ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
John Whiteaker (May 4, 1820 – October 2, 1902) was an American politician, a Democrat, and served as the first state Governor of Oregon from 1859 until 1862.  Born in Dearborn County, Indiana to farmers, Whiteaker only spent six months of formal schooling, and as a result, was almost entirely self-educated. Before moving west, he had performed odd jobs, carpentry, and volunteered for military service during the Mexican War, although his unit was never called into battle. In 1849, he joined the California Gold Rush, earning enough to move his family to a farm in Lane County, Oregon. Once in Oregon he became active in Democratic Party activities, Elected to office first as Judge of the Probate Court for Lane County (1856), then as a legislator in the Territorial Legislature (1857). Governorship. Oregon was preparing for statehood in 1857, as voters had just approved a state constitution. Whiteaker was selected as a Democratic faction's nominee in the first state gubernatorial election, held in June 1858. Whiteaker won by a margin of 1,138, and was innagurated July 8, 1858. He did not assume office until word that Congress had passed Oregon's statehood bill on February 14, 1859. Technicaly, Oregon had two governors in the interrum, as Territorial Governor George Law Curry, was legally in charge until the state government-in-waiting was legally empowererd to take control.  Once in office, the new governor set out to untangle the large amounts of land claims and counter claims on public lands. He also promoted economic policies favoring home industries, products that Oregonians could make self-sufficiently. Although nicknamed "Honest John", this did not deflect his controversial stands on issues of national importance. Whiteaker held pro-slavery views which did not sit well with apopulation mostly in the abolitionist camp. Opponents often used this to attack him as a traitor as the United States descended into the Civil War. Whiteaker was not nominated again by the Democrats in the 1862
Addison C. Gibbs was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of Oregon from 1862 until 1866. Ealry life. Addison Gibbs was born on July 9, 1825, in Cattaraugus County, New York. He attended and graduated from a state run normal school before becoming a teacher. Later he passed the bar and moved to California in 1849. Oregon. In 1850 A.C. Gibbs moved to the Oregon Territory. There he moved to the town of Gardiner on the Umpqua River where he would become a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1852. He was also appointed as a customs collector for Gardiner, located at the mouth of the Umpqua. Then in 1860 Gibbs relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he was elected to the state house. Next, in 1862 he was elected as governor of Oregon, serving as the governor during the American Civil War. During the war in 1864, responding to orders from Congress, Gibbs raised an infantry regiment despite opposition from Oegonians.
La Fayette Grover (b. November 29, 1823 – d. May 10, 1911) was a Democratic representative and senator from Oregon, USA. Grover was born in Bethel, Maine. He was educated at Bethel's Gould’s Academy and Brunswick's Bowdoin College. Studying law and passing the bar in Philadelphia in 1850, he moved to Oregon in 1851 and set up practice in Salem. The Oregon Territorial legislature elected him prosecuting attorney for Oregon second judicial district and auditor of public accounts for the Oregon Territory. From 1853 to 1855 he was elected to the territorial house of representatives. In 1854 he was appointed by the Department of the Interior to audit the claims out of the Rogue River Indian War. He then was appointed by the Secretary of War in 1856 to a board of commissioners to audit the Indian war expenses of Oregon and Washington. In 1857 he was a delegate to the Oregon constitution convention and upon admission of Oregon as a state was elected as a Democratic representative to the Thirty-fifth United States Congress serving from February 15, 1859, to March 3, 1859. He did not run for reelection in 1858, instead resuming his law practice and the manufacture of woolens. He was elected Governor of Oregon in 1871 and served until 1877 when he resigned, having been elected to the United States Senate. Grover served from March 4, 1877, to March 3, 1883 serving in the Forty-sixth United States Congress as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Manufactures. Not a candidate for reelection in 1883, instead he resumed the practice of law and retired from public life. Grover died in Portland, Oregon, on May 10, 1911 and was interned in Riverview Cemetery.
Stephen Fowler Chadwick (December 25, 1825 - January 15, 1895), was an American Democrat politician who served as Governor of Oregon from 1877 to 1878. Governor Chadwick was the first person to obtain the governorship by way of the state's Line of Succession. Occupational background. Chadwick was a lawyer, admitted to the New York State Bar on May 30, 1850. He soon made his way to Oregon, setting up a law firm in the Douglas County settlement of Scottsburg in April 1851. Chadwick served as the town's first postmaster. Early Political Career. After moving from Scottsburg to Roseburg, Chadwick ran for the newly created position of Judge of Douglas County. Later he would go on to represent Douglas County at the Oregon 1857 State Constitiutional Convention. In the 1864 and 1868 Presidential elections, Chadwick served as an Democratic elector. Chadwick won the 1870 election to the position of Secretary of State, and was subsequently reelected in 1874. Governorship. In 1877, La Fayette Grover resigned the governorship after his election to the United States Senate by the State Legislature. Chadwick, as Secretary of State and second in the gubernatorial line of succession, was inaugurated to fill out the remaining year of Governor Grover's term. Although unconstitutional under Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution, Chadwick also kept his position of Secretary of State. When signing official documents requiring the signatures of both the Secretary of State and Governor, he would sign first on the left side, then on the right. The most notable policy of his administration was Chadwick's stand on the Nez Perce Wars raging in the northeastern part of the state. Chadwick was unhappy with the stalemated situation, going so far as to inspect the front lines first-hand. He aided white settlers during the conflict, and argued for much harsher punishments for rebellious and uncooperative tribal leaders than the Army's policies. At the time of the 1878 elections, Governor Chadwick declined a second term and went back to practicing law. He died on February 15, 1895 in Salem, Oregon.
William Wallace Thayer (July 15, 1827 - October 15, 1899) was a Democratic politician active in U.S. states of Idaho and Oregon. Most notably, he was the sixth Governor of Oregon from 1878 to 1882 and Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1888 to 1889.  Background. Thayer was born on a farm near Lima, New York on July 15, 1827. He received a public education before studying law in college. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1851. He then practiced law with his brother in Buffalo and later Tonawanda. A mining boom in Idaho Territory caught Thayer's attention in 1860, prompting him to move west. He arrived in Corvallis, Oregon in 1861, where he joined another brother, Andrew, at his law firm. In 1863, he would finally move to Idaho, setting up his own law firm in Lewiston.  Political career in Idaho. In 1866, three years after moving to Lewiston, Thayer was elected District Attorney for the Third Judicial District of Idaho Territory. From 1866 until 1867, he moved to Boise to serve for a session of the Idaho Territory House of Representatives. He moved to Portland, Oregon shortly after leaving the legislature. Early political career in Oregon. Upon returning to Oregon, Thayer establuished a sucessful law firm in the city of East Portland. At this time, he became an active member of the Democratic Party. During the 1876 Hayes-Tilden Presidential Election dispute, Thayer was a member of the legal team which challened the certification of J. W. Watts, a Republican elector for Rutherford B. Hayes. Although sucessful, this challenge did not help Samuel Tilden prevail in the Electoral College. Still appreciative of his assistance in the Watts Case, the Oregon State Democratic Party nominmated Thayer for Governor in 1878. Thayer would win narrowly, by a margin of 59 votes. Governorship. Thayer's time in office is remembered as a fiscally conservative, anti-corruption administration, which
Sylvester Pennoyer (July 6, 1831 - May 31, 1902) was a populist Democrat and served as governor of Oregon (1886 - 1894) and as mayor of Portland, Oregon (1896 - 1898). Pennoyer was born in Groton, New York, and studied law at Harvard. After graduating, he moved to Oregon where he practiced law and ran local businesses. He was the petitioner in the Supreme Court case "Pennoyer v. Neff" which defined legal jursidictino over citizens in different cases. As typical for that time, he acted in a stridently partisan manner while governor. He pointedly snuubed president Benjamin Harrison when Cleveland visited Oregon in 1891. He refused to use his resources to protect Chinese-Americans when asked by Grover Cleveland's Secretary of State on May 3, 1893. He again refused to intervene at the request of Cleveland when a group of unemployed workers, part of "Coxey's Army", hijacked a train to travel east and join a mass march on Washington, DC.
William Paine Lord (July 1, 1838 - February 17, 1911), was a Republican politician. He was Governor of Oregon from 1895 to 1899.  Early life. Lord was born to Edward and Elizabeth (Paine) Lord in Dover, Delaware. He was partially deaf, and had limited speaking ability. He received his primary education at a Quaker school and through private tutoring. He subsequently studied law at Fairfield College, graduating in 1860. Before he could continue further into his studies, Lord volunteered for military service in the United States Civil War, advancing to the rank of Major in the Union Army.  Once the war ended, Lord continued in law school at Albany College, graduating there in 1866. He then returned to the military for a second time, re-enlisting at the rank of lieutenent. His duties would include postings at Alcatraz in San Francisco and Fort Steilacoom near Tacoma, Washington. When the United States took formal posession of Alaska in 1867, Lt. Lord was sent to Sitka. In 1868, Lord resigned from the army in order to set up a law practice in Salem, Oregon. Entry into politics. William Pain Lord soon became involved in politics, as he became Salem's City Attorney in 1870. This launched him into his first elected office as a state Senator in 1878. He would resign this seat for a sucessful run as the Republican nomine for Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Lord served on the court from 1880 until 1894. He was a popular jusice and had a reputation of being the most competent Jurist in state history, serving out his last term as Chief Justice. He accepted the Republican nomination for the 1894 Governor's Election, stepping down from the court after his gubernatorial election victory. Governorship. Governor Lord's popularity swept him into the Governor's Office. He immediately set out to support higher education, eliminate corruption from land speculators, and fueled support for the direct election of Untied States Senators, when the Senate refused to seat Henry W. Corbett, Lord's apointee. He promoted ending the corrupt
Sir Leslie Lynn Marr, 2nd Baronet (14 August 1922 – 4 May 2021) was a British landscape artist, painter and former racing driver. Marr participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. He made his first appearance on 17 July 1954 at the . He retired from his last world championship race in 1955, after a damaged brake pipe caused him to spin off.  Marr competed in several non-Championship races, with his best results including winning the 1955 Cornwall MRC Formula 1 Race and finishing fourth in the 1956 New Zealand Grand Prix. Marr died in Gimingham, Norfolk on 4 May 2021 at the age of 98.
Campton Hills is a village in Kane County, Illinois. It is a far western suburb of Chicago. 10,885 people lived here according to the 2020 US Census.
Paul Gladney (August 4, 1941 – May 19, 2021), better known by the stage name Paul Mooney, was an American comedian, writer, social critic and actor. He was best known as a writer for comedian Richard Pryor. He played singer Sam Cooke in "The Buddy Holly Story" (1978) and Junebug in "Bamboozled" (2000). He also made many appearances on "Chappelle's Show." Mooney died of a heart attack at his home in Oakland, California on May 19, 2021 at the age of 79.
Molly Crabapple (born Jennifer Caban; 1983) is an American artist and writer. She is an editor for "VICE". She has also written books including an illustrated memoir "Drawing Blood" (2015), "Discordia" (with Laurie Penny) on the Greek economic crisis, and the art books "Devil in the Details" and "Week in Hell" (2012).  Some of her are held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, The Barjeel Art Foundation and the New-York Historical Society.
George Earle Chamberlain (1854–1928) was an American politician, legislator, and public official, born near Natchez, Miss. He graduated from the academic and law departments of Washington and Lee University in 1876, then practiced law in Oregon, and soon be a member of the State legislature. He served as district attorney for the third judicial district, Attorney–General of the State, and district attorney for the fourth judicial district. In 1902 he was elected Democratic Governor of Oregon, and in 1906 he was re–elected. He was twice elected to the United States Senate where he served for twelve years (1909–1921). He was author of the Chamberlain Military Preparedness Bill of 1918. He became a member of the United States Shipping Board for the term 1921–25.
Frank W. Benson (March 20, 1858 – April 14, 1911) was an American politician, a Republican, and the 12th Governor of Oregon from 1909 to 1910. Early life. Benson was born in San Jose, California in 1858 to a minister sent west by the Methodist Epispocal Church in 1882. His father, Henry Clarke Benson, moved the family to Portland, Oregon to become editor of the "Pacific Christian Accord" in 1864. Young Frank was enrolled in the Portland Academy, later continuing his education at the College of the Pacific in Stockton, California. After college, he returned to Oregon, begining a career in education. In 1880, he took charge of the Methodist Umpqua Academy in Wilbur, Oregon. Benson assumed his first elected office as Superintendent of Douglas County Schools between 1882 and 1886. He relinquished the post after becoming president of a Normal School in Drain. Benson would return to politics in 1892, after his election as Douglas County Clerk. He was relected and passed the state bar exam in 1896. In 1898, Benson began practicing law in Roseburg. Secretary of State and Governorship. In 1906, Benson would run for Secretary of State, winning both the Republican primary and the general election. The sitting governor George Earle Chamberlain won election to the United States Senate in 1909 and resigned the governor's seat. As Secretary of State, Frank Benson was next in the gubernatorial line of sucession, and was sworn into office March 1, 1909.  Following Governor Stephen F. Chadwick's example, who assumed the governorship in 1877 under similar circumstances, Benson kept both the Governor's and Secretary of State's offices. Although this is normally forbidden under the Oregon State Constitution. He collected pay for both offices. Governor Benson undertook no major changes in the state government despite holding two of the states most powerful offices. Instead, he called for a special session of the Legislative Assembly to pass a bill which had been overlooked in the last (25th Biennial) Session. This bill funded operation
Jay Bowerman (August 15, 1876 – October 25, 1957) was an American politician, a Republican, who served most notably as the 13th Governor of Oregon. Bowerman was born in Hesper, Iowa, the son of Daniel and Lydia (Battey) Bowerman. His siblings were named Ralph, Martha and Mary. He received his early education in public schools of Hesper, then moved to Salem, Oregon in 1893. He entered Willamette University that same year and graduated with a law degree in 1896 at the age of twenty. He was admitted to the Oregon Bar the following year, practicing law in Salem until 1899. He then moved to Condon, in Gilliam County, Oregon, where he lived for the next twelve years. There he became a law partner of H. H. Henricks. Bowerman's service in the Spanish-American War briefly interrupted his practice of the law.  He married Elizabeth Hoover in 1903 and together they had three children: William, Daniel and Elizabeth. However, the couple divorced and Bowerman married Wayfe Hockett in 1914; this marriage produced two further children, Sally and Jayne.  He was elected to the Oregon State Senate from Gilliam County in 1904 and was reelected four years later. He served as president of that body from 1909 to 1911. When Governor Frank W. Benson was incapacitated by ill health in June 1910, he asked Bowerman. as President of the Senate, to assume gubernatorial responsibilities. On June 16, 1910, at age thirty-three, Bowerman became Acting Governor.  Mindful of bureaucratic economy, Bowerman advocated establishment of a Board of Control to administer the state institutions, which would permit fiscal savings by combined purchasing for state institutions through the office of a single purchasing agent. However, the Board of Control was not established until the administration of his successor. He acted to reduce the risk of loss through bank failure by prohibiting Oregon bankers from the use of speculative stock as assets if they had actively promoted that stock. In 1904
Oswald West (May 20, 1873- August 22, 1960) was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of the state Oregon. West was born in Ontario, Canada but moved to Salem, Oregon with his family at the age of four where he attended school and eventually went into banking. After several years as a banker in Salem and Astoria, Oregon and a six month stint searching for gold in Alaska West gained an appointment to the State Land Commission. He proved effective in his position with the State Land Commission recovering almost 1 million acres of fraudulently held state land. After leaving the Land Commission he earned a term the Oregon Railroad Commission where he again found a great deal of success. In 1910 he gained the Democratic nomination for Governor and went on to defeat his opponent and take the office. While in office West defended what he called the "Oregon System" which included initiative and referendum systems still in use in many western American states today. These systems led to women's suffrage, prohibition and various workers rights laws (Including a 1913 law that established a minimum wage) being put in to action under his lead. All pet issues of Governor West. West's most notable work was in protecting the state's natural resources. It was under his administration the beaches bordering the Pacific Ocean were protected for public use; the office of State Forester and the Bureau of Forestry were established; and the Fish Commission and Game Commission were created. West served only one term, opting not to run for re-election in the 1914 election. He instead moved his family to Portland, Oregon where he practiced law. He died in Portland on August 22 1960. Oswald West State Park on the Oregon coast was named in his honor.
James Withycombe (March 21, 1843 – March 3, 1919) was a British-born American politician, a Republican, and the 15th Governor of Oregon. Early life. Born to Thomas and Mary Ann Withycombe in Devonshire, England, English tenant farmers in 1843. Withycome emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1871, settling on a farm near Hilsboro, Oregon. After turning 17, he spent four years working on his father's farm. In 1873, Withycomb purchased his own 100 acre parcel on the Horace Lindsay Land Claim, later expanding his holdings to 256 acres. Agriculture became Withycomb's passion, becoming a prosperous livestock breeder and establishing a reputation as a successful scientific farmer. Farmer and educator. His success led to his involvement in local farming organizations. He became a charter member of the Farmington Grange, and later became a leader in the state grange movement. From these platforms, Withycomb's efficient, innovative, and profitable farming methods became a model for farmers across the Pacific Northwest. His stature gained him an appointment as State Veterinarian in 1889, where he would diligently work to improve conditions of livestock health around the state. Although mostly self-educated, he was sought after by the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvallis (now Oregon State University) in 1898 to head up the college's experimental farming station. He received his Master's Degree in Agriculture 1891 from OAC. Using this position to advance Oregon agriculture, he would play a major part in introducing alfalfa and clover to Eastern Oregon, laying the groundwork for the region's future agricultural economy. Withycomb also became heavily involved in Oregon's agricultural industry, serving as president of the North Pacific Wool Growers and Northwest Sheep Breeders Associations. His tenureship on the board of the Oregon Academy of Sciences saw the dairy industry's profits rise from $2.5 million to $20 million. Such accomplishments built up respect for Withycombe statewide and gained the state Republican Party's attention. Governorship. Withycomb would enter politics in the 1906 primary, losing
Ben W. Olcott (October 15, 1872 – March 3, 1952) was a Republican Governor of Oregon, USA. Early life. Olcott was born in Keithsburg, Illinois. He was educated at a Keithsburg elementary school and a business school in Dixon, later becoming a clerk in Chicago. In 1891, at age 19, he moved to Salem, Oregon, and became a roommate and good friend of Oswald West. West would become a major influence in the development of Olcott's political career.  Adventurer and banker. For nearly 15 years, Olcott travelled throughout the Pacific Northwest, mostly in order to prospect for gold. Often this interrupted pursuits of other occupations, mostly in the field of banking. His trips would take him to Southern Oregon (1892-93 accompanied by Oswald West), back to Salem to become a bank teller (1893-1895), Northern Washington and British Columbia (1895-1897), and then back to Illinois for a career as a bank cashier. Olcott's sense of adventure prevailed again in 1904, leading him to Alaska. His journey ended notably when he drove a dog sled team to Nome, a trip of over 1,000 miles up the Yukon and Tanna Rivers in the height of winter. Settling in Fairbanks, Olcott found work as a gold dust teller, and later a bank branch manager. He managed to make a sizeable profit from gold prospecting, allowing him to move back to Oregon. Becomes a public figure. Olcott's good friend Oswald West had entered politics, heading the State Land Office. West offered Olcott a position in the Land Office, which he accepted in 1909. He became more interested in the political process, and was appointed by Governor Chamberlain to oversee the state's interest in a failed Portland bank, which held a large amount of state school funds. Although he was a Republican, and West was a Democrat, the two had a strong friendship which transcended politics. Olcott ran West's victorious 1910 gubernatorial campaign, and contributed $1,500 to his friend's effort. He married Lena Olcott (