KEPRE8ENTATIVE MEN OF OREGON. ir,7
iudustry aud strict attention to business, bro^^^ht him clients who soon be- came his enthusiastic admirers, aud Ins business increased rapidly, mainly iis a real estate lawyer. In the fall of 1872 he assumed editorial manawomeut of the Daily aud Weekly " Oregonian," agreeing to edit the paper a few weeks until satisfactory arrangements could be made with some other suit- able person. The weeks ran into months and the m(jnths into years, until in March, 1877, his greatly impaired health necessitated the resignation of a position requiring such close attention and constant care. Under his management the "Oregouian" abandoned the position of a party organ and assumed the independent position it now occupies. In J878, being still in feeble health, he sought benefit by change to a less humid climate, and with his family removed to The Dalles, where he now resides, in the enjoy- ment of greatly improved health and the leading law practice of Eastern Oregon. He li%^es on a farm about two and a half miles from town, driving in every morning. He has always taken an active interest in educational matters and is at the present time a member of the Board of Trustees of McMinnville College, and has been President of the Board of Directors of Wasco Independent Academy ever since its organization. Politically, he is a Eepublican with very decided views of party principles, and very little respect for the methods by which party organization is generally main- tained. As an attorney, be has been the leading counsel in many of the most important cases in the Federal and State Coui'ts, and has had a large number of the most important criminal cases in the last few years. As a journalist, he has few superiors, being a ready writer and dealing tersely with subjects of public interest and importance, and discussing all ques- tions from the standpoint of fearless disregard of party consequences.
HON. THOMAS O. SHAW, Who to-day occupies the important position of County Judge of Marion coiinty, was born near Liberty, Missouri, on the 23d day of February, 1823. His early life was spent on the farm and his educational advantages were very limited, being confined wholly to the inferior common schools of that early day. In May, 18i4, his parents started across the plains for Oregon, reaching The Dalles in November of that year. They remained there dur- ing the winter and in the sijring of '45 started down the Columbia. In the fall of that year his father rented a farm near Wheatland. The subject of our sketch was one of Col. Gilliam's party, who in 1846 endeavored to find a pass through the Cascade mountains in Southern Oregon. On his return he lived for a short time with his uncle, Mitchell Gilliam, near Dallas, and then enlisted in Company C, First Regiment Oregon Volunteers, and was elected Second Lieutenant, serving with distinction during the memorable Cayuse war. Returning home in 1850 he remained on his father's farm for a short time, and eventually took up a farm of his own on Ho wells Prairie on which he still resides. A man of such sterling worth as Mr. Shaw, of course occupied a prominent place in the estimation of his neighbors, and in 1864 he was elected County Commissioner, which position he held for four years. He was County Assessor from 1870 to 1874, and at the general elec-
