Archives West Finding Aid

Alexander E. Borthwick was born Feb. 22, 1835 in in Schoharie County, New York, to William and Maria (Bushnell) Borthwick. He enlisted November 16, 1861, in the Civil War in Company B, Fourth New York Artillery, and served until discharged on account of disability, August 28, 1862. On October 1, 1863, having recovered his health, he reenlisted at Saratoga Springs, New York, in Company C, Second New York Veteran Cavalry. He served until November 27, 1865, when he was honorably mustered out at Albany, New York. He took part in the Red River and Mobile campaigns and in several other notable raids. He was twice wounded, first at Marksville, Louisiana, and again at McLeod Mills, Mississippi, on the Davidson raid.

Following the War, Borthwick attended school, first at Ft. Edward Institute, Ft. Edward, N.Y. then at Eastman's Business College, from which he graduated. In 1867 he traveled West. He assisted in building the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railways and was present at Promontory, Utah, May 9, 1869, when the last spike was driven connecting with bands of steel from New York and San Francisco. In May 1869 he went to Nevada, worked in various mining camps, and then migrated to Canyon City, Oregon, and from there to The Dalles and Portland.

In Portland he worked for three months as a school teacher and for a short time as stationery salesman. He was then employed by the Oregon and California Railroad on a survey crew. In 1870 he did survey work for the Willamette Valley Railroad, and on the Northern Pacific Railroad out of Kalama, Washington Territory. In April 1871 he was appointed county clerk, Multnomah County, Oregon, a position he held for three years, during which time he married Alice Case of Salem, Oregon. In 1874 he was elected assistant clerk of the House, Oregon State Legislature. In 1875 he left Oregon, clerked for a time in Walla Walla, took an agency for a sewing machine company out of Walla Walla, and worked in various mines in eastern Oregon, notably the Virtue Gold Mine, near Baker.

In 1876 he returned to Portland and resumed duties as a county clerk, serving until July 1882. In 1883 he established himself in Portland as a real estate agent and sold land and homes in the Portland area. In 1896 he was appointed superintendent of the Multnomah County Poor Farm, a position he resigned in 1899 when he moved to Spokane, Washington. From 1899 to 1905 he dealt in mining properties in Idaho, eastern Washington, and Nevada, traveling frequently to inspect mine properties as far south as Goldfield, Nevada. In 1905 he returned to Portland and picked up his real estate business, continuing in it until his death. Borthwick was an active member of the G.A.R., attended the theater frequently, and was active in the social life of whatever community he was in.

William L. Borthwick (1881-1958), son of Alexander E., attended the University of California, 1902-1906, and became a civil engineer. From 1915 to 1918 he was employed in river and harbor work by the U.S. Army Engineers on the Columbia River and along the north Pacific Coast. He was later an employee of the Bureau of Construction, Portland. He was active in politics, and joined the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. William L. Borthwick was married to Ruth Millard, a schoolteacher and stepdaughter of Alban G. Saunders of Redlands, California. The two met around 1905 and married in 1908.