Clatsop-Wasco-Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Pilkington, M. D., F.A.C.S., Robert James 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 19, 2010, 10:07 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 309 - 310
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     ROBERT JAMES PILKINGTON, M. D., F. A. C. S.  For twenty-eight years Dr. 
Robert James Pilkington has successfully followed his profession in Astoria, 
rendering to the city that service which only the experienced, skilled 
physician and surgeon is capable of giving, and worthily sustains the 
traditions of the family. He was born in San Francisco, California, and his 
father, Dr. John B. Pilkington, was a native of Rhode Island. The grandfather, 
James P. Pilkington, sailed from Manchester, England, to the United States in 
1825, locating in Providence, Rhode Island, where he established a cotton 
mill, and was the first manufacturer in this country to print cotton in more 
than two colors. In the '50s he sold the business in Providence and crossed 
the plains to California with an ox team and covered wagon, settling in San 
Francisco when that city was in the embryonic stage of its development. His 
son, Dr. John B. Pilkington, made the trip to California by way of the isthmus 
of Panama during the '50s and attended the public schools of San Francisco. 
There he took a course in the Cooper Medical College, from which he was 
graduated in 1867, and practiced for a few years in San Francisco as a 
specialist on diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. In 1871 he opened an 
office in Portland and was the first specialist in his line in the Pacific 
northwest. Endowed with more than ordinary ability, he built up an extensive 
practice and later went to eastern Oregon, where he spent the remainder of his 
life, passing away at Baker City in 1900. His wife, Morella (Whitcom) 
Pilkington, was born in Iowa and died in 1904. They had a family of six 
children and Dr. Robert J. Pilkington was the second in order of birth. He has 
two brothers, J. B. and G. M. Pilkington, in Portland, Oregon, and his sister, 
Gladys Pilkington, is engaged in teaching school in Lodi, California.

     Dr. Robert J. Pilkington attended the public schools of Portland and 
continued his studies in Willamette University, a Salem institution, which 
conferred upon him the M. D. degree in 1890. At that time he was twenty years 
old and the youngest student to graduate from a medical school in Oregon. 
Going to Idaho, he practiced for two years in that state and then located in 
Antelope, Oregon, where he maintained an office for eight years. In 1900 he 
went to New York city for the purpose of taking a postgraduate course and a 
year later came to Astoria, where he has since engaged in general practice. 
His scientific knowledge is used to the best advantage in his efforts to check 
the progress of disease and his patients are drawn from a wide area. 
Recognition of Dr. Pilkington's superior qualifications led to his selection 
for the office of city physician, which he filled from 1903 to 1909, and was 
acting assistant surgeon of Astoria for three years. He is now connected with 
the United States Public Health and has charge of the inspection and 
fumigation of vessels entering the Columbia river from foreign ports at 
Astoria for Columbia river ports exclusive of Portland. These duties he 
discharges with characteristic thoroughness and efficiency and has 
demonstrated that he is the right man for the office. At one time he was 
engaged in fruit raising as a diversion and was among the first men to grow 
cranberries in Oregon. He had ten acres in berries but sold the tract a few 
years ago to J. S. Dellinger, who is now the leading grower of this fruit.

     In 1892 Dr. Pilkington married Miss Loto Brown, a native of California 
and a daughter of Lorenzo D. and Emma R. Brown, who have passed away. During 
the '50s Mrs. Pilkington's parents started for California, making the journey 
in a covered wagon drawn by oxen, and were numbered among the early settlers 
of California. Mr. Brown was one of the pioneer hotelmen of that city, which 
he left in 1877, and came to Portland, where he engaged in the same line of 
business for many years with gratifying success. Dr. and Mrs. Pilkington were 
the parents of two children, one of whom died in infancy. Their son Lorenzo 
enlisted in the United States Navy in 1917 and served on a cruiser which was 
engaged in convoy duty, making many trips between England and this country 
while safeguarding the lives of American troops. After the close of the World 
war he was honorably discharged and entered the merchant marine service, 
making several voyages to China and Japan. He discharged the duties of third 
officer and died in 1922. He was a young man of exceptional worth and his 
untimely death was a great shock to his parents and many friends.

     In 1886 Dr. Pilkington became a charter member of a military organization 
of the Portland high school which afterward became the famous Company I, First 
Regiment of the Oregon National Guard. In the early days he excelled in 
athletic sports and was the champion swimmer of the old Oregon National Guard. 
During 1909-10 he was exalted ruler of the Astoria lodge of Elks, and his 
Masonic affiliations are with Temple Lodge, No. 7, F. & A. M., and St. Johns 
Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M. He is also identified with the United Artisans, the 
Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Astoria Golf 
& Country Club. Dr. Pilkington has been honored with a fellowship in the 
American College of Surgeons and is also affiliated with the Clatsop County 
and Oregon State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. A man 
of high scientific attainments, he upholds the dignity and honor of his 
profession and a gentle, sympathetic and unselfish nature has endeared him to 
all who enjoy the privilege of knowing him.

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