Portland Street Names – October 27 – Savier

Thomas A. Savier, for whom S street was renamed and who played a prominent part in the early history of Portland, was born in Norfolk, Va., in 1834, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth Savier.

His father was of Italian birth and forced to leave his native land because of political revolution. He was a man of liberal education, speaking many different languages, and his ancestors were me of distinction in Italy, holding high positions in government and church.

From early boyhood Thomas Savier was thrown among men of learning and taste. He was educated at Georgetown college, D. C. but in his blood was the desire for a bigger world and like scores of other college men he was lured by the attraction of the Pacific coast and the fabled stories of gold, which he failed to find in California, and followed up the coast to Portland in 1851.

He secured employment as clerk in the general merchandise store of L Stone at 71 Front street and finally became a partner in connection with D. W. Burnside, for whom Burnside street is named. The old sign “Savier & Co.” hung over the door at 71 Front street until 1868, when the business was sold to Fleischner & Mayer and has grown into the its present large dimensions.

After Thomas Savier’s death in San Francisco in 1876, Mrs Savier married Dr. Henry E. Jones and still retains the little store at 71 Front street where Mr. Savier began his work. Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are left to bear his name.