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being the oldest of the boys. The responsibility and chief labor of improv- iuii the farm and supporting the family devolved upon him and his mother, and, with the assistance of the younger children, they struggled on to the accomplishment of both. Meantime he attended the Lebanon Academy and obtained an education sufficient to qualify him for teaching a common country school. He taught six months and then attended Willamette Uni- versity, at Salem, for two years. He then began reading law with Hon. A. Holbrook, at Oregon City. That gentleman being called East, on business connected Avith the National Sanitary Commission, of which he was chief agent for Oregon, he prescribed a course for his student, furnished him with text books and sent him to Salem, where he joined a class, consisting of the late C. G. Curl, Thomas Caton, H. A. Gehr and William Waldo. The class recited to Hon. L. F. Grover, at picsent United Senator, for one year, when they each entered law firms. Mr. Denny went in the firm of Hons. J. G. Wilson & B. F. Harding, and after being admitted to the bar in 1862 he went to The Dalles, in Wasco county, and began practice alone. In September of the same year he was appointed, by Governor A. C. Gibbs, County Judge of that county, which position he held one year. He then went to Idaho Territory to make collections for merchants at The Dalles, resigning his office to do so. The business detaining him, he opened an office at Centreville and practiced law for a short time, with marked suc- cess. He then returned to The Dalles, and at the following election was nom- inated for the office of County Judge on the Republican ticket, and elected by a large majority. At the expiration of his term he was renominated and, although the county went largely Democratic, he was only beaten eight votes. Mr. Denny gained great credit for his administration of county affairs while he held the office of Judge, the bonds of the county advancing from fifty cents on the dollar to par value during his term. He was married to Mrs. Gertrude J. White, an accomplished widow with one child, a daughter, in 1868. He then removed to California and located in San Jose, where he practiced law one year, when he returned to Oregon and, locating in Portland, he again began the practice of his profession. In 1871 he was elected Police Judge for the city of Portland, and was re-elected in 1873 on the Repubhcan ticket. During his last term he was tendered the Consul- ship, at Amoy, China, by President Grant, which office he declined, not having been an applicant. In 1875 he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for Oregon and Alaska by President Grant, when he resigned the office of Police Jiidge and entered upon the duties of his new position. In May, 1877, he was appointed Consul at Tientsin, China, by President Hayes, and in 1879 he was promoted to Consul General, with residence at Shanghai. He entered upon the duties of that responsible position April 1st, 1880, and still continues in the office, although at this date he is visiting friends and attending to official duties in Oregon. Mr. Denny was appointed to the office which he now holds, at the request of Hon. William M. Evarts, then Secretary of State of the United States, without his having made applica- tion for the same and without his knowledge. He holds high relations with other foreign Ministers and Consuls to the Chinese Empire and is held