Portal:Oregon/Selected biography/29

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. Tongue attended the Tualatin Academy preparatory school in Forest Grove and graduated from Pacific University in 1868. A trained lawyer, he served in the State Senate from 1889 to 1893 and was the seventh mayor of Hillsboro, the county seat, serving two terms as mayor. A Republican, he was chairman of the state party, and national convention delegate in 1892. Tongue served as U.S. Congressman from 1897 to 1903 representing Oregon's 1st congressional district. While in Congress he worked to create Crater Lake National Park in Southern Oregon, succeeding in 1902. He died in office during his third term in the United States House of Representatives after winning election to a fourth term. His grandson, Thomas H. Tongue III, served on the Oregon Supreme Court. Both are buried at the Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery.