Court testimony of C. E. Hadley

The following court testimony is believed to have been given by Clark (C. E.) Hadley in 1912 regarding a dispute about his father's estate, C. B. Hadley. The plaintiff was Otelia Hadley, relationship unknown. The defendants were all children of C. B. Hadley: Clark Hadley, Maud Sharp, and David J. Hadley. The details of the plaintiff's claim and the action taken are unknown.

I was born in Wisconsin in 1873, Dec. 28th. Came to Tillamook, Oregon when I was about 8 years old. I started in fishing on the Bay when I was about 14. Fished for two seasons. Worked in the Dan C. Bowers' logging camp for one summer. Worked on the Wilson River road about five months. Then I started a pool hall in partnership with John Embum. We ran the pool hall for five or six weeks. Can't say for how long. Then we bought out Annie Hutchins' store, John Embum and myself. We closed the stock out. Can't say exactly how long it took us. Maybe a month or so.

I then went to Kaslo, British Columbia. I only stayed there about four weeks and then came home. On returning home I went to tending bar for my father. Worked for him up to the time I went into business for myself, which was in 1897.

The way I came to going into business for myself was this: There was a poker game on in C.H. Smith's saloon one night. I was tending bar for my father and someone came in and told me about the game. After closing the saloon about 12 o'clock, I went over to the poker game and took a hand in same. We played until seven or eight o'clock in the morning, I think. Can't say exactly.

During the night C.H. Smith lost quite a lot of money, and when I got up about 10 o'clock the next morning, I met John Embum on the street and he told me that Smith wanted to sell his saloon. I went over to talk to him and he told me the price. I went down to see my father and asked him if he would help me to get the money to buy the saloon. He said that he didn't have the money and wouldn't care to buy another saloon while he had one. I told him that I was going to buy it if I had the money.

I went back to Smith and told him I didn't have the money to pay cash, but if I could borrow the money I would be willing to buy it. He told me that W.H. Cooper had money to loan for Capt. Shrader, so I went to see W.H. Cooper and asked for the loan of $500, with a mortgage on the building which I was going to buy from Smith. He said that he would go and see Capt. Schrader, as the Elmore was in at the time. He told me that he would loan me the $500 with the mortgage on the building

I met Father Schell on the street, and told him I had a chance to buy Mr. Smith's saloon, but was short about $250, and asked him if I could borrow that amount. He said he could and he loaned me $250. I had of my own about $300, $300 or $310, something like that, so I bought the saloon from Mr. Smith for a consideration I believe of $1,030.

Next day after I bought the saloon I hired a carpenter and built a gambling hall over the wood shed. My father came over and asked me what I was going to do. I told him that I was going to start a little gambling room. He got very angry and he told me that he expected it to turn out about like that, and I would be out of business within two or three weeks. I told him that I would just as soon be in jail broke as out without any money. I went ahead and opened the gambling room and got along nicely. Had no trouble for a number of years.

After I had been in business for about two months I bought a half interest in the Allen House for $900. Then I went to Mr. Thayer and asked him if he would like to go into partnership and buy some timberland. He said he would. He also had some mortgages on some claims, one of H.B. Johnson, another one, or maybe two, which were taken into the partnership. (The title to the claims.) We continued to stay in business (partnership) for some time until one day I went to him I had a claim in view which I thought we had better buy.

I don't remember the claim exactly, but he said that his wife had had a letter from her father in Salem, and that he had told her they had better take in all the money they could get hold of. He was afraid they were going to have hard times. (This was five years after I started business) So he said, "I would like to sell you my interest in the claims". I said, "All right, how much do you want for your interest?” He said that he had figured $5,100. I told him "All right" I would take them. He said, "Come down tomorrow, and I will have the deeds drawn". Next day I went down to his office and he had the deeds drawn. I laid my check book on the table. He drew the check, and I signed it. He delivered the deeds to me and I delivered the check to him.

What had [your Father] C.B. Hadley been doing up to and during this time?

When he first came to Tillamook, my father went to work tending bar for Mr. Oleson. He tended bar for several years. Then he bought the saloon out and rented the building. He ran the saloon for I don't know just how long, two or three years. Then Oleson rented the building and saloon to a man by the name of Sherlock. So my father built a saloon, two story building, close to where the laundry now stands. Sometime after he went in business, we had a fire in Tillamook, which burned the building up. He rebuilt and the building now stands on the corner where W.J. Stephens runs his saloon. He ran the saloon in that building for sometime, I think a year or more after I went into business, I bought the Brinn Saloon which stood at the corner where J.S. Lamar's drugstore is at this time.

I locked up the saloon up, and one day my father came to me and wanted to know if I couldn't move his saloon to that building as it was a better location than the one he had. I told him I would just as soon have him run it as to have it vacant. He ran the saloon there for a short time, when J.S. Lamar came to town looking for location for a saloon. My father came down one day and said J.S. Lamar would like to buy that corner. I said he might as well sell it as he wasn't doing any business and running behind every day. No business. So, I think you had better sell it. So, I sold the building and the lot to J.S. Lamar. My father didn't have any stock to speak of as I had been loaning him whiskey from my saloon to keep him going.

He didn't do anything then until about 1899 when C.E. Thayer came to me and said that J.E. Sibley wanted to organize a logging company and proposed for Dan Murphy, J.E. Sibley, C.E.Thayer and myself to organize The Tillamook Logging Co., saying that each would take an interest of $500, and he would see that my father was manager of the logging company and I was secretary, and all of the checks were OK'd by me before being cashed. I told him I would do it. So the Tillamook Logging Company was organized. I don't remember whether we incorporated for $1,000 or $2,000, but we paid in $500 each. I was interested in the logging company about four years. My father was manager at a salary of $150 per month.

He had a piece of school land, also a claim bought of Charlie Bester and the Cook piece in Netarts, with an interest in a booming company, organized by C.E. Thayer which never amounted to anything. The claims that I have mentioned were deeded to W.J. Vanskiver to secure the bill that he owed on whiskey. These are all the pieces of property I remember him owning. My mother owned the house on Lot 6, Block 3, and also owned four lots in Thayer's addition.

If I remember right, she traded for two of the lots, a horse I supposed she owned. The other two lots were bought by her, at least they were in her name, and I suppose she paid for them. The house was bought by the bank in Astoria, as I remember, on which she made a payment, and the last payment, I don't remember the amount, but I had saved up I think about $200, of which I loaned her $150 to make the last payment.

C.E. Hadley resumes his account of his own business

I got out of the logging company about 1903. I continued to run the saloon until the town went dry and W.J. Stephens and myself went to Eastern Oregon, to a town by the name of Bend. I started a saloon there, and W.J. Stephens was interested in the gambling with me. I ran the saloon for about seven or eight months, I can't say the exact time, but then the saloon burned up and I returned home.

After I came back from Eastern Oregon, the Hadley Lumber Co. was organized by O.C. Hazlett, C.B. Hadley, P.V. Vantress and C.E. Hadley. The Truckee Lumber owned $50,000 and C.E. Hadley owned $50,000. The Truckee Lumber Co. assigned one share of their stock to P.V. Vantress so he could be a Director, and I assigned one share of my stock to C.B. Hadley so he could be a Director. O.C. Hazlett was elected President, C.B. Hadley was elected Vice President and Manager, P.V. Vantress was Assistant Manager and I was elected Secretary and Treasurer. We ran the mill for about a year or fourteen months, and it was then sold to the Miami Lumber Co. The mill was sold for $125,000 of which the Hadley Lumber Co. received $100,000 less 5% commission. I went to San Francisco, signed the papers for the transfer and received the money. This was 1906 or 1907. I also sold fourteen claims of which one claim belonged to my father C.B. Hadley, (title stood in W.J. Vanskiver's name). These claims were sold for $105,000 less 5% commission. I received two notes for $70,000, payable in one and two years, the balance of $29,750 was cash payment. (These timber claims are the same claims purchased by me as hereinbefore stated.)

When I returned home I made settlement with my father. We figured the claims brought a little less than $7,000 each. I however, settled with him on basis of $7,000. I paid W.J. VanSkiver $5,000 and figured he (my father) had $2,000 coming on the claim.

We made the final settlement before he went East, we figured the building and the tables were worth about $1,000, for which I gave him a check for $3,000. When he returned home six months later, he built a house on my two lots in Thayer's Addition, and I gave him a check for $3,000 to pay the bills with. He lived in this house until the time of his death.

We worked for the Miami Lumber Co. from 1907 up to the time he went East. I furnished him money to live on after her returned home up to the time of his death.

What other partnerships have you been in other than the one with C.E. Thayer?

Mr. Carey and myself were interested in two steamboats in Tillamook Bay at one time. A.J. Cohn and I were interested in a sawmill business known as Wist Mill. Mr. Cohn and I organized a company in Portland-- the Pacific Feed and Fuel Co. Mr. Thayer and I were in partnership in the opera house, each owned half interest. I was also partner with John Embum in the store I have mentioned. W.J. Stephens and myself were interested in gambling.