Collection is open for research.
A significant portion of this collection was gift of the Alfred W. Stowell estate between 1906 and 1913 (RL2022-072-RETRO). Some of Thurston's speeches were acquired from 1901 to 1908 (RL2022-073-RETRO, RL2022-078-RETRO, RL2022-079-RETRO).
The Samuel R. Thurston and Elizabeth Thurston papers are also available on Mss 379 Microfilm, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection is arranged in two series: Series 1. Samuel R. Thurston papers; Series 2. Elizabeth Thurston papers and children's property deed.
Samuel Royal Thurston was born in 1816 in Monmouth, Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1832, and was admitted to the Maine bar in 1844. He came to Oregon City in 1847, and opened a law office there. In 1848, he was elected to the Oregon provisional legislature, and then was appointed as the Oregon Territory's delegate to the U.S. Congress. As a delegate, Thurston helped pass the Oregon Donation Land Law in 1850. The law allowed white U.S. citizens to claim acreage in the Oregon Territory, the amount determined by whether they arrived before or after 1850. This attracted additional Euro-American emigrants to Oregon who displaced the region's Indigenous peoples.
While serving as a delegate, Thurston recruited Asahel Bush (1824-1913) to publish a newspaper, the Oregon Statesman, with the goal that the newspaper help to further Thurston's political career. Thurston also tasked Bush with organizing the Democratic Party in the Oregon Territory.
In 1845, Thurston married Elizabeth McLench (1816-1890, later Elizabeth Odell, and in some sources spelled as "Elisabeth"). The couple had two children: George Henry Thurston (1846-1927), and Elizabeth Blandina Thurston (1849-1904, later Elizabeth Blandina Stowell).
Thurston died on April 9, 1851, off the coast of Acapulco, Mexico, while traveling back to Oregon from Washington, D.C. Initially buried in Mexico, his body was brought to Oregon and reburied there in 1853.
Sources: Corning, Howard McKinley, editor, "Dictionary of Oregon History," second edition, 1989; "Salem Clique," by Barbara Mahoney, Oregon Encyclopedia,
Elizabeth Odell (1816-1890) was born as Elizabeth McLench (sometimes written as "McClench"). She married Samuel R. Thurston in 1845. After Thurston's death, she remarried to William H. Odell (1830-1922) in 1855. Although most sources spell her first name as "Elizabeth," her gravestone and obituary in the Salem Capital Journal spell it as "Elisabeth."
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; obituary in the Salem Capital Journal, April 1, 1890.
Original of Elizabeth Odell's biography of Samuel R. Thurston is held at the Bancroft Library, Berkeley, California. Originals of August 25, 1850 letter from William H. Gray and October 21, 1850 letter from J. Quinn Thornton are held at the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Seattle, Washington.
Samuel R. Thurston and Elizabeth Thurston papers, Mss 379, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection was reprocessed in 2022. Materials were rearranged, the collection and folders were given new titles, and description was updated to conform to current standard. Collection was previously titled "Thurston family papers."
Other collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library that relate to Samuel R. Thurston or include his papers are: Samuel R. Thurston letters to Wesley Shannon, Mss 161; McLench family papers, Mss 206; J. Quinn Thornton papers, Mss 371; Eugene Franklin Skinner letters, Mss 594; Samuel R. Thurston letters to Wilson Blain, Mss 628; Letters to the editor of the Oregon Spectator, Mss 943; Philip Foster papers, Mss 996; and the vertical file Biography - Thurston, Samuel Royal.
The collection consists of the papers of Samuel R. Thurston, the papers of his wife, Elizabeth Thurston (spelled "Elisabeth" in some sources, and later Elizabeth Odell), and a property deed relating to their children. The bulk of the collection relates to Samuel R. Thurston's political career as a delegate for the Oregon Territory in the U.S. Congress, and includes correspondence from constituents and his speeches. Correspondents include John Adair, Jesse Applegate, Wilson Blain, William P. Bryant, Asahel Bush, Anson Dart, William H. Gray, Lafayette Grover, William Harkness, David Hill, Hezekiah Johnson, William King, Hall J. Kelley, Joseph Lane, Asa L. Lovejoy, James W. Nesmith, Samuel Parker, Josiah L. Parrish, William B. Preston, Nicholas Shrum, Henry H. Spalding, J. Q. Thornton, and others. Thurston's papers also include transcribed versions of his diary entries, his personal correspondence to Elizabeth Thurston, and documents relating to his death in 1851.
The bulk of other family papers in this collection relate to Elizabeth Thurston, and include correspondence, her biography of Samuel R. Thurston, an essay, and a speech. The Thurstons' children, George Henry Thurston and Elizabeth Blandina Thurston (later Elizabeth Blandina Stowell), are represented through an 1867 property deed made out to them.
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.
The bulk of this series concerns Samuel R. Thurston's political career as a delegate in U.S. Congress, and includes correspondence from constituents in the Oregon Territory.
Frequent topics of discussion in correspondence are the Oregon Donation Land Law; current events in the Oregon Territory; the legal status of John McLoughlin's claim in Oregon City, and of lots sold from McLoughlin's claim to Euro-American emigrants; and the Oregon Statesman and Oregon Spectator newspapers. Other notable correspondence includes a letter from Peter H. Burnett, relating his role in the formation of the California state government; letters from William P. Bryant concerning his resignation as chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court; and a letter from Henry H. Spalding about his position as postmaster and the execution of five Cayuse men for the Whitman killings.
Thurston's political activities are also represented through his speeches to Congress, most of which concern the Oregon Territory and the Oregon Donation Land Law. These speeches include derogatory language and sentiments towards John McLoughlin, Indigenous peoples, and Black Americans.
Other papers in this series include personal correspondence, particularly Thurston's letters to his wife, Elizabeth; transcribed diary entries detailing his travel to and work in Washington, D.C.; Thurston's notes and writings; receipts and promissory notes; agreements; a commission as a notary public in Maine; and documents relating to his death.