Alonzo A. Skinner

Alonzo Albert Skinner (January 16, 1814 – April 30, 1877) was an American judge and Whig party politician in Oregon. He was the 16th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and unsuccessful candidate for the office of governor. He also served as a circuit court judge for the state of Oregon, was a customs collector, a judge in the Provisional Government of Oregon, and a commissioner on a Native American treaty commission.

Early life Skinner was born in Portage County, Ohio in 1814. There in the community of Ravenna he read law and passed the bar in 1840. He then settled in Putnam County, Ohio in 1842 and served as a part-time prosecutor there before losing the election for county judge. Then in 1845 Skinner set out over the Oregon Trail on a seven-month journey to immigrate to Oregon Country. He was paid a salary of $800 per year for the job and served until 1849 when the Territorial Government arrived and judge Orville C. Pratt took over for Skinner. The commission was established to guarantee the provisions of the Donation Land Claim Act, which allowed white or mixed native-white settlers to lay legal claim to up to 640 acres (2.6 km2) of worked land in the Oregon Territory. The government wanted lands west of the Cascades for settlement and sought to push Native American tribes into Eastern Oregon. During the Civil War, Skinner served as an assistant provost marshal for the United States Army as a civilian. Skinner served on the state's highest court until 1867, when he was replaced by John Kelsay.

Later life After serving on the Supreme Court he then served as a circuit court judge for the state from 1867 to 1870. Skinner was then appointed as a customs collector for the United States at Empire City, Oregon. However, he suffered from poor health, and moved to California in 1877 in an effort to improve it. He died April 30 of that year in Santa Barbara.