Earl Snell

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=Earl W. Snell


image_width=200px
order=23^rd
title=Governor of Oregon
term_start=January 11, 1943
term_end=October 28, 1947
predecessor= Charles A. Sprague
successor= John Hubert Hall
order2=13^th
title2=Oregon Secretary of State
term_start2=1935
term_end2=1943
predecessor2= P. J. Stadelman
successor2= Robert S. Farrell, Jr.
order3=
title3=
term_start3=
term_end3=
predecessor3=
successor3=
order4=
title4=
term_start4=
term_end4=
predecessor4=
successor4=
birth_date= birth date|1895|7|11|mf=y
birth_place= Gilliam County, Oregon
death_date= death date and age|1947|10|28|1895|7|11|mf=y
death_place= Lake County, Oregon
party= Republican
profession= Automobile dealer
spouse=Edith Welshons
religion=Episcopalian

Earl Willcox Snell (July 11, 1895 - October 28, 1947) was an Oregon businessman American Republican politician, serving in the Oregon State Senate, and as the 23rd Governor of Oregon.

Early Life and Business Career

Snell was born on a farm near the small town of Olex, Gilliam County, Oregon. He received a public school education, and attended Oregon Institute of Technology without attaining a degree. After military service during World War I, he settled in Condon, Oregon, where he married Edith Welshons, with whom he would have one son, and published the local newspaper.

He moved to Arlington, Oregon, where he opened with a partner the successful automobile dealership which would be his principal livelihood the rest of his life. He later expanded his business interests to include ranching and banking.

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 the 1942 elections, in which Democrats in Oregon made considerable inroads, he successfully sought election as Oregon Secretary of State, resigning as Speaker to serve in that office 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, and not only gained the nomination, but went on to be elected Governor with 78 percent of the vote, taking office on January 11, 1943.

Generally recognized as a moderate, 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 with a view to expanding Oregon's economy. He overwhelmingly won reelection in 1946, by a margin of more than two to one, but died in office the next year.

On October 28, 1947, Snell and two other top office-holders - Oregon Secretary of State Robert S. Farrell, Jr. and State Senate President Marshall E. Cornett, were killed in a plane crash while en route to a bird hunt in south-central Oregon. Pilot Cliff Hogue perished as well, when his small plane crashed in stormy weather near Lakeview, Oregon. A state funeral was held for Snell, Farrell and Cornett at the Capitol in Salem. Governor Snell was buried in Salem's Belcrest Memorial Park.

References

*cite web
title=Earl Wilcox Snell
work=Governors of Oregon
publisher=Oregon State Library
url=http://www.osl.state.or.us/home/lib/governors/ews.htm
format=html
accessdaymonth = 26 November |accessyear=2006
*cite web
title=Governor Earl W. Snell: Biographical Note
work=Oregon Governors
publisher=Oregon State Archives
date=
url=http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/governors/Snell/Snelloverview.html
format=html
accessdaymonth = 26 November |accessyear=2006