Joseph Hamilton Lambert (December 1, 1825 – November 12, 1909), was an

American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nati ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and an orchardist who developed the Lambert cherry. A native of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, he also served as a county commissioner in Multnomah and Clackamas counties in Oregon.

Early life

Lambert was born on December 1, 1825 in Vigo County, Indiana, a few miles northeast of Terre Haute. He was raised on a farm by his parents, Hugh and Nancy (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' McClain) Lambert. At the age of 20, Lambert left Indiana for

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, where he worked and went to school until 1849, when he headed west again. He traveled on the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...

, arriving at the Philip Foster Farm at the end of the Barlow Road in

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

on September 14, 1850. He spent the winter in

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

. In the spring of 1851, he traveled to

Yreka, California Yreka ( ) is the county seat of Siskiyou County, California, United States, near the Shasta River; the city has an area of about , most of it land. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,807, reflecting a meager increase fro ...

for the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

, but he soon returned to Oregon's

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

, where he worked in a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

and for

William Meek William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Henderson Luelling Henderson William Luelling (April 23, 1809 – December 28, 1878) was an American horticulturist, Quaker, abolitionist and early Oakland, California settler. He introduced varietal fruits to the Pacific coast, first to Oregon and later to Californ ...

in Milwaukie hauling logs. Next he joined the surveying team of a Mr. Ives. He helped lay out the

Willamette Meridian The Willamette Stone was a small stone obelisk originally installed by the Department of Interior in 1885 in the western hills of Portland, Oregon in the United States to mark the intersection and origin of the Willamette meridian and Willamett ...

north from Portland to

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

, and the Willamette Baseline, the first

standard parallel In surveying, a baseline is a line between two points on the earth's surface and the direction and distance between them. In a triangulation network, at least one baseline between two stations needs to be measured to calculate the size of the ...

in Oregon. He also surveyed a few tiers of

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

s, including Salem. He returned to working in sawmills and as a log hauler until 1853, when he was again employed by Meek & Luelling, this time in their

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

business. In 1854, Lambert married Clementine Miller and they took up a

Donation Land Claim The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

Powell Valley Powell Valley in southwest Virginia, in the United States, is located near the city of Norton and the town of Big Stone Gap in Wise County, Virginia. Powell Valley is a picturesque location, with an overlook accessible from the Northbound lanes ...

Orchardist

Henderson's brother

Seth Lewelling Seth Lewelling (1820 – February 21, 1896), alternatively spelled Luelling (including by Lewelling himself), was a pioneer orchardist from the U.S. state of Oregon, best known for developing the Bing cherry. Born in 1820 in North Carolina as ...

later bought out Henderson's share of the business. In 1859, Lambert and his father-in-law, Henry Miller, bought half of Meek's interest in Meek & Luelling's orchard. The venture did not start out well, because of a drop in the price of apples and the poor yield from the formerly productive trees. Lambert introduced new

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

methods that in two years restored the health of the trees and again allowed them to produce "mammoth" crops of apples. Lambert became the sole owner of the orchards, which are notable for being the first to produce cultivated fruit in Oregon. Former owner Henderson Luelling later became a prominent orchardist in California.

Lambert cherry

Lambert developed what became known as the Lambert cherry, by

grafting Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...

a volunteer seedling, found in 1848 under a Napoleon cherry tree to the rootstock of a May Duke cherry. The crown of the tree died in 1880 and a new tree grew from its roots that was not a May Duke, nor was it identical to the original seedling. The resulting cherry was large, richly colored, flavorful, and had a small pit, and it immediately became popular. Lambert introduced his cherry to the Oregon Horticultural Society in 1896 and it became one of the most important cherries grown in the early Oregon orchards, along with Royal Annes, Bings, and Black Republicans. In 1916, it was called the "finest cherry grown in America".

Other work

While living in Multnomah County in 1858, Lambert was elected to serve on the

county commission A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

. He served as a

Clackamas County Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Native ...

Commissioner in 1864. In 1887, Lambert was a founding member of the Oregon Horticultural Society. In 1890, he helped establish the Citizens Bank of Portland and became its president. Lambert managed to keep the bank open during the financial

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

, when over 500 banks failed. He also served as president of White Publishing Company.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''.

Binfords & Mort Binford & Mort Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1930, the company was previously known as Metropolitan Press and Binfords & Mort. At one time they were the largest book publisher in the ...

Publishing. p. 140.

Death and legacy

Joseph and Clementine Lambert had ten children, eight of whom survived into adulthood. Their two sons and six daughters included author Elizabeth Lambert Wood. Clementine died in the early 1890s, and Joseph Lambert died in Portland, Oregon, on November 12, 1909, at the age of 83. J. H. Lambert is one of the 158 names of people who are notable in the early history of Oregon painted in the friezes of the House and Senate chambers of the

Oregon State Capitol The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capitol, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 ...

. Lambert's name is in the House chamber. His former employer

(formerly Luelling), developer of the

Bing cherry Bing is a cultivar of the wild or sweet cherry (''Prunus avium'') that originated in the Pacific Northwest, in Milwaukie, Oregon, United States. The Bing remains a major cultivar in Oregon,Zebian, Maureen. (8/11/2011) "'Bing' Those Cherries On!" ...

, is so honored on the Senate side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Joseph Hamilton Multnomah County Commissioners People from Milwaukie, Oregon Oregon pioneers Agriculture in Oregon People from Vigo County, Indiana American bankers American horticulturists 1825 births 1909 deaths American orchardists Farmers from Oregon 19th-century American politicians