Washington County OR Archives Biographies.....Shearer, J. H. April 2, 1855 - 
************************************************
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 June 19, 2009, 7:44 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     J. H. SHEARER.  Resourceful, energetic and decisive, J. H. Shearer has 
achieved success in the fields of farming, merchandising and manufacturing, at 
the same time performing his share of public service, and is generally 
regarded as one of the foremost business men and valuable citizens of Forest 
Grove.  He was born April 2, 1855, in Page County, Iowa, a son of William and 
Nancy (Johnson) Shearer, who were married in Missouri, the mother's native 
state, and lived for a time in Iowa. In 1864 they traveled to Oregon in a 
covered wagon drawn by oxen and spent the winter at Yamhill. The next year 
they journeyed to Washington county and settled near Dilley in a district 
remote from civilization. The father purchased a farm and devoted the 
remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits. He filled the office of road 
supervisor and his public spirit was also expressed by service on the school 
board.

     J. H. Shearer had a year's schooling in Iowa and was a child of nine when 
the family came to Oregon. His studies were continued in the rural schools of 
Washington county and he remained on the homestead until he reached the age of 
twenty-one, becoming thoroughly conversant with the best methods of tilling 
the soil and caring for the stock.  In 1876 he purchased a tract of one 
hundred and twenty acres near Hillside and through arduous effort succeeded in 
clearing the land, which he cultivated for about twenty-five years, bringing 
it to a high state of development. About 1902 he started a jewelery store, 
admitting his son Arthur to a partnership, and the business is still conducted 
under the style of Shearer & Son. The firm carries a fine line of jewelry and 
enjoys a large share of the local patronage. In 1923 J. H. Shearer purchased 
the business of the Forest Grove Clay Products Company, established about 
1920, and has also succeeded in this venture. He devotes his summers to the 
management of the industry and employs about twenty men when the plant is in 
full operation. Mr. Shearer manufactures common and face brick, tile and 
building blocks and has equipped his plant with every appliance essential to 
first class work. The average daily output is about twenty-five thousand 
brick, ten thousand tile and three thousand blocks. The business is 
efficiently conducted and there is a constant demand for the products of the 
plant.

     Mr. Shearer was married November 2, 1876, near Dilley to Miss Melissa 
Mooneyham, who crossed the plains to Oregon in 1865 in company with her 
parents. Mrs. Shearer passed away August 27, 1926, leaving two sons: Ottice 
who married Miss Eula Lafferty and is associated with his father in the 
manufacture of brick, while  Arthur concentrates his attention upon the 
management of the jewelry store and has played an important part in the 
building of the business. His first wife was Miss Blanche Davis, now deceased, 
by whom he had three children, Harold, Genevieve and Lois, and his second 
union was with Miss Rachel Shawl. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Shearer were also the 
parents of a daughter, Carrie, who has passed away. She was the wife, of R. L. 
Wood and became the mother of two children, Alice and Sylvia, who live in 
Thatcher, Washington county, Oregon.

     For about thirty years Mr. Shearer has been connected with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, filling various offices in the lodge, and 
has passed through all the chairs of the encampment. His wife was a Baptist 
and although not a church member, he is in full sympathy with movements for 
the uplift and betterment of humanity, lending the weight of his support to 
all worthy public projects. His service as a councilman of Forest Grove 
covered a period of four years and while engaged in farming he was a school 
director for about fifteen years and for several terms was a road supervisor. 
As a business man Mr. Shearer enjoys an enviable reputation and his worth as a 
citizen is uniformly conceded.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 929-930

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/washington/bios/shearer825gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/

File size: 4.6 Kb