Oregon Republican League: History 101

Every Wednesday, the Oregon Republican League will post the biographies of important figures, in the League's/State of Oregon's history. Click on the head link above, to visit more of our listings at genealogy.com. Feel free to comment or share stories of your family's Republican affiliation.

Oregon Republican League:

Republican League Register of Oregon, The Register Publishing Company, 1896, page 188-191.

CANDIANI, DR. C. F. [Editor inserted: Dr. C. Fred Candiani], of Cascade Locks, was born in Turin, Italy, August 20, 1847, and came to Oregon in May, 1875, locating in Dayton, in the practice of medicine, subsequently removing to Cascade Locks. He is a prominent Republican and has been frequently a delegate to conventions and league meetings.

CARTER, E. V. [Editor inserted: Ernest V. Carter], of Ashland, was born in Elkader, Iowa, October 13, 1860, and was educated in the high school and the Iowa Agricultural College, at Ames. From 1880 to 1883 he was assistant cashier and cashier of the First National Bank of Elkader. In 1883 he came to Oregon and helped organize the Bank of Ashland, of which he has always been the cashier. He was a delegate to the county and state conventions of 1894 and the league meetings of 1895 and 1896. From 1894 to 1896 he was a member of the state central committee.

CAPLES, JOHN F., of Portland, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, January 12, 1832. He lived to manhood in Seneca County, being educated at the Wesleyan University. He read law at Bellefontaine, in the office of Hon. Benjamin Stanton, and was examined for admission to the bar in 1854 by Judge Thurman. He practiced at Findlay, Ohio, and Warsaw, Indiana. After the war, in which he took an active part in organizing regiments, he came to the Pacific coast in 1865, locating at Vancouver. The next year he removed to Portland. He at once became prominent as a practitioner and an active Republican worker. In 1872 he was elected to the legislature. In 1878 he was elected District Attorney and served six years. In 1884 he was the Republican nominee for congress, but was defeated because of party dissensions. In every general election for thirty years he has been on the stump, and has canvassed every section of the state, no man within its borders being personally better known to the Republicans of Oregon. He has always worked for and voted the straight ticket, and has a contempt for bolters. As a general practitioner, and especially as a criminal lawyer, his reputation extends throughout the entire Northwest, where he counts his friends by the thousands. As a public speaker he is forcible and sympathetic, and always inspires his audience with enthusiasm. As a debater he is skillful and eloquent; as a jury advocate he is convincing and successful; as a man he is respected and is worthy of respect.

CARSON, JOHN C., of Portland, was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1825. In 1834 the family moved to Ashland, Ohio. He learned the carpenter’s trade and attended the Ashland Academy. He then read medicine three years, and in 1850 went to California with Dr. J. W. Kinnaman to establish a hospital. Complications prevented, and they spent the winter in the mines. The next year Mr. Carson came to Portland and began a business career that has lasted more than forty years. Mr. Carson was one of the founders of the Republican party in Oregon, and attended the preliminary conferences before any public movement was made. In 1855-6 he was president of the City Council, and was twice re-elected a member if the Council. In 1866 he was a member of the United States board appointed to report upon the claims of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1870 he was elected a member of the lower house of the legislature, and was twice re-elected,. In 1884 he was elected to the state senate, and in 1887 was President of the body. He was re-elected Senator in 1888.

CAKE, H. M. [Editor inserted: Harry M. Cake], vice-president for Oregon of the National Republican League, is a leading attorney of Portland. He was born at Fostoria, Ohio, April 13, 1857, and graduated from Oberlin College in 1881. He took a course of law in Cleveland and Cincinnati, and was admitted to the bar in 1884, coming to Oregon the same year. By close application to his profession he has earned a high position at the bar. In 1895 Mr. Cake was a delegate to the National League convention at Cleveland, and was chosen vice-president of the League for Oregon, and is a member of the executive committee of the Republican League of Oregon.

CAMERON, THEODERIC, of Jackson County, is one of the oldest Republicans of Southern Oregon, and has upheld the standards of the party against a democratic majority for many years. He is a native of Madison County, New York, and came to Oregon in 1852, and has been engaged in mining and merchandising. He is a familiar figure in county and state conventions, and is a leader of the party. In 1894 he was the nominee for the Senate, and this year is the nominee for County Treasurer.

CALBREATH, DR. JOHN F., of McMinnville, was born in West Virginia in 1854, and crossed the plains to Oregon in 1865. He lived on a farm in Benton County and attended Philomath College, and in 1875 graduated from the medical school of the University of California. He practiced at Lafayette till 1886, when he located in McMinnville. In 1894 he was elected to the state senate. Dr. Calbreath attended the league meetings in 1894 and 1896, and the first district congressional convention of 1896, where he was elected a delegate to the national convention.

CARDWELL, HON. BYRON P., of Portland, was born in Illinois in 1832, and came to Oregon in 1852. He first lived in Corvallis (then Marysville), but for most of the time in Portland. For twenty-one years he was Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue. He was for a number of years a Police Commissioner. At all times he has taken an active part in politics as a member of conventions, committees and league meetings. In 1894 he was elected to the legislature.

CARTER, HON. TOLBERT, was born in Illinois in 1835 and came to Oregon in 1846. he mined in California, engaged in merchandising and then settled on a homestead in Benton County. He was elected to the legislature in 1878 and in 1882, and in 1894 was elected Joint Senator from Benton and Lincoln Counties.

CHURCH, JONAS M., OF La Grande, was born at Catskill, N.Y., October 8, 1833, and went to California in 1852, engaging in butchering, merchandising and mining till 1862, when he came to Oregon and mined in Grant County till 1870. He then engaged in the stock business in Umatilla County. In 1887 he engaged in mercantile business in Island City, and for five years was manager of the Wallowa branch of the Island City Milling & Mercantile Company. He is now vice-president of the Island City National Bank and the Wallowa National Bank. Mr. Church has always been a leader in politics wherever he has lived, has been an active worker and a straight Republican, having never scratched a ticket. He was nominated for County Clerk of Grant County in 1864. He has been a delegate to county and state conventions and league meetings a great many times.

CHARMAN, HON. THOMAS, of Oregon City, was born in the Parish of Walking, County Surrey, England, September 8, 1829, and came to the United States in 1848. In 1849 he went to Indiana and in 1852 came to Oregon, engaging in merchandising in Oregon City, which he has continued ever since. He has been one of the prime movers in all the public enterprises, such as the woolen mills, development of the water power, etc. In 1882 he organized the Bank of Oregon City, and has always been its president. He has been a Republican from the infancy of the party, and attended the first convention in the state. He was elected a delegate to the national convention of 1864, and has frequently been a delegate to local conventions. He has been Mayor of Oregon City several times, and was on the staff of Governor A. C. Gibbs, with rank of major.

CHAUSSE, F. W. [Editor inserted: Francis W. Chausse}, editor of the Oregon Observer, at Grant’s Pass, was born in Glencoe, Minnesota, in 1872. He began editorial work in 1889, and has published and edited the Observer four years. He was a delegate to the Josephine County convention in the 1894 and 1896, and to league meetings. He is an earnest Republican, and his views are ably reflected in the columns of his paper.

CHITWOOD, JAMES T., of Chitwood, Lincoln County, was born near Madison, Indiana, November 21, 1825, and is one of the pioneers of Oregon. He attended the first mass meeting in Oregon City, to organize the Republican party in Clackamas County, and ahs been an active member of conventions and committees.

CHRISMAN, WILLIAM M. C., of McMinnville, was born in Virginia, September 20, 1830, and came to Oregon in 1844, locating near Dayton the next year. He lived on a farm for many years, then six years in Amity, and since then in McMinnville. He was one of the first Republicans of the state, and has been a frequent member of conventions and committees, and was a nominee for the legislature from Yamhill County.

CLOUGH, A. M. [Editor inserted: Alaine M. Clough], of Salem, was born in Johnsbury, Vermont, September 4, 1850, and came to Oregon in 1876, settling in Salem, where he has since been engaged in the cabinet and undertaking business. He has been a delegate to nearly every county convention since 1880, and in 1892 was secretary of the county central committee. He was elected Coroner of Marion County in 1894, and is again the party nominee for the office. He is a member of the Salem Republican Club, and an earnest party worker.

CLIFF, DR. HARRY, R., of St. Helens, was born at Bradford, Yorkshire, England, December 8, 1858. Eleven years ago he came to Oregon and located at St. Helens in the practice of medicine, where he has resided ever since. He has taken an active interest in politics and I the success of the Republican party. He was a delegate to the Columbia County conventions of 1886 and 1894, the state convention of 1894, and the club convention of 1896. He was a member of the state central committee the past two years, and stumped Columbia County in the campaign of 1894.

CLARK, F. G. [Editor inserted: Fred G. Clark], of Corvallis, was born in Cook County, Illinois, April 20, 1849, and came to Oregon in 1877, locating in Corvallis, where he has since resided. He was City Treasurer from 1886 to 1888 and was elected Treasurer in 1890 and 1894.

CLEETON, HON. THOMAS J., of St. Helens, was born in Schuyler County, Missouri, October 7, 1861, and graduated from the State Normal School at Kirksville. He served one term as Superintendent of Schools of Schuyler County, and then taught school four years at Dexter, Kansas. In 1891 he came to Oregon and began teaching at Vernonia, Columbia County, and in 1892 was elected County Superintendent of Schools. In1893 he was admitted to the bar. In 1892 he was elected alternate delegate to the National League, and was a delegate to the State League in 1895 and 1896. Mr. Cleeton was elected to the legislature in 1894, and is now Republican nominee for Attorney of the Fifth Judicial District.

COOPER, W. H. [Editor inserted: William H. Cooper], of Cottage Grove, was born in Washington County, Oregon, May 31, 1854, and has always lived in the state. He attended the Pacific University at Forest Grove, and studied law in Tillamook, being admitted to the bar in 1892. In 1894, after a brief sojourn in Los Angeles, he located at Cottage Grove in the practice of law. He was a delegate to the Tillamook County convention in 1886, and was elected County Judge the same year and served four years. He has always been a hard worker in the party ranks.

CORNELIUS, DR. C. W. [Editor inserted: Dr. Charles W. Cornelius], coroner of Multnomah County, was born in Washington County, Oregon, in 1855. He graduated at the Pacific University and began the study of medicine. In 1880 he opened a drug store in Spokane and in 1881 in Portland. In 1889 he graduated from the medical department of the University of Oregon and began practice in Portland. In 1894 he was elected Coroner, and is again a candidate for the office.