John P. Gaines
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the Governor of Oregon TerritoryOregon TerritoryThe Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
. For the U.S. Congressman from Tennessee, see John W. GainesJohn W. GainesJohn Wesley Gaines was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 6th congressional district of Tennessee.-Biography:...
.
John Pollard Gaines (September 22, 1795 – December 9, 1857) was a U.S. military and political figure. He was a Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
member of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, representing Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
from 1847 to 1849, and he served as Governor of the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
from 1850 to 1853, stepping down after a turbulent term in office.
Early life
Gaines was born September 22, 1795 in Augusta County, VirginiaAugusta County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 65,615 people, 24,818 households, and 18,911 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 26,738 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
, to Abner Gaines and Elizabeth Matthews. His grandfathers and great-grandfather served during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. He received an education and studied law, and volunteered in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. In 1819, Gaines married Elizabeth Kincaid from Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. He was a lawyer practicing in Boone County, Kentucky
Boone County, Kentucky
Boone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1798. The population was 118,811 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Burlington. The county is named for frontiersman Daniel Boone...
, and served as a state legislator in Kentucky during the 1820s and 1830s.
Military
Gaines volunteered and was appointed the rank of "Major" during the Mexican-American War in 1846. During the war in 1847 he was General Winfield ScottWinfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
’s aide-de-camp. He and some 80 soldiers were captured at Incarnation in January 1847. They were held captive in Mexico City until August. While a prisoner, he was elected to the 30th United States Congress from Kentucky's 10th Congressional District. He served one term and lost reelection.
Governor of Oregon Territory
At the end of his term as congressman he returned to Boone County, and in October 1849 he accepted the position of Governor of the Territory of Oregon. He was a supporter of President Zachary TaylorZachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
, who was elected in 1848. The Taylor administration rewarded Gaines by appointing him to be the Oregon territorial governor. However, Gaines was the President’s second choice, with future President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
turning down the offer. He traveled with Territorial Secretary
Oregon Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of Oregon, an elected constitutional officer within the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is first in line of succession to the Governor. The duties of office are: auditor of public accounts, chief elections officer, and administrator of public...
Edward D. Hamilton
Edward D. Hamilton
Edward D. Hamilton was an American attorney, military officer, and politician in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Virginia, he lived in Ohio before fighting in the Mexican-American War. A member of the Whig Party, he served as Secretary for the Oregon Territory in the 1850s...
aboard the sloop Falmouth to Oregon.
From the start, Gaines's tenure in office proved to be difficult. He arrived in the territory by ship, losing two of his daughters to yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
along the way in Santa Catarina Island, Brazil. Shortly after arriving in the territory, his wife died in 1851 after falling off a horse. His political life would prove to be just as turbulent.
During his tenure in June 1850 he became a member of an Indian Commission set up by the United States government to negotiate treaties with the Native American tribes west of the Cascade Mountains in the territory. This commission was created because of the Donation Land Act in 1850 allowed citizens to settle up to 640 acres (2.6 km²) and the government wanted the lands west of the Cascades for settlement and to move the tribes to Eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity, thus the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost counties in the state; in other contexts, it includes...
. However, Gaines and his fellow commissioners Alonzo A. Skinner
Alonzo A. Skinner
Alonzo A. Skinner was an American judge and Whig party politician in Oregon. He was the 16th Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court and unsuccessful candidate for the office of governor...
and Beverly S. Allen were only able to get treaties signed that allowed the tribes to remain on the west side and in the foothills of the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
. The commission ratified 19 treaties and was then disbanded in February 1851.
His tenure was marked with fierce partisanship, facing opposition from the press and the Democrat-controlled territorial legislature. Gaines unsuccessfully tried to keep the territorial capital at Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
. The governor also pushed for other Whig policies that were often at odds with popular sentiment. These unpopular positions, coupled with fierce partisanship, cemented a perception that Gaines was an Easterner, out of touch with Pacific Coast needs and attitudes.
In 1853, Gaines left office, succeeded by the Democrat Joseph Lane
Joseph Lane
Joseph Lane was an American general during the Mexican-American War and a United States Senator from Oregon.-Early life:...
, who assumed the reins of government for three days. Undeterred by the past hostilities of the Oregon electorate, he chose to stay in Oregon, remarrying and settling in a farm just outside Salem, Oregon
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
. His second marriage was to Margaret B. Wands in 1853. In 1854 he and two of his sons (Archibald & Abner) drove over 200 head of cattle from Kentucky and Arkansas across the plains to Oregon. 35 of these were pure bred Durham.
Later life
Gaines ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1855, but lost to Lane. Governor Gaines' appointment to the governorship cost him the death of several of his family: two daughters (Harriet & Florella) in 1850 in Brazil, his wife (Elizabeth) in 1851 in a fall from a horse, at which time his remaining children were sent back to relatives in the east. His daughter Matilda died in Tennessee in the spring of 1857. He died December 9, 1857 and is interred in the Old Pioneer CemeterySalem Pioneer Cemetery
Salem Pioneer Cemetery is a cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States.-Overview:...
at Salem, Oregon.
External links
- Biography from Salem (Oregon) Online History
- "Gaines" in The Political Graveyard
- Oregon State Library – Governors of Oregon Photographs- Short biography. and photograph.
- John P. Gaines at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...