Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Carman, H. J. ************************************************ 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 August 25, 2010, 4:12 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 514 - 515 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company H. J. CARMAN, who for some years has made his home in Portland, is identified with the Carman Manufacturing Company, one of the leading furniture manufacturing concerns in the northwest. A native of Illinois, he acquired his education in that state and afterward became a resident of Des Moines, Iowa. In 1891 he arrived in Tacoma, Washington, and two years later entered into active association with his brothers in the organization of the Carman Manufacturing Company, which established a plant for the manufacture of furniture. The business steadily grew and developed and in 1896 H. J. Carman opened a branch house at Seattle, of which he had charge until 1908. His powers of organization and initiative are shown in the fact that he has successfully established and promoted several branches. The Spokane house came into existence largely through his efforts and he remained in charge there for about ten years or until 1918, when he took over the immediate management of the branch at Portland, which had been in existence since 1910, a plant being erected at Eighteenth and Upshur streets in that year. This was soon outgrown, however, and in 1913 the company acquired the business of the Oregon Furniture Company and occupied its plant. Later the factory was greatly enlarged until it covered about seven and one-half acres, affording one hundred and sixty thousand feet of floor space. The Portland enterprise became one of the important productive industries of the city, its output comprising bedroom, dining-room and living-room furniture, including overstuffed furniture, to the value of about a million dollars a year, while employment was given to three hundred and fifty workmen. On the 1st of August, 1928, the Portland factory of which H. J. Carman had charge for ten years was sold to Bruno P. John. The company, however, still owns factories at Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane, the head office being maintained at Tacoma. The business furnishes an excellent market for native woods, which the company uses as far as possible, although domestic and foreign hardwood is also handled in the manufacture of their furniture. In 1899, in Seattle, H. J. Carman was married to Miss Maude Braden, of Tacoma, and they have two children, Virginia and Helen, the latter the wife of Patrick M. Tidmarsh and the mother of a daughter, Patricia. Mr. Carman is a Mason, belonging to the York Rite bodies and to the Mystic Shrine. He is also identified with the Waverly Club and the Portland Chamber of Commerce. In the decade covering the period of his residence in Portland he has won a place among its leading business men, and the visible evidence of his ability, executive power and keen business discrimination was seen in the large furniture manufacturing plant which he developed and successfully conducted. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/carman1234gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 3.5 Kb