraken, who first landed on western soil September 17, 1849, and has been identified with the development of Ore- gon ever since 1850. The family of which he is a member came of Scotch ancestry, but his father, John, was a native of Dublin, Ireland, and in early life associated himself with mercan- tile pursuits in London, where his son and name- sake was born July 11, 1826. From that city the family crossed the ocean to America, settling in New York City, where the father was establish- ing himself upon a substantial basis as a mer- chant at the time of his death. His wife, Sarah Pigeon, was born in England, of an old English family, and died in Connecticut. Of their six
children John and his sister are the sole sur- vivors. He was six years of age when the fam- ily crossed the ocean in 1832, and hence almost his earliest recollections are of this country. When he was eleven years of age his father died and afterwards his opportunities for an ed- ucation were very meager, for the necessity of self-support soon presented itself to him. It had been his mother's hope that he might enter the ministry, but his tastes were distinctly commer- cial and the need of earning a livelihood deterred him from taking up any profession.
For about four years Mr. McCraken was em- ployed as clerk in a retail store at Fiskville, R. I. In 1846 he went to New York, where he took charge of the books and collections in a large plumbing establishment. Probably he would have remained in the east permanently had not the discovery of gold stirred his ambition and led him to seek his fortune on the Pacific coast. In March of 1849 he joined the Greenwich & California Mining & Trading Company, of which he became vice-president and a trustee. The company bought a vessel, Palmetto, of two hundred and eighty tons, and this was stocked with supplies and other freight. Thus equipped for the voyage the forty-two members of the company started from New York via Cape Horn, putting in at Rio Janeiro eleven days and at Valparaiso seven days, and after a voyage of six months and nine days landing on the beach in the bay at San Francisco, September 17, 1849 The mechanics in the company went on shore, where, being offered $48 a day wages, they con- cluded it advisable to accept this offer rather than work for themselves, so the company dis- banded. Mr. McCraken, together with the pres- ident and secretary, remained to settle up the company's accounts. A house they had brought with them was sold for $350 per thousand feet for the lumber. The pork and beef were sold at high prices. The profits were divided and sent to the members of the company.
After a brief experience in freighting to the mines, in the spring of 1850 Mr. McCraken em- barked in the mercantile business at Stockton. In the fall he sold out and went to San Francisco. On the day that California was admitted as a state he took passage on a sailing vessel for As- toria, where he landed in October, thence pro- ceeding to Portland. At that time there was only a hamlet of a few buildings. A dense forest ex- tended as far as Second street, and the rest of the town was dotted with trees. The wharf was small, but was sufficient to accommodate the few vessels that anchored here. Soon he bought an interest in the Island mills at Oregon City, where he engaged in the manufacture of lum- ber and flour. The water power was improved Methodist Episcopal Mission, and later by
189
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
bought by Lane & Thompson, subsequent to which Mr. McCraken bought Mr. Thompson's one-fourth interest. The high water of 1852 ruined the mills and left the buildings a wreck. The work of rebuilding was at once begun, but the second venture did not prove successful on account of the fact that wheat, bought at $5 a bushel, was to be used in making flour to be sold at $50 a barrel, but a drop in the price of flour to $6 or $8 a barrel proved ruinous to the mill, which was sold at a great sacrifice.
Elected by the territorial legislature as chief clerk of the house of representatives, Mr. Mc- Craken served in the sessions of 1852 and 1853. In 1854 he was appointed United States marshal of Oregon and Washington by President Bu- chanan, serving almost two years. In the fall of 1855 he returned to Portland, where he started in the produce business, shipping to California via steamers and sailers. The firm was Richards & McCracken, the senior member, James Rich- ards, being in San Francisco. A large and suc- cessful business was established and conducted until Mr. Richards was lost on the vessel Brother Jonathan, which was wrecked off Cres- cent City while en route to Portland. A subse- quent partnership was that of McCraken, Mer- rill & Co., of Portland and San Francisco, and later Aldrich, Merrill & Co. conducted the busi- ness in San Francisco for five years, since which time Mr. McCraken has heen mostly alone. The J. McCraken Company was organized in 1892, and is now located at the corner of Second and Pine streets, where a wholesale business is con- ducted in building materials. Among the ma- terials carried in stock arc Roche Harbor lime, Portland cement, building, casting and land plas- ter, King's Windsor cement plaster, Monterey sand, marble dust, mortar colors, fire brick and fire clay. Under the supervision of Mr. Mc- Craken were built the large warehouses on Ninth and Irving streets, covering three-fourthis of a block, also the warehouses on Davis and I ront streets, but these were later sold.
The interests held by Mr. McCraken are not limited to his identification with the J. Mc- Craken Company. For some years he was a di- rector of the Commercial National Bank, and was the first president of the smelter at Linton, which position he still holds. For some years he occupied for his homestead the block between D and E, and Seventh and East Park streets, but this he has sold to the government for the new custom house site. His marriage took place in Oregon City and united him with Ada Pamh- run, whose father was an officer of the Hudson Bay Company. They are the parents of four children, of whom the daughter is the wife of Charles B. Hurley, of Tacoma. The sons, Henry, James and Robert, are connected with
the business which their father established in 1856.
A careful study of political questions long ago led Mr. McCraken to ally himself with the Re- publican party. During early days he served as president of the city council, in which he re- mained a member for several terms. In 1891, 1893 and 1901 he was elected to the state legis- lature from Portland, serving three terms. In 1891 he was interested in a consolida- tion bill for the city. During his ser- vice in the legislature he was instrumen- tal in promoting bills of an important nature and gave his support to measures of undoubted value. In religion he is connected with Trinity Episcopal Church, of which he is senior warden. In Masonry his interest and connection have continued for many years. Initiated into the or- der in Portland, he served as master of the lodge and during the '6os was for two terms grand master of the Grand Lodge of Oregon. For two terms he officiated as grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of Oregon. In the Portland Commandery he has been eminent commander, while he has also reached the Consistory and thirty-third degrees, being inspector-general in the latter. Among his brethren in the Masonic order his standing is the highest, as it is also among men of commercial and executive ability, all of whom recognize in him the qualities of up- rightness, tact, keen discernment and loyalty to his home city that have characterized his long association with the history of Oregon.
AMEDEE M. SMITH. Very early in the settlement of Nova Scotia the Smith family re- moved there from England, but subsequently ex- changed the bleak and icebound shores of their peninsular home for the more prosperous region of Massachusetts, and from there proceeded to New Jersey. Freeman Smith, a native of New Jersey, became a resident of Fayette county, Pa., and in 1842 established his home on a tract of raw land near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, of which he was one of the founders. A man of rare insight into causes and their effects, fortified by a determined will, and possessing the hardihood of a pioneer, he was fitted for the task of creat- ing a new town on the edge of the then wilder- ness. His ability was inherited from his father, Dr. Isaac Smith, a successful physician and tal- ented man, who during the Revolutionary war served as colonel of the First Regiment from Hunterdon county, N. J., but resigned his com- mission in 1777 in order to accept an appoint- ment as justice of the supreme court of his state.
In the family of Freeman Smith there were eleven children. The youngest of these, Amedee M. Smith, Sr., was born in Fayette county, Pa.,
190
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
in 1839. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in Company F, Twenty-fourth Iowa In- fantry, and served for three years as a non- commissioned officer. On being honorably dis- charged from the service he learned the pottery business in a pottery owned by his brother, Free- man Smith, in Iowa. Meantime he had married, and in 1865, accompanied by his wife and their child, he came via Panama and San Francisco to Portland. On this trip he was accompanied by his father and mother, who settled at Albany, Ore., but in 1866 removed to Buena Vista, this state, where his father died in 1881, at the age of eighty-nine years. During the same year they had come by the isthmus to Oregon, his brother, Freeman, had crossed the plains, and previous to this, during the '50s, three other brothers had come. Henry, who settled near Eugene, James, who died immediately on his arrival, and W. H., who took up land in Clatsop county.
For the first year of his residence in Oregon Amedee M. Smith made Albany his home, but in 1866 removed to Buena Vista, Polk county, where, having found suitable clay land, he and his brother, Freeman, and their father, started a pottery, which was the first enterprise of its kind on the Pacific coast. In 1870 A. M. Smith bought the interests of his father and brother and continued alone until 1883. Meantime, in 1881, he had brought his family to Portland and established his headquarters in this city. From a very small beginning he built up a plant occu- pying several acres of ground at this time. In 1883, on the river front and Sherlock avenue, he erected a building 200x250, three stories in height, on a lot 200x600, and put in six large kilns, at the same time incorporating the Oregon Pottery Company, of which he was president and James Steel secretary. Everything in the line of vitrified pipes was manufactured there, while the plant at Buena Vista meantime turned out the pottery. On the destruction of the Portland property by fire in 1890 he erected brick build- ings on the same site and a tract of land adjoin- ing. The buildings occupy about 300x300 feet. three and four stories in height, and are equipped with steam boilers and engines of two hundred horse power, with the latest improved machinery for the manufacture of sewer pipe, chimney pipe, flue lining and fire proofing.
In the carly days of the pottery business in Oregon it was the custom of the manufacturers to start out from the kilns with a load of pot- tery and travel throughout the Willamette valley until all they carried was sold. Money being scarce, often they accepted produce in exchange for their wares. However, as the population in- creased and railroads came in, the capacity of their plant was also increased and they made their sales in large quantities, shipping by railroad.
On the death of A. M. Smith, Sr., his son and namesake was chosen president and manager of the Oregon Pottery Company. Two years later, in 1896, James Steel retired from the concern, which was then reorganized as the Western Clay Manufacturing Company, with A. M. Smith, Jr., as president and manager ; W. H. Britts, vice- president ; and Blaine R. Smith, secretary and treasurer. The company is still doing business under the same name and with the same officers as at first, the three being also the sole owners of the plant. In 1890 the manufacture of pot- tery was discontinued and the plant devoted en- tirely to the manufacture of their other products. Frequent enlargements have been made and to- day the plant is the most complete one of its kind on the Pacific coast. The products of the kilns are shipped to all points on the Pacific coast and their trade extends as far north as British Colum- bia and Alaska. They also have an extensive trade in the Hawaiian Islands. The office of the company is at No. 55 Fourth street, Portland.
While still in the east, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Speelman, who was born in Pittsburg, Pa., a daughter of A. E. Speelman, a native of the Keystone state and a glass blower by trade. On account of the fail- ure of his eyesight Mr. Speelman gave up his trade and removed to Iowa during the early '50s, settling on a farm near Marion, Linn county. Later he went to Minnesota and his death oc- curred at Verndale, that state. In religion he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The family of which he was a member came from Germany, while his wife was a member of the Isherwood family, of English extraction. Seven children blessed the union of Mr. Smith and Mary Speelman, namely: Albert G., who died at the age of nine years ; an infant that died in Iowa; Elizabeth, now Mrs. W. H. Britts; Amedee M .; Blaine R .: Mary E., wife of Dr. F. C. Sellwood, and Leta R .. all residing in Portland. The mother of these children passed away in 1883, and for his second wife Mr. Smith married Mrs. Emma J. Coulter, of Connellsville, Pa., and by this union two children were born, Harold S. and Mildred.
In the death of Mr. Smith, which occurred September 29, 1894. Oregon lost one of its hon- ored pioneers and Portland was called upon to mourn one of its most prominent and highly es- teemed citizens. His death was not only a severe blow to the industrial world, in which he had taken such an active part and in which he was so well known, but by his demise Portland lost a citizen who at all times was in favor of any movement calculated to be of benefit to his adopted state or county.
The Taylor Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was an active member, had in hin
191
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
one of its most sincere supporters and at his death he was a member of its board of trustees. His influence was always for the good, and his sympathy, his benevolence and his kindly greet- ing will long be remembered by all with whom he had come in contact. His duties were per- formed with the greatest care and throughout life his personal honor and integrity were with- out blemish. His character, as it was manifested to his associates, was remarkable for its simplic- ity; he had great earnestness and concentration of purpose ; in planning he was deliberate but forcible. His wisdom had been largely gained by observation, as the advantages of his youth were limited. In his business dealings he was ever prompt, reliable and entirely trustworthy and he gained a greater degree of success than many who at the start were blessed with better advantages.
AMEDEE M. SMITH, JR. At Buena Vista, Polk county, Ore., Amedee M. Smith, Jr., was born December 16, 1868. At the age of twelve years he accompanied his father and mother on their removal to Portland. Here he attended the grammar and high school, remaining in the latter until the senior year, when he was obliged to give up study on account of ill health. Six months were spent in southern Oregon, and then, having regained his health, he returned to his home and entered the business of his father, with which he has since been actively associated. At the first he was connected with the Buena Vista factory, but in 1888 came to Portland as superintendent of the plant here. In 1890 he en- tered the office of the company as bookkeeper, and three years later was elected vice-president and manager of the Oregon Pottery Company. On the death of his father, in 1894, he succeeded to the office of president, which he held both in that company and in the reorganized plant.
In Portland Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Alice M. Johnson, who was born at Point Reyes, Cal., her parents having removed there from Massachusetts. She is a lady of ex- cellent education, having attended the Univer- sity of the Pacific. In fraternal relations Mr. Smith is a Mason, connected with Mount Tabor Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A. M .; Oregon Consis- tory No. I, thirty-second degree ; and Al Kader Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. Politically he votes with the Republican party. He is a member of the Manufacturers' Association and an active worker in the Oregon Historical Society, es- pecially interested in movements connected with the perpetuation of the annals of the pioneers. At one time he was Sunday-school superintend- ent of the Taylor Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which he is deeply inter- ested. Since 1894 he has been connected with
the official life of the church and at present is a member of the board of trustees. The Young Men's Christian Association also receives the encouragement of his influence and financial aid, and through his services as a member of the board of directors he has been enabled to pro- mote its welfare in Portland.
REV. JOHN W. SELLWOOD. This well known and widely loved pioneer minister of Ore- gon was born near Mendon, Ill., July 22, 1839, and was the son of Rev. James R. W. Sellwood, an Englishman by birth and for years an Episco- pal rector, holding pastorates in Mendon, Ill., and Grahamville, S. C., thence coming to Oregon as early as 1856 and becoming the first rector of St. Paul's Church in Salem. During the last years of his life, owing to failing eyesight, he was forced to relinquish ministerial work, and thereupon retired to a farm near Milwaukee, later settling in Portland, where he died.
Few opportunities came to the boyhood of John W. Sellwood other than those obtained by his own determination and industry. The eldest of five children, he early proved himself the mainstay of his parents and their comfort and assistant. Nor was this merely the case in mat- ters material, but especially so in spiritual affairs. From an early age his mind turned to thoughts of God, and he cherished an ambition to follow in his father's steps as a missionary and minister of the Gospel. When he was yet young his father removed to Grahamville, S. C., and in 1856, with a brother, John, decided to respond to the urgent appeal of the then bishop of Oregon, Thomas F. Scott, who needed missionaries to labor in this then frontier field. The two started together and en route were the victims of a bloody riot at Panama, from which they barely escaped with their lives. The children, too, were with them and endured all the horrors of those hours of danger. When the groans of the wounded and the dying were to be heard on all sides, the eldest son, John W., solemnly conse- crated himself to the work of the ministry, and the decision then made was never regretted. On the other hand, in the midst of hardships, toil, privations and vicissitudes, he yet called it his greatest glory that he might preach the glorious Gospel of the Christ.
In due time the family arrived in Oregon, but the uncle had been so seriously wounded in the massacre that for months he was unable to enter upon his work, but on regaining his health he took charge of Trinity Church, Portland. Rev. James R. W. Sellwood meanwhile went to Salem, where he became rector of St. Paul's Church. His son, John W .. pursuant upon his resolve to enter the ministry, gave himself to preparation for the work, and in 1862 was ordained deacon in St.
192
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Paul's Church, Oregon City, three years later being advanced to the priesthood in St. Stephen's Chapel, Portland. At the same time (July, 1865) he was united in marriage with Belle J., daughter of Rev. James L. and Frances (Brown) Daly, natives respectively of Dublin and county Sligo, Ireland, and of Scotch extraction. For the purpose of engaging in educational work James L. Daly went to Australia, and for some time remained in Sydney. On account of ill health he came to California, but, not finding the social environment desirable, went to Honolulu, where he opened a school. Ill health again forced him to relinquish his work and in 1853 he came to Portland under Bishop Scott, taking up missionary work, in which he proved an ef- ficient and consecrated laborer. His life was prolonged to the age of almost eighty years, when he died in Portland in 1895, five years after the death of his wife. Of their ten children four are living. Mrs. Sellwood was born in Aus- tralia and received her education in Punahou College, Honolulu. Born of her marriage is one son, John J., who is a graduate physician of the University of Oregon Medical College and now practicing in the village of Sellwood, founded by his great uncle.
Immediately after his marriage Mr. Sellwood became rector of St. Paul's Church in Oregon City, in addition to which he extended his work to Butteville, Salem, Mount Pleasant schoolhouse, Clackamas Station and Canemah, a little town one mile from Oregon City. As a result of his work a large Sunday school was built in Oregon City and a chapel erected in Canemah at a cost of $800. For two years he was superintendent of schools of Clackamas county, and during that time visited even the most remote schools and sought to elevate the standard of education here. it has been said that no missionary seemed to throw greater enthusiasm into his work than did he and certainly nonc enjoyed the work to a greater degree. His ministry was a source of constant joy to him. He was never happier than when preaching to his parishioners and trying to aid them in their spiritual life. No toil was too great that would promote the cause of Christ and the church in the particular field which he had chosen as his scene of labor. His love for Christ led him to love every created being. None was too lowly to be excluded from his sympathy, and none too high to be aloof from his affection. Each one of his congregation had a special place in his heart. His work was so full of delight to him that other occupations seemed uninteresting in comparison. Many hardships and privations he had to face and more than once Sorrow was his companion, yet never, through all of his life, did he lose faith in his Creator and never did he lose faith in the ultimate success of the work
in which he engaged. The humble successes that came to him were received with a grateful heart.
Though stanch in his allegiance to the Protes- tant Episcopal Church, Mr. Sellwood was not a bigoted churchman. On the other hand, he pos- sessed a broad and catholic spirit and saw the good in all, ever praying for the reunion of a divided Christendom. As a preacher he was earnest and forcible, never led aside into sensa- tional subjects, hut clinging closely to "Christ and Him crucified." A text was chosen only after careful and prayerful deliberation, and the subject matter of the sermon was presented after much prayer. When before his people he lost himself so wholly in his subject that no trace of self-consciousness could be discerned. Indeed, he forgot himself in the message he was to de- liver.
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.