 Hon. C.A. Cogswell-
As stated in the article on Lake county and Lakeview, 25 years ago
there were scarcely more than 10 residents in what is now Lake
county, Oregon. Hon. Charles A. Cogswell, the distinguished senator
in the last three sessions of the Oregon state legislature from the
remote southeastern part of the state, was one of the 10 hardy
pioneers above referred to. Senator Cogswell was a mere youth with
but $25 in his pockets when he decided to brave the hardships of a
frontier life in the then wilds of Southeastern Oregon. He hailed
from Vermont, where he was born in 1844. His parents removed to Iowa
in 1857, where he received the benefit of a common school education.
During the war with the South, he fought under Gen. Sherman's
commanded and subsequently removed to Goose Lake valley, in Lake
county, Oregon, where he has since resided. For 25 years Senator
Cogswell has striven, and not in vain, to bring about a development
and civilization of one of the most remote corners of the continent.
The results have been worthy of his indefatigable and well directed
efforts. After the rough corners of his frontier existence had begun
to wear smooth, Senator Cogswell took up the study of the law, and
was admitted to practice in the Oregon courts. In 1887 he was
elected to the office of Judge of Lake county. In 1888 he received a
flattering majority for state senator and was re-elected to the same
office in 1892 by double his former majority. During his term in the
senate, Mr. Cogswell was a leading spirit, and many of the important
measures that became laws during that session originated with him.
He received the Democratic vote of the members of the Senate for the
office of president of that body, and he was made chairman of the
committee on federal relations. The name of Senator Cogswell is
often mentioned in connection with the gubernatorial honors of the
state, but this has been done without his sanction. Senator Cogswell
is now the mayor of Lakeview. He enjoys a must lucrative law
practice besides having large stock as well as other interests in
Southeastern Oregon. He is a man of marked ability, an ardent
Democrat in politics and he is honored by an admiring constituency
from both parties alike.
The Oregonian's Handbook of the Pacific Northwest ©Shauna Williams |
Hon. Bernard Daly, M.D.- There was probably
no more distinguished member of the house of the last legislature
than Dr. Bernard Daly, the representative from Lake and Klamath
counties. Dr. Daly is a native of Ireland, having been born there in
1858, but he was raised in the state of Alabama. He received a
thorough preliminary education in his youth and graduated in his
youth and graduated from the Ohio Normal University at Ada in 1886,
and from the Medical Department of the University of Louisville in
1887. During the latter year he took up his residence at Lakeview,
where he began the practice of his profession in which he has not
met with signal success. Although hailing from a somewhat remote
part of the state, Dr. Daly has always been indefatigable in his
efforts in behalf of Southeastern Oregon. He was elected to the last
legislature by a most flattering majority and he served his
constituents in a most able manner. Although on the side of the
Democratic minority, Dr. Daly was a leader and many of the important
measures introduced and enacted are to be traced to his sagacious
efforts. Dr. Daly's interest in behalf of education led to his
appointment as a member of the board of regents of the Oregon State
Agricultural College at Corvallis, the position made vacant by the
death of Hon. W.S. Ladd, of Portland. Dr. Daly is a most prominent
citizen of Lakeview and is untiring in his efforts to make
Southeastern Oregon one of the most important agricultural sections
of the state.
The Oregonian's Handbook of the Pacific Northwest ©Shauna Williams |
 Hon. W.M. Townsend- The name of Hon. W.M.
Townsend has been prominently identified with the growth and
development of the Willamette valley, in Oregon, for the past 30
years. Judge Townsend was born in the state of Indiana in 1839,
where he received a common school education. Early in life he became
imbued with a desire to go west, and in 1855 he settled in Kansas.
Ten years later the Pacific coast proved a more inviting field for
the man of push and ambition, and Judge Townsend removed to Yamhill
county, in Oregon. During his stay in Kansas he enlisted in the 15th
Kansas regiment and served with honor during the civil war. In 1870
Judge Townsend was elected a member of the Oregon legislature and in
1874 he occupied a seat in the Senate along with such men as Dolph,
Hirsch, Watson, Meyers and Cochran. During his term as senator,
Judge Townsend was made chairman of the committee on ways and means.
In 1878 he was elected judge of Yamhill county. Judge Townsend has
always been a partisan democrat and in recognition of his ability as
a leader and expounder of the principals of democracy, he was chosen
by the state central committee in 1880 and 1884 to canvass the state
for Hancock and Cleveland respectively. In 1878 Judge Townsend
adopted journalism as a calling and established the Oregon Register
at Lafayette. In 1885 he was appointed by Cleveland receiver of the
land office at Lakeview where he has since resided. Judge Townsend
enjoys the honor of having been the first mayor of Lakeview, to
which position he was elected in 1888. He now holds the office of
judge of Lake county, and he also finds time to edit one of the most
sprightly weekly newspapers in Oregon, The Lake County Examiner.
Judge Townsend is well known throughout the state and is a man of
recognized ability. In 1878 he declined the nomination for governor
of the state and in 1884 he received the complimentary vote of the
democratic minority in the legislature for United States senator.
Judge Townsend has unlimited confidence in the future development of
Lake county and Southeastern Oregon and no one man is doing more
than he is to aid and hasten this rapid development. Just as "The Handbook" is going to press word reaches The Oregonian that Hon. W.M. Townsend, the subject of the above sketch, is dead. Judge Townsend was one of the best known and highly respected citizens of the state, and his death will be mourned by his numerous friends and admirers in all parts of the coast.
The Oregonian's Handbook of the Pacific Northwest ©Shauna Williams |