Alonzo Gesner (March 2, 1842 – March 6, 1912) was an American land surveyor, Indian agent, and politician in the state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. A native of

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, he immigrated as a boy to the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

with his family where he became a deputy surveyor for the United States government. A Republican, he also was appointed as an Indian agent to the Warm Springs Reservation and later was a member of the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the State legislature (United States), statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Ther ...

Early life

Alonzo Gesner was born in Coles County, Illinois, to Reuben A. Gesner and his wife Mary V. Bailey on March 2, 1842.Glenn, William
“Alonzo Gesner”
''The Oregon Surveyor'', April 1990. Retrieved on January 12, 2009. His father was a native New Yorker who moved to Illinois in 1834 where he married Bailey of Kentucky. The family took the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

in 1845 to the unorganized Oregon Country and settled in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

. Gesner's parents took up a land claim in the Champoeg District (now Marion County) southwest of the now city of Salem. Once Oregon became a U.S. territory in 1848, Congress passed the Donation Land Claim Act in 1850, and the Gesners were able to secure their claim to their farm. The younger Gesner was educated at

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

in Salem before a brief teaching career. He taught in

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

in 1865 where he was the first teacher in a new school and the first teacher for that school district.

Career

Gesner left teaching after a single year to pursue manual labor and spent a year chopping firewood to enable him to buy a farm near his parents' property. In 1872, he started working in the land surveying field, working for Jasper Wilkins, a deputy surveyor for the federal government. The following year he went into the business himself, receiving a contract to survey land in the McKenzie River Valley in the southern portion of the Willamette Valley. Gesner continued in the business until 1908, in the process surveying public lands primarily in western Oregon and some in what became the state of Washington. Gesner married Rhoda E. Neal on October 14, 1875. In 1882, he and Wilkins bought the '' Oregon Statesman'' newspaper, though Gesner sold-out his share eight months later.''Daily Oregon Statesman'', March 7, 1912, 1:6 & 4:5.

Public service

In 1872, when he started surveying land he was elected as Marion County's surveyor. Gesner won election again and served from 1876 to 1878 as well. On March 2, 1884, he became the

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...

to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon after accepting an appointment from U.S. President Chester A. Arthur. The next year he left the position after 18 months as a new administration was in power in Washington, DC. He was also a member of Oregon's militia for nine years, including nearly three years as a captain. Gesner was elected as the surveyor of the city of Salem in 1889 and served until 1891. In 1894, he was elected to the

as a Republican. Serving a four-year term, he represented District 4 that included both Clackamas and Marion counties. Gesner was in both the 1895 and 1897 sessions of the legislature, with the 1897 session fruitless as the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

failed to organize.

Later years and family

Gesner had three children with his wife Rhoda; Leroy, Rhoda and Stella. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Masonic Order, and the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

. Both a brother and nephew also worked as surveyors. Alonzo Gesner died in Salem on March 6, 1912, at the age of 70 and was buried at

Salem Pioneer Cemetery Salem Pioneer Cemetery (also known as the Oddfellows, I.O.O.F. Cemetery or Oddfellows Cemetery) is a cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States. It has been listed as a National Register of Historic Places since 2013, under the name Odd Fellows Ru ...

.Alonzo Gesner.
Salem Pioneer Cemetery. Retrieved on January 14, 2009.

References

External links

Bill for Relief of Alonzo Gesner
– Oregon Historical Quarterly

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gesner, Alonzo People from Coles County, Illinois Politicians from Salem, Oregon Republican Party Oregon state senators Willamette University alumni Burials at Salem Pioneer Cemetery 1842 births 1912 deaths American surveyors Members of the Sons of the American Revolution 19th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly