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7. Morback House
If you were interested in pursuing a political career during the 1970s and 1980s, this building is where you began. It was City Hall. The entire city government, from police department to public works crew, was headquartered in this one building. It was impossible to enter this building without wondering, "What happened to the Morbacks who lived here, or to the Morback kinsfolk, the Halls and the Smocks? Why are they not here to pass on the gauntlet?" You expected to be greeted by some member of the old family network, who would lead you around the place, point out various objects to you and explain their significance to the history of the town, playing the role of wise old counselor. He or she would impress upon you the urgency of certain projects that still had not been completed and needed to be, and after filling you with dread regarding the sheer impossibility of the task, he would impress upon you the sacredness of the obligation to public service which you have taken upon yourself, and he would end with an assurance that you and your generation will meet the challenge, just as surely as small town patriots had done during the days when British soldiers would menace meeting houses such as this, with bayonets drawn. You would leave Morback House that day as awe-inspired as if you had just returned from a visit with Joseph Edward Morback himself. There was instead very little political advice— certainly nothing you could call a vision— being handed down by the previous generation. We know for certain that a great deal of advice was given as well as heeded by the leaders who preceeded us. During the slower paced times of the 1890s, preachers and politicians and experts of all kinds could speak for hours without losing either their audience or their train of thought. Small children were required to sit quietly beside their parents and pay attention. The newspapers would even chide the public official who did not speak enough. "The fact of his having nothing to say was against him." (Hillsboro Argus, 12/22/1892) The Town minutes refer to "well chosen words" presented by both Smock and Morback, but, alas, leave little clue as to what was actually said. Out of all this verbiage we have no surviving document that presents a vision for future generations to follow. There is evidence enough, however, to prove that a vision was being born. A town that had been platted on a donation land claim owned by "...a Confederate sympathizer and a Democrat..." (per Patricia Seidler), was now owned by Republicans. In 1894 the Hillsboro Argus reported that the Sherwood Republican Club could count no more than two Democrats left in Sherwood. It's a serious jab at someone, but no one rises to challenge the statement.
Friday evening's caucus "...was called to order by Mayor Morback who read the call and then proceeded to make a speech evidently intended to reflect credit upon his administration." He was interrupted by Councilman W. F. Young, who "...arose and objected to the Mayor making an electioneering speech at a nominating convention or primary election. The Mayor, however, refused to quit but proceeded in a more spirited manner... and was becoming quite eloquent when Justice W. T. Hislop arose" and likewise objected. "Still the Mayor refused to subside but continued to improve his opportunity to let off steam, and the increased ebulition of his remarks was quite noticeable." After Hislop shouted the Mayor down, Young called for the vote and the talley was: Morback 55, Leedy 54, Hislop 1. Leedy had followed his scruples and refused to vote for himself. Mrs. Leedy had not voted at all, for the same reason. Sherwood Valley News, October 21, 1926 Thus Morback served long enough to be known as "Dean of Oregon Mayors" by the League of Oregon Cities. Joseph Edward Morbach (The "h" was changed to "k" on the eve of the First World War) came to Sherwood from Chicago as an employee of Sherwood's first important industrial firm, the Portland Pressed Brick Company. He married the oldest daughter of James Christopher Smock and so joined the network of families that emerged from the Hall kinship. Throughout his lifetime, he owned a number of prominent businesses in Sherwood, including a cannery and a bank, and his loans to farmers helped cement the relationship between Old Sherwood Town and the surrounding farm community. Of all the Sherwood patriarchs, Morback is remembered most vividly as a short, energetic figure with a harsh voice and abrupt manners. His own children, however, remember him as a generous and loving, if overworked, father. In truth, no one ever dedicated himself to Sherwood more than Joseph. He literally gave his left arm for Sherwood. It was torn off by a gear mechanism at the town water works. More research needs to be done before the historian can connect Morback with the Sherwood vision in some meaningful way. The facts support the idea that he came under the spell of the Hall family through his father in law, J.C. Smock. As a member of the Hall family, he became as inventive and unpredictable and cavalier as a Confederate general. The fact that he and the Town Marshal, a man named Zimmerman, constructed an entire fire truck from scratch reveals a creative mind. A footnote: When the Sherwood Police Department occupied the whole of Morback House during the 1990s, there was an elaborate tale to tell of ghostly sounds heard on the central staircase of the house. Voices and footsteps were heard where no living person was seen. Perhaps it was the ghost of Father Joseph, who not only lived, but died, in this house. Perhaps he is regretting the fact that no ruling dynasty survives from the time when one family owned everything from Six Corners (Shari's Restaurant) to Four Corners (near Archer Glen School) to the intersection of Oregon Street and Tualatin-Sherwood Road. |
A murky newspaper portrait reveals a thin J.E.Morback with large bones who seems to have trouble sitting still. If there is an expression on his face, it is of impatience. A graphic description on Morback appeared in the local papers during the 1926 election.