Multnomah-Douglas County OR Archives Biographies.....Neuner, George August 24, 1878 - ************************************************ 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 27, 2009, 1:04 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 149-150 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company GEORGE NEUNER, who is rendering able and competent service as United States district attorney at Portland, is clearly deserving of the title of self-made man, for his success has been attained only by his determined and persistent efforts from boyhood, backed by high ideals and sound principles, and he has proven well worthy the place which he uniformly holds in public esteem. Mr. Neuner was born in Germany, August 24, 1878, and is the son of George and Margaret Neuner, who moved to America in the early '80s, locating first at Victoria, British Columbia, where the father assisted in constructing the Canadian Pacific Railroad. A couple of years thereafter the family removed to Fresno, California, where George attended the public school and the father engaged in farming and teaming. Times were hard and George had to quit school in order to help provide for the family and, at the age of fourteen years, became a teamster and was seen on the road, driving six horses and two wagons. In 1893 the family came to Oregon and settled in the Cow Creek valley, above Glendale, Oregon, where the father engaged in farming. Later he removed to the Umpqua valley, where he became one of the largest grain growers in Douglas county. In 1907 the parents retired from the farm and moved to Roseburg. The father died in February, 1922, and the mother died in February, 1928. The years on the farm above Canyonville were marked by hard work and little time for school, so that at the age of twenty-one, George had only reached the fifth grade. In 1901 he was offered a job as mule driver with the United States Geological Survey, which he accepted and worked three months the first season. With the money thus earned he attended the Central Oregon State Normal School at Drain for about three months, when his resources were exhausted and he was obliged to return to the ranch until the surveying party reentered the field in the spring. Being intensely ambitious for an education, he thus worked with Uncle Sam in the summer and went to school in the winter. After the second year he ceased to be a mule driver and became an assistant to the topographer. The next year he was given an instrument and thus he passed from the position of mule skinner to surveyor, but he occasionally had to take charge of those pesky animals to get the drivers out of trouble. In 1903 he assisted in establishing the Northwestern boundary between the United States and Canada. He did transit, level and topographic work, and that year ran six miles of the line in Idaho, did topographic mapping and ran level lines in connection with the boundary work until the fall of 1905. He graduated from the normal school in May, 1906, and again ran levels for the Geological Survey in the Yakima valley during the summer, and ran a line from Portland to Bull Run and Mt. Hood country in the fall. He entered Willamette University Law School in the winter of 1907, became a member of the debating team and served as chief clerk of the engrossing committee of the house in legislative assembly of that year. Again joining the Geological Survey during the summer, he went to Alaska and assisted in making a topographic map of the Fairbanks quadrangle; returned to Salem that fall and finished the law course in May, 1908. He took a special state bar examination and was admitted to practice law three days thereafter, but returned to Alaska for the summer with the Geological Survey — this year with the hydographic branch. His duties were to measure the volume of water in the streams between Circle City and Fairbanks, Alaska. That fall he returned to Oregon and entered the law offices of Coshow & Rice at Roseburg, his home town, and began the practice of his chosen profession. In 1909 he was appointed city attorney of Roseburg and also served as assistant chief clerk of the 1909 session of the Oregon legislature. In 1910 he was elected representative from Douglas county and served in the lower house during the session of 1911. In 1912 he was elected state senator, defeating his opponents, both in the primary and in the election, by overwhelming majorities. He served in the senate during the session of 1913 and until 1915, when Supreme Justice George M. Brown, then district attorney for Douglas county, was elected attorney-general, and Neuner was appointed district attorney to fill the unexpired term. He was twice reelected by increasing majorities and held the office until 1923, when he resigned to enter private practice. It was during his tenure as district attorney that he came into prominence by prosecuting several important murder cases, among them State vs. Brumfield, which attracted international attention. He was also active in the collection of taxes from the government for the county in the revestment of O & C and Southern Oregon land grants. He figured conspicuously in the good road movement and aided in developing a program for his county and the state. Shortly after his resignation as district attorney of Douglas county, he was appointed a special assistant to Attorney General I. H. VanWinkle, and represented the state in prosecutions and litigation in various counties where the attorney-general was required to have his office represented. He still retains a well-improved prune and stock ranch in Douglas county and takes a very active interest in all movements of cooperative marketing and agricultural relief measures. In 1912 Mr. Neuner was married to Miss Myrtle E. Campbell of Roseburg, and to them have been born three children — George William, aged fourteen years, Betty, aged seven, and Carol Mae, aged four years. Mr. Neuner is a stanch republican and had been active before he launched from the ranch on Days Creek to get an education. In fact, he has been active in all public activities, and was the originator and organizer of the Umpqua Chiefs, the Douglas County booster organization. He is a past district deputy grand exalted ruler of the Elks for Oregon south, a member of the Woodmen of the World, the Kiwanis Club and Chamber of Commerce. In February, 1925, he was appointed United States district attorney for Oregon, which position he now holds. He has made an enviable record, being careful and painstaking in the preparation of his cases and determined and resourceful in their prosecution. He is closely devoted to his profession, in the practice of which he has shown distinctive ability, and he commands not only the respect of his professional colleagues, but also the uniform confidence and esteem of the public. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/neuner941gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 7.3 Kb