William Spencer Newbury | |
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23rd Mayor of Portland, Oregon | |
In office 1877–1879 |
|
Preceded by | J. A. Chapman |
Succeeded by | David P. Thompson |
Personal details | |
Born |
Ripley, New York |
September 19, 1834
Died | November 19, 1915 Portland, Oregon |
(aged 81)
Political party | Republican |
Profession | Lawyer, businessman, politician |
William Spencer Newbury (September 19, 1834 – November 19, 1915), commonly known as W. S. Newbury, was a businessman and lawyer in the U.S. Midwest and in Oregon, who served as the mayor of Portland, Oregon, from 1877 to 1879. He was elected mayor on June 18, 1877.
Newbury was born in Ripley, New York, on September 19, 1834. He graduated from the Wisconsin Mercantile College, in Madison, Wisconsin, in the mid-1850s. After traveling around the U.S. South for several months, he lived for a time in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then in Sioux City, Iowa. In 1860, he married Alzina Taylor.
During the American Civil War, Newbury served in the 6th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. He later served in the Army of the Cumberland, fighting for the Union in the Battle of Chickamauga and the battles of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. After the war, Newbury was appointed Assistant Provost Marshal of the State of Kansas. He passed the bar in Kansas in 1865 and practiced law there for a time. He served as the elected mayor of Iola, Kansas, but resigned in 1870 after deciding to move to the West Coast, where he settled in Portland, Oregon, in August of that year.