Benjamin Stark (June 26, 1820October 10, 1898) was an American merchant and politician in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. A native of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, he purchased some of the original tracts of land for the city of Portland. He later served in the Oregon House of Representatives before appointment to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in 1860 after the death of

Edward D. Baker Edward Dickinson Baker (February 24, 1811October 21, 1861) was an American politician, lawyer, and US army officer. In his political career, Baker served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois and later as a U.S. Senator from Orego ...

. 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 ...

, Stark served in the Senate from 1861 to 1862. He later served in the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

Early life

Benjamin Stark was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, on June 26, 1820. His family moved to

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

where he graduated from Union School in

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa *New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town ** ...

after studying the classics. Stark then graduated from the

Hebron Academy Hebron Academy, founded in 1804, is a small, independent, college preparatory boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades six through postgraduate in Hebron, Maine. History Hebron Academy is one of the nation's oldest endowed preparatory ...

in Maine. From 1835 to 1845 he engaged in mercantile pursuits in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and read law.

Oregon

In 1845, he sailed to what became

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 ...

, as the

supercargo A supercargo (from Spanish ''sobrecargo'') is a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship. The duties of a supercargo are defined by admiralty law and include managing the cargo owner's trade, selling the merchand ...

(cargo supervisor) of the ''Toulon'',Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 231. bringing goods for Francis Pettygrove's warehouse. In 1846, he purchased half of Asa Lovejoy's making up the original claim to the future city for $390 in cash. Stark bought the land for speculation rather than as a home or commercial property, and so he continued sailing as a merchant and visited the claim only occasionally. Despite often being absent on business, Stark was a civic leader in early Portland. For example, he led the city Freemasons, membership in which was a status symbol at the time. In 1848, he sailed to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

to take part in the California Gold Rush and was a merchant there from 1849 to 1850. Around the time Stark left San Francisco in 1850 to set up shop in Portland, he discovered his claim was disputed. At a meeting in San Francisco with Daniel H. Lownsdale, Stark reached a settlement with the other stakeholders which gave Stark sole title to a triangular section in what is now downtown Portland between the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

, Stark Street, and Ankeny Street.Gaston, Joseph. 1912
''The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912''.
S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. p. 364. In return for giving up the rest of the claim, Lownsdale, Coffin, and Chapman paid Stark for land they had already sold on his acreage, which was roughly and included most of what was then downtown. Later, another dispute between the parties arose after Stark refused to part with two narrow blocks needed to connect the park blocks.

Political career

He was admitted to the bar that same year and in 1852 became a member of 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 ...

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. In the legislature he was a Whig representing Washington County, which at that time included Portland. Stark was a colonel and served in the 1853 hostilities between settlers and Native Americans during the Rogue River Wars. He married Elizabeth Molthrop. In 1860, Stark was again elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, now representing

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. Th ...

after its creation in 1854, and now as a Democrat.1860 Regular Session (1st).
Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on November 28, 2008. Oregon's junior Senator,

Edward Dickinson Baker Edward Dickinson Baker (February 24, 1811October 21, 1861) was an American politician, lawyer, and US army officer. In his political career, Baker served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois and later as a U.S. Senator from Oreg ...

, was killed in action 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 ...

in October 1861. Oregon Governor

John Whiteaker John Whiteaker (May 4, 1820October 2, 1902) was an American politician, soldier, and judge. A native of Indiana, he joined the army during the Mexican–American War and then prospected during the California Gold Rush. After moving to the Orego ...

appointed Stark to replace Baker in the

and served from October 29, 1861 to September 12, 1862. He was an advocate for slavery and originally opposed the creation of publicly financed primary schools. He did not run in the election for a permanent replacement and was succeeded by Benjamin F. Harding, who had been Speaker of the Oregon House during Stark's time there in 1860.

Later years and legacy

In 1864, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago.Colmer, Montagu, and Charles Erskine Scott Wood. 1910. ''History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon''. Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co. p. 275. He accumulated a fortune selling plots of his land in what became

Downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found ...

. After Congress, Stark resumed his practice of law, before returning east to New London. There he became a member of the board of aldermen of the city, serving from 1873 to 1874 when he was elected to the

. He also was a member of the Connecticut State Prison Commission. Benjamin Stark died in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

, on October 10, 1898, at the age of 78 and was interred in Cedar Grove Cemetery. The Clyde Hotel was renamed Ben Stark Hotel in 1987, but became the Ace Hotel in 2005. The east-west running

Stark Street Stark Street is an east-west-running street in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The street is named after Benjamin Stark, and Southeast Stark Street and Southwest Stark Street are divided by the Willamette River. In late 2017, activists pr ...

in Portland is named in his honor. In late 2017, activists proposed renaming Southwest Stark Street for gay rights activist

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...

, noting that Stark was an unapologetic racist who advocated for

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Benjamin Members of the Oregon House of Representatives Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives 1820 births 1898 deaths Members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature 19th-century American politicians Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon History of Portland, Oregon Oregon Whigs Oregon Democrats Connecticut Democrats Democratic Party United States senators from Oregon Rogue River Wars American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Burials at Cedar Grove Cemetery (New London, Connecticut) 19th-century American businesspeople