Clackamas County OR Archives Biographies.....Hedges, Gilbert Lawence January 18, 1874 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 12, 2007, 7:03 pm Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company GILBERT LAWRENCE HEDGES, an able representative of the legal fraternity of Oregon City, was formerly district attorney and also aided in framing the laws of his state. He was born in Canemah, Clackamas county, January 19, 1874, and is a member of a pioneer family that has contributed in notable measure to Oregon’s development. His uncle, Absalom F. Hedges, was a native of Ohio and made the overland journey to Oregon in 1844. Three years later he married Elizabeth Jane Barlow, whose father, Samuel K. Barlow, had settled in Oregon in 1845. Absalom F. Hedges was a river captain and one of the builders and owners of the Canemah, a steamer which navigated the waters of the upper Willamette, carrying the mail between Oregon City and Corvallis. Captain Hedges was Indian agent under President Buchanan and agent for the Oregon & California Railroad. In public affairs he figured conspicuously, becoming sheriff of Clackamas county, a member of the state constitutional convention of 1857, and also served in the last territorial legislature. His donation claim was located on the present site of Canemah, of which he was the founder. His brother, Joseph Hedges, the father of Gilbert L. Hedges, was born December 26, 1827, near McConnelsville, Ohio, and crossed the plains in 1852, casting in his lot with the pioneers of Canemah. He followed the carpenter’s trade and was closely identified with building operations in this section of the state. In Clackamas county he married Miss Ellen Judith Allen, whose father was one of Oregon’s pioneer physicians, and nine children were born to them: Mary A., John Byron, Elizabeth Alice, William Allen, Arthur Edwin, Joseph E., Francis Royal, Gilbert Lawrence and Frederick Roscoe. In the public schools of Oregon City, Gilbert L. Hedges obtained his early education and afterward attended the Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts. Next he entered Yale University, from which he received the degree of LL. B. in 1898, and after his graduation returned to Oregon City. At first his attention was devoted to land office work and afterward he became associated with William Galloway in the practice of law. During 1903 and 1904 Mr. Hedges was district attorney for the fifth judicial district and again in 1907 and 1908 and in 1913 was appointed district attorney for Clackamas county, was afterwards elected to the office and served until 1921. Felicitous and clear in argument, he proved a formidable adversary in forensic combat and won a large number of convictions. He devotes much time, thought and research to the preparation of his cases and is accorded a large and desirable clientele. Mr. Hedges was married October 3, 1904, to Miss Dorothy Hinsdale Chase, a native of Oregon City and a daughter of James W. and Sarah A. (Stevenson) Chase. An expert mechanic, the father was engaged in carpentering and setting up machinery. Several years before the Civil war he had become identified with construction activities in Oregon City and aided in building the woolen mill. The plans were made in 1862, and incorporation papers were filed December 31, 1862, but the plant was not completed until two years later. The building was made of stone and brick, was one hundred and eighty-eight feet long and fifty- two feet wide, and was two stories in height. Mr. Chase was made superintendent of the mechanical department of the woolen mill and filled that responsible position for thirty years. The incorporator’s of the business were A. L. Lovejoy, D. P. Thompson, L. D. C. Latourette, Arthur Warner, William Buck, William Whitlock, Daniel Harvey, F. Barclay, George H. Atkinson, J. L. Barlow, John D. Dement, William Barlow, W. C. Dement, W. Carey Johnson and A. H. Steele. The capital stock was sixty thousand dollars. Daniel Harvey sold the five lots on which the mill was located for twelve thousand dollars. Joel Palmer was elected president of the company and when the mill was built the directors found that all their money was spent, so they had no funds for purchasing wool for manufacturing. They succeeded in borrowing from the Bank of British Columbia a sum sufficient to purchase wool with which to start the wheels of the industry and the first goods made in the plant were flannels. In 1868 fire destroyed the mill, which was rebuilt the following year, and in 1881 it was again visited by fire, resulting in a loss of about twenty thousand dollars. Mrs. Chase was born in Illinois and her parents were natives of England. Her father, John W. Stevenson, made the voyage to America in 1831 and settled on the Wabash river in Illinois. Her mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Tait, came to the United States when a child. Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson lived for several years in Illinois and on April 4, 1853, started for the Pacific northwest. At St. Joseph they crossed the Missouri river, their train numbering twenty-four wagons, with Bluford Deadman in charge of the party, but soon afterward John W. Stevenson was selected as its captain. While traveling along the Platte they saw countless herds of buffalo and their journey across the plains and over the mountains was fraught with hardships and danger. Some members of the party were bound for California, while others were headed for Oregon. Being undecided as to his destination, Mr. Stevenson tossed a half dollar into the air, leaving the decision to chance, which led him to Oregon. After a journey of six months and four days he arrived in Clackamas county and took up a donation land claim. Two years later, in 1855, he entered a claim on the north side of the Columbia river, just back of Cape Horn, and on this place there was an Indian trail. When the savages started on the warpath in 1855 most of the settlers in the vicinity of the Cascades went to The Dalles or elsewhere for protection but the Stevenson family fled to Portland, renting a house on Second street near Stark. After General Phil Sheridan defeated the Indians at the blockhouse at the Cascades, Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson and the children returned to the farm. James W. Chase was married December 14, 1858, to Miss Sarah A. Stevenson the fifth in a family of six children. Her eldest brother, John W., made his home on the Washington side of the Columbia river and was about ninety years of age at the time of his demise. A sister, Mrs. Barbara Bailey, lived at the corner of Tenth and East Alder streets in Portland and has passed away. On the opposite corner was the home of her sister, Mrs. Rebecca Wills, now deceased. Jennie, another sister, became the wife of A. F. Miller, a well known orchardist of Sellwood, Oregon, who recently passed away. The brother, George Stevenson, was accidentally shot while dismounting from his horse near Washougal, Washington. Mrs. Sarah A. Chase was a resident of Oregon City for more than sixty years and in June, 1926, was called to her final rest. Her oldest son, Ivan, was in the newspaper business at Colfax, Washington, but now lives in Chehalis, that state, and his son is purchasing agent for Lewis county, Washington. Ednetta Dillman the second in order of birth, made her home in Oregon City and passed away in 1926. Dorothy Hinsdale Hedges is the next of the family. The son, Olney Chase, was drowned in the Willamette river during the flood of 1890. His sister, Mrs. Sade C. Rowland, resides in Oregon City, where Mrs. Ina M. Adams, the youngest member of the family, is also living. Mr. and Mrs. Hedges have two daughters. Judith V., born March 26, 1907, attended Reed College for two years and is a junior at Stanford University. Barbara Hinsdale was born November 25, 1908, and is a member of the sophomore class of the University of Oregon. Mr. Hedges is an adherent of the democratic party and in 1901 was chosen to represent his district in the general assembly of Oregon, making an excellent record as a legislator. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masons, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Royal Arcanum. He is a member of the local and state bar associations and Phi Alpha Delta, a legal society. Mr. Hedges conscientiously discharges the duties and obligations of citizenship but his interest centers in his profession, in which he has steadily progressed, and he stands deservedly high in the esteem of his fellow practitioners and the general public. A lifelong resident of Clackamas county, he is thoroughly familiar with its history and has seen notable changes as the work of upbuilding and progress has been carried forward in this region. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Pages 265-267 File at:http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/clackamas/bios/hedges338gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 9.3 Kb