David Leslie (Oregon pioneer)
| David Leslie | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1797 Washington, New Hampshire |
| Died | March 1, 1869 (aged 71–72) Salem, Oregon |
| Occupation | reverend |
| Spouse(s) | Mary A. Kinney d. 1842, Adelia Judson Olley |
Reverend David Leslie (1797 - March 1, 1869) was an American missionary and pioneer in what became the state of Oregon. A native of New Hampshire, he joined Jason Lee as a missionary at the Methodist Mission in the Oregon Country in 1836. In that region he participated in the early movement to start a government and his home was used for some of these meetings. With the closing of the mission he became a founder of the city of Salem, Oregon, and board member of the Oregon Institute, which later became Willamette University.
Born in New Hampshire in the town of Washington, Leslie lost his parents while he was young. Born in 1797, Leslie was the son of a minister (George Leslie) and received an education first in Salem, Massachusetts, and later at the Wilbraham Academy where fellow missionary Jason Lee would later attend. There David Leslie studied languages, especially French. He then received a license to preach at the age of 23 in 1820.
While still in New England, Leslie began work with the Methodist Episcopal Church. There he began a working relationship with Jason Lee. Lee then recruited Leslie to join the Methodist Mission in Oregon Country that Lee started in 1834. So in 1836, Leslie agreed to go to the Willamette Valley as the first set of reinforcements to the mission. Leslie, his wife Mary A. Kinney, and three daughters sailed around Cape Horn and arrived in Oregon on the Sumatra on September 7, 1837.
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