Delazon Smith

Delazon Smith (born October 5, 1816 in New Berlin , Chenango County , New York , † November 19, 1860 in Portland , Oregon ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party . He was one of the first two US Senators for the state of Oregon.

After graduating from Oberlin College , Ohio in 1837, Delazon Smith began law school and was subsequently inducted into the bar. He then switched to the newspaper industry. In 1838 he founded the New York Watchman in Rochester , for which he worked as an editor for two years. In the same capacity he worked for the True Jeffersonian and the Western Herald before he founded the Western Empire newspaper in Dayton in 1941 .

Smith held his first public office as special representative of the United States in Ecuador's capital Quito between 1842 and 1845. After his return, he first moved to the Iowa Territory , then later to the Oregon Territory , where he was the Oregon Democrat from 1852 on. In 1854 he was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives, where he represented Linn County . There he was the speaker of the parliamentary chamber between 1855 and 1856 .

When Oregon was about to join the United States, Smith took part as a delegate to the constitutional convention of the future state in 1857. After joining the Union as the 33rd state, he and Joseph Lane were elected as the first two US Senators. Smith took office on February 14, 1859, but left Congress after unsuccessful re-election on March 3 of the same year. He returned to Oregon, where he died the following year.

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personal data
SURNAME	Smith, Delazon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American Democratic Party politician
DATE OF BIRTH	October 5, 1816
PLACE OF BIRTH	New Berlin , Chenango County , New York
DATE OF DEATH	November 19, 1860
Place of death	Portland , Oregon