Archives West Finding Aid

Cassie Stump was born February 8, 1855, in Monmouth, Oregon, to one of the first families to settle in the area. She was named after her mother, Catherine Elizabeth Stump. Her father, David Stump, was one of the original land donors to Monmouth University. In 1875, Cassie earned an M.S. degree from Christian College and in 1876 she received a Polk County Teacher’s Certificate. In early 1881, Cassie traveled east to attend Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Her journal describes a visit she made to the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is not known if she completed her studies at Wellesley. In the 1881 Christian College catalog, Cassie is listed as faculty, teaching instrumental music. She stopped teaching in 1886 when her father died so she could care for her mother.

An advocate for equal rights for women, Cassie was the founder and the first president of the Vespertine Society. When the trustees of the Christian College barred women from participating in co-ed literary societies, Cassie and her sister founded the Vespertines. In 1913, Cassie registered for the first national election in which women were given the right to vote. With the exception of the short time Cassie attended Wellesley she lived in Monmouth with her parents in the family home built by her father. The house was located on the corner where the Academic Programs and Support Center currently stands. After her mother died in 1916, Cassie added an additional floor and porches to the home and opened a rooming house for female instructors. Eventually, the home became a hub for college activities. Cassie Stump remained single until her death on January 19, 1941, shortly before her 86th birthday.

Mary Stump Campbell was the elder of the two sisters. During her college years at Monmouth Christian College she was the president of the Philisophian Literary Society in June 1872 before co-ed clubs were banned by the trustees. She graduated in June 1872 with a Master's degree. After college Mary worked as writer, business manager, and eventually publisher of the Christian Messenger, Monmouth’s first newspaper. In 1876 she traveled to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Marrying Rev. Thomas Franklin Campbell in 1885 (his second wife,) they traveled the circuit preaching to rural areas and raising money for Monmouth Christian College and eventually settled in Eugene, where she raised their four children. When Rev. Campbell died in 1893, she returned to Monmouth to live with her mother and sister Cassie. Mary Stump Campbell died in 1955 and is buried at Fircrest cemetery with the Stump family in Monmouth.