Josiah Lamberson Parrish
Encyclopedia
Reverend Josiah Lamberson Parrish (1806-1895) was an American
missionary in Oregon Country
and trustee of the Oregon Institute
at its founding. A native of New York, he also participated in the Champoeg Meetings
that led to the formation of the Provisional Government of Oregon
in 1843. Parrish was married three times and was the first breeder of pure-bred sheep in Oregon
.
to Sally Parrish (née
Lamberson) and Benjamin Parrish on January 14, 1806. His mother was of Dutch and Puritan heritage born in New Jersey, with his father of English lineage born in 1777 in Connecticut. Josiah was the oldest of ten children in the family. He attended the public schools of his native state. At age sixteen the family moved and Josiah became employed on the Erie Canal
at Lockport
.
Josiah was married in 1833 in New York to Elizabeth Winn (died 1869), and they would have four children. In 1839, the trained blacksmith volunteered to join Jason Lee's
mission in the Willamette Valley
. Parrish and around 50 others sailed on the ship Lausanne around Cape Horn in South America to the Columbia River
and on to Oregon City
in what has been called the Great Reinforcement of the Methodist Mission
. They set sail on October 9, 1839, from New York City
.
, which on May 3, 1843, at the last of the Champoeg Meetings
he voted in favor of creating the Provisional Government of Oregon
. The vote to create a government passed 52-50. During the two years of on and off meetings he helped to build the Star of Oregon
that was sailed to California
by a crew led by Joseph Gale
. In California the vessel was sold in order to purchase cattle to be driven overland to the Willamette Valley
. On February 1, 1842, Parrish was selected as a trustee to the new Oregon Institute
, a school established to teach the children of the missionaries that would later become Willamette University
.
Also in 1842, Parrish moved to the Clatsop Plains
and took over the branch mission of the Methodist Mission from Joseph Frost. In 1844, when the Methodist Mission was dissolved by George Gary, Parrish purchased the Clatsop Plains mission. From 1849 until 1854 he worked as an Indian agent in the now Oregon Territory
. As a rancher he was the first breeder in Oregon of pure-breed sheep, and had brought the first white clover seed to Oregon when he migrated aboard the Lausanne.
. Parrish would take the matter to court in a case that would make its way through the Oregon Supreme Court
and to the United States Supreme Court in Lownsdale v. Parrish, 62 U.S. 290 (1858). In 1868, Parrish drove the first spike in Portland, Oregon
, for the Oregon and California Railroad
. In 1869, his wife donated land to help create the Lee Mission Cemetery
in Salem, Oregon
, with Josiah as one of the incorporators. Later that year his wife Elizabeth died, with Josiah remarrying in 1870 to Jane Lichtenthaler. Married in Portland, the couple would have four children before Jane died in 1887. In 1888, he would marry a final time, to Mrs. M. A. Pierce. Josiah Parrish died on May 31, 1895, at the age of 89 and is buried at the Lee Cemetery. Parrish Middle School in Salem was built on his old Donation Land Claim and is named in his honor.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
missionary in 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...
and trustee 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...
at its founding. A native of New York, he also participated in 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 led to the formation 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...
in 1843. Parrish was married three times and was the first breeder of pure-bred sheep in 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...
.
Early life
Josiah Parrish was born in Onondaga County, New YorkOnondaga County, New York
Onondaga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 467,026. The county seat is Syracuse.Onondaga County is part of the Syracuse, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area....
to Sally Parrish (née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Lamberson) and Benjamin Parrish on January 14, 1806. His mother was of Dutch and Puritan heritage born in New Jersey, with his father of English lineage born in 1777 in Connecticut. Josiah was the oldest of ten children in the family. He attended the public schools of his native state. At age sixteen the family moved and Josiah became employed on the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
at Lockport
Lockport (city), New York
Lockport is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 21,165 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a set of Erie canal locks within the city. Lockport is the county seat of Niagara County and is surrounded by the town of Lockport...
.
Josiah was married in 1833 in New York to Elizabeth Winn (died 1869), and they would have four children. In 1839, the trained blacksmith volunteered to join Jason Lee's
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....
mission in 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...
. Parrish and around 50 others sailed on the ship Lausanne around Cape Horn in South America to 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...
and on to Oregon City
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
in what has been called the Great Reinforcement of 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...
. They set sail on October 9, 1839, from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Missionary
Parrish and the others arrived in Oregon in May 1840. Beginning in February 1841 Parrish became involved in the movement towards creating a government in the Oregon CountryOregon 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...
, which on May 3, 1843, at the last 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...
he voted in favor of creating 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...
. The vote to create a government passed 52-50. During the two years of on and off meetings he helped to build the Star of Oregon
Star of Oregon (ship)
The Star of Oregon was a schooner sailing vessel of the mid-19th century used on the west coast of North America. It was the first American sailing ship built in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. Pioneer settlers built the ship from 1840 to 1842 in order to sail it to California and exchange it...
that was sailed to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
by a crew led by Joseph Gale
Joseph Gale
Joseph Goff Gale was an American pioneer, trapper, entrepreneur, and politician who contributed to the early settlement of the Oregon Country...
. In California the vessel was sold in order to purchase cattle to be driven overland to the Willamette Valley
Star of Oregon (event)
The Star of Oregon episode of American history began in 1840 and ended in 1843. This enterprise by pioneers in the Willamette Valley of present-day Oregon consisted of building a ship they named Star of Oregon and then sailing it to California in order to bring back cattle to Oregon Country...
. On February 1, 1842, Parrish was selected as a trustee to the new 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...
, a school established to teach the children of the missionaries that would later 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...
.
Also in 1842, Parrish moved to the Clatsop Plains
Clatsop Plains
The Clatsop Plains are an area of wetlands and sand dunes between the Northern Oregon Coast Range and Pacific Ocean in northwestern Oregon in the United States. They stretch from near the mouth of the Columbia River south to the vicinity of Tillamook Head near Seaside...
and took over the branch mission of the Methodist Mission from Joseph Frost. In 1844, when the Methodist Mission was dissolved by George Gary, Parrish purchased the Clatsop Plains mission. From 1849 until 1854 he worked as an Indian agent in the now Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
. As a rancher he was the first breeder in Oregon of pure-breed sheep, and had brought the first white clover seed to Oregon when he migrated aboard the Lausanne.
Later life
Parrish became involved in a land dispute involving the authority of the laws from the Provisional Government with Daniel H. LownsdaleDaniel H. Lownsdale
Daniel Lownsdale was one of the founders of Portland, Oregon, United States.Coming from Kentucky sometime before 1845, Lownsdale established the first tannery near the current location of Jeld-Wen Field just west of downtown. He served as a member of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon in 1846...
. Parrish would take the matter to court in a case that would make its way through the Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
and to the United States Supreme Court in Lownsdale v. Parrish, 62 U.S. 290 (1858). In 1868, Parrish drove the first spike in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, for the Oregon and California Railroad
Oregon and California Railroad
The Oregon and California Railroad was formed from the Oregon Central Railroad when it was the first to operate a stretch south of Portland in 1869. This qualified the Railroad for land grants in California, whereupon the name of the railroad soon changed to Oregon & California Rail Road Company...
. In 1869, his wife donated land to help create the Lee Mission Cemetery
Lee Mission Cemetery
-History:Lee Mission Cemetery was established in 1842 with the burial of Lucy Thompson Lee, the second wife of Rev. Jason Lee. The cemetery's gate has the date 1838, which is date of death for Anna Maria Pittman Lee, first wife of Jason Lee, and their infant son, who were moved to the cemetery...
in 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...
, with Josiah as one of the incorporators. Later that year his wife Elizabeth died, with Josiah remarrying in 1870 to Jane Lichtenthaler. Married in Portland, the couple would have four children before Jane died in 1887. In 1888, he would marry a final time, to Mrs. M. A. Pierce. Josiah Parrish died on May 31, 1895, at the age of 89 and is buried at the Lee Cemetery. Parrish Middle School in Salem was built on his old Donation Land Claim and is named in his honor.