Standing in the Gap for Oregon

For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:4 Washington County is one of the oldest counties in the state. Originally called Twality, it was established by the first Provisional government in 1843. Washington is one of the triumvirate of counties that make up the Portland Metropolitan Area and includes some of the larger communities and suburbs of the city of Portland such as Hillsboro (the county seat) and Beaverton. Forest Grove is the oldest city in the county, and therefore one of the oldest settlements in the state. With all that rich history and current bustling activity in the county it would seem “going deeper” would not be hard, but it was difficult at first to find a focus. However, I eventually noticed that my research kept going back to the Sheriff’s Office. The current Sheriff of Washington County is Pat Garret...

Source: M.O. Stevens at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father … Genesis 26:18   I came across the history of the Tualatin Plains Presbyterian Church, or “Old Scotch Church,”  while doing research on Washington County.  Among the early settlers in the Tualatin Valley were those from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, many of whom had been members of the Free Church of Scotland back home, and who settled near one another in Oregon.     The Free Church of Scotland was a group that broke off from the state-authorized Church of Scotland in 1843, objecting to the state’s interference in church affairs.    The following, from the Old Scotch Church website, is a quote from minutes taken by the  first minister, Rev. George Ross:   "Columbia Academy, Washington County, Oregon, 16th November, 1873. After a sermon this day by the Rev. A.L. Lindsley, D.D., ...

Tualatin River You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it;  The river  of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it.  Psalm 65:9   “The best laid plans of mice and men go oft astray.” Robbie Burns said that, although his poem was in the Scottish dialect. My intended schedule for writing blog posts was once again upended by outside events. Due to the series of ice storms in our area we were without power for five days and without internet for another four. This was followed by the hospitalization of a family member (who is home healing now).  So…here is what I was working on when so rudely interrupted:    Washington County is the second most populous county in Oregon second only to Multnomah, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The largest city and county seat is Hillsboro.    In July of 1843 the Provisional Legislature of Oregon created the original four districts: Clackamas, Mario...