Multnomah-Hood River County OR Archives Biographies.....Deich, Hon. Richard December 6, 1872 - ************************************************ 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 October 22, 2009, 1:35 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 46-48 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company Among the lawyers and jurists of Multnomah county no one is held in higher esteem than the Hon. Richard Deich, judge of the court of domestic relations of Multnomah county, Oregon, and his service on the bench has been of a type that has won for him a wide reputation as an able and just judge, while his career in military, professional and private life has earned for him the sincere respect of his fellowmen. In the Oregon Daily Journal, Fred Lockley printed the following interesting article, after an interview with Judge Deich: "The twenty-fifth anniversary of the muster out of the Second Oregon United States Volunteers will be celebrated on Sunday, August 10, at Laurelhurst park. This is the third annual reunion of the famous old Second Regiment, and there will be a number of the former guardsmen in attendance who have not met their old-time comrades since they met at the close of hostilities in the Spanish-American war. The Second Regiment met last year on August 13 to celebrate the fall of Manila. Since then 'taps' has sounded for ex-Governor T. T. Geer, who was governor when the Oregon troops returned from foreign service. General W. E. Finzer, who saw service not only in the islands, but in the World war, has also answered the final summons during the past year. "Probably no man in the old Second Regiment takes a keener interest in his former fellow guardsmen than Richard Deich, judge of the court of domestic relations. We spent an hour or so together recently and he told me not only of the plans for the forthcoming reunion, but also of the service of the regiment while overseas. He was duty sergeant in Company A, commanded by Captain H. L. Heath. " 'We had one hundred and six officers and men in our company,' said Judge Deich. 'I have the addresses of fifty-five of the former members of Company A. I have records of the death of between twenty-five and thirty of our men, which leaves about twenty-five unaccounted for. Undoubtedly some of these men of whom we have lost track are dead, but we are hoping that some of the missing will turn up at our reunion and gladden the eyes of their old-time comrades in arms. " 'Quite a number of men of the Second Regiment saw service in the World war. Chaplain W. S. Gilbert was as popular in France with the troops as he was in the islands. Colonel May, Colonel Percy Willis, Lieutenant-Colonel Carle Abrams, General W. E. Finzer, Lieutenant Robert E. Huston, Captain Prescott, former captain of Company D, who became a colonel in the World war; Dr. Sandford Whiting, L. H. Knapp, F. B. Hamlin, J. M. Mitchell, Henry Hockenyos and many more of our old regiment gave a good account of themselves in the World war. " 'Tell you about myself? I would rather tell you what our regiment did overseas. You want to use me as a peg to hang a story on of the Second Regiment. All right; I will answer any questions you put to me. When you are ready, fire. I was born on the Platte river in Nebraska, December 6, 1872. I came to Oregon in the summer of 1890. In March, 1895, I enlisted in the Fourteenth United States Infantry, commanded by Colonel T. M. Anderson. A few months before my enlistment was up we were ordered to Alaska. I was given my discharge on March 1, 1898, at Dyea. " 'The "Maine" had been blown up in the harbor of Havana, and while war had not been declared, yet it seemed war was imminent. I came back to Portland and at once enlisted in Company A, usually referred to as the "six-foot company," commanded by Captain Ralph Platt. On April 26 we were ordered to Camp McKinley and I was put to drilling recruits. Oregon's quota called for one regiment. We had two regiments, so the two were consolidated. Company A was merged with Separate Company B, of McMinnville. Captain H. L. Heath, of Company B, being the senior in service, was given command of the company, and our captain, Ralph Platt, became first lieutenant, and Lieutenant Jonathan A. Young, of Separate Company B, became second lieutenant. " 'One day I was lying in my tent, when I heard Captain Heath give orders for all of the "non-coms" to meet in his tent. I heard him say, "We will keep Frank Weed first sergeant. Who do you think should be duty sergeant?" I heard one of the men say, "Deich would make a good sergeant." Captain Heath blew up and said, "Deich is a private and a new man in the company. What reason have you for wanting him as sergeant?" Several of the non-coms spoke up and said, "He has just put in three years in the regulars and he will make a good sergeant." "Tell him to report at once," said Captain Heath. One of the boys came and told me to report to Captain Heath. When I entered the tent and saluted he said, "Deich, the men want you to serve as duty sergeant. Can you hold down that place?" I said, "I think I can." "You think you can. Don't you know whether you can or not?" he barked at me. "Yes, I can," I responded. "All right. You're it. I will mighty soon know whether you can, and if you don't make good I'll reduce you to the ranks," he said. As ours was the first company mustered in, Captain Heath became senior captain in the regiment, and I was senior duty sergeant. " 'On October 8, 1899, two months after being mustered out of the service, I was married to Martha Zanbeitzer, of Portland. Shortly after being mustered out I had landed a job as motorman on the City and Suburban line. In those days we had two street car lines. The Portland Railway Company operated lines on Washington, Fifth and Thirteenth streets, while the City and Suburban ran the North and South Portland line, the Third street line, the Morrison street line and the lines on the east side. After I had been a platform man for the City and Suburban for six years the two companies were merged under the title of the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company. After I had worked for a year for the new company, James H. Reed, fruit commissioner for this district, appointed me county horticultural inspector for Multnomah county. I had some knowledge of fruit raising, for, with a former member of the Fourteenth Infantry with whom I had served, I owned an apple orchard in the Hood River valley. During the two and a half years I held down this job I went afoot to practically every farm in the county, and almost to every lot where trees were grown. " 'During this time I studied law in the night school run by the University of Oregon, of which Major Gantenbein was in charge. Major Gantenbein appointed me bailiff of the grand jury, the same position later held by ex-Governor T. T. Geer. This gave me time to study not only the theory of law, but also to get practice at first hand. In 1910 I was admitted to the bar. In 1913 I was appointed deputy district attorney under Walter H. Evans. I served till September, 1917, when I was appointed deputy city attorney under Walter P. La Roche. I stayed with this job until the spring of 1918, when Governor Withycombe put me in charge of the military police. I had two hundred and fifty men under me and we spent over three hundred thousand dollars of the states money in the performance of our work. So you see I have served from buck private to major. From 1905 to 1912 I served in the Oregon National Guard. I became captain of Company H, Third Regiment, Oregon National Guard. After my work with the military police I went back with Walter H. Evans as his deputy. On January 1, 1921, I took office as judge in department No. 2, of the district court. " 'I had the honor and the pleasure of representing Oregon on the rifle team that competed at Camp Perry in 1908. I have qualified as an expert with both the rifle and the pistol. " 'If you want to meet a worth-while group of men, don't fail to come to Laurelhurst park Sunday, August 10, when we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of our muster out.' " On April 1, 1926, Judge Deich was appointed judge of the court of domestic relations and in November of that year was elected for the full term, starting January 1, 1927. The Judge is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has received the degrees of the chapter and council of the York Rite; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed through the chairs; the Grotto; the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks; the Loyal Order of Moose; the Woodmen of the World, of which he is past counsel commander; the Knights of the Maccabees, of which he is a past commander; the United Artisans, of which he is a past master; the Foresters of America; the Improved Order of Red Men; the Spanish-American War Veterans, of which he is a past commander; the Veterans of Foreign Wars; the Grange; the Lions Club; and the Eastside Commercial Club, in all of which organizations he takes an active interest. He was also a member of Battleship Oregon Commission. To Judge and Mrs. Deich have been born three children, namely: Della is now the wife of Dr. Meredith G. Beaver, a World war veteran, who is now taking post-graduate medical work at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and they have a daughter, Nancy Jean. Frank, who resides in Portland, married Miss Dorothy Anderson, and they have a son, Richard Franklin. John died in 1919, at the age of seven years. Judge Deich was a member of the first Masonic lodge in the Philippine islands, it being a military field lodge, under charter of the grand lodge of North Dakota, and the officers of a North Dakota regiment were its officers. During years of his residence in Portland, Judge Deich has been regarded as one of the sterling and dependable citizens of the community, standing consistently for the best things in life, and it is a safe assertion that no resident of the city or county enjoys to a greater degree the confidence and respect of the people. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/deich870gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 10.6 Kb