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In July, 1875, a young man named James K. Weatherford was admitted to practice law in Oregon (Vol. 4 Oregon Reports.) He chose to settle in Albany, and so began 60 years of continuous legal service to the citizens of Linn and Benton counties. After his death in 1935, his law firm continued to grow and prosper; in 1975 it celebrates its 100 years anniversary. Known currently as Weatherford, Thompson, Horton, and Jordan P.C., the law firm founded by J.K. Weatherford in 1875, has for a century provided legal services and individual contributions to the community of Albany and the entire state.
J.K. Weatherford was born in Unionville, Missouri in 1848. His father died in 1856 and his mother six years later. Shortly thereafter, in 1864, he came to Oregon with a wagon train driving a team of oxen for Mr. William Morgan. According to his story, he was loafing around a grocery store in Unionville one day and Mr. Morgan, who knew him, casually said “Jimmy, I’m leaving for Oregon tomorrow you ought to come along and drive a team for me.” J.K. accepted his invitation mainly because he wished to see his brother, William Washington Weatherford, who had come to the west coast one or two years earlier.
J.K. worked in the Thomas Kay Woolen Mills at Brownsville, soon after he reached Oregon. Later he was engaged in driving an ox team from Umatilla on the Columbia River to what he always referred to as “Boise City,” now know as Boise, Idaho, hauling supplies to the miners who were active in that area during the 1860’s. J.K. was apparently possessed with a very strong desire for an education and after working for awhile enrolled in Corvallis College, which later became Oregon Agricultural College, and subsequently, Oregon State University. He graduated in 1872 and immediately thereafter was engaged in teaching school in Linn County and was elected County School Superintendent.
During the first couple of years of his term as Superintendent, he “read law” with an attorney in Albany and was admitted to practice law by the Oregon Supreme Court in July 1875. Upon his admission, he opened his office and began a law practice that was to continue until his death in October 1935.
In the elections of 1875, J.K. Weatherford was elected a state representative and became a member of the Oregon legislature. He arrived in Salem one day prior to the opening of the legislative session in the fall of 1876. Upon arrival, he discovered that a bitter contest had arisen between the two factions of the House of Representatives; in their caucuses they could not agree upon which one of the men would be elected speaker. On the eve of the opening of the session, a veteran member of the House came to J.K. and said “If you will keep your mouth shut, possibly you will be elected speaker in the morning.” The next morning when the session convened, J.K. was elected speaker. In the annals of the United States political history, it is doubtful that any state has had a freshman legislator, such as he, elected speaker of the House upon his first day in attendance of the session.
J.K. Weatherford served only one term in the House of Representatives. Subsequent to his term in the House, he was a member of the legislative assembly as a senator from Linn County and served three terms during the 1880’s and 1890’s. During this period, and up to 1912, the Oregon delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate were elected by the Oregon legislature. According to J.K.’s stories, there was considerable excitement involved in this election process. At times, the politicking became so embroiled in controversy that senators often went into the senate chambers armed in anticipation that there might be physical combat as well as verbal debate in settling the selection of the congressmen.
Though it is no part of his career as a senator, he did relate a certain conversation which took place while in attendance at one of the sessions. It was late in the evening and several members of the legislature were reminiscing about past experiences. One man related to the group a personal experience in which he and another man were travelling in the vicinity of what is now Baker, Oregon, and over night they made camp. Upon getting up the next morning, they discovered that their horses were gone. Later that day, a young man came along on horseback and they apprehended him and accused him of stealing their horses. He very seriously denied any such activity, but they were not convinced of his innocence. They were preparing to use the accepted method of handling horse thieves prevailing at that time and were looking for a suitable tree on which to attach the rope, when a man name Tom Boone, nephew of Daniel Boone, arrived with an ox team. He asked what was going on and the men advised him that they were preparing to hang the accused as a horse thief. Mr. Boone asked, “What makes you believe that he is guilty?” They replied, “Well, the horses were gone and he was the only man around.” Fortunately, Mr. Boone interjected into the debate the fact that he and the accused were travelling together and had camped nearby the previous night. His arguments clearly established the innocence of the accused individual and reluctantly he was released.
When someone questioned this man’s story, J.K. who was present retorted, “I can vouch for the truth of it because I was the party they were going to hang!” The person relating the experience, somewhat shocked, acknowledged matter-of -fact that circumstantial evidence can sometimes mislead you. J.K. assured everyone it was a lesson he would never forget. Throughout his tenure as a practicing attorney, J.K. always embraced the virtue of objective reasoning and was forever careful not to establish conclusions on circumstantial evidence.
This legislative experience constituted practically all of the political adventures of J.K. Weatherford. Records show that he aspired the Secretary of State’s office, but was never successful in his campaigns. He did, however, serve one term as mayor of Albany.
J.K. had very strong interests in the field of education. In 1874 while teaching school and reading law, as previously stated, he was elected Linn County School Superintendent. Later, in 1876, he was elected to the Albany School Board as Director and continued to serve on that body until his death in 1935.
He also devoted many years to the Board of Regents of Oregon Agricultural College. He was appointed to that Board at the time it was created in 1885 and served continuously until the body was abolished in 1929 by the formation of the State Board of Higher Education. A board designed to assume the duties of the Board of Regents of the various state schools. He acted as president of the Board of Regents for over 40 years.
J.K. was also very interested in agriculture. He was instrumental in developing dry land wheat farming in Gilliam County. According to his story he was visiting his brother, W.W. Weatherford, who was then running cattle in the area along Rock Creek, which is south of Arlington. While visiting there, he observed moisture in the soil around a badger hole and told his brother that the area could raise wheat. As a result of this conversation, W.W. Weatherford did begin raising wheat. Soon the wheat industry in that region became the main economic activity, supplanting the former agricultural practice devoted almost entirely to raising livestock, both sheep and cattle. J.K. was also very active in the establishment of the experimental stations under the agricultural research activities of the Oregon Agricultural College. He personally was responsible for the location of several of these stations.
As to his legal practice, he was an active general practitioner of the law. His main love, however, was in the field of criminal law, particularly in the defense of persons charged with homicide. At the time of his death, he had probably defended more parties accused of murder than any other attorney in the state. Although his main interest was criminal law defense, his practice was varied. In addition to the normal run of business he represented a number of large corporations, one being the Corvallis Eastern Railroad, which was originally set up with headquarters at Albany. The Railroad was to be built from Yaquina, Oregon, to Boise, Idaho, where it would connect with the Union Pacific Railroad. Financial woes, however, terminated construction near Gates, Oregon. J.K. also represented Hammond Lumber Company, which around 1900 was one of the largest logging-lumber businesses in the state. He was involved as an attorney in what is historically known as the land fraud cases; a series of criminal litigation that gained considerable national prominence around the turn of the century. Another client was the Southern Pacific Railroad. In the early 1900’s, the Southern Pacific Railroad retained an attorney in nearly every county of the State and the law firm was always retained as counsel for the Southern Pacific. At on time, J.K. was offered the position of the General Counsel for the company with the stipulation that the office be located in Portland. He agreed to accept the position if the Railroad would move the office to Albany. They refused to do so and as a result he did not accept the position of General Counsel.
J.K. was not a physically imposing figure but in the defense of his client, or in the prosecution of his client’s case, he was fearless. In the trial of a case he always maintained a calm, stoic appearance. This demeanor made it almost impossible for the participants in a case to discern whether the testimony of the witness was beneficial for his client or extremely detrimental. He was also a gifted speaker. In cross-examination of a witness, or in a summation speech to the jury, he was cogent, concise, and articulate. He was an orator of the “old school” and could move a jury to tears or crucify an adverse witness, when he deemed it necessary, for the benefit of his client’s case. Mark Weatherford, his nephew and associate, often quipped, “He dearly loved to pluck the tail feathers out of an eagle and hear it scream,”
The following paragraphs will introduce in chronological order the respective attorneys who have been associated with the law firm in these past 100 years.
W. G. Piper was the first associate of J.K. Weatherford’s. There is little historical information about Mr. Piper and apparently his association with the law firm was terminated before 1880.
D. R. N. Blackburn became associated with the law firm in 1880 and the partnership prevailed until 1887 or 1888. Subsequent to his affiliation with J.K. Weatherford, he was elected Attorney General of Oregon in 1898 and served on four-year term.
George E. Chamberlin joined J.K Weatherford in the latter 1880’s and continued the partnership until 1892 or 1893. Mr. Chamberlin, a product of Virginia, was a very successful trial lawyer. He was known to be a very eloquent speaker and quite effective before a jury. Ambitious and personable, he later became a very successful politician.
After engaging in the practice of law, he became a District Attorney and later served a session in the legislature as a representative from Linn County. The legislature in 1890 enacted a law which created the office of Attorney General. On May 20, 1891, Chamberlin was appointed the first Attorney General of Oregon. He was elected to the same office in June of 1892 and served until January of 1895. He then returned to Albany. Although he worked with J.K. Weatherford on some trial cases, he did not again become his law partner.
In 1902 Chamberlin successfully campaigned for the governorship of Oregon. He was re-elected Governor in 1906. He did not, however, complete the second term due to the fact that Jonathan Bourne, United States Senator, died in 1909. Mr. Chamberlin resigned as Governor, allowing the Secretary of State to succeed him in that capacity. The new Governor then politely appointed Chamberlin to fulfill the vacant U.S. Senate seat. Chamberlin was re-elected in 1914 and served until 1920, when he was defeated by Robert N. Stanfield for that office. After his defeat, he was appointed to the U.S. Shipping Board by President Warren G. Harding, and served for several years as a member of that Board. He never returned to Oregon.
John Russell Wyatt was a native son of Linn County. He was born on a farm east of Harrisburg in 1865. Wyatt attended both the University of Oregon and Willamette University, graduating from the latter in 1887. Subsequently, he read law under the tutelage of J.K. Weatherford and was admitted to practice in 1888 or 1889. Shortly after his admission, he served as Assistant District Attorney in the judicial district containing Linn County until 1893. He then entered partnership with J.K. Weatherford. This firm, known as Weatherford and Wyatt, continued until 1908 at which time Wyatt secured an appointment as Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. He served in this capacity in Portland until he returned to Albany to once again enter into association with J.K. Weatherford about 1916 or 1917. This partnership continued until Wyatt was incapacitated by a serious hunting injury in the fall of 1933 or 1934. The accident occurred when he attempted to cross through a barbed wire fence and became entangled. His coat and rifle were violently yanked and the weapon discharged, completely destroying his left shoulder. He did not lose his arm, but he had no use of it thereafter. The accident signaled the end of Wyatt’s legal career. In the future he was in the office only a very short time until he retired completely.
Wyatt was a very capable trial lawyer. He had a very commanding personality and an ability to present to the court or the jury the best facets of his client’s case. He was also a student of the law and very consistently read nearly all of the report cases as the advance sheets came down from the various publications. A serious individual, he was skilled in the preparation of any legal document and the organization of a brief of any legal question
Mark Vern Weatherford was born March 5, 1886, in Gilliam County, Oregon, on his parents’ ranch south of Arlington. The nephew of J.K Weatherford, Mark attended Oregon Agricultural College and graduated in 1907. While at OAC, he was very active in the political life of the campus. During his senior year he was president of his senior class. He also served as Colonel, the highest ranking officer of the ROTC Corp. Interested in athletics, he was active as an athletic manager for several varsity teams.
After graduating from OAC, Mark attended the University of Michigan Law School graduating in 1910 with a L.L.B. degree. While a student at Michigan he prepared a brief for a case, which J.K. Weatherford was handling, that went to the Supreme Court of the United States. Upon his graduation from Michigan, Mark came to Albany and entered into partnership with J.K. Weatherford.
In 1916, the Democrats had no candidate for Congress in the First District, which then included all of Western Oregon. Oswold West, the ex-Democratic Governor of Oregon, schemed with his political allies to have Mark nominated as the Party’s candidate. Mark secured the nomination of the Democratic Party and also of the fledging Prohibitionist Party; he was, however, unsuccessful in his bid for election to Congress. Later, in 1927, Mark was to serve as state chairman of the Democratic Party.
When World War I broke out, Mark ventured to San Francisco and participated in the Presidio’s first officer’s training school. He graduated and was commissioned a first lieutenant in 1917. During the War, he was assigned to the 35th Combat Division in France, which was comprised primarily of National Guard units from Missouri and Kansas. In the devastating battle of Argonne, Mark’s division was engaged in direct combat. Serving as ordinance officer for the division, he had supervision over the furnishing of all ordinance and also the maintenance and repair of the field weaponry. It was during this battle that he devised a system of repairing the larger cannons and artillery pieces without removing them from the battle field, as was the customary practice. Mark organized mobile repair crews that traveled directly to the weapon sites and made the necessary repairs on the spot. At the end of the battle he had as many artillery pieces firing as he did at the beginning, a unique situation. Later his mobile repair plan was put into effect throughout all artillery units of the Army. While serving as ordinance officer he held the rank of colonel, although he had only been commissioned as a captain. He and Harry S. Truman, later President of the United States, were both captains in the 35th Division; commonly known as “Truman’s Division.”
During the course of the war, mustard and other poisonous gases were used. Mark suffered gas poisoning and at the end of the war was completely debilitated by physical exhaustion. As a result, he was hospitalized for a period of time in Southern Italy.
Still recuperating when he returned to the United States after the war, Mark did not immediately return to law practice, but rather, took over the operation of his father’s wheat ranch near Arlington. He operated the ranch and did not practice law to any great extent until the fall of 1925, when he returned to Albany and enthusiastically resumed his practice.
In the practice of law, Mark had very little interest in the general run of every day office routine. The preparation of contracts, deeds and other such routine matters was monotonous and stultifying to him. He was an individual who thrived on a challenge; always restless for an opportunity to try a case that mandated creative thinking. He was also relentless in the pursuit of scholarly revision of legal principles. Nothing gave him more delight that to prepare and try a case that was without legal precedent in the courts of this state.
As was J.K Weatherford, mark was afflicted with a love for the practice of trial law. The two often worked together. Their specialty was criminal cases, the more complex and sophisticated the case the more they seemed to enjoy it. Like the proverbial fire horse, they chomped at the bit until such time as they became involved in any homicide case that might arise in the state. In addition to criminal litigation which they handled west of the Cascades; both were involved in cases in the most eastern part of the state, as well as in the southern regions. It is a testimony of Mark’s ability to note that he defended over fifty homicide cases and established the enviable record of never having had a client sentenced to death.
Mark was a great scholar of the law. He constantly studied, examined and researched legal principles and legal dicta. In a trial he had the ability to cut through the maze of legal obscurity and go to the heart of the issue. He was impatient of inconsequential details, but extremely thorough in matters of salience. He was a forceful and fearless advocate, but at the same time an understanding personal advisor.
Mark was an outstanding public speaker. Frequently, he was called upon to address various civic groups. In his delivery, especially before a jury, he had the uncanny ability to present ordinary objects in an unusual manner. Such articulation often appealed to the emotions of the jury. One of the better examples of this ability was the trial of a criminal case in which one of the state’s witnesses, who had been very active in the prosecution of the case, but who under cross-examination, had been shown to be a perjurer. Mark in his argument to the jury used substantially the following language: “When his perjured soul shall descend to the nether regions, the vulture of hell shall turn from his stinking carcass and vomit.” Whether or not this argument to the jury was the cause of their decision, the jury acquitted the defendant. After the trial, the sheriff who was a great friend of Mark’s, asked inquisitively, “Marcus Anrelius, where did you get that trained buzzard?”
Mark and J.K. Weatherford had one unique practice in the trial of any case they advocated. This peculiarity was that neither one of them ever transcribed notes of any testimony during the trial of a case. It was their belief that the preoccupation of taking notes caused many trial attorneys to miss some of the testimony delivered during the course of the trial. They had trained themselves to remember statements made by a witness and were adept at logically organizing the statements in their minds. Unique personal attributes, such as almost total recall of a witness’s testimony, were intangible factors that gave both men a little extra advantage in the court room.
Another very unusual characteristic on the part of Mark was his ability to cogitate and logically construct the arguments of a complaint or a brief in his mind. His practice was to study and examine all features of the problem and then make a very thorough investigation of the law with relation to the problem. After having studied for a length of time, sometimes for a week or more, he would not show up at the office until late in the afternoon on the day he was to dictate his arguments. Immersed in thought, he would call his secretary into his office and begin to dictate. Surprising to his associates, was the fact that, he frequently would dictate an entire brief without stopping and seldom would he make any material changes or amendments in the complaint of brief after it was dictated. Mark had the ability to recall the cases he desired to cite, both by name, and frequently, by volume and page. He did not, however, attempt to recall all of the working of his citations, but would have the secretary copy from certain pages the material he had cited.
In addition to his legal practice he continued, until his death, to be involved in the operation of his wheat ranch near Arlington. In his farming activities he was a trail blazer. He purchased and operated the first diesel caterpillar tractor that was used in wheat farming in the Northwest. He adopted early the practice of making a trashy summer fallow which has aided greatly in the control of wind erosion in that farming region. He was also the first rancher to use the deep furrow drill in Eastern Oregon.
Mark was a student of agricultural problems and made an extensive study of the effects of wind and water erosion on wheat ranches and devised methods to control the erosion problems. He was keenly aware of the need for soil conservation and was in the forefront in introducing soil conservation measures in Eastern Oregon. In the 1930’s, he pioneered the use of crested wheat grass. This grass today is widely used for soil conservation purposes. It has also enabled many wheat ranchers to diversify their operations because it furnished good cattle pasture.
In the last few years of his life, Mark was less active in the operation of his ranches and he had a most capable operator in charge of them. It must have been a great personal satisfaction to him to observe that most of the faming practices he had pioneered are now in general use by ranchers in Eastern Oregon.
Mark was also very interested in Oregon history--particularly the period of the Indian wars. In the later years of his life, he carried on a prodigious amount of research and wrote four books on the early day Indian wars in Oregon.
Mark always displayed the enthusiasm of youth. He enjoyed immensely the opportunity to work with younger lawyers and assist them in establishing themselves as trial attorneys. He was ever willing to devote any amount of time to assist a young lawyer in the preparation of the trial of a case or to give him counsel and advice. The high esteem with which he was regarded by his colleagues is evidenced by the plaque that was presented to him by the members of the Linn County Bar in 1957. The inscription on the plaque reads:
PRESENTED TO
MARK V. WEATHERFORD
WHOSE EVERY CONTACT
AS AN ADVERSARY, COLLEAGUE, OR FRIEND
CAUSED EACH OF US
TO BE
A BETTER CITIZEN, A BETTER LAWYER
A BETTER MAN
Mark Weatherford was a lawyer’s lawyer. Other attorneys from various parts of the state frequently sought his advice and assistance in the preparation and trial of difficult cases. His reputation as a lawyer of high caliber and impeccable integrity was state wide. On two separate occasions he declined to accept appointment to the bench of the Oregon Supreme Court. He was truly an outstanding individual and a pillar of the legal profession in Oregon.
James Knox Weatherford, grandson and namesake of J.K. Weatherford, was born December 27, 1901, at a farmhouse on the Weatherford ranch, east of Harrisburg. He attended Harrisburg Elementary School and was enrolled for three years at Harrisburg High School. He moved to Corvallis prior to his senior year and graduated from Corvallis High School. After graduation, he enrolled at Oregon Agricultural College and received his B.S. degree in civil engineering in 1924.
Interested in pursuing a legal career, J.K., as he is commonly referred to, studied law at George Washington University in 1924-25. Returning to Albany, he engaged in private study with the Weatherford and Wyatt law offices for a period of time in 1925-26. In the fall of 1926, he enrolled at the University of Oregon Law School. After two years of study, one short of graduation, he successfully passed the Oregon Bar Exam and was admitted to the Oregon State Bar on September 18, 1928.
Soon after admission to the Bar, he became associated with the firm of Weatherford and Wyatt, comprised of the elder J.K. Weatherford, Mark V. Weatherford and J.R. Wyatt.
In the general election of 1930, J.K. was elected state representative from Linn County and served in the 1931 Legislative Assembly. He was re-elected to the same office in 1932 and served a second term. In 1934, he was elected District Attorney for Linn County, acting in that capacity for one term from1935-38. During his term as District Attorney, he secured considerable publicity on two controversial matters. The first was a question of indicting the bank officers of the local banks for operating in violation of the law. The indictment contained two charges: One being that the banks were operating as holding companies—bank holding companies—which was prohibited by law; and second, that the officers were operating their respective banks when they knew, or should have known, that they were insolvent. The grand jury presentment resulted in instructions for the Court to the effect that the violations of national baking laws were not indictable offenses in the Courts of the state. The second matter concerned, submitted to the grand jury, was the charge of negligent homicide against a Democratic candidate for Governor during the primary election campaign of 1936. The grand jury eventually reporting out a charge of reckless driving which was then dismissed by the Court.
Civic minded, J.K. served a five-year term from1949-1954, as a school board member of Linn County School District No. 5. He also served two terms from1953-1962, as a member of the Albany Union High School District Board, District No. 8.
His legal career was devoted primarily to real estate law and general office business. One of his most significant accomplishments was convincing the County Court, now known as the Board of County Commissioners, to call a special election and submit to the voters a question of appropriating to a special building fund, the unappropriated and unexpended cash in the possession of the County Treasurer, for the purpose of building a new Courthouse. The pragmatic result was that the Courthouse was built for approximately $200,000 and without burdening the taxpayers with any additional special tax levy of any kind.
J.K. Weatherford practiced law in Albany for 47 years. Respected by his colleagues and esteemed by the community he has served, his contribution to the legal fraternity of Albany has been considerable and noteworthy.
Orval N. Thompson was born in Shedd, Oregon, on November 29, 1914. He attended the University of Oregon and graduated in 1935 with a B.S. degree.
After completing his undergraduate studies, he enrolled at the University of Oregon Law School graduating cum laude in 1937 with a J.D. degree. He was student editor of the Oregon Law Review in 1936-37. Later, he did graduate study on a Raymond Foundation Fellowship at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago where he received a LL.M. degree in 1939.
Mr. Thompson was admitted to practice in Oregon in 1937 and one year later became a member of the firm that today bears his name. He has practiced law in Albany since 1938 with the exception of the period from 1942-46 when he served on active duty as a lieutenant with the United States Navy during World War II in the office of Naval Intelligence.
He was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1940 and served on two-year term. Later, he campaigned successfully for the State Senate and held office from 1947-50. In addition to the political office, he was a member of the first Oregon Statute Revision Council; the Governor’s Committee on Parole and Probation from 1947-50; and the State Public Defender Committee for eight years. He also served as legal advisor to the Governor of Oregon in 1957-58.
In recognition of his outstanding civic activities he was chosen Junior First Citizen of Albany in 1948. He was also presented the Past Distinguished Service Award for Albany in 1970.
Orval Thompson’s career was marked by significant civic and legal accomplishments.
Harrison M. Weatherford, son of Mark V. Weatherford, was born in Albany, Oregon, on December 23, 1925. He graduated from Albany High School and later attended Oregon State College in Corvallis.
During World War II, he was on active duty in the American and Asiatic-Pacific theaters. He served as a private in the CMP, which terminated with the transfer of the 515th CMP Combat Battalion to the infantry. As a PFC Infantry Heavy Weapons Crewman replacement, he was shipped to the Asiatic-Pacific theaters. Enroute, the war ended and he served on Leyte and Luzon, near Manila, in a PW Camp and Headquarters in Afwespac.
Harrison studied law at Willamette University and Northwestern College of Law, receiving his LL.B. degree from the latter in 1952. As a third-year student at Northwestern he worked as a law clerk for Janet Starkey and the Multnomah County Legal Aid Department. He was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1952 and became associated with Weatherford and Thompson.
Legislation passed in the late 1950’s mandated reorganization of Oregon’s public school system. Harrison served as chairman of the Benton County School District Reorganization Committee from 1957 through 1962. He also served as a member of the advisory committee to the Intermediate Education District Committee of the Oregon Legislature from 1960-62; and the advisory committee to the Governor’s Conference on Education in 1958.
Harrison was a part trustee and president of the McDowell Catt Foundation, a creation of I.A. McDowell and his wife Verne Catt McDowell. Serving as trustee and president from 1955 to 1965, Harrison authorized investments and distribution of funds to such organizations as the Albany Boys Club, the Christian Church, the University of Oregon Student Loan Fund, the Shriners’ Hospital for Crippled Children and the University of Oregon Medical School. Instrumental in the creation of the Albany Boys Club in 1955, he served as president, secretary and a member of the board of directors on different occasions until 1965. During the period 1957 to 1962, he was also director of the Verne Catt McDowell Corporation, a philanthropic enterprise designed to promote the education of ministers of the Christian Church and to operate the Christian House for students at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.
He was an active member of the Albany Zoning Commission from 1960 to 1962. Harrison was on the board of directors of the Willamette Osteopathic Hospital and held the office of vice-president for several years until its closing.
In 1966, the Mark V. Weatherford ranch near Arlington came back into direct management after being operated on a co-management arrangement for a number of years. Harrison later operated the family grain ranch in Gilliam County, increasing the acreage in 1966 and adding a cow-calf operation in 1973. A pilot with his own plane, he mixed farming with his law practice, usually spending the greater part of the summer months on the ranch.
Since 1958, he farmed in Linn County and his enterprises developed into co-operative interests in grass seed production. His memberships in farming organizations included the Oregon Wheat Growers League, Linn County Rye Grass Growers Association, the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association and the Agri-Business Council of Oregon. He served as director of the Rock Creek Irrigation Control District and was a member of the Gilliam County Soil Conservation District. In 1962, Harrison was honored as the Co-Conservation Farmer of the Year for Gilliam County and also received the Oregonian Award of Co-Conservation Farmer of the Year for Oregon that year.
John S. Horton was born in Baker, Oregon on October 28, 1920. He served in World War II, from 1940-46, advancing in rank to lieutenant commander on active duty with the United States Navy. After his tour of duty, he completed his undergraduate studies at Willamette University and graduated with a B.A. degree in 1946. He was a member of Sigma Chi and Delta Theta Phi Fraternities.
He studied law at Willamette University Law School and received his L.L.B. degree in 1949. Admitted to the Bar that same year, he entered practice in Baker with the firm of Hallock, Banta and Silven. He remained there until 1963, when he came to Albany and became associated with the Weatherford and Thompson firm.
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