Bancroft, Nunn, and Trevett family papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss 854

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of papers and photographs of the related Bancroft, Nunn, and Trevett families. Correspondence in the collection includes the letters of A. A. Bancroft and his wife, Lucy D. Bancroft; the letters of their children Albert Little Bancroft, Hubert Howe Bancroft, Mary Melissa Trevett, and Emily Palmer; and the letters of Mary Melissa Trevett's husband, Theodore Brooks Trevett. Diaries in the collection were written by Theodore B. Trevett, Mary Melissa Trevett, and their daughters, Katherine Lucy Trevett and Emily B. Nunn. Theodore B. Trevett's diaries includes entries from his sea voyage from Massachusetts to California in 1849 and his time at Fort Simcoe, Washington Territory; Mary Melissa Trevett's diaries also include her time living at Fort Simcoe, where her father worked as an Indian agent. Other written materials include a guestbook, notes, and certificates. Several written items are partially or fully in German, and one diploma is in French. In addition to loose family photographs, there are four photograph albums in the collection: One is an album of cartes de visite kept by the Trevett family; one is an album kept by the Nunn family in the early 20th century; and two are albums compiled by Richard T. Trevett, consisting of photographs in and around Baden-in-Aargau, Switzerland, where he worked.

Dates

1835-1958
Majority of material found within 1849-circa 1930

Creator

Bancroft family (Family)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical Note

Theodore Brooks Trevett was born in 1832 in Bath, Maine. In 1849, he sailed to California; the following year he sailed to Portland, Oregon, where he worked for the firms Corbett, Failing & Robertson and Honeyman, DeHart & Company. He married Mary Melissa "Lissie" Bancroft (1837-1933) in 1865 in San Francisco, California. Bancroft had previously lived at Fort Simcoe, Washington Territory, where her father, Azariah Ashley Bancroft (1798-1885), had worked as an Indian agent; Theodore B. Trevett had also spent time at Fort Simcoe in 1861 and 1862. The historian Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832-1918) was one of Mary Melissa Trevett's brothers.

The Trevetts had two daughters: Katherine Lucy Trevett (1866-1955) and Emily Bancroft Trevett (later Emily B. Nunn, 1867-1958). Theodore B. Trevett died in 1901 in Portland; Mary Melissa Trevett died in 1933, also in Portland.

Sources: Articles in the Oregonian and Oregon Journal, 1901-1933; vital and passport records and biographical sketches on Ancestry.com.

Biographical Note

Katherine Lucy "Lulu" Trevett and Emily Bancroft "Millie" Trevett were born in San Francisco, California, in 1866 and 1867, respectively. They were the daughters of Theodore Brooks Trevett (1832-1901) and Mary Melissa "Lissie" Trevett (neé Bancroft, 1837-1933). Both sisters were educated in Weimar, Germany, in the 1870s and 1880s. Emily B. Trevett married the English-born oculist Richard K. Nunn (1859-1920) in 1901. The couple had three sons: Joshua Westby Nunn (1902-1914), Richard Trevett Nunn (1904-1933), and John Curtis Nunn (1905-1914). After Joshua Nunn and John Nunn accidentally drowned in the Columbia River in August 1914, the family moved to London, England, and Richard K. Nunn served in the English Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I. The family returned to Portland after the war, though Richard T. Nunn later studied in England, and worked for the Brown Boveri Company in Baden-in-Aargau, Switzerland.

Katherine Lucy Trevett died in 1955; Emily B. Nunn died in 1958.

Sources: Articles in the Oregonian, 1914-1933; vital and passport records and directory on Ancestry.com.

Extent

1.85 Cubic Feet (2 legal document cases; 1 card file box (12x9x6); 1 flat box (14x18); 1 oversize folder (20x24))

Language of Materials

English

German

French

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers and photographs of the related Bancroft, Nunn, and Trevett families. Theodore Brooks Trevett (1832-1901) came to Oregon in 1850, and in 1865 married Mary Melissa "Lissie" Bancroft (1837-1933), who had previously lived at Fort Simcoe, Washington Territory. Their daughter Emily Bancroft Trevett (1867-1958) married English-born oculist Richard K. Nunn (1859-1920) in 1901.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gifts of Katherine Lucy Trevett and the estate of Emily B. Nunn, June 1952 and July 1959 (RL2023-016-RETRO; Lib. Acc. 7833). Guestbook gift of William L. Brewster and Nan M. Brewster, July 1966 (Lib. Acc. 10236).

Related Materials

Additional diaries of Emily Bancroft Nunn and Katherine Lucy Trevett at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library are located in the Ellen Hazard Cox papers, Coll 798.

Separated Materials

Daguerreotype photograph of Mary Melissa Bancroft Trevett was separated to the Cased photographs collection, Org. Lot 1414, Oregon Historical Society Research Library. Autograph albums of Katherine Lucy Trevett and Emily B. Nunn from their education in Weimar, Germany, are in the Manners and Customs collection, Mss 1522, Card File Box (CFB) 3, Folders 2 and 3.

Processing Information

Initially processed prior to 1971. Reprocessed in 2023 to include photographs and photograph albums that shared provenance but had previously been separated, including Album 121, Album 122, and Org. Lot 1143 (consisting of Albums 178 and 189). Albums 178 and 189, which are Richard Trevett Nunn's albums, had previously been erroneously attributed to Ben Fleischman. Collection was previously titled "Bancroft and Trevett family papers."