397 Church St. 

350 Capitol St.  

Clarence Bishop was born 15 Feb 1878 in Brownsville, OR to Charles Pleasant (C.P.) Bishop and Martha Ann (Fannie) Kay. His mother was the eldest daughter of Thomas Kay, founder of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill in Salem, OR. His father, the oldest son of Rev. William R. Bishop, Cumberland Presbyterian minister and schoolteacher. Clarence was the oldest child of three boys born to the couple.  

In 1884, the Bishop family moved from the Brownsville area to McMinnville and opened a store in partnership with Fanny’s brother Thomas B. Kay. Then in 1889, the family moved to Salem for a joint business venture with Fannie’s family, the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill.  

Each Bishop and extended Kay family member brought their skills and labor to the wool business. C.P. focused his efforts on the marketing and sale of TKWM products such as fabric and blankets. When his first attempt at opening a wholesale store in Portland was short-lived, he found success closer to home, by purchasing the Salem Woolen Mill store in 1891. Fannie was her father’s assistant in the day-to-day management of the mill. The Bishop boys also worked, first as bobbin boys, then on rotation through each mill department as they learned the manufacturing process. 

Clarence attended public schools in McMinnville and Salem; then spent three years at the University of Oregon. He was a natural athlete who excelled in football and track. While at university, he played halfback on the first University of Oregon team to compete outside the state. He also became a charter member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. For further education specific to the wool manufacturing business, the family then sent him to the Philadelphia Textile Institute. Upon completion of his program there, he took work as a sales representative for a mill in Maine, and later one in Louisville, Kentucky. Then, in 1905 he returned to Oregon and took a job as interim superintendent of the Portland Woolen Mills, shortly after the mill relocated to St. Johns.  

In 1908 the Bishop family began negotiations for the purchase and revitalization of a mill in Pendleton. After the transaction was completed on 16 February 1909 and the mill incorporated under Bishop family ownership, both Clarence (C.M.) and his brother Roy moved to Eastern Oregon, to manage the project and oversee day-to-day operations. First came a new 3-story concrete structure to house mill operations, then machinery upgrades with a switch to Jacquard looms. Both brothers were involved in every step, from construction and equipment upgrades to the sale and marketing of their product, and often worked alongside their employees in the mill. Within three years, the mill began to turn a profit under their management; once again it produced high-quality blankets and robes based on Native American designs. 

And it was only the beginning. Next came the purchase of the Washougal Mill in 1912, Roy’s purchase of Oregon Worsted in 1919, then the Eureka Woolen Mills in 1920. C.M. along with brother Roy, continued to carry the majority of responsibility in the family’s mill acquisition projects that included equipment upgrades, management, marketing, and product decisions. A business that by 1936, employed more than 1500 fulltime workers, processed 3-4 million pounds of wool annually and produced millions of dollars’ worth of woolen yarns and fabrics sold throughout the U.S. and Canada, according to the Capital Journal newspaper. 

On 20 Sep 1922, he married Harriet Broughton of Dayton, WA. The wedding was a large affair held at the bride’s home and attended by many of the couple’s friends from Portland and Eastern Oregon. Harriet was a graduate of Smith College, and according to family members, “a strong-willed natural born leader with a keen business sense.” At the time of their marriage Harriet worked as a director of the Broughton National Bank owned by her family. C.M. was president of the woolen mills in Washougal and Eureka, and vice-president of the woolen mill in Pendleton. Two boys would be born to the couple, Clarence Morton and James Broughton.  

In 1927, the family suffered the loss of Chauncey, victim of a gun accident in Eastern Oregon. C.M. and Roy continued to manage the day-to-day business of the family wool mill interests. Then, the Bishop family lost their patriarch on 18 Nov 1941 when father C.P. died in Salem. Mother Fannie followed him, three years later. And in 1950, Roy died following a heart attack. Thankfully, another generation of Bishops were being educated, trained, and brought into the family business Chauncey’s boys Robert and Charles, and the sons of C.M., Clarence “Mort” Jr. and James. They began to take on more of the day-to-day operational duties while the company continued to grow, adding additional manufacturing facilities in Nebraska, California, and Portland to keep up with the demand for Pendleton’s apparel line.  

In addition to his business pursuits, C.M. was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Elks, Arlington and Waverly country clubs, as well as numerous other Portland civic organizations. During WWII C.M. served on the U.S. Office of Production Management industry advisory board. He was also elected to the executive board of Portland Freight Traffic Association and in 1953 to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce manufacturing committee. Also, at various times over the course of his career, he served as a trustee of Willamette University, director of the Oregon Historical Society, director of U.S. National Bank of Oregon and president of the American Romney Sheep Breeders Association.  

Some of his many awards include a silver medallion from the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, the Golden Fleece Award from the California Wool Growers Association, and a similar award from the Oregon Wool Growers. 

Clarence Morton Bishop died 11 July 1969 in Portland, OR at the age of 91. At the time of his death, the newspaper reported that C.M. had guided the firm (Pendleton) through a nationwide 60-year expansion. Pendleton Woolen Mill encompassed 11 mills, factories and offices and employed several thousand workers. His wife Harriet lived until 1988. Both were buried in River View Cemetery, Portland, OR. 

(unless otherwise noted) 

1905  Bishop Clarence M. supt P [Portland] Woolen Mills, res St. Johns Portland, OR 

1906  Bishop Clarence M. supt Portland Woolen Mills, rms 313 N Hayes, St. Johns Portland, OR 

1910  Bishop Clarence M. vice-pres Pendleton Woolen Mills, bds 825 Main Pendleton, OR 

1917  Bishop Clarence M vice-pres Pendleton Woolen Mills, res 3 Association Bldg Pendleton, OR 

1920  Bishop Clarence M r Portland Hotel Portland, OR 

1923  Bishop Clarence M (Harriet) mgr Pendleton Woolen Mills h 601-265 6th Portland, OR 

1925  Bishop Clarence M (Harriet) mgr Pendleton Woolen Mills h271 Cornell rd Portland, OR 

1929  Bishop Clarence M (Harriet) v-pres-mgr Pendleton Woolen Mills h271 Cornell rd Portland, OR 

1930  Bishop Clarence M (Harriet B) v-pres-mgr Pendleton Woolen Mills h271 Cornell rd Portland, OR 

1934  Bishop Clarence M (Harriet B) v-pres-genl mgr Pendleton Woolen Mills h2682 NW Cornell rd Portland, OR 

1955  Bishop Clarence M pres Pendleton Woolen Mills r02393 SW Military rd Portland, OR 

1960  Bishop Clarence M (Harriet) pres Pendleton Woolen Mills r Oswego Portland, OR 

1895  Marion County, OR Census. Clarence Bishop. Age: 17. Birth: abt 1878 in Oregon. Residence: Salem, Marion, OR. Religion: Protestant. Occupation: Merchant. Living in his father’s household. 

1900  Clarance Bishop. Age: 21. Birth: Oct [s/b Feb] 1878 in Oregon. Single, boarder to HOH. Address in 1900: Eugene, Lane, OR. Additional household members: Edward McClanahan, age 55 (head). Hulda McClanahan, age 49 (wife to HOH). Edward McClanahan Jr., age 20 (son to HOH). Richard Smith, age 22 (boarder). M.L. Applegate, age 23 (boarder). Sigford A. Young, age 22 (boarder). St. Elmer Hooker, age 20 (boarder). B.F. Matlock, age 21 (boarder). 

1905  Marion County, OR Census. Clarence Bishop. Age: 27. Birthplace: Oregon. Residence: Salem, Marion, OR. Occupation: Student. Living in his father’s household. 

1910  Clarence M Bishop. Age: 32. Birth: 1878 in Oregon. Single, son to HOH. Address in 1910: Main St. Pendleton Ward 2, Umatilla, OR. Occupation: Manufacturer. Industry: Woolen Goods. Additional household members: Charles P. Bishop, age 55 (father). Fannie Bishop, age 52 (mother). Roy T. Bishop, age 29 (brother). Ethel M. Horn, age 14 (servant) 

1920  Clara [sic] M Bishop. Age: 41. Birth: abt 1879 in Oregon. Single, lodger to HOH. Address in 1920: Portland, Multnomah, OR. Occupation: Manager. Industry: Woolen Mill. Entry has some conflicting information such as gender, but in comparison with known facts, the preponderance of evidence points to this entry being Clarence. Residence is the Portland Hotel with many boarders, some also employed in the wool mill. 

1930  Clarence M. Bishop. Age: 52. Birth: abt 1878 in Ohio [s/b Oregon]. Married, HOH. Address in 1930: 271 Cornell Rd. Portland, Multnomah, OR. Age at first marriage: 44. Occupation: Manager. Industry: Woolen Mfg. Additional household members: Harriet B. Bishop, age 32 (wife). Clarence M. Bishop, age 5 (son). James B. Bishop, age 3 (son). Signe S. Lindberg, age 53 (servant). Thelma G. Turner, age 19 (servant). 

1940  Clarence Bishop. Age: 60. Birth: abt 1880 in Oregon. Married, HOH. Address in 1940: 2682 NW Cornell Rd. Portland, Multnomah, OR. Occupation: President. Industry: Woolen Mills. Additional household members: Harriet Bishop, age 43 (wife). Morton Bishop, age 15 (son). Broughton Bishop, age 13 (son). Marjorie Reasoner, age 23 (servant). Signe Lindberg, age 63 (servant). 

Harriet Broughton Bishop. Birth: 13 Apr 1898 in Dayton, Columbia County, Washington. Death: 6 May 1988 (aged 90) in Portland, Multnomah County, OR. Burial: River View Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah, OR. Memorial ID: 102073488. 

Capital Journal 18 Jun 1928 p. 7 – $3,000,000 Bishop’s Wool Manufacturing Organization (separate section of newspaper) 

Capital Journal 2 Jan 1928 p. 5 – Bishops Control 3 Woolen Mills  

Oregon Statesman 24 May 1936, p. 2 – Three Bishop Brothers Woolen Mill History 

Oregon Statesman 13 Jul 1969, p 27 – Death Announcement 

Capital Journal 15 Jul 1969, p 20 – Obituary 

Oregon Statesman 15 Jul 1969, p 12 – Obituary 

M3 1989-027-0001     Photo  

M3 1992-105-0013     Photo 

M3 1993-027-0055     Photo 

M3 1994-016-0051     Oral History (Carlisle Roberts) 

Later Woolen Mills in Oregon, Alfred L. Lomax, Portland, Binfords & Mort, 1974. P. 103-139, 273-301. 

Columbia County WA Families – Brooks to Broughton, Blue Mountain Heritage Society, Columbia County, WA. https://bluemountainheritage.org/columbia-county-family-histories/