Mac McDougall, one of the major characters in my series, is an attorney who is also an investor in many early Oregon enterprises. Although his background is convenient for the plots of my novels, many real historical figures in Oregon’s history were like the fictional Mac. As I research, I am often surprised by the variety of enterprises that some historical personages engaged in on the frontier.
Many attorneys lent their education and intelligence to developing the territory while also seeking their own fortunes. I know I’ve focused on lawyers because I am one, but it is true that these men actively participated in a wide range of ventures that helped the territory evolve wilderness to statehood.
In my current work-in-progress, I needed an attorney in Albany, Oregon, to represent one of my fictional characters. I chose a real historical personage, Benjamin Hayden, to serve this role in my novel.
Like many people today, Benjamin Hayden was both an attorney and a politician. He was born in Kentucky, but lived in Illinois and Missouri before heading West. We don’t think of people being so mobile in the 19th century, but many were, as the brief summaries below will attest.
Hayden emigrated to California in 1849 as part of the Gold Rush. He returned to Missouri a year later, then in 1852 he moved with his wife to Oregon, settling in Polk County (which is where my own ancestors settled). Hayden served as an officer in the Oregon militia during the Rogue River Wars against Native Americans, then in 1856 began practicing law in Albany, Oregon. He later was elected to the Oregon Territorial Legislature, and ultimately to the Oregon House of Representatives after the territory became a state.
But Hayden was far from the only attorney who did more than practice law. Here are a few other colorful lawyers in Oregon’s history, listed in order of their arrival in Oregon:
- Peter Burnett was an early emigrant to Oregon. He was born in Tennessee and became an attorney and merchant in Missouri before becoming part of the Great Migration to Oregon in 1843. He planned the town of Linnton, Oregon, hoping it would become a major transportation center (though Portland soon eclipsed Linnton). He farmed. He was elected to Oregon’s Provisional Legislature, and drafted Oregon’s infamous “lash law” requiring Blacks to leave the territory. He also served as a judge. All this, prior to the Gold Rush. Burnett left for California in 1848, and remained there for the rest of his life, though he is remembered as a significant early leader in Oregon.
- Like Burnett, William Green T’Vault also grew up in Tennessee, where he studied and practiced law. However, after he was accused of rape and murder, he emigrated to Oregon in 1845. His criminal past unknown or ignored in the West, T’Vault became postmaster general in Oregon City, and in 1846 was elected to the Provisional Legislature. T’Vault also published Oregon’s first newspaper, the Oregon Spectator. Later, he established an express mail service between Oregon and California and explored the Cascades looking for better freight routes between these territories. He published another newspaper in Jacksonville, Oregon. He was elected to the Territorial Legislature with the support of pro-slavery and states rights Democrats, but after the Civil War his political successes ended.
- Harvey Whitefield Scott (Abigail Scott Duniway’s brother) was born in Illinois and traveled with his family to Oregon in 1852. The family was poor, but Scott taught himself enough to enter college. He later studied law, and then became the Portland Library’s first librarian. He also wrote for the Portland Oregonian and later was named editor of the paper and became a dominant voice in Oregon politics (though he and his sister Abigail disagreed vehemently about women’s suffrage). Scott ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. Senate seat. He also became a well-respected regional historian, editing the History of Portland and writing much of that volume as well.
- George H. Williams was born and raised in New York and studied law there. He was a lawyer, judge, and newspaper man in Iowa, when President Franklin Pierce named him chief justice of the Oregon Territory Supreme Court in 1853. In addition to serving as a judge, Williams was president of Willamette Woolen Company, was a trustee of Willamette University, and invested in the Oregon Printing and Publishing Company. He also shaped Oregon’s state constitution, arguing both against allowing slavery in the state and against allowing free Blacks to reside in Oregon. He was a Democrat in his early years, but became a Republican during the Civil War to support the Union. After the War, Williams served as a U.S. Senator from Oregon and later was U.S. Attorney General.
- Sylvester Pennoyer was another New York native. He attended Harvard Law School and then moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1855 to teach school. He rose to become superintendent of the Multnomah County Schools and then went into the lumber business. He also edited the Oregon Herald and practiced law. Pennoyer ran for Governor and won, with the support of Oregonians wanting to keep the Chinese out of the state. After serving as Governor, he became Mayor of Portland.
There are many other examples of lawyers whose fingers reached into wide swaths of Oregon’s evolution. They contributed their broad talents to Oregon’s growth and prosperity. Some were undoubtedly scoundrels, some had convictions we would despise today, but many were men well-suited to the frontier and its open promise.
What issues intrigue you as you read about historical figures?
Interesting and informative post. I knew of Abigail Duniway, but nothing about her brother. Had to learn more on the lash law – how cruel. Scoundrels and scandals make for intriguing reads. Thomas Jefferson opposed slavery and believed all men were created equal, yet he enslaved many people and profited from it.