Page:Sunday Oregonian, November 16, 1902, Page 4.djvu/1



Frances Fuller Victor, whose death occurred in this city Friday afternoon. was a notable figure in the literary life of Oregon and the Northwest. She was not one of the earliest pioneers of the state, but she was a pioneer in its literature and one of the earliest compilers of its history. Her style was graceful rather than forceful, and though, from the difficulty experienced in collecting data for her early historical work, this was not always accurate, still it may truly be said that accuracy was Mrs. Victor's aim in her historical work, and if she had been able to revise her books, as she fondly desired to do, many errors that unavoidably crept into them would have been eliminated by her own hand. She had written some before coming to the Pacific Coast in 1863, her literary efforts up to that time being chiefly poetical. She saw, upon her ar— rival in the Paciﬁc Northwest, its story waiting to be written, its data (confined mostly to the domain of memory) in peril of being lost to history, and with such materials as she could, after much painstaking care collect, she set about the work. "The River of the West," published in 1870, was the first fruit of this endeavor. This was followed in 1872 by a volume with the comprehensive title, "All Over Oregon and Washington," in which such facts as she could collect upon a subject so vast were attractively set forth. Her diligence in historical research, combined with her ability to present facts of history in an attractive way, secured for her employment for a number of years in San Francisco upon the Bancroft historical series. This work ended, she returned to this city, where for several years she has lived in quiet seclusion a life of

nut» W m 'Theliteotl'rahoeot'uller'n bin itaeita hunched with! vital points thelite'otawidplecuon um tea new to civilization for its full and permanentfhiuory to pewritten. Tho-e who her in thémaﬂier as well as in the later year- now that she 1 was alway- ajtruggler invthexalkl oi llabor, though never an ch'trusive one. Disappointment rather than succe- igllowed many of her endeavors. but she kept thmughallagentleeourase. ado mirable in the dm 0! her elective Itrength, and became-x touched with patho- in 'the weakness that attended her declining yea Among the wide circle of acquain es formed bx Mrs. Victor during the long years of her active lit labor. aha .lett many friends who reco ined the value or hcr work and admired the iterllng qualities 0! her character-Arne voices of her critics. never harsh, will now takr- no gentler tones or can to be hear-i, and Frances,Fuller Victor will take her place among those Who did what they could for those that are to come after them. A'woman an utterly alone in the \ world as regards kindred as was Mrs." Victor is in bar ag'e a pgthetic ﬁgure on the dial of ; Ber M3 is in the course of Natu "d can only be viewed h the trot a gentle release from untoward conditions.

The true friends/of labor. the cham— pions of independent manhood. those who find in thrift, economy and personal responsibility the saving grace of humanity, must plated againstxthe resolution bdore the American Federation of Labor which declares that any citizen who has reached the age of 60 years and whose annual incomehas been less than 81000 shall be given a life pendon of 811 a month. The proposition is absurd, and its spirit is belittling to manly endeavor. Its tendency is to discredit saving and put a premium upon unthrift to relieve children during their active accumulative years of the filial duty of providing for parents who have spent the returns of their industry upon their offspring. While there is fortunately no reason to suppose that this resolution will obtain serious consideration or indorsement, the spirit that it represents is to be deplored as having found expression before an intelligent body of men. to the possible detriment of the cause which they represent. The popular heart has -been brought to indbrse all legitimate efforts for the improvement of the condition of workingmen; it will never respond "aye" to a proposition to sap their independence and 'yirtually pauperize them in their old age. The razing of Trinity Church building. Just Completed. is an example of the inevitable surrender of sentiment when it comes in contact with busineas. The old church building had its day and time: It served faithfully its generation and denomination in churchly lines. Bridal parties stepped to the joyous strains of Mendelssohn's wedding march up its aisles. and funeral procesdons, headed by the clergyman, repeating with solemn voice. "I am the Resurrection and the Life." passed through them, in and out, with bowel heads. A tender chapter, now joyous, now pathetic, of community history is written in the archives of the old church build! g, which, together with its unwri history, now belongs to the past. Agai the hopeful, cheerful exhortation t:'look forward, and not backward.' which is the essence of spiritual teachingq'se-ntiment protests for a moment some old church building totters to its'fall. But taking counsel of experience in the futility of battling against the inevitable, it stiﬂes its plaint, taking refuge in the assurance that the new will speedily and eifectively supplant the old in a widening ﬁeld of use and mefulness.

Volume XIV of the oilicial records of the Union and Confederate Navies includes a. note found on the Island of St. Simon's, Georgia, April 17, 1863. fastened to a stick in a prominent position on the road. This note. which was directed to the "commander of the Federal forces," aid signed William M. Hazzard, is a bitter denunciation of our soldiers, who are accused of "desecra-ting the graves of our family." The note closes as follows:

Beside their graves I swear by heaven to avenge their desecration. If it is honorable for youto disturb the dead. I shall consider it an honor and will make it my ambition to disturb your living. I fancy. air. the voice of the departed issues from their decorated homes exclaiming that such a Natlou may truly say to corruption. thou art my father; to dishonor. thou art my mother; vandalism. thou art my ambitioii I

If a Northern Yankee had written this 1 bit of fulminating rhetoric. we should at once suspect that he was better iitted to manufacture blatherskite than to face bullets, but there is a type of Southern man who is a perish Gascon; he is as_ prompt with his sword as he is with his tongue, and neVer loses a chance to use either or both against a real or fancied enemy.


 * Poems, 1851.
 * Florence Fane Sketches, 1863-65.
 * The River of the West, 1870.
 * All Over Oregon and Washington, 1872.
 * Woman's War Against Whisky, 1874.
 * The New Penelope, 1877.
 * Bancroft History of Oregon, 2 vols, 1886.
 * Bancroft History of Washington, Idaho and Montana.
 * Bancroft History of Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming.
 * Bancroft History of California, vols. 6 and 7.
 * History of Early Indian Wars in Oregon, 1893.
 * Atlantis Arisen.
 * Poems, 1900.

By the death last Friday of Frances Fuller Victor there wet removed the most versatile figure in Pacific Coast literature, a literary pioneer on the Coast, and a woman to whom Oregonians owe much. Frances Fuller was born in the township of Rome, New York. May 23, 1826, and had, therefore, reached the ripe age of 76 years. She was a near relation of Judge Reuben H. Walworth, Chancellor of the State of New York. Through her ancestor, Lucy Walworth, wire of Veach Williams, who lived at Lebanon, Conn. in the early part of the eighteenth century, she could trace her descent from Egbert, the first King of England, while Veach Williams himself was descended from Robert Williams, who came over from England in 1637 and settled at Roxbury. Mass.

When Mrs. Victor was 13 years of age her parents moved to Wooster. O., and her education was received at a young ladies' seminary at that place. From an early age she took to literature and when but 14 years old wrote both prose and verse for the county papers. A little later the Cleveland Herald paid for her poems, some of which were copied in English Journals.

Mrs. Victor's younger sister, Metta, who subsequently married a Victor, a brother of Frances' husband, was also a writer of marked ability. Between the two a devoted attachment existed, and in those days the two were ranked with Alice and Phoebe Carey, the four being referred to as Ohio's boasted quartet of sister poets. The Fuller sisters contributed verse to the Home Journal, of New York City, of which N. P. Willis and George P. Morris were then the editors. Metta was known as the "Singing Sybil." In eulogy of the two sisters N. P. Willis at this time writes concerning them:

"One in spirit and equal in genius, these most interesting and brilliant ladies—both still in earliest youth—are undoubtedly destined to occupy a very distinguished and permanent place among the native authors of this land."

In her young womanhood Frances spent a year in New York City amid helpful literary associations. Being urged by their friends the two sisters published together a volume of their girlhood poems in 1851. In the more rigorous self-criticism of later years Mrs. Victor has often called it a mistaken kindness which induced her friends to advise the publication of these youthful productions. But in these verses is to be seen the true poetic principle and their earnestness is especially conspicuous.

Metta Fuller Victor after her marriage took up her residence in New York City, and continued her literary work both in prose and in verse until her death, a number of years ago. Frances' husband, Henry C. Victor, was a naval engineer and was ordered to California in 1863. She accompanied him and for nearly two years wrote for the San Francisco papers, her principal contributions consisting of city editorials to the Bulletin, and a series of society articles under the nom de plume of Florence Fane, which, we are told, by their humorous hits, elicited much favorable comment.

About the close of the war Mr. Victor resigned his position and came to Oregon, where his wife followed him in 1865. She has often told how, upon her first arrival in this state, she recognized in the type both of the sturdy pioneers of Oregon and their institutions something entirely new to her experiences and at once determined to make a close study of Oregon. As she became acquainted with many of the leanding men of the state, and learned more and more about it, she determined to write its history and began to collect material for that purpose. In doing this she performed a service of inestimable value to the state. since our statebuilders were then nearly all alive and facts concerning the beginnings of the state were well known to them, which, had it not been for Mrs. Victor's efforts would have been lost to posterity.

Her ﬁrst book on the history of Oregon was "The River of the West," a biography of Joseph L. Meek, which was published in 1870. Many middle-aged Oregonians tell what a delight came to them when in their boyhood and girlhood days they read the stories of the Rocky Mountain adventures of the old trapper Meek as recited by this woman of culture and literary training, who herself had taken so great an interest in them. The book was thumbed and passed from hand to hand as long as it would hold together, and today scarcely a copy is to be obtained in the Northwest. Mrs. Victor before her death prepared a second edition for the press and it is to be sincerely hoped that the work will soon be republished. For, intensely interesting as the "River of the West" is, the chief value of the work does not lie in this fact, but rather in its value to the historian. Meek belonged to the age before the pioneers. It was the trapper and trader who explored the wilds of the West and opened up the way for the immigrant. That historians are just beginning to work up the history of the fur trade in the far West, the number of books in that padtlcular field published within a year will testify. And such men, for instance, as Captain H. M. Chittenden, who last year published his "History of the American Fur Trade in the Far West," freely confess their indebtedness to Mrs. Victor's "River of the West" for much of their material. And so the stories of the Rocky Mountain bear-killer Meek, romantic though many of them are, check with the stories given by other trappers and traders and furnish data for an important period in the history of the Northwest.

In 1872 was published Mrs. Victor's second book touching the Northwest, "All Over Oregon and Washington." This work, she tells us in the preface, was written to supply a need existing because of the dearth of printed information concerning these countries. It contained observations on the scenery, soil, climate and resources of the Northwestern part of the Union, together with an outline of its early history, remarks on its geology, botany and mineralogy and hints to immigrants and travelers. The preface closes with the prophetic words:

"The beautiful and favored region of the Northwest Coast is about to assume a commercial importance which is sure to stimulate inquiry concerning the matters herein treated of. I trust enough is contained between the covers of this book to induce the very curious to come and see."

Her devotion to the Northwest and her interest in it could not be more clearly expressed than in the words just quoted. Her interest in the subject led her at a later date to revise "All Over Oregon and Washington," and to publish it again, this time under the title, "Atlantis Arisen."

In 1874 was published "Woman's War With Whisky," a pamphlet which she wrote in aid of the temperance movement in Portland. Her husband was lost at sea in November, 1875, and from this time on she devoted herself exclusively to literary pursuits. During her residence in Oregon she had frequently written letters for the San Francisco Bulletin and sketches for the Overland Monthly. These sketches, together with some poems, were published in 1877 in a volume entitled "The New Penelope."

This last volume was printed by the Bancroft publishing establishment in San Francisco. The Bancrofts were an Ohio family of Mrs. Victor's early acquaintance, and Hubert Howe Bancroft laid before her his plan for writing the his-

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