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Title
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Whitman, Narcissa (1808-1847)
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birthday
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1808-03-14
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Birthplace
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Prattsburgh, NY
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Death Date
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1847-11-29
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Occupation
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Missionary
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Biographical Text
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Narcissa Whitman was an American missionary and one of the first documented European-American women to cross the Rocky Mountains. Whitman was born Narcissa Prentiss, the third of nine children and oldest of five girls. Following a religious awakening in 1819, she converted to the Congregational Church. She received her education at the Franklin Academy in Prattsburgh where she later worked as as a teacher. Whitman was accepted for missionary service in March, 1835, but was denied for foreign mission as she was unmarried. She quickly resolved this issue through her marriage that occurred a year later.
In March of 1836, Whitman began traveling towards the Oregon Country with her missionary group. She kept a journal documenting their travels. This mission deemed her, and Eliza Spalding who she was traveling with, the first white women to cross the Rocky Mountains and settle in the area. Her group settled their mission in the Walla Walla area later that year. The mission, called the Whitman Mission, began to solidify as a major point in the Oregon Trail around 1837. At the mission, Whitman would teach Bible classes and Western ways of housekeeping. She was also in charge of keeping the household in order, taking care of all the domestic tasks. In late 1842, Whitman traveled west to visit other mission outposts in the surrounding areas.
Whitman married Dr. Marcus Whitman on February 18, 1836. Their only daughter, Alice Clarissa, was born on March 14, 1837. She tragically drowned at age two, in the Walla Walla River. Whitman gave birth to no other children in her lifetime, but became a second mother to many children that joined the mission. On November 29, 1847, Whitman was killed in the Whitman Massacre. This massacre occurred following discourse over a measles outbreak in the community that inordinately affected the Native population of the community.
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Contributor
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O'Neill, Iris
Narcissa Whitman, Marker