Chauncey Osborne Hosford (December 27, 1820 – 1911) was an American pioneer and

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 ...

ary in

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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Lexington Heights, New York Lexington may refer to: Places England * Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington Canada * Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario United States * Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name * Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...

to the highly religious Willis and Lucia Hosford. Hosford came to Oregon in 1845 with his brother Erwin, and worked for

Philip Foster Philip Foster (January 29, 1805 – March 17, 1884) was one of the first settlers in Oregon, United States. The farmstead he established in Eagle Creek in 1847 became a stopping post for pioneers heading west along the Oregon Trail. Approximatel ...

. He later boarded with David Leslie and attended 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 ...

. In 1847 Hosford convened the first formal religious gatherings in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Hosford later traveled to

Placerville, California Placerville (, ; formerly Old Dry Diggings, Dry Diggings, and Hangtown) is a city in and the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,747 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,389 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Sa ...

, to search for gold during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. He made some money, and moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He returned to Oregon in 1851, and started the first school in Astoria. Hosford continued ministering in various places in Oregon and

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

, and filed a

land claim A land claim is defined as "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include aboriginal land claims, A ...

in Marion County. In 1861 Hosford purchased across the top of

Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( he, הר תבור) (Har Tavor) is located in Lower Galilee, Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bible (Book of Joshua, Joshua, Book of Judges, Judges), Mount Tabor is the sit ...

East Portland East Portland was a city in the U.S. state of Oregon that was consolidated into Portland in 1891. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the portion of present-day Portland that lies east of 82nd Avenue, most of which the City of Portland ...

. There is a middle school in southeast Portland named for Hosford. By extension, the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood (named for the school) also bears his name.

References

19th-century Methodist ministers Oregon clergy Oregon pioneers People from Greene County, New York Clergy from Portland, Oregon Willamette University alumni 1820 births 1911 deaths Schoolteachers from Oregon 19th-century American clergy {{Oregon-bio-stub