streets. Since that time Revs. Mellis, Robert Abraham, I. Kaiser, and A. W. Edelman have officiated as readers. The present reader is Rev. Robert Abraham- son. The congregation numbers fifty members.
THE UNITARIANS.
Prior to the year 1866 there was no' Unitarian church in Portland. There were four or five individuals and a few families who cherished a faith in the principles of liberal Christianity, a term which has come to cover not only Uni- tarian and Universalists, but all who, holding to the essential principles of Chris- tianity, have felt dissatisfied with the exclusiveness which the traditions of men have added to the simplicity of the gospel — Thomas Starr King had visited the country, but chiefly as a lecturer. We are told that he preached in the state one or two times. His name will always be identified with that of the Unitarian church upon this whole coast. In the year above mentioned, three individuals united in a letter to Rev. Horatio Stebbins, pastor of the church in San Fran- cisco, inviting him to make a visit to Oregon and preach in Portland, with a view to find out whether it were best to found a liberal church in Portland. Mr. Stebbin's visit created a profound feeling in the community. He preached three Sundays, and was heard by large numbers of every class and name. The result was a permanent organization, and the adoption of a constitution, which was signed by twenty-three persons. On the 30th of June, the church was duly in- corporatejd by the first board of trustees as corporators.
A sum of money subscribed toward obtaining a minister from the east and by various agencies a sufficient sum was obtained, even before a pastor was secured, to purchase two lots and erect the present building on the corner of Yamhill and Seventh streets — the land costing $2,000, and the building the same sum. In the fall of '67, Rev. T. L. Eliot, then settled in St. Louis, was invited, through the American Unitarian Association, to take charge of this, the most distant of the churches in the country. Starting from St. Louis the nth of November, the pastor and his family arrived in Portland by way of the Isthmus and San Francisco, the day before Christmas. On the last Sunday of the year the church was dedicated, the services being conducted by three of the ministers of the place — ^Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian. Since that time services have been conducted without any interruption, to the present time (1890). Rev. Dr. Eliot has been the minister for twenty-two years — the longest Protestant pastorate in the city, and during that time has officiated at 500 funerals, 440 weddings, and 488 baptismal services. The church now numbers two hundred communicants, and has a strong constituency and parish additional. Its pastoral and charitable work has always been large in proportion to the age and strength of the church; the expenses, usually about $3,500 a year, are paid by voluntary subscription.
In the years 1878-79, the present edifice on the old site was completed at a cost of $20,000. The former church building is now the chapel and Sunday school room. In addition to the Christian Union above named, there are con- nected with the church a "postoffice mission" for disseminating religious litera- ture, and the W. G. Eliot Fraternity of Young People. The society also sup- ports a mission Sunday school in South Portland, with ten teachers and sixty scholars.
THE LUTHERANS.
The German Lutheran church was organized in 1868 by Rev. H. Meyers. Services were first held in Trinity Methodist church. The first officers were: F. T. Lauterwausser and John A. Fisher, elders ; C. H. Meussdorffer and Henry Lansen, deacons. The present house of worship, corner of Fifth and Taylor, was completed in 1870. It has a seating capacity of five hundred. The follow- ing have served as pastors : Revs. H. Meyers, C. S. Spricher, Henry Gans, G. P. Weaver and A. Meyers. Rev. Henry Doering is the present (18
