Clark County WA Archives Biographies.....Hutton, George W. 1892 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com September 19, 2009, 10:52 am

Source: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

    GEORGE W. HUTTON, president and manager of the Central Planing Mills at 
Vancouver, is generally regarded as one of his community’s most prominent 
citizens, because of the active interest he has taken in matters affecting the 
welfare and progress of the city and county in which he lives, as well as for 
the splendid success which is crowning his business efforts.

     George W. Hutton was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1892, and is a son of 
William T. and Elizabeth (Leithoff) Hutton. His father, who still lives in 
Portland, where he is connected with the Damascus Creamery, is a native of 
Scotland, and his grandmother is living at Crieff, Perthshire, that country, 
at the advanced age of ninety-three years. William T. Hutton, who is a 
mechanical engineer by profession, came to the United States in young manhood, 
making the long voyage around Cape Horn and locating in Portland, where he has 
resided continuously since. He was there married to Elizabeth Leithoff, who 
was born in Schleswig-Holstein.

     George W. Hutton attended the public schools of Portland and Hill 
Military Academy in that city and then entered the University of Washington, 
where he specialized in forestry and lumbering and was graduated in 1913 with 
the degree of Bachelor of Science in Forestry. In the following year he 
received his Master’s degree in the same course at Yale University. George W. 
Hutton entered the government forestry service at Olympia, Washington, during 
the summer months while at the University and served in various capacities 
from field assistant to forest examiner, following that line of work until the 
United States became involved in the World war. He enlisted in the Third 
Officers Training Camp and in July, 1918, was sent over seas, where he served 
until September, 1919, with the Seventh Field Artillery Brigade headquarters, 
having been commissioned a lieutenant. After the armistice he was sent to 
Roumania, where his efficient service won for him the decoration of “Chevalier 
of the Crown of Roumania.” While overseas Mr. Hutton had the pleasure of 
visiting his ancestral home in Scotland, where he was greatly pleased to meet 
his aged grandmother.

     On his return to the coast after the war Mr. Hutton was connected with 
several different woodworking plants and eventually became manager of the 
Mackall-Paine Veneer Company at Vancouver, which relation he sustained until 
forming his present connection with the Central Planing Mills. This plant had 
its origin in a prune dryer which stood on the property of O. M. Hidden, who 
deeded the place to his son, by whom it was sold to the Central Manufacturing 
Company. This concern converted the dryer into a planing mill about twenty-
five years ago, operating it during the summer months and employing from two 
to four men. The business of the concern gradually increased and later George 
L. DuBois and Fred M. Kettenring bought the plant, which they greatly improved 
and enlarged, and they operated it from 1912 to 1919, when it was incorporated 
under the name of the Central Planing Mill, at which time O. W. Storey, who 
was at one time mayor of Vancouver, became president and manager. In 1926 
George W. Hutton bought Mr. Storey’s interest in the business and has since 
served as president and manager, the other officers of the company being 
George L. DuBois, president of the DuBois Lumber Company, vice president; 
Robert DuBois, secretary and treasurer, these gentlemen being directors along 
with F. M. Kettenring, a prominent lumberman and a director of the Vancouver 
National Bank. The plant of the Central Planing Mills now covers practically a 
city block and they employ about thirty-eight men. The products consist mainly 
of sash and doors, frames, cabinet work, fine finish lumber, inside wood work 
for stores and offices, and has furnished much of the material in the way of 
mill work for the fine homes of Portland, though the company caters mostly to 
the trade of southwestern Washington. The annual output is valued at about one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The Central Planing Mills has become one 
of the important business enterprises of Vancouver and, aside from its own 
interests, has shown a public-spirited interest in the welfare of Vancouver, 
having joined with the Chamber of Commerce and the Clark County Floral Society 
in promoting a spirit of improvement throughout the community, in which 
movement prizes are offered for the most attractive home, the finest lawn, the 
best painted house, the best floral garden display and the most attractive 
school house, while a consolation prize is given for the most out-of-date 
house or building. Mr. Hutton has personally been greatly interested in this 
movement, which is showing very tangible results.

     In March, 1916, Mr. Hutton was united in marriage to Miss Elsie Doragh, 
who was born in Centralia, Washington, but was residing in Olympia at the time 
of her marriage. She is a daughter of Robert and Amy (Bailey) Doragh, the 
latter of whom lives in Olympia and is a member of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution. Robert Doragh, who is deceased, was a prominent member of 
the Masonic order, in which he had been honored with the thirty-third and last 
degree, and the Scottish Rite consistory at Centralia was named in his honor. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Hutton have been born two children, George W., Jr., and Robert 
W.

     Mr. Hutton is a member of Afifi Shrine; Sigma Xi scientific fraternity; 
Sigma Delta Chi journalism fraternity; Xi Sigma Pi forestry fraternity; and 
the American Legion. He is a director of the Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, a 
director of the Vancouver Community Hotel and a director of the Clark County 
General Hospital, and is also greatly interested in the Boy Scouts. Mrs. 
Hutton is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the P. E. O. 
and the Gamma Phi Beta college sorority. While at college Mr. Hutton was 
active in athletic sports and was number six on the varsity rowing crew that 
represented the University of Washington for the first time at the regatta in 
1913 at Poughkeepsie, New York, in which they secured third place, after a 
very close and exciting race. His labors have been constructive in character, 
resulting in the attainment of a substantial measure of success, while at the 
same time his efforts have proved a valuable element in promoting the growth 
and prosperity of his community. He is recognized as an alert and enterprising 
business man and public-spirited citizen, and his excellent personal qualities 
have gained for him an exalted place in the esteem of his fellowmen.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 261-263

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