Hovey, Albert G.

From Lane Co Oregon

First Springfield Post Office opens in 1868. It was located inside a drug store. Albert G. Hovey was the first postmaster.

HON. A. G. HOVEY

There is scarcely a man in Oregon who does not know Hon. A. G. Hovey. Ever since the formation of the State, and even previous to that time, he took an active part in the affairs of the community where he lived. His is one of those aggressive, go-ahead dispositions that believes in themselves. Hope or ambition as a purely sentimental attribute does not enter into his composition, but are replaced by the sterner qualities of self-reliance and courage, both moral and physical. He is an exemplar of the time-honored adage that "God helps those who help themselves," and his whole life has bristled with instances of this belief. He is a man of strong convictions and honest prejudices, scorning the hypocrisy of policy, and dealing by his friends as his friends. In fact, he possesses one virtue above all others, in dealing with the world, everybody, whether friend or foe, knows where he may be found when he is wanted. His nature is positive in its character, and when he has once settled in his mind that he is right, nothing can swerve him from his course. Such a character must succeed in society where he is a welcome guest. He was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, July 11, 1830. His parents took him to Marietta, Ohio, when he was quite young, and here he was raised to manhood and educated. He was one of the argonauts of California, having crossed the plains to that State in the fall of 1849, and for nearly one year he was engaged in digging gold near the Sacramento river. In the fall of 1850 he came to Oregon and settled at Corvallis, where he taught the first school in the place and was elected the first clerk of the county, and acted as such for the first circuit and State courts held in the district. Benton county repeatedly honored him by electing him to fill the county offices, and he was selected from among his compeers to represent them in the State senate from 1862 until 1866. It was during this year that he removed to Portland, but only remained one year, then settled in this county at Springfield, there engaging in milling and merchandising until 1879, when he took a residence in Eugene City, and was one of the founders of the Lane County Bank. The republican party of Oregon sent him as a delegate to the National convention at Chicago in 1884, where he assisted in placing in nomination for president and vice-president of the nation, James G. Blaine and John A. Logan. Mr. Hovey married Emily Humphrey, and they have three children.

"Illustrated History of Lane County, Oregon." Portland, Oregon: A. G. Walling, publisher, 1884. pg. 492.