Praying for Those in Authority: Washington County

 

Mt. Hood from Washington County, OR

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31: 8-9 NIV

The city of Portland lies within three counties, Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington. Washington County is mostly made up of the Tualatin Valley which is separated from the northwest edge of Portland by the Tualatin Mountains.

One of the smart things Portland did in 1850 was to build a plank road to connect Portland with the Tualatin Valley, ensuring the commerce of Oregon centered on Portland rather than Oregon City. The Tualatin Valley, which contains larger towns such as Beaverton, Forest Grove, and Hillsboro (the county seat), is surrounded by mountains. The Chehalem Mountains separate it from the Willamette Valley itself, and it is bordered on the north and east by the Coast Range. While much of the area is urbanized and Washington County is the second most populous county in the state, it is also an area known for timber and for wine growing.

Washington County, OR

This rich valley was one of the first settled, the first farmers seeing its value by 1840. There are many firsts in the Tualatin Valley. Joe Meek, the first Sheriff of Oregon, lived there and is buried in the cemetery at the Old Scotch Church. Tabitha Moffit Brown, “The Mother of Oregon,” saw the plight of the orphans who lost their parents on the Oregon Trail and established the Oregon Orphan Asylum and School which eventually became Pacific University.

The first sawmill in the Tualatin Valley, leading to the establishment of the timber industry, was built by Thomas Hicklin Denneys, a member of a group of interconnected families from Indiana who settled near Fanno Creek in Washington County in 1851.

It is easy to forget that Oregon was settled before the Civil War, and that during the formative years the issue of slavery was very much undecided. In those days there was a strong, organized group who favored making Oregon, and the entire Pacific Northwest, a slave-holding region. There was another group against slavery, but who were racist and wanted a “white’s only” state. They voted against slavery but for the black exclusion laws. These eventually won the vote and Oregon became anti-slavery but also excluded free blacks. However, there was another group time has forgotten, largely because they were considered fanatics and were politically marginalized. These were the abolitionists who were anti-slavery and in favor of an integrated society.

 While not much has been written about the abolitionists in Oregon during those pre-state days, in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, winter, 2019, Jim M. Labbe published The Colored Brother’s Few Defenders: Oregon Abolitionists and their Followers. Our information comes from this article.

The Hicklin, Denneys, and Baxter families that came to Oregon also lived near each other in Indiana in an area just north of the Ohio River. Mostly members and ministers in Methodist and Baptist churches, the families were also abolitionist and became part of the Underground Railroad, helping fugitive slaves escape as they came over the Ohio River from the upper south. Henry Hicklin, patriarch of one of the families who settled in Oregon, had an uncle, Rev. Thomas Hicklin, who had a reputation for thwarting slave hunters and providing safe passage for every escaping slave that came into his area. Another uncle was a Methodists circuit rider who covered the state of Indiana and preached abolitionism and organized anti-slavery societies. Out of these organizations was established, in 1848, one of the few biracial colleges attempted before the Civil War, and the Baxter/Hicklin/Denneys families were involved.

With that kind of background, it is unsurprising that the group of families that settled in Washington County continued their efforts in Oregon in the face of strong pro-slavery ideology. They joined forces with like-minded neighbors in the Fanno Creek area, including the Fanno family, Tigards, McKays, and Tuckers, and eventually organized the first political anti-slavery meeting in the Oregon Territory, the Oregon Free Soil Convention held in Albany on June 27, 1855. About 40 men (not counting women and children) voted to reject slavery and called for the overthrow of the institution. They were roundly condemned as fanatics in the press of the day.

They continued to resist the establishment of slavery and the black exclusion laws until Oregon became a state in 1859. Thomas H. Denneys, who built the first sawmill, also helped establish the Republican Party in Oregon, a party more in line with their convictions.

Today Washington County is governed by a five-member Board of Commissioners. Currently the Commissioners are Kathryn Harrington, Nafisa Fai, Pam Treece, Roy Rogers, and Jerry Willey.

The Sheriff is Pat Garrett. His office recently solved a cold case murder from 1974 based on a ballistics comparison and match from 1976, the oldest known match to solve such a case. Pray for the Sheriff and his office.

Pray for the “remnant,” like the early Oregon abolitionists, who take a stand for righteousness even when it isn’t popular.