Thomas H. Tongue

Thomas H. Tongue (June 23, 1844 – January 11, 1903) was an American politician and attorney in the state of Oregon. Born in England, his family immigrated to Washington County, Oregon, in 1859. In Oregon, he would serve in the State Senate from 1889 to 1893 and was the seventh mayor of Hillsboro. A Republican, he was chairman of the state party, and national convention delegate in 1892. Tongue served as Congressman from 1897 to 1903 representing Oregon's 1st congressional district.

Early life Thomas H. Tongue was born in Lincolnshire, England, on June 23, 1844. He attended the public schools of England before immigrating to the United States with his parents.

In Oregon, Tongue attended the Tualatin Academy preparatory school in nearby Forest Grove. He then enrolled at Pacific University, a college affiliated with Tualatin Academy, and graduated from the school in June 1868. He would serve a second term three years later from December 13, 1886, to December 9, 1887. The were south of First Avenue and Baseline in present-day downtown Hillsboro, with Tongue using the land for his hobby farm. Serving in both the 1889 and 1891 sessions, the Republican represented District 27 and Washington County. While in the State Senate he was selected as the chairperson of the judiciary committee.

A Republican Party official, Tongue served on the party's state central committee from 1886 to 1896. He was re-elected three times and served in the 56th and 57th United States Congresses. Tongue won by 3,100 votes in 1900 and by 7,318 votes in the 1902 campaign. He introduced bills to create the park in 1898, 1899, and finally in 1901 when the bill was passed by Congress. After Tongue's death, Binger Hermann, who Tongue succeeded in Congress, was elected to complete Tongue's term. Thomas Brackett Reed, Speaker of the House during Tongue's first two terms, considered Tongue "one of the seven ablest men in the House." Congressman Tongue was buried in Hillsboro, Oregon, at the family's private plot next to the Masonic Cemetery (now Pioneer Cemetery). Tongue was the grandfather of Thomas H. Tongue III (1912 – 1994), who served as an associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court.