Loyal B. Stearns
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Loyal B. Stearns
| image = Loyal B. Stearns.png
| imagesize = 175px
| office = Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
| district = 38th
| term_start = 1878
| term_end = 1879
| preceded = William Porter
| succeeded = Tilmon Ford
| constituency = Multnomah County
| office2 =
| term_start2 =
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| successor2 =
| birth_date = May 2, 1853
| birth_place = Swanzey, New Hampshire, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1936|6|2|1853|5|2}}
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| spouse = Mary Frances Hoyt
| party = Republican
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater = Willamette University
| occupation = Attorney
| profession =
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}}
Loyal B. Stearns (May 2, 1853 – June 2, 1936) was an American politician, attorney, and jurist in Oregon. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Oregon, he became a lawyer and practiced in Portland. A Republican, he was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives and later a judge for several courts.
Early life
Loyal Stearns was born to Daniel W. Stearns and Almira Stearns (nee Fay) on May 2, 1853.Corning, Howard M. (1989) Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing. pp. 233–234. One of five children, he was born in Swanzey, New Hampshire, and sailed with his family that year via the Isthmus of Panama route to San Francisco, California.{{cite book|title=History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea|publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company|volume=II|pages=158–161 |year=1928|url=http://files.usgwarchives.org/or/multnomah/bios/stearns79gbs.txt}} In 1854, they continued north to the Oregon Territory. There they settled in Southern Oregon in Scottsburg. The younger Stearns was educated in Roseburg at the local schools and at Umpqua Academy. He also traveled around the state and into Idaho while working with his merchant father.
In 1871, Stearns relocated north to Portland where he attended Bishop Scott Academy until 1872. Stearns then enrolled at the Willamette University College of Medicine in Salem, Oregon, for one term before leaving to study law. He read law under the guidance of A. C. Gibbs and William Ball Gilbert at their law firm in Portland beginning in 1873.{{cite book|last=Hodgkin|first=Frank E.|author2=J. J. Galvin |title=Pen Pictures of Representative Men of Oregon|publisher=Farmer and Dairyman Publishing House|year=1882|pages=[https://archive.org/details/penpicturesrepr00galvgoog/page/n98 60]–61|url=https://archive.org/details/penpicturesrepr00galvgoog|quote=loyal stearns.}} In December 1876, he passed the bar and began practicing law in Portland. Stearns started as a partner of Gibbs before practicing on his own.
Political career
Stearns was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1878 as a Republican.[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1878 Regular Session (10th).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on November 29, 2008. He represented District 38 which at that time was located entirely within Multnomah County, and included Portland. His father Daniel Stearns served in the House previously, and then served in the state senate following Loyal's one session in the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Loyal Stearns then served as Portland’s police judge from January 1879 to 1882 followed by election to the office of city attorney. After a short time in that position, he was elected to a seat on Multnomah County’s court, and served from June 1882 to 1885. In 1885, he became a judge for the Oregon circuit court where he remained until 1898. Governor Zenas Ferry Moody appointed him to the position, and Stearns won election to a full-term and then re-election until retiring from the bench.
Later years and family
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1Q28043206TD9.58458&profile=ariall&uri=link=3100012~!131438~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=2&source=~!siartinventories&term=Homage+--+Stearns%2C+Loyal+B.&index= Loyal B. Stearns Memorial Fountain]
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=UsKKpvOVRRUC&dq=loyal+stearns+oregon&pg=PA332 The Bench and Bar]
- [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jtenlen/ORBios/lbstearns.html Picture of Stearns]
- [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Q3sUAAAAYAAJ/page/n388 The Story of Oregon]
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Category:Members of the Oregon House of Representatives
Category:Portland, Oregon, Republicans
Category:Oregon state court judges
Category:Politicians from Roseburg, Oregon
Category:Willamette University alumni
Category:American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
Category:Oregon city attorneys
Category:People from Cheshire County, New Hampshire
Category:People from Scottsburg, Oregon
Category:Willamette University College of Medicine alumni
Category:19th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly