Willamette University - Wallulah Yearbook (Salem, OR)

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There are two characters which stand out in bold contrast in com- parison with the unselfish pioneers who toiled and suffered that Willamette might live. As mentioned above, when the trustees of the Oregon Institute bought the property from the mission school, it consisted of 640 acres situated in what is now the very heart of Salem. This was in the days before the territory was established, and under the laws of the provisional government, there was no provision made by which a corporation could hold land, and consequently there was serious danger of the InstitUte claim being jumped by unscrupulous persons. It was decided that the land should be turned over to some reliable person to be held in trust. William H. Willson, who was one of the trustees, a member of the church, and whose wife taught in the Insti- tute, as was mentioned above, expressed his willingness to act as trustee. His offer was accepted and he was placed under bond of $100,000 to hold in trust the 640 acres of the Institute. Under certain restrictions he was permitted to sell portions of the claim, but there was a plot of 60 acres, including the campus of today, as well as the land lying between it and Mission Street, which constituted the Insti- tute Reserve, no part of which could be sold. The remaining tract was to be laid off for a townsite, thus to the University is Salem indebted for its broad and sightly streets. Provision was also made for the donation of blocks for public purposes, thus to the University again is Salem indebted for'the parked blocks, extending thru the center of the city, on which now stand the Court House, the Post Office and the State Capitol. In 1848, the bill making Oregon a territory was passed, and con- tained in this was a provision legalizing all bonds and obligations valid under the provisional government, so the friends of the school felt secure. But in 1850 the donation land act was passed, which provided that one-half of the land donated to a husband should cnure to his wife. It was at once apparent that Mrs. Willson, not being a party to the bond, could take advantage of a technicality in the law and claim half of the land held by her husband in trust. It was about this time that she ceased teaching in the Institute, and itsoon became evident that she meant to exert her ttrightsW In 1853 Mr. Willson received the certificate of final proof, and imme- diately he and his wife had the Surveyor-General divide the tract 7n half; and utterly ignoring the moral obligations of the bond, Mrs, Willson boldly took what the law allowed. She endeavored to get

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possession of the half which contained the Institute Reserve and buildings, as that was considered the more valuable. portion, but the Surveyor-General, doing what he could for the school, made her take the half which lay nearer the river, the part which now contains the business section of Salem. In vain the friends of the church and 01' the school pled with hereshe was obdurate. The poor missionary girl had assumed a new role. Mr. Willson was a willing party to the transaction, as shown by his efforts to repudiate the bond which held him for the remaining half of the land which he had held uin trustfi But his efforts were futile and he was forced to turn over what was left to the trustees of the Oregon Institute. The Willsons and their heirs have grown wealthy from their ill-gotten gains, and today the lovely park, ttWill- son Avenueft which lies across the street from the University campus, bears the name which will ever carry with it unsavory memories. If Willamette University had not thus been defrauded of one-half of its resources in the very beginning of its career, it would be today what its founders had intended that it should heethe biggest and the wealthiest school on the Pacific Coast. It would not have had the struggle for existence which it has had, nor have had to seek an endowment, as it is doing today, to secure an unquestioned perpetuity. JASON LEEtS GRAVE IN THE MISSION CEMETERY .i d, -.vW.....-.-. i a