A Prayer for our Soldiers

Thank you, to Denise Graham, for passing this along:

Prayer

"Lord, please hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen."

Prayer Request: When you see this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world... then pass it forward.

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 276-280.

VINSON, JOHN S., of Pendleton, was born in Des Moins, Iowa, December 25, 1848, and came to Oregon in 1852. He lived in Clackamas County till 1864, and moved to Umatilla County in 1865. Mr. Vinson has valiantly fought his party’s battles in a Democratic county until it has been redeemed. He was the party nominee for the legislature in 1882 and 1892, and has been a delegate to conventions and the state convention of 1892. He was unanimously elected doorkeeper of the house of representatives of the legislature at the session of 1893.

WAGNER, F. D. [Editor inserted: Fred Day Wagner], editor of the Ashland Tidings, was born in Jackson County, Oregon, October 9, 1868. He was educated at the Ashland Academy and the University of Oregon. His father, Jacob Wagner, was a pioneer of Jackson County, and represented it in the legislature from 1862 to 1866. For sixteen years Mr. Wagner was general assistant to Hon. W. H. Leeds, not State Printer, in the Tidings office, and in January, 1895, became a partner and editor and manager of the paper.

WARREN, HON. HENRY, deceased, was born in Nova Scotia in 1817, and came to Oregon in 1847, settling in Yamhill County. He was one of the early Republicans of the state. In 1857 he was elected Sheriff of Yamhill County, and held the office seven years. He has also served in both houses of the state legislature, as Recorder and Mayor of McMinnville, and for ten years as Receiver of the United States Land Office at Oregon City. In 1875, at a special election, he was the unsuccessful candidate of the Republicans for congress.

WASHBURNE, HON. C. W. [Editor inserted: Charles W. Washburne], of Junction City, was born in Galia County, Ohio, September 13, 1824. He went to California in 1849 and came to Oregon in 1853, locating on a farm near Junction City. He is now engaged in the milling business at Springfield, and is largely interested in the Farmers’ & Merchants’ Bank, of Junction City. He was a delegate to county conventions from 1870 to 1892, to the state convention from 1872 to 1888, and the league in 1896. In 1872 he was elected to the legislature, and was nominated subsequently for the same position.

WATERS, HON. ABNER W., was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1833, and lived in Indiana and Iowa before coming to Oregon. He settled at Harrisburg as a merchant. He served three years during the war as captain of Company F, First of Oregon Cavalry. He was in the cattle business in Union County several years, managed four years, and in 1880 was elected Senator from Multnomah County.

WATSON, HON. JAMES F., an attorney of Portland, was born in Dubuque, Iowa, March 15, 1840. He came to Oregon with his father, James Watson, in 1853. James Watson, the elder, was one of the organizers of the Republican party in Oregon, and was elected a member of the legislature from Douglas County in 1862, and to the senate in 1864. He died in 1874. James F. Watson was admitted to the bar in 1863, and began practice in Roseburg. In 1864 he was elected District Attorney. In 1866 he was appointed Register of the Land Office, but did not serve. In 1868 he was again elected District Attorney, and in 1872 a member of the state senate. In 1876 he was elected to the supreme bench. Two years later a change in the judicial system was made and he was appointed to the circuit bench, and in 1880 was elected for six years. In 1882 he resigned to accept the appointment of the United States Judge, in which capacity he served four years. He has since been a practicing attorney in Portland.

WATSON, HON. E. B. [Editor inserted: Edward B. Watson], an attorney of Portland, was born at Garnavillo, Iowa, October 7, 1844, and at the age of nine came to Oregon, locating in Douglas County. He attended the Umpqua Academy, and in 1866 graduated from the Pacific University. In 1868 he was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Jacksonville. In 1872 he was elected County Judge, serving four years. In 1878 he was elected County Clerk. In 1880 he was elected to the supreme bench and became Chief Justice in 1882. Since retiring he has practiced law in Portland, as a member of the firm of Watson, Hume & Watson, now Watson, Beekman & Watson.

WATTS, Dr. J. W. [Editor inserted: Dr. John W. Watts], of Lafayette, has been one of the Republican wheel horses for many years. He was born in Pike County, Missouri, November 6, 1830, and came to Oregon in 1852. He represented Columbia County in the state constitution in 1857. He moved to Lafayette in 1863. In 1876 he was one of the electors for Hayes and Wheeler, as related elsewhere in this volume. In 1879 he was appointed Receiver of the United States Land Office at Oregon City, and in 1886 was elected State Senator from Yamhill County. In 1888, by invitation of the national committee, he stumped the state of New York for Harrison. In January, 1892, he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office at Lakeview. He is now Mayor of the City of Lafayette, having been elected in 1895.

WATSON, C. B. [Editor inserted: Chandler B. Watson], of Ashland, was born at the town of Time, Illinois, November 25, 1849. He was raised on a farm, with only the benefits of a county district school for a few months in the year. At an early age he had the responsibility of a large family, while his father was at the front fighting for the Union. In 1871 he came to Oregon, where he began to study law, and was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court in 1877. Mr. Watson was one of the Garfield electors in 1880, and carried the vote of Oregon to Washington. For many years he was one of the Republican stumpers of the state. In January, 1882, he became Collector of Customs for the district of Southern Oregon, which office he held until the Cleveland administration. He then resigned and removed to Astoria, where he served as Deputy District Attorney for three years, and then located in Ashland. Mr. Watson is one of the leading lawyers of Southern Oregon. He is a graceful and versatile writer, and has been quite prominent in journalistic work at different times within the last twenty years, his contributions on political topics, mountain outlining and geological studies being highly prized by newspapers and periodicals of first rant. He is a ready and fluent speaker, and his services in this line are in frequent demand in social meetings, political conventions, and by literary and educational institutions.

WEED, HON. JUDSON, of St. Helens, was born in Jackson County, Ohio, April 14, 1847. In 1875 he came to Oregon, spending one year in Portland, and then locating in Columbia County, pursuing teaching and farming. In 1878 he was elected County Superintendent of schools. In 1886 he was elected Assessor to fill vacancy in 1893 and was elected County Clerk in 1894. Mr. Weed is again the Republican nominee for County Clerk.

WELCH, HON. J. W. [Editor inserted: James William Welch], of Astoria, was born in Bloomington (now Muscatine), Iowa, July 7, 1842, and came to Oregon two years later with his father, James Welch, who, in 1846, was the first white man with a family to locate on the site of Astoria. James W. went to the Idaho mines in 1862, but in 1864 returned to Astoria and engaged in packing salmon. In 1871 he went to Umatilla and engaged in stock business, but the next year established a truck and ray business in Astoria. In 1875 he became Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue at Walla Walla. In 1877 he returned to Astoria and built a system of water works for the city, remaining manager of the system till sold to the city in 1892. Mr. Welch has served as City Marshal, School Director and member of the Council. In 1890 he was elected to the legislature.

WELLS, CAPTAIN HARRY L., of Portland, Secretary of the Republican League of Oregon, was born in Geneva, Illinois, March 28, 1854. He early engaged in newspaper work and attended the Chicago writing in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington for three years, becoming editor of the West Shore, an illustrated journal, in Portland, in March 1883. In 1891 he became an editorial writer of the staff of the Oregonian for three years, and has since been engaged in general newspaper work. He is the author of a history of Oregon, published by Walling & Lang as a “History of the Willamette Valley,” and republished as the “Popular History of Oregon.” He served four years in the First Regiment, Illinois National Guard, six months in the California National Guard, and eight years in Company K, First Regiment, Oregon National Guard, seven of them as an officer and four as captain of the company, and was a delegate from Oregon to the National Guard Convention in Chicago in 1892. His first Republican service was in 1868, when he commanded a uniformed company of boy “Tanners” in the first Grant campaign. In 1891-2 he was Assistant Secretary and Inspector of the State Board of Charities and Corrections. He was Secretary of the Multorpor Club in 1892, and was its military instructor and captain of a company. In 1893 he was elected its Commander, and was re-elected in 1894 and 1895. In 1892 he was Secretary of the Portland City Convention. In January, 1894, he was elected Secretary of the State League of Clubs to fill [a] vacancy, and was re-elected for two years the following month. Chiefly through his labors the league was increased from thirty-nine Clubs to more than 200. He was again elected for two years in February, 1896. In 1894-6 he was Assistant Secretary of the state central committee. He is now Commander of the Oregon division, Sons of Veterans.

WELLS, WILLIAM L., of Dallas, was born in Marion County, Oregon, January 6, 1859. He engaged in farming and hop growing near Buena Vista, and in 1886 was elected Assessor of Polk County. In 1890 he was elected Sheriff, and was re-elected in 1892. He is now the Republican nominee for County Judge.

WHITE, E. L. E., editor and publisher of the Portland Chronicle, was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, November 25, 1854. He lived there and in Randolph, Massachusetts; Elmira, New York, and Norwich, Connecticut, till 1870, when he came to the Pacific coast and entered a printing office at Olympia to learn a trade. He has ever since been engaged in printing and publishing. In 1883 he founded the Forest Grove Times. In 1887, he bought the Mcminnville Reporter, and published it daily and weekly. In 1890 he purchased the Portland Chronicle, formerly the East Portland Vindicator, and has built it up to its present high position. His newspaper work is vigorous and effective, and he is a hard worker for Republican success.

WHITE, MARTIN, of Quincy, was born in Lafayette, Wisconsin, August 15, 1855, and came to Oregon in 1881, locating in Columbia County on a farm. In 1894 he was elected County Assessor, and has again been nominated for the office.

WHITNEY, J. R. [Editor inserted: Joseph R. Whitney, born May 1865, as per 1900 census], editor of the Albany Herald and Herald-Disseminator, was born in Marion County, Oregon, May 1, 1860, and was reared in Eugene, graduating from the State University in 1884. He united with S. S. Train in purchasing the Albany Herald the same year, and began publishing a daily in 1885.

WILLIAMS, HON. GEORGE H., of Portland, and ex- Attorney General of the United States, was born in New Lebanon, New York, March 26, 1823. He was educated at the Pompey Academy and studied law with Hon. Daniel Gott. He was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one. In 1844 he removed to Iowa territory and became at once prominent in politics. In 1847 he was elected Judge of the first judicial district, and in 1852 was a Presidential Elector. In 1853 he was appointed Supreme Judge of Oregon, and was reappointed in 1857. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1857. He became an influential member of the Union party during the war and has remained an earnest Republican ever since. In 1864 he was elected to the United States Senate. He took high rank among the great men of the nation during that period of reconstruction, and his ability as a lawyer and his high character were recognized in 1871 by his appointment as one of the committee to frame a treaty between England and the United States for settlement of the Alabama claims. It was largely through his counsel that the United States succeeded in establishing its claim to the San Juan islands. In 1871 President Grant called him into the cabinet as Attorney-General. In 1874 General Grant nominated him for Chief Justice of the United States, to succeed Salmon P. Chase, but his confirmation was bitterly opposed by those who were offended by the great work he had done for the cause of the Union, and he requested the President to withdraw his name. He then returned to Portland and began the practice of law, which he still continues. He has been continuously in the counsels of his party, without being at anytime identified with ring or machine politics, and so holds the confidence of the people, that during the recent bitter contest in the Republican ranks in Multnomah County he was appealed to as an arbiter by both sides, and was made the unanimous choice for Chairman of the state convention which was called upon to decide between the contesting delegations, and this convention adopted his advice to seat one half of each delegation.

WILLIAMS, JOHN H., of Eugene, was born in Porter County, Indiana, February 14, 1861, and came to Oregon in 1886. He taught school two years in Halsey and then came to Eugene as principal of the public school three years, when he was admitted to the bar and has since practiced law, and is now Deputy District Attorney. He was a delegate to the last three county conventions and the last league meeting, and in 1894 stumped the county in debate with the Populists.

WILLIAMS, HON. RICHARD, a prominent attorney of Portland and ex member of congress, was born in Ohio, November 15, 1836, and came to Oregon in 1851. He lived at Salem and attended the Willamette University till 1856, when he began reading law in Corvallis. After being admitted to the bar, he began practice in Salem in 1862, where he was a partner of Hon. Rufus Mallory, and Clerk of the Supreme Court. In 1871 he formed a partnership with Hon. W. Lair Hill and Hon. W. W. Thayer, and moved to Portland, where he has since continued practice. In 1874 he was nominated for congress, but a split in the party defeated the ticket. He was renominated in 1876 and elected. Since his term in congress he has occupied a leading position at the bar. He has taken much interest in educational matters and is a member of the Portland School Board.

WILLS, WILLIAM C., of Hay Creek, in engaged in stock raising and farming on Willow Creek, Crook County. He was born in South Bend, Indiana, in 1838, and came to Oregon in 1858. He worked in the mines till 1866, and then engaged in the sash, door and furniture business till he located in Crook County. He cast his first vote in 1859 for David Logan for congress, and in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln for President. He was a delegate to the last meeting of the League, and is President of the Prineville Club and member of the State Board of Equalization for the seventh district.

Blacks might be surprised to compare Republican history with the Democrats’

http://nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200502180737.asp

Delroy Murdock, National Review Online Contributing Editor

February 18, 2005, 7:37 a.m.
Grand Old Party
Blacks might be surprised to compare Republican history with the Democrats’.

Today marks the 90th anniversary of a very special White House ceremony. President Woodrow Wilson hosted his Cabinet and the entire U.S. Supreme Court for a screening of D. W. Griffith's racist masterpiece, Birth of a Nation. The executive mansion's first film presentation depicted, according to Griffith, the Ku Klux Klan's heroic, post-Civil War struggle against the menace of emancipated blacks, portrayed by white actors in black face. As black civil-rights leader W.E.B. DuBois explained: In Griffith's 1915 motion picture, "The freed man was represented either as an ignorant fool, a vicious rapist, a venal or unscrupulous politician, or a faithful idiot."


Thumbs up, Wilson exclaimed. The film "is like writing history with lightning," he remarked, adding, "it is all so terribly true."
This vignette — recently recounted in Ken Burns's PBS documentary, Unforgivable Blackness — was neither the first nor last time a prominent Democrat plunged a hot knife in black America's collective back. Each February, Black History Month recalls Democrat Harry Truman's 1948 desegregation of the armed forces and Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson's signature on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the greatest black legislative victory since Republican Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in 1863. This annual commemoration, however, largely overlooks the many milestones Republicans and blacks have achieved together by overcoming reactionary Democrats.

The House Policy Committee's 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar offers 365 examples of GOP support for women, blacks, and other minorities, often over Democratic objections. Among its highlights:

"To stop the Democrats' pro-slavery agenda, anti-slavery activists founded the Republican party, starting with a few dozen men and women in Ripon, Wisconsin on March 20, 1854," the calendar notes. "Democratic opposition to Republican efforts to protect the civil rights of all Americans lasted not only throughout Reconstruction, but well into the 20th century. In the south, those Democrats who most bitterly opposed equality for blacks founded the Ku Klux Klan, which operated as the party's terrorist wing."

Contemporary partisan hyperbole? Consider this 1866 comment from Governor Oliver Morton (R., Ind.), who is immortalized in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall: "Every one who shoots down Negroes in the streets, burns Negro school-houses and meeting-houses, and murders women and children by the light of their own flaming dwellings, calls himself a Democrat," Morton said. "Every New York rioter in 1863 who burned up little children in colored asylums, who robbed, ravished, and murdered indiscriminately in the midst of a blazing city for three days and nights, calls himself a Democrat."

White supremacists worked club in hand with Democrats for decades:

May 22, 1856: Two years after the Grand Old party's birth, U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R., Mass.) rose to decry pro-slavery Democrats. Congressman Preston Brooks (D., S.C.) responded by grabbing a stick and beating Sumner unconscious in the Senate chamber. Disabled, Sumner could not resume his duties for three years.

July 30, 1866: New Orleans's Democratic government ordered police to raid an integrated GOP meeting, killing 40 people and injuring 150.

September 28, 1868: Democrats in Opelousas, Louisiana killed nearly 300 blacks who tried to foil an assault on a Republican newspaper editor.

October 7, 1868: Republicans criticized Democrats' national slogan: "This is a white man's country: Let white men rule."

April 20, 1871: The GOP Congress adopted the Ku Klux Klan Act, banning the pro-Democrat domestic terrorist group.

October 18, 1871: GOP President Ulysses S. Grant dispatched federal troops to quell Klan violence in South Carolina.

September 14, 1874: Racist white Democrats stormed Louisiana's statehouse to oust GOP Governor William Kellogg's racially integrated administration; 27 are killed.

August 17, 1937: Republicans opposed Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Supreme Court nominee, U.S. Senator Hugo Black (D., Al.), a former Klansman who defended Klansmen against race-murder charges.

February 2005: The Democrats' Klan-coddling today is embodied by KKK alumnus Robert Byrd, West Virginia's logorrheic U.S. senator and, having served since January 3, 1959, that body's dean. Thirteen years earlier, Byrd wrote this to the KKK's Imperial Wizard: "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." Byrd led Senate Democrats as late as December 1988. On March 4, 2001, Byrd told Fox News's Tony Snow: "There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time; I'm going to use that word." National Democrats never have arranged a primary challenge against or otherwise pressed this one-time cross-burner to get lost.

Contrast the KKKozy Democrats with the GOP. When former Klansman David Duke ran for Louisiana governor in 1991 as a Republican, national GOP officials scorned him. Local Republicans endorsed incumbent Democrat Edwin Edwards, despite his ethical baggage. As one Republican-created bumper sticker pleaded: "Vote for the crook: It's important!"

Republicans also have supported legislation favorable to blacks, often against intense Democratic headwinds:

In 1865, Congressional Republicans unanimously backed the 13th Amendment, which made slavery unconstitutional. Among Democrats, 63 percent of senators and 78 percent of House members voted: "No."

In 1866, 94 percent of GOP senators and 96 percent of GOP House members approved the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing all Americans equal protection of the law. Every congressional Democrat voted: "No."

February 28, 1871: The GOP Congress passed the Enforcement Act, giving black voters federal protection.

February 8, 1894: Democratic President Grover Cleveland and a Democratic Congress repealed the GOP's Enforcement Act, denying black voters federal protection.

January 26, 1922: The U.S. House adopted Rep. Leonidas Dyer's (R., Mo.) bill making lynching a federal crime. Filibustering Senate Democrats killed the measure.

May 17, 1954: As chief justice, former three-term governor Earl Warren (R., Calif.) led the U.S. Supreme Court's desegregation of government schools via the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. GOP President Dwight Eisenhower's Justice Department argued for Topeka, Kansas's black school children. Democrat John W. Davis, who lost a presidential bid to incumbent Republican Calvin Coolidge in 1924, defended "separate but equal" classrooms.

September 24, 1957: Eisenhower deployed the 82nd Airborne Division to desegregate Little Rock's government schools over the strenuous resistance of Governor Orval Faubus (D., Ark.).

May 6, 1960: Eisenhower signs the GOP's 1960 Civil Rights Act after it survived a five-day, five-hour filibuster by 18 Senate Democrats.

July 2, 1964: Democratic President Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act after former Klansman Robert Byrd's 14-hour filibuster and the votes of 22 other Senate Democrats (including Tennessee's Al Gore, Sr.) failed to scuttle the measure. Illinois Republican Everett Dirksen rallied 26 GOP senators and 44 Democrats to invoke cloture and allow the bill's passage. According to John Fonte in the January 9, 2003, National Review, 82 percent of Republicans so voted, versus only 66 percent of Democrats.

True, Senator Barry Goldwater (R., Ariz.) opposed this bill the very year he became the GOP's presidential standard-bearer. However, Goldwater supported the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts and called for integrating Arizona's National Guard two years before Truman desegregated the military. Goldwater feared the 1964 Act would limit freedom of association in the private sector, a controversial but principled libertarian objection rooted in the First Amendment rather than racial hatred.

June 29, 1982: President Ronald Reagan signed a 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Republican party also is the home of numerous "firsts." Among them:

Until 1935, every black federal legislator was Republican. America's first black U.S. Representative, South Carolina's Joseph Rainey, and our first black senator, Mississippi's Hiram Revels, both reached Capitol Hill in 1870. On December 9, 1872, Louisiana Republican Pinckney Benton Stewart "P.B.S." Pinchback became America's first black governor.

August 8, 1878: GOP supply-siders may hate to admit it, but America's first black Collector of Internal Revenue was former U.S. Rep. James Rapier (R., Ala.).

October 16, 1901: GOP President Theodore Roosevelt invited to the White House as its first black dinner guest Republican educator Booker T. Washington. The pro-Democrat Richmond Times newspaper warned that consequently, "White women may receive attentions from Negro men." As Toni Marshall wrote in the November 9, 1995, Washington Times, when Roosevelt sought reelection in 1904, Democrats produced a button that showed their presidential nominee, Alton Parker, beside a white couple while Roosevelt posed with a white bride and black groom. The button read: "The Choice Is Yours."

GOP presidents Gerald Ford in 1975 and Ronald Reagan in 1982 promoted Daniel James and Roscoe Robinson to become, respectively, the Air Force's and Army's first black four-star generals.

November 2, 1983: President Reagan established Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday, the first such honor for a black American.

President Reagan named Colin Powell America's first black national-security adviser while GOP President George W. Bush appointed him our first black secretary of state.

President G.W. Bush named Condoleezza Rice America's first black female NSC chief, then our second (consecutive) black secretary of State. Just last month, one-time Klansman Robert Byrd and other Senate Democrats stalled Rice's confirmation for a week. Amid unanimous GOP support, 12 Democrats and Vermont Independent James Jeffords opposed Rice — the most "No" votes for a State designee since 14 senators frowned on Henry Clay in 1825.

"The first Republican I knew was my father, and he is still the Republican I most admire," Rice has said. "He joined our party because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did. My father has never forgotten that day, and neither have I."

"We started our party with the express intent of protecting the American people from the Democrats' pro-slavery policies that expressly made people inferior to the state," wrote Rep. Christopher Cox (R., Calif.), who authorized the calendar last year as House Policy chairman. "Today, the animating spirit of the Republican Party is exactly the same as it was then: free people, free minds, free markets, free expression, and unlimited opportunity."

"Leading the organized opposition to these ideas 150 years ago, just as today, was the Democratic Party," Cox continued. "Then, just as now, their hallmarks were politically correct speech; a preference for government control over individual initiative...and an insistence on seeing people as members of groups rather than as individuals."

But what about racial preferences? The GOP's embrace of color-neutral policies parallels Martin Luther King's dream of racial equality over racial scale tipping. "The constitutional amendments that the Republican party supported after the Civil War did not advance preferences by race," Cox told me. "They made government view every person as an individual, not as a member of a racial group."

Alas, even as Republicans promote work over welfare, educational choice, and personal retirement accounts, all of which would empower blacks, some 90 percent of blacks vote Democrat as reflexively as knees kick when tapped with rubber mallets. After inspecting the Democrats' handiwork — e.g. the tar pit that is public assistance, the Dresden that is the ghetto school system, and the pyramid scheme that is Social Security (which robs too many blacks who die before recouping their "investment") — black Americans should ask Democrats: "Yesterday's gone. What have you done for us lately?"

— New York commentator Deroy Murdock is an advisory board member of Project 21, a Washington-based network of black free-market advocates.

Celebrating our Republican Family: Charles L. McNary Request

We are in receipt of a request (July 24, 2006) to help track down witnesses/participants of/in the 1940 Wilkie/McNary Presidential Race. Below, please find the McNary family tree we just mocked up. Charles McNary was the grandson of Oregon pioneers of 1845, James and Elizabeth Sharp McNary. Reminded me that his adopted daughter, Charlotte, was born in 1935,.. so may very well be alive. If anyone has any first hand information regarding the events of this election, or knows someone that does, please contact me direct at: TonyLarson@aol.com

A rootsweb search found this:

U.S. Oregon Senator
Notable Oregonians: Charles McNary- Senator

Charles Linza McNary was born on a farm near Salem, Oregon on June 12, 1874. He graduated from Stanford University and returned to Salem to begin a law career in which he served as a deputy district attorney from 1906 to 1913; dean of the Willamette University Law School from 1908 to 1913; and Oregon Supreme Court associate justice from 1913 to 1915.

Following the death of Harry Lane in 1917, McNary was appointed as a Republican to the U.S. Senate. His seat was taken by Frederick Mulkey in the 1918 election, but Mulkey resigned within weeks to allow for McNary's appointment. In the Senate McNary advocated farmand reclamation legislation including the McNary-Haugen farm bill of 1927. He served as minority leader from 1933 to 1944 and supported a great deal of New Deal legislation, although he opposed the reciprocal trade agreements and President Franklin Roosevelt's proposals for Supreme Court reform. In 1933 McNary wasthe original and principal sponsor of the Bonneville Dam. He ran unsuccessfully for vice president with Wendell Wilkie in 1940 against the Roosevelt ticket.

McNary died in office in 1944. Seen by many as the leading figure in Oregon politics in the first half of the 20th century, he was later honored when McNary Dam on the Columbia River and McNary High School in Keizer were named for him.
(Sources: Columbia Encyclopedia | Biographical Directory of the United States Congress | Dictionary of Oregon History)

http://www.ccrh.org/comm/umatilla/primary/chasmcn.htm
The following document comes from pages 12-14 of A TrainingManual for Interpreters McNary Lock and Dam, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, Revised January, 1999

Charles McNary was born June 12, 1874 on a homestead five miles north of Salem Oregon. Charles was the third son, and the ninth of ten children born to Hugh Linza and Mary Calggett McNary. Charles can be describe as a true son of the Oregon soil with a direct link to the Oregon Trail. Charles received his first name from Charles Claggett who had crossed the plains in 1852, and established the homestead where Charles was born. His other grandfather, James McNary is known to have been the captain of an 1845 wagon train that brought 100 families to the Pacific Northwest. It is said thatCharles never lost touch with his pioneer roots.

By the time Charles was 9 years old, both of his parents had passed away. Care of the McNary family fell tothe able hands of the older children, John, Nina and Martha. Rare for her time, Nina a graduate of Willamette University gave up her teaching career to help raise the family. Martha on the other hand kept her teaching position with the Salem public school system, thus providing income for the large McNary family. John provided income for the family as a journalist, later becoming a lawyer with his own firm in Salem. In addition to providing family income, John assumed the role of leader and mentor to his young brother Charles. During his younger days he was known for his energetic and fun loving personality. He is said to have had a wry sense of humor, loved to sing and dance, and was such a good baseball player that many of his friends believed him capable of a career in professional baseball.

Based on his biography, Charles used his mind energetically as he used his body. During his life Charles never lost his passion for knowledge and reading. In addition to his intellectual curiositites he maintained a strong connection to his agricultural heritage. As a young boy, he earned income for the family milking cows, and as a helper in a tree nursery near the state capital. As an adult he became noted for his poineering efforts in farming and experimental horticulture. One of his experiments resulted in the establishment of a successful filbert industry in the Pacific Northwest where there had never been one. In 1909 Charles formed the Salem Fruit

Descendants of James McNary

1 James McNary b: 28 Feb 1790 in Lexington, Kentucky d: 11 Oct 1871 in Marion Co., Oregon
.. +Elizabeth Sharp b: 31 Mar 1795 in Fayette Co., New York m: 11 Nov 1818 in ,Crawford Co., Indiana d: 01 May 1840 in Pittsfield, Pike Co. Illinois
........ 2 Harriet Vanneva McNary b: 19 Aug 1819 in Kentucky d: 1879
............ +Alanson Perry Smith b: 1815 in Union Co. IN m: 1847
................... 3 Mary Smith b: 1849
................... 3 John Smith b: 1852
................... 3 Amanda Smith b: 1859
................... 3 Anna Smith b: 1861
........ 2 Rachel Emaline McNary b: 09 Feb 1821 in Shelby Co., Illinios d: 1889
............ +Isaac Lasswell m: 06 Jan 1848 in Clackamas County, Oregon
................... 3 James Henry LASWELL
....................... +Eliza Weddle
............................. 4 Lillian Lasswell
........ 2 Tabitha Ann McNary b: 07 Mar 1823 in Illinios
........ 2 Rosanna McNary b: 04 Jan 1827 in Shelby Co., Illinios d: 05 Feb 1904 in Jackson County, Oregon
............ +William D. Cole b: 1823 in Knox Co., KY m: 25 Mar 1847 in Clackamas County, Oregon d: 1880 in Marion Co., OR
................... 3 Erwin Oliver COLE b: 11 Apr 1856 in Yoncalla, Douglas Co., OR d: 01 Aug 1931
....................... +Arabelle Owen b: 06 Aug 1855 in Belleville, St. Clari Co., IL m: 22 Feb 1877 in Polk Co., OR d: 02 Dec 1931 in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor Co., WA
............................. 4 Frank Cole
............................. 4 E.O. Cole b: 1879 in Waterloo, Linn Co., OR
............................. 4 William Oliver Cole b: 12 Dec 1884 in Lane Co., OR d: 14 Apr 1956 in Oyehut, WA
................................. +Lillian Mae Steadman b: 17 Apr 1891 in England m: 12 Jun 1909 in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor Co., WA d: 11 Nov 1918 in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor Co., WA
........ 2 Hugh Linza McNary b: 30 Aug 1829 in Pittsfield, Pike Co., Illinios d: Aug 1883 in Oregon
............ +Mary Margaret Claggett b: 1834 in Kentucky m: 21 Dec 1854 in ,Clackamas Co., Oregon d: 1878
................... 3 Sarah Elizabeth McNary b: 08 Aug 1857 in ,Marion Co., Oregon Territory d: 27 Feb 1932 in Salem, Marion Co., Oregon
................... 3 Martha McNary b: 1860 in Marion Co., OR d: 1898
................... 3 Martin McNary b: 1862 in Marion Co., OR d: 1898
................... 3 Nancy Eliza McNary b: 1863 in Marion Co., OR d: 1887
................... 3 Harriett McNary b: 1865 in Marion Co., OR d: 1879
................... 3 John Hugh McNary b: 31 Jan 1867 in Salem, Marion Co., Oregon d: 25 Oct 1936 in Portland, Multnomah Co., Oregon
....................... +Esther Hall b: 13 Feb 1869 in Portland, Multnomah Co., Oregon m: 29 Jan 1893 d: 21 Nov 1934 in Salem, Marion Co., Oregon
................... 3 Ella McNary b: 1870 in Marion Co., OR d: 1951 in Marion Co., OR
....................... +Walter Stolz b: Mar 1872 in Ohio d: 28 Jan 1940 in Marion Co., OR
............................. 4 Margaret Stolz b: 1905 in Oregon
................................. +William Marshall
........................................ 5 Margaret McNary MARSHALL
............................. 4 Richard McNary Stolz b: 1908 in Oregon
................... 3 James McNary b: 1872 in Marion Co., OR d: 1872
................... 3 Charles Linza McNary b: 12 Jun 1874 in Salem, Marion Co., Oregon d: 25 Feb 1944 in Fort Lauderdale, Broward Co., Florida
....................... +Sara Kate Johns
................... *2nd Wife of Charles Linza McNary:
....................... +Jessie Breyman m: 19 Nov 1902 in Salem, Marion Co., Oregon d: Jul 1917
................... *3rd Wife of Charles Linza McNary:
....................... +Cornelia Martin m: 1923
............................. 4 Charlotte McNary b: 1935 in Adopted Baby Girl
................... 3 Julia M. McNary b: 1876 in Marion Co., OR d: 1880
................... 3 Mary Elizabeth McNary b: 1855 in Marion Co., Oregon
....................... +Henry Thomas Bruce
............................. 4 Walter Wallace Bruce d: Abt. 1940 in Portland, Oregon
................................. +Effie Johnson
............................. *2nd Wife of Walter Wallace Bruce:
................................. +Mary Lucy Edwards m: 1906
........................................ 5 Angela Beth Bruce
............................................ +William C Brandon
........................................ 5 Edward Bruce
............................................ +Yvonne Watselle
.................................................. 6 Living Bruce
............................. 4 Lenore Linza Bruce
................................. +Lacy DeLess Heater m: 1910
........................................ 5 Lyle DeLess Heater
............................................ +Elizabeth Luedder
.................................................. 6 Living Heater
............................. 4 Buelah Boss Bruce
................................. +Walter Johnson m: 1907
........................................ 5 Gordon Gammons Johnson
............................................ +Maureen M Russell
........................................ 5 Robert Bruce Johnson
............................. 4 Minnie Margaret Bruce b: Abt. 1882 in Oregon
................................. +Howard D Still b: in Ohio
............................. *2nd Husband of Minnie Margaret Bruce:
................................. +Hayes Temple m: 1900 d: Bef. Jan 1920
........................................ 5 Bruce H Temple
............................................ +Pearl Lee
........................................ 5 Helen Temple
............................................ +Morris X Little
.................................................. 6 John Morris Little
.................................................. 6 Margaret Ann Little
.................................................. 6 Terry Allan Little
........ *2nd Wife of Hugh Linza McNary:
............ +Julia A. Johnson m: Bef. 1880
........ 2 Elizabeth McNary b: 29 Aug 1836 in Illinios d: 1861
........ 2 Caroline McNary b: 07 May 1839 in Illinios
........ 2 Sarah Eliza McNary b: 14 Nov 1831 in Shelby Co. IL d: 1872 in Oregon
............ +Francis "Marion" Phillips b: Apr 1833 in IL m: 07 Jun 1858 in Clackmas Co. OR d: Aft. 1900 in Oregon
................... 3 Ella Phillips b: 1859 in Oregon d: 26 May 1950 in Spokane, Spokane Co., WA
....................... +John D. Colson d: Bef. 1930
............................. 4 June Clemetine Colson
................................. +Wm. M. Cathey
........................................ 5 Wm. Colson Cathey
............................. 4 Zulenia May Colson
................................. +Earl B. Newton
........................................ 5 Jean Newton b: Abt. 1916
............................. 4 Martin Claydene Colson b: Abt. 1880 in Oregon
................................. +Mima Davis b: Abt. 1889 in Oregon
........................................ 5 Irene Colson
........................................ 5 Female) (Living
........................................ 5 Jasper Dudley Colson b: Abt. 1909 in OR
........................................ 5 Gracie May Colson b: Abt. 1912
........................................ 5 Ida A. Colson b: Abt. 1915
........................................ 5 Winifred Colson b: Abt. 1916
........................................ 5 Ada J. Colson b: Abt. 1918
................... 3 Caroline Elizabeth "Carrie" Phillips b: 12 Aug 1861 in Clackamas Co., OR
....................... +William Walter Jones b: 22 Oct 1860 in Clackamas Co., Oregon m: 19 Sep 1888 in Clackamas Co., OR d: 20 Nov 1931 in Seattle, King Co., WA
............................. 4 Victor Wayne Jones b: 07 Feb 1891 in Oregon d: 30 Jul 1981 in Seattle, King Co., WA
............................. 4 Luella Eliza Jones b: 22 Mar 1899 in Oregon
................... 3 Frances Irene Phillips b: Oct 1863 in Oregon d: Aft. 1930
....................... +Charles Davis
............................. 4 Dorris Phillips Davis b: Jul 1892 in Oregon d: 1919
................... 3 Mary Bell Phillips b: 1866 d: 1866
*2nd Wife of James McNary:
.. +Nancy M. Brookes m: 21 Feb 1841 in Pike Co., Illinois

Celebrating our Republican Family: The Great Teapot Tantrums Challenge

Thank you sooooooo much for the opportunity to dig into your Republican family history. I am interested in how you descend, but here is some more material for your family's perusal.. please contribute any more you wish and remember to share your history with family and friends... very highest regards, Tony Larson



******************
At 10:330 PM on July 19th, 2006, HMIL said...

Here's a challenge for you.....

William Franklin Arant, my great-great-grandfather ... first superintendant of Crater Lake Park ... how did he leave office? He was a Republican of good standing, from reading the material we have. His story might be interesting for your postings. If you're at all interested, drop me a note.

teapot.tantrums@gmail.com

RESPONSE: Click on the headlink for a relatively comprehensive treatment of the topic at Chapter 7,.. to wit..

Controversy Involving the Replacement of William F. Arant with William G. Steel as Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park: 1912-1913

One of the most bizarre stories surrounding the administrative history of Crater Lake National Park involves the year-long controversy to oust Arant as superintendent and replace him with William G. Steel. The controversy was shrouded in considerable political intrigue and maneuvering, resulting in a year of wrangling during which little attention was devoted to park management. The struggle ended in July 1913 amid scenes of comic-opera violence and subsequent lawsuits.
******************


http://www.breeze2us.com/digbones/arant.html
William Franklin Arant, eldest son of Jesse T. Arant was born September 29, 1850 in Tazwell Illinois. William acquired a common school education and worked the family farm near Roseburg until 1871. He married Emma Luella Dunham October 28, 1871. The Dunham family crossed the plains in 1864. Strong ties of friendship that spanned the American Revolution, War of 1812 and the Civil War, existed between the families of Arant and Dunham. William Franklin Arant and Emma L. Dunham became childhood sweathearts and their marriage was highly approved of by their respective families.

Shortly after their marriage the couple moved to Klamath County and acquired land east of Klamath Falls. They were some of the earliest settlers to the Klamath Basin.(Some history of William Franklin Arant.) William Franklin Arant was the first superintendent of Crater Lake National Park. On the 22nd of May 1902 the Crater Lake National Park was created by act of congress and in August that same year William Franklin Arant was appointed superintendent of the park, which position he held for 11 years until 1913. In the Evening Herald in the summer of 1908 is an account of William Franklin Arant selling his farm of 480 acres to W. Elliott and Charles Mack. It was situated southeast of Klamath Falls. The account states that the farm was one of the oldest and best of the country and had historic interest as the site of one of the oldest Indian villiages in southern Oregon. The place was taken up as a homestead in 1871, the year prior to the Modoc War. Early Arant, one son of William Franklin and Emma Arant's four boys was born in Roseburg, when his mother Emma was sent there to be save during the Modoc War. They had four boys; Early Lewellan Arant, Chancey Franklin Arant, Herbert Arant and Jay J. Arant. In 1872 they settled on their land claim of 160 acres which soon turned into 1020 acres in Klamath County. The Arant family labored long and diligently acquiring large tracts of farm land and range to raise cattle, saddle horses and buggy teams. They endured many severe winters where over eighty percent of the cattle perished. During many of these disastrous winters when hay was exausted, the family fell pine and fir trees for the starving livestock. The pioneer frontier ethic of mutual cooperation, willingness to help your neighbor, were the bonds for survival and enduring livetime friendships. In addition the responsibility for community government, civic improvement, law and order, was much evidenced as a tradition in Klamath County.

William Franklin Arant had the usual experiences which have fallen to the lot of early pioneer of the northwest. His father was a member of a militia company known as Minute Men during the Rogue River Indian War in 1855 and participated in a number of skirmishes in defense of the settlers who were living there. William Franklin served for five years in the State Militia, one year as a private, one year as company bugler, two years as first sergeant and one year as guidon sergeant. He won the championship medal as the finest shot of Troop B. for marksmanship of his cavalry troop in 1892. Two of his sons, Early and Chancey Arant served in the same troop as Corporals. His youngest son Jay J. Arant at age 7 was made an honorary Colonel and special orderly to Brigadier General Compson. In diary of William Franklin Arant he states that in 1872 he traveled 42 miles with team to vote for U.S. Grant. He further states that he always voted republican ticket and always voted dry; never signed a saloon license petition, although in the early days many good men did.

They lived on their land claim, and he served as the constable for 4 years from 1874-1878. He moved to Pine Grove in 1882 and lived there 26 years. Was a School Director 9 years, clerk 6 years, road supervisor 4 years all while he rode range, broke horses and farmed his land. He was Deputy Sheriff numerous times and in 1902 was appointed superintendent of Crater Lake National Park. He held that position for 11 years. Those 11 years were undoubtedly among the happiest and most fulfilling years of his life. He was the first into the park in the spring and the last to leave in the fall. His administrative duties, development of the lodge in this breathtaking beautiful environment was truly a labor of love. He thoroughly enjoyed every facet of his duties until he retired at the age of 63. During his tenure at Crater Lake, he was privileged to entertain presidents, captains of industry and many celebrities.

William Franklin Arant was at one time a teamster in the employ of the United States Government and engaged in furnishing the supplies to the army during the Modoc Indian war. He acted as teamster with wagonmaster Davidson's train. He always led an outdoor life, spending much of the time in the saddle with his gun by his side. A natural mountaineer, he found in his position as superintendent of the Crater Lake National Park one that was particularly congenial. He always lived close to nature and knew her every phase. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party, but he never sought nor desired political office. There was little concerning the history of Oregon that he did not know, for he witnessed its continuous growth and development throughout that period and was especially active in connection with the progress in the southern part of the state.He was the cousin of Hon. Robert A Emmett, his mother and Mr. Emmett being brother and sister. William Franklin Arant was a product of the frontier and the early west. He loved his country, carried strong convictions, and held well defined moral convictions.

**********************

Descendants of Johann Peter Arant

1 Johann Peter Arant
.... +Ana Katrina
........ 2 Conrad Arant
.............. +Elizabeth Reddick
................... 3 William Arrant 1785 - 1837 b: Abt. 1785 in , , of VA d: 18 Apr 1837 in Tazewell Co., IL
......................... +Jeanette Nichols m: 01 Dec 1814
................... *2nd Wife of William Arrant:
......................... +Elizabeth Thompson 1787 - b: Abt. 1787 in , Cumberland, VA m: 07 Nov 1816 in of TN d: in
............................. 4 Jesse T. Arant 1823 - 1895 b: 19 Apr 1823 in Nashville, Davidson Co., TN d: 1895 in Roseburg, Douglas Co., OR
................................... +Mary Jane Emmett 1828 - 1902 b: Abt. 1828 in , , PA m: 07 Nov 1844 in , Logan Co., IL d: 08 Sep 1902 in , , OR
........................................ 5 William Franklin Arant 1850 - 1927 b: 29 Sep 1850 in Tazewell, Illinois d: 23 Nov 1927 in Klamath Co., OR
.............................................. +Edna Luella Dunham 1853 - 1937 b: 06 Nov 1853 in Livingston, Missouri m: 29 Oct 1871 d: 10 May 1937 in Ashland, Jackson, Oregon
.................................................. 6 Early L. Arant 1873 - 1955 b: 26 Jul 1873 in Oregon d: 14 Feb 1955 in Jackson Co., OR
........................................................ +Nell B. 1883 - b: Abt. 1883 in WA d: in
............................................................. 7 Hazel Arant 1902 - b: 1902 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Vernal Arant 1903 - b: 1903 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Jessie M. Arant 1908 - b: 1908 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Opal E. Arant 1905 - b: 1905 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Ernest E. Arant 1911 - b: 1911 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Carl B. Arant 1918 - b: 1918 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Francis P. Arant 1926 - b: 1926 in Klamath County, Oregon
.................................................. 6 Chauncey Franklin Arant 1874 - 1950 b: 19 Dec 1874 in Klamath Falls, Lake (now Klamath) Co., OR d: 22 Mar 1950 in Prospect, Jackson Co., OR
........................................................ +Clara Maude Boothby 1881 - 1976 b: 09 May 1881 in Prospect, Jackson Co., OR m: 06 Mar 1904 in Klamath Falls, Klamath, Oregon d: 06 Feb 1976 in Medford, Jackson Co., OR
............................................................. 7 Lawrence Clifford Arant 1918 - b: 1918 in Jackson County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Imogene Lauretta Arant 1907 - b: 14 Aug 1907 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Elsie Arant 1910 - 1914 b: 07 Jun 1910 in Jackson County, Oregon d: 13 Jul 1914
............................................................. 7 Howard Albion Arant 1912 - 1997 b: 24 Mar 1912 in Jackson County, Oregon d: 16 Nov 1997 in Jackson Co., OR
................................................................... +Ada Lu Canaday
........................................................................ 8 Living Arant
........................................................................ 8 Living Arant
........................................................................ 8 Living Arant
.............................................................................. +Cheffings
........................................................................ *2nd Husband of Living Arant:
.............................................................................. +Dillon
.................................................................................. 9 Living Dillon
........................................................................................ +Lindstrom
.................................................................................. *2nd Wife of Living Dillon:
........................................................................................ +Stacey
.................................................................................. 9 Living Dillon
........................................................................................ +Raack
............................................................................................. 10 Living Raack
............................................................................................. 10 Living Raack
.................................................................................. 9 Living Dillon
........................................................................................ +Wiser
............................................................................................. 10 Living Wiser
............................................................................................. 10 Living Wiser
............................................................................................. 10 Living Wiser
........................................................................ 8 Stephen Arant 1949 - 1949 b: 1949 d: 1949
.................................................. 6 Jay Arant
.................................................. 6 Herbert L. Arant 1876 - b: 1876 in Klamath County, Oregon
........................................................ +Minnie Burgdorf 1880 - b: 1880 in California
............................................................. 7 Elva L. Arant 1907 - b: 1907 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 William Franklin Arant 1909 - b: 1909 in Klamath County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Echo A. Arant 1914 - b: 1914 in Klamath/Jackson County, Oregon
............................................................. 7 Herbert Dunham Arant 1916 - 1980 b: 13 May 1916 in Klamath/Jackson County, Oregon d: 24 Apr 1980 in Sacramento, California
........................................ 5 Mary E. Arant 1849 - b: Abt. 1849 in IL d: in
.............................................. +James H. Rowley 1841 - 1930 b: Abt. 1841 in IL d: Bef. 1930
.................................................. 6 Alva Arant Rowley 1875 - 1929 b: 09 Feb 1875 in OR d: 20 Oct 1929 in Klamath Co., OR
........................................................ +Laura E. 1883 - b: Abt. 1883 in MN d: in
............................................................. 7 Ralph Duane Rowley 1909 - 1989 b: 28 Sep 1909 in OR d: 12 Feb 1989 in Curry Co., OR
............................................................. 7 Mildred Rowley 1912 - b: Abt. 1912 in OR d: in
.................................................. 6 James Ivan Rowley 1879 - b: 29 Sep 1879 in IL d: in
........................................ 5 Samuel Arant 1853 - b: Abt. 1853 in OR d: in
........................................ 5 Allen Marion Arant 1856 - 1925 b: Abt. 1856 in OR d: 27 Nov 1925 in Polk Co., OR
........................................ 5 Arthur Thompson Arant 1866 - 1953 b: 1866 in OR d: 1953
.............................................. +Nettie 1873 - b: Abt. 1873 in OR m: Abt. 1897 d: in
.................................................. 6 Living Arant
.................................................. 6 Thurman E. Arant 1909 - b: Abt. 1909 in OR
........................................ 5 Jessie E. Arant 1868 - b: Abt. 1868 in OR d: in
........................................ 5 Harriet Arant 1869 - b: Abt. 1869 in OR d: in
........................................ 5 John Arant b: in Oregon
........................................ 5 Irvan Arant b: in Oregon
........................................ 5 Ann Arant b: in Oregon
........................................ 5 Angelica Arant b: in Oregon
........................................ 5 Ulysses Arant b: in Oregon
........................................ 5 Allan Arant b: in Oregon
........................................ 5 Augusta Arant b: in Oregon
............................. 4 Harriet Arant 1818 - b: Abt. 1818 in , , TN d: in
................................... +John V. McGahan 1822 - b: Abt. 1822 in , , OH m: Abt. 1845 in of IL d: in
............................. 4 Matilda Arant 1820 - b: Abt. 1820 in , , TN d: in
................................... +William Bloyd 1815 - b: Abt. 1815 in of TN m: Abt. 1835 d: in
............................. 4 Samuel Weakley Arant 1827 - 1872 b: 14 Aug 1827 in , Dickson, TN d: 28 Dec 1872 in Central City, Anderson, KS
................................... +Malintha Caroline Adams 1831 - 1915 b: 23 Dec 1831 in of TN m: 15 Feb 1850 in , Tazewell, IL d: 12 Jul 1915 in Spokane, Spokane Co., WA
........................................ 5 Henry Arant 1825 - b: Abt. 1825 in TN d: in
........................................ 5 Charlotte P. Arant 1828 - b: Abt. 1828 in TN d: in
........................................ 5 Harriet L. Arant 1830 - b: Abt. 1830 in TN d: in
........................................ 5 Caroline Arant 1833 - b: Abt. 1833 in TN d: in

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 269-275.

STEARNS, HON. LOYAL B., Judge of the Fourth Judicial District was born in Swanzey, New Hampshire, in 1853, and came to Oregon the same year. He was educated at the Roseburg, Umpqua and Bishop Scott Academies. He began the study of medicine, but changed to law, and was admitted to the bar in 1876. In 1874 he was Engrossing Clerk of the legislature, and in 1875 secretary of the State Board of the Immigration and editor of the Daily Bee. In 1878 he was elected to the legislature. In 1879 he was appointed Police Judge of Portland, and held the place three years. In 1882 he was elected County Judge, and was appointed Judge of the Fourth Judicial District by Governor Moody in 1885, being elected to the same position in 1886 and again in 1892.

STEEL, GEORGE A., of Portland, was born in Stafford, Ohio, in 1846, and came to Portland in 1862. He worked as an accountant, was County Treasurer two years, and for a short time was Assistant Postmaster. In 1879 he embarked in the wholesale stationery business. Several years later he was appointed Special Agent of the Postal Department. In 1876 he was chairman of the Republican state central committee, at the time when the effort was made to steal one electoral vote away from the Republicans candidate for the presidency, Mr. Hayes. He has held the same position subsequently. In 1879 he was appointed Deputy Collector of the port. In 1881 he was appointed Postmaster, going out when Cleveland was first elected. President Harrison appointed him again in 1889, and he retired again at the expiration of four years, to make way for a Democratic successor. In 1886 he was elected State Senator, and served two sessions. He is connected with large business enterprises, particularly the electric railway line to Oregon City and other points.

STEIWER, HON. W. W. [Editor inserted: Winlock William Steiwer], a merchant of Fossil, was born near Salem, Oregon, in 1852. He graduated from the Willamette University and then taught school, afterwards engaging in the cattle business in Eastern Oregon. He was elected to the State Senate from Gilliam, Sherman, and Wasco Counties in 1892. He has been frequently a member of conventions and league meetings, and is now a member of the state central committees.

STEPHENS. HON. THOMAS A., Judge of the criminal department of the Fourth Judicial District, came to Portland from Virginia City, Nevada, in 1883. In Nevada he had practiced his profession and speculated in mines. For two years he was Prosecuting Attorney of Storey County, and at one time City Attorney of Virginia City. Mr. Stephens soon made himself felt in Portland politically, and in his profession, and in 1890 was elected District Attorney, and in 1894 District Judge. He is a veteran of the civil war and a comrade of the G. A. R.

STITES, CHARLES M., of Grant’s Pass, was born in Marion County, Illinois, August 20, 1858, and came to Oregon in 1884, locating at Grant’s Pass. He was a delegate to the county conventions from 1886 to 1892. In 1886 he was appointed Road Supervisor, and in 1894 was elected Assessor.

STORY, HON. GEORGE L, a prominent insurance man of Portland, was born in Manchester, Massachusetts, in 1833. In 1850 he went to California, and in 1851 came to Portland and embarked in the drug business. From 1855 to 1862 he was engaged in the paint and oil business in San Francisco. He then engaged in mining enterprises in Idaho, and from 1870 to 1874 was in the oil and glass business in Portland. He has for many years been in the fire insurance business. In 1872 he was elected a member of the City Council, and was re-elected for another term. In 1874 he was elected County Clerk. In 1882 he was appointed one of the Fire Commissioners that organized the paid fire department. In 1884 he was elected to the legislature. For several years he has been president of the Third Ward Republican Club.

STOTT, HON. RALEIGH, of Portland, was born in Indiana in 1845, and six years later came to Oregon, locating in Washington County. He graduated from the Pacific University in 1869 and was admitted to the bar in 1870. In 1873 he removed to Portland, where he is now practicing law. In 1874 he was elected to the legislature. In 1876 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the Fourth District, and in 1880 Judge of the same district. He has been for twenty years in county and state conventions, and a speaker on the stump.

STROWBRIDGE, JOSEPH A., of Portland, was born in Moutour County, Pennsylvania, in 1835, and passed his boyhood in Ohio. In 1852 the family came to Oregon, and Mr. Strowbridge began at once a mercantile career that has been highly successful. He has always been engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe and leather business, being now the proprietor of a large supply house. Mr. Strowbridge was elected School Trustee in 1895, and his name is frequently mentioned in connection with added honors.

SUMMERS, COLONEL OWEN, of Portland, was born in Brockville, Canada, June 13, 1850, and went with his parents to Illinois at an early age. They soon after died, leaving him to make his way in the world alone. He worked on a farm and attended school at intervals until he was fourteen years of age, when, after repeated efforts, he succeeded in enlisting in Company H, Third Illinois Cavalry, February 22, 1865, and was immediately sent to the front. His regiment fought guerrillas all spring and summer, and in the fall made a campaign against the Sioux Indians. He was mustered out in November. In 1875 he came to the coast, but returned East. In 1879 he again came, and embarked in the crockery business in Portland, which he has built up to large proportions. He has done much to build up the National Guard in Oregon. He was one of the organizers of the Veteran Guard in 1883, and was elected First Lieutenant. He than served as Adjutant of the battalion, and in 1887 was elected Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Regiment. In 1891 he was re-elected, and in 1895, was chosen Colonel. In 1891 he was elected Department Commander of the G. A. R. He is an ardent Republican, and has been a familiar figure in conventions. He was elected to the legislature in 1886, and was the party nominee for Sheriff in 1892.

SWACKHAMER, SAMUEL O., of Union, was born in Warren County, New Jersey, July 25, 1837, and came to Oregon in 1863, and has lived constantly in Union County, engaged as a stock raiser and freighter/ In 1876 he was the first Republican elected Sheriff, and was re-elected in 1878. In 1880 he was nominated for the State Senate. He was appointed Register of the United States Land Office at La Grande in 1885. He was a delegate to the county convention from 1864 to 1892, and the state conventions of 1886 and 1890.

TALMAGE, C. W. [Editor inserted: Charles Willis Talmage], of McMinnville, was born in Washington County, Oregon, May 6, 1856, He was Deputy County Clerk from 1881 to 1884, and was elected County Treasurer in 1890. He is an active Republican, and has been a member of conventions. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1895.

TANNER. HON. A. H. [Editor inserted: Albert H. Tanner], an attorney of Portland, was born in Washington Territory, September 9, 1855. He lived on a farm in Yamhill County, and graduated from the Monmouth College in 1874. He taught school and studied law, being admitted to the bar in 1879, and began practice in Portland, forming soon a partnership with Hon. J. C. Moreland. From 1884 to 1887 he was City Attorney, and from 1889 to 1891 Police Judge. In 1887 he formed a partnership with Hon. John H. Mitchell, which still continues. He has taken a continuously active part in politics, as a member of county and state conventions and club meetings and otherwise, and is now a nominee for the state senate.

TAYLOR, HON. FRANK J., of Astoria, was born in Clatsop County, May 11, 18 51, and has resided there continuously. He graduated from the Law School of Union University, Albany, New York, in June, 1873, and in September was admitted to the bar and began practice in Astoria. Judge Taylor was elected Recorder in 1875 and Police Judge in 1876, serving two and one-half years. In 1880 he was elected to the legislature. He was elected Circuit Judge to fill a vacancy in 1884, and again for a full term in 1886. In 1895 he was elected Mayor of Astoria. He was a delegate to county conventions from 1874 to 1884, to state conventions 1874 to 1882 and 1894 and 1896, to congressional conventions in 1894 and 1896, and league meetings in 1895 and 1896.

TEMPLETON, HON. W. A. [Editor inserted: William Alford Templeton], of Brownsville, was born in Missouri in 1845, and came to Oregon in 1847. He has been in packing to the mined and in farming. In 1890 he was nominated for the legislature against a hopeless Democratic majority. He was again nominated in 1894 and elected. He has been a member of conventions and league meetings.

THERKSELSEN, HON. LAWRITS W., of Portland, was born near Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1842. He came to America in 1860, to California in 1861, and Oregon in 1871. For ten years he was a contractor and builder, and then organized the North Pacific Lumber Company, of which he is still manager. He has always been an enthusiastic Republican and taken part in conventions and party work, but has not sought office. However, he was elected to the legislature in 1884 and School Director in 1887.

THORNBURY, HON. CALEB N., was born in Pennsylvania, December 12, 1827, and learned the printer’s trade. In 1849 he went to California. For fourteen years he pursued a life of vicissitudes in the mines, especially in the Klamath country, including a term in the California legislature, and in 1863 came to Oregon and opened a store in Grant County. In 1875 he moved to The Dalles, and was Receiver of the United States Land Office there three terms, and was subsequently County Judge. He also served one term in the legislatures.

THOMPSON, HON. D. P. [Editor inserted: Daniel P. Thompson], of Portland, was born in Cadiz, Ohio, November 8, 1834. He was early employed as a mechanical engineer, and learned the blacksmith trade. In 1853 he came to Oregon and began hard work at Oregon City. In 1854 he was appointed on the United States survey, and continued seven years. He enlisted in the First Oregon Cavalry and retired with rank of captain. He worked on surveying till 1874, when President Grant appointed him Governor of Idaho, holding the office two years. He was a delegate to the national convention of 1876, and the same year located in Portland. He was gradually become extensively interested in banks, mines and other enterprises, and has accumulated a fortune. He was for four years a member of the state senate from Clackamas County, and in 1878 was elected to the house from Multnomah. In 1879 he was elected Mayor of Portland, and was re-elected in 1881. In 1887 he went abroad for a year, and on his return was elected to the legislature again. In 1892 he was appointed United States Minister to Turkey, but the next year retired for a Democratic successor. In 1890 Mr. Thompson was the party nominee for Governor of the state, but was beaten by a Democratic and Populist combination. He is now the nominee for Member of the State Board of Equalization.

THOMPSON, HON. E. H. [Editor inserted: Eldridge H. Thompson], of Brower, was born in Killingsworth, Connecticut, January 16, 1842, and twelve years later moved to Illinois. He served in the army and navy during the war. He established the Portland Iron Works in 1882, and in 1887 embarked in the saw mill business at Brower. He was elected to the legislature in 1894.

TOLMAN, GENERAL JAMES C., of Ashland, was born in Washington County, Ohio, March 12, 1813. He spent three years as apprentice to a leather manufacturer, and then spent a ear at the university at Athens, Ohio. He early entered politics as an ardent Whig supporter of General Harrison. In 1839 he moved to Iowa, and ran for the legislature in Van Buren County, being the only Whig coming anywhere near election. In 1845 he engaged in leather manufacturing at Ottumwa, and was elected to the legislature from there. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California. In 1851 he returned to Iowa, having been successful as a miner. In 1852 he again crossed the plains and settled in Rouge River valley. In 1853 he went to Coos bay, but returned the next year and embarked extensively in the stock business. In 1858 he was elected the first County Judge of Jackson County, and was re-elected in 1862. For years he was prominent in Republican work in the state. In 1876 he was a delegate to the national convention. In 1874 he was the Republican nominee for Governor, but was defeated by the third-party movement of that year. In 1878 he was appointed Surveyor General of Oregon by President Hayes, and was reappointed 1 882 by President Arthur.

TONGUE, THOMAS H., of Hillsboro, came to Oregon in 1859, with his parents, who came to join an uncle, Thomas Otchin, who had some to the coast in 1836 and settled in Washington County in 1841. He remained on the farm, where his father and mother are still living, unto; 1862, when he began to attend school at Tualatin Academy and Pacific University, working for his board and to purchase books. In 1868 he entered the law office of W. D. Hare, at Hillsboro, and was admitted to the bar in 1870. In 1866 he was a delegate to the county and state conventions, and has been continuously a delegate ever since, also to the first congressional district convention. He was secretary of the state central committee in 1874, and presided over the state conventions of 1890 and 1894. Since 1886 he has been a member of the state central committee, and since 1892 chairman of the congressional committee. In 1892 he was elected president of the State League, and declined re-election in 1894. He was a delegate to the national convention of 1892, and was made vice-president for Oregon. In 1895 he was elected a delegate to the National League. In 1888 he was nominated to the state senate. Hard worker in politics as he had been, he had never made a political speech, but he went at it like a veteran. HE was elected by majority over month Democratic and Prohibition opponents. In 1890 he made his first political speech outside the county, being a joint discussion with Governor Pennoyer, at Macleay, which was almost a Waterloo for the Governor. In 1892 he was again nominated for the state senate, but was beaten by a combination of Democratic and Populist votes, aided by an Independent Republican candidate. In 1895 he was urged to become a candidate for the congressional nomination, but firmly declined. However, he went on the stump and did excellent campaign service throughout Western Oregon. He was a candidate for United States Senator last year, but after the caucus nomination of Mr. Dolph he withdrew, though on the last night of the session he was voted for just prior to the election of Mr. McBride. Mr. Tounge is an extremely graceful and eloquent speaker, a ready debater and a man who commands the respect of his fellows, both in public and private life.

TOOZE WALTER L, of Woodburn, was born in Pittsfield, Lorain County, Ohio, November 25, 1860, and came to Oregon in 1877. He cleared two years, taught school in Washington county five years, was in mercantile business in Butteville two years, and in 1886 embarked in businesses in Woodburn, where he is known as the “Produce and Merchandise King of French Prairie.” He is an ardent and hard-working Republican. He was a delegate to the county conventions of 1892 and 1894, and chairman of the former; a delegate to the league in 1895 and 1896, acting as assistant secretary of the latter and a delegate to the National League in 1894, being made the member for Oregon of the national executive committee. In 1894 he made fully fifty speeches in the campaign.

TRAIN, S. S. [Editor inserted: Samuel S. Train], editor of the Albany Herald and Herald-Disseminator, was born in Essex County, New York, August 6, 1841, and moved to Stephenson County, Illinois, in 1852. From 1861 to 1863 he served in the Ninety-second Wisconsin Infantry. He then engaged in newspaper work and taught school in Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and Oregon , till 1882, when he founded the Disseminator at Harrisburg, taking in J. R. Whitney as a partner in 1884. The same year they purchased the Albany Herald and consolidated the two papers at Albany, beginning the issue of a daily in 1885. This is now one of the leading Republican papers of the state. Mr. Train is an active, working Republican. He was one of the Oregon Soldiers’ Home Commission from 1893 to 1895.

TRUITT, HON. WARREN, of Dallas, was born in Illinois in 1845, graduated from McKendree College in 1868, and was admitted to the bar in 1870, coming to Oregon in 1871. He taught school in Bethel Academy three years, and in 1874 was elected Judge of Polk County. In 1882 he was elected to the legislature. In 1884 he was a Presidential Elector. Judge Truitt has been continuously a member of conventions and league meetings, and has served on state central committees. He was a prominent candidate for the congressional nomination at Albany this year.

TRULLINGER, HON. J. C. [Editor inserted: John Corse Trullinger], of Astoria, was born in Fountain County, Indiana, July 29, 1828, and crossed the plains to Oregon in 1848. He went to the California mines in 1849, returned in 1850, built a warehouse in Milwaukie, and in 1852 settled on a farm near Oswego. In 1865 he laid out the town of Oswego. In 1870 he founded the town of Centerville, where he had saw and flour mills. In 1875 he built the West Shore mills in Astoria, and has twelve acres covered with saw mills, warehouses, etc. From 1876 to 1880 his plant was run as a cannery. He erected the city electric light plant in 1885. He has been president of the Board of Police Commissioners, Member of the Council and Mayor of Astoria and in 1892 was elected to the legislature. He helped organize the Republican party in Oregon, and has been a foremost worker ever since.

TUTTLE, COLONEL B. B. [Editor inserted: Benjamin B. Tuttle], of Portland, was born in Woolbridge Connecticut, August 18, 1843. He enlisted in the First Connecticut Infantry, April 19, 1861, and was at the battle of Bull Run. In November, 1861, he again enlisted in the First Connecticut Cavalry, and served till the end of the war, being mustered out as captain of the company. He went to Chicago in 1865 and engaged in the grain business till 1870, being one year a member of the Board of Supervisors of Cook County. In 1870 he came to Washington Territory as Private Secretary to Governor E. S. Salomon. For the last twenty years he has been a resident of Portland. For many years he was Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service of the Pacific Northwest. In 1886 he was elected on the Republican ticket as Justice of the Peace in Portland, and was re-elected in 1888. Colonel Tuttle has taken an active part in military affairs in Oregon. He helped organize Company K, in 1886, and was soon after appointed Judge Advocate General on the staff of Governor Moody. In 1887 he was elected Captain of Company A, and in 1888 was elected Major of the regiment. In 1895 Governor Lord appointed him Adjutant General of the state.

UNDERWOOD, JAMES A., of Roseburg, was born near Oakland, Oregon, December 28, 1862, and began teaching in 1883. In 1890 he was elected Superintendent of Schools of Douglas County, ad was re-elected in 1892 and 1894. He was a delegate to the county convention in 1890.

VAN SLYCK, HON. E. M. [Editor inserted: Earl M. Van Slyck], of Baker City, was born in Hudson, Wisconsin, January 11, 1862, and was reared in New York. He learned the drug business and was engaged in it at Rixford, Pennsylvania, three years before coming to Oregon in 1884. He clerked in a drug store in Baker City, mined in Grant County, and in 1891 opened a drug store in Baker City. Mr. Van Slyck is an active Republican. He has been a member of the state central committee since 1892, and the congressional committee since 1894; was a member of the state and district conventions of 1892, 1894 and 1896, and the league meetings of 1895 and 1896, and is now assistant secretary of the state a central committee.

VAUGHN, J. WILEY [Editor inserted: James Wiley Vaughn], of Heppner, was born in Mount Vernon, Illinois in 1850, and came to Oregon in 1874, locating at Cove, going to Dallas in 1877 and Independence in 1879. He was a delegate to the Polk County convention in 1880, and for three years in the Independence Council and president of the board. In 1887 he moved to Lexington and organized the club there for the campaign of 1888 and was that year a delegate to the county convention. In 1894 he was a delegate to the state convention and in 1895 to the league. He was a delegate to the Trades Council in Tacoma in 1890 and 1891 to represent the Retail Clerks’ Union. In 1894 he was secretary of the Lexington Club and county organizer.

VAWTER, WILLIAM I., of Medford, president of the Jackson County Bank, was born in Linn County, March 24, 1863, and graduated from the University of Oregon in 1886. He was principal of the Eugene public schools till 1888, when he established the bank at Medford. He is an earnest Republican, has been a delegate to county and state conventions and league meetings, a member of the congressional and state central committees, and chairman of the county central committee.

County Election Clerks

Received a couple questions, regarding where to find county specific voter registration information and PCP lists. For PCP lists, you can either inquire of your local party committee or contact your county elections clerk. I find the elections clerks most helpful, and efficient. In smaller counties, quite often they are most willing to provide limited responses/copies free of charge.. so being NICE goes a lonnnnnnnnnng way. Here is a list of county election clerks:

Baker
Tamara J. Green
Baker County Clerk
1995 3rd St. Suite 150
Baker City, OR 97814-3398
(541) 523-8207 / TTY (541) 523-8208

Benton
James Morales
Manager of Records/Elections
120 NW 4th St. Room 13
Corvallis, OR 97330
(541) 766-6756 / TTY (541) 766-6080

Clackamas
Sherry Hall
Clackamas County Clerk
Elections Division
825 Portland Ave.
Gladstone, OR 97027
(503) 655-8510 / TTY (503) 655-1685

Clatsop
Nicole Williams
Clatsop County Clerk
PO Box 178
Astoria, OR 97103-0178
(503) 325-8511 / TTY (503) 325-9307

Columbia
Elizabeth (Betty) Huser
Columbia County Clerk
Columbia County Courthouse
230 Strand St.
St. Helens, OR 97051-2089
(503) 397-7214, Ext. 8444 / TTY (503) 397-7246

Coos
Terri Turi
Coos County Clerk
Coos County Courthouse
250 N. Baxter
Coquille, OR 97423-1899
(541) 396-3121, Ext. 301 / TTY (800) 735-2900

Crook
Deanna (Dee) Berman
Crook County Clerk
300 NE Third, Rm. 23
Prineville, OR 97754-1919
(541) 447-6553 / TTY (541) 416-4963

Curry
Reneé Kolen
Curry County Clerk
PO Box 746
Gold Beach, OR 97444
(541) 247-3297 or 1-877-739-4218 / TTY 1-800-735-2900

Deschutes
Nancy Blankenship
Deschutes County Clerk
1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 388-6546 / TTY 1-800-875-7364 / Fax (541) 383-4424

Douglas
Barbara Nielsen
Douglas County Clerk
PO Box 10
Roseburg, OR 97470-0004
(541) 440-4252 / TTY 1-800-735-2900

Gilliam
Rena Kennedy
Gilliam County Clerk
PO Box 427
Condon, OR 97823-0427
(541) 384-2311

Grant
Kathy McKinnon
Grant County Clerk
201 S. Humbolt, Suite 290
Canyon City, OR 97820
(541) 575-1675 / TTY (541) 575-1675

Harney
Maria Iturriaga
Harney County Clerk
Courthouse, 450 N. Buena Vista
Burns, OR 97720
(541) 573-6641

Hood River
Sandra Berry
Director, Records/Assessment
601 State St.
Hood River, OR 97031-1871
(541) 386-1442

Jackson
Kathy Beckett
Jackson County Clerk
1101 W. Main St. Suite 201
Medford, OR 97501-2369
(541) 774-6148 / TTY (541) 774-6719

Jefferson
Kathy Marston
Jefferson County Clerk
Courthouse, Annex A
66 SE "D" St. Suite C
Madras, OR 97741
(541) 475-4451 / TTY (541) 475-4451

Josephine
Georgette Brown
Josephine County Clerk
PO Box 69
Grants Pass, OR 97528-0203
(541) 474-5243 / TTY 1-800-735-2900

Klamath
Linda Smith
Klamath County Clerk
305 Main St.
Klamath Falls, OR 97601
(541) 883-5157 or 1-800-377-6094

Lake
Stacie Geaney
Lake County Clerk
513 Center St.
Lakeview, OR 97630-1539
(541) 947-6006 / TTY (541) 947-6007

Lane
Annette Newingham
Chief Deputy County Clerk
275 W 10th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401-3008
(541) 682-4234 / TTY (541) 682-4320

Lincoln
Dana Jenkins
Lincoln County Clerk
225 W. Olive St. Room 201
Newport, OR 97365
(541) 265-4131 / TTY (541) 265-4193

Linn
Steven Druckenmiller
Linn County Clerk
300 4th Ave. SW
Albany, OR 97321
(541) 967-3831 / TTY (541) 967-3833

Malheur
Deborah R. DeLong
Malheur County Clerk
251 "B" St. W., Suite 4
Vale, OR 97918
(541) 473-5151 / TTY (541) 473-5157

Marion
Bill Burgess
Marion County Clerk
Elections Division
4263 Commercial St. SE #300
Salem, OR 97302-3987
(503) 588-5041 or 1-800-655-5388 / TTY (503) 588-5610

Morrow
Bobbi Childers
Morrow County Clerk
PO Box 338
Heppner, OR 97836-0338
(541) 676-5604 / TTY (541) 676-9061

Multnomah
John Kauffman
Director of Elections
1040 SE Morrison St.
Portland, OR 97214-2495
(503) 988-3720

Polk
Valerie Unger
Polk County Clerk
850 Main St.
Dallas, OR 97338-3179
(503) 623-9217 / TTY (503) 623-7557

Sherman
Linda Cornie
Sherman County Clerk
PO Box 365
Moro, OR 97039-0365
(541) 565-3606

Tillamook
Tassi O'Neil
Tillamook County Clerk
201 Laurel Ave.
Tillamook, OR 97141
(503) 842-3402

Umatilla
Patti Chapman
Director of Elections
PO Box 1227
Pendleton, OR 97801
(541) 278-6254

Union
R. Nellie Bogue-Hibbert
Union County Clerk
1001 4th St. Ste. D
LaGrande, OR 97850
(541) 963-1006

Wallowa
Charlotte McIver
Wallowa County Clerk
101 S. River St. Rm. 100 Door 16
Enterprise, OR 97828-1335
(541) 426-4543, Ext. 15

Wasco
Karen LeBreton Coats
Wasco County Clerk
511 Washington St., Room 201
The Dalles, OR 97058
(541) 506-2530 / TTY (541) 506-2530

Washington
Mickie Kawai
Elections Division
3700 SW Murray Blvd. Ste. 101
Beaverton, OR 97005
(503) 846-5800 / TTY (503) 846-4598

Wheeler
Barbara S. Sitton
Wheeler County Clerk
PO Box 327
Fossil, OR 97830-0327
(541) 763-2400 / TTY (541) 763-2401

Yamhill
Jan Coleman
Yamhill County Clerk
535 NE 5th St. Room 119
McMinnville, OR 97128-4593
(503) 434-7518 / TTY (800) 735-2900

Littlest Oregon Republican League Member: RESULTS

For those wondering how our "littlest member" turned out,.. we're pleased to announce that Miss Bentlee Marie Craig was born July 5th, 2006, in high spirits and perfect form. In this photo, big brother Tucker D. W. Craig gazes on,.. affectionately.

Willamette Week's "Red Dawn"

Click the headlink, for redirection to the Willamette Week article:

****************
RED DAWN

Forget about blue Oregon: The Republicans are taking over.

BY NIGEL JAQUISS | njaquiss at wweek.com

The May primary election hit Kevin Looper like a head-butt.
Looper, 36, is a genial, grizzly-sized political consultant who moved to Portland six years ago and is now perhaps the state's top voter-turnout guru.

If you want to know how often the average unregistered slacker changes addresses, opens his mail or is likely to be home and lucid enough to sign a voter registration card, Looper is your man.

Looper is also a partisan. A big-D Democrat who works for the union-backed group Our Oregon. The Nebraska native says Oregon's progressive reputation—and its mountains—are why he moved here.

"Oregon is the last great place in this country," Looper says. "And I want to see it stay that way."

But what Looper learned from the May primary extinguished his habitual smile. Most of us just saw a tepid election with low turnout, especially among young voters. Looper saw confirmation of something far more profound: a reliably blue state on the verge of turning red.

That's right. Oregon, where only one of eight statewide elected officials, Sen. Gordon Smith, is a Republican. Oregon, where Democrats have controlled the governor's mansion since 1986 and where every Democratic presidential candidate since then has carried the state.

First state with a bottle bill, first with an all-public coastline, first with an urban growth boundary, first with vote-by-mail, first with physician-assisted suicide—that Oregon is unmistakably losing its Democratic majority, Looper says.

As seismic as such a shift would be, it is a well-kept secret. Reed College political science chairman Paul Gronke was unaware of Democrats' dwindling power. "I'm stunned," Gronke says. "I find that very surprising and something that has not been highlighted by the press at all."

Former state senator and Oregon Republican Party vice-chairwoman Marylin Shannon says Republicans' gathering strength is little recognized even among her party's leaders.

"When I show the data at [Republican] Central Committee meetings, people say, 'I didn't know this,'" says Shannon.

"This" is the fact that, absent major demographic shifts, Republicans are on track to soon outnumber Democrats in Oregon.

In the liberal Portland echo chamber, such a notion might seem absurd. But a Republican-controlled Oregon would probably be an entirely different place on issues ranging from abortion, school funding and the environment to the judiciary and the Legislature.

"This state can go from progressive to regressive," Looper says. "And they can win if we don't participate."

Last Thursday, The Oregonian published an analysis of the May City Council primary races titled "Blue Tide." The paper's conclusion?

"Portland, which had its share of Reagan Republicans, is now a sea of liberal blue—and getting bluer all the time," the story's sub-headline stated.

The story was accurate, as far as it went.

What the daily neglected to mention is that on a statewide basis, Portland's Democratic super-majority matters less each day. The trend is so clear that if the Democratic Party of Oregon were a publicly traded corporation, owners would be lining up to dump their stock.

Over the past three decades, the number of registered Democrats in the state has not only failed to keep pace with population growth, it has actually declined in absolute terms. According to the secretary of state's election statistics, there were 794,218 Oregon Democrats in 1976; as of this past May, there were 760,066.

Thirty years ago, 56 percent of registered Oregon voters were Democrats; today, that number is less than 39 percent.

Over the same time period, the number of registered Republicans in the state has soared by half. If not for a temporary spike in Democratic registration in 2004, generated by a one-time expenditure of $10 million in national party funds, the Democratic advantage—currently less than 3 percent of the electorate—might already have disappeared.

A declining registration advantage is only part of Democrats' problem. The current gap between the two parties is even smaller than it appears, because in every Oregon general election since 1964, the GOP has turned out a higher percentage of its voters than have the Democrats.

"Republicans vote more because they are typically better educated and more affluent," says Bill Lunch, chairman of the political science department at Oregon State University.

Democrats not only face a rising Republican tide, they also must compete for a growing and unpredictable cadre of independent voters.

Over the past three decades, voters who register with neither of the major parties have increased far faster than Democrats or Republicans.

Since 1976, nonaffiliated or independent voters have increased by 244 percent and now make up about more than a fifth of the Oregon electorate.

With the two major parties approaching parity, those independent voters play a crucial role in statewide elections. They are nearly impossible to categorize.

"For the most part, they don't trust either party," says Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts.

You could almost say that independents are schizophrenic. In Multnomah County in 2004, for instance, nonaffiliated voters supported Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry by a margin of 72 to 27 percent. That might suggest that local independents are really Democrats.

But those same voters also supported conservative ballot measures in 2004.

A majority of Multnomah County voters, for instance, voted "yes" on Measure 37, which undermines key elements of the state's land-use planning system. Measure 36, the constitutional ban on gay marriage, also did far better in Multnomah County than the Kerry vote might have suggested.

"Portland voters may be liberals but are also libertarians," says Reed College's Gronke. "They'll rally for ethanol or against Wal-Mart, but they don't want to pay taxes or be told what to do."

In this ballot-measure-loving state, conservatives have increasingly used initiatives to seize the political agenda. Based on the signatures turned in last week, it appears that progressives will once again be playing defense against conservative measures that include a spending cap, a state-wide tax cut and parental notification for abortions.

Critics say conservatives' domination of the initiative process is due to out-of-state money and deceptive signature-gathering practices.

Such claims may be true, but neither excuses Democrats' failure to rally their base with compelling ballot measures. While conservatives served up red-meat issues on taxes, abortion, term limits and the selection of judges, among others, progressives did little more than play defense.

It's hard to escape the conclusion that the Oregon electorate is increasingly intrigued by conservative initiatives—though not yet by conservative politicians.

"That drives Republicans crazy," says Dan Lavey, a Republican political consultant. "People will vote for our ballot measures but not our candidates."

"The reality is that Democrats have done a much better job of fielding good candidates who can win," adds Tim Nashif, director of the Oregon Family Council, which in 2004 successfully ran Measure 36 banning gay marriage.

Short term, President George Bush's woeful approval ratings could hurt Republican candidates, but in November the GOP will take aim at the political middle with gubernatorial candidate Ron Saxton. The pro-choice corporate lawyer spent the past 20 years in the mainstream before tacking hard to the right in the primary.

Many believe he is now swinging back to the middle and will present voters with perhaps their most moderate choice since 1990, when Republican Dave Frohnmayer lost to Democrat Barbara Roberts.

Hibbitts says a Saxton victory in November—he's making no predictions at this point—could fundamentally change the dynamics of Oregon statewide races, by ending reproductive choice as the litmus test for Republican candidates.

"The stakes in that race go far beyond Saxton," Hibbits says.

Why is this state turning red?

Much of the reason involves demographic shifts. Since the mid-'70s, Oregon's population has grown by nearly 50 percent, to 3.6 million. About two-thirds of the increase came from in-migration—primarily from California—rather than from new births.

It is unclear exactly how the newcomers have affected electoral dynamics. More clear is that the locus of population growth has shifted.

For much of the '80s and '90s, newcomers primarily flocked to Multnomah County. But more recently and, if projections are accurate, in the foreseeable future, Oregon's fastest population growth will come in places where newbies are far more likely to vote Republican: notably, Deschutes, Jackson and Clackamas counties (see chart, page 29).

Nor are traditional Democratic strongholds likely to grow their way back into control. True-blue Eugene has lost its position as Oregon's second largest city to reliably red Salem.

And Portland? The city's charms will continue to lure lots of young liberals. But, studies shows they vote far less often than suburban and rural newcomers and produce far fewer babies.

There are also shifts within existing populations. Democrats once dominated the state's timber, mining and agriculture industries. No more. "Democrats used to be the party of the rural worker," says Oregon State's Lunch. "But in the '90s, they became the environmental party, and many workers saw that shift as contrary to their interests."

The Oregon Coast also used to be as blue as the Pacific. But as the coastal Democrats die off, they are being replaced by Republicans. Hibbits cites the example of Coos County in southern Oregon, long the coast's most populous county,

In 1972, a majority of Coos residents voted for the Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. In 2004, however, they favored Bush by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent.

Similarly, south-central Oregon, particularly Jackson and Deschutes counties, has become a mecca for California retirees, many of whom lean right. "They're more likely to be conservative on government spending because they don't want to spend money on programs that don't benefit them," says Richard Clucas, a professor of political science at Portland State University.

Not every demographic change penalizes Democrats. Registration numbers show that Washington County, the state's second-largest county, is trending slightly bluer. "In the suburbs, association with the environmental movement has been a positive for the Democrats," Lunch says. "And suburban women are put off by the rightward shift of Republicans on social issues."

Such gains, however, are mere ripples compared with the red wave, which on the West Coast is unique to Oregon. Although political pundits tend to lump Oregon with California and Washington as a solid band of blue, Oregon's reddening trend is out of sync with neighbors to the north and south.

"If you take the three West Coast states, Oregon is the least Democratic," Lunch says.

In Washington, Democrats control statewide offices, including the governor's mansion and both houses of the Legislature. And in California, while Republican Arnold Scharwzenegger unseated Democrat Gray Davis three years ago, the state's massive minority population makes it far more reliably Democratic than Oregon, Lunch explains.

Nationally, Republicans are gaining ground, particularly in the South, says George Mason University political science professor Michael McDonald. McDonald says 2004 exit poll data, including from Oregon, show a clear trend: "New independents are coming disproportionately from the Democratic Party."

If current patterns continue, Portland could end up looking even more like a Pacific Northwest version of Israel: a geographically and politically isolated enclave dependent on the support of distant allies.

The problem is, few here know it's happening. Looper says locals are like frogs cozy in a pot of warm water, blissfully unaware that they are on a stovetop and the temperature is rising.

"Multnomah County Democrats don't understand that the world is changing," he says.

Will the red tide be strong enough to wash Gov. Ted Kulongoski from office in November? That would be an upset; he is, after all, an incumbent riding the wave of a healthy economy. But Hibbitts and other savants say the independent candidate Ben Westlund could lasso a big chunk of voters disappointed in the governor, clearing a path for Saxton.

Four years ago, Republican candidate Kevin Mannix surrendered the middle by trumpeting his opposition to abortion: Saxton won't do that.

The secretary of state's race two years from now will pack consequences nearly as large. It's a key race not just because Republicans will see an opportunity in 2008 to claim a seat that has been under Democratic control since 1985, but also because the secretary of state gets to redraw legislative districts in 2010.



In 2001, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury used deft cartographic skills to compensate for his party's dwindling numbers. But if a Republican draws the lines next time, he or she could concentrate urban Democrats into fewer districts, thus marginalizing them even faster.

Barring an unforeseen demographic change, the Democrats will have to fundamentally remake themselves to avoid sliding into minority-party status in Oregon.

Party leaders already tried throwing resources at the problem. In 2004, Looper directed a group called America Votes, which put 600 paid canvassers on the streets. They knocked on more than 750,000 doors and briefly restored the vanishing Democratic registration advantage.

But those gains melted away faster than a snow-cone in August. "We knew that it was a one-time booster shot," Looper says. "To be successful, we are going to have to make structural changes."

Some of those structural changes involve making registration of young voters a continuous rather than episodic effort, as the Oregon Bus Project is currently doing. Others are more strategic, tackling meaty issues like payday loans, on which Democrats scored a big win earlier this year.

Ultimately, Looper says, Democrats will have to recapture voters by changing the political dialogue. "We must give people something to vote for, not just against," he says. "When we make it clear that progressives are about holding both government and big corporations accountable, and standing up for economic fairness for all Oregonians, we win."

Nashif says that won't be enough. He argues that Oregon Democrats have moved too far to the left of the electorate and that their future lies in a downward trend whose slope Looper knows better than anybody.

"The advantage they're holding onto is razor-thin," Nashif says. "And history in this state shows, once you lose the edge, it's very difficult to get back."

NOTES:

Democrats' dominance in Oregon is a relatively recent phenomenon. For 62 of the first 86 years of the 20th century, the state had a Republican governor. From 1878 until 1985, every Oregon secretary of state was a Republican.

Oregon Democrats enjoyed their greatest numerical advantage over Republicans in the mid-'70s after the Vietnam War ended and President Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace.

The greatest growth in registration of nonaffiliated voters in Oregon came in just prior to independent Ross Perot's presidential bid in 1992. The number of independents more than doubled to just over 322,000 for that race.

Plenty of people are unaware of Oregon's changing hue. In the July/August edition of the Atlantic Monthly, political commentator Ryan Sager wrote, "The Pacific Coast states are blue and...likely to stay solidly blue for the foreseeable future."

In the 2006 election cycle, groups where progressives congregate are running voter registration campaigns. Among them: the Oregon Bus Project (www.busproject.org), Our Oregon (www.ouroregon.org) and Oregon NARAL (www.prochoiceoregon.org).

The Democratic edge over republicans is going, going... (see graph @ www.wweek.com/media/7763-1.gif)

Democrats, Republicans and Others (See graph @ www.wweek.com/media/7763-2.gif)

Oregon is Changing (See graph @ www.wweek.com/media/7763-3.gif)