JOEL WARE

A Sketch. Joel Ware was a pioneer of Lane County, Oregon, and al- though he did not attain statewide celebrity, his local distinc- tion and worth were such as to entitle him to worthy mention in the annals of the state. Joel Ware was living in Eugene when the writer of this sketch came to that place in the fall of 1858. He was a com- positor by vocation and at that time was employed on the Peo- ple's Press* a free soil paper, which had been established dur- ing the previous summer. As the writer recollects it ? in addi- tion to being a typesetter for that paper he was proof reader and 1 pressman as well ; he also had charge of the local column and occasionally did editorial writing. Mr. Ware had fine mental poise, sound judgment and a dry humor which enliv- ened whatever he said or wrote. His editorials were models of clearness and directness. I do not suppose he ever at- tempted to compose an ornate or eloquent sentence. To ex- press his thoughts in plain vigorous language was always his aim. This was manifest not only in his occasional editorial writing but also in the reports he prepared for the Surveyor General when chief clerk in his office. How long he remained with People's Press is not remem- bered by the writer, but probably until the midsummer of 1861, when he was appointed to a position in the U. S. Surveyor General's office by B. J. Pengra, Surveyor General, one of the founders of the People's Press, who consequently had personal knowledge of Ware's capability for any line of service he en- gaged to perform. The Surveyor General made no mis- take in inducting him into his official family when it is remem- bered that he continued his connection with the Surveyor General's office nine years, the greater part of the time as chief draftsman and chief clerk, when he voluntarily resigned 1 in order to answer the call of his fellow-citizens to come up higher. This call may truly be considered a reward of merit.

• The People's Press was lineal parent of the State Journal, so long and ably

conducted by Harrison R. Kincaid.