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Black and white drawing of three buildings from the 19th century, labeled "Episcopal Church," "Wallamet University," and "Methodist Church."

Francis S. Hoyt

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Written by Eleanor Smith, Class of 2026

Rev. Francis S. Hoyt is the father of a university that began its existence struggling to exist in an isolated place. When he took over, the school did not yet resemble a university. It was Hoyt’s task to oversee this transition from the Oregon Institute to Willamette University and he successfully kept the school running in his ten years of presidency. 

Hoyt was born on November 5, 1822, and grew up in a Methodist parsonage.1 He lived in Vermont and was a part of the New Hampshire Conference of the Methodist church, receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wesleyan University, and working as the principle for the Wesleyan Institute.2 At age twenty eight he accepted the position to take over the Oregon Institute and arrived in Oregon in late 1850. 

When Hoyt arrived in Oregon, he initially felt isolated in the desolate landscape. He recalls, “after landing in Portland it became a very serious matter how we should get to Oregon City and go on up to Salem. There were no roads from Portland to Oregon City, and only an occasional rowboat connecting the two villages.”3 Apart from the Methodist missionaries, and the remaining fur traders, there were few white resettles in Oregon at the time. There were only about sixteen homes in Portland.4 Oregon had not yet officially become a state, and only recently been officially designated a US territory in 1848.5 The Oregon Institute which Hoyt was to head was “…but a small and struggling seat of learning.”6 The institute was created by Jason Lee and other Methodist missionaries as an institution of general education for white re-settlers. It located the former Indian Manual Training school, which had closed two years earlier.7 It was hard to imagine that Salem would soon become the site of an institute of higher education. 

Funding would be a continuous problem for the university in its early years.8 Hoyt’s dream was to make sure the institution would continue to grow. During his time as the president, he faced many challenges. He focused on securing the university charter in 1853, fundraising, and addressing the lack of permanency with teaching staff.9 Hoyt claimed that “…though Oregon is rich in a stable population and in agricultural resources, the people are mostly newcomers, and their hoarded capital, or ‘loose change’ is not so abundant as many imagine.”10 The school was charted in 1853 as Wallamet, with the spelling later updated to Willamette University in 1871. 

 Despite feeling discouraged about the future of the university, Hoyt was still eager to keep the school connected and expanding. Although the university was isolated, he managed to maintain the school’s religious identity. He and the rest of the Board of trustees continued to report to the church, and students were required to attend church on Sundays.11 He worked at the Territorial Library and continued preaching with the Methodist church.12 He was also closely involved on campus, teaching ancient languages and mathematics, and creating a literary society known as “the Philomathean Society of Willamette University.”13 Gustavus Hines, who worked with Hoyt, described him as popular and efficient.14 He wrote “…his character as a gentleman, a Christian, and a minister was such as to entitle him to the high consideration of the public generally where he was known.”15 Despite the progress Hoyt made with the university, the issue of funding remained, hindering his ability to accomplish more with the university. In a letter to Alvan Waller, Hoyt wrote “I hope that you and other brethren will not expect me to remain here, after conference. I have no idea that anything will be done of any importance to improve the condition of the school for a long time. It is not possible to make an Institution worthy of the name, without a Library, apparatus, and funds. We have neither…there is nothing to stay here for.”16 He continued his presidency for three more years until he received a position at Ohio Wesleyan University.17

After leaving his role as president he would visit Willamette two more times over the years. By 1911, the school had become much more of a university. It was reported that Hoyt was “amazed at the present city” and to have seen how much Willamette had grown.18 

Endnotes

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  1. ˆ  Addison, Bennett. “Old Willamette’s Father Hale at 89.” The Morning Oregonian, Friday June 23, 1911.
  2.  ˆ  Robert Moulton Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette (Portland, Or: Binfords & Mort, 1943), 181.
  3.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 390.
  4.  ˆ  Bennett. “Old Willamette’s Father Hale at 89.”
  5.  ˆ  William L. Lang. “The Oregon Question,” Oregon Encyclopedia, January 20, 2023.
  6.  ˆ  Addison, Bennett, The Morning Oregonian, Friday June 23, 1911. 
  7.  ˆ  Dale E. Soden, “Jason Lee (1803-1845),” Oregon Encyclopedia, July 5, 2022.
  8.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 122.
  9.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 184.
  10.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 106-7.
  11.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 185.
  12.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 181.
  13.  ˆ  “Wallamet University,” Oregon Statesman, August 4, 1858, 4.
  14.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 181-2.
  15.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 182.
  16.  ˆ  Francis S. Hoyt to Alvan. Waller, Salem, Oregon, May 19, 1857. 
  17.  ˆ  Gatke, Chronicles of Willamette, 182.
  18.  ˆ  Bennett. “Old Willamette’s Father Hale at 89.”

Works Referenced

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  • Bennett, Addison. “Old Willamette’s Father Hale at 89.” The Morning Oregonian, Friday June 23, 1911.
  • Gatke, Robert Moulton. Chronicles of Willamette, the Pioneer University of the west. Portland, Or: Binfords & Mort, 1943. 
  • Hoyt, Francis S. From Francis Hoyt to Alvan Waller 1857. Letter. From Willamette University Archives and Special Collections, Office of the President: Francis S. Hoyt Letter. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/22600. 
  • Kuchel & Dresel. Map of Salem, Marion County, Oregon. Photograph. 1858. Willamette University Archive and Special Collections, Salem and Eastern Oregon Photographs. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/17379 
  • Lang, William L. “Oregon Question.” The Oregon Encyclopedia, January 20, 2023. https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregon_question_54_40_or_fight/. 
  • Loewenberg, Robert J. Equality on the Oregon Frontier: Jason Lee and the Methodist Mission, 1834-43. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1976. 
  • Soden, Dale E. “Jason Lee (1803-1845).” The Oregon Encyclopedia, July 5, 2022. https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lee_jason/. “Wallamet University.” Oregon Statesman, August 4, 1858. https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025131/1858-10-19/ed-1/seq-4/

Image Citations

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