Thomas H. Tongue | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOregon's1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1897 – January 11, 1903 | |
| Preceded by | Binger Hermann |
| Succeeded by | Binger Hermann |
| 7th Mayor of Hillsboro, Oregon | |
| In office December 13, 1882 – December 10, 1883 December 13, 1886 – December 9, 1887 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1844-06-23)June 23, 1844 |
| Died | January 11, 1903(1903-01-11) (aged 58) |
| Resting place | Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery 45°31′13″N123°00′14″W / 45.52015°N 123.00382°W /45.52015; -123.00382 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Emily Margaret Eagleton |
Thomas H. Tongue (June 23, 1844 – January 11, 1903) was an American politician and attorney in the state ofOregon. Born in England, his family immigrated toWashington County, Oregon, in 1859. In Oregon, he would serve in theState Senate from 1889 to 1893 and was the seventh mayor ofHillsboro. ARepublican, he was chairman of thestate party, and national convention delegate in 1892. Tongue served as Congressman from 1897 to 1903 representingOregon's 1st congressional district.
Thomas H. Tongue was born inLincolnshire,England, on June 23, 1844.[1] He attended the public schools of England before immigrating to the United States with his parents.[1] The family settled inWashington County, Oregon, in theTualatin Valley on November 23, 1859.[1] His parents Rebecca and Anthony Tongue had a house west ofNorth Plains.[2]
In Oregon, Tongue attended theTualatin Academy preparatory school in nearbyForest Grove.[3] He then enrolled atPacific University, a college affiliated with Tualatin Academy, and graduated from the school in June 1868.[1][3] After graduating he moved toHillsboro, thecounty seat of Washington County, where he studied law.[3] On December 25, 1869, he married Emily Margaret Eagleton, daughter of George Eagleton.[3]
Tongue was admitted to theOregon State Bar in 1870 and began private legal practice in Hillsboro.[3] While practicing law he was also a farmer and raised livestock while a member of theKnights of Pythias andOdd Fellows.[3] Also a member of theMasonic Order, he served as agrand master in that organization.[3] Tongue started his political career asmayor of Hillsboro, serving two terms. He was elected in 1882 as the seventh person to hold that office, serving from December 13, 1882, to December 10, 1883.[4] He would serve a second term three years later from December 13, 1886 to December 9, 1887.[4]
In 1884, he purchased the former fairgrounds where theWashington County Fair had been held for approximately 15 years.[5] The 50 acres (200,000 m2) were south of First Avenue and Baseline in present-day downtown Hillsboro, with Tongue using the land for his hobby farm.[5] In 1888, Tongue was elected to a four-year term in theOregon State Senate.[6] Serving in both the 1889 and 1891 sessions, theRepublican represented District 27 and Washington County.[7] While in the State Senate he was selected as the chairperson of the judiciary committee.[2] He replacedWilliam D. Hare as both mayor and state senator.[4][8]
A Republican Party official, Tongue served on the party'sstate central committee from 1886 to 1896.[3] In 1890, he was elected to the post ofchairman for the Republican state convention and followed that position as president of the state party from 1892 to 1894.[3] In 1892, Oregon received a secondcongressional district, and Tongue served as the Republican party's chairman for the district until 1896.[3] Also in 1892, Tongue served as a delegate to theRepublican National Convention held inMinneapolis, Minnesota, and served as the vice president of theOregon delegation to the convention in 1894.[3]
Thomas Tongue was elected in 1896 as a Republican to the55th Congress fromOregon's 1st congressional district. ReplacingBinger Hermann, Tongue won by a total of 63 votes over his opponents.[9] He was re-elected three times and served in the56th and57th United States Congresses.[1] Tongue also won re-election in 1902 to the58th Congress, but died before that session began.[1] In the 1898 campaign he defeated three opponents led byFusion Party candidateRobert M. Veatch, winning by 2,037 votes over Veatch.[10] Tongue won by 3,100 votes in 1900 and by 7,318 votes in the 1902 campaign.[3]
On March 4, 1897, he began serving in theUnited States House of Representatives and remained until his death inWashington, D.C., on January 11, 1903, before the start of what would have been a fourth term.[1] In Congress, Tongue was chairman of the Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands during both the 56th and 57th Congresses.[1] He served alongsideWilliam R. Ellis andMalcolm Adelbert Moody as Oregon's House delegates. While in Congress, Tongue advocated for the creation of anational park forCrater Lake inSouthern Oregon.[11] He introduced bills to create the park in 1898, 1899, and finally in 1901 when the bill was passed by Congress.[11] In May 1902,Crater Lake National Park became the United States' fifth national park when PresidentTheodore Roosevelt signed the bill into law.[11]
Tongue's death in 1903 was unexpected, and was reported as heart failure.[12] After Tongue's death, Binger Hermann, who Tongue succeeded in Congress, was elected to complete Tongue's term.[13]Thomas Brackett Reed,Speaker of the House during Tongue's first two terms, considered Tongue "one of the seven ablest men in the House."[3]
Tongue and his wife, the former Emily M. Eagleton, had eight children: Edmund Burke Tongue, Edwin Tongue, Mary G. Lombard, Thomas H. Tongue, Jr., Elizabeth Fey, Florence Munger, Bertha Rebecca Tongue, and Edith. Edith marriedAlfred E. Reames, who would serve in theUnited States Senate.[2] Thomas Tongue, Jr. and Edmund both became lawyers, with the older Edmund forming a legal partnership with his father in 1897.[14] Congressman Tongue was buried inHillsboro, Oregon, at the family's private plot next to the Masonic Cemetery (nowPioneer Cemetery).[1] Tongue was the grandfather ofThomas H. Tongue III (1912 – 1994), who served as an associate justice of theOregon Supreme Court.[11]
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| Preceded by | U.S. Representative of Oregon's 1st Congressional District 1897–1903 | Succeeded by |
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