Chloe Clark Willson

Chloe Aurelia Clark Willson (April 16, 1818 – June 2, 1874) was an early pioneer of what became the U.S. state of Oregon, and one of the first teachers of the Methodist mission in the Willamette Valley. In 1850, she owned half of the land in Oregon's state capital Salem.

Life Chloe Aurelia Clark (sometimes spelled Clarke) She was educated at the Wilbraham Academy. At the age of 21, she sailed from New York on the ship Lausanne in what was known as Jason Lee's "Great Reinforcement" of recruits for the Methodist Mission in Salem, Oregon.

The board of the Institute decided to lay out a town on the school's land, with the intent to sell lots to fund the school, and attract settlers to the area. The 1846 decision named Dr. William H. Willson as the business agent and landholder for the town he named Salem. When the Donation Land Claim Law of 1850 passed, it meant the held by Willson belonged jointly to him and Chloe. He was bound to the Oregon Institute's board to administer the land, but Chloe was not, leading to controversy which was settled in 1854 with a compromise: the property was split in half along State Street, with the South of the street belonging to the institute (later Willamette University), and the North belonging to Chloe. This northern land would eventually be home to the Oregon State Capitol.