George Earle CHAMBERLAIN, Congress, OR (1854-1928)

CHAMBERLAIN George Earle , a Senator from Oregon; born on a plantation near Natchez, Adams County, Miss., January 1, 1854; attended private and public schools in Natchez; clerk in a general merchandise store in Natchez 1870-1872; was graduated from Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., in 1876; moved to Oregon in 1876 and taught school in Linn County; deputy clerk of Linn County from 1877 to 1879, when he resigned; was admitted to the bar in 1879 and commenced the practice of law in Albany, Linn County, Oreg.; member, State house of representatives 1880-1882; district attorney for the third judicial district 1884-1886; appointed and subsequently elected attorney general of Oregon 1891-1894; continued the practice of law in Portland; district attorney for the fourth judicial district 1900-1902; elected Governor of Oregon in 1902 and reelected in 1906, but resigned in 1908 having been elected Senator; elected in 1908 as a Democrat to the United States Senate; reelected in 1914 and served from March 4, 1909, to March 3, 1921; unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Senate in 1920; chairman, Committee on Geological Survey (Sixty-second Congress), Committee on Military Affairs (Sixty-third through Sixty-fifth Congresses), Committee on Public Lands (Sixty-third Congress), Committee on Expenditures in the War Department (Sixty-sixth Congress); member of the United States Shipping Board 1921-1923; engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C., and died there on July 9, 1928; interment in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Robert, Frank. 'The Public Speaking of George Earle Chamberlain, A Study of the Utilization of Speech by a Prominent Politician.' Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1955; Hendricks, Russell G. "Election of Senator Chamberlain, the People's Choice." Oregon Historical Quarterly 53 (June 1952): 63-88.

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