Lockley, Fred. "History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the Sea." Vol. 3. S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928. p. 517. DAVID CLARK PELTON There was a, long period in which the Pacific northwest was regarded as unfit for agricultural and horticultural interests, but it offered a wonderful field to the lumberman. Its great forests, with trees towering one hundred, two hundred or three hundred left, stretched away mile after mile and it must have been with an intense thrill that an experienced lumberman of the east looked upon such a sight. That thrill must have come to David Clark Pelton, who after operating extensively in connection with the lumber industry in Michigan came to Oregon. The story of his life is a most interesting one. He was born in Lagrange, Ohio, April 16, 1837, and there pursued his education but in young manhood went to Michigan, where he followed various activities for a time but finally concentrated his interest, attention and activities upon the lumber industry, which thereafter he made his life work. He acquainted himself with every phase of the business and in 1861 he located at Racine, Wisconsin, where he was interested in the shingle industry. Transportation is always of vital importance to the lumberman who must get his products to market, and it was therefore a logical step when Mr. Pelton became interested in navigation in Wisconsin. With notable thoroughness he mastered every phase of the lumber business, gaining a knowledge that constituted the foundation of further success in his extensive operations in Oregon. Ay the forests of Michigan were cut over he sought new fields and in 1891 was attracted by the great timber districts of the northwest. Establishing his home in Portland, he soon formed a partnership with John E. Yeon and this firm became one of the largest logging concerns in the northwest, meeting with notable success in its operations. Mr. Pelton also had many other interests and took a leading part in the organization of the Lumbermen's National Bank of Portland, of which he became the first president. In 1856, Mr. Pelton was married to Miss Ellen Williams, who was born in Unity, Maine, November 23, 1833, and in November, 1927, celebrated her ninety-fourth birthday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. William Reid, in Portland. In early life she engaged in teaching school and has ever been a woman of intellectual force, keeping in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress. She has been especially active as a member of and worker in the Methodist church and even at her advanced age attends church services. Recently she interested herself in the building of the Community House and contributed liberally thereto, furnishing a complete parlor unit. As prosperity attended her husband and brought to her liberal financial resources she has given of her means most generously to advance church work and to support worthy projects for the uplift of her fellowmen. She was called upon to mourn the loss of her husband, October 12, 1912. While Mr. Pelton was not an Oregon pioneer, there are few names more closely and prominently identified with the lumber development of the northwest than his and as a business man he figured prominently in Portland's circles for more than a decade. His resourcefulness and enterprise in the field of commerce were widely recognized, while all who knew him bear testimony to the sterling traits of his character. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2012 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.