Spalding, Henry Harmon, 1803-1874

Reverend Henry Harmon Spalding, pioneer Presbyterian missionary in the Oregon Territory, was born on November 26, 1803 in New York. In 1836, after successfully applying for an appointment under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Spalding traveled overland to Oregon with his first wife, Eliza Hart Spalding, and Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. Later that year he founded the Nez Percé Indian mission at Lapwai, where he remained until the Whitman Massacre in 1847. Shortly after the massacre, Spalding moved to Brownsville, Oregon and served as school commissioner, postmaster, and Indian agent. In 1853, after the death of Eliza Hart Spalding (d. 1851), he married Rachel Jane Smith. Henry Spalding returned to the Lapwai mission in 1871 and served the Nez Percé Indians until his death on August 3, 1874.

From the description of Henry Harmon Spalding papers, 1835-1874. (Oregon Historical Society Research Library). WorldCat record id: 32117448

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