Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 3.djvu/310

304 ber of years and edited the Oregon Amateur, being the first amateur editor in Oregon. Harry M. Clay, born May 29, 1860, was the first child of the family born in this state. His death occurred May 30, 1898, He was married on the 25th of September, 1884, to Miss Olive Butler, and at his death left two children, Frances A. and Hazel D. The former, who was born June 4, 1888, is the wife of James W. Pomeroy and has one child, Clay J. Hazel D. was born September 10, 1893. Edwin P. Clay, the fourth member of the family, was born March 14, 1865, and on the 26th of December, 1888, was married to Miss Edith C. Thomas of Olex, Oregon. He is now located at Forsyth, Montana, where he is engaged in the stock business. Alice A. Clay, born January 8, 1867, was married April 8, 1886, to Arthur S. Gibbs, who was born at Hillsdale, Michigan, April 23, 1857, and came to Portland in 1883. Here he was cashier and local treasurer for the Pacific Coast Company and was always connected with railway interests up to the time of his death, which occurred August 6, 1902. Mr. Gibbs and all of the members of the Clay family who have passed away have been laid to rest in Riverview cemetery. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs were born two children: Leon C, born February 12, 1887; and Arthur E., June 25, 1896. Achsah B., the sixth member of the Clay family, was born May 22, 1871, and died March 20, 1873.

Mr. and Mrs. Clay on coming to Portland established their home on Sixth street near Madison. Later they removed to the corner of Third and Madison and after five years took up their abode at the corner of Thirteenth and Market streets, purchasing a lot one hundred feet square. A small house was standing there and they occupied it until a larger residence was erected, Mr. Clay living there up to the time of his death. He was always a republican, but would never hold office. Both he and his wife were members of the Methodist church on Taylor street, and their many substantial qualities gained for them the kindly regard of all who knew them. Mr. Clay passed away December 4, 1900. He had survived his wife for only about a year, her death having occurred on the 5th of November, 1899. Both were laid to rest in Riverview cemetery. They were widely known by the old residents of Portland. Mr. Clay's activity in business, his faithfulness in the church, and his loyalty in citizenship gained him a firm hold on the friendship and regard of those who knew him, and Clay street, one of the principal thoroughfares of the older district of the city, was named in his honor.

Few men in the state of Oregon have attained a more honorable record than Hon. George C. Brownell, a prominent attorney of Oregon City, and a man whose services in behalf of the state may be said to have marked an era in the annals of Oregon. The efifect of legislation which he introduced in the general assembly of the state will be felt for many years to come, and an examination of his public acts indicates that many of the measures he favored are those that are being fought for by friends of progress in other states of the Union.

Mr. Brownell was born at Willsboro, New York, August 10, 1858. He is a son of Ambrose and Annie (Smith) Brownell, the family being of English ancestry and among the early colonists of New England. Ambrose Brownell was a native of Essex county. New York, but removed to Columbia county of the same state, where he continued until his death. He was a soldier in the Civil war, fighting for the Union as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Eighteenth New York Infantry. The regiment took part in many engagements in Virginia and at one time he was severely wounded. His wife was a native of Addison county, Vermont.

After the usual course of study in the public schools and academy, George C. Brownell entered upon the study of law in the office of Hon. Charles L.