William Paine Lord
Encyclopedia
William Paine Lord was a Republican politician who served as the ninth Governor of Oregon
from 1895 to 1899. The Delaware
native previously served as the 27th associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court
, including three times as the Chief Justice of that court. After serving as governor he was appointed as an ambassador to Argentina
in South America and later helped to codify Oregon
’s laws.
, Lord was partially deaf, and had limited speaking ability. He received his primary education at a Quaker school and through private tutoring. He subsequently studied law at Fairfield College, graduating in 1860. Before he could continue further into his studies, Lord volunteered for military service in the American Civil War
, advancing to the rank of Major in the 1st Delaware Cavalry in the Union Army of the Potomac
.
Once the war ended, Lord continued in law school at Albany College
in New York, graduating there in 1866. He then returned to the military for a second time, re-enlisting at the rank of lieutenant. His duties would include postings at Alcatraz in San Francisco
and Fort Steilacoom
near Tacoma, Washington
. When the United States took formal possession of Alaska
in 1867, Lt. Lord was sent to Sitka. In 1868, Lord resigned from the army in order to set up a law practice in Salem, Oregon
.
. Lord served on the court from 1880 until 1894. He was a popular justice and had a reputation of being the most competent Jurist
in state history, serving out his last term as Chief Justice
.
He accepted the Republican nomination for the 1894 Governor's Election, stepping down from the court after his gubernatorial election victory.
, Lord's appointee. In 1895, the University of Oregon
conferred an honorary doctorate of laws degree on the governor.
He promoted ending the corrupt land speculation practices of the time by creating the State Land Board, headed by an official State Land Agent. The present land-use system protecting Oregon's wildlife and fisheries would evolve from this early agency.
The 1897 House failed to organize
, caught up on a dispute over the reelection of U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell
.
Lord also called for a constitutional amendment to the Oregon Constitution
allowing the Governor a line item veto. While nothing came of this during his term of office, later governors would support Lord's proposal. The line item veto was finally approved in 1916.
Lord lost his bid for a second term, in the closely fought 1899 primary election campaign against fellow Republican Theodore T. Geer.
) to Argentina by the Mc Kinley Administration
. He served in that capacity until 1902, after which he returned to Oregon.
In 1902, William Paine Lord was appointed as Code Commissioner by the Supreme Court of Oregon. In this position, which he held until 1910, he examined and annotated all existing Oregon Statute Laws, compiling them into three volumex, Lord's Oregon Laws officially the Oregon Statute Code of 1909.
In 1910 Lord retired to San Francisco, where he would die on February 17, 1911. His body was returned to Oregon where it is interred in Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum
in Salem.
William Paine Lord (July 1, 1838 – February 17, 1911), was a Republican politician who served as the ninth Governor of Oregon
from 1895 to 1899. The Delaware
native previously served as the 27th associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court
, including three times as the Chief Justice of that court. After serving as governor he was appointed as an ambassador to Argentina
in South America and later helped to codify Oregon
’s laws.
, Lord was partially deaf, and had limited speaking ability. He received his primary education at a Quaker school and through private tutoring. He subsequently studied law at Fairfield College, graduating in 1860. Before he could continue further into his studies, Lord volunteered for military service in the American Civil War
, advancing to the rank of Major in the 1st Delaware Cavalry in the Union Army of the Potomac
.
Once the war ended, Lord continued in law school at Albany College
in New York, graduating there in 1866. He then returned to the military for a second time, re-enlisting at the rank of lieutenant. His duties would include postings at Alcatraz in San Francisco
and Fort Steilacoom
near Tacoma, Washington
. When the United States took formal possession of Alaska
in 1867, Lt. Lord was sent to Sitka. In 1868, Lord resigned from the army in order to set up a law practice in Salem, Oregon
.
. Lord served on the court from 1880 until 1894. He was a popular justice and had a reputation of being the most competent Jurist
in state history, serving out his last term as Chief Justice
.
He accepted the Republican nomination for the 1894 Governor's Election, stepping down from the court after his gubernatorial election victory.
, Lord's appointee. In 1895, the University of Oregon
conferred an honorary doctorate of laws degree on the governor.
He promoted ending the corrupt land speculation practices of the time by creating the State Land Board, headed by an official State Land Agent. The present land-use system protecting Oregon's wildlife and fisheries would evolve from this early agency.
The 1897 House failed to organize
, caught up on a dispute over the reelection of U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell
.
Lord also called for a constitutional amendment to the Oregon Constitution
allowing the Governor a line item veto. While nothing came of this during his term of office, later governors would support Lord's proposal. The line item veto was finally approved in 1916.
Lord lost his bid for a second term, in the closely fought 1899 primary election campaign against fellow Republican Theodore T. Geer.
) to Argentina by the Mc Kinley Administration
. He served in that capacity until 1902, after which he returned to Oregon.
In 1902, William Paine Lord was appointed as Code Commissioner by the Supreme Court of Oregon. In this position, which he held until 1910, he examined and annotated all existing Oregon Statute Laws, compiling them into three volumex, Lord's Oregon Laws officially the Oregon Statute Code of 1909.
In 1910 Lord retired to San Francisco, where he would die on February 17, 1911. His body was returned to Oregon where it is interred in Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum
in Salem.
William Paine Lord (July 1, 1838 – February 17, 1911), was a Republican politician who served as the ninth Governor of Oregon
from 1895 to 1899. The Delaware
native previously served as the 27th associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court
, including three times as the Chief Justice of that court. After serving as governor he was appointed as an ambassador to Argentina
in South America and later helped to codify Oregon
’s laws.
, Lord was partially deaf, and had limited speaking ability. He received his primary education at a Quaker school and through private tutoring. He subsequently studied law at Fairfield College, graduating in 1860. Before he could continue further into his studies, Lord volunteered for military service in the American Civil War
, advancing to the rank of Major in the 1st Delaware Cavalry in the Union Army of the Potomac
.
Once the war ended, Lord continued in law school at Albany College
in New York, graduating there in 1866. He then returned to the military for a second time, re-enlisting at the rank of lieutenant. His duties would include postings at Alcatraz in San Francisco
and Fort Steilacoom
near Tacoma, Washington
. When the United States took formal possession of Alaska
in 1867, Lt. Lord was sent to Sitka. In 1868, Lord resigned from the army in order to set up a law practice in Salem, Oregon
.
. Lord served on the court from 1880 until 1894. He was a popular justice and had a reputation of being the most competent Jurist
in state history, serving out his last term as Chief Justice
.
He accepted the Republican nomination for the 1894 Governor's Election, stepping down from the court after his gubernatorial election victory.
, Lord's appointee. In 1895, the University of Oregon
conferred an honorary doctorate of laws degree on the governor.
He promoted ending the corrupt land speculation practices of the time by creating the State Land Board, headed by an official State Land Agent. The present land-use system protecting Oregon's wildlife and fisheries would evolve from this early agency.
The 1897 House failed to organize
, caught up on a dispute over the reelection of U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell
.
Lord also called for a constitutional amendment to the Oregon Constitution
allowing the Governor a line item veto. While nothing came of this during his term of office, later governors would support Lord's proposal. The line item veto was finally approved in 1916.
Lord lost his bid for a second term, in the closely fought 1899 primary election campaign against fellow Republican Theodore T. Geer.
) to Argentina by the Mc Kinley Administration
. He served in that capacity until 1902, after which he returned to Oregon.
In 1902, William Paine Lord was appointed as Code Commissioner by the Supreme Court of Oregon. In this position, which he held until 1910, he examined and annotated all existing Oregon Statute Laws, compiling them into three volumex, Lord's Oregon Laws officially the Oregon Statute Code of 1909.
In 1910 Lord retired to San Francisco, where he would die on February 17, 1911. His body was returned to Oregon where it is interred in Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum
in Salem.
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
from 1895 to 1899. The Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
native previously served as the 27th associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
, including three times as the Chief Justice of that court. After serving as governor he was appointed as an ambassador to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in South America and later helped to codify 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...
’s laws.
Early life
Born to Edward and Elizabeth (Paine) Lord in Dover, DelawareDover, Delaware
The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...
, Lord was partially deaf, and had limited speaking ability. He received his primary education at a Quaker school and through private tutoring. He subsequently studied law at Fairfield College, graduating in 1860. Before he could continue further into his studies, Lord volunteered for military service in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, advancing to the rank of Major in the 1st Delaware Cavalry in the Union Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
.
Once the war ended, Lord continued in law school at Albany College
Albany Law School
Albany Law School is an ABA accredited law school based in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 by Amos Dean , Amasa Parker, Ira Harris and others....
in New York, graduating there in 1866. He then returned to the military for a second time, re-enlisting at the rank of lieutenant. His duties would include postings at Alcatraz in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and Fort Steilacoom
Fort Steilacoom
For the adjacent park, see Fort Steilacoom ParkFort Steilacoom was founded by the U.S. Army in 1849 near Lake Steilacoom. It was among the first military fortifications built by the U.S. north of the Columbia River in what was to become Washington...
near Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
. When the United States took formal possession of Alaska
Alaska purchase
The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of the Alaska territory by the United States from Russia in 1867 by a treaty ratified by the Senate. The purchase, made at the initiative of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, gained of new United States territory...
in 1867, Lt. Lord was sent to Sitka. In 1868, Lord resigned from the army in order to set up a law practice in 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...
.
Entry into politics
William Paine Lord soon became involved in politics, as he became Salem's City Attorney in 1870. This launched him into his first elected office: a state Senate seat in 1878. He resigned his Senate seat for a successful run as the Republican nominee for Justice of the Oregon Supreme CourtOregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
. Lord served on the court from 1880 until 1894. He was a popular justice and had a reputation of being the most competent Jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
in state history, serving out his last term as Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
.
He accepted the Republican nomination for the 1894 Governor's Election, stepping down from the court after his gubernatorial election victory.
Governorship
Governor Lord's popularity swept him into the Governor's Office. He immediately set out to support higher education, eliminate corruption from land speculators, and fueled support for the direct election of United States Senators, when the Senate refused to seat Henry W. CorbettHenry W. Corbett
Henry Winslow Corbett was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he spend much of his early life in the state of New York before moving to the Oregon Territory where he continued his business interests in retail, and later transportation and banking...
, Lord's appointee. In 1895, the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
conferred an honorary doctorate of laws degree on the governor.
He promoted ending the corrupt land speculation practices of the time by creating the State Land Board, headed by an official State Land Agent. The present land-use system protecting Oregon's wildlife and fisheries would evolve from this early agency.
The 1897 House failed to organize
19th Oregon Legislative Assembly
The 19th Oregon Legislative Assembly was scheduled to convene January 11, 1897. The Senate organized, but the House failed to do so. In the House, two factions formed, neither of which had enough members to constitute a quorum....
, caught up on a dispute over the reelection of U.S. Senator 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...
.
Lord also called for a constitutional amendment to the Oregon Constitution
Oregon Constitution
The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights. This contains most of the rights and privileges granted in the United States Bill of...
allowing the Governor a line item veto. While nothing came of this during his term of office, later governors would support Lord's proposal. The line item veto was finally approved in 1916.
Lord lost his bid for a second term, in the closely fought 1899 primary election campaign against fellow Republican Theodore T. Geer.
Later life
Shortly after leaving the Governor's Office, Lord was appointed the U.S. Minister (AmbassadorAmbassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
) to Argentina by the Mc Kinley Administration
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
. He served in that capacity until 1902, after which he returned to Oregon.
In 1902, William Paine Lord was appointed as Code Commissioner by the Supreme Court of Oregon. In this position, which he held until 1910, he examined and annotated all existing Oregon Statute Laws, compiling them into three volumex, Lord's Oregon Laws officially the Oregon Statute Code of 1909.
In 1910 Lord retired to San Francisco, where he would die on February 17, 1911. His body was returned to Oregon where it is interred in Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum
City View Cemetery
City View Cemetery is a privately owned cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States that was established in 1893. Its Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum, opened in 1914, contains the remains of seven Governors of Oregon.-History:...
in Salem.
External links
- Oregon Governor William Lord from Oregon Magazine
- Findagrave memorial
- Oregon State Archives: Lord Administration-Photo, bio, records, and some public speeches of Governor Lord
William Paine Lord (July 1, 1838 – February 17, 1911), was a Republican politician who served as the ninth Governor of Oregon
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
from 1895 to 1899. The Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
native previously served as the 27th associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
, including three times as the Chief Justice of that court. After serving as governor he was appointed as an ambassador to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in South America and later helped to codify 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...
’s laws.
Early life
Born to Edward and Elizabeth (Paine) Lord in Dover, DelawareDover, Delaware
The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...
, Lord was partially deaf, and had limited speaking ability. He received his primary education at a Quaker school and through private tutoring. He subsequently studied law at Fairfield College, graduating in 1860. Before he could continue further into his studies, Lord volunteered for military service in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, advancing to the rank of Major in the 1st Delaware Cavalry in the Union Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
.
Once the war ended, Lord continued in law school at Albany College
Albany Law School
Albany Law School is an ABA accredited law school based in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 by Amos Dean , Amasa Parker, Ira Harris and others....
in New York, graduating there in 1866. He then returned to the military for a second time, re-enlisting at the rank of lieutenant. His duties would include postings at Alcatraz in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and Fort Steilacoom
Fort Steilacoom
For the adjacent park, see Fort Steilacoom ParkFort Steilacoom was founded by the U.S. Army in 1849 near Lake Steilacoom. It was among the first military fortifications built by the U.S. north of the Columbia River in what was to become Washington...
near Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
. When the United States took formal possession of Alaska
Alaska purchase
The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of the Alaska territory by the United States from Russia in 1867 by a treaty ratified by the Senate. The purchase, made at the initiative of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, gained of new United States territory...
in 1867, Lt. Lord was sent to Sitka. In 1868, Lord resigned from the army in order to set up a law practice in 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...
.
Entry into politics
William Paine Lord soon became involved in politics, as he became Salem's City Attorney in 1870. This launched him into his first elected office: a state Senate seat in 1878. He resigned his Senate seat for a successful run as the Republican nominee for Justice of the Oregon Supreme CourtOregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
. Lord served on the court from 1880 until 1894. He was a popular justice and had a reputation of being the most competent Jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
in state history, serving out his last term as Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
.
He accepted the Republican nomination for the 1894 Governor's Election, stepping down from the court after his gubernatorial election victory.
Governorship
Governor Lord's popularity swept him into the Governor's Office. He immediately set out to support higher education, eliminate corruption from land speculators, and fueled support for the direct election of United States Senators, when the Senate refused to seat Henry W. CorbettHenry W. Corbett
Henry Winslow Corbett was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he spend much of his early life in the state of New York before moving to the Oregon Territory where he continued his business interests in retail, and later transportation and banking...
, Lord's appointee. In 1895, the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
conferred an honorary doctorate of laws degree on the governor.
He promoted ending the corrupt land speculation practices of the time by creating the State Land Board, headed by an official State Land Agent. The present land-use system protecting Oregon's wildlife and fisheries would evolve from this early agency.
The 1897 House failed to organize
19th Oregon Legislative Assembly
The 19th Oregon Legislative Assembly was scheduled to convene January 11, 1897. The Senate organized, but the House failed to do so. In the House, two factions formed, neither of which had enough members to constitute a quorum....
, caught up on a dispute over the reelection of U.S. Senator 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...
.
Lord also called for a constitutional amendment to the Oregon Constitution
Oregon Constitution
The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights. This contains most of the rights and privileges granted in the United States Bill of...
allowing the Governor a line item veto. While nothing came of this during his term of office, later governors would support Lord's proposal. The line item veto was finally approved in 1916.
Lord lost his bid for a second term, in the closely fought 1899 primary election campaign against fellow Republican Theodore T. Geer.
Later life
Shortly after leaving the Governor's Office, Lord was appointed the U.S. Minister (AmbassadorAmbassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
) to Argentina by the Mc Kinley Administration
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
. He served in that capacity until 1902, after which he returned to Oregon.
In 1902, William Paine Lord was appointed as Code Commissioner by the Supreme Court of Oregon. In this position, which he held until 1910, he examined and annotated all existing Oregon Statute Laws, compiling them into three volumex, Lord's Oregon Laws officially the Oregon Statute Code of 1909.
In 1910 Lord retired to San Francisco, where he would die on February 17, 1911. His body was returned to Oregon where it is interred in Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum
City View Cemetery
City View Cemetery is a privately owned cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States that was established in 1893. Its Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum, opened in 1914, contains the remains of seven Governors of Oregon.-History:...
in Salem.
External links
- Oregon Governor William Lord from Oregon Magazine
- Findagrave memorial
- Oregon State Archives: Lord Administration-Photo, bio, records, and some public speeches of Governor Lord
William Paine Lord (July 1, 1838 – February 17, 1911), was a Republican politician who served as the ninth Governor of Oregon
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
from 1895 to 1899. The Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
native previously served as the 27th associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
, including three times as the Chief Justice of that court. After serving as governor he was appointed as an ambassador to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in South America and later helped to codify 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...
’s laws.
Early life
Born to Edward and Elizabeth (Paine) Lord in Dover, DelawareDover, Delaware
The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...
, Lord was partially deaf, and had limited speaking ability. He received his primary education at a Quaker school and through private tutoring. He subsequently studied law at Fairfield College, graduating in 1860. Before he could continue further into his studies, Lord volunteered for military service in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, advancing to the rank of Major in the 1st Delaware Cavalry in the Union Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
.
Once the war ended, Lord continued in law school at Albany College
Albany Law School
Albany Law School is an ABA accredited law school based in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 by Amos Dean , Amasa Parker, Ira Harris and others....
in New York, graduating there in 1866. He then returned to the military for a second time, re-enlisting at the rank of lieutenant. His duties would include postings at Alcatraz in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and Fort Steilacoom
Fort Steilacoom
For the adjacent park, see Fort Steilacoom ParkFort Steilacoom was founded by the U.S. Army in 1849 near Lake Steilacoom. It was among the first military fortifications built by the U.S. north of the Columbia River in what was to become Washington...
near Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
. When the United States took formal possession of Alaska
Alaska purchase
The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of the Alaska territory by the United States from Russia in 1867 by a treaty ratified by the Senate. The purchase, made at the initiative of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, gained of new United States territory...
in 1867, Lt. Lord was sent to Sitka. In 1868, Lord resigned from the army in order to set up a law practice in 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...
.
Entry into politics
William Paine Lord soon became involved in politics, as he became Salem's City Attorney in 1870. This launched him into his first elected office: a state Senate seat in 1878. He resigned his Senate seat for a successful run as the Republican nominee for Justice of the Oregon Supreme CourtOregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
. Lord served on the court from 1880 until 1894. He was a popular justice and had a reputation of being the most competent Jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
in state history, serving out his last term as Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
.
He accepted the Republican nomination for the 1894 Governor's Election, stepping down from the court after his gubernatorial election victory.
Governorship
Governor Lord's popularity swept him into the Governor's Office. He immediately set out to support higher education, eliminate corruption from land speculators, and fueled support for the direct election of United States Senators, when the Senate refused to seat Henry W. CorbettHenry W. Corbett
Henry Winslow Corbett was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he spend much of his early life in the state of New York before moving to the Oregon Territory where he continued his business interests in retail, and later transportation and banking...
, Lord's appointee. In 1895, the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
conferred an honorary doctorate of laws degree on the governor.
He promoted ending the corrupt land speculation practices of the time by creating the State Land Board, headed by an official State Land Agent. The present land-use system protecting Oregon's wildlife and fisheries would evolve from this early agency.
The 1897 House failed to organize
19th Oregon Legislative Assembly
The 19th Oregon Legislative Assembly was scheduled to convene January 11, 1897. The Senate organized, but the House failed to do so. In the House, two factions formed, neither of which had enough members to constitute a quorum....
, caught up on a dispute over the reelection of U.S. Senator 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...
.
Lord also called for a constitutional amendment to the Oregon Constitution
Oregon Constitution
The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights. This contains most of the rights and privileges granted in the United States Bill of...
allowing the Governor a line item veto. While nothing came of this during his term of office, later governors would support Lord's proposal. The line item veto was finally approved in 1916.
Lord lost his bid for a second term, in the closely fought 1899 primary election campaign against fellow Republican Theodore T. Geer.
Later life
Shortly after leaving the Governor's Office, Lord was appointed the U.S. Minister (AmbassadorAmbassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
) to Argentina by the Mc Kinley Administration
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
. He served in that capacity until 1902, after which he returned to Oregon.
In 1902, William Paine Lord was appointed as Code Commissioner by the Supreme Court of Oregon. In this position, which he held until 1910, he examined and annotated all existing Oregon Statute Laws, compiling them into three volumex, Lord's Oregon Laws officially the Oregon Statute Code of 1909.
In 1910 Lord retired to San Francisco, where he would die on February 17, 1911. His body was returned to Oregon where it is interred in Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum
City View Cemetery
City View Cemetery is a privately owned cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States that was established in 1893. Its Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum, opened in 1914, contains the remains of seven Governors of Oregon.-History:...
in Salem.
External links
- Oregon Governor William Lord from Oregon Magazine
- Findagrave memorial
- Oregon State Archives: Lord Administration-Photo, bio, records, and some public speeches of Governor Lord