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, pages 228-234.

JOHNSON, A. J. [Editor inserted: Alvin J. Johnson], Sheriff of Lane County, was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, October 15, 1844, and came to Oregon in 1871, locating in Lane County, where he has since pursued farming and merchandising. He has frequently been a delegate to county conventions, beginning in 1874, and was nominated for Representative in 1884. In 1894 he was elected Sheriff, and is again the party nominee for that position.

JOHNS, JAMES M., of Arlington, was born in Dalton, Ohio, in 1834. In 1853 he went to Indiana, to Kansas in 1854, and to Oregon in 1858. He has been an earnest Republican from the foundation of the party, and has never held or sought office. Mr. Johns is editor of the Arlington Record, and in its columns is an earnest advocate of the protection of the fullest use of silver consistent with preservation of the gold standard.

JOHNSON, HON. A. J. [Editor inserted: Archibald J. Johnson], of Scio, was born in Marion County, Oregon, September 18, 1867. His youth was spent in Scio, latterly in a store. He graduated from the Portland Business College, and has since lived in Scio, except for short periods in Seattle and Salem. He is now cashier of the Bank of Scio. He has served several terms in the City Council and one as Mayor. He has been to every county and state convention since 1890, and to the league meetings of 1895 and 1896. In 1894 he was elected to the State Senate.

JOHNS, HON. CHARLES A., of Baker City, was born in Jacksonville County, Missouri, June 25, 1857, and located in Baker City in 1888 in the practice of law. In 1886 he was a delegate to the state convention from Polk County. He was a delegate to the Baker County convention in 1888090-929-94, and chairman of the central committee of Polk County, and in 1883 was appointed County Judge by Governor Moody. In 1892 he was elected Mayor of Baker City, and re-elected in 1893. In 1894 he was the party nominee for Joint Senator from Baker and Malheur Counties.

JOHNSON, B. W. [Editor inserted: Burtis W. Johnson], publisher and editor of the Corvallis Gazette, one of the oldest Republican papers in the state, being established in 1862, was born in Potter County, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1866, and came to Oregon in 1879, locating in Corvallis. Mr. Johnson is an active Republican worker, both in his paper and otherwise. He was a delegate to the league in 1895 and 1896.

JOHNSON, H. A. [Editor inserted: Hiram A. Johnson], Justice of the Peace at Salem, was born in Marion County, Oregon, March 3, 1849, and has lived in the state ever since. He was a delegate to county conventions in Linn County from 1878 to 1890, to the Marion County convention, in 1892 and the state conventions in 1884 and 1892, also to the league in 1896. He served as City Recorder of Scio six years. After his return to Marion County he was elected School Director, and in 1894 was elected Justice of the Peace. He is again the nominee for that position.

JAYNE, A. A. [Editor inserted: Andrew A. Jayne], an attorney of Arlington, was born in Washington, Iowa, January 29, 1861. He lived on a farm till twenty years old, and then studied law in Chicago, and was admitted to the bar in Colorado in 1888, coming to Oregon the following spring and locating in Arlington. He has been a member of every county convention since then, and of the state conventions of 1890, 1892, and 1894. In 1894 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the Seventh District, and has again been nominated for the position.

JUDD, E. T. [Editor inserted: Edwin T. Judd], of Aumsville, was educated at the State Normal University of Illinois, and has been a resident of Marion County ten years. He has continuously taken an active part in politics, been a delegate to conventions and league meetings, and is president of the Aumsville Club.

JOHNSON, HON. W. CAREY [Editor inserted: Willia Carey Johnson], of Oregon City, was born in Old Town, Ross County, Ohio, October 27, 1833, and came to Oregon in 1845. He clerked in Oregon City, was a compositor on the Spectator and Argus, and studied law, being admitted in 1856. In 1857 he ran for the legislature on the first Republican ticket in Clackamas County. He has held offices of City Attorney, Reorder and Treasurer of Oregon City. In 1862 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the Fourth District, and to the State Senate in 1866. He was chosen a member of the state central committee in 1858, 1860, 1866, 1876, and member of the state convention almost continuously for twenty years and chairman in 1876.

KAPUS, GENERAL WILLIAM, of Portland, late secretary of the state central committee, was born in Brunswick, Germany, and came to the United States in 1850. In 1853 he came to Oregon. He began reading law, but abandoned it for mercantile pursuits. In 1850 he was elected City Assessor of Portland. He was then appointed Acting Indian Agent at Yakima. In 1861 he was elected Clerk of the House of Representatives of Washington Territory, and then become the Governor’s private secretary. In 1862 he was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company A, First Washington Infantry. He was appointed Collector of Customs for Alaska. Upon his return to Portland he was elected secretary of the Oregon Furniture Manufacturing Company, and held the position eighteen years. In May, 1883, Governor Moody appointed him Brigadier General of Oregon Militia. He was elected Presidential Elector in 1888. In 1892 he was appointed United States Consul at Sydney, New South Wales, but the following year retired for a Democratic successor. He has been Commander of the Oregon Commander of the Loyal Legion, and Commander of Garfield Port, G. A. R. He has been a member of county, state and league conventions for years, and from 1894 to 1896 was secretary to the state central committee.

KERN, WILLIAM C., of Pendleton, was born in Monroe County, Indiana, June 30, 1826. He came to Oregon in 1878, and is engaged in farming at Helix. He was committeeman for Helix Precinct in 1884 and 1886, and in 1894 was elected County Treasurer. He is again the Republican nominee for that position.

KEENE, DR. JAMES M., of Salem, was born in Marion County, Oregon, October 26, 1864, and was educated at the Tualatin Academy. In 1888 he graduated from the Dental College at Philadelphia . He located in practice in Salem, where he has ever since been an earnest worker for the Republican party, and a member of conventions and league meetings. He was one of the party that illuminated the summit of Mount Hood with red fire on the night of July 4, 1887.

KELLY, HON. PENUMBRA, late Sheriff of Multnomah County, was born in Kentucky in 1845, and came to Oregon at the age of three years, settling on a donation claim near East Portland. In 1874 Mr. Kelly was elected to the lower house of the legislature, because County Commissioner in 1876, and was re-elected to the legislature in 1878, and twice since. In 1888 he was elected Sheriff of Multnomah County, and was re-elected in 1890 and 1892.

KELSAY, A. M. [Editor inserted: Alexander M. Kelsay], of The Dalles, was born in Haynesville, Missouri, July 20, 1857, and came to Oregon in November, 1879, engaging in farming and stock raising in Wasco County. Mr. Kelsay was nominated for County Clerk in 1894, and elected by 350 majority, and is again the party nominee. He was attended conventions and club meetings frequently.

KELSAY, HON. JOHN, of Corvallis, has been one of the Republican leaders of the state from the infancy of the party. He was born in Wayne County, Kentucky, October 23, 1819, and came to Oregon in 1853, locating at Corvallis. He was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Missouri, July 9, 1845, and has been a prominent member of the bar of Oregon for forty-three years. He has been a delegate to the Republican state convention frequently. He was nominated and elected a Judge of the Superior Court in 1868, and again nominated in 1870 and 1872. Colonel Kelsay commanded a regiment of Oregon volunteers in the Rogue river Indian war of 1855-1856. He is now Mayor of the City Corvallis. For thirty-five years he has been an active worker in the Republican party.

KENWORTHY, HON. JOHN, of Portland, was born near Leeds, England, October 24, 1819, and came to America when seven years of age. In 1852 he went to California and was employed in the Insane Asylum at Stockton. In 1855 he came to Portland, and for twenty years was steward and general manager of the Hawthorne asylum. When the insane were removed to the state institution he occupied the same position there until it was in good working condition. In 1884 he was elected to the legislature. For two years he was County Commissioner and School Trustee for four years. He was a member of the East Portland City Council four years and three years its president. He is Trustee of the Willamette University, and has been Treasurer of the Odd Fellows’ Orphans’ Home. Mr. Kenworthy has been nominated for County Commissioner by one wing of the Republican Party.

KEYT, D. L. [Editor inserted: David Lawrence Keyt], of Perrydale, was born in Perrydale, Polk County, Oregon, March 2, 1862. He has lived there continuously, engaging in farming, except the last five years, being now in the general merchandise business. He has been a frequent delegate to conventions since 1880. And was a delegate to the league in 1895 and 1896. In 1894 he was elected to the Lower House of the legislature from Polk County.

KILBOURN, M. H. [Editor inserted: Martin H. Kilbourn], was born in Erie County, New York, February 22, 1845. At the age of sixteen he enlisted in the Fourteenth United States Infantry, and lost his right leg at Sucker’s Gap, just after the battle of Antietam, and was thereafter in the quartermaster’s department till the close of the war. For six he was in business in Franklin, Pennsylvania, then for seven years in Sterling, Kansas. In 1886 he went into business in San Francisco and in 1888 in Portland, and in 1891 in Barlow. Since 1893 he has been engaged in orcharding. Mr. Kilbourn has been president and secretary of the Barlow Republican Club.

KILLINGSWORTH, WILLIAM M., of Portland, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, September 16, 1850, and was brought to Oregon when three years of age. He was educated in Eugene and engaged in business with his father there until 1882, when he moved to Portland and engaged in the real estate business. He has been a Republican all his life, and a frequent member of conventions and club meetings. In 1891 he was appointed a member of the Port of Portland Commission. He is now nominated for the State Senate.

KINCAID, HON. HARRISON R., Secretary of State and editor of the Oregon State Journal, was born near Indianapolis, Indiana, January 3, 1836. He lived and worked on a farm, and in 1853 came to Oregon, settling near Eugene, where he has ever since resided. He worked on the farm and in the mines and ranches Southern Oregon, Northern California, and Central California, and attended Columbia College, until he began to learn the printer’s trade in the office of the People’s Press, at Eugene, in 1860. He subsequently worked as printer and editor on the State Republican and Union Crusader, of Eugene, and March 12, 1864, founded the Oregon State Journal, which he has edited continuously for thirty-two years. During that period he was has discussed all the political issues of the times. He served as Clerk in the United States Senate eleven years, ending in 1879, editing his paper by mail and sending Washington correspondence to other papers. He was a delegate to the Republican national conventions. In 1870 he was honored with the nomination for Senate Printer, but the whole state ticket was defeated. In 1894 Mr. Kincaid was nominated and elected Secretary of State.

KIRK, HON. T. J. [Editor inserted: Thomas Jefferson Kirk], of Athena, was born in Missouri in 1839, and came to Oregon in 1846. He lived in Linn County till 1871, when he embarked in farming and stock raising in Umatilla County. He is an earnest Republican, and was elected to legislature in 1888. In 1891 he was elected Mayor of Athena, and held the office two terms.

KLINE, S. L. [Editor inserted: Simon L. Kline], of Corvallis, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, December 18, 1856, and came to Oregon in 1864, locating in Corvallis, where he has lived ever since. He is engaged in general merchandising. He has been a delegate to county conventions since 1882, and to the state conventions of 1882 and 1884, and has always been an earnest worker for Republican success.

KNIGHT, GEORGE, of Canby, was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, June 17, 1841. In 1863 he went to Washington, and in 1866 settled on a farm in Marion County, subsequently embarking in general merchandising at Canby. Mr. Knight is secretary of the Canby club, and has several times been a delegate to conventions. From 1884 to 1893 he was Postmaster and express agent, and is now City Treasurer. He was the nominee for County Treasurer in 1892, and for nomination to the legislature in 1894 and for Recorder in 1896. He has served as School Director and Road Supervisor.

KNIGHT, J. I. [Editor inserted: John I. Knight], of Hillsboro, was born near Denver, Colorado, May 19, 1863, and came to Oregon in 1880. He lived ten years in McMinnville and then moved to Hillsboro. He was elected Justice of the Peace of the County Republican Club, and was a delegate to the state convention in 1894 and the league meetings in 1894, 1895, and 1896.

KNIGHT, JOHN, Sheriff of Marion County, was born in Shelby County, Missouri, January 25, 1849. In 1863 he crossed the plains and located at Willapa, Washington. Three years later he came to Oregon and settled on a farm bear Butteville He subsequently worked in Portland as a blacksmith, and for twenty years followed that occupation in Salem. He was elected to the Salem City Council in 1882. Mr. Knight has been a frequent member of conventions, and attended the league meetings of 1895 and 1896. In 1892 he was elected Sheriff of Marion County, and again in 1894.

KUNEY, C. C. [Editor inserted: Casius Clay Kuney], Assessor of Wasco County, was born at Lockport, Mew York, November 10, 1843. From April 1861, to July 1866, he served in the First Wisconsin Volunteers. He first came to Oregon in 1870, and made repeated trips. He subsequently lived for a time in Salem and Portland, and then came to Wasco County, being both a traveling man and a farmer. Mr. Kuney was a delegate to the county convention in 1894 and the league meetings in 1895 and 1896. In 1894 he was elected assessor.

LA FORCE, WILLIAM M,. an attorney of Astoria, was born in Carthage, Missouri, September 11, 1853. Went to Greene County, Illinois, in 1861, but returned to Carthage in 1866. In 1873 he began teaching school and entered the University of Missouri in 1874, graduating in 1880. Was principal of the high school at Carrollton, Illinois, in 1880, and at Carthage, Missouri, from 1881 to 1883, when he was admitted to the bar, and began practicing at Carthage. In 1884 he was secretary of the congressional central committee, and in 1885 was elected secretary of the congressional central committee, and in 1885 was elected City Attorney. He soon removed to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he took an active part in politics as a Republican till 1892, where he came to Oregon and began practicing in Astoria.

LAMBERT, A. W. [Editor inserted: Albert W. Lambert], Treasurer of Multnomah County, was born in Powell’s Valley, near Portland, in 1856. He has pursued a successful business career in Portland as a real estate and insurance agent and banker. In 1890-1-2 he was School Clerk of East Portland. In 1894 he was elected Treasurer.

LANGELL, HON. N. [Editor inserted: Nathaniel Langell], a merchant of Jacksonville, was born near Pictou, Nova Scotia, January 6, 1831, and came to Oregon in 1854, locating at Jacksonville. He is also interested in stock raising in Klamath County. HE is a wheel horse of the party, having been in every county convention since 1864 and state convention from 1864 to 1890. He served as Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue during the administrations of Presidents Arthur and Harrison, and has been the party nominee for County Judge and County Treasurer. He was elected to the legislature in 1872, and is again nominated for that position.

LANGILLE, W. A. [Editor inserted: William A. Langille], of Hood River, was born in Tusket, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, August 18, 1868, and came to Oregon in 1883, settling at Hood River. Mr. Langille, is best known as one of the managers of Cloud Cap Inn, and for his number ascents of Mount Hood and other snow peaks. He was one of the founders and is an officer of the Mazamas. He has always been a Republican, and was a delegate to the league convention in 1896.

LAUGHLIN, HON. LEE, of the North Yamhill, was born in Missouri in 1833, and came to Oregon in 1847. He was in the Yakima war of 1855-56. In 1866 he engaged in business in North Yamhill. He was frequently a member of county and state conventions. He was elected Assessor in 1860, to the legislature in 1870, again in 1874, and to the State Senate in 1884.

LAYMAN, HON. SAMUEL, of Woodburn, was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, February 13, 1833, and came to Oregon in 1878, locating on a farm. He has been a frequent member of conventions and president of the McKinley Club. In 1887, 1889, and 1891 he was elected to the legislature.

LEASURE, HON. JOHN C., formerly of Pendleton, but now of Portland, is a prominent figure in Republican politics in Oregon. He was born in Marion County, Oregon, June 9, 1853, and worked for his education, and is a self-made man in every particular. He taught school and did janitor work until he was able to graduate from the Philomath College in 1877. He became principal of the Blue Mountain University, a Lag Grande, and studied law and was admitted to the bar, and located in Pendleton in the practice of his profession in 1880. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the Fifth Judicial District in 1882. In 1884 he was a Presidential Elector, and made a vigorous canvass of the state, receiving the largest vote of any person on the ticket. In 1889 he represented the league of this state at the National League convention at Baltimore, and was elected a delegate to the league again in 1894. He was for several years elected vice-president of the National League. In 1894 he was elected vice-president of the State League. In 1885, he was elected Mayor of Pendleton, and again in 1891. In 1895 he moved to Portland and has established here and extensive law practice. As a political speaker he takes high rank, and has done excellent service in many campaigns. His name has been prominently mentioned for several years in connection with the nomination for congress in the second district, due to the interest taken in him by the many friends he has made in all sections of the state.

LEE, HERMAN A., of Canby, is one of the pioneers of the state. He was born in Lynn, Jefferson County, New York, in 1833. In 1846 the family moved to Iowa and in 1847 crossed the plains to Oregon. He has resided most of the time at Canby, and is engaged in farming. Mr. Lee has voted the Republican ticket since 1860, but has no sympathy with political rings. He has been a Justice of the Peace, and has been prominent in party work in his locality, attending primaries and county conventions regularly. He was the first Mayor of Canby, and in the campaign of 1894 was president of the Republican Club of that city.

LEE, HON. J. D. [Editor inserted: Joseph Daniel Lee], of Portland, was born in Polk County, Oregon, July 27, 1848, and was educated at La Creole Academy. He was engaged in merchandising in Dallas until a few years ago. He was been a member of Polk and Marion County conventions, state conventions, and county and state committees. In 1878 he was elected to the legislature from Polk County. In 1880 he was elected Senator from Polk, and in 1884 Joint Senator from Polk and Benton.

LEE, DR. J. B., deceased, was born near Hillsboro, Ohio, June 12, 1836, and began the practice of medicine in 1861. He served through the war as a private, and then surgeon. In 1865 he located in practice at Corvallis, Oregon. In 1874 he was elected to the State Senate, and sat during two sessions. He was also Mayor of Corvallis and County Physician. He was several times a delegate to the state convention.

LEEDS, HON. W. H., State Printer of Oregon, was born in New Jersey about forty years ago. In 1877 he engaged in the newspaper and printing business, and in 1878 founded the Tidings at Ashland, Oregon, which is today one of the leading papers of Southern Oregon and the foremost advocate of Republican principles. Though a constant party worker, he never accepted office until he was nominated for State Printer in 1894.