Steiwer, Frederick, b. 1883

Frederick Steiwer was born October 13, 1883, near the town of Jefferson in Marion County, Oregon, the son of John F. and Ada May Steiwer. His grandparents had come to Oregon by wagon train in the 1840s and 50s and had settled in Marion County. Frederick entered Oregon State College at 15 and graduated in 1902. After teaching school he entered the University of Oregon in 1903 and became active in student organizations. Graduating in 1906 he worked in a bank and studied law briefly in Portland, passing the Oregon bar in 1908. He then went to Pendleton, Oregon, to work in a law firm. From 1909 to 1910 he served as the deputy district attorney of Umatilla County and in 1912 was elected district attorney. His political career began in 1916 when he was elected to the Oregon State Senate from Umatilla County. In 1911 he married Freida Roesch, and the couple had two children.

With the U.S. entry into World War I, Steiwer enlisted in the army and received a commission as First Lieutenant of Field Artillery. He served on the front lines, first in the French army and then with the U.S. Army. After his discharge in 1919 he returned to Pendleton to enter a law partnership, Raley, Raley & Steiwer, remaining with the firm until its dissolution in 1927. In that year he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served on the Oregon delegation until 1938.

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