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David Leslie (Oregon politician)
Encyclopedia
Reverend David Leslie was an American
missionary and pioneer in what became the state of Oregon
. A native of New Hampshire
, he joined Jason Lee
as a missionary at the Methodist Mission
in the Oregon Country
in 1836. In that region he participated in the early movement to start a government and his home was used for some of these meetings
. With the closing of the mission he became a founder of the city of Salem, Oregon
, and board member of the Oregon Institute
, which later became Willamette University
.
in the town of Washington
, Leslie lost his parents while he was young. Born about 1797, Leslie was the son of a minister (George Leslie) and received an education first in Salem, Massachusetts
, and later at the Wilbraham Academy where fellow missionary Jason Lee
would later attend. There David Leslie studied languages, especially French. He then received a license to preach at the age of 23 in 1820.
. There he began a working relationship with Jason Lee. Lee then recruited Leslie to join the Methodist Mission
in Oregon Country that Lee started in 1834. So in 1836, Leslie agreed to go to the Willamette Valley
as the first set of reinforcements to the mission. Leslie, his wife Mary A. Kinney, and three daughters sailed around Cape Horn
and arrived in Oregon on the Sumatra on September 7, 1837.
Once in Oregon Lee assigned Leslie to be a magistrate for the area south of the Columbia River. Then in March 1838 Leslie was left in charge of the mission while Lee traveled back east again to secure more people for the mission in what would become the Great Reinforcement of 1839. After Lee returned Leslie helped to start a branch mission with William H. Willson
at Nisqually
on the Puget Sound
in modern Washington State. Then in 1840 from August through September David Leslie was in charge of a small group that explored further north, nearly reaching Russian-America to look for other locations for future branches of the mission.
At this time the Methodist Mission began moving from Mission Bottom to Mission Mill due to flooding at the former. Here Leslie helped construct the new sawmill and dam. He also helped organize the Methodist Episcopal Church of Salem, and then serving as its first pastor in 1841. Also in 1841 the Leslie home burned with all their possessions.
. Young had died without a will or known heir, so the settlers needed a way to settle his estate as his business dealings were entangled with many of the other settlers. Not only did David Leslie host this meeting, but he also participated in the discussions about forming a government. Although only a few decisions were ultimately made (election of Dr. Ira L. Babcock as a supreme judge to deal with the Young estate), this was the first of the Champoeg Meetings
that two years later would lead to the creation of the Provisional Government of Oregon
.
These subsequent meetings began in the spring of 1843. Then on May 2, 1843, a vote was held and the settlers voted in favor of creating a government in the region by a vote of 52 to 50. David Leslie participated in these meetings and he voted in favor of creating the government at the May vote at Champoeg
.
where there was a school for them. As they waited to leave Astoria
on the mouth of the Columbia River
, one of the daughters (Satira age 15) left the ship and married Cornelius Rogers. Leslie accepted the marriage and then left two other daughters, Helen and Aurelia, in the new couples’ care. Leslie then continued on to Hawaii where he left the two remaining daughters Mary and Sarah at a boarding school. Sarah died a year later in Hawaii, while Cornelius, Satira and Aurelia also died that year in Oregon when their canoe went over Willamette Falls
. Additionally two natives and Nathaniel Crocker died in that accident of February 1843.
By spring of 1843 David Leslie had returned from Hawaii to the mission. However, by this time the mission was beginning to be closed in Salem for a lack of natives to convert due to disease that had decimated the original inhabitants of the region. The missionary board had sent the Reverend George Gary from New York to reorganize the mission. He was housed in Leslie’s home. Still Leslie remained and married Adelia Judson Olley on January 7, 1844. Adelia brought two year old Robert Thomas to the marriage from her prior marriage to the deceased James Olley. She was the daughter of Reverend Lewis Judson. The new couple had two children, Emma and Sarah, both of whom died before the age of seven. The only child to outlive Leslie was Helen.
After the closing of the Methodist Mission in Salem, David Leslie received the land in what is now between Bush Pasture Park and the Willamette, and McGilchrist and Mission Streets in Salem. On that land he grew apples and pears, and he built just the fourth house in the city. In 1845, he was elected as the president of the board of trustees at the Oregon Institute
and continued in this role until his death. During this time Oregon Institute would become Willamette University
, and during this time Leslie laid the cornerstone for Waller Hall
that still stands today as the oldest building on Willamette’s campus.
Meanwhile, in 1860 he sold 100 acre (0.404686 km²) of his farm to Asahel Bush II. In the civic arena, he helped found the local Masonic Order chapter, the local Grand Lodge of A. F. and A. M., and served as the territory’s first chaplain of the legislature. The Reverend David Leslie died on May 1, 1869, in Salem and was buried at the I.O.O.F. cemetery
in Salem. This is the same cemetery in which his first wife is buried.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
missionary and pioneer in what became the state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. A native of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, he joined Jason Lee
Jason Lee (missionary)
Jason Lee , an American missionary and pioneer, was born on a farm near Stanstead, Quebec. He was the first of the Oregon missionaries and helped establish the early foundation of a provisional government in the Oregon Country....
as a missionary at the Methodist Mission
Methodist Mission
The Methodist Mission was founded in Oregon Country in 1834 by the Reverend Jason Lee. The mission was started to educate the Native Americans in the Willamette Valley and grew into an important center for politics and economics in the early settlement period of Oregon.-Foundation:In 1831, several...
in the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
in 1836. In that region he participated in the early movement to start a government and his home was used for some of these meetings
Champoeg Meetings
The Champoeg Meetings in Oregon Country were the first attempts at governing in the Pacific Northwest by United States European-American pioneers. Prior to this, the closest entity to a government was the Hudson's Bay Company, mainly through Dr...
. With the closing of the mission he became a founder of the city of Salem, Oregon
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
, and board member of the Oregon Institute
Oregon Institute
The Oregon Institute was a school located in the Willamette Valley of the Oregon Country during the 19th century. Begun in 1842, it was the first school built for European-Americans west of Missouri. Founded by members of the Methodist Mission, it was located in what is now Salem, Oregon, United...
, which later became Willamette University
Willamette University
Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and...
.
Early life
Born in New HampshireNew Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
in the town of Washington
Washington, New Hampshire
Washington is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,123 at the 2010 census. Situated in a hilly, rocky, forested area, and with 26 lakes and ponds, Washington is a picturesque resort area...
, Leslie lost his parents while he was young. Born about 1797, Leslie was the son of a minister (George Leslie) and received an education first in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, and later at the Wilbraham Academy where fellow missionary Jason Lee
Jason Lee (missionary)
Jason Lee , an American missionary and pioneer, was born on a farm near Stanstead, Quebec. He was the first of the Oregon missionaries and helped establish the early foundation of a provisional government in the Oregon Country....
would later attend. There David Leslie studied languages, especially French. He then received a license to preach at the age of 23 in 1820.
Oregon
While still in New England, Leslie began work with the Methodist Episcopal ChurchMethodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
. There he began a working relationship with Jason Lee. Lee then recruited Leslie to join the Methodist Mission
Methodist Mission
The Methodist Mission was founded in Oregon Country in 1834 by the Reverend Jason Lee. The mission was started to educate the Native Americans in the Willamette Valley and grew into an important center for politics and economics in the early settlement period of Oregon.-Foundation:In 1831, several...
in Oregon Country that Lee started in 1834. So in 1836, Leslie agreed to go to the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
as the first set of reinforcements to the mission. Leslie, his wife Mary A. Kinney, and three daughters sailed around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
and arrived in Oregon on the Sumatra on September 7, 1837.
Once in Oregon Lee assigned Leslie to be a magistrate for the area south of the Columbia River. Then in March 1838 Leslie was left in charge of the mission while Lee traveled back east again to secure more people for the mission in what would become the Great Reinforcement of 1839. After Lee returned Leslie helped to start a branch mission with William H. Willson
William H. Willson
William Holden Willson was a pioneer of the U.S. state of Oregon and the founder of its capital city, Salem. A native of New Hampshire, he immigrated to the Oregon Country in 1837 to work at the Methodist Mission, and there would participate in the Champoeg Meetings...
at Nisqually
Fort Nisqually
Fort Nisqually was an important fur trading and farming post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Puget Sound area of what is now DuPont, Washington and was part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department. Today it is a living history museum located in Tacoma, Washington, USA, within the...
on the Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
in modern Washington State. Then in 1840 from August through September David Leslie was in charge of a small group that explored further north, nearly reaching Russian-America to look for other locations for future branches of the mission.
At this time the Methodist Mission began moving from Mission Bottom to Mission Mill due to flooding at the former. Here Leslie helped construct the new sawmill and dam. He also helped organize the Methodist Episcopal Church of Salem, and then serving as its first pastor in 1841. Also in 1841 the Leslie home burned with all their possessions.
Politics
On February 18, 1841, a meeting was held to discuss the idea of creating a government in Oregon Country. This meeting was held at Leslie’s home, and was in part a response to the death of pioneer Ewing YoungEwing Young
Ewing Young was an American fur trapper and trader from Tennessee who traveled Mexican southwestern North America and California before settling in the Oregon Country. As a prominent and wealthy citizen there, his death was the impetus for the early formation of government in what became the state...
. Young had died without a will or known heir, so the settlers needed a way to settle his estate as his business dealings were entangled with many of the other settlers. Not only did David Leslie host this meeting, but he also participated in the discussions about forming a government. Although only a few decisions were ultimately made (election of Dr. Ira L. Babcock as a supreme judge to deal with the Young estate), this was the first of the Champoeg Meetings
Champoeg Meetings
The Champoeg Meetings in Oregon Country were the first attempts at governing in the Pacific Northwest by United States European-American pioneers. Prior to this, the closest entity to a government was the Hudson's Bay Company, mainly through Dr...
that two years later would lead to the creation of the Provisional Government of Oregon
Provisional Government of Oregon
The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It existed from May 2, 1843 until March 3, 1849. Created at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region, this independent government...
.
These subsequent meetings began in the spring of 1843. Then on May 2, 1843, a vote was held and the settlers voted in favor of creating a government in the region by a vote of 52 to 50. David Leslie participated in these meetings and he voted in favor of creating the government at the May vote at Champoeg
Champoeg, Oregon
Champoeg is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the Willamette Valley in the early 1840s. It is positioned halfway between Oregon City and Salem and the site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Country...
.
Family
During this time in Oregon, Leslie and his wife had two more daughters, but Mary died in February 1842. Mary was buried at the Pioneer Cemetery, which was part of the Leslie land claim as the first person buried there. Without his wife to assist in raising the children, Leslie decided to take them to a mission in HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
where there was a school for them. As they waited to leave Astoria
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...
on the mouth of the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, one of the daughters (Satira age 15) left the ship and married Cornelius Rogers. Leslie accepted the marriage and then left two other daughters, Helen and Aurelia, in the new couples’ care. Leslie then continued on to Hawaii where he left the two remaining daughters Mary and Sarah at a boarding school. Sarah died a year later in Hawaii, while Cornelius, Satira and Aurelia also died that year in Oregon when their canoe went over Willamette Falls
Willamette Falls
The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest and the eighteenth largest in the world by water volume. Horseshoe in shape, it is wide and high with a flow...
. Additionally two natives and Nathaniel Crocker died in that accident of February 1843.
By spring of 1843 David Leslie had returned from Hawaii to the mission. However, by this time the mission was beginning to be closed in Salem for a lack of natives to convert due to disease that had decimated the original inhabitants of the region. The missionary board had sent the Reverend George Gary from New York to reorganize the mission. He was housed in Leslie’s home. Still Leslie remained and married Adelia Judson Olley on January 7, 1844. Adelia brought two year old Robert Thomas to the marriage from her prior marriage to the deceased James Olley. She was the daughter of Reverend Lewis Judson. The new couple had two children, Emma and Sarah, both of whom died before the age of seven. The only child to outlive Leslie was Helen.
Later life
Oregon Institute
The Oregon Institute was a school located in the Willamette Valley of the Oregon Country during the 19th century. Begun in 1842, it was the first school built for European-Americans west of Missouri. Founded by members of the Methodist Mission, it was located in what is now Salem, Oregon, United...
and continued in this role until his death. During this time Oregon Institute would become Willamette University
Willamette University
Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and...
, and during this time Leslie laid the cornerstone for Waller Hall
Waller Hall
Waller Hall is the oldest building on the campus of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. Built in 1867 as University Hall, the five-story, red-brick structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975...
that still stands today as the oldest building on Willamette’s campus.
Meanwhile, in 1860 he sold 100 acre (0.404686 km²) of his farm to Asahel Bush II. In the civic arena, he helped found the local Masonic Order chapter, the local Grand Lodge of A. F. and A. M., and served as the territory’s first chaplain of the legislature. The Reverend David Leslie died on May 1, 1869, in Salem and was buried at the I.O.O.F. cemetery
Salem Pioneer Cemetery
Salem Pioneer Cemetery is a cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States.-Overview:...
in Salem. This is the same cemetery in which his first wife is buried.