(Excerpt from Eulogies on John Marshall: Delivered by Geor...)
Excerpt from Eulogies on John Marshall: Delivered by George H. Williams at the Capitol in Salem, and by Horace G. Platt at Cordray's Theatre, in Portland, and Proceedings in the Courts on John Marshall Day, February 4, 1901 Circuit Courts for the District of Oregon, and the several departments of the State Circuit Court and the County Court for 'multnomah County be te quested to adjourn for the day, and to spread upon their several journals this resolution, that it may be perpetuated as a memorial in the records' of these tribunals and as an expression of our appreciation of Marshall's position in the history of our country. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(Excerpt from Speech of Hon. George H. Williams, of Oregon...)
Excerpt from Speech of Hon. George H. Williams, of Oregon, on Reconstruction: Delivered in the Senate of the United States, February 4, 1868 The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a third time. The bill was read the third time. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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George Henry Williams was born on March 26, 1820 at New Lebanon, Columbia County, New York, the son of Taber and Lydia (Goodrich) Williams. The father was of Welsh, the mother of English descent and both grandfathers were Revolutionary soldiers.
During George's childhood his father moved to Onondaga County, New York, where the son attended district school and Pompey Hill Academy until he was seventeen.
He was admitted to the Syracuse bar in 1844, and began practice at Fort Madison, Iowa Territory. After Iowa was admitted to statehood, he was elected a district judge in 1847 and served until 1852. The next year President Pierce appointed him chief justice of the Territory of Oregon. Soon after his arrival at Salem in June 1853 he rendered a decision in favor of a freed negro, Robin Holmes, suing his former owner for the custody of his three minor children (Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, June 1922).
After the call of a convention to meet in August 1857 to form a state constitution, he wrote a letter to the Oregon Statesman, July 28, urging the inexpediency of slavery in Oregon. He opposed unsuccessfully the proposal that the property of a married woman should not be subject to the debts of a husband and should be registered separately on the ground that "in this age of woman's rights and insane theories" legislation should "unite the family circle" and make husband and wife one.
Williams retired from the bench in 1857 to take up the practice of law in Portland. He supported Douglas in the campaign of 1860, and as a northern Democrat opposed to slavery in the call for a Union state convention in 1862. He was a delegate to this body, which met at Eugene in April, and was chairman of the executive committee that carried on the campaign for the Union state ticket, which was entirely successful at the June election.
In September 1864 he was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate for the term beginning in March 1865. When Congress met in December of that year he was appointed a member of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction and supported Thaddeus Stevens and the Radicals against President Johnson. He introduced the Tenure of Office bill in the Senate in December 1866, and held at the time that this measure did not take away the power of the President to remove cabinet officers. He claimed authorship for the Military Reconstruction bill, which he introduced in the Senate Feburary 4, 1867, and which was passed by Congress. With his Oregon colleague, H. W. Corbett, he voted "guilty" in the impeachment trial of President Johnson.
He failed of reelection to the Senate in 1871, but in February of that year was appointed a member of the Joint High Commission that negotiated the Treaty of Washington with Great Britain, and in May was appointed attorney-general, a position which he held until May 5, 1875.
In 1873 Grant nominated him as chief justice to succeed Salmon P. Chase, but the appointment aroused such criticism and opposition that Williams requested the President to withdraw his name. The Senate judiciary committee refused to recommend him after an inquiry that revealed that Williams had removed from office A. C. Gibbs, United States District Attorney at Portland, Ore. , to prevent him from prosecuting election frauds, an action taken at the insistence of Senator John H. Mitchell, who was said to have been implicated in the use of "bribes and repeaters".
In 1876 Williams and Gen. Lew Wallace were sent to Florida by the Republican National Committee "to save the state for Hayes" and managed, so Williams wrote afterwards, "to put the returns in such shape that the authorities would know how the people voted. "
After returning to Portland he renewed his practice of law and was twice elected mayor of that city, serving 1902-05. In his later years he lent his name in support of the "Oregon System" of popular government and of the woman's suffrage movement.
In addition to "Six Years in the Senate, " cited above, Williams published Occasional Addresses (1895), and "Political History of Oregon from 1853 to 1865" (Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, March 1901).
He served as Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, was the 32nd Attorney General of the United States, and was elected Oregon's U. S. Senator, and served one term. Williams, as U. S. Senator, authored and supported legislation that allowed the U. S. military to be deployed in Reconstruction southern states to allow for an orderly process of readmittance into the United States. Williams was the first presidential Cabinet member to be appointed from the Pacific Coast.
(Excerpt from Eulogies on John Marshall: Delivered by Geor...)
(Excerpt from Speech of Hon. George H. Williams, of Oregon...)
He was a leading member of the constitutional convention and chairman of the committee on the judicial department.
In 1850 Williams married Kate Van Antwerp of Keokuk, Iowa, who died in 1863; in 1867 he married Kate (Hughes) George. He had one daughter by his first marriage and two adopted children.
This was the "pushing and ambitious wife" whose "new landau," furnished at public expense and displayed at Washington while the husband was a member of Grant's official family, is said to have helped block the way to her husband's promotion as chief justice.
