# Joseph Hamilton Lambert

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joseph_Hamilton_Lambert
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joseph_Hamilton_Lambert.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hamilton_Lambert
> Source revision: 1350571270
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|American pioneer and orchardist}}
{{Infobox person
|name          = Joseph Hamilton Lambert
|image         = Josiah H. Lambert.png
|image_size    = 175px
|alt           = 
|caption       = Lambert in his later years
|birth_date    = {{Birth date|1825|12|1}}
|birth_place   = [Vigo County, Indiana](/source/Vigo_County%2C_Indiana)
|death_date    = {{Death date and age|1909|11|12|1825|12|1}}
|death_place   = [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon)
|death_cause   = 
|resting_place = 
|resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
|citizenship   = 
|known_for     = Lambert cherry
|alma_mater    = 
|occupation    = 
|title         = 
|term          = 
|predecessor   = 
|successor     = 
|party         = 
|spouse        = Clementine Miller
|children      = Albert W., Henry M., Carrie (Mrs. E. L. E. White), Mary (Mrs. A. B. Graham), Nellie, [Elizabeth](/source/Elizabeth_Lambert_Wood) (Mrs. W. L. Wood), Lucy (Mrs. D. G. Woodard), and Grace<ref name=PDXHistory>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EPcUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA574 |pages= 574–579 |volume= 3 |year= 1911 |title= Portland, Oregon: Its history and builders: In connection with the antecedent explorations, discoveries, and movements of the pioneers that selected the site for the great city of the Pacific |author= Gaston, Joseph |publisher= S. J. Clark |location= Chicago |oclc= 1183569}}</ref><ref name=Hines>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_15234|title= An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon |author= Hines, H. K. |publisher= Lewis Pub. Co. |location= Chicago |year= 1893|isbn= 9780665152344 }}</ref>
|parents       = 
|relations     = 
}}
'''Joseph Hamilton Lambert''' (December 1, 1825 – November 12, 1909), was an [American pioneer](/source/American_pioneer) of [Oregon](/source/Oregon) and an orchardist who developed the Lambert cherry. A native of [Indiana](/source/Indiana), he also served as a county commissioner in [Multnomah](/source/Multnomah_County%2C_Oregon) and [Clackamas](/source/Clackamas_County%2C_Oregon) counties in Oregon.

==Early life==
Lambert was born on December 1, 1825, in [Vigo County, Indiana](/source/Vigo_County%2C_Indiana), a few miles northeast of [Terre Haute](/source/Terre_Haute%2C_Indiana).<ref name=PDXHistory/> He was raised on a farm by his parents, Hugh and Nancy (''[née](/source/n%C3%A9e)'' McClain) Lambert.<ref name=Oregon/> At the age of 20, Lambert left Indiana for [Iowa](/source/Iowa), where he worked and went to school until 1849, when he headed west again.<ref name=PDXHistory/> He traveled on the [Oregon Trail](/source/Oregon_Trail), arriving at the [Philip Foster Farm](/source/Philip_Foster_Farm) at the end of the [Barlow Road](/source/Barlow_Road) in [Oregon Country](/source/Oregon_Country) on September 14, 1850.<ref name=PDXHistory/> He spent the winter in [Salem](/source/Salem%2C_Oregon).<ref name=PDXHistory/> In the spring of 1851, he traveled to [Yreka, California](/source/Yreka%2C_California), for the [California Gold Rush](/source/California_Gold_Rush), but he soon returned to Oregon's [Willamette Valley](/source/Willamette_Valley), where he worked in a [sawmill](/source/sawmill) and for [William Meek](/source/William_Meek) & [Henderson Luelling](/source/Henderson_Luelling) in [Milwaukie](/source/Milwaukie%2C_Oregon) hauling logs.<ref name=PDXHistory/> Next he joined the surveying team of a Mr. Ives.<ref name=PDXHistory/><!--need to find out who Mr. Ives is. Valfontis--> He helped lay out the [Willamette Meridian](/source/Willamette_Meridian) north from Portland to [Puget Sound](/source/Puget_Sound), and the [Willamette Baseline](/source/Willamette_Baseline), the first [standard parallel](/source/standard_parallel) in Oregon. He also surveyed a few tiers of [township](/source/Survey_township)s, including Salem.<ref name=PDXHistory/> He returned to working in sawmills and as a log hauler until 1853, when he was again employed by Meek & Luelling, this time in their [orchard](/source/orchard) business.<ref name=PDXHistory/> In 1854, Lambert married Clementine Miller and they took up a {{convert|320|acre|km2|adj=on}} [Donation Land Claim](/source/Donation_Land_Claim_Act) in [Powell Valley](/source/Powell_Valley%2C_Oregon).<ref name=PDXHistory/>

==Orchardist==
[[File:Cherries 38450lg.jpg|thumb|200px|Lambert cherries, from the [USDA](/source/USDA) [Pomological Watercolor Collection](/source/Pomological_Watercolor_Collection)]]
Henderson's brother [Seth Lewelling](/source/Seth_Lewelling) later bought out Henderson's share of the business. In 1859, Lambert and his father-in-law, Henry Miller, bought half of Meek's interest in Meek & Luelling's orchard.<ref name=PDXHistory/> The venture did not start out well, because of a drop in the price of apples and the poor yield from the formerly productive trees.<ref name=PDXHistory/> Lambert introduced new [horticulture](/source/horticulture) methods that in two years restored the health of the trees and again allowed them to produce "mammoth" crops of apples.<ref name=PDXHistory/> Lambert became the sole owner of the orchards, which are notable for being the first to produce cultivated fruit in Oregon.<ref name=PDXHistory/> Former owner Henderson Luelling later became a prominent orchardist in California.

===Lambert cherry===
Lambert developed what became known as the '''Lambert cherry''', by [grafting](/source/grafting) a [volunteer](/source/Volunteer_(botany)) seedling, found in 1848 under a [Napoleon cherry](/source/Napoleon_cherry) tree to the rootstock of a [May Duke](/source/May_Duke_cherry) cherry.<ref name=PDXHistory/><ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/cyclopediaofhar00hedr |page= [https://archive.org/details/cyclopediaofhar00hedr/page/146 146] |quote= J. H. Lambert cherry. |title= Cyclopedia of hardy fruits |publisher= Macmillan |author= Hedrick, U. P. |year= 1922}}</ref><ref name=Pom>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yV3XAAAAMAAJ&q=%22J.+H.+Lambert%22+cherry&pg=PA150 |title= Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Session of the American Pomological Society |year= 1895 |publisher= [American Pomological Society](/source/American_Pomological_Society) |access-date= 2021-04-03 |archive-date= 2024-05-01 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240501065403/https://books.google.com/books?id=yV3XAAAAMAAJ&q=%22J.+H.+Lambert%22+cherry&pg=PA150#v=snippet&q=%22J.%20H.%20Lambert%22%20cherry&f=false |url-status= live }}</ref> The crown of the tree died in 1880 and a new tree grew from its roots that was not a May Duke, nor was it identical to the original seedling.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.halcyon.com/tmend/plants.htm |title= Local Plant Makes Good:World-Class Plant Introductions from the Pacific Northwest |work= Pacific Northwest Garden History |access-date= 2009-11-10 |archive-date= 2008-05-11 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080511201825/http://www.halcyon.com/tmend/plants.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref> The resulting cherry was large, richly colored, flavorful, and had a small pit, and it immediately became popular.<ref name=PDXHistory/> Lambert introduced his cherry to the [Oregon Horticultural Society](/source/Oregon_Horticultural_Society) in 1896 and it became one of the most important cherries grown in the early Oregon orchards, along with [Royal Anns](/source/Royal_Ann_cherry), [Bings](/source/Bing_cherry), and [Black Republicans](/source/Black_Republican_cherry).<ref name=Pom/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.salemhistory.net/commerce/cherries.htm |title= The Cherry City |work= Salem Online History |publisher= Salem Public Library |access-date= 2009-11-10 |archive-date= 2007-08-11 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070811051110/http://www.salemhistory.net/commerce/cherries.htm |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=Standard>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uZMDAAAAMAAJ&q=%22J.+H.+Lambert%22+cherry&pg=PA2283 |title= The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture |year= 1916 |author= Bailey, Liberty Hyde |access-date= 2021-04-03 |archive-date= 2024-05-01 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240501065328/https://books.google.com/books?id=uZMDAAAAMAAJ&q=%22J.+H.+Lambert%22+cherry&pg=PA2283#v=snippet&q=%22J.%20H.%20Lambert%22%20cherry&f=false |url-status= live }}</ref> In 1916, it was called the "finest cherry grown in America".<ref name=Standard/>

==Other work==
While living in [Multnomah County](/source/Multnomah_County%2C_Oregon) in 1858, Lambert was elected to serve on the [county commission](/source/county_commission).<ref name=PDXHistory/> He served as a [Clackamas County](/source/Clackamas_County%2C_Oregon) Commissioner in 1864.<ref name=PDXHistory/>

In 1887, Lambert was a founding member of the Oregon Horticultural Society.<ref name=PDXHistory/> In 1890, he helped establish the Citizens Bank of Portland and became its president.<ref name=PDXHistory/> Lambert managed to keep the bank open during the financial [Panic of 1893](/source/Panic_of_1893), when over 500 banks failed.<ref name=PDXHistory/> He also served as president of White Publishing Company.<ref name=Oregon>Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. [Binfords & Mort](/source/Binfords_%26_Mort) Publishing. p. 140.</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Joseph and Clementine Lambert had ten children, eight of whom survived into adulthood.<ref name=Hines/> Their two sons and six daughters included author [Elizabeth Lambert Wood](/source/Elizabeth_Lambert_Wood).<ref name=PDXHistory/><ref name=Oregon/> Clementine died in the early 1890s, and Joseph Lambert died in Portland, Oregon, on November 12, 1909, at the age of 83.<ref name=PDXHistory/><ref name=Oregon/>

J. H. Lambert is one of the 158 names of people who are notable in the early history of Oregon painted in the [frieze](/source/frieze)s of the House and Senate chambers of the [Oregon State Capitol](/source/Oregon_State_Capitol).<ref name=CN>{{cite book| last = Cogswell| first = Philip Jr. | title = Capitol Names: Individuals Woven Into Oregon's History| publisher = [Oregon Historical Society](/source/Oregon_Historical_Society)| year = 1977| location = Portland, Oregon}}</ref> Lambert's name is in the [House chamber](/source/Oregon_House_of_Representatives). His former employer [Seth Lewelling](/source/Seth_Lewelling) (formerly Luelling), developer of the [Bing cherry](/source/Bing_cherry), is so honored on the [Senate side](/source/Oregon_State_Senate).<ref name=CN/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Joseph Hamilton}}
Category:Multnomah County commissioners
Category:People from Milwaukie, Oregon
Category:Oregon pioneers
Category:Agriculture in Oregon
Category:People from Vigo County, Indiana
Category:Bankers from Oregon
Category:American horticulturists
Category:1825 births
Category:1909 deaths
Category:American orchardists
Category:Farmers from Oregon
Category:19th-century American politicians
Category:People who traveled the Oregon Trail
Category:People from Oregon Territory

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Hamilton Lambert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hamilton_Lambert) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hamilton_Lambert?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.