Parrish Junior High named 100 Years Ago

100 years ago Parrish Junior High got its name.

February 9th, 1924

By our standards today, the process was pretty quick. They announced the site in September of 1923.

September 11th, 1923

Immediately its proximity to what was then a highway was concerning.

Sept. 13th, 1923

Nevertheless they went ahead with a vote, and voters approved.

Oct. 10th and Nov. 14th, 1923

There was some jockeying for the design contract, but the School District finally settled on William C. Knighton, who had done some earlier work for the District that was not built and the district maybe owed him a little.

December 12th, 1923

With President Harding's recent death in office, his name was popular and there were multiple straw votes taken. A name nodding to the highway and street was also popular.

January 27th and February 5th, 1924

We know how it turned out.

February 13th, 1924

It was, I think, the first time a school here had been named for someone local.

There was a group of schools named for Presidents: Grant, Washington, McKinley, Lincoln. And a group named for their neighborhoods: Highland, Englewood, Salem Heights, Yew Park.

Richmond was named after the Richmond Addition, and it really is a neighborhood name. But it's also named for John P Richmond, who was a Methodist missionary and associate of Jason Lee, but he does not figure much in our Salem history.

J. L Parrish is much more of a figure in our Salem history, and it seems to me that this is another instance of the 1920s cultural project on the Pioneer Myth.

January 26th and January 29th, 1924

In fact, it seems very likely that this was prompted by, and in direct response to, the arrival of Robert Booth's Circuit Rider statue that would be formally dedicated later that spring. It had arrived in town just a couple of weeks earlier. Note the mention of circuit-riding in the piece on Parrish.

NEW SCHOOL NAMED
FOR J. L. PARRISH
PIONEER OF OREGON

Junior High Institution Christened by Board of Education Last Night Plea Made by Hal D. Patton Miss Grace Snook Reports on Defects of Salem School Children

The J. L. Parrish Junior High School is to be the name of the new junior high school, accordng to action taken last night by the Salem school board.

The decision to name the the school for an early pioneer of the Oregon country followed a brief talk by Hal Patton, who as the son of a pioneer, said he made the plea for recognition of a pioneer man. Mr. Patton gave a brief resume of the achievements of Josiah Parrish who came around Cape Horn with Jason Lee in the ship Lausanne and who served as blacksmith for the Oregon missionaries for several years.

He served for several years as circuit rider from Portland to Corvallis and was appointed Indian agent by President Taylor with jurisdiction from northern Oregon to the present California line. He served later as chaplain at the state penitentiary.

The new school building is to be located on what was formerly the old Parrish donation land claim and near what is known as Parrish grove. Mr. Patton characterized Mr. Parrish as one of the most liberal givers of Salem's pioneers in the matter of education. Considerable of his property was given at the time of his death to Willamette university, and he also gave the land on which Lee Mission cemetery is located. His wife gave the land for the first orphanage in the state which is now a part of the Salem hospital.

A daughter of J. L. Parrish, Mrs. Josie Stewart, is well known in Salem. Three grandchildren, Mrs. Hallie Parrish Hinges, Miss Nina Parfish and Richard Slater also live in Salem, while another granddaughter, Mrs. E. C. Cox, lives in Seattle. Mrs. N. Parrish of North Summer street, is a daughter-in-law.

The vote on a name by the business men of the chamber of commerce was very light, according to figures sent in by the manager. The vote in the schools of the children as reported varied with the district, and members of the board expressed the opinion that various outside influences had affected the vote. Members, while voting unanimously for the name as finally chosen, expressed a hope that those who had voted would not feel that after all the vote was not of any consequence....

Parrish DLC (Marion County)

Writing in "A State of Open Warfare: the Chetko Massacre revisited," David G. Lewis offers a qualified positive assessment of Parrish's activity as Indian Agent:

Indian agents had a tough job, having to defend the tribes and their rights while not upsetting the settlers too much despite all of their lawless actions. Ironically. when unlawfully attacked by White militia, the tribes were seen as the people who needed to change, who needed to adapt to the lawful ways of the White American civilization. The following narratives from Parrish shows just how much he cared for the tribes by trying to hold the lawless accountable for their actions. Yet even so he is unable to escape is personal bias. Josiah Parrish was a minister in the Methodist church and while he served many years as an Indian Agent in Oregon, he continually leaned in favor of “saving the men” through cultural assimilation including the elimination of the savagery of their culture.

A few days later in February the paper had a feature on Parrish, again hitting the circuit rider theme.

February 17th, 1924

From this piece:

STATE OWES MUCH TO MAN FOR
WHOM NEW SCHOOL WAS NAMED

A liberal contributor to Salem, a pioneer who brought to the out-of-the-way places of the Willamette valley the consolation of religion when he was a ciruit rider, visited the tiny settlements from Portland to points in Lane county, a man who contributed much to the welfare of the Oregon Indian tribes, honest and trust-worthy a man and an officer; such is the character given Josiah Lamberson Parrish; by early Oregon historians.

Mr. Parrish, for whom the new Salem Junior high school has been named by the Salem school board, was born in Onondaga county, New York, October 14, 1806. He was married In 1833 to Elizabeth Winn and in 1839 he was appointed blacksmith to the Oregon mission by the New York board of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Was With Jason Lee

He came with Jason Lee on the ship Lausanne and landed in Oregon in 1840 having come around Cape Horn. For two years he served as blacksmith with the mlssion and in 1843 he was appointed to the Indian mission at the mouth of the Columbia river. This mission closed in 1846 and he was appointed circuit rider between Portland and Corvallis on the west side of the Willamette. In 1848 an east side circuit was added between Molalla Prairie, near Oregon City, and Spoors Landing in Lane county.

President Taylor appointed him Indian agent in 1849 and by a curious mistake his commission was made out to Joseph L. Parrish and he was compelled to transact all business as deputy to Joseph L. Parrish. When he was reappointed by President Pierce this mistake was rectified.

Appointed Indian Agent

Mr. Parrish's territory as Indian agent extended from the Rockies to the Pacific ocean and from the straits of Fuca to the northern California line. Because of ill health he resigned just after the Rogue River war and in 1856 was placed on the retired list by the church.

For 16 years he served, as chaplain at the Oregon state penitentiary, for which service he received no compensation.

He was married three times. His first wife died in 1859. They had four sons, Lamberson, Norman, Samuel and Charles. Lamberson died in 1840. Two daughters of Norman Parrish live in Salem. They are Mrs. Hallie Parrish Hinges and Miss Nina Parrish.

Other Descendants Here

Two children of Mrs. Hinges, Karl Hinges and Mrs. George Nelson, also live here. Their children, Norman Parrish Hinges and George Nelson, junior, are great-great-grandchildren of Josiah L. Parrish. Mrs. E. M. Cox of Seattle is another daughter of Norman Parrish. She has a son and daughter.

Two children of Charles Parrish are living. One, Sam Parrish, is the only male descendant of the circuit rider living. His home is in Spokane. Mrs. George Hagny of Canyon City is a daughter of Charles Parrish.

The first wife gave to the city the site of the Lee Mission cemetery and also five acres for the first orphanage in the state which is now a part of the Salem hospital.

Mr. Parrish married Jennie L. Lichlenthaler in I860 and two of their daughters live In Oregon. One is Mrs. Josle Stewart, formerly of Salem, who is housemother at one of the sorority houses at Oregon Agricultural college, Corvallis. Her son, Richard Slater, is associated with the Oregon Gravel company.

Gave Name Chemawa

Another daughter is Mrs. Grace Stevens of Portland. The third wife was Mrs. Mattie A. Pierce, his second wife having died in 1887.

A son of the pioneer on whose donation land claim the Parrish junior high, school will stand, built the building in which the present First National bank is located.

The name Chemawa was given by Mr. Parrish to the Salem Indian school while he was in Indian work. The name he took from a small tribe located near Wheatland ferry on the Wlllamete river.

He died In Salem May 31, 1895

May 31st, June 1st, and June 3rd, 1895

See also:

• Here, "Circuit Rider and Lumber King: Two Generations of Robert Booth at the Capitol" (2021) and "Alexander Phimister Proctor Visits Salem after Roosevelt Statue Dedicated in 1922" (2022)
• A little bit on the Leslie naming in 1926, which also highlighted circuit riding, "Historic Landmarks Commission to Consider old Leslie Junior High." (2020) We might come back to this, as it was not clear in 2020 how significant of a theme that was.
• Some on Hal Patton (with links to further pieces) in "George Sun's Speech at Hal Patton's 50th Features in our Current understanding of Chinatown" (2022) and "Cooke's goes back to 1870s, not just 1930s" (2023) 
• And on the grove, "Salem's First Attempt to Preserve Oaks? Parrish Grove Effort Failed 100 Years Ago" (2020)
  
• At Shineonsalem, a brief note on the Parrish House, and a longer note with details on its move to the AC Gilbert House complex. Also some on Elizabeth Winn Parrish.
• And at the SJ in a 2016 history column, "Parrish school a pioneer in more ways than one"