{{Short description|American politician (1864–1931)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Thomas B. Kay | image = Thomas Benjamin Kay.jpg | image_size = 175px | caption = Kay circa 1903 | office = Oregon State Treasurer | term = January 4, 1911– January 6, 1919<br/> January 4, 1925– April 29, 1931 | governor = Jay Bowerman<br>Oswald West<br>James Withycombe<br>Walter M. Pierce<br>I. L. Patterson<br>Julius L. Meier | preceded = George A. Steel<br/>Jefferson Myers | succeeded = O. P. Hoff<br/>Rufus C. Holman | constituency = | office2 = Oregon State Senator | term2 = 1907 – 1911 | preceded2 = | succeeded2 = | constituency2 = Marion County | office3 = Member of the Oregon House of Representatives | term3 = 1903 – 1907<br/>1921 – 1925 | preceded3 = | succeeded3 = | constituency3 = Marion County | birth_date = February 28, 1864 | birth_place = Trenton, New Jersey | death_date = {{death date and age|1931|4|29|1864|2|28}} | death_place = Salem, Oregon | spouse = Cora M. Wallace | party = Republican | children = 3 | parents = {{ubl|Thomas Lister Kay|Ann Kay}} | alma_mater = Baptist College | occupation = Businessman | footnotes = }} '''Thomas Benjamin Kay''' (February 28, 1864 – April 29, 1931) was an American politician and businessman in the state of Oregon. A native of New Jersey, he moved to Oregon with his family at the age of one where he later took over the family's mill business, the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill. A Republican, he served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and four terms as the Oregon State Treasurer, the longest of anyone in that office's history.
==Early years== Thomas Kay was born on February 28, 1864, in Trenton, New Jersey, to Thomas Lister Kay and Ann ({{née}} Slingsbey) Kay.<ref name=carey>Carey, Charles Henry. (1922). ''History of Oregon''. Pioneer Historical Publishing Co. Vol. 2, pp. 365.</ref> His father had already moved to Oregon before the younger Thomas was born.<ref name=soh>[http://www.salemhistory.net/people/thomas_kay.htm Thomas Kay.] Salem Online History. Salem Public Library. Retrieved on July 24, 2009.</ref> After the younger Thomas was born, his mother and the rest of the family immigrated to Oregon via the Isthmus of Panama route, arriving in 1864.<ref name=Chapman>Chapman Publishing Company. (1903). Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley, Oregon: Containing Original Sketches of Many Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present. Chicago: Chapman Pub. p. 587.</ref> The whole family settled in Brownsville where the elder Thomas was a partner in a woolen mill.<ref name=Chapman/>
The younger Thomas Kay grew up in Brownsville and attended the local schools.<ref name=carey/> When he was nine years old he started working at his father's mill as a spooler, and remained until age 14.<ref name=Chapman/> Kay then moved to McMinnville and spent three years studying at the Baptist College (now Linfield College).<ref name=Chapman/> He then left college in 1883 and returned to working for the mill, but at the mill's Portland store.<ref name=Chapman/>
Kay returned to McMinnville in 1884 where started working in the apparel business, forming the partnership of Bishop & Kay with his brother-in-law C. P. Bishop.<ref name=Chapman/> Bishop left the partnership after four years and the company became Kay & Todd.<ref name=Chapman/> Kay was married in McMinnville on January 15, 1888, to Cora M. Wallace, and they had three children.<ref name=Chapman/><ref name=Oregon>Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 132.</ref> In 1895, he started working for his father's new woolen mill in Salem as a salesperson.<ref name=soh/><ref name=Chapman/> He also served for four years in the state militia.<ref name="who">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gcAUAAAAYAAJ&q=Thomas%20B.%20Kay%20oregon&pg=PT34|title=Who's Who in the Northwest|publisher=Western Press Association|location=Portland, Oregon|year=1911}}</ref>
In 1897, Kay traveled to New York City for the mill, and returned the next year.<ref name=Chapman/> That year he sold his stake in the clothing company and moved to Salem where he took the position of assistant manager at the mill along with his sales position.<ref name=Chapman/> In 1900, his father died, and Kay became the president of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, a position he would hold until his own death.<ref name=carey/><ref name=soh/>
==Political career== Kay started his political career in local politics in McMinnville where he served on the city council and school board.<ref name=carey/> In 1902, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican to a two-year term.<ref name=house>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1903 Regular Session (22nd).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on July 24, 2009.</ref> He represented district 1 that included Marion County, and was the chairman of the ways and means committee.<ref name=carey/><ref name=house/> Kay was re-elected to a second term in the house in 1904 and served through the 1905 legislative session.<ref>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1905 Regular Session (23rd).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on July 24, 2009.</ref> During the 1905 session he lost out on being Speaker of the House by a single vote to A. L. Mills.<ref name=carey/> In 1906, Kay was elected to a four-year term in the Oregon State Senate.<ref>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1907 Regular Session (24th).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on July 24, 2009.</ref> He again represented district 1 as a Republican, and served through the 1909 special session of the Oregon Legislative Assembly.<ref>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1909 Special Session (25th).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on July 24, 2009.</ref>
Kay did not run for re-election to the Senate in 1910, and instead was the Republican nominee for Oregon State Treasurer.<ref name="who"/> He won the November election for a four-year term and took office on January 4, 1911.<ref name=carey2>Carey, Charles Henry. (1922). [https://archive.org/details/historyoregon00henrgoog/page/n29 <!-- pg=901 quote=Thomas B. Kay oregon. --> ''History of Oregon''.] Pioneer Historical Publishing Co. Vol. 1, pp. 901.</ref> After re-election in 1914, he served a second full-term, leaving office on January 6, 1919.<ref name=carey2/> He was at times mentioned as a candidate for governor as well as the United States Senate.<ref name=carey/>
He returned to state politics in 1920 and was elected back to the Oregon House, again representing district 1.<ref>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1921 Regular Session (31st).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on July 24, 2009.</ref> Kay served his full two-year term, won re-election in 1922, and served through the 1923 legislative session.<ref>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1923 Regular Session (32nd).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on July 24, 2009.</ref> In 1924, he was again elected as state treasurer and took office on January 4, 1925.<ref name=obb>[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/RecordView/7589718 Oregon State Treasury Administrative Overview.] Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on July 24, 2009.</ref> Kay won re-election to a fourth term in the office in 1928 and served until his death in office in 1931.<ref name=obb/> His 14 years in the office are the longest of any treasurer in Oregon history.<ref name=obb/>
==Later years== Kay was a member of several fraternal societies including the Masons as a member of the Knights Templar,<ref name="who"/> the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Salem Commercial Club, and the Woodmen of the World.<ref name=carey/><ref name=Chapman/> Additionally, he was on the board of directors of the YMCA, the Illihee Club, the Portland Manufacturers' Association, and at Willamette University in Salem.<ref name=carey/><ref name=Chapman/> He also served as director of Oregon's chamber of commerce and president of the state's board of trade.<ref name=carey/> Thomas Benjamin Kay died on April 29, 1931, at the age of 67.<ref name=Oregon/>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=George A. Steel}} {{s-ttl|title=Treasurer of Oregon|years=1911–1919}} {{s-aft|after=O. P. Hoff}} {{s-bef|before=Jefferson Myers}} {{s-ttl|title=Treasurer of Oregon|years=1925–1931}} {{s-aft|after=Rufus C. Holman}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Thomas B.}} Category:Republican Party Oregon state senators Category:Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Category:State treasurers of Oregon Category:Politicians from Trenton, New Jersey Category:People from Brownsville, Oregon Category:People from McMinnville, Oregon Category:Politicians from Salem, Oregon Category:Businesspeople from Oregon Category:Willamette University people Category:Linfield University alumni Category:Oregon city council members Category:1864 births Category:1931 deaths Category:School board members in Oregon Category:20th-century Oregon politicians Category:20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly