judge of the fifth judicial district, and J. M. Thompson judge of the second judicial district. Henry Klippel of Jackson, W. B. Laswell of Grant, and E. A. Cronin of Multnoraah were nominated as presidential electors. The election for congressman at this time occurred November 7, 1876, at which Richard Williams, the republican candidate, received fifteen thousand three hundred and forty-seven votes and Lafayette Lane, democrat, received fourteen thousand two hundred and twenty-nine votes. The republican electors were W. H. Odell, J. W. Watts, and J. C. Cartwright, and received an average vote of fifteen thousand two hundred and six against the democratic vote of fourteen thousand one hundred and thirty-six. Growing out of the fact that J. W. Watts was at the time of his election postmaster at Lafayette, and of the further fact that the presidential election was close and that several states of the South were contested, there was a contest made by E. A. Cronin as to the right to issue the electoral certificate in favor of J. W. Watts. A change of one electoral vote would have resulted in the election of Samuel J. Tilden as president and Thomas A. Hendricks as vice president of the United States instead of Rutherford B. Hayes, president, and William A. Wheeler, vice president. The electoral commission created by act of congress refused to sustain the action of Governor Grover who declined to issue a certificate to J. W. Watts, but counted all three of the electoral votes for Hayes and Wheeler.
The union state convention met at Corvallis March 29, 1866, and this convention was held under the auspices of what was then known as the union party, and later the union republican party, and still later the republican party. This convention nominated Rufus Mallory on the first ballot for congress, the vote being: Mallory, sixty-three; Bowlby, twenty-three; Henderson, seven;
