Lord Nelson "Nels" Roney (September 2, 1853 – November 24, 1944) was a building contractor and carpenter working primarily in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. He designed and built many of Oregon's early covered bridges, often using the

Howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a brid ...

. Roney also built bridges for the

Oregon and California Railroad The Oregon and California Railroad was formed from the Oregon Central Railroad when it was the first to operate a stretch south of Portland in 1869. This qualified the railroad for land grants in California, whereupon the name of the railroad ...

from

Roseburg, Oregon Roseburg is the most populous city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Oregon. It is located in the Umpqua River Valley in southern Oregon. Founded in 1851, the population was 23,683 at the 2020 census, making it the principal city of th ...

south to

Redding, California Redding is a city in and the county seat of Shasta County, California, and the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, California, Sacrame ...

, and he constructed commercial buildings and houses in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

Early life

Roney was born in

Wapakoneta, Ohio Wapakoneta (, locally , commonly shortened to “Wapak”) is a city in Auglaize County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Auglaize River, the city is about north of Dayton and south of Toledo. The population was 9, ...

, on September 2, 1853, one of 12 children. His parents named him ''Lord Nelson'' in honor of the British admiral and hero, Lord Horatio Nelson. Roney may have found the name pretentious, and he preferred "Nels." The Roneys moved to Missouri where Nels began a three-year apprenticeship as a carpenter, earning 17 cents per day his first year. His wages increased to 36 cents per day his second year, and 54 cents per day his third year. Roney settled in Eugene City (now Eugene) in 1876, when the local population had almost reached 1,000.

Bridge building

Eugene Skinner Eugene Franklin Skinner (September 13, 1809 – December 15, 1864) was an early American settler in Oregon and the founder of the city of Eugene, Oregon, which is named after him. Skinner was born in Essex, New York. His father was Major John J ...

had operated a ferry crossing the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

near his Donation Land Claim, but Roney arrived at a time when the growing town of Eugene City needed a bridge. Roney worked on the bridge project, a precursor to Ferry Street Bridge. When many Oregon bridges washed out in the floods of January 1881, Roney was often hired to rebuild. As the Oregon and California Railroad expanded south into California, Roney took charge of bridge building from Roseburg to Redding. In 1912 Roney was appointed Superintendent of Lane County bridges.

Commercial and residential buildings

Roney is credited with building many commercial and residential structures in Eugene. A partial list includes *

Villard Hall Villard Hall is a historic building located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Completed in 1886, it is the second-oldest building on the University of Oregon campus after University Hall. The Second Empire-style building was listed on National R ...

(with W. H. Abrams) * McMorran and Washburne Department Store Building *First National Bank Building * Smeede Hotel (employed by George H. Park) *Hoffman House Hotel (demolished) *Eugene Opera House (demolished) *Lane County Courthouse tower (demolished) *Lane County Bank (demolished) * Shelton McMurphey Johnson House *Episcopal and Methodist churches

References

External links

Lee Nelson Collection
box 7, folder 60, and box 17, folder 168 {{DEFAULTSORT:Roney, Nels 1853 births 1944 deaths American carpenters People from Eugene, Oregon People from Wapakoneta, Ohio

Early life

Bridge building

Commercial and residential buildings

See also

References

Further reading

External links