George W. Joseph

Infobox State Senator
name = George W. Joseph


imagesize = 150px
state_senate = Oregon
district = 13
term_start = 1921
term_end = 1929
preceded =
succeeded =
term_start2 = 1911
term_end2 = 1915
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
birth_date = May 10, 1872
birth_place = Joseph Creek, Modoc County, California
death_date = death date and age|1930|6|17|1872|5|10
death_place = Oregon
nationality = American
spouse = Bertha L. Snell
party = Republican
relations =
children =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =


footnotes =

George W. P. Joseph (May 10, 1872 – June 17, 1930) was an attorney and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of California, his family relocated to Oregon when he was young. There he would practice law and serve in the Oregon State Senate.

Early life

Joseph was born on May 10, 1872, in Joseph Creek, Modoc County, California, in a log cabin. cite web
url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,739456,00.html
title = Oregon Ousting
publisher = Time
date = June 91930
accessdate = 2007-10-08 ] Colmer, Montagu, and Charles Erskine Scott Wood. "History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon". Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co, 1910. p. 85.] The son of Delilah Jane Joseph (nee Heath) and Edwin Worthington Joseph, Joseph moved to Oregon in 1876 with his parents. In 1889, he graduated from high school in Lakeview, Oregon. He then studied law under the tutelage of two local judges, and worked as a retail clerk. Judge Townshend encouraged Joseph to move to Portland to pursue a career in law, and arranged for his employment there.

Joseph moved to Portland and began working for the law offices of Watson, Hume and Watson in 1892. He passed the bar exam in 1893. Joseph formed a close friendship with Julius Meier, who was also just completing his law studies, in 1892. The two formed a partnership in 1895, and Joseph was retained as an attorney by Meier & Frank and by several individual members of the Meier family.

Two years later, the Alaska gold rush hit, and Joseph traveled to Alaska with a Judge Adams to explore the opportunity. They staked a claim and established a mine. Joseph ultimately returned to Oregon poorer than when he had left, and resumed his partnership with Meier. During this period, Joseph found a respect for the political progressivism of Theodore Roosevelt.

Joseph married Bertha L. Snell in the fall of 1903 in Drain, Oregon.cite book
title=George W. Joseph: His Life
first=Lester
last=Adams
coauthors=Lois P. Myers
date=1931
publisher=Kessinger Publishing, LLC
pages=92 pages
ISBN=1432598120 Page 47 (lists 10/7/03.)] They had a son, George W. Joseph Jr., two years later.

After Meier left the partnership to join the Meier & Frank Co., Joseph partnered with Bert E. Haney to form a legal practice. Notably, he drew up and executed the will of his friend E. Henry Wemme, owner of the Mount Hood Company and, thereby, the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project and the historic Barlow Road.

Political career

Joseph was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1910 as a Republican representing Multnomah County. He served in the 1911 and 1913 legislative sessions. He introduced legislation supporting the 1912 amendment to the Oregon Constitution that established women's suffrage, and introduced Senate Bill 42 in 1911 that would have created a highway commission. He did not seek re-election in the 1914 election.

In 1920, Joseph was re-elected to the Senate. [ [http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/legislative/histleg/statehood/1921reg.htm 1921 Regular Session (31st).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 28 2008.] He was elected to another four-year term in 1924, representing District 13. [ [http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/legislative/histleg/statehood/1925reg.htm 1925 Regular Session (33rd).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 28 2008.] Joseph did not return for the 1929 legislative session. [ [http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/legislative/histleg/statehood/1929reg.htm 1929 Regular Session (35th).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 28 2008.] In late 1925, Joseph considered a run for the United States Senate, and received strong assurances from Henry Hanzen, a political editor, that the Republican nomination was his for the asking. He ultimately declined to run for national office, however, stating to Hanzen:(Had he won the nomination, he would have faced his former law partner, Democrat Bert Haney, in the general election.)

In the late 1920s, the matter of Wemme's estate went before the Oregon Supreme Court. Joseph accused the opposing attorney, Thomas Mannix, of collusion with Chief Justice John L. Rand. In the ensuing controversy, both Mannix and Joseph were disbarred, and Joseph announced his candidacy for Governor of Oregon in the 1930 election.

Joseph was considered a populist candidate, and a prominent advocate for public development of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. His run was regarded as a quest for "vindication" from the people of Oregon, following his disbarment. [cite news
title=Joseph takes lead in Oregon primary; Republican 'Vindication' Candidate for Governor Is 5,485 Ahead of Incumbent.
date=May 18, 1930
work=The New York Times
url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F1EFF3A5E1B728DDDA10994DD405B808FF1D3&scp=18&sq=%22Oswald+West%22&st=p] He won the Republican nomination on May 16, defeating incumbent A. W. Norblad by over 5000 votes. [cite book
title=The Politician; His Habits, Outcries, and Protective Coloring
first=James Harold
last=Wallis
publisher=Frederick A. Stokes Company
location=New York
date=1935
isbn=0405059043
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cpu89qjRErUC&printsec=frontcover#PPR3,M1
pages=p. 181] In those days, the Republican nomination virtually guaranteed victory in the general election.

He died of a stroke, however, on June 17, [cite news
title=Nominee drops dead in Oregon
work=Los Angeles times
date=June 17, 1930
url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/378676351.html?dids=378676351:378676351&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jun+17%2C+1930&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=NOMINEE+DROPS+DEAD+IN+OREGON&pqatl=google] during an army drill near the Oregon National Guard's Camp Clatsop.

Legacy

The Republican Party nominated Phil Metschan to take Joseph's place on the ballot. Metschan, who had not run in the primary, opposed public power utilities, a significant departure from Joseph's platform.

Joseph's friend and business partner Julius Meier entered the race as an independent candidate, adopting Joseph's platform. Meier won the three-candidate election with 54.5% of the vote. He went on to pass legislation in accordance with Joseph's platform, highlighting those efforts in his 1935 address. [cite web
title=Governor Julius L. Meier's Administration: Governor's Message, 1935
url=http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/governors/meier/message1935.html
publisher=Oregon State Archives
date=1935
accessdate=2008-05-27]

Joseph's heirs donated a piece of property to the State of Oregon in 1934, which is now known as George W. Joseph State Natural Area. [ [http://englishriverwebsite.com/LewisClarkColumbiaRiver/Regions/Places/latourell_falls.html Lewis and Clark's Columbia River - Latourell Falls, Oregon] ]

References