Background
John Gearin was born on August 15, 1851, near Pendleton in Eastern Oregon.
John Gearin was born on August 15, 1851, near Pendleton in Eastern Oregon.
University of Notre Dame. Saint Mary"s College of California.
A native of the eastern portion of the state, he represented Portland on the western side of the state in the Oregon House of Representatives. Originally an independent politician, he later became a Democrat and lost an election to serve in the United States Congress before winning appointment to the Senate in 1905. He also was Portland"s city attorney and a district attorney.
After attending the local public schools, Gearin enrolled at Saint Mary"s College in San Francisco, attending from 1863 to 1867.
In 1871, he graduated with a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Notre Dame. In 1873, he was admitted to the Oregon bar after studying law, and then entered private legal practice in Portland.
On June 28, 1878, Gearin married Matilda Raleigh and they had three children together. In 1874, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives and served in the 1874 legislative session.
Gearin was elected as an independent to represent District 43 in Multnomah County.
The next year he was city attorney of Portland. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress, and was district attorney for Multnomah County from 1884 to 1886. Gearin was appointed by United States. President Grover Cleveland in 1893 as special prosecutor for the government concerning cases of opium fraud.
He was then appointed to the United States Senate by Oregon Governor George Earle Chamberlain to fill the vacancy caused by the death of sitting Senator John H. Mitchell in 1905.
Gearin served from December 13, 1905, until January 23, 1907, and was not a candidate for election in 1907 to fill the vacancy. After leaving the Senate he returned to his law practice in Portland.
John Gearin died on November 12, 1930, at the age of 79 in Portland. He was buried in that city at the Mount Calvary Cemetery.
He had been a member of the Knights of Columbus.