Multnomah-Linn County OR Archives Biographies.....Sox, Edward F January 25, 1846 - ************************************************ 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 Wakley iwakley@msn.com October 22, 2007, 12:08 am Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company EDWARD F. SOX. In that section of the Oregon Journal devoted to the impressions and observations of Fred Lockley, one of its able writers, the following interesting article appeared under date of May 3, 1926: “‘Fifty-five years ago, when I was a teacher in Albany College, M. C. George, later congressman from Oregon and also circuit judge, was principal of the public schools of Albany,’ said Edward F. Sox when I visited him recently at his home at No. 281 Hazelfern place. ‘At that time George E, Chamberlain, later governor of Oregon and United States senator, was teaching in a country schoolhouse near Albany. “‘My father attended Heidelberg University and came to this country in 1835, just before his twenty-first birthday. He left Germany because he did not want to serve in the army as all young men were compelled to do at that time. My mother’s maiden name was Margaret Owens. Father and mother met and were married near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1839. When my father came to the United States he worked on the railroad. He went to St. Louis in 1840, and after spending a year or so there he moved to Palmyra, Illinois, where he bought a tract of land, for which he paid a dollar and a quarter an acre. “‘I was born on the banks of old Rock river, near Palmyra, in Lee county, Illinois, January 25, 1846. My earliest recollection is of men stopping at our house when on their way to California. In 1850 two of these men who had returned from the Golden state bought a farm from father, paying him seven thousand dollars for it. I remember this very distinctly, for they paid him in fifty dollar gold slugs, stacking up fourteen piles with ten slugs in each pile. These coins were not round; my impression is they were octagonal. I can’t be positive whether they were six-sided or eight-sided. In any event, they were not round. The men said they had turned in their gold dust in San Francisco in exchange for these fifty dollar slugs. “‘When I was eighteen years old I enlisted in the One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry for a term of one hundred days. Our regiment campaigned through Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri. I received my discharge on October 29, 1864. In the fall of 1865 I entered Wheaton College, which I attended for a year, and was afterward a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I taught school near Sterling, Illinois, for three years. I wanted to go to the Pacific coast and thought there would be a better chance to grow up with the country if I located in a comparatively small town. I chose Portland in preference to San Francisco because Portland had a population of less than ten thousand. I secured a position as teacher in the school in the Holladay addition. Mr. McMillan, whose daughter, June McMillan-Ordway, lives here in Portland, was one of the directors and Mr. Shaver was also a member of the board. S. W. King, later a prominent merchant of Portland, was a teacher in its public schools at that time and R. K. Warren was also engaged in teaching here then. He and I went to Albany, Oregon, he to become president of the college, while I took charge of the department of mathematics and was connected with the institution from 1870 to 1874. Dr. E. R. Geary was also a member of the faculty and his son, Ed Geary, now a well known physician, was one of my pupils. Ed L. Thompson, banker, broker and woolen mill man here in Portland, was also one of my pupils, as were his sister, Hettie Thompson, and her future husband, Dr. Templeton. Jane Connor, now Mrs. James Failing, and Clara Price, now Mrs. Judge Wolverton, were also members of my class. In 1874 I embarked in the hardware business in Albany and sold out three years later, locating in Seattle, which at that time had a population of approximately seven thousand. I became a partner of Martin Ballard and we changed the name of our store to the Seattle Hardware Company. This is one of the oldest hardware firms in the city and is now capitalized for over a million dollars. I was in business in Seattle from 1882 to 1886, when I sold out and returned to Albany, reentering the hardware business. I ran this store for the next twenty-seven years and retired in 1913. When I went to Albany, Ben Holladay’s road, the Oregon & California Railroad, had got as far south as Halsey, where travelers made connections by stage for California points. “‘On the 27th of January, 1874, I married Weltha M. Young, a sister of S. E. Young, one of the prominent merchants of Albany at that time. My son, Carlton E. Sox, was born in Albany on October 29, 1874, and completed a course in Albany College. For two years he attended a college at Monmouth, Illinois, later graduating from Stanford University of California, and is now engaged in the practice of law at Albany in partnership with Judge H. H. Hewitt. My son married a sister of Dr. Ellis, of Albany, and they have four sons. Three of them are already six-footers and the fourth soon will be. My daughter, Emma Rebecca Newton, lives in Boston, Massachusetts, also has a son, so that I am rich in grandsons. My first wife passed away in 1921 and later I returned to the east, where I married Mrs. Ella Gary-Ellis, a widow with three children, all of whom were grown. Sixty-one years ago we had been classmates at Wheaton College, and since our marriage we have resided in Portland. My wife is a native of Wheaton and one of four children who lived to maturity. Her brother, Judge Elbert H. Gary, was born in Warrenville, Illinois, and among my wife’s treasured possessions are some quaint pictures representing him as a boy and as a young man. In one he was wearing a home-made suit of checked cloth and you can see that he was very proud of his first overcoat. As president of the United States Steel Company he was nationally known and his demise occurred in July, 1927. His brother, Olin Geary, is living in St, Louis, Missouri. My wife’s daughter, who married a doctor, is an artist of rare ability and the paintings you see on the walls of our home were painted by her.’” In Seattle, Mr. Sox attended the services of a Congregational church and while living in Albany he was active in the work of the United Presbyterian church. He has served as Sunday school superintendent and also as president of the Young Men’s Christian Association. Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Sox has been a strong republican but the honors and emoluments of political office have never appealed to him. As a business man he attained high standing, displaying keen sagacity in the conduct of his affairs, and was also an able educator. He has played well his part and enjoys the tranquility of spirit and contentment of mind resulting from the knowledge that he has accomplished something worth while. Mr. Sox has a wide acquaintance and stands deservedly high in the esteem of his fellowmen, for his life has been upright and useful. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Pages 394-395 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/sox419gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 7.7 Kb