Reverend David E. Blaine (1824-1900) was a minister for the Methodist Episcopal Church in Seattle, Washington from 1853 to 1856. He founded Seattle’s first church, known as the “Little White Church.” His wife, Catharine Paine Blaine, was also a Methodist missionary. She participated in America’s first women’s rights convention in their previous home of Seneca Falls, New York and was one of the one hundred signers of the Declarations of Sentiments and Resolutions that launched the women’s rights movement.

After moving to Washington State in 1853 with her husband, she became Seattle’s first teacher and school administrator. Like many white settlers, the Blaines held racist views towards the indigenous peoples of the newly formed United States. These views, along with anti-Irish sentiments, are reflected in their letters.

In March 1856, following the Battle of Seattle, The Blaines left Seattle for Portland, Oregon to continue their work as missionaries. They lived in Oregon City from 1856 to 1859 and returned to the East Coast, ministering in New York and Pennsylvania from 1873 to 1882 before returning to Seattle to retire in 1882.

Their second son, Edward Linn Blaine (1862- 1954), served as the University of Puget Sound’s chair of the Board of Trustees from 1909 to 1946.