List of members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature
Last updated
First Speaker of the House of the Oregon Territorial Legislature Asa Lovejoy (1808-1882)
The Oregon Territorial Legislature was the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory of the United States, from 1849 to 1858. The legislature was a bicameral body, including a larger "House of Representatives," headed by a Speaker of the House, and a 9-member "Council," headed by the President of the Council. With the coming of Oregon statehood in 1859, the Oregon Territorial Legislature was supplanted by a new body, the Oregon Legislative Assembly.
This list includes all members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature, divided first by year of the annual session, secondarily divided alphabetically by legislative body. Political parties are indicated when known (D-Democratic, W-Whig, FS-Free Soil Party, R-Republican).
1849
The 1st Oregon Territorial Legislative Session was held from July 16 to September 29, 1849.[1] Although there were 18 legislative districts for the House, only 17 names appear in archival records of the session, no representative for District 5 being indicated.[2]
The 3rd Oregon Territorial Legislative Session was held from December 1, 1851 to January 21, 1852.[5] The size of the House of Representatives expanded from its original 18 to 22 members effective with this session.
The 4th Oregon Territorial Legislative Session was held from December 6, 1852 to February 3, 1853.[7] The size of the House of Representatives expanded once again, this time from 22 to 25 members effective with this session.[8]
The 5th Oregon Territorial Legislative Session was held from December 5, 1853 to February 2, 1854.[9] A 26th member was added to the House of Representatives effective with this session.[10]
The 9th Oregon Territorial Legislative Session was held from December 7, 1857 to February 5, 1858.[17] There were also Special Pre-Admission Sessions held from July 5 to 9, 1858 and from September 13 to 14, 1858.[18]
The 10th (and final) Oregon Territorial Legislative Session was held from December 6, 1858 to January 22, 1859.[20] Oregon was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1859, becoming the 33rd American state.
Theodore Thurston Geer was the tenth Governor of Oregon, serving from January 9, 1899 to January 14, 1903. The Republican politician was in office when the legislature adopted the "Oregon System", Oregon's system of initiative and referendum. He also served in the Oregon House of Representatives, including time as its Speaker.
Delazon Smith was a Democratic Party politician who briefly represented the state of Oregon in the U.S. Senate in 1859. He served for less than one month, making his term among the shortest on record in the Senate. Smith was also a newspaper editor in New York and Ohio, and served in the Oregon Territory's legislature.
Benjamin Franklin Harding was an American attorney and politician born in Pennsylvania. He held political offices in the Oregon Territory and later served as a United States senator from the state of Oregon.
George Law Curry was a predominant American political figure and newspaper publisher in the region that eventually became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, before traveling the Oregon Trail to the unorganized Oregon Country. A Democrat, Curry served in the new Oregon Territory's government as a representative to the legislature and as Territorial Secretary before appointment as the last Governor of the Oregon Territory. Curry County in Southern Oregon is named in his honor.
Asa Lawrence Lovejoy was an American pioneer and politician in the region that would become the U.S. state of Oregon. He is best remembered as a founder of the city of Portland, Oregon. He was an attorney in Boston, Massachusetts before traveling by land to Oregon; he was a legislator in the Provisional Government of Oregon, mayor of Oregon City, and a general during the Cayuse War that followed the Whitman massacre in 1847. He was also a candidate for Provisional Governor in 1847, before the Oregon Territory was founded, but lost that election.
Hugh Donaldson O'Bryant (1813–1883) was the first mayor of Portland, Oregon, United States, serving from 1851–1852. He later served as the President of the Oregon Territory’ Council chamber of the legislature, and was a member of Washington Territory’s legislature.
Ralph Wilcox was the first teacher and practicing doctor in Portland, Oregon. He also served in the Provisional Government of Oregon, was a legislator during both the territorial period and when Oregon became a state, and a judge of Twality County during the provisional government. A native of New York, he committed suicide at work at the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in Portland.
Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Representatives first met in July 1849; they served as the region's legislative body until Oregon became a state in February 1859, when they were replaced by the bicameral Oregon State Legislature.
Joseph Conant Avery was the founder of Corvallis, Oregon, United States. Avery was the first postmaster for the community, and served as a legislator in the Provisional Government of Oregon and the government of the Oregon Territory. Avery House at Oregon State University was named after him.
Absalom Jefferson Hembree was an American soldier and politician in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Tennessee, he served in the Provisional Legislature of Oregon and the Oregon Territorial Legislature before being killed in action during the Yakima War.
Ralph Carey Geer was an American farmer and politician in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Connecticut, he lived in Ohio and Illinois before taking the Oregon Trail west to Oregon where he started a nursery and later raised livestock and grew flax. At times a Republican and later a Democrat, he served in the Oregon House of Representatives and as the clerk for the county. He was related to both Homer Davenport and T. T. Geer.
Charles Bruce Moores was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Missouri, he came from a family of politicians including his father John H. Moores, his grandfather Isaac R. Moores, and uncle Isaac R. Moores, Jr. who all served in the Oregon Legislature. A Republican, he served as the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives during his sole term in the House in 1895.
The 1857 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 3, 1857 by the New York State Legislature. Incumbent Whig Senator Hamilton Fish did not stand for re-election. The seat was won by Preston King, a former U.S. Representative and member of the newly-formed Republican Party. King was the first Republican elected to represent New York, although William H. Seward had joined the party after being elected as a Whig in 1855.
Frederick Waymire was an American farmer and politician in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Ohio, he served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature and was a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention. He also helped start the La Creole Academy in Polk County and represented that county in the Oregon House of Representatives after Oregon became a state.
The 1852 and 1853 United States Senate elections were elections which had the Democratic Party gain two seats in the United States Senate, and which coincided with the 1852 presidential election. Only six of the twenty senators up for election were re-elected.
The 1856 and 1857 United States Senate elections were elections which had the young Republican Party assume its position as one of the United States's two main political parties. The Whigs and Free Soilers were gone by the time the next Congress began.
Charles Drain was a politician in the Oregon Territory and later the U.S. state of Oregon, and the founder of the city of Drain. He was born in 1816 near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The family moved to Shelby County, Indiana, when Charles was five. Both parents soon died. He married Nancy Ensley in 1839, and in 1852 the family moved to Marion County, Oregon, and later to Linn County, to farm in the Willamette Valley.
Ira Francis Marion Butler was an American politician who served in the Oregon Territorial House of Representatives and the Oregon House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1857 to 1858, which was the last session before Oregon's statehood. Before immigrating to Oregon, Butler served as sheriff of Warren County, Illinois, and was circuit court clerk for Stephen A. Douglas when he was an Illinois judge. After moving to Oregon in 1853, he operated a farm in Polk County and was later the county’s judge.
William Myron King, also known as Colonel King for most of his life, was an American pioneer merchant and Oregon state legislator. He served four terms in Oregon's territorial legislature. This included one term as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives during the 1851 legislative session. Before immigrating to Oregon, King lived and worked in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Missouri. After moving to Oregon in 1848, he became a merchant in Portland, and was later the county judge for Multnomah County and a member of Portland's city council.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
