Multnomah-Clatsop County OR Archives Biographies.....Hackett, Captain Meltheno Albertus April 20, 1857 - December 17, 1925 ************************************************ 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 May 31, 2010, 12:04 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 347 - 348 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company CAPTAIN MELTHENO ALBERTUS HACKETT, one of the early navigators of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, also achieved prominence in the salmon canning industry and the excavating business. Enterprising, he influenced the development of Portland and other sections of the Pacific northwest to a notable extent and his life in its various phases stood the test of intimate knowledge and close association. He was born April 20, 1857, near Lawrence, Kansas; and was a child of four when his parents, Nathan and Lavina (Thurston) Hackett, went from that state to Colorado. In 1869, when he was twelve years of age, the family started for California, making the trip in one of the old- time covered wagons, and his father engaged in farming in the Golden state until 1872, when he came to Oregon. At that time Meltheno A. Hackett was a youth of fifteen and obtained work in a salmon cannery, in which he spent four years. During that period he rapidly advanced and when but nineteen built the first cannery on Woody island, constructing it for the firm of Hepburn & Jackson. Afterward he took charge of a cannery for John Kiernan and Everding & Farrel at Pillar Rock, Washington, and continued in close connection with the salmon canning industry until 1881, when he came to Portland. Turning his attention to navigation affairs, he built the first boat in operation on what was later known as the Albina ferry route, of which he had charge for some time, and subsequently operated the Jefferson ferry for fifteen years. He likewise owned and conducted the Sellwood ferry and continued in the business until the Madison Street bridge was made a free highway. Captain Hackett then built the steamer Hattie Bell, equipping it with the machinery which had been used in the Jefferson ferry, and operated on the Columbia river in the service of the government. Later he sold that boat and was captain of the steamer H. C. Grady, running between Portland and Astoria for a year. On March 24, 1899, Captain Hackett entered a new field of activity, organizing the Columbia Digger Company, and engaged in diking tide lands in the vicinity of Astoria for a year. He was the first man in Oregon to use machinery for work of that character and the first on the river to equip his dredge with a clam-shaped shovel. Captain Hackett dug a number of canals for the government and aided in reclaiming the lowlands of this region. Still operating under the name of the Columbia Digger Company, he embarked in the sand and gravel business at the foot of Ankeny street in Portland in April, 1903, and afterward expended the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in improvements on his docks, dredges, etc., developing one of the finest plants of the kind in the city. The firm was incorporated and Captain Hackett served as its president until 1914. In that year he sold the business to George W. Bates and removed to the vicinity of Roseburg, Oregon, where he cultivated a farm four years. This change of occupation restored his health and in 1921 he returned to Portland, organizing the Hackett Digger Company. His sons were admitted as partners but he remained at the head of the company until his death, on December 17, 1925, and won for the firm a position of leadership, displaying keen sagacity and notable initiative and executive ability in control of the business, which assumed large proportions. His adventurous spirit led him into new and untried fields and the force of his character and strength of his mental endowments enabled him to accomplish everything that he undertook. In August, 1879, Captain Hackett married Miss Emma Jeannette Crapper, a native of Iowa and a daughter of Dorsey S. Crapper, who was then living in Portland. They became the parents of four children. Captain Earl Hackett, the eldest, married Martha Leslie and died in 1921, leaving two children, Stanley Barron and Donald. Vernon D. Hackett, the second son, was married in Astoria to Edith Butts, by whom he had a daughter, Elsie, and his second union was with Lucile Chervero. The daughters of Captain M. A. Hackett are Hattie Belle and Margaret. V. D. Hackett and his sister Hattie Belle now have charge of the business, which is efficiently conducted and is constantly expanding. The father was a member of Portland Camp of the Woodmen of the World and greatly enjoyed the meetings of the organization. While he had little time for outside activities, he manifested a keen interest in public affairs and heartily cooperated in all well defined movements for the benefit of the city and state of his adoption. His prosperity was the merited reward of hard work and honorable dealing and he enjoyed to the fullest extent the respect and confidence of those with whom he was associated. Mrs. Hackett has remained in Portland, residing in the home at No. 400 Haig street, and is highly esteemed because of her many good qualities. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/hackett1095gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 5.7 Kb