Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Pope, Captain George November 7, 1840 - June 25, 1925 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 28, 2009, 12:31 am Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company CAPTAIN GEORGE POPE, veteran seaman, merchant and florist of Portland, was in the eighty-fifth year of his age when called to his final rest on the 25th of June, 1925. A salt-water seaman for many years, he eventually took up his abode in Portland and became a prominent factor in business circles of the city. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, November 7, 1840, and was reared by his grandfather, having lost his mother in early life. Studious by nature, he took full advantage of the educational opportunities accorded him but when a lad of twelve years put aside his textbooks to enter a shipbuilding plant. There he was employed for a period of five years and gained a thorough knowledge of boat construction. His father, who had emigrated to America and was following the profession of engineering in New York, sent him such glowing reports of the advantages which might be enjoyed here that George Pope determined to come to this country. Making his way to the Pacific coast, he located first in San Francisco, where he became associated in business with his uncle, Roger Pope. It was in the summer of 1874 that he came to Portland and here he worked for the government for a time in the survey of public lands. At the outbreak of the Civil war he went east to enlist and gave his aid to the Union cause until the close of hostilities between the north and the south, being stationed most of the time in the Brooklyn navy yard, where his early training as a shipbuilder proved of value. He was also on many of the fighting ships and following his honorable discharge from military service worked for the Anchor Line out of New York to Glasgow. In 1872, associated with a brother, he built a ship for the Portland and Sandwich Islands trade and later sailed this around Cape Horn to Portland. Subsequently he sold the ship to Corbett & MacLeay and in the employ of that firm made more than twenty- five trips to the Islands and other eastern ports, After his retirement from seafaring life he opened an office in Portland as a shipping agent and in this connection developed a very successful business, representing the construction department of Lloyds in Oregon and Washington. His interests were later conducted under the firm style of Pope, Anderson & Company, shipping and commission agents. He also purchased and developed a fine hop farm near Hubbard, while his work as a floral specialist received the following newspaper comment at the time of his death: "Portland lost a floral specialist of the first magnitude in the death of Captain George Pope, veteran seamen and pioneer merchant. His chief contribution was the production of several new species of sweet peas with which he worked for more than fifteen years. His gardens at 1170 Woodstock avenue were always a center of attraction for flower enthusiasts and he is said to have done more than any other one man to promote a love for flowers among the people of Portland. One of the Captain's hobbies, in addition to his own gardening, was encouragement of sweet pea raising by children. For a number of years he conducted sweet pea shows, exhibiting specimens raised by the youngsters of southeast Portland. Prizes amounting to as much as two hundred and fifty dollars offered by local merchants at his solicitation were awarded. E. J. Steele, pansy raiser of the city, declares that Captain Pope worked with untiring energy to interest people in flowers. `I put in a long day with him soliciting prizes for one of his shows,' said Mr. Steele. `Although the Captain was even then advanced in age, he was still fresh and enthusiastic after I was completely tired out, such was his self- sacrificing devotion to his flowers.' Local growers are agreed that he was a wonder with sweet peas, being well read on every phase of their culture by watching for plant ‘sports’ and by selecting seeds carefully he was able to develop splendid plants and unusual varieties. One of his best known sweet peas was the ‘Multnomah,’ a rose-pink blossom, for which he had considerable demand. Although his efforts were not commercial he had numerous demands for seeds from all sections of the country. Captain Pope undertook his work as a sweet pea culturist after retiring from business. During his declining years he not only worked at his hobby but talked it also. He will be remembered by his many friends for the bouquets which he often took to their homes." In 1842 Captain Pope was united in marriage to Miss Isabella Fawls, who was a native of Scotland and proved a real helpmate, sailing the seas with him for a number of years and becoming a confirmed "salt." She is very active for a woman of her years, retaining her faculties in remarkable degree. At the time of the celebration of their sixty-first wedding anniversary Captain and Mrs. Pope received congratulatory messages from England, Scotland and Canada and from twenty-nine states of the Union. Captain Pope was a member of the Institute of Naval Architecture and belonged to the Royal Society of Arts in London, England, for a quarter of a century. The following poem, entitled "The Battle of Jutland," was written by Captain Pope and dedicated to the St. Andrew's Society of Oregon: Have you heard the brilliant story How our Sea Dogs fought the Hun Off the Northern Coast of Jutland, And how well the job was done? 'Twas this way, when May was ending Stout Sir John let loose the strands That had leashed his gallant Squadrons, Scattering them with magic wands. So they swept across the Ocean, Proudly breasting every sea, 'Till they spied the High Sea Squadron Of the Hun, upon their lee. 'Twas Sir David with his cruisers, Who first struck Von Hipper's fleet; And the small fry went on pounding, Hurling shot and shell like sleet. Thus they steamed towards the southward; Give and take the battle call, When Von Scheer's fleet joined Von Hipper, And the fight was free for all. Then Sir David veered to northward Fighting bravely two to one, But he knew what he was doing, For he led them to Sir John. Now they sped, both friends and foemen, Fighting furious to the north; Then Von Hipper's head line crumpled, And the great Hun got his worth. At this time, there came a-bowling Britain's greater battle fleet To the rescue of Sir David, Making sure the Hun's defeat. Then the mist and fog came falling, Then also came the murky night, And when the morning sun was rising There was not e'en a Hun in sight. Tho' the Hun claims he was victor, No matter what the truth might be, There still remains this certain factor— That old Britannia Rules the Sea. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Pages 598-600 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/pope566gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb