Frederick Waymire
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Frederick Waymire
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| office = Member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention
| term = 1857
| constituency = Polk County
| office2 = Member of the Oregon Territorial Legislature
| term2 = 1850–1853, 1855–1856
| constituency2 = Polk County
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| office3 = Oregon State Senator
| constituency3 = Polk County
| term3 = 1859–1860
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| office4 = Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
| constituency4 = Polk County
| term4 = 1868–1869
| predecessor4 =
| successor4 =
| birth_date = March 15, 1807
| birth_place = Montgomery County, Ohio
| death_date = {{death date and age|1873|4|28|1807|3|15}}
| death_place = Polk County, Oregon
| party = Democratic
| spouse = Frances (Fanny) Chance Cochrane
}}
Frederick Waymire (March 15, 1807 – April 28, 1873) was an American farmer and politician in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Ohio, he served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature and was a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention. He also helped start the La Creole Academy in Polk County and represented that county in the Oregon House of Representatives after Oregon became a state.
Early life
Frederick Waymire was born on March 15, 1807, in Montgomery County in the southwestern portion of Ohio to Andrew and Easter Waymire.{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Hubert Howe |author2=Frances Auretta Fuller Barrett Victor |title=History of Oregon: 1848-1888 |publisher=The History Co. |year=1888 |series=The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft |volume=2 |page=142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hcPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA142}} Trained as a millwright, he married Frances (Fanny) Chance Cochrane from Indiana in 1827, and the couple had 17 children.Flora, Stephenie. [http://www.oregonpioneers.com/1845.htm Emigrants to Oregon in 1845.] Oregon Pioneers. Retrieved November 27, 2009. In 1845, Waymire and his family immigrated to the Oregon Country over the Oregon Trail and settled in what is now Polk County, Oregon.Corning, Howard M. (1989) Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 260.
Oregon
The family farm was on a donation land claim located on the Luckiamute River, and Waymire called his house Hayden Hall. In 1846, Waymire was elected as the sheriff of what was then called Polk District, now Polk County.[http://sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/constitution/Pages/during-about-waymire.aspx Biographical Sketch of Frederick Waymire.] Crafting the Oregon Constitution, Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on June 20, 2016. As early as 1853 he supported building railroads in the region, and thus was an early supporter of railroads in Oregon.{{cite book|last=Lyman|first=Horace Sumner|title=History of Oregon: The Growth of an American State|publisher=North Pacific Pub. Society|year=1903|volume=4|page=261|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXsUAAAAYAAJ&q=Frederick%20Waymire%20oregon&pg=PA261}} This included being a commissioner of the Willamette Valley Railroad Company in 1854, though the company never built a line.{{cite book|last=Bancroft|first=Hubert Howe|title=History of the Pacific states of North America|publisher=Bancroft|year=1888|volume=25|page=696|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1roUAAAAYAAJ&q=Frederick%20Waymire%20oregon&pg=RA2-PA696 | isbn=978-1-153-89791-4}}
Political career
In 1850, Waymire was elected to the upper chamber Council of the Oregon Territorial Legislature and represented District 7 and Polk County during the 1850 to 1851 session.[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/67852471850 Regular Session (2nd Territorial).] Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved June 20, 2016. Elected as a Democrat, he served again during the 1851 to 1852 and the 1852 to 1853 sessions, both times still representing Polk County in the Council.[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785248 1851 Regular Session (3rd Territorial).] Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved June 20, 2016.[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785249 1852 Regular Session (4th Territorial).] Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved June 20, 2016. After not serving for two sessions, Waymire returned to the legislature in the Oregon House in 1855 as the representative from District 24.[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785252 1855 Regular Session (7th Territorial).] Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
Waymire, part of the Democrats Salem Clique, was elected to represent Polk County at the Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857. The convention drafted and ratified a proposed constitution to allow Oregon to become a state, which the citizens then approved later that year. Waymire represented the farming contingent at the convention and was characterized as a "sort of Far West David Crockett" due in part to his lack of education.{{cite book|last=Gaston|first=Joseph|title=The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912|publisher=S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.|year=1912|volume=1|pages=433–434|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWUUAAAAYAAJ&q=Frederick%20Waymire%20oregon&pg=PA433}} During the convention he fought against corporations, high salaries, and high taxes. His opposition to corporations came in part due to his lost investment on a telegraph line built to connect Portland to Corvallis that failed, with the investors left owing the creditors additional funds.
While waiting for approval of the Oregon Constitution from the United States Congress, Oregon's citizens elected officials for all public offices, and Waymire was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1858.[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785256 1858 Regular Session (1st Pre-Admission).] Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved June 20, 2016. However, the U.S. Senate did not admit Oregon into the Union, and those legislators which included Waymire did not pass any laws and adjourned until news of statehood arrived. Oregon was admitted as a state on February 14, 1859, and Waymire and the rest of the legislature meet later that year.[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785257 1859 Special Session.] Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved June 20, 2016. He served District 13 and Polk County as a Democrat at that first session of the Oregon State Legislature. Waymire returned to the legislature in 1868 as a member of the Oregon House from Polk County and District 34.[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785263 1868 Regular Session (5th).] Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
Later years
Waymire, a Methodist, was one of the incorporators in 1856 of the La Creole Academy, an early secondary school. He served as one of the early trustees of the school located in Polk County at Dallas.Carey, Charles Henry. (1922). [https://books.google.com/books?id=yrt5AAAAMAAJ History of Oregon.] Pioneer Historical Publishing Co. pp. 731-732. Frederick Waymire died on April 28, 1873, at the age of 66 and was buried on his farm in Polk County. His wife Fanny died on October 15, 1878.
References
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Category:Members of the Oregon Constitutional Convention
Category:Members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature
Category:Members of the Oregon House of Representatives
Category:Oregon state senators
Category:People from Montgomery County, Ohio