Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Sabin, R. L. May 20, 1860 - 
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 1, 2009, 1:43 am

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     R. L. SABIN.  An able attorney with a background of forty years of 
professional experience, R. L. Sabin has contributed materially toward the 
prestige of the Portland bar, at the same time exerting his talents in behalf 
of the city, and is also a successful agriculturist. He was born May 20, 1860, 
in Windsor, Wisconsin, and his parents were Samuel Henry and Adelia (Bodine) 
Sabin, natives respectively of Ohio and New York. His father was born in 1824 
and when a young man of twenty-two drove to Wisconsin with an ox team. He ran 
logs on the river and in breaking the sod used eight yoke of oxen. In 1849 he 
was married and in the spring of 1850 his adventurous spirit took him to 
California. The trip across the country was made by means of a covered wagon 
drawn by horses and for four years he engaged in prospecting in the mining 
district of the Golden state. He returned to the east by the water route, 
sailing on the steamship John L. Stevens, which drifted for three days, owing 
to engine trouble, and the vessel was nearly wrecked. During the Civil war 
Samuel H. Sabin enlisted in a Wisconsin regiment and rose to the rank of first 
lieutenant. For many years he engaged in farming in the Badger state, 
prospering in his undertakings, and in 1873 brought his family to the Pacific 
coast. They were passengers on the steamer Ajax, which took them to San 
Francisco, and during the winter of 1873-74 they lived in Eugene, Oregon, 
where the sisters of R. L. Sabin opened a private school. His father was 
dissatisfied with the country and in 1874 returned to Wisconsin with all of 
the family except his oldest daughter, Ella, who came to Portland. She was the 
first woman to become principal of a high school here and in 1888 was elected 
superintendent of the city schools. In 1891 she returned to Wisconsin and her 
fame as an educator won for her the position of president of Downer College of 
Milwaukee.  For thirty-three years she remained at the head of the 
institution, which made notable progress during that period, and since 1924 
she has been president emeritus of the college.

     In the family were eleven children, of whom R. L. Sabin was the fifth in 
order of birth. He was reared on the homestead and attended the schools of 
that locality, also assisting his father in the cultivation and improvement of 
the farm. In 1883 he completed a course in the normal school at Oshkosh, 
Wisconsin, and succeeded Thomas Walsh, the present United States senator from 
Montana, as principal of the schools at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where he 
spent a year. He was elected superintendent of the schools of Dane county, 
Wisconsin, in 1884 and established an enviable reputation as an educator. In 
1888 he was graduated from the University of Wisconsin, receiving the degree 
of LL. B., and on July 31 of that year located in Portland, where he has since 
followed his profession. He was retained by the Merchants Protective 
Association, of which he was elected secretary in September, 1891, and acted 
in that capacity until 1927, when the organization was discontinued. His name 
appears on the directorates of the Noon Bag Company and the Portland Gas & 
Coke Company, and Reed College board of regents. Mr. Sabin's interest in 
agricultural affairs has continued throughout life and in 1901 he purchased a 
quarter section of land near Boring, Oregon. He cleared the timber from the 
tract, prepared the soil for the growing of crops, and has transformed the 
place into a productive farm, enhancing its value with modern improvements. 
For several years he operated a dairy on the ranch, which is now devoted to 
general farming, and the work is performed by men employed by Mr. Sabin for 
this purpose.

   On the 2d of June, 1892, Mr. Sabin was married in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to 
Miss Carrie S. Hanson, and they have two children. Sarah, the elder, is a 
graduate of the University of California and a teacher in one of the high 
schools of Oakland, that state. The son, Robert L. Sabin, Jr., completed a 
course in Portland Academy and was graduated from Reed College. He read law in 
the office of Angell & Fisher well known attorneys of Portland, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1917. In the same year he entered the service of his 
country and was trained at the presidio in San Francisco, winning the 
commission of a second lieutenant. He was sent overseas with Headquarters 
Company, attached to the Ninety-first Division, and was stationed for some 
time in Belgium, after participating in the Argonne offensive. Merit won him 
promotion to the rank of first lieutenant and in May, 1919, he returned to the 
United States. In 1921 he was graduated from the Columbia Law school and is 
now numbered among Portland's talented attorneys. He married Miss Katherine 
Russell, of this city, and they have become the parents of a son, John Russell.

     R. L. Sabin, Sr., has also been identified with military affairs and at 
one time was a lieutenant in the Oregon National Guard, of which he was a 
member from 1890 until 1894. For three and a half years he was a member of the 
city executive board, receiving his appointment from Mayor Lane in 1905, and 
later become member of the library board, on which he served for eleven years. 
This was followed by five years of service on the school board and since 1921 
he has been a member of the board of tax conservation commissioners of 
Multnomah county. He is one of the charter members of the Portland Chamber of 
Commerce and has served for many years on its agricultural committee. Mr. 
Sabin is also connected with the City Club and the Progressive Business Men's 
Club, while his political support is given to the republican party. He enjoys 
the respect and esteem of his associates, and his life has been a force for 
good citizenship.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 607-608

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