Clatsop County OR Archives Biographies.....Flavel, Captain George 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com March 8, 2011, 4:28 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 542 - 551
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     CAPTAIN GEORGE FLAVEL.  One of the most valuable and interesting 
contributions to the biographical department of this work relates to the life 
and labors of the late Captain George Flavel, whose record as a river pilot, 
particularly at the dangerous bar at the mouth of the Columbia River, over a 
long period of years, marked him not only as an expert pilot, but also as a 
man of fearless courage and one who appreciated his opportunity for rendering 
service of the highest type. The following articles were written by Fred 
Lockley, after interviews with Captain Flavel's widow, who was at that time 
eighty-three years old, and were printed in the Portland Daily Journal of 
September 8, 9 and 10, 1922. Mrs. Flavel, whose death occurred January 7, 
1928, at the age of eighty-nine years, was a woman of gracious qualities of 
mind and heart and was greatly beloved by all who knew her.

     "Just across the street from the court house at Astoria is a large white 
house of the period of the middle '70s. It is the home of Mrs. George Flavel 
and her daughter Nellie. The daughter of the house answered my knock and 
invited me to wait in the parlor while she summoned her mother. The room was 
very large. The ceilings were twelve feet high — a type of ceiling we no 
longer indulge in since the pier glass has gone out. Above the fireplace was 
an ornate mantel shelf with vases and other ornaments. Above the mantelpiece 
hung an oil painting of a ship under full sail, the moonlight gleaming on its 
widespread canvas and glinting on the waves. Big leather chairs, bookcases 
full of books, a library table with magazines, made the room seem what it is, 
a living room. In a moment or so Mrs. Flavel came in, shook hands and, in 
answer to my questions, told me of her girlhood in Astoria.

     "'My maiden name was Mary Christiana Lydia Boelling. I was born in 
Cincinnati, May 19, 1839, so you see I was eighty-three years old on my last 
birthday. I was married here in Clatsop county when I was quite young. My 
father, Conrad Boelling, was born in Hesse-Cassell, Germany. My mother, whose 
maiden name was Philipina Veith, was born in Rheinphalz, Bavaria. She came to 
America in 1831, when she was thirteen years old. My parents were married in 
Cincinnati when mother was sixteen years old. I was still a baby when my 
people moved to St. Louis. From there they moved to Peoria, Illinois, from 
which place they started for Oregon. Wilamina was first of their eleven 
children, then came Philipina, then myself, then Conrad, Louise, Elizabeth, 
Sophia, Louis, Eliza, Thomas and Voelmaton. Father started from Peoria with 
two prairie schooners, each one pulled by two yoke of oxen. In these wagons he 
had mill irons and provisions. The family wagon was fixed with two spring beds 
and was pulled by a team of horses. When the horses played out we hitched our 
two milk cows in their places. Yes, we had milk and butter clear across the 
plains. We came across the plains in 1847, when I was eight years old, so I 
remember very clearly the incidents of the trip.

     "'One time a party of Pawnees who were on the warpath against the Sioux 
Indians held us up. They were dressed in paint and feathers and not much else. 
They said we had no right to come into their country and scare the buffalo 
away. We gave them bread and flour and other provisions, so they let us go on. 
My mother, whose health had been poor, got well and strong while crossing the 
plains. We stopped for awhile at Bozarths, not far from Vancouver, while 
father went to look for a claim. The winter of 1847 was a very mild and open 
winter, so in February, 1848, we came down the river on flatboats to the 
vicinity of Slatskanie. Father took up a donation land claim of six hundred 
and forty acres just below Youngs river. That fall, when the people of Oregon 
got word about gold being discovered in California, father went to the newly 
discovered diggings. He came back early in 1849 with about fifteen hundred 
dollars worth of gold dust and we moved to Astoria, living at first in the 
Shark house, on what is now called Clatsop Crest. Father built a house in the 
spring of 1849, in which they ran a boarding house. The miners returning from 
California were starved out for home cooking and were willing to pay good 
prices for meals. Sometimes there would be nearly a hundred passengers at once 
swoop in on us, so we all worked. My mother's mother was with us and she was a 
good hand at cooking. The men who boarded with us would leave big buckskin 
sacks of gold with father for safe-keeping. He had no safe, so he used to keep 
them under the bed. A man named Aiken boarded with us. He was a sawmill man. I 
had never gone to an English school. Back in Peoria I went for a little while 
to a private school kept by a Lutheran minister. He taught us in German. I did 
not talk hardly any English till I was eight years old. When I asked Mr. Aiken 
if he needed "more winegar," he said, "See here, Christina, your must learn to 
talk correctly. What you mean is vinegar, not winegar." Every night he taught 
me to spell and pronounce words in a spelling book and a geography. He went 
away for quite a while. When he came back he said, "I suppose you have 
forgotten all I taught you. Get your spelling book." Instead I brought out a 
copy of one of Shakespeare's plays and read to him from that, to his great 
astonishment and to my great pride. I had studied all the time he had been 
gone.

     "'When I was thirteen years old I went to Portland and attended the 
Portland Female Seminary, which was run by Prof. Kingsley and his wife. When I 
returned to our hotel I found that one of our boarders, Captain George Flavel, 
had decided that I was not to continue my studies, but instead take up the 
duties of a homemaker. In those days it was the custom to charivari newly 
married couples, so in place of being married at the home of my parents we 
went to the home of my sister, Mrs. Moses Rogers, on Lewis and Clark river, 
where we were married by Rev. Farnsworth. George Conrad Flavel was my first 
child. Nellie, who lives with me, was the next child, then came Katie. Katie 
has passed on. George and Nellie both live here in Astoria. George is married 
and is a grandfather, which means that his three grand¬children are my great-
grandchildren. See, here is my marriage notice.'

     "When I had read it, Mrs. Flavel said, 'Read the marriage notice just 
below mine. It was a triple wedding, and see the odd bit of poetry that old 
man Dryer wrote about it.' Here is the wedding notice to which Mrs. Flavel 
referred: 'At the residence of Captain William E. Moltrop, Wapato, Washington 
County, Oregon Territory, March 29, 1854, by Rev. Dr. McCarty of Trinity 
church, Portland, R. P. Meade of New York to Lucy M. Moltrop, Benjamin Stark 
of Portland, O. T., to Eliazbeth Moltrop, John C. Assna of San Francisco to 
Lydia Moltrop.'

                  "'Like all good whigs our faith has been
                    The sound old doctrine, "Home Protection." 
                    And we've a serious objection
                    To sly outsiders popping in
                    And popping to our girls the question.
                    Filching away (we hope) two good whig mothers
                    And thereby greatly disappointing others 
                    Who might have duly propagated
                    The faith and sundry other things not stated. 
                    However things that must be must
                    And with our blessing we duly trust 
                    That every Meade may be a meadow 
                    And of the "quarter of a dozen," 
                    Thus feloniously won or stolen
                    That Lizzie Stark won't be a widow.'

                              *     *    *

     "When I visited Mrs. George Flavel at her home in Astoria recently she 
told me of the part her husband had taken in the wreck of the General Warren. 
I wish I were able to have you see the scene as I see it. On January 28 the 
General Warren, in command of Captain George Thompson, with Captain George 
Flavel aboard as pilot, crossed the Columbia river bar en route to San 
Francisco with a cargo of wheat. A heavy southwest breeze sprang up not long 
after Captain Flavel left the ship. The General Warren headed south on her 
course, the gale increasing. At midnight the foretopmast was carried away and 
it was discovered that a leak had been sprung. The pumps were manned, but the 
loose wheat in the hold, shifting, had clogged the pumps, so Captain Thompson 
decided to return to Astoria for repairs. The vessel was off the mouth of 
Columbia by daylight, but was not sighted by the pilot boat until 
midafternoon. A very heavy sea was running. Presently the captain of the 
General Warren sighted the pilot boat California. The gale had subsided, but 
the waves were running high on the bar. Captain Block, the pilot aboard the 
California, prepared to go aboard the General Warren and with much difficulty, 
on account of the heavy sea, had the small boat which was lashed bottom side 
up on the deck of the California cleared and bunched. Captain Flavel had taken 
off his sea boots and was in his slippers. When the pilot boat came within 
hailing distance of the General Warren Captain Thompson called out that he 
wanted Captain Flavel to come aboard. Captain Flavel, without waiting to don 
his boot, jumped into the small boat and went aboard the General Warren. 
Taking him to one side, Captain Thompson said, 'We have three feet of water in 
the hold. We won't live till morning unless we get into the Columbia. You will 
have to take us in.' Captain Flavel shook his head and said, 'It is absolutely 
out of the question. You will have to ride out the storm. Possibly by morning 
I can take you in. The bar is breaking clear across. You haven't enough steam 
to cross the bar before dark.' Captain Thompson said, 'I will fire up with a 
lot of fat bacon and dry stuff to make steam. You must take us in.' Captain 
Flavel shook his head and said, 'I know the bar. You can never make it. It is 
suicide to make the attempt.' Some of the passengers hearing his refusal 
said, 'If we could get hold of a pilot who was not a coward we could cross the 
bar.' Captain Flavel flushed and said, `A heavy ebb tide is running. It is 
unsafe, but if you insist I will take you in, but I will not be responsible 
for the consequences.'

     "Captain Flavel told his boat's crew to return to the pilot boat and tell 
the boat to follow them in. They crossed the bar at five o'clock, just as it 
was getting dark. The pilot boat was unable to follow on account of the breeze 
dying down. The General Warren was beginning to show distress on account of 
the water in her hold. She responded to her rudder poorly. She was unable to 
make headway against the strong ebb tide. Captain Thompson, finding the pumps 
were unable to cope with the rising water, said to Captain Flavel, 'If we are 
going to save our passengers we will have to beach her.' In crossing the bar 
several heavy seas had been shipped so the water in the hold was almost up to 
the fires. The heavy Leas that had swept the deck of the General Warren in 
crossing the bar had carried away all her small boats but one. Captain Flavel 
peered through the blinding snow that had started to fall at dusk to see if he 
could locate Sand island, but being unable to locate it he steered for 
Clatstop spit. The moment she struck, the heavy seas began to break her up. 
Captain Thompson rolled out a barrel of whiskey and told the crew and 
passengers to help themselves, as it might be their last chance. Captain 
Flavel said, 'Captain Thompson, we need clear minds if we are going to save 
the men aboard. Help me roll that barrel of whiskey overboard.' The mate and 
the captain, with the help of Captain Flavel, rolled the barrel of whiskey 
over the side. Some of the passengers were trying to light their pipes for a 
last smoke; others were praying.

     "Captain Flavel stood near the bell when Captain Thompson approached him 
and said, as he pointed to the one remaining boat, 'Pilot, do you think you 
can make it? Can you get to Astoria and summon help for us?' Captain Flavel 
shook his head and said, 'No, we can never live through the breakers, but I am 
willing to make the attempt.' Captain Thompson called the crew together and 
said, 'The following members of the crew will man the small boat, which will 
be in charge of Captain Flavel: Edward Beverly, first officer; William Irons, 
second mate; James Murray and Isaac Sparrow, seamen, and from the passengers, 
E. L. Finch, Henry Marsh and Matthew and James Nolan.' Captain Flavel saw a 
muscular young man standing by the rail. His name was J. G. Wall and he was 
one of the passengers. 'Can you handle an oar?' asked Captain Flavel. The 
young man nodded and said, 'I'll go if you need me, though I believe it is 
sure death.' The boat was lowered and to the surprise of all it got away from 
the ship through the heavy sea safely. As they were leaving Captain Thompson 
said, 'Pilot, you will come back.' Captain Flavel called back, 'If I live I 
will return.'

     "The heavy seas filled the boat again and again. They only kept afloat by 
constant bailing. They rowed all night through the blinding snow, keeping off 
shore when they heard the roar of the breakers. Daylight found them off 
Scarborough head. They rowed to Astoria, where they found the bark George and 
Martha in command of Captain Beard. Securing a large whale boat and more men, 
they started back for the General Warren. They stopped at Kindrets for a quick 
breakfast and hurried on to rescue the passengers and crew left aboard the 
General Warren. Where they had left the ship they saw a few bits of wreckage, 
but nothing more. When the storm subsided forty-five bodies drifted ashore 
near the mouth of the Necanicum, not far from the present site of Seaside. 
They were buried on Clatsop beach.

     "Many years after the wreck of the General Warren, when General J. G. 
Wall was notified that his old friend, Captain George Flavel, had died, he 
came to Astoria to attend his funeral, which occurred in July, 1893. 'Had it 
not been for Captain Flavel asking Wall to take an oar on what looked like a 
sure gamble with death in which death would win the stakes, General Wall would 
have been lost with the others who went down with the General Warren. General 
J. G. Wall was a native son of Dublin, having been born there in 1827. From 
the time he was a boy of fourteen till 1850 he followed the sea. He was a 
young man of twenty-five when he was chosen by Captain Flavel to live and not 
to die. He had been visiting friends in Oregon City and was on his way home to 
Crescent City when he took passage aboard the General Warren, which was loaded 
with wheat and eight hundred live hogs. General Wall served as agent for Wells 
Fargo at Crescent City for more than thirty years. For many years he was in 
command of the Sixth Brigade of California. He built a railroad into the 
redwood country in northern California and he also owned and operated sawmills 
and logging camps. He built and operated many well known coasting vessels, 
among the best known being the J. G. Wall, Ocean Pearl, Mary D. Pomeroy, as 
well as the steamers Crescent City, Del Norte and others equally well known. 
From the time of their mutual peril during the wreck of the General Warren 
till the death of Captain Flavel hardly a year went by that these two friends 
did not foregather and renew their friendship."

                                 * * *

     "Captain George Flavel was a man who could master fate. Other men had 
equal opportunities, but he made the most of his and bent conditions to his 
profit. The making of money is no test of good citizenship; very often it is 
the exact reverse. In spite of the fact that Captain Flavel left an estate 
valued very conservatively at one million nine hundred thousand dollars, you 
will always hear him spoken of as a straight, hard-fighting, hard-working man. 
I visited Mrs. Flavel recently at her home in Astoria, and she told me of her 
husband and of his part in the upbuilding of Astoria. It is a rather strange 
fact that the very men who clamored the loudest about Captain Flavel being 
like a medieval baron who exacted tribute of everyone who came up the river 
were the ones who wanted him to resume his service on the bar after he had 
retired.

     "Captain Flavel was born in Norfolk, Virginia. When he was still a very 
young man he came to the Pacific coast in command of the Petty, anchoring in 
the stream off the little village of Portland, where he disposed of his cargo 
and sailed for San Francisco. After trying his luck in the mines, he returned 
to San Francisco and was given command of the Goliah and ran between San 
Francisco and Sacramento. In 1850 he signed on as mate and pilot of the famous 
old Goldhunter. Lot Whitcomb, of Milwaukie, had launched the Lot Whitcomb on 
Christmas day, 1850. She was owned by Lot Whitcomb, Berryman Jennings and S. 
S. White. J. C. Ainsworth was her captain and Jacob Kamm her engineer. The Lot 
Whitcomb refused to recognize Portland, going by with a derisive toot, so the 
proprietors of the townsite of Portland bought the Goldhunter so that the town 
of Milwaukie would not outstrip Portland. Stephen Coffin, Lownsdale and 
Chapman, with others in Portland, put up the money for the purchase of the 
Goldhunter, which plied between Portland and San Francisco. Later the 
Goldhunter was taken over by the government and renamed the Active and used in 
surveying Shoalwater bay and Gray's harbor. She was also used to land troops 
on San Juan island when Captain Pickett of the United States army was defying 
the British to land. Later she was purchased by Ben Hollaway. She was wrecked 
in a fog on June 5, 1870, on a rock south of Cape Mendocino. The first 
American steamer to come in over the Columbia bar was the Caroline, which came 
in over the bar in June, 1850, and was followed a few weeks later by the 
Goldhunter. While Captain Flavel was mate and pilot of the Goldhunter he was 
given a branch license by the territory of Oregon, the first pilot's license 
issued by the territory of Oregon to a Columbia river pilot.

     "In 1851 Captain Flavel made several trips on the Goldhunter between 
Portland and San Francisco shortly before she was sold at Tehuantepec and 
taken off the Portland run.

     "'When I first saw Captain Flavel he was in command of the Goliah,' said 
Mrs. Flavel. 'He boarded at our hotel and boarding house here in Astoria. 
After the Goldhunter was sold he bought the schooner California, which was 
lying in the Golden Gate, and brought her to Astoria for use as a pilot boat. 
He was a good organizer and soon had a monopoly of the bar pilotage. He and 
Mr. Aiken built a sawmill, but it proved an unprofitable venture, so my 
husband went down to San Francisco and secured the Halcyon, which made him 
lots of money. He bought an interest in the Jane A. Falkenberg and for two 
years was her captain. The pilot boat California was a good money maker. One 
after another who started in opposition to my husband as bar pilots either 
sold out to him or abandoned the field, as did Paul Corno with his tug, the 
Rabboni. In 1869 my husband built the tug Astoria in acceptance of the offer 
by the state to give a bonus of thirty thousand dollars to anyone who would 
maintain and operate a steam tug on the bar for a period of five years.. For 
the next twenty years after building the Astoria my husband did almost all the 
towing and piloting at the mouth of the Columbia. In 1887 my husband took in 
A. M. Simpson and to an extent retired from active participation on the water.

     "'One of the reasons why my husband made a success as a pilot on the 
Columbia river bar was that he was not only an able navigator, but he was 
fearless and was willing to put out in any sort of weather to assist vessels 
in need of help. Let me show you what I mean.' Mrs. Flavel left the room, 
returning in a moment or so with a flat leather case, which she handed me, 
saying as she did so, 'Open it and you will see what I mean.' I opened the 
case and inside was a large gold medal on which was engraved, 'Presented by 
the citizens of Portland to Captain George Flavel for his praiseworthy 
exertion in rendering assistance to the passengers and crew of the steamship 
General Warren, wrecked at the mouth of the Columbia on the 31st of January, 
1852.' On the reverse side of the medal was the picture of a whaleboat leaving 
a sinking vessel, with the words, 'If I live I will return.'

     "'My husband, in addition to his tugs and his pilotage business, had a 
wharf and bought coal from the ships that had brought coal as ballast from 
Australia and elsewhere. This coal business proved quite profitable. With the 
profit arising from his pilotage and towage business he invested in property 
here in Astoria, which, as the population of Astoria increased, became quite 
valuable. My husband died on July 3, 1893. Old time friends came from as far 
as San Francisco to attend his funeral.'"

     George Flavel, son of Captain and Mrs. Flavel, died February 18, 1923, 
leaving a son, Harry M. Flavel, who is now married and has three children, 
namely: George, who is seventeen years of age, Patricia, fifteen, and 
Virginia, aged thirteen years. Captain Flavel was one of the organizers of the 
First National Bank of Astoria in 1886, became its first president and served 
in that capacity until his death. His grandson, Harry M. Flavel, is now 
president of this institution. The Captain was a member of the Masonic order, 
belonging to Temple Lodge, No. 7, at Astoria, and exemplified in his life the 
noble precepts of that time-honored order. Miss Nellie Flavel, who still 
resides in the old home in Astoria, is an accomplished musician on both piano 
and organ, having spent several years in Europe studying music, and is a 
member of the Organists' Guild of Portland. She inherited from her parents 
their sterling qualities of character and to marked degree commands the 
respect and esteem of all who know her.

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