Joseph Lane (December 14, 1801 – April 19, 1881) was an American politician and soldier. He was a state legislator representing Evansville, Indiana, and then served in the Mexican–American War, becoming a general and commanding the 2nd Indiana Volunteers. President James K. Polk appointed Lane as the first governor of Oregon Territory. When Oregon was admitted as a state in 1859, Lane was elected one of Oregon's first two U.S. senators.

In the 1860 United States presidential election, Lane was nominated for vice president of the Southern wing of the Democratic Party, as John C. Breckinridge's running mate.

One of his sons was later elected U.S. Representative, and a grandson U.S. Senator, making Lane the patriarch of one of the state's most prominent political families.

Early life

Joseph Lane was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, on December 14, 1801, to a family of English extraction with roots in colonial Virginia. His father, John Lane, was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War.

Lane left home at the age of 15, and was married four years later. He moved to Evansville, Indiana, in 1820.

Lane was largely self-educated, learning about the world from books he read at night. He then moved to the Indiana State Senate, where he served from 1839 to 1840, and from 1844 to 1846.

Lane resigned as territorial governor on June 18, 1850, in favor of a new appointee.

Vice-presidential nomination and political decline

In 1860, the Democratic Party split on the issue of slavery. Pro-slavery Democrats left the national convention nominated their own candidates: John C. Breckinridge for president, and Lane for vice president.

This "Southern Democrat" ticket was defeated. With his defeat for vice president and the beginning of the Civil War, Lane's political career ended. Lane became notorious for an exchange with Andrew Johnson of Tennessee on his last day in the Senate. Johnson had spoken in favor of the Union and denounced secession. The first referendum out of two on secession in Tennessee failed shortly thereafter, generally credited to Johnson's speech. On March 2, Lane accused Johnson of having "sold his birthright" as a Southerner. Johnson responded by suggesting that Lane was a hypocrite for so accusing Johnson when Lane so staunchly supported a movement of active treason against the United States.

Later years

alt=|thumb|Portrait of Polly Hart Lane, Joseph Lane's wife

Lane had taken a land claim of located just north of Roseburg, Oregon, in 1851. and his family was reared in the same faith,

While slavery was never legal in Oregon, Lane reportedly enslaved two black children in spite of the laws; a boy named John, who was given to him as a gift, and another named Peter Waldo. Lane described them as "apprentices".

Death and legacy

Lane died at his home on April 19, 1881. His body was interred in the Roseburg Memorial Gardens.

General Lane's daughter's home in Roseburg, where he spent much of his time, is now a museum maintained by the Douglas County Historical Society. Known as the Creed Floed House, the Floed–Lane House, or simply the Joseph Lane House, it is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Floed-Lane House was never his dwelling place. Joseph Lane Middle School in Roseburg is named for him, as is Joseph Lane Middle School in Portland.

Lane's son Lafayette Lane served as U.S. Representative from 1875 to 1877; another son, John Lane, fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy.

! style="text-align:center;width:100px;" | Insignia

! style="width:185px;" | Rank

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| June 25, 1846 || style="text-align:center;" | 75px || Colonel ||

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| July 1, 1846 || style="text-align:center;" | 75px || Brigadier general || Bvt. Major general (1847)

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| July 20, 1848 || colspan="3" | Honorably discharged from service.

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Notes

References

Works cited

  • Speech of Hon. Joseph Lane, of Oregon, on the Suppression of Indian Hostilities in Oregon: Delivered in the House of Representatives, April 2, 1856. Washington, DC: Congressional Globe Office, 1856.

Further reading

  • Hendrickson, James E. Joe Lane of Oregon: Machine Politics and the Sectional Crisis, 1849-1861. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1967.
  • Si Sheppard. “‘Union for the Sake of the Union’: The Selection of Joseph Lane as Acting President of the United States, 1861.” Oregon Historical Quarterly 115, no. 4 (2014): 502–29. online.
  • General Joseph Lane at First Hand History, includes primary documents.
  • Guide to the Joseph Lane Papers at the University of Oregon The Joseph Lane papers include diaries, correspondence, legal documents, newspaper clippings, and a draft of Nina Lane Faubion's biography of Lane
  • Joseph Lane's photographs at the University of Oregon.

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