Reverend Ezra Fisher (1800 – 1874) was an American Baptist missionary and pioneer from Oregon.

Biography

Ezra Fisher was born in

Wendell, Massachusetts Wendell is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 924 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Wendell was first settled in 1754 and was offici ...

on January 6, 1800. He attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

beginning in 1822, graduating in 1828 after illness delayed his studies. He entered

Newton Theological Seminary Newton Theological Seminary or Newton Theological School may refer to: * Newton Theological Institution (1825–1965) * Andover Newton Theological School (1965–2017) * Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School Andover Newton Seminary at Y ...

in 1829. In 1830, he was ordained as a minister and he married the same year. Fisher came to the

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 ...

in 1845, with the Rev. Hezekiah Johnson and their families as employees of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. The Fisher family spent winter in the cabin of fellow Baptist David T. Lenox and his family on the

Tualatin Plains The Tualatin Plains are a prairie area in central Washington County, Oregon, United States. Located around the Hillsboro and Forest Grove areas, the plains were first inhabited by the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya group of Native Americans. Euro ...

. Later, he joined 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 ...

and returned to Oregon with about $1,000 in gold. In 1850, he bought Sam Barlow's original land claim near

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 ...

. He helped found

Oregon City College Oregon City College was a short-lived school in what is today the U.S. state of Oregon. Organized by the Baptist Church in 1849, it was located in Oregon City and is partly a predecessor to Linfield College. History On September 21, 1849, the Ore ...

, a predecessor of Linfield College. Fisher moved to The Dalles in 1861, where he preached and served as the Wasco County school superintendent.

Legacy

Ezra Fisher is one of the 158 names of people important to Oregon's history that are painted in the House and Senate chambers of the

Oregon State Capitol The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capitol, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 ...

. Fisher's name is in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

chamber.

References

External links

* * * ''Correspondence of the Reverend Ezra Fisher: Pioneer Missionary of the American Baptist Home Mission Society in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Oregon'' (and subsequent articles also published in the ''Oregon Historical Quarterly'', volumes 16, 17, 19, and 20) *
Image of Ezra Fisher
from Oregon Historical Society 1800 births 1874 deaths Amherst College alumni Baptist missionaries from the United States Oregon clergy Oregon pioneers People from Wendell, Massachusetts School superintendents in Oregon Baptist missionaries in the United States 19th-century Baptists 19th-century American clergy {{Oregon-bio-stub

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

External links