Earl T. Newbry (April 15, 1900 – September 2, 1995) was an American businessman and politician from 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

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, he served as the twenty-fifth

Secretary of State of Oregon The secretary of state of Oregon, an elected constitutional officer within the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is first in the line of succession to the List of Governors of Oregon, governor. The duties of the offi ...

after appointment by Oregon Governor

John Hubert Hall John Hubert Hall (February 7, 1899 – November 14, 1970) was an American Republican politician from the US state of Oregon. He was Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in 1947, second in line to the governorship, when the governor, ...

. A Republican, he previously served two terms in 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 ...

and three terms in 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

Earl Newbry was born in Rocky Ford, Colorado, on April 15, 1900. He and his family came to Oregon in the early 1920s. They established themselves in Jackson County in the city of Ashland. Newbry managed a fruit growing and packing firm in the

Rogue River Valley The Rogue Valley is a valley region in southwestern Oregon in the United States. Located along the middle Rogue River and its tributaries in Josephine and Jackson counties, the valley forms the cultural and economic heart of Southern Oregon n ...

before entering politics.

Political career

Newbry ran for a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives and won the House District 19 seat which at the time was Jackson County in 1938. He served in the Oregon House for the 1939 and 1941 legislative sessions. A Republican from Ashland, he was then elected to the Oregon Senate representing District 6 in 1942. Newbry served in the state senate during the 1943, 1945, and 1947 sessions of the Oregon Legislature. In late October 1947, Governor

Earl Snell Earl Wilcox Snell (July 11, 1895 – October 28, 1947) was an American politician, businessman, and member of the Republican Party, serving in the Oregon House of Representatives, as the Oregon Secretary of State, and as the 23rd Governor of O ...

, Secretary of State Robert S. Farrell, Jr., and Senate President Marshall Cornell were killed in a plane accident near Dog Lake, Oregon, while on their way to a hunting trip. As the first two successors were killed along with the

Oregon Governor The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

, the

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

, became governor. Hall's first act as governor was to appoint Newbry as Oregon Secretary of State. In office, Newbry was responsible for creating branch offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles across the state and implementing the use of permanent

license plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...

s in the state. He won election to a full term in office in 1948 and then won re-election in 1952, defeating

Edith Green Edith Louise Starrett Green (January 17, 1910 – April 21, 1987) was an American politician and educator from Oregon. She was the second Oregonian woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served a total of ten terms, fro ...

; in 1949 he declined to seek the Republican nomination for governor. Newbry remained in office until January 7, 1957. He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

, losing the Republican primary to Paul L. Patterson.

Later years

After leaving office, he returned to

Southern Oregon Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia thr ...

and resumed his business career. Earl T. Newbry died on September 2, 1995, in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population w ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Picture of Newbry in 1951
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newbry, Earl T. Secretaries of state of Oregon 1900 births 1995 deaths People from Rocky Ford, Colorado Politicians from Ashland, Oregon Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Republican Party Oregon state senators 20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly