Ben W. Olcott

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ben W. Olcott

Ben W. Olcott (born October 15, 1872 in Keithsburg , Illinois , †  July 21, 1952 in Portland , Oregon ) was an American politician and from 1919 to 1923 the 16th  governor of the state of Oregon.

Early years and political advancement

Ben Olcott attended Keithsburg Elementary School and then a business school in Dixon . After a stopover in Chicago , he moved to Salem , Oregon in 1891 . There he shared an apartment with the later governor Oswald West . West was a major influence on Olcott's political career. For the next 15 years, Olcott held various positions in the Northwest United States. For example, he was a farm worker, bricklayer, shoe seller, accountant, bank clerk and gold digger in Alaska . There he also took part in dog sledding races.

On his return to Oregon, his old friend Oswald West found him a job with the land administration in 1909. Then he was appointed by then Governor George Earle Chamberlain to represent Oregon in solving a bank breakdown in Portland. Although Olcott and West were in different parties, they helped each other. Olcott supported the gubernatorial campaign of West in 1911. In return, Olcott was appointed Secretary of State by the new Governor West . In 1912 and 1916 he was elected to this office. When in March 1919 Governor James Withycombe died after only two months of his second term, Olcott had to take over the office of governor as Secretary of State according to the constitution and terminate the beginning of the term.

Governor of Oregon

After taking office, he continued the expansion of the road network that had begun under his predecessor. During his tenure, aircraft were used for the early detection of forest fires for the first time. He also made sure that the forests along the highways were placed under protection. The end of the First World War, only a few months before he took office, required a conversion of industrial production to civilian needs. The returning soldiers had to be reintegrated into society and the war invalids as well as the relatives of the war dead had to be looked after. Olcott was not a friend of the Japanese immigrants and suggested that the Japanese be banned from owning any land in Oregon. On the other hand, he was also an opponent of the Ku Klux Klan, which was increasingly appearing at the time . He refused any cooperation or even support of the clan. That cost him re-election in 1922, when his opponent Walter M. Pierce was elected governor with the support of the clan.

After the end of his governorship, Olcott moved to California , where he headed the California branch of the Bank of Italy in Long Beach until 1924 . Upon returning to Oregon, he became a director of the Oregon Mutual Savings Bank in Portland. He died in July 1952. Ben Olcott was married to Lena O. Hutton, with whom he had three children.

Web links