Lafayette Lane

Lafayette Lane was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a U.S. Representative from the U.S. state of Oregon from 1875 to 1877. He was the son of Oregon Senator Joseph Lane and an uncle of future Oregon Senator Harry Lane.

Early life

Lane was born near Evansville, Indiana, to then-Indiana state senator Joseph Lane and his wife Polly Hart Lane, one of 10 children. When Joseph was appointed governor of Oregon Territory in 1848, the Lanes moved west along the Oregon Trail, arriving in Oregon in March 1849.
Lafayette attended public schools in Washington, DC, and Stamford, Connecticut, studied law, and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Roseburg, Oregon. He married Amanda Mann in 1867.

Political career

In 1864, Lane served as member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing Umatilla County. In 1866, he was the a Democratic nominee for Oregon Secretary of State in 1866, but was defeated by incumbent Samuel E. May.
In 1874, Lane was appointed as a code commissioner, where along with noted jurist Matthew Deady, he compiled Oregon's statutes into a systematic code, Deady and Lane's General Laws of Oregon.

Congress

In 1874, fellow Democrat George A. La Dow was elected to the US House of Representatives, but died two months into his term. In a special election, Lane was elected to fill La Dow's vacancy, defeating Republican Henry Warren. He served one term from October 25, 1875, to March 3, 1877. He sought re-election in 1876, but was defeated by Republican Richard Williams.

After Congress

Following his defeat, Lane returned to Roseburg and resumed his law practice. He died in Roseburg on November 23, 1896, and was interred in Roseburg's St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery.