Gaston, Joseph.  "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912."  Vol. 4. 
Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 938.

HENRY TOHL

     In the history of commercial progress in Nehalem the name of Henry Tohl
figures conspicuously, for he has been prominently associated with mercantile
interests in the city for twenty-one years, building up a business of large and
profitable proportions, which is now being conducted under the firm name of Tohl
& Anderson.  The family name indicated his German nativity and ancestry. His
parents were Herman and Elizabeth (Linmeyer) Tohl, in whose family were seven
children, of whom five are yet living:  Herman, a resident of Nehalem; Henry, of
this review; Mary, the wife of Joseph Effenberger, of Nehalem; William; and
Anna, the wife of Andrew Kline, of Nehalem.  The father, Herman Tohl, died in
Nehalem in 1899.  The mother afterward lived with her son Henry until her death,
which occurred in 1907, when she had reached the ripe old age of eighty-three
years.
     Henry Tohl was reared in Germany and is indebted to the school system of
that country for the educational privileges which he enjoyed.  Habits of
industry and enterprise were acquired by him in youth and have constituted the
basis of his success.  The tales which he heard concerning the opportunities and
advantages of the new world led him to the determination to try his fortune on
this side of the Atlantic and, landing in New York, he made his way to
Pennsylvania, where he worked in a coal mine for some time.  He then resumed his
westward journey with Nebraska as his destination and was employed there at farm
labor for a period, but later rented land and thus began farming on his own
account.  He continued in Nebraska for about five years and in 1884 came to
Oregon, settling in the Willamette valley, where he spent one summer.  He then
came to Tillamook county, making his way direct to Nehalem, and taking up a
homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres about a mile and a half east of
the town.  Subsequently he sold that property and purchased a tract of land upon
which the town is now situated.  Outside of what has been sold to home builders
and speculators he still owns considerable more than one hundred acres.  He has
been closely associated with the business activity of this place in many ways
but is perhaps most widely known because of his commercial interests, having in
1890 established a general mercantile store, which has developed into an
extensive enterprise.  He carries a large and well selected line of goods and
his reasonable prices and honorable business methods have constituted the
salient features in winning for him a large patronage.  In January, 1910, he
sold a half interest in his business to A. C. Anderson and the store is now
conducted under the firm style of Tohl & Anderson.  In addition to what remains
of the farm which he purchased and upon which Nehalem has been built he also has
extensive other real-estate holdings in this section of the state and in placing
his investments has shown keen discrimination and sound judgment.
     Henry Tohl has ever been a stalwart republican and, although never an
aspirant to public office, has filled the position of road supervisor and was
postmaster for four years.  Whether in office or out of it he is always loyal in
matters of citizenship and faithful to any duty that devolves upon him in that
connection.  He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and has many friends both
within and without that order.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2006 by Diana Smith. Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.