Mary Richardson Walker (April 1, 1811 – December 5, 1897)[1][2] was an American missionary. She was the daughter of Joseph and Charlotte Richardson of West Baldwin, Maine.[3] Both parents were school teachers and valued education for all their children. She attended Maine Wesleyan Seminary. Mary wanted to be a missionary and applied at the American Board of Missionaries, but she was turned down, because she was not married.[4]
William Thayer, a mutual friend of Mary Richardson and Elkanah Walker, knew they wanted to be missionaries, so he set up a meeting between them. After a 48-hour courtship, Elkanah proposed to Mary.[3] A year later on March 5, 1838, they married hurriedly so they could depart for the Oregon Country as missionaries.[5]
- ^ "Mary Richardson Walker Chapter DAR, Kelso-Longview, WA". sites.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ "Guide to the Elkanah and Mary Richardson Walker Papers 1830-1938Cage 57". ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ a b First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, , pps. 26-311963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.
- ^ Drury, Clifford Merrill, First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company, pps. 26-31.
- ^ First White Women Over the Rockies Diaries, Letters, and Biographical Sketches of the Six Women of the Oregon Mission who made the Overland Journey in 1836 and 1838 Vol II Mrs. Elkanah Walker and Mrs. Cushing Eells, pps. 39-44, 1963, Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company.