John Whiteaker

John Whiteaker

John Whiteaker (born May 4, 1820 in Dearborn County , Indiana , † October 2, 1902 in Eugene , Oregon ) was an American politician and from 1859 to 1862 the first governor of the state of Oregon.

Early Years and Rise in Oregon

John Whiteaker only attended a regular school for a very short time. He taught himself his school knowledge through self-study. During the war with Mexico he volunteered, but his unit was not used. He first worked as a carpenter and joiner before he followed the call of gold during the California gold rush and moved to the west coast. There he was so successful that he was able to travel to Oregon in 1852. His family also came to this then territory via the Oregon Trail .

In Lane County , he settled down as a farmer. There he became a member of the Democratic Party . In 1855 he was elected judge at the probate court there. In 1857 he also became a member of the territorial legislature. After a state constitution was passed in the same year, a faction in his party elected him the first governor of the new US state. His election was only made against a competitor from his own party because the Republican candidate had given up before the election.

Governor of Oregon

John Whiteaker was introduced to his new office on July 8, 1858, but was only able to take up office on February 14, 1859 when Oregon was officially admitted to the American Federation. Technically, Oregon had two governors in the transition period, with Territorial Governor George Law Curry remaining in office until February 14, 1859. In practice, however, Whiteaker did not take over his new office until February 1859. As governor, he campaigned for Oregon to build its own industry. Another problem during his tenure was the fair distribution of land. There were heated debates about this with the various applicants.

Since Whiteaker had sided with the southern states on the national question of slavery , he ran into problems in Oregon, which was opposed to this institution by a large majority. Nevertheless, he was able to end his term of office on September 10, 1862.

Another résumé

After the end of his governorship, Whiteaker remained politically active. He was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives between 1866 and 1868 and again in 1870 . At times he was even President of the House. He then chaired a commission to investigate a possible bypassing the Willamette River falls. Between 1876 and 1879 Whiteaker was a member of the State Senate . Here, too, he temporarily served as President of the Chamber. Between 1879 and 1881 he represented his state in the US House of Representatives in Washington . After he missed re-election to Congress , he was put in charge of the federal treasury in Oregon ( Collector on Internal Revenue ). He held this office between 1885 and 1890. He then retired to Eugene, where he spent his old age. He died there in 1902. He was married to Nancy Jane Hargrave, with whom he had six children.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 4, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

• John Whiteaker in the National Governors Association (English)
• John Whiteaker in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John Whiteaker in the database of Find a Grave (English)