La Fayette Grover (November 29, 1823May 10, 1911) was a Democratic politician and lawyer from the U.S. 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 ...

. He was the fourth Governor of Oregon, represented Oregon in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, and served one term in 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 ...

Biography

Grover was born in

Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...

, Maine, and was educated at Bethel's

Gould Academy Gould Academy is a private, co-ed, college preparatory boarding and day school founded in 1836 and located in the small town of Bethel, Maine, United States. History In 1835 citizens of Bethel, Maine, formed an organization as trustees of the ...

and Brunswick's

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

. He studied law and earned entry into the

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

in Philadelphia in 1850. He moved to Oregon in 1851 and began his law practice in Salem.

Career

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 ...

elected him

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

for Oregon's second judicial district and auditor of public accounts for 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 ...

. From 1853 to 1855, he was a member of the Territorial House of Representatives. In 1854, he was appointed by the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

a member of a commission sent to audit the claims from the

Rogue River Indian War The Rogue River Wars were an armed conflict in 1855–1856 between the U.S. Army, local militias and volunteers, and the Native American tribes commonly grouped under the designation of Rogue River Indians, in the Rogue River Valley area o ...

. He was appointed by the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

in 1856 to a board of commissioners to audit the Indian war expenses of Oregon 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 ...

After statehood

In 1857, he was a delegate to the

Oregon Constitutional Convention The Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 drafted the Oregon Constitution in preparation for the Oregon Territory to become a U.S. state. Held from mid-August through September, 60 men met in Salem, Oregon, and created the foundation for Oregon ...

, representing Marion County. When Oregon gained statehood, he was elected to the

35th United States Congress The 35th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1857, ...

as Oregon's member of the House of Representatives, serving from February 15, 1859, to March 4, 1859. He did not run for reelection in 1858, and resumed his law practice and the manufacture of woolens. Grover was elected

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 ...

in 1870 and was reelected in 1874. He served as governor until 1877, when he resigned to serve in the

. Grover served in the Senate from March 4, 1877, to March 3, 1883, serving in the

46th United States Congress The 46th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1879 ...

as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Manufactures. He did not run for reelection in 1883.

Electoral college dispute

During the 1876 Presidential Election, Oregon's statewide result clearly favored

Rutherford Hayes Rutherford may refer to: Places Australia * Rutherford, New South Wales, a suburb of Maitland * Rutherford (Parish), New South Wales, a civil parish of Yungnulgra County Canada * Mount Rutherford, Jasper National Park * Rutherford, Edmonto ...

, but then-governor Grover claimed that elector John Watts was constitutionally ineligible to vote since he was an "elected or appointed official". Grover substituted a Democratic elector in his place. The two Republican electors dismissed Grover's action and each reported three votes for Hayes, while the Democratic elector, C. A. Cronin, reported one vote for

Samuel Tilden Samuel Jones Tilden (February 9, 1814 – August 4, 1886) was an American politician who served as the 25th Governor of New York and was the Democratic candidate for president in the disputed 1876 United States presidential election. Tilden was ...

and two votes for Hayes. The vote was critical because the electoral college without John Watts's vote was tied 184–184. A 15-member

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

ultimately awarded all three of Oregon's votes to Hayes.

Death

Grover resumed his law practice, retiring from public life. He died at his home in Portland, Oregon, on May 10, 1911, and was interred in River View Cemetery.

Selected works

References

External links

National Governors Association
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grover, La Fayette 1823 births 1911 deaths People from Bethel, Maine American people of English descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon Democratic Party United States senators from Oregon Democratic Party governors of Oregon Members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature Members of the Oregon Constitutional Convention Democratic Party of Oregon chairs 19th-century American politicians Lawyers from Portland, Oregon Bowdoin College alumni Burials at River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon) 19th-century American lawyers