The Oregon Daily Journal from Portland, Oregon • Page 67

Slfl'lf TKl ffil i boasted worldly goods in the sum of $40,000, was a merchant. We are forced to take in all sincerity the entry -that lists J. Singer as a musician. And a smile must punctuate the search when we arrive at the name of Joseph Robin-son, a guest of L. N.

Arrigony at the Pioneer hotel, when'the census taker caught him. Robinson is listed as a "poker player." Oddly enough Joseph appears -to have been without funds just at the moment. Eight -Robinsons were guests at the' Pioneer hotel on June 9, I860. They were actors. As a matter of fact, there must have been a whole show troupe in town on June 9.

At the same hotel we find Frank and Mary Mayo and L. F. Beatty and his wife, all people. The names of the Mayps still echo occasionally in theatrical history. Frederick V.

Holman, pioneer au- By Earl C. Brownlee T76TIMATTNG Portland present population at ItB.OOO, the city has sained more than 6358 Inhabitant for every year since the first authentic census was Completed in. 180. i Between the lines of the enumerator's still visible entries In the time-scarred volume that contains th record of that first census are The stories of pioneer Portland, whose latter days saw the transformation of a frontier hamlet into the now bustling; city of nearly a third of a million persons. in 1S50 a census of the entire Oregon country had been attempted, but the record la incomplete and of little value in the of such students of pioneer lore as George H.

Himes of the Oregon Historical society. The 1850 census cave the. Ore-' gon county credit for a population of 13,294 persons, living; in what are now, roughly, Oregon, ington and Idaho. All the territory north of the Columbia river was known as Lewis and Clark All east of the Willamette was Clackamas county. Washington county embraced Washington, part of Multnomah and Columbia counties.

Portland proper had not more than 300 residents in 1850, Mr. Himes avers. Therefore, the record of 1880 is held to be the first official census of Portland. It was gathered by diligent effort of enumeratoss, hardened to the business of climbing over rough, forest bound trails between outlying habitations, ajid these difficulties of enumeration may account for the many apparent inaccuracies contained in the shabby volume that remains to tell the story. Final figures on the enumera fy rr Z-u i --'-y' jf if 41 1 "'V' "ZZ aZJZ- SS! Tfrr'a'r' -zi7- i vm: 1 llll'll 1I1 SMfflVWII II Pre IoliaUtsjita in CtyffZr.

ia tht Contr of nrmsraiad by tta. on Post Cfflo irCz.v?- v-- was town marshal, and Steven Coffin, besides being "lessee of the penitentiary," was "town Prominent pioneer ministers included J. H. Wilbur, T. Pearne.

Thomas F. Scott, later Episcopal bishop; John Sellwood, T. B. ChanU -berlain and others. Seth CailbiT was a hotel keeper, r.

Monastes was a machinist, whose operations produced products valued at In 1859-60. Others listed were John H. Couch, George H. Flanders, Thomas Harkness, Richard Hoyt, John Alnsworth, Lewis Gill, William King. Jacob Mayer, S.

Blumauer, Josiah Failing, Thomas Kearney and others. Sylvestor Pennoyer, destined to become gov-' ernor of Oregon and mayor of Port-land, was a' school teacher, aged 28 years." Vfipri And in i early days there -were fortunes in Oregon, though mmmmmmmmmm y. i "Iruy- I thority of the present day, was years old. C. P.

Bacon is another well known name recorded. J. B. Miller bore the title of "editor." and for W. McMillen, hotel guest, no occupation but that of man" appeared fitting.

i Then, too, there were other folk. The enumerator made fine distinctions between the righteous and the otherwise he classified occupations closely and without regard to feelings. Solomon Hicks, negro bootblack is listed. His Wife, Mary, was an Indian native of Washington territory. Their, baby was named Mary Ann.

Bridget Maroney, a buxom Irish lass, was a servant in the W. S. Ladd home. Ching Chung and Tong Sing.whose tribe has increased, were "ironers." Wli P. Doland, -well- known by pioneers, was listed as a "candidate for Q.

W. Roberts was plain "gambler'; J. -H. Lappeus 'V id -r n7 rr 1 1 IF -J i 4 a- yf "fyijLtC SI taf. fffra Oxas.

TarmcnJ: it. rrfmdt, 1 7 tL-l. tfKAmrf .,5 sitf.f AL-di eTy. 'WW J-; 'll. JjMJUMUUL dZM L-ate-zmrAw -zJlLl 1 I Jsfr llll- i a lAru-cfA the Lj- day of IsSfl.

A) LI by the probe of. such concerns as Carson Porter lumber operator. The company cut in the previous year 750,000 feet of lumber at a monthly: labor cost of $316 for seven men. The value of the product was $120,000. The same company had a sash factory employing four men, which produced revenue of $18,000.

William Beck made $8000 as as gunsmith and James Stewart, with three helpers, manufactured $5000 worth'of shoes. The Liberty brewery, employing one man in addition to the owners, manufactured 26,000 gallons of beer, worth $13,000. James Terwil-liger, to whom tfce present modern boulevard is a monument, tanned 300 sides of leather, worth $1800. The pioneer "hamlet comprised real and personal property valued at $3,540,036, which produced taxes to support, among other things, the one public school, where 200 pupils were trained by five teachers. There were In addition, a private Catholic school and the Portland Female seminary, each with .100 pupils.

Pioneer worshipers had their, choice of fotir churches Episcopal, i II tion are not available. The record is not complete in that regard, and until the city's, first directory was published in 1862 the city's actual size was not determined. In that' year Portland was credited with 4067 persons," "including a. floating population of 700," whose names were found on registers of The 700 "floaters" are counted out by Mr. Himes, who declares' they represented no element of Portland's population, and that there were in the city in 1862 not to exceed 3500 persons, 52 of whom were colored and 63 Orientals.

The 1860 census was filed with Shulbrich Norris, deputy county clerk, on November 9, 1860. Norris, 'previously and later a successful business man, died in San Francisco several years ago. In the worn census report are a great many familiar names, some of them written indelibly into the history of the Oregon country. Actual enumeration of Portland's citizenry was accomplished by D. Hannah, "assistant marshal," and was started on June 6, 1860.

The entire summer and fall were required to complete the record. Hannah's first duty was to list the inmates of the territorial penitentiary, operated in Portland under lease by Steven Coffin, pioneer. In the prison Hannah found John J. Partington, James H. McMillan and William Ralston as wardens, keeping tabs on the wicked and the unruly.

Behind' those early-day barricades was only one woman, Charity Lamb, aged 46, slayer of her husband. She had 38 incarcerated companions, the census Three were murderers and 27 were charged with thievery in one form or another. Charles Gerald, an Oregon Indian, jailed for larceny, was the only native Oregonian in custody. Charity Lamb, the first woman prisoner, was a character for the fictlonist. She was then the oldest person in the prison.

prison. The future destinies of Portland and Oregon rested largely in the hands of the little folk who are listed in this first census. Among these names Is that of Joseph Simon, then aged 9 years, who since has served the city as mayor and the state as United States senator. Daniel II. Lownsdale, owner of one of the donation land claims upon which Portland is built, is listed as a farmer, aged 65, and owner of real estate valued at 000.

Frederick Bickel, native of Hesse, was a soda water maker; A. R. Shipley, bookseller, had property worth George Bottler was an appropriately "named brewer, whose plant produced in 1859-60, 30,000 gallons of beer, valued at i John Rentlaub was -'V James W. Going was keeper: of a hotel, andV C. H.

Lewis, who i JaiLmu2 Im Methodist, Congregational and Catholic of which the Methodist was the largest with a membership of 600. In the libraries of the churches and the female seminary were the available books of the community, a total of 2250 vol-, times. The community was edified by two daily papers, the Portland News and the Daily Advertiser. The Advertiser had 450 subscribers and led the field. Poverty was not unknown, for In 1859-60 the town cared for three native" paupers and nine "foreign" paupers at a cost of $2600.

The death records, interesting commentary on pioneer men of medicine, show for the year a total of 39 deaths. Four deaths each "were caused by consumption and typhoid fever. Three were drowned, two died from spasms and. three not comparable to those of today. Steven Coffin was the city's wealthiest citizen.

He owned real and personal property worth $103,000. W. S. Ladd had a fortune of 900; W. H.

Corbett, aged 33 merchant, attested a property valuation of $50,600. Clinton farmer, was worth John 1 A. Slavin, South Portland farmer, was taxed on $18,150, an.d P. Ca-ruthers, farmer, had a fortune of $45,000. Thomas Stevens had a representative 450 acre farm of which 50 acres were improved.

Valued at 120,000, plus. $4000 worth of implements. He owned two horses, 12 cows, 2 oxen, 10 other cattle, 30 sheep and 8 swine, all worth $1072. The farm produced in the year ended June 1, 1860, 50 bushels" of wheat, 200 bushels of potatoes, 35 tons of hay, 2 pounds of beeswax, 24 pounds of honey and $120 worth of fresh meat. In those hardy days farmers in Portland' and near! by owned 374 head of working census reveals.

Thef were in the city almost as many oxen as horses. il I rli-V Pioneer industries, too, their share of profits as is shown from congestion on the brain. Others were victims of "teething," "sroup" and "nose bleed," hardly recognized today as causes of death. The record of one man, David Batch, aged 49, married and native of Connecticut, stands out. He was a farmer, "hanged for murder," and under a column headed "number of days ill," Is noted "sudden." Twenty-three oftho dead were less than 7 years old.

As far as pages are concerned, there appears! to have been little to live for along; about 1860. The average day laborer received a wage of $60 a month, with board. Without wage was Carpenters, nluch in demand, exacted high wag received $4 day without And It I The story tin contrasts' if endless. Vi.