Clark, Robert Carlton, Ph.D. "History of the Willamette Valley Oregon." Vol. 2. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1927. p. 78. CHARLES A STEVENS Among the men who have helped to maintain the high standing of Cottage Grove as a business and industrial center is C. A. Stevens, president of the Cottage Grove Manufacturing Company, one of the substantial and prosperous concerns of this section of the Willamette Valley. Air. Stevens is a native of Oregon, having been born in Douglas county on the 23d of January, 1874, and is a son of John E. and Augusta E. (Madantz) Stevens, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Germany. The mother crossed the plains to this state in 1867, while John E. Stevens made the long overland trip to California in 1848, and in the following year came to Oregon, where he helped to build the Scottsburg and Roseburg military road. In 1852 he returned to California, where he remained until 1861, when he enlisted in the Union Army and served throughout the Civil war and for a couple of years afterward remained on military duty. He was detailed to escort the train in which his future wife came to Oregon, and they were married in Freeport, Washington. They spent their first winter in Portland, Oregon, and the following year were at Aurora. In 1869 they located in Douglas county, where the father took up a tract of government land, which he developed into a good farm, and there he and his wife spent their remaining years, the father dying in 1896 and the mother in 1926. C. A. Stevens secured his education in the public schools at Roseburg, Oregon, and also took a correspondence course in mechanical drawing. He taught school for five years and then turned his attention to the building and contracting business, having previously gained practical experience in a planing mill. Eventually he became the owner of a fine mill at Oakland, Oregon, but in 1917 sold his interests there and came to Cottage Grove, where, on June 1st, he bought the business of the Cottage Grove Manufacturing Company, with which he has been identified to the present time. This mill was established in 1885 by J. C. Stouffer and W. H. Abrams, later passed through various hands, and in 1917 became the property of Mr. Stevens, who is president of the company. In 1920 W. L. Hatch bought an interest in the business and is serving as vice president, while in August, 1924, L. C. Michener, who is the treasurer of the company, also bought an interest. H. C. Hatch is secretary. The property, which comprises thirty-eight thousand square feet, is eighty-one by two hundred and fifty feet in size, being one hundred and forty-seven feet wide at the rear, while the mill building, a part of which is of two stories, is one hundred by two hundred and twenty feet in size, containing thirty-five thousand square feet of floor space. The mill is equipped with up-to-date machinery and the product consists chiefly of general mill work and interior finish, but shingles and boxes are also being manufactured and the product is sold locally and in the neighboring counties. The company also does some building and contracting, when solicited, though it does not specialize in that business. From twelve to fifteen men are employed and the 1926 payroll amounted to approximately fifteen thousand dollars. Mr. Stevens has devoted himself closely to the operation of the business, in which he has shown sound judgment and executive ability. In 1905 Mr. Stevens married Allie Hamilton and they became the parents of a daughter, Mildred, who is the wife of Stephen Edwards, of Coburg, Oregon. On March 12, 1917, Mr. Stevens was united in marriage to Mrs. Clara Hilton, of Grass Valley, Oregon, who by a former marriage was the mother of a daughter, Naomi. Mr. Stevens is a republican in his political views and served seven years as a member of the city council at Oakland, Oregon. He is a member of all branches of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in all of which he has passed through the chairs. He belongs to the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce and has shown a fine cooperative spirit in all movements for the civic and commercial advancement of his community, of which he is regarded as a representative citizen. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in July 2016 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.