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Hugh McNary “Mac” Waller

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Hugh McNary “Mac” Waller

Birth
Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois, USA
Death
25 Feb 1893 (aged 75)
Monmouth, Polk County, Oregon, USA
Burial
Independence, Polk County, Oregon, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
Circuit Riding Oregon Preacher. See http://ncbible.org/nwh/ProWaller.htmlHugh McNary Waller was probably the oldest in a family of at least seven children. His father, Thomas C. Waller, died in Illinois when Mac was 13.

Mac Waller, from Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois, had been successful in preaching in Illinois and Missouri during his 20s. One writer says "he converted thousands." When asked how he explained such results, Waller said, "Because the contrast between the Bible plea and the sectarian pleas was so great that it seemed a new light shining in dark places." Mac Waller has a message for this generation of preachers who prefer to look and sound like sectarians preachers. However, at thirty years of age his health had broken and he was sickly at the time he left for Oregon. He was carried in a chair to the pulpit for his final sermon at Pittsfield and then carried to the wagon as the wagon train left for the new land. The small caravan from Pittsfield was made up mainly of Church of Christ families. As he traveled, he regained his strength. We can imagine that he was treated royally by his brethren even though the journey was difficult. It was 1847 and Thomas Crawford McBride was riding his horse over the trail, coming from Missouri and settled in Yamhill County. Mac, his widowed mother, Jane McNary Waller, and his brother George Townsend Waller were overlanding with their brethren from Illinois. During the next several years, most of Macs brothers and sisters came to the land of Eden and settled in Polk County. While Mac was regaining his health on the overland journey, he may have seen Mary, the young daughter of Hezekiah and Melissa Davidson somewhere on the journey. Three years later, at age 33, he married Mary, 15 years his junior. Mac baptized her parents into Christ in 1851. It was impressive to stand by the grave of the Davidsons at Buena Vista and realize the history represented by their marker. Mac and Mary Waller had stood there more than 120 years ago thinking about eternity. Mac was 58 the year Hezekiah died. Melissa died the next year. [Note: Melissa's father was the Reverend Carter Page. Both Hezekiah and Melissa were born again Christians of the Baptist denomination prior to meeting Mr. Waller.]

Historian Dr. Clarence Swander says of Waller: "He was from Illinois. Timid and retiring by nature on ordinary occasions, when he stood before an audience and exhorted sinners to repent, his timidity fled and he was a veritable giant. It was said of him that he made more converts than any other preacher this country ever had."

Mac Waller quickly became a circuit riding preacher par excellence. Still single when he arrived, he joined Glen Burnett and Dr. James McBride in planting and strengthening churches. His first project was the Jefferson Institute school building near present-day Rickreall, a few miles west of Salem. In the spring after he arrived, he organized believers there for Sunday meetings. The building served as a school in the mornings, court in the afternoons and a church on Sundays. That same fall, he organized a church a little further south on the Luckiamute River. The elusive Luckiamute church may have been one and the same as the Lewisville church. Lewisville was in the Luckiamute Precinct and very close to the Luckiamute River. For the next few years the three circuit riders - Burnett, McBride and Waller - preached and planted churches in Polk, Marion, and Yamhill Counties. It was a great day for the undenominational cause of our Lord Jesus.

In 1856, Waller was one of several circuit riders that established the Dallas Christian Church. A few years later, he was leading a new group at Salem. We can find traces of his work in McMinnville and Hillsboro.

It is estimated that Mac Waller baptized more than 7,000 people to Christ, most of them in Oregon. Waller established a church at Eola. In 1863 it reported 73 members. It was among the first churches in Oregon to own its own building. For many years, Waller was active in gospel preaching in the entire Willamette Valley. His name shows up regularly being present at camp meetings and other activities among the churches.

Seven years before Mr. Waller's passing, R. M. Messick lauded his ministry in Oregon in a report to the Christian Standard of 1885. At the end of a report on the Turner Convention, he wrote:

We missed, at our convention, Bro. H. M. Waller who resides at Monmouth. He was kept at home by serious illness of himself. Probably no man in Oregon has done more preaching and baptized more penitent believers than this faithful man of God, who is now nearing his three score and ten years. - Charles Dailey
Northwest College of the Bible 1999
Circuit Riding Oregon Preacher. See http://ncbible.org/nwh/ProWaller.htmlHugh McNary Waller was probably the oldest in a family of at least seven children. His father, Thomas C. Waller, died in Illinois when Mac was 13.

Mac Waller, from Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois, had been successful in preaching in Illinois and Missouri during his 20s. One writer says "he converted thousands." When asked how he explained such results, Waller said, "Because the contrast between the Bible plea and the sectarian pleas was so great that it seemed a new light shining in dark places." Mac Waller has a message for this generation of preachers who prefer to look and sound like sectarians preachers. However, at thirty years of age his health had broken and he was sickly at the time he left for Oregon. He was carried in a chair to the pulpit for his final sermon at Pittsfield and then carried to the wagon as the wagon train left for the new land. The small caravan from Pittsfield was made up mainly of Church of Christ families. As he traveled, he regained his strength. We can imagine that he was treated royally by his brethren even though the journey was difficult. It was 1847 and Thomas Crawford McBride was riding his horse over the trail, coming from Missouri and settled in Yamhill County. Mac, his widowed mother, Jane McNary Waller, and his brother George Townsend Waller were overlanding with their brethren from Illinois. During the next several years, most of Macs brothers and sisters came to the land of Eden and settled in Polk County. While Mac was regaining his health on the overland journey, he may have seen Mary, the young daughter of Hezekiah and Melissa Davidson somewhere on the journey. Three years later, at age 33, he married Mary, 15 years his junior. Mac baptized her parents into Christ in 1851. It was impressive to stand by the grave of the Davidsons at Buena Vista and realize the history represented by their marker. Mac and Mary Waller had stood there more than 120 years ago thinking about eternity. Mac was 58 the year Hezekiah died. Melissa died the next year. [Note: Melissa's father was the Reverend Carter Page. Both Hezekiah and Melissa were born again Christians of the Baptist denomination prior to meeting Mr. Waller.]

Historian Dr. Clarence Swander says of Waller: "He was from Illinois. Timid and retiring by nature on ordinary occasions, when he stood before an audience and exhorted sinners to repent, his timidity fled and he was a veritable giant. It was said of him that he made more converts than any other preacher this country ever had."

Mac Waller quickly became a circuit riding preacher par excellence. Still single when he arrived, he joined Glen Burnett and Dr. James McBride in planting and strengthening churches. His first project was the Jefferson Institute school building near present-day Rickreall, a few miles west of Salem. In the spring after he arrived, he organized believers there for Sunday meetings. The building served as a school in the mornings, court in the afternoons and a church on Sundays. That same fall, he organized a church a little further south on the Luckiamute River. The elusive Luckiamute church may have been one and the same as the Lewisville church. Lewisville was in the Luckiamute Precinct and very close to the Luckiamute River. For the next few years the three circuit riders - Burnett, McBride and Waller - preached and planted churches in Polk, Marion, and Yamhill Counties. It was a great day for the undenominational cause of our Lord Jesus.

In 1856, Waller was one of several circuit riders that established the Dallas Christian Church. A few years later, he was leading a new group at Salem. We can find traces of his work in McMinnville and Hillsboro.

It is estimated that Mac Waller baptized more than 7,000 people to Christ, most of them in Oregon. Waller established a church at Eola. In 1863 it reported 73 members. It was among the first churches in Oregon to own its own building. For many years, Waller was active in gospel preaching in the entire Willamette Valley. His name shows up regularly being present at camp meetings and other activities among the churches.

Seven years before Mr. Waller's passing, R. M. Messick lauded his ministry in Oregon in a report to the Christian Standard of 1885. At the end of a report on the Turner Convention, he wrote:

We missed, at our convention, Bro. H. M. Waller who resides at Monmouth. He was kept at home by serious illness of himself. Probably no man in Oregon has done more preaching and baptized more penitent believers than this faithful man of God, who is now nearing his three score and ten years. - Charles Dailey
Northwest College of the Bible 1999


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