Hamilton Corbett

Hamilton Forbush "Ham" Corbett (December 13, 1888 – May 7, 1966¹) was a prominent Portland, Oregon businessman and in his younger years was a leading amateur American football player. He played college football for Harvard University and was a consensus first-team selection to the 1908 College Football All-America Team.

Hamilton Forbush "Ham" Corbett (December 13, 1888 – May 7, 1966) was a prominent Portland, Oregon businessman and in his younger years was a leading amateur American football player. He played college football for Harvard University and was a consensus first-team selection to the 1908 College Football All-America Team.

Family

Corbett was married to Harriet Cumming at Portland in 1920. They built their home on Palatine Hill in Dunthorpe in 1928, designed by Pietro Belluschi. He had one daughter by his first marriage: Harriet Corbett, born in 1922¹. The first marriage was later dissolved. Corbett married for a second time, to Charlotte Breyman Thomson, in 1944, at Lakewood, Washington.

Business career

Hamilton Corbett was the youngest of three brothers but was an equal partner with his two elder brothers Henry L. Corbett and Elliott R. Corbett in the Corbett Investment Company, with offices on the tenth floor of the Corbett Building, which the Corbett brothers had built in 1907. With the death of their grandfather Henry W. Corbett in 1903, the three brothers inherited his businesses, including 27 downtown Portland properties. The three Corbett brothers also then controlled the First National Bank of Portland. Hamilton Corbett was President of the Security and Saving Trust Company, a saving and trust company the brothers controlled through the bank. They were also involved in a number of large real estate ventures in Portland. As well as building the Corbett Building in 1907, Corbett and his brothers built the ten-story Pacific Building in 1926 on property they owned across the street from the Pioneer Courthouse in Portland. The building site was on the Yamhill frontage of the landscaped "cow pasture" in the grounds of the house and gardens of their grandfather, Henry W. Corbett, which occupied the block bounded by Taylor, 5th Avenue, Yamhill and Sixth Avenues. His widow remained living in the house fronting on Taylor on the other part of the block until her death in 1936. Today, the Pacific Building, built by Corbett and his brothers, is a historic landmark in downtown Portland. The classic ten-story office building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The real estate holding company owned by the Corbett brothers, sold several of its downtown buildings in 1956. The properties included the Pacific Building, the ten-story Corbett Building, and the Corbett Brothers Auto Storage Garage plus two quarter-block lots in downtown Portland. Hamilton Corbett served as President of the Portland Chamber of Commerce and aided many volunteer organisations.

Death

Hamilton Forbush Corbett died in Portland in 1966 at age 77 and is buried in the Corbett plot on the crest of River View Cemetery, in Portland.

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1235918528 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.