David Logan (April 5, 1824 – March 26, 1874) was an American attorney and politician in the territory of and later state of Oregon. A native of Illinois, he moved to Oregon in 1850 where he served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature and in the Oregon Constitutional Convention. A founder of the Oregon Republican Party, he also served as mayor of Portland.
David Logan | |
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14th Mayor of Portland, Oregon | |
In office 1863–1864 | |
Preceded by | William H. Farrar |
Succeeded by | Henry Failing |
Member of the Oregon Territorial Legislature | |
In office 1854–1854 | |
Constituency | Washington County |
Member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention | |
In office 1857–1857 | |
Constituency | Multnomah County |
Personal details | |
Born | April 5, 1824 Kentucky |
Died | March 26, 1874 Yamhill County, Oregon | (aged 49)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Mary Porter Waldo |
Relations | Stephen T. Logan |
David Logan was born in the state of Kentucky on April 5, 1824.[1] The family later moved to the town of Springfield, Illinois.[2] His father, Stephen T. Logan, practiced law as a partner with Abraham Lincoln in Springfield.[2][3] David Logan studied law in Springfield under his father and Lincoln passing the bar in 1844 in Sangamon County.[4][5] An anti-Democrat and Whig politically, Logan was to become a partner with Lincoln and his father in their practice before his drinking led to a falling out with his father.[4] Due to this falling out, Logan's father sent him to join the army and fight in the Mexican–American War.[4] David Logan also briefly moved to California. After Logan returned from the war, his father sent him to Oregon.[4]
In 1850, Logan arrived in what was then the Oregon Territory and set up a law practice in Lafayette.[2] He moved to Portland soon after and continued practicing law.[2] The next year he ran for representative office in the Oregon Territorial Legislature for Yamhill County, but lost to Matthew P. Deady.[4] Logan and Deady would have a long-running feud, Logan's drunkenness would continue to plague him, and further troubles included accusations of the rape of a Native American girl.[4] On January 20, 1852, he represented the United States in a customs dispute with the Hudson's Bay Company at a court in Olympia, which was still part of the Oregon Territory at that time.[6]
In June 1854, Logan was elected to the Oregon Territorial Legislature to represent Washington County, which at that time included Portland and part of what later that year became Multnomah County.[7] In 1857, he was elected to represent Multnomah County at the Oregon Constitutional Convention.[1] Held from August to September in Salem, Logan was on the Judicial Department Committee.[1] Though he voted against the adoption of the Oregon Constitution, the document was approved and became effective upon statehood on February 14, 1859.[1] He also helped found the Oregon Republican Party.[2]
Upon statehood, Logan stood as the new Republican Party's candidate for the state's seat in the House of Representatives.[5] He lost in both 1859 and 1860 to Lansing Stout.[5] Logan was elected as the Mayor of Portland on April 6, 1863, and served until April 1864 when Henry Failing was elected to the office.[8] In 1868, he ran for Oregon's seat in Congress as the Republican nominee, losing to Joseph Showalter Smith.[9]
In 1862, he married Mary Porter Waldo; they had no children.[2] Logan entered a partnership with Erasmus D. Shattuck in 1857, and remained a partner until 1874.[9][10] In 1871, he partly retired to a farm in Yamhill County.[2] On March 26, 1874, David Logan died in Yamhill County at the age of 49.[1] He was called the "greatest jury lawyer of his time".[2]
david logan portland.