Sylvester Pennoyer (July 6, 1831May 30, 1902) was an American educator, attorney, and politician in

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 ...

. He was born in Groton,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, and moved to Oregon at age 25. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he served two terms as the eighth

Governor of Oregon The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

from 1886 to 1895. He joined the Populist cause in the early 1890s and became the second Populist Party state governor in history. He was noted for his political radicalism, his opposition to the conservative Bourbon Democracy of President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, his support for labor unions, and his opposition to the Chinese in Oregon. He was also noted for his prickly attitude toward both U.S. Presidents whose terms overlapped his own --

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

and Cleveland, whom he once famously told via telegram to mind his own business. He later served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

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 ...

from 1896 to 1898.

Early life

Sylvester Pennoyer was born in Groton, New York, on July 6, 1831.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 194. His parents were the former Elizabeth Howland and Justus P. Pennoyer, a New York state legislator and a wealthy farmer. Sylvester attended school at Homer Academy and then began teaching. He graduated from

in 1854. He moved to Oregon on July 10, 1855, where he resumed teaching. In 1856 he married Mary A. Allen, with whom he had five children. While teaching, he also practiced law. Pennoyer was chosen as the superintendent of

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thou ...

schools in 1860, and served until 1862. He then shifted to the lumber industry from 1862 to 1868, accumulating a fortune. He then purchased the Democratic-leaning ''

Oregon Herald The ''Oregon Herald'' was a newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States from 1866 until 1873. It was originally a weekly newspaper, and thus was alternatively known as the ''Weekly Oregon Herald''. However, in 1869 the publication bec ...

'' newspaper and served as editor until he sold it in 1869. In 1866,

Marcus Neff ''Pennoyer v. Neff'' 95 U.S. 714 (1878) was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that a state court can only exert personal jurisdiction over a party domiciled out-of-state if that party is served with proc ...

hired attorney

John H. Mitchell John Hipple Mitchell, also known as John Mitchell Hipple, John H. Mitchell, or J. H. Mitchell (June 22, 1835December 8, 1905) was an American lawyer, politician, and convicted criminal. He served as a Republican United States Senator from Oregon ...

to complete some legal business, but failed to pay Mitchell's bill.Leeson, Fred. (1998).
Rose City Justice: A Legal History of Portland, Oregon
'. Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 47-49. Mitchell sued and received a

default judgment Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party. Most often, it is a judgment in favor of a plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appea ...

against Neff, with Neff's property sold at auction to pay the bill. Pennoyer purchased the land from Mitchell, who had purchased the land at the sheriff's auction, and later Neff became aware of the forced sale. Neff then sued Pennoyer to regain the property in a case that became the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case of ''

Pennoyer v. Neff ''Pennoyer v. Neff'' 95 U.S. 714 (1878) was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that a state court can only exert personal jurisdiction over a party domiciled out-of-state if that party is served with proce ...

'' that defined legal jurisdiction for citizens residing in different states. At the trial, federal judge and Pennoyer adversary

Matthew Deady Matthew Paul Deady (May 12, 1824 – March 24, 1893) was a politician and jurist in the Oregon Territory and the state of Oregon of the United States. He served on the Oregon Supreme Court from 1853 to 1859, at which time he was appointed to the n ...

ruled in favor of Neff, with the Supreme Court affirming the decision in 1877. Pennoyer was compelled to give the land back to Neff, and the property became a part of the Willamette Heights neighborhood in later years.

Political career

Pennoyer was a

most of his political career, but became a Populist in the early 1890s. In 1885 he ran for mayor of Portland, but lost to

John Gates John "Johnny" Gates, born Solomon Regenstreif (28 September 1913 – 23 May 1992) was an American Communist business man, best remembered as one of the individuals spearheading a failed attempt at liberalization of the Communist Party USA in 19 ...

, partly due to his record of sympathy for the Confederacy during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The following year he ran for

against T. R. Cornelius, gaining support for advocating the use of American labor over Chinese immigrants. Pennoyer was elected in November and assumed office on January 12, 1887.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved March 20, 2008. He was re-elected in 1890 and served in the office until his second term ended on January 14, 1895.

Governor of Oregon

As governor Pennoyer quickly made a name for himself as a quirky and cantankerous leader. In 1891 he pointedly snubbed

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

when Harrison visited Oregon on a campaign tour.Terry, John. Oregon's Trails: Death shroud a suggestive footnote to a gadfly's death. ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', November 9, 2003. He refused to leave his office to meet Harrison at the state border. When Harrison came to Salem, Pennoyer kept him waiting in the train station (in the rain) and arrived 10 minutes late.Oregon governor to United States president: Drop dead
, By Finn J.D. John, (August 1, 2010). That year the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

created the

Oregon Attorney General The Oregon Attorney General is a statutory office within the executive branch of the state of Oregon, and serves as the chief legal officer of the state, heading its Department of Justice with its six operating divisions. The attorney general is ch ...

office, and Pennoyer appointed

George Earle Chamberlain George Earle Chamberlain Sr. (January 1, 1854 – July 9, 1928) was an American attorney, politician, and public official in Oregon. A native of Mississippi and member of the Democratic Party, Chamberlain's political achievements included appoin ...

to that post. While in office Pennoyer declared without authority that the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. Pennoyer's relationship with Cleveland did not improve noticeably with time. Just a few months later, on May 3, 1893, he refused to use his resources to protect

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

s when asked to do so by

's Secretary of State on May 3, 1893. (Congress had just extended the

Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplom ...

of 1882 for an additional 10 years, and the president was worried about possible riots.) His telegraphed response to this request read, "Washington: I will attend to my business. Let the president attend to his."Pintarch, Dick. "His Eccentricity: Gov. Sylvester Pennoyer," Great Moments in Oregon History_. Portland: New Oregon Publishing, 1987 Pennoyer refused another request from Cleveland, who asked him to intervene when a group of unemployed workers, part of "

Coxey's Army Coxey's Army was a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington, D.C. in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United State ...

", hijacked a train to travel east and join a mass march on

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Pennoyer stated, "let Cleveland's' army take care of Coxey's army." He also moved

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...

in Oregon one week ahead of the national holiday in 1894 in further protest to President Cleveland's request.Horner, John B. (1919)
''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''
The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 245. His term as governor ended on January 14, 1895. Throughout his terms in office, Pennoyer had an antagonistic relationship with Oregonian newspaper editor Harvey Scott, who referred to him in editorials as "His Eccentricity."

Mayor of Portland

On June 1, 1896, Pennoyer was elected the

. Previously, while governor, he had opposed the Bull Run Water Project, and at one point he vetoed a request for a $500,000 bond to finance its construction, claiming the water, because it originated in glaciers, would "cause goiter to the fair sex of Portland." The legislature came within one vote of overriding this veto, but it stood, and Judge Matthew Deady—who had drafted it—was so put out that he called the governor "Sylpester Annoyer." Ironically, during Pennoyer's term as mayor it fell to him to take the ceremonial first sip at the new water system's dedication ceremony. He took his drink of Bull Run water, set the goblet down and said, "No flavor. No body. Give me the old Willamette." He was the second mayor to sit in the new

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

that was completed in 1895. Pennoyer described the building as "expensive, unseemly and unhealthful." He served as mayor until June 1898 when his successor W. S. Mason took office.

Death and legacy

Pennoyer donated land to Portland to serve as a park, originally known as Pennoyer Park. He died of heart disease in Portland on May 30, 1902, at 4:00 PM in his house. He was initially buried at

Lone Fir Cemetery Lone Fir Cemetery in the southeast section of Portland, Oregon, United States is a cemetery owned and maintained by Metro, a regional government entity. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the first burial was in 1846 with the ceme ...

in Portland, but in 1924 his remains were moved to River View Cemetery also in Portland.River View Cemetery.
The Political Graveyard. Retrieved on March 20, 2008.

References

;General * Holden, Margaret K. "Voices of Federalism: Sylvester Pennoyer, Matthew P. Deady, and the Money Question in Oregon," ''Western Legal History: The Journal of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society,'' 1992, Vol. 5 Issue 2, pp 143–165

External links

*
Oregon State Archives: Governor Sylvester Pennoyer's Administration
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pennoyer, Sylvester 1831 births 1902 deaths Democratic Party governors of Oregon Mayors of Portland, Oregon People's Party state governors of the United States Harvard Law School alumni Burials at River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon) People from Groton, New York Oregon Populists 19th-century American politicians