Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Zan, M. D., James C. 1874 - 
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 28, 2009, 6:36 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     JAMES C. ZAN, M. D.  Deeply interested in the scientific and humanitarian 
phases of his profession, Dr. James C. Zan has steadily progressed and for 
many years has been recognized as one of Portland's leading surgeons. A native 
of San Francisco, California, he was born in 1874, a son of Marino and Hannah 
(Cullen) Zan.   His father went to California before the outbreak of 
hostilities between the north and the south and the Cullen family migrated to 
that state during the progress of the Civil war. Marino Zan became a pioneer 
manufacturer of Portland and one of its most enterprising business men. He has 
passed away and the mother is also deceased.

     Dr. Zan attended the public schools of Portland and afterward 
matriculated in the University of Virginia, from which he received the degree 
of M. D. in 1895. For three years he was an interne of St. Vincent's Hospital 
in New York city and during 1896-97 was a postgraduate student at the New York 
Polyclinic. In 1899 he returned to Portland and here he has since followed his 
profession except during the year 1911, when he took a postgraduate course in 
New York city. He specializes in surgery and owing to his thoroughness and 
skill has successfully performed many difficult operations, rarely losing a 
case. Dr. Zan maintains an office on the tenth floor of the Corbett building 
and is surgeon for the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad Company and other 
large corporations. He is also identified with industrial affairs as a 
director of Zan Brothers, manufacturers of wooden and willow ware. The 
business was established in Portland in 1874 by Marino Zan and it is now 
operated by his sons, who have instituted well devised plans for the expansion 
of the industry.

     Dr. Zan married Miss Elsie M. Smith, a native of Portland and a daughter 
of Samuel D. and Margaret E. (Watkins) Smith. Mrs. Zan's father was born in 
the canton of Uri, Switzerland, and when a child came to the new world with 
his parents, who settled in Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1849 he made the overland 
trip to the Pacific coast and later built the Occidental Hotel in Portland, 
successfully conducting the business for many years. His wife was a native of 
Wales and at the age of twelve years came to the United States with her 
parents, who established their home at Portland, Oregon, in 1860. Dr. and Mrs. 
Zan have two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary Louise, who are attending Mills 
College.

     The Doctor is a republican and from 1900 until 1905 was health officer of 
Portland, making an excellent record in that connection. Along social lines he 
is connected with the Arlington Club, the Waverly Country Club and the 
Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club. He is a member of Phi Kappa Psi, a college 
fraternity, the Multnomah County and Oregon State Medical Societies, the 
American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons. A tireless 
student, Dr. Zan has utilized every opportunity to perfect himself in his 
profession and his has been a useful, well ordered life, crowned with 
successful achievement.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Page 
796

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