Josiah Lamberson Parrish
| Josiah Lamberson Parrish | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
January 14, 1806 Onondaga County, New York |
| Died | May 31, 1895 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | blacksmith |
| Employer | Methodist Mission |
| Title | Voter at Champoeg Meetings |
| Term | 1843 |
| Board member of | Willamette University |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Winn (d. 1869) Jane Lichtenthaler (d. 1887) M.A. Pierce |
Reverend Josiah Lamberson Parrish (1806–1895) was an American missionary in Pacific Northwest and trustee of the Oregon Institute at its founding. A native of New York, he also participated in the Champoeg Meetings that led to the formation of the Provisional Government of Oregon in 1843. Parrish was married three times and was the first breeder of pure-bred sheep in Oregon.
Josiah Parrish was born in Onondaga County, New York, to Sally Parrish (née Lamberson) and Benjamin Parrish on January 14, 1806. His mother was of Dutch and Puritan heritage born in New Jersey, with his father of English lineage born in 1777 in Connecticut. Josiah was the oldest of ten children in the family. He attended the public schools of his native state. At age sixteen the family moved and Josiah became employed on the Erie Canal at Lockport.
Josiah was married in 1833 in New York to Elizabeth Winn (died 1869), and they would have four children. In 1839, the trained blacksmith volunteered to join Jason Lee's mission in the Willamette Valley. Parrish and around 50 others sailed on the ship Lausanne around Cape Horn in South America to the Columbia River and on to Oregon City in what has been called the Great Reinforcement of the Methodist Mission. They set sail on October 9, 1839, from New York City.
Parrish and the others arrived in Oregon in May 1840. Beginning in February 1841 Parrish became involved in the movement towards creating a white colonist government in the Willamette Valley, which on May 3, 1843, at the last of the Champoeg Meetings he voted in favor of creating the Provisional Government of Oregon. The vote to create a government passed 52-50. During the two years of on and off meetings he helped to build the Star of Oregon that was sailed to California by a crew led by Joseph Gale. In California the vessel was sold in order to purchase cattle to be driven overland to the Willamette Valley. On February 1, 1842, Parrish was selected as a trustee to the new Oregon Institute, a school established to teach the children of the missionaries that would later become Willamette University.
...
Wikipedia