Isaac Homer Van Winkle

Van Winkle was born in Linn County, Oregon, near the community of Halsey, to Isaac Newton Van Winkle and Elizabeth Ann Pearl.[1] Isaac graduated from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, in 1898 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[2] In 1901, he graduated from Willamette University College of Law, where he later served as the sixth dean.[3] On September 3, 1902, Isaac married Lella Velvetta Parrish, and they would have one daughter named Rosalind.[1] Lella died in 1918.[2]

In 1904, Van Winkle began serving as an assistant attorney general for Oregon, remaining in the post until 1920 (though not from 1913 to 1915).[2][4] He was an instructor at Willamette's law school from 1905 to 1913.[2] That year he began his tenure as dean of the school, remaining until 1927.[2] The Van Winkle Melton Endowed Professorship at Willamette is named in his honor.[3]

On October 14, 1920, Van Winkle was appointed as the sixth Oregon Attorney General by Oregon Governor Ben W. Olcott, to replace George M. Brown, who had resigned from the position.[5] As a Republican, he was elected to a full four-year term later that year. Van Winkle won re-election in 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, and 1940 before dying in office on December 14, 1943.[5] Van Winkle's 23 years as Oregon's top lawyer are the longest of any attorney general in the state's history.[5] In 1938, he ran for a position on the Oregon Supreme Court, but lost and remained as Attorney General.[6]