George Washington Weidler
Encyclopedia
George Washington Weidler (October 22, 1837 – September 19, 1908) was a prominent 19th century transportation agent, investor, and business owner in Portland
in the U.S. state
of Oregon
. Born in Pennsylvania
, he moved as a young man to St. Louis, Missouri
, where he began a career in merchandising and shipping. His work gradually took him further west, to Nevada
, California
, and in 1866 to Oregon, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In Portland, Weidler worked as an agent for Ben Holladay
and Henry Villard
, both of whom controlled big transportation companies. He was part owner of the city's first street railway
, and he owned a lumber mill that was Portland's biggest in 1880. He was the first person to sell electric lighting in Portland, and he helped organize a power company that was a predecessor of Portland General Electric
.
Weidler was active in the Arlington
, Portland, and Commercial clubs in the city. He and his wife, Hattie, had seven children. Weidler Street in northeast Portland is named after him.
, on October 22, 1837, to Isaac C. and Catherine Gaelbach Weidler, U.S. citizens of Swiss-German descent. As a child, he attended school in Lancaster and Mount Joy
and a boarding school in Strausberg, Pennsylvania. For health reasons, he was sent to St. Louis, Missouri, where he became a clerk in a hardware store, then a freight clerk on steamboat
s plying the Mississippi River
between St. Louis and New Orleans
. In 1855, he was put in charge of a mule-driven wagon train
that was hauling goods to a new general store in Salt Lake City, Utah
. There he stayed for three years as a store clerk before becoming a Pony Express
agent. In about 1861, Weidler took a job as an agent for a company that ran stagecoach
es between Carson City
and Virginia City, Nevada
. About two years later, he accepted an offer from transportation businessman Ben Holladay to act as purser
on a steamboat based in San Francisco, California
.
(OSN), which controlled shipping and rights-of-way along the lower Columbia River. He was part owner of the Portland Street Railway (PSR), built by Holladay in 1871. A single horsecar
line operating along First Street on the city's west side, the PSR was Portland's first street railway
and its only one for more than a decade. In 1879 Weidler, who was an agent for the Oregon Steamship Company owned by Henry Villard, became a shareholder in the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (OR&N), formed by Villard after he gained control of the OSN.
Meanwhile Weidler's Willamette Steam Mills Lumbering and Manufacturing Company, located near shipping docks on the west bank of the Willamette River, had become "Portland's largest and most profitable lumber mill". Adjacent to the OR&N's Ainsworth Dock, it supplied lumber for highly profitable export to Hong Kong
and Australia
. At this mill, Weidler became involved in the fledgling electric utility
business. In 1880, he set up a dynamo
in his sawmill and became
The assets of U.S. Electric were transferred to Willamette Falls Electric Co., organized by Morey in 1888, which in 1889 "introduced to the United States the first long distance (13 miles) [21 km] commercial transmission of direct current hydro-electric power."
In 1891 the Oregon Legislative Assembly
established the Port of Portland
Commission to maintain shipping channels, a drydock, and other infrastructure and services related to maritime and commercial interests in the city. Membership on the commission "was considered a high honor, reserved for representatives of the city's leading families". Weidler was among those appointed to the commission.
, Italianate
, and Gothic Revival features. Its main floor was almost a full story above grade; it had two unusually tall first and second stories, a steeply pitched roof over a half-story attic, and a four-story tower above the entrance. The house shared the block with a modified Italianate villa belonging to his father-in-law; driveways through the block connected to stables on Twentieth Street. Designed by architect Warren H. Williams, both houses "have been gone for many years".
Late in life Weidler joined the Episcopal Church
, where his father-in-law was a prominent member and vestryman
. Weidler belonged to the Arlington
, Portland, and Commercial clubs. He died of a stroke on September 19, 1908, in Portland. Weidler Street in northeast Portland is named after him.
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Born in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, he moved as a young man to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, where he began a career in merchandising and shipping. His work gradually took him further west, to Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and in 1866 to Oregon, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In Portland, Weidler worked as an agent for Ben Holladay
Ben Holladay
Benjamin "Ben" Holladay was an American transportation businessman known as the "Stagecoach King" until his routes were taken over by Wells Fargo in 1866...
and Henry Villard
Henry Villard
Henry Villard was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway....
, both of whom controlled big transportation companies. He was part owner of the city's first street railway
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
, and he owned a lumber mill that was Portland's biggest in 1880. He was the first person to sell electric lighting in Portland, and he helped organize a power company that was a predecessor of Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric is an electrical utility based in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - half of the inhabitants of Oregon...
.
Weidler was active in the Arlington
Arlington Club
The Arlington Club is a private social club organized in 1867 by 35 business and banking leaders of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. First called the Social Club and later re-named the Arlington Club, it offered its all-male members, most of whom were relatively wealthy and powerful, an...
, Portland, and Commercial clubs in the city. He and his wife, Hattie, had seven children. Weidler Street in northeast Portland is named after him.
Early life
George Washington Weidler was born in Lancaster, PennsylvaniaLancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, on October 22, 1837, to Isaac C. and Catherine Gaelbach Weidler, U.S. citizens of Swiss-German descent. As a child, he attended school in Lancaster and Mount Joy
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
Mount Joy is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,765 at the 2000 census.-Name and origin:Mount Joy is often named in lists of "delightfully-named towns" in Pennsylvania Dutchland, along with Intercourse, Blue Ball, PenisPallooza, Amish Land, Dick-in-Hand...
and a boarding school in Strausberg, Pennsylvania. For health reasons, he was sent to St. Louis, Missouri, where he became a clerk in a hardware store, then a freight clerk on steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s plying the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
between St. Louis and New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. In 1855, he was put in charge of a mule-driven wagon train
Wagon train
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
that was hauling goods to a new general store in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. There he stayed for three years as a store clerk before becoming a Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
agent. In about 1861, Weidler took a job as an agent for a company that ran stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
es between Carson City
Carson City, Nevada
The Consolidated Municipality of Carson City is the capital of the state of Nevada. The words Consolidated Municipality refer to a series of changes in 1969 which abolished Ormsby County and merged all the settlements contained within its borders into Carson City. Since that time Carson City has...
and Virginia City, Nevada
Virginia City, Nevada
Virginia City is a census-designated place that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 855 at the 2010 Census.- History :...
. About two years later, he accepted an offer from transportation businessman Ben Holladay to act as purser
Purser
The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain...
on a steamboat based in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
Transportation, lumber, electricity
In 1866, Weidler moved to Portland, where he acted as the local agent for Holladay's steamship company. Over the coming decades, he became an "active factor in promoting and controlling many of [Portland's] most important business undertakings". He was an early investor in the Oregon Steam Navigation CompanyOregon Steam Navigation Company
The Oregon Steam Navigation Company was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen...
(OSN), which controlled shipping and rights-of-way along the lower Columbia River. He was part owner of the Portland Street Railway (PSR), built by Holladay in 1871. A single horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
line operating along First Street on the city's west side, the PSR was Portland's first street railway
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
and its only one for more than a decade. In 1879 Weidler, who was an agent for the Oregon Steamship Company owned by Henry Villard, became a shareholder in the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (OR&N), formed by Villard after he gained control of the OSN.
Meanwhile Weidler's Willamette Steam Mills Lumbering and Manufacturing Company, located near shipping docks on the west bank of the Willamette River, had become "Portland's largest and most profitable lumber mill". Adjacent to the OR&N's Ainsworth Dock, it supplied lumber for highly profitable export to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. At this mill, Weidler became involved in the fledgling electric utility
Electric utility
An electric utility is a company that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major provider of energy in most countries. It is indispensable to factories, commercial establishments,...
business. In 1880, he set up a dynamo
Dynamo
- Engineering :* Dynamo, a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator* Dynamo theory, a theory relating to magnetic fields of celestial bodies* Solar dynamo, the physical process that generates the Sun's magnetic field- Software :...
in his sawmill and became
the first person to sell electric lighting in Portland when he ran a primitive transmission line to the nearby Ainsworth Dock in 1881. Within three years he was instrumental in organizing the U.S. Electric Lighting and Power Co. which operated off of steam generated [sic] dynamos. His three associates were to be the prime movers in the early development of the Portland electric utility industry: L.L. Hawkins, P.F. Morey and F.V. Holman.
The assets of U.S. Electric were transferred to Willamette Falls Electric Co., organized by Morey in 1888, which in 1889 "introduced to the United States the first long distance (13 miles) [21 km] commercial transmission of direct current hydro-electric power."
In 1891 the Oregon Legislative Assembly
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
established the Port of Portland
Port of Portland (Oregon)
The Port of Portland is the port district responsible for overseeing Portland International Airport, general aviation, and marine activities in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area in the United States....
Commission to maintain shipping channels, a drydock, and other infrastructure and services related to maritime and commercial interests in the city. Membership on the commission "was considered a high honor, reserved for representatives of the city's leading families". Weidler was among those appointed to the commission.
Family and later life
The couple had seven children, two of whom died in infancy. The Weidlers lived in a very large house built in 1885 on Northwest 19th Street between Kearney and Lovejoy streets. The mansion featured a mixture of Queen AnneQueen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
, Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
, and Gothic Revival features. Its main floor was almost a full story above grade; it had two unusually tall first and second stories, a steeply pitched roof over a half-story attic, and a four-story tower above the entrance. The house shared the block with a modified Italianate villa belonging to his father-in-law; driveways through the block connected to stables on Twentieth Street. Designed by architect Warren H. Williams, both houses "have been gone for many years".
Late in life Weidler joined the Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, where his father-in-law was a prominent member and vestryman
Vestryman
A vestryman is a member of his local church's vestry, or leading body. He is not a member of the clergy.In England especially, but also in other parts of The United Kingdom, Parish Councils have long been a level of local government rather than being solely ecclesiastical in nature...
. Weidler belonged to the Arlington
Arlington Club
The Arlington Club is a private social club organized in 1867 by 35 business and banking leaders of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. First called the Social Club and later re-named the Arlington Club, it offered its all-male members, most of whom were relatively wealthy and powerful, an...
, Portland, and Commercial clubs. He died of a stroke on September 19, 1908, in Portland. Weidler Street in northeast Portland is named after him.
Works cited
- Gaston, Joseph (1911). http://books.google.com/books?id=bG4UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA652&lpg=PA652&dq=george+weidler+gaston&source=bl&ots=Pu2q4zRLjs&sig=9H6nokQ6PM-AtDDIpWOOfmSRDws&hl=en&ei=pNGGS8PiD4OMtAOp9cThBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=weidler&f=falsePortland, Oregon, its history and builders: in connection with the Antecedent Explorations, Discoveries, and Movements of the Pioneers That Selected the Site for the Great City of the Pacific], vol. 2. Chicago, Illinois: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company. .
- Hawkins, William J., III, and Willingham, William F. (1999). Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon: 1850–1950. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-433-4.
- MacColl, E. Kimbark; Stein, Harry H. (1988). Merchants, Money, and Power: The Portland Establishment 1843–1913. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press. ISBN 0-9603408-4-X.
- MacColl, E. Kimbark. (1976). The Shaping of a City: Business and Politics in Portland, Oregon, 1885 to 1915. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press.
- Marlitt, Richard. (1978) [1968]. Seventeenth Street, revised ed. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society. ISBN 0-87595-000-0.