producing eight hundred barrels of flour per day, the largest milling company in the State upon the new process. In the Fall of 1882 Mr. Reid formed the First National Bank of Salem, of which he is nominally the President, Mr. W. N. Ladue, from Detroit, the Vice-President, being the active manager at Salem. Mr. Reid is married and has a family of five children. Such, dear reader, is but a brief outline of the history of one of the most active, energetic and enterprising capitalists in our State. He is a man of indomitable pluck and perseverence, and as keen a financier as can be found anywhere. His enterprise is proverbial and his superior business sagacity unquestioned. His various business interests in Oregon are successful and his credit is almost unlimited. His management of foreign capital in our State has been the means of very greatly advancing its interest and prominence as a commonwealth, and we owe much to him for the rapid progress we have made during the past eight or ten years. Mr. Reid is a man who, while not of a tall, commanding form, would none the less attract attention in any assemblage. Of ordinary height, slight form, smooth face and the most piercing dark eyes. He is ever on the move, and many wonder when he secures the rest an active brain like his necessarily requires. He is an indefatigable worker, and despatches business with hasty precision. He has an eye to business at all times and is considered a very successful business man. He is genial and sociable with his friends and is esteemed by all who know him. Would we had more of just such men in Oregon. The latest acquisition he has brought to the State of Oregon is the American Mortgage Company of Scotland, having its head office in Edinburg, with a capital of two million dollars, the loaning of which, on mortgages, has been entrusted to his care and has caused a deal of rivalry and jealousy from the Dundee loaning companies for whom he formerly acted.
J. H. ROBBINS.
When we see a gentleman who is successful in his business, we know that his prosperity is not the result of chance; but rather that he has worked hard and long, and that he possesses a spirit which does not succumb to trifling discouragements. When one attains this proud distinction of being known as a solid man, his word is considered as good as his bond, and his reputation must necessarily be unblemished. Mr. Robbins is one of our citizens who, without aid or guidance, has followed the true instincts of his own progressive nature and to-day takes his place in the ranks of the very foremost. He was born in Decatur county, Indiana, in the year 1832. After receiving the educational advantages ordinarily accorded to youths of his station in life, he learned the trade of cabinet making, and meantime obtained an exceptionally good knowledge of music. At the early age of sixteen years young Robbins commenced his career as a teacher of vocal music, in the instruction of which he met with great success. He started for Oregon in the year 1862, and on the journey, in the Powder River Valley, his young wife, to whom he had been married in 1854, and who had borne him three children, died, leaving the weary traveler and devoted husband with his three infants to continue their weary way alone and mother-
