Homer Daniel Angell

Homer Daniel Angell (January 12, 1875 – March 31, 1968) was a Republican U.S. congressman from Oregon who served eight terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 to 1955. A lifelong Oregonian, he represented the state’s 3rd congressional district and was a member of the Republican Party throughout a period that spanned the Great Depression, World War II, and the early Cold War. During his sixteen years in Congress, Angell contributed to the legislative process and participated actively in the democratic governance of the nation, representing the interests of his Portland-area constituents.

Angell was born on a farm near The Dalles, Oregon, on January 12, 1875. Raised in a rural environment in the late nineteenth century, he experienced firsthand the agricultural life of the Pacific Northwest during a period of rapid regional development. His early years in Wasco County helped shape his understanding of the economic and social issues facing Oregonians, particularly those in farming and small communities, and laid the foundation for his later public service.

Pursuing higher education at a time when relatively few Americans attended college, Angell enrolled at the University of Oregon, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1900. Seeking professional training in the law, he continued his studies on the East Coast and earned a law degree from Columbia University in New York City in 1903. After completing his legal education, he returned to Oregon and settled in Portland, where he was admitted to the bar and began a law practice. His legal career in Portland established his reputation in the community and provided the professional base from which he would enter public life.

Angell’s political career began at the state level. He was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1929, and was subsequently re-elected in 1931 and 1935, serving multiple terms in the lower chamber of the state legislature. In 1937 he advanced to the Oregon State Senate, where he continued to build his record as a Republican legislator. His service in both houses of the Oregon Legislature gave him experience in state policymaking during the challenging years of the Great Depression and increased his visibility as a public figure in Oregon politics.

In 1938, Angell resigned his seat in the Oregon State Senate to run for the United States House of Representatives from Oregon’s 3rd congressional district, centered on Portland. He was elected to Congress and took office in January 1939, beginning the first of eight consecutive terms. Serving from 1939 to 1955, he participated in the work of the House during some of the most consequential years in modern American history, including World War II and the postwar era. As a member of the House of Representatives, Homer Daniel Angell took part in the legislative process on issues of national defense, economic recovery, and postwar adjustment, while also attending to the needs and concerns of his constituents in Oregon. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, and he consistently represented the interests of his district as a Republican voice in the national legislature.

Angell’s long congressional tenure came to an end in the mid-1950s. In 1954, he was defeated for the Republican nomination for his House seat by journalist Tom McCall, who would later become governor of Oregon. This surprise primary loss ended Angell’s sixteen years in the U.S. House of Representatives. After leaving Congress in January 1955, he retired from elective politics and returned to Portland, where he resumed private life and remained active in community affairs.

In his personal life, Angell married Mayme Henton in 1908. The couple shared many years together until her death in 1951 after a long illness. Following her passing, Angell married his longtime secretary, Margaret Clagget, after 1951, shortly before being sworn in for his seventh term in Congress. His marriages and family life were closely intertwined with his legal and political careers, particularly in Portland, where he maintained his home base throughout his years of public service.

In his later years, following his retirement from Congress, Angell continued to reside in Portland and to participate in civic and community activities. He lived to see Oregon and the nation undergo significant social and economic changes in the postwar decades. Homer Daniel Angell died in Portland on March 31, 1968, at the age of ninety-three. He is interred at the Portland Memorial Funeral Home and Mausoleum, leaving a legacy as a long-serving Republican representative of Oregon in both the state legislature and the United States Congress.