Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Watson, Frank Whalley October 20, 1881 - ************************************************ 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 27, 2009, 12:00 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 143-144 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company F. WHALLEY WATSON is president of one of the Columbia River valley's distinctive and successful industries — the Portland Vegetable Oils Mills Company. A man of practical business experience, under his judicious management the concern of which he is the head is enjoying a steady and substantial growth. Mr. Watson was born in Portland, Oregon, on the 20th of October, 1881, and is a son of J. Frank and Mary (Whalley) Watson, the former born in Westfield, Massachusetts, and the latter in Yreka, California. The father arrived in Portland in 1871 and became connected with the Ladd & Tilton Bank, subsequently being identified with the Smith & Watson Iron Works, which became one of the leading industries of this city. In 1894 he became president of the Merchants National Bank, serving in that capacity until 1910, and in other ways was actively identified with the business interests of this city. He was a member of the city council and a member of the Arlington Club and the old Commercial Club. His death occurred in December, 1922. His widow, who resides at Portland Heights, is a daughter of Judge J. W. Whalley, who was for many years a prominent attorney and jurist and served as dean of the law school of the University of Oregon. F. Whalley Watson received his early education in the Bishop Scott Academy of Portland, after which he attended Leland Stanford University and in 1904 graduated from the School of Mines of Columbia University. He was engaged in railroad construction work and in mining projects until the United States became involved in the World war, when he offered his services and was made production manager of the Columbia River Shipbuilding Corporation, in which capacity he served throughout the duration of the war. In 1920 Mr. Watson became one of the organizers of the Portland Vegetable Oil Mills Company, of which the first officers were C. A. Painton, president; B. C. Ball, vice president; Prescott W. Cookingham, secretary, and Charles A. Edwards, treasurer, these gentlemen, with H. H. Ward, Max S. Hirsch and Samuel L. Eddy, comprising the board of directors. Subsequently Mr. Watson served as secretary and treasurer, was later made vice president, and in January, 1927, was made president of the company, the other officers being, John W. Parker, vice president and general manager; Robert L. Forrest, secretary; Charles J. McPherson, treasurer; and F. Whalley Watson, John W. Parker, Charles J. McPherson, William Cornfoot, Arthur H. Devers, Charles E. Gray and Max S. Hirsch, directors. The plant, which went into active operation in December, 1921, stands on five and a half acres of ground on North Front street, the buildings covering about a third of the space. The mill building is constructed of steel, the storage and refinery buildings are of reinforced concrete, while the warehouse is of mill construction, with tile walls. The company has its own docks and railroad sidings, which greatly facilitate receiving the raw materials and shipping the products. The main output of the plant is cocoanut oil, while the by-products are copra meal and cake. The oil is sold all over the country, though ninety-eight per cent of it goes to the eastern states, while the cake and meal are sold locally. The plant is regarded as one of the most modern in the country and about forty persons are given steady employment. The copra from which the oil is extracted is brought from the Philippine islands, the Malay states and the South Sea islands, and each month the company receives by steamer about two thousand five hundred tons of this material. The plant has a capacity of one hundred and ten tons of copra every twenty-four hours, the product of which is seventy tons of oil and forty tons of cake. About half of the cocoanut oil used in the United States is imported, and of the total of two hundred and eighty thousand tons used, this mill produces twenty thousand tons annually, its monthly volume of business amounting to about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There are but four other copra mills in the United States, one being at Cincinnati, Ohio, and three on San Francisco bay. In June, 1925, Mr. Watson was united in marriage to Barbara G. Brooks, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Watson is an officer of Willamette Lodge, No. 2, A. F. & A. M.; Oregon Consistory, No. 1, A. A. S. R.; Al Kader Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and is a life member of Portland Lodge, No. 142, B. P. O. E. He belongs to the Arlington Club, the University Club, Portland Golf Club, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, of which he has served as chairman of the Oregon section; and the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is chairman of the Maritime Commerce committee. He is a director of the Smith & Valley Iron Works, a director of Klumpps, Inc., engravers, and a director of the Holman Fuel Company, as well as being identified with a number of other local enterprises and in all business affairs has shown sound judgment and executive ability. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/watson937gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 5.7 Kb