Frances Fuller Victor papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss1199

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of papers of writer and historian Frances Fuller Victor, including correspondence; a typescript of her poem "The Poppies of Wa-ii-lat-pu"; Victor's book, "The Women's War with Whisky: Or Crusading in Portland"; a scrapbook of newspaper reviews of Bancroft histories that Victor authored; and J. S. Meek's description of the beaver as told to Victor.

The collection's correspondence consists of letters from J. Quinn Thornton and Jesse Applegate discussing the history of the Oregon Territory, including about Thornton's mission to Washington, D.C. and about John McLoughlin; a letter from Walter Crowninshield about the history of the Pony Express; and letters from Victor to William G. Steel providing advice on historical research. The collection also includes Victor's handwritten copies of Thornton's letters with her commentary, produced in 1899. In her commentaries, Victor discusses the validity of Thornton's claims, and expresses regret at having earlier accepted all of what Thornton wrote at face value.

Dates

Creation: 1874-1899

Creator

Victor, Frances Fuller, 1826-1902 (Person)
Thornton, J. Quinn (Jessy Quinn), 1810-1888 (Person)
Applegate, Jesse A., 1811-1888 (Person)

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

Oregon historian and author Frances Fuller Victor was born in 1826 in Rome, New York. Her family moved to Ohio when she was a teenager, but she and her sister Metta returned to the East to pursue literary careers. In New York City, they published poetry and became associated with the writer Rufus Wilmot Griswold. After a return to Ohio and her first marriage to Jackson Barritt, she married naval engineer Henry Clay Victor in 1862. The couple moved to San Francisco the following year, and Victor returned to her literary endeavors. After moving to Oregon in 1865, she focused her energies on the history of the Pacific Northwest and published several books, including "River of the West" (1870). After her husband was killed in a shipwreck in 1875, she relied on writing to earn a living, and she soon became one of the principal authors of Hubert Howe Bancroft's multi-volume history of California and the American West. She is best known for the "History of Oregon" (1886-1888), published under Bancroft's name. She experienced economic hardship in her later years, but she continued to write history, fiction, and poetry. She died in Portland in 1902.

Extent

0.23 Cubic Feet (1 slim legal document case and 1 reel microfilm)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

A small collection of papers of the Oregon historian and author Frances Fuller Victor, including: correspondence with early emigrants to Oregon Jesse Applegate and Jessy Q. Thornton; typescript of a poem; a copy of her work "The Women's War with Whisky"; and a scrapbook of reviews of Victor's works.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Acquired prior to 1971, most likely in the late 19th or early 20th century (RL2021-041-RETRO).

Existence and Location of Copies

Letters from J. Quinn Thornton to Frances Fuller Victor, and Victor's annotated copies of Thornton's letters, also available on Mss 1199 Microfilm, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Additional copies of Victor's book "The Women's War with Whisky" are held in book collections, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.