History Minutes: George Abernethy

  Oregon Historical Research Library // bb003864

This Sesquicentennial History Minute is from The Oregon Encyclopedia, a statewide project supported by Portland State University, the Oregon Historical Society, and the Oregon Council of Teachers of English, with generous support from the Oregon Cultural Trust.  This History Minute is from an entry written by David Peterson del Mar. 

Born in New York City in 1807, George Abernethy came to Oregon in 1840 as part of the "Great Reinforcement," one of a group of men and women sent to support the Methodists' endeavors in the Willamette Valley.  An astute politician, Abernethy became Oregon's first and only provisional governor in 1845.  His power extended to the press, and he controlled Oregon's first newspaper, the Oregon Spectator, from 1846 to 1855.

As governor, Abernethy proposed a moderate course during the tumultuous years between Oregon's organization and its admission to the Union.  His first message to the legislature, in late 1845, requested that it institute a militia, adopt a standard of weights and measures, and survey a new road into the Willamette Valley.  The governor wanted a pilot service to help ships cross the Columbia River bar, strong schools, and a system of land claims that did not require settlers to travel long distances.  In 1847, Abernethy guided Oregon's response to the killings at Whitman Mission and contributed funds to finance the militia that fought in the ensuing war.

Abernethy was a significant philanthropist and in 1849 was among the major contributors to the Clackamas County Female Seminary and purchased Portland's first fire engine in 1856.  Throughout his life, he worked on behalf of the Methodist Church

and its causes.  George Abernethy cut a wide swath through Oregon's religious, economic, and political life, and his legacy was felt for decades after his death in 1877.