William Lair Hill (August 20, 1838 – February 24, 1924), also referred to as W. Lair Hill, was an American attorney, historian, and newspaper editor in

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 ...

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 worked to codify Oregon's and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

's laws. He briefly owned property in the Portland neighborhood later named after him, Lair Hill.

Early life

William Hill was born on August 20, 1838, to Reuben Coleman and Margaret Graham (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Lair) Hill in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''.

Binfords & Mort Publishing Binford & Mort Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1930, the company was previously known as Metropolitan Press and Binfords & Mort. At one time they were the largest book publisher in t ...

. pp. 113-114. His father was a doctor and Baptist preacher at their home along the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

in the southwestern portion of the state. The home in

McNairy County McNairy County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,075. Its county seat is Selmer. McNairy County is located along Tennessee's border with the state of Mississippi. Sheriff Buford ...

was near the site of the 1862

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

. In 1853, he moved to 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. Ori ...

with his parents, with the family settling in Benton County in 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 east, ...

. In Oregon, Hill attended local schools and the Jefferson Institute before finishing his education at McMinnville College (now

Linfield College Linfield University is a private university with campuses in McMinnville, and Portland, Oregon. Linfield Wildcats athletics participates in the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference. Linfield reported a combined 1,755 students after the fall ...

) in McMinnville, a school that his father helped found. While attending college from 1857 to 1859, he met the daughter of the school president, Julia Hall Chandler, whom he later married. After college he began teaching in McMinnville before

reading law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

at the law firm of

George Henry Williams George Henry Williams (March 26, 1823April 4, 1910) was an American judge and politician. He served as chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, was the 32nd Attorney General of the United States, and was elected Oregon's U.S. senator, and serve ...

and A. C. Gibbs. Hill was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in December 1861.

Career

After becoming a lawyer, he moved to

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 ...

where he served in the army 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 ...

, working as a paymaster stationed in Oregon. From 1864 to 1866, he served as the judge for

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant C ...

. On April 23, 1865, he married Julia Hall Chandler in Canyon City. The couple had four children. He worked as a newspaper editor for the ''Daily Union'' and the ''Daily Times''. William Lair Hill 1890

Hill moved west to

in 1866 where he practiced law. There he also became the editor of the city's main newspaper, ''

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 ...

'', in October 1872. He remained as editor until 1877 when Harvey Scott returned to the paper. He was offered appointments to the Supreme Court of the Washington Territory in 1870 and later to the Supreme Court of Idaho Territory, but declined the positions. Hill then moved to

The Dalles The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...

after his time as editor in hopes of improving his health. There he helped run the Wasco Academy. In 1886, he codified Oregon's laws under authority of 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 ...

, and then moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington, in 1889 where he codified that state's laws. During his legal career he had partnerships with Richard Williams, Marion Francis Mulkey, George Hannibal Durham, H. Y. Thompson, and

W. W. Thayer William Wallace Thayer (July 15, 1827 – October 15, 1899), was an American United States Democratic Party, Democratic politician active in United States of America, U.S. states of Idaho and Oregon. Most notably, he served as the List of governors ...

among others.Colmer, Montagu, and

Charles Erskine Scott Wood Charles Erskine Scott Wood or C.E.S. Wood (February 20, 1852January 22, 1944) was an American author, civil liberties advocate, artist, soldier, attorney, and Georgist. He is best known as the author of the 1927 satirical bestseller, '' Heavenly ...

. 1910
''History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon''.
Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co. pp. 126, 246, and 271.

Later years

Hill served as a director of the new Columbia River Railway & Navigation Company in 1892. After a time in Seattle he moved south to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, where he continued to practice law. William Lair Hill died there at the age of 83 on February 24, 1924.

Books authored

References

External links

William Lair Hill entry
from the ''History of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Washington, 1889''
William Lair Hill entry
from the ''History of Seattle, Washington: with illustrations and biographical sketches'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, William Lair Oregon lawyers Washington (state) lawyers Journalists from Portland, Oregon People from McNairy County, Tennessee People from Benton County, Oregon People from The Dalles, Oregon Linfield University alumni 1838 births 1924 deaths The Oregonian people Editors of Oregon newspapers American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American lawyers