William H. Packwood
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| William Henderson Packwood | |
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Member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention
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| In office 1857 – 1857 |
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| Constituency | Curry County |
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| Born | October 23, 1832 Mount Vernon, Illinois |
| Died | September 21, 1917 Oregon |
| Spouse | Johanna A. O’Brien |
William Henderson Packwood (1832 – 1917), was an American politician that served at the Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857. A United States Army veteran from the state of Illinois, he was also a school superintendent and acquaintance of President Abraham Lincoln. He was an early resident of Baker City in Eastern Oregon.
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[edit] Early life
William Packwood was born near the community of Mount Vernon, Illinois, to Larkin Canada Packwood and Elizabeth Cathcart on October 23, 1832.[1] Packwood received two years of formal education and later moved to Springfield, Illinois where he knew future United States President Abraham Lincoln.[1] In 1848 he enlisted in the U.S. Army with Company B of the U.S. Mounted Rifles.[1] The following year Packwood and the company were sent to the newly created Oregon Territory and stationed at Fort Vancouver.[1]
[edit] Oregon
Packwood went to California when gold was discovered there, returning to Oregon in 1851 where he was transferred to Port Orford, Oregon to fight Native American uprisings.[1] In 1853 he was discharged from the Army and became a gold miner for several years.[1] Then in 1855 William Packwood served as captain of the Coquille Guards during the Rogue River Wars against Native Americans in Southern Oregon.[1] In 1857, he represented Curry County in southwestern Oregon at the Oregon Constitutional Convention that met in Salem during August and September, and framed a constitution in anticipation of Oregon becoming a state.[2]
Packwood then moved east of the Cascade Mountains to Eastern Oregon where he was involved with establishing the town of Auburn in 1862.[1] Auburn was a gold mining boom town that was briefly the county seat of Baker County, and Packwood helped platt the town.[3] There he served as the first school superintendent of Baker County in 1862.[1] During the 1864 presidential election he campaigned for Lincoln in that county.[1] Soon after he was responsible for another Baker County town receiving the name of Sparta.[4] In that town he and his family built and operated a boarding house until 1867.[4]
[edit] Later life and family
In later years Packwood mined, was an assistant postmaster, clerk for Baker City, and a police judge before retiring in 1910.[1] In 1862 Packwood married Johanna A. O’Brien, with whom he would father five children.[1] He is the great-grandfather of former United States Senator Robert Packwood.[5] William Henderson Packwood died on September 21, 1917 in Baker City[1] with interment at Mount Hope Cemetery.[5] He was the last living member of the constitutional convention at his death.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Corning, Howard M. (1989). Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 190.
- ^ Information About 1857 Constitutional Convention Delegates Sought. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on March 2, 2008.
- ^ City of Auburn. bakercounty.net. Retrieved on March 2, 2008.
- ^ a b City of Sparta. bakercounty.net. Retrieved on March 2, 2008.
- ^ a b Baker County Oregon. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved on March 2, 2008.
