Jacob Hoffman

oregonpioneers.com
Compiled by Stephenie Flora
copyright © 2010

Jacob Hoffman
b. c1814 Elmira, Chemung Co, NY (probably)
d. 29 Nov 1847 Whitman Mission, Waiilatpu, WA
probably son of William and Sally (Smith) Hoffman of Elmira, NY

Note: Spalding’s letter to the Prentiss family of April 6, 1848 in which he tells of the massacre requests that a copy be sent to Mr. G.W. Hoffman, Elmira, Chemung Co, NY.  It appears that George W. Hoffman may have been the younger brother of Jacob Hoffman. {Additional research needs to be done to confirm the relationship)

“The mansion house was even more crowded……Three bachelors completed the ménage: Jacob Hoffman, the tailor Gilliland, and the French-Canadian Joseph Stanfield, who had been employed by Whitman for some time.” [The Great Command by Nard Jones; Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1959 p.311]

At the mission at the time of the massacre was “…..Mr. Sails and Hoffman, employed in hauling wheat for the Indians….”[The Whitman Massacre of 1847 by Catherine, Elizabeth & Matilda Sager, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, WA 1986 Catherine p.46]

In the mission yard a beef was being killed to supply the week's meat.  “Kimball and Hoffman lashed the hind legs and hauled the dying beast aloft on the derrick.” [The Great Command by Nard Jones; Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1959 p.323]

A crowd of Indians gathered in the yard.  “Still, it could be that the savages were more interested in watching Kimball and Hoffman finish the dressing of the beef.  That was almost a weekly occurrence now, but the Cayuse liked to watch it.” [The Great Command by Nard Jones; Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1959 p.329]

“Jacob Hoffman, with two other men, was butchering a beef that afternoon for the mission tables.  When the Indians had gradually sifted in and loitered about the butchering, these men thought that the Cayuses had come to get the entrails and other wastes from the animal as was their custom.  But they were wrong in their guess about the Indians’ intentions; now Hoffman died, furiously defending himself to the last with an ax.” [Shallow Grave At Waiilatpu: The Sagers West by Erwin N. Thompson, The Press of the Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, 1985 p.97]

“But at the butchering derrick Hoffman took up an ax and made a stubborn defense, slashing an assailant in the foot, almost reaching the mission house before he was cut down by mounted Cayuse.” [The Great Command by Nard Jones; Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1959 p.332]

“Mr. Hoffman was butchering a beef.  He fought manfully with an axe, and was seen keeping six Indians at bay.  He split one of his assailant’s feet open.  He fell at last overpowered.  They ripped him open and took his bowels out.” [The Whitman Massacre of 1847 by Catherine, Elizabeth & Matilda Sager, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, WA 1986 Catherine p.46]

Thirteen of the 72 individuals at the mission were killed that first day. These included: Narcissa Whitman, Andrew Rogers, Jacob Hoffman, the schoolmaster L.W. Sanders, Mr. Marsh, John Sager, Francis Sager, Nathan Kimball, Isaac Gilliland, and Young Jr.  Peter Hall, who had also escaped the original massacre, later disappeared and was never seen again.

“On our arrival at Oregon City, Joe Stanfield was arrested on suspicion of having taken part in the massacre and brought to trial.  On being taken by the sheriff, he attempted to conceal a watch belonging to Mrs. Kimball and a considerable sum of money belonging to Mr. Hoffman.” [The Whitman Massacre of 1847 by Catherine, Elizabeth & Matilda Sager, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, WA 1986 Catherine p.88]

Bones were found in 1897 when leveling ground for a monument.  Matilda Sager helped to identify some of them… “the skull with the unusually large nose orifice, we felt sure was that of Mr. Hoffman as he was the only man in the settlement having a very large nose.” [The Whitman Massacre of 1847 by Catherine, Elizabeth and Matilda Sager, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, WA 1986 Matilda Sager p.150]

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