Denny attended a local school and worked part-time as a surveyor in his youth. In 1843, he became the official surveyor of Knox County, Illinois, and married Mary Ann Boren. In 1851, Denny and his wife and family set out fon a wagon train for the Oregon Territory. They reached Portland in August, 1851. From there, they travelled on to the Puget Sound area and laid claim to land tracts that would later become the center of Seattle. Denny ran various merchandizing enterprises until 1853 when he became a county commissioner. When Washington Territory was formed, he served in the Territorial House and in 1855 became Speaker of the House. In 1863, Denny was elected to the US Congress. He named Seattle, the city he helped to found, after an Indian friend who died in 1866. He published his memoirs, Pioneer Days on Puget Sound, in 1887. |
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