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Sylvester Pennoyer
Sylvester Pennoyer (July 6, 1831 – May 30, 1902) was an American educator, attorney, and politician in Oregon. He was born in Groton, New York, attended Harvard Law School, and moved to Oregon at age 25. A Democrat, he served two terms as the eighth governor of Oregon from 1887 to 1895. He joined the Populist cause in the early 1890s and became the second Populist Party state governor in history. He was noted for his political radicalism, his opposition to the conservative Bourbon Democracy of President Grover Cleveland, his support for labor unions, and his opposition to the Chinese in Oregon. He was also noted for his prickly attitude toward both U.S. Presidents whose terms overlapped his own -- Benjamin Harrison and Cleveland, whom he once famously told via telegram to mind his own business.
He later served as mayor of Portland from 1896 to 1898.
Sylvester Pennoyer was born in Groton, New York, on July 6, 1831. His parents were the former Elizabeth Howland and Justus P. Pennoyer, a New York state legislator and a wealthy farmer. Sylvester attended school at Homer Academy and then began teaching. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1854. He moved to Oregon on July 10, 1855, where he resumed teaching.
In 1856 he married Mary A. Allen, with whom he had five children. While teaching, he also practiced law. Pennoyer was chosen as the superintendent of Multnomah County schools in 1860, and served until 1862. He then shifted to the lumber industry from 1862 to 1868, accumulating a fortune. He then purchased the Democratic-leaning Oregon Herald newspaper and served as editor until he sold it in 1869.
In 1866, Marcus Neff hired attorney John H. Mitchell to complete some legal business, but failed to pay Mitchell's bill. Mitchell sued and received a default judgment against Neff, with Neff's property sold at auction to pay the bill. Pennoyer purchased the land from Mitchell, who had purchased the land at the sheriff's auction, and later Neff became aware of the forced sale. Neff then sued Pennoyer to regain the property in a case that became the U.S. Supreme Court case of Pennoyer v. Neff that defined legal jurisdiction for citizens residing in different states. At the trial, federal judge and Pennoyer adversary Matthew Deady ruled in favor of Neff, with the Supreme Court affirming the decision in 1877. Pennoyer was compelled to give the land back to Neff, and the property became a part of the Willamette Heights neighborhood in later years.
Pennoyer was a Democrat most of his political career, but became a Populist in the early 1890s. In 1885 he ran for mayor of Portland, but lost to John Gates, partly due to his record of sympathy for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The following year he ran for Governor of Oregon against T. R. Cornelius, gaining support for advocating the use of American labor over Chinese immigrants. Pennoyer was elected in November and assumed office on January 12, 1887. He was re-elected in 1890 and served in the office until his second term ended on January 14, 1895.
As governor Pennoyer quickly made a name for himself as a quirky and cantankerous leader. In 1891 he pointedly snubbed President Benjamin Harrison when Harrison visited Oregon on a campaign tour. He refused to leave his office to meet Harrison at the state border. When Harrison came to Salem, Pennoyer kept him waiting in the train station (in the rain) and arrived 10 minutes late. That year the Oregon Legislative Assembly created the Oregon Attorney General office, and Pennoyer appointed George Earle Chamberlain to that post. While in office Pennoyer declared without authority that the Oregon Supreme Court lacked the power to invalidate legislative acts on constitutional grounds.[clarification needed]
In 1893 he refused to grant the state Democrats permission to use the state's ceremonial cannon to fire a salute in celebration of Grover Cleveland's inauguration as president. (Pennoyer had just left the Democratic Party to become the second Populist Party governor in history.) "No permission will be given to use state cannon for firing a salute over the inauguration of a Wall Street plutocrat as president of the United States," he said, and locked the cannon away under armed guard. The Democrats were able to get hold of the cannon by using an unpaid blacksmith's bill for $10 as a pretext to have the sheriff seize the weapon, and the salute was fired on schedule.
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Sylvester Pennoyer
Sylvester Pennoyer (July 6, 1831 – May 30, 1902) was an American educator, attorney, and politician in Oregon. He was born in Groton, New York, attended Harvard Law School, and moved to Oregon at age 25. A Democrat, he served two terms as the eighth governor of Oregon from 1887 to 1895. He joined the Populist cause in the early 1890s and became the second Populist Party state governor in history. He was noted for his political radicalism, his opposition to the conservative Bourbon Democracy of President Grover Cleveland, his support for labor unions, and his opposition to the Chinese in Oregon. He was also noted for his prickly attitude toward both U.S. Presidents whose terms overlapped his own -- Benjamin Harrison and Cleveland, whom he once famously told via telegram to mind his own business.
He later served as mayor of Portland from 1896 to 1898.
Sylvester Pennoyer was born in Groton, New York, on July 6, 1831. His parents were the former Elizabeth Howland and Justus P. Pennoyer, a New York state legislator and a wealthy farmer. Sylvester attended school at Homer Academy and then began teaching. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1854. He moved to Oregon on July 10, 1855, where he resumed teaching.
In 1856 he married Mary A. Allen, with whom he had five children. While teaching, he also practiced law. Pennoyer was chosen as the superintendent of Multnomah County schools in 1860, and served until 1862. He then shifted to the lumber industry from 1862 to 1868, accumulating a fortune. He then purchased the Democratic-leaning Oregon Herald newspaper and served as editor until he sold it in 1869.
In 1866, Marcus Neff hired attorney John H. Mitchell to complete some legal business, but failed to pay Mitchell's bill. Mitchell sued and received a default judgment against Neff, with Neff's property sold at auction to pay the bill. Pennoyer purchased the land from Mitchell, who had purchased the land at the sheriff's auction, and later Neff became aware of the forced sale. Neff then sued Pennoyer to regain the property in a case that became the U.S. Supreme Court case of Pennoyer v. Neff that defined legal jurisdiction for citizens residing in different states. At the trial, federal judge and Pennoyer adversary Matthew Deady ruled in favor of Neff, with the Supreme Court affirming the decision in 1877. Pennoyer was compelled to give the land back to Neff, and the property became a part of the Willamette Heights neighborhood in later years.
Pennoyer was a Democrat most of his political career, but became a Populist in the early 1890s. In 1885 he ran for mayor of Portland, but lost to John Gates, partly due to his record of sympathy for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The following year he ran for Governor of Oregon against T. R. Cornelius, gaining support for advocating the use of American labor over Chinese immigrants. Pennoyer was elected in November and assumed office on January 12, 1887. He was re-elected in 1890 and served in the office until his second term ended on January 14, 1895.
As governor Pennoyer quickly made a name for himself as a quirky and cantankerous leader. In 1891 he pointedly snubbed President Benjamin Harrison when Harrison visited Oregon on a campaign tour. He refused to leave his office to meet Harrison at the state border. When Harrison came to Salem, Pennoyer kept him waiting in the train station (in the rain) and arrived 10 minutes late. That year the Oregon Legislative Assembly created the Oregon Attorney General office, and Pennoyer appointed George Earle Chamberlain to that post. While in office Pennoyer declared without authority that the Oregon Supreme Court lacked the power to invalidate legislative acts on constitutional grounds.[clarification needed]
In 1893 he refused to grant the state Democrats permission to use the state's ceremonial cannon to fire a salute in celebration of Grover Cleveland's inauguration as president. (Pennoyer had just left the Democratic Party to become the second Populist Party governor in history.) "No permission will be given to use state cannon for firing a salute over the inauguration of a Wall Street plutocrat as president of the United States," he said, and locked the cannon away under armed guard. The Democrats were able to get hold of the cannon by using an unpaid blacksmith's bill for $10 as a pretext to have the sheriff seize the weapon, and the salute was fired on schedule.
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