Sylvester Pennoyer
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| Sylvester Pennoyer | |
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| In office January 12, 1887 – January 14, 1895 |
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| Preceded by | Zenas Ferry Moody |
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| Succeeded by | William Paine Lord |
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| In office 1896 – 1898 |
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| Preceded by | George P. Frank |
| Succeeded by | William S. Mason |
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| Born | July 6, 1831 New York |
| Died | May 30, 1902 (aged 70) Portland, Oregon |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary A. Allen |
| Occupation | Politician, lawyer |
Sylvester Pennoyer (July 6, 1831–May 30, 1902) was an American educator, attorney, and politician in Oregon. He was born in New York, attended Harvard Law School, and moved to Oregon at age 25. A populist Democrat, he served two terms as governor of Oregon from 1886 to 1894. He was noted for his opposition to U.S. President Grover Cleveland. He later served as mayor of Portland from 1896 to 1898. He was the defendant in the landmark United States Supreme Court case Pennoyer v. Neff, which he lost.
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[edit] Early life
Sylvester Pennoyer was born in Groton, New York, on July 6, 1831.[1] His parents were the former Elizabeth Howland and Justus P. Pennoyer, a New York state legislator and a wealthy farmer.[1] Sylvester attended school at Homer Academy and then began teaching.[1] He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1854.[1] He moved to Oregon on July 10, 1855, where he resumed teaching.[1]
In 1856 he married Mary A. Allen, with whom he had five children.[1] While teaching, he also practiced law. Pennoyer was chosen as the superintendent of Multnomah County schools in 1860, and served until 1862.[1] He then shifted to the lumber industry from 1862 to 1868, accumulating a fortune.[2] He then purchased the Democratic-leaning Oregon Herald newspaper and served as editor until he sold it in 1869.[2]
In 1866, Marcus Neff hired attorney John H. Mitchell to complete some legal business, but failed to pay Mitchell's bill.[3] Mitchell sued and received a default judgment against Neff, with Neff's property sold at auction to pay the bill.[3] Pennoyer purchased the land at the sheriff's auction, and later Neff became aware of the forced sale.[3] Neff then sued Pennoyer to regain the property in a case that became the U.S. Supreme Court case of Pennoyer v. Neff that defined legal jurisdiction for citizens residing in different states.[3] At the trial, federal judge and Pennoyer adversary Matthew Deady ruled in favor of Neff, with the Supreme Court affirming the decision in 1877.[3] Pennoyer was compelled to give the land back to Neff, and the property became a part of the Willamette Heights neighborhood in later years.[3]
[edit] Political career
Pennoyer was a Democrat most of his political career, but briefly a member of the Populist Party.[2] In 1885 he ran for mayor of Portland, but lost to John Gates, partly due to his record of sympathy for the Confederacy during the American Civil War.[2] The following year he ran for Governor of Oregon against T. E. Cornelius, gaining support for advocating the use of American labor over Chinese immigrants.[2] Pennoyer was elected in November and assumed office on January 12, 1887.[4] He was re-elected in 1890 and served in the office until his second term ended on January 14, 1895.[4]
As governor he pointedly snubbed President Benjamin Harrison when Harrison visited Oregon in 1891.[clarify][2] That year the Oregon Legislative Assembly created the Oregon Attorney General office, and Pennoyer appointed George Earle Chamberlain to that post.[3] While in office Pennoyer declared without authority that the Oregon Supreme Court lacked the power to invalidate legislative acts on constitutional grounds.[clarify][3] He also refused to use his resources to protect Chinese Americans when asked to do so by Grover Cleveland's Secretary of State on May 3, 1893.[2] Pennoyer refused another request from Cleveland, who asked him to intervene when a group of unemployed workers, part of "Coxey's Army", hijacked a train to travel east and join a mass march on Washington, D.C.. Pennoyer stated, "let Cleveland's' army take care of Coxey's army."[2] He also moved Thanksgiving Day in Oregon one week ahead of the national holiday in 1894 in further protest to President Cleveland's request.[5] His term as governor ended on January 14, 1895.[5]
On June 1, 1896, Pennoyer was elected the mayor of Portland.[6] While mayor he opposed the construction of the Bull Run Water Project in favor of using the Willamette River, commenting that the Bull Run water lacked the body of the Willamette's water at the dedication of the project.[clarify][2] He was the second mayor to sit in the new City Hall that was completed in 1895. Pennoyer described the building as "expensive, unseemly and unhealthful."[2] He served as mayor until June 1898 when his successor W. S. Mason took office.[6]
[edit] Death and legacy
Pennoyer donated land to Portland to serve as a park, originally known as Pennoyer Park.[1] He died of heart disease in Portland on May 30, 1902, at 4:00 PM in his house.[2] He was initially buried at Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, but in 1924 his remains were moved to River View Cemetery also in Portland.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Corning, Howard M. (1989) Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 194.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Terry, John. Oregon's Trails: Death shroud a suggestive footnote to a gadfly's death. The Oregonian, November 9, 2003.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Leeson, Fred. (1998). Rose City Justice: A Legal History of Portland, Oregon. Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 47-49.
- ^ a b Oregon Blue Book: Oregon Governors. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
- ^ a b Horner, John B. (1919). Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 245.
- ^ a b City of Portland: Mayors of Portland
- ^ River View Cemetery. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved on March 20, 2008.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Z. F. Moody |
Governor of Oregon 1887-1895 |
Succeeded by William Paine Lord |
| Preceded by George P. Frank |
Mayor of Portland, Oregon 1896-1898 |
Succeeded by William S. Mason |
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