1869 Meeting Minutes of the Congregational Association of Oregon

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One part of a record book compiled by the Congregational Association of Oregon, with this part containing the minutes of the annual meeting held in 1869. The Association's members were church ministers and other delegates from Oregon and bordering areas. They met annually to share reports, promote Christian education, support special projects and address internal disputes. Some of the topics covered in this part of the record book include: -- Report by Henry Spalding, a missionary who had been teaching at the Nez Perce Reservation, complaining of attacks against the church in the press; -- Creation of a committee to address these attacks; -- Acceptance of routine reports; -- "Report on the Religious Condition of the Country" by D.B. Gray, celebrating gains by the church; -- Report on Executive Document No. 38 [an account of the "Whitman Massacre"], criticizing it as being tainted by Catholic testimony, and stating that the Jesuit priests who contributed to the report "did themselves instigate violence to the mission, resulting in the massacre" [note: Henry Spalding had long argued this viewpoint, but it is not credited by recent historians]; -- Resolutions in support of the Protestant missionaries connected to the Whitmans, especially Henry Spalding; -- "Report of the Committee on Home Missions," reporting that the American Home Missionary Society rejected the Association's request for support of an Agent for the Pacific Northwest, and recommending alternatives; -- Report on Indian Affairs, recommending against a educational plan that would have separated Native children from their parents permanently like "foundling orphans"; -- Recommendation that all member churches join more closely with Temperance groups; -- "Narrative of Churches" describing growth and challenges of member churches over the past year; -- Resolution in favor of the American Home Missionary Society sending a minister to Puget Sound; -- Statistical table of church membership.