Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Harkson, Henry January 3, 1863 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 27, 2009, 8:45 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     HENRY HARKSON.  Among the sons of Denmark who have found America to be 
the land of opportunity stands Henry Harkson, who from the time of his arrival 
in this country has made steady progress and is now one of the well-to-do and 
substantial citizens of Portland, where he is successfully engaged in the real 
estate and insurance business. He was born in Denmark, on the 3d of January, 
1863, and was there reared and educated, attending a preparatory school. In 
1883, at the age of twenty years, he came to the United States and located in 
Nebraska, where, in order to complete his education and readily acquire a more 
intimate knowledge of the English language, he attended Elkhorn College. He 
clerked in stores for some time and in 1885 established the first store in 
Davey, in which he met with success, carrying the business on until 1906. 
During that period he also owned two other stores at Cresco, Iowa, one a 
general store and the other a hardware store. He was one of the organizers of 
the Farmers State Bank at Davey, of which he was president for many years. On 
March 1, 1906, Mr. Harkson came to Portland and engaged in the real estate and 
insurance business, to which he has devoted his attention continuously since. 
He specializes in mortgage loans and, being a man of keen discrimination and a 
good reader of men, he has been more than ordinarily successful in his 
business affairs. For a number of years he had a partner, Lewis C. Otto, the 
business being run under the name of Otto & Harkson, but Mr. Otto died in 
1924. In January, 1925, Mr. Harkson's son Sherman became his partner and is 
secretary and treasurer of the company.

     In 1887 Mr. Harkson was united in marriage to Miss Clara Johnson, a 
native of Denmark, who came to the United States in 1874, and to them have 
been born three sons: Harold, who is married and has a son and daughter, is 
cashier of the Santa Ynez Valley Bank, at Solvang, California, of which 
institution his father is the principal stockholder; Sherman, who is married 
and has a daughter, is secretary arts treasurer of the Otto & Harkson Realty 
Company, of Portland, of which his father is president; and U. S., who is 
married and has a son, is manager of the Henningsen Produce Company, at 
Shanghai, China, in which his father is financially interested.

Mr. Harkson is also president of the Multnomah State Bank at Lentz, Oregon. He 
has served as Danish consul at Portland for the past sixteen years and has 
ably looked after the interests of his countrymen here. He is a member of 
Portland Lodge No. 142, B. P. O. E.; the Modern Woodmen of America, the Danish 
Brotherhood, of which he is a past president, and is a past president of the 
Danish Aid Society. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and 
gives his hearty support to all movements for the promotion of the public 
welfare along material, civic or moral lines. Recently Mr. Harkson was 
specially honored by being knighted by the King of Denmark, the only person in 
Oregon to be so distinguished, the appointment coming as a mark of 
appreciation for his splendid services in behalf of his countrymen in the 
United States. A man of sound business principles, good judgment in practical 
matters, and of sterling integrity in all of his affairs, he is well worthy of 
the high place which he holds in the respect and esteem of his fellowmen, 
while among his associates he is extremely popular.


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 584-585

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