Richard Williams (congressman)

Richard Williams ( * November 15, 1836 in Findlay, Ohio, † June 19, 1914 in Portland, Oregon ) was an American politician. Between 1877 and 1879 he represented the state of Oregon in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early years

Richard Williams attended the public schools of his home. In 1851 he moved to the Oregon Territory, where he continued his education. Later he studied at Willamette University in Salem. After a subsequent law degree in 1857 and its recent approval as a lawyer, he started working in a new career in Kirbyville in Josephine County.

Political career

Williams was a member of the Republican Party. In 1874 he ran for the first time for the U.S. House of Representatives. Due to a split within his party and the nomination of a third candidate to his disadvantage, he was defeated by Democrat George Augustus La Dow, who then died in office and was replaced by the representatives elected in a by-election Lafayette Lane. In the elections of 1876, Williams was able to prevail against incumbent Lane and move to Congress on March 4, 1877. Because it did not nominated in 1878 by his party for a second term, he was able to complete only one legislative period to March 3, 1879.

Further CV

After the end of his time in Congress, Richard Williams again worked as a lawyer in Portland. Between 1890 and 1910 he was a member of the school board of this city. He died in June 1914 and was buried in Portland. Richard Williams was married in 1862 to Clara J. Congle, with whom he had a daughter.