Theodore Thurston Geer (March 12, 1851February 21, 1924) was the tenth

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 ...

(the first born in the territory of the state), serving from January 9, 1899, to January 14, 1903. The

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician was in office when the legislature adopted the "

Oregon System The Oregon Direct Legislation League was an organization of political activists founded by William S. U'Ren in the U.S. state of Oregon in 1898. U'Ren had been politically activated by reading the influential 1893 book ''Direct Legislation Through t ...

", Oregon's system of initiative and referendum. He also served in the Oregon House of Representatives, including time as its Speaker.

Biography

Early life

Theodore Geer was born on March 12, 1851, in the

Waldo Hills The Waldo Hills are a range of hills in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States. Encompassing an area of around , the hills are located east of Salem.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. The ...

east of Salem, in what was then the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. O ...

.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. His parents, Heman Johnson Geer and the former Cynthia Ann Eoff, separated when Theodore was 14 years old. Geer was educated in the Salem schools and at

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

in Salem. After his parents separated he began working, and in 1866 he moved to the

Grande Ronde Valley The Grande Ronde Valley is a valley in Union County in northeastern Oregon, United States. It is surrounded by the Blue Mountains, and is drained by the Grande Ronde River. La Grande is its largest community. The valley is long, north to sout ...

with his father. While living in

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

, Geer wrote letters to the ''Blue Mountain Times'' newspaper. In 1877, he returned to the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...

and the Waldo Hills where he farmed.

Political career

In 1880, Geer was elected to the Oregon Legislative Assembly, representing Marion County in the House of Representatives. He returned to the House in 1889, serving through the 1893 legislative session, and serving as Speaker of the House in 1891. He served as a

Presidential Elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

in 1897. Theodore Geer was elected as the 10th

in 1898 to replace

William Paine Lord William Paine Lord (July 20, 1838February 17, 1911) was an American Republican politician who served as the 9th governor of Oregon from 1895 to 1899. The Delaware native previously served as the 27th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, including ...

, defeating Democrat and Populist party nominee W. R. King.Theodore T. Geer.
Oregon State Library, Accessed September 10, 2007. A Republican governor, he served one term from January 9, 1899, until January 14, 1903. Geer was the tenth governor since statehood, but the first native Oregonian to hold that position. Geer supported the first amendment to the 1857 Oregon Constitution that instituted the initiative and referendum system of legislation in Oregon. The amendment was passed by the Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1899 and 1901, and approved by the Oregon voters in 1902. Geer did not win re-nomination for a second term and left the office in 1903.

Bicycling

Geer was known for being an enthusiastic participant in the 1890s

bicycle craze The bike boom or bicycle craze is any of several specific historic periods marked by increased bicycle enthusiasm, popularity, and sales. Prominent examples include 1819 and 1868, as well as the decades of the 1890s and 1970sthe latter espec ...

, and the governor-elect signed the 1899 "cycle path" legislation passed by the State Legislature that was to create a statewide network of

bicycle path Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

s. Governor Geer regularly bicycled from his home in Macleay to the

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

Final years

After leaving political office, he worked as the editor of the ''Oregon Statesman'' newspaper from 1903 to 1905, and then owned the ''Pendleton Tribune'' from 1905 until 1908. In 1908, Geer moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, where he published ''Fifty Years in Oregon'' in 1911. Theodore Thurston Geer then worked in real estate before dying on February 21, 1924, in Portland.

Family history and legacy

In 1870, Geer married Nancy Batte Duncan, and they had three children together. Geer was married a second time in 1900, to Miss Isabelle Trullinger. There are several places in Marion County named for the Geer family, who settled in the Waldo Hills and on Howell Prairie. The "Geer Branch" off the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

railroad's main

line once ran from the

Salem station Salem station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station served by the Newburyport/Rockport Line. The station is located off Bridge Street ( Route 107) near its interchange with North Street ( Route 114) at the north end of downtown Salem, Massachusetts. ...

Geer Geer (; wa, Djer) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Geer had a total population of 2,854. The total area is 23.62 km² which gives a population density of 121 inhabitants per km ...

station on the prairie. The line was later used by the

Willamette Valley Railway The Willamette Valley Railway (reporting marks WVR, WGR) is a short-line railroad that operates in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It leased a line from Woodburn to Stayton from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in February 1993, as w ...

. The Waldo Hills home of Ralph Carey Geer, an uncle of T. T. Geer and a member of the

Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Representati ...

, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as the R. C. Geer Farmhouse. It is located on R. C. Geer's original

Donation Land Claim The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

. For 155 years, Geer ancestors have lived on the same farm pioneered by R. C. Geer, who in 1847 was among the first people to travel to the

via the

Barlow Road The Barlow Road (at inception, Mount Hood Road) is a historic road in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. It was built in 1846 by Sam Barlow and Philip Foster, with authorization of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon, and served as the la ...

portion of the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...

.
The farm, known today as GeerCrest (formerly Vesper Geer Rose Ranch), is now run as a agricultural education, teaching farm. The farm is also known as the childhood home of Silverton political cartoonist

Homer Davenport Homer Calvin Davenport (March 8, 1867 – May 2, 1912) was a political cartoonist and writer from the United States. He is known for drawings that satirized figures of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, most notably Ohio Senator Mark Hanna. Alt ...

, whose mother, Florinda, was a member of the Geer family. GeerCrest is the location of a large

black cottonwood ''Populus trichocarpa'', the black cottonwood, western balsam-poplar or California poplar, is a deciduous broadleaf tree species native to western North America. It is used for timber, and is notable as a model organism in plant biology. ...

tree, known as the "Riding Whip Tree", which grew from a stick used as a horseback-riding whip and later pushed into the ground by 15-year-old Florinda Geer in 1854. It is listed as an Oregon Heritage Tree. Geer Community Park in Salem is also named for the Geer family, and is located near a former section of the Geer Branch that was abandoned and later decommissioned.

Footnotes

Works

''Fifty Years in Oregon.''
New York: Neal Publishing Co., 1912.

External links

*
Historic images related to the Geer family
from Salem Public Library
1911 biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geer, Theodore Thurston Republican Party governors of Oregon Willamette University alumni 1851 births 1924 deaths Speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives American Unitarians Journalists from Oregon