Lee Mission Cemetery is located on D st. in Salem, OR. It was named after Rev. Jason Lee, who, with 4 other associates, came to the Oregon Territory in 1834 as missionaries to bring Christianity to the Native Americans. They set up a mission near present-day Salem. He was married twice, first to Anne Marie Pittman and second to Lucy Thompson. Jason and Anne Marie were married in 1837. Unfortunaly in 1838, Anne went into labor with their son, and after a difficult birth, both mom and their baby boy passed away. They were initially buried at the Methodist Mission. His second wife was Lucy Thompson, whom he married in 1839. Lucy later passed away in 1842 after a brief illness. She left her 3-week-old daughter behind with her husband. Lucy was the first person buried at Lee Mission Cemetery, and later Anne Marie and her son were moved there too.
In 1842 Rev Jason Lee founded Willamette University. The University sits in the heart of Salem, Oregon
At Willamette Mission State Park, outside of Keizer on Wheatland Rd. There is a trail that will take you by where the Mission was first established, with a marker and outlines of the mission building.
Other notable people at the cemetery are Alanson Beers and Rev. J. L. Parrish
The original house of the 4 original missionary families (Lees, Judsons, Parrishes, and the Raymonds) is located at the Willamette Heritage Museum. The house was built in 1841 and moved to the current location in 1965. You can learn more about this house and the Methodist Parsonage built in 1841, Pleasant Grove Church built in 1858, and the Boon House built in 1847 at the Willamette Heritage Museum website (listed below). The museum is the home of the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, founded in 1889, which you can tour through the process of making wool.
The cemetery does have a plot map, both at the cemetery and online at their website, listed below.
I was planning on strictly talking about the cemetery, but it became more of a snippet about Rev. Jason Lee and the mission. I have listed the places I visited to find the information below, and some of them have citations of their own. So if anyone wants to go further in-depth on Rev. Jason Lee and his life as a Missionary in the Oregon Territory. I would rather give people a place to find the information and make their own opinion about what took place between the white missionaries and their interactions with the Native Americans.
There is a blog I found that goes more in-depth about the mission. It’s by mtncorg, the post is Magic of Christianity – The Methodist Mission to Oregon
Citations:
mtncorg (August 16, 2025), Magic of Christianity – the Methodist Mission to Oregon. Meandering through the Prologue. MAGIC OF CHRISTIANITY – THE METHODIST MISSION TO OREGON – Meandering through the PrologueMeandering through the Prologue
www.willametteheritage.org/jason-lee-biography/
Soden, Dale E. (July 5, 2022), “Jason Lee (1803-1845)” www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lee_jason/
All pictures except Lucy Thompson’s headstone were taken by Paula
Lucy Thompson’s headstone was taken by Linda Sozzi via Findagrave
The Cemetery Girl 
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