# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 2/Political History of Oregon from 1853 to 1865

See also: Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 2/Political History of Oregon from 1865 to 1876
POLITICAL HISTORY OF OREGON FROM 1853 to 1865.
(Prepared for the "Semi-Centennial History of Oregon." Read before the Legislative Assembly of Oregon on the occasion of its exercises commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the statehood of Oregon.)
On the fourteenth day of February, 1859, Oregon was admitted as a state into the Federal Union. To aid in the commemoration of that event I have been requested at this time and place to read a paper concerning the political affairs of Oregon from 1853, inclusive, to 1865, "all of which I saw and a part of which I was." Time has effaced from my memory many of the interesting incidents of those early days, and all I can hope to do is to state some facts of our early political history not easily accessible, and make a brief record of the names and some of the doings of the men most prominent in that history, which may revive the recollections of the old and be useful to those who have come upon the active stage of life since the above-named period.
Franklin Pierce was inaugurated President of the United States March 4, 1853, and his cabinet was made up as follows: William L. Marcy, of New York, ​Secretary of State; James Guthrie, of Kentucky, Secretary of the Treasury; Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, Secretary of War; James C. Dobbins, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy; Robert McMillen, of Michigan, Secretary of the Interior; James Campbell, of Pennsylvania, Postmaster-General; Caleb Gushing, of Massachusetts, Attorney-General. I believe this cabinet combined as much ability as any cabinet that has existed in our country since the formation of the government.
Very soon after President Pierce was inaugurated he nominated Hon. O. C. Pratt for Chief Justice of Oregon, but on account of the opposition of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, his nomination was rejected by the senate. Prior to this, Judge Pratt had been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Oregon, and had become involved in a bitter controversy with Chief Justice Nelson and Judge William Strong on the question as to whether Oregon City or Salem was the seat of government for the territory. This, however, had nothing to do with his rejection by the senate. That was due, as it was understood, to some personal difficulty between the Senator and Judge Pratt. President Pierce early in his administration appointed Gen. Joseph Lane, Governor, and George L. Curry Secretary of the Territory, and they entered upon their official duties as such in May, 1853. Immediately after the senate refused to confirm the nomination of Judge Pratt, without my knowledge or consent, I was nominated for Chief Justice of Oregon upon the recommendation of Senator Douglas, of Illinois, and Senators Dodge and Jones, of Iowa, all of whom were my personal and political friends. I was then a resident of Iowa, and had canvassed the state as a Presidential Elector-at-Large for Franklin Pierce. I arrived in Oregon with my commission as Chief Justice in June, 1853. Judges Matthew P. Deady and Cyrus Olney, both ​of whom were residents of Oregon, were my associates, appointed before my arrival. The officials of the Territorial Government of Oregon in 1853 were as follows:
Joseph Lane, Governor; George L. Curry, Secretary; George H. Williams, Chief Justice; Matthew P. Deady, Associate Justice; Cyrus Olney, Associate Justice; Joel Palmer, Superintendent of Indian Affairs; Benjamin F. Harding, United States Attorney; James W. Nesmith, United States Marshal; John Adair, Collector of Customs at Astoria; Addison C. Gibbs, Collector of Customs at Umpqua; A. L. Lovejoy, Postal Agent.
General Lane, within a few days after he assumed the duties of Governor, resigned to become the democratic candidate for delegate in congress. George L. Curry then became the acting governor. General Lane was nominated on the eleventh day of April, 1853. The resolutions of the convention affirmed the platform adopted by the democratic national convention, held at Baltimore in June, 1852, favored a branch of the Pacific railroad from San Francisco to Puget Sound, favored the annexation of the Sandwich Islands, and approved the course of General Lane in congress, he having been the delegate from Oregon after the death of Mr. Thurston, which occurred in April, 1851. A. A. Skinner, who had been a judge under the provisional government, was requested in a letter addressed to him by a large number of the citizens of Jackson County to become a candidate for delegate in opposition to General Lane. He accepted the invitation by letter, in which he assumed to be the candidate of the people, and claimed that the democratic party, or the "Durham faction," as he called that party, misgoverned the territory, misrepresented the people in congress, and otherwise was a very bad party. General Lane, in his canvass, appealed to the democrats for support upon party grounds, and was not too modest in ​telling the people what he had done and what he could do for his constituents, if elected. Judge Skinner appealed to the people to ignore party considerations in his behalf, and amplified, as well as he could, the bad qualities of the "Durham faction," as indicated in his letter of acceptance. This designation of the democratic party as the Durham faction originated, as it is understood, in this way: Judge O. C. Pratt, who was a prominent member of the democratic party, purchased from John Durham, of Polk County, a band of Spanish cattle. Subsequently he sold this band, which he called "the Durham cattle,' to a purchaser who supposed he was buying blooded stock, and paid the judge a correspondingly high price, and, of course, "was out and injured" in the trade. Thomas J. Dryer, then editor of the Oregonian and an ardent whig, availing himself of this circumstance, characterized the democrats of Oregon as "the Durham faction," and with tireless iteration hurled this epithet at them through the columns of his paper, and the appellation was generally accepted by the enemies of the democratic party. General Lane was elected, receiving four thousand five hundred and sixteen votes, to two thousand nine hundred and fifty-one for Judge Skinner. Some of the people voted according to their personal predilections, but the democrats generally supported General Lane and the whigs Judge Skinner.
The legislature of 1853 met at Salem, December 5. The council consisted of the following members: J. M. Fulkerson, of Polk and Tillamook; L. P. Powers, of Clatsop; John Kichardson, of Yamhill; Ralph Wilcox, of Washington; L. Scott, of Umpqua; James K. Kelly, of Clackamas; B. Simpson, of Marion. Ralph Wilcox was elected president, and Samuel B. Garrett chief clerk. House—L. F. Cartee, J. C. Carson, B. B. Jackson, of Clackamas; L. F. Grover, J. C. Peebles, E. F. Colby, ​of Marion; Luther Elkins, I. N. Smith, of Linn; Stephen Goff, H. G. Hadley, of Lane; L. S. Thompson, of Umpqua; John F. Miller, Chauncey Nye, G. H. Ambrose, of Jackson; J. F. Burnett, B. F. Chapman, of Benton; W. S. Gilliam, R. P. Boise, of Polk; Andrew Shuck. A. B. Westerfall, of Yamhill; O. Humason, of Wasco; A. A. Durham, Z. C. Bishop, Robert Thompson, of Washington; J. W. Moffit, of Clatsop. Z. C. Bishop was elected speaker, and John McCracken clerk.
John W. Davis, of Indiana, was appointed Governor to succeed General Lane, and arrived in Oregon in December, 1853. He had been a representative in congress from Indiana, and speaker of the house of representatives. He did not find his surroundings in Oregon congenial, and in August, 1854, resigned and returned to Indiana. George L. Curry again became acting Governor, and in November, 1854, succeeded Mr. Davis as Governor, and at the same time Benjamin F. Harding was appointed Secretary and William H. Farrar District Attorney.
According to the act establishing a territorial government for Oregon, which passed congress August 14, 1848, the territory was divided into three judicial districts, in each of which the district courts were to be held by one of the justices of the supreme court.
After my arrival, by mutual agreement between us, Judge Deady took the first district, consisting of the counties of Jackson, Douglas and Umpqua; Judge Olney took the third district, consisting of Clatsop, Washington (of which Multnomah was then a part), Clackamas and Columbia, and I took the second district, consisting of Marion, Linn, Lane, Benton, Polk and Yamhill counties. These three judges together constituted the supreme court of the territory. Prior to my appointment a colored man, who with his wife and children were held ​as slaves by Nathaniel Ford, of Polk County, sued out a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that he and his family were entitled to their freedom in Oregon. Whether or not slaveholders could carry their slaves into the territories and hold them there as property had become a burning question, and my predecessors in office, for reasons best known to themselves, had declined to hear the case. This was among the first cases I was called upon to decide. Mr. Ford contended that these colored people were his property in Missouri, from which he emigrated, and he had as much right to bring that kind of property into Oregon and hold it here as such as he had to bring his cattle or any other property here and hold it as such; but my opinion was, and I so held, that without some positive legislative enactment establishing slavery here, it did not and could not exist in Oregon, and I awarded to the colored people their freedom. Judge Boise was the attorney for the petitioners. So far as I know, this was the last effort made to hold slaves in Oregon by force of law. There were a great many virulent proslavery men in the territory, and this decision, of course, was verv distasteful to them.
According to the organic act, the legislative assembly was divided into two bodies, one, corresponding to the state senate, was called the council, and the other, corresponding to the house of representatives, was called the house. The power of the legislative assembly extended to all rightful subjects of legislation not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States, so that as to local matters the power of the territorial was more unlimited than that of the state legislature. June 3, 1854, an election was held for members of the legislative assembly, which met at Salem December 4, and consisted of the following persons: Council—Dr. Cleveland, of Jackson; James K. Kelly, of ​Clackamas; J. C. Peebles, of Marion; S. W. Phelps, of Linn; Dr. Greer, of Washington and Columbia; J. M. Fulkerson, of Polk and Tillamook; John Richardson, of Yamhill; Levi Scott, of Umpqua. James K. Kelly was elected president, and B. Genois chief clerk. House—G. W. Coffenbury, E. S. Turner and David Logan, Washington; A. G. Henry and A. J. Hembree, Yamhill; H. N. V. Holmes, Polk and Tillamook; I. F. M. Butler, Polk; Wayman St. Clair and B. B. Hinton, Benton; L. F. Cartee, W. A. Starkweather and A. L. Lovejoy, Clackamas; C. P. Crandall, R. C. Geer and N. Ford, Marion; Luther Elkins, Delazon Smith and Hugh Brown, Linn; A. W. Patterson and Jacob Gillespie, Lane; James F. Gazley, Douglas; Patrick Dunn and Alexander Mclntire, Jackson; O. Humason, Wasco.
In 1854 the "know-nothing," or, as it called itself, the American party, became a prominent factor in the politics of Oregon. It was a secret, oath-bound political organization . "Know-nothing" was a name applied to it because, as it was alleged, its members, when questioned as to such an organization, declared that they knew nothing about it. Democrats and whigs, and more especially the democrats, were alarmed at the inroads of this new and invisible enemy to the old political parties. So far as the principles of this party were known to the public, they proposed a repeal or modification of the naturalization laws; repeal of all laws allowing unnaturalized foreigners to vote, or to receive grants of public lands; resistance to what they called the aggressive policy and corrupting tendencies of the Roman Catholic church, and excluding from office all persons who directly or indirectly owed allegiance to any foreign power. Some time in the fall of 1854 the Oregon Statesman, then edited by Asahel Bush, published an exposure of the oaths, obligations and proceedings of the know-nothing lodge ​in Salem, together with the names of the leading members. This publication produced no little excitement. Several gentlemen who had been named as members of the lodge called upon Mr. Bush and declared they would hold him personally responsible if he did not give them the name of his informant. This threat Mr. Bush ignored, and refused to give the makers of it any satisfaction, and it was expected for some days that he would be assaulted, but the expected did not happen. This exposure in the Statesman was a fatal blow to the know-nothing party in Oregon. Determined, however, to make the know-nothings show their hands, the legislature, at its December session, 1854, passed an act requiring all voters at the polls to vote viva voce, that is, to proclaim publicly the name of the candidate for whom they voted. This act, after it had accomplished its purpose, was repealed.
Much of the time of this session was devoted to a controversy about the location of the capitol. Finally a bill was passed locating the capitol at Corvallis and the State University at Jacksonville. A bill was also passed creating Multnomah County, and another submitting to the people the question as to the formation of a state government. Congress had made appropriations for a state house and other public buildings at Salem, and some of these buildings were partly constructed when the seat of government was changed to Corvallis, and thereupon the Controller of the Treasury refused to recognize the act changing the capitol, and held that moneys appropriated by congress for public buildings in Oregon could be expended only at Salem.
In the legislature of 1854 a proposition was made to exclude free negroes and Chinese from the territory, and a motion was made by a member from Jackson County to amend the bill so that slaveholders might bring and ​hold their slaves in Oregon, but the bill did not pass. Incidental to the canvass in June, 1854, it may be mentioned that the whigs carried Washington, then including what is now Multnomah County, by an average majority of sixty. David Logan, whig, was elected to the legislature by a vote of six hundred and forty-eight to five hundred and ninety-two for D. H. Belknap, democrat. There were cast in the City of Portland at that election three hundred and five votes for Logan and two hundred and twenty-six for Belknap. Mr. Josiah Failing was mayor of Portland. The proposition to hold a convention to form a constitution was defeated by a vote of three thousand two hundred and ten for, to four thousand and seventy-nine against it. P.P. Prim was elected Prosecuting Attorney in the first district, R. P. Boise in the second, and Noah Huber in the third district.
Some time in the fall of 1853 O. B. McFadden was appointed an Associate Justice in Oregon upon the ground, as it was alleged, that in the commission of Judge Deady he was named Mordecai P. Deady instead of Matthew P. Deady. This, however, was soon rectified by a new commission in which he was correctly named, and Judge McFadden was transferred as a judge to the Territory of Washington. James A. Burnett was Territorial Auditor, Nathan H. Lane Treasurer, and Milton Shannon Librarian. John B. Preston was removed in 1853 from the office of Surveyor-General, and Colonel Gardner appointed in his place. It was in this year that the Indian outbreak occurred in Southern Oregon.
In June, 1855, an election was held for delegate to congress and members of the legislative assembly. Gen. Joseph Lane was the candidate of the democrats, Gov. John P. Gaines of the whig party. General Lane had the advantage of General Gaines in several respects. The democratic party was in the ascendant in the ​territory, and General Lane was a thorough-going party man. He was a born politician. He knew how to flatter and please the people. General Gaines had been Governor of Oregon under the Fillmore administration, and had more dignity than affability in his manners. Both candidates were officers in the Mexican War, and General Gaines had been in congress from the State of Kentucky. The Whig convention adopted as a platform, "General Gaines against the world." The democratic platform was made up of the usual platitudes of a party platform. The canvass was somewhat exciting and the candidates indulged in some unpleasant personalities, but the Oregon Statesman, the organ of the democrats, and The Oregonian, the organ of the whigs, exhausted the vocabulary of invective and abuse in speaking of their opponents. The chief speakers for the democrats in this campaign were General Lane, Delazon Smith and Judge O. C. Pratt. Those for the whigs were General Gaines and T. J. Dryer. General Lane was elected, receiving six thousand one hundred and thirty five votes to three thousand nine hundred and eighty-six for General Gaines. Jackson County cast the largest vote of any county in the territory, giving to Lane eight hundred and nineteen and Gaines six hundred and seventy-seven. Marion was next, with a vote of seven hundred and forty-two for Lane and four hundred and seventy-one for Gaines, and Linn next, with a vote of seven hundred and eighty-three for Lane and three hundred and ninety-nine for Gaines. Multnomah at that election gave Lane three hundred and forty, and Gaines two hundred and sixty-seven votes. The proposition for a state government was defeated by a vote of four thousand four hundred and twenty-two for to four thousand eight hundred and thirty-five against it. On the tenth of February, 1855, John McCraken was appointed marshal of the territory. ​December 3, the legislature assembled at Corvallis, and consisted of the following members: Council—Polk, James M. Fulkerson; Linn, Charles Drain; Douglas and Coos, Hugh D. O'Bryant; Marion, J. C. Peebles; Benton, Avery A. Smith; Clackamas, James K. Kelly; Multnomah, Washington, and Columbia, A. P. Dennison; Clatsop and Yamhill, N. Huber. A. P. Dennison was elected president. House—Waymire and Boise, of Polk; Robinson and Buckingham, of Benton; Moores and McAlexander, of Lane; Hudson, of Douglas; Smith, Brown and Grant, of Linn; Grover, Harpole and Harrison, of Marion; Risley and Officer, of Clackamas; Shuck and Burbank, of Yamhill; Harris, of Columbia; Callender, of Clatsop; Tichner, of Coos; Gates, of Wasco; Brown, of Multnomah; Johnson, of Washington; Jackson, of Multnomah and Washington; Cozad, of Umpqua; Smith, Barkwell and Briggs, of Jackson. Delazon Smith was elected speaker, and Thomas W. Beale chief clerk.
These members met in session at Corvallis. Consequent upon the ruling of the Controller of the Treasury as to the expenditure of money for public buildings, a bill was soon passed relocating the capital at Salem, followed by an immediate adjournment of the legislature to meet at that place. On December 22, 1855, the state house at Salem, with all its contents, was destroyed by fire, supposed to be the work of an incendiary. Another bill to submit the question of a state government to the people was passed by this legislature. The proposition was again defeated at the June election in 1856 by a vote of four thousand and ninety-seven for, to four thousand three hundred and forty-six against it. The following were elected members of the legislature at this election: Council Washington, T. R. Cornelius, F. R. Bayley; Marion, Nat. Ford; Linn, Charles Drain; Douglas, Hugh D. O'Bryant; Marion, J. C. Peebles; Benton, A. ​A. Smith; Jackson, John Rose; Clackamas, James K. Kelly. James K. Kelly was elected president, and A. S. Watt chief clerk. House—John F. Miller, Thomas Smith, Jackson; A. M. Berry, Jackson and Josephine; Aaron Rose, Douglas, Coos and Curry; A. E. Rogers, D. C. Underwood, Umpqua; James Monroe and Robert Cochran, Lane; A. J. Matthews, Josephine; Delazon Smith, H. L. Brown and William Ray, Linn; J. C. A very and James A. Bennett, Benton; A. J. Welch, Walter M. Walker, Polk and Tillamook; L. F. Grover, William P. Harpole and Jacob Conser, Marion; A. L. Lovejoy, Felix M. Collard and William A. Starkweather, Clackamas; William Allen, Yamhill; George W. Brown, Multnomah; H. N. V. Johnson, Washington; Samuel E. Barr, Columbia; James Taylor, Clatsop. L. F. Grover was elected speaker, and D. C. Dade chief clerk.
An event occurred in Washington in 1856 which had some influence upon the political future of General Lane. Senator Brooks, of South Carolina, as it will be remembered, made a personal assault upon Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts, in the senate. Wilson, the colleague of Sumner, denounced the assault as an outrage in unmeasured terms. Brooks challenged Wilson on account of the language he used in reference to the matter, and General Lane, as the friend of Brooks, was the bearer of the challenge. This created an impression in the public mind to some extent that Lane favored the conduct of Brooks.
Nominations for President and Vice-President, preparatory to the November election of 1856, were made as follows: Democratic±James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for President; J. C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for Vice-President. Republican—John C. Freemont, the western explorer, for President; W. L. Dayton, of New Jersey, for Vice-President. Know-Nothing—Milliard ​Fillmore, of New York, for President; A. J. Donnelson, of Tennessee, for Vice-President. Buchanan and Breckinridge were elected.
In August, 1856, a convention was held at Albany to organize a republican party in Oregon. James Hogue was president and Origin Thompson secretary of the convention. Among those present were Messrs. Conner, Whitson, Gallagher, Condon and George. Their platform consisted of this resolution: "Resolved, That we fling our banner to the breeze inscribed, free speech, free labor, a free press, a free state, and Freemont.' Oregon at this time, of course, had no vote in the presidential election. George L. Curry was reappointed Governor, and Benjamin F. Harding Secretary of the Territory in October of this year. The legislature elected in June assembled in Salem December 2, 1856. Governor Curry's message reviewed the events of the Indian war, opposed the removal of the capital and favored the formation of a state government. A bill was passed at this session of the legislature providing that at the June election, 1857, the people should vote for and against a convention to form a state constitution, and at the same time vote for delegates to the convention. In case the convention carried, the delegates elected should meet at Salem on the third Monday in August, 1857, to form a state constitution. Convention carried by a vote of seven thousand two hundred and nine for, to one thousand six hundred and sixteen against it, and the following delegates were elected to the constitutional convention: Benton, Henry B. Nichols, William Matzger, Haman C. Lewis, John Kelsey; Clackarnas, J. K. Kelly, A. L. Love joy, William A. Starkweather, Hector Campbell, Nathaniel Bobbins; Clatsop, Cyrus Olney; Curry, William H. Pack wood; Columbia, John W. Watts; Coos, Perry B. Marple; Douglas, Matthew P. Deady, Stephen F. Chadwick, ​Solomon Fitzhugh, Thomas Whitted; Jackson, L. J. C. Duncan, John H. Keed, Daniel Newcomb, P. P. Prim; Josephine, L. B. Hendershott, William H. Watkins; Linn, Delazon Smith, Luther Elkins, Reuben S. Coyle, John T. Brooks, James Shields, J. Brattain; Lane, Paul Brattain, I. R. Moores, A. J. Campbell, Jesse Cox, W. W. Bristow, E. Hoult; Marion, L. F. Grover, George H. Williams, Davis Shannon, Nicholas Shrum, Joseph Cox, Richard Miller, John C. Peebles; Multnomah, S. J. McCormick, William H. Farrar, David Logan; Multnomah and Washington, Thomas J. Dryer; Polk, Reuben P. Boise, Benjamin F. Burch, F. Waymire; Polk and Tillamook, A. D. Babcock; Umpqua, Jesse Applegate, Levi Scott; Washington, E. D. Shattuck, John S. White, Levi Anderson; Wasco, C. R. Meigs; Yamhill, J. R. McBride, R. V. Short, R. C. Kinney, M. Olds.
General Lane was again the candidate of the democratic party for delegate in congress, and G. W. Lawson, of Yamhill, was an independent candidate against him. Slavery, like Aaron's rod, swallowed up all other questions at that time. Lawson was a somewhat eccentric individual, but a pretty good speaker, and made a vigorous canvass, but Lane was the war horse of the democracy, and invincible. Lane was elected by a vote of five thousand six hundred and sixty-two to three thousand four hundred and seventy-one for Lawson. Based upon the possibility that the state government might be again defeated, the following persons were elected to a territorial legislature, which, with its unimportant session in December, were the closing scenes of Oregon as a territory: Council—Benton and Lane, Avery A. Smith; Jackson and Josephine, A. M. Berry; Linn, Charles Drain; Multnomah, Edward Shiel; Polk and Tillamook, Nathaniel Ford; Umpqua, Douglas, Coos and Curry, Hugh D. O'Bryant; Washington, Multnomah and Columbia, ​Thomas R. Cornelius; Wasco and Clackamas, Aaron E. Wait; Yamhill and Clatsop, Thomas Scott. House—Benton, Reuben C. Hill, James H. Slater; Clackamas, George Reese, F. A. Collard, S. P. Gilliland; Clatsop, Joseph Jeffries; Coos and Curry, T. J. Kirkpatrick; Columbia, Francis M. Warren; Douglas, Albert A. Matthew; Jackson, H. H. Brown, William M. Hughes; Josephine, J. G. Spear; Jackson and Josephine, R. S. Belknap; Linn, Anderson Cox, A. H. Cranor, H. M. Brown; Lane, John Whiteaker, J. W. Mack; Marion, Jacob Woodsides, George M. Able, Eli C. Cooley; Multnomah, William M. King; Polk and Tillamook, Benjamin Hayden; Polk, Ira F. M. Butler; Umpqua, James Cole; Washington and Multnomah, Thomas J. Dryer; Washington, H. V. N. Johnson; Wasco, N. H. Gates; Yamhill, Andrew Shuck, William Allen.
James Buchanan was inaugurated March 4, 1857. His message to congress was largely devoted to the absorbing slavery question, the fugitive slave law, and the government of Kansas. His cabinet was as follows: Lewis Cass, of Michigan, Secretary of State; R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, Secretary of the Treasury; John Appleton, of Maine, Secretary of the Interior; Ho well Cobb, of Georgia, Secretary of the Navy; James A. Bayard, of Delaware, Secretary of War; James D. Bright, of Indiana, Postmaster-General.
I was reappointed Chief Justice of Oregon by Mr. Buchanan, but soon after resigned. Buchanan's appointments for Oregon, under the new state government, were as follows: M. P. Deady, United States District Judge; A. J. Thayer, United States District Attorney; D. B. Hannah, United States Marshal. James W. Nesmith was Superintendent of Indian affairs in 1857.
In February, 1857, there was a free state convention at Albany, of which W. T. Matlock was president, and ​L. Holmes secretary. All those who attended this convention were republicans. Whether Oregon should be a free or slave state, had now become the paramount issue in our local politics. A paper had been started at Corvallis, called The Messenger, to advocate the establishment of slavery in Oregon. I was a democrat, but in early life imbibed prejudices against slavery that to some extent diluted my democracy. Many of the most influential democrats, with General Lane at their head, were active for slavery, and there was little or nothing said or done among the democrats on the other side of the question. I prepared and published in the Oregon Statesman an address to the people, filling one page of that paper, in which I enforced, with all the arguments at my command, the inexpediency of establishing slavery in Oregon. I am not aware that any public speech or address was made on that question by any other democrat in the territory. Many democrats in private conversation expressed their opposition to slavery, but they spoke with "bated breath and whispering humbleness," for the dominating spirit in the democratic party was favorable to slavery. I flattered myself, vainly perhaps, that I had a fair chance to be one of the first United States senators from Oregon, but with this address that chance vanished like the pictures of a morning dream. I was unsound on the slavery question. On the third Monday of August, 1857, the constitutional convention assembled at Salem. Matthew P. Deady was elected president, Chester N. Terry secretary, John Baker, sergeant-at-arms, and Asahel Bush printer. The standing committees were as follows: Legislative department—Boise, chairman, Lovejoy, Babcock, Chadwick, Watkins, Elkins. Executive department—Kelly, chairman, Farrar, Reed, Kelsey, Brattain of Lane, Dryer, McBride . Judicial department—Williams, chairman, Olney, Boise, Kelly, Grover, Logan, ​Prim. Military affairs—Kelsey, chairman, Whitted, Burch, Moores, Scott, Coyle, Matzger. Education and school lands—Peebles, chairman, Boise, Lockhart, Shattuck, Starkweather, Kinney, Robbins. Seat of government and public buildings—Boise, chairman, Campbell of Lane, Prim, Lewis, Olney, Chadwick, Shannon. Corporations and internal improvements—Meigs, chairman, Williams, Elkins, Hendershott, Campbell of Clackamas, Bristow, Miller. State boundaries—Lovejoy, chairman, Meigs, Olney, Newcomb, Applegate, Anderson, Watts. Suffrage and elections—Smith, chairman, Babcock, Brattain of Linn, Cox of Marion, Dryer, Olds, White. Bill of rights—Grover, chairman, Reed, McCormick, Waymire, Brooks, Shrum, Fitzhugh.
The chief speakers in the convention were Smith, Dryer, Boise, Kelly, Grover, Deady, Logan, Olney, Farrar and Way mire. I also took some part in the debates. All the different provisions of the constitution were quite thoroughly discussed, and, on the part of some of the speakers, with no little ability. The constitution as a whole was adopted by the convention on the eighteenth day of September, 1857, by a vote of thirty-five for, to ten against it. Those voting against it were: Anderson, Dryer, Farrar, Hendershott, Kinney, Logan, Olds, White, Watts and Watkins. Those absent and not voting were: Applegate, Bristow, Campbell of Lane, Chadwick, Lewis, McBride, Meigs, Nichols, Olney, Prim, Reed, Short, Shrum, Shattuck and Scott. Mr. Applegate, at an early day, became dissatisfied with the proceedings of the convention and left it. The schedule of the constitution provided that the question as to whether or not Oregon should be a slave state should be submitted to the people at the time they voted upon the constitution, and it also provided for a vote by ​the people at the same time as to whether or not free negroes should be allowed to come into and reside within the state. The constitution was adopted by a vote of seven thousand one hundred and ninety-five for, to three thousand one hundred and ninety-five against it. Slavery was defeated by a vote of two thousand six hundred and forty-five for, to seven thousand seven hundred and twenty-seven against it, and the exclusion of free negroes carried by a vote of eight thousand six hundred and forty for, to one thousand and eighty-one against it. Many of those who voted for the exclusion of free negroes were at heart opposed to the policy, but it was considered necessary to throw this tub to the whale of the proslavery party to secure the success of the free state clause of the constitution.
On the sixteenth of March, 1858, a democratic state convention assembled at Salem to nominate candidates for office under the new state government. James W. Nesmith was chairman, and Shubrick Norris secretary. L. F. Grover was nominated for Representative in Congress, John Whiteaker for Governor, L. Heath for Secretary of State, John D. Boon for Treasurer, Asahel Bush for State Printer, M. P. Deady for judge of the first district, R. E. Stratton for judge of the second district, R. P. Boise for judge of the third district, A. E. Wait for judge of the fourth district, A. C. Gibbs prosecuting attorney for the first district, J. N. Smith for the second, H. Jackson for the third, C. R. Meigs for the fourth. April 2, 1858, a republican convention assembled at Salem and nominated John Denny for Governor, John R. McBride for Representative in Congress, Leander Holmes for Secretary of State, E. L. Applegate for State Treasurer, and D. W. Craig for State Printer. Their resolutions declared that slavery was a state and not a national institution; denounced ​the Dred Scott decision, and the Kansas policy of the Buchanan administration; antagonized the democratic state platform and the viva voce mode of voting, and favored a Pacific railroad. April 8, a national democratic convention, as it called itself, assembled at Salem and nominated James K. Kelly for Representative in Congress, E. M. Barnum for Governor, A. E. Rice for Secretary of State, Joseph L. Bromley for Treasurer, and James O'Meara for State Printer. Their resolutions approved the national democratic platform of 1856, and extolled President Buchanan and Gen. Joseph Lane. On May 21 Denny and McBride published a card declining to be candidates.
The split in the democratic party was due to several causes, some personal and some political. Mr. Bush, as editor of the Oregon Statesman, wielded a vigorous and caustic pen, and any democratic laggard or recusant was pretty sure to feel the lash of that paper. This made a considerable number of soreheads in the party. Then, there was an antagonism in the party to what was called the "Salem clique." This clique was understood to consist of the following persons: Asahel Bush, J. W. Nesmith, B. F. Harding, R. P. Boise, L. F. Grover, and their close adherents. It was claimed that these gentlemen were using the party for themselves and their friends, and, as they were all free state men, it was thought by some that they were not as friendly to General Lane as they might be. Last, but not least, there were more aspirants for office than there were offices to fill. All the elements of opposition to the "Salem clique" fused in support of the ticket headed by Colonel Kelly. The chief canvassers for that ticket were Colonel Kelly and James O'Meara, and the chief canvassers for the Grover and Whiteaker ticket were L. F. Grover and Delazon Smith. I made some speeches in different ​parts of the state for the Grover and Whiteaker ticket. One of the chief topics of discussion in this canvass was the fifth and sixth resolutions of the state democratic platform. These resolutions were iron-clad as to the duty of democrats to support the nominations of the convention and caucuses of the party. Colonel Kelly and O'Meara vigorously attacked these resolutions and claimed that they were intended to subjugate the democratic party to the dictation of the "Salem clique.The supporters of the Grover and Whiteaker ticket claimed that they were necessary to the integrity of the party. The contest was characterized by bitter personalities, and among the party newspapers the "maddening wheels of fury raged." Grover and Whiteaker were elected; Grover receiving five thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine votes to four thousand one hundred and ninety for Kelly, and Whiteaker five thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight votes to four thousand one hundred and fourteen for Barnum . The following constituted the membership of the legislature of 1858: Senate—Jackson, A. M. Berry; Lane, W. W. Bristow and A. B. Florence; Washington, Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook, T. R. Cornelius; Marion, E. L. Colby and J. W. Grimm; Linn, C. Drain and L. Elkins; Douglas, J. F. Gazley; Yamhill, J. Lamson; Benton, J. S. McIteeny; Wasco, J. S. Ruckel; Josephine, S. R. Scott; Umpqua, Coos and Curry, —. Wells; Multnomah, J. A. Williams; Polk, F. Waymire. House—D. B. Hannah, of Clackamas; Robert Morrison, of Clatsop and Tillamook; Nelson Hoyt, of Columbia and Washington; William Tichner, of Coos and Curry; L. Norris and A. J. McGee, of Douglas; James H.. Slater and Henry B. Nichols, of Benton; John W. McCauley, Daniel Newcomb and W. G. T'Vault, of Jackson; D. S. Holton, of Josephine; A, J. Cruzan, R. B. Cochran ​and A. S. Patterson, of Lane; L. H. Cranor, J. T. Crooks, E. E. McMich and T. T. Thomas, of Linn; B. F. Bonham, B. F. Harding, J. H. Lasater and John Stevens, of Marion; T. J. Dryer and A. D. Shelby, of Multnomah; B. F. Burch and J. K. Wait, of Polk; J. M. Cozad, of Umpqua; Wilson Bowlby, of Washington; Vic. Trevett, of Wasco; Andrew Shuck, of Yamhill. These members assembled at Salem July 5, 1858. Luther Elkins was elected president of the senate, and E. Carpenter secretary. W. G. T'Vault was chosen speaker of the house, and C. N. Terry chief clerk. Most of the time of this session was spent in discussion about the removal of the capital. On the seventh day of July Joseph Lane was elected United States Senator in congress by a vote of forty-five to four blank votes, and Delazon Smith by a vote of thirty-nine to eight for David Logan.
In April, 1859, a democratic convention was held at Salem by which Lansing Stout was nominated for congress. The resolutions approved the democratic national platform of 1856, endorsed the Dred Scott decision, and the administration of James Buchanan. In 1 the same month a republican convention was held at the same place by which David Logan was nominated for congress. A. G. Hovey, W. Warren and Leander Holmes were chosen as delegates to the national republican convention, and instructed to vote for William H. Seward as the republican candidate for president. The resolutions were against slavery in the territory, favored a Pacific 'railroad, internal improvements and a protective tariff. Stout was elected over Logan by a majority of sixteen. Logan and Stout were both young men of fine abilities and good lawyers, but their unfortunate habits blasted their bright prospects for future usefulness and distinction.
​Governor Whiteaker called a special session of the legislature in May, 1859, and stated in his message that the object of the session was to adapt the existing laws to the new state government, and elect a United States Senator in place of Delazon Smith, whose term had expired. General Lane had drawn the long term which ended March 3, 1861, and Smith the short term which ended March 3, 1859. On the fourteenth day of February, 1859, Senators Lane and Smith and Representative Grover took their seats in congress. This special session, after a good deal of wrangling, adjourned without any election.
Preparatory to the June election in 1860, a republican state convention was held at Salem, at which David Logan was again nominated for congress. The resolutions were similar to those of 1859, with a strong protest against the Dred Scott decision. A democratic convention was held at Eugene City, at which there was a serious disagreement among the delegates. Several counties had decided that the state democratic convention had not given them the number of delegates to which they were entitled, and as the convention decided to adhere to the apportionment made by the committee, several delegates withdrew from the convention, after which George K. Shiel was nominated for congress, and Joseph Lane, M. P. Deady and Lansing Stout were chosen delegates to the national democratic convention, and instructed to vote for General Lane as the democratic candidate for president. Shiel was elected with seventy-six majority over Logan. The agitation of the slavery question had now reached a crisis. The good Lord and good devil style of politics had become disgusting. I made up my mind that, as far as my opportunities allowed, I would resist the further aggression of the slave power and oppose the election to office of those who favored it. Accordingly, in the month ​of March, 1860, I went into Linn County, to the residence of Delazon Smith, and said to him: "Delazon, I have come here to beard the lion in his den (Smith's friends called him the 'Lion of Linn'); I am going to canvass Linn County, and my object is to beat you and General Lane for the senate. Come on and make your fight." He good-naturedly accepted the challenge, and we traveled on horseback to all parts of Linn County, through the rain and mud, speaking every day, sometimes in the afternoon and sometimes in the evening, and, as the accommodations in those days were somewhat limited, we generally occupied the same bed at night. When I go back in my thoughts to that campaign, I do not think of the rain, mud and hard work, but I think of the solid comfort I experienced w r hen, hungry, wet and weary, I was welcomed to the warm hospitalities of the pioneer families of Linn County. Colonel Baker came to Oregon some time in the winter of 1859, and he and Dryer made speeches for the republican ticket, but I believe I was the only democrat who made a general canvass, especially against the election of Lane and Smith.
On September 11, 1860, the legislature convened at Salem, and consisted of the following members: Senate—Thomas R. Cornelius, of Washington; William Tichner, of Umpqua, Coos and Curry; William Taylor, of Polk; Solomon Fitzhugh, of Douglas; D. S. Holton, of Josephine; John R. McBride, of Yamhill; James Monroe, of Lane; John A. Williams, of Multnomah; Luther Elkins and H. L. Brown, of Linn; A. B. Florence, of Lane; J. W. Grimm and E. F. Colby, of Marion; J. S. McHeeney, of Benton; A. M. Berry, of Jackson. Luther Elkins was elected president. House—S. E. Martin, of Coos and Curry; C. J. Trenchard, of Clatsop and Tillamook; Reuben Hill and M. H. Walker, of Benton; R. A. Cowles and James F. Gazley, of Douglas; J. Q. A. ​Worth, Bartlett Curl, Asa McCully and James P. Tate, of Linn; Joseph Bayley, John Duval and R. B. Cochran, of Lane; G. W. Keeler, J. B. White and J. N. T. Miller, of Jackson; Ira F. M. Butler and C. C. Cram, of Polk; Robert Mays, of Wasco; B. Stark and A. C. Gibbs, of Multnomah; A. Holbrook, W. A. Starkweather and H. W. Eddy, of Clackamas; Samuel Parker, Robert Newell. C. P. Crandall and B. F. Harding, of Marion; M. Crawford and S. M. Gilmore, of Yamhill; Wilson Bowlby, E. W. Conger, of Washington; J. W. Huntington, of Umpqua; and George T. Vining, of Josephine. B. F. Harding was elected speaker of the house.
Soon after the legislature assembled it became apparent that there was to be a fusion between the Douglas democrats, as they were called, and the republicans, in consequence of which Senators Berry, Brown, Florence, Fitzhugh, Monroe and McIteeney, friends of Lane and Smith, vacated their seats, and, as the saying was then, "took to the woods.' This left the senate without a quorum. Warrants were issued for their arrest, but they were not found. Governor Whiteaker made an earnest and patriotic appeal to the absentees to return, and after an absence of ten or twelve days they resumed their seats in the senate. Soon after, a joint convention was held for the election of United States senators. There were fourteen ballots, and the votes, with some scattering, were about equally divided between J. W. Nesmith, E. D. Baker and George H. Williams. On the fourteenth ballot some of my supporters, under the pressure of the Salem clique, went over to Nesmith, and he was elected. The vote on the final ballot stood: For the long term, twenty-seven for Nesmith to twenty-two for Deady. For the short term, twenty-six for Baker to twenty for George H. Williams.
​James W. Nesmith for many years was a conspicuous figure in the politics of Oregon. He was a man of keen and ready wit, without much cultivation or refinement. He had a wonderful faculty of seeing the ridiculous side of things, and this faculty sometimes worked to his personal disadvantage. He was my colleague in the senate for two years. He was an ardent friend of Andrew Johnson, and I was his determined enemy. He secured nominations from the President, and I defeated them in the senate. This exasperated Nesmith and he became and for many years was my malignant enemy, and as a representative in congress did what he could with the help of some prominent republicans of Oregon to prevent my confirmation by the senate when I was nominated for Chief Justice by General Grant. But I am happy to say that before his last illness our friendly relations were reestablished, and while he was sick he wrote me a pathetic letter begging me to help him out of his imaginary troubles. He stood nobly by the administration of Mr. Lincoln in the prosecution of the war, and of the democrats in the senate voted alone for the constitutional amendment to abolish slavery, for which he deserves to be remembered with praise by the people of Oregon.
When the democratic national convention assembled at Charleston, on account of the resolutions adopted by the convention, the delegates from the slave-holding states withdrew and organized a convention of their own. Oregon and California went with them. They nominated John C. Breckinridge for President, and Joseph Lane for Vice-President. Their resolutions affirmed that the Constitution of the United States carried slavery into the territories, and protected it there irrespective of any legislation by congress or the people of a territory, denounced opposition to the fugitive slave law, favored the acquisition of Cuba, and a Pacific railroad. The other delegates ​adjourned to Baltimore, where they nominated Stephen A. Douglas for President, and Herschel V. Johnson for Vice-President . Their resolutions affirmed the democratic platform of 1856, and recognized the rightfulness and validity of the fugitive slave law. The republican convention at Chicago nominated Abraham Lincoln for President, and Hannibal Hamlin for Vice-President. Their platform opposed the extension of slavery into the territories, but was quite conservative in other respects. A convention was held at Nashville at which John Bell was nominated for President, and Edward Everett for VicePresident. Though their platforms were somewhat different, there was in fact no essential difference between the republicans and Douglas democrats upon the slavery question. The Breckinridge and Lane party affirmed in effect that the constitution established and protected slavery in the territories of the United States. This the Douglas democrats denied. This was the real issue of the campaign.
Dryer in The Oregonian stigmatized the Douglas democrats as the abolition wing of the democratic party. The Presidential Electors for Lincoln were Thomas J. Dryer, B. J. Pengra and William Watkins. For Breckenridge, James O'Meara, D. W. Douthit and Dalazon Smith. For Douglas, Benjamin F. Hayden, William Farrar and Bruce. For Bell, John Ross, S. Elsworth and Greer. There were numerous speakers in the field. Baker, Dryer, Woods and others for Lincoln; Smith, O'Meara and others for Breckenridge; Hayden, Farrar, Garfield and others for Douglas. I supported Douglas and canvassed for him, not so much to defeat Mr. Lincoln, whose election seemed altogether probable, as to pursuade as many democrats as I could to withold their votes from Breckenridge and Lane. Lincoln carried the state, and was elected President. The vote stood in ​Oregon, five thousand two hundred and seventy for Lincoln, five thousand and six for Breckenridge, three thousand, nine hundred and fifty-one for Douglas, and one hundred and eighty-three for Bell.
President Lincoln organized an able cabinet as follows: William H. Seward, Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury; Simon Cameron, Secretary of War; Gideon Wells, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior; Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General, and Edward Bates, AttorneyGeneral.
Mr. Lincoln's appointments for Oregon were as follows: District Attorneys E. D. Shattuck, April 2, 1862; E. W. McGraw, January 26, 1863; Joseph N. Dolph, January 30, 1865; United States Marshal, William H. Bennett; Surveyor-General, B. J. Pengra; Superintendent of Indian Affairs, W. H. Rector; Collector of Customs at Astoria, William L. Adams; William Matlock, receiver, and W. A. Starkweather, register of the land office at Oregon City.
The defeat of General Lane for Vice-President closed his political career. I was quite well acquainted, though not intimate, with General Lane. I have never known a man in Oregon to whom the Latin maxim, Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re (gentle in manners, brave in deed), could with more propriety be applied. He had all the essential qualifications of a successful politician, and if he had not been so imbued with a desire to extend slavery, might, in all human probability, have represented Oregon in the senate as long as he lived. He was intensely southern in all his feelings and sympathies, a devoted friend to Jefferson Davis, and opposed to coercive measures to preserve the union. I sincerely believe he was wrong and opposed him upon that ground, but it is due to his memory to say that he had, what many shifty ​politicians have not, the courage of his convictions, and he stood by them to the bitter end. Delazon Smith, having identified himself with the fortunes of General Lane, went down with them. I knew Delazon Smith in Iowa as an infidel lecturer, a democratic politician and a Methodist preacher. He was a man of generous impulses and many intellectual gifts ; socially a charming and most companionable man, and personally I liked him very much. As a stump orator, with the exception of Colonel Baker, there has never been his equal in the State of Oregon, but he lacked stability and strength of character. He was better fitted to follow than to lead men.
In Oregon, as well as elsewhere, 1861 was a year of excitement. The war and anti-war feeling was at fever heat. Every hill and valley found a tongue, and fiery speeches were made for and against the government.
Colonel Baker was killed at Ball's Bluff in 1861. He canvassed Iowa in 1848 for Taylor. I was then judge of the first judicial district of that state, and had an opportunity to hear him at several places where I was holding court. I also heard him in this state. I have heard a good many men make speeches who were distinguished for their oratory, but the most eloquent man I ever heard was Edward D. Baker. He was admirable in form and features, had a clear, ringing, silvery voice, and could soar into the regions of imagination with more brilliancy and come down to the solid facts of a speech with a better grace than any man I ever knew. His death was a great loss to the country. Governor Whiteaker appointed Benjamin F. Stark to succeed Colonel Baker in the senate. Stark was a disciple of General Lane. Affidavits were forwarded to the senate from Oregon to show his disloyalty, but after considerable hesitation over the matter he was admitted to his seat. I can say of Senator ​Stark what Judge Black said of Justice Hunt, of the supreme court: "He was a very lady-like personage."
In January, 1862, a call was issued for a union state convention to be held at Eugene City on the ninth of April. This call was signed by H. W. Corbett, E. D. Shattuck and W. C. Johnson, republican state committee, and by Samuel Hanna, claiming to be chairman of the democratic state committee, and by the following persons, most of whom had been classed as democrats : J. J. Hoffman, A. C. Gibbs, W. S. Ladd, A. M. Starr, S. G. Reed, S. J. McCormack, Alonzo Leland, John McCraken, R. J. Ladd, A. C. R. Shaw, H. J. Geer, David Powell, W . H. Farrar, A. Dodge, Lucien Heath, Joseph Cox, R. C. Geer, A. B. Hallock, James H. Lappeus, George H. Williams, B. F. Harding, E. Williams, B. Simpson, I. R. Moores, E. N. Cooke, H. M. Thatcher, David McCully, L. E. Pratt, H. Rickey, James Shaw, Joseph Magone, A. C. Daniels, J. W. McCully, Thomas Strang, H. Zanklosskey, T. B. Rickey, William Graves, E. N. Terry, A. L. Lovejoy, J. S. Rinearson, R. P. Boise, D. P. Thompson, F. L. Cartee, C. P. Crandall, A. F. Waller.
J. J. Hoffman, whose name heads this list, was a clerk in my office, and A. C. Gibbs, whose name stands second, was my law partner. Pursuant to the above-named call, a convention was held at Eugene consisting of the following delegates: Benton—A. J. Thayer, J. R. Bayley, W. B. Spencer, M. Woodcock, A. G. Hovey. Clackamas—A. L. Lovejoy, W. Carey Johnson, M. C. Ramsby, S. Huelet, W. S. Dement, J. T. Kerns. Clatsop—William L. Adams. Columbia E. W. Conyers. Douglas—T. B. King, W. T. Baker, T. R. Hill, E. A. Lathrop, J. Kelly, S. B. Briggs, James F. Watson, R. Reil. Jackson—L. A. Rice, James Burpee, S. Reddick, W. W. Fowler, W. S. Hayden, J. B. Wrisley, O. Jacobs, ​J. C. Davenport, E. S. Morgan, C.Heppner. Josephine— H. L. Preston, D. S. Holton, Jacob Mendenhall, Thomas Floyd, J. S. Dunlap, W. Mulvaney. Lane—W. W. Bristow, R. E. Stratton, B. J. Pengra, E. L. Applegate, J. M. Gale, N. Humphrey, G. H. Murch, J. McFarland. Linn—Hiram Smith, Daniel Froman, William McCoy, L. Fanning, J. M. Elliott, D. B. Randall, John Smith, A.Hannen, 0. W. Richardson, T. A. Riggs. Marion—A. Bush, I. R. Moores, E. N. Cooke, S. Brown, B. F. Harding, E. Williams, George A. Edes, Joseph Magone, J. W. Grimm, P. A. Davis, W. Shannon, William Chase. Multnomah—A. M. Starr, T. H. Pearne, H. W. Corbett, A. C. R. Shaw, S. M. Smith, David Powell, William H. Watkins, George H. Williams. Polk—J. D. Holman, W. C. Warren, J. D. Collins, B. Simpson, S. J. Gardner. Umpqua—Jesse Applegate, R. H. Lord. Wasco—William Logan, James H. O'Dell, J. H. Wilbur, Z. M. Donnell. Washington—Wilson Bowlby, A. Hindman, W. B. Adcock, I. Hall. Yamhill—Joel Palmer, W. B. Breyman, Joseph Sanders, J. R. Bean, J. B. Condon, W. B. Daniels. Coos and Curry—William Tichner, T. D. Winchester. A. L. Lovejoy was president and C. N. Terry secretary.
The convention made the following nominations:
John R. McBride for congress; A. C. Gibbs for Governor; Samuel May for Secretary of State; Harvey Gordon for State Printer; Edwin N. Cooke for State Treasurer; E. D. Shattuck for Judge of the Fourth District; James F. Gazley for Prosecuting Attorney, First District; A. J. Thayer for Second District; J. G. Wilson, Third District, and W. C. Johnson for the Fourth District. The convention appointed the following as an executive committee for the campaign: Henry Failing, B. F. Harding, Hiram Smith, George H. Williams and S. Huelet.
​A democratic convention at Eugene on the sixteenth of April, 1862, nominated for congress, A. E. Wait; for Governor, John F. Miller; for State Printer, A. Noltner.
The campaign was conducted with great spirit and much ill-feeling. War was in the hearts of our people as much as it was elsewhere, but we fought it out with ballots and not with armed forces and bloodshed. ExGovernor Curry conducted a paper in Portland called the Advertiser, which vehemently opposed the war and the administration of Lincoln, and W. L. Adams conducted a red-hot republican paper at Oregon City called the Oregon Argus, in which he hammered his political opponents with merciless severity. The Statesman and the Oregonian were on the same side in this fight. The whole union ticket was elected by an average majority of three thousand. The total vote in Portland was six hundred and seventy four hundred and sixty for McBride and two hundred and ten for Wait.
The legislature elected in June assembled in Salem, September 8, 1862, and consisted of the following members:
Senate—Benton, A. G. Hovey; Linn, Bartlett Curl, D. W. Ballard; Marion, J. W. Grim, William Greenwood; Washington, Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook, Wilson Bowlby; Lane, Campbell E. Chrism an; Multnomah, John H. Mitchell; Coos, Curry and Umpqua, Joseph W. Drew; Jackson, Jacob Wagner; Ctackamas and Wasco, James K. Kelly; Yamhill, John R. McBride; Polk, William Tayler; Lane, James Monroe; Josephine, D. S. Holton. Wilson Bowlby was elected president, and Samuel Clarke chief clerk.
House—Jackson, E. L. Applegate, J. D. Haines, S. D. Van Dyke; Josephine, J. D. Fay; Douglas, R. Mailory, James Watson; Umpqua, W. H. Wilson; Coos and Curry, Archibald Stevenson; Lane, S. V. McClure, ​A. A. Hemingway, M. Wilkins; Benton, A. N. Withan, C. P. Blair; Linn, H. D. Brown, John Smith, William McCoy, A. .A. McCully; Marion, I. R. Moores, Joseph Engle, C. A. Reed, John Minto; Polk, B. Simpson, G. W. Richardson; Yamhill, Joel Palmer, John Cummings; Washington, R. Wilcox; Washington and Columbia, E. W. Conyers; Clackamas, F. A. Collard, M. Ramsby, J. T. Kean; Multnomah, A. J. Dufur, P. Wasserman; Clatsop and Tillamook, P. W. Gillette; Wasco, 0. Humason. Joel Palmer was elected speaker, and S. T. Church chief clerk.
A joint convention was held for the election of a senator to fill the unexpired term of Colonel Baker. The vote for a long time was about equally divided between B. F. Harding and George H. Williams, with a few votes for the Rev. Thomas H..Pearne, but the Salem clique was too much for me again, and on the thirtieth ballot Harding was elected.
Public attention was absorbed by the war in 1863, and there were no political movements of any note in Oregon in that year. In March, 1864, a union convention was held at Albany, of which Wilson Bowlby was president and W. C. Whitson secretary. J. H. D. Henderson was nominated for congress; George L. Woods, N. H. George and J. F. Gazley for presidential electors. Delegates to the national convention were Thomas H. Pearne, J. W. Souther, M. Hirsch, Josiah Failing, H. Smith and T. Charman. They were instructed to vote for the renomination of Abraham Lincoln. R. E. Stratton was nominated for Judge of the Second Judicial District and James F. Watson for District Attorney. In the third district, R. P. Boise -was named for Judge and Rufus Mallory for District Attorney, and in the fifth district, J. G.Wilson for Judge and C. R. Meigs for District Attorney.
​In April a democratic convention was held at Salem. James K. Kelly was nominated for congress; A. E. Wait, S. F. Chad wick and Benjamin F. Hayden for presidential electors. Delegates to the national convention were Benjamin Stark, William Higbee, William McMillen, Jefferson Howell, John Whiteaker, N. T. Caton. S. Ellsworth was nominated for Judge of the Second District, J. S. Smith for the third and J. H. Slater for the fifth. The union ticket was elected by an average majority of two thousand five hundred. Some of those who were in the ranks in 1862 fell out in 1864 on account of the emancipation proclamation of Mr. Lincoln.
The republican national convention nominated Abraham Lincoln for President and Andrew Johnson for Vice-President. The resolutions approved the administration of Lincoln, and favored a vigorous prosecution of the war. The democratic national convention nominated George B. McClellan for President and George H. Pendleton for Vice-President. The resolutions declared the war a failure, demanded the cessation of hostilities and a convention of the states to settle the pending difficulties.
On September 12, 1864, the legislature elected in June assembled at Salem, and consisted of the following members:
Senate—Douglas, Coos and Curry, G. S. Hinsdale; Washington, Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook, Thomas R. Cornelius; Baker and Umatilla, James M. Pyle; Wasco, Z. Donnell; Yamhill, Joel Palmer; Polk, John A. Fraser; Clackamas, H. W. Eddy; Douglas, James Watson; Josephine, C. M. Cardwell; Marion, John W. Grim and William Greenwood; Linn, Bartlett Curl and D. W. Ballard; Lane, S. B. Crabsten and C. E. Chrisman; Multnomah, John H. Mitchell; Jackson, Jacob Wagner. John H. Mitchell was elected president, and E. P. Henderson chief clerk.
​House—Baker, Daniel Chaplin, Samuel Colt; Benton, J. Quinn Thornton, J. Gingles; Clackamas, Owen Wade, E. T. T. Fisher, H. W. Shipley; Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook, P. W. Gillette; Coos and Curry, Isaac Hacker; Douglas, Alpheus Ireland, E. W. Otey, P. C. Parker; Jackson, James D. Fay, W. F. Songer, Thomas F. Beale; Josephine, Isaac Cox; Lane, J. B. Underwood, G. Callison, A. McCormack; Linn, J. P. Tate, J. N. Parker, P. A. McCartney, Robert Glass; Marion, I. R. Moores, J. J. Murphy, H. L. Turner, J. C. Cartwright; Multnomah, P. Wasserman, L. H. Wakefield; Polk, C. LaFollett; Umatilla, Lafayette Lane; Washington, Wilson Bowlby, D. O. Quick; Wasco, A. J. Borland; Yamhill, G. W. Lawson, Henry Warner. I. R. Moores was elected speaker, and J. L. Collins chief clerk.
Circumstances seemed to indicate that Thomas H. Pearne or George H. Williams would be elected to the senate by this legislature, and with this in view we canvassed the state together, both of us advocating the election of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Pearne was an able man and a fine speaker. I found in him a formidable competitor for the office. I was elected on the third ballot, the vote standing thirty-one for Williams, sixteen for Pearne, six for John F. Miller, and two for Watkins. Bush, Nesmith, Harding, and many others who had been identified with the union party, supported McClellan. Mr. Lincoln carried the state by about one thousand four hundred majority. On the fourth of March, 1865, I took my seat in the Senate of the United States.
My task ends here. Many, and indeed a large majority, of those I have named in this paper have finished their earthly career, and the evening shadows are rapidly closing around those who survive. I trust those who come forward to take our places will think kindly of what we have done, and strive to improve upon our work. ​I have had my full share of the ups and downs incident to political life, but there are no sore places in my memory. I am grateful to the Giver of All Good and the people of Oregon for the honor and good things I have enjoyed here, and my earnest desire is that God will bless this beautiful state in all its years and in all its borders with plenteousness and peace, and that righteousness, justice and truth may characterize and exalt its future history.
GEORGE H. WILLIAMS.