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The Presbyterian Historical Society documents the experiences of Presbyterians from across the country. With apologies to our gracious General Assembly hosts in Portland, here are four stories from George Whitworth's Presbyterian Colony in the West:

First Presbyterian Church (Seattle, Wash.)

Within two months of the chartering of the city of Seattle, seven Presbyterian men and women gathered in George Whitworth's home to organize themselves as the First Presbyterian Church of...

After a distinguished and peripatetic career as a journalist, activist, and lecturer, Ida B. Wells--who had urged black families to keep a Winchester rifle by the front door--put down roots in Chicago and became a Presbyterian.

Wells was born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, July 16, 1862; her family fled for Memphis following an outbreak of yellow fever. Her career as a champion of civil rights began in 1884 when she sued the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, which had forced her to leave her seat in first class, winning in the lower courts and losing on appeal. She taught...