William A. Ekwall
American politician (1887-1956)
William Alexander Ekwall (June 14, 1887 – October 16, 1956) was an American politician, lawyer, and journalist who served one term as a United States representative from Oregon from 1935 to 1937. From 1942 to 1956, he served as a judge of the United States Customs Court.
Education and career
Born in Ludington, Michigan to Alexander and Emilie Ekwall, both Swedish immigrants, Ekwall moved to Klamathon, California with his parents in 1893. In 1902, the town of Klamathon was destroyed in a massive fire, and the Ekwalls eventually made their way to Portland, Oregon in 1906. He attended the public schools and then the University of Oregon School of Law, then located in Portland, graduating in 1912 with a Bachelor of Laws.
Lawyer
He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Portland in the firm Senn, Ekwall, and Recken. During World War I, Ekwall served in the United States Army as a private in the Infantry, attending the Central Officers Training School in 1918. After his Army service, he worked in Portland as a municipal judge from 1922 through 1927, and as Judge of the circuit court for the fourth judicial district (Multnomah County), department 8 until 1935.
Congressional service
In 1934, Democrat Charles H. Martin, the incumbent United States Representative for Oregon's 3rd congressional district in Portland, announced that he would run for Governor of Oregon. Ekwall ran for Martin's congressional seat as a Republican, winning the May primary election and facing Walter B. Gleason, who two years earlier, had lost the 1932 United States Senate election to Frederick Steiwer.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2577701. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1956, 1935 and 1937.
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This entry incorporates text from “William A. Ekwall” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.