it re-located from leased space in office buildings to the university campus. On November 19, 1902, he married Jessie Breyman, the daughter of successful Salem businessman Eugene Breyman. Jessie died on July 3, 1918, in an automobile accident south of Newberg on her way home to Salem. She had been in Oregon to attend the funeral of her mother and was returning from Portland in the Boise family's car when it flipped and crushed her. McNary spent several days in Oregon for her funeral and then returned to Washington. Charles and Jessie had no children. State politics McNary first held public office in 1892 when he became Marion County's deputy recorder, remaining in the position until 1896. In 1904 he managed successful campaign of his brother, John, for district attorney for the third judicial district of Oregon. John then appointed Charles as his deputy, who served until 1911. Steve Neal, McNary's biographer, describes McNary as a progressive who stuck with the Republican Party in 1910 even when many progressives left the party in favor of West, a Democrat. McNary backed the Progressive Era reforms (the initiative, recall, referendum, primary elections, and the direct election of US senators) of Oregonian William Simon U'Ren, and he was an early supporter of public, rather than private, power companies. After West won the election, he chose McNary to be special legal counsel to Oregon's railroad commission, who urged lower passenger and freight rates. Meanwhile, McNary maintained friendly relations with both progressive and conservative factions of the Oregon Republicans and with West. In 1913, West appointed McNary to the Oregon Supreme Court to fill a new position, created by the legislature's expansion of the court from five justices to seven. The youngest of the justices, at 38, McNary left law school and private practice behind. He quickly "established himself as a judicial activist and strong advocate of progressive reform". A supporter of organized labor, McNary "consistently defended the rights of injured workers and was not hesitant about using the bench as an instrument for social change" such as an eight-hour day for public employees. Unions supported McNary throughout his political career. Several criminal convictions resulted from the Portland vice scandal in November 1912 surrounding the city's gay male subculture. By the time McNary was seated, some convictions had been appealed to the court. He wrote the dissenting opinion in the reversal of the conviction of