Henry Failing
Encyclopedia
Henry Failing was a banker, and one of the leading businessmen of the Pacific Northwest
of the United States
. He was one of Portland
, Oregon
's earliest residents, and served as that city's mayor for three two-year terms. He was a Republican
.
on January 17, 1834, to Josiah Failing
and Henrietta (Ellison) Failing, one of eleven children. His ancestors were considered, by one biographer, "substantial citizens of the east." He was educated in New York's public schools until the age of 12. He began his business career in a French importing and shipping house, where he learned the French language and business accounting. He then became the junior bookkeeper for Eno, Mahoney & Co., one of the largest wholesale dry goods houses in the city, a few years later. He was also in charge of their foreign business. In April 1851 he accompanied his father and younger brother John in a move to Portland. Mr. Eno, Failing's former boss, would later describe the loss of Henry Failing as a business contact as a mistake.
to the Chagres River
in Panama
, by boat up the river, across Panama by mule train, and then to San Francisco aboard the Tennessee. The final leg of their journey, aboard the Columbia, took them to Portland on June 9. Henry befriended C. H. Lewis, later a business associate, on the last leg of the journey.
At the time, Portland was merely a hamlet, with fewer than 500 residents. He and his father established a general merchandising business, J. Failing & Co., on Front Street (now Naito Parkway), one door south of Oak Street. The business grew rapidly in its first few years. In 1853, Josiah was elected as Portland's fourth mayor, serving until 1854. Henry also became majority owner in the family business in that year. Josiah retired in 1864, and Henry narrowed the business's focus to hardware and iron supplies in 1868. He would remain associated with the business until January 1893.
On October 21, 1858 Failing married Emily Phelps Corbett, sister of U.S. Senator
-to-be Henry W. Corbett
, who was a neighbor of the Failing family business. Emily died of tuberculosis
on July 8, 1870, leaving three daughters.
Failing was elected to a second 15-month term in June 1865, with only five votes cast against him out of 790, making it the nearest-unanimous mayoral election in Portland history . Though popular, Failing resigned in November 1866; no reason for his resignation was recorded.
Failing was later elected to a third term as mayor in 1873, on the Citizens Ticket. It was a narrow victory this time; the margin was 40 votes out of 2,036. On August 2, a month after he took office, 22 blocks along Portland's waterfront, near SW Alder Street, burned in the largest fire in Portland history. Failing was criticized for his response to the fire, but public opposition to several of his ordinances was considered the reason for his loss in his final reelection campaign for mayor in 1875.
After retiring from professional politics, Failing was appointed to Portland's water committee in 1886, and later served as its chairman. The committee purchased and enlarged the old water works, and developed plans for a new system of water supply.
was the first bank established in Oregon (1866) under the National Banking Act
, and for a number of years the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Failing and Henry Corbett purchased nearly all its stock in 1869, and Failing became the bank's president, retaining that title until his death. The bank prospered under their joint management, becoming one of the most successful banks in the northwestern United States
. Failing maintained an interest in other business enterprises, and held valuable real estate both in and on the outskirts of Portland.
In 1871 Corbett joined the Failing family business, and two of Failing's younger brothers (Edward and James) later joined as well. The business was renamed to Corbett, Failing & Co. The business turned exclusively to wholesale merchandizing, and became the largest of its kind in the northwest. Also in the 1880s, Failing was among the key early investors in Henry Villard
's Portland Hotel
.
Failing was elected director of Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (ORNC) in June 1888, along with Corbett, Henry Villard
, Christopher Meyer, John Hubert Hall
, Sidney Dillon
, Charles S. Colby
, Colgate Hoyt
, C. H. Lewis, W. S. Ladd
, Cyrus A. Dolph
, W. H. Holcomb, and S. B. Wiley. Contemporary elections for the Oregon and Transcontinental and the Northern Pacific Terminal Company installed many of the same men on the boards of those companies as well. The elections were understood to signal no change at ORNC, underscoring their intent to extend the Farmington Line
to the Coeur D'Alene Mines
, and were viewed as a defeat of Villard and his initiative to jointly lease property of the Northern Pacific and the Union Pacific.
endorsed Failing to succeed William Windom
as the United States Secretary of the Treasury
in 1891. President Benjamin Harrison
, however, appointed Charles Foster, a former Governor of Ohio, to the post.
Failing served as a regent of the University of Oregon
, a trustee and treasurer of Pacific University
, president (and benefactor) of the Portland Library Association, treasurer of the Portland Children's Home, and a founder of Riverside Cemetery
. Henry Failing died on November 8, 1898. Failing Street in Northeast Portland carries the family's name.
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He was one of Portland
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...
, 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...
's earliest residents, and served as that city's mayor for three two-year terms. He was a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
.
Early life
Henry Failing was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on January 17, 1834, to Josiah Failing
Josiah Failing
Josiah Failing was a businessman and the fourth mayor of Portland, Oregon, United States. Born in New York, he moved to Portland when it was still a small town of a few hundred...
and Henrietta (Ellison) Failing, one of eleven children. His ancestors were considered, by one biographer, "substantial citizens of the east." He was educated in New York's public schools until the age of 12. He began his business career in a French importing and shipping house, where he learned the French language and business accounting. He then became the junior bookkeeper for Eno, Mahoney & Co., one of the largest wholesale dry goods houses in the city, a few years later. He was also in charge of their foreign business. In April 1851 he accompanied his father and younger brother John in a move to Portland. Mr. Eno, Failing's former boss, would later describe the loss of Henry Failing as a business contact as a mistake.
Family business in Oregon
Henry Failing left New York on April 15, 1851 with his father and younger brother. They traveled via steamerSteamboat
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...
to the Chagres River
Chagres River
The Chagres River is a river in central Panama. The central part of the river is dammed by the Gatun Dam and forms Gatun Lake, an artificial lake that constitutes part of the Panama Canal. Upstream lies the Madden Dam, creating the Alajuala Lake that is also part of the Canal water system...
in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, by boat up the river, across Panama by mule train, and then to San Francisco aboard the Tennessee. The final leg of their journey, aboard the Columbia, took them to Portland on June 9. Henry befriended C. H. Lewis, later a business associate, on the last leg of the journey.
At the time, Portland was merely a hamlet, with fewer than 500 residents. He and his father established a general merchandising business, J. Failing & Co., on Front Street (now Naito Parkway), one door south of Oak Street. The business grew rapidly in its first few years. In 1853, Josiah was elected as Portland's fourth mayor, serving until 1854. Henry also became majority owner in the family business in that year. Josiah retired in 1864, and Henry narrowed the business's focus to hardware and iron supplies in 1868. He would remain associated with the business until January 1893.
On October 21, 1858 Failing married Emily Phelps Corbett, sister of U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
-to-be Henry W. Corbett
Henry W. Corbett
Henry Winslow Corbett was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he spend much of his early life in the state of New York before moving to the Oregon Territory where he continued his business interests in retail, and later transportation and banking...
, who was a neighbor of the Failing family business. Emily died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
on July 8, 1870, leaving three daughters.
Portland politician
Failing was elected to the first of his three terms as mayor of Portland in 1864. It was said he hadn't aspired to political office, but that the people of Portland admired his apparent immunity to typical partisan politics. Failing was concerned that Portland's roads were "a reproach to the city and its inhabitants;" one of his first actions as mayor was to pass a city charter amendment, which required property owners to pay for the grading and paving of streets adjacent to their property. He then passed measures and ordinances improving the government efficiency, many of which have lasted into the 21st century. His first term accomplishments included forecasting budget revenues, codifying city ordinances, financing gas street lamps, funding the removal of snags from the Willamette River, and sewer planning.Failing was elected to a second 15-month term in June 1865, with only five votes cast against him out of 790, making it the nearest-unanimous mayoral election in Portland history . Though popular, Failing resigned in November 1866; no reason for his resignation was recorded.
Failing was later elected to a third term as mayor in 1873, on the Citizens Ticket. It was a narrow victory this time; the margin was 40 votes out of 2,036. On August 2, a month after he took office, 22 blocks along Portland's waterfront, near SW Alder Street, burned in the largest fire in Portland history. Failing was criticized for his response to the fire, but public opposition to several of his ordinances was considered the reason for his loss in his final reelection campaign for mayor in 1875.
After retiring from professional politics, Failing was appointed to Portland's water committee in 1886, and later served as its chairman. The committee purchased and enlarged the old water works, and developed plans for a new system of water supply.
Expanded career in banking and business
Following his second term as mayor, Failing returned his attention to business. The First National BankFirst National Bank (Portland, Oregon)
The First National Bank is a building located in downtown Portland, Oregon, listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
was the first bank established in Oregon (1866) under the National Banking Act
National Banking Act
The National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 were two United States federal laws that established a system of national charters for banks, and created the United States National Banking System. They encouraged development of a national currency backed by bank holdings of U.S...
, and for a number of years the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Failing and Henry Corbett purchased nearly all its stock in 1869, and Failing became the bank's president, retaining that title until his death. The bank prospered under their joint management, becoming one of the most successful banks in the northwestern United States
Northwestern United States
The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, to which part of southeast Alaska is also sometimes included...
. Failing maintained an interest in other business enterprises, and held valuable real estate both in and on the outskirts of Portland.
In 1871 Corbett joined the Failing family business, and two of Failing's younger brothers (Edward and James) later joined as well. The business was renamed to Corbett, Failing & Co. The business turned exclusively to wholesale merchandizing, and became the largest of its kind in the northwest. Also in the 1880s, Failing was among the key early investors in Henry Villard
Henry Villard
Henry Villard was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway....
's Portland Hotel
Portland Hotel
The Portland Hotel was a late-19th-century hotel in Portland, Oregon, United States that once occupied the city block on which Pioneer Courthouse Square now stands. It closed in 1951 after 61 years of operation.-History:...
.
Failing was elected director of Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (ORNC) in June 1888, along with Corbett, Henry Villard
Henry Villard
Henry Villard was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway....
, Christopher Meyer, John Hubert Hall
John Hubert Hall
John Hubert Hall was an American Republican politician from the US state of Oregon. He was Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in 1947, fourth in line to the governorship, when the governor, secretary of state, and senate president were all killed in a plane crash...
, Sidney Dillon
Sidney Dillon
Sidney Dillon , an America railroad executive and one the nations premier railroad builders.-Biography:Dillon was born in Northampton, Fulton County, New York...
, Charles S. Colby
Charles Carroll Colby
Charles Carroll Colby, was a Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician.He was born in Derby, Vermont in 1827, the son of Moses French Colby, and came to Stanstead, Quebec with his family in 1832. He studied at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He studied law, was called to the Quebec bar in...
, Colgate Hoyt
Colgate Hoyt
Colgate Hoyt was an American businessman active in the late nineteenth century. He was a director of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, and one of the founders of Everett, Washington, where a main street is named after him. He was a New York investment banker who was the partner of Joseph...
, C. H. Lewis, W. S. Ladd
William S. Ladd
William Sargent Ladd was an American politician and businessman in Oregon. He twice served as Portland, Oregon’s mayor in the 1850s. A native of Vermont, he was a prominent figure in the early development of Portland, and co-founded the first bank in the state in 1859...
, Cyrus A. Dolph
Cyrus A. Dolph
Cyrus Abda Dolph was a businessman in Portland, Oregon, United States. He was a promoter and counselor of various financial and railway enterprises of the Pacific Northwest of the United States....
, W. H. Holcomb, and S. B. Wiley. Contemporary elections for the Oregon and Transcontinental and the Northern Pacific Terminal Company installed many of the same men on the boards of those companies as well. The elections were understood to signal no change at ORNC, underscoring their intent to extend the Farmington Line
Farmington, Washington
Farmington is a town in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 146 at the 2010 census.-History:Farmington was first settled in 1871, and was founded and named by G.W.Truax in 1878. Farmington was officially incorporated in 1888. At Farmington's peak the town boasted a...
to the Coeur D'Alene Mines
Coeur d'Alene miners' dispute
There were two related incidents between miners and mine owners in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of North Idaho: the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor strike of 1892, and the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor confrontation of 1899. This article is a brief overview of both events.The strike of 1892 had its...
, and were viewed as a defeat of Villard and his initiative to jointly lease property of the Northern Pacific and the Union Pacific.
Later life and legacy
Both houses of the Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon 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...
endorsed Failing to succeed William Windom
William Windom
This page is about the former United States politician. William Windom was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 to 1883...
as the United States Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
in 1891. President Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
, however, appointed Charles Foster, a former Governor of Ohio, to the post.
Failing served as a regent of the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
, a trustee and treasurer of Pacific University
Pacific University
Pacific University is a private university located in Oregon, United States. The first campus began more than 160 years ago and is located about 38 km west of Portland in Forest Grove...
, president (and benefactor) of the Portland Library Association, treasurer of the Portland Children's Home, and a founder of Riverside Cemetery
Riverside Cemetery
Riverside Cemetery may refer to:in the United States* Riverside Cemetery , the original name of the Evergreen Cemetery in Riverside, California.* Riverside Cemetery , listed on the NRHP in Colorado...
. Henry Failing died on November 8, 1898. Failing Street in Northeast Portland carries the family's name.