Andrew J. Thayer

Andrew J. Thayer

Andrew Jackson Thayer (born November 27, 1818 in Lima , New York , †  April 28, 1873 in Corvallis , Oregon ) was an American lawyer and politician . In 1861 he represented the state of Oregon in the US House of Representatives .

Early years

Andrew Thayer was the older brother of William Wallace Thayer , who served as Governor of Oregon between 1878 and 1882 . Andrew attended public schools in his home country. After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1849, he began his new profession in Lima, his birthplace, together with his brother William. In 1853 he moved west and settled in Benton County in what was then the Oregon Territory . There he worked both as a lawyer and in agriculture.

Controversial congressional elections

On March 2, 1859, Thayer was appointed Attorney General for Oregon by US President James Buchanan to succeed William H. Farrar . He held this office for six months. Thayer was a member of the Democratic Party . In November 1860 he was elected to the US House of Representatives. This was controversial from the start because had taken place in June of the same year in Oregon general elections in which George K. Shiel in the Congress had been elected. In the meantime, the date for the congressional elections in Oregon had been rescheduled to November with immediate effect, without any statutory regulations regarding the election that had already been held. Then in November Andrew Thayer won. Thus Oregon had two elected congressmen for only one seat.

Andrew Thayer took his seat in the House of Representatives on March 4, 1861, while George Shiel sued because he himself had been validly elected to that office. On July 30, the Committee on Elections came to the conclusion that Shiel was the rightful Congressman for Oregon. Thayer then had to vacate his seat.

Another résumé

After returning to Oregon, Andrew Thayer worked again as a lawyer with his brother William. Between 1862 and 1864 he was a district attorney in the Second Jurisdiction of Oregon. In 1870 he was appointed as a judge on the Oregon Supreme Court . At the same time he was a district judge in the second legal district. He held these offices until his death in 1873.

Web links

• Andrew J. Thayer in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Andrew J. Thayer in the database of Find a Grave (English)