Abernethy, George, 1807-1877

George Abernethy was born in New York City on October 7, 1807. He married Anne Cope in 1830 and accompanied Reverend Jason Lee to Oregon in 1840, where he was placed in charge of the mission store at Willamette Falls. Abernethy encouraged lumbering and fisheries and established commercial connections with the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands, California and the Atlantic coast. He was elected provisional governor of Oregon in 1845 and was reelected in 1847. In 1861 a flood wiped out most of his physical property. Afterwards he moved to Portland where he died May 2, 1877.

From the description of George Abernethy papers, 1836-1897. (Oregon Historical Society Research Library). WorldCat record id: 35619647

George Abernethy was a churchman, a merchant, and the first and only provisional governor of Oregon. He was born in New York City on October 7, 1807 and married Anne Cope in 1830. He was recruited by Rev. Jason Lee to assume financial management of the Methodist mission in Oregon and accompanied him on the ship Lausanne, sailing around the Horn to Oregon in 1840.

Abernethy was in charge of the mission store at Willamette Falls, later Oregon City. This was his center of activity where he is said to have erected the first brick structure built in the state. He also obtained a printing press and aided in the establishment of the first newspaper in Oregon.

Abernethy promoted the lumbering and fishery businesses and established commercial connections with the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands), California and the Atlantic Coast. He was in the Sandwich Islands in 1845 when he was elected governor of the Oregon Territory, two years after the first Provisional Government was founded. He was re-elected to the office in 1847.

He had many business enterprises in Oregon City, but a flood destroyed most of his physical property in 1861. Afterwards, with considerably reduced circumstances, Abernethy moved to Portland, where he lived out his declining years. There, for a time, he formed a partnership with Michael Herr. Their business card stated they were "commission & forwarding agents, for the sale or forwarding of flour, grain, mill, feed, hay, fruit, pork, bacon, lard, etc., agents for the sale of Oak Point lumber...," with offices on Knott's wharf. Abernethy died in Portland on May 2, 1877.

George Abernethy's son William was born in New York state in 1832 and came to Oregon with his family in 1840. He married Sarah Fidelia Gray, and the couple had 10 children. He died in Forest Grove, Oregon, in 1917.

From the guide to the George Abernethy Papers, 1833-1905, (Oregon Historical Society Research Library)