Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/82

70 In the spring of 1870 Mr. Ware was prevailed upon by his party friends to become a candidate for County Clerk of Lane County, and although the county was strongly Democratic, and he a candidate on the Republican ticket, he was elected by a handsome plurality. This result was not entirely due to Ware's popularity, but largely to the fact that there were two rival candidates voted for by the opposite party.

That Ware was the right man in the right place is manifest, for he was re-elected nine times consecutively, thus having an unbroken tenure of the office for the fifth of a century, and for the greater part of that time the county was Democratic. This certainly was a tribute to his capability and trustworthiness in his office.

Ware's clarity of mind, and close application to the duties of the positions he occupied will be realized by the fact that he attained a thorough mastership in them all. When in the Surveyor General's office he became a recognized authority on every feature of the U. S. Land Laws and departmental regulations thereunder. As a draftsman in the Surveyor General's office he attained such proficiency in all branches of the work pertaining to such position as to rival James Curley, his illustrious co-laborer in that department; as a compositor he gave eminent satisfaction to his employers; and his long tenure of office as County Clerk is proof of his thoroughness and efficiency as such functionary.

After retiring from the County's Clerk office he engaged in the abstract and real estate business, for which no one was better qualified. He continued in this business until the infirmity incident upon old age necessitated complete retirement from life's activities.

Ware was married to Miss "Bettie" Cochran, of Mohawk, Oregon, in 1859, and raised quite a family. He was an unusually kind and indulgent father. He died in the spring of 1901 aged seventy-one years.

Mr. Ware was a native of Ohio, of Quaker parentage. Although he discarded the most of the peculiarities of that sect, he rigidly adherred to its cardinal tenets, namely, industry,