Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 17.djvu/465



CORRESPONDENCE 457

lius requested me to make the statement of the facts and use his name in reference to this matter.

Respectfully submitted,

EZRA FISHER.

Now as I have a little spare paper I wish to state a few facts. I visited the Marysville church, Benton Co., eighty miles above Oregon City by land and 160 by water, Satur- day and Sabbath, the first and] second days in May. Preach- ed both days and visited four days in their bounds. The weather was unusually rainy, having been preceded by heavy rains for ten days so that all the streams were high, and most of the members living at a distance could not attend. The church had no meeting for business; on Saturday I preached to eight persons; Sabbath to about sixty-five. The facts touching the history of this church are interesting. Brother Hill from Missouri, having sustained himself by teaching and! practicing medicine in Albany, about 15 miles below, on the east side of the river, while he preached on Sabbaths, was invited by a brother to visit and preach to the people in Marysville on Sabbath. Br. Hill complied with the request and discovered such indications of Divine favor as induced him to repeat his appointments, till he soon found that Providence manifestly called him to visit from house to house through the day and to preach each evening in some of the sparse settlements. He continued his labors about two months, during which time he baptized fourteen con- verts, numbers of old 1 professors were revived and a church was constituted in Marysville, the county seat of Benton County, one of the most commanding points on the Wil- lamette River. The church has since increased till it now numbers 30 members; others will unite by baptism and pro- fession during the summer. The church have voted to build a neat house of worship, 30 feet by 40, paint the outside and finish the inside, and have contracted the work at $2500, to be finished next Sept. By these providential interpositions the interests of the Baptist denomination in the county are