Samuel L. Simpson

{{Short description|American poet (1845–1899)}}

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Samuel Leonidas Simpson (1845–1899) was an American poet, known for his works about the U.S. state of Oregon.{{cite web |last=Hardt |first=Ulrich H. |title=Samuel L. Simpson |website=The Oregon Encyclopedia |url=https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/simpson_samuel_l/#.YOX_6G5lDok%7Cthis |access-date=July 7, 2021}} Simpson was born in Missouri on November 10, 1845, moving to Oregon with his parents the following year.{{cite news |title=Memorial to Sam Simpson Is Announced |newspaper=Statesman Journal |date=October 19, 1922 |page=1 |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn85042470/1922-10-19/ed-1/seq-1/ }} His parents were Ben and Nancy ({{nee|Cooper}}) Simpson; he married Julia Humphrey in 1867.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbenchba00histrich/page/274/mode/2up |title=History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon |location=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Historical Publishing Company |year=1910}} Simpson graduated from Willamette University in 1866. He served for four months that year as editor of the Salem Statesman, until his father was compelled to sell the newspaper.{{cite book |title=History of Oregon Newspapers |first= George S. |last=Turnbull |year=1939 |publisher=Binfords & Mort |chapter=Journalism in Salem}} He worked as an attorney for several years. He published poems and short stories in regional periodicals. He died in June 1899. His works were posthumously collected in a volume titled The Gold-Gated West: Songs and Poems, published in 1910.