Cowlitz County WA Archives Biographies.....Secrest, John Howard March 29, 1871 - 
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Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 518 - 522
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     JOHN HOWARD SECREST.  The history of Longview is a notable one in the 
record of city building in America and its marvelous development is the 
outcome of the combined effort of men of high civic ideals as well as of 
marked capability in their particular fields of labor. In this connection it 
is imperative that mention be made of John Howard Secrest of Longview, who is 
recognized as one of the ablest and most dependable attorneys of this section 
of Washington, where he has built up a large and remunerative practice and 
where he is also numbered among the men prominent and influential in the 
public affairs of the community. He has had much to do with shaping public 
policy and promoting civic development and his broad-minded attitude on 
questions of general importance has had a marked influence in directing public 
thought and action.

     Mr. Secrest was born near Hartford in Guernsey county, Ohio, March 29, 
1871, a son of Noah E. and Eliza J. (Spriggs) Secrest. In the paternal line 
the family is of German origin but was established in America prior to the 
Revolutionary war. One of his grandmothers in the paternal line bore the name 
of Clark and was a relative of William Clark, the companion of Meriwether 
Lewis on the historic expedition which opened the northwest to civilization, 
while her grandfather, Benjamin Clark, was a captain in Washington's army 
during the struggle for independence. The Spriggs family is of Scotch-Irish 
lineage and was established in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in colonial 
days, representatives of the name subsequently removing to Ohio. J. W. 
Spriggs, a well known Portland journalist, now deceased, was a brother of Mrs. 
Secrest, who was born in Hartford, Ohio, in 1842. She became the wife of Noah 
E. Secrest, whose birth occurred at Hartford, December 9, 1836, and both 
continued lifelong residents of that locality, the father passing away there 
in 1917, while the mother's death occurred in 1877.

     J. H. Secrest acquired his early education in the district schools near 
Hartford, Ohio, and then entered the Ohio Northern University at Ada, in which 
he pursued a literary course and was graduated in 1894 with the degree of 
Master of Arts. He then took up the study of law in the same institution and 
following his graduation with the class of 1897 was admitted to practice at 
the Ohio bar. For fifteen years he engaged in teaching in his native state, 
serving a part of that time as superintendent of schools, and in 1903 he 
entered actively upon the practice of law in Lima, Ohio. The same year he was 
named the democratic candidate for state school commissioner but was defeated 
with the entire ticket, which was headed by Tom L. Johnson of Cleveland as the 
gubernatorial candidate. In 1911 Mr. Secrest went to Columbus, Ohio, as 
assistant secretary of state and in 1914 became the democratic candidate for 
secretary of state on the ticket headed by James M. Cox for governor. Though 
the entire ticket was defeated, Mr. Secrest had the satisfaction of carrying 
more counties in the state than any of his fellow candidates. He continued in 
the practice of law in Columbus from 1915 to 1919, when he went to Portland, 
Oregon. He practiced his profession there for four years, during which period 
he assisted the state banking department in the liquidation of the state bank 
of Portland. In 1923 Mr. Secrest moved to Longview, which was then just being 
started, and has been engaged in the practice of law there to the present 
time. In 1924, on the incorporation of the place, he became the first city 
attorney and the first chairman of the school board, both of which positions 
he has held to the present time. He is also attorney for the Long-Bell Lumber 
Company, the First National Bank, the Lumberman's Bank & Trust Company, the 
Surety Finance Company and about a dozen other corporations.

     On November 6, 1907, in Lima, Ohio, Mr. Secrest was united in marriage to 
Miss Nellie Oberbeck, who was born at Ottawa, Ohio, December 9, 1879, and is a 
daughter of Aaron and Jane (Cartwright) Oberbeck, the latter of whom was of 
English descent. Aaron Oberbeck, who was born in Pennsylvania, was of Swiss- 
German ancestry, belonging to a well known Pennsylvania Dutch family. In an 
early day he went to Putnam county, Ohio, where he became successful and 
prominent, holding a number of public offices. When seventeen years old he 
enlisted in the Union army and served over four years in the Civil war. He 
died at the age of seventy-two years. Mr. and Mrs. Secrest are the parents of 
two children: Jane, who was born in Lima, Ohio, May 3, 1909, and is a student 
in Mills College at Oakland, California; and Betty Nell, born in Columbus, 
Ohio, October 29, 1918. Mrs. Secrest is a member of the Women's Club and takes 
an active interest in the social and civic affairs of her community.

     Mr. Secrest is a member of Longview Lodge, F. & A. M., the Longview 
Country Club and the Lions Club and is a trustee of the Longview Memorial 
Hospital. He and his wife attend the Community church. Well grounded in the 
law, careful and painstaking in the preparation of his cases and determined 
and resourceful as a trial lawyer, Mr. Secrest has been uniformly successful 
and in every relation of life has proven worthy of public confidence and 
esteem. He is recognized as a public speaker of prominence and is frequently 
called upon to act as orator on public occasions. As chairman of the board of 
education of the city of Longview, in a few well chosen words, he officially 
accepted the deed from Robert A. Long to the new six hundred and fifty 
thousand dollar high school building with its surrounding campus of thirty- 
five acres, which was the gift of the founder of the city, its presentation 
being made the outstanding feature of a two days' celebration of the fifth 
anniversary of the establishment of Longview. Mr. Secrest's oratory has been 
likened to that of William Jennings Bryan, who upon the invitation of 
President H. S. Lehr, himself a republican, delivered the commencement oration 
to the graduating class of 1894, of which Mr. Secrest was a member. In other 
words, Mr. Secrest is a fluent, forceful, earnest speaker, making direct 
appeal to his hearers, while broad knowledge and liberal culture enable him to 
clothe his utterances with eloquence, although rhetorical effect has no place 
in his plan. His purpose is ever to win the endorsement of his auditors 
through his clear presentation of a cause, and when he was called upon as 
president of the Longview school board to accept the gift of Robert A. Long he 
did it most graciously in a few well chosen words that marked an appreciation 
of the real purpose and real value of the gift. His entire life has thoroughly 
qualified him for the high respect which is uniformly tendered him and he is 
justly popular among a circle of friends that is almost coextensive with the 
circle of his acquaintance, and there is no more hospitable home in Longview 
than that of Mr. and Mrs. Secrest at No. 1332 Kessler boulevard.

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