William R. Ellis

Infobox Congressman
name= William R. Ellis


state= Oregon
district= 2nd
party= Republican
term= March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1899
preceded= none
succeeded= Malcolm A. Moody
term2= March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911
preceded2= John N. Williamson
succeeded2= Walter Lafferty
date of birth= April 23 1850
place of birth= Waveland, Indiana
date of death= January 18 1915
place of death=Portland, Oregon
spouse=
current occupation=

William Russell Ellis (April 23 1850 - January 18, 1915) was a Republican U.S. congressman from Oregon.

Early life

Ellis was born in Waveland, Indiana in 1850.cite web | title = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress| publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office | url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000138| accessdate = 2007-05-08] In 1855, he moved with his family to Guthrie County, Iowa where he attended the public schools, eventually graduating from Iowa State Agricultural College (later Iowa State University) and the University of Iowa law school in 1874. Ellis set up his law practice in Panora, Iowa, and was elected to one term as mayor of Panora. He moved his practice to Hamburg, Iowa where he served as city attorney, and then mayor.

Oregon

In 1884, Ellis moved to Heppner, Oregon, where he became superintendent of schools for Morrow County, and then district attorney for the seventh judicial district of Oregon from 1886 to 1892. In 1892, Ellis was elected as U.S. Representative for Oregon's 2nd congressional district. He was the first representative for the district, which was created as a result of the 1890 census.

Ellis served on the Ways and Means Committee,cite web|url=http://waysandmeans.house.gov/About.asp?section=27|title=About the Committee: Former Members|publisher=United States House Committee on Ways and Means|accessdate=2007-05-23] and as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice and the Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands. He served three terms, and sought a fourth in 1898, but the Republican nominating convention nominated Malcolm A. Moody instead.cite book|title=Fifty Years in Oregon: Experiences, Observations, and Commentaries Upon Men, Measures, and Customs in Pioneer Days and Later Times|last=Geer|first=T. T.|authorlink=T. T. Geer|publisher=The Neale Publishing Company|date=1912|pages=p. 409] Shortly afterwards, Ellis was elected as circuit judge for Oregon's sixth judicial district, during which time he moved from Heppner to Pendleton.

econd tour in Congress

In 1906, with incumbent congressman John N. Williamson mired in ongoing legal troubles due to the Oregon Land Fraud Scandal, Ellis won the Republican nomination for his old Congressional seat, this time in a direct primary, one of the results of the "Oregon System" reforms of the early 20th century. He also won in the general election, and served two more terms before losing the 1910 Republican primary to Walter Lafferty. He returned to his law practice in Pendleton, eventually moving to Portland in 1914, where he died on January 18, 1915.

External links

*CongBio|E000138
*Find A Grave|id=15556823

References