Frederick Waymire

Frederick Waymire was born on March 15, 1807, in Montgomery County in the southwestern portion of Ohio to Andrew and Easter Waymire.[1][2] Trained as a millwright, he married Frances (Fanny) Chance Cochrane from Indiana in 1827, and the couple had 17 children.[1][2] In 1845, Waymire and his family immigrated to the Oregon Country over the Oregon Trail and settled in what is now Polk County, Oregon.[3]

The family farm was on a donation land claim located on the Luckiamute River, and Waymire called his house Hayden Hall.[1][4] In 1846, Waymire was elected as the sheriff of what was then called Polk District, now Polk County.[4] As early as 1853 he supported building railroads in the region, and thus was an early supporter of railroads in Oregon.[3][5] This included being a commissioner of the Willamette Valley Railroad Company in 1854, though the company never built a line.[6]

In 1850, Waymire was elected to the upper chamber Council of the Oregon Territorial Legislature and represented District 7 and Polk County during the 1850 to 1851 session.[7] Elected as a Democrat, he served again during the 1851 to 1852 and the 1852 to 1853 sessions, both times still representing Polk County in the Council.[8][9] After not serving for two sessions, Waymire returned to the legislature in the Oregon House in 1855 as the representative from District 24.[10]

Waymire, part of the Democrats Salem Clique, was elected to represent Polk County at the Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857.[4] The convention drafted and ratified a proposed constitution to allow Oregon to become a state, which the citizens then approved later that year. Waymire represented the farming contingent at the convention and was characterized as a "sort of Far West David Crockett" due in part to his lack of education.[11] During the convention he fought against corporations, high salaries, and high taxes.[11] His opposition to corporations came in part due to his lost investment on a telegraph line built to connect Portland to Corvallis that failed, with the investors left owing the creditors additional funds.[11]

While waiting for approval of the Oregon Constitution from the United States Congress, Oregon's citizens elected officials for all public offices, and Waymire was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1858.[12] However, the U.S. Senate did not admit Oregon into the Union, and those legislators which included Waymire did not pass any laws and adjourned until news of statehood arrived.[12] Oregon was admitted as a state on February 14, 1859, and Waymire and the rest of the legislature meet later that year.[13] He served District 13 and Polk County as a Democrat at that first session of the Oregon State Legislature.[13] Waymire returned to the legislature in 1868 as a member of the Oregon House from Polk County and District 34.[14]

Waymire, a Methodist, was one of the incorporators in 1856 of the La Creole Academy, an early secondary school.[3] He served as one of the early trustees of the school located in Polk County at Dallas.[3][15] Frederick Waymire died on April 28, 1873, at the age of 66 and was buried on his farm in Polk County.[4] His wife Fanny died on October 15, 1878.[1]