Josiah Failing and Sons One of whom was Henry Failing      Josiah Failing, father of Henry Failing, had been fascinated by the Oregon Country for nearly 20 years, recognizing that Portland in 1851, offered him a fresh start in life. It was an uncertain opportunity at best, with his limited income and six children, and made less promising by a five-month wait for his supplies. Josiah Failing located his store diagonally across from Henry Corbett & Co. The Failings survived and eventually amassed a small fortune, due to the cautious, methodical and tireless efforts of 44-year-old Josiah and his precocious 17-year-old son, Henry. Henry was relied upon heavily, do to his 5 years of experience working for a leading New York dry-goods house. The Failings were wholesalers, selling miscellaneous stock of goods largely for farmers and farm communities.	Treasurer of River View Cemetery Assoc. 1883-1898 Died November 8, 1898
In 1853 when a large shipment of goods was lost while the ship was crossing the Columbia River bar; the Failings, New York supplier advised cornering the Portland nail market by purchasing all the nails in San Francisco and Portland and then reselling them at a 100 percent profit. Such practices were considered normal methods of successful business by merchants of that day, but Josiah was uncomfortable and so he left Henry, then 19, in charge of the store. Josiah turned to civic, educational and religious interests and was elected mayor in April, 1853.      Selling large quantities of imported ironware increased the Failing's business volume beyond that of Corbett's. Congenial and only partially competitive the two merchant houses were bound more closely together by Henry Failing's marriage in 1858 to Emily Corbett, Henry's younger sister. The tie cemented a family relationship that influenced Portland's history for over a half-century.

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