Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Bateman, W. Q. 1880 - 
************************************************
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 28, 2009, 6:58 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     W. Q. BATEMAN.  The Columbia River valley's greatest commercial 
institution is the Portland branch of Montgomery Ward & Co., of Chicago, 
which, during the past thirteen years, has grown from a small warehouse, with 
one hundred and twenty employes, to the present great concern, housed in a 
magnificent building, with more than five hundred thousand feet of floor 
space, in which over a thousand people are employed. The record of the firm of 
Montgomery Ward & Co. forms one of the notable chapters of America's 
commercial history. The business was established in Chicago in 1872 by A. 
Montgomery Ward and George R. Thorne, who began their mail order business in a 
small fourth-story room in North Clark street. Mr. Ward started his operations 
on the sound basis of the Golden Rule, and by his close adherence to that 
principle he soon gained the public confidence to a degree that was apparent 
in the steady and substantial increase in the volume of his business, so that 
in 1873, and again in 1874, the firm was compelled to move to larger quarters. 
In 1876 it erected its own building on Michigan avenue, to which important 
additions were made from time to time, and in 1908 it erected the first unit 
of the great building which it now occupies and which today has more than 
forty acres of floor space. Some idea of its remarkable growth may be gained 
from the fact that the annual volume of business, including its various 
branches, is now over two hundred million dollars, and the total number of 
employes is over fifteen thousand. As early as 1895 Montgomery Ward & Co. was 
the largest patron of the post office in the United States. In 1905, in order 
to expedite the handling of the orders and the delivery of goods in distant 
parts of the country the firm entered upon the policy of establishing branch 
houses, the first one being in that year opened in Kansas City, Missouri; 
followed in 1910 by the one at Fort Worth, Texas; in 1913 by the one at 
Portland, Oregon, and since then stores have been opened at St. Paul, 
Minnesota; Oakland, California; Baltimore, Maryland; and Denver, Colorado. The 
first catalogue issued by the house was an eight-by-twelve inch single sheet, 
while today the catalogue which is mailed free to millions of patrons contains 
nearly eight hundred pages.
     
     The great building which houses the Portland branch was erected on the 
site of the Lewis & Clark Exposition, one of the most attractive locations in 
Portland. The main building is three hundred by two hundred and eighty feet in 
size and nine stories high, and was constructed of reinforced concrete, brick 
faced. In its construction one million one hundred and thirty-two thousand 
brick were used, of which ninety thousand were faced brick, eight hundred and 
forty thousand common brick, one hundred and forty-four thousand waterproof 
brick and fifty thousand common brick. All of the wood used in the building is 
of western production, while the cement was made at Oswego. The company owns 
seventeen acres of ground of which the building covers two and nine-tenths 
acres. The building is equipped with a modern sprinkler system for fire 
protection, in which there are five thousand four hundred and thirty-three 
sprinkler heads. There is also a regularly organized fire department, composed 
of employes. The building is heated by fifty thousand square feet of radiator 
service, which is supplied by two three hundred and fifty horse power boilers, 
in connection with which there is storage capacity for twenty-five thousand 
gallons of fuel oil. There are forty drinking fountains in the building and it 
is lighted by two thousand five hundred electric lamps, of about three hundred 
watts each. There are five elevators, each of a capacity of eight thousand 
pounds, and the floors of the building will carry a weight of two hundred and 
fifty pounds to the square foot. There are forty thousand eight hundred and 
ninety-eight panes of glass in the building, pentecon glass being used 
throughout. Twenty-nine thousand four hundred and fifty cubic yards of 
concrete were used in the construction of the building, and the receiving and 
shipping of goods is facilitated by Northern Pacific terminal tracks which run 
to the building. The sales of the Portland house have increased twelve hundred 
per cent in the past ten years, and this store serves Oregon, Washington, 
Idaho, Alaska and part of Montana. The Portland house issues its own "Western 
Catalog for Western People," with over forty thousand items listed. In 1921 a 
retail department was opened in the Portland building, which has grown to an 
extent that now requires seventy thousand square feet of floor space, and in 
which may be found everything carried in an up-to-date department store. The 
firm maintains a hospital within the building for employes, containing five 
beds for women and one for men, and in the house restaurant five hundred 
persons can be fed at one sitting, the service being provided at actual cost. 
The employes are encouraged to become stockholders in the company and many 
have availed themselves of the privilege, one result being that such a thing 
as a strike is unknown in the Montgomery Ward organization. The Portland house 
has within the past two years established branch department stores in Spokane 
and Tacoma, Washington, and has chain stores in the following places: Eugene, 
Pendleton, Baker, Roseburg, Corvallis, Salem, Medford, Astoria and La Grande, 
Oregon; Longview, Everett, Bellingham, Wenatchee, Yakima, Centralia, Aberdeen 
and Walla Walla, Washington; and Boise, Idaho Falls and Helena, Idaho. In the 
management of the Portland store, which has been in the hands of W. Q. Bateman 
since 1915, the same high principles have been followed which have always 
characterized the Montgomery Ward business, and the genuine service which it 
has been able to render to the public has been duly appreciated, as is 
evidenced by the continuous growth of patronage which it has always enjoyed. 
The advisory board consists of O. W. Huddleston, superintendent of 
merchandise; W. H. Adams, superintendent of operation; P. C. Newkom, office 
manager; R. W. Sedell, auditor; John Gilbert, district manager retail 
department stores and J. P. Barr, territorial manager chain stores. Mr. 
Bateman, with the aid and support of the advisory board, also of the district 
manager and territorial manager, has made the Montgomery Ward Portland branch 
a big success.

     W. Q. Bateman was born in Jefferson, Marion county, Texas, in 1880, a son 
of W. Q. and Sallie (Amos) Bateman. His father, who was engaged in the 
wholesale grocery business, is deceased, and his mother now makes her home 
with her son in Portland. Mr. Bateman attended the public schools and was 
graduated from Fort Worth University in 1898. He began work for the Santa Fe 
Railroad, with which he remained for five years, after which for seven years 
he was with the Frisco system, rising to the position of local freight agent. 
During this period he was a close student of freight tariffs, gaining 
information which later proved invaluable to him. On quitting the railroad 
service Mr. Bateman was for a time engaged in the public warehouse business in 
Fort Worth, and in October, 1910, when the Fort Worth branch of Montgomery 
Ward & Company was opened Mr. Bateman was given the position of rate clerk. 
His job was an experiment, but his work so impressed the officials of the 
company that he was made assistant manager of that branch. In 1914 he was 
transferred to the Kansas City house as department manager, where also he 
showed such qualifications that in December, 1915, he was sent to Portland as 
manager. At that time the store was in the old building, and there devolved 
upon him the additional responsibility of supervising the erection of the new 
building. He has proven a man of splendid executive ability and to a marked 
degree commands the respect and loyalty of every employe of the house.

     In 1922 Mr. Bateman was united in marriage to Miss Laura J. Tooker, of 
Portland. He is a member of Portland Lodge No. 142, B. P. O. E., the 
University Club, the Waverly Club, the Oswego Club and the Portland Hunt Club. 
He is a director of the Portland Industries Finance Corporation and has shown 
a sincere interest in the welfare and prosperity of Portland. A man of candid 
and straightforward manner, courteous and affable in his social relations, he 
is greatly esteemed by all who know him and has many warm friends in this city.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 798-800

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/bateman731gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/

File size: 9.2 Kb