tion and, having secured his " sheep-skin," was, within a very sliort time,
admitted to partnership in the firm with whom he stiidied. He applied
himself closely to his profession and no young attorney in the State stands
higher in the estimation of the people than does Mr. Simon. In 1877 he
was honored with the position of City Councilman from the Second ward,
which position he held for three years, during which time he was for several
months President of the Council and acting Mayor. He was Secretary of
the Republican State Central Committee and had the management of the
campaign of 1878, and was elected Chairman and directed affairs in 1880. In
this arduous position he displayed excellent traits in generalship, and was
greatly instrumental in securing the success of the Republican ticket. The
same year be was elected State Senator from Multnomah county, and in
the session of that year was Chairman of the Committees on Railroads and
Assessments and a member of the Judiciary Committee. In the session just
closed he was Chairman of the Committee on Commerce and a member of
the Judiciary Committee. As a legislator he is a hard worker, and any
measure in which his county is interested, or the interests of the State are
involved, finds in him a zealous supporter. He is of low and heavy build,
with a good-shaped head, clear piercing eye, high forehead and heavy chin
whiskers. He talks with ease, but speaks slowly. "Joe" is unmarried, and
the fault is his own. This, we believe, is the only objectionable feature he
possesses in the minds of the fair sex.
HON. T. W. DAVENPORT
Was born in Columbia county, N. Y., July 30, 1826. He had the advan- tages of a fair education, which, with a view of studying medicine, he made the most of. He learned the drug business at an early age and devoted his spare time to the study of medicine and attended a course of lectures at Sterling Medical College, in Columbus, Ohio, in 1847. In 1851 he moved with his parents to Oregon and settled in Marion county, where he has re- sided ever since, devoting his attention to farming, and ranks among the most successful in that line of business. He was elected County Surveyor in 1864 and 1866, and a member of the House in 1868 and 1870, and was re- nominated in 1872, but decUned to run. In 1874 he received the nomination for Congress on the Independent ticket and made a canvass of the State with Hon. Richard Williams, the Republican candidate. George A. LaDow, the Democratic nominee, being the successful candidate. He was elected State Senator in 1882. Mr. Davenport has been a prominent politician in Marion county for years and was one of the organizers of the R*^put>lican party of Oregon along in 1855. His father was an anti-slavery Whig and the son an original Abolitionist. In 1862 he was appointed Special Indian Agent on the Umatilla Reservation. He has been twice married, the first time, in 1852, to Miss Flora Geer, daughter of Hon. R. C. Geer, o\ Marion county. She died in 1870, from the small-pox contracted by Mr. Davenport while in attendance as a member of the House of Representatives in the fall of that year, his entire family being down sick with that disease. In 1872 he was married to Mrs. N. E. Wisner, of Linn county, their family con-
