Earl Snell

Earl W. Snell
23rd Governor of Oregon
In office January 11, 1943 – October 28, 1947
Preceded by	Charles A. Sprague
Succeeded by	John Hubert Hall
13th Oregon Secretary of State
In office January 7, 1935 – January 4, 1943
Governor	Charles H. Martin Charles A. Sprague
Preceded by	Peter J. Stadelman
Succeeded by	Robert S. Farrell Jr.
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
In office 1926–1934
Personal details
Born	(1895-07-11)July 11, 1895 Olex, Oregon, U.S.
Died	October 28, 1947(1947-10-28) (aged 52) Lake County, Oregon, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Edith Welshons
Profession	Automobile dealer

Earl Wilcox Snell (July 11, 1895 – October 28, 1947) was an American politician, businessman, and member of the Republican Party, serving in the Oregon House of Representatives, as the Oregon Secretary of State, and as the 23rd Governor of Oregon. American journalist John Gunther described Snell as "genial, mediocre, and perpetually on the fence."

Early life and business career

Snell was born on a farm near the small town of Olex, Oregon. He grew up in Arlington. He received a public school education, and attended the Oregon Institute of Technology without attaining a degree (this Oregon Institute of Technology was located in Portland, a private institution, and not connected to the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls). He became a partner in Arlington's automobile dealership. After military service during World War I, he settled in nearby Condon, where he married Edith Welshons, with whom he had one son, and published the local newspaper. He became sole owner of the auto dealership in Arlington, and it was his principal livelihood for the rest of his life. He later expanded his business interests to include ranching and banking.

In a WUGA TV interview with well known musician Doc Severinsen, Severinsen—who is from Arlington—reported that he used to live with Snell and his wife during the summers as a boy. Doc stated Snell gave him his first instrument (an army bugle) and strongly influenced him. Snell would also sometimes take Doc down to the Capital building when he was governor.

Political career

After serving on the Arlington City Council, in 1926 he was elected to the first of four consecutive terms in the Oregon House of Representatives, his final term as Speaker. In 1934, despite inroads by Democrats in Oregon in previously Republican Oregon, Snell was elected Oregon Secretary of State, serving from 1935 to 1943.

Prevented by a term limit from seeking another term as Secretary of State, Snell decided to challenge his own party's incumbent Gov. Charles A. Sprague in the Republican primary. He received strong support from the state automobile dealers association, gained the nomination, and went on to be elected Governor with 78 percent of the vote, taking office on January 11, 1943.

Snell's administration was marked by conservationist measures, public works projects and relief programs in line with the federal New Deal programs, and initiatives designed to promote agricultural, timber and industrial interests to expand Oregon's economy. He was re-elected in 1946, by a margin of more than two to one, but died in office the next year.

Snell was a staunch supporter of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. In 1944, he sponsored a law aimed at Issei and Nisei returnees, which would have denied Japanese-born non-citizens the right to own or lease land. It also would've prosecuted landowning Japanese-American citizens for allowing others of Japanese descent, including their parents, to occupy or work the land. The law easily passed through the Oregon legislature, but was ruled unconstitutional by the courts.

Death

On October 28, 1947, Snell, Oregon Secretary of State Robert S. Farrell, Jr., and State Senate President Marshall E. Cornett were killed along with pilot Cliff Hogue when their small plane crashed in stormy weather southwest of Dog Lake in Lake County, Oregon. The group left Klamath Falls about 10:00 p.m. en route to a ranch owned by Oscar Kittredge in Warner Valley near Lakeview, Oregon. A state funeral was held for Snell, Farrell and Cornett at the Capitol in Salem. Snell was buried in Salem's Belcrest Memorial Park.

See also

• 1947 Earl Snell plane crash

External links

• "Earl Wilcox Snell". Governors of Oregon. Oregon State Library. Archived from the original on September 23, 2006. Retrieved November 26, 2006.
• "Governor Earl W. Snell Administration". Oregon Governors. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
• "Earl Snell photo and biographical note".