HALL JACKSON KELLEY—Prophet of Oregon
CHAPTER NINE
Four Years of Futile Effort
Kelley was a changed man when he arrived at Boston in 1836 after his long voyage from the Sandwich Islands. Only three years before "his physical nature was iron-like, possessing great power of endurance," but exposure and hardships had enfeebled his body and shattered his nervous system. Yet this gaunt shadow of a man had no thought of giving up his long cherished idea of awakening his countrymen to the great advantages, national and individual, which must inevitably follow the settlement of the Northwest Coast under the patronage and protection of the American government. He had already done much to spread broadcast information which he had obtained at second hand; now he could speak with authority, having seen the promised land and found it good
But there were personal matters which required his immediate attention. His family "every soul of them turned against me," had to be reconciled to him. He went to Gilmanton and spent some time with his father and his wife and children, but his efforts to reestablish his household resulted in failure.[1]
His expenses had been heavy, and most of his property had been lost or taken from him, so that now he was a poor man, worried by his debts. It was not so much the amount of his indebtedness that concerned him; it was the fact that it was a debt of honor, and that he was unable to pay the small sum of three hundred dollars on account of outstanding obligations of the American Society which he had issued as general agent. These were two shares of stock, each of one hundred dollars, and five twenty-dollar certificates. Concerning them he explained, "Immediately after the Oregon expedition was broken up, the amount received for stock and certificates was re-
- ↑ Temple, Hist, of the Town of Palmer, 266.
