Jacob Kamm

Jacob Kamm (12 December 1823 – 16 December 1912) was a prominent early transportation businessman in Oregon, USA.

Kamm was born on 12 December 1823, in Canton of Glarus, Switzerland.^[1][2][3] His family migrated to America when he was 8 to Illinois, St. Louis and then New Orleans.^[2][3][4] He worked as a printer's devil beginning at age 12.^[5] 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.^[3][4] Trained as an engineer on the Mississippi River, he was certified chief engineer with the St. Louis Association of Steamboat Engineers at age 25.^[2] In 1849, he moved west with the California Gold Rush, piloting the Blackhawk, a steamer, on the Sacramento River.^[2]

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.^[2][3][6] The Lot Whitcomb was launched on 25 December 1850.^[3] 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.^[3][6] Kamm owned half of the Jenny Clark, Ainsworth owned a quarter, and Abernathy and Clark shared the remaining quarter.^[6] They then built the Carrie Ladd steamer in 1858, called the "keystone of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company".^[6]

He was a founder of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company in 1879 and a shareholder in the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company.^[2][7] He built steamboats including in 1891, the Ocean Wave and in 1900, Athlon.^[7] One of the companies he owned was the Vancouver Transportation Company.^[7]

Kamm sold property to the city in about 1910 to construct Old Lincoln High School, currently known as Portland State University's Lincoln Hall.^[8][9] 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.^[2] This estate near 14th and Main contained 11 acres (45,000 m²).^[2]

Kamm married Caroline Augusta Gray on 13 September 1859 during the Pig War, on the PS Eliza Anderson steamer just outside Fort Hope, Canada.^[10][11][12] They had one son, Charles Tilton Kamm (1860–1906).^{[2][11][12][13]} Kamm was a Mason, being inducted at age 21 in St. Louis.^[2][14] In Portland, he was affiliated with the Multnomah Lodge in Oregon City, then the Willamette Lodge in Portland.^[2] He was also a Knights Templar and a Shriner.^[2]

Caroline Augusta Gray was born on 16 October 1840 at Camp Lapwai, outside Lewiston, Idaho.^[11] Her father was William H. Gray.^[11] She died in 1932.^[5]

In December 1907, Kamm was "run down by a reckless bicycle rider" in Portland.^[15][16] Another report described the bicyclist as a "careless boy bicyclist"; Kamm was confined to his bed for many days.^[17]

Kamm became ill on 1 December 1912, "being an invalid" since the 1907 bicycle wreck.^[18][19] By December 13, The Oregonian reported he "may only live a few hours", stating his condition was "sinking rapidly".^[18] The following day, he entered a coma and died.^[2][20][14] He was buried at the River View Cemetery in Portland.^[21][22]

At time of death, his estate was valued at approximately $4 million.^{[13][18][23][24]} 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.^[2] At the time of his death, the Vancouver Transportation Company operated two ships: the Lurline and Undine on routes between Portland and Astoria.^[2]

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".^[6]