Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 2.djvu/50

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34
GEORGE H. WILLIAMS.

House—Baker, Daniel Chaplin, Samuel Colt; Benton, J. Quinn Thornton, J. Gingles; Clackamas, Owen Wade, E. T. T. Fisher, H. W. Shipley; Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook, P. W. Gillette; Coos and Curry, Isaac Hacker; Douglas, Alpheus Ireland, E. W. Otey, P. C. Parker; Jackson, James D. Fay, W. F. Songer, Thomas F. Beale; Josephine, Isaac Cox; Lane, J. B. Underwood, G. Callison, A. McCormack; Linn, J. P. Tate, J. N. Parker, P. A. McCartney, Robert Glass; Marion, I. R. Moores, J. J. Murphy, H. L. Turner, J. C. Cartwright; Multnomah, P. Wasserman, L. H. Wakefield; Polk, C. LaFollett; Umatilla, Lafayette Lane; Washington, Wilson Bowlby, D. O. Quick; Wasco, A. J. Borland; Yamhill, G. W. Lawson, Henry Warner. I. R. Moores was elected speaker, and J. L. Collins chief clerk.

Circumstances seemed to indicate that Thomas H. Pearne or George H. Williams would be elected to the senate by this legislature, and with this in view we canvassed the state together, both of us advocating the election of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Pearne was an able man and a fine speaker. I found in him a formidable competitor for the office. I was elected on the third ballot, the vote standing thirty-one for Williams, sixteen for Pearne, six for John F. Miller, and two for Watkins. Bush, Nesmith, Harding, and many others who had been identified with the union party, supported McClellan. Mr. Lincoln carried the state by about one thousand four hundred majority. On the fourth of March, 1865, I took my seat in the Senate of the United States.

My task ends here. Many, and indeed a large majority, of those I have named in this paper have finished their earthly career, and the evening shadows are rapidly closing around those who survive. I trust those who come forward to take our places will think kindly of what we have done, and strive to improve upon our work.