Skinner, Alonzo A

From Lane Co Oregon

ALONZO A. SKINNER

Born in Huron County, Ohio; studied law and was admitted to the bar. Came to Oregon in company with Orville Risley and others, in 1845. In the year after his arrival he was made Circuit Judge of Oregon under the Provisional Government. The salary of this office was originally fixed at $200, but it is said that it was raised to $800 to induce Judge Skinner to accept the place. Peter H. Burnett, afterward Governor of California, was Supreme Judge of Oregon, but resigned because Judge Skinner received the largest salary. Skinner was a Whig originally, but became a Republican on the formation of that party. From 1851 to 1853 he was Indian Agent, and was located in the Rogue River Valley, where he took up the first donation land claim recorded in that section. In 1853 he was candidate for Delegate to Congress, against Joseph Lane, by whom he was badly beaten. From 1862 to 1864 he was clerk of Lane County. He was esteemed a well-read lawyer, modest and unassuming, and of good morals and fine feelings.

Lang, H. O., ed. "The History of the Willamette Valley, Being A Description of the Valley and its Resources, with an account of its Discovery and Settlement by White Men, and its Subsequent History; Together with Personal Reminiscences of its Early Pioneers." Portland, OR, Geo. H. Himes, Book and Job Printer, 1885. p. 647.