Archives West Finding Aid

James Gerrish was a Methodist circuit preacher who worked in Oregon and Washington in the 1850s-1860s. He was also one of the earliest pioneers to arrive in the Pacific Northwest via the Oregon Trail, having travelled from Missouri in 1844.

A native of England, James Gerrish was born on March 14, 1799, in Frome, Somersetshire. His father was also named James, and his mother was named Ann. Gerrish moved with his wife, Mary Ann Jones, to the United States in 1825. They migrated through several states including Alabama (1820s) and Texas (1830s), before arriving in Missouri in 1842. Along with his wife and children, Gerrish joined the Cornelius Gilliam Expedition to Oregon two years later. They first settled in the Tualatin Plains, in the area of what is now Hillsboro in Washington County. There they were neighbors to John Smith Griffin, another notable early pioneer.

By 1850, Gerrish gained employment working for the Methodist Episcopal Church as a circuit preacher. He would serve in many assignments across Oregon and Washington, while his wife and family remained home on the family farm. His first assignment was in the Yamhill District of northwestern Oregon. Two years later, he was working along the Columbia River, serving The Dalles and Vancouver. He visited many other locations including Astoria, Oswego, Portland, St. Helens, McMinnville, Clatsop Plains.

James and Mary Ann Gerrish had three daughters and one son: Mary Ann, who married Henry Sewell of the Tualatin Plains; Martha, who married Alanson Hinman of Forest Grove; Ellen Texanna, who married Darling Smith of Yamhill/Washington County; and James William, who married Mary Patton.