David Leslie (1797 – March 1, 1869) was an American missionary and pioneer in what became the state of Oregon. A native of New Hampshire, he joined Jason Lee as a missionary at the Methodist Mission in the Oregon Country in 1836. In that region he participated in the early movement to start a government and his home was used for some of these meetings. With the closing of the mission he became a founder of the city of Salem, Oregon, and board member of the Oregon Institute, which later became Willamette University. Early life Born in New Hampshire in the town of Washington, Leslie lost his parents while he was young. Born in 1797, Leslie was the son of a minister (George Leslie) and received an education first in Salem, Massachusetts, and later at the Wilbraham Academy where fellow missionary Jason Lee would later attend. There David Leslie studied languages, especially French. He then received a license to preach at the age of 23 in 1820. Oregon While still in New England, Leslie began work with the Methodist Episcopal Church. There he began a working relationship with Jason Lee. Lee then recruited Leslie to join the Methodist Mission in Oregon Country that Lee started in 1834. So in 1836, Leslie agreed to go to the Willamette Valley as the first set of reinforcements to the mission. Leslie, his wife Mary A. Kinney, and three daughters sailed around Cape Horn and arrived in Oregon on the Sumatra on September 7, 1837. Once in Oregon Lee assigned Leslie to be a magistrate for the area south of the Columbia River. Then in March 1838 Leslie was left in charge of the mission while Lee traveled back east again to secure more people for the mission in what would become the Great Reinforcement of 1839. After Lee returned Leslie helped to start a branch mission with William H. Willson at Nisqually on the Puget Sound in modern Washington state. Then in 1840 from August through September David Leslie was in charge of a small group that explored further north, nearly reaching Russian-America to look for other locations for future branches of the mission.

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Overview

David Leslie (1797 – March 1, 1869) was an American missionary and pioneer in what became the state of Oregon. A native of New Hampshire, he joined Jason Lee as a missionary at the Methodist Mission in the Oregon Country in 1836. In that region he participated in the early movement to start a government and his home was used for some of these meetings. With the closing of the mission he became a founder of the city of Salem, Oregon, and board member of the Oregon Institute, which later became Willamette University. Early life Born in New Hampshire in the town of Washington, Leslie lost his parents while he was young. Born in 1797, Leslie was the son of a minister (George Leslie) and received an education first in Salem, Massachusetts, and later at the Wilbraham Academy where fellow missionary Jason Lee would later attend. There David Leslie studied languages, especially French. He then received a license to preach at the age of 23 in 1820. Oregon While still in New England, Leslie began work with the Methodist Episcopal Church. There he began a working relationship with Jason Lee. Lee then recruited Leslie to join the Methodist Mission in Oregon Country that Lee started in 1834. So in 1836, Leslie agreed to go to the Willamette Valley as the first set of reinforcements to the mission. Leslie, his wife Mary A. Kinney, and three daughters sailed around Cape Horn and arrived in Oregon on the Sumatra on September 7, 1837. Once in Oregon Lee assigned Leslie to be a magistrate for the area south of the Columbia River. Then in March 1838 Leslie was left in charge of the mission while Lee traveled back east again to secure more people for the mission in what would become the Great Reinforcement of 1839. After Lee returned Leslie helped to start a branch mission with William H. Willson at Nisqually on the Puget Sound in modern Washington state. Then in 1840 from August through September David Leslie was in charge of a small group that explored further north, nearly reaching Russian-America to look for other locations for future branches of the mission.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

David Leslie (1797 – March 1, 1869) was an American missionary and pioneer in what became the state of Oregon. A native of New Hampshire, he joined Jason Lee as a missionary at the Methodist Mission in the Oregon Country in 1836. In that region he participated in the early movement to start a government and his home was used for some of these meetings. With the closing of the mission he became a founder of the city of Salem, Oregon, and board member of the Oregon Institute, which later became Willamette University.

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