Carey, Charles Henry.  "History of Oregon." Vol. 3. Chicago-Portland: Pioneer
Historical Pub. Co., 1922.  p. 120.

FRANK EDMOND WATKINS 

	Frank Edmond Watkins has won distinction in many lines of endeavor. Since
1900 he has been a partner in the real estate firm of Parrish, Watkins &
Company, which was established in Portland in 1867 under the style of Parrish &
Atkinson. It is the oldest enterprise of that character in the city and through
the years that have since intervened the firm has maintained a position of
leadership in real estate circles of Portland. Mr. Watkins has attained high
rank in Masonry, is also prominent in amateur athletic circles and as a breeder
and fancier of prize-winning bull terriers.
	A son of George Edmond and Olive (Clay) Watkins, Frank E. Watkins was born
on his lather's farm in Wasco county, Oregon, on the 20th of September, 1877.
His paternal grandfather, George Watkins, married Helen Caldwell, of St. Louis,
Missouri and the town of Watkinsville, New York, was named in his honor. They
became pioneer settlers of Oregon, starting across the plains with ox teams from
St. Louis in 1852, when the father was but seven years of age. In the maternal
line the family has had an unbroken record since 1682, when Christopher Pennock
settled in Pennsylvania.  The maternal grandfather, Oliver Clay, was a resident
of Massillon, Ohio. He married Jane Elliot of Randolph, Ohio, and in 1859, when
his daughter Olive, who became the mother of Frank Edmond Watkins, was four
years of age they left Massillon for Oregon, rounding the Horn in a sailing
vessel. George E. Watkins and Olive Clay were married in Portland on the 1st of
September, 1874, and they became the parents of three children, of whom the
firstborn, a son, died in infancy. The next in order of birth was Frank Edmond
of this review. Mrs. Grace W. Story, the youngest of the family, was born in
Portland, May 29, 1880, and is the mother of one son, George Watkins Story,
whose birth occurred on the 20th of August, 1908. Mr. Watkins' paternal aunt,
Sarah Jane Watkins, married Lewis Marion Parrish who also crossed the continent
with ox teams in 1852. In association with the late J. L. Atkinson he
established the first real estate, rental, insurance and mortgage loan business
in Portland in 1867, under the firm style of Parrish & Atkinson. This was
succeeded by the firm of Parrish, Watkins & Connell, which afterward became
known as Parrish & Watkins, and subsequently as Parrish, Watkins & Company,
under which style the business is now conducted by Frank E. Watkins of this
review.
	Upon his graduation from the Portland (now known as the Lincoln) high school
in the summer of 1894 Mr. Watkins first became identified with the firm of
Parrish & Watkins, which was composed of his uncle and father, being employed as
bookkeeper and collector. He had prepared to enter Stanford University, but
abandoned his college course to devote his attention to a commercial career. His
ready adaptability and keen discernment soon made him familiar with every phase
of the business and in 1900 he was admitted to a partnership, at which time the
firm name became Parrish, Watkins & Company, and under that style the business
has since been conducted. Lewis M. Parrish, the uncle of Frank E. Watkins,
passed away in February, 1908, and he and his father continued the business
together until the latter's demise on the 6th of April, 1916. Mr. Watkins has
since successfully managed the business, which during the fifty-four years of
its existence has ever maintained a foremost place among real estate firms of
Portland. In business matters his judgment has always been found to be sound and
reliable and his enterprise unfaltering and he is ably carrying forward the
interests entrusted to his care, proving a worthy successor to his honored
father.
	Mr. Wathins has been married twice. His first union was with Helen
Chambreau, whom he wedded on the 20th of September, 1898. His second union was
with Mabel Claire Hockman, whom he married on the 9th of July, 1920, and they
have a son, born May 18, 1921.
	Mr. Watkins has always voted the straight republican ticket and regards
Theodore Roosevelt as our greatest American, which opinion is shared by
thousands of others both in this country and abroad. He has been called to
public office, having served for four years, from July 1, 1909, to July 1, 1913,
as city councilman from the old fifth ward. He is an ardent motorist and good
roads advocate and for several years served on the board of trustees of the old
Portland Automobile Club and its successor, the present Oregon State Motor
Association, now acting as one of its directors, while during the years 1917 and
1918 he was president of the organization.
	He is prominent in the Masonic order, having served seven years in the blue
lodge chairs and is a past master of Harmony Lodge, No. 12, A. F. & A. M.. He is
also a member of Portland Chapter. No. 3, R. A. M.; of Washington Council, No.
3, R. & S. M.; Oregon Commandery, No. 1, K. T., of which he is a life member;
Oregon Consistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R., in which he has attained the
thirty-second degree; and Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also
connected with Myrtle Chapter, No. 15, 0. E. S.; GuI-Reazee Grotto, No. 65, M.
0. V. P. E. R.; Portland Lodge, No. 142, B. P. 0. E.; the Woodmen of the World;
the Royal Arcanum; and the Knights of The Maccabees.
	Mr. Watkins has been very prominent in amateur athletics as a member of
the famous Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club of Portland and in 1905 was presented
with the honorary life membership, being one of the very few of its members to
receive this mark of distinction, which is conferred in recognition of
distinguished services rendered the club as an athlete and in other connections.
He joined the club as a junior member in July, 1892, when the organization was
but a little over a year old and he has been a member of its track, baseball,
basket-ball and bowling teams. He was twice captain of its track and baseball
teams and has won many medals and trophies as a jumper, vaulter and handball
player. For three years he held the northwest championship handball title and
also defeated the best California players in their own courts two different
years. He has also won medals as a long distance swimmer and for a number of
years acted as swimming commissioner for the club, being largely responsible for
the development of its splendid team of men and women champion swimmers and
divers. For two years he has served as a member of the club's board of trustees
and is also a member of the Portland realty board.  Mr. Watkins is known all
over the United States as an amateur sportsman and dog breeder and fancier. A
few years ago he bred the winning strain of bull terriers that won many prizes
in the east and south and on one occasion one of his bull terriers won the
American championship at Philadelphia, defeating the best specimens of that
breed in the United States and Canada. For several years he was a member of the
board of trustees of the Portland Kennel Club and tor one year served as its
president.
	Mr. Watkins is also serving as chairman of the Portland Boxing Commission
which controls professional boxing in this city under the state law, having been
appointed to that position by Mayor George L. Baker when the law became
operative in May, 1919. He likewise acted as manager of boxing bouts for Mayor
Baker under the former city ordinance in 1917 and 1918 and during the recent
World war Mr. Watkins' boxing commission turned over as its earnings to the
Oregon Boys' Emergency Fund for disabled and dependent Oregon soldiers and their
families, about thirty-five hundred dollars. He enlisted in the Tanks Corps
during the war with Germany but was prevented from seeing active service, being
finally rejected at Fort Lawton on account of an old fracture of the elbow
received years before in an athletic contest. His has been a life of well
balanced activities, characterized by the attainment of a position of leadership
in every line of endeavor to which he has directed his attention. His record
measures up to the full standard of honorable manhood and those who know him
recognize in him a citizen whose loyalty to the public welfare has never been
questioned, while his integrity and honor in the private affairs of life are
matters familiar to all with whom he has been associated. Portland is fortunate
in numbering him among her citizens for he is a man who would be a valuable
acquisition to any community.


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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.