Daniel Lownsdale (1803–1862) was one of the founders of Portland, Oregon, United States.
Daniel H. Lownsdale | |
|---|---|
 Daniel Lownsdale | |
| Legislator in the Provisional Government of Oregon | |
| In office 1846–1846 | |
| Constituency | Tuality District |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1803 |
| Died | 1862 (aged 58–59) Oregon |
| Resting place | Lone Fir Cemetery, Portland, OR |
| Occupation | Legislator, tanner |
Coming from Kentucky sometime before 1845, Lownsdale established the first tannery near the current location of Providence Park just west of downtown Portland.[1] Tanner Creek, which flowed by the site during the mid-19th century, was named after the tannery.[2]
Lownsdale served as a member of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon in 1846.[3] Lownsdale purchased the land that would become downtown Portland on September 22, 1848.[1] He resurveyed Portland, keeping the small blocks (200 feet per side, 64 feet streets), and adding the contiguous park blocks.[1]
He became involved with a land dispute involving the authority of the laws from the Provisional Government with Josiah Lamberson Parrish. Lownsdale would defend the matter in court in a case that would progress through the Oregon Supreme Court and to the United States Supreme Court in Lownsdale v. Parrish, 62 U.S. 290 (1858).[4]
His daughter Ruth Lownsdale married businessman and politician Eugene Semple.
Lownsdale is buried in the Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland. Lownsdale Square is named after him.
References
edit- ^ a b c MacColl, E. Kimbark (1979). The Growth of a City: Power and Politics in Portland, Oregon 1915-1950. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press. ISBN 0-9603408-1-5.
- ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 936. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
- ^ Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide, 1846 Regular Session (2nd Provisional), Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on July 2, 2016.
- ^ Lownsdale v. Parrish, 62 U.S. 290 (1858).
External links
edit- History of Portland, Oregon, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches by Harvey Whitefield Scott at Google Books
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