Umatilla County OR Archives Biographies.....Hailey, Thomas G. July 13, 1865 - ************************************************ 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: Carlene Still crstill@oregontrail.net July 31, 2006, 5:30 pm Author: Colonel William Parsons Pages 356, 357 THOMAS G. HAILEY Thomas G. Hailey, the present district attorney of the sixth judicial disrict of the state of Oregon, is a native of eastern Oregon, having been born at Lagrande, Union county, Oregon, July 13, 1865, of pioneer parents. His father, Hon. John Hailey, of Idaho, a native of Tennessee, crossed the plains to Oregon City in 1853, and later settled in southern Oregon, where he met and married Louisa M. Griffin, a native of Kentucky, who had come to Oregon in 1848 with her father, Capt. Burrel B. Griffin, a great lover of fine stock, and who brought with him his thoroughbred horses, on one of which his daughter Louisa had ridden the long trip across the plains and deserts to their new western home near Jacksonville, in southern Oregon. The subject of this sketch is the third son of his parents, and when he was about six months old they removed to Idaho temporarily, but returned to Oregon and lived for some time at The Dalles while his father was operating stage lines from Oregon into Idaho. Later large business interests caused a removal to Idaho, where the family home was established at Boise City, in the private and public schools of which city their son received his early education and preparation for college. His vacations were spent on the farms and ranches of his father and on the ranges where his father had large herds of horses and sheep. In the fall of 1884 he entered the law office of Cox & Minor, of Pendleton, Oregon, as a law student and clerk, where he remained about one year and then went east with his father, then serving his second term in congress as a delegate from the territory of Idaho, and entered Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Virginia, where he spent four years in the collegiate and law departments, graduating from the latter in June, 1889, with the degree of Doctor of Laws. During his college career he was prominent in all literary and social life of the institution and occupied many positions of honor and trust and won important college honors. After graduation he returned to his home in Idaho, but was soon requested by his former tutors, Cox & Minor, of Pendleton, Oregon, to again enter their office, and did so on July 13, 1889, and remained with them until their removal to Portland in January 1, 1890. While with this firm of excellent lawyers and most estimable gentlemen he acquired considerable experience from their large practice and laid the foundations for the splendid practice he now enjoys. In the fall of 1889, he was appointed by Chief Justice Thayer clerk of the supreme court of the state for the Eastern District, holding terms at Pendleton, and held the position for over three years. His practice continued to grow, and on July 13, 1892, he married Miss Maud L. Beach, of Iowa, and they now have two bright little daughters, Genevieve and Elizabeth, to grace their pleasant home overlooking the city of Pendleton on the north bank of the Umatilla river. In August, 1892, he was appointed deputy district attorney for the Sixth Judicial District in Umatilla county, and about the same time formed a law partnership with Stephen A. Lowell, under the firm name of Hailey & Lowell, which continued until October, 1895, when Mr. Lowell was appointed circuit judge of the Sixth Judicial District upon the resignation of Judge James A. Fee. He then formed a partnership with Judge Fee, Charles H. Carter and John L., Austin, with offices in Pendleton and also in Union, Union county, Oregon. Since the dissolution of this firm he has practiced alone with the exception of a short time when he was associated with ex-Judge John J. Balleray, and has always had an extensive practice. In the spring of 1896 he was nominated on the Democratic ticket for the office of circuit judge, but was defeated by his former law partner, Judge Lowell, then holding the office, in a three-cornered contest. In the spring of 1900 he was again nominated by his party, but this time for the office of district attorney of the Sixth Judicial District, and was elected over his former law partner, ex-Judge James A. Fee, the Republican nominee, carrying both counties of the district. Mr. Hailey’s practice has been large and varied and he has been signally successful in his profession, to which he is most ardently devoted, being at all times a lawyer and a student who takes a pride and delight in his professional work. With all his cares and duties as a lawyer he still takes time to interest himself and others in the welfare of his community and in the general progress of the state, and served four years acceptably as one of the directors of the Pendleton public school, and at the urgent requests of his friends he became the unopposed candidate for mayor of Pendleton, and on December 2, 1901, he was unanimously elected to a two-years term, thus insuring excellent execution in the government of the city. Additional Comments: An Illustrated History of Umatilla County by Colonel William Parsons and of Morrow County by W. S. Shiach with a brief outline of the early history of the State of Oregon. W. H. Lever, Publisher 1902. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/umatilla/bios/hailey116gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb