"Portrait & Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Chapman 
Publishing Company, 1903. p. 798.
 
FREDERICK W. WILL

     A hostelry in Aurora to which weary and travel-stained tourists are glad to
repair, is that owned and managed by Fred W. Will, a native son of Oregon, and
who was born in Portland, January 29, 1875. Like many of the present population
of the town, Mr. Will owes his principal interest here to his father's pioneer
association with the sister colony of Bethel, Shelby county, Mo., from which he
emigrated with the other colonists in 1863.  The elder Will was born in the
Bethel colony, and after crossing the plains and locating in Aurora, took up his
residence for a time in Portland, where he followed his trade as a wood-turner.
In 1883 he again became a citizen of Aurora, and in partnership with A. Kocher,
started a general merchandise store. This was a comparatively short-lived
venture, for at the end of a year he bought out his partner and ran the business
alone until disposing of it to his son, Allen H. Will, in 1902. He married
Henrietta Miller, who was born in Missouri, and who came to Oregon in 1865,
settling with her parents in Aurora. Of the eight children born of this union
three are deceased, Frederick W. being the oldest of the three sons and two
daughters now  living.
     After completing his education in the public schools of Portland, and
graduating from the Portland Business College in 1901, Frederick W. Will engaged
in the general merchandise business at Needy, Ore., for six months, selling out
at that time to his partner, In Aurora he afterward worked for his father in the
general merchandise store, and in January, 1902, bought the hotel which has
since been his greatest care. A bar is maintained in connection with the hotel,
and the appointments of the entire enterprise are modern, and in accord with
successful entertainment of the traveling public. Mr. Will has identified
himself with important affairs in Aurora, and that he has served as city
treasurer argues that his standing in the community is an honorable and worthy
one. He is a Republican in politics, and fraternally is a member of Hermes
Lodge, No. 56, Knights of Pythias.
     In Needy, Ore., December 25, 1900, Mr. Will married Lettie M. Thompson, who
was born in Missouri, and whose father, William Thompson, is an old settler and
prominent farmer near Needy. Mr. Will is energetic and prosperous, and his
natural qualifications of tact, good nature and knowledge of human nature, are
such as are most required of the up-to-date hotel man.


     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in July 2007 by Diana Smith. Submitter has
no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.