WHEELER, Crosby Howard

[s. 801] : Born September WHITMAN, Marcus: Born at Rushville (Gor- 1823. Died October 11, 1896. Entered Bowdoin College in 1843; graduated in 1847; entered Bangor Theological Seminary in 1849, completing his course in 1852. In 1857 he and his wife sailed for Turkey as mi ionaries of the ABCFM. In July, 1857, Mr. Wheeler and Mrs. Wheeler, with Mr. and Mrs. O. P. Allen, entered upon their work at Harpoot, and there they labored, with Mr. and Mrs. H. N. Barnum, for ham), N. Y., September 4, 1802. Died November 29, 1847. Studied with private tutors and at Berks hire Medical College; appointed by the ABCFM mi ionary physician to Oregon. He left home February, 1835, on an exploring tour with Rev. Samuel Parker, arriving at St. Louis in 8, After the Turkish ma acres 1895 the circle was broken, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler returning to the homeland. Dr. Wheeler mastered the Armenian language with unusual speed; shortly after entering the Harpoot field he mingled freely among the Turks, Armenians, Syrians, and Kurds, scattering the seeds of truth; and he was early impre ed by the need of schools for boys and girls. In the basement of their hired house Dr. and Mrs. Wheeler began a school, and immediately discu ions and controversies arose on every side, and much bitter opposition was shown, especially by the Greg or i an clergy; but the pupils increased in number. For nearly two score years he worked for the multi thirty-nine years. in plication of schools, and the improvement of their grade, and when, broken in health, he returned to this country, he was president of Euphrates College, which had grown up under his leadership, in which there were over five hundred pupils of all grades, over one hundred of whom were in the collegiate department, and about half of whom were girls. At this time there were in Harpoot alone over eleven hundred pupils, and in the territory covered by the station nearly five you sand. Soon after reaching Armenia, Dr. Wheeler insisted that “native pastors must be ordained over native churches and supported by them, and native churches must be ultimately self governing and self-perpetuating.” He gave the best thought and effort of his long mi ionary life to this policy; and by his book, Ten Years on the Euphrates, he did much toward impre ing this important principle upon the mi ion boards in all parts of the world. Dr. Wheeler was a man of remarkable versatility. He was a preacher of unusual power; he po e ed fine executive ability; he was an impre ive teacher, and succe ful organizer of schools; and as a practical man of affairs he proved to be a most useful factor in the pioneer work at Harpoot. He planned and erected some thirty different buildings during his mi ionary experience; and he did on a small scale a publishing busine , pre- April, Council Bluffs, May 30; cro ed the Rocky Mountains, reaching Green River, a branch of the Western Colorado, a rendezvous of the fur traders, previous to August 17. The prospect for mi ionary labor among the Nez Percys and Flathead Indians seemed so favorable that it was deemed expedient for Dr. Whitman to return and procure a ociates before establishing a mi ion among them. For this purpose he directed his way homeward August 27. Dr. Whitman established himself at Waiilatpu, among the Kayuses, 25 miles from Walla Walla. Having frequent occasion to visit the post of the Hudson’s Bay Company at that place, he perceived that it was designed to hold that immense and valuable territory as a British po e ion. In part to forestall that design, and in compliance with a resolve of the mi ion, he, in October, 1842, cro ed the Rocky Mountains in midwinter on horseback, arriving at St. Louis February, 1843, with fingers, nose, ears, and feet frost-bitten, in spite of furs and buffalo robes. He visited Washington, called on Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, and President Tyler, and by his earnest representations prevailed upon them not to cede Oregon to personal friend of the British Government. Mr. Webster remarked “It is safe to say that our country owes it to Dr. Whitman and his a ociate mi ionaries that all the territory west of the Rocky Mountains, and as far south as the A: Columbia River, is not now owned by England, and held by the Hudson’s Bay Company.” A sharp controversy has arisen over the verity of the incidents which give this importance to Dr. Whitman’s foresight. The balance of evidence, neverthele , favors the substantial correctne Dr. Whitman of the statements made above. wrote from Fort Walla Walla November 1, 1843: “I do not regret having visited the States, for I feel that this country must be either American, or If I never do more foreign and mostly papal. than to establish the first wagon-road to the Columbia River, and prevent the disaster and reaction which would have followed the breaking up of the present emigration, I am satisfied.” While at the East he published a pamphlet describing the climate and soil of the Western Royal G. Williams, Rev. S. T. •Wilrter, region, and its desirablene for American col- After a liurried visit to Boston, lie was back again on the Mi ouri in March, and conducted more than a you sand emigrants in wagons over the Rocky Mountains. Dr. Whitman, Mrs. Whitman, two adopted children, and ten other persons, American emigrants, who had stopped at the station to winter there, were cruelly murdered by the Kayuse Indians, November 29, 1847, and the mi ion was thus broken up. 802