There are probably only a few of the present Blandford residents who ever heard of Cushing Eells, but he was a native of Blandford who accomplished much under very trying conditions.
His father, Joseph Eells, either bought or was farming land near the foot of Birch Hill. When I was a small girl, my father purchased that farm and he told me there was once a house at the upper end of the mowing near the junction of Birch Hill Road and Hayden Road. This is where the Eells house stood. I remember seeing a depression there when I picked wild strawberries many years ago.
Cushing Eells was the third child of Joseph and Elizabeth (Warner) Eells, born February 16, 1810, the oldest son in a family of ten. Joseph was not well-to-do and Cushing learned as he grew up how to do the chores and work in the fields. His schooling, probably at the Center School, consisted of reading, writing, and arithmetic, the usual curriculum of those days. His was a religious home and he early learned to read and rely on the Bible.
At fourteen, he was converted but did not become a church member until May 6, 1827 at the age of seventeen. Reverend Dorus Clarke was Blandford's minister at that time. He and the boy's father felt that Cushing should go to college but the father was too poor to pay much toward such education. Cushing studied with his minister for a year; later with Reverend Timothy Cooley of Granville. He then went to Monson Academy to prepare for entrance to Williams College, under Reverend Simeon Colton.
He found he might receive some financial help from the American Education Society of Boston. From Monson, he walked to Amherst and there talked with Dr. Heman Humphrey and President Edward Hitchcock. They recommended him to the Society. From then on he received twelve dollars per quarter while studying at the Academy, except for one quarter when he was teaching. After entering Williams College in 1830, this amount was increased to seventy-five dollars per quarter for which he signed notes without interest.
Williams College is some forty-five miles from Blandford. His father took him, his books, and baggage to Williamstown in a one horse wagon. However, the distance was too great for many visits home. Occasionally he was able to ride part way but many times walked the entire distance. A far cry from today's students with cars.
He was graduated from Williams College in 1834. He then entered East Windsor Theological Institute in Connecticut (now Hartford Theological Seminary). In his senior year at college he had become interested in missionary work among the Zulus in Africa. Two years later he offered himself to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and was appointed to the Zulu Mission.
On October 25, 1837, he was ordained in the White Church of Blandford as a Congregational missionary to Africa. An outbreak of war between Zulu chiefs, however, made the Mission impractical for a time and his departure was delayed. He spent that winter teaching school.
While pursuing his education, he taught school in Holden, Massachusetts during one of his vacations. There he became acquainted with Myra, the daughter of Deacon Joshua Fairbank. In the fall of 1837, Cushing was asked by the Board if he was willing to change his sights and become a missionary in connection with Marcus Whitman in Oregon Territory. He consulted with Myra, his fiancee. She was willing and they were married March 6, 1838, in Holden. The next day they started on a three thousand mile wedding trip which did not end until April, 1839.
There were nine in the party. They coped with many hazards during the long trip; wolves, river-crossings, loss of horses, and threatening Indians, to mention a few.
Cushing's work was among the Indians to a great extent. Tshimakain, where he and those working with him were stationed, was two hundred and fifty miles deeper into the wilderness than the Whitman Mission. Two children were born to Cushing and Myra - Edwin in 1842 and Myron in 1845.
On November 29, 1847, discontent and hate among the Indians broke out and Dr. Marcus Whitman (45) and his wife, Narcissa (39) were massacred and scalped.
Marcus died while ministering to the sick. Three Indians had come to the door asking for medical help. As Whitman bent to select the proper medicine, one of the Indians killed him with a blow of his tomahawk. Because of this massacre, the political history of the Oregon Territory was affected but this need not be gone into in this article.
Cushing Eells realized that little was being done for the schooling of children in the area because there were few or none old enough to need it. However, in 1859, he anticipated future needs and obtained from the Territorial Legislature on December 30, 1859, a charter for Whitman Seminary, named in honor of his missionary colleague, Dr. Marcus Whitman.
Actual instruction began December 4, 1863 at Waulaptu. That was the first beginning of Whitman Seminary. In October 1866, Whitman Seminary began again at Walla Walla. From the dream of "Father Eells", grew what later became Whitman College in the State of Washington.
Cushing Eells received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Pacific University in 1883. He died February 16, 1893, exactly eighty years of age.
"How far that little candle throws its beams.”
Sources:
Father Eells, by Myron Eells
Whitman, An Unfinished Story, by B. L. Penrose
From Stone Walls Magazine, Winter, 1978
His father, Joseph Eells, either bought or was farming land near the foot of Birch Hill. When I was a small girl, my father purchased that farm and he told me there was once a house at the upper end of the mowing near the junction of Birch Hill Road and Hayden Road. This is where the Eells house stood. I remember seeing a depression there when I picked wild strawberries many years ago.
Cushing Eells was the third child of Joseph and Elizabeth (Warner) Eells, born February 16, 1810, the oldest son in a family of ten. Joseph was not well-to-do and Cushing learned as he grew up how to do the chores and work in the fields. His schooling, probably at the Center School, consisted of reading, writing, and arithmetic, the usual curriculum of those days. His was a religious home and he early learned to read and rely on the Bible.
At fourteen, he was converted but did not become a church member until May 6, 1827 at the age of seventeen. Reverend Dorus Clarke was Blandford's minister at that time. He and the boy's father felt that Cushing should go to college but the father was too poor to pay much toward such education. Cushing studied with his minister for a year; later with Reverend Timothy Cooley of Granville. He then went to Monson Academy to prepare for entrance to Williams College, under Reverend Simeon Colton.
He found he might receive some financial help from the American Education Society of Boston. From Monson, he walked to Amherst and there talked with Dr. Heman Humphrey and President Edward Hitchcock. They recommended him to the Society. From then on he received twelve dollars per quarter while studying at the Academy, except for one quarter when he was teaching. After entering Williams College in 1830, this amount was increased to seventy-five dollars per quarter for which he signed notes without interest.
Williams College is some forty-five miles from Blandford. His father took him, his books, and baggage to Williamstown in a one horse wagon. However, the distance was too great for many visits home. Occasionally he was able to ride part way but many times walked the entire distance. A far cry from today's students with cars.
He was graduated from Williams College in 1834. He then entered East Windsor Theological Institute in Connecticut (now Hartford Theological Seminary). In his senior year at college he had become interested in missionary work among the Zulus in Africa. Two years later he offered himself to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and was appointed to the Zulu Mission.
On October 25, 1837, he was ordained in the White Church of Blandford as a Congregational missionary to Africa. An outbreak of war between Zulu chiefs, however, made the Mission impractical for a time and his departure was delayed. He spent that winter teaching school.
While pursuing his education, he taught school in Holden, Massachusetts during one of his vacations. There he became acquainted with Myra, the daughter of Deacon Joshua Fairbank. In the fall of 1837, Cushing was asked by the Board if he was willing to change his sights and become a missionary in connection with Marcus Whitman in Oregon Territory. He consulted with Myra, his fiancee. She was willing and they were married March 6, 1838, in Holden. The next day they started on a three thousand mile wedding trip which did not end until April, 1839.
There were nine in the party. They coped with many hazards during the long trip; wolves, river-crossings, loss of horses, and threatening Indians, to mention a few.
Cushing's work was among the Indians to a great extent. Tshimakain, where he and those working with him were stationed, was two hundred and fifty miles deeper into the wilderness than the Whitman Mission. Two children were born to Cushing and Myra - Edwin in 1842 and Myron in 1845.
On November 29, 1847, discontent and hate among the Indians broke out and Dr. Marcus Whitman (45) and his wife, Narcissa (39) were massacred and scalped.
Marcus died while ministering to the sick. Three Indians had come to the door asking for medical help. As Whitman bent to select the proper medicine, one of the Indians killed him with a blow of his tomahawk. Because of this massacre, the political history of the Oregon Territory was affected but this need not be gone into in this article.
Cushing Eells realized that little was being done for the schooling of children in the area because there were few or none old enough to need it. However, in 1859, he anticipated future needs and obtained from the Territorial Legislature on December 30, 1859, a charter for Whitman Seminary, named in honor of his missionary colleague, Dr. Marcus Whitman.
Actual instruction began December 4, 1863 at Waulaptu. That was the first beginning of Whitman Seminary. In October 1866, Whitman Seminary began again at Walla Walla. From the dream of "Father Eells", grew what later became Whitman College in the State of Washington.
Cushing Eells received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Pacific University in 1883. He died February 16, 1893, exactly eighty years of age.
"How far that little candle throws its beams.”
Sources:
Father Eells, by Myron Eells
Whitman, An Unfinished Story, by B. L. Penrose
From Stone Walls Magazine, Winter, 1978