Mary Richardson Walker
Mary Richardson Walker (April 1, 1811 – November 21, 1877) was an American missionary. She was the daughter of Joseph and Charlotte Richardson of West Baldwin, Maine.[1] Both parents were school teachers and valued education for all their children. She attended Maine Wesleyan Seminary. Mary wanted to be a missionary and applied at the American Board of Missionaries, but she was turned down, because she was not married.[2]
William Thayer, a mutual friend of Mary Richardson and Elkanah Walker, knew they wanted to be missionaries, so he set up a meeting between them. After a 48-hour courtship, Elkanah proposed to Mary.[3] A year later on March 5, 1838, they married hurriedly so they could depart for the Oregon Country as missionaries.[4]
Trip to Oregon Country
The Walkers departed her home at North Yarmouth, Maine on March 7, 1838 for Boston, Massachusetts and then to Independence, Missouri for the long trip across the continent with three other couples: Cushing and Myra Eells, Asa and Sarah Smith, and William and Mary Gray. Mary Walker became pregnant and traveled side-saddle for most of the 1900 miles.[5] The missionaries arrived at the Whitman Mission on August 29, 1838.[6]
Tshimakain Mission created
On March 20, 1838, the Walker and Eells family arrived at Tshimakain and began setting up their new homes among the Spokane people.[7] The Walkers lived at the Tshimakain Mission for ten years. Six months, after the Whitman Massacre, 60 members of the Oregon Volunteers traveled up to the mission and brought the Walkers and Eells families to the Willamette Valley, Oregon Country.[8]
Settled in Forest Grove, Oregon
The Walkers moved to Forest Grove, Oregon in October, 1849. On November 21, 1877, Mary Richardson Walker died at Forest Grove.[9]
Listing of the Walker children
- Cyrus Hamlin Walker, born December 7, 1838 at Waiilatpu, first white male born in the Oregon Territory.[10]
At Tshimakain:
- Abigail Boutwell Walker, born May 24, 1840
- Marcus Whitman Walker, born March 16, 1842
- Joseph Elkanah Walker, born February 10, 1844
- Jeremiah Walker, born March 7, 1846
- John Richardson Walker, born December 31, 1847
- Levi Chamberlain Walker, February 8, 1850
- Samuel Thompson Walker, May 2, 1852
Mary Walker School named in her honor
The Mary Walker School District[11] and Mary Walker High School in Springdale, Washington are named for her.
See also
References
- ↑ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company, p. 24.
- ↑ Drury, Clifford Merrill, First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company, pps. 26-31.
- ↑ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, , pps. 26-311963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.
- ↑ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, pps. 39-44, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.
- ↑ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, p. 69, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.
- ↑ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, p. 117, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.
- ↑ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, p. 149, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.
- ↑ http://books.google.com/books/download/The_Oregon_Native_Son.pdf?id=N8AUAAAAYAAJ&hl=en&capid=AFLRE72ZGHgzK_jV9ZJpbrdIbvjcWGbXujj4qM8c-fCagyN4jwSy1z24lFmxfYU2MbPG4D7aauslB3lNQoZlCaH3g07N9J5hnw , p. 145|Address of Mr. Cyrus H. Walker, a native son of 1838, before the Oregon Pioneer Association
- ↑ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, p. 355, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.
- ↑ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, p. 15, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.
- ↑ http://www.marywalker.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=1