Bishop family papers

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.