Asa Lovejoy

Asa Lovejoy
Speaker of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon
In office December 1, 1846 – December 19, 1846
Preceded by	Henry A. G. Lee
Succeeded by	Robert Newell
Speaker of the Oregon Territory House of Representatives
In office July 16, 1849 – September 29, 1849
Preceded by	Levi A. Rice (Provisional Legislature)
Succeeded by	Ralph Wilcox
Constituency	Clackamas County
Delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention
In office August 17, 1857 – September 18, 1857
Constituency	Clackamas County
Personal details
Born	(1808-03-14)March 14, 1808 Groton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 10, 1882(1882-09-10) (aged 74) Oregon, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Elizabeth McGary

Asa Lawrence Lovejoy (March 14, 1808 – September 10, 1882) was an American pioneer and politician in the region that would become the U.S. state of Oregon. He is best remembered as a founder of the city of Portland, Oregon. He was an attorney in Boston, Massachusetts before traveling by land to Oregon; he was a legislator in the Provisional Government of Oregon, mayor of Oregon City, and a general during the Cayuse War that followed the Whitman massacre in 1847. He was also a candidate for Provisional Governor in 1847, before the Oregon Territory was founded, but lost that election.

Lovejoy continued his political career during territorial period as a member of both chambers of the Oregon Territorial Legislature; he served as the first Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in 1849. He was also a delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention held in 1857 that paved the way for Oregon's entry into the Union. He was part owner of the Oregon Telegraph newspaper, and worked on railroad development in the Willamette Valley after leaving politics.^[1] Lovejoy Street in Northwest Portland and the Lovejoy Fountain in Downtown Portland are named in his honor.