Joseph N. Dolph
Encyclopedia
Joseph Norton Dolph was an American
politician and attorney in the state of Oregon
. A native of the state of New York
, he immigrated to Oregon over the Oregon Trail
and settled in Portland
where he became the state's federal district attorney
. A Republican, he spent ten years in the Oregon State Senate
before serving in the United States Senate
from 1883 to 1895.
, on October 19, 1835. The son of Elizabeth W. and Chester V. Dolph, his brother was Cyrus A. Dolph
and his nephew was Frederick W. Mulkey
. Dolph earned his education at local public and private schools and then attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary
in Lima
. He studied law and was admitted to practice law after passing the bar
in 1861.
Dolph set up practice in Schuyler County, New York
, and also taught school. He read about the Western United States and decided to move west. In 1862, he and his brother Cyrus enlisted in the Oregon Escort, which protected settlers traveling to Oregon from Native Americans
. After being honorably discharged at Fort Walla Walla
in Washington Territory
, Dolph settled in Portland
and resumed the practice of law. He became the city's attorney, serving from 1864 to 1865, and then Oregon's United States district attorney from 1865 to 1868. In 1864, he married Augusta E. Mulkey, and the couple had six children.
as a Republican representing Multnomah County. He returned to the legislature in 1872, and also served during the 1874 session, both times in the state senate. He gave a speech in McMinnville, Oregon
, at McMinnville College (now Linfield College
) on May 31, 1882 at the laying of the cornerstone for the first building on campus, which is known today as Pioneer Hall
.
In 1882, he was elected to the United States Senate
by the Oregon Legislative Assembly
in a contest that drew national attention. Dolph was not even considered a candidate when deliberations began at the state capital, but state Republican leaders elected him to the six-year term. He became the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Coast Defenses
in the Forty-ninth through Fifty-second Congresses and the United States Senate Committee on Public Lands in the Fifty-second Congress. Dolph was re-elected in 1888 to a second six-year term, but did not win re-election in 1894 and in total he served in the Senate from March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1895.
, John H. Mitchell
, Rufus Mallory
, Charles B. Bellinger
, and even his brother Cyrus. He and his firms represented a variety of clients that included transportation magnates Ben Holladay
and Henry Villard
, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company
, and the Oregon and California Railroad
among others. Joseph Norton Dolph died on March 10, 1897, at the age of 61 in Portland. Dolph was interred there in River View Cemetery
. The former town of Dolph
, in Tillamook County
in the Northern Oregon Coast Range
was named after the Senator.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician and attorney in the state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. A native of the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, he immigrated to Oregon over the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
and settled in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
where he became the state's federal district attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
. A Republican, he spent ten years in the Oregon State Senate
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...
before serving in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from 1883 to 1895.
Early life
Joseph Dolph was born in Dolphsburg, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, on October 19, 1835. The son of Elizabeth W. and Chester V. Dolph, his brother was Cyrus A. Dolph
Cyrus A. Dolph
Cyrus Abda Dolph was a businessman in Portland, Oregon, United States. He was a promoter and counselor of various financial and railway enterprises of the Pacific Northwest of the United States....
and his nephew was Frederick W. Mulkey
Frederick W. Mulkey
Frederick William Mulkey was an American attorney and politician from the state of Oregon. A native of Portland, he began his political career on the Portland City Council, serving one year as its president. A Republican, he twice served as a United States Senator from Oregon, filling terms...
. Dolph earned his education at local public and private schools and then attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary
The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary was the name of two institutions located on the same site in Lima, New York.The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary was founded in 1831 by the Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The plan for its establishment dates to 1829 when the Conference...
in Lima
Lima, New York
Lima, New York refers to two locations south of the City of Rochester, New York in Livingston County, New York:*Lima , New York*Lima , New YorkNote that the names of both places are pronounced like the bean, not like the capital of Peru....
. He studied law and was admitted to practice law after passing the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
in 1861.
Dolph set up practice in Schuyler County, New York
Schuyler County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 19,224 people, 7,374 households, and 5,191 families residing in the county. The population density was 58 people per square mile . There were 9,181 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
, and also taught school. He read about the Western United States and decided to move west. In 1862, he and his brother Cyrus enlisted in the Oregon Escort, which protected settlers traveling to Oregon from Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. After being honorably discharged at Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla is a fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. It was established in 1858. Today, the complex contains a park, a museum, and a hospital.Fort Walla Walla should be distinguished from Fort Nez Percés or Old Fort Walla Walla ....
in Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
, Dolph settled in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
and resumed the practice of law. He became the city's attorney, serving from 1864 to 1865, and then Oregon's United States district attorney from 1865 to 1868. In 1864, he married Augusta E. Mulkey, and the couple had six children.
Political career
In 1866, Dolph was elected to the Oregon State SenateOregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...
as a Republican representing Multnomah County. He returned to the legislature in 1872, and also served during the 1874 session, both times in the state senate. He gave a speech in McMinnville, Oregon
McMinnville, Oregon
McMinnville is the county seat and largest city of Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. According to Oregon Geographic Names, it was named by its founder, William T. Newby , an early immigrant on the Oregon Trail, for his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee...
, at McMinnville College (now Linfield College
Linfield College
Linfield College is an American private institution of higher learning located in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. As a four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college with a campus in Portland, Oregon, it also has an adult degree program located in eight communities throughout the...
) on May 31, 1882 at the laying of the cornerstone for the first building on campus, which is known today as Pioneer Hall
Pioneer Hall (Oregon)
Pioneer Hall is the oldest building at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1883, the four-story Italianate structure formerly housed the entire school. Constructed of red bricks and topped with a belfry, the structure was added to the National Register of Historic...
.
In 1882, he was elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
by the Oregon Legislative Assembly
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
in a contest that drew national attention. Dolph was not even considered a candidate when deliberations began at the state capital, but state Republican leaders elected him to the six-year term. He became the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Coast Defenses
United States Senate Committee on Coast Defenses
The United States Senate Committee on Coast Defenses was created in 1885 to deal with the country's coastal defenses. It was abolished in 1921.-Chairmen of the Committee on Coast Defenses, 1885-1921:*Joseph Dolph 1885-1891...
in the Forty-ninth through Fifty-second Congresses and the United States Senate Committee on Public Lands in the Fifty-second Congress. Dolph was re-elected in 1888 to a second six-year term, but did not win re-election in 1894 and in total he served in the Senate from March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1895.
Later years
Upon leaving the Senate, he moved back to Portland where he returned to the practice of law, and over the years had been partners with many high profile Portland lawyers including Joseph SimonJoseph Simon
Joseph Simon was a German-born politician and attorney in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was born in Bechtheim, Germany, and his family immigrated to the United States when he was one year old, settling in Portland, Oregon. A Republican, Simon served on the city council before election to the Oregon...
, John H. Mitchell
John H. Mitchell
John Hipple Mitchell, also known as John Mitchell Hipple, John H. Mitchell, or J. H. Mitchell was a controversial American lawyer and politician, who served as a Republican United States Senator from Oregon on three occasions between 1872 and 1905...
, Rufus Mallory
Rufus Mallory
Rufus Mallory was an American educator, lawyer, and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of New York, he was a teacher in Iowa before moving to Oregon where he became an attorney. He was a district attorney before he served in the Oregon House of Representatives in the early 1860s. A...
, Charles B. Bellinger
Charles B. Bellinger
Charles Byron Bellinger was a federal district court judge in Portland, Oregon, United States. A native of Illinois, he also served as a state circuit court judge in Oregon, fought in the Modoc War in 1873, and was a newspaper editor...
, and even his brother Cyrus. He and his firms represented a variety of clients that included transportation magnates Ben Holladay
Ben Holladay
Benjamin "Ben" Holladay was an American transportation businessman known as the "Stagecoach King" until his routes were taken over by Wells Fargo in 1866...
and Henry Villard
Henry Villard
Henry Villard was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway....
, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company
Oregon Steam Navigation Company
The Oregon Steam Navigation Company was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen...
, and the Oregon and California Railroad
Oregon and California Railroad
The Oregon and California Railroad was formed from the Oregon Central Railroad when it was the first to operate a stretch south of Portland in 1869. This qualified the Railroad for land grants in California, whereupon the name of the railroad soon changed to Oregon & California Rail Road Company...
among others. Joseph Norton Dolph died on March 10, 1897, at the age of 61 in Portland. Dolph was interred there in River View Cemetery
River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon)
River View Cemetery in the southwest section of Portland, Oregon, United States, is a non-profit cemetery founded in 1882. It is the final resting place of many prominent and notable citizens of Oregon, including many governors and United States Senators...
. The former town of Dolph
Dolph, Oregon
Dolph is an unincorporated locale in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States, near the Yamhill County line. It is located at the junction of Oregon Route 22 and Oregon Route 130 between Grande Ronde and Hebo, on the Little Nestucca River. It is within the Siuslaw National Forest in the Northern...
, in Tillamook County
Tillamook County, Oregon
Tillamook County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county is named for the Tillamook, a Native American tribe who were living in the area in the early 19th century at the time of European American settlement. In 2010, the county's population was 25,250...
in the Northern Oregon Coast Range
Northern Oregon Coast Range
The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, contains peaks as high...
was named after the Senator.
External links
- Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon, 1850–1950, information on his mansion
- Image of his mansion