Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Newell, Joseph P. 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 19, 2009, 12:11 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     JOSEPH P. NEWELL, of Portland, Oregon, stands in the very front rank of 
the civil engineers of this country and as a consultant and appraiser has 
attained an international reputation, while in matters affecting the civic and 
economic welfare of his state he has long been a forceful and influential 
factor. He was born at Mt. Tabor, which is now the Fifty-ninth and Stark 
street district of Portland, and is a son of John S. and Sarah E. (Kerns) 
Newell. His maternal grandparents crossed the plains in 1852 and located on a 
farm near Portland. John S. Newell came to Portland in 1852 and was married at 
Mt. Tabor two years later. Some idea of the undeveloped and unimproved 
condition of this locality may be gleaned from the statement that the minister 
who officiated at the wedding lost his way following a blazed trail through 
the woods from Milwaukie, Oregon, to Mt. Tabor. In the early days of this 
territory Portland was an insignificant town —- in fact, John S. Newell had 
never heard of the place until his arrival in this state, Oregon City being 
the best known town in this part of the coast country.

     Joseph P. Newell received his early educational training in the public 
schools and while attending the Portland high school, in 1879-82, was 
compelled to walk three and a half miles and take a ferry across the river. 
This was at that time the only high school in the state and employed only four 
teachers. After completing his public school course, Mr. Newell entered the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the class of 1888, being the first 
man from Oregon and one of the first two from the Pacific coast to attend that 
institution. He has followed the profession of engineering continuously since 
leaving school and for many years has been conspicuous as an able, painstaking 
and dependable engineer. For twenty years he was engaged in railroad work, 
among his early engagements being that of engineer in charge of the rebuilding 
of the railroad from Cascade Locks to The Dalles, a job which demanded 
engineering skill of the highest order. He was engaged in the early survey of 
the line through the Sierra Nevada mountains over which the Western Pacific 
Railroad was later built. He was in Wallace, Idaho, at the time the Bunker 
Hill mine and mill were blown up. Since 1907 Mr. Newell has largely confined 
his activities to the private practice of his profession, during which period 
there has been a constant demand for his services. He has represented the 
state public service commission in a number of very important cases, including 
the telephone rate case, the Columbia river differential case and other rate 
cases, being regarded as an authority and expert on valuations and rates. He 
was employed by the Canadian government in placing a valuation on the Canadian 
Northern Railroad during the war period and in 1920 was again called by that 
government in the same capacity when it took over the Grand Trunk Railroad, 
this work occupying his attention for one and a half years. These are the two 
largest properties ever arbitrated in the world and Mr. Newell's able, 
impartial and satisfactory services in that regard added greatly to his 
already well established prestige as an expert engineer. In local affairs, his 
judgment and advice have been utilized to advantage, as he has represented the 
city of Portland and Multnomah county in bridge and other important public 
improvements, his experience and exact knowledge giving his opinions the 
weight of recognized authority.

     In 1892 Mr. Newell was united in marriage to Miss Ellen J. Sackett, who 
was born in Iowa, but was brought to Ashland, Oregon, in young girlhood. Mr. 
and Mrs. Newell are the parents of a son, Joseph Webster, who is a graduate of 
the Oregon Agricultural College and is now a successful landscape gardener in 
Los Angeles, California. Mr. Newell is a republican in his political views, 
though in former years he was an active supporter of the prohibition party, of 
which he was state chairman for several years.  He has long been a strong 
advocate of temperance and is now president of the State Anti-Saloon League. 
The first bone-dry law in the United States, which was passed by the people of 
Oregon, bore Mr. Newell's signature as chairman of the committee which 
prepared the law that was submitted to the electors of this state. He is 
president of the City Club, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of its 
industries committee; belongs to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 
being a past president of the local section, and the Engineering Institute of 
Canada. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church at 
Sunnyside and he takes an active interest in its work and welfare. In 1923 Mr. 
Newell won the Arthur M. Wellington prize, given by the American Society of 
Civil Engineers for the best paper on transportation. He has lived a long and 
useful life, during which his labors have been eminently constructive in 
character, and he has dignified his profession and honored his community by 
his distinctive services in both public and private capacities, so that he has 
well merited the high place which he holds in the confidence and esteem of his 
fellowmen.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 745-746

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