Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Corbett, Hon. Henry Winslow February 18, 1827 - March 31, 1903 ************************************************ 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 Wakley iwakley@msn.com January 17, 2011, 4:15 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 688 - 689 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company HON. HENRY WINSLOW CORBETT. No name is more familiar to those who have knowledge of the history of Portland and its continuous development from pioneer times than that of Hon. Henry Winslow Corbett, who through many years was closely associated with activities that contributed to the material, social, civic and moral upbuilding of the city. He was born in Westboro, Massachusetts, February 18, 1827, and traced his ancestry back to Roger Corbett, who was a military leader under William the Conqueror. His son, William Corbett, was seated at Wattesborough, while his second son, Sir Robert Corbett, had for his inheritance the castle and estate of Caus. A son of the latter, also named Robert, accompanied King Richard I to the siege of Acre. In the seventeenth century a branch of the family was established at Mendon, Massachusetts, and from this line was descended Henry W. Corbett, a grandson of Elijah Corbett, Sr., and a son of Elijah Corbett, Jr., who was born in Massachusetts and there engaged in the manufacture of edged tools. Later he removed to White Creek, Washington county, New York. He married Melinda Forbush, also a native of Massachusetts and a descendant of an old colonial family of English origin. Henry W. Corbett was four years of age when the family home was established in White Creek, New York, and following the removal to Cambridge, New York, he completed a course in the Cambridge Academy when but thirteen years of age. He afterward engaged in clerking and later went to New York city, where for seven years he was in the employ of Williams, Bradford & Company. In October, 1850, that firm furnished the necessary capital that enabled him to ship a stock of general merchandise to Portland, Oregon, where he arrived on the 4th of March, 1851, at which time the town contained but five stores and had a population of four hundred. Mr. Corbett rented a building, not quite completed, on the corner of Fourth and Oak streets, and when fourteen months had passed he had disposed of his entire stock of merchandise at a profit of about twenty thousand dollars. After forming a partnership with Robert and Finley McLaren he went east, his partners continuing the business in Portland, and spent a year in New York. He then returned to Portland and several months later withdrew from his partnership connection and established an independent business, handling general merchandise until 1860, after which he conducted a wholesale hardware business. In 1871 he became senior partner in the firm of Corbett, Failing & Company and they developed one of the largest commercial enterprises of this part of the country. In 1869 Mr. Corbett, with his partner, Henry Failing, purchased a controlling interest in the First National Bank of Portland, Mr. Corbett serving as vice president for a number of years and succeeding to the presidency on the death of Mr. Failing. They made the bank one of the strongest financial institutions of the northwest. Mr. Corbett was also president of the Security Savings & Trust Company and did much to establish the financial stability of this part of the country. He became president of the Portland Hotel Company and of the Willamette Steel & Iron Works and he constantly broadened his business connections to meet the demands of the growing city. He became interested in city and suburban railway building and served as a director of the street railway company. Previous to this time, in 1865, he had taken the contract for transporting the mails to California and four years later became owner of the California stage line, operating a four- horse stage coach between Portland and the southern state. He relinquished his contract in 1866, upon his election to the United States senate, but his identification with transportation interests was not ended, as he served on the directorate of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company. He was likewise identified with many manufacturing interests which have featured in the growth of Portland and with real estate activity, being the builder of the First National Bank building, the Worcester, Cambridge and Neustadter blocks, the Corbett and Hamilton buildings and many others. Mr. Corbett worked just as earnestly and consistently for the promotion of public projects as he did for the advancement of his individual fortunes. In 1866 he was elected to the United States senate, where he promoted many important measures. He secured the appropriation for the Portland post office and the customs house at Astoria and was instrumental in making Portland the port of entry for the Willamette customs district. Following his service in the senate he spent seven months in travel abroad and then again entered actively into American politics, exerting widely felt influence in this connection. In 1896 he stanchly advocated the gold standard and in 1900 was again a candidate for the United States senate but was defeated through a combination of democrats and a wing of the republican party. He was largely instrumental in bringing about the removal of obstructions to navigation in the Willamette river, the erection of lighthouses along the coast and the location of fog whistles and buoys to mark the channels of the navigable streams. He secured an appropriation for the survey of Oregon's public lands and was instrumental in bringing about the removal of the military department headquarters of the Columbia from Washington to Oregon. In Albany, New York, Mr. Corbett was married to Caroline E. Jagger, a native of that city, who there passed away in 1865, and their two sons, Henry J. and Hamilton F., both died in early manhood. In Worcester, Massachusetts, Mr. Corbett wedded Emma L. Ruggles. He remained an honored resident of Portland until his death March 31, 1903. His last public service was in connection with the Lewis and Clark exposition. He became the leader in that movement and continued his effective work for the development of the exposition until within a few days of his death. All Portland delighted to honor Henry W. Corbett and of him a contemporary writer has said: "His entire life was actuated by a sense of duty that found expression in marked devotion to his city, his state and his country, also to the highest ideals of business and by a comprehensive recognition of his responsibilities toward his fellowmen. He never deviated from a standard which he considered right between himself and his fellows and there has been no citizen of Oregon more truly honored during his lifetime, nor whose name has been more greatly cherished and revered since death." File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/corbett1361gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb