USA > Oregon > Marion County > Salem > Oregon and its institutions; comprising a full history of the Willamette University, the first established on the Pacific Coast > Part 10
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four thousand dollars. It was exceedingly desirable on the part of the trustees of the Oregon Institute to secure this property, as the location was far more eligible, and the lands, embracing a mile square, were far more valuable than the place on Wallace's Prairie. Besides this, the house itself, which was new, had cost the Missionary Board more than twice the amount for which Mr. Gary proposed to sell to the trustees of the institute the entire property.
Fortunately for the interests of the Oregon Insti- tute, the Board was presented with an opportunity to sell the property on Wallace's Prairie, which, through a committee appointed for that purpose, was done for the sum of three thousand dollars ; and by the same committee, duly authorized by the Board, the Oregon Mission School-house and lands connected with it were purchased for the sum of four thousand dollars, and became the property of the Oregon Institute.
It should be distinctly understood that up to the time of this purchase the name Oregon Institute was known only in connection with the property on Wal- lace Prairie, but now the name was transferred from the old locality to the present locality within the city of Salem, and the Oregon Mission Manual Labor School became, by virtue of said transfer, the Oregon Insti- tute. It may here be properly observed, that Mr. Gary had an opportunity to sell the Mission School property to the Catholics for double the amount of that he was to receive for it from the trustees of the Institute but in that case it would have been
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converted into a nunnery ; and every evangelical Christian will say, "Rather destroy it entirely than desecrate it to so impious a purpose." For the pro- motion of the interests of the Church of Christ, and for the general welfare of this rising country, a more judicious appropriation of the property could not have been made than to place it in the hands of the trustees of the Oregon Institute. This, by a most singular train of providences, was finally done, the Oregon Institute receiving the property for less than one half of its real value, the other half being in effect a free donation to the Board from the Missionary Society through its agent, the Rev. George Gary.
About the time this transfer was made, or a few months after, twenty-three years ago, the author of this sketch wrote the following in relation to this school ; and the reader cannot fail, in contrasting the present with that period, to see clearly the correct- ness of the views then and there expressed :
"The institution stands upon an elevated portion of a beautiful plain, surrounded with the most delight- ful scenery, and at a point which, at some future day, is destined to be one of great importance. The build- ing is beautifully proportioned, being seventy-five feet long and forty-eight feet wide, including the wings, and three stories high. When finished it will not only present a fine appearance without, but will be commodious, and well adapted to the purposes in- tended to be accomplished within. It is already so far advanced that a school is now in successful opera- tion, under the tuition of one well qualified to sustain
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its interests. Already it numbers more students than did either the Cazenovia Seminary or the Wilbraham Academy at their commencement, and who can tell but that it may equal, if not exceed, both those insti- tutions in importance as well as usefulness. Though I cannot say that it is the only hope of Oregon, for whether it lives or dies Oregon will yet be redeemed from the remains of Paganism and the gloom of papal darkness by which she is enshrouded; but the senti- ment forces itself upon the mind, that the subject of the Oregon Institute is vital to the interests of the Methodist Episcopal Church on the Pacific coast. If it lives, it will be a luminary in the moral heavens of Oregon, shedding abroad the light of knowledge long after its founders shall have ceased to live. But if it dies, our sun is set, and it is impossible to tell what will succeed. Perhaps a long and cheerless night of papal darkness; but, more probably, others, more worthy of the honor than ourselves, will come forth to mold the moral mass according to their own liking, and give direction to the literature and religion of Oregon."
As the house which had thus fallen into the hands of the trustees of the Oregon Institute had but re- cently been occupied by the Indian school, it was in such a state of forwardness as to render it practicable to open a school for white children without delay, and consequently a committee was appointed by the Board to employ a teacher, and put the school into immediate operation. Mrs. C. A. Wilson was the person upon whom devolved the honor, by the
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employment of this committee, to open, as a teacher, the Oregon Institute. Mrs. Wilson commenced her school early in the fall of 1844, under very favorable auspices, having more students than some of the academies in the Eastern States had at their com- mencement, which subsequently became very flour- ishing institutions. The committee to whom was delegated the power to commence and conduct the school during the winter, were David Leslie, Alanson Beers, L. H. Judson, and John Force; and, at a meeting of the Board held the 7th of April, 1845, a resolution was passed approving the action of the committee, and assuming the responsibilities of the school, with all its contracts and liabilities. The school at this time was conducted on the principle of a boarding school, most of the pupils coming from a distance and living in the institution, and under the supervision of W. W. Raymond, whom the Board had employed as steward of the concern. At this time also there were enacted thirteen rules for the general management of the establishment.
At the annual meeting of the Board, May 25, 1845, D. Leslie was re-elected president, W. H. Wilson was elected secretary, and A. Beers treas- urer. As the house was still unfinished measures were taken to advance it toward completion, and provide for a school during the following winter, and also for the survey and sale of lots. Previously to this, the Board had conceived the plan of laying out a city embracing most of the land claim which it held by virtue of its purchase from the Missionary
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Society through its agent, and this survey was in accordance with the plan and under the direction and at the expense of the Board of Trustees.
In the fall of 1845 there came into the valley a large emigration from the Eastern States, and though the country was generally open for settlement, yet the Oregon Institute being now in successful prog- ress, and the business operations in the vicinity affording facilities for livelihood, the lands in the im- mediate vicinity of the institute soon were all occu- pied, and jumping claims became, to some extent, the order of the day. The recent purchase was con- sidered by many as very desirable, and was looked upon with longing eyes; and the validity of the claim of the institute began to be questioned both by the old residents and the new-comers, and a strong disposition was manifested to jump the claim. The country at this time was very deficient in regard to law, as the provisional government had not provided for the incorporation of such bodies as the Board of the Oregon Institute. Indeed, this body, at this time, had no existence in law, and advantage was taken of this fact in attempts to wrest the land from the possession of the Board, which if successful would have ruined the institution. With this state of things it required all the wisdom and vigilance of the friends of the school to retain possession of this land, so that it would not be lost to the insti- tution. Fortunately for the interests of education in Oregon, the provisional government had enacted a law providing for the holding of land by a partner-
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ship of two or more persons, and the friends of the institution took advantage of this law to secure the land. It so happened that the claims of W. H. Wilson on the north, H. B. Brewer on the east, Rev. D. Leslie on the south, and Rev. L. H. Judson on the west, all staunch friends of the institution, en- compassed the institute claim on all sides, and arrangements were made with these gentlemen by the Board to extend their personal claims, so as to cover the entire claim of the institute, and have the same recorded as a claim held by them in partner- ship, according to the requirements of the provisional law. These gentlemen entered into heavy bonds with the Board of Trustees to hold the premises as a partnership claim, until such times as the Board should become an incorporate body, and be competent to receive back and hold the property according to law.
In March, 1846, it was arranged by the Board, in connection with the partnership, that W. H. Wilson, one of the partners, should, as agent of the concern, take personal charge of the premises for safe keeping. On the twenty-sixth of May, Mr. Wilson, by a unanimous vote of the Board, was confirmed in the agency, and empowered to transact the business of the Oregon Institute, and he was authorized to sell lots and receive pay for the same, and as a compen- sation for such service he was to receive seven per centum on all the sales effected. It should be dis- tinetly understood that at this time the institute land which was held by the partnership arrangement
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embraced the whole of the present site of the city of Salem. The city is indebted entirely to the Board for the magnificent plan upon which the plat was surveyed, a plan that will ultimately make Salem of Oregon one of the most beautiful cities upon the continent of America. The liberality of the Board appeared not only in respect to the town survey, but also in the encouragement given to mechanics and others to settle and improve within the city limits. Instruction was given to the agent, W. H. Wilson, to make a donation to worthy individuals of one lot to each, to the number of twenty lots, according to his discretion. This was designed both to encourage individuals, and to give a start to the embryo town.
For some time after the middle of 1846 various matters of business more or less affecting the interests of the institute engaged the attention of the Board, the particulars of which it will not be necessary to incorporate into this history. It will be sufficient simply to allude to them, such as providing for the finishing of the outside of the institute building, the erection of out-houses, the inclosing of yards, the donation of lands for church and yard purposes, the selection of a cemetery, and the adjustment of certain matters relating to the sale of lands to D. Leslie, J. L. Parrish, and C. Craft. The business pertaining to these last mentioned sales does not appear to have been completed until June, 1847. The price for which the lands mentioned were sold was fixed at twelve dollars per acre. At the same time a resolu-
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tion was passed by the Board empowering D. Leslie, L. H. Judson, and W. H. Wilson to dispose of the water-power or mill-seat belonging to the institute premises, and as much land with it as they might think proper. It was also resolved that the agent, W. II. Wilson, be instructed to commence the sale of lots by public auction, after giving at least ten days' notice through the columns of the " Oregon Spectator." The committee authorized to sell the water privilege was also instructed to sell to appli- cants any portion of the land embraced in the town survey, previous to the public sale by the agent, at such prices, not less than the minimum price fixed by the Board, as in their judgment they might think proper. These measures were, as far as practicable, carried out by the Board through the committees appointed, and in the mean time the school was kept for the most part in successful operation.
The civil changes that occurred in respect to Oregon, as regarded the land interests of the country, produced a marked effect in their final results upon the institution whose history we are endeavoring to trace. When the Board of the Oregon Institute was first organized in 1842, it was not only self-consti- tuted, but entirely an irresponsible body, based upon no law, as, indeed, the country then was wholly without law, every man being left to do that which was pleasing in his own sight. The original members of the Board, however, were men who considered that a " higher law " than any mere civil enactment had its claims upon them, and to that law, in all their
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operations affecting the interests of the Oregon Insti- tute, they held themselves strictly accountable. To hold the property and secure it to the interests of the school through all the changes that took place from a state of no law up to the establishment of legitimate government among us, required, as has been seen, integrity of purpose, added to perseverance, foresight, and great watchfulness. These qualities having been brought into constant requisition for its advancement and security, the Oregon Institute is found at the close of the fifth year of its existence to occupy a very promising position, and bidding fair to become the leading literary institution on the Pacific coast.
In 1848 the Oregon Donation Land Law, through the agency of the Hon. Samuel Thurston, delegate to Congress from the territory of Oregon, passed both houses of Congress, and opened the way for the rapid settlement of the Willamette Valley. This act, im- portant as it was to the general interests of the country, not only became the occasion of serious and protracted trouble and difficulty to the Board of Trustees, but in its final results became the cause of inflicting a very serious injury upon the financial in- terests of the institution.
At the time of the passage of the Donation Law W. H. Wilson, with his family, lived upon the claim, and in the institute building, and, as has been stated, were in the employment of the Board of Trustees, he as agent, while Mrs. Wilson was conducting the school as teacher. Mr. Wilson was also a member
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of the Board of Trustees, and had acted doubtlessly in all good faith with the other members of the Board in all the struggles of the past to sustain the institut- tion, and, as they were in the occupancy of the land when the Donation Law was passed, it was natural for the Board to look to them as the proper persons through whom to secure the premises by a fulfillment of the provisions of that law ; but as the primary object of this history is not so much to make an ex- position of all the particulars which have entered into it, and the errors and mistakes of those who have been connected with the enterprise, as to pro- mote its present and future interests, we deem it not important to trace in all its minutiæ the tedious and unpleasant controversy in regard to this land claim between the Board of Trustees of the institution on the one hand, and Dr. Wilson and his wife on the other.
There were indeed two sides to the question; but the interests involved, so far as the institution was concerned, were of such a nature as for many months to constitute subjects of grave, earnest, and ex- tended investigation in the meetings of the Board. But the character of these investigations, and the opinions entertained and expressed by the different parties, are not so important matters of history as the manner in which, finally, the whole controversy was settled. We shall therefore dismiss the whole sub- ject after stating a few facts in relation to this point.
At a meeting of the Board, held November 1, 1854, a committee was appointed consisting of A. F.
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Waller, G. Hines, and J. L. Parrish, to take into consideration the subject of difference between Will- iam H. Wilson and the trustees of the Oregon Insti- tute, and all the interests of the university growing out of the land claim, and report at a subsequent meet- ing of the Board a plan for the full adjustment of all the interests involved in the premises. This com- mittee at once attended to the work assigned them, and had an interview with Mr. Wilson, and as a result, the latter, at the next meeting of the Board, made the following proposition :
"Feeling as I do a very deep and anxious solici- tude for the welfare of the institution of learning in our midst, and feeling most seriously the embarrass- ments under which it labors in consequence of ques- tions in which I am involved, I propose to submit the following as the basis of a final settlement : You perceived by the exhibit of yesterday, admitting its correctness, that I had received from the sales upon my part of the claim but three thousand three hun- dred and five dollars, and had paid out over five thousand. I propose first to relinquish to you that excess. I propose to secure to you, or the trustees of the Willamette University, the sixty acres called for in the bond you hold, or if it has been encroached upon, to make it good, to be held in trust as per bond. I propose in the next place to divide the un- sold remains of that portion of the claim lying on the south side of the street, which runs east from the river in front of the Methodist meeting-house, so as to secure to you, or the trustees of the Willamette
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University, two thirds in value of such unsold re- mains, to be held or disposed of by the said trustees at their discretion, for the endowment of said univer- sity. If the above propositions are acceded to, then, and in that case, mutual releases shall be passed, showing a final settlement of all the interests growing out of the land claim.
" Signed,
WILLIAM H. WILSON."
As matters stood the Board had no alternative; and, acting upon the principle that a half loaf is better than no bread, acceded to this proposition as the best that probably could be done under the circumstances, and a committee consisting of W. H. Wilson, A. F. Waller, and G. Hines, was appointed, whose duty it was to proceed and view the premises, and divide the land, and designate by metes and bounds that which was awarded to the institution, and that which was awarded to said W. II. Wilson. This committee im- mediately performed the task imposed upon them, and the apportioninent thus made was accepted by the parties as a final settlement of the interests in- volved in the land claim of the Oregon Institute and Willamette University. The Board then ordered the president and secretary to receive from Mr. Wil- son all conveyances and instruments necessary and proper for the carrying out of the propositions of Mr. Wilson, and to execute to him all receipts and acquittances necessary to the adjustment and cancel- lation of all claims of said Board against him. This instruction was subsequently carried into effect by
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the constituted authorities, and the legal questions involved in the matter were in this manner forever put to rest.
We are not in these representations disposed to be rigid, nor at all uncharitable. We would accord to all parties good intentions in all that they have done touching this matter. In the statements that have been made we have not designed to call in question the motives of any. We have simply dealt in facts as far as we have gone, and upon this subject, as upon all others, we would say, let the public first under- stand, and then judge. And here it will be proper to observe that during the whole history of the insti- tution up to this period no persons in the country showed a more lively interest in the welfare of the school, and none were more liberal in the use of time and money in its support, than were Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. Dr. Wilson himself was one of the early secretaries of the Board, and officiated in that capae- ity for some years. He was also for years the effi- cient agent of the Board, and contributed much by his counsel as well as means to carry forward the en- terprise toward ultimate success. He came to Oregon as a layman in connection with the first reinforcement to the mission in 1837. An active member of the Church, an efficient leader and steward, he was also licensed to preach as a local preacher in Oregon, and officiated in that capacity for a number of years. In 1840 he was married to Chloe A. Clark, who was a member of the large reinforcement of that year. Dr. Wilson was one of the earliest permanent set-
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tlers on the Pacific coast, and from the beginning took a deep interest in every enterprise for the pro- motion of the moral, intellectual, and physical devel- opment of the country. True to the interests of the Church, and faithful in the observance of all religious duties, from his geniality and kindness, and the vein of good feeling that always scemed to be running through his entire nature, he was remarkably popular in all the associations of life. He died very suddenly in the city of Salem by an apoplectic stroke, leaving a widow and three children to mourn his unexpected and premature departure.
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CHAPTER VII.
ORGANIZATION OF THE WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY.
IT has been already observed that the original design of the founders of the Oregon Institute was to place it under the control of some organized religious body that would enter into a pledge to patronize and sus- tain it. This pledge was given, so far as it was pos- sible, in 1842. True, there was not an organized conference at that time in the country, yet there was a Methodist society which had been organized by Rev. Jason Lee and his associates according to the constitution of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This society or branch of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Oregon, thus organized, formally received the institution under the pledge required, and in this form, as a simple society, had the entire management and control of the school up to September, 1849. In the mean time the provisional government had given place to the territorial form of government, and the Methodist society established in the country had grown into the Oregon and California Mission Conference, which had been organized under the direction and by the authority of the General Con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During the first session of the Mission Conference thus or- ganized, which was held in the chapel of the Institute
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building, measures were taken to adopt the institu- tion as a conference, and provide for the security of the property belonging to it. It was also resolved to make application to the legislature of Oregon Territory for a suitable charter for the government of the institution.
Rev. Wm. Roberts, who was the superintendent of the mission at that time, and the preacher in charge of Oregon City, were appointed a committee to carry out these measures. Whatever this com- mittee may have done in the premises does not ap- pear upon the records, but it is evident that they did not succeed in obtaining a charter, for we find that during the third session of the Oregon and California Mission Conference, held in the Institute building, September 3, 1851, that a committee of five was ap- pointed, consisting of J. H. Wilber, C. S. Kingsley, N. Doane, F. S. Hoyt, and Wm. Roberts, to procure from the next legislature of the Oregon Territory the incorporation of the Oregon Institute and Uni- versity; and to take measures, in connection with the executive committee, to secure their speedy endowment.
At the same conference the following persons were elected members of the Board of Trustees for the Oregon Institute and University: David Leslie, Wm. Roberts, A. F. Waller, W. II. Wilson, J. L. Parrish, J. H. Wilber, J. Q. Thornton, Thomas Nel- son, George Abernethy, C. S. Kingsley, J. Flinn, J. Stewart, F. S. Hoyt, and Amory Holbrook.
There was also a Board of Visitors elected, which
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shows that the institution had fully passed into the hands of the conference.
The committee of five, appointed by the Board to procure a charter of incorporation from the Legis- lative Assembly of 1853, made application to that body for that purpose, and as a result reported to the Board of the Oregon Institute
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY.
Whereas the happiness and prosperity of every community, under the direction and government of Divine Providence, depend in an eminent degree on the right education of the youth who must succeed the aged in the important offices of society, and the principles of virtue and elements of liberal knowl- edge fostered and imparted in the higher institutions of learning tend to develop a people in those quali- fications most essential to their present welfare and future advancement; and whereas it appears that the establishment of a university in the town of Salem, in the county of Marion, with a suitable pre- paratory department for the instruction of youth in the arts and sciences, is likely to subserve the intel- lectual development and enlightening of the youth of this territory ; therefore,
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