George Law Curry

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George Law Curry
George Law Curry

George Law Curry (1853)
Governor of Oregon Territory
In office
1854 – 1859
Preceded by John Wesley Davis
Succeeded by position dissolved
Secretary of the Oregon Territory
In office
May 14, 1853 – January 27, 1855
Preceded by Edward D. Hamilton
Succeeded by Benjamin F. Harding
Born July 2, 1820(1820-07-02)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died July 28, 1878 (aged 58)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse Chloe Boone
Occupation Politician
Newspaper Publisher

George Law Curry (1820-1878) was a U.S. political figure and newspaper publisher most notable for his activities in Oregon. Curry County, Oregon is named in his honor. His wife Chloe Curry (née Boone) was the great-great-granddaughter of frontiersman Daniel Boone.

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[edit] Early life

Curry was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1820, but spent some of his childhood in Caracas, Venezuela. In his adult life, he would enter journalism, editing a St. Louis newspaper before emigrating overland to the Oregon Territory in 1846.

[edit] Oregon

Once in Oregon, Curry's experience in the newspaper business landed him a job editing the Oregon Spectator, an early newspaper owned by George Abernethy. Abernethy's views that politics should be kept out of the Spectator lead Curry to resign from the paper after only a year and a half. Curry's belief that this policy was censorship put him at odds with the paper's management. He soon set up the Oregon Free Press in Oregon City in competition to his former employer.

Curry served as Secretary of the Oregon Territory, twice stepping in as Acting Territorial Governor: May 19, 1853-December 2, 1853; upon Acting Governor Joseph Lane's return to Congress and for six months in 1854, upon the resignation of John W. Davis. President Franklin Pierce then officially appointed Curry to the position, which he held until Oregon Statehood in 1859. As a prominent local man, Curry was received much more favorably by the population whereas most of his predecessors were seen as outsiders from the East Coast. During the Yakima War in 1855, Governor Curry raised a force of 2,500 volunteers and led them into battle in support of federal troops.

Oregon prepared for statehood under Governor Curry, approving a state constitution and electing John Whiteaker as the first Governor of the State of Oregon in 1857. On February 14, 1859; Congress passed the Oregon Statehood Bill, and President James Buchanan signed it; creating Oregon as the thirty-third state of the Union. Upon this act, Curry's position was abolished.

[edit] Later life

After leaving office, Curry attempted a 1860 run for the United States Senate, losing by one vote in the State Legislature.[1] He died July 28, 1878 and buried at Lone Fir Cemetery, Portland, Oregon.

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ Lansing, Ronald B. 2005. Nimrod: Courts, Claims, and Killing on the Oregon Frontier. Pullman: Washington State University Press. p. 267.
Preceded by
Joseph Lane(1853)
John W. Davis(1854)		 Governor of Oregon Territory
1853, 1854-1859		 Succeeded by
John W. Davis (1854)
John Whiteaker (1859-Statehood)