Hal Elden Hoss (October 7, 1892 – February 6, 1934) was an American journalist and politician in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. A native of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, he was raised there and edited several newspapers in Oregon before he became the private secretary for the Governor of Oregon,

I. L. Patterson Isaac Lee "Ike" Patterson, (September 17, 1859December 21, 1929) was the List of Governors of Oregon, 18th Governor of Oregon from 1927 to 1929. An Oregon native, he served in the Oregon Legislative Assembly from 1918 to 1922, and was a farmer i ...

. A Republican, he served as

Oregon Secretary of State The secretary of state of Oregon, an elected constitutional officer within the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is first in line of succession to the governor. The duties of the office are auditor of public accounts, ch ...

for six years before he died in office.

Early life

Hal Hoss was born on October 7, 1892, in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, where he was raised.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 119. After he earned his education in that city he married Myrtle Lantz in 1914, and had four children together. In 1918, he became the editor of the ''Banner Courier'' newspaper of

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

. Hoss remained there until 1920 when began managing and editing the ''Enterprise'' paper, also in Oregon City. In 1922, he was inducted into Sigma Delta Chi, an honor society for journalists. He remained in the newspaper business until 1926 at the ''Enterprise'', and served as the president of the

Oregon Press Association The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association is a trade association for all paid-circulation daily, weekly, and multi-weekly newspapers in the U.S. state of Oregon. It represents and promotes newspapers, and encourages excellence in reporting and ...

on several occasions. Hoss was active in attempts to reform the penal system, serving on commissions to this aim. He even was appointed to the state's parole board. In 1927, Hoss was hired by Governor I. L. Patterson to work as his personal secretary.

Political career

On September 24, 1928, Sam A. Kozer resigned from the office of

. Oregon Governor

appointed the Republican Hoss on that same day to fill the remaining term of Kozer. Hoss then won election to a full four-year term in 1928, and won re-election in 1932 to a second four-year term. While in his first term, his office created the Operations Division and the state began to require testing to acquire a driver's license. Hal Elden Hoss died in office on February 6, 1934, at the age of 41.

References

External links

Former homeGovernor Norblad's 1931 annual message
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoss, Hal E. Secretaries of state of Oregon 1892 births 1934 deaths Journalists from Portland, Oregon Oregon Republicans 20th-century Oregon politicians