American politician
William Williams Chapman
(August 11, 1808 – October 18, 1892) was an American politician and lawyer in
Oregon
and
Iowa
. He was born and raised in
Virginia
. He served as a
United States Attorney
in Iowa when it was part of the
Michigan
and
Wisconsin
territories, and then represented the
Iowa Territory
in the
United States House of Representatives
. He later immigrated to the
Oregon Country
, where he served in the
Oregon Territorial Legislature
.
After settling in
Portland
, he helped to found
The Oregonian
newspaper and promoted economic interests in the city. He also was involved with building
Canyon Road
near Portland, and fought in the
Rogue River War
in Oregon. In later years, he served in the
Oregon Legislative Assembly
and promoted the expansion of railroads from Portland. Chapman Square, a park in downtown Portland, is named for him and was built on land he sold to the city.
Early life
[
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]
William Chapman was born in
Clarksburg, Virginia
, (now
West Virginia
) on August 11, 1808.
[1]
His father died when William was fourteen, at which time he left home to earn his own way.
[2]
He was educated in the public schools, and then took a job as a court clerk, while studying law on his own time.
[2]
In 1832, after
reading law
, he earned his law license and began practice in
Middletown
.
[2]
Chapman married Margaret F. Ingraham (daughter of
Arthur B. Ingram
) in 1832, and had seven children with her.
[2]
They moved to
Macomb, Illinois
in 1833, then to what is now
Burlington, Iowa
(then part of
Michigan Territory
) in 1835, where they were among the first settlers.
[2]
[3]
The next year he became a prosecuting attorney, and was then appointed by United States President
Andrew Jackson
as
United States Attorney
for the Michigan Territory.
[2]
Iowa
[
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]
In 1836, the
Wisconsin Territory
was formed from the western section of the Michigan Territory. Chapman became the first
United States Attorney for the District of Wisconsin
when it was created.
[3]
He was elected as colonel of the militia in 1836 after moving to what is now
Dubuque, Iowa
.
[2]
Then in 1838, the
Iowa Territory
was carved from the Wisconsin Territory.
Chapman was elected as Iowa Territory's first non-voting delegate to the
United States House of Representatives
.
[3]
A Democrat, he served from September 10, 1838, to October 27, 1840, spanning portions of the
Twenty-fifth
and
Twenty-sixth
Congresses.
[3]
While in Congress he introduced legislation for a
pre-emption law
, the first to do so in Congress.
[2]
His efforts secured for Iowa the land grant of 500,000 acres (2,000 km
2
) for the support of common schools, and a congressional report on Iowa's
boundary dispute with Missouri
that was favorable to Iowa.
[4]
After his term expired, Chapman returned to Iowa, relocating in 1843 to
Agency City
in
Wapello County
.
[3]
In 1844, he served as a delegate to Iowa's
Constitutional Convention
, which was held in
Iowa City
and led to the entry of Iowa into the Union as the 29th state in 1846.
[3]
Chapman left Iowa in 1847, traveling the
Oregon Trail
to the
Oregon Country
.
[3]
Oregon
[
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]
He left in May and arrived in November of what was still the unorganized Oregon Country. At this time the region was under the jurisdiction of the United States after the settling of the
Oregon boundary dispute
with Great Britain the previous year.
[2]
In Oregon, Chapman settled first in what was then
Marysville
, and is now Corvallis, in the
Willamette Valley
.
[2]
In 1848, he relocated to
Salem
, where he learned of the
California Gold Rush
while at court at Knox Butte.
[1]
Chapman went to California for a brief time and had some success in the gold fields before returning in 1849 to Oregon, which had become the
Oregon Territory
in 1848.
[1]
He accompanied
Joseph Lane
, the newly appointed governor of the territory, on his return trip to Oregon.
[1]
Chapman was elected to the first session of the
Oregon Territorial Legislature
later in 1849, representing
Champoeg County
(now Marion) in the legislature's lower house.
[5]
After the legislature finished its session, he moved to
Oregon City
and then
Portland
, both downstream of Salem on the
Willamette River
.
[2]
Later in 1849, he took a trip to San Francisco, California, where he recruited
Thomas J. Dryer
to move to Portland and start a newspaper.
[6]
He also purchased
The Gold Hunter
newspaper and moved the assets of the paper to Portland.
[2]
In 1850,
The Oregonian
began publishing as a weekly newspaper in Portland. Dryer served as the publisher with Chapman as a co-founder.
[1]
Chapman gave the paper its name.
[1]
The assets of
The Gold Hunter
were used to start the paper.
[2]
Chapman purchased land in Portland from
Stephen Coffin
and
Daniel H. Lownsdale
in 1850, which he then cleared and built a home.
[2]
This is now the site of the
Multnomah County Courthouse
.
[6]
In Portland, he was a promoter of the city and helped to get
Canyon Road
built to ensure the city would become the commercial center of Oregon.
[6]
Chapman practiced law, and in October 1851 he was held in contempt of court by
Oregon Supreme Court
justice
Orville C. Pratt
.
[6]
Chapman was ordered to be sent to jail in the county seat of
Hillsboro
for 20 days and disbarred, but never went to jail and the order was revoked when Pratt was replaced on the court by justice
Thomas Nelson
.
[6]
Chapman had accused Pratt of mistreating lawyers in an affidavit.
[6]
Chapman left Portland in 1853 for
Fort Umpqua
in
Southern Oregon
.
[1]
There he engaged in cattle ranching while keeping his Portland law practice.
[2]
He served as a lieutenant colonel in the militia during the
Rogue River War
that was fought from 1855 to 1856 against the Native Americans in Southern Oregon.
[2]
After the war he returned to Corvallis in 1856 before moving to
Eugene
in 1857.
[1]
Chapman was appointed as surveyor general of
Oregon
and served from 1857 to 1861 when he returned to Portland.
[1]
He left this federal government position due to his opposition to the election of
Abraham Lincoln
as U.S. president.
[6]
Oregon entered the Union as the 33rd state in 1859.
Later years
[
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]
Upon returning to Portland he built a home at 12th and Jefferson streets in what is now
Downtown Portland
.
[2]
Chapman then returned to the practice of law.
[1]
He also worked to secure Portland's economic future by promoting the construction of the railroad line to California to link with the transcontinental rail line.
[2]
From 1870 to 1876 he started three companies with the goal of creating a railroad connecting Portland to the
Union Pacific
's transcontinental railroad.
[6]
Chapman's proposed line would have traveled through the
Columbia River Gorge
to
The Dalles, Oregon
, where it would then travel southeast to
Salt Lake City
,
Utah
, linking to the Union Pacific line.
[6]
In 1868, he returned to the legislature, representing Multnomah County in the
Oregon House of Representatives
as a
Democrat
.
[7]
While in the legislature, he worked to get a $30,000 government subsidy to purchase and operate a large steam tugboat at the mouth of the
Columbia River
.
[2]
This vessel was used to pilot ships across the
Columbia Bar
and thus improved maritime commerce for Portland.
[2]
In 1870, he sold two blocks of land in downtown to the
City of Portland
, which would become the
Plaza Blocks
between Third and Fourth avenues at Main Street.
[8]
William Williams Chapman died in Portland on October 18, 1892, at the age of 84, and was buried at
Lone Fir Cemetery
in that city.
[3]
Chapman School in Portland was named in his honor.
[1]
Chapman Square, part of the
Plaza Blocks
parks with Lownsdale Square, is also named in his honor.
[8]
The two blocks were purchased from Chapman for $1200.
[9]
Lownsdale Square contains the
Spanish?American War Soldier's Monument
, erected after
Harvey W. Scott
wrote an editorial pleading for a monument to the war on June 18, 1899.
[9]
The monument includes the statue of a soldier dressed for the
Spanish?American War
sculpted by
Douglas Tilden
.
[9]
While the granite base is inscribed with
Roman numerals
indicating 1904, the base was not received until October 1905, and the monument was not dedicated until May 30, 1906,
Memorial Day
.
[9]
The final cost of the monument was $14,722, paid for by donations following Scott's plea.
[9]
The monument also contains two
howitzers
, donated by
Henry E. Dosch
, which he found buried in the beach near
Fort Sumter
.
[9]
Dosch noted the howitzers had been used by both sides in the
American Civil War
.
[9]
There is also a drinking fountain in the square,
Fountain for Company H
, donated to the city by the Ladies Auxiliary of Company H (of the
2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment
).
[9]
The fountain was a design of
John H. Beaver
, dedicated on September 2, 1914.
[9]
See also
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
Corning, Howard M. (1989).
Dictionary of Oregon History
. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 51.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
Colmer, Montagu, and Charles Erskine Scott Wood. 1910.
History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon
. Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co. pp. 263?264.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
William Williams Chapman.
Archived
2006-07-20 at the
Wayback Machine
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
- ^
Benjamin F. Gue, "
History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 (William W. Chapman)
, pp. 46?47 (1902).
- ^
Oregon Legislative Assembly (1st Territorial) 1849 Regular Session.
Archived
2019-05-18 at the
Wayback Machine
Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on February 15, 2008.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Leeson, Fred. 1998.
Rose City Justice: A Legal History of Portland, Oregon
. Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 7?10, 36?37.
- ^
Oregon Legislative Assembly (5th) 1868 Regular Session.
Archived
2019-05-18 at the
Wayback Machine
Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on February 15, 2008.
- ^
a
b
Chapman Square.
Archived
2007-03-23 at the
Wayback Machine
Portland Parks & Recreation. Retrieved on February 15, 2008.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Snyder, Eugene E. (1991).
Portland Potpourri
.
Portland, Oregon
:
Binford & Mort
. pp. 73?79.
ISBN
0-8323-0493-X
.
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