Lockley, Fred. "History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the Sea." Vol. 2. S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928. p. 286. JOSEPH E. HEDGES A successful attorney with a background of thirty-five years of professional experience, Joseph E. Hedges is accorded a position of prominence in legal circles of Oregon City and at one time was a member of the state senate, also taking a leading part in community affairs. His ancestors were among the early settlers of Virginia and subsequently migrated to Ohio. A native of Oregon, he was born June 2, 1864, in Canemah, which was founded in 1845 by his uncle, Absalom F. Hedges, who was a native of Ohio, born October 13, 1817, and crossed the plains to Oregon in 1844. In 1847 he married Elizabeth Jane Barlow, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Samuel K. Barlow, who came to Oregon with the pioneers of 1845. Absalom F. Hedges was one of the early navigators of the Willamette river and with the assistance of Captain Charles Bennett, Alanson Beers, Hamilton Campbell and John McClosky built the steamer Canemah in 1851, purchasing the equipment in the east. The vessel was made for service on the upper Willamette and in length was one hundred and thirty-five feet. It had four feet of hold and the beam measured nineteen feet. Captain Bennett, part owner of the boat, was killed during one of Oregon's early Indian wars. He was captain of the Oregon Mounted Riflemen, an organization formed in the spring of 1846 at the home of David Waldo. Alanson Beers was a blacksmith who came to Oregon in May, 1837, as an employe of the Methodist mission. Two of his sons, William and Jonathan, now live at Canemah. Hamilton Campbell was also a member of the Methodist mission party and was one of the partners in the Oregon City mint which issued the beaver five-dollar and ten-dollar gold pieces. His daughter, Mrs. Marie Campbell-Smith, was the first white girl born in Salem, Oregon, and now lives in Portland. John McClosky was an old-time Mississippi river pilot. The steamer Canemah was the first traveling post office in Oregon. Nathaniel Coe was sent out from New York as postal agent for the Pacific coast. His office and headquarters were aboard the Canemah and he sorted the mails for the various communities in Oregon as the steamer plied the waters of the upper Willamette. All three of his sons, Lawrence, Frank and Henry, became steamboat men. The Canemah was a side-wheeler with a bluff bow and a square stern. Her owners were awarded the contract to carry the mail between Oregon City and Corvallis. In the spring of 1856 J. C. Avery & Company at Corvallis shipped most of the wheat raised in that part of Benton county to Oregon City, paying twenty cents a bushel as a freight charge for its transportation on the Canemah. In the summer of 1853, when the boat was near Champoeg, one of the flues exploded, causing the death of Marian Holcroft, a passenger. The following year the Canemah was purchased by Captain Ainsworth, Cole, Switzer and Pease. Theodore Wygant, formerly purser, was made captain of the steamer, which he operated during 1852 and 1853, when George E. Cole took command. Captain Absalom F. Hedges went east in 1849 with a satchel full of five and ten-dollar beaver gold pieces and with these he bought the machinery for the Canemah. In 1855 he was enlisting officer for volunteers in the Indian war and in 1857 represented Clackamas county in the state constitutional convention, held at Salem. He was also a member of the last territorial legislature, serving during the session of 1858-59. In 1867 he was one of the incorporators of the East Side Railroad, known as the Oregon Central line, and was also an agriculturist, developing a donation claim in the vicinity of Canemah. In 1872 he was elected sheriff of Clackamas county and served for two years. Captain Hedges belonged to that class of men who are essential to the development of a new country and his death on March 6, 1890, deprived Oregon of one of its most useful citizens. His brother, Joseph Hedges, the father of Joseph E. Hedges, was born December 26, 1827, about ten miles from McConnelsville, in Morgan county, Ohio, and attended the public schools of that locality. In the Buckeye state he followed the occupation of farming until 185-2, when he started for Oregon, traveling in a covered wagon drawn by oxen. His interest in the Columbia River Valley had been aroused by his brother Absalom, whom he visited in Canemah. He became well known as a carpenter and builder and when the locks around the falls at Oregon City were constructed, he acted as foreman, having charge of all the woodwork. Soon after his arrival in Clackamas county Mr. Hedges married Miss Ellen Judith Alien, whose father was one of the early physicians of this part of the state, and they became the parents of nine children, all of whom were born in this county. The eldest, Mary A., is the widow of James A. Jacobs and lives in St. John, Whitman county, Washington; John Byron, who was treasurer of Pierce county, Washington, and also filled other public offices in a thoroughly acceptable manner, was called to his final rest in 1890. Elizabeth Alice became the wife of T. M. Long and is also deceased; William Alien lives near Barlow, in Clackamas county; Arthur Edwin, died in infancy; Joseph E. is the next of the family; Francis Royal, the seventh in order of birth, was drowned in the locks at Oregon City about 1907; Gilbert Lawrence, a well known lawyer of Oregon City, is represented elsewhere in this volume; and Frederick Roscoe is classed with the leading physicians and surgeons of Everett, Washington. During his boyhood Joseph E. Hedges attended the public schools of Oregon City, walking the entire distance, and also pursued his studies in Canemah. In the fall of 1881 his father asked him if he wished to take a course in the Bishop Scott grammar school in Portland and after paying a visit to the institution he enrolled as one of its pupils. About a year later he was appointed junior master and for four and a half years was an instructor in the Bishop Scott school, devoting his leisure hours to the reading of law books. During that time he met several Yale men and as a result of these associations matriculated in that university in 1887. He was graduated with the class of 1891, returning to Portland for further study, and in 1892 was admitted to the bar. For a year he practiced with Johnson & Idleman, Portland attorneys, and then became associated with Mark O'Neil and R. W. Thompson, as junior member of the firm. In 1895 they decided to broaden the scope of their activities and Mr. Hedges spent a portion of each week in attending to the business in Oregon City and Portland. The partners separated in 1896, the firm of O'Neil & Thompson remaining in Portland, and that of Hedges & Griffith took over the Oregon City office. The business in Oregon City enjoyed a steady growth and was conducted by the firm of Hedges & Griffith until 1908, when the junior partner returned to Portland. Mr. Hedges has since practiced alone, handling much important litigation, and has won many verdicts favorable to the interests of his clients. He is well versed in the minutiae of the law and his ability is manifest in the logic of his deductions and the clearness of his reasoning. Mr. Hedges was married at Seattle, Washington, in 1894, to Miss Lillian Bray, a native of East Portland and a daughter of Charles E. and Rebecca T. (White) Bray. The last named was a daughter of Judge W. L. White, who served as county judge of Clackamas county. Mr. Bray represented an old family of Philadelphia and during the Civil war was a drummer boy in the Union Army. He was a thorough musician and a well known orchestra leader during the early years of Portland's history. Mr. and Mrs. Hedges became the parents of four children. Their first born, Joseph Charles, who was attending the University of Oregon during the World war, enlisted in the United States Army, was assigned to duty with the ordnance department and spent twenty-two months in France, his commanding officer being Captain Jack Kearney, of Portland. After the armistice was signed he was sent to the University of Paris, which he attended until ordered home. Through credits from the University of Paris he won the A. B. degree from the University of Oregon and next matriculated in Yale University, from which he received the degree of LL. B. in 1923. He was licensed to practice in Oregon in 1923 and in 1924 was admitted to the Washington bar. While in Seattle he entered the office of Huffer, Hayden & Bucey and was connected with that law firm for about two years. He was identified with the Masonic order, the University Club of Seattle and Phi Gamma Delta, a college fraternity. In Portland he had met an attractive young woman, to whom he was later affianced, and in September, 1925, started for the Rose city in an automobile, being accompanied by a friend. When descending a steep hill near Olympia they saw a wagon approaching and behind it was a car. The road was narrow at that point and in passing they grazed the wagon in their efforts to avoid a serious accident. Mr. Hedges went back to ask if he could render any assistance to the wagon driver, by whom he was shot in the head, and died October 3, 1925. It was afterward ascertained that the man was a criminal, fleeing from justice. Mr. Hedges was a young man of exceptional worth and his untimely death was a great shock to his family and friends. The other children are: Dorothy Allen, at home; Dwight Sumner, a member of the class of June, 1928, of the University of Oregon; and Janice Mary, who is pursuing her studies at St. Helen's Hall in Portland and will also graduate in June, 1928. Mr. Hedges is a Mason and has held several offices in Multnomah Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M, For two terms he was high priest of Clackamas Chapter, No. 2, R. A, M., and is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His wife and daughter Dorothy are affiliated with the Eastern Star and the Daughters of the American Revolution and the mother also belongs to the Derthic Club. Mr. Hedges is a Kiwanian, a nonresident member of the University Clubs of Portland and Seattle, and is also identified with the Oregon City Chamber of Commerce and the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, which he joined while attending Yale University. In politics he is a strong democrat and in 1906 was elected state senator, serving for one term. An ardent champion of the cause of education, he acts as secretary of the state board of higher curricula and for seventeen years has been a member of the school board of this district. For the same length of time he has been secretary of the water board and lends the weight of his support to all worthy public measures, manifesting an unselfish spirit of devotion to the general good. A lifelong resident of Oregon, Mr. Hedges is largely familiar with the history of the state and remembers the time when the locks were built at Oregon City and the Southern Pacific Railroad was extended through this region. Even in the early days Canemah was a busy place and handled considerable freight, owing to its shipping facilities. Mr, Hedges has clearly demonstrated his worth as a citizen and measures up to high standards in every relation of life. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in August 2010 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.