Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 2.djvu/23

Rh ; J. C. Peebles, of Marion; S. W. Phelps, of Linn; Dr. Greer, of Washington and Columbia; J. M. Fulkerson, of Polk and Tillamook; John Richardson, of Yamhill; Levi Scott, of Umpqua. James K. Kelly was elected president, and B. Genois chief clerk. House—G. W. Coffenbury, E. S. Turner and David Logan, Washington; A. G. Henry and A. J. Hembree, Yamhill; H. N. V. Holmes, Polk and Tillamook; I. F. M. Butler, Polk; Wayman St. Clair and B. B. Hinton, Benton; L. F. Cartee, W. A. Starkweather and A. L. Lovejoy, Clackamas; C. P. Crandall, R. C. Geer and N. Ford, Marion; Luther Elkins, Delazon Smith and Hugh Brown, Linn; A. W. Patterson and Jacob Gillespie, Lane; James F. Gazley, Douglas; Patrick Dunn and Alexander Mclntire, Jackson; O. Humason, Wasco.

In 1854 the "know-nothing," or, as it called itself, the American party, became a prominent factor in the politics of Oregon. It was a secret, oath-bound political organization. "Know-nothing" was a name applied to it because, as it was alleged, its members, when questioned as to such an organization, declared that they knew nothing about it. Democrats and whigs, and more especially the democrats, were alarmed at the inroads of this new and invisible enemy to the old political parties. So far as the principles of this party were known to the public, they proposed a repeal or modification of the naturalization laws; repeal of all laws allowing unnaturalized foreigners to vote, or to receive grants of public lands; resistance to what they called the aggressive policy and corrupting tendencies of the Roman Catholic church, and excluding from office all persons who directly or indirectly owed allegiance to any foreign power. Some time in the fall of 1854 the Oregon Statesman, then edited by Asahel Bush, published an exposure of the oaths, obligations and proceedings of the know-nothing lodge