Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 2.djvu/581

 terms' service as a member of the city council he exercised his official prerogatives in support of every project which he deemed of practical value to the city. In politics he was for a long period a stanch supporter of the republican party where national issues are involved but cast an independent ballot at county and state elections. He leans somewhat toward the prohibition party, for he is a believer in the cause of temperance and regards the liquor traffic as one of the curses of the nation. To this end his support has been given toward the promotion of temperance ideals and practices. He occupies a nice home which he erected soon after coming to Vancouver and here in the evening of life, for he is now seventy-nine years of age, he is most comfortably situated.

Penumbra Kelly, who for almost thirty years has been a prominent figure in politics in Portland and in Multnomah county, is well known throughout the entire state and also in southwestern Washington. He has been connected with the sheriff's office in Portland for twenty years and his faithful discharge of his duties has constituted an important service in behalf of law and order here.

His birth occurred in Marion county, Kentucky, March 29, 1845, his parents being the Rev. Clinton and Moriah (Maldon) Kelly. His father was an itinerant minister of the Methodist church, who belonged to the Kentucky conference for thirteen years. In 1848, however, he started with his family on the long journey across the plains to Oregon, proceeding- by the slow, difficult and tedious stages of wagon travel and arriving at his destination in the late autumn. They spent the winter at Oregon City, but in the spring of 1849 removed to the donation claim which the Rev. Clinton Kelly had taken up, and which is located in what is now East Portland. The father developed and improved the farm and continued to make it his home until his death, giving his attention largely to general agricultural pursuits. He never associated himself with the Oregon conference, but his interest in church work never abated and he continued as a local preacher until almost the time of his demise. He was one of the sturdy pioneers of early Portland, being numbered among the few who crossed the plains prior to 1850, arriving here at a time when it was thought that Oregon City would be the metropolis of the state, the site of Portland being marked by only a few log cabins that bordered the Willamette and were mostly occupied by traders. Even Front street at that time had not become a business center and the most farsighted did not dream that there would spring up on the site a city that would extend westward until it compassed the hills of Willamette and Portland Heights and eastward until it covered a great area upon the other bank of the river. The donation claim, which the father secured and upon which he lived for years, was at that time situated several miles from the village of Portland, although it is now included within the corporation limits of the greater city.

Penumbra Kelly was reared in the pioneer home of the family upon a farm which required in its development much arduous and unremitting labor. He experienced many of the hardships which devolved upon the boys and young men of his day, assisting his father and the other members of the family to clear away the timber, prepare the land for cultivation and then plow and plant the fields and harvest the crops. His educational opportunities were limited to attendance for only a few short months at the district schools, which were held in the winter seasons. After permanently putting aside his text-books he continued to make farming his occupation and was identified with general agricultural pursuits until 18S4, when he received appointment from President Chester A. Arthur to the position of United States marshal for the district of Oregon. For three years and five months he capably filled that important office,