Joseph Norton DOLPH, Congress, OR (1835-1897)

DOLPH Joseph Norton , a Senator from Oregon; born in Dolphsburg, Tompkins (now Schuyler) County, N.Y., October 19, 1835; attended the common schools and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N.Y.; taught school and studied law; admitted to the bar in Binghamton, N.Y., in 1861 and commenced practice in Schuyler County, N.Y.; in 1862 enlisted in the 'Oregon Escort,' a company raised under an act of Congress for the purpose of protecting emigrants crossing the Plains to the Pacific coast against hostile Indians; settled in Portland, Oreg., in 1862; city attorney 1864-1865; United States district attorney 1865-1868; member, State senate 1866, 1868, 1872, 1874; engaged in various enterprises; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1882; reelected in 1888 and served from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1895; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894; chairman, Committee on Coast Defenses (Forty-ninth through Fifty-second Congresses), Committee on Public Lands (Fifty-second Congress); resumed the practice of law in Portland, Oreg., where he died on March 10, 1897; interment in Riverview Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography.

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