Clackamas County OR Archives Biographies.....Bair, W. H. 1873 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com October 27, 2009, 12:27 am

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages140-141
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     For thirty years W. H. Bair has been a leader of mercantile activity in 
Canby and is also its mayor, ably representing the community. A native of 
Oregon, he was born six miles south of Canby, in what is known as the Needy 
district, in 1873, and his parents, Cornelius and Wilhelmina (Groil) Bair, 
were natives of Pennsylvania. The family is of Dutch origin and was 
established in this country prior to the Revolutionary war. Cornelius Bair was 
a member of the old Bethel colony of Missouri and came from that state to 
Oregon, settling near Aurora in 1863. He served in the Civil war and afterward 
followed the occupation of farming, clearing many acres of land. He was a true 
type of the Oregon pioneer. In public affairs he manifested a deep interest 
and for several years was county commissioner, also serving on the school 
board. In 1907 he was called to his final rest. Mr. and Mrs. Bair were married 
in Bethel, Missouri, and became the parents of seven children: Elias, now 
deceased, who came to the Pacific coast by way of Cape Horn in company with 
his mother, while the father crossed the plains in a covered wagon drawn by 
oxen; Mrs. Matilda Wills, who has passed away; George, who lives in Canby; 
Carrie, the deceased wife of Professor Coleman, who was a teacher in the high 
school at Newport, Oregon, and has also passed away; W. H.; and Edward and 
Lawrence, both deceased.

     W. H. Bair received a limited education, attending the Needy district 
school about three months during the spring and fall, and his youth was 
largely a period of hard and unremitting labor. He aided in the arduous task 
of clearing and developing the homestead until he attained his majority and 
afterward joined his father in the meat business. They maintained a slaughter-
house and operated a meat wagon throughout the district. Later W. H. Bair had 
a business of his own in Canby and also owned a meat market in Woodburn, 
establishing a large trade. About 1898 he became a produce merchant and has 
always remained in the same location. His warehouse was erected in 1908 and 
affords a floor space of five thousand feet. It is situated opposite the 
Oregon, Pacific & Eastern freight depot and has every facility for the rapid 
handling of farm produce. Mr. Bair is a wholesale dealer in hay, grain, 
potatoes, onions and other commodities and his business is conceded to be the 
largest of the kind in the Willamette valley. Before the days of automobile 
trucks he sent many pounds of pork, veal and other kinds of meat by express 
and formerly shipped one hundred carloads of hay per annum, but has 
discontinued the sale of meat. He aided in forming the Deschutes Valley Seed 
Company and was elected president and treasurer of the firm, which was 
established for the growing of seed potatoes and the improvement of the 
existing varieties. Realizing the need of a well organized moneyed institution 
in this locality, Mr. Bair enlisted the aid of substantial business men in 
this project and for three days drove throughout Clackamas county with L. D. 
Walker, who had come here to look over the ground. In association with Mr. 
Walker, Dr. Dedman and others, Mr. Blair organized the Canby Bank & Trust 
Company, which started the first financial institution in this community, and 
became one of the original directors. It is now known as the Canby State Bank, 
of which Mr. Bair is a director, and in addition he acts as vice president of 
the First National Bank of Canby, which he also aided in organizing.

     In 1899 Mr. Bair married Miss Laura Knight, a native of Canby and a 
daughter of George and Anna (Carothers) Knight, of whom the former was also a 
member of the Bethel colony and accompanied Cornelius Bair on the overland 
journey to Clackamas county. Mr. Knight is deceased and his widow resides with 
Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Bair, whose home ranks with the finest in Canby. Mr. Bair 
is a life member of Oregon City Lodge, B. P. O. E. He has filled all of the 
chairs in the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he 
has represented in the Grand Lodge, and is also connected with the Encampment. 
He belongs to the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen 
and the Knights of Pythias, and in Masonry he holds the thirty-second degree 
and is a Noble of Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Portland. Both he 
and his wife are affiliated with Canby Chapter of the Eastern Star and she is 
also identified with the White Shrine of Jerusalem at Portland, the Daughters 
of Rebekah and the Ladies Civic Club of Canby. Mr. Bair is a member of the 
Chamber of Commerce of Canby. For twenty-five years he was one of the aldermen 
of Canby, of which he is now the mayor, and during his tenure of office needed 
reforms and improvements have been instituted. Mr. Bair has served the 
community to the extent of his ability, never placing personal interests 
before the general welfare, and is a broad-gauged man of marked public spirit, 
esteemed and honored by his fellow citizens.

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