John WHITEAKER, Congress, OR (1820-1902)

WHITEAKER, John, a Representative from Oregon; born in Dearborn County, near Fort Wayne, Ind., May 4, 1820; was self-educated and engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock raising; moved to the Pacific coast in 1849, and settled in Lane County, Oreg., in 1852; elected judge of probate for Lane County in 1855; member of the Territorial legislature in 1857; Governor of the State of Oregon 1858-1862; member of the State house of representatives in 1866 and 1868, and served as speaker; again elected to the State house of representatives in 1870; member of the State board of equalization in 1872, and served as chairman; member of the commission to examine, report upon, and receive the locks and canal at the falls of the Willamette River; member of the State senate 1876-1880, and served as president of the sessions of 1876 and 1878; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1881); chairman, Committee on Revolutionary Pensions (Forty-sixth Congress); was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1880 to the Forty-seventh Congress; appointed internal-revenue collector for the district of Oregon and served from June 20, 1885, to February 27, 1890; moved to Eugene, Lane County, Oreg., in 1889 and died there October 2, 1902; interment in the Masonic Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present