Samuel Parker (1779–1866) was an American missionary in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

, He was the first Presbyterian minister in the region. He scouted locations for potential missions with

Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. In 1836, Marcus Whitman led an overland party by wagon to the West. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, E ...

among the Liksiyu and Niimíipu nations in 1835.

Early life

Samuel Parker was born on April 23, 1779, in

Ashfield, Massachusetts Ashfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Ashfield was first settled in 1743 and was offi ...

, to Thankful Merchant Parker and Elisha Parker.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. He was educated on the East Coast where he graduated in 1806 from

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

, and in 1810 from

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

. Parker was ordained as a minister in 1812, and then taught and preached in New York until 1833. There he married his first wife, Miss N. Sears, and in 1815 he married a second time to Jerusha Lord, with whom he would father three children. One son's name was Samuel J. Parker.

Missionary

In 1834 Parker answered a call for missionaries to move to the American West brought about by four Flathead tribesmen asking

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...

for religious guidance. In 1835, he traveled west with fellow missionary

. After preaching at the Green River rendezvous of the American Fur Company, Parker continued west while Whitman returned east. During the winter of 1835 to 1836, Parker was a guest at 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 di ...

's fur trade outpost on the Columbia River,

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of th ...

. He was then the first Presbyterian missionary in what later became the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. Parker then sought out locations for the establishment of missions in the region. He traveled through 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 eas ...

and Lower Columbia Valley to select sites that were later used by the missionaries of the American Board for Foreign Missions, including what became the Waiilatpu Mission. Parker then left the region by ship, sailing first to the

Sandwich Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Ku ...

and then around Cape Horn to the Eastern Seaboard.

Later life

Parker returned to New York and informed the board of the best sites for missions. He was then rejected for missionary work for the board due to his advanced age.Long, Bill
At the Whitman Mission IV.
Accessed September 14, 2007. He published a book in 1838 describing his journey to Oregon, ''Journal of an Exploring Tour Beyond the Rocky Mountains''. Parker died on March 21, 1866, and is buried in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Samuel American Presbyterian missionaries Presbyterian missionaries in the United States Oregon Country People from Ashfield, Massachusetts 1779 births 1866 deaths