Vanderpool, a sailor from the West Indies, came to Oregon in 1850 on board a ship called the Louisiana.
[1] After being denied a land claim because he was black, Vanderpool opened a saloon, restaurant and boarding home in Oregon City.
[1][2] However, the book Peculiar Paradise[3] states that his businesses were located in Salem, across the street from the offices of the Oregon Statesman.
[4][5] This second exclusion law was passed specifically to target African American seamen who may be tempted to jump ship.
[2] In the trial of Theophilus Magruder v. Jacob Vanderpool, the defense attorney argued that the exclusion law, passed in 1849, was unconstitutional because it had not been legally approved by the legislature.