Page:Pen Pictures of Representative Men of Oregon.djvu/169

 Douglas

1'M>

for President. With two exceptions, he has beei\ a member of every Dem- ocratic State Convention since the ortranization of the State. Ho has twice been a member of the Democratic State Central Committee f(.r Marion connty. In 1870 he was appointed Superintendent of the State Peniten- tiary by Governor Grover, and reappointed in 1874 upon that Kentleman'H reinstallmeut in the executive chair. Upon the election of Governor Grover to the U. S. Senate in 1876 Mr. Watkinds resigned the office of Superin- tendent. Durin<,' his term of office he was appointed one of the Peniten- tiary Buildini? Commissioners, of which body he was elected chairman. That elegant and substantial structure stands a monument, attestinj: his sagacity and wisdom in directing its construction. And Iuh accounts of expenses, tiled in the archives of the State, after the most searchinjf in- vestigation, prove the honesty and economy of his administrations, both as superintendent and commissioner. During his term of office there passed through his hands nearly !B1:0,000 of public funds, and no charge of irregu- larity in its expenditure has ever been sustained. After retiring from office Mr. Watkinds removed to Portland, where he still resides, engaged in the saddle and harness business. The anxiety and excitement of the fierce po- litical contests in which he has so prominently figured have left ftnv traces upon his sanguine frame or features and he bids fair to splinter many a lance with opponents in contests yet to be.

GEORGE H. DURHAM Is one of the able attorneys of the Portland bar, and has attained his present position of prominence by virtue of application to study and ambition to ■win. He was born in Springfield, Illinois, December 4, 1813. When he was four years of age his iiarents immigrated to Oregon by way of the plains, and after arriving here settled at Clackamas. They removed to OsAvego in 1S50, and young George was enabled to attend the district school a certain number of months in each year. Having made very good progress in his studies, l.i.-. parents determined to give him a college course, and in 1858 he entered the Willamette University at Salem. At the breaking out of the rebellion he left the college halls and enlisted in B Company, First Oregon Cav'alry. On leaving his regiment he went to Pacific University, at Forest Grove, and graduated from that institution in the class of 1866, along with Judge E. B. Watson and Rev. M. Eells. In the same year Mr Durham was married to Miss S. E. Clarke, daughter of the well-known missionary, Rev. Harvey Clarke, and he then engaged in scliool-teacliing at North Yamhill and at Cornelius Academy. Being of a i>rogrc8sive nature, and believing that he was possessed of the necessary ijualifications, he de- termined to become a lawyer, and accordingly entered the office of the late Hon. Lansing Stout, and had the gratification of being admit- ted to the bar in 1869. He was appointed Register in Bankruptcy by the District Court of the United States for the District of Oregon in 1871, and in 1872 received the nomination from the Reijublican party for the office of District Attorney of the Fourth Judicial District, to which position he was elected by a large majority, defeating Hon. C. B. Bellinger.