E. Henry Wemme

E. Henry Wemme (c. 1850 – 1914?) was a wealthy businessman in Portland, in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was an active business investor during the pioneering era of automobiles and aviation.

Born in Germany, he immigrated to the United States at about 14 years of age, not intending to stay. He later said he "went broke and couldn't get away."cite news
title = Portland's First Driver Had a Vision
date = November 81999
author = Jerry F. Boone
work = The Oregonian
url = http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:ORGB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB08BD677344103&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=8CE642B8CA5C4083BE84A2539D6E1A73 ]

According to an account published in 1932 by August Wemme, his brother, Henry Wemme began his career in Portland in 1883, "with a spool of thread and a needle or two as capital."Wemme, August. [http://www.biblio.com/books/2730739.html Goths and Vandals of The Wemme Cases (1932)] ]

One of his ventures was as a supplier of tents and other supplies to those joining the Klondike Gold Rush. [ [http://www.nps.gov/klse/hrs/hrs2b2.htm Hard Drive to the Klondike: Promoting Seattle During the Gold Rush (Chapter 2) ] ]

Wemme owned the first automobile in Oregon, a Stanley Steamer bought in 1899 from what became the Locomobile Company of America. He also introduced other automobiles to the Portland area, including a Haynes-Apperson, an Oldsmobile, a Reo, and a Pierce-Arrow. He was president of the Portland Automobile Association. [ [http://cliffhanger76.tripod.com/bikewest/auto/ The Bicycle & The West - The Automobile ] ]

He at least briefly turned his attention to aviation, becoming the Pacific Northwest agent for the biplanes by Curtiss. One of his automobile salesmen, Eugene Ely volunteered to fly Wemme's first Curtiss biplane to Oregon. Ely crashed without serious injury, and soon went to work for Curtiss. [ [http://www.militarymuseum.org/Ely1.html Californians and the Military: Eugene Burton Ely: The California National Guard's First (Naval) Aviator ] ]

He developed the Overlook neighborhood in North Portland. [ [http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/oscp/caring/np_olook_main.html Caring Community of North Portland ] ]

In 1912, Wemme bought the Barlow Road for $5400. He built bridges and made other improvements, and eventually bequeathed it to the state of Oregon. Wemme, Oregon is an unincorporated area along the Mount Hood Corridor and is named after him. [Oregon Geographic Names]

Wemme's brother cites his year and place of death as Los Angeles, California in 1914, though other sources cite 1917 [ [http://www.columbia-center.org/SRBWC/Contents/ASSESS.HTM] Dead link|date=March 2008] or 1919 as the year. The book bemoans a probate dispute over "an estate appraised at more than a million dollars…"; the book was written to

Wemme's will was drawn by Portland lawyer and friend, George W. Joseph, bequeathed half to the Christian Science Church [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0030-8684(200305)72%3A2%3C229%3APATGGC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C] and half to German heirs. The dispute evolved into a major political fracas, going as far as the Oregon Supreme Court; in the process, Joseph was disbarred, and also launched a strong run for Governor of Oregon, though he died shortly after earning the Republican Party's nomination. [ cite web
url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,739456,00.html
title = Oregon Ousting
publisher = Time
date = June 91930
accessdate = 2007-10-08 ]

See also

* Bull Run Hydroelectric Project – a hydroelectric project of the Mount Hood Company, which Wemme owned for part of the time

References

* Books by E. Kimbark MacColl such as "Merchants, Money and Power: The Portland Establishment, 1843-1913" (1988, ISBN 0-9603408-3-1)
* [http://www.odot.state.or.us/ssbpublic/BSS/rmds/history/~chron.htm State government web page] .