Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Luckel, J. Conrad May 16, 1855 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com February 16, 2011, 12:34 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 984 - 986
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     J. CONRAD LUCKEL is living retired after many years' active 
identification with Portland's manufacturing interests as president and 
manager of the Luckel, King & Cake Soap Company. He has passed the Psalmist's 
allotted span of three score years and ten and for nearly a half century has 
been a resident of northwestern Oregon. He was born in New York city on the 
16th of May, 1855, his parents being Phillip and Charlotte Luckel, both of 
whom were natives of Germany. The father learned the tailoring trade in that 
country, whence he emigrated to the United States in 1853, locating in the 
city of New York, where he followed tailoring for a period of eighteen months. 
He then removed to Batavia, New York, and was there successfully engaged in 
business as a tailor throughout the remainder of his life. To him and his wife 
were born five children, as follows: J. Conrad, of this review; Charles, who 
is deceased; Louis, a resident of Houston, Texas; Josephine, who lives on the 
old homestead in Batavia, New York; and John, a resident of Portland, Oregon, 
who is married and has three daughters. These are: Mary, a graduate of the 
University of Oregon at Eugene; Nancy, who is a student in the University of 
Oregon at Eugene; and Jean, a high school pupil of Portland.

     J. Conrad Luckel received a grammar school education in Batavia, New 
York, and after putting aside his textbooks learned the trade of a tinsmith. 
It was in 1877, when a young man of twenty-two years, that he came to the 
Pacific coast, locating first in San Francisco, California. Because he needed 
money and was unable to find work at his trade he accepted the first position 
offered him, becoming an employe of the New England Soap Company, in the 
service of which he thoroughly acquainted himself with the business of soap 
manufacturing. In 1880 he arrived in Portland, Oregon, and at once began 
making plans leading to the organization of the Columbia Soap Company. Though 
possessed of but limited capital, he was imbued with strong determination and 
an ambitious spirit which soon manifested itself in the growth of his 
business. The following officers were elected: J. C. Luckel, president and 
manager; F. P. King, vice president; Charles Cottell, secretary and treasurer; 
and William M. Cake, attorney as well as partner in the concern. The business 
was begun on a small scale but gradually increased as the quality of the 
product became known, and today the company's three brands — Steam Refined 
Borax, Golden Star and Royal White — are in general use throughout the 
northwest.

     The following article was issued by a contemporary writer: "The buildings 
of the Luckel, King & Cake Soap Company cover three-quarters of the full block 
of ground, owned by the corporation, at 642-648 Hood street. The business was 
established thirty-six years ago, and it evidently has been a lucrative one. 
J. Conrad Luckel, president and manager, devotes all his time to the factory, 
and is himself a practical soapmaker. These structures were built specially 
for its use, are kept in good order, nicely painted at all times, and there is 
an air of thrift about the place which is refreshing. Its warehouse shows 
scores of tons of the finished product, among which are goods of the highest 
merit. Its Royal White laundry soap, it is declared, is not anywhere 
surpassed. It is renowned throughout this northwestern country, and has large 
sale among the merchants of the interior cities of Oregon, Washington, Idaho 
and adjacent territory. 'We have forged our way to the front,' Mr. Luckel 
stated, 'by persistency and hard work. We have penetrated every settlement in 
the territory we cover, and you will find our soaps on the shelves of all 
small as well as the largest stores. Our traveling salesmen have confidence in 
their goods, hence work with a will and are uniformly successful. Our trade is 
constantly growing. Our output shows a cheering increase each year, and we 
look to the future with optimistic eyes. There is but one drawback to the 
manufacturing business in Portland. This is the indifference of the purchasing 
public. If buyers only could be convinced of the advantage to themselves in 
keeping their money at home, the problem would be solved. Millions upon 
millions of dollars go from the Pacific coast to the east each year for 
manufactured products the equal of which is made in this territory and sold as 
cheaply as the articles brought from the outside. If this money were kept at 
home present factories would increase their capacities, new ones be 
established, the idle be employed and lasting prosperity would be established 
not only in Portland but throughout the Oregon country. There is not a 
tangible reason in the world why this should not be. There can be no 
substantial excuse for our people pouring their wealth into the coffers of 
those so distant as to have no interest in the welfare of the west — yet they 
do it because they do not think. 'Every dollar spent for something made on the 
Atlantic coast when its equal is produced on the Pacific, is a dollar placed 
beyond the reach of western people and western enterprises. It makes no 
difference who spends that dollar, the result is the same. It may even be the 
widowed washerwoman. If her dollar were kept at home it would likely 
eventually reach the purse of someone who would hand it back to her in return 
for work, but who, on the other hand, could not afford to employ her for lack 
of money. That dollar she had sent east was kept there. It had no chance to 
get into the hands of one who would return it to her as compensation for her 
toil. It is a story which could be extended ad infinitum, yet I cannot but 
feel that if under the auspices, for example, of the Chamber of Commerce, a 
dozen or even more mass meetings were called in the several sections of the 
city and these matters were explained, buyers would be made to understand the 
injury they are inflicting upon themselves by sending their money away for 
that which they can obtain at home. I know that as good soap is made here as 
anywhere in the world. By this I mean those kinds in everyday use, and I 
likewise know prices are not higher than those paid for eastern goods; yet, 
believe me, the stuff shipped in is taken without question, and away flies the 
cash to the bank accounts of those who have not an atom of care for the 
welfare of our people — no concern for us at all, beyond the profits they make 
on their merchandise. A strenuous campaign of education would be necessary to 
change this condition, and if our commercial body, aided as it would be by The 
Journal, could effect it, it would have performed the most beneficial task it 
could undertake. We aim to buy in Oregon everything entering into the 
manufacture of soap that is produced here. We are compelled, however, to go to 
Texas for cottonseed oil, and to San Francisco for oil of the cocoanut, and to 
procure caustic soda elsewhere. But our tallow and all other ingredients to be 
had on this coast are bought here, and doubtless much of the money spent at 
home comes back to us in exchange for the finished product. We have not the 
least doubt of this, and if it were possible to prevail upon the people to buy 
home goods when possible to obtain them, the cry of distress in this region 
would be at an end.' Mr. Luckel says that cottonseed oil has risen in price 
from thirty-five cents a gallon before the declaration of war in Europe, to 
sixty-three Cents at the present time, caustic soda from two dollars and 
twenty-four cents to four dollars and fifty cents per hundred pounds, and all 
other substances have increased in price in like ratio. There are fifteen 
employes in this factory, and they are paid from two dollars and a quarter to 
four dollars per day. This is exclusive of those working in the tidy office 
building adjacent to the factory."

     A few years ago Mr. Luckel disposed of his interests in the Luckel, King 
& Cake Soap Company and retired from active business life. He owns an 
attractive home at 615 Front street in Portland, where he resides during nine 
months of the year, while the three summer months are spent in his beautiful 
cottage at Seaside, Oregon, with his wife, who enjoys with him the fruits of 
their toil in earlier years. Mr. Luckel was married in Portland, in September, 
1882, to Christina R. Walch, who was born in Germany and came to the United 
States in her girlhood.

     Mr. Luckel rendered effective service to his fellow townsmen as a member 
of the city council of Portland for several years and has ever manifested an 
active and helpful interest in all projects looking toward community welfare 
and civic advancement. He has witnessed the development of Portland from a 
small country town to one of the finest cities in the west and has contributed 
in material measure to its industrial growth. Fraternally he is affiliated 
with the Woodmen of the World, while his religious faith is indicated by his 
membership in the Evangelical church of Portland, in the work of which both he 
and his wife take a very active part, as they do in Children's Homes, Old 
People's Homes and mission work.

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