Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 3.djvu/442

436 Andrew Friberg was largely reared upon the old home farm in South Dakota, and as his age and strength increased he assisted more and more largely in the work of developing and cultivating the fields. His youth was a period of earnest and unremitting toil, in which he learned the lessons that industry and perseverance constitute the safest foundation upon which to build prosperity. As opportunity offered he attended the public schools and in this way gained a knowledge of those branches of learning which are deemed essential to a successful business career. He continued with his parents until about seventeen or eighteen years of age, when he started out in business life on his own account and has since been dependent entirely upon his own resources.

In January, 1897, Mr. Friberg came to Portland, where he joined his brother, William Friberg, in a contracting business. They formed a partnership and have since been closely associated with building operations in this city. They are the builders of the Commercial Club, the Henry building, the Seward Hotel, the old Young Men's Christian Association building and other structures of equal importance. In fact, they have been awarded the contract for twenty-five or thirty of the finest buildings of Portland, including the Friedner building on Washington street, and the Elks building. In connection with their operations as contractors they are also conducting a brick manufacturing plant on Barnes road with a capacity of thirty thousand bricks per day. In this way they largely furnish the material used in the construction of buildings which they erect. Their standing in business circles in Portland is indicated by the nature of contracts which have been awarded them, showing that they are regarded as among the most prominent and capable contractors of the city.

Mr. Friberg belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and has gained many friends in the social circles in which he moves. In his life are manifest many of the sterling characteristics of his race. A noted American lecturer who has traveled and. lived in all parts of the world has characterized Sweden as "the home of the honest man." Mr. Friberg and many of his nationality bear out this reputation and in all of his work he is, moreover, actuated by a spirit of enterprise and progress that is manifest in the readiness with which he takes up any new idea that will work for improvement in his business.

General Joseph Lane was born in North Carolina, December 14, 1801. His father, John Lane, was a descendant of Sir Ralph Lane, who came to America to be governor of the first English colony in America and who on returning to England, on the failure of the colony, married. It was his grandsons who, settling in America, founded the American branch of the Lane family. John Lane, with his father, Jesse Lane, and his brothers, enlisted in the Revolutionary war, John being at that time but seventeen years old. The last battle he took part in was the battle of King's Mountain, which was fought near the close of the Revolutionary war. John Lane was married late in life to Elizabeth Street, whose father was also one of the Revolutionary patriots, who gave his service to his country in her hour of need. There were born to this couple eight children, Joseph being the second. The family migrated in 1804 to Kentucky and settled in Henderson county. Educational facilities were very poor and Joseph learned his letters and to read from the Bible, receiving his instruction from his grandmother, who was a finely educated English woman, whose maiden name was Winifred Aycock. He went to school only four months in his life. The teacher told his pupils that the one who should reach school first and build a fire should receive special attention, and Joseph was the one who did it despite the fact that he had to walk several miles through heavy timber and cane brake.