Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Mears, Samuel M. 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 16, 2009, 4:01 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     SAMUEL M. MEARS was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in the '50s and is the 
son of William A. and Jane Maxwell Mears. He received a public and high school 
education, attended the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1871 and 
later attended the University of Wisconsin. His first job on the Pacific coast 
was with the West Coast Furniture Company of San Francisco.

     In 1878, Samuel M. Mears came to Portland and started with Frank 
Brothers' Implement Company, later going to the Ladd and Tilton Bank. He 
remained with them for three years and then took up the management of the 
Portland Flouring Mill at Dayton, Washington, where he remained for three 
years. He was then transferred to the Portland Flouring Mill at Tacoma, 
Washington, where he also remained for three years.

     In 1892, he became identified with The Portland Cordage Company and 
became president in 1895. He has shown sound judgment and marked executive 
ability and a progressive spirit. The steady and healthy growth of The 
Portland Cordage Company is the legitimate outgrowth of two fundamental 
principals which have been constantly adhered to in the management of the 
business, namely, high grade products and absolute integrity in all 
transactions so that the firm has always commanded the confidence of the 
buying public. It is rather unique in the history of the northwest industries, 
in the fact that it has never closed down on account of labor troubles or lack 
of business.

     In 1901, he was the prime mover and inaugurator of the Columbia 
Engineering Works. Its principal endeavor was the production of cast steel. It 
was the first steel casting plant established in the northwest. Mr. Mears 
operated it successfully until 1909, when it was sold to San Francisco 
capitalists and was renamed the Columbia Steel Corporation. It has continued 
as one of Portland's successful and desirable manufacturing industries. All 
Mr. Mears' business efforts have been in the line of manufacturing and 
consequently the establishment of pay rolls, which are always a public benefit.

     Mr. Mears has always shown a great interest in everything affecting the 
welfare and prosperity of Portland and the Columbia river basin and is 
regarded as one of its most progressive business men. He served one term as a 
member of the state legislature. He has been president of the Portland Chamber 
of Commerce and the Traffic and Transportation Association and was chairman of 
the Port of Portland for four and one-half years. During his administration of 
this body, a thirty foot channel was opened to the sea and the Columbia river 
bar was overcome.
 
     In 1883, he was married to Miss Laura Virginia Savier, daughter of Thomas 
A. Savier, a pioneer of Portland, and a member of the firm of Savier and 
Burnside, one of the large mercantile concerns of the early days. Mr. and Mrs. 
Mears have five children: Henry, who is associated with his father in 
business; Arthur, who is in the machine shop and engineering business in 
Portland; Maxwell, who is owner and manager of the Mears Equipment Company; 
Margaret, who is married to Norman N. Rupp, a timber dealer of Portland; and 
Virginia, who is at home.

     Mr. Mears is a member of the Arlington Club and a life member of the 
Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club. 


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 720-723

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