Alvin F. Waller

Alvin F. Waller (1808–1872) was an American missionary in Oregon Country and an early leader at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. He was a native of Pennsylvania and helped found the first Protestant church west of the Rocky Mountains in 1843 in Oregon City.

Early life Alvin Waller was born in Abington, Pennsylvania, on May 8, 1808. He was ordained as a Methodist minister and preached on the East Seaboard of the United States. There he married Elpha White in 1833, and they would have five children. In 1844, McLoughlin and Waller settled the disputed land claims with Waller and the Methodists receiving townlots, $500, and from McLoughlin. In 1844, after the main mission at Salem was closed, Waller was reassigned to the Wascopam Mission to replace Daniel Lee and H. K. W. Perkins. The building was renamed as Waller Hall in 1912 to honor him. He remained active in religious and education activities and helped found several churches in Oregon in his later years. Alvin F. Waller died on December 26, 1872, at the age of 64 in Salem.