John Commingers Ainsworth (June 6, 1822 – December 30, 1893) was an American pioneer businessman and steamboat owner in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. A native of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, he moved west to mine gold in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

before immigrating to Oregon where he piloted steamships and became a founder of the

Oregon Steam Navigation Company The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company Incorporation (business), incorporated in 1860 in Washington (U.S. state), Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Was ...

and several banks.

Early life

Ainsworth was born in

Springboro, Ohio Springboro is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. A suburb of Cincinnati and Dayton, it is located mostly in Warren County in Clearcreek and Franklin Townships; with a small portion in Miami Township in Montgomery County. The city is part of th ...

, on June 6, 1822. His parents died while he was 13 years old, so he went to work for his uncle in Farmington, Iowa. They became partners in a business selling goods from boats along the Ohio River, but soon he split from his uncle and bought a store with a partner, which was sold at a good profit after only one year. He married a young woman, Josephine Augusta Kendall, who died fifteen months later.

American West

Ainsworth was not done partnering with his uncle. In 1844 they bought a steamboat and started a successful packet delivery service along the upper

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. Then the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

hit in 1849, and he sold his share of the business to go to

. The Gold Rush did not live up to his expectations, so he found a job piloting a steamer on the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

in Oregon. In 1851, he married the daughter of Judge S.S. White, and built a house in Oregon City. In late 1860, Ainsworth and several investors started the

(OSNC). The OSNC controlled the shipping routes of steamers, railroads, and freight lines in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and Oregon. In 1868, Ainsworth had an annual income of $14,651, one of the highest in the state of Oregon. By 1869, the OSNC monopolized the Columbia River transportation market. In April 1879,

Henry Villard Henry Villard (April 10, 1835 – November 12, 1900) was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway. Born and raised by Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard in the Rhenish Palatinate of the Kin ...

purchased the OSNC for its full value of $5 million. Ainsworth retired to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, after the sale.

Later years and family

After selling out, he entered the banking business in 1883 with the Ainsworth National Bank in Portland. In 1892, he started the Central Bank of Oakland. Ainsworth had seven children: George (with his second wife Nancy White) and John, Harry, Daisy, Laura, Maud, and Belle (with his third wife Sarah Frances "Fanny" Babbitt). Ainsworth was a Freemason, and eventually the third Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Oregon. In 1870, Ainsworth founded the Orient of Oregon and the Valley of Portland of the Ancient and Accepted

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the S ...

, S.J. and served as the first Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the Orient of Oregon. After retiring to California he wrote his autobiography. He died near Oakland, California, on December 30, 1893. He is the namesake of Ainsworth, Washington.

References

External links

The Oregon Steam Navigation Company and its Related Portage Tramways
from Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society

from Washington State Railroads Historical Society Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Ainsworth, John C. 1893 deaths 1822 births Businesspeople from Oregon 19th-century American railroad executives American businesspeople in shipping People from Springboro, Ohio Oregon Steam Navigation Company

Early life

American West

Later years and family

See also

References

External links