Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Dew, Noel Aylmer April 19, 1887 - ************************************************ 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, 2:58 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 53-54 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company Liberally educated and endowed by nature with more than one talent, Noel Aylmer Dew has successfully followed many lines of activity and is now classed with the leading insurance men of Portland. Although an American by adoption, he is deeply attached to this country and its institutions and demonstrated his valor and patriotism by service in the World war. He was born April 19, 1887, at Bangor, a city in the northern part of Wales, and is a scion of one of the old and prominent families of that country, also tracing his lineage to English and Irish ancestors. His father, William Dew, was a country squire and the owner of Bryn Bras castle, the family's ancestral home in North Wales. In 1906 he responded to death's summons and the mother, Ada Jane (Peplow) Dew, passed away in 1922. Reared In a home of wealth and culture, Noel A. Dew received an exceptionally thorough and comprehensive education and in 1901 was graduated from Rugby School, where he secured classical honors. For a time he attended the College de Calais in France, while there being coached at Chateau de Coulogne. When attending the University of Wales he had the benefit of instruction under Enault Jacquet and afterward studied ecclesiastical architecture under the direction of John Douglas, of Chester, England, a piece of his work being in the Royal Academy, London, England, 1905. Mr. Dew next went to London, England, and prepared for the Professional Associate Surveyors Institution examination by taking an engineering course with Parry, Blake & Atkin. In 1911 Mr. Dew was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Welsh (Carnarvon) Royal Garrison Artillery (T. F.) and in that year became a member of the city council of Bangor, being the youngest man in Europe to hold such an office at that time. He was also chosen to represent Bangor on the board of governors in the senate of the University of Wales and served for six months In March, 1912, Mr. Dew secured six months leave from the war office and came to Portland for the purpose of examining properties purchased by a friend of his father and liked the country so well that he decided to stay and make his own way here, so resigned his commission. Starting as a commercial artist, he produced water color perspectives for the firm of Whitehouse & Fouilloux, well known architects and later became pictorial artist for the firm of Foster & Kleiser. Later he was employed as assistant civil engineer by the Portland Lumber Company and although his salary was but thirty dollars a month he still wore his monocle. His next position was that of assistant superintendent and in 1915 he devised an efficiency plan for the Nicolai Door Manufacturing Company. After an unsuccessful attempt to provide the Chamber of Commerce with a lumber bureau he entered the office of The Timberman and remained with the publication until July 12, 1917, when he enlisted in the United States Army. Because of his linguistic ability he was made staff interpreter and went overseas with the Tenth Engineers, later being transferred to the chief engineer's office. Subsequently he became sergeant major and was with camouflage corps (Fortieth Engineers), returning to the United States, January 21, 1919. He spent seventeen months overseas and was honorably discharged February 21, 1919, at Camp Lewis, Washington. Returning to Portland, Mr. Dew reentered the service of The Timberman, with which he was connected until April 1, 1920, when he was appointed general western manager for the Commercial Journal Company, a subsidiary of the United Publishers Corporation, and in October, 1921, was sent to Chicago as general business manager of the company. Six months later he left that city and returned to Portland. On the 1st of January, 1923, he became an agent for the Travelers Life Insurance Company of Hartford and later secured resident agencies of other companies, doing business as Noel Aylmer Dew & Company, which business he still maintains. Since November 1, 1927, he has been general agent for the state of Oregon for the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company of Boston, which is rated among the seven most substantial and reliable corporations of the kind in the United States. Mr. Dew is one of the most capable and successful agents of this well known company, which wrote over five hundred million dollars worth of insurance in 1927 — an eloquent testimonial to the methods followed by the institution and the confidence reposed in its honesty and stability. Occupying a suite of offices on the eighth floor of the American Bank building in Portland, Mr. Dew has developed a highly efficient organization and maintains a real insurance service which results in satisfied policy holders and which constitutes the most effective form of advertising. Mr. Dew was married August 26, 1914, to Miss Lola Bradford, the first unmarried American woman whom he met in this country. She is a foster daughter of the late W. H. Bradford, a direct descendant of Governor William Bradford of Massachusetts. On November 22, 1918, while stationed in Dijon, France, Mr. Dew received his naturalization papers, becoming a citizen of the United States, and in politics he is a republican with independent views. He is a director of the British Benevolent Association and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Sons of St. George, the University Club, the City Club, the Lake Oswego Country Club and the old Rugbeian Society. Thoroughly appreciative of nature's beauties, he spends as much time as possible in the open and is the owner of an attractive country home, which he erected at the head of the practice fairway of the Lake Oswego Country Club in 1927. Mr. Dew is an enthusiastic Portlander and has manifested his public spirit both by word and deed. His demeanor is marked by that courtesy, deference and consideration which characterize the gentleman, and his personal popularity is attested by a wide circle of steadfast friends. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/dew874gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 6.7 Kb