Carey, Charles Henry.  "History of Oregon." Vol. 3. Chicago-Portland: Pioneer
Historical Pub. Co., 1922.  p. 464.
 
WILLIAM ALBERS

     William Albers of Portland, as vice president of the Albers Brothers
Milling Company, is active in the control and management of one of the largest
enterprises of this character throughout the entire west, the business having
been developed to gigantic proportions, with manufacturing plants in most of the
leading coast cities.
     William Albers was born in Lingen, Germany, December 29, 1869, and is a son
of Herman Albers, who was born, reared and married in Germany and afterward came
to Portland, where he continued to reside until called to his final rest.  His
wife, however, passed away in Germany.
     William Albers of this review attended school in his native city and in
1891 came to the United States with his brother, Henry Albers, making Portland
his destination.  Here they joined an older brother, Bernard Albers, who passed
away on the 4th of March, 1908.  In 1895 Bernard and Henry Albers established
the milling business from which has been developed the present gigantic
enterprise.  In 1901 the business was incorporated under the name of the Albers
Brothers Milling Company, of which William Albers is now the vice president.
The success of the enterprise has been due to the adoption of several principles
to which the firm has strictly adhered.  One of these has to do with the
selection of locations "where rail and water meet."  This was the thought in
mind when the first plant was built in Portland in 1893 and the idea uppermost
in selecting their last location on the Oakland pier in 1918.  All of their
docks are accessible to the largest vessels.  They have always maintained the
highest standards in the quality of their output and their success is plainly
indicated in a comparison of their sales of 1908 with those of 1918 -- ten years
later:  In 1908 their sales amounted to five million dollars, at which time
their total floor space in four mills was one hundred and thirty-five thousand
square feet.  In 1918 their total floor space in nine mills was one million
three hundred and twenty-six thousand four hundred and twenty square feet and
their sales amounted to twenty million dollars.  The Portland establishment, the
first of their large milling structures, was erected on the Willamette river in
1910.  The building is over a thousand feet in length and includes three hundred
and sixty-five thousand square feet of floor space, with an elevator capacity of
two hundred and fifty thousand bushels.  The company manufactures in its several
establishments Albers flapjack flour, Albers oats, Albers Peacock buckwheat
flour, Albers wheat flakes, Albers pearls of wheat, Peacock daily bread and Del
Monte flour, Carnation oats, Sunripe oats, Carnation wheat flakes, and
approximately two hundred other brands under the Albers, Carnation, Peacock, Del
Monte and Sunripe trade-marks; also fifty brands of stock and poultry feeds,
including the Carnation dairy feed, Albers molasses feeds, molasses O-Meal, meal
and dairy products, hog feed, Albers Porko and Swino and Albers poultry foods,
which are widely known throughout the country.  Extending the scope of their
business, mills were erected at Tacoma in 1902, situated in the heart of the
city and amply provided with both rail and water shipping facilities.  The floor
space there is seventy-three thousand square feet, with a grain capacity of two
hundred and twenty-five thousand bushels, and the latest and most complete
equipment is installed for cereals and flours.  The Albers mills at Seattle are
located in the heart of the manufacturing district on the water front.
Originally constructed in 1906, the capacity was doubled in 1913.  The docks
will accommodate four steamers and the spur tracks, sixty freight cars.  The
total floor space is three hundred and twenty-six thousand six hundred and
thirty-six square feet.  The elevator capacity is four hundred thousand bushels
of grain, while employment in the Seattle plant is given to about two hundred
and fifty men.  At Oakland, California, the mills of the Albers Company are
located on the Oakland pier, on the water front of San Francisco bay, and were
completed in 1918.  The floor space covers three hundred and sixty-six thousand
two hundred square feet and the elevator capacity is two hundred and fifty
thousand bushels of grain.  This plant was erected at a cost of almost a million
dollars.  The business of the company at San Francisco is housed in two
reinforced modern concrete structures, in one of which the Albers flour and meal
products are produced.  The plant is located near the docks, was constructed in
1908 and has about fifty thousand square feet of floor space.  The cereal mills
at San Francisco are located near the wharves and along the belt line railroad.
The mills are fully equipped with all modern machinery for the manufacture of
cereals, the output consisting largely of the Carnation wheat and oat products.
This building was erected in 1908 and has about fifty thousand square feet of
floor space.  In 1907 the business was extended to Los Angeles, in which year
the mill was originally built, while in 1915 the capacity was doubled, the total
floor space being now thirty-eight thousand five hundred square feet, while the
grain capacity is one hundred thousand bushels.  At Los Angeles the plant is
especially used for the Albers flapjack flour, although a full line of the
Albers goods is manufactured.  Into Utah the business has also been extended,
for at Ogden in 1916 were constructed additional mills provided with ample
storing and manufacturing facilities.  There is a grain capacity of three
hundred and fifty thousand bushels and a floor space of thirty-seven thousand
sixty-four square feet.  The principal output being the famous brand of Sunripe
cereals.  Thus with the continuous development and expansion of the business it
has become one of the important enterprises of this character on the Pacific
coast.  The officers are:  George Albers of Seattle, Washington, president;
William Albers of Portland, vice president; Frank Albers of San Francisco,
treasurer; and B. M. Denison of Portland, secretary; Mrs. B. Albers and Mr.
George A. Westgate, are directors.  Offices and agencies are maintained at
Seattle, Tacoma and Bellingham, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Oakland, San
Francisco, and Los Angeles, California; Ogden, Utah; New York city; Kobe, Japan;
and Valparaiso, Chile.
     William Albers was married in Portland, April 26, 1904, to Miss Mary
Miller.  He belongs to the Portland Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the
Catholic church and also has membership with the Knights of Columbus.
 
 
Transcriber's additional notes:
 
"Men of Oregon"
Published by:  The Chamber of Commerce Bulletin
Portland, Oregon; 1911
 
ALBERS BROTHERS, Cereal Manufacturers.
Came to Oregon in October, 1891, started in business in 1893, and in the milling
business on June 1, 1895.  Now largest concern of its kind on the Pacific Coast.
Mills located at San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Tacoma.
 
Albers, Henry; Born at Lingen, Germany, April 13, 1866
Albers, William; Born at Lingen, Germany, December 29, 1869
Albers, George; Born at Lingen, Germany, March 12, 1872
Albers, Frank; Born at Lingen, Germany, December 15, 1874
 
 
 
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2006 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.