Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Carter, Charles H. 1875 - 
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com July 4, 2010, 5:31 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 473 - 474
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     CHARLES H. CARTER, vice president and general manager of the Portland 
Woolen Mills, has spent his entire active life in the woolen textile business, 
in which he is regarded as an expert, and for many years he has been a large 
factor in the outstanding success of this well known concern. Mr. Carter was 
born in Leeds, England, in 1875, and is a son of John and Jane (Ineson) 
Carter. The family has long been identified with the textile business, Mr. 
Carter's paternal grandfather having been a prominent mill man of England, and 
his father, who devoted his life to that business, came to the United States 
in his later years and became overseer and department manager in a large 
woolen mill in Maine. Finally he came to Oregon and was made boss finisher in 
the Sellwood plant of the Portland Woolen Mills, which position he held until 
his retirement. He and his wife are now deceased.

     Charles H. Carter attended the public schools and completed his education 
in Yorkshire College, at Leeds, where he attended evening sessions for four 
years. In the meantime he was employed in various textile plants in Leeds, 
learning every branch of the technical side of the business, and when twenty-
one years old he emigrated to the United States. For several years he worked 
in mills in New England and in 1902 came to Portland and began his connection 
with the Portland Woolen Mills, of which he was one of the organizers, his 
associates being W. P. Olds, who became president of the company, E. L. 
Thompson, Charles Coopey, and Fred Carter. Their first plant was located at 
Sellwood, near Crystal Springs, in the Schindler tract, and was operated until 
1903, when the mill was destroyed by fire. In 1904 they erected a new plant at 
St. Johns, and E. L. Thompson was made manager, which position he held until 
his death, in October, 1927. The company was then reorganized, with the 
following officers: W. P. Olds, president; Charles H. Carter, vice president 
and manager; Willis K. Clarke, treasurer; and W. D. Chiswell, secretary. The 
company owns eight acres of land, which is entirely covered by the seventeen 
buildings which comprise the plant. It operates one hundred and forty looms, 
uses three million five hundred thousand pounds of wool annually, and the 
year's production is valued at two million dollars. In this mill, which is the 
largest woolen textile plant west of Cleveland, five hundred people are 
employed and the annual payroll amounts to six hundred thousand dollars. The 
principal products are overcoatings, automobile robes, blankets, shirtings and 
flannels, which are sold to jobbers and manufacturers throughout the United 
States. Mr. Carter's first position in this mill was that of boss weaver and 
designer, but when the new plant was built at St. Johns he was made plant 
superintendent. Later, for about ten years, he was in charge of sales and 
styling, in which capacity he made three trips a year to the east, and on the 
reorganization of the company in 1927 he was elected to his present dual 
position, vice president and manager, -— in which relation he is showing 
outstanding ability. He has been successful in his material affairs and is a 
director of the Peninsula National Bank, a director of the Peninsula Security 
Company, and of the Wherrie Tailoring and Woolen Company, makers of pure wool 
suits, employing over sixty people.

     In 1901 Mr. Carter was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Craven, of 
Dallas, Oregon, whose father, Wesley Craven, was a pioneer of Oregon. Mr. and 
Mrs. Carter have two children: Jeannette is the wife of E. L. Ferguson, a 
graduate of Hill Military School and now wool buyer at Portland for the 
Portland Woolen Mills, and they have one child, Gertrude. The son, Charles H., 
Jr., is attending high school. In his political views Mr. Carter is a 
republican. He belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Portland 
Golf Club and the Columbia Country Club. A man of great energy and marked 
executive ability, he is judicious and tactful and commands the sincere 
respect and confidence of all who are associated with him.

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