Page:Pen Pictures of Representative Men of Oregon.djvu/70



3

fine agricultural country, and one which presented unusual advan- tafjes to the industrious and honest Avorker, he took a tlying trip here in tJie year 1870 to see for himself. As soon as his practical eye rested on the soil of our youiifi- State, with its varied capabilities, he was captivated, and, fly- mg back to Iowa, returned with his family in 1872, and planted himself in Coos county, where he has since g-rowu and flourished. There he has served one term as a Commissioner of the County Court; he was elected as a rep- resentative in the House of 188(1, and returned this session. He is a good parliamentarian, and his previous experience, added to this fact, has made him one of the foremost members of the House. He was married in 1851 to Miss Elizabeth Jaques.

HON. ROBERT M. VEATCH,

One of the Representatives from Lane county, is a Democratic member of wi om his party and his constituency can feel justly proud. He is a quiet, uniissumiug gentleman, of medium size, with an intelligent and thoughtful face, and a wiry and well-proportioned figure. He does not take the floor for discussion very frequently, but when he does do so, it is after a careful study of the measure in all its bearings, and with a view to explain, as he understands them, to the House. He has been a school teacher for a num- ber of years, and every measure which has been proposed affecting the edu- cational interests has received his earnest attention, and if the measure has been deemed by him a beneficial one, he has used every endeavor to effect its passage. He was born in White county, Illinois, in 1848, and when four years old went with his parents to 5owa, where he attended the dis- trict schools until he was fifteen years of age. He then went to southern Missouri, where he remained four years working OjI a farm. At the break- ing out of the rebellion he went to Iowa, but soon returned to Illinois, and in the spring of 1864, came to California, journeying across the plains. In 1865 he came to Oregon, locating in Lake county, from which place he went to Salem and attended the State University for one year. Taking a great interest in the cultivation of the soil, he attended the agricultural college at Corvallis for two years, from which, .iii.^titulion he graduated. Mr. Veatcli then engaged in the i'.-)t'es8ion of sc1k)o1 teaching, and was engaged at Cottage Grove five years and at Eugene City one year. He found that teaching was wearing upon his constitution, by reason of the confinement in doors, and, regretfully, he was forced to leave the school room; but, be- ing a scientific as well as a practical farmer, he at once turned his attention to soil culture, and wc hope to see him within a short time the " robust tiller of the soil." Mr. Veatch was the choice of the Democrats for the leg- islature from Lane county in 1872, and he was at that time beaten by only seven votes. He was married in 1871 to Miss Suipliina Currin.

HON JOHN A. HUNT. Representative Hunt, of Douglas, is one of those men whose life if writ- ten out would fill a volume with interesting reading matter. He was born in Union county, Indiana, in the year 1886. His father was a tradesman,