JUDGE HUGH G. YOAKUM. – Judge Yoakum, who enjoys a very high reputation as a man of probity and fidelity in public affairs, was born in Tennessee in 1831, and removed to Missouri in 1834. He was married in 1851. In 1863 he came to Oregon, settling in Lane county, and in 1867 made his permanent home on the Umatilla river, near the town of Nolin. The domestic circle was sadly broken by the death of his wife in 1886. But his daughter, Minnie Lee, and two sons, D.J. and H.C., still remain at the farm.
In political life Mr. Yoakum has taken a prominent part, having been elected justice of the peace in 1868 and again in 1870. In 1872 he was chosen county judge, and was re-elected in 1876. Entering upon the duties of the latter office, he found affairs at loose ends, and the county heavily in debt. The clerk of the former court had taken the privilege of issuing county warrants of which the board of commissioners have found no record; and the stub books were destroyed. The presentation of these warrants, which still continues to a limited extent, made strict economy necessary. Vigilance was further repaired as to expenses, by the disproportion of crime in the county, made by its being the rendezvous of miners, etc., and by the extra pay of three per cent allowed witnesses, jurors, etc., – on account of the greater expense of travel in that region. From all these reasons improvements were not largely made; but the county was put in splendid shape for them now. For his ability shown in office, as well as for his sterling qualities in private and personal life, Judge Yoakum is held in high esteem by all his fellow-citizens and the community generally.
