Richard Williams (congressman)

Infobox Congressman
name= Richard Williams


state= Oregon
district = ushr|Oregon|AL|At-large
party= Republican
term= March 4 1877-March 3 1879
preceded= Lafayette Lane
succeeded= John Whiteaker
date of birth= November 15 1836
place of birth= Findlay, Ohio
date of death= June 19 1914
place of death=Portland, Oregon
spouse=
current occupation=

Richard Williams (November 15, 1836–June 19, 1914) was a United States Congressman representing Oregon's at large congressional district.

Williams was born in Findlay, Ohio to Elijah Williams.Corning, Howard M. "Dictionary of Oregon History". Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.] In Ohio he attended the public schools before the family moved to Oregon in 1851 over the Oregon Trail. The family first settled in Milwaukie, Oregon, and then Salem where he was educated in the local schools. He also attended Willamette University in Salem, and was admitted to the bar in 1857.

Richard Williams then moved to San Francisco, California in 1857 and began practicing law. The following year he returned to Oregon and practiced law in Kerbyville in Josephine County, followed by Corvallis in 1860, and Salem in 1862. In 1862 he married Clara J. Congle, and they would have one daughter. The family moved to Portland in 1872.

Williams ran as a Republican for Congress in 1874. He faced Democrat George A. La Dow and, due to a split in the Republican party, also faced Timothy W. Davenport, who ran as an Independent. Davenport, one of the founders of the Oregon Republican party, and father of political cartoonist Homer Davenport, debated Williams throughout the state, with the result that the Republican vote was split and La Dow won the election by a narrow plurality.cite book|title=Fifty Years in Oregon: Experiences, Observations, and Commentaries Upon Men, Measures, and Customs in Pioneer Days and Later Times|last=Geer|first=T. T.|authorlink=T. T. Geer|publisher=The Neale Publishing Company|date=1912|pages=pp. 275-277|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=wFTbZPqBYccC]

He ran again in 1876, and was elected, defeating incumbent Lafayette Lane,cite book|title=History of Oregon|last=Carey|first=Charles Henry|date=1922|page=p. 820|publisher=Pioneer Historical Publishing Company|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ZUMOAAAAIAAJ|accessdate=2008-02-26] though the election was contested by Samuel McDowell.cite book|title= Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-2005| last=United States Congress|authorlink= United States Congress|publisher = United States Government Printing Office| date = 2005|pages=p. 200 (See footnote 40)| url = http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/cdocuments/hd108-222/45th.pdf | format = HTML | accessdate = 2007-01-08] Williams prevailed and served one term from 1877 to 1879.

After his one term in Congress, Williams resumed his law practice in Portland and served on the Portland School Board for 20 years beginning in 1890. He died in Portland in 1914 and was buried at River View Cemetery in Portland. [ [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/OR/MU.html#R9T0XKHY7 Political Graveyard: River View Cemetery] ]

References

External links

*CongBio|W000533
*Find A Grave|id=15528461|name=Richard Williams