American politician
Alfred Evan Reames (February 5, 1870 – March 4, 1943) was an American attorney and politician from the state of Oregon. A native Oregonian, he served as a United States Senator for nine months in 1938. A Democrat, he practiced law in Portland, Eugene, and Jacksonville.
Early life
Alfred Reames was born in Jacksonville, Oregon, as the son of Thomas G. Reames and Lucinda Williams on February 5, 1870.[1] He received his primary education in the public schools of Jacksonville.[1] For college Reames first attended University of the Pacific in California and then returned to Oregon to attend the University of Oregon in Eugene.[2] In 1891, he married Edith L. Tongue of Hillsboro, Oregon, the daughter of former representative Thomas H. Tongue.[1][3] Then in 1893 Alfred Reames earned his law degree from Washington and Lee University in Virginia.[1] That same year he returned to Oregon and began law practice in Eugene after passing the bar.[2]
Legal career
After practicing in Eugene until 1894 he moved to Portland, Oregon, to continue practicing law.[1] In 1895 his wife Edith died, and he returned to Jacksonville where he practiced law until 1902.[1] From 1900 to 1908 he served as the district attorney for Josephine Jackson, Klamath, and Lake counties in southwestern Oregon.[2] In 1911 he resumed private law practice in Medford, Oregon.[1] There Reames became a part owner of the Deep Gravel Mining Company and president of Three Pines Timber Company.[2] Then on February 1, 1938 Oregon Governor Charles H. Martin appointed Alfred Reames to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy created when Senator Frederick Steiwer resigned from Congress.[2][4] The Democrat served until November 8, 1938, when Alexander G. Barry was elected.[2] Reames did not run in the fall election.[2]
Later life
In 1923 Reames remarried and had one son with Lillian L. Lanning who was from Albany, Oregon.[1] After Congress he returned to private practice.[2] He was an incorporator of the Jacksonville Electric Company, responsible for the construction of the Jacksonville substation.[1] On March 4, 1943 Alfred Evan Reames died in Medford and was buried at Siskiyou Memorial Park.[2]
