Alvin F. Waller (1808–1872) was an American

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

and an early leader at

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

. He was a native of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and helped found the first

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church west of the Rocky Mountains in 1843 in

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

Early life

Alvin Waller was born in Abington, Pennsylvania, on May 8, 1808.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''.

Binfords & Mort Publishing Binford & Mort Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1930, the company was previously known as Metropolitan Press and Binfords & Mort. At one time they were the largest book publisher in t ...

, 1956. He was ordained as a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister and preached on the East Seaboard of the United States. There he married Elpha White in 1833, and they would have five children. In 1839, Waller was recruited by Oregon missionary

Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to: Entertainment *Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder *Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor * Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...

to join his mission in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

. Waller sailed for Oregon in October 1839 aboard the ''Lausanne'' and arrived in Oregon in May 1840 as part of the

Methodist Mission The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee was the principal leader fo ...

's "Great Reinforcement" that included other such as

Ira L. Babcock Doctor Ira Leonard Babcock (c. 1808 – March 21, 1888) was an American pioneer and doctor in the Oregon Country. A native of New York, he was selected as the first Supreme Judge with probate powers in February 1841 in what would become the stat ...

George Abernethy George Abernethy (October 7, 1807 – March 2, 1877) was an American politician, pioneer, notable entrepreneur, and first governor of Oregon under the provisional government based in the Willamette Valley, an area later a part of the American sta ...

, Josiah Lamberson Parrish, and Gustavus Hines.

Oregon

Once in Oregon Waller was assigned to start a new branch of the main mission at the falls on the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

. There with the assistance of Lee the

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 Northwestern United States by volume, and the seventeenth widest in the wor ...

Methodist Mission was established in 1840. The land claim came into conflict with that of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

at that site, so Doctor

John McLoughlin John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver fro ...

of the HBC took a personal land claim at the site.McLoughlin Land Survey Claim, 1843.
The Oregon History Project. Retrieved on September 18, 2007. In 1844, McLoughlin and Waller settled the disputed land claims with Waller and the Methodists receiving townlots, $500, and from McLoughlin. In 1842, he helped to build the Methodist church at the falls in what became

Oregon City, Oregon ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

. Finished in 1844, the church was the first Protestant church west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

.Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 83 In 1844, after the main mission at Salem was closed, Waller was reassigned to the

Wascopam Mission The Wascopam Mission or Dalles Mission was a branch of the Methodist Mission active in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first post established outside the Willamette Valley, opened at Celilo Falls along the Columbia River on March 21, 1838, by Re ...

to replace Daniel Lee and H. K. W. Perkins. Waller Hall west side

In 1847, Alvin Waller moved to

, and served as pastor to the old mission's congregation until 1857. The following year he settled a Donation Land Claim in the city. Waller began working with the

Oregon Institute The Oregon Institute was an American 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 M ...

and helped in its transition to

in 1853. During this time he helped to raise funds for the construction of a new brick structure for the school that was completed in 1867 and named University Hall.Hines, Gustavus. ''Oregon and Its Institutions; Comprising a Full History of the Willamette University''. Carlton & Porter, 1868. The building was renamed as

Waller Hall Waller Hall is a building on the campus of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, in the United States. Opened in 1867 as University Hall, it is the oldest higher-education building west of the Mississippi River still in use, currently housing t ...

in 1912 to honor him.Gatke, Robert Moulton. 1943. ''Chronicles of Willamette, the pioneer university of the West''. Portland, Or: Binfords & Mort. He remained active in religious and education activities and helped found several churches in Oregon in his later years. Alvin F. Waller died on December 26, 1872, at the age of 64 in Salem. He was buried at the

Lee Mission Cemetery Lee Mission Cemetery is a pioneer cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States. 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 ...

in that city.Lee Mission Cemetery Burials-L.
OregonPioneers.com. Retrieved on September 18, 2007.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Alvin Willamette University people People from Salem, Oregon People from Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Methodist Mission in Oregon 1808 births 1872 deaths Oregon pioneers