Henry Jonathan Biddle (1862–1928) was a botanist, engineer, businessman and amateur sportsman of southwest
Washington as well as
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
in the early 20th century. He owned about 360 acres of real estate in and around
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...
.
["Biographical Sketch"](_blank)
''Henry J. Biddle photographs, c.1860s-1925'', University of Oregon Library, Eugene, Oregon, October 2005, accessed 17 September 2021.
Early life
Biddle was born in 1862 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. His parents were Major Henry J. Biddle and Mary Deborah Baird Biddle. Biddle was the youngest of five children. His family was prominent in the banking business and had a history of military service. At the time of his birth, his father was serving in the
Union Army and was killed in the
Battle of New Market the same year young Biddle was born. He attended Sheffield School and the
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. Later, he earned a degree in
geology from the Kaiserlich Bergakademie in
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
In the 1880s he worked for the Smithsonian and then the
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...
in the eastern United States. Eventually, Biddle moved to the
Pacific Northwest, settling first in
Lakeview, Oregon and then in Portland before buying a farm near Vancouver, Washington.
Later life
He acquired
Beacon Rock in order to preserve it from demolition, and built the trail to its peak; his children donated it, and nearby Hamilton Mountain, to the state after his death. Biddle Butte, also known as Mount Zion, in Skamania County is named for him, and as an early automobile enthusiast in the area he was known for driving to its summit, and for scouting the early automobile roads of the region.
He had two children, Spencer and Rebecca.
Spencer enlisted in the
Spruce Production Division in 1918. Rebecca married Erskine Wood, son of famed Oregon writer
Charles Erskine Scott Wood.
Rebecca and Spencer deeded the property, along with Hamilton Mountain, to the State of Washington in 1935 with the stipulation that it must be a public park.
Henry died in 1928 on a hunting expedition with Spencer in southern Oregon near Lakeview. He was to be interred in Portland, Oregon.
Following his death, his estate was valued at $670,000 (), the largest amount filed leading up to the time in
Clark County, Washington. His wife Helene died the following year.
[Biddle Estate Over $600,000, '' The Oregon Journal'', October 10, 1928, p. 19.]
See also
*
Biddle family
Errata
* Motorcycle summits https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84806381/motorcycle-beacon-rock/
* https://history.columbian.com/biddle/
References
External links
*
Henry J. Biddle Papersat the University of Oregon
archive link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biddle, Henry J.
Botanists active in North America
Businesspeople from Vancouver, Washington
People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania
1862 births
1928 deaths
Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon