Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/116

110

First among the founders of Pacific University must be mentioned Rev. Harvey Clark, the man who was first on the field and sowed the first seed that was eventually, after many changes, to mature into an institution of higher education. There is not much to be found in the form of written record concerning Mr. Clark, but his place in the community was a large one, if it is possible to judge from the traditions which have been handed down of his quiet yet beneficent influence. Mr. Clark was a native of Vermont and began his life as a stonemason. When he decided to seek a college education and study for the ministry his friends were inclined to oppose him, fearing that a good mason would be spoiled in the making of an indifferent minister. He was not to be turned from his purpose, however, and finally graduated from Oberlin College and was ordained to the ministry. It was his desire to give his life service to the West, and soon after his marriage he moved to Independence, Missouri, where he engaged in preaching and teaching until 1840, when he started for Oregon. The life of a missionary appealed to him, and, like most of his early associates, he intended to work among the natives in a foreign field. He was not the representative of any of the societies, but came independently, relying upon his own efforts for support. He located on a claim of land near the present site of Hillsboro and engaged in the work of farming, preaching, and teaching. Somewhere near the present site of Glencoe he established a school, which was the first to be established on the Tualatin Plain and one of the earliest in Oregon. Like those early schools it was for the children of the In-