Gaston, Joseph.  "Portland, Oregon Its History and Builders."  Vol. 2. 
Chicago and Portland, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911. p. 302.
 
JOHN E. MAGERS

     John E. Magers, successfully engaged in the practice of law in Portland
since September, 1898, was born near Beverly, Morgan county, Ohio, September 25,
1847. His parents, William B. and Mary J. Magers, crossed the plains with ox
teams in 1852, leaving their Ohio home in March and arriving in Oregon City in
September. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom John E. Magers is
the eldest. The father, a physician by profession, practiced for three years in
Oregon City, in partnership with Dr. Barclay, and then removed to Corvallis, in
1855. He there entered into partnership with Dr. R. C. Hill, the father of W.
Lain Hill, but in 1858 removed to Marion county and purchased a farm upon which
the town of Woodburn is now located. Taking up his abode thereon he continued in
the practice of medicine and surgery in Polk and Marion counties until his death
in 1889. He was one of the best known pioneer physicians in the state, his
ability winning wide recognition and large practice, which grew with the
development of the district. He was moreover a man of wide general information
and scholarly attainment, known for his ability in debate and his deep interest
in the intellectual and religious development of the communities in which he
lived. In the early years he went for recreation to Wilhoit Springs, Marion
county, on the 4th of July, but on arriving there found that neither the speaker
of the day nor the man who was to read the Declaration of Independence had
arrived. Dr. Magers was then called upon to read the Declaration and as the
orator of the day was still absent when he concluded the reading, he was
prevailed upon to speak to the large assemblage. He spoke for an hour and a half
with much force, holding the undivided attention of his audience. He was a keen
observer and a wide reader, and drawing from his rich fund of knowledge and
information could speak entertainingly and instructively upon almost any
subject. His wife, surviving him for a number of years, died in Salem in March,
1907, at the age of seventy-nine years. Nine of their thirteen children are
still living.
     After attending the common schools of Oregon John E. Magers continued his
education in Willamette University at Salem, lacking three months of completing
the scientific course there. He devoted a portion of his early manhood to school
teaching, and for five years was thus connected with the common schools of
Oregon. He afterward spent three years as professor of mathematics in
McMinnville College, beginning in September, 1874, and was acting president of
that institution during the last year of his connection therewith.  In his
youthful days he had been trained to the work of the farm, and when there was no
work to do he devoted his time to hunting and fishing. He could never idle time
away around the house or town, and it has ever been characteristic of him that
he must be busily employed. Owing to the fact that his father's family was very
large, and the income hardly adequate for the support of so many, be began
earning his living when eleven years of age, and has since been dependent upon
his own labors and resources. He managed to obtain his education by working in
the summer months and then attending school in the winter seasons, walking from
two to two and a half miles to school. As soon as he was able to teach he took
charge of summer schools and continued his studies in the winter. He never
formed the habit of using tobacco and liquors and hence his earnings went only
for necessities. While he proved a capable educator he regarded the profession
of teaching merely as an initial step to other professional labors and as soon
as he saw his way clear he entered the law department of the Michigan
University, from which he was graduated in April 1879. In 1878 he was elected
president of the law classes and served as such for nine months, although the
usual term of office is six months. He was a college hero because of his prowess
in athletic sports, throwing down the best wrestler in four thousand students in
Michigan University. He took active interest in other lines as well and was
elected vice president of the Students Temperance Society, Dr. Olney, professor
of mathematics in the university being president.
     Following his graduation Judge Magers entered upon the practice of law in
Salem in May, 1879, and the following year removed to Yamhill county where he
formed a partnership with the Hon. W. D. Fenton. Later he became a partner of
James McCain, one of the best known lawyers in this state, and the association
was maintained until 1894, at which time Mr. Magers was elected county judge of
Yamhill county, while Mr. McCain was elected district attorney for the third
judicial district. He retired from the bench with the confidence and good will
of the public and the high esteem of the practicing members of the bar who
greatly appreciated his thoughtful consideration and courtesy as well as admired
the justice and impartiality of his rulings. At the conclusion of his term he
removed to Portland in September, 1898, and for twelve years has continued in
the practice of law in this city, being accorded a large and distinctively
representative clientage.
     Judge Magers has been called to serve in various public relations and
positions of trust Aside from his four years' incumbency on the county bench of
Yamhill county, he was president of the Board of Trade of McMinnville for
several years. In May, 1880, he was elected a trustee of McMinnville College,
and has so continued to the present time, covering a period of thirty years,
being now the senior member of the board in years and continuous association
with the office. Always a stalwart republican in his political views, he was a
member of the republican county central committee of Yamhill county for more
than eighteen years and for fourteen years of that time was chairman and acted
as president at nearly all of the county conventions through that period. Since
1882 he has been a delegate to every republican state convention and also from
that date to the present has spoken in behalf of the party in their elections,
giving from one to three weeks to campaign work. He has made a close, careful
and discriminating study of the political history of the United States, has a
firm belief in the value and efficacy of republican principles, and because of
this has greatly enjoyed his labors in behalf of the party. He served as the
first president of the Union Republican Club of Portland and continued in the
office for a year. Judge Magers has also been honored with the presidency of the
Oregon State Pioneer Association, to which position he was elected in June,
1908, while for several years he was one of its directors. In 1882 he was made a
Mason and has twice served as master of his lodge. He also belongs to the Royal
Arch chapter, in which he has served as king and high priest He has never
faltered in his allegiance to the temperance cause and in early life was an
active Good Templar and was elected by the grand lodge of the state as a
delegate to the right worthy grand lodge of the world at Portland, Maine, in
1877. In 1888 he was elected a delegate to the same lodge at Minneapolis,
Minnesota, and attended both occasions. Since 1874 he has been a member of the
Missionary Baptist church and at the present time his membership is in the East
Side Baptist church at East Twentieth and Ankeny streets.
     Judge Magers was married in McMinnville, Oregon, on the 14th of October,
1879, to Miss D. E. Shrader, a step-daughter of the Hon. Henry Warren, of that
place, who at one time was sheriff of Yamhill county, receiver of the United
States land office of Oregon, and state senator. He was also a candidate for
congress against Hon. Lafayette Lane in the early '8os, and was defeated by a
small majority, owing to the fact that there was a temperance candidate in the
field which cut down the republican vote. Judge and Mrs. Magers have become the
parents of two daughters, Fleta L., who was married November 23, 1910, to George
L. Roth, of Ohio; and Veva I., at home.
     Judge Magers is not only recognized as one of the able lawyers of the
Portland bar but as a man of broad general information and culture with whom
association means expansion and elevation. His reading has been of a wide and
varied nature and his research has been most thorough. From early childhood he
was considered a good reader and had completed the fifth reader when but eight
years of age. He has been called upon to read the Declaration of Independence at
seven different celebrations of the 4th of July. When he was twenty-one years of
age he committed this to memory and has never forgotten it. The fact of having
heard the Declaration poorly read on one occasion induced him to commit it, for
he determined that if he should ever be asked to read it he would at least be so
familiar with it as to be able to read it well. He has a very retentive memory
and a splendidly modulated and musical voice which have been effective agencies
in his public speaking, and combined with the depth of his subject thought, have
enabled him at all times to hold the attention of his auditors.
 

*******************

Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in March 2008 by Diana Smith. Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.