Samuel Thurston
Samuel Thurston | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Oregon Territory's at-large district | |
| In office December 3, 1849 – March 3, 1851 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Lane |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Samuel Royal Thurston April 15, 1816 Monmouth, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | April 6, 1851 (aged 34) At sea off Acapulco, Mexico |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | |
Samuel Royal Thurston (April 15, 1816 – April 9, 1851) was an American pioneer, lawyer and politician. He was the first delegate from the
Biography
Early years
Thurston was born in
Thurston came to the
Political career
In the struggle for the control of Oregon lands, Thurston was an ally of
Thurston's major political achievement was in helping pass the Donation Land Claim Act in 1850. The act legitimized existing land claims in the Oregon Territory and granted 640 acres (2.6 km²) to each married couple who would settle and cultivate the land for four years. The act is considered a forerunner of the 1862
In 1850 he wrote an address to Congress urging the prohibition of free African-Americans from the Oregon Territory, in which said:
[It] is a question of life or death to us in Oregon. The negroes associate with the Indians and intermarry, and, if their free ingress is encouraged or allowed, there would a relationship spring up between them and the different tribes, and a mixed race would ensure inimical to the whites; and the Indians being led on by the negro who is better acquainted with the customs, language, and manners of the whites, than the Indian, these savages would become much more formidable than they otherwise would, and long bloody wars would be the fruits of the comingling of the races. It is the principle of self preservation that justifies the actions of the Oregon legislature.[3]
Death and legacy
While returning to Oregon via
He died on the 9th [of April 1851] ... eight days from Panama ... His arduous labors at Washington had prepared his system for an attack of the malignant fever incident to the Isthmus, from the effects of which he had not recovered before experiencing a severe attack of diarrhea, which, together with an affection of the liver, under which he had sometime labored, terminated his earthly existence.[4]
Thurston's body was originally interred in Acapulco, but his remains were brought to Oregon two years later by an act of the
Thurston County, Washington, originally part of the Oregon Territory and now home of Olympia the capital of Washington, was named in his honor.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d Hines, H.K. (1893). An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon. The Lewis Publishing Co.: Chicago.
- ^ Oregon State Archives: Provisional Legislature
- OCLC 1341845615. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ^ a b C.M.B., "Death of Hon. S.R. Thurston," Weekly Oregon Statesman [Salem], vol. 1, no. 6 (May 2, 1851), pg. 2.
- ^ "Thurston County Place Names: A Heritage Guide" (PDF). Thurston County Historical Commission. 1992. p. 87. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
External links
- United States Congress. "Samuel Thurston (id: T000258)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Clatsop-Nehalem Tribes history
- Himes, George H (September 1, 1914). "Diary of Samuel Royal Thurston". The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society. 15. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
