"Portland The Rose City, Pictorial and Biographical." Vol. 2. S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911. p. 150. HON. JAMES E. HASELTINE visited Oregon for the first time in 1878 but did not become a permanent resident until 1882. Since that time however has been most actively interested in the promotion and conduct of important business interests in his city which have contributed in substantial measure to its upbuilding and improvement. His name has long been an honored one on commercial paper and he has left the impress of his individuality on the mercantile, financial and political history, many lines of activity being stimulated through his efforts, his sound judgment and his carefully formulated plans. In all of these the public has been either a direct or indirect beneficiary. Mr. Haseltine's present place of residence is far separated from the place of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 30, 1833. His grandfather on the maternal side was one of the committee to wait on General Washington, when he visited Portsmouth. The family Haseltine, was founded on American soil during the early colonization of the new world by two brothers, Robert and John Haseltine, who were of the party of about sixty families that crossed the ocean with the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers. They landed a Salem, Massachusetts, and became the first settlers of the present town of Bradford. Investigation into ancient records brings to light the fact that the name was originally Hazelden, from "hazel," a tree or shrub, and "den," a valley, the whole meaning "the valley where the hazels grew." To this day the name is frequently heard in Devonshire and Yorkshire, England. Descendants of Robert and John Haseltine became residents of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, later of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. The brothers themselves, did not remain permanently at Bradford, for John Haseltine removed to Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Robert secured land near him. The large tract they owned became known as Haseltine's Meadow and is so styled at the present day. A contemporary biographer has given the following record of the genealogy. "In descent from Robert the generations in America have been Abraham (2), Richard (3), James (4), James (5), Daniel (6) and James Edwin (7), the last named therefore representing the seventh generation of the family in America. "Abraham Haseltine, who made his home at Bradford and served as town clerk, married Elizabeth Longhome, and their son, Richard, was born in Bradford, November 13, 1679. The latter became one of the original proprietors of Chester, New Hampshire. By his marriage to Abigail Chadwick he had a son, James, born July 2, 1719, and deceased November 3, 1803. The first wife of James Haseltine was Rebecca Mulliken and his second marriage was to Hannah Kimball. By his second wife he had a son, James, born April 2, 1766, and deceased April 23, 1849. During the latter part of his life he cultivated a farm at Pembroke, New Hampshire. His wife was Susannah Gordon, who was born in Salem and died at Pembroke, New Hampshire, January 21, 1857, when eighty-four years of age. Their son Daniel, was born at Haverhill, November 13, 1795, and died June 30, 1852. The wife of Daniel was Mary Elizabeth Hill, who was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 9, 1800, and died at Portland, Maine, September 3, 1852. Her father Elisha Hill, a blacksmith by trade, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, January 9, 1777, of English descent, and died May 23, 1853. His wife bore the maiden name of Phoebe Jenkins. "During the war of 1812 Daniel Haseltine was summoned, and one of the valued possessions of his son, James Edwin, is a military order for inspection issued during that war, when he enrolled as a soldier in the Fifth Company, First New Hampshire Infantry. For some years after the war he followed contracting and mason work in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but about 1835 removed to New York city, where he built the lighthouse on Robbins Reef, New York harbor, also the custom house at Newburyport, Massachusetts, which is still standing; and the Dutch Reformed church on Lafayette place. The family returned to New Hampshire in 1842 and settled at Pembroke, and ten years later removed to Portland, Maine. During that same year (1852) he was engaged in building stone wharves in Panama. The work completed, he started home in July, but died on shipboard of the cholera and was buried at sea, off Sandy Key, Florida. In his family there were the following children: Mrs. Caroline Elizabeth Bingham, who is eighty years of age and makes her home in Minneapolis, Minnesota; George Hill, who died at ten years of age; Daniel Barker, an engineer and inventor, who died at Charleston, South Carolina; Henry Hart, who was connected with the public library in Brooklyn and died at the age of eighty years; Mrs. Anna Mary Curtis, of Fairfield, Maine; James Edwin, of Portland, Oregon; and Phoebe Eliza, of Fairfield, Maine. James E. Haseltine was only two years old when the family became residents of New York city, whence they removed to Pembroke, New Hampshire, and in 1852 became residents of Portland, Maine. He improved the educational advantages offered in the different places and, ambitious to progress along intellectual lines, he swept the floors and acted as janitor in order to assist in defraying his expenses at Pembroke Academy. From the age of ten years he had at least partially provided for his own support, for at that time he began work on a New Hampshire farm. He early learned lessons of self-reliance and independence, which have constituted the foundation upon which his later advancement has been built. He has never faltered in the pursuit of a course which he has marked out for himself and his energy and determination have enabled him to accomplish results where many a man of less resolute purpose would have failed. In 1847 he accepted a humble position in a shoe house at Portland, Maine, where he worked for his board, and six months later earned a little money by driving a team in Massachusetts. Returning on the expiration of that period to New Hampshire, he engaged in farm labor for a time but in 1852 began clerking in a wholesale produce house in Portland. His identification with the hardware trade began two years later, when he entered a retail establishment of that character in Portland, there continuing until the 1st of January, 1856, when he became connected with a wholesale and retail iron store, of which he was head salesman for eleven years, finally retiring in order to engage in business on his own account. Laudable ambition, unfaltering industry and careful expenditure had brought him to the point where he believed that he could undertake the conduct of an enterprise of his own, which he did on the 1st of January, 1868. Ere eight months had passed, however, his former employer, Eben Corey, offered him a half interest in the business if he would return. He accepted the offer and was again connected with that house for eleven years. He was numbered among the prominent representatives of commercial life in that city and made for himself an honored name in business circles, yet by no means limited his efforts to trade but became an active factor in those projects which tend to promote moral progress and municipal virtue and which also uphold the political and legal status of a community. He was elected a member of the city council of Portland and while serving as its president was one of the committee to wait on President Grant when in November, 1871, he laid the corner stone of the Boston post-office and was delegated to bring the president from Boston to Portland, where he on one side and James G. Blaine on the other introduced him to some three or four thousand citizens of Portland. He also served on the school board, where he was associated with Thomas B. Reed, who was also his neighbor. Later he became one of the stanch advocates of Mr. Reed for congress and about 1898, when the renowned speaker of the house visited the west, he was entertained by Mr. Haseltine, who introduced him to the leading residents of this city at a reception held at the Hotel Portland. Mr. Haseltine was a member of the Board of Trade of Portland, Maine, and his efforts in behalf of church and kindred work were of far-reaching effect. He served as chairman of the international convention of the Young Men's Christian Association, the call for which he issued and which convened in July, 1869. He has been a member of the association from 1853, when he joined the Portland organization, which was the seventh of the kind in the United States. He served as president of that society and many years ago was made one of its life members. He held membership in the Chestnut Street Methodist Episcopal church and was associated with its various activities and with the work of the Sunday school, of which he served as superintendent. Mr. Haseltine was also identified with leading fraternities in Portland, Maine, including the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. In the former he attained high rank, not only becoming noble grand of the local lodge but also grand master of the Grand Lodge, grand patriarch of the Grand Encampment and is a past grand representative of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the United States. The scene of his labors changed entirely in 1878, when Mr. Heseltine sought the opportunities of the Pacific coast. In that year he visited Oregon but from 1879 until 1882 was engaged in mining in Fresno and Tuolumne counties of California. Following his removal to Portland he became interested in the heavy hardware business of E. J. Northrup & Company on the 1st of February, 1883, and when the senior partner was accidentally killed on the 9th of April of that year, Mr. Haseltine purchased an additional sixth interest in the business and thus became a half owner. The firm style of J. E. Haseltine & Company was then assumed and was continued until 1897, when the business was incorporated under that name, with Mr. Haseltine as president. For the further convenience of the business he erected the Haseltine block in 1892 at the corner of Pine and Second streets and now owns two hundred feet on Second, extending from Pine to Ash, the buildings constituting one of the most important business blocks in the city. The trade is principally wholesale, the territory covered including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and northern California. They also make a specialty of hardwood lumber and wagon materials and the product of the house is easily placed because of the well known business methods of the company, straightforward dealing, prompt execution of all orders and the excellence of the output being the salient features in the business. The block occupied by the company does by no means constitute the extent of Mr. Haseltine's investments in property. He is the owner of the wharf which bears his name and is situated between East Oak and East Pine streets. He has been the builder of much residence property and he owns a fruit farm at Vancouver, Washington. His financial interests are extensive, as represented in the stock of the United States National Bank, of which he was one of the organizers and became the first vice president. Moreover, Mr. Haseltine is interested in Ocean Park, Washington, becoming one of the promoters of that attractive resort. In 1883 its site was selected by a number of Methodists for a camp meeting ground but the property was afterward sold to business men, who have been interested in promoting the improvement of the grounds and adding to its attractions as an ocean resort. Wide shaded avenues extend in various directions from parks, where ample space is afforded for literary assemblies, religious meetings and athletic sports. Sea bathing, boating on the bay and fishing and hunting are also attractive features here. Something of Mr. Haseltine's standing in the business world is indicated by the fact that he was for three years vice president of the National Board of Trade, composed of representative business men from various parts of the country, and during his incumbency as the second officer the yearly meetings were held in Washington, D. C., and New Orleans. On the 30th of November, 1855, in Suncook, New Hampshire, Mr. Haseltine was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Knox, a native of Sanbornton, New Hampshire. Her birth occurred October 23, 1834, her father being Hillary Knox, also a native of Sanbornton, where he followed farming. His father, Daniel Knox, a native of Pembroke, New Hampshire, was a paymaster in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Haseltine is descended in the maternal line from Rev. John McClintock, who was chaplain in General Starks army at the battle of Bunker Hill. One of her ancestors, Andrew Knox, was a brother of John Knox, the famous religious reformer of Scotland. Eight children were born unto Mr. and Mrs. Haseltine: Edward Knox, who was born August 11, 1857, and engaged in business with his father until his death in 1897; Alice Louise, who was born December 2, 1860, and died two years later; James Ambrose, who was born January 5, 1865, and is vice president and manager for J. E. Haseltine & Company; Henry Alonzo, born December 3, 1867; Annie Mabel, who was born January 6, 1871, and was graduated from Wellesley College near Boston, Massachusetts; William Carl, who was born January 3, 1873, and is secretary of J. E. Haseltine & Company; Clarence Hill, who was born June 17, 1874, and died on the 5th of September following; Mary Elizabeth, who was born October 9, 1876, and is the wife of M. H. Schmeer, of Portland. After coming to the west Mr. Haseltine was soon recognized as a leader in republican ranks in this city and while his ambition has by no means been in the line of office holding, he was in 1896 elected a member of the state senate and served in the two regular sessions as well as the special session of 1898. During that period he was chairman of the Multnomah delegation and also of the committees on municipal corporations and horticulture. He received appointment from the governor as a commissioner to the Trans-Mississippi Exposition at Omaha and later became one of the most active factors in promoting the success of the Lewis and Clarke Exposition acting as a member of the advisory committee. He stands for all that is best and most progressive in community affairs, laboring earnestly and effectively to promote municipal progress. To this end he has cooperated with the organized movements of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, in which he holds membership. He has never ceased to feel the deepest interest in church work and became a charter member of the Grace Methodist Episcopal church, serving on its building committee at the time of the erection of the house of worship. He has also been superintendent of its Sunday school and a member of its board of trustees. No plan or movement for the benefit of the city along lines of progress or improvement seeks his aid in vain. The public work that he has done has largely been of a nature that has brought no pecuniary reward and yet has made extensive demand upon his time, his thought and his energies. Opportunities that others have passed heedlessly he has noted and improved to the betterment of the city and the state in many ways. He is extremely modest and unostentatious in manner but all who know him speak of him in terms of praise. In his life are the elements of greatness because of the use he has made of his talents and his opportunities, because his thoughts are not self-centered but are given to the mastery of life problems and the fulfillment of his duty as a man in his relations to his fellow-men and as a citizen in his relations to the city, state and country. Transcriber's additional notes: This same biography appears in the following book: "Portland The Rose City, Pictorial and Biographical" S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.; Various compilers; 1911 Vol. 2, Page 77 ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in February 2007 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.