Jonathan Bourne Jr.

American politician
the merchant

Jonathan Bourne Jr. (February 23, 1855September 1, 1940) was an American politician, attorney, and businessman. A native of Massachusetts, he moved to Portland, Oregon, where he became a lawyer and an industrialist with holdings in mining, mills, and agriculture. As a Republican he served two terms in the Oregon House of Representatives and was elected the United States Senator from Oregon.

Jonathan Bourne was born on February 23, 1855, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was educated at private schools before enrolling at Harvard University where he attended from 1875 to 1877. Bourne then sailed for Asia where his ship wrecked off of the island of what was then called Formosa in 1877. He returned to the House in 1897, representing District 37 and Multnomah County as a Republican, and only served during the regular session that failed to organize that year. In 1906, he was elected as a Republican to the U. S. Senate, becoming one of the first two senators to be elected under Oregon's direct primary law, in which senators were selected by popular vote, and then were officially elected to the position by the Oregon Legislative Assembly to comply with Article One of the U. S. Constitution. (In 1914, the 17th Amendment established direct election of senators.) He served from March 4, 1907, to March 3, 1913. In 1911 1912 Bourne served as president of the National Republican Progressive League. He organized the Republican Publicity Association in 1912. Bourne was not renominated to his Senate seat in 1912 by the Republican Party,

After leaving Congress resumed his former pursuits in Oregon and Massachusetts. He then worked in the newspaper business in Washington, D. C. until his death. Jonathan Bourne died in the District of Columbia on September 1, 1940, at the age of 85. He was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Maryland. Earlier in his life he owned large mining interests in the northeast part of Oregon, where the town of Bourne bore his name.

Bourne Jr, Jonathan. "Popular v. Delegated Government A Defense of the Initiative, Referendum and Recall." Central Law Journal 72 (1911): 354+ online. Bourne Jr, Jonathan. "Functions of the Initiative, Referendum and Recall." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 43.1 (1912): 3 16. online