A. M. Loryea

Abraham "Abram" M. Loryea (1839–1893), commonly known as A.M. Loryea, was an American pioneer medical doctor, businessman, and politician in the states of Oregon and California. Loryea is best remembered as a co-founder of the Oregon Hospital for the Insane in 1859 and as the Superintendent of that state-subsidized facility for many years as well as the elected mayor of East Portland, Oregon.

After selling his share of the Oregon Hospital for the Insane to his business partner, J. C. Hawthorne, Loryea became involved in a failed business venture as a patent medicine manufacturer. He later traveled extensively, becoming interested in balneotherapy and opening the first Victorian Turkish baths in San Francisco.

Biography

Early years

Abraham M. Loryea was born March 21, 1839, at Charleston, South Carolina.

Loryea attended the Medical College of the State of South Carolina, from which he graduated in 1858.

Immediately after his graduation Loryea was immediately set to work in Richmond, Virginia, attempting to abate an epidemic of yellow fever that was sweeping the city. The hospital was originally located on Portland's Taylor Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues. From the time of launch the hospital was dedicated to the treatment of non-contagious disease. From approximately that date Hawthorne and Loryea's Oregon Hospital became known as Oregon Hospital for the Insane.

In 1872 Loryea sold his half of the Oregon Hospital for the Insane enterprise to his partner J.C. Hawthorne and turned his efforts to the patent medicine business, launching "Oregon Medical Laboratory" to market a nostrum prepared from "Unk weed" which was said to ameliorate the pain of arthritis. Loryea had been working on the compound for several years, obtaining a patent (No. 116846) for "improvement in medical compounds or bitters" on July 11, 1871.

Loryea was well-regarded in the Portland community and was elected mayor of East Portland. He was also a founder of the upscale Arlington Club in Portland.

During the 1870s Loryea became involved in the banking business, apparently losing money in the process.

Turkish bath operator

Loryea's patent medicine and banking ventures did not prove successful and his fortune was dissipated, causing him to relocate back to San Francisco. working in partnership with another local doctor. and three grown up children. This was later revealed to be untrue, with the bathhouse registered in the name of his second wife, Esther, and the remainder of his estate consisted of little more than "a gold watch and a few other personal belongings."

The total value of the estate after disbursements was just $430. In his will Loryea controversially left a small amount to an estranged son in order that he might be able to "purchase a revolver with which to blow his brains out."