William Paine Lord (July 20, 1838February 17, 1911) was an American

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician who served as the 9th governor of Oregon from 1895 to 1899. The

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native previously served as the 27th justice of the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) 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.Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

in South America and later helped to codify

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

's laws.

Early life

Born to Edward and Elizabeth (Paine) Lord on July 20, 1838 in

Dover, Delaware Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part o ...

, Lord was partially deaf, and had limited speaking ability. He received his primary education at a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

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 The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, advancing to the rank of Major in the 1st Delaware Cavalry in the Union

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confede ...

. Once the war ended, Lord continued in law school at

Albany College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

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

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and Fort Steilacoom near

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

. When the United States took formal possession of Alaska in 1867, Lt. Lord was sent to

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

. In 1868, Lord resigned from the army in order to set up a law practice in

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 bet ...

Entry into politics

William Paine Lord soon became involved in politics, as he became Salem's City Attorney in 1870. His first elected office was 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 Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) 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.jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

in state history, serving out his last term as Chief Justice. He accepted the Republican nomination for the 1894 Oregon governor's race, stepping down from the court after his gubernatorial election victory.

Governorship

William Lord was popular and he was easily elected to 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 Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

s, when the Senate refused to seat

Henry W. Corbett Henry Winslow Corbett (February 18, 1827March 31, 1903) was an American businessman, politician, civic benefactor, and philanthropist in the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he spent his early life in the East and New York (state), ...

, Lord's appointee. In 1895, the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

conferred an honorary doctorate of laws degree on the governor. He promoted ending the corrupt

land speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many ...

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 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.

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 1898 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 (

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

) to Argentina by the McKinley 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 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 eight governors of Oregon. History The cemetery was establis ...

in Salem.

References

External links

Oregon State Library

Oregon State Archive bio
* Klooster, Karl. ''Round the Roses II: More Past Portland Perspectives'', p. 111, 1992
Findagrave memorial

Oregon State Archives: Lord Administration
Photo, bio, records, and some public speeches of Governor Lord {{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, William Paine 1838 births 1911 deaths Republican Party governors of Oregon Republican Party Oregon state senators Albany Law School alumni People of Oregon in the American Civil War Politicians from Salem, Oregon Chief Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina Union Army officers People from Dover, Delaware Burials at City View Cemetery Lawyers from Salem, Oregon Oregon city attorneys 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American diplomats Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court