Robert Sharp Bean, born in 1854 to Obadiah Roberts and Julia Sharp Bean, and raised ten miles north of Eugene, became one of Oregon's most impartial and respected judges. He served in circuit court from 1882-1890, in the state supreme court from 1890-1909, and in U.S. district court from 1909-1931.
A graduate of the University of Oregon in 1878, Bean became a regent of that institution in 1882, and was granted a law degree in 1895. In 1880 he married Ida Elizabeth Condon, daughter of Dr. Thomas Condon, the famous Oregon geologist. The couple and five sons, three of whom survived the judge.
In 1926, Bean became director of the Oregon Historical Society in Portland. During his life he served a total of 49 years on the bench and 21 years as a regent of the University of Oregon, and upon his death in 1931, was the University's oldest alumnus.
Thomas Condon (1822-1907) was an Irish Congregational minister, geologist, and paleontologist, and professor at the University of Oregon. Condon was appointed the first State Geologist for Oregon in 1872. He resigned that post to become first professor of geology at the University of Oregon. Previously he was a teacher at Pacific University in Forest Grove.
From the guide to the Bean and Condon Family papers, 1872-1975, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)
