Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Bodman, George Fisher June 5, 1861 - October 15, 1925
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com November 9, 2009, 2:27 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 208 - 210
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     As a contractor George Fisher Bodman was intimately associated with 
building operations in Portland for many years, displaying that spirit of 
enterprise which makes for public progress as well as individual prosperity, 
and his pronounced ability placed him with the leading business men of the 
city. He was born June 5, 1861, in Oxford, Ohio, and was a son of H. A. and 
Eliza (Fisher) Bodman, natives respectively of Massachusetts and Kentucky. His 
father was a registered pharmacist and also engaged in the practice of 
medicine.

     The family came to Oregon in 1868, when George F. Bodman was a child of 
seven, and his education was acquired in the public schools of Portland. He 
also had the benefit of a commercial course and began his business career with 
Beck & Son, dealers in sporting goods. Their establishment was located at 
Second and Morrison streets and he was next employed in the Hudson gun store. 
Later he formed a partnership with A. B. Strowbridge, his cousin, with whom he 
was associated for a short time, and was then appointed superintendent of 
streets on the east side. He discharged the duties of that office in a manner 
that won for him the highest commendation and after retiring from the field of 
public service organized the Bodman & Berge Company, street and cement 
contractors. In these lines of construction they were recognized experts and 
contributed materially toward the upbuilding and improvement of the city. No 
detail of the work was ever slighted and their well known honesty and 
efficiency constituted the basis of their success. The business was continued 
for over twenty years, passing out of existence during the World war, when Mr. 
Bodman retired. Later he perfected plans to reenter the field of contracting 
but death intervened and on October 15, 1925, he responded to the final 
summons.

     On July 22, 1888, Mr. Bodman had married Miss Anna Wilbur Flinn, a 
daughter of the Rev. John Flinn, who was a pioneer minister of the Pacific 
northwest and multiplied his talents into a great service. He was born March 
26, 1817, at Rosalia, in Queens county, Ireland, and was the third of the 
eight children of Timothy and Mary (Patterson) Flinn, who always resided in 
that county. They were members of the Church of England and conscientiously 
followed its teachings

     Their son, John Flinn, was reared on the home farm and attended the rural 
schools of that district, continuing his studies in a high school which was 
conducted by Quakers. For three years he worked in a dry goods store and he 
remained on the Emerald isle until he reached the age of twenty-three. He 
crossed the Atlantic on the Garrick, which was delayed by storms, requiring 
thirty days to make the trip to America, and on its next voyage the vessel was 
lost at sea. Soon after his arrival in New York city John Flinn went to New 
Brunswick, Canada, and spent a short time in St. Johns, where he attended a 
class meeting of the Methodist church. About that time he met a Mr. Sammon, 
who told Mr. Flinn that he ought to be a preacher. Soon afterward he was asked 
by Rev. Samuel D. Rice, who later became bishop, to fill the place of a 
minister who was ill. Mr. Flinn consented and on the following Sunday preached 
his first sermon. This was in 1840 at St. Andrews, about sixty miles from St. 
Johns, and his first effort created such a favorable impression that he was 
retained as pastor of that church throughout the winter. The next year he 
obtained an appointment through the conference, being given a church on the 
St. Johns river, while later he was assigned to other localities. His health 
was affected by the severe cold and he was obliged to seek an indoor 
occupation, working for four years in a dry goods store at St. Johns.

     In 1848 Mr. Flinn went to Portland, Maine, where he met a friend, Rev. 
William McDonald, who advised him to return to the ministry. He did so and 
joined the Maine conference, of which he was a member until 1849. In that year 
he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Morris and the same spring volunteered as a 
missionary to Oregon with Dr. Bannister, the Rev. F. S. Hoyt, D. D., who later 
became president of Willamette University, and others. They left New York in 
September, 1850, on the steamer Arabia, which took them to Panama, and on foot 
crossed the isthmus. Then they went aboard a ship called the Oregon which 
carried the news to San Francisco that California had been admitted to the 
Union as a state. They entered the harbor with all flags flying and there was 
great excitement in the city. Owing to illness Rev. Flinn spent a few days in 
San Francisco and then resumed his voyage on the Oregon, which bore him safely 
to Astoria, where he arrived about thirty days after leaving New York and 
found the town filled with miners who had just returned from the gold fields 
of California. The rooms in the hotel were filled and he was obliged to sleep 
under a table. The next day he started for Portland on the steamboat Columbia, 
which carried one hundred and three passengers. They left on Friday at four P. 
M. and did not reach their destination until Saturday at ten P. M. The 
passengers were landed near Taylor street and Rev. Flinn had now reached the 
end of his journey, which had cost him four hundred and twenty dollars. Taking 
his baggage, he made his way to the home of Rev. James H. Wilbur, who was 
building the first Methodist church at Third and Taylor streets. At that time 
Portland had about two hundred and fifty inhabitants and only one store, which 
was conducted by Joseph Smith. Rev. Flinn and his companions spent the night 
at the Wilbur home and on the Sunday morning following went with their hosts 
to a small schoolhouse where services were to be held. Rev. Lyman, a 
Congregational minister who was engaged in building a church, was the 
preacher. There were no benches in the center of the floor and the 
congregation occupied seats placed around the sides of the room. Just as the 
minister reached an important part of his sermon there was a loud noise and 
the center of the floor started to rise. Hogs had gotten under it and had 
become engaged in a fight and in their struggle they raised the loosely 
jointed boards of the floor. Thomas Drier, who later founded the Oregonian, 
was present at the service and his sense of humor soon got beyond control. At 
length, however, the hogs quieted down and the meeting proceeded. At the day 
meeting Rev. James H. Wilbur addressed the congregation and in the evening 
services Rev. Flinn delivered a sermon. Thereafter he devoted his time to 
preaching and Christian work. He was appointed to the Yamhill circuit and 
starting on foot in mid-winter, walked to Oregon City, where he spent the 
night with Rev. James 0. Raynor, a Methodist minister. The next day, which was 
Christmas, he resumed his journey, proceeding as far as the old Methodist 
mission nine miles from Salem and there remained until the following day, when 
he started for Salem. In that city he purchased a horse and started on his 
circuit, which comprised Yamhill, Polk and Multnomah counties. Afterward he 
was sent to Washington and traveled all over this section of the country from 
Walla Walla to Jacksonville and from La Grande to Yakima. For five years he 
was presiding elder and on his trips experienced many hardships. The roads 
were in poor condition and at one time he and his horse were compelled to swim 
the Columbia. For forty-seven years he was a circuit rider, preaching the 
gospel in isolated districts of Washington and Oregon, and his labors were 
fruitful of great good to the cause of Christianity.

     On August 12, 1856, Rev. Flinn was married in Umpqua Academy by Rev. J. 
H. Wilbur to Miss Mary E. Royal, a native of Bloomington, Illinois, and a 
daughter of Rev. William and Barbara Royal. The parents of Mrs. Flinn became 
Oregon pioneers and her father built the first Methodist church on the east 
side of Portland at Ninth and Pine streets. In the family of Rev. and Mrs. 
Flinn were eight children. After his retirement from the ministry the father 
established his home in Portland and remained a resident of the city until his 
demise, September 11, 1917. He was a man of high ideals and his life was one 
of great usefulness and far-reaching influence.

     Mr. and Mrs. Bodman became the parents of a daughter, Mary Lolita, who is 
now the wife of Earl Alexander McElvaney, of Portland, and the mother of two 
children, Mary Elizabeth and George Alexander. Mr. Bodman was a strong 
republican and worked for the success of the party but neither sought nor held 
political office. In religious faith he was a Congregationalist and served as 
custodian and financial secretary of his church. A man of sterling worth, he 
quietly performed many good deeds and his memory is enshrined in the hearts of 
all who knew him. Mrs. Bodman resides in the family home at No. 719 Hancock 
street and is much esteemed and respected, possessing those qualities which 
inspire strong and enduring friendship.

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