Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Ransom, F. H. 1870 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com November 10, 2009, 12:08 am

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 219 - 220
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     F. H. RANSOM, who typifies the progressive spirit of the west, was born 
in San Francisco, California, in 1870, and is a son of Samuel and Emma Ransom, 
natives of England. The father settled in San Francisco in 1861 and was the 
first door manufacturer in the city. In later life he moved to Oregon, 
locating in Portland, where he spent his remaining years.

     F. H. Ransom received a public school education and at the age of sixteen 
became self-supporting. He did work of various kinds and in 1887 secured a 
position in a Los Angeles lumberyard. His salary was thirty-five dollars per 
month and after paying for his board and lodging he had very little left. Mr. 
Ransom was in the employ of several firms, profiting by his experience, and at 
the end of a few years was made manager of a lumber manufacturing company in 
California. In 1899 he came to Portland on a buying tour and here met W. B. 
Ayer, a well known lumberman, who had recently erected a mill in the city. 
Impressed with his ability, Mr. Ayer later induced Mr. Ransom to sever his 
connection with the California lumber company, of which he was manager, and 
take charge of one of the Ayer mills. Accordingly in 1900 he returned to 
Portland and assumed the management of the affairs of the Western Lumber 
Company. A reorganization was effected in 1902 and the business has since been 
conducted under the style of the Eastern and Western Lumber Company. The 
corporation owns extensive timber holdings in Oregon and has two large logging 
camps. It operates a large planing mill and manufactures highly refined fir 
lumber. The plant, which covers twenty-eight acres, is one of the largest and 
best equipped in Portland and four hundred and fifty men are employed in the 
mills. The product is sold throughout the United States and thirty per cent of 
the business is for the export trade, while more than one-half of the 
shipments are made by water. Mr. Ransom is now first vice president of the 
company and largely responsible for the prestige which it enjoys. Years of 
practical experience and constant study have made him acquainted with every 
phase of the lumber industry, and his associates rely upon his judgment.

     Widely recognized as an authority on matters pertaining to the lumber 
business, Mr. Ransom was appointed to the war industries board of Washington, 
D. C., and served on the lumber committee from 1918 until the close of the 
war, doing important work for the government in that connection. Along social 
lines he is affiliated with the Meadow Lake Club, the Waverly Country Club, 
the Arlington Club and the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club. Through tireless 
effort and proven ability Mr. Ransom has risen to a place of prominence in the 
business world, and respect accorded him is well deserved.

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