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Bishop family papers

 Collection
Identifier: Coll 909

Scope and Contents

The Bishop family papers document the personal and professional lives of the Bishop family, proprietors of Pendleton Woolen Mills, the Oregon Worsted Company, and the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill. The papers include correspondence, personal and business papers, photographs and albums, genealogical records, plat maps, and newspaper clippings.

The Correspondence series contains the Bishop family’s personal and professional correspondence with family, friends, and business associates. The series includes incoming and outgoing letters, memos, telegrams, V-mail, postcards, and greeting cards. The series contains the correspondence of Charles Pleasant Bishop, Fannie Kay Bishop, Royal Thomas Bishop, Wilma Burmester Bishop, William Henry Bishop, Elizabeth Jane Bishop Reville, Thomas Burmester Bishop, and Maria Finch Burmester.

The Personal and business papers series documents the personal and professional lives of the Bishop family. The series includes financial records, legal documents, business records, memorial material, school records, and miscellaneous personal documents. The series contains the personal and business papers of Charles Pleasant Bishop, Fannie Kay Bishop, Royal Thomas Bishop, Wilma Burmester Bishop, William Henry Bishop, Elizabeth Jane Bishop Reville, Thomas Burmester Bishop, and Maria Finch Burmester.

The Photographs and albums series includes photographic prints, scrapbooks, albums, and film negatives depicting the Bishop family and extended families. Subjects of the single photographic prints include group portraiture, domestic homes and business interiors, solo portraiture, and snapshots of family members. Additionally, this series includes several scrapbooks and albums depicting family history and domestic life.

The Genealogical records series contains a Burmester family tree chart, a Thomas Lister Kay family tree chart, and a document with Bishop family life dates.

The Plat maps series contains seven plat maps of Washington County, Oregon, including plats of Raleighwood Lane Development in Beaverton, Oregon. The plats are dated October 18, 1978, to October 19, 1978.

The Newspaper clippings series contains clippings of newspaper articles related to the Bishop family, including marriage announcements, obituaries, and coverage of the family’s political and business activities.

Dates

  • circa 1860s-1990

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time. Collection digital files may be requested through Special Collections and University Archives Reproductions and Permissions Request Form or accessed online.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.

Biographical / Historical

The Bishops, a prominent Oregon family, are the founders and proprietors of Pendleton Woolen Mills, the Oregon Worsted Company, and the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill.

British weaver Thomas Lister Kay (1837–1900) began working in Oregon's woolen mills when he arrived in Brownsville, Oregon, in 1863. In 1889, he opened his own woolen mill, the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, in Salem, Oregon. Kay brought his oldest daughter, Martha Ann "Fannie" Kay (1857–1944), into the business, and after learning the operation and management of woolen mills, she became her father's assistant. In 1876, Fannie married Salem retail merchant Charles Pleasant "C.P." Bishop (1854-1941), which proved to be a great benefit to Kay's company and to the Bishop enterprises in the combination of manufacturing and retail sales.

In 1909, with encouragement from Fannie, the Bishops' three sons, Clarence Morton Bishop (1878- 1969), Royal "Roy" Thomas Bishop (1881-1950), and Robert Chauncey Bishop (1882-1927), reopened a defunct woolen mill in Pendleton, Oregon. The Bishops constructed a new, more efficient mill with the aid of a local bond issue and the Bishops' company took on the name Pendleton Woolen Mills. In 1912, the company opened an additional weaving mill in Washougal, Washington, for the production of woolen fabrics used in suits and other clothing.

In 1913, Roy married Wilma Burmester (1887-1969), a stenographer for a local Pendleton attorney and a journalist for the Eastern edition of The Oregonian newspaper. Wilma was the daughter of Utah pioneers Judge Theodore Burmester (1837-1895) and Maria Finch Burmester (1856-1951), whose parents had crossed the plains in 1850 by wagon train. Roy and Wilma had three children, Elizabeth Jane (1914-1977), Thomas Burmester (1915-1981), and William Henry (1922-). In 1918, Roy moved to Portland, Oregon, to purchase and manage his own mill and company, the Oregon Worsted Company. Both Thomas and William worked in the family mill companies after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Many members of the Bishop family were involved in politics and civic activities. C.P. served as the mayor of Salem for three consecutive terms and later as a Republican State Senator from Marion County from 1915 to 1917. Both Fannie and C.P. were active in the Republican Party and served as delegates to National Republican Conventions, C.P. in 1916 and Fannie in 1924. Fannie ran for state legislature in 1922 and served as the state chairman of the Republican Party for Women. Roy was a director of the Portland Chamber of Commerce and the Oregon State Chamber of Commerce. Wilma was involved with the National Federation of Republican Women's Clubs as well as local Oregon politics. Wilma was also a member of several charitable and relief organizations. She frequently volunteered for the University of Oregon, where Jane attended, raising funds for a Women's Building and the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority chapter house, as well as working with the University of Oregon Mother's Club. The Bishops were also involved in sponsoring and organizing the Pendleton Round-Up.

Extent

17 linear feet (15 containers) : 2 record storage boxes; 1 manuscript box; 1 legal size half-manuscript box; 1 oversize phase box; 9 flat boxes; 1 oversize folder

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Bishops, a prominent Oregon family, are the founders and proprietors of Pendleton Woolen Mills, the Oregon Worsted Company, and the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill. The Bishop family papers include correspondence, personal and business papers, photographs and albums, genealogical records, plat maps, and newspaper clippings.

Arrangement

The Bishop family papers are arranged in six series:
1. Correspondence, 1888-1990
2. Personal and business papers, 1895-1986
3. Photographs and albums, circa 1860s-1970
4. Genealogical records, circa 1919-1951
5. Plat maps, 1978
6. Newspaper clippings, 1895-1969



Series 1. Correspondence is arranged in eight subseries:
1.1. Charles Pleasant Bishop, 1906-1940
1.2. Fannie Kay Bishop, 1926-1943
1.3. Royal Thomas Bishop, 1902-1950
1.4. Wilma Burmester Bishop, 1909-1968
1.5. William Henry Bishop, 1927-1990
1.6. Elizabeth Jane Bishop Reville, 1914-1966
1.7. Thomas Burmester Bishop, 1927-1964
1.8. Maria Finch Burmester, 1888-1921



Series 2. Personal and business papers is arranged in eight subseries:
2.1. Charles Pleasant Bishop papers, circa 1941-1960
2.2. Fannie Kay Bishop papers, 1910-1945
2.3. Royal Thomas Bishop papers, 1904-1957
2.4. Wilma Burmester Bishop papers, 1918-1967
2.5. William Henry Bishop papers, 1928-1986
2.6. Elizabeth Jane Bishop Reville papers, 1928
2.7. Thomas Burmester Bishop papers, 1925-1943
2.8. Maria Finch Burmester papers, 1895-1956



Series 3. Photographs and albums is arranged in four subseries:
3.1. Group portraits, circa 1890s-1960s
3.2. Homes and store interiors, circa 1895-1930s
3.3. Portraits, circa 1890s-1940s
3.4. Scrapbooks and albums, circa 1860s-1970
3.5. Snapshots, circa 1900-1940s

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Zephyr Used and Rare Books, 2022.

Existence and Location of Copies

Selected items are available online in the Bishop Family Papers in Aviary.

Related Materials

Related materials are found in the following collections:
Brownsville Woolen Mill records, Bx 004
Thomas Kay Woolen Mill records, Coll 744
Lee Moorhouse photographs, PH 036
Walter S. Bowman photographs, PH 004
See also: Pendleton Woolen Mills Archives

Processing Information

Collection processed by Alexa Goff and Sarah Lueders, 2022.

Title
Guide to the Bishop family papers
Status
Complete Description
Author
Alexa Goff and Sarah Lueders
Date
2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository

Contact:
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR 97403-1299 USA