1313 Mill Street SE
The Mission Mill Museum presents two separate pieces of Salem's history: Jason Lee's Methodist Mission and the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill.
Reverend Jason Lee
Sent by the Methodist Church, Reverend Jason Lee accompanied Nathaniel Wyeth's fur trading expedition to Oregon in 1834, leading a small missionary party. The group arrived at the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Vancouver and Dr. John McLoughlin advised Lee to select a mission site in the Willamette Valley. After examining the valley, Lee took the advice and established the Oregon Methodist Mission on the banks of the Willamette River about 10 miles north of what is now Salem, erecting log houses and a school for native-American children. This site is now Willamette Mission State Park. More missionaries continued to arrive at the mission, coming both by sea and overland on the Oregon Trail, and by 1840 the mission was home to over fifty men, women & children. In the fall of 1840 they built a dam on Mill Creek at a place called Chemeketa Prairie and built a water-powered sawmill. In the spring of 1841 they built Oregon's first wood-frame house at Chemeketa Prairie using wood from the sawmill and relocated the mission there. This location is now called Salem. As the missionaries started farming and raising livestock and came to view Oregon as their home, their efforts changed from evangelizing to the native-Americans to building a town, and the Methodist mission was disbanded in 1844.
Additional Links:
Jason Lee at Salem Online History
The leadership of the Methodist Church called Jason Lee back to the east coast in late 1843. Though he intended to return to Oregon, he fell ill while visiting friends and family, and died at his family home in Stanstead, Canada on March 12, 1845 at the age of 41. Salem's history was continued by who originally came to Oregon as Methodist missionaries. Here is some information about some of those who shaped early Salem.
Lewis Hubbel Judson
Lewis Hubbel Judson was born in 1808 and came to the Methodist Mission in 1840 aboard the Lausanne with parts for the saw and grist mills. His training as a wheelwright gave him the ability to oversee the construction of the mills and the Jason Lee House, where he lived for a time. After the mission disbanded in 1844, Judson and William Willson purchased the sawmill, and Judson surveyed the route of the Salem Ditch to divert water from the Santiam River to Mill Creek. Judson went on to be active in various business enterprises and served as a magistrate in Oregon's Provisional Government and as Marion County Surveyor. Judson passed away in 1880.
Additional Links:
Lewis Judson at Salem Online History
Historical Photos:
Portrait of Lewis Judson (Oregon State Library)
William Holden Willson
William Holden Willson was born in 1805, and came to Oregon in a group of Methodist missionaries in 1837. He was assigned to the Willamette station in 1841, after serving at other stations. His experience as a former ship's carpenter proved useful as he helped to construct buildings at the mission's new site in what would become Salem. Later, he helped develop the Salem Ditch, platted the town of Salem and gave it its name. Willson married Chloe Clark, first teacher of the Oregon Institute, which later became Willamette University, and Willson himself served as a trustee of the school. Willson died in 1856. The grounds surrounding the Oregon State Capitol are named Willson Park in his honor.
Additional Links:
William H. Willson at Salem Online History
Reverend Alvin F. Waller
Alvin F. Waller was born in 1808. Reverend Waller came to Oregon with the Methodist Mission's Great Reinforcement of 1840, and built Oregon's first Protestant Church building in Oregon City. He was put in charge of the mission station in The Dalles in 1844. Waller moved to Salem in 1847 and served as agent for Willamette University, raising funds for the school's first brick building. Waller owned a large amount of property in Salem, and donated much of it to Willamette University and the City of Salem. He also donated the tract for a dam on Mill Creek to divert water to the mill race. The dam is named the Waller Dam in his honor, as is Willamette University's Waller Hall. Reverend Waller died in 1872.
The Mission Mill Museum features four historic buildings from the time of the early Methodist missionaries: the Jason Lee House, the Methodist Parsonage, the John Daniel Boon House, and the Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church.
Each of these buildings will be covered in its own post, but here are some pictures of them in groups.
Jason Lee House, John D. Boon House & Methodist Parsonage at the Mission Mill Museum on November 11, 2006
Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church & Jason Lee House at the Mission Mill Museum on November 11, 2006
Jason Lee House, John D. Boon House & Methodist Parsonage at the Mission Mill Museum on November 11, 2006
John D. Boon House & Methodist Parsonage at the Mission Mill Museum on November 11, 2006
Methodist Parsonage, Jason Lee House & John D. Boon House at the Mission Mill Museum on November 11, 2006
2B: Methodist Parsonage
2C: John Daniel Boon House
2D: Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church
2E: Thomas Kay Woolen Mill
2F: Marion County Historical Society
Continue to 2A: Jason Lee House…
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