Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Terwilliger, Calvin B. October 8, 1884 - ************************************************ 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 September 26, 2010, 6:31 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 590 - 591 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company CALVIN B. TERWILLIGER, of Portland, a public accountant, is recognized as an expert in his line and his clientele includes a number of the prominent business firms and corporations of the Columbia River valley. Mr. Terwilliger is descended in the paternal line from sterling old Dutch stock, his family having been established in this country on March 15, 1663, when Evertt Dircksen Van Der Willigen went from Amsterdam, Holland, to Manhattan as a passenger on the sailing ship "Arend," commanded by Captain Piter Cornelisc Bes. Some time after his arrival in this country Mr. Van Der Willigen, whose name meant "from the willows," changed it to Terwilliger, which form has been used by his descendants. He brought with him to this country two children, fifteen and sixteen years of age, respectively, and one of these, Jan Evertsz, was married to Sytie Jacobz Van Etten, of Kingston, New York, on April 23, 1685. From this union sprang the family to which Calvin B. Terwilliger belongs. It is reliably stated that during the war of the Revolution there were forty-nine heads of families of this name in the colonies and that a military company was formed, of which all the officers and men were members of this family. Anneke Jans, a granddaughter of the King of Holland, emigrated to America and was given a large grant of land on Manhattan island, in what is now the heart of the business district of New York city. She became the wife of Roeloff Jansen Van Marstilani, also a native of Holland, and received her land. About this time she made some ninety-nine-year leases, among which was a lease to the land on which now stands historic old Trinity church. The first British governor ratified these leases, but the second British governor canceled them. The property includes one hundred and ninety-two acres of land and has for many years been the subject of much litigation. A descendant of this Anneke Jans married into the Cornelius Terwilliger family about 1725. Among the descendants of Jan Evertsz Terwilliger was Calvin Terwilliger, who was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1821, and was a son of Cornelius Terwilliger, a native of Ulster county, New York, who became a pioneer of Ohio, locating in Pickaway county, where he established the famous old Terwilliger homestead, so prominent in the history of that section of the state. Calvin Terwilliger had four brothers and seven sisters. One brother fought in the Union army during the Civil war and was captured and confined in Libby prison, where he died, and another brother, who settled on a homestead at Horse Plains, Montana, in the early '80s, was killed by the Indians. One of Cornelius Terwilliger's brothers, James, came to Portland in 1842, by way of the plains, and had a son and two daughters, who were reared here. One daughter married a Mr. Richardson, the other one a Mr. Moffatt, and the son, Hiram, married and had four children, two sons, James and Joseph, and two daughters. Both of the sons became prominent in the affairs of the Columbia river valley. Hiram traded a "calico" pony for a half section of land, and also took up a half section as a homestead, this land embracing part of what is now the city of Portland. He took a great interest in the development of the community, donating Terwilliger park to the city, and one of the boulevards of this city is named in his honor. Among the sons of Calvin Terwilliger was John H. Terwilliger, who was born in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1851, and for many years followed the trade of coopering there, he and his wife dying in that state. He was married to Miss Sarah Dodder and they became the parents of Calvin B. Terwilliger, who was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on the 8th of October, 1884. Calvin B. Terwilliger attended the public schools and Ruskin University, in Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1904. His first independent venture was in the produce business in southwestern Iowa, where he was associated with a number of large firms, and later he became secretary of the Beatrice Cold Storage Company, which operated thirty large plants in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. In 1920 Mr. Terwilliger sold his interests there and, coming to Portland, Oregon, became associated with Henningson Produce Company, with which he remained until the spring of 1921, when he engaged in the public accounting business, specializing in the produce and dairy products lines. His business has enjoyed a steady and substantial growth and he now employs several assistants, all of whom are experts. In 1905 Mr. Terwilliger was united in marriage to Miss Pearl A. Johnson, of Clarinda, Iowa. He has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for eighteen years, and belongs to the Progressive Business Men's Club. He gives the republican party his political support, while his religious connection is with the First Christian church, in the work of which he takes an active part, having formerly taught a class of forty boys in the Sunday school. A man of earnest purpose and consistent life, he is a good citizen, supporting every measure for the advancement of the public welfare, and his excellent personal qualities have gained for him the sincere respect and esteem of all who know him. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/terwilli1289gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 6.0 Kb