Wait, Aaron E., 1813-1898.

Aaron E. Wait (sometimes spelled Waite), was the first Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. He was born in Massachusetts in 1812 and moved to Michigan as a young man where he studied law. After his admittance to the bar in 1842, he practiced law in Michigan and served as secretary to the governor of Michigan. In 1847, he joined a wagon train to Oregon and set up a law practice in Oregon City, and also worked on the Oregon Statesman. He fought in the Cayuse War and then traveled to California during the Gold Rush in 1849. He returned to Oregon and served in the Oregon House of Representatives. After serving on the Court, he farmed in Clackamas County and then moved to Portland in 1891, where he died in 1898.