George Law Curry

George Law Curry
George Law Curry (1860s)
Acting Governor of Oregon Territory
In office May 19, 1853 – December 2, 1853
Preceded by	Joseph Lane as Acting Territorial Governor
Succeeded by	John Wesley Davis as Territorial Governor
5th Governor of Oregon Territory
In office August 1, 1854 – March 3, 1859
Preceded by	John Wesley Davis
Succeeded by	John Whiteaker as State Governor
Secretary of the Oregon Territory
In office May 14, 1853 – January 27, 1855
Preceded by	Edward D. Hamilton
Succeeded by	Benjamin F. Harding
Personal details
Born	(1820-07-02)July 2, 1820 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	July 28, 1878(1878-07-28) (aged 58) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Chloe Boone
Occupation	Politician Newspaper Publisher Jeweler

George Law Curry (July 2, 1820 – July 28, 1878) was a United States political figure and newspaper publisher predominantly in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, before traveling the Oregon Trail to the unorganized Oregon Country. A Democrat, Curry served in the new Oregon Territory's government as a representative to the legislature and as Territorial Secretary before appointment as the last Governor of the Oregon Territory. Curry County in Southern Oregon is named in his honor.

Curry was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1820, to Mr. and Mrs. George Curry. Though he received little formal education, he became well read and educated through self study. He also spent some of his childhood in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1831, he began a long career in the newspaper business when he started working in Boston as an apprentice printer. Curry moved west to Missouri where he published the newspaper The Reveille in St. Louis from 1842 to 1845.

In 1846, he emigrated overland to the unorganized Oregon Country and settled in Oregon City. Once in Oregon, Curry's experience in the newspaper business landed him a job editing the Oregon Spectator, an early newspaper owned by George Abernethy. Abernethy's views that politics should be kept out of the Spectator lead Curry to resign from the paper after only a year and a half. Curry's belief that this policy was censorship put him at odds with the paper's management. In 1848, he set up the Oregon Free Press in Oregon City in competition with his former employer, the same year as the creation of the Oregon Territory. The newspaper soon failed as the California Gold Rush temporarily drained the territory of people and advertisers.