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*All information is
from Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and the Opening of Old Oregon
by Clifford M. Drury, unless otherwise noted.
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| T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
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A
Governor George Abernethy
George Abernethy became the first Provisional
Governor of Oregon in 1845. He had sailed to the Oregon Country
as part of the Lausanne Reenforcement for the Methodist missions.
The Lausanne left New York on October 10, 1839 and arrived
at Fort Vancouver on June 1, 1840. While Marcus was away on his
trip back East (1842/1843), Narcissa spent some time at the home
of the Abernethys in Oregon City.
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B
Dr. Lyman Beecher (1775-1863)
Dr. Beecher was a prominent Presbyterian pastor.
He was the father of Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
He eventually became president of Lane Seminary. The American Board
missionaries of the Oregon Country had several connections to Dr.
Beecher. Henry Spalding attended Lane Theological Seminary. Eliza
Spalding found Dr. Beecher's weekly lectures on Theology "very
interesting and profitable." The Spaldings, Whitmans, and Mr. Gray
visited Dr. Beecher in 1836 and asked his advice concerning travel.
They normally avoided traveling on the Sabbath, but it was necessary
if they were to stay with the fur caravan. Dr. Beecher responded:
"Well, if I were to cross the Atlantic, I certainly would not
jump overboard when Saturday night came." Cornelius Rogers,
one of the 1838 "reinforcements", was a member of the
church where Dr. Beecher was pastor. Dr. Whitman briefly stopped
by Beecher's church during his 1842-43 trip back east.
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Rev. Hiram Bingham
Head of the American Board's Hawaiian Mission.
In 1836 Whitman, Spalding, and Gray corresponded with Bingham requesting
sheep and Hawaiian laborers.
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Dr. and Mrs. Ira Bryant
Dr. Bryant practiced in Rushville, New York and
served as Dr. Whitman's mentor in the 1820's.
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C
Reverend Levi Chamberlain
The business agent for the American Board's Hawaiian
Mission. Dr. Whitman wrote to him in October of 1837, relating how
all but one of the sheep that the Hawaiian mission had sent had
died while being transported to the Waiilatpu mission.
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Rev. and Mrs. Harvey Clark
The Clarks were part of a group of three independent
missionary couples who had traveled from Quincy, Illinois. The group
traveled with the American Fur Company caravan to the 1840 Rendezvous,
which turned out to be the last of that series of gatherings. The
missionaries arrived at Waiilatpu that August. The Clarks spent
the winter with the Smiths at the Kamiah station. The Clarks left
for the Willamette Valley in the spring of 1841. Though none of
the three couples became members of the American Board missions,
the women did become members of the Columbia Maternal Association.
In 1844, Rev. Clark established the First Presbyterian Church at
Willamette Falls (now Oregon City).
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D
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E
Reverend Cushing Eells
One of Dr. Whitman's co-workers. He arrived at
Waiilatpu in 1838 and eventually moved to the Tshimikain station
in northeastern Washington State.
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F
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G
Mr. William Gray
One of Dr. Whitman's co-workers. He traveled with
the Whitmans and Spaldings in 1836.
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Reverend David Greene
Secretary of the American Board, in charge of
the Oregon Mission.
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Rev. John and Mrs. Desire Griffin
Arrived in the fall of 1839. Independent missionaries,
they had traveled to the Oregon Country with Mr. and Mrs. Asahel
Munger. During their travels out, Rev. Griffin had met, courted,
and married Miss Desire C. Smith of St. Louis. Mrs. Griffin and
Mrs. Munger were the seventh and eighth white women to cross the
continental divide. Upon arriving in the Oregon Country the Mungers
gave up the idea of establishing an independent mission. But, in
the spring of 1840, the Griffins made their own attempt to establish
a mission. After a two month harrowing experience in snow bound
mountains, they too gave up the idea. They traveled back to Waiilatpu
and sometime after October 15, 1840, left for the Willamette Valley.
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H
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin O. Hall
Members of the Hawaiian Mission of the American
Board, Mr. and Mrs. E.O. Hall arrived in the Oregon Country in 1839.
They brought the printing press that the Hawaiian mission was donating
to their Oregon cohorts. Mr. Hall helped set up the press at the
Lapwai mission station. Mrs. Hall suffered from a chronic illness
of the spine. To reach various inland destinations she traveled
by canoe when possible; she was carried in a hammock from Ft. Walla
Walla to Waiilatpu. On November 5, 1839, she gave birth to a daughter.
The Halls left Waillatpu in March 1840 to return to Hawaii.
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Mr. Henry Hill
A treasurer of the American Board.
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Mr. Alanson Hinman
A member of the 1844 emigration to Oregon. He
stayed to teach at the Waillatpu Mission school. He also helped
Narcissa with household duties and caring for the children. On Sunday,
May 11, 1845, Mr. Hinman was baptized and was received into the
membership of the church. Mr. Hinman eventually continued on to
the Willamette Valley where he taught at the Methodist's Oregon
Institute. He met and married Martha Gerrish. Mr. Hinman returned
to Waiilatpu in July of 1847. He wanted to borrow the mission's
printing press for "the purpose of printing another paper in
the Willamette." The members of the mission agreed to the idea.
The mission's printing press was moved from Lapwai to The Dalles.
At that same time, the missionaries were negotiating with the Methodists
about transferring The Dalles mission station to the American Board.
Mr. Hinman agreed to take responsibility for the Waskopum property
for awhile. Marcus's nephew, Perrin Whitman, joined the Hinmans
that fall.
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I
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J
Reverend Lyman Judson
Narcissa Whitman's brother-in-law. He had married
her sister Mary Ann.
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K
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L
Mr. and Mrs. Phil B. Littlejohn
Part of a group of six independent missionaries
who arrived at the Waiilatpu mission in August of 1840. The group
was from Quincy, Illinois and had traveled out with the American
Fur Company caravan. Narcissa had known Mrs. Littlejohn before,
when she was Adeline Sadler. In May, 1841, Mrs. Littlejohn gave
birth to a son, Leverett. That September the Littlejohns, Alvin
Smiths, and Mungers, left for the Willamette valley. On November
1, 1842, the Littlejohns and William Geiger, Jr. joined Narcissa
at Waskopum (the Methodist mission at The Dalles). The Littlejohns
had become discouraged about starting an independent mission and
had decided to make the overland journey back to the States the
next year. In January, the Littlejohns went to Lapwai where Mr.
Littlejohn worked for Rev. Spalding. On March 29, Leverett (22 months
old) fell into the millrace and drowned. Mrs. Littlejohn gave birth
to a girl on November 3, 1843. The Littlejohn family didn't return
to the states, but instead returned to the Willamette Valley in
the fall of 1844. In July of 1847 Narcissa wrote to her sister that
the Littlejohns had finally returned to the States. She indicated
that Mrs. Littlejohn had wanted to stay, but Mr. Littlejohn had
become a hypochondriac and suicidal, so it was better to return.
Though none of the three independent missionary couples who came
out in 1840 became members of the American Board missions, the women
did become members of the Columbia Maternal Association.
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Mrs. Alice Loomis (1777-1857)
Dr. Whitman's mother. Beza Whitman, Dr. Whitman's
father, died in 1810. Alice married Calvin Loomis in 1811.
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M
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph and Maria Maki
The Makis and another Hawaiian, Jack, were members
of the American Board's mission in Honolulu, Hawaii. They arrived
at Waiilatpu on June 28, 1838. They brought the sheep that the Hawaiian
mission donated to their sister mission in the Oregon Country. All
three helped out at the mission. Over the years other Hawaiians
came to assist the Whitmans, but the Makis were the only married
couple that came; the rest were single men. On August 18, 1838,
the Makis became charter members of "The First Presbyterian
Church in the Oregon Territory," which was established that
day. On August 8, 1840 Joseph Maki died from "inflamation of
the bowels." Maria Maki left Waiilatpu in the fall of 1841
and returned to Honolulu, along with Asa and Sarah Smith, that December.
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Mr. Archibald McKinlay
Mr. McKinlay took charge of Fort Walla Walla in
the summer of 1841, after the death of Mr. Pambrun. Mr. McKinlay
was a Presbyterian from Scotland. He had married Sarah Julia, the
daughter of Peter Skene Ogden, the previous June. In the summer
of 1846 Mr. McKinlay was replaced as Chief Trader in charge of Fort
Walla Walla by Mr. William McBean.
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Mrs. McKinlay
Sarah Julia, the daughter of Peter Skene Ogden,
married Archibald McKinlay in June of 1840. In 1842 Narcissa requested
that Mrs. McKinlay come stay with her after an attempted assault,
but instead it was decided that Narcissa would be safer if she left
Waiilatpu. In May 1844 Mrs. McKinlay temporarily moved to Waiilatpu
so that she would be under a doctor's care for the birth of her
second child. Her son was born on May 20. Mrs. McKinlay was a member
of the Columbia Maternal Association.
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Mr. and Mrs. Asahel Munger
Mr. and Mrs. Munger arrived in the fall of 1839.
They had traveled with Rev. and Mrs. John Griffin. Mrs. Munger and
Mrs. Griffin were the seventh and eighth white women to cross the
continental divide. The two couples had come as independent missionaries,
hoping to set up their own mission station, but it was very soon
apparent that establishing a mission would be too difficult without
support from a larger organization. Dr. Whitman hired Mr. Munger
as a carpenter to help with projects at the Waiilatpu Mission. Mrs.
Munger helped Narcissa with housework. On June 25, 1840, she gave
birth to a daughter. Mr. Munger became insane during the winter
of 1840-41. That spring, an attempt was made to help the family
travel overland back to the States. According to Narcissa, the family
traveled "to the place of the American Rendezvous, on Green river,
and found that no party had come up fron the States, and, from all
that they could learn, no one was expected."1
The Mungers returned to Waiilatpu. With the assistance of two other
independent missionary couples, the Alvin Smiths and Littlejohns,
the Munger family left for the Willamette Valley in September 1841.
Mr. Munger committed suicide the week before Christmas 1841.
1. From Narcissa's letter to
her sister Jane, October 1, 1841. Back
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N
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O
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P
Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Pambrun
A French Canadian of mixed blood. Mr. Pambrun
was in charge of Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Walla Walla from as
early as 1832 until his death in May 1841.He was fifty-four when
he died and had been with the Hudson's Bay company for twenty six
years. He left a wife and seven children. Mrs. Pambrun was a native
woman who spoke some French but little English. Mrs. Pambrun and
her children came to Waiilatpu to help when Narcissa had her child,
Alice Clarissa. Narcissa returned the favor in the summer of 1838,
traveling to Fort Walla Walla twice to aid the ill Mrs. Pambrun.
She and her children left for Fort Vancouver after the death of
her husband.
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Reverend Samuel Parker
Dr. Whitman and Rev. Parker did a western exploratory
trip in 1835. They traveled with the fur caravan to the Rendezvous.
At the Rendezvous they parted ways. Dr. Whitman returned home to
recruit more missioniaries, while Rev. Parker continued to scout
for potential mission sites. Rev. Parker wrote about his trip, Journal
of an Exploring Tour: Beyond the Rocky Mountains in 1835.
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Mrs. Clarissa Prentiss
Narcissa Whitman's mother.
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Mr. Edward Prentiss
One of Narcissa Whitman's brothers.
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Miss Jane Prentiss
One of Narcissa Whitman's sisters.
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Mr. Jonas Galusha Prentiss
One of Narcissa Whitman's brothers.
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Honorable Stephen Prentiss
Narcissa Whitman's father.
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Q
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R
Mr. Cornelius Rogers
The seventh member of the 1838 Reenforcements
for the Oregon missions, Mr. Rogers joined the group in Cincinnati
as a volunteer; he didn't wait for an official appointment. He was
twenty-two and single at the time. He stayed with the mission for
about 2 1/2 years. He left for the Willamette Valley in May 1841.
He had asked to marry Maria Pambrun, daughter of Pierre Pambrun
chief trader of Fort Walla Walla. After the death of her father,
Maria declined the offer. In September of 1841, Mr. Rogers married
Miss Satira Leslie, daughter of a Methodist missionary. He died
February 1, 1843, when his boat was swept over Willamette Falls.
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S
Mr. and Mrs. Alvin T. Smith
The Smiths were part of a group of three independent
missionary couples who had traveled from Quincy, Illinois. The group
traveled with the American Fur Company caravan to the 1840 Rendezvous,
which turned out to be the last of that series of gatherings. The
missionaries arrived at Waiilatpu that August. Though none of the
three couples became members of the American Board missions, the
women did become members of the Columbia Maternal Association. The
Clarks and Littlejohns stayed at Waiilatpu, while the Smiths went
to the Lapwai station for the winter. The Smiths left Lapwai in
August of 1841 and that September the Littlejohns, Alvin Smiths,
and Mungers, left Waiilatpu for the Willamette valley.
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Reverend Asa Smith
One of Dr. Whitman's co-workers. He arrived at
Waiilatpu in 1838 and eventually moved to the Kamiah station in
Idaho.
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Reverend Henry Spalding
One of Dr. Whitman's co-workers. He and his wife
Eliza traveled with the Whitmans in 1836. The Spaldings moved to
the Lapwai station in Idaho.
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T
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U
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V
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W
Reverend Elkanah Walker
One of Dr. Whitman's co-workers. He arrived at
Waiilatpu in 1838 and eventually moved to the Tshimikain station
in northeastern Washington State.
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Reverend Alvin Waller
One of the Methodist missionaries in Oregon. While
Marcus was away on his trip back East (1842/1843), Narcissa spent
some time with the Wallers.
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Mr. Augustus Whitman
One of Dr. Whitman's brothers.
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Mr. H. F. Wisewell
The husband of Dr. Whitman's sister, Alice.
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Dr. B. B. Wisner
A corresponding secretary for the American Board,
Wisner was in charge of the Board's Indian Mission. He was the first
to correspond with Dr. Whitman. Dr. Wisner died on February 9, 1835.
He was succeeded by his assistant, Rev. David Greene, who took over
the responsibility of communicating with the "Oregon Country"
missions.
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X
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Y
Young Chief (Tauitau or Tawatoe)
Local Cayuse chief who interacted extensively
with the missionaries. It was Young Chief who handed over the five
Cayuse who went to trial for the deaths of the Whitmans.
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Places
Fort Walla Walla
During the lifetime of the Whitmans, Fort Walla
Walla referred to a Hudson's Bay Company post located at the confluence
of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers. Established in 1818, the
Hudson's Bay Company eventually abandoned the post in 1855. Today,
the site lies under water impounded behind McNary dam. During its
existence the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Walla Walla was a vital
stop and source of supplies for fur trappers, missionaries, and
early Oregon Trail emigrants. The Whitmans first saw Fort Walla
Walla on September 1, 1836 on their trip out. This fort and its
personnel impacted the Whitmans' lives throughout their time at
Waiilatpu. In 1855, the Hudson's Bay Company abandoned their Fort
Walla Walla, the Fort Walla Walla the Whitmans had known. Soon thereafter
the US Army used the familiar name for an army fort located, not
on the Columbia River but instead, just six miles from where the
Whitmans had had their mission.
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Kamiah
At the 1839 meeting Annual Meeting of the Oregon
Missions, members authorized Mr. Smith to establish a new station
at Kamiah, which was located about 60 miles from Lapwai.
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Lapwai
The American Board mission station established
by the Spaldings in 1836. The site is located near what today is
Spalding, Idaho.
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Sandwich Islands
The Hawaiian Islands. The American Board established
a successful mission there in 1820.
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Tshimakain
The American Board mission station established
by the Walkers and the Eells in 1839.
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Waskopum
The Methodist mission at The Dalles. Narcissa
spent some time there while Marcus was away during his ride East
(1842/1843).
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Groups & Associations
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM)
This missionary organization was established in
1810. It was supported by Presbyterian and Congregational churches.
The American Board sent missionaries all over the world, including
India, Turkey, China, Africa, and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii),
and to various North American Indian tribes. The Whitmans and their
immediate co-workers were supported by this organization.
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Columbia Maternal Association
On September 3, 1839, the six missionary wives
organized the Columbia Maternal Association. This was the first
club organized by American women west of the Rockies. This type
of organization was quite common at that time in the East. Mary
Gray was elected recording secretary. The society's records begin
with the following statement:
Sensible of the evils that beset the young mind
especially in a Heathen land, & confident that no arm but Gods
can secure our children or those committed to our care, from the
dangers that surround them, to bring them early into the fold
of Christ & fit them for usefulness here & glory hereafter,
we the subscribers agree to form ourselves into an Association
for the purpose of adopting such [methods] as are best calculated
to assist us in the right performance of our Maternal duties.
The association eventually had thirteen members:
the original six, the wives of the five independent missionaries,
and Mrs. McDonald and Mrs. McKinlay (native wives of Hudson's Bay
Company officials).
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Prudential Committe
A committee of the American Board, similar to
a modern executive committee.
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