Hearts West (2 page)

MARY RICHARDSON & ELKANAH WALKER
The Missionaries

Is it advisable for me to go out [West] without a companion? This is rather a delicate question to ask. But as I view it of such importance, it will plead its own apology.

Missionary Elkanah Walker's letter to the American Missions Board
—March 16, 1837

You ought by all means, to have a good, healthy, patient, well-informed devotedly pious wife. There is a Mary Richardson of Baldwin, Maine, who has offered herself to the [Missionary] Board, but we cannot send her single. From her testimony, I should think her a good girl. If you have nobody in view, you might inquire about her.

American Missions Board Secretary William Armstrong's response to Elkanah Walker
—March 20, 1837

A
bright, blinding sunrise lit the small Richardson farm one April morning in Baldwin, Maine, in 1837. Mary Richardson, the eldest daughter of the family, stood in the living room folding her father's discarded newspapers. Casting a glance out the front window, she squinted hard into the haze that was turning the valley into a trembling distortion of itself. A cloud mercifully drifted in front of the sun and Mary was able to make out two riders approaching the house. She recognized one man to be a family friend, Dr. Lewis Whitney. The other rider was a stranger.

Assuming the men were on their way to visit her father, the twenty-six-year-old woman continued on with her housework. Moments later, her sister summoned her to the parlor to receive Dr. Whitney's companion, a lean, lanky gentlemen who had come to call on her. Once pleasantries were exchanged, a letter of introduction was presented to Mary.

As good fortune would have it I have learned today of an opportunity to send a line near you at least, by the bearer Mr. Walker and perhaps he will pass through Baldwin in which case I have invited him to call at your Father's on my account . . . If you receive this line, you will receive it as an introduction of the bearer - Mr. E. Walker to your kind regards, as a suitor for your heart and hand.

Should he thus present himself to you, the act will not be so hasty on his part as might at first seem - he has not been wholly unacquainted with you - though personally unknown.

Friend and fellow missionary student William Thayer
—April 17, 1837

Mary looked up from Thayer's letter and smiled a guarded smile at the bashful man. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Mary continued reading.

Elkanah Walker is a fine man and has been appointed by the American Board to go as a missionary to the Zoolah
[sic]
mission in South East
[sic],
Africa . . . Of his disposition . . . without flattery or puffing I number it among the kindest . . . Of his talents I cannot predicate any thing more than respectability. He is not brilliant, but he is exceedingly tormented with diffidence and therefore his first appearance speaks less for him than after-acquaintance would justify. In short, he is one of those men who must be known in order to be justly appreciated. As for his manners - look for yourself. If you can put up with somewhat of the uncultivated—If you can get by that obtrusive awkwardness which he will no doubt “lug in” directly in front of him when paying his addresses to you - If you find nothing insufferable in these . . . I think you can love the man. But you must judge for yourself. A husband is a husband notwithstanding he may be a missionary.

William Thayer—April 17, 1837

Mary was moved by the sentiment in the letter, but knew she would need to know more about this suitor before she could fully pass judgment. Based on looks alone Mary was unimpressed. She described him in her journal as being “a tall and rather awkward gentleman.”

Elkanah stood at six-foot-four and was quite self-conscious of his height. He was painfully shy and unassuming, so much so his friends said it was hard for him to even say amen at the end of his prayers. He was born on August 7, 1805, in North Yarmouth, Maine. He grew up on a farm, attended church regularly, and was the sixth child in a family of ten. From an early age he aspired to be a pastor. He entered the ministry shortly after he turned seventeen.

Elkanah and Mary shared a zeal for serving the Lord. Born on April 1, 1811, Mary knew by the age of ten that she would become a missionary. Like Elkanah, she also came from a large family; she had eleven brothers and sisters. After excelling in all her subjects at school and graduating with high marks, she went on to attend seminary. Once her formal training in missions was complete, she applied to the American Missions Board for a position in the West, but because she was single, her request was denied. Mary was deeply distressed over her circumstances. She briefly contemplated a proposal of marriage from a neighboring farmer, but he was not interested in the missions.

Ought I to bid adieu to all my cherished hopes and unite my destiny with that of a mere farmer with little education and no refinement? In a word, shall I escape the horrors of perpetual celibacy? Settle down with the vulgar? I cannot do it.

Mary Richardson—May 1836

Doctor Whitney and Elkanah Walker's visit that spring morning was brief. The men made their goodbyes and left Mary alone to reflect on the meeting. That evening she recorded her thoughts in her journal.

His remarks were good. But not delivered in a style the most energetic. After meeting, instead of shaking hands in a free cordial kind of way as I was anticipating, his attention seemed rather taken up in some other way . . . I saw nothing particularly interesting or disagreeable in the man, tho I pretty much made up my mind that he was not a missionary, but rather an ordinary kind of unaspiring man who was anxious to be looking up a settlement.

Mary Richardson—April 22, 1837

In spite of the uncomfortable first meeting, Elkanah dared to return to the Richardson home later that same evening with Reverend Noah Emerson, pastor of the local Congregational Church. The men were to attend a missions meeting in the area and stay over at the Richardsons' home. The following morning Mary and Elkanah had occasion to sit and talk about their desire to be missionaries to the “heathens.” After discussing their lives and discovering they shared a mutual friend, Elkanah made his intentions known to Mary.

“I suppose I am an accepted missionary,” he told her. “As I have no one engaged to go with me on my journey, I have come with the intention of offering myself to you.” Mary blushed, taken aback by his candor. Before she could respond to his bold declaration, her mother entered the room where the two were seated and invited them to join the other family members for breakfast prayer. Once the prayers were concluded, Mary excused herself from the others and returned to her room to think about the morning's events.

The opportunity to serve the Lord as a missionary was appealing, but she questioned the wisdom of becoming engaged to a mere stranger.

The conflict was rather severe. The hand of Providence appeared so plain that I could not but feel that there was something like duty about it, and yet how to go to work to feel satisfied and love him, I hardly know. But concluded the path of duty must prove the path of peace. I could discover a good foundation for true friendship.

Mary Richardson—April 23, 1837

After much prayer and deliberation, Mary accepted Elkanah's proposal. During their short engagement, the two spent countless hours taking long walks and buggy rides and talking. They shared their dreams and stories of their pasts with one another and within a month's time, they had fallen in love.

His affection for me appears to be becoming very strong and somewhat enthusiastic, and I think I love him full well enough. We sat up for the first time after eleven, that is to say until one, at the close of our interview he exclaimed: “This is the happiest evening I have ever passed. I can be happy anywhere if my Mary is with me.

I feel the angels are contemplating our conduct with pleasure.”

Mary Richardson—May 27, 1837

In June 1837, Elkanah said goodbye to his intended and traveled to Bangor, Maine, to complete his seminary training. During their five-month absence from one another, they sent letters back and forth, outlining plans for their life after their wedding and expressing their affections.

I love you, therefore I want you. If I could be with you this moment a more heartfelt kiss you never had than I would bestow. To fold you in my arms, hear from your faithful lips that I am still your dearest one would be sweet, sweet indeed.

Elkanah Walker—August 18, 1837

On Tuesday, November 7, Elkanah appeared unexpectedly at the Richardsons' home. Mary was thrilled to see her fiancé, and after supper the two enjoyed a beautiful moonlit walk. His visit was short, but he promised they would be together soon and onto serving the Lord. Shortly before Christmas, Mary received a letter from Elkanah with news of their joint missionary assignment. She recorded her sentiments in her journal. “The Board wishes him to go beyond the Rocky Mountains. The proposal strikes me favorable . . . They wish to be ready to start in April. I hope we shall be able to go.”

Between letters Elkanah had traveled to Independence, Missouri, to purchase supplies and make preparations for their journey across the plains. From there, he wrote to inform his soon-to-be bride what she needed to pack for the trip.

A change of clothes is all we want. Buckskin drawers are the best for riding on horseback. Our ladies should also have drawers to prevent being chafed in riding. We should carry no baggage excepting such as what we want to wear or use on the journey . . . all the baggage we carry will cost us one dollar per pound.

Elkanah Walker—December 18, 1837

The missionary board told Mary and Elkanah to be ready to leave for the West by March 20, 1838. The pair then decided to wed earlier than originally planned. They exchanged vows on Monday, March 5, at 11:00
a.m.
in front of a small audience of friends and family. It was a Richardson tradition that brides wore black during their wedding ceremonies to symbolize the grief over parting from their relatives. When Mary bid farewell to her parents that day, it was the last time she ever saw them alive.

The newlyweds left Independence heading to Oregon on April 23, 1838. They were deeply devoted to one another and excited about the adventures that lay ahead of them. Four months later they reached the Tshimakain Mission in Waiilatpu, Oregon. While en route to their new home, Mary gave birth to the first of their seven children.

The Walkers served as ministers to the Pacific Northwest Indians for more than nine years. They left the area after natives attacked the mission and killed many of the missionaries living there. The couple relocated to Forest Grove, where Elkanah took a position as pastor for the local church. He later helped found the Tualatin Academy, which later became Pacific University.

When Elkanah died in 1877, Mary missed her husband terribly and recorded thoughts about her loss in the journal she had started five years prior to their marriage.