Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Holman, Herbert January 1, 1859 - July 4, 1920
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com and   October 22, 2007, 10:56 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     HERBERT HOLMAN.  Eight years have come and gone since Herbert Holman was 
called to his final rest, but many who knew him remember him as a progressive 
citizen and a substantial business man who was closely associated with 
navigation and transportation interests in Portland and the northwest. 
Important as is navigation at the present time, it was even more so perhaps at 
an earlier period before the building of railroads, and it was into this field 
that Herbert Holman directed his labors with far- reaching and beneficial 
results. Too much credit cannot be given him for the development of this 
industry.
     He was a western man by birth, training and preference and in his life 
exemplified the spirit of western enterprise which has been the dominant 
factor in the up-building of this section of the country. His birth occurred 
in Cowlitz county, now Washington county, in the state of Washington, January 
1, 1859, but he was still quite young when his father, Charles Holman, brought 
the family to Portland, and here he continued his education in the old 
Portland Academy and in Bishop Scott’s private school. He learned the 
machinist’s trade under the direction of Smith Brothers and early became 
identified with river transportation, in which his father was interested, so 
that his taste naturally turned in that direction. His first position on the 
river was with Johnny Marshall and he applied himself with such thoroughness 
and earnestness to his work that he won steady promotion and when but twenty-
one years of age became chief engineer. Carefully saving his earnings, he 
bought an interest in the steamer Kellogg and some years later he organized 
the Portland Transportation Company, with which he was continuously identified 
to the time of his death. This constituted a substantial source of revenue to 
him and at the same time was an important element in advancing business 
conditions in the northwest, offering an excellent medium of shipment for 
merchants and dealers.
     On the 19th of February, 1884, Mr. Holman was married to Miss Ella V. 
Crellin, a daughter of John and Delina (Viles) Crellin, who was born at 
Oysterville, Washington, but in 1875 her parents removed to Oakland, 
California. Her father was prominently identified with the oyster industry on 
the Pacific coast and organized the Morgan Oyster Company of San Francisco. 
Mr. and Mrs. Holman became the parents of two sons. Lawrence H., who is now 
the head of the Portland Transportation Company, which was founded by his 
father, married Grace Nicholson, of Portland, and they have two daughters, 
Marjory Ella and Rhoda. John Raymond, who was president of the Portland Box 
Company, married Anna Shumate, of San Jose, California, and they had one son, 
John Crellin. The death of John Raymond Holman occurred July 15, 1926. The 
family circle had previously been broken when on the 4th of July, 1920, 
Herbert Holman passed away at the age of sixty-one years. He was a member of 
the Waverly Golf Club but was preeminently a home man. At one time he was 
urged to enter politics and was elected as state senator from the district 
comprising Multnomah and Clackamas counties to the state legislature, but 
political life did not appeal to him as far as office holding was concerned. 
In matters of citizenship, however, he was loyal and supported every measure 
which he deemed of value by the community. By nature he was quiet and reserved 
but displayed the strongest loyalty in citizenship and the most unswerving 
integrity and honor in business. His sterling qualities made him therefore 
very popular and when he passed on he left behind in Portland countless 
friends who mourned his demise, while to his family his loss was irreparable, 
for his interests centered in his home and he found his greatest happiness in 
promoting the welfare of those of his own household. 


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 400 - 403

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