In 1833 the Methodist Foreign Mission Society drew up a plan to send missionaries to Oregon. Reverend Jason Lee was superintendent of the mission, accompanied by Reverend Daniel Lee and teacher Cyrus Shephard. The missionaries settled in the Willamette Valley, ten miles north of what is now Salem. In 1841 they moved to Salem and established a headquarters for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Jason Lee was one of the thirteen charter members of the church.
In 1849 the Oregon and California Mission Conference was organized to include missions in Oreogn, Idaho, Washington, California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and part of Montana. Most of the churches within the conference were in the Willamette Valley. By 1852 the Oregon and California Mission Conference divided, creating The Oregon Conference. The two conferences remained independent until 1969 when they formed the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference.
The Oregon Methodist Episcopal Church (OMEC) papers include church membership, General Conference issues, charges brought against pastors and other church administrators, votes on women delegates, a plan for the Salem Circuit, and correspondence from two U.S. Presidential secretaries.
These papers are arranged into three series: I. Judicial records, II. Business records, and III. Presidential correspondence.
Items are arranged alphabetically by name or subject.
Materials are open to researchers.
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[Identification of item], Oregon Methodist Episcopal Church Administrative records, Archives and Special Collections, Mark O. Hatfield Library, Willamette University.
The Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church holds historical information about the organization as well as organizational archives.
The documents in this series detail various charges brought against pastors of the Oregon Methodist Episcopal Church. Hearings were conducted by the Judicial Counsel, the Supreme Court of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In some cases the transcript of the trial is included along with statements by witnesses in the case.
Papers related to the court case.
Papers include correspondence, records of the trial court, records of the Judicial Conference, and a statement by Thomas Van Scoy.
Papers include correspondence, records of the trial court, records of the Judicial Conference, and a statement by Thomas Van Scoy.
Papers include correspondence, records of the trial court, records of the Judicial Conference, and a statement by Thomas Van Scoy.
Papers include correspondence, records of the trial court, records of the Judicial Conference, and a statement by Thomas Van Scoy.
Papers include correspondence, records of the trial court, records of the Judicial Conference, and a statement by Thomas Van Scoy.
Papers include correspondence, records of the trial court, records of the Judicial Conference, and a statement by Thomas Van Scoy.
Charges in the court case along with handwritten notes.
Charges in the court case along with handwritten notes.
Charges in the court case along with handwritten notes.
Case papers and trial documents.
Case papers and trial documents.
Charges, correspondence, and testimony.
This series contains church business reports dealing with such matters as admission of women delegates, education, and information on the operation of the Oregon and California conferences.
Results of the vote.
Information regarding Church needs.
Correspondence
Contains a report
Contains a report.
Includes a committee report on the consolidation of Willamette University and Portland University with a statement by Thomas Van Scoy, information on the Bishop Hamilton Endowment Fund, and information about the Methodist Educational Convention.
Includes a petition concerning Santiam Academy, a committee report about the Willamette University Endowment, and educational reports from 1851 and 1853.
Signed by James Wilbur, among others.
Organization of committees.
Information about the endowment fund.
Various reports and documents dealing with lay workers in the OMEC.
List of OMEC ministers in Oregon.
Report on the legal meaning of the word "minister" and how it applies to the OMEC marriage ceremony.
Northwest participation in the congress.
Sale of property owned by the Milwaukie Circuit.
Correspondence
Contains a resolution.
Articles of incorporation and related papers.
Reports on church activities.
Contains an empty envelope.
Contains various financial reports.
Route of the circuit rider for the Salem district.
Reports on various areas of interest in the OMEC.
Contains the constitution for the union.
Correspondence regarding a retirement scheme for ministerial personnel in the OMEC.
Contains a report.
Information regarding the selling of lots owned by OMEC.
This series consists of correspondence from the secretaries of President Lincoln and President T. R. Roosevelt to church officials.
Letters from President T. R. Roosevelt to Bishop W. F. Mallalieu, written by George Cortelyou, secretary to President Roosevelt.
Letters from President Abraham Lincoln, in reply to the Oregon Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church's resolution of 1860, written by John Hay, secretary to President Lincoln.