An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., The
Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., 1893, pages 393-393 
	
	HON. EUGENE SEMPLE, ex-Governor of Washington, was born at Bogota, New
Grenada, South America, June 12, 1840, a son of James and Mary S. (Mizner)
Semple, of Illinois. The father served as Attorney General, Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Senator in Congress and
Colonel in the Black Hawk war in his adopted State. But at the time of his son's
birth he was United States Minister to New Grenada. He served two terms in that
position, first under Van Buren, and then under Tyler.
	The Semple family have long been prominently connected with the affairs of
the Pacific coast. James Semple, father of our subject, made speeches in the
Mississippi Valley, as early as 1842, in favor of the claim of the United States
to the line of 54† 40' north latitude. January 8, 1844, he introduced into the
United States Senate a resolution requesting the President to give notice to his
Britannic Majesty of the desire of the Government of the United States to
abrogate the treaty of joint occupancy of the Oregon country. His brother,
Robert Semple, was editor of the first American newspaper printed in California;
was president of the Constitutional Convention of that State; and founded the
city of Benicia. A half brother of our subject, Hon. Lansing B. Mizner, was a
California pioneer of 1849, held many official positions, including that of
Collector of' the Port of San Francisco; President of State Senate, and
Presidential Elector and Minister to Central America. A cousin of the subject of
this sketch, Will Semple Green, was one of the founders of the city of Colusa,
California, and for thirty-five years has been editor of the Colusa Sun, in
which capacity he has yielded a potent influence in public affairs. Another
uncle, Colonel Charles Donald Semple, of Colusa, was one of the most prominent
members of the California bar.
	Eugene Semple, the youngest child and only son, was five years of age when
his parents returned to Illinois, and the succeeding years were passed in
Madison and Jersey counties, attending the country schools in winter, and
working at farm labor in the summer. At the age of sixteen years he entered the
St. Louis University, and subsequently engaged in the study of law with Krum &
Harding, in St. Louis, and later graduated at the Law Department of the
Cincinnati College, taking the degree of LL. B. After receiving his diploma, Mr.
Semple carried out his long cherished intention of locating in Oregon, and, via
New York, Panama and San Francisco, arrived in the fall of 1863. From that time
until 1869, he was engaged in the practice of his profession in Portland, with
the exception of two summers spent in the mines of Idaho and Washington. In the
last named year Mr. Semple embarked in newspaper work, first as reporter, and
later as editor of the Daily Oregon Herald, then the leading organ of the
Democratic party in the Northwest. The motto of this paper was: In all
discussions of American policy, with us liberty goes first. It was a strenuous
opponent of Chinese immigration, and an advocate of railroads, claiming,
however, that they should be the servants of the people, and not the masters of
the people. The result of the Democratic victory of 1870 in Oregon made Mr.
Semple State Printer, which position he held until 1874. He then leased a farm
in Lane county, afterward purchased land in Columbia county, and followed the
occupation of his youth until 1883. In that year he engaged in the manufacture
of cedar shingles, being the pioneer in that business in the Northwest, and the
following year erected the Lucia Mills at Vancouver, Washington, also becoming a
resident of that place. He was appointed Governor of Washington Territory by
President Cleveland, and was the candidate of the Democratic party for the same
office at the first State election, running nearly 600 votes ahead of his
ticket. In Oregon Mr. Semple held the office of Police Commissioner of Portland,
of State Printer, Clerk of the Circuit Court in Columbia county, and was
appointed Brigadier General of the National Guard by Governor Grover.
	While a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade, our subject was the prime
mover in forming the Columbia Water Way Association, designed to secure the
opening of the Columbia to free navigation, a project which he began to agitate
in 1869, and has since continued to work for at every opportune moment. At the
second session of the association he read a carefully prepared paper on river
improvements, in which he outlined a comprehensive scheme for economically
navigating the Columbia river and its tributaries, and for the construction of a
ship transit across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. In 1889 Mr. Semple returned to
Seattle, where he now resides, engaged in the active practice of law, and also
as a member of the Board of Harbor Line Commissioners. While a member of the
Harbor Line Commission, Mr. Semple had charge of the harbors of Seattle,
Ballard, Sidney, Blaine, Shelton and Vancouver, and prepared a plan for the
permanent improvement of the harbor at the latter place.
	He was married in 1870, to Ruth A. Lownsdale, of Portland, and they have
three daughters and one son. Mr. Semple has been a widower since 1883, and is
now devoting his time to the care and education of his children.
	
Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in September 2003 by Jeffrey L. Elmer
	
	
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