Eden Within Eden: Oregon's Utopian Heritage

Chapter Five: No Place

88 CHAPTER FIVE No Place Y Y Y In addition to many attempts to establish utopian settlements in Oregon in the late nineteenth century that met with varying degrees of success, there were some that got little further than the planning stages. Many of these unrealized efforts have little, if any, record of their ideas and plans; they may have been nothing more than a scheme discussed around a dinner table, in a public forum that was unrecorded or lost, or even in the personal musings of an individual who saw their ideal world as a potential model for society. These plans are mostly lost, or deeply embedded in personal diaries or journals, yet to be harvested as part of the utopian heritage story of Oregon.1 There are, however, a few notable recorded attempts at creating a good place that ended up being, in one of Thomas More’s senses of the meaning of utopia, a no place. This chapter explores two very different attempts to create an ideal place within Oregon that left us only dreams. A Christian Utopia The influx of settlers to the Oregon Territory in the late 1840s and 1850s created many opportunities but also some significant challenges. One such challenge was how to minister to the growing congregation of souls that were making their way by land and by sea to the Oregon country, particularly along the Willamette River. The number of ministers necessary to meet the demands of the faithful and the sinners was not keeping abreast of these souls. In response to this critical need, Bishop Thomas F. Scott of the Episcopal Diocese of the Oregon Territory made an urgent plea to clergymen in the East who could move west and meet these demands. The call reached Grahamsville, South Carolina, where it was heard by two brothers, James R. W. Sellwood and the Rev. John Sellwood. James was a father of two and a lay brother in the parish of St. Luke’s in Grahamsville, where John was the pastor. On March 31, 1856, the two Sellwood brothers along with James’ wife and sons boarded a steamer for Charleston, where James was ordained. Then the party took another steamer to New York, where they in turn took passage on the Illinois to the Panama isthmus via Havana and Aspinwall (Colón), a Caribbean seaport. While they were awaiting a train to carry them across the isthmus, a riot occurred that separated John Sellwood from the rest of his family in the melee. He was beaten and shot and the mob trashed the belongings of the travelers. James finally located his brother and the family sought assistance from the American Consul and were put up in 89 No Place a hotel for two weeks while John convalesced. They then set sail for San Francisco and eventually reached Oregon.2 Upon their arrival in the Oregon Territory, James was given charge of St. Paul’s parish in Salem, where he remained for nine years, followed by two years at St. John’s parish in Milwaukie, and then East Portland. His son, who was also named John, was ordained and served as pastor in churches in Oregon City and Butteville. The elder John Sellwood first was assigned by Bishop Scott to the Trinity parish in Portland where he served three years, then moved to St. Stephen Chapel, assisting Bishop Scott, for ten years while also preaching in the State Penitentiary in Portland. In 1870 he was appointed rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukie, a position he held until his death in August 1892.3 The dramatic adventure of the Rev. John Sellwood perhaps influenced his thoughts on the ultimate mission he was to undertake in Oregon. It certainly left permanent scars on his forehead and on both hands. Another impact of the Panama incident was that he received a land grant of 320 acres as compensation for his injuries and personal losses. He saw this as an opportunity to make a lasting contribution to society and a reflection of his Christian ideals. These ideals centered very much on his own lifestyle, which has been described as “almost monastic” and as an “evangelistic ascetic.”4 The Rev. William H. Stoy in eulogizing John Sellwood offers a more extensive description: “To people in general, who knew nothing of his inner thoughts, habits, and motives, he was always an enigma; he was so different from other men, even from those of his own sacred profession...