Donald Macleay
Donald Macleay | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 1834 Leckmelm, Ross-shire, Scotland |
| Died | July 26, 1897 (aged 62) |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant, financier, banker |
| Years active | 1854–1895 |
| Known for | Founder of Corbitt & Macleay; president of U.S. National Bank of Portland; president of Portland Board of Trade |
Donald Macleay (August 1834 – July 26, 1897) was a prominent 19th-century merchant and financier based in Portland, Oregon. Originally from Scotland, he emigrated with his family at age 16 to Quebec, subsequently relocating to California and eventually settling in Oregon. Partnering with William Corbitt, Macleay developed a thriving wholesale and shipping enterprise in Portland, specializing in groceries, liquor, wheat, salmon, and timber exports. His business ventures extended to investments in Oregon railroads. He served as president of the Portland Board of Trade and played a key role in establishing the U.S. National Bank of Portland—a forerunner of U.S. Bancorp—where he was president during his later years.
Macleay was deeply involved in Portland’s civic and social circles, including leadership roles in the St. Andrew Society and the Arlington Club. Together with his wife Martha, he raised four children; their son Roderick later became a bank director. Macleay’s enduring influence is commemorated by Macleay Park within Portland’s Forest Park and the Oregon community of Macleay, which was named in his honor in 1882.
Early life
Donald Macleay was born in Leckmelm, Ross-shire, Scotland, and received private education before his family moved to a farm near Melbourne, Quebec when he was 16 due to financial hardships. By age 20, he had entered into a business partnership with merchant George K. Foster in Richmond, Quebec.
Merchant, banker, public figure
At 25, Macleay relocated to California, where he met William Corbitt. In 1866, they founded Corbitt & Macleay, a wholesale grocery and shipping company based in Portland that emerged as one of the leading firms in the Northwest by 1870.
Among the wave of Scottish merchants who settled in Portland during the 1860s and 1870s, Macleay distinguished himself through notable success. Initially focused on groceries and liquor, Corbitt & Macleay expanded their operations to include wheat and salmon exports and supplied Asian markets such as Hong Kong with spars and ship planking produced using low-cost labor. Macleay also participated in railroad investments alongside fellow Scots William Reid and Henry Villard, who headed the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.
He held board positions at the Portland & Coast Steamship Company and the Portland Telephone & Electric Light Company, as well as serving as vice president of the Oregon & California Railway Company. As president of the Portland Board of Trade, he championed federal funding for jetty improvements at the Columbia Bar and contributed to founding the Portland Chamber of Commerce.
After retiring from wholesale trade in 1892, Macleay helped establish the United States National Bank of Portland (which later evolved into U.S. Bancorp) and assumed its presidency. His leadership brought vital credibility that supported the bank’s early growth. Additionally, he presided over both the British Benevolent Society and St. Andrew Society and was instrumental in founding the Arlington Club.
Family life
In 1869, Macleay married Martha Macculloch from Compton, Quebec. The couple had four children—Barbara, Edith, Mabel, and Roderick—and were active members of Portland’s First Presbyterian Church. Following Martha’s death in 1876, Macleay remarried later on. Their son Roderick went on to serve as a director at U.S. Bank during the early twentieth century.
Death and legacy
Amid the Panic of 1893, a period marked by widespread bank collapses, the U.S. Bank remained operational largely because of Macleay’s significant personal financial support and his choice to waive his president’s salary. After becoming fatigued, he stepped down in early 1895 and passed away on July 26, 1897.
Macleay’s commercial ventures extended to the Oregonian Railway Company, responsible for constructing a narrow-gauge railroad in the eastern part of the Willamette Valley. He also financed the construction of a schoolhouse at a railroad stop in Marion County, which prompted renaming the locality from Stipp to Macleay in 1882.
In 1897, Macleay transferred ownership of a parcel along Balch Creek to the city of Portland to serve as a recreational area for patients at a nearby hospital. This site, known as Macleay Park, was incorporated into Portland’s Forest Park in 1948 but has preserved its original designation.
Notes and references
- Notes
- References
Works cited
- Corning, Howard M., ed. (1989) [1956]. Dictionary of Oregon History. Portland: Binford & Mort Publishing. .
- Gaston, Joseph (1911). Portland, Oregon, its history and builders: in connection with the Antecedent Explorations, Discoveries, and Movements of the Pioneers That Selected the Site for the Great City of the Pacific, vol. 3. Chicago, Illinois: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company..
- MacColl, E. Kimbark; Stein, Harry H. (1988). Merchants, Money, and Power: The Portland Establishment 1843–1913. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press. .
- McArthur, Lewis A., and McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names, 7th edition. Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press. .