november october prominent 19th century fruit merchant banker real estate investor portland oregon born germany emigrated north central family young man went west search gold starting successful fresh fruit business portland merchant invested real estate banking early railroad president board member city companies men named portland municipal water committee involved building projects downtown portland structures building served headquarters city government 1890s listed national_register_of_historic_places portland vancouver railway financed partly ran east northeast portland named married fathered children president imported oregon german suffering great financial loss died early life born germany november brother sisters emigrated united_states settle farm near belleville illinois family later moved missouri parents died serving apprentice friend went gold california idaho settling portland fruit real estate men established fruit store prospered quarter century downtown portland wealth largest wholesale fresh fruit business northwest joined real estate early 1860s large holdings included buildings bore financed city expensive building time known portland historian wrote interesting noteworthy fact connected construction building washington street projects included large brick building street commercial blocks building building southwest corner stories high built entirely oregon materials cost dollars stories structure rough cut sandstone floors red brick floral designs decorative openings sort earlier eras pouring pitch dropping rocks attackers appear building years starting portland government headquartered structure temporarily dubbed council building exterior renovated interior opened nearby hamilton building 1990s building added national_register_of_historic_places old town historic district banks companies helped establish named president succeeding helped organize served president banks occupied building overlapping directors including thompson times president oregon land investment company portland men named empowered acquire operate municipal water system city portland vancouver railway built narrow gauge railway portland vancouver railway began separate city went north separate city way south end steam railway east end stark street ferry portland north end line landing columbia served ferries traveling oregon vancouver washington durham oregon land development company invested developing near railroad railway route ran initially virgin timber scattered especially north country primitive broad columbia reached land near river subject annual flooding northernmost feet line elevated line sold switched bigger gauge match tracks began railway family interests married children portland lived story house built tract later defined northwest 13th 14th avenues morrison streets time outside city house featured corners bay entrance porch arched windows sun room south died president contributed money import german song birds including oregon according report society brought total german birds oregon times released wild mainly portland parks birds early survived years accounts eventually disappeared president death legacy panic banks failed barely survived portland historian writes portland banker suffered heaviest loss died partially strain depression help managed salvage wreckage leave estate million largely downtown real estate railway holdings collapsed thompson president savings bank sold bank stocks appointment american minister turkey return appointed receiver bank bought bank january died october year buried lone fir cemetery southeast portland portland neighborhood named
Frank Dekum