Multnomah-Marion-Polk County OR Archives Biographies.....Boise, Whitney Lyon November 6, 1862 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com October 21, 2007, 2:14 pm Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company WHITNEY LYON BOISE. A product of Oregon, Whitney Lyon Boise is thoroughly imbued with the progressive spirit of the west and has taken a leading part in projects for Portland’s development and improvement. Many years of his life were devoted to the practice of law, in which he met with gratifying success, and in state politics he was long an influential factor, but his time is now occupied in looking after his various investments. A native of Salem, he was horn November 6, 1862, and bears a name that is inseparably associated with the history of this great commonwealth. His father, Judge Reuben Patrick Boise, was one of Oregon’s distinguished jurists and a man of exceptional worth. He was born June 9, 1818, in Blandford, Massachusetts, and in 1843 received the A. B. degree from Williams College. In 1847 he was admitted to the bar and for three years engaged in practice in his native state. In 1850 he responded to the call of the west, coming to Oregon by way of Cape Horn, and in the following year received from Judge Pratt the appointment of district attorney, to which office he was elected in 1852. While in the east Mr. Boise had plighted his troth with Miss Ellen Frances Lyon, who was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, and in 1851 she joined him in San Francisco. She had made the voyage to the Pacific coast on the clipper Flying Cloud and they were married on board the ship. In 1852 they settled on a donation claim in Polk county, Oregon, and as the years passed Mr. Boise converted the wild land into a productive farm. Meanwhile he was active in public affairs and in collaboration with James K. Kelly and D. R. Bigelow prepared the first code of Oregon laws in 1854. He was a member of the territorial legislature and represented Polk county in the constitutional convention. In 1857 he was appointed by President Buchanan as one of the territorial justices of the supreme court of Oregon, rendering its first decision, and continued in the office until Oregon assumed the dignity of statehood. He was then elected one of its first supreme judges and in 1870 was reelected but resigned owing to a threatened contest of the election. For four years thereafter Judge Boise was engaged in private practice and in 1874 he became one of the capitol building commissioners. In 1876 he resumed the duties of supreme court judge and in 1878, when the legislature divided the supreme and circuit judges into distinct classes, he was appointed by Governor Thayer as one of the supreme judges and served until 1880. His preference, however, was for circuit court work and in 1880 he was elected judge of the third judicial district, comprising the counties of Marion, Linn, Polk, Yamhill and Tillamook. He presided over that tribunal until 1892 and for a period of six years practiced law in Salem. In 1898 he was recalled to the office of judge of the third judicial district and remained upon the bench until July, 1904, when he retired from public life at the venerable age of eighty-six years. His record as a jurist was characterized by strict impartiality and a masterful grasp of every problem presented to him for solution. He served on the supreme bench for seventeen years and on the circuit bench for nineteen years, his thirty-six years’ service constituting a period unequaled in length by any previous judge in the state. In addition he had served the public in other capacities for eight years and his official career thus covered forty-four years, said by ex-Governor Geer to be the longest official record enjoyed by any resident of Oregon. Judge Boise never lost his interest in agricultural affairs, acting as master of the State Grange for about twelve years, and was several times a delegate to the National Grange. Retaining the old donation claim near Dallas, he added to his holdings, which at his death comprised twenty-five hundred acres of fertile land in that locality, in addition to which he owned a tract of one hundred acres adjoining the Indian school near Salem and the home farm of sixty acres, situated within the corporation limits of the capital city. An ardent advocate of the cause of education, he was a member of the first school board of Portland and in 1927 the Reuben P. Boise school was named in his honor. He was the first president of La Creole Academy at Dallas; a regent of the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvallis; and a trustee of Willamette University at Corvallis; and a trustee of Willamette University at Salem and Pacific University at Forest Grove, receiving the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the last named institution. An eloquent orator, he spoke before the Pioneer Society, the State Historical Society and the State Bar Association, also delivering an address on the occasion of the unveiling of the Jason Lee monument on the fiftieth anniversary of Oregon’s statehood. Judge Boise’s first wife, who was an earnest member of the Congregational church, passed away in 1865, leaving three children: Fisher A., who resides in Dallas; Reuben P., of Salem; and Whitney L. In 1867 Judge Boise married Miss Emily A. Pratt, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and they became the parents of two daughters, one of whom, Ellen S., was drowned at North Beach in 1891. The life of Judge Boise was one of untiring activity and conspicuous usefulness. It was terminated at Salem on the 10th of April, 1907, when he was eighty-nine years of age. At the time of his death all courts adjourned, the bar associations and public bodies passed resolutions of respect and the leading public officials attended the funeral services. Associate Justice, afterward, Chief Justice Moore, of the supreme court of Oregon, said of him: “Judge Boise has probably done more than any other man to systematize the practice of law in this state and raise it to a higher standard. He was a man whose ability and integrity were recognized by all who knew him. His work stands as a monument to his glory. He and Judge Williams have played a great part in formulating the practice of our courts.” At the funeral obsequies of Judge Boise his lifelong friend, George H. Williams, paid to him the following tribute: “I have but a few words to say. Our departed friend comes down to his grave full of years and full of honors. He did not attain the highest office in the gift of the people but the positions to which he was elected he filled with fidelity and a high and honorable sense of duty. ‘Honor and fame from no condition rise; act well your part, there all the honor lies.’ Judge Boise acted well his part, for which praise and honor are due to his memory. Few men have been more fortunate than Judge Boise was in his life. He was fortunate in the enjoyment of the confidence and respect of all who knew him. He was fortunate in his family, fortunate in his friends, fortunate in those circumstances which conduced to his comfort and especially fortunate in retaining his faculties unimpaired to the close of his long and useful life. Judge Boise, when living, was the oldest lawyer in the state and now he is gone. I am the oldest lawyer and as my relations to him were quite intimate I feel like one who treads alone ‘some banquet hall deserted.’ When I came to Oregon, now nearly fifty-four years ago, Judge Boise was in active practice of his profession. He was prosecuting attorney, while I was judge of this district, and made an able and efficient officer. Since then for the most part of the time he has been judge of the supreme or district courts and at all times and under all circumstances he was an upright and impartial judge. Judge Boise in his private life was irreproachable and his public life was above suspicion. When a man has reached the great age of Judge Boise, honored and respected as he was, there is no occasion to mourn over his departure. It is just as natural to die as it is to live — all must die — every blade of grass, every flower, every tree, every living creature must die; it is the inevitable law of nature and it is our duty to acquiesce as cheerfully as we can in this unchanging and universal law. I know that when death severs the ties of family and kindred it is natural for the bereaved to experience a sense of sorrow, but this sorrow is greatly alleviated when those who are left behind can look back upon the record that the departed one has made with pride and satisfaction. Springtime is a suitable time for an old man to take his departure from this world. When the trees are putting forth their leaves and the buds and blossoms begin to appear and the sun is shining and the birds are singing, and when all nature is putting on the habiliments of a new life, it is fitting that an old man should pass out of the winter of his life into the springtime of another and better existence. When the sun goes down it reflects upon the clouds that hang upon the horizon a golden hue and when a man like Judge Boise dies the record of his life reflects upon those who survive a radiance that resembles the glory of the setting sun. Whatever may befall our friend in another state of existence we can have no reason to doubt that he will receive his reward for the good deeds done in the body and as we sit around his lifeless remains we can all join in saying in the sincerity of our hearts, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, rest in peace.’” Whitney L. Boise obtained his early instruction in the common schools of Ellendale and next attended La Creole Academy. Alter leaving Dallas he attended Willamette University, and later took a course in the University of Oregon, from which he was graduated in 1880 with the B. S. degree. He read law in his father’s office, also under Judge Raleigh Stott, of Portland, and in 1885 was admitted to the bar at Salem. Returning to Portland, he began practice with the firm of Stott, Boise & Stott, his associates being Raleigh and Samuel Stott, and three years later they were joined by J. B. Waldo and Seneca Smith. At that time the style was changed to Stott, Waldo, Smith, Stott & Boise which form was continued until 1891, when the original name was resumed. In 1896 Samuel Stott retired and George C. Stout entered the firm, which then became Stott, Boise & Stout. Mr. Boise withdrew from the firm in 1900 and retired from the profession. He was regarded as a wise counselor and his arguments were lucid, cogent and always to the point. On the subject of real estate law he was regarded as an authority and for many years was attorney for the loan department of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. He has extensive holdings in farm lands and also owns much valuable real estate in Portland, deriving a substantial income from his investments, which have been judiciously placed. Mr. Boise was married July 2, 1900, to Miss Louise H. Hawthorne, a daughter of Dr. James C. Hawthorne, who vas a native of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and of English and Scotch lineage. James Hawthorne, the grandfather of Mrs. Boise, fought in the War of 1812 and her great-great- grandfather in the maternal line was a Continental soldier during the struggle for American independence. Dr. James C. Hawthorne came to Portland in 1859 and in the following year took charge of the County Hospital. He was a neurologist of national repute and for twenty-one years had charge of the Oregon State Hospital for the Insane. His first wife, Miss Emily Curry, was a niece of Congressman Kelly of Pennsylvania and a first cousin of Governor Curry of Oregon. In 1865 Dr. Hawthorne married Mrs. E. C. Hite, of Sacramento, California, and they became the parents of three daughters: Louise H., Catherine H. and Mary Cossett. Mr. Boise was a member of Company K of the old Oregon Militia and at the time of its organization joined the Oregon National Guard, with which he was connected for four years. For a number of years he was a leader of his party in Oregon, acting as chairman of the republican state central committee from 1892 until 1894, and in 1904 was made chairman of the county committee. He served in the latter capacity for two years and from 1903 until 1906, during the administration of Mayor Williams, was a member of the executive board of Portland. A man of unselfish nature and marked public spirit, Mr. Boise has enlisted his talents as readily for the public weal as for his own aggrandizement. In company with Harvey W. Scott and Jefferson Myers he went to Washington, D. C., and aided in securing an appropriation from congress for the Lewis and Clark Exposition. He was the originator and executive head of the East Side Civic Improvement Clubs and in recognition of his interest in the movement was elected the first president of the United East Side Improvement Association, consisting of thirty civic organizations. Since its organization he has been chairman of the Oregon land settlement commission and is chairman of the reclamation and land settlement committee of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, of which he was formerly a director. Mr. Boise is an ex- president of the Commercial Club, which he aided in forming, and is also a member of the Arlington Club and the Meadow Lake Club. His interests and activities have covered a wide scope and his life has been a constantly expanding force for good citizenship. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Pages 377-380 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/boise416gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 14.1 Kb