Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/192



180 SAMUEL OYAL THURSTON

to erect ice houses, I gave them the name of Col. J. Taylor. 1 They said [they] should write to him, and would enter into the ice trade from Oregon down the coast. After they left I went to see John Bell, Senator from Tennessee, about bring- ing in the Indian bill. Then attended a session of the House occupied in choosing a door-keeper. House postponed the order of the House to elect its officers till the first of March 1851. During the session I wrote a letter to Mr. Crane of the N. Y. Ev. Post relative to going to Oregon to start a paper, also a letter to Blain about the news of election of the House and the steamers. Today I sent two gold dollars and fifty cents in silver to the Louisville Journal for James M. Moore, and lest it might be lost, wrote a separate letter to the editor appraising him of the fact. Also wrote to the Presbyterian for Robert Moore. Sent a card to the Spectator, and the answer of the Sec. of the Navy in relation to the British vessel carrying troops from Vancouver to Nesqually in 1849, with a note accompanying same, franked 18 patent reports of 48 to Oregon. After attending to various other business I went to bed, but after I had gone to bed I received a letter by mail from E. Cranston, 2 Ohio, wishing information relative to Oregon. He had written me once before to which I had replied, and he had published my reply in his village paper. After this I went to sleep.

January 20, 1850 This morning attended class meeting and preaching meeting from the following text, 2nd Chapter, 5th verse of Revelations, "Remember therefore from whence thou hast fallen and repent and do thy first work over else I will come quickly and overturn thy candle-stick out of its place except thou repent." The tendency of the discourse was to prove that a person once converted to God could fall from grace again, which position was maintained by a most con- clusive course of reasoning. After meeting I wrote a letter to my much loved wife in which I told her about my dream

1 Col. James Taylor, residing at Astoria.

2 Ephraim Cranston, who came to Oregon in 1851, settling with his family in Marion county. He was the father of Mrs. A. H. Breyman, now living in

Portland.