John Whiteaker
Governor, Oregon,1858-1862
U. S. House of Representatives, Oregon, 1879-1881
Born: May 4, 1820, Dearborn County, near Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Died: October 2, 1902, Eugene, Oregon.
- Self-educated, and early engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock raising.
- Moved to the Pacific coast, 1849, and settled in Lane County, Oregon, 1852.
- Elected Judge of Probate for Lane County, Oregon, 1855.
- Member of the Oregon Territorial Legislature, 1857.
- Governor of the State of Oregon, 1858-1862.
- Member of the Oregon State House of Representatives, 1866 and 1868, serving as Speaker.
- Again elected from Oregon to the State House of Representatives, 1870.
- Member of the Oregon State Board of Equalization, 1872, serving as Chairman.
- Member of the Oregon Commission to examine, report upon, and receive the locks and canal at the falls of the Willamette River.
- Member of the Oregon State Senate, 1876-1880, serving as President of the sessions of 1876 and 1878.
- Elected from Oregon as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth U. S. Congress, March 4, 1879 - March 3, 1881.
- Was an unsuccessful candidate from Oregon for re-election, 1880, to the Forty-seventh U. S. Congress.
- Appointed Internal Revenue collector for the District of Oregon (with residence in Portland), serving from June 20, 1885 - February 27, 1890.
- Moved to Eugene, Lane County, Oregon, 1889.
Buried: Masonic Cemetery, Eugene, Oregon.
(Source: U.S. Congress. House. Biographical Directory Of The American Congress 1774-1949, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 607 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950), pp. 759-2057.)