"Portrait and Biographical Record of Portland and Vicinity, Oregon." Authors: "a
compilation of this work....by a number of writers".  Chapman Publishing Co;
Chicago, 1903. p. 247.
 
WILLIAM HENWOOD POPE

     During the early history of Massachusetts the Pope family became identified
with its growth and progress, and from that time to the present its
representatives have been citizens of sterling worth, contributing to the
welfare of the communities with which they have been associated. One of the
name, Seth Pope, left his plow to follow the fortunes of the patriots in the
Revolutionary war. A son of this Revolutionary soldier bore the name of Yet
Seth, and inherited his father's martial spirit, displaying patriotism and
courage during his service in the war of 1812. The third to bear the name of
Seth was born in Massachusetts in 1802, and, while no opportunity came to him to
serve his country in wars as his father and grandfather had done, he early
showed a love for scenes of adventure and excitement. As a boy he sailed the
high seas in the West India trade. For many years he was master of the Liverpool
packet, Zephyr, after which he made several trips to the Mediterranean, and
later owned a brig (operated by his brother) and a schooner (which he
commanded). When news came of the discovery of gold in California he at once
determined to follow the trend of emigration toward the setting sun. Disposing
of his schooner, in 1850 he sailed in his brig, Nonpareil, around the Horn and
up to San Francisco, where he engaged in the lumber business, having brought a
cargo of lumber with him. His brig sailed between Portland and San Francisco
until 1854, meantime carrying lumber and other cargo, but during the latter year
he sold the vessel in order to devote his attention to other affairs.
     Having become interested in a general mercantile trade with the Indians at
St. Helens, Ore.. in 1850, Captain Pope conducted this business until 1857, when
he bought one hundred and sixty acres of heavy timber land, four miles from St.
Helens. Out of the brush and forest he cleared a valuable farm, and the years
that followed were given to its improvement. In 1881 he retired from active
pursuits and removed to Portland, where he died in 1886, aged eighty-four years.
During his residence in Columbia county he served several terms as county judge,
but with this exception he adhered to his rule to devote himself to private
affairs rather than public matters. As a sea captain he was energetic,
resourceful, never discouraged and never overwhelmed by impending disaster. It
is said that during his entire seafaring life he never lost a ship, but the brig
which he brought to California, after having been sold to other parties and
fitted out as a whaling vessel, was lost on its first whaling expedition. He
married Mary Henwood, who was born on the Isle of Wight and died at Fairhaven,
Mass., when her younger son, William H. was a child of three years. Her father,
William Henwood, was a hotel man in East Cowes, Isle of Wight.
     Born April 11, 1839, William Henwood Pope passed his early years
principally in his native town of Fairhaven, though for a time he lived in New
Bedford, Mass. Much of his time was spent with an uncle, Ephraim Pope, a farmer
and deep water fisherman, who, in the absence of the boy's father, took a most
kindly interest in his welfare. Fair educational advantages were given him,
including a course of study in the Fairhaven public school, Woodbury College,
Fairhaven high school, and Perry's Business College in New Bedford. During the
fall of 1853 he sailed on the Eagle Wing around Cape Horn, reaching San
Francisco after a voyage of one hundred and five days. Several weeks were spent
in San Francisco, from which city he proceeded on the brig Clarendon to St.
Helens, Ore., joining his father and entering the store as a clerk. During the
Indian war of 1855-56 he served with the troops on guard duty, although not
regularly enlisted or mustered into the service. When Oregon was admitted into
the Union in 1859 he was clerking in the postoffice at St. Helens. In those days
mail was received via steamer once a week. The old ship, Columbia, sailed into
harbor and he at once received and opened the mail. The first news that greeted
his eyes was the action of congress in admitting Oregon as a state. Delighted
with the news, he uncovered and fired an old cannon, and the noise at once
brought the people of the town to the spot in order to ascertain the reason for
the celebration. Without doubt this was the first shot fired to celebrate the
admission of Oregon as a state.
     Going to Portland in 1859. Mr. Pope secured a clerkship. The following year
he went to Olympia, where he was deputy county recorder for about ten months.
From there he went to the Tulalip Indian reservation fifty miles north of
Seattle as clerk and interpreter, remaining there until December of 1861, when
he became clerk in a store in Vancouver, Wash. A year later he went to The
Dalles as clerk in a commission house. During 1863 he was appointed
quartermaster and station agent at the mouth of the Palouse river, but the
closing of the trail and the calling in of the soldiers, in November, 1863,
caused him to return to Vancouver. The next month he went to Olympia, crossing
the country on horseback. The day after his arrival the territorial legislature
opened and he was appointed assistant clerk of the house of representatives,
acting as such until the close of the session. His next venture was as a
prospector in the vicinity of Walla Walla, where he also conducted a hotel for
the administrator of an estate. After some time prospecting in the Cascade
range, in the spring of 1865 he began prospecting in the Coeur d'Alene mountains
during the first excitement of mining there.  Out of twenty-eight men who
started for these mountains, only seven remained and prospected, and these seven
endured every hardship and privation, finally returning to civilization almost
starved, and without the satisfaction of having even seen the color of gold. In
October of 1865 he tried his luck in the mines of Montana, where he remained a
year. The fall of 1866 found him at Pend Oreille lake, where he worked at
sawmilling and then as clerk in a store. During 1867 he went to Boise City,
Idaho, where, after six months as a clerk, he was appointed bookkeeper in the
Bank of Idaho. Six months later he was made manager of a branch bank at Idaho
City owned by the same company.  January I, 1874, he took charge of their Silver
City bank. which he opened, put in running order and then managed successfully.
On his return to San Francisco, in April, 1876, he embarked in the real estate
and commission business on Montgomery street. Two years later he removed to
Bodie, Cal., where he was manager of a banking house. Meantime he had not
forgotten his old love for the mines, and during March of 1881 he went to the
mines at Tombstone, Ariz., and those of Sonora, Mexico, where he was foreman and
bookkeeper of a group of mines and stamp mill. In 1882 he went to New Mexico and
three months later pursued his way to Denver, where he spent three months, from
there going to the Gunnison country of southwestern Colorado and engaging in
prospecting for two and one-half years. A later experience was that of clerk at
Crested Butte, Gunnison county. During 1886 he turned his attention to
prospecting on the Rio del Norte in the Continental Divide, after which he
returned to Denver and secured employment as a clerk. The year 1889 found him in
Pictou, Colo., where he ran a store for a year. Ten months were subsequently
spent at Ogden, Utah, in the real estate and commission business.
     On account of illness Mr. Pope left Ogden for San Francisco, and in 1891
came to Portland, but for some months afterward was too ill to engage in
business. As soon as he had regained his health he entered the county
commissioner office as accountant.  During the legislative session of 1895 the
office of county auditor was created and he was appointed by the county
commissioners as the first county auditor of Multnomah county, holding the
office until July 7, 1902, under appointment.  The legislature of 1901 made the
office elective instead of appointive, and he thereupon retired, since which
time he has acted as manufacturer's agent and also devoted some time to the
management of his farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Clackamas county, nine
miles from Portland.  His political affiliations are with the Republican party.
While in Pictou he served as postmaster and in other places acted as deputy
postmaster. About 1868 he was appointed inspector of internal revenue at Boise
City, which office he filled for a year. Among the organizations, with which he
is identified are the State Historical Society and the Oregon Pioneer
Association.


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