{{Short description|American businessman (1823 – 1912)}} thumb|right|Jacob Kamm '''Jacob Kamm''' (12 December 1823 – 16 December 1912) was a prominent early transportation businessman in Oregon, USA.
==Early life== Kamm was born on 12 December 1823, in Canton of Glarus, Switzerland.<ref name="shpo"> {{cite web |url = https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/15612f3c-d7f9-45bd-8b6d-0e2f636b4cb1 |title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory- Nomination Form: Kamm (Jacob) House |publisher=State Historic Preservation Office |location=Portland, Oregon |access-date=March 24, 2018}}</ref><ref name="coma" /><ref name="early">{{cite news|title=Thief put Kamm on Map|last=Deane|first=Early|date=19 December 1965|work=The Oregonian|pages=F6}}</ref> His family migrated to America when he was 8 to Illinois, St. Louis and then New Orleans.<ref name="coma" /><ref name="early" /><ref name="hop">{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Harvey W.|title=History of Portland, Oregon|year=1890|oclc=4342776}}</ref> He worked as a printer's devil beginning at age 12.<ref name="adventurehouse" /> A story repeated after Kamm's death was that a thief stole $12 from him in 1837, leading Kamm to work on a Mississippi steamer, the ''Ark'', as a cabin boy.<ref name="early" /><ref name="hop" /> Trained as an engineer on the Mississippi River, he was certified chief engineer with the St. Louis Association of Steamboat Engineers at age 25.<ref name="coma" /> In 1849, he moved west with the California Gold Rush, piloting the ''Blackhawk'', a steamer, on the Sacramento River.<ref name="coma" />
==Oregon== Kamm moved to Oregon in 1850 after being hired by the Milwaukie, Oregon founder Lot Whitcomb onto his ship, ''The Lot Whitcomb'', being the chief engineer on the Willamette River.<ref name="coma" /><ref name="early" /><ref name="wright" /> ''The Lot Whitcomb'' was launched on 25 December 1850.<ref name="early" /> Kamm and John C. Ainsworth joined with Abernathy and Clark, merchants from Oregon City, in 1854 or 1855 to build the ''Jenny Clark'', a sternwheeler on the Willamette.<ref name="early" /><ref name="wright" /> Kamm owned half of the ''Jenny Clark'', Ainsworth owned a quarter, and Abernathy and Clark shared the remaining quarter.<ref name="wright" /> They then built the ''Carrie Ladd'' steamer in 1858, called the "keystone of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company".<ref name="wright" />
He was a founder of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company in 1879 and a shareholder in the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company.<ref name="coma" /><ref name="newell" /> He built steamboats including in 1891, the ''Ocean Wave'' and in 1900, ''Athlon''.<ref name="newell" /> One of the companies he owned was the Vancouver Transportation Company.<ref name="newell">Newell, Gordon R., ed., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', at page 60, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA, 1966</ref>
Kamm sold property to the city in about 1910 to construct Old Lincoln High School, currently known as Portland State University's Lincoln Hall.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rush Job Ordered. District to Build before Restrictions Are Enforced|date=16 July 1910|work=The Oregonian|pages=9}}</ref><ref name="wpa">{{cite book|title=History of Education in Portland|editor=Alfred Powers, Howard McKinley Corning|publisher=WPA Adult Education Project|year=1937|pages=184, 241}}</ref> His 1870s French Second Empire style home, the Jacob Kamm House was moved from its 14th and Main location in the 1950s to construct the current Lincoln High School.<ref name="coma" /> This estate near 14th and Main contained {{convert|11|acre|m2}}.<ref name="coma" />
==Personal life== thumb|upright Kamm married Caroline Augusta Gray on 13 September 1859 during the Pig War, on the PS ''Eliza Anderson'' steamer just outside Fort Hope, Canada.<ref name="thirdlease">{{cite news|title=Historic house set for 3rd lease on life|last=Sullivan|first=Ann|date=27 November 1984|work=The Oregonian|pages=MP2}}</ref><ref name="birthday90" /><ref name="copywill" /> They had one son, Charles Tilton Kamm (1860–1906).<ref name="coma" /><ref name="birthday90" /><ref name="copywill">{{cite news|title=Copy of will is offered|date=16 January 1913|work=The Oregonian|pages=3}}</ref><ref name="will" /> Kamm was a Mason, being inducted at age 21 in St. Louis.<ref name="coma" /><ref name="TSO_JKD"/> In Portland, he was affiliated with the Multnomah Lodge in Oregon City, then the Willamette Lodge in Portland.<ref name="coma" /> He was also a Knights Templar and a Shriner.<ref name="coma" />
Caroline Augusta Gray was born on 16 October 1840 at Camp Lapwai, outside Lewiston, Idaho.<ref name="birthday90">{{cite news|title=Mrs. Jacob Kamm observes 90th birthday anniversary|date=18 October 1930|work=The Oregonian|pages=3}}</ref> Her father was William H. Gray.<ref name="birthday90" /> She died in 1932.<ref name="adventurehouse">{{cite news|title=Portland Youth Play in Adventure House|date=11 August 1946|work=The Oregonian|pages=5}}</ref>
==Late life and death== [[File:River View Cemetery, Portland, Oregon - Sept. 2017 - 062.jpg|thumb|Kamm's grave at River View Cemetery, in Portland]] In December 1907, Kamm was "run down by a reckless bicycle rider" in Portland.<ref>{{cite news|title=City News in Brief|date=21 December 1907|work=The Oregonian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Little Improvement Noticed|date=23 December 1907|work=The Oregonian|pages=7}}</ref> Another report described the bicyclist as a "careless boy bicyclist"; Kamm was confined to his bed for many days.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jacob Kamm Improving|date=26 December 1907|work=The Oregonian|pages=7}}</ref>
Kamm became ill on 1 December 1912, "being an invalid" since the 1907 bicycle wreck.<ref name="dying">{{cite news|title=Jacob Kamm Now Dying. Veteran Steamship Man Here May Live Few Hours|date=13 December 1912|work=The Oregonian|pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Jacob Kamm Takes to Bed. Hopeful Responses Are Made to Inquiries as to His Condition|date=5 December 1912|work=The Oregonian}}</ref> By December 13, ''The Oregonian'' reported he "may only live a few hours", stating his condition was "sinking rapidly".<ref name="dying" /> The following day, he entered a coma and died.<ref name="coma">{{cite news|title=Jacob Kamm Now in State of Coma. Veteran Portland Man's Life Slowly Ebbs out and End in Near|date=14 December 1912|work=The Oregonian|pages=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Death Notices|date=15 December 1912|work=The Oregonian|pages=8}}</ref><ref name="TSO_JKD"> {{cite news |url = https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1912-12-15/ed-1/seq-4/ |title = Jacob Kamm Dies |date = December 15, 1912 |work = The Sunday Oregonian |location = Portland, Oregon |at = sec.1 p.4 |volume = XXXI No. 50 |access-date = March 24, 2018 }}</ref> He was buried at the River View Cemetery in Portland.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kamm burial is today|date=16 December 1912|work=The Oregonian|pages=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Jacob Kamm is buried: Masons officiate at funeral of brother|date=17 December 1912|work=The Oregonian|pages=11}}</ref>
At time of death, his estate was valued at approximately $4 million.<ref name="will">{{cite news|title= Kamm's Widow is Chief Beneficiary. Dead Transportation Man's Will Creates Trust Fund for Four Grandchildren|date=20 December 1912|work=The Oregonian|pages=15}}</ref><ref name="dying" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Kamm Estate Big. Value of $1,767,721,87 Placed on 2 Counties' Properties;|date=28 January 1913|work=The Oregonian|pages=16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Legislative Acts or Legal Proceedings |date=7 February 1913|work=The Oregonian|pages=7}}</ref> Aside from the Jacob Kamm home and property, he also owned a half-block building at Front and Pine, a quarter block at Third and Yamhill, a quarter block at First and Washington, the Vancouver Transportation Company, was a "heavy stockholder" in the First National Bank of Astoria, and a "heavy stockholder" in the First National Bank of Portland. He also owned valuable property on Market Street in San Francisco.<ref name="coma" /> At the time of his death, the Vancouver Transportation Company operated two ships: the ''Lurline'' and ''Undine'' on routes between Portland and Astoria.<ref name="coma" />
In 1929, E.W. Wright, a marine historian, wrote that Kamm was one of "two outstanding figures whose leadership in Columbia river steamboating will never be disputed".<ref name="wright">{{cite news|title=Credit for using river boats given Captain Ainsworth and Jacob Kamm|last=Wright|first=E. W.|date=10 February 1929|work=The Oregonian}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * [https://archive.org/stream/nationalcyclopae16newy#page/34/mode/2up Biographical sketch] (with portrait)
{{Steamboats Pacific Northwest|state = collapsed}} {{Oregon Steam Navigation Company}} {{Ilwaco Navigation Company}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamm, Jacob}} Category:1823 births Category:1912 deaths Category:People from the canton of Glarus Category:Swiss emigrants to the United States Category:People from Oregon Territory Category:Businesspeople from Oregon Category:19th-century American businesspeople