Jacob Kamm

Kamm was born on 12 December 1823, in Canton of Glarus, Switzerland.[1][2][3] His family migrated to America when he was 8 to Illinois, St. Louis and then New Orleans.[2][3][4] He worked as a printer's devil beginning at age 12.[5] A story repeated after Kamm's death was that a thief stole $12 from him in 1837, leading Kamm to work on a Mississippi steamer, the Ark, as a cabin boy.[3][4] Trained as an engineer on the Mississippi River, he was certified chief engineer with the St. Louis Association of Steamboat Engineers at age 25.[2] In 1849, he moved west with the California Gold Rush, piloting the Blackhawk, a steamer, on the Sacramento River.[2]

Kamm moved to Oregon in 1850 after being hired by the Milwaukie founder Lot Whitcomb onto his ship, The Lot Whitcomb, being the chief engineer on the Willamette River.[2][3][6] The Lot Whitcomb was launched on 25 December 1850.[3] Kamm and John C. Ainsworth joined with Abernathy and Clark, merchants from Oregon City, in 1854 or 1855 to build the Jenny Clark, a sternwheeler on the Willamette.[3][6] Kamm owned half of the Jenny Clark, Ainsworth owned a quarter, and Abernathy and Clark shared the remaining quarter.[6] They then built the Carrie Ladd steamer in 1858, called the "keystone of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company".[6]

He was a founder of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company in 1879 and a shareholder in the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company.[2][7] He built steamboats including in 1891, the Ocean Wave and in 1900, Athlon.[7] One of the companies he owned was the Vancouver Transportation Company.[7]

Kamm sold property to the city in about 1910 to construct Old Lincoln High School, currently known as Portland State University's Lincoln Hall.[8][9] His 1870s French Second Empire style home, the Jacob Kamm House was moved from its 14th and Main location in the 1950s to construct the current Lincoln High School.[2] This estate near 14th and Main contained 11 acres (45,000 m²).[2]

Kamm married Caroline Augusta Gray on 13 September 1859 during the Pig War, on the PS Eliza Anderson steamer just outside Fort Hope, Canada.[10][11][12] They had one son, Charles Tilton Kamm (1860-1906).[2][11][12][13] Kamm was a Mason, being inducted at age 21 in St. Louis.[2][14] In Portland, he was affiliated with the Multnomah Lodge in Oregon City, then the Willamette Lodge in Portland.[2] He was also a Knights Templar and a Shriner.[2]

Caroline Augusta Gray was born on 16 October 1840 at Camp Lapwai, outside Lewiston, Idaho.[11] Her father was William H. Gray.[11] She died in 1932.[5]

Kamm's grave at River View Cemetery, in Portland

In December 1907, Kamm was "run down by a reckless bicycle rider" in Portland.[15][16] Another report described the bicyclist as a "careless boy bicyclist"; Kamm was confined to his bed for many days.[17]

Kamm became ill on 1 December 1912, "being an invalid" since the 1907 bicycle wreck.[18][19] By December 13, The Oregonian reported he "may only live a few hours", stating his condition was "sinking rapidly".[18] The following day, he entered a coma and died.[2][20][14] He was buried at the River View Cemetery in Portland.[21][22]

At time of death, his estate was valued at approximately $4 million.[13][18][23][24] Aside from the Jacob Kamm home and property, he also owned a half-block building at Front and Pine, a quarter block at Third and Yamhill, a quarter block at First and Washington, the Vancouver Transportation Company, was a "heavy stockholder" in the First National Bank of Astoria, and a "heavy stockholder" in the First National Bank of Portland. He also owned valuable property on Market Street in San Francisco.[2] At the time of his death, the Vancouver Transportation Company operated two ships: the Lurline and Undine on routes between Portland and Astoria.[2]

In 1929, E.W. Wright, a marine historian, wrote that Kamm was one of "two outstanding figures whose leadership in Columbia river steamboating will never be disputed".[6]

• Biographical sketch (with portrait)