Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis
Pub. Co. 1893.  p. 273.

HONORABLE RUFUS MALLORY

     A member of the bar of Oregon, was an early settler of this vicinity,
having come her in 1859.  He is a native of New York State, where he was born in
Chenango county, June 10, 1831.  His father, Samuel Mallory, was a native of
Connecticut, being born in that State in 1781.  The family is of English
ancestry, coming to America in the early history of its settlement.  His
grandfather, David Mallory, was a New Englander, and a participant in the war
for independence, having fought in the battle of Bunker Hill, and for his
services in that struggle, he received from the United States a land warrant as
a reward.  Mr. Mallory's father married Miss Lucretia Davis, a native of
Connecticut, who was born in 1788.  She also was a descendant of one of the
early settlers of New England.  Her father, John Davis, lived to be ninety-six
years of age.
     Our subject was the youngest of nine children, six of whom survive.  He was
reared in his native State, working on his father's farm and attending the
district school in Steuben county and later attending the Alfred Academy and the
Teacher's University, doing farm work and teaching alternately.  In 1848 he
accepted a clerkship in a store in Alleghany county, New York.  One of the
partners, Jonathan Everetts, and old New Hampshire man, had a library of law
books, and Mr. Mallory, while there, became interested in the study of law.  In
1855, he went to New London, Iowa, where he taught a district school, and
afterward taught a select school, in the meantime keeping up the study of law.
In 1858, he came to Oregon, coming by water to San Francisco, and from there
overland to this State, arriving at Jacksonville, January 1, 1859.  From
Jacksonville he went to Roseburg, where he arrived entirely destitute of means,
and where he taught school until the spring of 1860.  He was then admitted to
the bar, and at the election that year was chosen District Attorney for the
Southern District, comprising Douglas, Jackson and Josephine counties, which
office he continued to fill acceptably for two years.  In 1862, he was elected
from Douglas county to the Legislature, and while in Salem, attending the
Session, the oldest law firm there was broken up by the election of B. F.
Harding to the United States' Senate, and the appointment of Joseph G. Wilson,
who was District Attorney, to a Judgeship, newly created for the district east
of the Cascade mountains.  This firm offered him their business, and Governor
Gibbs proposed to appoint him district Attorney for the Third District.  These
offers he accepted, and took up his residence in Salem.  In 1864, he was elected
District Attorney to succeed himself.  In 1866, he was elected to Congress,
serving two years, after which he returned to Salem and resumed his law
practice.  In 1872, he represented Marion county in the State Legislature, and
was elected by that body to the office of Speaker of the House.  In the fall of
1874, he received from President Grant the appointment of United States District
Attorney for Oregon, serving in that capacity for four years, when he was
re-appointed, his second term expiring in 1882.  He was at this time selected by
the United States' Treasurer Department to go to Singapore, India, to procure
evidence in certain important questions, then pending in the United States'
Court.  After accomplishing his mission he kept on journeying, making the tour
of the world in five months.  In 1883 he and Judge Bellinger became member of
the law firm of Dolph, Bellinger, Mallory & Simon, since which time he has
continued in the practice of law in Portland.  Each of the members of the firm
are men of position and influence, widely known throughout the State and the
Northwest, in consequence of which the firm enjoys a very large and lucrative
practice.
     He was married June 24, 1860, to Miss Lucy A. Rose, a native of Michigan,
and a daughter of Mr. Aaron Rose, a pioneer of Oregon, and the founder of the
town of Roseburg.  They have one son, Elmer Ellsworth, who was born in Salem,
and who is now connected with the Postal Telegraph business.
     Mr. Mallory has purchased a tract of land two miles from the city, where he
has built his residence, a substantial and homelike building, provided with all
the modern improvements; and also commodious barns for his stock and grain.
Here, he is giving some attention to the horticulture, raising small fruits,
cherries and pears, which occupation affords him pleasure and the needed
relaxation from mental pursuits.  He is making his farm one of the most
beautiful places in the vicinity of Portland.
     He has been identified with the Republican party since its organization,
having rendered it material aid on various occasions.  He has canvassed the
State several times in the interest of its political doctrines, and has made his
weight felt in these campaigns.  In his official positions, he has been the soul
of honor, winning and retaining the confidence of the people.  In legal
practice, he has looked carefully after the interests entrusted to him, serving
his clients in an able and upright manner.  In private and domestic life, he is
a whole-souled gentleman, of courteous and agreeable conversation, a pleasant
acquaintance and a delightful friend.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in October 2005 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.