Jonathan Bourne Jr. (February 23, 1855September 1, 1940) was an American politician, attorney, and businessman. A native of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, he moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, where he became a lawyer and an industrialist with holdings in mining, mills, and agriculture. As a Republican he served two terms in the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of t ...

and was elected the

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 p ...

from

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

Early life

Jonathan Bourne was born on February 23, 1855, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was educated at private schools before enrolling at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

where he attended from 1875 to 1877.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''.

Binfords & Mort Publishing Binford & Mort Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1930, the company was previously known as Metropolitan Press and Binfords & Mort. At one time they were the largest book publisher in the ...

. p. 33. Bourne then sailed for Asia where his ship wrecked off of the island of what was then called

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

in 1877. After rescue, he arrived in

, in 1878. He studied law there and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

in 1881, and then practiced in Portland from 1881 to 1886. An industrialist, he had interests in mining, farming, cotton mills, and commercial enterprises. Bourne was married three times.

Political career

Bourne was a member of the

from 1885 to 1886, representing

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Tho ...

. He returned to the House in 1897, representing District 37 and Multnomah County as a Republican, and only served during the regular session that failed to organize that year. In 1906, he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate, becoming one of the first two senators to be elected under Oregon's direct primary law, in which senators were selected by popular vote, and then were officially elected to the position by the

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 Ho ...

to comply with

Article One of the U.S. Constitution Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the legislative branch of the federal government, the United States Congress. Under Article One, Congress is a bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Sena ...

. (In 1914, the 17th Amendment established direct election of senators.) He served from March 4, 1907, to March 3, 1913. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Fisheries ( Sixtieth and Sixty-first Congresses) and chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads (Sixty-second Congress). He was the author of the

Parcel Post Act The Valuation Act is a 1913 United States federal law that required the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to assess the value of railroad property. This information would be used to set rates for the transport of freight. Background The act wa ...

while there and advocated for the adoption of the initiative and referendum system. He was also a leading advocated for the direct primary system for elected offices. In 1908, he was a leader in the group that attempted to have

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

run for a third term as president; Roosevelt refused. In 1911-1912 Bourne served as president of the National Republican Progressive League. He organized the Republican Publicity Association in 1912. Bourne was not renominated to his Senate seat in 1912 by the Republican Party, but ran instead under the "Popular Government" banner, coming in third.Schlup, 1986.

Later life and legacy

After leaving Congress resumed his former pursuits in Oregon and Massachusetts. He then worked in the newspaper business in Washington, D.C. until his death. Jonathan Bourne died in the District of Columbia on September 1, 1940, at the age of 85. He was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Maryland. Earlier in his life he owned large mining interests in the northeast part of Oregon, where the town of Bourne bore his name.

References

External links

Guide to the Jonathan Bourne papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourne, Jonathan Jr. 1855 births 1940 deaths Harvard University alumni Members of the Oregon House of Representatives People from New Bedford, Massachusetts Portland, Oregon Republicans Oregon Republicans Republican Party United States senators from Oregon Oregon lawyers

Early life

Political career

Later life and legacy

References

Further reading

Primary sources

External links