Collection is open for research.
The bulk of original materials was most likely donated in the early 20th century; this includes a November 1904 donation, and a donation from Jane Maria Smith in May 1905 (RL2021-030-RETRO, RL2022-115-RETRO, RL2022-116-RETRO). 1853 letter from Abigail Smith to Jane Ogden was gift of Nancy Schramm, March 1974 (Lib. Acc. 12847). Typescript copies of diary entries from 1847 to 1871 and associated index were gift of M. S. Gilbert, May 1974 (Lib. Acc. 12934).
Alvin Thompson Smith was born in 1802 in Brantford, Connecticut, and moved to Illinois in the 1830s. In 1840, he emigrated to the Oregon Territory with Harvey Clark and P. B. Littlejohn to work as a lay missionary. After wintering at Henry H. Spalding's mission at Lapwai, where he helped build grist and saw mills, he continued further westward in 1841, and took a land claim at what would become Tualatin, and then later Forest Grove, Oregon. He was one of three magistrates elected at the Champoeg meeting of 1843. He served as postmaster of Tualatin in the 1850s. He donated money to the Congregational Church and to the Tabitha Brown school, and was one of the founders of Tualatin Academy (later Pacific University) in Forest Grove. He was married twice: first to Abigail Raymond (1793-1858), and then to Jane Maria Averill (1836-1929). Smith died in 1888.
Sources: Corning, Howard McKinley, ed., "Dictionary of Oregon History," 2nd edition, 1989; vital records on Ancestry.com.
Smith's diaries are described in "Overland passages: a guide to overland documents in the Oregon Historical Society," entry 185, and are listed in "Platte River road narratives," entry 48.
Indices to names that appear in the transcribed diary entries from 1840-1853 are included in the collection.
Due to fragility of originals, researchers are asked to use the typescript copies and microfilm version of the diaries.
Alvin T. Smith papers, Mss 8, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Includes materials previously designated Mss 8-1. Collection was titled "Alvin Thompson Smith papers" prior to 2022.
Additional records relating to Smith's tenure as postmaster are located in the Postal Collection, Mss 1512, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
The collection consists of the papers of Alvin T. Smith, an early emigrant to Oregon and postmaster at Tualatin (later Forest Grove), Oregon, in the 1850s. A substantial portion of the collection consists of both originals and typescript and microfilmed copies of Smith's diaries, which in part describe his journey westward in 1840 and 1841 and his time at Henry H. Spalding's mission. The collection also includes records and correspondence relating to Smith's tenure as postmaster. These materials include lists of newspaper and magazine subscriptions, lists of received mail, quarterly reports, and an oath that Smith's wife, Abigail Smith, took to become deputy postmaster.
Other materials in the collection include personal and business correspondence, financial papers, materials relating to the Congregational Church and to Tualatin Academy (later Pacific University), and family papers. Family papers include the correspondence of Smith's wives, Abigail Smith and Jane Maria Smith; a family tree; and an 1823 letter to Thomas Danforth of Augusta, Georgia, from Danforth's father and brother, though Danforth's connection to Smith is not known.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.