William Paine Lord

**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 land speculation practices of the time by creating the State Land Board, headed by an official State Land Agent. The present land-use system protecting Oregon's wildlife and fisheries would evolve from this early agency.

Lord also called for a constitutional amendment to the Oregon Constitution allowing the Governor a line item veto. While nothing came of this while he was in office, later governors would would support Lord's proposal. The line item veto was finally approved in 1916.

Lord lost his bid for a second term, after losing in the closely fought 1899 primary election campaign against fellow Republican Theodore Thomas Geer.

## Later life

Shortly after leaving the Governor's Office, Lord was appointed the U.S. Minister (Ambassador) to Argentina by the Mc Kinley Administration. He served in that capacity until 1902, returning back to Oregon.

During his time in Oregon, between 1902 and 1910, Willaim Paine Lord was appointed as Code Comissioner by the Supreme Court of Oregon. He proceeded to examine and annote all existing Oregon Statute Laws, compiling them into the three volumed _Lord's Oregon Laws_, officially the Oregon Statute Code of 1909.

In 1910 Lord retired to San Francisco, where he would die on February 17, 1911.

## Sources

- Oregon State Library
- Oregon State Archive bio
- Klooster, Karl. Round the Roses II: More Past Portland Perspectives, pg. 111, 1992 ISBN 0-9619847-1-6

## Other websites

- Oregon State Archives: Lord Administration -Photo, bio, records, and some public speeches of Governor Lord

## Infobox (_governor)

- **name**: William Paine Lord
- **order**: 9<sup>th</sup>
- **office**: Governor of Oregon
- **term start**: January 14, 1895
- **term end**: January 9, 1899
- **predecessor**: Sylvester Pennoyer
- **successor**: T. T. Geer
- **birth date**: July 1, 1838
- **birth place**: Dover, Delaware
- **death date**: February 17, 1911
- **death place**: San Fransisco, California
- **spouse**: Juliette Montague
- **profession**: Lawyer
- **party**: United States Republican Party, Republican