Oregon Republican League: History 104 Biographies

Oregon Republican League: History 104 Biographies

Every Wednesday, the Oregon Republican League will post the biographies of important figures, in the League's/State of Oregon's history. Feel free to comment or share stories of your family's Republican affiliation.

ELLIS, William Russell, (1850 - 1915)


ELLIS, William Russell, a Representative from Oregon; born near Waveland, Montgomery County, Ind., April 23, 1850; moved with his parents to Guthrie County, Iowa, in 1855; attended the district schools and the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames; was graduated from the law department of the University of Iowa at Iowa City in 1874; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Panora, Iowa; mayor of Panora for one term; moved to Hamburg, Iowa, where he continued the practice of law, and also engaged in newspaper work; served two years as city attorney; mayor of Hamburg in 1880 and 1881; moved to Heppner, Oreg., in 1884; superintendent of schools of Morrow County in 1885 and 1886; district attorney of the seventh judicial district of Oregon 1886-1892; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third, Fifty-fourth, and Fifty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1899); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice (Fifty-fourth Congress), Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands (Fifty-fifth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1898; circuit judge of the sixth judicial district of Oregon from July 10, 1900, to July 1, 1906; moved to Pendleton in 1901 and practiced law; elected to the Sixtieth and Sixty-first Congresses (March 4, 1907-March 3, 1911); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1910; resumed the practice of law in Pendleton, Oreg.; in July 1914 moved to Portland, Oreg., where he died January 18, 1915; interment in a mausoleum in Portland Crematorium.

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000138