Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-02-21
WAS OREGON GOVERNOR
WILLIAM PAINE LORD, X-EXEC.
UTIyE AND JURIsT, DIES.
End Came After Long Illness While
He Was in San Francisco
Hospital.

William Paine Lord, ex-Goyerno,
| of Oregon, and at one time United
States minister to the Argentine Re-
public. died in Hahnemann Hospital
in San Francisco, Friday morning,
says special to the Oregonian.
Death came as the result of long
illness and was caused by heart fail
ure. The patient had been in the hos
pital for more than a month, and was
suffering from the result of overwork
and from a complication of diseases.
He was 73 years old.
The widow and a daughter were
with him at the time of death. The
body will be sent to Salem Saturday
morning and it will be accompanied
by the widow and daughter.
Judge. Lord left for San Francisco
with his wife and daughter a few
weeks ago. OF his two sons, one, W
p Lord, Jr., is employed in the State
house, and the other, Montague, is in
Hawaii
Judge Lord had until shortly before
his death been preparing the new Ore
gon code, for which he had been Civ
en- contract by the Legislature
Began Practice in Salem.
William P. Lord was born in Dover,
Delaware, in 1898. He graduated
from Fairfield College, New York. in
1860, at a time when National affairs
were approaching a crisis, which fin
ally eliminated in the Civil War. He
began the study of law when the war
was just breaking out
After serving through the war as
major of a Delaware cavalry regi-
ment in the Union army, he began
the study of law. He was later com
missioned as lieutenant in the regular
army and served in Alaska until 1868,
when he resigned from the army and
began the practice of law In look
ing for a location he met his old
classmate, Colonel N. B. Knight, of
Salem. Colonel Knight was in the
law, and the two formed a partner
ship and began practice in the Capital
City. The partnership lasted until
Governor Lords accession to the
bench.
In 1878 Mr.. Lord was elected to
the State Senate from Marion County
as a Republican, to which political
organization he has always adhered
with faithfulness and consistency He
served one session as Senator and
then resigned on receiving the nomina-
ton of the Republican State Conven-
tion for Judge of the Supreme Court,
to which office he was elected by the
people in 1880. This was the first
election of judges under the act pro-
viding for the election of judges of
the Suprme Court in distinct classes.
He was elected to the short term, and
thereby became Chief Justice.
Held High Office.
In 1880 he went to Baltimore and
married Miss Juliette Montague. They
returned to Salem. In 1882 he was
nominated by his party as his own
successor without opposition and re-
ceived a clear majority of the votes
cast. He took his seat as the Junior
of the Supreme Court for a
term of six years. At the expiration !
of Judge Waldos term he again be-
came Chief Justice and presided until /
his third election, which took place in
1888. At this election he received the
largest number of votes ever cast for
a candidate at a single election in the
state.
He became prominent in the Re-
publican party of Oregon, and for IA
years was a Judge of the Supreme
Court From 1895 to 1899 he was
Governor of the State, and from 1899
to 1903 he was Minister plenipoten-
tiary and envoy extraordinary of the
United States to the Argentine Repub-
ic. He was one of the commissioners
appointed to codify the laws of Ore
son, and Lords oregon Code was the
result of much labor and considera-
Die care